My friend just had her baby!! Woohoo! Sophia Marie Smith was born last night at 12:54 am, weighing 6.72 pounds. Alyssa had no complications, which is such an answer to prayer. I'll post a photo as soon as I get one. Sucks I can't be there!
Ever heard a song, quote, or verse a thousand times but never really soaked it in? I've heard the song "O Love that will not let me go" so many times, played it, and led it in worship. But it wasn't till I was zoning out at work last week, cooking for a few hundred in a REALLY fowl mood (seems to be a trend lately)...that I started singing this song in my head. And for some reason I only sang "O joy that seekest me through pain".
What struck me about this sentence was how it was worded. How the joy seeks ME. I don't seek the joy. Almost like when I don't feel like seeking God, HE seeks ME. How incredible is that! Who are WE to be sought after by the Almighty Father?! And yet He loves us to no end.
So then I pulled up the song lyrics and though even though all of the lyrics are great, the first line of every verse is amazing. Listen, and allow me to capitalize some words:
O Love that WILL NOT LET ME GO...
O light that FOLLOWEST all MY way...
O Joy that SEEKEST ME through pain...
O Cross that LIFTEST up MY head...
I honestly get choked up when I read this. The idea of the Lord pursuing ME...not letting me go...following me...seeking me...lifting up my head... This idea of the Lord being a personal, intimate and loving God. It reminds me of the verse, "I will never leave you or forsake you", one of my favorite verses in Scriptures.
What kinds of songs or verses that you know make your soul warm?
Friends, I invite you to see my favorite place in North Carolina. This is where I've worked for 3 years, moved away, came back, and have been working since I've been back in North Carolina. This has been my place of sanity and of friends- it's been a place that has changed my life, from the very first day I started work until now. I was a counselor for those 3 years, working mostly year-round as well as in summer camp, fulfilling "normal" counselor duties as well as low ropes course, some high ropes course, kayaking, horse back riding, environmental education, initiative games, rock climbing and white water rafting, backpacking, tent camping, etc.
Since I've been back this year I have mostly been one of the cooks since I couldn't dedicate enough time or mental effort into being a counselor. Even though it's an unglamorous and dirty job, it has even taught me a lot about not only myself, but more about the camp and what we believe. Even in the kitchen we believe in eating as much fresh, local, healthy food as possible. We believe in using food scraps to feed other animals, like our pigs, goats, and even our worms! Yes, I grind up compostable scraps in the blender for our worms. We believe in being a steward of the land and of our bodies! We are even starting to grow a substantial amount of the food that we serve. In every aspect of camp we strive to serve God. I can't say enough good things about this place. (www.campchestnutridge.org)
Anyway, here's a link to some videos that they've made over the summer. It gives you a pretty good look into what camp life is all about!
- Click on Summer Camp 08'
- then Weekly Videos
http://www.campchestnutridge.org/index.php?option=com_expose&Itemid=109
So I went to a beer festival tonight. It had over 160 beers available, though I only had time to taste about 40 of them. 40 sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but I had about a shot or so of each one so I didn't get too much. Below is a list of what I drank in order of what I liked the best with my rating next to it if you're interested...yes, I took notes like a nerd. I almost didn't get in because it was sold out online- so I had to stand outside the gates with my finger in the air, hoping someone could sell me their extra ticket. After like 20 minutes I finally found someone- and it was a bit pricey, but I'm glad I was able to experience so many different types of beer. I feel a bit more cultured :)
It was an interesting environment, to say the least. At times it felt like a phrat party because of all the condoms that people had blown up like balloons and the obnoxious college kids. We were given a tasting glass that was bigger than a shot glass, smaller than a regular glass. People kept dropping them on accident, so my favorite part of the atmosphere was when people would drop them it would shatter on the floor and everyone in the stadium (thousands of people!) would scream and shout at one time and point at the person who dropped it. Funny stuff.
- Frankiskaner Weissber - 5+ (this one was great, a faint clove/ginger aftertaste)
- Ace Perry Cider - 5+ (sweet, but fabulous)
- Woodchuck - Red Apple Ale - 5+ (sweet and perfect, makes me want the fall)
- Starr Hill - The Love - 5+ (refreshing clove aftertaste)
- Hoegarden - 5+ (very freshing and unique)
- Milk Stout - 5+ (dark ale, with almost a slight hint of nutty/coffee almost, very smooth)
- Bell's Oberon Ale - 5
- The Poet - 5
- Leinenkugel's Honey - 5
- St. Pauli's - Dark Ale - 5
- Dogfish Head - Festina Peche - 5 (fabulous!)
- Liberty Steakhouse - Blackberry wheat - 5
- Saranac Pomegranate - 4.5
- Urfass - 4.5
- Woodchuck - Pear - 4.5
- Boddingtons - 4.5 (very smooth, not too fizzy)
- Shock Top - 4.5
- Highland - Cattail Peak Wheat - 4.5 (very nice)
- Saranac Pumpkin - 4 (would be great on a fall day)
- Thomas Creek - Vanilla Pale Ale - 4
- Redbridge - 4
- Allagash - 4 (very interesting and unique flavor)
- Tarrapin Golden - 4
- Fokkers - 3.5
- Mendecino - Eye of the Hawk - 3.5
- Red Oak - Battlefield Dark - 3.5
- Highland - Oatmeal Stout - 3.5
- Flying Dog - Horn Dog Barley - 3
- French Broad - Gateway Kolsch - 3
- Carolina Blonde - 3 (too hopsy)
- Leinenkugel's Berry - 3 (too sweet)
- Twisted Tea - 3 (too sweet)
- White Wolf - 2.5
- Duck Rabbit - Milk Stout - 2.5
- Rocket Girl - 2
- Seigneviale - 2 (too malty)
- Dale's Pale Ale - (nasty!!!)
- Salvation - 1
- Chocolate Stout - 1
I have a rhetorical question to ask you, as I sincerely want your opinion. (Mind you, if I don't like your opinion, I may choose to disregard it...ha!)
I've seen a trend in the home cooking world of women and men who are afraid to cook because they either don't have a recipe, don't like using recipes, hate following recipes, or don't have everything in a recipe they need. I mostly see that people just don't want to go through the hassle of cooking because they don't even want to bother with them.
I hate recipes. Well... okay, they're useful for some things, like baking. In baking you have to be precise and use perfect measurements because once it goes in the oven it better be right.
But there are so many types of dishes out there that simply don't require recipes. These are the things I love to cook because it allows culinary and artistic freedom. But not everyone likes, wants, or has enough confidence in their cooking skills to do this.
So here's your question: what do you think about a "cook book" that has no recipes in it? Let me explain. A book designed to teach people how to cook without recipes- to not be dependent on recipes- to use their brain, and with a little guidance and advice, make dishes on your own. Maybe have a list of ingredients, explain things about the dish- what kind of consistency it should have, basic cooking techniques, you know... but leaving the portions and stuff out of it. To me, this is what cooking is all about, using your brain and being creative according to your own preferences because most dishes don't need a recipe.
I don't know if I'm explaining myself well. But imagine the book being professionally published with slick photography of all the food on each page- and even pictures of the dish as it's being put together.
Do you think this is ridiculously stupid, or do you think it has any potential to be cool? Is this relevant to both clueless wives and mothers who don't know how to cook, singles who hate to cook, and recipe-dependent cooks?....or is it just silliness?
It's 3 a.m. and I'm wide awake. What's up with that? This is the 3rd night in a row I couldn't get to sleep. What amazes me is that I'm so tired and beat down during the day but when it's time to sleep I'm awake!
Unfortunately my mind is just going a mile a minute sometimes. I've been having a hard time lately- I guess in the past few weeks. It comes and goes. I just walk around mad all day, with shot nerves and a hasty temper. I dropped a container of black beans (CRAP I just forgot I never cleaned that up) in the walk-in fridge at work today, and in the other hand I had a perfectly round white onion, resembling a baseball, that was just screaming to be thrown and smashed against the wall. But you'd be proud- I just took a breath and kept working on getting the meal on. Come to think of it, I've been wanting to throw a lot of things lately. I guess it's more like feeling like I've been on the verge of tears/a breakdown for long time. I hate that feeling! Gosh! Part of me is so incredibly tired of breathing/dreaming/working on raise support. It's exhausting. I keep thinking, "Okay God, I've learned my lesson, I get it- now can I go?" and maybe that attitude is exactly why I'm not there yet. Who knows. A while back my preacher said something in his sermon that struck me. In a sermon about love (it was a GREAT series, btw), he said, "God just wants us to cry out for Him!". I've been thinking about that off and on since he said it makes me want to just stop and cry out for Him instead of trying to be independent and strong. I have no point to prove with Him, and I don't need to impress Him. Yet, I wonder why it's so hard for us stubborn humans to do this?
Random note: I just found out Bernie Mac died- that really sucks...but on the other hand, it's not fair for me to get too bent out of shape about it when thousands of people die every day around the world.
Anyway, I'm going to to go try and force my eyelids shut now. Peace out dawgs.
Any of you ever watch Good Eats with Alton Brown? One of my favorite cooking shows- tell you why later. One night I was watching the show and he used a door knob and piece of string for something. He tied one end to one of the holes, and the other end to the other hole. I think it might have been with meat?? I don't know. But I'm racking my brain trying to remember what the heck he used that for. I know it's a long shot, but do you any of you know what he could have used that for, or have seen that episode? Haha.. Google couldn't help me.
Have you ever had a song in your head for 10 years? No, that's crazy, right? Am I the only one who has? It's not in my head ALL the time... but I'm not exaggerating that I have sung this song to myself since 1998. Pras, ODB and Mya did this song called Ghetto Superstar and it's so stinking catchy, that it's the only song that has ever been fumbling around up there for this long.
And I found this band I kinda like- http://www.myspace.com/stars.
Ya know, people can say what they want about hymns- how they don't evoke emotion and they're dull.... but how many modern praise songs that you know of are as lyrically rich and thoughtful as hymns like Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended and others like it? When we were singing this in church the other day, I kept thinking how cool this would sound if someone performed it like spoken word.
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.
Who was the guilty? who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee:
I crucified thee.
Lo, the good Shepherd for the sheep is offered:
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered:
For man's atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.
For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation:
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.
Another pet peeve I've run into lately: When I'm having a conversation with someone and they're telling a story about something and they spend half of the time trying to remember details of the story that are not important, whatsoever. And I sit there not knowing whether I should help them try to remember the stupid unimportant detail or change the subject or just be silent. And I don't want to interrupt them and say "I really don't care about that particular detail because it doesn't have any significance in the story!" but I don't want to be rude either.
To illustrate my point I will make up a conversation...
"Ande! You wouldn't believe what just happened to me!"
"What happened?"
"Well I was driving down the highway, it was like 3 o'clock..or was it 3:05....maybe more like 3:02 because I drove past the bank and saw the sign with the time on it a few minutes before and it was 2:59. What bank was that? Wachovia? No it must be 1st South Bank. I'm not sure but it was sometime around 3:02 and I was driving down the highway and this huge red truck came up beside me. Well actually it was more like a purple than a red, but in the light it looked red but in the shadows it looked purple. I wonder how much a paint job like that costs? I need a paint job on my car cause I scratched it last week when I scraped up against a tree- not sure if it was oak or a magnolia tree though. So this red/purple truck drove up beside me and threw a huge take-out bag of food out their window from....hmmm what restaurant was that from? I want to say McDonald's because I saw the red and yellow but then again, Burger King has red and yellow on their bag too so I'm really not sure where the bag was a from, but I know it was from a burger place because when the bag went out the window it fell on my windshield and I definitely saw some scraps of beef on my window that looked like a hamburger. But actually....."
I could keep going but I'm sure by now you're getting my point. Does this annoy the poo out of anyone else but me?
Ande's Peanut Butter Cookies of Peace and Goodness
2 Sticks UNsalted butter
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 cup Peanut butter
2 cups Flour
1 t. Baking soda
1 1/2 cup Dark (or milk) chocolate chips
1 cup White chocolate chips
1 cup Peanut butter chips
1/2 cup Toffee chips
1 1/2 cups Crushed peanuts
Preheat oven to 350*. In a bowl, cream together butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar and peanut butter. Add flour and soda, and fold ingredients together with a spoon. Add all chips and peanuts. (Add or subtract whatever type and quantity chips you prefer). Spoon onto greased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the tops become slightly golden brown. Don't overcook! Eat warm with a hearty glass of cold milk. Repeat.
For those of you who don't know, this is my step-sister Renee and she entered the U.S. Navy earlier this year. She graduated from boot camp and is now in A-School. After school she's going to be transferred to wherever the Navy needs her. She wanted to be in Russian translation but it's looking like that probably won't happen because of some unforeseeable events.
I just got this picture of her and I think it accurately represents her mood right now. She called me last night saying how much bullcrap she's going through every day. The people are hard to deal with because they keep making new restrictions and rules because the sailors keep getting into trouble. This, among other things, made her try to quit yesterday....but they wouldn't let her! So she has to stay in for a while.
Please pray for her endurance and patience! She needs to stay in, and as hard as it is, it's really good for her. There's a slight possibility that she'd get stationed in Italy (not likely), but if she does, I have to find a way to go see her while in SK somehow....even if I have to sneak out in the middle of the night ;)
Recently I've been reminded of 3 particular pet peeves because I've been faced with people who have annoyed the fire out of me lately. So for future reference, these things annoy me:
*When people say I'm doing something for attention...especially when they said it in front of other people, 'cause no matter what I say I look stupid. Don't assume that crap, I hate it!
*When I get upset about something and people are all like, "HEY, WHOA, RELAX. BREATHE. YOU'RE OH-KAY. Just CALM DOWN" or whatever. Ugh that annoys me, I just want to slap their face. Don't say that stuff unless I'm throwing puppies or hyperventilating, ok?
*I'm extraordinarily annoyed when people can't stop talking for hours at a time... if I can count 5 seconds or less between sentences (and I'm not even engaged in the conversation at all) for more than 10 minutes and we're not talking about something deep, and you're just trying to think of random crap to say to fill the void, stop, please. I am so exhausted after hanging out with people like that. I mean it's not that they're trying to annoy me, which is why I kinda feel bad cause they just want to talk to me, but doggonnit, I just need moments of silence for Pete's sake! If you're reading this, you're probably not one of them so don't be paranoid. Almost all of my friends are fantastic with this ;)
Can anyone else relate?
I love the Olympics... and I like this commercial I saw tonight as I was watching it..
Oh and we made $1,030 yesterday at my fundraising car wash for Slovakia. Woohoo!
A few random things:
Today a spider as big as the palm of my hand (no exaggeration) was at work, crawling towards me fast. I almost wet myself...then made somebody kill it.
The opening ceremony for the Olympics were grrrrrreat!
Today, someone mistook my name (online) for a porn star in the Czech Republic with the same name, and offered to give me $3,000 to..well you know..find him and in his broken English words, "do sexo". Good times.
I saw La Vie En Rose again last night and really really liked it, a lot more than the first time. Check it out.
Tomorrow morning we're having my car wash. Please pray that I get some support, or maybe enough random people who want to help support missions.
I had a really fantastic burger at Burger King today as well- it's called the Loaded Steakhouse Burger. It's worth your time, trust me.
My nerves have become more and more unsettled lately. Meaning, I have no patience for certain things anymore..and my control-freak personality is starting to come out a bit. I can't say publicly why, but let's just say I want to slap some people's faces at work on a regular basis but since I'm not technically the boss, I can't. Booo. That's just one example out of many.
I'm not tired but I gotta wake up at 7 to scrub cars :( Bye now.
My expectations going in to see Batman were very high, mostly because every single person I knew who had seen it said it was amazing. I usually try not to have any expectations going in to see a movie because usually I'm disappointed. This time though, I couldn't help it. I arrived early to save seats for me and my German friends going with me, I sat in my special OCD seat (1/3 of the way up, in front of the bars to put my feet up on, directly in the center) and even bought an outrageously expensive large cup of soda (Diet Coke and Dr. Pepper mixed).
I think the Master Card commercial fits here..
Movie ticket: $8.50
Large soda: $4.75
Seeing Dark Knight: Priceless
Anyhoo... my expectations were met with this movie. Wow. I loved it. Probably one of the best films I've seen in at least a year or two. The Joker! DUDE! I'm not saying this because it was Heath's last performance or because of the hype, I seriously thought it was the best movie he's ever made. I forgot he was an actor, I forgot who the actor was, he was brilliant, poetic, and downright creepy. It's always harder to play the villain than to play the good guy, and I think he even beats Jack Nick. at being the Joker.
The film was intricate; it had so many details I could barely keep up. But this didn't frustrate me, this made me want to watch it 20 more times to figure it out. During and after the movie I still had questions, like: When did Joker capture Harvey and the girl? I kinda wish it had shown that going down cause all the sudden they're in captivity and it kinda confused me.
Best action scene ever? When Batman's car got clobbered and he revs up his engine and bursts out of his car with that sweeeeet motorcycle! I started clapping it was so great. Honestly, I don't really think I have any complaints about the movie that won't go away when I see it again. Yep. Oh, and if you're interested in seeing it, don't be stupid and wait till it comes out on video. Go to the theater and splurge on it cause a home TV won't do it justice! 9.9 stars out of 10!
La Vie En Rose got a ton of Oscars, so naturally I was very interested in seeing it. I want to watch it again to get more of the details and also do some more research on Edith Piaf. What attracted me to the film, honestly, was her voice. It's very unique and has a lot of punch for such a little woman. It's in French, in subtitles, so expect that. I thought the acting was great and showed her life story in a very realistic way. There are some 'sensual scenes' you might want to look out for, but it's not too obscene. She was basically brought up in a brothel for part of her life. Anyway, check it out.
I didn't get caught up in the hype when this field was coming out. I heard a few bad things about it so I didn't really bother with it. Someone told me it was like a modern day Godzilla, which didn't interest me at all. I've gotta say though, for some reason I really really enjoyed it! I couldn't peel me eyes off the screen as I watched for most of the time and I was on the edge of my seat. It wasn't necessarily SCARY like a horror film, but there were a few scenes that scared me just enough to like it kinda. I am not a sci-fi kinda girl, please know this, but the sci-fi stuff here was kinda cool.
I thought it was really entertaining...maybe because my expectations were very very low? Oh and the character development was actually pretty good too for such an action film, which I appreciate.
A lot of people complained about the scale of the animal- like sometimes it looked really small and other times it looked as big as a skyscraper. Honestly, I didn't care and barely noticed. They also said that no camcorder out there could last for as long as this camcorder did, but who cares. Yep, good stuff.
Wow, where to begin? Today I wanted to share my thoughts on the most recent cooperative album released by rock legend Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) and Allison Krauss (of AK and Union Station). What first attracted me to this album was the fact that literally two of my top music 'idols', two people who have heartily influenced me as musicians, two people who have seemingly nothing in common in any way, have come together to create something different.
I just couldn't believe that such different musicians that I love would ever come together! I remember having a huge smile on my face, eyes wide open, when I saw this album cover when it first came out, thinking, "This is going to be really interesting."
I was not proven wrong either. This has got to be one of the most interesting albums I own. Not just interesting, but fascinating! I just sat here and soaked up the music for an hour or so, and I am just moved to a different place, if that makes any sense. You know how when you listen to different kinds of music, your brain automatically changes images in your mind? When I listen to very soft soothing music, my brain flashes images of things that soothe me. When I listen to rap music my brain flashes images of the rappers, their image, their lifestyle, violence, etc.
Well when I listen to this, I have no idea what to imagine. Well, in some of the songs such as "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" or "Trampled Rose" (WOW), I imagine rowing a small carved out boat through a swamp in Louisiana to my small shack in the middle of nowhere. Other songs, such as "Polly Come Home" or "Through the Morning, Through the Night", invoke a certain sensual and soothing sound and take me to a cold, rainy day, cuddled up with somebody drinking coffee.
This album is most assuredly not for everybody. It is out of the comfort zone for both Allison and Robert, but one can see that with these musicians thrown out of a genre they usually wouldn't dive into, something (I dare say) magical happens. If you have an open mind, want to hear something unique, and respect Allison and Robert's unique style and voice, go get this album.
Check this stuff out..
Probably my favorite song of the album... Wow. Don't know what those pics are though.
Stupid video, but here's Trampled Rose
General video of explanation...
http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/site.php (you can listen to the album here I think)
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