January in Pictures

Snow, snow, and more snow!

And I couldn't forget a picture of Tiger! Can you see the longing in his eyes to go outside?

A visit to the Hlad farm and PUPPIES!

Bowling with Rachel. Would you believe we both actually broke 100?

I've been waiting for months for this girl to heal up from her torn ACL so we can play racquetball. At last, the time came in January!

One of the few times we had youth group in January due to weather. This game we call "Spin the Bottle." We lure them in the with the title, making them think they'll be kissing at youth group, and then we slam them with a water-filled 2-liter. In spite of the pain it causes, the kids LOVE it.

I just love these girls.


Birthday lunch with some of my Sunday School girls. Love them too!

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a boy. A very handsome, kind-hearted, amazing boy at that. And yes, this is indeed a date! Who thought it was possible?

And last, but certainly not least, the highlight of January. A highlight of my life, actually. On the amazing date pictured above, I got to pet and feed a real, live RHINO!!! An opportunity so exciting that I never even thought to put it on my bucket list! I just love the little surprises life throws at us.

A Valentine's Music Monday

I haven't done a Music Monday in a while, but I figured since it's Valentine's Day why not celebrate with some sweet and heart-meltingly romantic music?

First up is Atley Black. If you've never heard of her, don't worry. You're not uncool. She's the wife of the best friend of a friend of my brother and she just happens to be extremely talented. A couple weeks ago we had the family over to celebrate my birthday and we all gathered around the TV in the living room to watch some of her stuff on YouTube. A couple of her songs brought my grandparents to tears. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. We'd listen to a song and my grandparents would say, "Aww. I think that should be our song!" and then we'd listen to another one and they'd hug each other and say, "That should be our song too!" It was adorable. :-)

So here I give you Atley Black. If you want to hear more, you can visit her YouTube channel here or her Myspace page here. It's some good stuff. Trust me.





And here's one of my fave music videos of all time as well for your viewing pleasure. It's stop motion at it's finest!



And last, because this is the blog of a spinster-in-training, I couldn't resist some sort of traditional Valentine's Day rant. But instead of ranting away myself, I'm just going to let this hilarious video do the talking for me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to embark on this endeavor at least a dozen times throughout my life. So for all my single peeps out there, this is for you!

Crazy Cat Lady

My Mom gave me this adorable mug last night after having apparently cleaned out a hallmark store that was going out of business. If you know my mom, then you know that she can sniff out a sale from 500 miles away. She's a purebred shopping bloodhound. And even though she'll spend money on something that she neither needs or really ever wanted, she still is somehow able to reason that she has actually "saved" money. We don't try to reason with her anymore...we just let her shop.

Anyways...it's cute, right? It's perfect for me, seeing as how I am a librarian/cat lover/spinster in training. Speaking of cats...have I ever mentioned my cat Tiger?




The saddest part about this adorable mug, though, is that somebody else has already given me one. Yes, the exact same mug. Is it a bad sign when not one, but TWO people automatically think of you when they see the words "Crazy Cat Lady" scrolled across a mug?


I think this whole spinster persona is getting a little out of hand...

PETA Would Not Be Proud...

I just can't get enough of these two videos. I know I shouldn't laugh at cats getting hurt (Forgive me, PETA), especially when I'm such a huge cat person, but seriously...these are hilarious. I've probably watched each one twenty times, and yes, I'll be watching them even more, I'm sure. I hope you get as much of a giggle out of these as I do!

Harry Potter + Cupcakes = The Perfect Recipe

Okay, I know I don't post very often, but I found this recipe while stumbling around the Internet and thought I simply MUST share. It's a recipe for...are you ready for this? Butterbeer cupcakes! If you happen to be a Harry Potter fan like me, then I'm sure you'll share in the excitement. If you're not a Harry Potter fan, then you probably have no idea what I'm even talking about when I refer to butterbeer. All I can say to you is, quick! Go read ALL of the Harry Potter books and see ALL of the movies! You won't regret it.

I haven't even made these yet, but am definitely going to be giving them a try this coming week. Perhaps I'll try them out on my youth group kids. Though, I better be careful about the name "butterbeer." You never know who'll get upset in a Baptist Church...ButterBEER and Harry Potter? Surely this girl is from the devil...;-)

Anyways, if you'd like to give these babies a go, head on over to the amybites blog for the recipe. Good luck and my best baking wishes to all of you!

Confessions of a Discouraged Christian

Modern Christianity has completely lost its appeal. I don’t mean to say that Christ has lost his appeal, but rather that Christianity as a movement, or fad, or culture has. I don’t really know when this happened. Christianity used to be about having a personal relationship with Christ, but now it seems to be more about fitting into a particular culture, about conforming to a prescribed Christian culture rather than conforming to Christ himself. Someone please tell me, when did worshipping God become solely a musical preference? And when did the measure of spiritual maturity become determined by how many Christian books you’ve read or whether or not you’re on stage? Worse still, when did Christianity become just another advertisement, a label that I can somehow buy for myself if I just listen to the right music, read the right books, or say the right words?

Most of the time when I go to church, or even take the time to watch church services online or on tv, I feel like I’m going to a concert or watching a performance. Fancy lights, cool bands, and projector screens fill the stage area as hundreds of people passively sit by. I can’t help but wonder how many people would be there if we did not have such things. If we had no building to meet in, no Christian books to read, no Christian CDs to buy, no family festivals or youth group outings…if it were just the body of Christ, the Word of God, and Christ Himself…how many of us would take the time to meet? The fact is that materialism has the church in its grips. Yes, materialism is still materialism even when what you’re acquiring is “Christian.”

I’m not here to say that any of these things in themselves are wrong. On the contrary, they’re not at all. I’m just here to say that we must examine our minds and hearts and observe whether or not such a mentality has taken its hold of us. Are we following the Jesus of the Bible or are we following a Christian culture substitute? Are our church numbers growing because we’re reaching out with the Gospel or because we’re merely bringing in more like-minded people from other churches? Where is our money going? Where is our church money going? Are we buying what is necessary? Does what we are spending money on serve even the tiniest purpose to further the Gospel? Are we ourselves intentionally giving our time and money to the church or are we just another one of the Sunday masses? I ask these questions not to judge, but with a heavy and convicted heart, because I too have fallen prey to the trappings of materialism, selfishness, and the general desire to be a “cool” Christian. I see this in the young and old in the church, and I see this in myself.

It is my hope and prayer that we will no longer settle for mere books about Jesus, sermons about Jesus, or music about Jesus, but only for Jesus himself. I pray that we make room for the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our churches, letting him lead us rather than trying to lead Him with our prescribed songs, sermons, and routines. The church is dying, and giving the church a new hip Christian image is not what is going to bring it back to life, but rather a dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you believe that anything other than this will ignite passion in the hearts of the people, then you have been deceived, because apart from Christ our efforts are useless.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Don't you think its time we stopped worshipping the fruit or branches and started worshiping the vine who has given them to us?

Music Monday!

Wow, I can't believe I completely forgot about both Music Monday AND Thankful Thursday last week. Things have been so busy lately what with the holidays fast approaching. I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping over the past couple weeks and am pleased to announce that I'm OFFICIALLY done! I'm never done this early. Never. Let's just say that I owe a big thank you to Mr. Internet for helping me out this year. I've been busy with tons of holiday parties too, and I have to admit that I'm a bit partied out. Being blessed with the presence of a cold this past week hasn't helped much in that department either, so I ended up having to skip a couple parties to get some much needed rest. Pretty sure I was in bed at 7 p.m. on Thursday...ha. I guess I have to store up on sleep anyways though since once all the family arrives I won't be seeing my bed until about 7 a.m. most nights. :-) I'll try and post pictures soon from all of this month's festivities. I would post them now, but alas, I'm on my lunch break at work and don't have them with me. Until then, I'll leave you with these lovely music videos:

For this video "From Your Mouth" by God Breathes Underwater, all they did was tape a world eating champion eat different foods, then played it in reverse. So simple yet so creative!



And well, I couldn't resist posting this vid. I suppose you could call it "creative," but to be more accurate I would probably place it in the "worst music videos ever" category. It's so bad it's funny. I watch and I myself feel embarassed for David Hasselhoff. Amazingly enough, though, this was a HUGE hit in Germany. I can't help but think less of all Germans for it...