Friend Fat

Jimmy Kimmel stole my brilliant idea; my friends and family can testify!

This week, Kimmel declared November 17th “National UnFriend Day” because he believes Facebook is “cheapening the meaning of friendship”. I completely agree.

About a month ago, I scrolled through my friends and deleted over one hundred people from my social network contacts. These were either people I knew at one time or acquaintances I’ve met through mutual friends.

The question is, how do you decide who stays and who goes? The criteria I used was simple, but might be considered ruthless according to Facebook’s unwritten rules. If I would be pleased to run into the person at a grocery store and strike up a conversation to either catch-up (and care about the updates) or make plans to get together, they stayed. Otherwise, delete. Are you sure? Yes, I’m sure… delete. Harsh? Why stay cyber friends with someone pretending to care what’s going on in their life by viewing pictures, status updates or conversations with other people you may or may not even know? Do you really care? I don’t.

To clarify, I understand being cyber friends with people you might not necessarily interact with in person on a regular basis. Why? It’s nearly impossible to keep in verbal or face-to-face contact with everyone you care to keep in touch with at all. Facebook works as another form of e-mailing, text messaging, making that once-a-month call just to “keep in touch” or even sending Christmas cards once a year. It works as a forum to let everyone keep in touch with people they do care to hear (or see) the life updates from, but not always get together with on a regular basis. On the other hand, it’s become quite a phenomenon that most Facebook users become friends with their true friends, cousins, classmates, neighbors, landlords, landlord’s parents, boss’s nephew, co-worker’s great-aunt who lives in Timbuktu and, well, you get the idea.

Didn’t get the chance to participate in Kimmel’s NUD? You can do it any day you feel the willpower; I did. According to his website, “…all Facebook users shall protect the sacred nature of friendship by cutting out any ‘friend fat’ on their pages occupied by people who are not truly their friends.”

Cut out your friend fat. I did. Just think… would you pivot your cart and scoot down the next aisle at the market, or would you gladly approach with a sincere, “How have you been?”

Hugs in a Bowl

I recently attended a potluck and had a mouthwatering experience while tasting one of the dishes. It was chicken tortilla soup simmering away in a crockpot accompanied by tortilla chips and ripe avocado slices. At first I was concerned there must be a large content of cream as many chicken tortilla soups have. I feared for my sensitive stomach and didn't care for the extra calories among the many other dishes I'd already been munching away on.

So... I asked. Not cream... the creaminess was created by the sweet potato base. No wonder my mouth salivated after the first spoonful! I have a great love for sweet potato in any form...

If you're in the mood for a light, healthy, extremely easy mexican soup with a twist... please, please try this recipe! I'm actually posting it due to requests from friends I recently made it for. So, enjoy!

2 tsp oil

1 onion

1 large sweet potato (cooked and pureed) or 1 can of puree (12 oz)

2 cans of chicken broth (14 oz each)

½ tsp ground cumin

1 can corn (11 oz)

1 cup medium salsa

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (15 oz)

Chopped cilantro (desired amount)

Cooked chicken breast cut up into bit size pieces (desired amount)

Heat oil in a saucepan, sauté onion until soft and translucent.

Add sweet potato, chicken broth and cumin; cover and reduce heat if in a pan. Stir in all other ingredients. If using a crockpot, simmer on high for an hour or low for two hours. Add more chicken broth if too thick.

Serve with crushed tortillas, avocado and cheddar cheese.

Pumpkin Pie Lovers Rejoice!

This blog is for anyone who gets super excited for the widely-anticipated pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, or mom's moist pumpkin bread, or Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

I have to give all the credit for this following recipe to my cousin Kathryn. I saw her post this idea on Facebook and all the sudden buying a can of pumpkin puree topped my to-do list for the day.

I've shared in prior posts my passion for breakfast. Now I'm combining my favorite meal of the day with the holiday joys of pumpkin spice!



Recipe for Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Ingredients (basically french toast batter mixed with pumpkin puree):

2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
6 slices of bread (so... makes 2-3 servings)

Cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Top with syrup, whip cream, pecans or walnuts...whatever tickles your fancy! Happy Holidays!!

America's Search For A Political Savior

I'm learning to get use to these political seasons.

Since the media plays a large role in primary, mid-term, presidential elections, etc. --it's a process I not only need to follow, but learn to bring neutrality and balance to every side.

I've never had a passion for politics or government. In fact, I think the two C's I got in college were in economics and political science (shhhh).


I'm realizing it's good for me though. Not only is the understanding of the economy and the government crucial to my journalism career but it's crucial to my life as I take on more and more responsibilities as an adult. I use resources every day that deal with the government- whether it be the roads I drive on, the testing that went into the water I drink, the museum I visited on vacation, or the education I got from the public school I attended. The list goes on and on.


After interviewing candidates from both sides of the spectrum, I realize most of them are just on a specific agenda, subject to a strict structure, and basically just trying to win a race. They probably have good intentions but their political jargon is always vague and most of the time each candidate talks of a good idea that would benefit...well, someone.


I usually have more conservative views on social issues. And I'd like to say that being fiscally conservative sounds like a great idea? But then cutting programs or jobs never sounds appealing either?

I think it's difficult to have the answers when I don't really see the inner workings of the system or understand what it really means to manage a national budget. I'm hoping it's something I learn more and more about as I continue to cover elections. All I know is that when I heard Pastor Mark Driscoll say these words imbedded in a recent sermon, I realized if I live with this simple concept in mind, and maybe our government does as well... I don't see how we could go wrong.


Wise words from Pastor Mark Driscoll:

"No functional savior in the form of a politician can save us from ourselves. As a people who have lived beyond our means, pursued our greeds and not our needs, we have to acknowledge that repentance is the only way to make change in life.

This is not politically expedient.

There is no politician running for office that would get on television and say...

'America you're all greedy, you worship mammon, most of you are fat as well, you're not generous, you've lived beyond your means, your credit cards are racked up and as a people you all need to repent!'

But then democrats will say you're victims and the republicans ruin everything, then the republicans will say democrats ruin everything and you're victims-- and everyone has to lie so we will vote for them because otherwise we'd need to repent.

The truth is as Christians we need to look at our finances and ask, are we stewarding the resources that the father has entrusted to us in a way that shows that we believe the kingdom starts coming in our lives by obedience and stewardship?"

Cranium Diaries Post #1

Insight from a Third-Year Teacher

Your first year of teaching is all about surviving. You are trying to stay above water. The goals are to not miss any important deadlines, prove yourself as an educator, try to get home by 8 PM and teach and encourage your first group of students through June.

Your second year of teaching is SO much better. It has to be. There is nothing like your first year. You still find yourself in a scramble many weeks and months of the year, but things start to become a little more familiar.

Your third year of teaching (it’s only my 5th week into it) seems to supply the first moment to catch your breath and reflect on what just happened in the last two years of your life. Obviously, I realize I still have so, so much to learn (about twenty or thirty more years full), but I also recognize I have accumulated a few skills and tactics of teaching that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career. Most of these concepts are ones teachers never verbalize to one another or, more importantly, to new teachers. They are the sort of things you must learn on your own as you experience your own classroom full of students and everyday challenges. I’m not saying these are infallible, perfect, works-for-every-classroom concepts, but what I am saying is I think they’re worth listening to if you’re a new teacher because they just might work for your classroom too. In fact, many of these may only work for my classroom because they mesh well with my personality and teaching style. Some of these ideas I learned in college, others I picked up from veteran teachers or my extraordinary BTSA mentor teacher and the rest I accumulated through trial and error or hours spent staring into space while sitting in the middle of my classroom on Saturday afternoons. Nonetheless, these are all ideas I have found to be successful even in Year Three of 2nd grade. I consider these to be treasure keeping me sane among my adorable seven and eight year old friends.

This is going to be a series of posts as I think of the daily lifesavers I couldn’t live without and I wish someone had been able to verbalize to me a few years ago.

#1 Kids love responsibility. They want to know they can be counted on. They crave feeling important, successful and talented. I used to have a handful of classroom jobs (messenger to the office, paper passer-outers, light and door monitors etc.) I assigned and changed them weekly. I noticed another teacher’s job chart last year and realized she had double the amount of jobs I did. So I started thinking… why can’t every kid have a job every week? There are plenty of things second graders can accomplish on a daily basis… why aren’t I assigning more responsibility to my success-seeking students? So I did just that. Now I have sink monitors (cleaning the sink area after art etc.), chair monitors (those darn things can be weapons if they’re left out in the wrong place), gardener (watering our class plants), pencil sharpeners and many other tasks to employ twenty-three munchkins. Some of the jobs are silly tasks I was doing myself on a daily basis… why not hire my students to do so? No matter the task, we feel successful, needed and mighty responsible no matter what week it is.

#2 The sound of a hand cranked or electric pencil sharpener absolutely drives me up the wall in the classroom. Most teachers ban the act while they are teaching, but there’s something so unnecessary about the extra noise above the conversing students, clicking keyboards and scraping lead. Luckily I found out early on how much this irritated me enabling me to quickly seek out a solution to this newly acquired pet peeve. Who knew? Since week two of my teaching career, there are two extremely important construction paper covered coffee cans sitting on the back counter of my room. Once is labeled dull and the other, sharp (with corresponding graphics, of course). During the day, students are to drop their dull or broken pencils into the appropriate container in which case (and only if the first step is completed) they are allowed to get a new, sharp pencil and quickly find their way back to the task they were tackling. (I created the second rule after my first year of teaching once I learned students simply liked to obtain as many pencils as they could, leaving two empty cans at the end of each school day.) What if a student looses a pencil? Mean Ms. Boyer makes them “pay” me a ticket (I’ll get to tickets in a later post) because no one has actually ever witnessed a pencil growing arms and legs and making their way away from where they were left. No wasted time sharpening pencils, no hideous noise, continuous sharp pencils (thanks to the pencil sharpeners) and one calm teacher. Problem solved.

Peasant Princess

Growing up in a loving Christian home and going to church helped formed who I am today. I am truly blessed to be born into such a selfless and nurturing household. Sometimes I wonder why I was so blessed.


With that said, there comes a time when you leave the nest, that you must decide if you are going to take on that faith and make it your own. You are on your own and the decisions you make are life-altering and will shape your future.


I knew the rules, teachings, and lifestyle of a Christian faith. But it wasn't until I heard some hard-hitting sermons and dug deep into the bible during college that I understood why living by faith mattered. I'm still learning.


I first heard the most influential sermons when I went to The Rock church in San Diego, led by pastor Miles McPherson. At the end of every church service, I was left me on the edge of my seat. This ancient scripture could be applied now in the 21st century just as much as it did back then. God always meant it to be timeless. I knew more than ever the benefits of living a God-fearing and obedient life.

When I never thought I could be challenged by another pastor more than Miles, I started going to Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It was a little more dark than what I was use to. The music was harder and the pastor was a little more serious, complimented by a dry sense of humor. I wasn't sure how I would adapt to this new way of teaching at first but I learned to embrace and love it. Like The Rock, we were digging deep and looking at how scripture applied to life now.

The first sermon series I heard from pastor Mark Driscoll was the Peasant Princess series out of the Songs of Solomon (also knows as Songs of Songs) in the Old Testament. I was blown away by the topics that were discussed. Subjects like sex, love and relationships that were usually a taboo in most churches were now talked about on an exposing level. There was never a topic that was too hush hush for this congregation...we were going there.
It was genuine and real. Why should we not be talking about this? So many churches are probably hesitant to touch these topics but these issues are real and dealt with daily. They are matters that most people don't want to face and in all honesty might have the most sin in. Therefore most people are in denial and want to push these things under the rug. I'm guilty of it. And maybe some of us follow certain rules of the Bible but don't know or forget why.


Every time I left church after hearing from the Peasant Princess Series, I was challenged and deeply moved. I was on fire for God. God created sex, love and relationships. Why wouldn't He want us to talk about it and enjoy it? The world can take these gifts and make them shackles and cause us pain and shame. Scripture tells us how to have those gifts and embrace them in the most joyful and amazing way possible. They are blessings not burdens. This group of teachings helped me understand how I could enjoy these gifts to the fullest.


I want to share with you the link to the series. You will literally be on the edge of your seat ready for more. Whether married, dating or single, you will enjoy every teaching. If you are ready to be challenged and want your world to be rocked... start from part one, get ready and listen!

www.peasantprincess.com

Celebrating Freedom

I have a new concept of freedom to document during this moment of my life. I’m not sure how long this feeling will last, but I’m sure I’ve never experienced this personal exposure and connection to “life” before. I feel as though I’ve always been pursuing a certain destination and thought once I got “there”, I’d have a new sense of joy and satisfaction of life. But for the first time in my life, my eyes are opened to the multiple stages you reach and the incredible excursions you embark along the way. I have a longing to capture my current outlook in a resealable container in fear this might be a fleeting feeling.

There are many explanations for why I’m in this place. I grew up in the most supportive, encouraging environment. It was clear I was lead to believe I could learn anything, do anything and be anyone I wanted if I let myself strive for a goal. Through this upbringing it was almost an unspoken expectation that I would thrive and wholeheartedly attempt to be successful in some sense. For this internally established principle, I am thankful.

Growing up, I was a more wary, nervous person inside. Others couldn’t always detect this, but I feared unknown social situations and unfamiliar opportunities. I got frequent stomachaches due to a constant feeling of anxiety and fear of what might happen at any given moment. It felt like a personal prison, as I never let myself go and fully experience life. I’m not sure how I’m almost completely rid of that burden, but I thank the Lord everyday that He’s allowed me to escape.

Perhaps this idea of freedom has been introduced to me because I’ve accepted and created the concept of worldly success for myself. I received a wonderful education (without student loans, thanks to my parents), avoided excessive heartbreak, have lived my life with no health barriers and find myself living and loving my dream job on a daily basis. Maybe I’m feeling this way because I have minimal baggage (at least just a carry-on sized worth) and have nothing to tie me down at the moment.

Of course, one day I’m sure I’ll be “settled” as most are and I’ll enjoy that portion of my life in a different way. I’m excited for that chapter of my future, but I have no plans to rush this current state of mind away. I’m currently at a place where I accept most opportunities that cross my path whether it be a chance to meet someone new, discover a hidden treasure of this Earth or utilize myself to better someone else’s day. I currently have a feeling of exploration; to experience every possible moment of life in hopes I’ll learn something new or knock down another wall I’m possibly holding up.