Breaking the Habit

Normally where food is concerned, I am a creature of habit. My family and friends will tell you that I always order the same thing at Chick-fil-a: Number one, no pickle, fries, LARGE sweet tea. And maybe a small ice cream later if I feel like it. But I've been branching out and trying new foods lately and I'm lovin' it. (No McDonald's reference intended, although they also have good sweet tea)

Experimenting with sammiches has been a blast. After trying a bacon, lettuce and tomato sammich at a restaurant, I decided I would make my own with LOTS more than just three little slices of bacon. And omgeeee it was heavenly. Unfortunately bacon is expensive so I can't make this all the time, but since I got paid on Friday, I may have to make a special trip to the grocery store. Here's a pic of that loverly sammich...

I also considering trying turkey bacon. Supposedly it's better for you, but I'll have to examine some price tags before I can figure out of it's worth it. Darn my limited income.

A friend of mine made some black bean brownies recently. I was a little unsure when she was describing them to me, but it sounded so interesting, it was definitely worth a shot. Instead of using the regular eggs, water, and veggie oil, you mash up a can of black beans and throw it in with the brownie mix. Well not the can itself, because that wouldn't be very delicious at all. Anyways, I tried one and it wasn't as weird as it sounded! It was not as sweet as normally brownies, but it wasn't bad.

Just last week, I discovered something wonderful. Chobani greek yogurt. I have made many attempts to like yogurt and add it to my menu, but had been unsuccessful until meeting Chobani. I think I'm gonna be addicted to the strawberry one. Like I told my mommy, it's like strawberry ice cream except it's goopy instead of creamy. I tried the peach one this morning, and it was ok. There's still and blueberry and pomegranate one in the fridge that I will try later.

I'm quickly discovering that trying new foods is lots of fun, but don't expect me to change my Chick-fil-a order any time soon.

My New Fave

For years, my favorite story from the Old Testament was of the prophet Elijah and the showdown against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. (I always think of it as caramel, and then it makes me hungry... why couldn't they have named it something not muchies-inducing?) I get such a kick out of his heckling the other priests in 1 Kings 18:27 saying, "Why won't your god answer? Maybe he's busy in the bathroom? Or maybe he's asleep?" And then at the end of the showdown, Elijah calls on God to consume an offering so drenched it would be impossible to put it on fire by any human means. And then God did. Just imagining the show gives me goosebumps.

But now one story has totally eclipsed this for me. Near the end of Beth Moore's study "Believing God," she discusses an amazing story of Israel found in Joshua 10 that I heard but never really thought about in detail. Earlier, God had instructed Israel to not make any pacts with local cities, but Israel had entered into one with their deceitful neighbor without consulting Him. Upon discovering this new pact with an undefeated nation, other nearby rulers banded together to attack the city who had befriended God's people. Israel had no choice but to honor the foolishly-made pact and come to the rescue of their neighbor.

Despite their foolishness, God had promised Joshua in verse 8 that they would have the victory in this battle. But after an all night march, they faced an uphill fight in unfamiliar territory. Half way through the battle after they had seen God take out many of the enemy with hail stones, the warrior and intelligent battle-strategist Joshua knew they would need a little more help in order to receive the victory he was promised. So he prayed something that very few people would have had the audacity to even think. In verse 12, he prayed that the sun would hold still and provide enough daylight to finish the fight. And God made it happen.

Oh how I want to be like Joshua! In the middle of a serious battle, he stopped to pray for something as bold and maybe ridiculous as the sun standing still. I cannot help but wonder how many warriors nearby heard him, said "Whaaaaaaaa?" and marked it as something too crazy for God to do. Yet God delighted in Josh's request in absolute faith and honored it. How often do we think a certain request is too big, too ridiculous, too impossible, or just that it's something God would never do? I don't want to doubt the ability of my God anymore. In faith, I'm going to pray big and expect Him to answer big.

Another thing I loved about this story was that even though Israel had made a big fat mistake, God did not force them to endure the consequences on their own. In my own life, I've messed up and think that God would say "You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out." That's a common thing people do, but I'm so glad that God is not like that at all. While we may have to face the consequences of our actions, He does not expect us to face them on our own. Just like He was with them and for them in a battle they should have never had to enter, he will also be with us and for us in the problems we get ourselves into. I don't know about you, but that's a huge comfort to me.

As a side note, this study that I've mentioned in several posts has been a life changing experience. I've grown so much closer to God throughout my weeks of study, and it's exciting to know that I've only just BEGUN to believe Him. I'm so beyond thrilled to see how God works in my life from here on out!

Oh, The Cliffhangers!

I don't think my jaw has ever in my two decades of life dropped so far as it did Tuesday night. Tears began to build up as I watched the unexpected turn of events play out before my eyes. Mozzie, my favorite crazy conspiracy theorist character had been shot and then the screen faded to black. That was the end of the mid-season finale of White Collar. Is it ridiculous that I wanted to cry right then? I have convinced myself that he is not dead. And based on an interview I read with one of the other actors, I'm hoping that I'm right.

Even with such annoying cliff hangers, I love watching season finales because they normally pull out all the stops and aplode my mind with awesomeness. I've been RSVP-ing to several "finale parties" on Facebook for my favorite shows. Even though the party is in my living room, saying that I'll be attending along with thousands of other fans makes me feel important, haha!

Another show that just finale'd is my beloved Psych. I was very unimpressed with last season because it just wasn't as funny as it used to be. But in the first half of this season, they have won me over again. They kept me laughing, especially during the episode where Gus and Lassie tap danced. In the finale, Juliet finally learns how Shawn feels about her and then she kissed him quite nicely. I got all sortsa squealy. Bout time, Psych writers!

But enough about finales, now I want to talk about premieres. Chuck is scheduled to come back on the air later this month, and I'm super excited about the new direction they'll be taking the show. I adore Zachary Levi and I cannot wait to see new episodes full of his attractiveness. (Oh and he's the male lead in the new Disney flick "Tangled" - Yes I am 21 years old, and I WILL be seeing this in the theater.) And Castle is coming back on the same night as Chuck, so I'll be eating tons of popcorn that night.

I would go on to compare Hannah Montana's new drama and ridiculousness to that of professional wrestling, but I don't feel like it. Although I will say that wrestling can be quite hilarious when you mute it and make up your own dialog. You should try it sometime.

Calculating My Future?

A few years back, I considered becoming a math teacher. I have ALWAYS loved math and seriously thought about teaching it to others. Maybe not in the traditional high school setting, but possibly as a tutor. But things happened as my education and career goals changed and took me away from the study of numbers. I may yet have a chance to pursue this idea...

When I was homeschooling I pretty much taught myself math and I rocked at it. And then I had the pleasure of having astounding math teachers like Mrs. Brock in middle school, and then Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Cormier in high school. Also for a course in college, I had the amazing Mr. Parker - a cute old guy who was awesome enough to let us have a break one morning while he beautifully played his guitar for us. Contrast my great teachers with the instructors my younger sisters have had, and I know the value of an excellent teacher.

My dad is a great pastor and teacher, but he's not good at all in the math department. So when the private school asked him to take on a math course in addition to his two Bible classes, I laughed. Like, loud. For realz. The man can teach some Bible, but Algebra I? HA! But then he and I came up with a genius plan. I would teach him the lesson at night and he would teach it to his students this next morning. If they had questions that he couldn't answer, he would consult me and I would explain it to him. And I was still in high school at this time.

Now after much thought and prayer, we are bringing my sister Lindy home for school this year. But that left us with a dilemma. My mom simply cannot teach higher math like Algebra and Geometry. But I've been working with Lindy on extra math practice this summer and I am quickly remembering why I love math and helping others appreciate it. And the arrangements are now final - I will teach her Algebra II this year.

My parents have told me for years that I would make a good math teacher. Even in doing presentations for my computer courses, my instructors have told me that I would make a good teacher. It's something that I would not mind doing, but I wasn't too sure about it when it was time to make education decisions. I don't regret studying computers, but now I'm sorta considering a future as a math teacher again. Don't get me wrong, I love my radio job, but do I really want to do that for the rest of my life? And I've no idea what to do about it if I decided on teaching, because I really don't feel like going back to school right now. My brain still hurts from studying operating systems. (BTW, Windows 7 rocks so much harder than Vista.)

It's definitely something to think on and pray about. But for right now, I get to try out my math instruction skills on my sister. I hope she enjoys being my guinea pig! And while I'm practicing on her, I'll also practice writing my name on a dry-erase board. "Miss Carroll"... "Miss Mandy"... "Miss Awesome"?

Goodbye Earl!

Earl, you were probably the most disappointing hurricane ever. After all the media frenzy and grocery stockpiling, one would think Earl would at least be worse than our frequent afternoon pop-up storms. Maybe Fiona will make up for it. It's named after the trigger-happy sidekick in Burn Notice and the Ogre-princess in Shrek instead of the murdered abusive hubby in a Dixie Chicks song, so it should be more interesting, right?

As I was watching the endless news coverage of the hurricane, one of the reporters for a national news network was in Atlantic Beach. I was admiring his attractiveness when I noticed that he was right next to the pier, so I knew exactly where he was standing. I came so close to jumping in my car and driving out the 15-20 minutes to say hi. But I woulda had to put makeup on and that woulda taken another 15-20 minutes and he woulda probably been gone by then. Or drowned by killer waves. Oh well.

Even though by dinner time we knew the hurricane wasn't going to be as bad as it could have been, we still made our traditional hurricane cookies. There's nothing really special about them as they are just frozen chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, but we make about twice as much as we usually do and then snack on them all night long. It's a family-wide excuse to eat an unhealthy amount of sugary deliciousness that we'll probably regret later.

Something I noticed about the storm was that even though it was still a couple hundred miles off shore, it was already covering my skies with clouds. By the time Earl got its closest to us, the sky was completely blanketed with gray clouds that stretched in every direction. It was ominous yet fascinating at the same time. While I was at work that afternoon, I stood in front of the double glass doors and just watched. That's probably part of the reason I didn't get all my paperwork done yesterday.

I joke about how I wish the hurricane was more eventful, but seriously I'm glad that it did not cause any major damage here. I've been around long enough to see hurricanes destroy homes and I definitely did not want that to happen again. Even though it's fun having the power go out and my family play monopoly by candlelight til midnight, the fun is not worth all the trouble they cause. I'm so glad my God has control over these huge storms and steered it away from us!

Stuck In My Head

So I've had Hannah Montana songs stuck in my head for the last couple of days. Her devilishly catchy tunes simply cannot be shaken from my mind easily. I may have to stop watching the show just for the fact that whatever song is sung (I accidentally typed "dung" there when writing up my draft of this post... totally unintentional, but it may speak of what my subconscious thinks of Miss Miley) is replayed for hours on end following the credits. I need to get some good music stuck in my head. Liiiiike...

Addison Road! Their new album "Stories" came out a few weeks ago, and I downloaded it (legally, of course) the first available day. I loved their first album and have seen them in concert twice so far, so I was kinda nervous about how good album numero dos would be. I was disappointed with the quality of my beloved Tenth Avenue North's new album and I didn't want to feel that way about Addison Road. But I loved it!!! It was the same kinda stuff that I was attracted to in the beginning, but I can tell they have grown some as a band. I like that.

One of the things I really like in this album is how they sing about potentially depressing topics, but the music is very upbeat and does not reflect the expected feeling of the song. For example, the song "Don't Wait" begins "Today I lost a friend of mine, I never even got to say goodbye, I thought we had time to burn, but life is short you only get one turn..." But the music for this song was far from draggy and funeral procession-y. It quickly became one of those songs I dance to while driving down the highway with people looking at me funny.

Now I gotta take a quick bunny trail. I love how what could be sad songs are sung happily, but I hate it when the opposite happens. Happy songs should not sound sad. I will never forget one time the song "Beulah Land" was sung so horribly in a church. They were supposed to be singing about the joy at going to Heaven, but they slowed it down tremendously and it sounded like they were on their way to the other place. So yeah, don't make the tune ruin the happy. End bunny trail.

I'm also rediscovering the awesomeness that is Owl City. I already adore the songs "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight" but just the other day I listened to the song "Rugs From Me To You." I'm not even going to bother trying to describe it, because I know I'm gonna crack up and then the rest of this post will be nothing but typos. So just go listen to it for yourself here and then you'll understand why Adam Young is now on a new level of awesome.

Superhero Capes?

I was thinking about superheroes yesterday. I've no idea why, really, but I got to thinking about why on earth they have capes. For the comic book and movie heroes that I know of, their capes serve no real purpose. But why is it such a staple for heroes like Superman and Batman? Random questions like this are always popping into my head, and I like researching and blogging about them, so this kinda stuff may be a regular feature.

Anyways, using my limited knowledge of superheroes, it doesn't seem very practical at all. Instead, I would think it would be more of a hindrance than a help. Edna Modes, the suit designer on "The Incredibles" (one of my favorite Disney/Pixar flicks ever) relayed the potential problems quite clearly while talking to Mr. Incredible about a new suit...

Edna: It will be bold! Dramatic!

Bob: Yeah!

Edna: Heroic!

Bob: Yeah. Something classic, like, like Dynaguy. Oh, he had a great look! Oh, the cape and the boots...

Edna: [throws a wadded ball of paper at Bob's head] No capes!

Bob: Isn't that my decision?

Edna: Do you remember Thunderhead? Tall, storm powers? Nice man, good with kids.

Bob: Listen, E...

Edna: November 15th of '58! All was well, another day saved, when... his cape snagged on a missile fin!

Bob: Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb...

Edna: Stratogale! April 23rd, '57! Cape caught in a jet turbine!

Bob: E, you can't generalize about these things...

Edna: Metaman, express elevator! Dynaguy, snagged on takeoff! Splashdown, sucked into a vortex!

Edna: No capes!

Smart woman. With even a Disney movie discussing the danger of capes, I can't help but wonder why they're so widespread in comic book culture. So I took the question to Facebook and got some kinda funny responses...

1. "We think they are stylish and they make a great blanket when you take your girl out for a picnic."

2. "They wear them to cover unsightly bulges."

3. "How could the comic books draw you in an epic pose if there wasn't a cape billowing behind you in the moonlight?"

The first two made me laugh, but the third one is probably closest to reality. It does look cool when it's flapping around in the wind, giving the appearance of movement in a still two-dimensional picture. But then I checked into some online comic book forums to see what they thought...

"In Batman's case, the cape makes him look bigger, which makes it harder for crooks to shoot him while also being intimidating." - I totally get that. If I met Batman in a dark alley, would I be more scared of him if he were in his tights and pointy mask alone? Or would the silhouette of a flapping cape make him appear more menacing? Definitely scarier with the cape. Also, Batman's cape apparently does have some practical applications as it is bulletproof, or something like that. Why not go all sci-fi and give him a force field?!?! Get with it, that's what all the superheroes are doing nowadays.

So it seems like it's all for looks, either for enhancing comics or the fright factor of a suit. Edna would totally disapprove. And now that I know the answer to this question, I may have to now discover why superheroes wear their underpants on the outside. I don't think that anything could justify that.