Forget Turkey...

We're roasting the cat this year!


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
<3 Matt&Laura

It IS possible to train a cat!

This picture needs no narrative.

Cake number 3!

Okay, so I seem to be on a cake kick. This one we did the good ol' fashion way though! Store bought box mix and store bought frosting! I actually did make frosting, but the cream cheese i used was um... Not quite fresh, so the whole thing got thrown in the trash! It's sad too, I used a LOT of powdered sugar and it was all wasted. :(

This cake was red velvet: Matt had never tried it before, and I was just craving it! It turned out typical for box cake mix: good, but nothing to blog about... Wait?

Like Father, Like Daughter...

*Daddy and Laura are on the 4 wheeler. At 9 at night. In November. Just browsin' through the trails.*

Laura: Daddy, I feel like singing a song. Wanna know what song?

Dad: What song?

Laura: Good Vibrations (anyone who's ever been on a 4wheeler would get this pun)



*later on, still on the 4 wheeler, discussing trees*

Daddy: Look at all the beach trees! They're nice and straight! Not growing 5 in one inch...

Laura: *observing trees*

Daddy: There's another one! Oh, and that one there, that could possibly be a son of a beach; seeded from one of the bigger trees.



We're so punny!

Surprisingly Peaceful

This past weekend I was at Vida Nueva until Sunday around 5.
I worked Monday morning.
Class Monday night.
Work Tuesday morning.
South Berwick Tuesday night.
YAAY!!

After a week and a half, I finally got to see Matt. It was nice, because I got to spend three nights there (one was just so I didn't have to drive in the dark) but any visit for the past 2 months has been like one night...

Yes, it had it's stresses. Matt can tell you about that if he wants to, but I'm surprisingly peaceful right now.

I totally forgot what I was going to blog about!!

OH! I'm totally paranoid and so I use this spreadsheet I made to track my grades even before my final grades get out... So I know if I need to work extra hard to bring up a final grade, or if I just need to carry on the way I've been going. Right now I've got a 95 in one class! Yay. Taxation? Not so much. But I've only taken one test, and thats ALL that is going towards the grade. It will hopefully be more accurate once I get a couple more projects passed in.

Ninja's and Pirates

So, recently I was trying to describe my friend Mark to my mom.

"He's weird [he has long hair, so to my mom, that is weird] and he likes to talk like a pirate."

Can anyone else imagine the response/look I got from her at that point?

"Well. Not talk like a pirate a lot, he just says 'arrgh' a lot."


Well, just recently I had told Mark this pick-up-line that involved ninja's, and he loved it... Of course, because of the ninja. He then proceeded to tell me the difference between the two:

(forgive me, Mark, if I slightly misquote you. My memory isn't perfect)
"Well, most people know I tend to favor pirates, but they're all... Grow long hair, get drunk around campfires and on ships and sing songs obnoxiously off key... But ninjas, they have their place. They're more slick and shaven... Stealthy and suave... They're more [trying really hard to remember the word he used... I'm gonna use classy.] classy. Sometimes, it's just nice to be classy. It would be wrong of me not to recognize the ninja, although I am partial to pirates myself. Most of my friends are ninjas though, it's kind of funny."

After this portion of the conversation ended, we proceeded to talk about black and white socks, among other things... But that I'll save for another day!

Disclaimer: Permission for use of conversation was granted by the conversationee.

Special Air

I have two shoe boxes in my hand for the Christmas Shoe Box ministry, empty at the time, when Karen approaches:

"Whatcha got there?"

"Shoe boxes."

"What's in the shoe boxes?"

"Air."

-pause, as I decide to say something funny-

"But it's special air! Wanna whiff?"

"Yeah!!"

-I open the box quickly near her nose. She at this point gets greedy with the air, and steals the box.-

"Stop! That air is for underprivileged children! STOP IT!! You're the reason Americans have a reputation to be greedy. THIS IS WHY AMERICANS ARE OVERWEIGHT!"

... I guess you had to be there.

Cinnamon Buns!!

Yesterday I was just CRAVING a Cinnabon cinnamon bun. I think anyone who has had a Cinnabon can understand. Unfortunately, the nearest Cinnabon is an hour away :(. So I searched AllRecipe and found a "clone of a Cinnabon" recipe.
(I didn't take that picture, but it's a picture from the same recipe. By the time I remembered to take a picture, they were all gone!)

Oh, how I want another one right about now. If only they weren't so darn delicious, maybe my family would not have eaten so many and I could have them all for myself. Wait.....

New Music

Hey guys, its me, well lately I've had a lot of new music coming to me, so here are a couple of new songs that I've felt God inspired me with. One of those spur of the moment, "WOW, this sounds good, lets write it down kinda songs." The first song is one I wrote for a friend of mine named Brittany during a difficult time in her life just after her finding Jesus Christ! (w00t!) The second song is about freedom, and the fire in my heart to represent him.

Comfort
Lyrics: Matthew Stevens
Dedication: Brittany

Even though troubles may come at you
Even though hardships make you feel like no one cares
Christ does, and he will comfort you
He will comfort you
Call to him during your desperation
And know that you're His precious creation
He will be there with you
He'll be there with you

Christ cares through the good times
Christ cares through the bad times
Even though man may fail
Jesus Christ will always prevail
Christ cares through the lonely times
Christ cares through the sad times
Even though man may fail
Jesus Christ will always prevail

Freedom
Lyrics: Matthew Stevens

Land of darkness
Shrouded in mystery
Have we forgotten our history?
Land of despair
Are we fallen on our knees?
Lord, will you hear our pleas?
For Freedom

Shine your light down on this nation
Before we fall into desolation
May we, the people, represent Christ
Because He paid the ultimate price
For freedom

Land of hope
Misguided in our way
Have we all forgotten how to pray?
Land of tomorrow
Restore us, dear Lord, once again
This I pray, Amen

Freedom
Lead us to the kingdom
Lord of Heaven
Lord of Earth
Give us freedom
Holy
You are Holy
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
I worship you

Pumpkin Carving: Part 2

On to Sunday afternoon! On this day, we had a visitor: The Meesh. Unfortunately, she is in none of the pictures because she took 90% of them.

Matt's pattern was too large for the pumpkin, but since it was a fairly simple design I just drew the symbol onto his pumpkin and he traced the marker line. I proceeded to use the more tedious pinhole method. He finished carving his entire pumpkin before I even finished punching out the pattern!

Let me create a visual: Matt. With a seraded knife, much like a two sided saw. If you don't know Matt... Just imagine a 7 year old boy... Excited, but impatient. He was sawing it so fast that he accidently pulled the knife out of the pumpkin while sawing and jabbed it in a totally different place 3 times.

20 minutes later, Matt's masterpiece is finished. Rough, but finished. Meesh cleaned it up a little bit after that.

2 hours later, my masterpiece is finished. My hands are cramping, but my masterpiece is finished!



P.S. I wasn't really sure how to go about roasting pumpkin seeds until after I had already left them in the oven at 425degrees for about 25 minutes. (The recipe said 300degrees) About 5 seeds were eaten, but the spices weren't all that great that I chose anyway, so they're now going to become part of a landfill. Yay me!

P.P.S. ITS A ROSE! Not a cabbage, not a snail, not a one eyed pig. ITS A ROSE!

Congratulations, Barack Obama

I feel the need to say this somewhere, anywhere.

I did/do not completely agree with Obama on a number of issues, but there were also issues on which I did not agree with McCain.

This was my first presidential election. I voted, and vowed no matter the outcome, I would not be angry or spiteful.

Guess what people: Obama is the new president as of 1/20/09. Some people are ecstatic, and some are already bad-mouthing him. But he is the president.

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." 1 Peter 2:13-14 NIV

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." 1 Peter 2:17 NIV, italics added.




Obama is the president. God knows what He is doing. I will submit myself to Obama's authority by God's command (providing his authority does not go against any of God's other commands), and show him respect. He did, after all, just make history.

P.S. GO MCCAIN for an awesome conclusive speech.

Pumpkin Carving: Part 1

Here's the gist of my conversation with Matt on Saturday night.

L: Okay, time to carve pumpkins!
M: I don't wanna carve. Let's just carve your pumpkin together...
L: So basically - I carve and you watch?
M: TOTALLY!
L: No.

*discussing pumpkin carving*

L: But the pumpkin seeds have to dry overnight!

*discussing pumpkin seeds*

The art of compromise: We began our pumpkin adventure with just gutting them on Saturday night!

Me: Woah, this stuff is so gross, I love it! *up to elbows in pumpkin goo*
Matt: I'm supposed to stick my hands in there?!
(I used my hands, he used primarily tools, and washed his hands at least three times)

I'll lay your guts out on a table!"

The inside of my pumpkin after about a half hour

The inside of Matt's pumpkin after about a half hour... Slacker.

Mah-velous

Matt and I had a marvelous weekend together. The highlights were pumpkin carving (more to come later) and probably Friendly's.

The first night we went to Wal*Mart (I bet Matt and I have spent like half of the time we spend together there) and we got some toys and stuff for the Christmas Shoe Box ministry. While we were there, we happened to see some shirts (womens) for $1 each! I bought 5, but I'm thinking I should have gotten more.

Sunday night, we went to friendly's for ice cream. It was fun, but I just really enjoyed the ice cream. A banana split with 2 scoops of cake batter ice cream and 1 scoop of apple pie ala-mode ice cream! Delicious!