$45,000 that’s how much you (The Church of Living Water) have contributed to help feed families in Thurston County.

I’m amazed…

We all recognize that many people are struggling financially.  In lots of homes incomes are down if not gone.  Many Christmas trees will be sparse.  Most people are saving every penny, cutting every corner…

But you, my amazing church family – you are generous!

The need is even greater that what we have received so far.  There are some who haven’t given anything at all.  Please consider being generous, every gift makes a difference in someones life.

If you could see the faces of the people who receive your gifts you wouldn’t regret being generous, I promise.

Thank you church, there is more to do!  I’m so proud of you.

Pastor Jon

[youversion]Proverbs 28:27 (ESV)[/youversion]

Whoever gives to the poor will not want,

but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

I found a very nice article today that brings some solid information to those looking for a better cup of coffee.  Here's an excerpt:

Read the rest of the article here.

For the best quality coffee bean and best barristas in Olympia there are two that can't be beat.

1. Olympia Coffee Roaster

2. Batdorf and Bronsen

Recently I’ve been frequenting the Olympia Coffee Roaster in downtown Olympia.  I noticed that they have an unusual machine that makes a great cup of coffee.  Little did I know how rare the machine was.  Check it out.  (I also think that the Batdorf roaster downtown has one of these beauties). Thanks Wired.com for the video.

One of my favorite local coffee shops/bakeries closed down recently.  I walked by a couple of time and saw the chairs stacked, but couldn’t accept that it had closed down.  I found this article online today that confirmed my apprehensions.

Otto’s

My last birthday at Otto’s with my family

Today I had a twilight zone moment…  It was a rainy day like may others, I was on my way home from work when I stopped by McD’s for a SnackWrap.  As I drove up towards the window I noticed some new signage announcing, hold your breath, Espresso!  That’s right, you can now get a vanilla latte with your BigMac.  I felt some conflicting feelings as I contemplated ordering my standard, a 12oz-double-vanilla-latte.  But, being a truly adventurous person at heart, I ordered one up and hoped for the best.  My order was quickly fulfilled, hot and frothy.  I took a few sips and quickly concluded that Batdorf & Bronson has nothing to worry about, but Starbucks should look over her shoulder if they continue to allow their standards to fall.  I’m not sure if you will have the opportunity to have this same surreal experience as McD’s is not serving lattes at all of its stores yet.  In any case, I can’t say I’ll ever make a habit out of drinking espresso at McD’s, but it will be a sad commentary about the American’s standard for coffee if McD’s "Specialty Drinks" stick around.  My advice to McD’s – stick to making above average drive through drip coffee and leave the drinks requiring a skilled barista to those establishments willing to serve them properly.

One of the things that blogging has allowed us to do is spread fact and FICTION around the blogesphere with abandon.  My friend Jeremy has unfortunately fallen into the funk of falsifying the facts and fortunately I am here to help him face the music.  In the spirit of fair play, I do concede that he did have a good plan to cook his turkey, although his execution left something to be desired (about 2 1/2 hours to be precise).  On the subject of lumpy potatoes, I strongly hold the position that if you want good, yummy, delicious, delightful, tasty, delectable, mouthwatering, appetizing, tasty, flavorful, toothsome, palatable; succulent, luscious; informal scrumptious, delish, yummy, finger-licking, nummy, lip-smacking, melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes – they MUST have lumps.  Did I mention that I lived on a potato farm once? Perhaps this post will put this subject to rest, I think the most obvious conclusion is that there is a good reason that our wives only let us help cook once a year!  BY THE WAY, DO YOU PREFER YOU POTATOES LUMPY OR SMOOTH…?

Link: One Big Crate: About the turkey….

That said, let me just go ahead and dispel the myths about me not knowing how to cook a turkey.  over at the future now blog there’s a post about my "inability to cook a turkey" and  especially about the fact that no turkey on earth could be cooked in a three hour time span.

Wish you were here…

If you love good coffee I hope you’ve had the chance to enjoy a cup of Peet’s Coffee.  Peet’s has
never disappointed me with its rich, bold coffee or perfectly prepared lattes. The world has lost a legend…  Take note in the article that Peet taught Strarbucks how to roast coffee.

Alfred Peet, a pioneer in specialty coffee who shared the stage with the Bay Area culinary stars the shaped the region’s food-centric reputation, died Wednesday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 87.

The company he founded, Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc., has more than 150 establishments, all but 22 in California, but the first opened at Walnut and Vine streets in Berkeley in 1966, taking its place in what would become the Gourmet Ghetto.

Link: Coffee pioneer Alfred Peet dies.

From the site www.eepybird.com

"The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments:
What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It’s amazing and completely insane.

The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes.

It’s a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, brought to you by the mad scientists at EepyBird.com."