I’ve been busy this week working on a website redesign project. I finally got to the point where all the components are working with each other, and now I’m importing the content from the old site. It’s very exciting.

I love code. There are times when I am so stressed because something is not doing what I want it to, but after I fix it, I think back and realize there was this rush amidst the stress. It fascinates me how letters, numbers, and characters translate into patterns and colors.

Call me weird, but I love typing – the clicking of the keys beneath my fingers. When choosing a new keyboard, I’m very particular. The keys can’t be too quiet, else I’d unconsciously hit the keys harder, trying to obtain that reassuring clicking sound. So what I love about webdesign is how much of it involves typing. Photoshop is one thing, but there is something geekishly fun about opening up notepad to solve a problem in the layout.

So, due to the fact that I was tied up with this project all week, I haven’t read many blogs, but the following are my favorite posts, in chronological order.

–>Blame Monopoly! @ i pick up pennies

–>Jesus Tree @ Desiring God Blog

–>I’m Still Learning What Not to Wear @ (In)Courage

–>The Homemakers Haven: Thinking of Mary @ A High And Noble Calling

–>Making Much of the Teacup @ Tea & Cookies

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I am participating in The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. For my responses to previous prompts, please see Part I (#1-7) & Part II (#8-10).

11. The Best Place
The best place I’ve been to this year was Pirates’ Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island. I might have been on Tom Sawyer’s island when I was younger (but i’m sure I would’ve been afraid to get on the raft to cross the river), but definitely not since all the pirate stuff was added. I’m a huge pirates fan, and Nathaniel and I had a lot fun exploring that island. Maybe we spent more time (an hour?) than the “time is money” side of me enjoyed, but it was his birthday and where is the fun in Becky stressing and rushing us to each ride? That’s not what Disneyland is about.

12. New Food
A food new to me, not only to cook, but to eat (as far as I know) is Chicken Tetrazinni. I was so excited to make something that actually tasted good. I felt bad though, because the smell was making Nathaniel want it for dinner. I was going to freeze it for another day and already had something else cooking in the crockpot that wouldn’t freeze and reheat as well. When we did eat it, I forgot to thaw it before baking, and I forgot to put the topping of bread crumbs and extra cheese, which would have made a big difference. So we might as well have eaten it that other day, especially since I added to much soy sauce to what was in the crockpot (I don’t remember exactly what it was – involved chicken and soy sauce). It was the best food not only because it tasted good, but because I made it, not from a box, and even made my own cream of chicken soup for it.

13. change I made to the place I live
I don’t know if it counts as an actual change since I’m not sure how permanent or complete my efforts proved, but I attempted organization. I got Getting Organized by Stephanie Winston at a rummage sale and started implementing her tips around the house. It did make a big improvement in my life, but very minor visible changes in the house. In a way it was a big change because reading that book and putting things in motion paves the way for further organization. One day (hopefully by the time children come along and reverse it all) my house shall be simplified and decluttered. One may look around and disagree, but I think big changes have already been made. So yes, attempting organization is the best change I’ve made to the place I live this year.

14. Rush
I feel like all my “bests” have been in the last quarter of the year, but hey, my memory isn’t what it used to be. When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of my recent trip to Knott’s Berry Farm. On this particular trip to Knott’s Merry Farm, I was feeling a little regretful about the trip. We had invited a bunch of other people, but no one else could make it. We were hoping for at least two more people, so we could split the parking, but also because we love sharing Knott’s with others. It’s the underdog of Orange County, with giant Disney just a few miles east. It was evening and I wasn’t sure whether it was the right choice to have gone, because even though it’s only $15/person, with my recent unemployment we’re trying harder than ever to save money. It’s an annual tradition to go to Knott’s; we couldn’t miss it. Also, we had already gone on almost everything we wanted to, the lines were long, and each ride was making me sick.

Then we went on GhostRider. That alone was worth not only the two hours we waited in line (thank you Droid for keeping our sanity), but also the price of admission and parking. The wind whipping through your hair, your insides twisting, the feeling like you are about to explode or implode at any given abrupt turn…there is no better ride. I always forget just how. much. I. love. GhostRider until I ride it again; it’s my most favorite rollercoaster anywhere, with MAYBE the exception of Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was a pleasant surprise that saved my day and gave us the energy to stay and enjoy the park (as it should be!) until close.

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I am participating in The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. For my responses to prompts 1-7, please see Part I.

8. Moment of Peace
What’s that? Just kidding, I actually had quite a bit cherished moments of peace, be it walking around on my lunch break at work (downtown, the Pike, the beach) or quietly reading at home. Many peaceful moments came at a time when life was otherwise stressful, a peace in knowing that God is in control and I shouldn’t worry. That is the best kind of peace there is.

9. Challenge
Hands down, the biggest challenge of the year was my job. When I moved, it became stressful. The drive, the atmosphere. I tolerated and I tried for six months. Then I was laid off, and it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off me. I knew unemployment would be scary, but I saw this as God’s way of telling me it was time to move on, explore new avenues. I would never have quit, so if working there wasn’t what I was supposed to do the rest of my life, then a little divine intervention was required.

With every challenge comes a lesson, so what did I learn? I already knew I’m not a quitter and that I try hard and stick through on principle, even if it might be better to stop and consider the options. I learned on a new level to trust in God and what He throws our way, and I learned a new reason my husband is perfect for me – he is a great encourager. He supported me and gave me confidence to accept circumstances. Even now, he is supporting me as I look to build my blog and website instead of looking for work full-time. He is more confident in it than I am, which in turn gives me confidence.

10. Album of the Year
I’ve always thought of myself as a music lover, at least in a light sense. I don’t fall into genres and I’m not all up on the indie scene and I don’t find myself at concerts too often, but I love listening to music all the time. I thought about what the best album this year was by first thinking of what I listen to the most. A lot of what I listen to didn’t come out this year. Then I remembered Ocean Eyes by Owl City came out this year, but I don’t listen to that all the time by choice. My hubby is obsessed. I do enjoy his music, but if it were up to me, the listening would be less frequent, at least down to only once per day.

I put a search filter on my music folder to find the albums that were released this year. The following is what came up and that I’ve listened to, so you know what was actually in the running. There are a good handful of other albums that I’ve downloaded but have yet to listen to, including (gasp) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I know, right? It was great in the film, but I haven’t listened to it by itself yet. So, onto the nominees, in no particular order:

• Demi Lovato – Here We Go Again
• Susan Boyle – I Dreamed a Dream
• Owl City – Ocean Eyes
• Rob Thomas – cradlesong
• John Mayer – Battle Studies
• Colbie Caillat – Breakthrough
• Hannah Montana the Movie soundtrack
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (score)
• The Fray – The Fray
• Coldplay – Leftrightleftrightleft

I love all of these albums, but as an album of the year, the only fitting one is I Dreamed a Dream by Susan Boyle. First, kudos to anyone who can make me cry at a song. I’ll never forget the first time I saw her first performance on Britain’s Got Talent on YouTube. It was so beautiful I had to watch it a second time immediately after. Then a third time after sharing it on Facebook, along with everyone else. So when I found out a few weeks ago that she released an entire album, I got it immediately. It was one of the most beautiful things I ever heard. A lot of changes happened for me this year, perhaps not in as grandiose a scale as they happened for Susan Boyle, but changes nonetheless, so I felt drawn to this album. I feel at a crossroads and full of dreams, so even though this album came late in the year, there is no album more perfect for this top spot.

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I am participating in The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge.

1. Trip
I haven’t taken any trip-trips per se, but grocery shopping is called a trip to the store, right? So my favorite time of leaving the house this year was Independence Day. In the morning I was at the Brea Country fair, helping at a booth making sand stars. Then after lunch I hung around at the fair and got to hold various reptiles from Reptacular Animals and took my picture with Abraham Lincoln, who was visiting from a local museum, promoting a civil war exhibit. I don’t remember which museum, but I don’t think it was Brea Museum & Heritage Center. It was nearby though, perhaps Fullerton, La Habra, or possibly even Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

The fair ended at 4p, at which point I headed to Long Beach for a boat party. That was a fun time of barbecue, fellowship, and watching the Queen Mary fireworks from the water. Two years previous, I saw those fireworks from the beach, so it was cool to see them from a different perspective.

2. Restaurant Moment
This is a hard one, because I always have such a great time when I go to restaurants with friends, but I think the best has to be when I went to Open Sesame for a friend’s “going-away” dinner. She didn’t want anything special, just dinner with me (we used to be roommates) and her two roommates, because another friend of ours has a going away party every time he leaves, but eventually comes back. She was only going on a summer study abroad program for a few weeks, then was coming back for a few days before leaving for the rest of summer, to return in fall. So you can see why she didn’t want to have a big to-do, but one of the girls secretly invited more girls, one of whom runs a party store in Hermosa Beach, and showed up with a balloon bouquet.

What made this dinner memorable is it included several of my favorite girls, and was at one of my favorite restaurants. It’s funny, because I forgot what I had exactly, but I know it was either the falafel pita sandwich or one of the chicken pita sandwiches. I didn’t get it this time, but if you ever go (a must if you find yourself anywhere near Long Beach, CA), I highly recommend the fried potatoes. The fried cauliflower is good too, as with everything on the menu. This is one of the very few places where I have a very hard time deciding what to order. Favorite restaurant + favorite people = it was a very good night in the middle of a stressful week (I was in the processing of moving).

3. Article
I think my favorite article this year is Baby Steps to Nutritious Eating by Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay nicely breaks down where to start in the daunting task of eating a real foods diet. This is something that any one can – and should! – give a shot. It’s a better approach that getting stuck in the MLM scheme of detox products. My husband wants to buy Isagenix, about which I’ve heard a lot of good reviews from people I know personally (who all happen to be financially well off) who have tried it, but I’ve also heard a lot of bad stuff. So I’d rather try to improve our eating habits the natural way first until we gather more information. At first, eating healthy seems overwhelming, but Lindsay here presents baby steps, which she suggests to take one at a time, of exchanging certain products here and there in your diet. A gradual approach is something people can accomplish and stick to.

4. Book
The best book I read this year was a historical fiction novel by Ann Rinaldi called Time Enough for Drums. I love all her books that I’ve read, but this one especially stood out and I do believe it is my favorite by her. It is set at the dawn of the American Revolution. Usually her books focus on a young girl connected to an actual figure in history, such as John Brown’s daughter,the slave of the Washingtons, Paul Revere’s daughter, or Abigail Adam’s indentured servant. The main characters in this book, however, are all fictional, but many of the background characters and people groups are real. The book covers a wider timespan, and I think this is the reason I like this the best. There is a lot more character development in this book than in others. Even though it’s history that draws me in, the characters are what make it a memorable story. I read a few of her books this year (all of which have to do with the revolutionary war, I was on a kick), but this one stuck out the most.

The Full Plate Diet was also good, but an informational/recipe book, so didn’t get consideration, even though it’s the only book I read that actually came out this year. Helper by Design looks promising, but I haven’t finished yet, so I can’t call it the best book of the year.

5. Night Out
It’s hard to pick a “best” anything, and this is probably one of the hardest categories, so I’m glad to pull my friend’s going-away dinner and the 4th of July boat party out of the running, since they already won. A lot of my favorite nights of the year perhaps would be considered “nights in,” where we went to someone’s house or people came to ours: Geek Night, Harry Potter movie nights, Reformation Party, Murder Mystery Party, video game night (actually this one was in a room at church that looks like a living room, so that’s “out”, right?). I’m looking through my Google calendar (which it appears I either didn’t use regularly until June or I had nothing to do – most likely the former) and am finding few actual night outs, including FreeView Thursday, which was an event in Long Beach where you could check out the cars before the Grand Prix that weekend, watch live events, and visit the shark lagoon at the aquarium all for free.

However, if a night out is truly memorable, one doesn’t need to check a calendar to remember it. So my favorite night out this year was my birthday. I felt like keeping it simple this year (was bummed I had to work and couldn’t go to Disneyland like everyone else and their mom). My husband and I went to Olive Garden at the Main Place Mall in Santa Ana and used a gift card we had gotten as a wedding present. I had never been, but had always wanted to since I love Italian food. I forget what I had, but it was delicious. Afterwards we went to a puppy store and played with the sweetest basset hound. It was so cute and when we are at a place where we are allowed to have dogs, that breed, or a mix thereof (as I would only adopt from a rescue) is a serious contender. Even though they howl at night. They are just so cute with their sad eyes and droopy ears. After that we saw Madagascar 2 in the dollar theatre, which was way funnier than the first (which was already hilarious).

I loved this birthday more than I ever thought I could love a simple birthday. It had so many favorites: my husband, pasta, puppies, and cartoons. Plus, it hardly cost anything, and I love frugality more than any of the aforementioned things, except my husband. So I didn’t get Disneyland, but it was not only my favorite night out of 2009, but one of my favorite birthdays (for now…by quarter centennial is coming up next month).

6. workshop or conference
I don’t really find myself at many workshops or conferences. I think the only one I attended was a DisciplePATH meeting at my church. DisciplePATH, previously known as TNET, is a ministry that trains churches to be disciplemaking churches. It was a two day conference. The speaker explained disciplemaking from the perspective of Jesus’ ministry, and went through the four stages/phases of disciplemaking. We spent half a day going through various passages of Scripture looking for examples of Jesus discipling others, and deciding what phase that would belong to. The goal is to create a church handbook for disciplemaking. There will be more meetings with the speaker, and many without, as the goal is to work as a church. The speaker would just be overseeing the process, with the future meetings with him acting as a checkpoint. So far there has only been one church meeting since, and I missed it. I think I had homework to finish. However, it was very edifying and an exciting prospect for growth in our church. If you attend a church that has this or something similar, I encourage you to participate. If not, I suggest presenting the idea to an elder or leader in the church

7. Blog Find of the Year
I’m pretty sure all the blogs I read regularly I’ve been reading since last year (best find of 2008 would definitely have to be MoneySavingMom) or sooner. I recently added a lot of blogs to my reading list, but they are all too new to me to pick a best. So I’ll choose the one blog that I started this year before this month: Just Images Don’t let the name fool you. While he does post photography, he writes about art and spirituality in general as well.

This one is mine (in Big Bear), but the aforementioned blogger takes lots of (way better) photos of sunsets at the Huntington Beach pier, so…it’s relevant.

These are just the prompts for December 1st-7th. I shall be posting the rest (or at least more, depending on the length) later this week.

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I ran across a lot of good blogs this week, and know I read some really good posts, but now that I look for them, I can’t seem to find them. Had I known I wanted to make this post, I would’ve starred them in my reader or added them to Delicious. I should do that regularly anyway. Well, anyway, here are my favorite posts from the week:

Christmas
1913 Christmas Card @ Bell Whistle Moon
Advent: Standing in the Middle @ Desiring God Blog
Free “A Christmas Carol” Audio Book @ The Freebie Blogger
Simplifying Christmas @ A High and Noble Calling

Other (for lack of a better category)
Fellowship Matters (or… does it?) @ Reflection of the Times
Should We Lie to Our Spouse? @ Life’s a Peach
Truth and Culture @ Lyrical Theology

Have a wonderful weekend everybody, especially those of you who have to work.

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Dalits are on the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system, which was put into place 3,000 years ago. The Indian constitution outlaws the caste system, but just as with racism here in the States, it still exists and the result is still visible.

They are considered less than human in their society and are forced to live separate and not participate in social life, and are thus banned from schools and temples. The occupations they hold are those considered ritually impure, such as street sweeping, latrine cleaning, and disposing of dead bodies.

“Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted, three Dalit women raped, two Dalits murdered and two Dalit houses burned, according to the Human Rights Education Movement of India, yet only one percent of those who commit crimes against Dalits are ever convicted” – GFA Dalit Facts They are the majority of people you will find living in the slums of India. You can read more about them here.

They seem to be a people without hope, but this is not true because God loves them and values them. Gospel for Asia has a ministry devoted to helping the Dalits. GFA is touching the Untouchables by teaching the adults to read, giving the children an education, and planting churches. Plus Dalits are standing up for themselves and speaking out for their own rights, including Meira Kumar, who is not only the first woman to be elected to the Indian Parliment, but also the first Dalit.

I don’t want to sound like an infomercial, even though all the information contained within was obtained from GFA or Wikipedia. I
was not compensated in any way for this post. I just wanted to raise awareness about an oppressed people group that have been heavy on my heart.  When I heard that today was Human Rights Day, and that the focus this year is anti-discrimination, the Dalits immediately came to mind.  If you want to support GFA in their ministry to the Dalits, you can make a one-time donation or by sponsoring a Dalit child through their Bridge of Hope program, where they provide children with education, nutrition, and medical care.

If anyone knows any non-monetary ways of helping, such as letter-writing, please comment so myself and others can know. Let’s put an end to the discrimination that the Dalits face every day due to unethical social structure in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and elsewhere.

Note: The pictures contained within this post are not necessarily of Dalits, but any that were tagged with “India” and “Poverty” on stock.xchng

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The theme at Heads or Tails this week is “one” or “won.” I want to make ONE change to my lifestyle this week.

I occasionally dabble in eating healthy. I got a free book on eating fiber and I have made a few green smoothies in my lifetime. It’s hard, because one, fresh food never stays that way in my house for long. I’ll buy fruits and vegetables and then forget about them. Two, my husband is picky and anti-healthy. He wants red meat, greasy foods (everything fried with lots of butter), and white bread. The only salad he likes is Caesar. There is hope, as he does like broccoli and spinach (when fully cooked). He will buy whole-grain white but won’t eat the chunky wheat bread that I like.

My problem is that I lose focus too easily. I need to make one small change at a time and stick to it. I usually go gung-ho on something then desert it after a week or two.

I was going to make exercise the change this week. I won in the marriage department because my awesome hubby modified one of the Dance Dance Revolution pads to be more sturdy. The soft home pads slide around while dancing and sometimes lose response. DH cut up old closet doors and used duct tape, rug tape, and a plastic roll of something he got from Walmart (not sure what it’s called). It’s now easier to use and more like the arcade version. Of course, one advantage of the home version is that the sliding makes you work harder, so when you go to the arcade and play the real thing, you dance like a pro. That is no longer relevant, as I don’t frequent arcades anymore.

I want to utilize DDR for an indoor exercise option. We bought me a bike several weeks ago, but then found it’s not as easy as we thought it’d be to fix DH’s bike. We are still waiting until the local bike store has the necessary part in stock. There is a pool in our apartment complex, but it’s too cold for that, so DDR will have to do. There is a workout mode even.

However, I’m sick and DH is fighting sickness, so I think this week, our one change this week will be in the eating more greens category, which is most easily accomplished with green smoothies. If you can consider having to clean the blender every day easy. At least all parts are dishwasher safe.

The first step towards green smoothies, though, is getting to the store and buying fresh spinach and anything else we might want in our smoothies. Being sick, that doesn’t sound too exciting right now. I am going to be dragging myself to class tonight, so I can drag myself to the store tomorrow, right? Especially when it’s for a good cause (getting better) as opposed to class (review night – booooring).

Here’s to healthy living!

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I only do light decorating, and it’s all centralized in the living room, save for some poinsettias I stuck in the bunk couch in the den because I didn’t know what else to do with them and didn’t want to put them back in the box.  There are also two smaller trees: one in the dining area and one on the tv.  I hung blue lights around our living room window and the kitchen divider and put a basket of apple spice potpourri under the big tree.  Overall, it seems to fit us.  I wouldn’t be up for much more, since it takes so long to unwrap all the ornaments and unfold the branches.  Yes, I have an artificial tree.  It’s too messy and expensive to have a real tree.  We have pine Febreze to “make up” for it.

Prayer

I don’t have any particular devotionals or activities that me and my husband do to keep focused on the true meaning of the season.  At the same time, there isn’t a lot of hustle and bustle to distract us either.  I purposefully don’t overdecorate, not only because I don’t have the patience for it, but I don’t see a good reason for it.  This helps us stay focused.  We celebrate lightly and sometimes we forget it’s even the holidays (is that too much on the other end of the spectrum?).  Besides the trees, our lives aren’t that much difference in December that the rest of the year, except there might be a bit more Christmas music playing.

I’ve also just been introduced to advent this year.  I’ve always thought it was a Catholic thing, but when my church set out candles I decided to research it.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a good thing – the holiday solution I have been searching for to make Christmas more than the commercialized holiday it’s become.  We don’t celebrate advent at home, but we do enjoy the readings they do at church.

Prioritize

I don’t struggle to stay focused on the important things during the holiday season anymore than during the rest of the year, which is plenty.  There is always something fighting for my attention, and so far December’s actually been easier than November since I was laid off last month.  I prioritize by making lists per category of things to be done (blog, kitchen, house, etc) and then compiling the most pressing into a daily to do list.  I have a tendency to want to incorporate a schedule into the list, but I know I won’t stick to it, and I get discouraged when I don’t.  Plus it’s much more satisfying to be able to go through the physical action of crossing something off my list than to simply notice I accomplished a task in the time I estimated.

Planning

“This time of year usually calls for extra baking, holiday shopping, party planning, and gift wrapping.”

I’m not much of a baker because cooking takes up enough time as it is.  If we want dessert, we buy ice cream, but I try to discourage that and stick to healthier snacks instead.

I finished most of my shopping on Black Friday.  I just need something for my husband, and I’m going to wait until the last minute for that, unless someone has any good hiding tips.

We aren’t throwing any parties, so that just leaves gift wrapping.  I do want to do that soon, to make our tree look more Christmas-y.  We’ll probably do that tonight, as we probably won’t have time again until Saturday.  Plus there is a movie we need to mail for Swapadvd so we can wrap that at the same time.

Progress

The small project I will be tackling this week is cleaning the kitchen.  I’m really bad at keeping track of food in the fridge, so there is probably a lot of stuff that needs to be thrown out.  At least my husband already took care of the vegetable drawer last week while I was sick.  I want us to eat healthy so I buy fruits and veggies, but then we just end up eating quesadillas or out of cans.   Now that I’m home more, I should work on cooking real meals for the sake of health and frugality.

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Me Encanta is a sporadic series where we are thankful for the simple things in life. A small post about what brings a smile to my face.

It’s been over a year since my last Me Encanta post. I thought this would be a simple enough thing to keep up with, but alas, I am human. I am thinking of making this on a certain day, but I am afraid it wouldn’t be as spontaneous. Of course, I can jot it down whenever I think of one so I can have a nice list when it’s time. If I do do a day, I’m not sure which day. I was thinking Mondays, for a nice way to start the week, but there is something else I want to participate in that is on Mondays. We’ll see. On with the encantas!

Me Encanta…

• The way my kitten will climb onto my lap while watching tv and find a good spot (as long as i’m not eating)
• The way my husband makes quesadillas.
• The smell of cold.

How about you, what gives you the happies? Leave a comment or ping/trackback to your own post!

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