Has it really been since February 20th since I last posted? Wow, I really neglected this thing. Maybe it's cause I should be working, not posting blogs. What's even sadder is that I have kept up with this better than I've kept up with posting new pictures to the site. Someone with web know-how and time needs to take over that task. Please let me know if you are interested.
I don't have anything good to say. Nothing even remotely interesting. Hmm...I guess that's why I never post.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Our Valentine's
Beth and I have not once been able to spend a Valentine's Day together. While we were dating she was always in College Station and even when she wasn't, something always came up. This year was no different. Ironically enough, she was in College Station doing a career fair for her company. It was sad, that our first year of marriage, we didn't get to spend V-Day together. But I knew she would be back on Saturday and I wanted to do something extra special. After reading Box's post on cooking, you might just think this is a repeat of that, but not so much. You also might not be able to grasp just how special it is for someone like Box or myself to cook. What you don't realize is that neither of us had ever cooked a meal in our lives (except maybe Mac & Cheese). Beth, in particular, is very much into cooking. She is a fantastic cook and very knowledgeable. She frequents shows like Top Chef, Iron Chef America, and more. If I was going to impress her, I had to go all out. That I did. I also wanted to cook it in her presence so she knew it was all me. In order to pull that off, I had to do a practice run. Last Thursday I went to my friend Jesse's house for this "trail run". He and his wife just moved here from Dallas for him to attend culinary school! He's pretty much the bomb when it comes to cooking. So he showed me the ropes and it ended up being the best quality lunch break I've ever taken!
So now onto the menu!
Appetizer:
Main Course:
So now onto the menu!
Appetizer:
- Goat Cheese Toast Point - This consisted of a really good rye bread toasted in the oven topped with an orange marmalade sauce, goat cheese, and an herb salad (fennel, dill, basil, parsley, & arugula). This was absolutely amazing...tastes SO good.
Main Course:
- Cocoa Crusted Filet - Filet Mignon with a dry rub mixed from Ghirardelli dark chocolate powder, ancho chili powder, and salt & pepper. I pan-seared the filet to a medium rare.
- Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes - Self explanatory, just a fancier and more delicious way of making mashed potatoes
- Asparagus - Cooked with cocoa nibs, almonds, diced garlic & shallots, and chicken stock. A way to make anyone enjoy their vegetables!
- A dried cherry reduction was a sauce served throughout the whole main course, it went pretty good with everything.
- Chocolate Mousse - Chocolate mousse with homemade whipped cream and sliced strawberries!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Youth Band
Box and I have this crazy idea to start a youth band. What do you guys think? Who has hidden talents that I'm not yet aware of.
So far I know that Jake plays bass/piano, Devin plays drums, Ben plays drums, and that's all I know. Give me your contact info.
We wouldn't be playing every week...it would just be too difficult, but I definitely would want to do once a month or something. A big question for everyone is, what style is acceptable? I really like to rock and with the band I'm not sure I would ever use my acoustic guitar, only electric. But would you guys enjoy it? Could you worship to it?
Give all thoughts and feedback you can think of.
So far I know that Jake plays bass/piano, Devin plays drums, Ben plays drums, and that's all I know. Give me your contact info.
We wouldn't be playing every week...it would just be too difficult, but I definitely would want to do once a month or something. A big question for everyone is, what style is acceptable? I really like to rock and with the band I'm not sure I would ever use my acoustic guitar, only electric. But would you guys enjoy it? Could you worship to it?
Give all thoughts and feedback you can think of.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Jason The Scrooge
I started writing this in response to Sean's latest blog, then I realized it would be too long for a comment so I'm putting it here.
Sean, I totally agree with you. I have been a total Scrooge for years. I hate Christmas carols; I hate 98% of the church services that happen on the weekend of; I hate almost all decorations, especially nativity scenes; I hate capitalism; and the list goes on.
This year, however, I'm going to forget all of the negativity and try my best to be cheerful and be in the "Christmas Spirit". To do this I have a few issues to get past.
One issue is that I've always questioned why we give gifts. Here's what I've come up with this year. It may be an obvious statement, but we give gifts because of the gift God gave us. However, I started thinking about this in more depth. "Yay God, thanks for Jesus, I'll give some gifts now too so you're proud of me". How absurd is that quote!? It's kinda how it feels to me though. So now I have to walk through it from the beginning. I was dead in sin and deserving of nothing but hell. God, however, sent His one and only son... Ok, stop there. Let's use Bobby and Kristin as an example, and their beautiful daughter, Aliyah. This is a NON-real scenario...just making a point... Kristin's days are numbered. Yes, Bobby loves her a ton and would do anything to save her from her imminent death. However, the only way to save Kristin is to give up Aliyah. Aliyah has to die to save Kristin. Now, many of you might think this is doable, but you haven't experienced what it's like to have a child, and I assure you in this situation Bobby would NEVER kill his child...even to save his wife. So that one was tough, let's make it easier to come up with the answer. Bobby has an enemy named Billy. Billy hates Bobby, wishes he never existed. Billy is going to die in a week. Bobby, in order to save Billy, has to kill Aliyah. What's he gonna do? DUH! See ya Billy, it was not so nice knowing you! Reality: I hated God, yet he sent his only son to die for me. So, given that the GIFT that God has given us, free of charge, even though we are undeserving, even though we had rejected him, even though the cost was HIS SON; I now have the opportunity to give gifts to others. Forget the ceremony of a tree and singing around the piano, I'm talking about a selfless, humble, for no reason other than Christ type of giving. I need to have an attitude of giving that portrays something other than the typical Christmas season mindset. If I can accomplish this and people wonder why what I'm doing looks different than the rest of the world, I've opened a door to share truth.
Ok, issue #2. Jesus's birthday. It sounds so cheesy to me but I can't really put a finger on why. Perhaps it's the fear that people view this as the day that Jesus came into existence. John 1:1-2 "1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning." Jesus always was and always will be fully God...long before 33BC. Even as a baby in a manger (which was perhaps a cave not a manger though that doesn't matter) he was fully God. Fully human and fully God for 33 years...it's a trip but it's true. I don't have a conclusion to this, just thoughts on the matter and a bit of unsettledness.
Issue #3. Christmas carols. If the lyrics serve as a reminder of what you're celebrating, good stuff. However, even given that, don't expect any from me on Sunday mornings. I have yet to hear or sing a Christmas song that really leads me into connecting with my savior. No song yet that has helped me encounter God. The theme, IF there's actually a spiritual one, is Christ coming to earth. Yet the songs are more cheerful than anything else. They don't deal with the characteristics of God that initiate worship, they're not from the right point of view (1st person vs. 3rd, etc.), and they don't deal with the reason I actually needed a savior. Some are good lyrically, don't get me wrong, but the "some" are few and far in between and those "some" still don't seem to meet my criteria for a worship song. I don't know, I'm probably just ranting and being Scroogish, and a lot of you probably disagree. If so, please let me know about it.
The bottom line. Christmas makes most people happy. My wife loves seeing the lights and trees, children love getting gifts, people like hearing the music. While none of these things have anything to do with the meaning of Christmas, and some of these things make my cringe, these things bring joy to people's hearts. If I can have a cheerful attitude, yet carry myself differently in the way I communicate about Christmas, it might just make an impact on my peers. If I sulk and talk trash about all the cheesiness and such, I will only turn people off. For Sean and Brian, and me, it's OK to be cynical, but we need to keep ourselves in check with how we are communicating our savior. For those of you who put up nativity scenes and crank up the Christmas songs recorded in the 80's, more power to you. Just make sure you understand why you are doing the things you are doing. For the capitalist who puts on the big sales and cleans up from all the silly shoppers, good job. Way to seize a good opportunity. Just know that your reward is paid in full. The money you've earned is all you'll ever have to show for your hard work and creativity. To the atheist, you are likely as cynical as I am to which I give you props. I think you may understand that the whole hype is bogus. However, I encourage you to step back and think "what if?" What if God actually did love you and actually did act on that love. It might change your life. To all, be happy and enjoy the season. Enjoy the time that brings everyone together. Give gifts and enjoy receiving gifts, but do it all in remembrance of the gift you were given. The gift that you never deserved and that cost more than you may realize.
Sean, I totally agree with you. I have been a total Scrooge for years. I hate Christmas carols; I hate 98% of the church services that happen on the weekend of; I hate almost all decorations, especially nativity scenes; I hate capitalism; and the list goes on.
This year, however, I'm going to forget all of the negativity and try my best to be cheerful and be in the "Christmas Spirit". To do this I have a few issues to get past.
One issue is that I've always questioned why we give gifts. Here's what I've come up with this year. It may be an obvious statement, but we give gifts because of the gift God gave us. However, I started thinking about this in more depth. "Yay God, thanks for Jesus, I'll give some gifts now too so you're proud of me". How absurd is that quote!? It's kinda how it feels to me though. So now I have to walk through it from the beginning. I was dead in sin and deserving of nothing but hell. God, however, sent His one and only son... Ok, stop there. Let's use Bobby and Kristin as an example, and their beautiful daughter, Aliyah. This is a NON-real scenario...just making a point... Kristin's days are numbered. Yes, Bobby loves her a ton and would do anything to save her from her imminent death. However, the only way to save Kristin is to give up Aliyah. Aliyah has to die to save Kristin. Now, many of you might think this is doable, but you haven't experienced what it's like to have a child, and I assure you in this situation Bobby would NEVER kill his child...even to save his wife. So that one was tough, let's make it easier to come up with the answer. Bobby has an enemy named Billy. Billy hates Bobby, wishes he never existed. Billy is going to die in a week. Bobby, in order to save Billy, has to kill Aliyah. What's he gonna do? DUH! See ya Billy, it was not so nice knowing you! Reality: I hated God, yet he sent his only son to die for me. So, given that the GIFT that God has given us, free of charge, even though we are undeserving, even though we had rejected him, even though the cost was HIS SON; I now have the opportunity to give gifts to others. Forget the ceremony of a tree and singing around the piano, I'm talking about a selfless, humble, for no reason other than Christ type of giving. I need to have an attitude of giving that portrays something other than the typical Christmas season mindset. If I can accomplish this and people wonder why what I'm doing looks different than the rest of the world, I've opened a door to share truth.
Ok, issue #2. Jesus's birthday. It sounds so cheesy to me but I can't really put a finger on why. Perhaps it's the fear that people view this as the day that Jesus came into existence. John 1:1-2 "1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning." Jesus always was and always will be fully God...long before 33BC. Even as a baby in a manger (which was perhaps a cave not a manger though that doesn't matter) he was fully God. Fully human and fully God for 33 years...it's a trip but it's true. I don't have a conclusion to this, just thoughts on the matter and a bit of unsettledness.
Issue #3. Christmas carols. If the lyrics serve as a reminder of what you're celebrating, good stuff. However, even given that, don't expect any from me on Sunday mornings. I have yet to hear or sing a Christmas song that really leads me into connecting with my savior. No song yet that has helped me encounter God. The theme, IF there's actually a spiritual one, is Christ coming to earth. Yet the songs are more cheerful than anything else. They don't deal with the characteristics of God that initiate worship, they're not from the right point of view (1st person vs. 3rd, etc.), and they don't deal with the reason I actually needed a savior. Some are good lyrically, don't get me wrong, but the "some" are few and far in between and those "some" still don't seem to meet my criteria for a worship song. I don't know, I'm probably just ranting and being Scroogish, and a lot of you probably disagree. If so, please let me know about it.
The bottom line. Christmas makes most people happy. My wife loves seeing the lights and trees, children love getting gifts, people like hearing the music. While none of these things have anything to do with the meaning of Christmas, and some of these things make my cringe, these things bring joy to people's hearts. If I can have a cheerful attitude, yet carry myself differently in the way I communicate about Christmas, it might just make an impact on my peers. If I sulk and talk trash about all the cheesiness and such, I will only turn people off. For Sean and Brian, and me, it's OK to be cynical, but we need to keep ourselves in check with how we are communicating our savior. For those of you who put up nativity scenes and crank up the Christmas songs recorded in the 80's, more power to you. Just make sure you understand why you are doing the things you are doing. For the capitalist who puts on the big sales and cleans up from all the silly shoppers, good job. Way to seize a good opportunity. Just know that your reward is paid in full. The money you've earned is all you'll ever have to show for your hard work and creativity. To the atheist, you are likely as cynical as I am to which I give you props. I think you may understand that the whole hype is bogus. However, I encourage you to step back and think "what if?" What if God actually did love you and actually did act on that love. It might change your life. To all, be happy and enjoy the season. Enjoy the time that brings everyone together. Give gifts and enjoy receiving gifts, but do it all in remembrance of the gift you were given. The gift that you never deserved and that cost more than you may realize.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)