Monday, July 29, 2013

A Busy Week

This off week was certainly a busy one.
We had something going on every single day!

Monday night we had an iServe meeting. We were able to talk about what's been going on and what is coming up. Our backpack ministry will be ramping back up in a couple of weeks when school starts back!

Tuesday Scarlett got spayed. I dropped her off early in the morning. While she was gone, I took the opportunity to get some cleaning done around the house. I was able to pick her up at 3:30. She was so pitiful when she got home. She could barely keep her eyes open!

Pitiful pup
On Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment and then spent most of the afternoon at the pool. While I was gone, Scarlett was licking at her incision site. When we checked it before going to bed we noticed the top of it was open! I freaked out, of course. It wasn't bleeding or anything, so we decided I would take her in to the vet the next morning.

Thursday morning Scarlett got a staple and a special collar to keep her from continuing to mess with her incision. They didn't have the usual "cone of shame" in her size, so she got an inflatable one more like a neck pillow! She's not a big fan of it, but it does seem more comfortable than the alternative.

Scarlett's special collar
Friday I got to have lunch with my parents. Then, Mom and I worked on the invitations for the baby shower we are throwing for MC next month. After I came back home, I made a blackberry cobbler. Jason and I took dessert to dinner at his cousin's house. We had a delicious dinner and lots of good talk!

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Jason's parents at Golden Corral. In the afternoon we went to the lake for a friend's birthday. It was overcast most of the day, but the sun finally came out after we had our dinner and birthday cake! We did get to see an amazingly beautiful sunset on the way back in. Jason stopped twice for us to take pictures!



Sunday morning we went to church. Then we had lunch and dinner plans with friends. We did take some time in the afternoon just to chill at the house with our pups. It was much needed after going so much this week.

It's back to work this week.
Hope y'all have a great week!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Birthday Celebration

Last week was my birthday. We did a couple of things to celebrate last weekend. Mom and I got our nails done, and Jason and I did some birthday shopping.

The real celebrating started on Monday though. Jason's parents and one of his nieces came up Monday. They made me a special birthday dinner along with some strawberry shortcake dessert. After dinner, we took Big Red for a spin on the lake. It was a really nice evening for a ride. We even took Daisy and Bella (Jason's mom's dog) along for the ride!

Daisy and the sunset
Tuesday was my actual birthday. We started the day off with the iServe food truck. Then we grabbed some breakfast and headed home. Our plan was to get ready and go to Athens for lunch and go to the Botanical Gardens. When we got ready to leave my car wouldn't start. Jason finally got it to start after doing some tinkering under the hood, but it made for a late start to our trip. 

We had a late lunch at Ted's Most Best. We had never been there before but had heard it was good. I even saw a blurb about it in Southern Living Magazine! We had a meatball slider appetizer, Caesar salad, and arugula pizza. Everything was delicious. It was such a beautiful day that we ate on their patio. 

On the patio
After lunch we walked over to GiGi's Cupcakes for dessert. I love those cupcakes! They were having a special so we ended up with 3 cupcakes. Yum!

Chocolate, Red Velvet, and Wedding Cake
Since we got a late start and had to be back home for dinner, we decided to skip the Botanical Gardens and come back another time. We did have time for a quick stop at The Loft, and I got some new clothes as part of my birthday gift from Jason. 

That night we had dinner with my family at a local restaurant called Antebellum. The restaurant has a really cool atmosphere and the food was delicious too. I had the shrimp and grits.

Outside the restaurant
Shrimp and grits
We didn't get dessert because we had cake waiting for us at home, but I definitely want to go back for dessert. The dessert menu looked great!

Mom and Charles made me a hummingbird cake which was delicious! Charles took the time to put 26 candles on the cake. I tried to blow them all out but only got 22. Must mean I'm still just 22 instead of 26! :) 

Birthday cake
It took all 3 of us to cut the cake!
After cake I opened my gifts and we took a new family photo. Only one is missing- sweet Scarlett. Hopefully, she will be able to visit my parents soon. She has been doing very well with her potty training!!

Family
It was a great birthday! I'm very thankful to have spent it with the ones I love!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

iServe Update

A lot has changed since my original post about iServe, which can be found here.
Our backpack ministry is still going strong. We were able to do boxes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Breaks which allowed for more food than the backpacks. The backpacks will pick back up in a few weeks when school starts back.

In February of this year we began our Food Truck ministry. Through our local food bank, we are able to purchase a semi truck of food for $800. This food is then distributed to families in the community who need it. The semi truck holds 40,000 pounds of grocery store overstock. Each truck holds different items, but it is usually a variety of canned goods, produce, juice, snacks, bread, and meat. We have asked local churches, businesses, and individuals to sponsor a truck. We are hosting our Food Truck once a month at a local flea market. There are already sponsors for each truck for the year 2013 which is a huge blessing!

On the third Tuesday of every month, the food truck delivers to our local flea market. Right now we are using Jason's bobcat to help unload all the pallets off the truck. Then we use hand trucks to set up the pallets down an assembly line of tables. The assembly line starts with empty milk boxes that one of our volunteers picks up from Ingles. Heavier items like bottles of juice and canned goods are next along the assembly line. Then the lighter or more fragile items (i.e. produce, bagged snacks, etc.) are put on top of the heavier items. Volunteers are stationed all along our table assembly line to put the items into the boxes. At the end of the tables an information sheet about iServe and the truck sponsor are also put into the box before the boxes are loaded into a buggy. Bigger items that will not fit into our boxes are also at the end of our assembly line so they can just be put into the buggy before the buggy is taken by one of our volunteers to someone's car. 


The top picture is the food truck and some volunteers helping with the hand trucks to move the pallets.
The bottom left picture is our assembly line. The pallets are set up on either side of a long line of tables with a volunteer for each item that needs to be placed in the box or buggy. We also have extra volunteers along the line to help push the boxes down and keep things moving.
The bottom right picture is a full buggy ready to be taken and loaded into someone's car.


This is a better picture of the assembly line.
The Georgia tent in the far right of the picture is where the line starts for those in need of food. We also have volunteers here taking information. Before we can give anyone food, we have to verify that they live in the county we are serving (using their ID) and they have to sign verifying their income per month is below a certain amount. This amount is based on the number of members in their family.

Things have grown considerably over the last months. At our first truck in February we served 116 families. This month we served 357 families! 

All of this is possible because of the amazing God we serve!
He has provided incredible volunteers and sponsors.
We are blessed to work with them and blessed to be able to serve so many people in need.

We have also recently launched a website for iServe (iserveministries.com). The website is also linked under the ministry tab at the top of this blog.
On the website you can find information about both our backpack and food truck ministries plus ways to support us and get involved with what we are doing.

Here are some ways we would love for you to pray for us:
- We would ideally like to have a fork lift to unload the truck, but they are expensive. We are hoping for a donation or funding from grants.
- Next year we would like to do a second food truck each month. Our location now is at one end of the county. Ideally our second truck would be closer to the other end of the county. We need prayer about the logistics, sponsors for the additional trucks, and a location. 
- Pray for those receiving the food! We pray that they would see Jesus through us and what we are doing.

1 John 3:18 (NLT)
"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions." 

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Thankful Thursday

Happy 4th of July!
I think this July 4th is the perfect Thursday to list somethings for which I am very thankful.

1. I am thankful for a loving and merciful God!
Titus 3:5 (NLT) "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

2. I am thankful for the freedom we have in America and all of those protecting our freedoms.

3. I am thankful for Jason.
I could not ask for a more hard working and loving husband.

4. I am thankful for family.
Jason and I are so blessed to have such wonderful families. We love spending time with them.

5. I am thankful for our pups- Daisy Duke and Scarlett.

6. I am thankful for my job.

7. I am thankful for sweet friends.

8. I am thankful for the time Jason and I were able to spend at Whisper Mountain last week. It was a fun time in the mountains of North Carolina!

Some scenes from our time at Whisper Mountain
We are truly blessed.
Hope everyone has a great 4th!