bekahcubed

Categories Memes

Ambitions, Fears, and Deep Existential Questions

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AMBITIONS

Do you plan on being a musician/artist/writer?

I plan on being an amateur musician (whenever I can find the time to practice), playing the piano while my children sing along.

I plan to be an artist who works in imaginative media to make the lives of those around her beautiful.

I plan on being a writer–well, can’t you tell that I’m kinda into writing?

What age would you like to die?

120, having lived a very full life.

Or whatever time it please God.

How would you like to die?

I’d like to die like the one-hoss shay, where every part of me, having lived a long, full, productive life simply collapse and I die in a moment.

But if that can’t be, I suppose I’ll die in whatever way it please God.

Would you let your kids smoke weed?

What kind of question is that? Inasmuch as my will influences that decision, I will not let my kids smoke weed. But children have wills of their own, and don’t always do (or not do) what their parents would have them do (or not do.) I pray that God would restrain them from self-destructive habits such as this.

What do you want to be next Halloween?

I haven’t thought that far in advance, but maybe an astronaut or a ballet dancer or an old man. (I’ve done old woman before, but have never successfully cross-dressed. Maybe this year?)

If you could be any celebrity for one day, who would you be?

I think I would rather not live, even for a day, on someone else’s earthly fame. I would rather do something myself that would amplify God’s fame throughout all of eternity.

What do you wish your name was?

Cordelia.

NOT!

Actually, I’m quite pleased with Rebekah Marie (aka bekahcubed)

How old do you want to be when you get married?

21.

Hah!

Or whenever it please God.

What do you want to name your kids?

Girls? Bible place names like Bethel, Tirzah, Sharon, and Shiloh

Boys? Not sure about first names, but I’d love to have family names as middle names. For instance: William (my paternal grandmother’s maiden name), Ulrich (a paternal great-grandmother’s maiden name), Pierce (my maternal grandmother’s maiden name), or Nelson (a maternal great-grandmother’s maiden name)

What kind of hairstyle do you want?

For now, I’ll stick with what I’ve got.

For someday, whatever hairstyle pleases my husband

FEARS

Describe your most terrifying dream.
I have several…

…someone kidnapping my little brother John (back when he actually was little) and driving off with him down Superior street, despite me running after the pickup begging to have him back.

…an old woman grabbing my little brother John (who has always been incredibly full of life) and plunging his head beneath the water in a bathtub. She didn’t kill him, but he emerged a different person (with brain damage, I guess)–the life was gone from his face.

…the recurring one where I stood outside the gates of an enormous compound that the world thought was a spa. I stood there crying out “Don’t go in, don’t go in. There’s death behind those doors. It’s a trap.” But despite my warnings, friend after friend entered the compound. I went in to try to rescue them from certain death–and then I was running, running endlessly through the halls. I was chased and I was running, endlessly through the halls. Seeking my friends. Fearing my life. Fearing their lives even more. Running, running, endlessly until I awoke.

Are you afraid of the swine flu?

No, I’m not a pig, so I don’t really think about it much.

Do you get creeped out by puppets?

No. I love puppets and am disappointed that they’ve fallen out of vogue.

Sometime I should videotape some of my Mom’s puppet skits (particularly the one’s where Mom uses “Granny”). Such things should be preserved for future generations. “Land ‘sakes, child!”

Do you have any phobias?

Yes. I am afraid of being hung by my belly-button, of having someone cut my hair in my sleep, and of In-Vitro Fertilization.

Are you afraid to be yourself?

Only inasmuch as my self is sinful and totally depraved and wreaks havoc on those I love. Inasmuch as God has chosen to demonstrate His own nature through my self (imago dei), I am delighted to be myself (with all of my quirks and furbelows)

DEEP EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS:

Are you happy in your life?

I think I am.

Do you feel like anything is missing? If so, what do you want?

I feel like something is missing. A husband, children. But God knows better than my feelings, and He has placed me here with this set of circumstances for His glory and my good.

Tell me a bit about yourself? What are you ambitions and fears? How would you answer these deep existential questions?

Categories Book Notes, Homemaking

Book Review: “The Pioneer Woman Cooks” by Ree Drummond

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I caught the Pioneer Woman bug a little late, following a link from I’m not sure where and finding myself reading the story of Ree and the Marlboro Man’s romance into the wee hours of the morning.

I finally closed my internet browser when I remembered that I don’t read Harlequins any longer.

I chose not to follow Drummond’s blog because she was already big (so there was little chance that I’d develop any sort of relationship with her)–and because I don’t read Harlequins any longer (and her story rivals any Harlequin!)

What I didn’t realize is that The Pioneer Woman also cooks–and cooks pretty darn well.

I checked The Pioneer Woman Cooks out of the library and started trying recipes–and got rave reviews on every recipe I tried.

Maple Pecan Scones

First recipe tried: Maple Pecan Scones. Mmm-Hmm. Delectable. Maple, Pecan, and LOTS of coffee/maple flavored glaze. I could (and did) eat these for breakfast for a week.

The “Breakfast Bowls” I made second seemed to please my New Year’s Day breakfast guests–although they took a little longer to bake then the recipe suggested (Good thing I already had some of those Maple Pecan Scones ready for my guests to much on while their eggs were cooking.)

Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler

I was a bit disappointed that my “Patsy’s Blackberry Cobbler” didn’t look quite as attractive as Pioneer Woman’s photos–but my Bible study still gobbled up every last bit (and sent their compliments to the chef. Thanks PW!)

When I made the “French Breakfast Puffs” for my Sunday morning Bible School “FLOCK”, I didn’t fully read the last step of the recipe (since my sister was looking at the pictures and reading the fun anecdotes). This meant that I rolled the puffs only in sugar instead of in sugar and cinnamon. But the cake-doughnut-like puffs still ended up tasting great.

Creamy Rosemary Potatoes

Finally, Anna made the “Creamy Rosemary Potatoes” to go along with our newly ripened steak. They were, UM-mazing. Creamy, flavorful, absolutely perfect.

This is one cookbook that I’d really like to own (which isn’t something that I say often, since I generally just copy out the recipes I like and send a cookbook back to the library.) As I said, I haven’t found a dud yet, and pretty much every recipe in the book looks good. The Pioneer Woman Cooks includes quite a few recipes from the website, but there are also some winning non-website recipes.

A few things to note about The Pioneer Woman Cooks:

First, Drummond breaks everything down into VERY detailed steps, with a photograph accompanying each step. This is a great plus for inexperienced cooks and people who like to look at pictures of food (don’t we all?) It’s not that great of a plus for someone who is an experienced cook and is trying to copy down recipes from the book (Another reason why I should just buy it?)

Second, as I read on a website somewhere “this woman LOVES her butter.” This is definitely NOT lite cooking–and eating this cooking every day is just begging for a burgeoning waistline and a heart attack at age 30. These recipes are light on veggies and heavy on saturated fat–I’d advise sprinkling them into your menu (along with some lighter and more veggie-heavy fare).

Third, if you’re a reader from above the Mason-Dixon line, you’ve probably never heard of self-rising flour. Or if you have, you certainly don’t have it on hand. Which means you might avoid making that amazing “Patsy’s Blackberry Cobbler”–or might run out to get some self-rising flour, which is completely unnecessary. Thankfully, you’re reading my review, so you’ll be able to learn my “Scientific Principles of Food Preparation” tip–just use 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 Tbsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt for every cup of self-rising flour called for. Voila! Instant self-rising flour, without the trouble of shopping for or storing yet ANOTHER bag of flour.

Rating: 5 stars
Category:Cookbook
Synopsis:The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, cooks up some gourmet cowboy fare. MMM-MMM!
Recommendation: I can’t rave enough about this cookbook (except that the Dietitian in me insists that I offer a disclaimer about the calorie/saturated fat content of most of these recipes.)

Categories Technology, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Social and other forms of media

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Social media can be a blessing and a curse. It has its pros and its cons. It has its worshipers and its detractors.

I am thankful that God God has blessed me with many of the pros of social media, is redeeming me from the curse of many of the cons, and is teaching me to worship HIM in all and above all.

Thankful Thursday banner

This week I’m thankful…

…for being able to Skype with my sister Grace for an hour–mostly just chatting at each other as we surfed the internet, but time spent in one another’s company nonetheless.

…for the many wonderful bloggie friends I’ve made in the past years of blogging. I am so blessed by the encouragement and challenges that I receive from so many of you.

…for the ability to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends old and new (and to arrange a get together with my friend and sister-out-law Joanna for when I’m next in Lincoln)

…for the family e-mail list that keeps me abreast of what’s going on in the Cook Clan

…for the cell phones that I and a new church friend can whip out of pockets, enabling us to exchange numbers so we can arrange to get together for lunch or coffee one of these days.

…for the friends who challenge me to examine my priorities in my online life

…for the conviction of the Holy Spirit regarding how I ought to spend my time, both on and off the web

…for the real life opportunities God has given me to minister to girls through my home and love of crafts

I am so thankful that God has placed me at this time in history, with these technologies–so that I might use them to glorify Him and so that He may use them to conform me into the image of His Son.

May my life, online and off, be a reflection of the greatness and holiness of God.

Categories Everyday Life

PSA: Regarding Headlights and URIs

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PSA #1: Regarding Headlights

Some of you are lucky enough to own cars that sense available light and automatically turn on their own headlights.

Perhaps you’ve grown so dependent on said mechanism that you don’t even know how to turn on your headlights manually.

Well, please pull out your car’s manual and let’s review.

Because I’ve got a public service announcement for YOU:

Darkness is not the only reason to turn on your headlights.

Other circumstances that make headlights necessary include conditions of low visibility due to falling or blowing snow, fog, or sunset.

While you might not need your headlights to see the road, the drivers opposite need your headlights to see you.

Please, think through whether you need your headlights this winter–and drive safely!

PSA #2: Regarding Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs)

While a doctor was rounding in one of our Grand Island facilities, I overheard a bit of information that might be useful.

This doctor said that she hasn’t seen too many cases of influenza yet this year, but EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM occurred in individuals who had received the flu shot.

This suggests that this year’s strain of influenza is not covered by the shot–which means we all need to be cautious to prevent the spread of the virus.

So…

If you or someone in your family develops symptoms of an upper respiratory infection (coughing, sneezing, head congestion, etc.) accompanied by a fever (generally >100 degrees), please do everyone a favor and STAY HOME.

Be especially cautious about exposing children, pregnant women, elderly individuals, and those with compromised immune systems (people who have AIDS or are on chemo, for instance) to this.

When you go to your doctor with symptoms of influenza, you’ll probably be asked to put on a face mask immediately when entering the building in order to guard against infecting others.

Please pay attention to these precautions.

Other than that, as always, wash your hands thoroughly after sneezing, coughing, using the restroom, or changing diapers and before preparing food or eating.

When one line of defense (the flu shot) breaks down, we all have to do our part to keep our overall defenses high.

Please, for your sake and that of your friends and neighbors, do your part to prevent the spread of influenza.

Categories Technology

Unfollow this blog

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I’ve been reading blogs now for a while, and I love to do so.

But sometimes following blogs takes entirely too much time.

I can spend hours each day reading blogs–and all too often I do.

Which means that other things–homemaking, books, but mostly people–get cheated.

I’ve known for a while that it was a problem, but I couldn’t figure out how to deal with it.

I don’t want to give up blog reading. I don’t want to give up the friendships I’ve built through blogging. I don’t want to stop.

And I’m not.

But I am cutting back. I’m going through my Google reader, the reader that easily grows to 500 posts for every day I’m away…

I’m going through and unfollowing.

Each unfollow nearly breaks my heart.

I think of how much I appreciate those people who read my blog–you guys. I think of how much I enjoy reading blogs in general. I think of the people I’ve come to love through their blogs, even if they don’t know my name, even if I frankly find most of their content boring.

I don’t want to unfollow them.

I consider their disappointment when their blog statistics drop rather than expand.

I hate to do it.

But I have to.

I have to draw the line somewhere. I have to decide that life is more than the internet. I have to fully engage with those people and those things that God has put into my (nonvirtual) life here.

And so I click that terrible button: “Unsubscribe”

Just like I don’t want to unsubscribe to all those blogs, I also don’t want to tell you what I’m telling you now:

Please unfollow this blog.

If the virtual life of the blogosphere is starting to take more time or attention than real life. If my blog is stealing time that should be spent with your family, with your friends. If reading this blog brings you down rather than lifting your eyes to Christ.

Please unfollow this blog.

No blog is so important that it’s worth missing Christ. No blog is so important that it’s worth missing family. No blog is so important that it’s worth missing friends. No blog is so important that it’s worth missing what God has for you to do today.

If this blog stands in the way of what God is calling you to…

Please unfollow this blog.

Categories Following Christ, Homemaking

Someday is a liar and a thief…

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You’ve heard it. You’ve probably said it. “Someday when I have a larger house…” “Someday when I don’t have to work…” “Someday when my house gets clean…” Maybe “Someday when I learn how to cook…”

For me, it was “Someday when I’m a housewife and the ministry of home can be my full-time job…”

That was the someday I eagerly anticipated all through my high school years.

It’s a someday that still hasn’t arrived.

Yet by God’s grace, He revealed to me a little secret…

I’m honored to be a guest poster at Offering Hospitality today. Click through to read the rest.

Categories The Week in Words

WiW: Melancholy

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The Week in Words

Some days, melancholy wakes you up in the morning.

Other days you see it coming down the road and, though you try to avoid it, it catches up to you anyway.

And then some days it just whallomphs you out of the blue for no apparent reason.

Why is contentment such an elusive thing?

What sets off that inner longing after a quiet, peaceful holiday of contentment?

I don’t know.

But it comes and goes, with no apparent rhyme or reason.

I’m just fine, and then suddenly I’m crying in my bathtub at night because I just want so badly.

I’m tempted to wallow in a little pity party. To complain about the situations God has placed me in. I’m tempted to cry for all the dreams that haven’t been fulfilled, for all the longings unmet.

But if there’s anything that I’ve been learning this year so far, it’s that I need to turn my eyes to Christ.

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
~C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Categories Homemaking

Snapshot: Quilting

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The first Anne dress now is done, except for the snaps I don’t think I own yet :-), and I’ve moved on to the next Anne project.

Red and White string quilt

This’ll be the red and white diamond patchwork. I haven’t quite figured out how I’ll arrange it once I get all my diamonds “pieced” (using string quilting), but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I wish that everyone could have as well-stocked a craft room as I.

It gives me such great pleasure to be able to dream up a project and just start right in on it.

I’m hoping you’re enjoying the works of your hands as much as I am the works of mine this evening.

Categories Books, Everyday Life

The Closing Bell (L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge)

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Carrie has official sounded the closing bell for the L.M. Montgomery reading challenge–declaring that it’s time for everyone to link up.

The bell caught me by surprise, with plenty left unfinished.

Despite frantically reading a bit more this afternoon, I am still not through with Anne of Green Gables.

Anne of Green Gables

I did, however, read and review Much Ado about Anne by Heather Frederick Vogel. I also wrote some reflections on a quote from Anne of Green Gables.

But I did not complete the first piece of the project I had hoped to unveil at the end of this challenge.

I’ll share it anyway.

A bit of background…

When I was young, the American girl dolls were all the rage (I guess they still are in some circles). In those days, the company that made them was called “Pleasant Company” and the only dolls you could get were the historical ones that had short chapter books that went along with them.

I got “Addy”, a young girl who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad (chronicled, of course, in Meet Addy), when she first came out.

And I spent hours poring over the Pleasant Company catalog, with its outfits and accessories that matched the books.

I was simultaneously in love with Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess. I adored how Sara Crew and her indulgent Papa went to pick out the doll “Emily” and outfit her in the very fanciest of clothing.

I dreamed of a wardrobe for my doll, a complete set–and one that matched a book.

But the Pleasant company outfits were much to expensive for my (or my parents’) budget, and I had little patience to do any quality sewing in those days.

So I made do with the clothes Addy came with–and the few garments Mom made for her.

But I still dreamed of a complete wardrobe, based on a book.

I grew up a bit and decided that I wanted it to be based on a REAL book–not books that were written in order to sell doll clothes.

The Anne series.

It was perfect. Anne was the right sort of age, Montgomery goes into detail about her clothing and accessories, and I just happened to love the series.

I would make a complete wardrobe for Addy using the Anne series as a starting point.

And so I began to make lists of every object mentioned in the Anne series. The vivid chromo of Jesus blessing the children, the chocolate brown voile with its puffed sleeves and pintucked waist, the navy blue broadcloth jacket made by Marilla, the yellow pansy cut from a catalog that Ella May McPherson gave Anne to use to decorate her desk. I have a list of every object–and some only alluded to (the red and white triangles Anne had to work at before she could go out to visit with Dianna–what might that quilt have looked like?)

I started collecting bits and pieces of fabric that might be suitable for the project.

And, this month, I started sewing.

My first project has been a dress to approximate the dresses Marilla made for Anne to replace the dreadfully skimpy wincey:

“Well, how do you like them?” said Marilla.

Anne was standing in the gable room, looking solemnly at three new dresses spread out on the bed. One was of snuffy colored gingham which Marilla had been tempted to buy from a peddler the preceding summer because it looked so serviceable; one was of black-and-white checked sateen which she had picked up at a bargain counter in the winter; and one was a stiff print of an ugly blue shade which she had purchased that week at the Carmody store.

She had made them up herself, and they were all made alike–plain skirts fulled tightly to plain waists, with sleeves as plain as waist and skirt and tight as sleeves could be.

“I’ll imagine that I like them,” said Anne soberly.

Perhaps it’s a bit of a depressing place to start, but that is where I have started.

And this is what I have so far.

Anne's plain dress

Nothing exciting, but it’s a start to this project I’ve been dreaming of for nigh on 15 years.

L. M. Montgomery Reading ChallengeVisit Carrie’s L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge to see what others were saying/doing about L.M. Montgomery this month.

Categories Memes

Just the Facts

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Name: Rebekah Marie Menter

Age: Old enough to stop telling :-P

Do you live with your parents?
How many siblings do you have?
What grade are you in?
When do you graduate?
No. Six and an in-law. 18+. Someday.

Are you an angry person?
Are you a hater?
Are you anti-racist?
Are you emo?
Are you moody?
Are you depressed?
What would you label yourself?
I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I don’t know. No. Probably. Sometimes. A follower of Christ.

Do you like comedies?
Do you read literature?
Do you love horror movies?
Do you like silver hair?
Yes, especially Much Ado about Nothing. Yes. No. Yes.

Are you a smoker?
Do you smoke cigars/cigarillos?
What are you addicted too?
No. No. I— I’m hooked on a feeling…

Do you work out?
Are you in good physical condition?
Can you even fist fight?
No. No. Erm… No.

Do you talk to yourself?
Do I talk to myself? That’s a good question. “Self, tell me, do you talk to yourself?” Oh, wait…

Do you wear skinny jeans?
Would you consider yourself intelligent?
Explain your personality in 3 words.
Yes, on occasion.