Day 2

Tuesday was our day at the NYC Rescue Mission, a trip into Chinatown and and a night taking it easy back at the David Dean House

Sending letters to potential contributors

Hair nets are going to be "in" this year

Working in the pantry

One of my favorite things about NYC - STREET MEAT!

Pictures from Day 1 of NY Trip

Outside of our home for the week in Brooklyn

Always impressive



Barry, our Missionary contact at the David Dean House, talking with Don



9/11 memorial at the firehouse across from Ground Zero

Alexandra and Savannah

Shopping for stuff to make our Midnight Run bags



Working hard





Molly, Elaine, and Savannah passing out clothes





More clothes getting passed out at a Midnight Run stop




Alyssa helping with the size



The first NY Spring Break Homeless Ministry Mission Trip is in the book and everyone agrees we ought to do it again next year.


It was a great trip in just about every way you would want to measure it.
Homeless ministry objectives? Amazing
Expose kids to what God is doing in NYC? Yep
Group bonding? Tons of it.
The whole New York touristy experience? Every chance we got.
Let the Girls get their "shop" on? Got boring pictures to prove it
Stay up late playing games? Oh yeah.


One of the best things you can do to make a mission trip successful (or any trip) is take good chaperons. Don and I hit the jackpot with ours this time. Wayne Currie and Steve Leger were GREAT adults to have on this trip. They were good with the kids, on the ball, willing to do anything to make the trip better and maybe most importantly, flexible. Rigidity is not a great characteristic for folks on a mission trip, where schedules get readjusted and changed, plans must be reassessed, and things aren't always as promised. Steve and Wayne showed they could go with the flow and play it by ear when needed.
Plus they're both funny.


Tried to let kids post one day from NY but had trouble with connectivity. I'll try to get it up now that we're back.

Spring break mission trip update

After a long ride up, we finally made it to see 3 innings of a Yankees game along with a lively group of fans.... Today we went to see the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry and then to ground zero. Tonight we are getting some nyc pizza at Luigi's, "voted #2 in the nation" as we discovered from their refrigerator magnet then we will go to our first midnight feeding the homeless ministry project and hand out meals. hello this is careech and now i am blogging. please keep us in your prayers this week even though God has already worked his MAGIC thats right COMPLETE MAGIC. New York has been great so far and trust me mimicking "elf"scenes throughout the city makes us look like tourists as much as a fanny pack would.
Now Ellyn is taking over :)
We thoroughly wiped out the little grocery store down the street, dropping $171 bills on enough food to make 200 sandwiches for the next two nights. I had a dance party with myself while everyone shopped, but at least we got the job done. It's not my fault they play good music. I also poked Alyssa in the eye.

...just got less exciting

A couple of weeks ago, MORGZILLA and CREEEEEECH! asked if they could have a Tuesday night to plan, cook and run things. I said Sure.
We met Monday to look at their menu, and make a shopping plan. We hit the grocery store and made a Sam's run, then headed downtown where I let them have at it. I tried to do get in their way as little as possible.
The result was a great Taco Salad meal that tasted as good as it looked coming off the line.
MORGZILLA and CREEEEEECH! are sophomores at UNCW and have been a part of us since they were in High School. They have commitments early on Tuesday so they usually get downtown around 7:30 or as we refer to it "after all the hard work is done". Seriously. CREEEEEECH actually had to ask me what time we started because they're never there for that part of the night. But, they do stay for the second stop and go back to the church with me to put stuff up and are the last ones to leave, so it evens out.

Caroline Cook and her friend Cayla made 7 dozen cupcakes for us this week. Beautiful cupcakes with different decorations and patterns on them. It was a wonderful gesture by them. They stayed at the first stop and passed them out.  We appreciate their (and I'm sure their parents) efforts and kindness. Caroline knows about us because her brother (HAMPTON) and father (MITCH) have been a part of us for a couple of years now.

Leaving on our New York Feeding Ministry Mission Trip this Sunday. We have tickets to see the yankees and the Rangers. AL MVP Josh Hamilton broke his arm Tuesday night. Still excited about the trip and seeing the new Yankee Stadium for the first time, but the game itself......

...pulled up last week's WIPEOUT.

My bad.
Sure meant to post last week, but somewhere between Tuesday Night and leaving town for the weekend on Friday, it didn't get done.

We had BBQ Chicken. It was real good.

All righty then.
Let's move on.....


SHAUN / CHARLES / ED / MITCH / HAMPTON / TYLER / J. BOGGS / LANE / MARK / BLAKE / WAYNE / STEVE / KYLE / CHUCK / ELIZABETH / ELAINE / MEREDITH / MEGAN / MADDY / SAVANNAH / ELLYN / BRIEN / ZUPON! / LAUREN / KILLER / LINDSAY /

MEATBALL SUBS
PASTA SALAD / COLE SLAW / GARDEN SALAD
OVEN FRIES
DESSERT
SWEET TEA  / SODA / WATER

STUFF TO PUT ON THE MEATBALL SUB:
JALAPENOES / BANANA PEPPERS / PEPERONCINIS / MUSTARD / MAYO / TEXAS PETE / ONIONS / CHEESE

Monday night I drove the small church bus to the Mercy House, picked up whoever wanted to watch the NCAA Championship game, and went back to the church with them to watch it. It's a late start (9:30) and those guys go to bed early, so I knew it wouldn't be a big crowd and that was fine. I had 10 guys come and we met DON / LANE / MORGZILLA / CREEEEEECH! / J.BOGGS / at the church. We had pizza and, in keeping with the post I did find time for last week, KNOCKOFF SODAS. Can you say DR. PERKY?
MORGZILLA and CREEEEEECH! made mini cupcakes that decorated like basketballs. Nice touch and muis delicioso.
I really appreciate the 5 of them coming down and and helping. The game was a dog, though. The big hit was Ice Cream sandwiches at halftime.
Everybody had at least 2 and about half of them had 3.

Speaking of knockoffs, I don't know if there's anything out there in the Ice Cream Sandwich world that would be the equivalent of Coke or Pepsi; an Industry giant or standard. So technically, a store brand ICS wouldn't be "knocking", it would just be their version. I say all that just to get to this point: Harris Teeter brand is the best ICS.*

Since I had some pizza and sodas left over, we used those last night, too. We wrapped individual slices of pizza in aluminum foil and passed  'em out as seconds.

Had a good time watching the game with the Mercy House guys, but it wasn't because of the game.Two teams I don't give a rat about, playing like rec teams? If I had been at the house I would've gone to the DVR list and......

                                         *According to me and Steve Leger, anyway.

And now for something completely different........

For years now, I've had a weird fascination with "knockoffs"- cheaper versions of a more expensive or mainstream item. One of my favorites is store brand Dr. Pepper wannabes. The thing I like about them is the names they give them. It's not like the name "Dr. Pepper" has anyhing to do with suggesting satisfying cola flavor, but it has become synonymous with the drink. The knockoffs use the medical degree to let you know right away which drink they are trying to imitate.
Over time I've made it a point to check out places when I travel to see if they have new knockoff "Dr." drinks I havent seen. I actually have a list I keep. I was up to 26.
THEN.... I found a site that shares my fascination! It has found 52 and counting! My limited time on the west coast is hurting me. Anyway, check it out   http://postmyportfolio.com/Generic_Dr_Pepper.htm.  My favorite of the ones I've actually seen is Dr. Perky.  Gotta keep my eye out for Doc Holiday.