Happy Thanksgetting...

I don't think that Thanksgiving has truly survived in many homes around the United States. Instead of being thankful and grateful for the boundless blessings of our daily lives, we tend to only focus on what we can get out of the holiday.

The original purpose of having a Thanksgiving dinner was to remember how little the Pilgrims had when they first made the long voyage to the New World. Starving to death was not uncommon so the Pilgrims really were thankful to God for His provision.

The holiday should serve as a reminder in many ways not unlike communion. Although we should always count our blessings and praise the Lord for them, Thanksgiving provides a special time to stop and reflect on how much we really do have.

So while you are stuffing yourselves with all the delicious goodies at your houses, remember to thank Him. In the song Blessed be Your Name one of the verses goes like this:

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise

Turn back to praise Him. Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Chronicles 16:8 "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done."
1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

"We Need a Movie to go With the Shakes..."

Well, it seems that I cannot post a wonderful video on here that I wanted to show you all for Movie and Shake Night, but you can still go and watch it here http://youtube.com/watch?v=9_M0H5nrY8E

I would suggest that if you have a tender heart, get emotional easily or certain things can touch you in a way you don't think is possible, bring a box of kleenex with you to the computer. The first time (not to mention the second, third and forth times) I watched this clip, I bawled my eyes out. Yes, some of you may find that hard to believe, but hey I was touched. ;-)

Anyway, I hope that everyone falls in love with Jesus again after watching this video.

The thing I liked best about it (warning-if you haven't already watched the clip, please do so before continuing. Plot ruiner ahead) was that it showed us trying our very best to get to God, but no matter how hard we try, we could never even come close to reaching Him. He closed the gap and took our place because He knew in the end that He would win.

Word of the Week # 14

myrmidon \MUR-muh-don; -duhn\, noun:

1. (Capitalized) A member of a warlike Thessalian people who followed Achilles on the expedition against Troy.

2. A loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity.

"He risked assassination, torture or . . . retaliation, the defining signatures of Mr. Milosevic and his ultranationalist myrmidons."
-- Bruce Fein, "Follow U.S. war crimes advice?", Washington Times, May 10, 2001

"Those who created EMU [(European) Economic and Monetary Union] -- mainly politicians and their myrmidons in the offices and conference rooms of Brussels -- portray a beckoning landscape of wealth, liberty and economic power that will rival the United States and surpass Asia."
-- James O. Jackson, "The One-Way Bridge", Time, May 11, 1998

Myrmidon derives from Greek Myrmidones, a warlike people of ancient Thessaly

FRIDAY!!!!!

Fridays...I love them. I really do. Nothing can compare to the awesome feeling that another week is almost over and the "restful" weekend is well on it's way.

Fridays have always had some kind of special feeling. When I was little, my family started a Friday tradition of Movie and Shake Night. We would rent a family movie and afterwards, my dad would make us all chocolate milk shakes. A tradition that my grandpa started back before I was born.

When my family moved to Chico, my dad had every other Friday off of work. He would stay at home and often times pull out the beloved hot wheel racing track, print up a set of racing brackets and then promptly beat every one of my fastest cars.

Fridays are still Movie and Shake Night, but the tradition has become so much more than just a fun evening; it's turned into the one night a week where everything is pushed aside and family takes center stage.

So, needless to say, if you ask me to do something else on Friday night, you will probably get a no. Maybe, unless you'll let me bring everyone along.

Wacky Web-Pic Wednesday #13

Freakish tomatoes...That's all I've got to say about that. No, seriously, I don't know if I could bring myself to eat anything that had a point like that on it. Do you think you could?


Tell us what you think by voting in the new poll: Could you eat a deformed piece of food?

Enlarged To Show Texture

We thought it would be a good idea to show everyone the cereals they unthinkingly eat and give you a close up shot of the toasted goodness.

To start, we have the classic Cheerio. Baked to perfection right by us in the General Mills plant. Now made with whole grains, it is clinically proven to reduce cholesterol, and with only 1 gram of sugar it is a healthy alternative to most sugary cereals.

Next we have the Chex original. These little babies are perfect for making "muddie buddies" and chex mix. Also made with whole grains, they are the perfect as a light snack in between meals.

Frosted Mini Wheats are a digestive-healthy choice since each serving contains almost 25% of your daily fiber needs. And with only 1 gram of fat, how can you go wrong if you eat them in the morning. The commercial even suggests you take them to school or work with you.

Kashi. Another healthy alternative to Cheerios. Although a little bit tough and chewy, Kashi is wonderful for your heart since it promotes low blood pressure and wide-open arteries. A cheaper version of Kashi can be purchased at your local recyclers plant. Just ask for the sticks, twigs, and cardboard section.

I didn't include the Cocoa Pops or the Lucky Charms because they aren't considered "healthy" by most all cereal consumers. But that doesn't mean that we don't eat them. Seriously though, how can you choose bits of bark I mean Kashi over sweet chocolate puffiness for breakfast. Now that's a reason to get up in the morning!

Word of the Week #13

abscond \ab-SKOND\, intransitive verb:
1. To depart secretly; to steal away and hide oneself -- used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid arrest or prosecution.


"The criminal is not concerned with influencing or affecting public opinion: he simply wants to abscond with his money or accomplish his mercenary task in the quickest and easiest way possible so that he may reap his reward and enjoy the fruits of his labours."
-- Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism

"Pearl, now an orphan (her father having absconded shortly after her conception), has been taken to live with her great-aunt Margaret in the north of England"
-- Zoe Heller, Everything You Know

Abscond comes from Latin abscondere, "to conceal," from ab-, abs-, "away" + condere, "to put, to place."

Helmets

I don't like to wear helmets. i think that I must be related to my mother since she will do almost anything to avoid wearing a helmet.

It's not that they're not really uncomfortable or anything, it's just that they cause a major inconvenience to most women and some men: helmet hair.

You've all seen or experienced this type of hairstyle at one time or another, and I have too. Of course when I was a kid, I always wore my helmet no matter what. Right before my 18th birthday, I went for a bike ride without a helmet and everything went very well.

Well the other day I was pining for something to do, something that was active and would get me outside into the beautiful fall weather. My brilliant thought was to take our family dog and teach him how to trot alongside a bike.

The first two days want swimmingly. After a ten minute warm up in the court, Cocoa did wonderfully staying with the bike. This is going to be awesome, I thought.

After coming home the second day, my dad pulled me aside and told me that I needed to be careful, very careful.

"Make sure to wear a helmet," he cautioned.

The next day I decided to go out for a little ride. I leashed up Cocoa and mounted my bike. We gently rolled down the driveway and into the street. Everything was going well, that is, until we got to the street across from ours.

As soon as Cocoa saw the straight stretch of road with nothing to stop him, he took off running. Unfortunately, he didn't run in a straight line. Curving right in front of me, he made a sharp turn into the bike.

The next thing I remember, I was laying on the ground calling Cocoa back over to me and my body was shaking terribly.

As I limped back to my house a block away, I remembered that thing that my dad had said about wearing a helmet and realized I wasn't wearing one.

So if you see me in the next few days, I still have a pretty little shiner over my eye. And my advice about bike riding is this: WEAR A HELMET!!!

If You Knew What I Know...

Thanks goodness that Halloween is over! It's my least favorite holiday, and if you ask me, we could just get rid of it all together.

Sure, I like pumpkins and candy, but the true essence of the Halloween traditions has largely been forgotten by many. If you knew what I know about Halloween, you might think about it differently.

You see, the celebration of Halloween dates back over 2000 years. In this dark time, the night before All Saints Day was called All Hallows Eve. The spirits of the dead people and children supposedly come back to earth during that time and roam the streets.

As if spirits weren't enough, the demons and goblins are also thought to become active during this time. The pumpkins were carved, lit and placed outside of one's door to protect the family inside from unwanted spirits. The candy was an offering to the dead that hopefully would appease their appetites.

Although my family and I have never celebrated Halloween, I wasn't told why we didn't until the 5th Grade. After hearing the "real story," my opinion about the holiday changed from that of disgust to that of nausea.

This post was not meant to in any way slam people who celebrate Halloween, but I felt like I needed to let people know what they are standing for.