Chuck Norris

For the first time, like, ever, Erich has requested I blog something. He found this on PC World:

Dig This: Need a chuckle? Follow these steps: go to Google; enter "find chuck norris" without the quotes; click "I'm Feeling Lucky."

Do it. It's hilarious.

Meme

1. Go to photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer for each question into the PhotoBucket search bar.
3. Choose your favorite photo to represent your answer.
4. Copy the html and paste it here.
5. Answer only in picture form.

1. What is your first name?



2. When is your birthday?



3. What kind of car do you want?



4. Where did/do you go to school?



5. What is your favorite season?



6. What is your favorite type of shoe?



7. What is your status?



8. What is your favorite movie?



9. What is your favorite song? [actual favorite song has nothing to do with basketball]



10. Who is your favorite Disney character?



11. What is your favorite clothing line?



12. What is your favorite vacation destination?



13. What is your favorite dessert?



14. What is your favorite letter?



15. What are you most afraid of?



16. What is your favorite TV show?



17. What annoys you the most?



18. What is your job?



19. What's your favorite animal?



20. How old are you?

Xanadu

So, Losties, did you catch Hurley's reference to Xanadu in tonight's episode (don't worry, no spoilers)? I'm sure the writers just threw it in for fun because this movie is hilariously horrible.

I haven't seen it, but I learned about it from Entertainment Weekly when the Broadway musical was in production a few months ago. Apparently, it was a flop of a movie hoping to capitalize on Olivia Newton-John's popularity from Grease. Basically, Olivia Newton-John is a Greek muse who inspires some dude to open a roller disco. And also, they fall in love.

The music and the badness of the movie was enough to establish a pretty strong cult following. And now, through the magic of YouTube, we can see what I only assume is the movie in a nutshell, the final scene.

I'd say this video clip is eight minutes of your life well-wasted. Enjoy.

New blog

I've created a new blog dedicated to all things related to miscarriage, fertility, uterine anomalies, and other such topics that have been newly introduced to our lives. It can be found here: http://readyforparenthood.blogspot.com/

This blog will continue as it has and will not focus on the above-mentioned topics. If you're interested in our journey toward parenthood, feel free to add my new blog to your RSS reader of choice!

Faith

The following is from an email to my pastors, who are both awesome. In the days following our devastating news, I had much time to reflect and have found a good outlet in private journaling. I often find reasons to be glad I'm Lutheran, and recent reflections on my faith have been no exception.

"Thus far, I have had a rather smooth and hope-filled emotional recovery from this ordeal. At first I wondered why, and then I realized that Erich and I have many people--friends and family, loved ones--praying for our peace and comfort. God's peace has found us, and we welcome it. My mom says that Erich and I have such strong faith, we cannot be shaken. But hearing a statement like this embarrasses me; not because I don't have faith, but because I feel like I can't take responsibility for it. This miscarriage has demonstrated to me more acutely than anything else in my life that this wonderful faith we share comes completely and solely from the Holy Spirit. If it were up to me to keep my faith strong through this ordeal, I would fail miserably. The knowledge that I can rely so fully on the faith that comes from God is the sweetest of comfort. I don't need to question "my" faith (or even ask God "Why?") because God Himself keeps it strong. I can lean on that faith when I feel weak and know that it's there even when I don't feel it. I don't need to be able to control my thoughts and make myself think about believing in God and His saving grace to know that it's already won for me. What a tremendous blessing!"

Actually, scratch that :(

I really hate to make this announcement so soon after sharing our joy, but we have lost the baby. I had slight spotting and went in for an emergency ultrasound today, and the baby measured only nine weeks (I was to be twelve weeks today) and lacked a heartbeat.

Please keep Erich and me in your prayers in our time of grief.

Book Meme

Here you go, Hannah:

This is another meme from Cheryl, who tagged me. I love being tagged!

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Good news, readers. Not only is this a fun meme, it's also a clever disguise for an announcement. Here is the passage:

"Your baby may be practicing breathing movements this week by moving his or her diaphragm in a repeating rhythm. These movements may even give your baby a case of hiccups. As your baby continues making these movements, you may occasionally notice a slight twitching in your uterus, like little spasms."

The book is Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy, which I'm reading because........

[dramatic pause]

.......I'm pregnant! Wow! Bet you didn't expect "thenewkeller" to take on a new meaning so soon! We're delighted and excited, and I'm especially glad that my fatigue is lifting. I'm about 12 weeks along, and my estimated due date is August 27. Yay!

So. Chew on that for a while, cyberworld! Good night!

ETA: Forgot to tag people: Erin, Anne, Sarah, Jessica, and...... I can't think of a fifth. K, bye!

Joel Osteen

I would say that this guy is everything that's wrong in Christianity. However, I don't think what he does has much to do with Christ. You may have seen this on 60 Minutes last October. It recently came to my attention again, and this man makes my stomach turn. It's a long video, but fascinating. My "highlights" follow:



The biggest problem with what he says is he doesn't say much at all! What he does say are his words alone--he rarely remembers to claim that his "message" is scripture-based. Just count the number of times he says "my message."

I've pulled some quotes from this companion article.

There are no crosses, no religious symbols whatsoever.

Because it's not a church.

"My message is a message of hope that God is a good God, and that no matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, God has a great plan for our lives. And when we walk in his ways they can take us places we’ve never dreamed of," Osteen explains.

Translation: My message is full of key words that people want to hear and read, that appeal to the lowest common denominator of intelligence and faith. It sounds vaguely scriptural, but I haven't read the bible and neither have my audience, so I'm free to make stuff up in the best interest of my book sales. See? I've walked "in his ways" and now I make many millions of dollars per year! You could do that too, but you probably won't be as successful as me.

"I mean is that being a pastor or is that being Dr. Phil or Oprah?" Pitts asks.

I love love love some of the interviewer's questions. I think he sees right through the fluff and hopes to catch Osteen admitting "his message" has pretty much nothing to do with religion. Osteen replies that (he THINKS) sometimes what Dr. Phil says comes right out of the bible. Um, what? So you are just like Dr. Phil? "I think we use God's word." You THINK?? If you're my pastor, you should know. *shudder*

"'To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are.' Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that," Pitts remarks.

"That's just my message. There is scripture in there that backs it all up. But I feel like, Byron, I'm called to help people…how do we walk out the Christian life? How do we live it? And these are principles that can help you. I mean, there’s a lot better people qualified to say, 'Here’s a book that going to explain the scriptures to you.' I don’t think that’s my gifting," Osteen says.

Hehe, thanks Mr. Pitts. So, there are better people qualified to explain the scriptures. I agree; they're called Lutherans. ;) This exchange highlights why Osteen is a fad: "his message" doesn't actually help people! It certainly does nothing for their immortal souls. Having good relationships and being positive toward yourself as principles don't stand up to the crushing weight of sin upon every single person. Without the grace of Jesus Christ and his life-giving salvation, everything else is meaningless! Lutheranism might never be as popular at any one time, but the message is far more enduring. Because it's GOD'S message.

I don't understand why people have life-changing experiences by listening to this man. They must like being able to listen to motivational fluff and call it church. They get to call themselves religious--because he talks on Sunday mornings--without the whole bother of acknowledging their need for forgiveness and hearing the actual Word of God. But as soon as his promises of a better life don't come true, they'll drift away, thinking they tried Christianity and didn't like it. Sad.

"...You feel very humbled, you know?" Osteen says.

"Humbled by your success?" Pitts asks.

Answer: yes.

Cereal

When there's cereal in the house, I tend to go overboard. After several days of double-helpings of Grape Nuts after Erich leaves for work:

Erich: What happened to all the Grape Nuts??

Me: I TOLD you, I've been going nuts on the Grape Nuts.

Erich: But we just bought it, and I only had one bowl....

Me: What part of "I went nuts on the Grape Nuts" don't you understand?!?

Erich: The "grape"! I mean, where does that even COME from????

Me: lol