‘An actor without a playwright is like a hole without a doughnut’

“Cops have a grudge against all that is not a doughnut.” – Dedrick D. L. Pitter

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll.  The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist sees the hole!” – Oscar Wilde

Um, yum?

I like doughnuts. I mean, who doesn’t, right?  Well, I guess some people don’t.  But overall, doughnuts are a cherished delicacy.    ;) When it comes to regular doughnuts, I’m pretty sure that Apple Fritters are my favorite.  However, the best of the best, the most amazing, the most yummy, the most rare and sacred doughnuts are: Krispy Kreme. Oh my goodness. Krispy Kreme doughnuts just melt in your mouth and they have the most exquisite taste.

Wow. I can’t believe I just used the word “exquisite” in reference to doughnuts. I’m quite passionate, aren’t I? haha

Now, some of you may argue that Dunkin’ Donuts are the best, but I’m here to tell you – argue away.  It will never change the fact that Krispy Kreme tops Dunkin’ Donuts any day.    :D  I have some friends who would definitely argue this fact with me, so I just had to mention it. But seriously, take a plain glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut, and microwave it for 9 seconds on high.  It’s absolutely perfect, and will totally melt in your mouth. Yum!!

Anyway, doughnuts are delicious.  And thanks to Rach @ This Italian Family, I now have a recipe to make homemade doughnuts.  This recipe is super easy and super fast.  And when I say something is easy and fast, I mean it.  I personally prefer to spend a maximum of one hour in the kitchen at a time. You know, I have other things to do, people to see, and blog posts to write.  I’m happy if I can get my cooking done in under an hour.  ;) But, if it does take over an hour, I will oblige…just not as happily as if it were under an hour.  ;)

These doughnuts took about….20 minutes, max. And I’m including preparation in that.  Plus – they were super delicious!  This recipe is definitely a keeper, and I plan on making doughnuts again soon.

–

Melt in Your Mouth Doughnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 ten-count can home style biscuits (or whatever you prefer, just not flaky layers)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 stick margarine (or butter), melted
• vegetable oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Pour oil into skillet to the depth of a little less than 1/2 an inch and heat on medium to medium high for about five minutes. In a bowl, melt margarine. In a seperate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.

2. Using a plastic bottle cap, cut the center out of each biscuit. Drop dough into hot oil, watching carefully and turning when golden. Once doughnuts are golden on both sides, remove to paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all dough is cooked, including doughnut holes.

3. Dip both sides of each doughnut into melted margarine, then press both sides into cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

–

These are amazing doughnuts!  And seriously – they don’t taste like biscuits at all. It’s amazing.

In other news, here’s your verse of the day:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

Isn’t that refreshing?  Those of us who are in Christ Jesus are set free from sin and death. Of course, we’re still humans, and we’re still tempted with what everyone else is. However, the difference is, that as Christians, we do not have to pay the price for Eternal Life. We’re set free – saved –  from that requirement, because Jesus Christ paid it for us when He died on the cross and rose again 3 days later. There’s no way that I could possibly ever be thankful enough for what Jesus did for me. He’s awesomesauce.  

Well, have a great week!  I’m crazily busy trying to write a Literary Analysis Essay due next week for my literature class.  *insert pulling my hair out* I’ve never, ever done an essay like this one before.  However, I love writing, so it’s not that bad…I just have a lot of homework to somehow get done this week. O.o

And….I’m gonna go now. Ciao!  ;)

*title quote from George Jean Nathan

 

Oh when the French fries march on in! oh when the French fries march on in….

Um...delicious? Pass the ketchup, please.

I love French fries.  Next to chocolate, pork, Italian everything, Johnny Depp, Lord of the Rings, writing, (insert awkward pause)…ok, next to a LOT of things, they are the most amazing thing to grace this planet. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And I have – which is why I’m writing this post.

So remember when I wrote that we had to go down to Tucson for my uncle’s funeral? Well, we had quite the interesting time on the drive down.  See, it happened to be on a certain day when Burger King had their grand opening for a new style french fries they made.  On this special day, everyone who came in could get a small sized French Fry bag to try the new fries for free.  Sounds, great right?  :D

It was around 8:30-ish in the morning when we made our first stop.  Since there are 6 in our family, we all soon had our own hot french fries.  We were still in our hometown at that point, but soon we were on the freeway.  Little did I know how many french fries I would be asked to ingest that day.

We stopped at Camp Verde and got more French fries.  I actually hadn’t finished my previous ones yet, so I had some extra to still work on.  Driving on, a little while later, we stopped at a Burger King in Phoenix.  I was in trouble by now because I had several French fries leftover. When we reached the other side of Phoenix, we stopped for more French Fries.  At this point, my family was starting to get a little upset that I was saving my French fries instead of eating them.

We stopped at some place between Phoenix and Tucson (I can’t remember the name for the life of me), and surprisingly found more little treasures.  And, finally, we stopped in Tucson for more.  By then we were begging not to stop.

By the time we reached my aunt’s house, we were totally and completely French fried-out.  Just looking at the French fries turned our stomachs.  My mom kept telling us to look on the bright side – we’d picked up about $20 worth of French fries for free!  I know it was a great bargain…but I’m pretty sure I could’ve done without a few of those fries.

However, I have to say, my anti-French fry stomach didn’t last for long, because later that evening I found my cold fries and ate all the leftovers.  Yes, the grudge between me and French fries is gone, and I will gladly eat them for breakfast again.

Now, how to connect French fries to God? Well I guess I could write something humorous about not being a glutton, but….I’m sure you all saw that coming. Rather, I think I’ll take an unexpected turn and give you this verse to ponder:

Matthew 6:25-27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

In our day and age, it is very easy to worry. To stress. To be anxious or nervous.  But like the verse says – does it add anything to your life??  Of course not!  In fact, it’s scientifically proven that stress and worry causes health problems.  So why do we worry so much?  I think it’s because as humans, we want to be in control.  It’s in our nature.  To just give a problem up to Someone we can’t see is humanly illogical.  Yet – God’s logic is completely different than ours.  Many things that God asks us to do don’t make any sense at the moment, but in the end, it makes perfect and complete sense – and often in ways hard for us to imagine.

Did you know that the words “do not worry” are recorded in the Bible 366 times? That’s one for every day of the year – plus leap year!  Isn’t God amazing? He wants us to happy and healthy – can you imagine how much happier and healthier we’d be if we didn’t have any worries?  :) And that’s exactly how we’ll be in Heaven.

Well, I guess I’ll sign off now.  I hope this post has given you some laughs, some thoughts, and some awe for our Creator. Oh, and one more thing: yes, I am nerdy enough to make a parady out of “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” to compliment my French Fry post.  My mom and I actually came up with words to the whole song one night when both of us were starving (and yes, the words were all food related – can anyone say “awesome”?)

Au Revoir! (Speaking of French)

 

In which I write about listening to amazing music…

Guess what came in the mail on Friday??

The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack!!  It’s the 2 disc special edition.  Not only does it have all the main songs from the film, but it also has a lot of dialogue included in it – it’s almost like watching the movie itself.  Just without video.  Ok, maybe it’s more like listening to an audio book.  I don’t know, I just know that I’m loving it!

I actually haven’t listened to the whole thing through yet, but I’m working on that as I’m writing this.  Ahhh this music is so amazing.  I love the full orchestra…the talented voices..etc.  One of the most amazing parts of it is that Emmy Rossum (and other talented peoples) can sing those ridiculously high notes – without going into falsetto.  Now that’s amazing.  At the end of the them song “Phantom of the Opera”, Emmy Rossum actually reaches a High E – which is like super amazingly high if you take a look at it on a piano.

The songs included in the soundtrack are:

• Madame Giry’s Tale/The Fairground
• The Swordfight
• Prologue
• Overture/Hannibal
• Think of Me
• Little Lotte/The Mirror
• Angel of Music
• The Phantom of the Opera
• The Music of the Night
• Magical Lasso
• I Remember
• Prima Donna
• Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh
• Why Have You Brought Me Here
• All I Ask of You
• All I Ask of You (reprise)
• Journey to the Cemetery
• Wishing You Were Somehow Here
• Masquerade/Why So Silent
• Wandering Child
• The Point of No Return
• Down Once More
• Learn to Be Lonely
• Don Juan
• We Have All Been Blind

Several of my favorites are the “Overture”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “The Music of the Night”, “All I Ask of You”, “Masquerade”, and “The Point of No Return”.  I guess that’s most of the main ones…haha.  But I love all of them – especially the dialogue.  It’s overall really amazingly cool and I’m so glad I bought this CD.

What songs do you like from the Phantom of the Opera?  Well, I guess that depends if you like the Phantom.  If you don’t, what are some of your favorite songs otherwise?

In other news, at church today, the sermon was about persevering under tribulation.  It was basically talking about staying joyful in times of trial and still give God the glory.  The pastor was also saying that we shouldn’t think that our situation is a “special case” – therefore meaning we have an excuse not to rejoice.  Every situation is special, and in every single one we should still thank God for it, because eventually it will be for the better.  Still, really, who wants to rejoice when you’re under tribulation?  No one, that’s who.

However, James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

I believe this means that we should be joyful in trials because it will eventually shape our character for the better.  This is super hard to remember (especially in the moment), but nevertheless, we should all try to remember this.  It would be helpful if we pray ahead of time about letting us remain cheerful in times of trial – before we are actually in them.

And I am now going to continue listening the Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack.  Later, peoples!  

 

Horse. aka Basketball, Soccer, and Shoe.

I played basketball!!  With my injured shoulder!!  With no pain!!

Let me give you some back story on this: My family and I drove to Colorado this weekend to visit some friends, and pick up some meat (these friends raise cows and sell the meat…so we bought some.).

So while we were there, my friend brought out a basketball…and we started poking around with it.  I was hesitant, but decided to try anyway.  I took the basketball, and shot it…made it through the hoop.  And again, and again, and again.  My first four times, I made every shot!  I was so amazed.  We kept playing, and it was really fun!

We ended up playing “Horse” – the game where if you miss the hoop, you get a letter (starting with H) and you can only play until you’ve spelled the word “Horse”.  I’m sure everyone in the universe knows how to play this game.  Except me.  I had to be taught it and was quite confused at first, haha.  But eventually I got it down, and slowly it morphed into “Basketball”, “Soccer”, and for some weird reason, “Shoe”.  I don’t even remember what really happened in that game, because we were called in for lunch.  ;)

It was so nice playing basketball – not to mention playing with friends who aren’t competitive.  That’s really a bonus when you have an injured shoulder and you haven’t played for over 2 years.

I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to traveling again.  We’ve traveled a lot more this past year than we have for a long time, and I was really wanting to just stay home.  I’m a hermit, home-body, whatever you want to call it – I like to stay in my hometown, unless it’s planned for months ahead.  I guess my real problem is that I dislike change.  I really do – especially if it’s sudden and without much notice.  I don’t know why….but change just rubs me the wrong way.  So when this trip came up, I was upset.  Our church was having a baptism on Sunday, and it seemed like we were going to miss it.  I had plans to get together with a friend on Saturday, and had to cancel that.

However, I had a *lot* of fun, and I’m so glad we went.  It wasn’t stressful, it was relaxing and nice.  My dad knew how important it was for me to see one of my best friends baptized, so he made sure we left early enough on Sunday to make it home in time for the baptisms – which we did.  This has definitely impacted me, and hopefully when future trips come up, I’ll remember it and be a better sport about it.

I’m so thankful that Jesus provided me with the opportunity to play basketball – and took away all pain for it as well.  I’d been scared to death to try for a long time, and this shattered all those fears.  My shoulder has made *huge* strides lately, and all for the better.  Yes, I still have some pain, and some days it’s still sore, but not near like it was.

I believe that my injured shoulder will always be my “thorn in the flesh” like the Apostle Paul had, but I’m sure it’s something I can deal with – after all, “I can do anything, through Christ who strengthens me” – Phil. 4:13.

TTFN,

 

Phantoms and Pirates

I’ve been loving the Phantom of the Opera lately – you know, the new-ish one with Gerard Butler.  It’s so amazing!  I’m deeply attracted to the music, and though I’m not a big opera fan, I’m enchanted with this movie and all the music with it.  And, weirdly enough, the more I listen to it and admire the Phantom of the Opera music, the less I like metal.  I’ve realized lately that I’m just not liking metal all that much.

Plus, we have to be careful with the music that we do listen to.  Music evokes such powerful feelings – and very easily at that.  All you need is a simple tune to change your mood.  I’ve written about the influence of music before, but I just now thought of it again.  And, being a Christian, I need to make sure that the music I listen to doesn’t evoke ungodly feelings, or put images in my head that are dishonoring to God.  This is one reason why I’m glad that I’m not so attracted to screemo music anymore – I definitely feel like other kinds of music are more God-honoring for me.  Don’t get me wrong – I still love rock and pop – most definitely.  Just not metal so much.  ;)

Hebrews 2:1 states, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

I’m enamored with the orchestra from Phantom of the Opera.  ”Music of the Night”, “All I Ask of You”, “Point of No Return”, and of course the theme “Phantom of the Opera” are all major favorites of mine.  I can actually play most of the theme song on the piano, and I’m trying to learn “All I Ask of You”.  However, after my surgery, I forgot pretty much everything about playing the piano, so it’s still pretty difficult for me.  I’m doing my best to learn it all again, though, no worries! (Ok, so I’m not sure why you’d be worried…)

Also, speaking of music, my friend Rachael over at Rachael’s Writings posted this video on her blog, and I was so fascinated with it, I just had to post it on my blog as well.  The theme music for Pirates of the Caribbean is awesome, and this guy is amazing. His hands are so fast…I wish I could play like that one day. And I totally dig his hair – it just adds to his dramatic effect.  :D

And no, my love for the Pirates music does not have anything to do with the fact whatsoever that Johnny Depp starrs in the movies.  At all.  Zip, zero, zilch.  

Tell me what you think!

 

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

my insane life

now that's what I'm talking about

Wow.  I haven’t written a regular post for a long time. So much has happened!  Let me see if I can sum it all up in a decent-sized post.

First off, my uncle died, so we had to travel down to Tucson and Sierra Vista for the funeral/memorial service. (For those of you who don’t know, those cities are in southern Arizona.  Very southern. The border of Mexico was in sight.)

I had only met my uncle a few times while he was still alive, and well, let’s just say I didn’t appreciate his sense of humor for most of the time.   I guess uncles are just like that.  It was great seeing relatives whom I hadn’t seen for years, but it was really sad as well.  I feel so sorry for my aunt – this is going to be a very hard time for her.  I pray for her daily, but I can’t imagine the extent of pain she’s going through.  However, my uncle was a Christian, so at least that thought can bring some comfort.

While we were down there, we were able to visit my dad’s old house (he grew up there), and my mom’s old house (she lived there for a while).  That was quite interesting, but my parents were both saddened by how many new homes had been put on property they once called theirs.  My dad told me about how he used to run through the fields on their property to a mountain where he had built a fort, and play there as a boy – but now all those fields are covered with homes.  They’re basically on top of each other. :L

Anyway, it was especially very nice to see one of my aunts who lives in Wyoming.  I hadn’t seen her for about 5 years or so, and she is so sweet – it’s always a joy being around her.

Let’s see…when we came back home we were super surprised to find that our house was kept immaculate by the family who house-sat for us.  Our animals were happily taken care of, and even the laundry was done.  Amazing.  This family is so wonderful, and such a blessing to us – we’re so glad to know them.  We just can’t thank them enough for what they did – I mean, we asked them to feed our animals and make sure our house doesn’t burn down, but they even did the laundry and swept the floors.  This was just such a blessing to come back to after attending a funeral, ya know?

The next day I went to a friend’s house and slept over.  We’d been trying to work this out since March of 2011, but one thing after another kept it from happening.  We ended up watching 5 movies – The Princess Bride, Master and Commander, The Phantom of the Opera, The Count of Monte Cristo, and National Treasure.  Oh, and we also stayed up until 7 AM, slept for 1 1/2 hours, and started watching movies at 8:30 AM again.

Of course we had to watch the Princess Bride, I mean, c’mon, what sleepover is complete without the Princess Bride?!     Master and Commander is also one of my absolute faves, and I’m pretty sure my friend loved it.  Watching it more than once really helps to get the jist of it though, so that gives us a good excuse for another sleepover, right? 

I absolutely adore The Phantom of the Opera.  The music, the Phantom himself (Gerard Butler, btw), Christine, everything.  It’s so amazing, I love it.  My friend and I talked about it long into the night.  I despise the ending when the Phantom says to Christine, “Christine, I love you.”  Then she just gives him back the ring and leaves.  Ugh!  I feel so sorry for the Phantom.     But it’s an epic movie overall.

This was my first time watching The Count of Monte Cristo, and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  No, I loved it!  It was really, really good – and I really want to watch it again.  Really.    I can’t believe I just used the word “really” three times in that sentence… hmm….

Moving on!  National Treasure it a classic, so it was definitely one we had to watch.  I can pretty much quote the whole thing since I used to watch it everyday, and Riley is the best character of all.  He’s so awesome – and I’m seriously going to complain if Justin Bartha isn’t in National Treasure 3 when it comes out.  No body else can play Riley like he can, just saying.  It’d be like somebody besides Johnny Depp trying to play Captain Jack Sparrow – so not happening.

This past Friday I woke up with a sore throat….which lasted all the way through Saturday.  And then I developed nasal congestion/runny nose, a cough, a pounding headache, etc – basically, I got a cold.

And I still have it.  My sinuses/head feels a lot better today, but I still have a bad and very irritating cough, along with minimal energy.  This cold has been horrible.  I’ve been in bed almost all day long since Monday – except for today.  I actually ventured outside today to see my rabbit, and have been sitting in my reading chair, not my bed.  So this is good.

In case any of you were wondering, I’ve discovered that sinus rinses work really well to help speed up recovery when you have a cold.  Ok, that was random…..

But yeah, Monday was really bad….I didn’t feel like eating anything, talking, reading, watching movies, anything.  Most of the day was spent lying in bed, moaning, and staring at the ceiling and walls.  Lying in bed, because I had like zero-energy, and moaning because I felt like death was closer than life at the moment (ok, so I was joking…but I just felt really, really sick.)

I actually said that I thought it’d be easier to die than live – but hey, to die is gain!  For me, and all believers in Jesus Christ, it means Heaven with no pain, sorrow, or discomfort. Now that is an amazing thought.  Can you imagine Heaven, also known as New Jerusalem?  Revelation 21 describes it, but it’s still extremely difficult to even slightly imagine.  Even without all the physical dimensions, just thinking that Jesus will be there!!! Is amazing to me. I’m so excited.

Oh and we had a great Christmas in case you were wondering.  I can’t believe I forgot about that.  I was sick, as aforementioned, but it was still nice.  My parents gave me a pair of black Ugg slippers which are really warm and cozy, a whole can of Almond Roca (yum!!!), a mini-compact so now I have something to put my eyeshadow in, and the book Inheritance by Christopher Paolini.

I’m really happy to have this book because it’s the last book in the series, so I now have the whole series.  I’ve only read the first few chapters, and I have to say, I’m not that impressed (nobody compares to Tolkien. Fact.), but maybe I just need to keep reading.  I think I was kind of turned off by the fact that he used the word “and” as the first word in a sentence 37 times just in the history of the previous books.  Which was like five pages long at the most.  37 times!  And the books are quite gorey….but I still like the story line itself, and I am very, very happy to have the book!!

My older brother also gave me a huge tub of hand cream, which I’m very thankful for because I’ll always use hand cream and it’s a great practical gift.   This hand cream works very well – it’s some of the best stuff I’ve used.  :D

My sister gave me a glow-in-the-dark key chain, and a little bag to put stuff in, while my little brother gave me a broken piece of glass.    Just kidding, ok so it’s supposedly a rock.  But it looks like a broken piece of glass.  We love teasing him about it, but I appreciate it all the same – it’s pretty.

And now as I’m starting to mend, I thought I should write a blog post to catch you guys up with everything.  Sorry it’s so long, but I had a lot to say.  Congratulations are in order if you read all the way through it!

Happy New Year!

 

it’s called Christmas with a capital C

Merry Christmas!

 

‘Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough.’

*epic*

I want to snowboard.  I want to play basketball.  I want to dance freely with a flexible and limit-free body.  I want to do activities with the youth at my church without killing myself or regretting it later.  And I can’t do any of this with my injured shoulder.

I’m a point right now where I can do a lot of stuff, yet there’s a fine line of stuff I can’t do.  It’s almost like I can touch it, yet I can’t get it.  Like a candy bar just out of reach enough so you can’t grab it, but you can just barely touch it.  I’m so close, yet so far.

I think this may be one of the hardest times I’ve had yet with my shoulder.  At least before it was like I couldn’t do anything (not that I enjoyed it), so I didn’t have a taste of what it was like.  But now I can do sooo many things and practically live “normally”, yet there are still so many things I can’t do.  I’ve never been all that much into sports, but now that I see what I can’t do, it makes me want to do it.

Yet, at the same time, my shoulder is making huge strides in getting better (at last!!) – so maybe it won’t be all that long before I can do some of those things…  It might take a while for me to convince myself that it’s ok when that time comes, though.

Just a month or so ago, I was playing catch with my family and totally re-injured my shoulder.  It was horrible….I hadn’t felt that kind of pain since physical therapy right after my surgery.  That was from catch!!  I think I just over-did it, but now I’m pretty apprehensive to try throwing again.

Do you guys see what kind of turmoil I’m going through right now?  It’s like I want  to do the things I can’t, yet don’t want to do them at the same time.  Ugh!  My brain must have something wrong with it, I’ll tell ya.  Can’t it make up it’s mind?

Thanks for letting me vent.  I’m just trying to sort things out.  It really isn’t all that bad – things could always be worse.  I have it off pretty good compared to a lot of people, and I have a lot to be thankful for.

On a lighter note, have you guys noticed my new blog theme?  What do you think??  I’ve had my eye on this one for a while, but only just now switched to it.  Ok, so not “just now” – I think I’ve had it for a week or so.  But you know me and themes – they change frequently.  I guess that’s just like my brain….hmm…not sure if that’s good or bad.  

But I still want to snowboard.  Ok, that was random.  But it’s true!    ;)  I’ve wanted to snowboard for like 3 years – but the first year we didn’t have money or something…maybe we just didn’t make the move for it, I don’t know.  Then last year I injured my shoulder and had surgery, so that was problematic.  And now I still have an injured shoulder – but I’m working on some special exercises to strengthen my shoulder so I could possibly snowboard.  I know it’s dangerous and hard….but for some reason, I just feel really attracted to the sport.  We’ll see, I guess.

Philippians 4:13 is very encouraging to me in this time.  ‘I can do anything through Him who strengthens me.’ 

This verse reminds me that even if I don’t have the strength to do something, Jesus Christ does.  Being a Christian, I am empowered through the Holy Spirit – and I can do anything through Him if it’s according to His will – even when I think it’s physically impossible.  If this means getting me through the rest of physical therapy, it’ll happen.  If it means getting me on to a snowboard – it’ll happen.  As long as it’s in His will, nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible.  

Until next time,

*title quote from Dave Berry.

 

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

I woke up this morning, with the temperature gauge-thing reading -3 degrees outside!  Negative 3 degrees!!!  That is soooo intensely cold.  So cold, it feels like it takes all the air out of your lungs.  So cold that your fingers go numb in like 2 minutes.  So cold that just wearing a hoodie and snowboots doesn’t cut it – I unfortunately learned this one myself.  So cold that the faucet doesn’t run.  So cold that your shoes freeze to the wet cement.  So cold that doors freeze shut.  I think you get the picture.  Or I sure hope you do.  ;)  That’d be kind of awkward if you didn’t….  ;)

It’s been in the negatives every day and night for the past week – I’m pretty sure this is going to be a much colder winter than we’ve had in a while.  We still have a few inches of snow…and our car actually died this morning because it was so cold. I have to wear my hoodie and winter socks along with my pajamas if I don’t want to freeze at night (and I even have a heating pad on my bed! Not to mention we keep the heater on all night….)

Man, it’s cold.  In case you haven’t noticed.  And if you also didn’t notice – I don’t like the cold.  I boycott snow.  I’m altogether Scrouge, The Grinch, and a humbug when it comes to winter.  (by the way, the Grinch is amazing.  Just sayin’ Oh, and the Muppets Christmas Carol is like the best Christmas movie – ever)  Granted, I really like winter break (which starts on the 19th!! so excited), so winter does have it’s pros. Still….

In other news, I spent 3 hours at the dentist today.   I had to get some stuff done….but I sure am tired.  And I bet my hygienist is too…haha.  It actually wasn’t all that much I needed to get done – a cleaning and some sealants…but I go to a place where they have students do the work, so it takes longer because they have to have instructors check everything.  But my hygienist was very sweet, so that made it better.

Really, I’m sooooo tired.  My jaw was aching through the whole thing, but the Bible verse, “My Grace is sufficient for you,” kept running through my head.  Every time it seemed like too much (I mean, c’mon – 3 hours is a long time to keep your mouth open, even with frequent breaks), that verse would pop in my head and the ache would seem to vanish for a while.  Bible memorization sure is helpful!

Here’s the full verse, in case you were wondering:

2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

What do you think of all the snow?? How’s the weather in your side of the country/world?  Hope your having a great one, and Happy Winter Break to all students out there – I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I will.  :D

All my love,