Early Morning Ride

9/17/12

Trav had the morning off, and we needed to stop by our old neighborhood...so we decided to just go canning on our bikes. 

I always enjoy going canning with Trav on our bikes because I don't have to climb into the woods! Lately the woods have been scaring me--there are bugs, spider webs, and recently we've seen several SNAKES! So I just send Trav in there:) Unfortunately, Trav was bit twice by ants while getting cans today. **NOTE TO SELF: I must get some ant bite medicine and leave it in my basket for such occasions! 

Sometimes on our rides, Trav gives out points (kind of like when I give out gold stars during worship practice, and just like when Drew Carey gives out points on "Who's Line Is It Anyway"-- "The show where everything is made up, and the points {stars in my case} don't matter!"). This particular ride, I saw something shiny. I yelled out, "CAN!" Trav turned his bike around and asked where/what (sometimes he doesn't see what I see). I described the can as "crushed, green". He was so impressed that I saw this can from across the road while riding my bike and awarded me 10 points! 

A little down this same road, Trav yelled out "CAN!" I stopped and turned around to take a closer look near this area. I found nothing but saw something shiny way back near where we just rode past, right up against the road. I asked Trav if that was a can (and we could clearly see it was!!!). And get this--Trav said, "Minus 20 points!" WHAT???!! Why did he take away points? His answer was because I missed an "obvious" can. LOL! Funny that he didn't see it either:) 

You can see in this pic how far away this can was from us! Sometimes you see 'em...sometimes you don't! LOL!

We didn't do too bad for just riding around in our old neighborhood. We had a great time! 

Miles: 5.33
Bags: 1 and 2 ant bites
Points: -10 (better luck next time!)

A Trip We Love To Take

9/14/12

It's time again....to take a trip to the recycling center! We actually LOVE taking the cans in--its' so fun to see how many pounds we have {esp. if there is a guessing game between the Crew members}, and it's def. fun to cash in!!!

We received another email about the Cans4Christ trailer being FULL! So we stopped at the church to load up. 

We thought we would stop by and grab the collection bag in the FAC front office-- it was def. full:) 

This recycling center trip was a bit different--our friends/workers were unavailable to help unload. Trav had to do it all by himself the truck by himself (I am usually taking pics so I can't help!). 

Notice--- larger bags on the bottom! It really helps! Read about this idea HERE.

We are super happy with this trip. We just took two loads in six days ago!!! Keep collecting those cans!

Total pounds recycled today: 78

Total pounds recycled for C4C as of 9/14: 1,377 pounds!!!!! 

A Lonely Week

9/14/12

What a week! Monday night I had to can by myself (click HERE to read more)...and Thursday night/Friday morning was the same! I understand life gets busy, but I miss my "Canning Crew" members. 

I thought about the reasons why I love the crew while I went around on our route: 

1. I love getting together with my friends.
2. I love hearing about their day and talking about life.
3. I love laughing with my friends--and we laugh a lot while canning:)
4. I love the jokes/funnies that are created while canning--you just have to be there! FUN!
5. I love having extra eyes for random cans.
6. I love having extra hands for collecting.
7. I love that someone can hold the bag while two of us unload the recycling bin.
8. I love driving my friends around-- I do NOT love driving the truck (big vehicles scare me...but it's easier when I have more people with me! I don't realize how big it really is!).
9. I love taking photos of my friends and documenting our canning trips-- it's easier to take photos of others! 

Guess the saying is true: You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

I have a feeling the girls will be back with the Crew next week.... until then I'll keep canning and collecting by myself (or sometimes with Olsen!).

Here's a pic of the cans/bags I got tonight. Not bad for being alone:}

Canning Alone...or Not Really:)

9/10/12

After yesterday's worship and fun canning ride last night (read about it HERE), I was pumped to get together with some of my favorite "Canning Crew" members for our Monday regular route night! However, both gals declined my invite, which means that I'd have to go ALONE! 

**NOTE: Trav does not like it when I go out alone or in bad weather. So this made me get creative with who I could have go with me. 

• I decided that I would take Olsen with me--that means I'm not alone! Which in the end, Olsen wasn't much help. He sat in the truck and jumped back and forth from the front/back seats, and when I would get back into the truck, he would jump to the front and give me two or three kisses on my face. This slowed me down quite a bit, but I love when he goes with me. 
• And when I realized Olsen wasn't going to be much of a "canning partner", I decided to put the "Canning Advisor" {Daria} on the phone with me. Now I really wasn't alone:) We talked the entire time--it was so much fun! It was like she was literally there with me. LOVE it!!

OK--let me explain why I look so crazy in this photo! 

1. The hat--I had to take a picture for the blog...and I just happen to take this right after I took Olsen out for a potty break before we left. I didn't really wear the hat while canning! 
2. The fanny pack-- Since I knew I was going to be on the phone with Daria, I had to use my ear piece. But I need a place to put the phone while using this gadget. This fanny pack comes in real handy and it's the perfect size for my phone!!!!!!!
3. The socks/crocs-- ever since yesterday, I cannot feel my big right toe! It actually hurts to walk on it. Plus, my toes are always cold...so I put some socks on. Then I put on my crocs because they are comfortable. And there you have it--socks/crocs:)

Late Night Canning

9/9/12

We had a great day of worship today (Trav and I lead some of our favorite songs! Best worship we've had together!)!! It was a pretty lazy day after church--didn't think we would do much. But after our Sunday afternoon nap (usually 3 or 4 hours), we decided to go for a bike ride.

It was just Trav and I, but we had a great time. And we didn't do too bad for just biking around our neighborhood! 

**NOTE:: you might be wondering why my eyes look buggy in this photo...we biked about five miles and it was late. I asked Trav if we could take a picture even though I knew it was getting dark. He agreed but I could tell that he just wanted to get inside the house; so instead of taking five different shots, we only took ONE! And this is what we got! LOL!

Miles: about 5 (I actually forget the real total!)
Bags: 1

Trip #2

9/8/12 continued

Our first load (click HERE) was a huge success both in advice and new ideas, as well as the amount of cans we recycled. 

After unloading and cashing in, we headed back to the First Alliance parking lot to the Cans4Christ trailer. We heard it was getting kind of full and it needed to be collected. 

I have to say that I really enjoy unloading this trailer. We used to get upset with all the loose cans and when they got stuck in the back of the trailer (we couldn't reach them)...but we have implemented a great system of collecting and bagging as long as the WIND doesn't blow the bags around! **Unfortunately, I do not have any pics of this system. It was just Trav and I this time:)

I also will admit that I love going to the recycling center twice in one day--the guys there always look at us like we are silly! They look at me like I'm silly all the time anyway because I am the only one who takes pictures! LOL! I also like going twice because that means we will be able to give more to the church building fund!!! 

Total pounds recycled on our second trip today: 29

Total pounds recycled for C4C as of 9/8: 1,299 pounds!!!!! HOOOOOOOORAY! Super close to 1300 pounds!

Where'd These Cans Come From??? And A Few Suggestions:)

9/8/12

We apologize for the delay in posts this week! Sometimes canning or life take over and we get busy:)

Well, it's been a crazy week for Cans4Christ-- with missing more recycling routes (due to a holiday-- click HERE to read all about it). I thought we wouldn't have to have a crushing party or recycle anytime soon...but we seemed to have a LARGE load after this week. 

Q: Where did all of these cans come from?? 

A: I'm not sure! But I'm thankful for all of these donations and collections. 

We had five of these large bags plus many more little bags. Not sure if you remember all the trouble we've had with bags falling off while in transit (click HERE to see some of our stories)...well, this trip I wanted to try something different. I told Trav to: 

1. Load all of the small bags first- this would help in many ways! 
1. The heavy bags would help keep the bags in the truck while in route to the recycling center and
2. It's best to put the heavy bags of cans on the scale first at the recycling center (if not--lots of bags and loose cans fall all over the floor! It's a mess!). 
2. Put the straps on first before loading the bags--sometimes we forget and we have to reach down past five bags of cans to find the clasp. That isn't always easy! 

Small bags first! 

You can see the straps hanging from the side of the truck!

Trav is such a good husband--he followed along with my advice! There was only one flaw with my suggestions: the straps need to be on the same side! We ended up having to reach down and reclasp the straps because they wouldn't have been crisscrossed the way we started it. 

Q: Did these suggestions work? Was Sav correct?

A: YES!!!!!!!!!! We had great success traveling down to the center and unloading! And the straps worked well (after we switched them to being crisscrossed)!!! HOOOOOOOORAY:) 

We are super happy with our success! I was probably more excited because this means... I WAS RIGHT:) 

We didn't really guess this time around for total weight of recycled cans (mainly because I was focused on getting Trav to try my ideas-LOL)... 

Total pounds recycled today: 129

Total pounds recycled for C4C as of 9/8: 1,270 pounds!!!!! 

Monday Canceled Until Tuesday (again)

9/4/12

Yesterday was Labor Day! Which means the recycling schedule would be pushed back one day. Normally Monday is our Regular Route night....so I moved it to Tuesday night. 

I was super excited because Labor Day means more family gatherings and parties which means MORE CANS! This made me think that Monday (Tuesday) pick-ups could possibly have extra cans for collecting and Cans4Christ. 

Unfortunately, this is what I saw when I went on my route. 

Empty bins and streets! Everything was picked up from the recycling center just like any other week! I missed everyone's bags! LOL! Second week in a row {see THIS post}. 

All I can do is laugh:) 

Sunday Pick-Up and MORE Extended Canning Crew Members

9/2/12

After being gone for a week and missing several regular pick-ups because of the weather and recycling schedule changing, the Cans4Christ crew was SUPER excited to see what the C4C trailer had collected this week. **I wish I had got a picture of it before we started emptying it--it was packed FULL!!! THANK YOU!

After church, we met up with Canning Princess Tami and her husband. They offered to help empty the trailer. We said we would meet out there in a few minutes. Well....I'm a social butterfly and a few minutes turned into fifteen or more. As Trav and I finally made our way outside, we saw Jason and Tami already emptying the trailer! What a blessing--it's a tough job, especially when you are dressed up in your Sunday Best!!!! 

And while we were finishing up, several friends came over and dropped off their bags! Here's more of the "Extended Canning Crew"!!! 

This is Jim! We are so thankful for his full bag of cans--LOVE it! 

This is our young friend, Cooper. We found out that he enjoys going around the neighborhood picking up cans and asking neighbors on recycling day! Great job, Cooper! 

And this is Nicole. She has two bags this week!!!!!!!! HOOOOOORAY! Keep collecting those cans, Nicole;)

This collection of cans from the Cans4Christ trailer made my excitement grow! I have to admit that I was a bit sad that I didn't bring any cans home from vaca and that the storm this week caused us to miss our pick-ups....but God has shown me that He is in control and that many FAC members are wanting to help this ministry increase. God showed me that even when I cannot collect as many cans as I want....He will provide if I trust Him and give Him authority over it all. He also reminded me that these cans and this ministry are all about Him! This made me realize that even if we collect a small amount of cans...God will bless our offerings. I'm so thankful for these little lessons and blessings;)  

Canning While On Vacation

8/27-31/12 continued

Travis and I took a week vacation and left canning in our friends' hands! I was told that while on vacation I couldn't think of canning or ANYTHING to do with cans. OH MY! That was super hard! Especially since the first thing I saw while in Freeport, Bahamas was a.....CRUSHED CAN!!!!!!

Then while Trav and I were walking to the beach, we saw another can.

I love this photo--I'm not even pointing to the can! LOL!

And another! There were SOOOOOOO many behind that fence!

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to bring these cans back on the cruise boat:( Actually, we never tried to take them back on the boat--Trav wouldn't let me put the cans in our backpack. LOL!

So I gave up looking for cans since I knew I couldn't do anything about it. But I found ANOTHER can on the upper deck of the boat one night! LOL! 

I can't go on vacation from canning! I loooooooooove collecting cans and finding them everywhere:) 

Thanks to Kates and Tami for collecting this week while we were gone!!! We are so thankful for your help and dedication to the "canning crew" and C4C!!! 

Monday Canceled Until Tuesday

8/27/12 

Due to Tropical Storm Isaac.... Cans4Christ didn't complete the Monday Regular Route. **We do appreciate those of our friends/family/neighbors that left their cans out for us!! We apologize that we couldn't collect this week! 

Photo Credit

UPDATE:: Praise the Lord, this storm didn't "hit" our town/area!!! We did get some wind and rain, but nothing like a hurricane. Please pray for those in the path of this storm!

Also, the recycling schedule was a day off due to being closed for weather. So Cans4Christ went out on Tuesday to collect our Monday Regular Routes....only to find that everything had been picked up already! LOL! No worries! We will get everything next week:)

Extended Canning Crew

8/26/12 

Welcome to another edition of the "Extended Canning Crew"!!! Read THIS post for more details.

This week we received a photo of our friend Jay L. collecting cans and dropping them off at the Cans4Christ trailer on the First Alliance Church property! 

Jay's name is "Canning Jay"! And he def. delivered this week with two bags of cans;)

We love that you are having such a good time collecting cans, Jay & family!! Keep up the great work!!! 

If you would like to be a part of the "Extended Canning Crew", take some pictures of your family or yourself collecting cans, crushing cans, or dropping off cans at the C4C trailer and send them to {Cans4Christ at gmail dot com}. 

**Please include: names of all people in the picture, explain what you were doing and how much fun it was, as well as your email address.

Recycling Day With a Bag of Surprises

8/25/12 

It's that time again....we need to take in the bags of cans for recycling! We went to the C4C trailer and loaded up. 

 

I'm always afraid when we head to the recycling center--only because I don't want any of the bags to fall out on the busy road! Well.... on this trip we saw a FULL bag of cans in the middle of the road! So we stopped to get this bag (of course it was in the middle of the busiest road in Port Charlotte, FL {US41})! SURPRISE!!! And what a blessing! 

This was Kates' first time at the recycling center. She helped unload and pile up our collection. We also took guesses as to how many pounds we had....unfortunately, I forgot to write them down (so everyone is a winner this time! LOL!). 

This is where we turn in our receipt for money. Usually Trav does this, but he let me do it this time:)

Total pounds recycled today: 53
Total pounds recycled for C4C as of 8/25: 1,145 pounds!!!!! 

Extended Canning Crew

8/23/12 

This is our first edition of our "Extended Canning Crew"!!! Read THIS post for more details.

Thursdays are regular route nights....however, several members of the "canning crew" couldn't make it for rounds. So Tami had to go by herself. Her husband and little boy went along to help out.  Jacob, age 4, was so excited to go canning and sat up front in the truck so he could help out easily. Tami said that by the second house he was already zonked out! How cute!!!! Canning is hard work!!!! 

Thanks to Jason and Jacob for being a part of our "Extended Canning Crew"!!! And thanks to Tami for doing the route for us! 

If you would like to be a part of the "Extended Canning Crew", take some pictures of your family or yourself collecting cans, crushing cans, or dropping off cans at the C4C trailer and send them to {Cans4Christ at gmail dot com}. 

**Please include: names of all people in the picture, explain what you were doing and how much fun it was, as well as your email address.

Crafting and Canning {again}

8/22/12 

Hello friends! 

We ran out of thank-you cards and postcards so we had to take a break from canning to make more:) 

Kates stamped and created 20 thank you cards tonight! LOVE it!

Cans4Christ thinks it's super important to say "thank you" to those who donate cans on a weekly basis. 

• We know you don't have to separate your cans and save them for C4C! 
• We know it's a messy job! 
• We know you are giving your time and items to C4C and First Alliance Church in Port Charlotte....and we are THANKFUL! 

Be sure to check out our NEW Facebook page {HERE}!!! 

Cans4Christ and Facebook

8/21/12 

Hello friends! 

It's official--Cans4Christ has a Facebook page!!!!!!!!! Our FB page will include current blog post information, extra details about what C4C is doing/etc., as well as updates.  

Be sure to check us out HERE and become a fan by "liking" our page! 

Instructions for "liking" Cans4Christ on FB: 

1. Click HERE for the C4C page (log into FB to see our page or create a free FB account HERE). 

2. Click the "LIKE" button **see photo below.

3. Share our page (HERE) with all of your friends:)

You can also follow our blog by email. Enter your email address in the box on the right sidebar. This will keep you up-to-date on new posts and information from Cans4Christ. 

Monday Night....

8/20/12 continued

Regular Route!!!!!!!!! **I know you were thinking Monday Night Football:)

Tonight was our regular route night, and Kates and I decided to get our dogs together beforehand for a "doggie date" and walk. Swisher and Olsen are good friends! While walking, we saw a neighbor watering his yard, and Swisher had a good time playing in the water. 

Olsen didn't seem interested! LOL! He didn't even want to try getting wet. Silly pup:)

Next-- the regular route! It was a normal pick-up night except I had a "phone date" at 7pm with my little niece. **We usually start pick-up at 6:40pm. So this would be in the middle of canning, but this phone call was soooooooo important! My niece wanted to tell me about her first days of Kindergarten! My conversation with my niece was quick because she kept asking me why I wasn't coming to her house (five states away)--LOL! So my brother, Leander, got on the phone. He commented about how he loves reading our blog, Cans4Christ!!! 

Here's a pic of me talking to Leander. 

HOOOOOORAY! People all over the world are reading our blog!!! It was great to hear about his support for C4C!!! Maybe I can get Leander and his family to go canning with us when they visit us:)