The cream on top

Hi friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I did!  Friday and Saturday I celebrated the birthday of my lovely friend Joy (who is going away for 3 weeks, boo hoo!) and on Sunday we had a potluck at church.  I made this creamy fruit salad that has been a family tradition for years.  It's perfect for brunches and oh-so-easy to make!

2 (20 oz) cans pineapple chunks, undrained
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1  cup maraschino cherries, drained
3 large bananas, sliced
1 (3 1/2 oz) pkg French vanilla instant pudding mix

Drain pineapple, keeping 1 cup of the juice.  Toss all fruit in a large bowl.  Combine pudding and pineapple juice; beat until thick.  Pour pudding mixture over fruit; toss gently. 

Serves 12

Voila! Delicious side in 2 minutes!

Turning the world upside down



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 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.  But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too."

                                                                                          - Acts 17:5-6

We were studying Acts 17 in my Sunday School class this week.  For some context, this is on Paul's second missionary journey when the Jews were trying to get the believers arrested.  It says that the believers were turning the world upside down.  Despite the fact that Paul was persecuted at every turn, he just kept going.

Wow.

I so want this verse to be true of me.  I don't want to just go with the flow.  I don't want to just sit back and be okay with the way things are.  I want to grow, to be better, to change the way people think and see.  I want to turn the world upside down when it sees how different the love of Jesus is from what we know.

I know this is only possible with God.  But I believe I can show the love of Jesus to the world.  No, not to everyone, but to my small corner of the universe.  We can all turn our own corner of the universe upside, by the grace of God.  If we let Him use us and work in us, we can move mountains.

Is that a coinkidink?

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I have been listening to this radio broadcast about coincidences.  I love a good old coincidence and I was hysterical over this one: A guy from Michigan is dating a girl from Ohio that he met at college.  When he goes away for a vacation, he asks his girlfriend to send him a picture of herself.  As a joke, she sends him a picture of herself when she was 4, on vacation in British Columbia.  Guess who is obliviously in the background of the picture?! His grandma, on vacation from Florida!! Hahahahaha! So crazy!

A weird coincidence that happened to me this week?  I had this lab partner a couple years ago named David.  This Saturday, I went to a PE workshop for extra credit.  There were only about 25 people there and one of them was named Mark.  I kept looking at him cause he looked so familiar, finally I realized, that guy looks like David's dad! What are the chances that is him? I don't think he is a PE teacher.  I didn't approach him.

That afternoon, I was rearranging some old textbooks and saw one I had been given by my Movement Ed professor... a PE textbook written by... DAVID'S FATHER!! Guess he is a PE instructor and was the guy I'd seen that morning.  So weird!

Soo, 'fess up! I am dying to hear your coincidences!

Let's stay friends!

Who wouldn't wanna be friends with this cutie? 

I'm sure you have all heard the news as bloggers have been up-in-arms about GFC for weeks! But guess what?  Even though GFC is going kaput, we can still give each other some love on bloglovin'!  You can even import all your GFC blogs to bloglovin' with just the click of a button.  DO IT!  You might notice that I put up a bloglovin' button so please do stop by.  If you don't have a bloglovin' account, follow by email! It's always fun to receive emails about my favorite blogs. 

Stay joyful, my friends.  Happy Weekend!

Feeling Fishy?

Heeeello, friends! I have been a little boring this week, but hopefully this recipe will spice up your life! I made it for my mom's birthday this week.  Funny story-- the sauce calls for cilantro and I knew we had some growing in our little herb garden.  When I started cooking, I went outside but couldn't find any cilantro, only parsley. I called my mom and asked her where the cilantro was and she insisted that the plant I thought was parsley was actually cilantro.  Despite my misgivings, I decided that I must be confused about what cilantro was and made the sauce with it.  Well, guess what? It was parsley! So this recipe will probably be even better if you use the real ingredients!  



How the heck do you take pictures of tacos?  I am obviously terrible at it.


3 garlic cloves
2 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper
1/2 cup cilantro stems
3 TBSP mayo
1/2 tsp sugar
3/8 tsp salt, divided
2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
1 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP olive oil
4 (6 oz) tilapia filets
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 corn tortillas
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Arrange garlic, tomatillos and jalapeno on a foil lined jelly-roll pan. Broil 3 minutes on each side or until blackened.  Combine tomatillo mixture, cilantro stems, mayo, sugar and 1/8 tsp salt in a food processor; blend until smooth.

Combine cabbage, juice and oil in medium bowl and toss to coat. 

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle fish evenly with remaining 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add fish to pan; cook 2 minutes.  Turn fish and cook 1 minute (or until done!!).

Heat tortillas and fill with fish, cabbage and sauce.  Mmm!

Celebrating!

The birthday of a mother and a brother.  Happy birthday, I love you!!

Why ya gotta worry?

Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia

I think we often don't listen to the lyrics of songs we are listening to.  But when I heard this song yesterday, the lyrics really hit me.  It's not a religious song but it is so true.  We worry and fret.  Yet God tell us He has a plan for us.  He tells us that He cares for the birds and the flowers, and He will do more so for us.  

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

The birds are still being cared for.  The flowers are still being cared for.  Why are we still worrying?  God has a plan; His plan is so much greater than ours could ever be.

Stop worrying.  Enjoy the flowers.  Thank God for His wonderful plan for us.  

“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 any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  Matthew 6:25-31

Books Galore!

You might have noticed I love books a lot.  I just made a new tab on my page with book I have written about on my blog thus far.  I don't recommend just any old book, so I think they are well worth the read!

 

 

I just finished reading a really fascinating book, Astonishing Splashes of Colour (ick, it hurts me to type it the British way).  It's about a woman named Kitty, who has lost her baby.  The book chronicles her muddled life and her slow descent to madness, culminating in her stealing a child to lavish with love.  Obviously, that doesn't go over so well.  Kitty has a troubled past that lends to her psychological problems.  

Okay, so once again I am not the best at book reviews but this is one to check out!

DYING to be Thin?

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Eating disorders have always been a topic of convergence in my life.   I have written papers about eating disorders, done presentations on eating disorders, and read many, many books about eating disorders.  Right now we are studying them again in my class, prompting me to write about them and share my passion for spreading awareness and teaching HEALTHY self image.  

I think the reason I have studied eating disorders so much is that I have so much compassion for those who suffer from them.  My heart aches at this vicious cycle that is not really the "fault" of anyone in particular, for we all endorse it in some way.  We live in a world where thin is best, thin conquers all.  Appearance is everything.  

I cannot even tell how many comments I have received regarding weight and appearance.  In fact, when I started working on this post  Saturday, I had just had such a comment.  A friend of my mom's, who I'm sure was quite well meaning, was talking to me about my major and what I wanted to be.  She said, "Look at you! You're so thin.  You have beautiful hair and good skin, you can be anything!"  Actually, what I look like doesn't have anything to do with who I am.  But we believe it does; we believe that somehow that defines us.  That makes me so incredibly sad.  

We have to do something!  Start by stopping your subscription to the appearance myth.  Eating disorders are serious; they are deadly.  Here are a few facts I pulled from the National Eating Disorders Association that make me want to dissolve into tears:  

• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).
• 46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets (Gustafson-Larson & Terry, 1992).
• Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives (Neumark-Sztainer, 2005).
• 35-57% of adolescent girls engage in crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives. Overweight girls are more likely than normal weight girls to engage in such extreme dieting (Boutelle, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, &Resnick, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer&Hannan, 2001; Wertheim et al., 2009).
• The average BMI of Miss America winners has decreased from around 22 in the 1920s to 16.9 in the 2000s. The World Health Organization classifies a normal BMI as falling between 18.5 and 24.9 (Martin, 2010).
• 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak, Crago, & Estes, 1995).
• Of American, elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% say that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape. 47% say the pictures make them want to lose weight (Martin, 2010).

First graders?  Nine year olds dieting??  Heartbreaking. 

 

Last but not least, here is a series called Dying to Be Thin that I think is excellent for raising awareness.  I know it is long, but please do watch it.  

 

Dying to be Thin video

 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Psalm 139:13-15

Snorting in class, Homecomings, and a New Hairdo

A few fun updates from this week...

I have decided that I am too immature to go to college.  My psychology class is the most ridiculous class ever.  I feel like there is "socially acceptable behavior" and then there is my psychology class.  Seriously, the questions and the personal information these people share is tooo much.  I have a really hard time holding it together.  So when a particularly odd event occured this week, I lost it.  I have never had laughter bubble out of me so loud.  Agh.

Joy's husband Jeremiah is home from his deployment.  We are so glad he is home safely!!  Jeremiah likes to pick on us so Bekka managed to snag this great photo:

 

Welcome home, Jeremiah.  It's on!!!

Also, I cut my hair.  This isn't really new news because it has been cut for weeks.  But here's a pic. I don't know why I decided to do a selfie in the car... Anyway, I like it a lot! It's so much easier than long hair. 

Muscles coming out of my ears, oh my!

Not literally, of course, but I sure feel like it. I had a test today that I spent all of Spring break studying for (booo!)  I just finished and, boy, do I feel good!  It's like I have a giant weight off my chest.  I don't normally get test anxiety but I sure did for this one.  It seemed like no matter how much I studied, it wasn't clicking.  I couldn't remember all the muscles and what they did and where they attached to bones.  But the test was much easier than I expected... guess that's why we aren't supposed to worry, huh? 

Speaking of worrying, I saw this from a blog I love, Sweetness Itself. 

Beautiful.

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How to Destroy Relationships

I have a lot of mixed feelings about technology.  In some ways I think it is great.  After all, I am a blogger.  But I think there are a lot of terrible things about it.

I see a married couple on their phones during their entire dinner, while their baby sits in a highchair.

I see people scrolling through their phones whenever they are are spending time with their friends.

I see families sitting together on their phones instead of talking.

I see people updating their facebook when they go to the bathroom and instagraming every minute detail of their lives.

That scares me.

What are our relationships becoming when we can no longer spend time with a real live person without being distracted the whole time?  How can we say we care about people if anytime we are with them, we are only giving them half our attention?  If our dependence on technology is like this now, what will it be like in 5, 10, 15 years?  

I have no answers, only questions.