T is for Transcendent

Just yesterday we returned from Pennsylvania, where we were blessed with a new goddaughter. The church her family attends has recently been beautifully restored after a fire. The icons that cover the walls and ceiling of the church are wonderful and a great joy to see. Being a very visual person, one of the things that drew me to the Orthodox Christian faith was its embrace of the visual and multi-sensory (a nicely holistic approach to worship), its use of icons to remind us of Christ's life and the lives of those believers before us. I love that when I enter an Orthodox church, I know I am in a church and that I am there to worship God; countless visual reminders help me focus on this fact. Some moments are truly transcendent.

Stash Moroccan green mint and Raspberry Zinger were the teas I enjoyed when not at church! They were a nice change. Of course, not much time was spent sipping tea on this trip. My husband spent quite a bit of time folding paper airplanes for our godkids to throw across the room, and we also spent time drawing and doing a little art project. The weather was delightfully cool compared to Houston. You can find more Tea Tuesday participants here.

T is for Twin Cities

A week ago we returned from a quick trip to Minnesota to visit family. One of the highlights was visiting the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, which was hands down the largest one I've ever seen - two blocks' worth of vendors. I was enthralled by the heaps of bright veggies and couldn't resist taking photos, although I did feel a little self-conscious shooting in the crowd - hence quick decisions about composition, etc.! We enjoyed some of the produce grilled, some of it raw, some of it steamed. I had quite a bit of quiet time on this trip to read, so I kept it simple and drank decaf Lipton and Constant Comment when I wasn't eating veggies! I've visited farmer's markets in Santa Fe, Rapid City, SD, Cannon Beach, OR, and Minneapolis this summer, but haven't made it to any in my own neck of the woods. For as large as Houston is, the farmer's markets here just aren't that impressive.