Nostalgia

I'm drowning in a small puddle of nostalgia today. Do you remember those days of simpler times when wooden blocks would entertain for hours and British male royalty had precedence over females in the monarchy? Sigh. Me too. Those are the days lived out peacefully on the farm making all your food from scratch and the British monarch was banned from marrying a Roman Catholic as the head of the Church of England. Yes, they were truly good times, remembered fondly by onlookers around the world, commonwealth and ex-commonwealth alike. Prices weren't extortionate most of the time. Oil prices weren't even a factor. And people had to ask their parents' permission to marry, just as the Royal Family had to ask the monarch's permission to marry. It's honestly like comparing the Frank Sinatra/ Dean Martin era to the Lady Gaga/ Bieber crazed world today.

I'm totally revealing my age here, but I equate owning puppies/kittens/fish/birds to skipping in a field of daisies. The domesticated animals just aren't enough anymore. According to BBC News, the US has a greater number of tigers caged up than Asia has roaming around wild. Backyards and sanctuaries are nothing without a chimpanzee, tiger, or lion. Didn't you know that? Get with the times! It's the new thing! Good news- you can get a baby chimpanzee for about $50,000 or £31,195. However, much like your vehicle, it will depreciate in value as adult chimpanzees are of no value because they're so dangerous.

So kick back and join me in fully submerging yourself in nostalgia. These are the good ole days.





http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15492607
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15475636

Ghosts and Halloween

Now more than ever, holidays have been evolving into being about candy and food. For the non-Christian holidays, I say more power to you. St. Patrick's Day and Halloween are certainly allowed to be about candy. Awesome. Dress up and eat candy. If your metabolism can tolerate the shocking inrush of candy and your psyche can handle the sugar-induced drop, feel free to bombard your body with delectable treats.

Another cute aspect of Halloween is dressing up. I have a cousin who is dressing her little girl up as a purple crayon. Absolutely adorable. I have coworkers who are dressing their babies as cats, cows, and frogs. It's truly cheek-pinching worthy when you see those cute little faces. Oh and let's not forget the tortured pet dress up. Whoever came up with that idea has to be a millionaire by now.

However, one of my least favorite parts of Halloween is the ghost part. I believe in demons and angels. But I have no reason to believe in ghosts from purely a scriptural standpoint, although I'm sure I can be debated on that. I have heard story after story this year about haunted places where beds shake in the middle of the night or people who have audio of ghosts talking (although I'm unsure as to whether it was sounds the wind was making or maybe their air conditioning.) Even stories of mediums who accurately depict a secret family story from "the other side" to very skeptical families have popped up.

I want to hear your opinion for no other reason than the topic interests me. Do you think demons are taking on forms from people's past just to mess with the living? Do you think ghosts really exist? Or are most of the people probably just making their stories up?

Leave your comment below under Anonymous if you don't already have an account.

Update on My Goal

Remember back at the beginning of the year when I said my goal of the year was to save at least half of what I spend on groceries/ household items? Well I checked up on myself Saturday and calculated my totals.

So far (that I've documented) I've saved $1441.67 with coupons and sales. I was pumped to hear that number. Hey- I'm happy with it. To put it in perspective, I paid for a couch and a set of new tires with the money I saved!

Excitedly I told Jack what the number was and before he even celebrated, he said "Well, how much did you spend?" Psh. That doesn't even matter. Why do men have to be so practical?!?!? So I calculated my total average spent a month and it's $285. My goal was $250 a month but with visitors and rising prices, I'm happy with what I've done. Especially considering that I take Jack to the store with me sometimes. He destroys any food budget by liberally adding extras to the cart.

I realize this isn't a coupon site, but I just wanted to mention that coupons are money and you never know how much you'll save. And if you don't think that couponing is worth your time, what would you do to save yourself almost $1500 a year?

Check out this great MSN video: 10 Fascinating Sealed Documents

Check out this great MSN video: 10 Fascinating Sealed Documents

Theme Parks Aren't Really All That Bad

I have not been to a theme park since I was a young teenager (probably over 10 yrs ago.) I never really saw the point. But for the first time since reaching adulthood, I went into 6 Flags with some memories in tow.

1) cigarette smoke + fried food smell = theme park smell
2) the park is unbelievably difficult to navigate even with a map
3) I don't like the feeling of coming out of my seat
4) If you don't have the right group of friends, it's not so fun
5) $20 for food doesn't stretch far

Going back as an adult I felt like I had an advantage.

1) I had Jack as constant company (in addition to other fun people!)
2) I knew what to take and what not to take (hats, sunglasses, etc)
3) We had more money than $20 to spend on food
4) We had very few expectations regarding the rides, because we hadn't been in so long

We went to Fright Fest which is supposed to be terrifying, but wasn't- disappointingly so. And a few things had changed. I was really surprised at how few people were smoking. There was no smoking in lines so that changed A LOT. However, the fried food smell was unchanged. We were on our way up the tallest coaster in the park and my friend next to me said "Even from over 80 ft in the air you can still smell the fried food" which was completely true. We didn't have much time to chat about it after that because we were plunged at cheek-jiggling, eye-watering speed toward the ground. But that's part of the charm I suppose. I was also surprised at how many times people in our group said, "That's it? That was such a short ride!" When you're a kid, the rides draaggg on, especially the bad ones.

I have to admit that I freaked out a little for one ride. I built it up in my mind so badly that my stomach hurt and my head was light as we rode it. It was awful! However, when we got off, it wasn't so bad! Check out the picture.

Who wouldn't freak out at straight up and straight down with only a little seat belt for safety? Uhh.. Jack. The guy is an adrenaline junkie. Anything that is free-falling or steep drops... he's all about it. I did well the rest of the day. My favorite rides are the ones with the harness that comes over your shoulders. I'll go on almost anything if it has a harness over your shoulders. As an adult, I thought the safety harness checkers didn't seem to take enough time checking. More than once, I asked if I was secure enough. It's not a race to see who can finish first! Maybe that was part of the Fright Fest feeling. We did a few old-school wooden rides and I swear we were going to fall out of the sky. I'm not sure how people enjoyed roller coasters before they were metal, because the ones we went on were neck-jarring, fling you out of your seat in a very painful way quality. These rides made for lots of laughter and white knuckles but over all, I felt like coming off the rides I needed to see a chiropractor.

So here's a summation of the lessons learned:
1) The fences on the exit ramps are to keep you from falling over after you get off the rides. I probably walked into 5 or 6 fences out of about 11 rides.
2) You can conquer your fear. It's probably just built up in your mind anyway.
3) Don't eat toward the end of the day. They'll have run out of food.
4) Don't eat and then go on a wooden roller coaster. You might see your food again.
5) Theme parks are so much more fun when you're married.
6) Leaving my cell phone in a locker was a very freeing experience. The world did not fall apart without me. In fact, I missed 0 calls. (Eh hem...I blame all of you for that!)
7) It's kinda comforting to see cart after cart of people on rides come back with no one missing. It makes your odds better. However, I'm going to invent a park where the cart drops you off a hundred yards from the entrance point and comes back empty. =) How freaky is that!
8) Sometimes having pre-conceived expectations is a huge downer. Save yourself the trouble and just try to have a great time.

Celebrities and their Political Involvement

There's a surprisingly large number of people in our country who I am completely against being involved in politics no matter their political opinion. That group of people is celebrities like actors, actresses, athletes, and musicians. An example of celebrities who shouldn't be in politics- Arnold Schwarzenegger being governor. A special circumstance would be Ronald Reagan being president.

I honestly think that celebrities have enough to handle with their career and keeping their noses clean that politics does not need to be involved. Some celebrities can't even keep it together on their own much less in politics. Cue sad Schwarzenegger story.

What brought this up? A BBC News article about George Clooney running for president and a headline about rumors of Ellen DeGeneres running for California governor (which thankfully are just rumors). When I saw these headlines, I groaned out loud. But I took the bait and read the article about Clooney which you can find here.

With great relief I found that he holds a similar opinion to mine. He said that he would rather sit on the political sidelines and work from there to which I loudly applaud.

"I am able to dip my toe into issues involved in politics, like in Sudan or Darfur. Where I can have some involvement then I'm happy to do it, and I don't have to compromise as a politician."

Celebrities have the unique opportunity to influence millions across the world. We don't need them in politics just because they are influential. We need them sitting on the political sidelines calling out the politicians on problems and keeping them straight because celebrities are influential enough to do so. Celebrities need to do as Clooney suggested with getting involved with international issues without compromising politics. Actors need to stick to making money for their acting and when you bring Washington politics into your acting, you're sure to lose popularity instantly.

What's your opinion? Which celebrity do you think would be a special exception like Reagan?

Unbelievable Facts About Women and Their Hair

I just found this unbelievable article from a UK magazine on women and their hair. I can hear men checking out right now. Men, you want to read the rest of this blog. You can find the article here. Here are some questions for you before I give you the crazy facts.

What is the average amount of money a woman spends on her hair in her lifetime?
What is the total amount of TIME in her lifetime that a woman spends on her hair?
What percentage of women prefer straight hair to curls?

Got your answers?

According to the article, "The average British woman spends an astonishing £36,903.75 on her hair in a lifetime." Don't worry Americans. I did the math for you. It's $58,090.34, according to today's conversion rate. Let's break that down. If you lived 85 yrs (which is a lowball number), you would be spending $683 a year on your hair or 434 pound sterling.

An accumulative of two years of a woman's life is spent doing everything from washing to coloring to crimping or straightening the hair.

Ten pounds (or almost $16) is spent monthly on shampoo and conditioner while hair styling consumes 14 pounds ($22)

According to research, "over two thirds of women prefer straight hair to a head of curls and 48 per cent of those polled regularly try to achieve poker-straight hair."

This next part is awesome. Research shows that "Brunette is the hair colour most favoured by 43 per cent of women, 33 per cent would like to be blonde, whilst 12 per cent strive to be redheads."

After reading this, I think my husband has a LOT to be thankful for since I am well under the average on most of those statistics.

City Boy?

Hilarious!

If David Said It..

It's hard to wish your enemies well. It's hard to love them and want the best for them. Sometimes you just want to ask God to send fire from heaven down on the jerks. You know it's true. But guess what. There's a passage in the Bible where the psalm writer does just that (Psalm 109). So it can't be that un-biblical. I was so surprised when I read this in the NIV about the strength of the language that I laughed and read it to Jack. Although I'm sure it doesn't merit a surprised laugh, it certainly does make me want to memorize it for the next time someone is a jerk to me! ;p Just kidding.

6 Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.
8 May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven[a] from their ruined homes.
11 May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12 May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;
may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 May their sins always remain before the LORD,
that he may blot out their name from the earth.

16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17 He loved to pronounce a curse—
may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
may it be far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied forever around him.
20 May this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me.

The Real Meaning of "Meeting"

I learned the concept of a "meeting" when I was very young. Meetings are what took Dad away on trips or what Mom had to attend in the mornings which meant we had to be at school super early. Meetings happened at church, at school, at restaurants, and at offices. Meetings were mandatory. Meetings were business.

Not until I got to college did I learn the importance of the word "meeting." In college, I was in student leadership. The schedule for my illustrious position wasn't always freakishly demanding but more often than not, it included top secret topics I couldn't talk about to other students or thrilling activities that were too difficult to explain to civilians when I was scheduling. So I quickly learned that the word "meeting" is all-encompassing. "Meetings" could be parties, paper consultations with professors, studying with a friend for a test, hanging out for some one-on-one time, or actual brainstorming gatherings. Best of all, I discovered a "meeting" was a free, no-questions-asked pass (even with siblings, really close friends, or my boyfriend) to do whatever it is I had to do with whomever I wanted. I had a new-found freedom.

With this freedom, I began to suspect others of the same liberty I had been taking. And you'd never believe what I found... other people were doing the same thing as me. Teachers, friends, dormitory leadership. At college, meeting was a buzz word that made everyone assume business no matter what the topic was. Man, had I been missing out. I found out that often Dad's meetings were 7 AM tee times with some buddies. Or lunch scheduled with a friend. AAAHHHHH. Friends were having meetings with other friends or parties. Meeting no longer meant business. It just suggested a commitment to someone to be somewhere.

Some of the first few times I told family or friends I had meetings they would ask what it was for or what it was about. At that time, I actually had regular, shop-talk type meetings and soon they lost interest and quit asking. However, as the school year ramped up and I got 100X more work loaded on me, I began to have an unbelievable amount of "meetings." I tried to keep my meaning of meeting strictly business. However, occasionally it diverted from the original course. (Another thing I found out is that the word "meeting" also means "none of your business.")

However, this all backfired on me recently when I had a lunch commitment to someone and I had to leave earlier than usual for lunch. I told them I had a lunch meeting. And then he said, "It's not a job interview, is it?" In his mind, I didn't have a work-related reason for a meeting so it must be something else. Unfortunately, I was also dressed in pretty dressy clothes. I made sure my boss knew I was happy and not searching for another job. But I've learned my lesson.

Never wear dressy clothes on days that you have a lunch meeting that you have to tell your boss about. You just don't need those kinds of suspicions.

Mountain Biker + Full-sized Animal

My mountain biker friends have lots to be thankful for that this has never happened to them! Always be sure to watch out for large animals headed toward you...

How School Feels

This was me at school sometimes. I stole this from my university German teacher. Danke Frau Hansen.

A Spirit of Excellence

Our pastor has been doing this series called Unusual for the past few weeks. It's taking a look an assortment of Bible characters' lives. These past two weeks there's been an incredible emphasis on being excellent where you are. Our pastor mentioned that a lot of people are in undesirable circumstances right now, a place in life you never really dreamed about or ever wanted to be in. But still, in these places God wants excellence from us which is easy to say but often very difficult to do.

You've heard of Daniel in the lion's den. He and some other guys were chosen to serve the king of Babylon after their country was taken over. They chose to eat their diet of vegetables and water instead of the king's meat and wine. They chose to worship God instead of idols etc. There were repercussions along the way, but they became some of the top tiers in the Babylonian leadership. Just because they were working for a government that took over their country didn't mean these guys were half-hearted.

Another amazing thought is that God loves your work. He's not just happy with church-related activities. He loves that you excel at car sales or scientific research. He's delighted that you love working with computers or children. We tend to think that God likes when we prepare for Bible study instead of work. Or when we blog instead of doing data entry. Or when we listen to a sermon instead of the sales call we're on.

Honestly, what delights God the most is when we are 100% all in no matter where we are or what we're doing. It's tempting to think that it doesn't matter if we are average at something because we're still Christians. We're still God's people. I thought this a lot at school. "Eh, I know I'm not doing amazing a X, but at least have an A in Bible class." God doesn't want half-hearted, average followers. He wants His children to be the best CEO, construction worker, nanny, or student they can be. If Jesus were at work, would he really listen to a sermon when he wasn't supposed to? He'd be all there. Working 8:30- 5:30 even if it wasn't His favorite job. So there's our challenge for the week. Because we carry the name of Christ, be the best teller, the best cleaning lady, the best administrative assistant, the best mailman, the best mom, the best NFL player, the best prime minister that you can be with God's help and make God famous through your life.

Living With Gusto

Sometimes I wish I lived life with as much gusto as my puppy. She will sit and stare at something or someone for a little bit. Then with no warning, she'll stand up, lift her head a little, and charge full force at what she was looking at. Usually, this ends with head-butting Blade's side, face-planting into the couch, or body-slamming a baby gate that she wants to be on the other side of. The point is not the inevitable outcome. It's the fact that she consistently tries the same approach with all her speed and muscle and all the determination in the world that her goal will be achieved this time.

I was reading some of Steve Jobs speeches this morning as I am sure everyone has done since his passing yesterday. And I think this is my favorite paragraph from his Stanford commencement speech in 2005.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

In the end of his speech, he encourages everyone to "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." The meaning took me a few seconds, but I think I've got it figured out. If I stay hungry, I won't ever settle or become complacent. If I stay foolish, I'll keep learning. That's what I want... to keep trying and to keep learning.

Hearing For the First Time

I cannot imagine what living in a silent world would be like. I have many deaf friends. I also have many deaf friends who want their children to be deaf too. The community of the deaf have their own rules and their own culture. But can you imagine never hearing sound? And then... you do? Wow.

Here is a 29 yr old who can hear for the first time. I cannot imagine the excitement.




Here is a 9 month old boy who gets the same privilege. So great!!!

It's Just the Right Thing To Do

There's an ad campaign from Carmax that says "Why treat your customers so well? It's just the right thing to do." And that slogan has been in my head all weekend.

Friday night we parked our car in the evening. Saturday morning Jack and I went to our car to go to a shooting range and test out a few handguns to keep at home. When I got in my side of the car, I noticed a few things missing and something that's usually in the glove compartment was now on the floor. I didn't want to believe it. But we couldn't find it anywhere. Our car had been robbed. Immediately, Jack called the police and I called our front office. No one else had reported a break-in.

The cop came and we gave him details etc. He was just about to get in his car to leave when 2 cars pulled up and rolled down their windows.

"Did your car get broken in to?" the lady asked out the window.

We replied yes.

"Well, there's a man we just spoke to that saw the whole thing. He was warning us to keep our car doors locked because there was someone snooping around last night."

I had two reactions. My first was that we had caught a break. And my second was....WHAT?!?!? Here's where I still remain baffled. Apparently this thief was wandering around the parking lot and the witness stood by a bush and watched the whole thing! Now, I'm fairly certain cell phones are meant to be mobile. Even if they weren't, calling the cops would not be that difficult. Despite the fact that the man watched the whole thing, he didn't have any clear details. No license plate number or car description. This guy could NOT have carried all the stuff he took without a car. We can understand not calling the guy out because he could have been armed, but at least calling the cops would have been good.

Sure you may think we were retarded for leaving electronics in our car. However, we hid them and we live in a secure place that has on-site security. Hm.. guess that security isn't so effective, eh?

So we went to the shooting range, and guess what. We've got some pretty wicked aim. We have our targets sitting in the back seat. I'm tempted to write on them "Touch our car and this could be you." However, I'm not sure that's a good idea.

Why report a crime you're witnessing? It's just the right thing to do.