Four Years

Four years ago today I married my best friend...I love you, Christopher! oxoxo

My playlist today features songs from our wedding reception--enjoy and have a fantastic weekend, readers!

Inspiration: Wedding

all via.

Good People: Inspiration Cafe

Last night, in between Academy Award segments, I viewed the 60-second True North commercial spot featuring the Inspiration Cafe. Today I decided to find out more about it.

Crystal on Leaves fine art photograph, Susan Loeb Chaplik

Dignity and Respect

Located in Uptown on Chicago's north side, Inspiration Cafe provides restaurant-style meals, case management, support groups, life-skills training, financial assistance and other services to homeless men and women in a therapeutic community that promotes dignity and respect.

Guests of the Cafe have access to the full range of Inspiration Corporation's programs, including employment training and career services, voice mail, and subsidized housing. Inspiration Cafe's goal is to help men and women overcome the causes of their homelessness and find stability by securing income and affordable housing.

Santeria fine art photograph, Christopher Gans 

Inspiration Cafe was founded in 1989 by Lisa Nigro, a Chicago police officer who began searching for a personal response to the homelessness she encountered in Uptown. She began by loading up a red wagon with sandwiches and coffee to distribute to homeless individuals on the streets.

One Inspired Evening

On March 13, 2009, Inspiration Cafe celebrates their 16th annual One Inspired Evening, which brings together more than 650 Chicago-area art lovers and friends of Inspiration Corporation for an evening of cocktails, live music, and live and silent auctions.  Now that's inspiring!

My Dream Rome fine art photography, Jennifer Jackson

Read more about the Cafe, their mission and the Inspiration Corporation HERE.

Photos displayed in this post, and part of the text, was borrowed from the Inspiration Corporation website--for details, artist information and copyright information, please visit the links above.

Etsy: Valentine's Day #9

l 2 r: tall bud vase felted wool with glass - papaver vert, to see you better print - joutomaa

Etsy: Valentine's Day #8

love me (2 pillow set) - chakra pennywhistle

Etsy: Valentine's Day #7

l 2 r: colour card collage (pink), colour card collage (white), colour card collage (red) - a view to

Etsy: Valentine's Day #6

lovey dovey love me garland - corrieberry pie

Etsy: Valentine's Day #5

teeny heartsies wall wear - nea jewelry & wall wear

Etsy: Valentine's Day #3

l 2 r: mod striped vintage dress - love thy vintage, couple on a vespa print - le papier designs, resting within fine art photo - the province of my mind

Etsy: Valentine's Day #2

l 2 r: greta red vintage pumps - which goose, nested pearl ring - lori yab

Etsy: Valentine's Day #1

l 2 r: personalized letter locket - m stevenson designs, crochet chenille newsboy hat - by rebekah with love, rescued wood valentine construction collage - dolan geiman

Introducing...Cookie and Parmesan

Okay, I admit it...I've been holding out on you.

If you've been reading the blog since July, you might remember that I posted about the loss of our friend, our cat Pepper. Shortly thereafter we made the decision to rescue another cat from the Oregon Humane Society, and adopted a beautiful tortoiseshell, Cookie Crisp. We call her, among her other nicknames, Cookie Monster, due to her insatiable love of kitty treats!



Cookie is as different from Pepper as a cat could be. This cat does NOT like open spaces, feet or sudden movements. Her first three weeks with us were spent hiding. Between the kitchen sink and the wall. Under my desk. Behind the sofa. Lots of patience, love and crunchy treats later, she's developed her own little ways of interacting and showing us some love. Most days we can easily locate her by checking her cozy bed tucked a few inches under our bed.



In October, we paid a visit to OHS and adopted yet another friend, Parmesan. In all ways that Cookie is shy, Parms is not. Lap cat? Check. Heat butts? Check. Kitty kisses? Check. Sleep on the bed, watch TV, run around the house like a wild thing? Check, check, check.




The best part is that within three days of her arrival, Parmesan and Cookie became friends and are now almost inseparable. Parmesan has brought Cookie out of her shell and they play, chase, tag-team the laser toy, share their food, groom one another, lounge in their kitty condo and at times I've even caught them sleeping in the same bed.

It's good to have the pitter-patter of little paws in our home again.

Lead Me On...takes me back

Thanks to a 30 second radio clip this morning...and a few clicks of the mouse across the Internet...we're going to enjoy Amy Grant in concert on Monday night! Amy's CD, Lead Me On was originally released in 1988. On June 24, 2008, Grant re-released the album in honor of its 20th Anniversary. The two-disc release includes the original album and a second disc with new acoustic recordings, live performances from 1989, and interviews with Amy. The current 20-city tour is a chance to celebrate and remember these wonderful songs.

"Watching people shed the years and remember the vibrancy and passion of a younger version of themselves is the only way I can describe the view from my vantage point [on the stage]. Looking back and remembering the best parts of our younger selves, less road weary and jaded, just might give us fresh inspiration for the next stage of life...which I believe, is the most important chapter yet." ~Amy Grant

Amy Facts

Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960 in Augusta, Georgia) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her Contemporary Christian music and pop music, and a New York Times Bestselling author, TV personality, and occasional actress.

Grant is considered by many to be one of the true pioneers of Gospel and Contemporary Christian music. She has had a strong influence on Gospel music and the Christian culture in the United States and beyond. She is the best-selling Christian music artist of all time, and is the 19th best-selling female solo artist in the United States. Grant has won six Grammy Awards, 21 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum. Heart in Motion is her best selling album, which has exceeded sales of 5 million. [1]

Amy Grant has been one of my favorite singers since age 9. Through listening to her lovely voice I learned I was also an alto. In middle school, I penned poems and songs of my own inspired by her albums. In our senior year of high school, my best girlfriend and I sang a duet of her version of "El Shaddai" at our church.

Since 1977, Amy's heart has always shone through her voice and her songs. I haven't seen Amy in concert since 1991 so this concert will be like visiting an old friend. I like to think of her as a girl, sitting on a stool on a stage, guitar in hand, singing about her faith in God, her family and friends, about herself, and most of all, about love.

The play list for this weekend is all Amy Grant. I've included a variety of Amy's best through-the-years...from 2008 all the way back to 1977. If you think you know who Amy Grant is because of the Top 40 Pop charts just know that there's much more to Amy than her radio singles, "Baby, Baby", "Every Heartbeat", or the Peter Cetera duet back in '86, "Next Time I Fall". If you're a fan then you're probably already turning your speakers up. If you're new to Amy, give her a listen and find a new voice to enjoy.

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

[1] Wikipedia article, 2008.

Photos displayed are copyright by various sources.

Text copyright (except as noted), pfeiffer photos 2008.

Inspiration Sunday

Beginning this week my mission is to find at least one person, place, thing or moment in my week that inspires me and pay my respects each Sunday in the blog. This being the first week of inspiration, I have chosen my husband's grandmother, Eline Goss...we call her "Grammy". Yesterday Grammy celebrated her 90th birthday, and that is an inspiration in and of itself!

Mrs. Eline Goss aka "Grammy", Christmas 2006

A more gracious woman I have yet to meet than Mrs. Eline Goss. A true southern belle, born in 1918 and raised on a dairy farm in South Carolina, she met and married her true love, John, in 1940. They lived and loved for over 50 years, raised their family and made many, many friends. John and Eline were world travelers and visited too many countries to count via plane, train and steam freighter over the years. Every time we visit with her we ask her to tell us the stories of all these places and she just laughs and gives us her best recollections.

John and Eline at the dedication of Goss Stadium, Oregon State University, 1998

Eline is a woman with wisdom and a generosity of spirit. When she asks me how I've been and what I've been doing, I know she really does want to hear my answers. She takes time, she listens, we don't feel rushed through our visits. We eat dessert. We have that second cup of coffee. Nobody checks their watch, we just enjoy each other's company. I can't say how truly refreshing this is in our day and age of this "everyone for him/herself", multitasking, double-booking, high octane, espresso coffee, drive-thru eating, one-stop shopping, ultra-fast data transmitting, Internet, TiVo, "Chatting", Instant Messages, Email, Blogging, MySpace, and Text Messaging world we all know.

Eline has two children, five grandchildren and 3.5 great-grandchildren as of this writing. She introduces me to her friends as her fourth granddaughter. Having only one set of grandparents (of which one has passed, the other is estranged), makes this adopted Grammy all the more dear to my heart.

Tina, Chris & Grammy at our wedding reception, December 2006

Ninety years is an inspiration more than worthy of any blog post, and I am honored to be able to make it the subject of mine.

(Grammy and great-grand kids, Aimee and Haley, 2008)

Happy Birthday, Grammy, we love you lots!

Photos displayed in this post are by Chris and Tina Pfeiffer, The Oregonian, and our wedding photos are by Nicole Wickens Photography, 2006.