Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like Fish Dogs. Recently, Julie and I dined on fried fish fillets. They were delicious. We had some bonus fish (aka: leftovers) so the next night, while Julie was out of town, I got creative in the kitchen. You may not enjoy the fish filet sandwiches from McDonald's as much as me but I really wanted to replicate this delicacy using the bonus fish. However, I ran into an obstacle when I realized that we didn't have any hamburger buns. I did what anyone would do in this situation and grabbed the hot dog buns. (Did I mention that the creative juices were already flowing?) A strip of oven-warmed bonus fish + warm hot dog bun + tartar sauce = goodness. I give you the Fish Dog, America. You are welcome.

The inspiration for the Fish Dog.

This week, I love my Bible app. **HYPOCRITE ALERT**HYPOCRITE ALERT** In the past, I've mentioned my disappointment in people that use iPads in Church as opposed to the pew Bible that’s sitting less than a foot away. But, after installing a Bible app on my new phone, I must say that it is hard to beat. The app I use makes navigating to scriptures very easy and gives me the option to read from any version under the sun. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to those of you that worship with your mobile devices.

Of course, it's never a bad idea to keep The Good Book on you at all times.

This week, I don’t like iMessage. That new phone I mentioned above? It’s not an iPhone. I really like my Android phone but I may have stayed with Apple had I known about a very common problem people encounter when switching to Android from Apple. After making the switch myself, it became very clear that I was having difficulty receiving texts from my contacts with iPhones. After much research (that I would have never known to make prior to making the switch), I determined that the issue was far greater than a matter of me being listed as an “iPhone” in my contacts’ phones. No, the problem stemmed from the fact that Apple’s iMessage feature had latched onto my phone number - and wouldn't let go. It’s been likened an iOS 7 bug and it won’t let iPhones make the distinction between phone numbers that accept iMessages or SMS texts. This created a very frustrating situation for me (and many others). A tip from the Internet eventually led me to call Apple Support and request to revoke my iMessage certificate. I mean...who would have known to do that? Everything seems to be working properly now but this ordeal was a scary reminder of the evil, sinister ways of Apple and the safety and trustworthiness of Google.

I’m kidding people! Calm down! I know that Google is Big Brother.

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like Native American history. Julie and I enjoyed watching Dances with Wolves earlier this week. It had been a long time since either of us had watched this classic movie. As I watched, I thought about how this movie (released in 1990) was probably one of the first mainstream films to feature Native Americans as victims of America's western expansion. Wolves also made me remember how much I enjoyed Ken Burns' American West series, which is what gave me the majority of my limited knowledge of Native American history. It's not a very "happy" history but it's really something to think that there was a time when whole cultures thrived using only the survival techniques they developed over hundreds of years.

This week, I love thinking about my birthday lunch. At the beginning of 2014, I severely altered my lifestyle by cutting out all sodas from my diet and eating only small portions of my wife's delicious cooking. I'm happy with the weight-loss results but I miss some elements of my old lifestyle. I've decided that I will treat myself on my birthday this year, which falls on a Saturday. I might enjoy thinking about what I'm going to eat more than I'll actually enjoy eating this food. Here are some options that have been on my mind lately:

• Doritos Locos Tacos from Taco Bell. I never have been a frequent patron of Taco Bell but my goodness - these things have been catchin' my eye lately.
• Five Guys Burger and Fries. Cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles, please.
• Southwestern Eggrolls from Chili's. I never said this would be a classy list.

These are all items that I would normally wash down with a Coke. Even though I am going to splurge a little on my birthday in terms of food, I plan on staying committed to my no-soda lifestyle. Just FYI.

This week, I don't like Keyboard Courage. One of the biggest holidays of the year, National Signing Day, recently occurred. Thousands of high school football players indicated where they'll be playing (and studying) next year. Shortly after, hundreds of thousands of anonymous college football fans took to the Internet to display their loyalty to their favorite school while using juvenile tactics to belittle other fans that don't share their same views. There's no better example of keyboard courage than the clowns that seemingly spend all day posting comments on football articles at al.com. The very worst aspect of this epidemic is that not one of these blowhards have the fortitude to use their real name or feature their photo as their avatar. A few months ago, I applauded Google for requiring YouTube users to use their real name and likeness to post comments. That decision was met with a mountain of backlash (even from one of the founders of YouTube) and it now seems that Google has caved under the pressure. If al.com put a similar overhaul into play, the viciousness seen there would decrease dramatically.

Rub 'n Buff

If you do Pinterest or read DIY blogs you are more than likely familiar with Rub 'n Buff.  If you aren't familiar with this glorious little tube of goodness....allow me to introduce you.  In a nutshell it is an alternative to spray paint that works on a variety of surfaces to give a different finish.  It comes in a ton on colors, but the most popular is the Antique Gold which is was I bought.

I found mine at Michael's in the fine arts section. (near the professional paints and brushes)

I've had it for several months and have a number of projects that I want to tackle.  However,  in typical Julie fashion it sat in the drawer for two months until I finally pulled it out a few weeks ago to give it a try.

Graham's crib was first on my list.  I love this crib, but at first I hated the wheels.  I was ready to take them off when we were putting the crib together 2 years ago, but my best friend, Kiley, urged me to leave them on.  See she is more experienced and wiser than I am.  For once I listened to her, and am so thankful that I did.  We are constantly wheeling the crib away from the wall to change the sheets, hunt for pacifiers, or make the lamps out of arms reach (we learned that one the hard way).  

So taking the wheels off wasn't an option, but I still hated the nasty, bright yellow plastic wheel covers. Aren't they terrible! For a while I thought about painting them black, but was afraid if the paint chipped that the gold would stand out even more, and I certainly didn't want that.  So I decided to try Rub 'n Buff.

The wheel on the Left has RnB and the one on the right doesn't.  So much better right?  I think so.  It is still gold, but not the horrible yellowy gold.

And the best part is it took me all of 10 minutes to do all 4 wheels.  I just rubbed it on with my finder and let it dry.  After a few hours of drying I lightly buffed it with a clean, dry towel.  DONE! No taping, no brushes, no mess....That's my kind of project.

Hoping to have some time in the next few weeks to tackle another RnB project or two!

Julie's Take on the January 28th Winter Weather

I'm not going to rehash the story since Nick covered most everything, but I did want to add some pictures from our (more specifically me and Graham) 73 hours being home bound.

In the beginning Graham was content watching the snow out the playroom window, but as it began to get thicker...he started to let me know that he wanted to check out this white stuff.

 

Around 4:00 when it had actually stopped snowing I let him venture outside.  There were about 3 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature was around 21.  

He walked around, but quickly decided that the gloves were hindering his ability to pick thing up so those had to go. 

Approximately two minutes after the gloves were shed the tears started falling.  His hands were freezing, and his interest in being outside was over!  

Flash forward 24 hours to Thursday and this was our reaction when Nick called to say that he made it back to his truck and was on his way home!

He was happy to be home.  I was thrilled for him to be home, and Graham finally had his playmate back!  Everyone was happy.

That afternoon when it was about 45 outside we decided to let Graham have a second go at the snow (what was left of it).  He kept his gloves on this time and had a blast.

I was ready for Spring before January 28th, but now I am BEYOND ready.  We don't do cold.  We obviously don't do snow and ice.  So let's just be done with it already!