Business Bonus!

It’s a privilege to tag along with Dear on some of his business trips. His trip to Atlanta had a priceless bonus connected to it because Katie and Andrew were able to fly the short distance from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Atlanta to spend 24 hours with us!

Our flights arrived 20 minutes apart in Atlanta on Saturday. Andrew and Katie arrived first so they met us at our gate. Since 9-11 it’s a rare opportunity to be met at the gate!

We got a taxi to our hotel and after we checked in we took a short walk to dinner at Max Lager’s.

Here’s what we were served…

Ribs for Dear

Caesar Cilantro Salad and lamb sliders for me.

Katie and Andrew split a steak with the trimmings. And for dessert we all shared this…

Photo ops on the way to Centennial Park.

We passed the World of Coca-Cola on our way and found out pretty quick that the Olympic park was shut down to the public because of a Light the Night event. Travel buses and people galore with a police presence I haven’t seen anywhere before.

We headed back to the hotel and chatted in the lobby till bedtime on Saturday. We were meeting on Sunday at 7:45 to fit in all we wanted to do before Katie and Andrew had to head back to the airport and Dear had to catch the shuttle to his business event.

Sunday was a fun packed day with lots of walking…

I’m off in my head again about what day of the week it is. Hope all is well with everyone in blogdom!

A Glimpse of Atlanta…

…with more to come!

Oh what fun to see Katie and Andrew. We made the most of our 24 hours together and I’ll share a lot more with you. It’s Sunday night and Katie and Andrew are at the airport. Dear is at his company meeting. I’m alone in our nice room watching Amazing Race. Tomorrow Dear and I have a few more hours to site see before we head to the airport.

The Marriott Marquis was a great place to stay. Looking up made your head spin…

This will be another week where I start behind…but it was worth it. God is good…all the time!

He Took My Feet from the Miry Clay ~

He Took My Feet from the Miry Clay

He took my feet from the miry clay,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!
And placed them on the rock to stay,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!

Refrain

I can tell the world about this,
I can tell the nations I’m blest,
Tell them that Jesus made me whole,
And He brought joy, joy to my soul!

O my Lord did just what He said,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!
He healed the sick and He raised the dead,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!

Refrain

O Jesus washed my sins away,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!
And made me happy all the day,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!

Refrain

He died on the cross to save my soul,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!
He ransomed me and made me whole,
Yes, He did! Yes, He did!

Refrain

Traditional Spiritual

Since I’m in Georgia this Sunday I wanted to post an American Traditional Spiritual for my hymn for today.

Joy!

Thank you to all of you who prayed that the Marine’s would let Andrew come to Atlanta with Katie. The powers that be approved his trip and we are pleased and filled with joy!

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby this week and they had a lot of goodies on sale for 40% off and other items for 50% off. I bought that Joy sign that was in their Christmas section but it’s staying up at my house all year long. They also had all their glassware at 50% off so I bought some glass containers for my Smirntopf. I’ve been waiting for this kind of sale to purchase them.

Sure hope my Smirntopf turns out well. It will look pretty in these containers for gift giving.

After Thanksgiving we’ll start thinking about giving the Smirntopf a taste test and getting it ready to package for gifts.

Today I’m thankful for…

~ God making it possible for Andrew to come to Atlanta.

~ Our trip to Atlanta where we get to see Andrew and Katie.

~ Our second cookbook and all the encouraging words we heard from all our friends in blogdom.

~ Getting a couple more of my recipes for the cookbook completed.

~ Our small group and the 2 new couples that have joined us.

~ Dear’s promotion at work.

~ A day off today to just putz around and get ready for Atlanta.

~ Our Women’s Bible Study and the beginning of our study of the book of John.

~ That our son Dan is now the proud owner of his own home and land and has slept there for a week!

~ That our son Josh was recognized in his industry for his humanitarian endeavors.

Last but not least…I’ve lost 12 pounds!!!

What are you thankful for…

It’s 10-11-12!

I wonder when the next time that will happen!?

…I need to back track to document what a fun Sunday night we had in downtown Seattle at the Sounders Soccer game against our Cascadia rivals the Portland Timbers.

We always start with our local military representatives holding the flag while we sing The Star Spangled Banner. This night there were over 50,000 voices strong singing. That is really cool. Total attendance for the night was 66, 452.

…and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air!

Our Emerald City Supporters went all out with a banner depicting the Sounders coach Sigi Schmid going all in.

An all time favorite player on our Sounders team retired earlier this year and he was honored this night with the golden scarf. He really is beloved by the fans and the stadium went electric when he was honored!

As the sun set in the West the sun set on Portland, too. We sent them back to Portland defeated 3-0.

So I’m still going around and around on my theme and I’m not finished yet. Double Oye!

What do you have planned for 10-11-12??

Atlanta, Georgia

On Saturday Dear is headed to Atlanta, Georgia for a business meeting and I’m tagging along. We are staying downtown in the Peach Tree area. The exciting thing about this trip is that Katie and Andrew are meeting us there for overnight since they are just an hour away from Atlanta by air. We are still waiting to see if the Marines will allow Andrew to stray that far from the Base. Katie will come regardless. We hope that both of them can come. We haven’t seen them since the wedding in March.

The burning question is how much we can jam into our 2 days and how much we’ll be able to experience that is “Atlanta”. Any suggestions from any of you would be appreciated! Did I tell you I’m excited to see our East Coast kids???

Announcements, Announcements, Annou-ounce-ments!

The Mennonite Girls Can Cook are happy to announce that our second cookbook will be released Spring of 2013! Click over to the MGCC site to read all about it and to leave a comment for a chance to win our 2nd cookbook.

AND…while I’m making announcements, don’t be surprised if the look of my blog changes this week.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Fall, Fun, Food, and the Future of Flight!

We had a very peaceful Fall day on Saturday here in the Pacific Northwest. We are still dry…breaking records with our dryness. Everyone here is trying to get out and enjoy this unseasonable weather because we know that soon enough our rain will return.

Saturday morning my sister and I headed to Country Village in Bothell to check out a Fall Craft sale and our 3 favorite shops at the village.

Fall decorations and wares were everywhere to see in the very bright sunshine.

At the craft fair our favorites were the letter blocks and we each purchased 3 sets of them. I chose Thankful, Gobble and Joy.

Joy is still packaged in the cellophane because it will probably be a gift for Christmas.

Santa was happy to see we were already thinking about Christmas.

This was another purchase at the fair at the right price.

On Saturday evening we joined Josh and Laura along with Laura’s parents for an evening at a dinner fundraiser for the Future of Flight at the Boeing campus in Everett, Washington. The event was to raise funds for the education programs that partner with local schools to promote math and science. Josh’s company Axia Home Loans in Lynwood, Washington sponsored our table.

Father and son checking out the silent auction. Josh ended up winning 3 or 4 of the items he bid on at the silent auction.

The theme of the event was “The Adventures of Amelia”. We found Amelia and took a photo with her.

We sat amongst the aircraft and engines for our dinner and live auction.

The food was surprisingly good for a big event like this one. They had the tables silent bid for our desserts. The higher bidders took all the chocolate choices early! It was another creative way to raise more money for a good cause.

I took this centerpiece lantern home with me after placing the only bid for it at our table.

On our way out there were gift bags to take home with the Airfield Bombshell Wine from the evening along with a wine opener, cork, and a signature rub from the caterer. That was a fun surprise.

Tonight I’m headed to a rivalry game between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers. There have been over 66,000 tickets sold for this game so the atmosphere will be electric! The fans longtime favorite player, Roger Levesque, who retired earlier this season will be honored with the “Golden Scarf” tonight, too. I’m wondering if this will be our last game of the season in the sunshine and no rain.

Hope your weekend has gone well.

I Stand Amazed in the Presence ~ Hymn

Rosemary reminded me of this old favorite of mine and I wanted to share it today…

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain