Air Traffic Control

This video is amazing. My friend Scott showed it to me. Its a graphic of all of the air travel in one 24 hour period. Notice how much traffic picks up as the daylight moves over different areas and how it slows down when it gets dark. Each yellow dot is an airplane. If its not good quality click on the link and go to YouTube to watch it in high def.

Christmas Bloopers!

Since I posted the Halloween videos, here are some with a little Christmas flavor...



(don't mind the weird German thing at the end)

C-O-L-D

How cold is it outside?














It currently feels like -9 outside. That's cold.

Shana's Update

So, I think I am going to start a new label and always title my updates the same. I could always hyphenate my title right? What do you think.

This past week I have been sick with a cold. I think a cold at least. Today is the first day that I feel a little bit better. I didn't go to work Monday or Tuesday, and my boss sent me home early on Thursday. I still have a cough and my nose is running like crazy. I look like crap run over today. My eyes and nose are so yucky that my makeup stung so I didn't wear any and than I decided because it was raining not to do my hair. I look like crap run over alright. Josh told me my hair looked pretty crazy this afternoon when I went home for lunch. He has been really sweet to take care of me while I have been sick. He made me grilled cheese and soup for lunch. Which this is a story by its self.


Here is me at the office right this second. Don't I look awesome, yikes!

It was funny, I kind of was a brat. Well, I was a brat. I asked Josh when my lunch would be ready so he hoped up to start my grilled cheese and reheat my soup. I had potato soup last night for dinner too and he was just going to reheat the leftovers. Well, when it was all done and on the table ready for me to eat. I took a good look at my soup and thought it looked a little funny. He had reheated me sausage gravy. It was really funny. So, I put it back in the frig and reheated the right container. It was funny, that is what I get for being a brat right.

Josh is off work today. When I get home we are going to go grocery shopping for the Falls. They just got home with their baby. I am going to have to be careful not to get to close, which is sad I haven't seen them yet because I have been sick. I know the best thing is to wait. Mommy and baby don't need to get my cold. YUCK. Then, tonight we are having a little Christmas party for our student small group that Josh has started up here. This will actually be the first one I get to attend because I am always working when they have small group. It should be exciting. We are having pizza, yum, and making desserts and watching one of my favorite movies ever, ELF. Although I am pretty mad at Will Ferrell right now. He needs to clean his act up. He should be ashamed of himself for the movie Step-Brothers. I can't imagine what his mother thinks. Enough of that tangent.

Here are some photos of the snow we had this week.




Not crazy huge, but enough. That is Zoe you see grazing in it. Seriously, it took the dogs forever to go potty because all they could think of was that the ice fairy had come. All of you who know my pups and a ice machine know what I am talking about. They are getting cabin fever in this weather. We have been able to play in doors a little. Well, Zoe has been able to with Calvin at his house. Bogie wouldn't tolerate that one bit. O well. Moving on.

Ok so I think that is probably enough for now. Josh and I are so excited, 4 days till we head home. Can't wait for Christmas.

Study Bibles

Here's a great article by Dr. Mohler about study Bible recommendations.

This is particularly helpful if you are wanting to get someone a Bible for Christmas.

Santa came

Josh and I decided to do our Christmas gift exchange a little bit different this year. See, this year we are going home to GA. We leave Christmas Eve and probably will come back New Years Eve. With that, we decided not to put up a tree or do much of decorating. We didn't have the space to store stuff like that anyways. Judy was gracious and mailed me my Christmas wreath for my door. So, we do have some festiveness on the outside.

Well, Josh and I decided to surprise each other through-out the month of December with random gifts. This way we didn't have to travel with it home and bring it back, and also we didn't have any boxes to wrap anything in. Saved a bit on cost. I know I am such a cheap skate. Well, we really liked this. Josh got me my new space heater. I am soooo happy about that one. He also got me some new shoes, ear muffs, some teflon whisks, a salad spinner, a crock-pot cookbook, and a gloves/mittens/scarf set. He is also going to get me a new cell phone (blackjack II), but we are waiting till we are home to purchase that one. We'll be those dumb people out the day after Christmas. Hopefully, Gainesville AT&T stores won't be as bad.

Cheap Skate 2

This is a pretty easy one. Keep your heat at 68 and your AC at 78. It will take about a month an a half to really see drastic savings, but afterwards you'll never go back. If you are a cold natured person, try having a small space heater to help give your body a warm up boost so you aren't playing with the thermastat.

We have fans that help with the climate control in the summer. They are amazing to have when we get to those months were you don't need AC or heat. We open up windows and doors and use the fans to help bring in the outside. This airs out the house which is also healthy to do. We used to have a small space heater that would help kick start me if I was really cold, for example when I take the dogs outside, but it just broke. I am hoping Santa Claus will bring me a new one this year.

This is a simple tip, but seriously has tons of savings attached.

Movie Update

I'll post something more "meaningful" later, but here's a long update on the movies we've seen in the past couple of months.


We Are Marshall

3 boxes of popcorn. I'd probably give this a little butter if Matthew McSixpack didn't annoy me so much. I think he's a little over the top in this one. The other Matthew (Fox) was much better.







Thank You For Smoking

3 boxes with a little butter. This movie was a very witty and clever parody of the smoking industry. Watch out for the language. The ending is hilarious.








Baby Mama

3.5 boxes of popcorn. Hold the butter. I find it funny that Hollywood makes movies like this since they are so Pro-Choice. The entire movie while Amy Poehler is pregnant they talk to the baby like it's ALIVE! What a double standard. After you get past that aspect, the movie is clean and funny.





Goodfellas

2 boxes of popcorn. Wow. So disappointed. This is supposed to be one of the best gangster movies of all time. I give it 2 boxes because the first part of the movie is worth 4 boxes and the second part is worth zero. The story starts off great. Ray Liotta, DeNiro, and Joe Pesci are great. Then the story gets too long and too sad and just pathetic. I guess you're supposed to feel sorry for the Ray's character, but eh, not so much. No where near as good as any of the Godfathers or The Departed.




You Don't Mess With the Zohan

3 boxes of popcorn with butter. Not 4 because this movie creates a moral/ethical delima for me. It was rather sexual. Not so much like the S.I. Swimsuit calendar, but more like The Full Monty sexual. I'll leave it at that. We watched this in mixed company which apparently left some people feeling a little uncomfortable, but I was laughing. Sandler was old school Sandler. I just wish the writers could figure out how to end movies like this a little better. The ending was weak, but that's not why they make these kinds of movies.


Shaun Of The Dead

Hilarious. 3 boxes of popcorn with light butter. Not four because if fell off at the end. The language was a little rough, and it was pretty bloody. However, it was zombie fake blood. Not for the kids or the faint of heart. The basic idea of the movie is a marriage of a British comedy and a zombie movie. The best part: when they fake like they're zombies so they can move through the town without being noticed. Very funny.





Casino Royale

4 boxes of popcorn. The best Bond movie in a long time for sure. I saw this one in the theater, but Shana missed it so we Netflixed it. She loved it as did I. Daniel Craig is a great Bond and Shana has a crush on him.






Quantum of Solace

3 boxes of popcorn, hold the butter. This is the first Bond movie that was a sequel. All of the other ones are stand-alone movies. This one picks up right where Casino Royale leaves off. It was a bit hard to follow throughout, but the action was great. The story ties up nicely with a "take-that" ending. I don't like Judy Dench as "M". They need to bring back "Q," have more cool cars and at least one gadget per movie but not too much. Then it just gets cheesy.




Body of Lies

4 boxes of popcorn. Leonardo DiCaprio. Russell Crowe. Ridley Scott. Great movie. I don't know how it happened, but DiCaprio somehow became a great actor. I don't get it. I used to not be able to stand the guy but then came The Departed and Blood Diamond and now Body of Lies. Excellent movies.






The Spiderwick Chronicles

3 boxes of popcorn. This movie is geared for kids and was a bit of a stretch for us. We watched this on Thanksgiving Day with the Falls. We all agreed that we were pleasenty surprised. The story moves quickly but I think the main bad guy is way to scary for little kids. I would have peed my pants. It's kind of like a modern day Labyrinth with great CG effects.




Get Smart

4 boxes of popcorn with a side of Twizzlers for Shana. This movie is great. Steve Carell is so funny (and I don't even watch The Office). Definitely worth seeing. There are subtle references to the TV show which are nice. But Carell makes this movie. If you like him you'll like it.






Step Brothers

1 box of stale popcorn that Shana would have returned. This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I didn't even finish it which means that, along with Jury Duty, there are now two movies that I've turned off due to its absurdity. It was riddled with inappropriate profainity, terrible sexual jokes, and John C. Reilly - who is just not funny. The premise of the movie was good but the writing and acting was horrible. Don't waste your time or money.



Wanted
2 boxes of popcorn. This is a movie that Shana and I really wanted to see. Shana has a crush on three famous people: Peyton Manning, Daniel Craig, and this guy James McAvoy - who plays the main character in this movie. It also stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. Overall - A Let down. The action and effects were awesome, but I could never buy McAvoy as a stud assassin. He's scrawny and just not tough. Even after the obligatory "training sequence" in the movie. Plus, there was tons of f-bombs which made it hard to watch. Cool premise for a movie, but just never delievered.



We watched all of these movies over a few months. I just haven't updated the movie portion of this blog in a while. The only ones we saw in the theater were Quantum of Solice and Body of Lies.

Texas Business Trip

Back in October I had the opportunity to go to Texas on a business trip. I know I am just now posting about it because I just now realized I could send the pictures I took on my phone to my computer. Sorry for the delay, but hey better late than never right.

I have been with the Kentucky Bankers Association since July 10th, and I am still loving my job today. One of the reason I love it is all the different opportunities I get. I don't know to many Accounting Assistants who get neat opportunities like I have gotten through my work. Highlights for this year so far are: going to Texas and meeting Karl Rove at our convention.

So, you are probably wondering why I went to Texas. I went to the Texas Bankers Association for a user group meeting for some software that we all commonly use. It was a lot of fun getting to meet different people at the other associations. It was also neat to learn how they were doing things in their states. I learned a lot about the program we are using and also learned a bit about a program we were thinking about acquiring. All in all it was a really fun trip. I got to know one of my co-workers here better. That was a really neat opportunity. We stayed up late on night talking in the hotel restaurant about election stuff, and I was able to share my beliefs with her in accordance with why I am voting for (or voted for) McCain. Since then we have carried on a relationship back at home in the office. She is really neat.

Ok, so I went to Austin Texas. I sent Zach Watson a text letting him know I was in his favorite place, without even mentioning Texas. He stated something to the effect that he couldn't believe I was in the holy land. He is crazy. Although it was pretty awesome.

I stayed in downtown Austin at a Radisson. It was really nice. I love cities. I had an awesome view of the city from my room. Here are some shots.





This is the main road that runs straight into the Capital. The Texas Bankers Association is also down that way. It is seriously across the alley from the Governors mansion. They had neat stories to tell about when President Bush had been there.



This is the other side of the hotel, from the elevator. Evidently across the way on the other side of that river are tons of bats in those trees. Supposedly every night at dusk all of the bats take off at once to catch their prey. Supposedly it is pretty creepy to see. I never got a chance to see it, but it sounded cool.

We ate at a bunch of cool restaurants. We ate a few places the locals kept calling Mexican, but I am here to tell you this wasn't Mexican. Their salsa was weird, and they didn't have queso. They had something called cheese dip, but it was like what you ordered from Chili's. That ain't cheese dip or queso. It has to be white to be queso. So, I was really bummed every time we went to so called "Mexican" and there was no queso/cheese dip. Every time we went to another "Mexican" restaurant it was as if I was setting myself up, I was in denial that this state didn't know what queso/cheese dip was because I would consistently look for it and ask the waitress for it, and they would consistently look at me strangely and eventually tell me they didn't have it. SO SAD I pretty much just eat at Mexican restaurants for the cheese dip/queso. It is like chocolate to me.

Another favorite for me on this trip was having a king size bed all to myself. Don't get me wrong I love my husband and he loves me, but he would be just as excited. I also loved having breakfast brought to my room every morning. Here is a blurry picture of one of my breakfasts.



All and all it was a lot of fun. I ended up breaking my personal computer in the airport on the way home that trip. I should have taken a KBA computer, definitely learned that lesson. Just this week though the KBA fixed mine and it is home safely keeping my life in order.

Ok this post is already to long. Later

And Just In Case You Missed It...

FINALLY!!! WELCOME PAUL JOHNSON AND YOUR TRIPLE OPTION.

And let's not forget about the Pro-Team...

2 Great Moments in Sports this weekend...

Rookie Derrick Rose of the Bulls... (the commentary is sorry)


Wes Welker of the Patriots gets destroyed...


you can go to the youtube link and watch these in HD on their website

Sick Zoe

Here is probably the most recent picture I have of my sick baby Zoe. Zoe was sick this weekend. I think she is getting better, but she was pretty bad Saturday night to Sunday morning. She had uncontrollable diarrhea. It was green too, yuck. I boiled some bones for the pups from Fresh Market and I guess they didn't go over to well. Don't get me wrong they loved them, but I don't think they agreed with their stomachs. At least that is the only thing I can think of that made her sick. I might have left them in the refrigerator to long before I boiled them. So, this is not at all a bad reflection on Fresh Market. Surprisingly Bogie didn't get sick as bad. Normally he is the one that always gets sick, but not this time. Thanks to our Vet from downtown Norcross, he gave us some diarrhea medicine a while back and told us to give it to them at first signs. That was wonderful and I think it helped her out a bunch. Needless to say she was dead pretty much all day yesterday until she saw her boyfriend Calvin and than she risked some energy to frolic with him a bit. He put her in a better mood.

Date night

So I am super excited to say that last night Josh and I actually had a date night, where we go out of the house. We make date nights in the house and watch movies and do something neat for dinner, but seeing as it was the end of the month and we had been so good and disciplined with our budget we had a little wiggle room to splurge on a movie. So, we decided to go to the summit and look around before we saw the new Bond movie. We thought we might be able to pick up a few Christmas present for the family there, no luck. We did however venture in the ATT store. We have netflix (our way of not getting cable) and had the Bond - Casino Royal just a few weeks ago. That was probably my favorite Bond. This Bond - Quantum of Solice was pretty good too. Some parts were hard to follow, but Daniel Craig is by far my favorite Bond. I hope they keep him in the spotlight for a little while. OO, and my free twizzlers that I got on Thanksgiving day (prior post) were real tasty, I snuck them into the movie of course. O which leads me to something else. Movies here are way cheaper than back home. Josh and I went to an evening movie for 14 bucks. That is crazy talk. We also filled up my gas tank at 1.50 a gallon which was about 17 bucks. CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY and Obama wants to give us a stimulus package for what, Gas is down more money is already in our pockets. Politicians are stupid, I should make that into a bumper sticker or something.

Ok, so the reason we went to the ATT store, I have been wanting a new cellphone for Christmas. Well months ago I had done all the research and narrowed it down to a couple that I liked. It was time to actually go to the store and play with the phones to see which one I liked the best. Well, in a prior visit to a store all by myself I learned that one of the phones I had on my list, the Blackjack II, had been upgraded and now had a newer version called the Blackjack Epix. Well, it is a super new phone now right so good news and bad news. Good news the Blackjack II that I wanted is on sale better now 79.99 (as of right now). I am waiting on Heidi to let me know what the December deals are so I can shop around and get the best deal. More good news the new Blackjack Epix is awesome, way better than its predecessor. So, that leads to the bad news, the Epix is 199 bucks. Yeah pretty big difference. You know it just came out so it is at its highest price point. I know in a couple of months too it will go down and I will be so ticked off.

This leads me to my readers. What would you do in this situation? I am curious. I went last night to play with it more to make sure I really wanted the newer one and yeah I do. It is way better. So, let me know what ya'll would do in my situation.

Cheap Skate #1

Josh has told me that I should post some of my savings tips and bargain finds on the blog. I am not sure how well I will be able to keep this up, but I will do my best. If it seems like ya'll (my readers) want to know more that might help me keep it up.

Ok. Last week I was getting my weekly freebies from CVS. I am always sweet with the cashiers. Sometimes they know I am going for the free stuff and offer up any information they might know about future freebies. Well, this cashier was a godsend. She asked me if I was aware of the Thanksgiving ad that had an entire page of freebies. I said no. She proceeded to give me that ad so that I could be prepared Thanksgiving day. This was awesome because I only get the Sunday paper and the following Sunday paper did no have this ad included. So, if it hadn't been for this cashier I would have had no clue and missed all these freebies. I should say they were more then freebies, CVS paid me 30 dollars to take these home.

So, I probably have your attention now with the 30 bucks. This is how it works. CVS is a drugstore that has a reward system called "extra bucks." Every week there are promotional extra bucks that make items free, but Thanksgiving day I hit the mother load. How it ends up that they pay you to take it home, if you have coupons. If you use coupons you still get the full price for the item in extra bucks. Extra bucks are like gift certificates that you can use to purchase whatever you want at CVS. Most times I will break up my orders into multiple orders so that I can turn around and use some of the extra bucks to purchase more freebie items and in-turn get more extra bucks. CVS posts an ad online every week of their deal and there is always an ad in the paper. Also, you can use a website that I use couponmom.com. You have to register which sometimes you get some junk mail, but it is all from her. Again though it is totally worth it because I use that site for a bunch of things. She does a lot of bargain searching for me sometimes, especially on those weeks were I don't get the paper.
Y
Attached you'll see a picture of most the freebies I brought home at 2am. Yes you saw correctly, 2am. the sale start Thanksgiving Morning at 1am. You know if I would have waited till the morning they would have been all gone, they were all gone once I was done checking out. It was really fun there were about 10 other women in line that were just like me, only there for the freebies. I have no clue how CVS makes money, but hay I am cashing in while I can. In the picture you'll see I got Aussie Shampoo & conditioner, 3 G2 drinks, Johnson and Johnson lotion, Tampons, 2 tubs of toothpaste, Twizzlers, and lots of make-up. I also got a set of ear buds, but Josh has already stole those.



Another tip I should mention is to read the fine print for each extra buck item. A lot of times you can get more than one item. For example, the extra bucks on the G2 were good on 3 per household. So that means you can get free and get extra bucks for all three. Even better if you had three coupons for them all. I hope you see how this works. Please if you have any questions post them and I will post a follow-up for this edition of Cheep Skate. I hope I can keep this up.

Update by Shana

I know we haven't been good at all with the updating. I am learning a few more things though that I can do to update. I just figured out that I can take pictures with my phone and email them to myself to post here on the blog. That is a huge leap in technology for myself. The picture you saw on here a few days ago of our first snow was taken on my phone. I know bravo.

Well, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I am excited for some days off. Josh and I will be celebrating Thanks with new friends we have made here. We are all sharing the responsibilities of cooking at their place. I hope I am good and remember to take my camera to take pictures.

Bogie and Zoe are doing well. Zoe is in love with a pure-breed boxer named Calvin. Bogie isn't jealous at all. He seems to like the relief of her gone every now and then when she goes on a date with Calvin. So, obviously Calvin is a reformed christian (you know I am joking right) so we are very pleased with her choice of companion. Not to mention she has chosen a pure-breed, we always knew she liked the high life. Well, that is enough of my story telling. Seriously thought, Zoe loves running in the fields with Calvin they are so funny to watch. Maybe one of these days I will get a little video of them doing so.

Josh and I rearranged our living room, that could be a picture too I guess. We like it. It will only be this way though until the weather changes, warming up, because we are using the couch to block our tiny balcony. I will work on that picture thing here.

I played matchmaker this month. I introduced my friend Heidi to a great lad here named John. I think they would be great for each other. I guess it is a good thing I am not their parents and we believe in arranged marriages because that would be a done deal. O well. I probably went over board with that statement so I will stop now with that.

My parents are officially divorced this week. O well, life goes on right. God is sovereign and he isn't surprised by any path people choose to take here in this life.

I still love my job, and Josh says that the Fresh Market he is working at right now is the best one he has ever worked at.

Ok, as if this post wasn't already long enough, I have some great praise to give to our Lord and Savior. Josh and I have always been great budgeting fools, which we give praise to God for giving us the wisdom to do so. We praise God for the wisdom in our budgeting and the opportunities financially to let Josh go to school fool time, while still being able to pay for it all out of our current income. We have found our self praising him alot lately when it comes to finances. Our economy is in trouble, but we haven't felt much of the pressure because God had convicted us early on to not live outside our means. We have been faithful to him in our tithe and he has been faithful to us in his provision. I hope we never forget this lesson. I hope this encourages my fellow believing readers that even when times are tough, God still calls us to give what is already his. This Christmas season I hope you'll give even more as a Christmas gift or offering to our Savior.

Forgotten Picture

I just realized I don't think I posted this picture after our Stringer camping trip. At the time we didn't know Caitlin was on her way to becoming a Stringer, obviously we had our suspicions. So, I guess it was good that we waited to post this picture because now it has the caption "The New and Improved Stringer Family."

I've been tagged too?

Can I be tagged by a co-contributor to this blog - a.k.a. my wife? Anyway, Shana tagged me and I normally skip these kinds of things to blog about more important stuff - like Guns N' Roses, Dr.Pepper, and junk like that *note the sarcasm.

Ok....7 Random things..uhh...about me.

1. Without DVR/TiVo there are only two shows on TV I make time for: Smallville and The Unit - in that order. (By the way, Doomsday just showed up on Smallville last night. Seriously, Clark has to learn to fly).

2. I can't stand it when people come up to the meat counter talking on their cell phones and/or smacking their gum as they try to talk to me. It's like I'm inconveinencing them by helping them.

3. I collect Authentic (not re-made) Coca-Cola stuff - particularly bottles. I wish I had space to put some of it in our apartment.

4. If I had one wish it would be to have the powers of Superman. I'm not kidding.

5. I would like to learn how to play the guitar.

6. I love the winter (it snowed last night) but I don't like being cold. I have bad circulation in my fingers and they turn white and go numb. It happens a lot at work since I work in 40 degrees. I'll take a picture some time.

7. I do a pretty good impersonation of Barak Obama. I'll make a video about it sometime.

People I tag:
Dr. Mohler - hey, he might read this. he reads everything else.
Mark Jansen
Scott Bowden
Chris Jordan
Charles Shadburn
Other dudes of wives who don't normally blog (except Chris J., he blogs sometimes but should still consider himself tagged)

I was Tagged

7 Random Things About Me

1) I really do love living in Louisville.
2) My parents are going through a divorce right now.
3) I no longer pay for cable. I am proud to "stick it to the man" by watching all my shows in great clarity on my computer. Most recently, my screen went out and learned I can hook my computer up to our flat screen and watch them like real TV on the big TV.
4) Even though I am a bargain hunting, thrift store wearing fool, I really like nice expensive things too. I just don't have or do much in that category.
5) I love to swim, and get to do it a lot since we moved to KY.
6) I have never been afraid to be seen in a bathing suit, even when I might feel fat. I grew up in Florida and I pretty much grew up in a bathing suit.
7) I really want a nose piercing.

I Tag:
Josh
Danielle
Alexis
Taffy (I double dog dare you)
George George George of the Jungle
Brian

FREE DR.PEPPER TO ALL!!!

Axl Rose finally did something right. Guns N' Roses finally released their new album "Chinese Democracy." Dr. Pepper owes everyone a free drink! Check it out.

A Great article from Voddie Baucham. This is a bit of what its like going to Southern. We've already been warned that churches won't hire grads from here because we're deemed heretical Calvinists. To say that "if you're a Calvinist you don't believe in evangelism" is about the most ridiculous, uneducated thing anyone could say and it is obviously from a misunderstanding or lack of any desire to understand the doctrines of grace (that was a super-huge-run-on-sentence). I could go on, but I'll just encourage you to read the article. It kind of sums it all up. I'm also very encrouaged that in the article when Voddie gives a list of "names," there are several people on that list - who are prominent in the SBC - who are profs here or somehow otherwise affiliated with the school.

Thanks to Brian Baise for passing this article to me via his "hump-day blog."

This Chick Julia Nunes and her Ukulele

There's this girl Julia Nunes on YouTube who makes her own videos of her songs and her cover songs on the ukulele. She's really good. She's been on Good Morning America and even opened for Ben Folds. I saw the first video here the other day and thought I'd share. It's a "stop-action" video of her and her friends taken with photobooth on her mac. She explains how she did it at the end. I'll post some other of her videos too. Enjoy.

Maybe, I will.


Survivor - Destiny's Child


Build Me Up Buttercup


All My Loving - The Beatles

Fantastic Video - Advent Conspiracy.

Hilarious

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

(stolen from George's blog) (again)

Who Is This?

This, of course, is Snake Eyes. This picture is from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Coming August 7, 2009. Are tickets on sale yet?

Winter Is Here.

This is the drive up to the school where we have church. If you look close at the base of the tree you see snow. That's right. It snowed a little bit last night. Winter is definitely here.

2 Things - One Bad. One Good.

Bad.









We ate at Skyline Chili for the first time tonight. Apparently its great. Apparently people are wrong. I'm willing to give anything (especially food) a chance. But not everything gets a second chance. This is one of those things. Just not good at all.

Good.

Tonight, after Skyline, we're watching Casino Royale. I've seen it. Shana hasn't. We're watching it in hopes of going to see the new Bond movie that came out today. I really like this move. But I especially like the beginning. It's very creative. And Chris Cornell has one of the best rock voices of all time.

Heidi was here.

We had so much fun. We went mountain biking, swimming, grocery shopping ,went for a picnic, watched the movie Expelled, and ate lots of good food. O did I mention the talking. We did lots of talking, but that is what we always do. It was a lot of fun. I was so excited that she came to visit. We have been good friends for almost 9 years. WoW that is a long time. I feel old.

Josh had to work a bunch, but we made due. John hung out with us too so the only pictures I have are of them and me not in them. Actually, after I posted this picture I made it large and saw Josh in the background being silly. So, click on the picture and you'll see Josh in the background behind them. Now that I think about it I don't think I got just a picture of Heidi and I. OOPS. Well, John has some pictures of all of us so when I get those I will definitely post.

Halloween Night

For Halloween we really didn't do anything. A street next to the seminary goes all out though. So, Danielle, Alexis, and I decided just to go take a look. Here is what we found.

Here are a few things we thought were far out. It has been forever since I have used that phrase. The entire street was flooded with people and almost every house was decorated with some kind of Halloween stuff. It was alright.

Sorry for this formatting, I am doing this for the first time on Josh's computer and not that it is much different, but I definitely can't tell where my pictures are to format them in this.

Wishlist.com

It is getting that time of year again. I get so excited too. So, in recognition of the gift giving season I wanted to tell you about a website Josh and I have been using for over a year. To the right of this blog under links of interest you should see our linked wishlists. They are wishlists. It is an actual website that sustains your wishlist. It could also work as a registry. It is a really cool place to keep your running wishlist. Josh and I use it all the time. It comes in handy whenever our friends and family are looking to purchase a gift for us for whatever holiday or reason; they know exactly where to go. A bunch of my girlfriends also have these wishlists. On that note I will say it is good to let people know that you have a wishlist. Many times I have searched through my girlfriends wishlists and found they are wishing for something that I have stored away in a junk box. I was able to relieve myself of something I didn't want, and bless my friend at the same time. It is a lot of fun. It is also great for when those birthdays come up, ideas for a hospitality gift, or a thank you. I hope you'll make your wishlist today, or just check out ours. Have fun.

Dreams

Watch this first, then read...


I watched this and was really convicted. Not so much about sexual sin but about trading in the passion I've had for Christ for other things. Not other big things that I'm passionate about, but many small things that amount to a lot. I had a radical dream of sharing Christ with everyone that I knew. I used to be really unashamed. Really. I don't think I'm ashamed so much as I am conveniently unpassionate. I can be passionate when it is convenient for me to be passionate. But what about being passionate for Christ in the mundane. Being passionate for Christ always. I'm also reading Shadow of the Almighty right now. It's the story of Jim Elliot. That guy was passionate all the time. He was particularly deliberate about the essentials and made no provision for the things that didn't matter. I imagine that he wouldn't have stayed up late last night watching "House" and "The Mentalist." Not that those things are necessarily bad, but they are definatley in the category of a non-essential. May the Lord strip me/us bare of the baggage of this world. Satan has duped us into the American dream and American ideals and American habits and American security. How many times have I planned my life around a TV show or a movie premiere? Other than church or school, how many times have I planned my life around the cause of Christ? Around my passion and dream for Jesus? I was amazed at the people who were in Chicago for Obama's acceptance speech. They looked hypnotized and awe struck over this man. I had made a video about it. Didn't post it. I bet I look the same when it comes to the things of this world.

Now you should watch the video below by Shane and Shane.

watch this...

I saw this on George's blog. You should watch it. Just do so with the caution that it may cause you to be thankful for your salvation...

Obama's Campaign

I have to hand it to President Obama and his campaign organizers, they took every measure to make sure people knew to vote and who to vote for. I took this picture off of my TV screen while playing Madden '09 on a study break. The game gets constant updates for advertisements. Its usually movie ads or something like that. But this caught my attention:


In other Atheist news...This is coming to an American City near you! And you thought that this was a "godly" country.

Cool Healthcare Video.

Bottom line - Be responsible. Take care of yourself. Stop eating junk. Start getting exercise. Make time for these things. It benefits us all.

Prank Backfires...

Laughed so hard I cried.

It's Never Good When...

...A news story starts like this:

Would-be cleaners take note: A blowtorch is not a good substitute for a broom.

Here's the full story.

...inevetable

I guess I should brush up on my reading.

Go Redskins!

I'm just sayin'....

For the last SEVENTEEN elections if the Redskins win their final home game before the election the incumbent party remains in the White House. If the Redskins lose the other party moves in. So - If the Redskins win tonight on Monday Night Football (at home) McCain will win the election tomorrow. Right?

Has God turned his back on America yet?

Paper Writing

I am currently writing a paper for my Written Communications class - the easiest intro level class you can take at SBTS. This is a simple 8 page research paper. I got to pick my own topic. I chose the Emerging Church or Emergent or Emergent Chruch or Hardest Chruch To Define Ever or Most Ridiculous Church Movement Ever. To guys who wrote a great book called "Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)" said, "Trying to define the Emerging Chruch is like trying to nail Jell-o to the wall." I couldn't agree more. The easiest class = The hardest paper.

Yum. Jell-o.

From My Friend Mark...

H

"Scary" Videos

These kinds of videos are my all time favorite...

Troops for McCain

So I recognize that the majority of the people probably reading our blog are going to vote for McCain, but just in case someone supports Obama reads our blog, you could say it is saturated. And also, this helps our fellow McCain supporters with ammunition when talking with people who have drunk the silly Obama-koolaid.



I got this one off our friend George - George - George of the jungle's blog. George you can add that one to your list. That one is my favorite.

Regarding my previous post, I could never had said it better myself. I have no idea who this woman is but strap on your seat belt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHkGeiA9btY

(Couldn't embed it...but go check this lady out)

Why I Could Never Vote For Obama

I know I said I wouldn't post any more political stuff until after the election, but... We talked about abortion today in class and someone told me about this video. You should watch this. Again, I don't think anyone who reads this blog will be shocked, but this made my skin crawl. When you watch this, pay very careful attention to the beginning...its kind of cut off. He is pointing to and talking about his daughters when he says the following...


I don't care if Obama or any other politician - black, white, green, purple, republican, democrat, Christian, Muslim, Wiccan, or any other possibility - were I to agree with them on every other possible political issue, I would never vote for them if they viewed a baby as some kind of punishment. If you're voting for Obama - you must consider what kind of a man would say something like that. Even if it were a man on the street I would feel the same way. Where will he lead us if he so devalues life in such a way as this? I'll stop now.
Just one more though...

Hey Kids! Want Some Garbage For Christmas?

I couldn't believe this. I was watching the Price Is Right today while eating lunch. On the second showcase in the showcase-showdown one of the prizes was a game room with a collection of games. In the back of the display they had what looked like a copy of Joel Osteen's book. So I Googled "Your Best Life Now - The Game." Maybe you already know this, but there is a board game made after Osteen's book. If you want a review of the game click here.

It's unbelievable to me that this guy has reduced God's blessings to a roll of the dice. If you just play "the game" right, you can have your best life now! What a joke.

John 6:63-69

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe." knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and (For Jesus who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

Praise God. Where else would we go?

Next Season's Dancing With the Stars

A friend sent me this at work and I thought it was funny.

A few weeks ago I posted my thoughts on Dr. Mohler's book Atheism Remix. It's a great book. You should read it. Here's why...

There is a growing public awakening of atheism. However, its not just a passive atheistic movement. The reason this movement is being called the New Atheism is because they are louder, more organized, and "purpose driven." They want their message out and they want people who believe in God quieted. For good. Is this just me talking about random stuff that fires me up? Kind of. But here's proof? Check this out. Richard Dawkins, our favorite "scientist" is a part of a group putting up signs on British buses that say, "There's probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." They received over $113,000 in donations to put up these signs. C'mon now. We need to have pay attention to what is going on in the world and be prepared...not just the garbage surrounding the election.

Georgia Tech Ranked!

Debuting this week in the BCS College Football Poll - #18 Georgia Tech. They are also tied for first place in the ACC.

This is very exciting considering they were supposed to be terrible this year running that new triple-option offense. They won a good game this past weekend against Clemson to sneak into the polls. Go Jackets!

Don't Mess With Texas

I just got back from Austin, TX. My first business trip. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about the software that we use. I was really excited about going because I have never been to Texas. Well, we stayed in downtown Austin. It was really pretty. I had a huge picture window view of the main drag headed to the capital building. It was really neat. We ate a lot of food. NO JOKE, I gained 5 pounds. You think I am kidding. I am going to have to sacrifice my sweets in order to loose that 5 pounds now. We went to "Mexican" a bunch. First thing to say about that is, it is not Mexican. No body ever had cheese dip. Which is like the only reason I ever really like going to Mexican. I can make my own tacos and burritos. So, I was a little bummed. I got to eat a lot of different cool food. It was really neat. Another cool thing was that all the good food that we ate came out of trailers. It was kind of a joke there at the Texas Bankers Association. Everything good comes out of a trailer or the back of a truck. They were right though, it was awesome. All in all I had a really good time. Glad to be home though to get back into my normal routine.

Last thing, I just loved this. On the way home (Dallas to Louisville) we had 2 military people get on our plane. The pilot came over the loud speaker and said just wanted to let you know of 2 special passengers (not that we all weren't special) seriously he said that part too, he announced their names and what they did. They were medics. The entire plane cheered for them. Then 2 men in first class gave up their seats for them to sit in. I just thought that was very patriotic and kind. One of the gentlemen that gave up his seat came back and sat next to me. It was a really neat thing he did. I let him know that I thought he was a super nice guy for doing that and that those soldiers probably felt super appreciated. Those types of things give you the warm fuzzes. Which reminded me of every time I fly in and out of Atlanta there is always a troop of soldiers coming through and the entire airport gives them a standing ovation as they march through. NEATO!

Joe the Plumber looks like Brad Arnold, the lead singer for 3 Doors Down - sans the hair.












I'm just sayin'

On another note I watched Letterman last night where John McCain was his guest - finally. It started out pretty funny. McCain kept a good sense of humor. However, I have lost all interest and respect for David Letterman - not that I had a lot to begin with. McCain was upbeat and well mannered whereas Letterman was phrasing every one of his questions in a way to simply say, "I think you, Sarah Palin, and all of your policies are a joke." He got very nitpicky when he asked McCain to name the "terrorists" that Palin had accused Obama of hanging out with. Of course McCain brought up William Ayers. Then Dave said, "She said 'terrorists' not 'terrorist.'" (As if being associated with only ONE terrorist is ok) Basically Dave was asking him to name more since she put an "S" on the end. Seriously? Is that what Letterman has lowered himself to? He said during the "interview" that he (Dave) was an independant and didn't belong to a party. YEAH RIGHT! Independant of what?

This is the reason I have sworn off politics until Nov. 5. I thought I'd catch a break and get some of the lighter side last night, but I was wrong. Here is an interesting link to further illustrate my point and frustration.

Homemade Sausage

I've been wanting to do this for weeks. For our anniversary/birthdays my parents got us a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer (we love it). We added on the meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment. You know how I am. I love to experiment with new foods. So here it is. This is homemade apple cinnamon chicken sausage. Here's how I made it:

2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast / 1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
-I ground it at home (run through the grinder twice), you can buy it pre-ground at the store
1 Fuji or Honeycrisp Apple (grated with peel - the peel keeps the fiber and adds color)
1 Small Sweet Onion (finely diced)
I don't remember all the measurements, but the spices I used were:
-Cinnamon, Sage, Nutmeg, Thyme, Salt, Pepper
1 cup Apple Cider

Combine all the ingredients - its best to mix it by hand - then refrigerate for 2 hours minimum.
(I sauteed the onion in apple cider - let it cool - then add it to the mix)

That's it. You can then make them into patties if you don't have a way to stuff them.
I used collagen casing which is beef protein. It's cheap. You can buy it online. It lasts forever refrigerated. It's way less-gross than hog casing. It actually feels like paper - very thin paper. You can't even see it when you stuff it. After you stuff it just twist it into links, but be careful to not over fill the casing or it will burst during this part. You can cook immediately. It cooks up just like any sausage but it tastes like chicken.

We had several people over for dinner and everyone liked it. Even Shana. Chicken sausage is the way to go. It's really healthy and tastes good and you can make any kind of sausage - just use ground chicken instead of pork. I'm going to try turkey next.

Gone Camping...

Be back Sunday.

Detox

So last night I felt like I was in detox. I turned on the TV and there it was...the debate. However, instead of watching it, I turned off the TV...with Shana's help. She caught me a few times sneaking off to my computer where they were broadcasting it on Foxnews.com. But I felt that frustration again because they had a comment bar on the side of the screen where people were allowed to prove their idiocy. Then Will Farrell saved the day. Yes, Will Farrell. Bryan and Danielle let us borrow his best of SNL dvd. It was hilarious. So here's what I have to say to the debate...we all just need MORE COWBELL!!

Quick, Go Watch This Video!

You need to go see this hilarious SNL Video that never made it to air. I wonder why? It's slightly political, but more about the bailout. Copyright something-or-other may cause them to remove it so watch it fast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK9dt0yqpIk

Thanks to George for making me aware of this.

Pigskin Pickem

All you sports fans out there, especially you men who do all this fantasy team stuff. I have a delema. I am pretty sure I know what my team response it going to be, but seriously put yourself in my shoes. I was playing pigskin pickem with my team and was doing really well I might add, especialy for a girl. I was tied for 2nd place and all the men were at the bottom of the rankings. Well, this week I totally forgot to do my picks, super stinks man. So, obviously I got no points and that put me in last place. stinks stinks stinks. Part of me says forget it I quit, but part of me wants to try and come from behind again to do well, but there is also a chance that I can never recover. I have a mentioned this really stinks. I started out with a lot of trash talk, and now have to eat some humble pie because I am last. I really want to quit. What do you think you would do in this situation. Seriously, what do you think YOU would do.

Tagged by Marcy

Ok I have been tagged by Marcy.

1. Where is your cell phone?
next to me

2. Where is your significant other?
work

3. Your hair color?
from a box

4. Your mother?
in florida

5. Your father?
my real one - have no clue

6. Your favorite thing?
Josh

7. Your dream last night?
if I told you I would have to kill you

8. Your dream/goal?
Mom

9. The room you're in?
office

10. Your hobby?
saving money

11. Your fear?
being alone

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
with my family

13. Where were you last night?
babysitting for the wheelers, they rock

14. What you're not?
a runner

15. One of your wish-list items?
clothes, and new phone (o wait you said one, o well)

16. Where you grew up?
Florida

17. The last thing you did?
checked my blog

18. What are you wearing?
cute madras plaid skirt with red slip-ons

19. Your TV?
not on

20. Your pet?
in their kennels, so sad

21. Your computer?
portable

22. Your mood?
good

23. Missing someone?
Josh

24. Your car?
CRV

25. Something you're not wearing?
earrings

26. Favorite store?
garage sales and Shelly's closeline (ATL)

27. Your summer?
swimming

28. Love someone?
madly

29. Your favorite color?
red

30. When is the last time you laughed?
last night

31. Last time you cried?
almost this morning

I am not going to tag anybody. So sorry.

Did the Pope get it right?

This isn't political is it? I think the pope might have gotten this one right...

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI says the global financial crisis shows the futility of money and ambition

Befnedict says that "now with the collapse of big banks we see that money disappears, is nothing and all these things that appear real are in fact of secondary importance." He urges those who build their lives "only on things that are visible, such as success, career, money" to keep that in mind.

The pontiff was speaking Monday as he opened the works of a meeting of 253 bishops at the Vatican.

Benedict says "the only solid reality is the word of God."

Interesting.