Oh That's so Un-Christlike!

Alright so this isn't going to be like my other posts. This one is going to have some serious over tones. With a touch of mad rant. Just bare with me and I'll try to get back to normal for the next one.......

So the other week I was driving with a good friend of mine. It was a long drive so we were pretty much just blathering on about random things. We talked about everything from our kids to how complex men are etc. About an hour into the drive  I told her about how my mother (whom she's never met) was concerned about my brother in law (also whom she's never met) putting off finishing something that was almost done and very very important and so she's been kind of nagging him to get it completed.
My friend's response was not the casual. "Wow, I can't believe he would wait so long.." Instead she sounded almost angry and indignant about how horrible and "Un-Christ like" my mother was for being so hard on him.
Um...wait, What!?
Her reaction was so confusing and hurtful that it made me angry. I decide that was a good time to look out the window and try to stop myself from crying.(that's what happens when I get too upset) While doing so though I tried to defend my mom. My friend seemed to back pedal a bit and calmed down. But the comment still stuck with me even though we moved on to better topics like the tattoos we wanted when we were twelve.
But it's not the first time I've heard it used in that trivial a matter. And it seems to be growing in popularity as some sort of knee jerk/go to reaction to things people deem "not kind enough".

Hmmmm......Let's break it down shall we?....

It has a few forms but I've been hearing it more and more from my friends and family and their friends.
"What do you mean we have to start on time and be rushed? That is so un-Christlike!"
"You told someone my secret who is in no way connected to me. That's so un-Christian and un-Christlike.

Give me a break!

 I wonder if those who use phrases like this in their everyday life are aware of just how Puritanical and Self Righteous they sound? Not to mention plain Judgmental! (was that judgmental of me to call them judgmental?)
It's like these people have no other way of saying "Your response was not as nice or as understanding as I feel it should have been." Or "This upsets me and I don't like it." Or even "Hey, that's kind of mean." They feel they have to go straight for the "guilt". This is a very powerful trump card. And to use it as a reprimand is not only insulting but  is even worse because, really, they are then responding in a way that is by itself, not Christlike. Because I doubt Christ is watching our conversations and saying "Boy,(or Girl) I wish you would step in and tell them that I wouldn't do that." :(

In my opinion (because this is my blog and it's all my opinion), calling another Christian's actions Un-Christ like is like a slap in the face, Especially when no malice was intended.(I'm sure non-Christians wouldn't care so much.) Because, for Christians, what's a better way to make us feel guilty than to tell us that we are not behaving in the way our Lord and Savior would like? And in essence making us feel that we are a horrible person for doing or saying what we did.

The thing though, is that more and more people are using it for the most benign things.  Someone I know posted their opinion (on their own wall) about how sad it was that the media was giving so much attention to a celebrity death (who had a history of drug abuse) when there are soldiers dying everyday. The first person agreed with him. The second ripped him a new one for not being sympathetic enough to the celebrity, "such Christian attitudes.." was their first line. And they didn't stop there. Oh no, they went on and on....
Now, if the person who posted started calling the celebrity nasty names and called for violence against anyone who so ever dared posted a condolence post. Then I would consider that to be on the extreme side.Go ahead and make them see the error of their ways.... But not for just sharing their opinion about the hypocrisy about someone who seemed to waste their life compared to someone who died in the service of their country.

Do you see the difference people?

Can you see where this is could get annoying and out of hand?

I mean really, Christ's name is already used so much in inappropriate ways. Why must we use it as a form of reprimand or insult and hurt even more people?

Did someone say Smoothies?!!!

Oh yeah! It was me! Because on a semi dank and dreary day like today and it being close to Valentines day,who wouldn't want to cuddle up next to their Honey (aka a good book) and a large cup of frozen yumminess?

As I'm sure you are all aware, there are thousand of smoothie recipes out there but for some reason when I go into a smoothie place I always try to find one that does not contain Banana...

Now,some would ask, "But why not Banana?! All smoothies must have Banana!" And I would say to them "NOO, you are mistaken my friend. For my smoothies shalt not contain Banana because Banana is the bully of all fruit kind. The flavor takes over everything!" Not that I have anything against Banana, I just have to really be in the mood for it and when I find that it was slipped in without my knowledge it's like an angry assault to my taste buds. ...so moving on.

Some people think that smoothies are expensive but being the frugal and forward thinking person that I am, I've found a way around that. I buy fresh fruit like strawberries and blueberries when they are on sale and in mass quantities and then I freeze them. If you aren't quite as enterprising (paranoid some may say) as I am, you can just as easily buy the frozen stuff in the store. If it's out of season it's usually way cheaper to buy than the fresh stuff anyway.

And now for a little background story....
When I was in college, I used to go to Jamba Juice when I wanted to treat myself. I thought they were the BEST EVER. That is until a few years ago I stumbled across a small coffee/smoothie chain called Jolt and Juice in Ontario, OR. (Jamba, I still like you like a friend)


It was there that I weighed my options and ordered their "Cruisin Todd" (apple juice, blueberries, strawberries and heavy cream) with a shot of Mango syrup....and then, of course whip cream on top. It was like Manna from Heaven. And due to it's yumminess I craved it often. Unfortunately at the time the closest Jolt and Juice was about 45 minutes away and even then I could rarely convince my husband that stopping was truely necessary. So I had no other choice but to make my own...but in a not quite so "heavy whip cream" way. And this is what I came up with.

Here are my Ingredients:

(most of these measurement are approximate so you just have to go with it and hope it turns out close to mine)
1-2 handfuld of Frozen Blueberries
1 handful Frozen Apple slices (peeled, the skins do not blend well)
1 handful or 3-4 large Frozen Strawberries
1 inch piece of Frozen Mango (they are behind the blueberries)
about 1/4 cup of Plain Greek yogurt ( you could use Vanilla if you want)
about 1/4 cup of Apple sauce
1/2- 1 scoop of Vanilla Whey Protein powder
I also add about half a dropper of Grape flavored Stevia extract. it helps with the tartness of the yogurt.


Put all that in a food processor or blender and pulse once or twice to get it mixed a bit before putting it on high speed for about 20 seconds. Make sure to stop every few seconds and scrap the sides to ensure there are no giant bits.

The longer you blend it, the smoother and less thick it will become.

From there you just poor it into a cup and start popping a vein...or you could get a spoon until it melts a bit. Either way, Enjoy!

Happy 11-11-11 day

I said that I would try to post something on 11-11-11. And I don't really have a lot of time today....So here it is....

 (ooh, apparently something is coming)

It's like TV but with Books!

.
The site is called Big World Network .

This is a new site that will be launched tomorrow, November 9th that allows you either listen to or read a new chapter of a book released on a certain day of the week, for 12 weeks, just like a tv episode. The titles are all new and currently unpublished but range vastly in age level and genre.

I was given the opportunity to preview the site and read the first chapters of a few of the books being offered. And while some of them could use a little bit more polishing, they are pretty good. The site even gives a "rating guide" depicting at what age the story is appropriate for so you know if it's okay to listen with your kids around.

What also makes this site great is that they are always looking for more authors to submit their work for future "seasons". Making this a very good opportunity for aspiring writers...which I happen to know a few.

So if you are interested in reading/listening brand new books or submitting your stories. And getting your name out there.... This might be a good place to start. 

I had a dream...about a sandwich

Ok so,  Last night I had the most infuriating, horrifying dream.
But first I need to give you a little back story.... I love Arby's fast food restaurant. Growing up we didn't have one very close by. In fact my friend Laura and I would make special trips to the Harrisburg East mall, over 20 miles away (for teenagers, that was far) just so we could have the yummy cheesy roast beefy goodness...yeah, we shopped too, but really I went there for Arby's. For me, if I had to choose between the food of any other fast food joint and Arby's? I would choose Arby's every time. They just need to have a play place for the kids and I would never leave.
Now, I realize some of you might think that it's gross and the worse place ever...well, then that's your loss...hand over the curly fries and walk away..... mmmmmmm

Alright, so back to my dream. It wasn't very long but when I woke up, I was not happy.....

I had just gotten back from Arby's. Apparently I didn't get anything for myself but I did get my kids a Ham and Cheese melt. My daughter doesn't really like to eat sandwiches in their pure form so she opens them up and then takes a bite or two and then usually just leaves it. And by "leaves it" throws it somewhere. This time she threw one part of the bun on the chair and the other part with the meat and cheese on the counter. The half on the counter just so happened to skid across and just barely touch the (clean) outside edge of the container we use to put compost in.
Me, being me, and not wanting to waste any of this yummy goodness picked up the half on the chair and went to collect the other half. But just be for I could reach it. Ryan comes in and picks up the half on the counter, looks at it and then, to my horror, throws it inside the very slimy compost bin...making it completely inedible. 
"Hey! I was going to eat that!" I exclaim.
"Oh, I thought it was dirty. I didn't think you'd want it." he shrugged.
This coming from the man who will eat the moldy parts off of cheese because he hates to waste it.
"Uggg!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!" I yell back
"Uh, sorry." and then he just walks out of the kitchen.

And Scene...

So, needless to say, when I woke up, I was ticked! He had his arm draped over me, so I gave him a shove. I was so mad! I didn't want him to even touch me!
Ug, How could he have thrown that away?! What was he thinking? He knows how much I love Arby's sandwiches. Granted, it wasn't a Roast Beef sandwich, but it was still on the top of my yummy list.
It took a couple minutes for me to calm myself down and only then did I realize that it was just a dream...a very very bad bad dream.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

So, I just finished reading something else that I thought I would pass along. "Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins

Lola is a very interesting girl. She just turned seventeen and is having a pretty normal life living in the Castro district of San Francisco.  The only thing that makes her stand out from the crowd, besides her two dads and the occasional visit from her fortune telling birth mother, is that she doesn't wear normal cloths but instead wears "costumes".

Her goal is to never wear the same costume twice in a year. Despite some of the comments she hears at school, she is completely confident with who she is. Everything is going as well as she could hope for. She has the perfect (much older) boyfriend who is in a band. Her fathers hate him, which isn't so perfect, but she's working on that... She's even planning on making a Marie Antoinette themed dress for the Winter Formal that she's sure people will remember for the rest of their lives.  Everything is on track....That is until the original residents of the house next door move back after being gone for two years. Bringing with them her most hated nemesis Calliope Bell and her twin brother Cricket Bell......the boy who shattered her heart.
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Lola is your typical teenager, she makes a lot of choices that I wouldn't condone but can understand. And I love just how confident she is with herself.  She doesn't usually do things just to make others like her. She has her own drummer and she tries to follow it even if, to everyone one else, it's always a different beat.

I really liked this story. It turned out to have a lot of good messages about being nonjudgmental, what real love is, forgiveness and being happy with who you are and accepting what life has placed in your path...

In time I think I would want my daughter to read this but not until she was mature enough for it. It's not for pre-teens it's in the Young Adult category for a reason. It always drives me a little nuts seeing kids reading books that are not for their age group, subject matter wise..especially when their parents are the ones who give it to them. But that's another rant post for later...

Anyway, like I was saying. I really did enjoy this book...maybe because it made me want to break out of my shell a little bit and start being  my true self instead of what others expect me to be...plus, re-inspires me to start wearing more fun outfits and glitter!

Happy 11-1-11 Everyone....

I just felt like posting something today just so it has the date stamp of 11-1-11...If I remember I"ll post in 10 days when it's 11-11-11...