Aside

I'm going to share one of my very favorite sides with you! Sorry for the lack of picture, but none of them turned out so you will just have to imagine what it looks like... or make it yourself :)

Potato Kielbasa Skillet

1 pound red potatoes, cubed
3 TBSP water
3/4 pound kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups fresh baby spinach
5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Place potatoes and water in a microwave-safe dish. Cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until tender; drain.

In a large skillet, saute kielbasa and onion in oil until onion is tender. Add potatoes; saute 3-5 minutes longer or until kielbasa and potatoes are lightly browned.

Combine the brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, thyme and pepper; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Add spinach and bacon; cook and stir until spinach is wilted. Yield: 4 servings.

Favorites

A few of my favorite things...

Toby's Tofu Dip.  This stuff is delicious.  And it's healthy! Only 80 calories per tablespoon.  We eat the whole tub, so that's only like... 960 calories!!

My new headlamp from Joy and Jeremiah!  I can see that this is going to come in really useful.  Especially when I need to go to the bathroom at night.  Or into Hollister.

Don't mind us.. Just wearin' our Jiu Jitsu gis

The Swiss Family Robinson.  This movie has it all... action, romance, pirates, animals.  It was fun to relive this childhood classic!

Another thing I like... sleep.  Something I don't do much of when I am at Joy's house, but hey, it's all good. 

 

Fake It Til You Make It

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I have been studying vocabulary words for the GRE and found this word:

Ersatz.  It means "fake."

It's a funny word, but the concept isn't so funny.  As humans, I think we are fake a lot of the time.  We are fake with our acquaintances.  We are fake with our friends.  We are fake with our family.  We are even fake with ourselves.  But there is one we can't fake it with: God. 

It's hard for me to admit to others that I'm not perfect.  I don't know everything. I'm not that cool.  It's even harder to admit that to myself.  I try to pretend that I am though.  Sometimes I go along with things that are cool even though I hate them.  I often pretend to be far more confident than I feel...I AM ersatz.

I love this quote:  Don't feel stupid if you don't like what everyone else pretends to love. 

So, so true!  We don't need to fake it because our Maker knows who we really are and He loves us anyway.  Why should anything else matter?   

Serious thoughts ahead

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In a time when most of the world doesn't, I believe in the Biblical roles God assigned to men and women.  I believe Eve was created from Adam.  I believe that men are representative of Jesus while women represent the Bride of Christ.  

That being said, I have noticed that oftentimes what passes for women being submissive is really the degradation of women.  You probably have observed what I'm talking about.  I so often hear comments about "girly" things as if they were just inferior to anything "manly." Jokes are made at the expense of women.  I do NOT believe that being submissive equals being inferior.  Yet, instead of men treasuring women for their different roles, I think women are thought to be simply incompetent.  Sometimes I think this thought is even unconscious, but I think it is still there.  Because men were chosen to be the leader, women must be not at good. 

I don't think this is the case.  I think that the Bible makes very clear that this relationship is symbolic of Jesus and his bride. Jesus doesn't ever believe his bride to be incompetent and inferior.  He treasures his bride. He treats her with love, respect and compassion.  

So if our roles are based on Jesus and his bride, where have we gone astray?  Well for one thing, the world tells us that men and women are to be 50/50.  It tells us that these values are outdated and ridiculous.   I also think it comes from the stigma men have to be "manly."   Think about it: we tell men they must be tough, aggressive, powerful and emotionless ALL THE TIME.  That's a hard line to walk.  They want to make sure they live up to this, and sometimes that expresses itself in putting feminine things down.  

As a woman, I sometimes feel that it is very difficult to be submissive, because I feel like I'm being degraded.  I so appreciated when a speaker I heard recently made this point: Imagine your husband was Jesus.  It wouldn't be hard to submit to him then.  He would always be right, caring and gentle.  He would put your best interests first. Or if you are a guy having trouble treating women this way, imagine that that woman is the "virtuous woman."  It wouldn't be hard to treasure her and lead her.

I agree, it would certainly be better if we were all perfect.  But we're not.  So I think it really comes down to this:  Esteem the other better than yourself.  Follow your husband because you respect him.  Build him up so that he will want to lead you and treasure you.

Please know I am not writing this to attack men.  I actually think that this is equally the fault of men and women, cultivated by our society. 

Dancin' in the Moonlight and other such fun

Hello, friends! I sure have missed you all!  But finals are over and I am so glad to be back.  Nothing too exciting has been going on, but here's what's new in my life.

-We finally ran our half-marathon! Now, I must say that it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.  I realize that I am really bad about picking runs, because the ones I pick are always super hard.  

-I got the new Lady Antebellum cd. AWESOME.  I listened to it over and over until I got depressed by listening to it. 

-I taught a class of kindergarteners to dance.  Man, I have a new-found appreciation for teachers-- it's a tough job!

-I went to LA for a church retreat.  I got to visit with these lovely friends and be refreshed by God's word.  We sure know how to take a picture...

-FINALS.  I am done.  Did I mention that?  

-I pinned a bunch of funny pins.  You should check them out here.  

-Dancin' in the Moonlight... can I just say that I think it would be really hard to get through life without this song?  Without a doubt, it can cheer me up in 10 seconds or less.

Since my list is increasingly boring, I will stop there. So glad to be back!!

Ahhh

Just stopping by to tell you I am a short blogging hiatus (in case you haven't already noticed by the complete lack of posts) 
I have finals coming up and I am up to my ears in things to do.  Stress, stress, stress!!  I will be done May 22nd and excited to return to you, my friends!

In other news, my half marathon is THIS SATURDAY! Can't believe it has come up so fast... hope you guys will be cheering me on! :)

Blessings in the coming weeks!

Reunited

My name is Danielle and I lost my anatomy notebook.


This may not seem like a huge tragedy to you.  I admit that it isn't really.  But in this notebook I have drawn pictures of every bone and muscle we have learned about.  There are about 30 pages of hand-drawn anatomy and countless hours poured into that book.  It is my little baby and I am so proud of it.  (hmm... creepy?)

I realized last night that I couldn't find it anywhere. I went to the locker room where I left it but it was nowhere to be found.  I was on the verge of tears!  This morning, I made a bunch of help signs.  They were really quite beautiful.  But now I don't have to use them because...

DUN, DUN, DUN...


HE HAS BEEN FOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'm not sure why it is a boy. But he is home and I am so happy.  I will never leave you in the bathroom again!!)