Asikuma Fundraiser

 

I’ve got this friend, Janel. I’m just going to cut to the quick… her faith is inspiring. Oh, she would say it’s not her but God working in her. She’s right. And she along with her husband, Jake, are shouting out loud from the rooftops how great is our God!!

Here you see a screen capture of her blog. It’s from April of this year and was written very shortly after returning from Ghana. It outlines the projects they are helping to head up. You’ll have to go there to read all about it.

Even if you didn’t take the time to go and read the whole thing just now, I want to highlight a very important part, thaaaat you may have missed.

This. Read it. Please.

Now normally I’m not a numbers person but even I can figure this part out.

$25,000 by July 31. Like in a couple of days.

And they only have raised how much? $3,815.

Gulp.

I don’t know what will happen if they don’t get the money by July 31. I do know Jake and Janel have faith that their God will provide. And I know that in all the blog posts and even Facebook status updates, etc. Janel has never come right out and asked for direct money donations. She’s asked for pillow case dresses, tennis shoes, and other things but never money.

Well, I’m going to ask for her.

Last week I raved on here about awesome home and body products and whet your appetite for cookies and donuts. This week I’ve not posted anything because this has pressed in on me. God laid it directly on my heart to pray and ask boldly for this project. Now I’m boldly asking you to give towards this project.

Most fundraisers give you something as an incentive for giving- a ticket for a raffle, a silent auction, a garage sale with deals. Online fundraisers can be totally awesome- gift certificates, awesome homemade items, and even Ipads!!

Me? I’ve got nothing for you in exchange for your donation. Seriously.

I’m not going to even list all the reason you should give to this project.

Go read up and then give, please.

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I do like this little equation. $100 = 1 brick. 250 bricks = project goal. That is very easy math. (yay me!)

 

July Love

July is my favorite month. The fact that my birthday is in July probably has something to do with it. But also, look at how my life is filled with these munchkins and memories! How could July be any better?

Morning Glory Bakery

This is apparently friend’s businesses plug week here because next up we have Dave and Laurie with Morning Glory Bakery.

Here’s how I know Dave and Laurie: We all were freshmen at Iowa State together. Laurie and I lived in the same dorm, though different floors and via her and her sister I got hooked up with The Salt Company, a college-student ministry. Dave and I took an awful History class together our freshman year. Then the next year we watched a family’s kids so they could go to small group. Dave was also Bill’s roommate that year.

That’s enough reminiscing for now. Let’s get on to the tasty stuff!

What’s in the cases?

Cookie dough filled cupcakes, regular cupcakes, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, cookies, donuts, croissants, homemade breads, cookie dough, cinnamon rolls, scones

*burp*

We came, we saw, we tried, we liked, we bought more!

Then Laurie gave us a tour of where the chaos magic happens.

It’s a typical kitchen with 3 ovens, 2 side by side fridges, 2 side by side freezers, baking pans galore, mixing bowls, cooling racks on wheels, and shelves holding all types of sugars, etc. You know, just what you and I have. Or not.

They have named all their equipment.

 

Are you thinking, “Okay, Laurie, time to step out and breathe the non-floured air.”? Well, that may be true but the real reason is because if she said the 400 individual cheesecakes are in the fridge the next question would be “Which fridge?” Now she can just say they are in Wanda and everyone knows which one to go to. Brilliant! Husband, Dave, plans to make more official nameplates for all of them, but he’s been a tad busy.

I was going to take a picture of Laurie more up close but she asked me not to. It’s not because she’s not camera shy (you should see pics from our college years) but more because she only had 4 hours of sleep the night before. The life of owning your own business, make that a food business and a bakery, no less, isn’t what you call glamorous and easy street. No matter what time you go to bed pretty soon it’s time to make the donuts! But Dave and Laurie are making it with smiles on their faces.

How can you help out? How does visiting them and eating a yummy treat sound? I know, helping a friend can be so trying at times!!!

I know we will be back. As I write this both Audrey and Ben are peeking over my shoulder drooling for more.

Here’s the link to get you started: Morning Glory Facebook page

Here’s their street address: 209 N. 13th Street, Marshalltown, IA 50158

Yeah for Dave and Laurie! Yeah for Morning Glory Bakery! Yeah for us!!

I must make mention that Laurie has been doing Morning Glory Bakery out of her home for over the past 2 years. Just now have they opened a storefront. It has been open only 2 weeks.

Morning Glory Bakery is located in Marshalltown, IA. There is other great stuff in M-town, but the best thing is the bakery!

 

Jenuinely Pure

I have mentioned these products before but there’s a good chance you may have forgotten about them. Or skipped over that day’s blog post because you were still bargain shopping or recovering from your early morning mall beat. Whatever.

Now’s the time to pick up the slack.

Jenny is my neighbor and my friend. I have been various products of hers over the last couple of years and I love them. Yes, they’re organic and if you do the organic thing, you’ll love them. If you don’t do the organic thing, that’s fine too. You’ll still love them.

She’s been a busy bee this past year adding new products (a baby line and a face line), getting new labels, etc. and most importantly, launching her new Jenuinely Pure website. To celebrate she’s offering a 15% discount if you use the coupon code GRANDOPENING during checkout. (No, you can’t use the word GRANDOPENING in sentence out loud. You have to type it in the coupon code box!!) This code will only work from July 15-22.

The body cream is my favorite. There, I picked one. It’s hard to choose. I like how it makes my skin feel, how it smells (no over-powering frangrance) and even how helps Luke’s dry, dry skin during winter. I shared with Jenny that I used this during our vacation and hardly got a mosquito bite and wondered to her about the mosquito-repelling factor. Jenny said she didn’t know about that. I’ll take it, though.

 

In the face department, I’ve been using the facial scrub the longest and that’s why I picked it to share with you. It’s a salt scrub, so you do have to be careful (ow, ow- salt in my eyes!- not good) but it really leaves your face with a nice, healthy, moisturized feeling, not over-scrubbed.

For home care, we have the hand soap in all the bathrooms now. It’s gentle and it gets the job done without harshness or extra smell. Also in all the bathrooms in a spray bottle of the all- purpose cleanser along with a shaker of baking soda. Cleaning is easy and chemical- free.

Since the entire baby line is new, I haven’t tried anything. But I’m going to once Beth’s baby gets here!!! I’ve never known how or what to use baby oil on a baby for, so I’m going for the wash and cream first. I just know baby and I will love it!

Okay, so are you excited to try these out? I want to hear what you get, so leave me a comment telling me. And don’t forget to enter the coupon code GRANDOPENING for 15% off!!

S is for Stay

We were able to rent the Horizon House on Lake Superior, near Lutsen for our entire stay. It’s a wonderful and generous sized two bedroom house.

This is the main room.

View from the window seats

Though the house was directly on the lake, it was a 40 foot drop to the shore. That’s the corner of the house. We took a neighboring property’s trail to get down to the shore.

The weather while we were there was much cooler the first few days. That’s why you see us wearing jeans and sweatshirts in the first few days and shorts and t-shirts the last few days. Part of it has to do with the lake effect where just off the shore it is much cooler from the breezes. If you drove away from the lake even just a few miles, the weather changed. But mostly this time around, that just how God made the days. While you in Iowa were sweating away in sauna-like humidity, we were bundling up with extra layers.

And that wraps up our vacation. We had a wonderful time. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

F is for Friends

Our good friends, Joe and Jacqui, live in Brainerd, MN, which really isn’t anywhere near Lutsen, MN. That didn’t stop them, though, from loading up their two little girls, Erin and Molly, to come see us after we invited them to visit.

At Temperance River, we jumped, played, and hiked along.

Then, back at our place, we took them down to the shore to play some more.

Bill and Joe got to use their problem solving skills, the rest of us got to tour the exterior of our vacation rental, one little cutie got to be the heroine and that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

The next day we decided to drive along the Gunflint Trail and stop at a moose viewing area. If they meant mosquitos and horseflies the size of moose, then we saw what we came for. It must have been the sweet potato fries from My Sister’s Place where we had lunch that made us so delectable.

Joe and Jacqui, we love you and your girls. Thanks for visiting us!

R is for Rocks

Rocks are for:

rocky lake bottom

getting in your shoes

sitting on top of

throwing

 

jumping off of

skipping

maneuvering around

climbing under

The shoreline is our kids’ most favorite part of the North Shore. The average temperature of Lake Superior is 40^o  and the kids can’t wait to get in it! They could be there all day and never get tired of it.

R for Thursday comes from our Iowa State days when registering for classes via phone.

W is for Water

Temperance River (not state park because that would be illegal since MN closed all the state parks due to not passing the state budget)

We found a spot where you could jump safely into the river. Joe and I decided this was our moment. We climbed to the highest point, waited our turn then jumped. It was that simple. Right, Joe?

Joe?

Aw, man, Joe was taking his time steeling himself, talkin’ himself up, getting’ his head in the game.

I, on the other hand, was like, “This is it. Now or nothin’. If I don’t jump now, I’m never gonna do it.”

YAAAAaaahhh!!!

I’ve never done this before. I wanted to. I didn’t want to say I had the chance and chickened out. I totally got water up my nose!

Back to Joe.

Just imagine… You used to do this when you were a kid. You have run and completed a marathon. You’ve ridden Enduro motorcycles on at least two different continents and won enough races to fill a garage full of trophies…

and your friend’s wife just jumped… first…

Well, you jump!

It was only about 15-20 feet up so really the most unnerving part was just getting yourself to take the leap.

Right, Joe?