It's been almost a month since my last post... whoops
A lot sure has happened in that month, lots of cooking, a new Certification, a few Godly insights, Halo 4 launched, we saw a few movies, and we elected a President...
First off, my excuse, three weeks ago my classes to become ITIL Certified began, This included a few 18 hour days followed by a few hours of sleep, and then a test at the end of it all, I passed, not necessarily with flying colors, but nevertheless, I get to add a Cert to my name! :)
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As far as cooking is concerned, I've been playing it safe for the past few weeks, cooking easy things, things I've tried before, and whatnot... A few days ago, Elizabeth noticed that we had a few boxes of 'leftover' uncooked noodles, some penne, a little rigatoni, even a few veggie noodles, and I decided to do something with them. What came to mind was a sort of lasagna casserole, which I later realized is generally called a baked ziti.
Josh's Baked Ziti:
1lb Ground beef
2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
1 chopped onion
½T Basil
½T Oregano
½T Parsley
1 can Diced tomatoes (I used a Mediterranean herbed one)
1 jar Red pasta sauce
2c Shredded Italian cheese
2c Chopped mushrooms
Leftover noodles (About 3-4c worth, uncooked)
Pre-heat oven to 375°F
Boil noodles as directed - set in large bowl
Brown the Beef with the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and herbs in a large skillet with some olive oil
Add to bowl with noodles.
Mix in whole can of tomatoes and pasta sauce, stir until all noodles are well coated, at this point the mixture should have cooled some
Mix in 1½c cheese, stir well
Pour mixture into casserole dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until sauce is bubbling. Serve with a delicious side...
Now, I had picked up a can of olives to put in the Ziti, as Elizabeth loves them.... but I totally forgot. Enter, Delicious side:
Scrumdiddlyumptious Bacon-Olive Green Beans:
1 can French-Style Green Beans
3 slices Bacon, cooked, roughly chopped
10-15 large olives, chopped
½t Basil
½t Oregano
½t Parsley
¼t Garlic powder
Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan, stir, cover, and cook on medium heat for 10-25 minutes (Lightly boiling for at least half of that time.
When it comes time to serve, using the lid, drain the water from the pan, keeping all the goodies for the plate!
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Halo 4 came out last week, it's been over 5 years since Halo 3 and I really couldn't have been more excited! The graphics are top notch, the music is wonderful, the single player story is very engaging, ad I haven't had this much fun in multiplayer since going to LAN parties with the original Halo: CE. Easily my favorite game on the Xbox 360. If you have this system, you should have this game. Here's a full review by someone paid to review things...
If you find yourself on your 360, and needing a new friend, hit me up, my GamerTag is: SPARTAN 029 PO2
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Movie time!
Elizabeth and visited the '$2' theater a couple times since the last post, seeing both 'Hope Springs' and 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green'
Both were very solid movies, Hope Springs is about an 'Empty Nester' Couple that has lost their spark, and are simply going through the motions of everyday life, barely noticing one another, until the Wife (Meryl Streep) forces her husband (Tommy Lee Jones) to go to marriage counseling with her in po-dunk Maine. It's a love story, with some silly moments, but overall enjoyable, definitely would recommend seeing it with your loved one.
Timothy Green was a true 'heart warmer' not at all what I was expecting going in. I thought I was getting a silly kids movie, about a boy who popped up from the ground. Instead I got a story of a couple just trying to be parents in this wonderful tale of adoption. It made me smile, it made me tear up, it played with my emotions, and I can't say I didn't like it. This one is good for the whole family to site down and enjoy!
(For up-to-date, better, and more reliable reviews, hit up my good friend Rob Lacy at Snark Week!)
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Congratulations to Mr. Obama for gaining another 4 years in the oval Office, please treat it with care...
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That's all for tonight folks, tune in in a couple days for those elusive Godly Insights, mentioned earlier!
-Joshua Anderson
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Simple Thoughts...
So I was at work today, and it was particularly slow, and this is what came to mind. Please take the time to read this:
Right, Left. Red, Blue. Yes, No. Wrong, Right. Why must there only be two? Why can’t I go any direction I want, what if I want purple, what about maybe, what about me. This upcoming election season I am faced, truly, with two options, Republican, or Democrat. Two, from the surface, very different sides of an argument. A black and a white, if you will, with no grey in between. I am forced to choose between these two sides, someone who will lead my country, and define how I live, and save, and work. I have to cast my vote, fill in a bubble, and choose one of these two. Two options that I don’t fully back, two options that both have good points, but also have flaws, things I don’t believe in. Two choices that, ultimately, I cannot choose. But they are my only options, right? As I open my ballot this year, and I read over the Presidential options I see only two options to vote, don’t I? Wrong, I have ten-plus men and women who are all vying for my pen to fill in their bubble. Who these people are, I’m not certain; What they believe in individually, I really don’t know, nor do I really care. But what they stand for, collectively, what the idea of having such a choice means; that is what I care about, that is why I am here, That is what can change the entire world in which we live in, and that is what I intend to explore, an idea.
We all know the stories, people left their homeland in search of religious freedom, in the pursuit of riches, or to just get away. Through the centuries, a country was formed, a land, based on the ideals of freedom, the liberation of choice, and the thrill of being able to do whatever we wanted. This freedom, this great gift that our forefathers granted us has been squandered. Where we can have the freedom of choice, we have shackled ourselves to mundane, repeated, despised tasks. Forcing ourselves to examine two presidential candidates, and choosing the “Lesser of Two Evils.” Why do we have to vote for evil? Now I am not saying that these two options are inherently evil, I don’t even want these two parties to disperse. What I am saying is that these two views hardly cover the views and opinions of an entire country. Thus, if the candidate you select doesn’t line up with your core values as a person, then you are, ultimately voting against yourself.
Grab a piece of paper, Think about the government, think about the law, think about how your country interacts with other countries. Now, I want you to write down the ten most important things you care about, and how you believe they should be handled; your ten strongest opinions on the nation. I challenge you to find ten, no five, other people that have written down, word-for-word, exactly what you put down. I’d bet you the commission on this paper that you can’t fill that request, without a little fudging. If we can’t find five, out of millions to agree, how can we expect, honestly, for half of them to side with one candidate and truly, deeply, feel happy about that.
With that extreme example out of the way, we can of course find people who believe fairly close to what we do, where we match on ideals, have the same basic stance of foreign policy, and also stand with us on many other national issues.But even if we do that, I guarantee that we would find ourselves in more than two groups standing opposite each other. We would mingle, move in and out of groups, depending on the specific concern at hand. That’s the beauty of having a free mind, we can freely think, we can hold firm on one resolution, but perhaps be persuaded to think differently on another.
That is part of what these other candidates on my ballot represent. Freedom. I challenge you again, to take that piece of paper, with your top ten, and compare it to the candidate you’re planning on voting for. Do they all match up? If so, great! If not, which is most likely the case, examine for me, the parts that don’t match up, are these areas important to you? Of course they are, you wrote them down. Why are you sacrificing your core values, parts of your very being, for a choice that only strips away more of your once great freedom?
These candidates, the names on a piece of paper that you’ve probably never even heard of before, they embody another core aspect of the first Americans. Hope. These people must know that they have no real chance of winning, that the general media is going to ignore them, that they cannot possibly raise the money needed to campaign against the unfathomably rich in the two party system. Yet their names are still on that ballot, yet they still care about their Nation enough to fight against the mainstream, to demand that this country be given a fair chance at succeeding. They hold a hope, and a resolve greater than many. They hope that Americans will do the right thing, they hope that we will give our freedoms a chance. Hope drives them to put a nation before themselves, hope pushes them to challenge the greatest odds any have ever faced, and hope keeps them alive as a trickle of people choose to stand up and listen to their hearts and minds. They say that the greatest emotion is love, and I say the strongest is hope. Hope can change all things, hope can stand the test of time, and as long as hope is left to burn, it can rise up against every challenge. These men and women, they foster hope, when all else is lost in the two party choice, hope yet remains in a third party. Someone who lines up with your core values, someone who stands for you and what you fight for, some is waiting for your vote, someone needs your vote, someone deserves your vote, and it probably isn’t who you think it is.
By voting for someone that only lines up partially with your core values, by choosing one of two options when you really are a third option, you are lying to yourself, you are lying to your peers, and you are lying to the world around you. You are dismissing your freedom, and are abandoning hope. You owe it, owe it to yourself, to look at these other names on the list, to do a quick search on these people, to see if any might actually line up with you better, then to really dig into who they are, to see if they deserve your vote over your initial choice. It may feel like you are throwing your vote away, but I tell you, if enough of us throw our vote away, if as many people who read this vote for the man or woman who they would be proud to stand with, then we would not be throwing away votes. Nay, we would have the most exciting, and most fulfilling election season you could possibly imagine.
This is no small choice here, this is The President of the United States of America, one of the most powerful people in the world, and your vote gives them that power. Make sure you like who you choose to sit behind that desk.
Right, Left. Red, Blue. Yes, No. Wrong, Right. Why must there only be two? Why can’t I go any direction I want, what if I want purple, what about maybe, what about me. This upcoming election season I am faced, truly, with two options, Republican, or Democrat. Two, from the surface, very different sides of an argument. A black and a white, if you will, with no grey in between. I am forced to choose between these two sides, someone who will lead my country, and define how I live, and save, and work. I have to cast my vote, fill in a bubble, and choose one of these two. Two options that I don’t fully back, two options that both have good points, but also have flaws, things I don’t believe in. Two choices that, ultimately, I cannot choose. But they are my only options, right? As I open my ballot this year, and I read over the Presidential options I see only two options to vote, don’t I? Wrong, I have ten-plus men and women who are all vying for my pen to fill in their bubble. Who these people are, I’m not certain; What they believe in individually, I really don’t know, nor do I really care. But what they stand for, collectively, what the idea of having such a choice means; that is what I care about, that is why I am here, That is what can change the entire world in which we live in, and that is what I intend to explore, an idea.
We all know the stories, people left their homeland in search of religious freedom, in the pursuit of riches, or to just get away. Through the centuries, a country was formed, a land, based on the ideals of freedom, the liberation of choice, and the thrill of being able to do whatever we wanted. This freedom, this great gift that our forefathers granted us has been squandered. Where we can have the freedom of choice, we have shackled ourselves to mundane, repeated, despised tasks. Forcing ourselves to examine two presidential candidates, and choosing the “Lesser of Two Evils.” Why do we have to vote for evil? Now I am not saying that these two options are inherently evil, I don’t even want these two parties to disperse. What I am saying is that these two views hardly cover the views and opinions of an entire country. Thus, if the candidate you select doesn’t line up with your core values as a person, then you are, ultimately voting against yourself.
Grab a piece of paper, Think about the government, think about the law, think about how your country interacts with other countries. Now, I want you to write down the ten most important things you care about, and how you believe they should be handled; your ten strongest opinions on the nation. I challenge you to find ten, no five, other people that have written down, word-for-word, exactly what you put down. I’d bet you the commission on this paper that you can’t fill that request, without a little fudging. If we can’t find five, out of millions to agree, how can we expect, honestly, for half of them to side with one candidate and truly, deeply, feel happy about that.
With that extreme example out of the way, we can of course find people who believe fairly close to what we do, where we match on ideals, have the same basic stance of foreign policy, and also stand with us on many other national issues.But even if we do that, I guarantee that we would find ourselves in more than two groups standing opposite each other. We would mingle, move in and out of groups, depending on the specific concern at hand. That’s the beauty of having a free mind, we can freely think, we can hold firm on one resolution, but perhaps be persuaded to think differently on another.
That is part of what these other candidates on my ballot represent. Freedom. I challenge you again, to take that piece of paper, with your top ten, and compare it to the candidate you’re planning on voting for. Do they all match up? If so, great! If not, which is most likely the case, examine for me, the parts that don’t match up, are these areas important to you? Of course they are, you wrote them down. Why are you sacrificing your core values, parts of your very being, for a choice that only strips away more of your once great freedom?
These candidates, the names on a piece of paper that you’ve probably never even heard of before, they embody another core aspect of the first Americans. Hope. These people must know that they have no real chance of winning, that the general media is going to ignore them, that they cannot possibly raise the money needed to campaign against the unfathomably rich in the two party system. Yet their names are still on that ballot, yet they still care about their Nation enough to fight against the mainstream, to demand that this country be given a fair chance at succeeding. They hold a hope, and a resolve greater than many. They hope that Americans will do the right thing, they hope that we will give our freedoms a chance. Hope drives them to put a nation before themselves, hope pushes them to challenge the greatest odds any have ever faced, and hope keeps them alive as a trickle of people choose to stand up and listen to their hearts and minds. They say that the greatest emotion is love, and I say the strongest is hope. Hope can change all things, hope can stand the test of time, and as long as hope is left to burn, it can rise up against every challenge. These men and women, they foster hope, when all else is lost in the two party choice, hope yet remains in a third party. Someone who lines up with your core values, someone who stands for you and what you fight for, some is waiting for your vote, someone needs your vote, someone deserves your vote, and it probably isn’t who you think it is.
By voting for someone that only lines up partially with your core values, by choosing one of two options when you really are a third option, you are lying to yourself, you are lying to your peers, and you are lying to the world around you. You are dismissing your freedom, and are abandoning hope. You owe it, owe it to yourself, to look at these other names on the list, to do a quick search on these people, to see if any might actually line up with you better, then to really dig into who they are, to see if they deserve your vote over your initial choice. It may feel like you are throwing your vote away, but I tell you, if enough of us throw our vote away, if as many people who read this vote for the man or woman who they would be proud to stand with, then we would not be throwing away votes. Nay, we would have the most exciting, and most fulfilling election season you could possibly imagine.
This is no small choice here, this is The President of the United States of America, one of the most powerful people in the world, and your vote gives them that power. Make sure you like who you choose to sit behind that desk.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Slow cookers, soup, and sickness
So I said I wasn't doing anything exciting this week in our cooking. And for the most part that was fairly true, had some dijon salmon, but I've cooked that before, so no surprises there... the big hit for me was the slowcooker Chicken and Rice.
It started off fairly normal, a few cups of chopped mushrooms, a large onion, roughly chopped, some paprika, chicken thighs (with bone, but skinned), broth and a can of cream of chicken soup. cooked it on low for about 4 hours, then added some pre-cooked brown rice (from earlier in the day), kicked it up to high, and cooked it another hour.
Turned out fairly well, decent flavor, I was happy with it.. at the end we had 2 thighs left and bunch of the fixins with it, and Elizabeth suggested something genius, let's make soup!
So the next day I pulled the chicken meat off the bone, chopped it up, and threw it all into a pot, including the two bones. I added an equal part water, a teaspoon of salt, basil, sage and rosemary, and one bay leaf.
I brought it all to a boil, then dropped the temp, covered, and let it simmer for a solid 2 hours. Made an absolutely fabulous chicken/mushroom/rice soup! Will be having that all week at lunch, methinks.
This Weekend went by pretty quickly, I spent Saturday fixing up the car and reading more in my A+ manual, and Sunday poor Elizabeth got herself a bug and was sick all day and night... :( and I read a couple more chapters in the book. Unfortunately folks, I will have to rescind my former vow to complete the book before the end of this month, and reapply it to the end of the year.
It started off fairly normal, a few cups of chopped mushrooms, a large onion, roughly chopped, some paprika, chicken thighs (with bone, but skinned), broth and a can of cream of chicken soup. cooked it on low for about 4 hours, then added some pre-cooked brown rice (from earlier in the day), kicked it up to high, and cooked it another hour.
Turned out fairly well, decent flavor, I was happy with it.. at the end we had 2 thighs left and bunch of the fixins with it, and Elizabeth suggested something genius, let's make soup!
So the next day I pulled the chicken meat off the bone, chopped it up, and threw it all into a pot, including the two bones. I added an equal part water, a teaspoon of salt, basil, sage and rosemary, and one bay leaf.
I brought it all to a boil, then dropped the temp, covered, and let it simmer for a solid 2 hours. Made an absolutely fabulous chicken/mushroom/rice soup! Will be having that all week at lunch, methinks.
This Weekend went by pretty quickly, I spent Saturday fixing up the car and reading more in my A+ manual, and Sunday poor Elizabeth got herself a bug and was sick all day and night... :( and I read a couple more chapters in the book. Unfortunately folks, I will have to rescind my former vow to complete the book before the end of this month, and reapply it to the end of the year.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Life... (And a movie review!)
Sorry about the two week delay here in posting... it would seem that life got in the way.
This weekend was my wonderful wife's 24th birthday! We had waffles in bed, a surprise party for lunch, and a night out at the Chocolate Cafe, a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall up in Fort Collins that specializes in all sorts of food and drink themed around chocolate. Sunday we were able to spend the day with some great friends, Josh and Andrea, and went to go see the new Liam Neeson flick: Taken 2.
(This is the part of the blog where you find out that I very much enjoy going to the theaters and have an opinion on everything I see (Generally positive, and not exceptionally objective) for a much better review source, I would visit my good friend Rob Lacy over at Snark Week. No really, go read his reviews, now.)
I whole heartily recommend that you do not see this movie. it was fairly boring and predictable, with some very cliché moments. The movie went by so fast you don't realize it's actually over until the credits roll, in a very disappointing 'was that really it,' way; not the 'it was so good I lost track of time,' way. Most sequels have a tendency to fall short of the originals, but this one falls very far from it, succeeding only because of the greatness of the first, drawing poor suckers like us to spend our hard earned money on 91 minutes of sadness.
As to my previous goals set in here, I am still eating less and exercising more, Elizabeth says she can see a difference, although I still don't feel it, but I shan't lose hope, I'm going to lose this weight. The Bible study has been off to a rough start, in fact it still hasn't quite gotten started yet, but we're scheduled for this Thursday for some delicious beer, great fellowship, and most importantly, studying the Word of God. If any guys want to join, it's at my pace, 6:30 this Thursday, call or text for more info.
As for grub, I've not cooked anything terribly exciting the past week or so, and we've got a couple new slow-cooker recipes on tap for this week, as well as some salmon... I think I'm going to try and do some sort of breaded oven bake with the fish, not sure yet.
Anywho, there's the life update, I'll be back!
-Joshua Anderson
This weekend was my wonderful wife's 24th birthday! We had waffles in bed, a surprise party for lunch, and a night out at the Chocolate Cafe, a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall up in Fort Collins that specializes in all sorts of food and drink themed around chocolate. Sunday we were able to spend the day with some great friends, Josh and Andrea, and went to go see the new Liam Neeson flick: Taken 2.
(This is the part of the blog where you find out that I very much enjoy going to the theaters and have an opinion on everything I see (Generally positive, and not exceptionally objective) for a much better review source, I would visit my good friend Rob Lacy over at Snark Week. No really, go read his reviews, now.)
I whole heartily recommend that you do not see this movie. it was fairly boring and predictable, with some very cliché moments. The movie went by so fast you don't realize it's actually over until the credits roll, in a very disappointing 'was that really it,' way; not the 'it was so good I lost track of time,' way. Most sequels have a tendency to fall short of the originals, but this one falls very far from it, succeeding only because of the greatness of the first, drawing poor suckers like us to spend our hard earned money on 91 minutes of sadness.
As to my previous goals set in here, I am still eating less and exercising more, Elizabeth says she can see a difference, although I still don't feel it, but I shan't lose hope, I'm going to lose this weight. The Bible study has been off to a rough start, in fact it still hasn't quite gotten started yet, but we're scheduled for this Thursday for some delicious beer, great fellowship, and most importantly, studying the Word of God. If any guys want to join, it's at my pace, 6:30 this Thursday, call or text for more info.
As for grub, I've not cooked anything terribly exciting the past week or so, and we've got a couple new slow-cooker recipes on tap for this week, as well as some salmon... I think I'm going to try and do some sort of breaded oven bake with the fish, not sure yet.
Anywho, there's the life update, I'll be back!
-Joshua Anderson
Friday, September 21, 2012
Fitness Focus
So, at the beginning of this week, I had realized that my 'fat' pants had now become my 'skinny' pants, and that nothing really fit me right anymore...
Well, the second G here is Gumption, so I decided to do something about it! No I didn't go out and buy bigger pants... I signed up for a free fitbit account. All it does is track how much you eat, verses how much you exercise. And you can select 'weight loss' options, where it sets certain goals for you to hit, based on a chosen difficulty level. Gumption required me to select 'hardest' in which the site challenges me to walk 5 miles, every day, and to eat 1000 less calories than I've burned. (Now I know that it's not all about calories, but my wife and I are already fairly healthy eaters, whole grains, fruits and veggies at every meal, organics, all natural, etc... )
I'm happy to say that so far, I've met or beat each days calorie goal, and I walk on average, 6 miles a day now (Waking up early to walk, walking on my lunch break, etc...)! My goal is to be back at navy weight by the end of the year (216lbs)
There is a hardware component to the fitbit software, but we can't quite get that yet... (but if anyone had a spare $100 Best Buy gift card lying around, we'd be happy to put it to fit use...). But seriously, for now, I'm just keeping a close eye on how long I walk, and using Google Maps to see how far I walk!
On to other types of fitness! Mental fitness...
Work bought me an A+ Certification guide to study, so that I could take my test and become a more important asset to the company. Truth be told, I've been pretty lax in studying. :/ But this weekend I'm renewing my commitment to get sorted out with this! I've also been signed up for a company paid for ITIL Certification course, that is happening near the end of October, and I want to have this book done and ready to test before I go to my first class for something else.
So here it is reader(s), I pledge to finish this book, and a handful of practice tests by October 20th, 2012.
And cooking fitness...
Tonight I tried a battered fish fry for the first time... I've fried in my Cast Iron before, but always with cornmeal, or bread crumbs, never flour and egg...
Decided to have some Cod, I cut it into pieces, covered it in whole wheat flour, and ran them through an egg wash and dropped it lovingly in some nice hot Olive Oil (for several reasons, we use Olive Oil as our sole household oil, Extra Light, and Extra Virgin stock our shelves). They turned out ok, though I did take home some lessons, I need to cook at a lower temp, and egg can be tricky... Seeing as I'm losing weight and all, instead of pairing it with your standard coleslaw or fried potatoes, we tossed up a veritable medley of vegetables, lovingly spiced, mediterranean style.
Fish and Veggies
I think it went well...
Next time, my batter, will most certainly, be better.
Well, the second G here is Gumption, so I decided to do something about it! No I didn't go out and buy bigger pants... I signed up for a free fitbit account. All it does is track how much you eat, verses how much you exercise. And you can select 'weight loss' options, where it sets certain goals for you to hit, based on a chosen difficulty level. Gumption required me to select 'hardest' in which the site challenges me to walk 5 miles, every day, and to eat 1000 less calories than I've burned. (Now I know that it's not all about calories, but my wife and I are already fairly healthy eaters, whole grains, fruits and veggies at every meal, organics, all natural, etc... )
I'm happy to say that so far, I've met or beat each days calorie goal, and I walk on average, 6 miles a day now (Waking up early to walk, walking on my lunch break, etc...)! My goal is to be back at navy weight by the end of the year (216lbs)
There is a hardware component to the fitbit software, but we can't quite get that yet... (but if anyone had a spare $100 Best Buy gift card lying around, we'd be happy to put it to fit use...). But seriously, for now, I'm just keeping a close eye on how long I walk, and using Google Maps to see how far I walk!
On to other types of fitness! Mental fitness...
Work bought me an A+ Certification guide to study, so that I could take my test and become a more important asset to the company. Truth be told, I've been pretty lax in studying. :/ But this weekend I'm renewing my commitment to get sorted out with this! I've also been signed up for a company paid for ITIL Certification course, that is happening near the end of October, and I want to have this book done and ready to test before I go to my first class for something else.
So here it is reader(s), I pledge to finish this book, and a handful of practice tests by October 20th, 2012.
And cooking fitness...
Tonight I tried a battered fish fry for the first time... I've fried in my Cast Iron before, but always with cornmeal, or bread crumbs, never flour and egg...
Decided to have some Cod, I cut it into pieces, covered it in whole wheat flour, and ran them through an egg wash and dropped it lovingly in some nice hot Olive Oil (for several reasons, we use Olive Oil as our sole household oil, Extra Light, and Extra Virgin stock our shelves). They turned out ok, though I did take home some lessons, I need to cook at a lower temp, and egg can be tricky... Seeing as I'm losing weight and all, instead of pairing it with your standard coleslaw or fried potatoes, we tossed up a veritable medley of vegetables, lovingly spiced, mediterranean style.
Fish and Veggies
I think it went well...
Next time, my batter, will most certainly, be better.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Spirituality: Beers, Brothers, and The Bible
Galatians 6 (Super Paraphrased) "...you who are spiritual...Bear one another’s burdens...let us do good to all"
Today we went to Elizabeth's old church and the sermon was on what it meant to be spiritual. What we generally think of when someone says this, is some quiet old monk, super in touch with the ethereal... But in Paul's letter to Galatia, we see something entirely different. Those who are called 'spiritual' are actually those who lift one another up, and those who do good things to others.
The part that hit home for me was 'lifting one another up, bearing each-others burdens.' In my mind, it is referencing Fellowship, and close relationships with other folks. I realized that since getting married a few months ago, I haven't really been 'plugged in,' so to speak. I've not really been keeping in touch with my brothers (in Christ) and it's causing me to to become quite lukewarm, not really doing anything bad, but not really doing anything good either. (Something John warns against heavily in Revelation, and a conversation for another blog post altogether.)
To this end, We've decided to do two things. Elizabeth and I are going to look for a small group to join (any suggestions, post them in the comments); And secondly, I want to become part of a Mens group.
Problem is, we only have one car, and I don't like leaving my wife stranded at home. So instead, we're gonna kick her out for the evening (with love) and I'm gonna start a Mens group here at the condo.
A Name and a Purpose... So I want this to not be a simple Bible reading get together, I'd like to add a bit of fun to our meetings, and we know how I like alliteration... Beers, Brothers, and The Bible. The idea is this, Each week One of us brings a six pack(or more, if there's more of us) of a beer they've not tried before, we'll discuss the beer and read the Bible. I figure I'll Bring the first beers, and we can discuss what we're studying the first night. Anyone interested, let me know!
Today we went to Elizabeth's old church and the sermon was on what it meant to be spiritual. What we generally think of when someone says this, is some quiet old monk, super in touch with the ethereal... But in Paul's letter to Galatia, we see something entirely different. Those who are called 'spiritual' are actually those who lift one another up, and those who do good things to others.
The part that hit home for me was 'lifting one another up, bearing each-others burdens.' In my mind, it is referencing Fellowship, and close relationships with other folks. I realized that since getting married a few months ago, I haven't really been 'plugged in,' so to speak. I've not really been keeping in touch with my brothers (in Christ) and it's causing me to to become quite lukewarm, not really doing anything bad, but not really doing anything good either. (Something John warns against heavily in Revelation, and a conversation for another blog post altogether.)
To this end, We've decided to do two things. Elizabeth and I are going to look for a small group to join (any suggestions, post them in the comments); And secondly, I want to become part of a Mens group.
Problem is, we only have one car, and I don't like leaving my wife stranded at home. So instead, we're gonna kick her out for the evening (with love) and I'm gonna start a Mens group here at the condo.
A Name and a Purpose... So I want this to not be a simple Bible reading get together, I'd like to add a bit of fun to our meetings, and we know how I like alliteration... Beers, Brothers, and The Bible. The idea is this, Each week One of us brings a six pack(or more, if there's more of us) of a beer they've not tried before, we'll discuss the beer and read the Bible. I figure I'll Bring the first beers, and we can discuss what we're studying the first night. Anyone interested, let me know!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Dinner Level: Exciting
So I was sitting this morning watching Scrubs on Netflix with my wife (it's our 'thing,' we decided to pick a show we'd neither watched but had heard good things about, and watch it all the way through, we just finished season 6) and I got to thinking what we should do for dinner tonight... as we have, well, not much, in the house.
After deciding it was time to get up and be productive, I went to the kitchen and surveyed the pantry, fridge, and freezer. I came yup with... not much. We had frozen Chicken thighs, and that's about it, I then thought of the HP Sauce in the pantry, unopened, and decided to do something with that, and a handful of spices... here's what a put in the slow cooker:
1lb Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs
3 Small Yellow Onions, roughly chopped
1c Cauliflower Florets
1 Clove Garlic, roughly chopped
1T each: Basil, Parsley, Oregano
5T HP Sauce
1can Cream of Mushroom Soup + can of water
I put all of this in a slow cooker on Low, and I'm gonna let it sit for 6-8 hours, serve it on top of Brown Rice, alongside Mixed Veggies.
Here goes nothing!
I'll keep you updated.
After deciding it was time to get up and be productive, I went to the kitchen and surveyed the pantry, fridge, and freezer. I came yup with... not much. We had frozen Chicken thighs, and that's about it, I then thought of the HP Sauce in the pantry, unopened, and decided to do something with that, and a handful of spices... here's what a put in the slow cooker:
1lb Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs
3 Small Yellow Onions, roughly chopped
1c Cauliflower Florets
1 Clove Garlic, roughly chopped
1T each: Basil, Parsley, Oregano
5T HP Sauce
1can Cream of Mushroom Soup + can of water
I put all of this in a slow cooker on Low, and I'm gonna let it sit for 6-8 hours, serve it on top of Brown Rice, alongside Mixed Veggies.
Here goes nothing!
I'll keep you updated.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Howdy!
Welcome to my new, and first, blog!
Right about here I should make a joke about the 2 of you that will read this, but who am I kidding, that's pushing even my luck! :)
So, this Blog, why does it exist? The name I thought really covered that guys, but in case not, here we go!
Life in Triple G - God, Gumption, and Grub:
God - First and foremost, the most important thing in my life, He brought me to my wonderful wife, and He sustains and keeps me. As God reveals things to me, as He opens His Word and His heart to me, I will document it here, so that others might be encouraged!
Gumption - Life is not meant to be endured, but experienced, lived, loved, and treated as a gift. To that end, I have gumption, I want to see the world, and I plan to. I want to visit 30 baseball parks in 30 days, and I plan to. I want to be a lead exec in my company, and I plan to. I don't just set up pie-in-the-sky ideas and forget them; NAY! I set goals, and I plan to reach them, I expect to reach them, and I expect to work for them, and I will! My pursuits and my workings can be found here as well!
Grub - We all gotta eat, why not cook it yourself, why not try new exciting foods, why not close your eyes and open the cookbook, and why not be good at it? I am no professional chef, heck, I've never had any sort of formal training, but I watched my parents cook, I watched them follow recipes to a T, and I've watched them throw together dinner out of nothing. That's my training. I like to cook, I like to cook new things every day. and I'll keep everyone here up to snuff on the newest exciting things happening in my kitchen!
So, there you have it, My Triple G.
-Joshua Anderson
Right about here I should make a joke about the 2 of you that will read this, but who am I kidding, that's pushing even my luck! :)
So, this Blog, why does it exist? The name I thought really covered that guys, but in case not, here we go!
Life in Triple G - God, Gumption, and Grub:
God - First and foremost, the most important thing in my life, He brought me to my wonderful wife, and He sustains and keeps me. As God reveals things to me, as He opens His Word and His heart to me, I will document it here, so that others might be encouraged!
Gumption - Life is not meant to be endured, but experienced, lived, loved, and treated as a gift. To that end, I have gumption, I want to see the world, and I plan to. I want to visit 30 baseball parks in 30 days, and I plan to. I want to be a lead exec in my company, and I plan to. I don't just set up pie-in-the-sky ideas and forget them; NAY! I set goals, and I plan to reach them, I expect to reach them, and I expect to work for them, and I will! My pursuits and my workings can be found here as well!
Grub - We all gotta eat, why not cook it yourself, why not try new exciting foods, why not close your eyes and open the cookbook, and why not be good at it? I am no professional chef, heck, I've never had any sort of formal training, but I watched my parents cook, I watched them follow recipes to a T, and I've watched them throw together dinner out of nothing. That's my training. I like to cook, I like to cook new things every day. and I'll keep everyone here up to snuff on the newest exciting things happening in my kitchen!
So, there you have it, My Triple G.
-Joshua Anderson
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