Life on the Vine

Tomorrow is President's Day and just a couple weeks ago free pancakes were given away by IHOP for National Pancake Day.  You might be surprised to learn what other foods have their own day or month.  There is National Cream Puff Day (Jan. 2).  February is supposedly National Macadamia Nut Month (who knew!?!?).  National Potato Chip Day is in March, 14th to be exact.  Soft Pretzels get a whole month, April.  Just in time for baseball season.  Pigs-in-a-Blanket are celebrated April 24 and National Fudge Day is June 16 -- now that's a day I could get behind.  The month of September has been made the month of chicken, honey, mushrooms, papaya, potato, and rice.  An interesting combo.  I'm sure an Iron Chef could make something pretty tasty out of those ingredients. My birthday is supposedly National Cheese Pizza Day...Tom would probably think that is fitting as I'm a bit of a cheeser.  Everything you could think of seems to have a Nat...

It might surprise you to learn there is a location just twenty miles from Tucson that receives 180 inches of snow annually.  It's 9,000+ feet above sea level and it's called Mount Lemmon. Mount Lemmon is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains, which are part of the Coronado National Forest .  It had been thirty years since either Tom or his Dad had driven up to the top of Mount Lemmon, and I had never been there.  So, this past Saturday, we decided to take a nice leisurely drive up through the winding Catalina Highway, which was recently designated as the Sky Island Parkway, and is part of the US National Scenic Byway system. As you depart Tucson from the North it's about 21 miles to the top.  It's a fairly slow climb; the speed limit is 35 mph.  The landscape goes from a sea of saguaros, to scrub oak, to pine.    We brought the puppy along for the ride.  Hoping to find a couple piles of snow for him to play in. Here are some pi...

On the Gospel for Asia website there are many free resources you might want to check out.  A booklet published by GFA's founder, K.P. Yohannan, in 2004 is available for free download.  The title is Stay Encouraged .  The booklet is available in PDF, as well as formats for iPads and Kindles.  It's a short 56 page booklet with four chapters.  In the third chapter Yohannan shares some things that have helped him during times of struggle and discouragement. First , think about the Lord , no matter the reason for the discouragement.  He references Hebrews 12:1-3 .  Yohannan writes, "It is when we look horizontally that we get discouraged.  When we let what people say or think and the expectations people have of us to influence us, then discouragement sets in.  When we look to men (horizontal) rather than to God (vertical), we easily become weary." Second , think about the good things in life .  He quotes from Philippians 4:8 . Thi...

Well, we did it and there is no going back.  Unbeknownst to either of us, the Friday after New Years Day saw the addition to our family of one Blue Heeler puppy.  It's not something we went looking for and it wasn't preplanned.  True, we've been talking about the possibility of getting a dog but hadn't gotten too serious about it yet.  And I did know that Tom was extremely interested in getting a Blue Heeler, which is an Australian Cattle Dog.  The week of New Years was pretty slow at work so I decided to take Friday off since I'd gotten everything taken care of on Wednesday and Thursday.  When Tom got home from work I was getting ready to go into town to stop at the used bookstore.  He decided to come with me, wanting to drop off his cowboy hats for reshaping at the Western store in town.  As we parked at the store, what did we find but a crate full of 6-week-old Blue Heeler puppies looking for good homes.  We played and held a couple an...

With Christmas upon us that means the New Year is just around the corner.  In the next week I do plan to do some reflecting on how blessed I've been this year.  This time last year I was living in Germany, separated from my husband with no idea whether I'd be able to find a job in Arizona nor when Tom and I would be reunited.  And here it is a year later and Tom and I have bought a house, albeit a 'temp' house; we have completed plans for the house we're going to build; we've selected our contractor and are moving forward; I miraculously got a job - the only civilian PA job in an office entirely of military (those of you who are federal employees in the States know how long some civilians can, and do, stay in jobs); we're getting to spend lots of great quality time with Tom's dad and family, and I got to be there for my Dad's 60th birthday. I was talking to a girlfriend a couple weeks ago and she told me that she'd decided what her New Year...

This is the third year Tom and I have supported  Gospel for Asia's Christmas Gift Catalog .  GFA's catalog isn't unique.  There are numerous ministries and nongovernmental organizations that do Christmas catalogs, allowing their supporters an opportunity to buy any range of items that will help and minister to those who are in great need and certainly less fortunate than those of us living in the United States. There is something for everyone in GFA's Christmas catalog.  The catalog is organized into several sections - Gifts from the Stable , Gifts for the Poor, Gifts of Outreach , Gifts for Missionaries .  They also include the opportunity to get involved in their sponsorship programs for children and missionaries.  They've also designed some fun bundles , such as the Barnyard Bundle, which includes six chickens, two goats, two pigs, one lamb and one cow.  Whether you've got a couple hundred dollars you could donate or just eleven dollars, you'll ...

Now that we are pretty much settled in the Temp House we've got some extra time on the weekends to go exploring.  I've got a 45 minute commute into work every day so I spend my time listening to the radio.  There is a really good morning show on MixFm .  The station promotes upcoming festivals and events going on in the area.   Thanks to MixFM I learned about the biannual Artisans Market that the Tucson Museum of Art hosts.  Today after church Tom and I went and checked it out.  We didn't buy anything but we did pick up a lot of business cards and got some ideas for the house.  And last weekend we had family visiting from Seattle and we went and checked out the annual Pecan Festival hosted by the Green Valley Pecan Store in Sahuarita.  In Europe there are a lot of markets and festivals so it's nice to find some local events we can make part of our annual tradition here in southern Arizona.   One event I learned about earlier this ...