Well now, I simply must inform you that I have recently joined high society here in Brogue. And yester-evening I had the pleasure of attending a Tea! Of course, it must be admitted that truly, we here at Mt. Zion Baptist Church are not assuming women who put on airs merely to be thought wealthy or of position. We are simple ladies who try to follow our Lord and love our families, and being all of that same mind, we enjoy one another’s fellowship along the way. Now, there are some among our company who delight themselves in the English custom of Tea! They then, have the utmost kindness to introduce others of us, such as myself, to the practice. We enjoy tea together once every couple of months or so; and the hostesses, might I share, truly exert themselves to ensure it is a most delightful time for us all.
Yesternight was our first Nutcracker Tea. It was to be filled with “sugar plum fairies and nutcracker sweets” according to the invitation –which, I might add, was quite a beauty in itself! And it was a splendid evening, I mean a splendid one!…complete with baked potato soup in bread bowls with all of the condiments, pesto/basil mini sandwiches, mini quiches, and numerous delectable desserts including three varieties of chocolate truffles, raspberry-almond tarts, strawberry shortcakes, and others. And the fellowship –did I mention the fellowship? It was just as pleasant if not more so than all of the tasty trifles!
Place setting
My chocolate truffles! RRRich!Strawberry Shortcakes --a work in progress!Our two hostesses, at right
Pesto-Basil Mini Sandwiches being made
All of our tea cups and saucers...waiting for use!The little ladies having a party of their own, cracking the nuts!
Exactly one week from the very hour I am writing this, Andrea and I will be on a flight to Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We are extremely excited, of course! We have kind of been looking forward to this trip for the past year, and finally it is upon us. Before we leave, we have some packing to do, as well as things you would never think about just travelling with your family.
Now I am beginning to realize all that my parents went through when we would go on vacation–bills all paid and up to date, refrigerator clean, house clean, all ministries at church covered, caught up with work, etc. I can never forget before my family would go on vacation the frenzy that my mom would go through just getting the house spotless before we left! I would always think, and sometimes say, “C’mon, we’re leaving this place! Why do we have to clean it if we’re not even going to be here!” She would always say, “I hate coming home to a messy house!” But guess what, I see what she felt like now! My wife has got her little list of things to do before, and sure enough, cleaning is at the top of the list!
Anyways, I am trying to get organized with all of the trip planning things. During the nine day excursion, we stay at three places (two hotels and one bed and breakfast), plan to eat a lot of good food, and see a bunch of neat attractions. I am glad that the actual place we are going is not very “touristy.” It is definitely more of the backwater part of Mexico. I have a few goals listed out that I would like to accomplish while we are there–somewhat in order:
Snorkel in the coral reef
Swim in a cenote (freshwater sinkholes common in the Yucatan Peninsula)
A Cenote less than a mile from where we are staying
Take more pictures than I can count
Spend a lot of time at the Mayan ruins in Tulum
The Ruins of Tulum
Learn more Spanish
Learn to like Mexican food more than I do
Visit an indigenous Mexican church (I know that there are no good churches in Tulum, but I would like to try one out to observe, at least)
And here is Andrea’s list of goals:
Be around the people and culture
Eat tacos
Eat tostadas
Eat tortas
Eat gorditas
Drink Jamaica
Drink jugo de naranja
Actually, I am just kidding about Andrea! Although, I am pretty close…To top everything off, we both look forward to the time we get to spend with each other non-stop. The best vacation in the world with your best friend? Priceless!
When we get back, I plan on doing something that I have never really tried before: compile our pictures and make a video of our trip. I have never really delved into the video editing realm yet, but I have always wanted to. I enjoy graphic editing, so maybe I will like video too! But if I am successful, I plan on posting it right here on Be Instant.
Until then, though, we have seven days ahead of us in the 30-something degree, wet Pennsylvania weather! All the better to look forward to the tropics!
All the family together...the main thing!Linz and her new red blanket!Welcome to Country-ville, USA, Cha! (We're not making fun, Marcia! Just celebrating Pennsylvania traditions!)It's snowing! -- Packing bubbles! The Chief cook!My first Christmas Ham...deliciosisisisisisimo!Binzy Bop and J'BopSisters forever! And do we ever love our Dad!Me and Binz...constructing a Gingerbread House/Birthday Cake!Happy Birthday, Linz! Sibling fun!"Me and my Daddy go together like peanut butter and jelly"...still sayin' it twenty years later!We're just so photogenic!Us too!Stop showing your cards, Binzy Bop!Is there something fishy going on here?!?
I wish you all the same wonderful Christmas we had. A good family, and a great God, and a Saviour, Jesus Christ the Lord. Truly we are rich!
Matthew 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Do you have this Saviour? Repent and trust Him today, for only in Him are true riches found.
Well, we hope that everyone had a “Right” and Merry Christmas this year! We have been pretty occupied as of late due to family visiting and things going on at church–therefore the lack of posts and updates lately! I think that Andrea is going post about her family’s visit tomorrow, then I have a few things on my mind as well. The top of my list, though is changing our Be Instant banner and color scheme you see to something more…season appropriate. But until then, I simply wanted to say that, contrary to popular belief, we are still alive and well, and have not stopped posting because of religious convictions due to converting to the Pennsylvania Amish! We’re still the same here! Actually, we got a new Nikon L100 camera as a gift this year, and we’re really looking forward to using it a lot, and posting some good pictures.
Our church’s Christmas program went very well, with lots of visitors, including our landlord and his wife, and a lady we met while going door-to-door a couple of months ago. Praise the Lord!