Married to a Youth Pastor

HT to Matthew McNutt for this link to Married to a Youth Pastor. I've only been reading this blog for a couple of days but it's been very informative and interesting in all sorts of ways. I imagine it might be of interest to others who read this little corner of the web still and that it may be of use and/or interest to youth workers, ministers, and of course their spouses!

Going to Enjoy Taste of Scotland

Today I'm away to Enjoy Taste of Scotland being held in George's Market in Glasgow. I posted about it before on my food blog but can't belive it's actually today! It's going to be a great event. If you're in Glasgow or near Glasgow this weekend I recommend checking it out. The details are all on the website and it's absolutely free!

Odd jigsaw

I've been having a bit of a rough time lately, mind you our anniversary weekend celebrations did help, but I'll not go into details here, however I'll post soon about the weekend.

Anyways I spotted a post on Marko's blog about a fun little jigsaw found here where the pieces of the jigsaw are little individual pictures that somehow fit together. It took be a little while to do that with some breaks in between, but it was a fun distraction from thinking about my bad mood.

Have a go I think you'll like it.

Our First Anniversary

Today Rob and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary! It's a year to the day when we stood in front of all our family and friends and became husband and wife, then went off and started cooking for them all!!!!



Only kidding, but it's one of my favourite photos from the day.

It's been a fantastic year! I've really loved being married and making a home with Rob. I'll share more tomorrow about our celebrations and what we did to mark the occasion.

Photo meme

I saw this over on my name is cool... so I have to do it now, but hey I like the sound of this meme anyways.

Photo Meme:

If you read it you gotta do it!

1. Go to photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer for each question into the Photobucket search bar.
3. Only use the first two pages.
4. Copy the html and paste it here.
5. You can only answer in picture form.

What is your name?


When is your birthday?


What kind of car do you drive?


Where did you go to school/university?


What is your favorite season?


What is your favorite type of shoe?


What is your status?


What is your favorite movie?


What is your favorite song?


Who is your favorite Disney character?


What is your favorite vacation destination?


What is your favorite dessert?


What is your favorite drink?


What are you most afraid of?


What is your favorite TV show?



Now you've seen it give it a go!!!!

Spray tan

This time last year (almost to the minute) I was standing in a booth getting a spray tan done.... my sister was treating me to this in preparation for mine and Rob's wedding 2 days later. I remember my sister and I feeling wet and sticky, I remember going into Debenhams to pick up the guys suits, I remember the Bible Study I led that night where I was surprised with a mini party and was also bashed for being so orange. I also remember the shower the next morning with the orange water running down the plug hole and how clean I felt after it!

This Sunday is our first wedding anniversary and I'll not advertise what we're doing to celebrate but I promise to tell all afterwards.



Picture from Online Tan Shop

Monthly review 8

It's that time of month again.....

Here are some of the stats (obtained via Google Analytics) from the last month (13th March-12th April 08) for this blog, with last months numbers in brackets:

1. There have been 740 (701) visits.
a) 311 (254) of those have come via referring sites
b) 151 (225) of those visits are direct traffic
c) 277 (222) of those visits are from search engines
d) 1 (0) of those visits came from "other" ......... I have no idea what this means!

2. Searches that have brought people to this site are:
(I'm not going to note last months stats for these cos it's too complicated now the list is getting so long)

ruth e babes - 14 times
christian childrens talks - 13 times
christian children's talks - 8 times
juice loose about this house - 6 times
e babes - 4 times
belfast babes - 3 times
free christian talks - 3 times
rob and ruth elkin - 3 times
ruthebabes - 3 times
banbridge babes - 2 times
children christian talk - 2 times
children's christian talks - 2 times
childrens christian talks - 2 times
christian childrens talks free - 2 times
christian kids talk - 2 times
christian kids talks - 2 times
floating lemons and sinking limes - 2 times
free childrens christian talks - 2 times
free youth bible study - 2 times
god pie - 2 times
portadown babes - 2 times
ruth bible youth - 2 times
ruth elkin - 2 times
ruth in the bible - 2 times
there's juice loose - 2 times
why do lemons float - 2 times
www .babes.blog.spot .com - 2 time
zombie attack plans - 2 times
all ruth +pics
all ruths are toothy
andy flan girl
christian kids talks
funny bible studies
god pie
ruth little ireland
ruth patience + bebo
a funny chicken race. kids love it.
afrika babes hunter
alife4sale book download
all ruth free pics
babe+bebo
babes blog -sex
babes blogspot
babes size 5
babes spot blog
bacon buttie
banbridge graffiti
bannside presbyterian church
bbc "are you one of them"
bebo glengormley
belfast graffiti bebo
bible character david
bible clothing of ruth
bible gateway com daily verse
bible gateways
bible pictures of david and bathsheba
bible study david and bathsheba
bible study in pictures running the race with patience
blogspot.com download babes hot
childre's talk christian
children christian talks
children talks christian
children talks-christian-
children's bible study on ruth
children's christian talks free
children's free bible talks
children's religious cartoons
children's talks christian
childrens christian talks and stories
childrens free christian talks
childrens talks cross
christian children talks
christian children's address
christian children's family talks
christian children's talk
christian childrens talks and stories
christian garden of eden pictures
christian kids talk love
christian talk on flowers
christian talks for children about sheep
christian talks kids free
chritian childrens talks
church of ireland email scam
church of ireland phising
com babes.ni
come to canada for your free bible studies
cross children's talk
david and bathsheba children's lessons
downloadable youth bible studies
e babe
e number day
e typing
e-typing download
e.babes picture
ebible gateway
ed's diner banbridge
ed's grill banbridge
eds bar and grill lisburn jobs
edun live bebo
email contacts of ruth
follow-up to harry potter
free babe art
free bird banbridge
free children's christian talks
free children's talks
free childrens talks
free christian children's talks
free christian photos for children
free range chicken race
free youth bible
free youth bible study resource
funny belfast
funny bible organizations
funny christian talks for children
funny church graffiti
funny graffiti
get free youth bible
ghana volunteer bebo
god pie video
google ruth
hoots man
hot northern irish babes
how can i download the singing polo dog onto my phone
how cool is ruthie
http://ruthebabes.blogspot.com/
i love mondays
i love mondays belfast
images of ruth from bible
indian babes "blogspot"
indian babes blogs
indian babes blogspot
indian restaurant menorca
inhaler
ireland gymnastics bebo
juice loose 'but this hoose'
juice loose about the house
juice loose hoose
kid bible study in singapore
kids christian talk
link to verse on biblegateway
local butcher
long hair babe blog
long hair babe indian
loose aboot this hoose
maryland "robert elkin"
mataheah
menorca honeymoon
monthly review + netherlands + 2008
new zealand babe blog
nigerian babes and flowers
nightreach northern ireland
noah's ark children's talk
northern babes wife pics
northern ireland asbos 2008
paki british babes
pampered chef at church
personal babe blogspot
philippine christian babes
phishy email
photography hillsborough forest march
picture of ruth in the bible
playpump
portuguese babe video on blog
re/ school assemblies/ why jesus died for us
religious picture of ruth
ruth - bebo
ruth bebo
ruth bebo ballymoney
ruth blogspot
ruth children's talks
ruth e snow
ruth image bible study
ruth in graffiti
ruth in the bible with pictures
ruth mary hunter facebook
ruth's biblical characters
services@paypals.com
short christian talks
short hair babes
shorthair babes
simple picture of bible character ruth
studying babes blogs
take a test on ruth's story in the bible
talk 2 children
talk for children christian
talk to babes 100% free
the chicken race jamie oliver
the story of the lost sheep for kids
there juice loose about this house
there's juice loose aboot this house
theres a juice loose
theres a juice loose about this house
theres juice loose aboot this hoose
theres juice loose about this house advert
this aint daft punk shirts
typing test in ireland
uk babe blogspot
video faith the dog
vodafone
well i'm a man and i can't help but love you so volkwagen polo advert
what is the difference between a heron and a crane
where buy chickens northern ireland
where did lydia of the bible get purple cloth
why do lemons float in water?
youth bible david and bathsheba
youth bible lessons on ruth
youth bible studies free
youth bible study - david
youth studies parting red sea
zombie attack prep
christian childrens talk - 0 times
are/ school assemblies/ people taking the blame for us like jesus did - 0 times
christian childrens talks cross - 0 times
chritian children's talk - 0 times
ruth children's talks bible - 0 times

3. Number of visits from each country that visited.
472 (496) visits came from the UK
157 (123) visits came from the USA
22 (21) visits came from Australia
16 (5) visits came from India
11 (16) visits came from Ireland
11 (4) visits came from Canada
4 (3) visits came from New Zealand
3 (3) visits came from Italy
3 (1) visits came from Pakistan
3 (3) visits came from Germany
3 visits came from Norway
2 visits came from Sweden
2 visits came from Hungary
2 visits came from Egypt
2 (1) visits came from Japan
2 visits came from Brazil
2 (1) visits came from Greece
2 visits came from Turkey
2 (2) visits came from Singapore
2 visits came from Spain
1 (2) visit came from South Africa
1 (2) visit came from the Philippines
1 visit came from Bahrain
1 visit came from Kenya
1 visit came from Switzerland
1 visit came from Iceland
1 (1) visit came from Indonesia
1 visit came from Malta
1 visit came from Cyprus
1 visit came from Serbia and Montenegro
1 visit came from Belgium
1 (1) visit came from the Netherlands
1 (1) visit came from United Arab Emirates
1 visit came from Taiwan
1 visit came from Ivory Coast
1 visit came from China
1 visit came from Senegal

4. Top 10 referring sites
Ruth's Kitchen Experiments - 69
Blogger - 56
Google Images - .com - 43
shot in the arm - 18
Bebo - 14
Debs Erwin - 11
Google - 10
Alan in Belfast - 9
Livingloud - Bowmanblog - 9
Google Images - .co.uk - 8


5. Top 3 blog posts
Free Christian Children's Talk 1 - 93 views
NaBloPoMo 2 - 47 views
Free Christian Children's Talk 2 - 45 times

Sesame Tree

I finally got to watch some Sesame Tree: Northern Irelands new kids show. Alan in Belfast has posted loads about a Northern Irish version of Sesame Street hitting our screens and it keeps reminding me to check it out everytime I check out his blog. Getting to see it today was helped satisfy some curiosity about the show and made me remember loads of the little clips from Sesame Street that was on almost every lunchtime as I was growing up. I loved the show: it's great to have local kids learning and teaching each other too alongside some really cool muppets. But what I loved most about the show was how Hilda the Hare says "that was beezer"..... now that's "beezer!"

Free Christian Children's Talk 3

It's been a while since i posted a children's talk so here's a copy of the very first children's talk I ever did! Looking at my notes it wouldn't mean anything to anyone else so I've rewrote it to make sense and also to sounds like how I actually said it.

Recipe
You will need to set up some things in advance:
2 tables - 1 with all the right quantities for the recipe, the other with either wrong quantities or wrong ingredients, along with bowls and spoons for mixing the ingredients together
Copy recipe to powerpoint and project on screen if you have them.

"I rushed out of the house and didn’t get breakfast….

I'm so hungry! You might have heard my tummy rumbling during the last hymn! Well I hope it's ok, but I'm going to need to eat some breakfast now. Can I have someone to help me make breakfast?"

Pick a volunteer who'll understand the recipe and be able to put everything together

Muesli
Add the following ingredients to a large bowl:
• 1 crushed up weetabix/wheat flakes
• 4 spoonfuls of oat flakes
• A handful of bran flakes
• A small glass full of banana chips
• A small glass of raisins
• A glass of milk

"OK right well let's see the recipe for first thing we need to put in the bowl is the weetabix, oh wait I have 2... well I'll add them both and make it extra weetabixy

Next some oat flakes.... oh wait i have some almond flakes, but I suppose they're kind of like oat flakes... they're both flaky right?

Next some bran flakes.... i only have 1 flake... well sure i have the extra weetabix in there to make up for less bran flakes."

Look at volunteer's bowl "Yours looks very different to mine, are you sure you're doing it right? Anyways next we need some banana chips.... I have a whole banana, same thing really.

Next a small glass of raisins... do you think jelly beans would work ok? That's all I have here. I'm sure it'll be fine.

And finally the milk, sure coconut milk will be great... it's a type of milk right?

OK I'm starving" Have a taste, pull faces to show it doesn't taste good

"That's horrible! It doesn't taste good at all!" Look at volunteer's muesli

"Well mine doesn’t look like yours! Let me have a taste of that!" Have a taste, pull face to show it's tasty

"How come yours is better than mine? We both were given the same recipe! Well I suppose I didn't follow the recipe properly, I used different ingredients and had more of some things and less of others. And when you're cooking it's good to follow the instructions. Mine would have tasted nicer if I had done what the recipe told me to do.

You know this reminds me of the Bible, because the Bible is like an instruction manual, it gives us guidance, it teaches us to live the way God wants us to and shows us how to be friends with God.

Sometimes we think it's best if we just do things our own way and ignore the advice and help that God gives us in the Bible. But God is so much smarter and wiser than we will ever be and he knows what is best for us.

In the Bible, Jesus gives us 2 very important instructions
To love God with all our heart, all our soul and with all our mind. That’s a lot of love.
And the second is to love each other the way we’d like people to show us love.

The whole Bible tells us how we can do that and how we can follow God better by living the way he wants us to. Because God is smarter and wiser, knows what's best for us and wants to be friends with us. The Bible really is a great book that we should try to read everyday."

If you are using this talk please let me know for curiosity's sake, I'm just interested to know where it's being used.

Picture sourced from Diary of a Food Nobody

Nasty hailstones

I'm going to be typically Northern Irish and talk about the weather here... but what the heck is goin on with the weather lately! I mean there was snow at the weekend, a warm sunshiny day on Monday, then windy then rainy and now today there was hail! And it was BIG hailstones.... not golf ball sized or anything but still pretty big.



I'm glad I was inside!

Anyways it's given me more ideas of children's addresses, which reminds me that I really need to post more of them.

Hoots man there's juice loose aboot this hoose!

It makes me so happy to see this ad back on tv!!! I love it!

Welcoming church

Today I was in Donaghadee in between the morning service and our youth organisations this evening.... cos I decided to make my Sunday that extra bit busier by driving for an hour and 15 minutes there and an hour and 15 minutes back as well as spending an hour and a half there. However there was an actual reason for going: my friend's little girl was being baptised and having a bit of a birthday bash at the same time and I was so excited about it because I don't get to see this friend often. I was there on my own, which I didn't mind much. I had planned to head back home shortly after the service, but the "tea ladies" of Shore Street Presbyterian were sitting beside me and poked me on the shoulder as soon as the service was finished and asked who I was, where I had come from, how I knew my friend and was I coming for the tea and coffee upstairs. Well Jean and Joan ushered me up and had me sat down and had found out all sorts about me, made sure I had a cup of tea, some sandwiches and a traybake.

It was so lovely for me as a stranger to the church, for them to not just spend their time with the people they knew but to also invite me to their group for tea and a chat. I wouldn't have minded going for tea or coffee by myself but to be given a "personal" invite and to be made to feel like I was already a friend made me feel very welcome.

So my prayer for today is that every church has a Jean and a Joan like these 2 who make people feel welcome and like they've always been there.