How can one learn a language like Greek?

How can one learn a language like Greek?

Listen.

Read.

Write. 

Speak. 

Better than winning

Philip and I (Emily) have known each other for a little over 5 years and been married for a little over 4 and 1/2 years. He was made known about my love for Mississippi State University early on. And although he has adopted that affection, he is still learning some of the intricacies of what it means to be devoted to the Maroon and White.

This past Saturday, Mississippi State played basketball against our bitter, in-state rival, Ole Miss. Mississippi State has not had a stellar basketball season and we weren't anticipated to beat Ole Miss this weekend in Starkville (the home of Mississippi State). However, the Bulldogs pulled out a 73-67 victory against the Bears!

The next morning, as we were getting ready for church, I asked Philip if he wanted to wear his brown or maroon sweater. He answered, "The maroon one to celebrate Mississippi State's win!" His enthusiasm was right on and I gladly pulled out that maroon sweater. However, I did have to correct him on this one small point: "Honey, beating Ole Miss is better than winning."

Half-Caff

Philip and I have been drinking half-caff coffee for about a year now. A few roasters do a kind deed and go ahead and blend the regular and decaf coffee grounds into one container. As I was making the coffee this morning, this was the conversation Philip and I had when he noticed the half-caff label.

Philip: I want a company to put an image of half a calf on their half-caff labels.
Emily: What half would you put? The front or rear end? The top or bottom? You could bifurcate him from nose to tail and then what side would you use?
Philip: I'd leave that to the graphic design team.
Emily: Well, I suppose there is more than one way to half a calf.

Give up paper towels?

Would you? If so, what would be the motivating factor - saving trees, saving money, saving space on your counter top, saving space in your storage closet, a combo? This article from Money Saving Mom got me thinking, "Would it be that hard?"

I'm too stupid for that game

Philip isn’t a tennis player. He’s been a great sport, though, as I’ve had Wibledon- and Andy Murray-fever. He even knows a few names in Men’s Tennis now, like Federer, del Potro & Djokovic.

This morning during the match between Federer and del Potro, I tried to explain the scoring system so that Philip would understand why the third set seemed to be never ending. He wanted to understand – really, he did. And he caught a lot but…

Later I pondered, “I wonder how they decide who receives the Bronze medal in tennis?” Philip pleaded, “When you find out, please don’t try to explain it to me. I love you - and I don’t mean in the sense that tennis uses Love - but I’m too stupid for that game.”

Philip is about as far from stupid as you can get. However, I didn’t tell him when I found out that there is simply a consolation match between the semi-final losers for the Bronze medal. J

Dave Ramsey payment method

Today Dave Ramsey tweeted that he was offering 50% off his products. He had a captive audience. I immediately started perusing his online store. Philip and I settled on getting one of the educational sets for children. (Which I'm super excited about getting in the mail!)

Now that we have 2 children, I need to be able to be a creative-tasker (I will blog soon about how that is a better term than multi-tasker). So I was placing the order via my hands free Bluetooth on my commute to run errands in town. As the conversation came close to the point where Kristi would be asking for payment method, I wondered if she would ask the standard, "What type of credit card are you using?" According to Dave Ramsey, I should have cut up all my credit cards.

My curiosity was satisfied when she asked, "Are you using a debit card or would you like to pay by check over the phone?" I was not surprised yet very pleased that Dave has enough integrity to put his principles into practice regarding his profits. 

Misplaced Gratitude

A couple of weeks ago, Philip checked the mail and found a not-so-suspicious letter in our mailbox.

After opening the letter, he found it was a thank you note. Again, nothing suspicious there - especially given the fact we live in Mississippi and Philip jokes that we send thank you notes for our thank you notes.

This is where it gets interesting...I'll let you read the contents.

Just in case you have trouble reading it, the first line in the body reads, "Thank you for helping me move into my new house."

Now, if you are reading our blog, am I going to assume that you know that my husband, Philip, is in a wheelchair. That little fact would exclude him from being able to participate the action for which he was thanked. We found this hilarious and strange all at the same time. We have concocted ways that this person found Philip's name and mailing address and believed him to be the one to thank.

Philip is neither embarrased nor hindered by his condition. I would conjecture the Lord has even used his situation to make him a wiser-than-normal 30 year old. Don't get me wrong, it's not the handicap in and of itself. In the brief time I have known Philip, I have been more aware of people who are handicapped and interested in their stories. Whatever the circumstances that caused the crippling, it is the attitude and fortitude of the person, not the handicap itself, that is the lynch pin in their lives.

All of that to say that Philip is able to get a good belly laugh out of this misplaced gratitude and we hope you are too. :)

Primordial Penguins

Check out this catchy little ditty from the Primordial Penguins.

Click here to get 10% off on any 24K purchase
using VIP code: 24kSoen

Strength in Weakness

Earlier this week I visited a friend who had been in a car accident in Honduras in November. She has 10 fractured vertebrae and has to be in a plastic splint that covers her entire mid-section – chest to hips. Her trunk rotation/mobility is highly limited and she is not supposed lift anything, making most general activities difficult or impossible..

This gal had been a very self-sufficient woman, living on her own, working for Blue Cross and teaching Zumba. Now she has not been able to work or teach Zumba since November and has had to have help with activities we take for granted. She was telling me how much help she has had to receive over these months and how humbling that has been for her.

It struck me that she has to be a very strong person to actually even accept that help. Regardless of whether it was financial or with general hygiene, she has had to decide if she wanted to submit to others assisting her. And it is indeed a decision. In reality, she has had to exercise more strength since being weaker than before the accident when she was physically stronger.

This epiphany reminded me of my husband. Philip has had to exercise said strength for years now. As a result, his character is to be admired. Philip recently quoted a professor’s definition of patience as the combination of self-control, humility and generosity. My husband exhibits mastery of patience.

I often tell people what a strong man Philip is. The temporary example of the friend I mentioned is the constant example of my husband. This strength has crafted him into a most excellent man. Every one should be as fortunate as me.

You wanna cracker, Papa?

Anastasia: Papa, you wanna cracker?

Philip: I don't want one, Anastasia.

Anastasia: You want 2 crackers, Papa?

Rebekah's Ride

You like Jesus' blood, Papa?

A couple of weeks ago, we let Anastasia sit through almost an entire church service with us.

Unfortuanately, we only had 1 instead of 2 chairs removed for handicap accessibility. So, Philip was kinda squished in a space too small for a wheelchair.

During the sermon, I thought Anastasia was being a bit loud and wanted to take her out. That resulted in more noise, but also an inconvenience to the person sitting behind Philip. Ie, he had a wheelchair rolling into him so we could get by. So, when Anastasia and I came back in, we sat in the seats immediately in front of Philip.

We took the Lord's Supper at the end of the service - and I was very excited about explaining to her what we were doing. As the bread came around, I told her, "Anastasia this is Jesus's body." Then as we were about to drink the 'wine', I told her, "We're drinking Jesus's blood." Anastasia wanted to put my cup in the little slot in the chair/pew in front of me and then went to collect Philip's cup as well.

As she walked around my chair to his, Anastasia asked, with her high little voice and head inquisitively cocked to the side, "You like Jesus' blood, Papa?" My heart warmed. Though it's unlikely she comprehended what we were doing, she heard me. That's a moment I will cherish until him we worship returns.

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in less than 5 minutes. This video is fabulous! As the weather cools down, a scarf is a fantastic accessory. It's fashionable and practical.

Which style is your favorite?

Tear Here to Create Memories

It's somewhat hard to tell, but the bag of mini-chocolate cookies says, "Tear here to create memories."

I was making Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe follows) for the first time. It was in a cookbook that I bought in the checkout line at the grocery store - I see one dynamite looking recipe and I bought the whole thing. But it has a whole section devoted to chocolate, so I did OK.

As I was opening the bag of Nestle mini chips, there's a cute little message that says, "Tear here to create memories." A creative way to indicate that that was the place I was supposed to open the bag. However, the tear kept going, quickly, until I had slit a whole down most of the length of the bag and the chips were spilling out all over the counter and floor. Thankfully, most were salvageable by falling on the counter top.

They weren't kidding about the memory part.

Being a connoisseur of chocolate chip cookies, the chip-to-cookie ratio is key. Too few chips and you're missing what defines the cookie. Too many chips and it's too much of a good thing. Now, I realize this ratio is a delicate one and that it might vary from person to person. But I think a well-researched chocolate chip cookie will have a proportion that satisfies the masses.

The cookies were good enough to share the recipe. Though these are the revisions I would make: I would use only half to three-quarters of the bag of mini chocolate chips rather than the whole thing; and add more brown sugar or some white sugar.

Pudding Chip Cookies

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins

Servings: 24 cookies (2 dozen)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 pkg. (4 serving size) instant vanilla, butterscotch or chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour and pudding mix in small bowl. Beat butter in large mixing bowl on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar and baking soda until well combined. Beat in egg and egg white. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop dough by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

As you see from the picture, they turned out a little darker than the recipe's picture. However, they weren't especially crispy...which I appreciate. Chocolate chip memories.

I'll be right Bek

Philip and I make that cheesy comment all the time...his sister's name is Bek and y'all should know this super-cool gal.

And here's your chance! Bek is a very strong woman and deserves independence. Here's a note from her:

My name is Bek Soen and this is a part of my story. For those of you who don't know, I was born with a genetic nerve disease called Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT). CMT affects my hands and feet from a young age. I have now been using a wheelchair full time from the age of 17. I have never driven on my own and have had to depend on many family and friends to transport me everywhere.

Right now I cannot even live away from home or take myself to work. My brother drives me to and from every day. I am now in the process of taking specialized lessons and hopefully getting a specialized vehicle by the beginning of the year. The unfortunate piece of this is that these things are extremely expensive. I have been able to get some help from the government (for the lessons which are 5k alone), our state is in poor condition and not able to offer much more help. I have also been saving as much of my own money as I can.

This is where you can help!!!! I am asking for you to tell my story to your friends and family and join in the mission of independence. Can you donate $5, $10, $20, $100 or more dollars to help me fund my car? Can you share my story with your friends through facebook, email, twitter or more? I need your help as an adapted car is very expensive! I know forwarding emails is not our favorite but I'm asking that you do that with this email or at least share a link to the chipin website.

http://bekstir2drive.chipin.com/accessible-vehicle Donate at this link!You can donate here through your pay pay account which is safe~!!! To hear more about my story, send me an email at bek.soen@gmail.com or call me at 630-967-4628!! I love talking with anyone and everyone about it.

Eating Meat

I work 20 hours a week at a larger local company here in the Jackson, Mississippi, area. Because I am there only part-time, I'm not able to get to know my co-workers as well as I'd like.

However, there was a discussion today that helped me get to know them better. There was obviously some history to said discussion, but essentially, it was regarding eating pork; more specifically, what the Bible says about eating pork.

This was so interesting to me. First of all, because of my interest in Judiasm and Jewish heritage. Also, because, as an outsider of sorts, it seemed that they weren't using the most pertinent Scriptures for the argument. Which, if adhered to, there would be no argument at all.

I asked someone sitting close to me who wasn't actively participating in the discussion if many people in Customer Service (where I work) didn't eat pork. He said that there are several. I asked if anyone was Jewish and the answer was, "No." So, that determined to me that most people place themselves in some variety of the Christian category.

To summarize, one party proposed that the New Testament does not expressly allow us to eat pork after the Old Testament had expressly forbidden it. The other party proposed that the New Testament lifted the prohibition because we live under a "new law."

I'm going to skip my personal defense of which party is correct on the issue of eating pork and go directly to what I'm deeming the most pertinent pericopes from the New Testament: Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8.

What made this discussion so fascinating to me is that I have been in situations in the past where Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians were applied. But in the groups that I've run with in the past, it's never been about actually eating meat (which are what Romans 14 & 1 Corinthians 8 address). It has always been about drinking.

But to get back to the story at hand, both of those passages would tell the person whose conscience is clean to eat meat to not bind the conscience of those who don't see it as OK'd by Jesus. In other words, the person/group that was trying to convince the other party that there is now no longer any condemnation for eating pork is wrong.

This is a delicate topic that shouldn't be avoided by those who eat pork or meat in any form. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us not to refrain but to deal lovingly with those who see otherwise on this issue. Last note: I was a vegetarian for 10 years. :)

Norwex

My friend Lisa sells Norwex. I had never heard of it before her, but I have loved their cleaning stuff! My favorite has been the dish cloth.

To be honest, I wasn't that impressed when I first saw it - there's not much to it. But it holds the lather as well as a regular dish rag but doesn't hold the odors!! I've also enjoyed the Kitchen Cloth set. Those little suckers really do stay dry!

Norwex uses some anti-bacterial technology using silver. The very fine silver in the cloth sucks and holds the bacteria into the cloth. Then you rinse the cloth out in very warm water and the bacteria wash down the drain! The Enviro-cloth aslo did a bang-up job on some spots we had in our carpet from Philip's wheelchair.

So, do you walk?

Philip was outside with Anastasia today when she spotted some kids picking up pecans. It was a family with 5 children. She darted over and instantly was one of them. While they were busy with their activity, one of the children asked Philip, "So, do you walk?"

Philip didn't tell me what he responded, but I imagine it was some form of what he tells most kids when the question is asked, "God made me this way." This answer usually doesn't satisfy the child, but hopefully it will communicate the truth that God controls his creation.

FoodMatters

Last weekend, my husband and I watched the documentary, FoodMatters. Whoa. What an education! Here is a excerpt about the film:

With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.

I appreciated that the panelists were not angry at the medical community and even complimented it on the developments for acute conditions, illnesses, and circumstances. Personally, I am very indebted to the medical community in the way of child birth! However, we can help ourselves far more than we do in the way of chronic health issues.

Now, Philip and I take a powerful, patented nutritional supplement called Reliv, which has done wonders for us. Which convinced me that these people have to be right. FoodMatters was encouraging to make some additional changes as well. Here are the changes that I/we are trying to implement:

1. Drink 1 liter of water first thing in the morning. When you get up in the morning, before you have coffee, tea, breakfast, anything else - drink 1 L of water. It really gets things moving, if you know what I mean.

2. Eat 51% raw. Cooking food actually changes the chemical composition and our system reads it as a foreign body it needs to fight off! Our bodies think we are sick and it initiates the immune system.

And you can actually watch FoodMatters for FREE Oct 2-8! Follow the link to register and you can also watch the first chapter of the film. The FoodMatters site said that the film was controversial...I will stand by my recommendation, though.

Let me know your thoughts if you have watched it!!

Cowbells at the Memphis game

My beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs face the Memphis Tigers tonight. I'll be watching from the comfort of a friend's home. Philip lovingly volunteered to stay home with Anastasia so I could concentrate on the game - what a great husband, hey?

As I was purusing the internet for something worth reading about the game tonight, I came across For Whom the Cowbell Tolls . They had a Q/A answered by MemphisRoar.com. This particular question and answer that made me laugh:

Q8: Do you anticipate State fans being thoroughly searched this coming Thursday to prevent Cowbells from making it into the stadium?

Noise makers are banned from the stadium, so the plan is to have Ole Miss fans standing at the gate to "probe" all state fans suspected to be carrying them. I have even heard they have purchased some of the new full-body xray scanners. Prepare to be violated. [/failed joke] But seriously, the University has said that purses and anything carried in will be searched. Noise makers that make it past security will be confiscated by stadium security upon use.

Ring those cowbells!