Jane Austen Marathon

Beginning with Persuasion on January 13, PBS will be airing original and award-winning film versions of the complete works of Jane Austen.

All you fellow Jane-ites, feel free to join me in my excitement! I'm planning on setting the VCR now in anticipation. I also would like to re-read the novels before watching the PBS versions, just to refresh my memory. Maybe I'll even read the chapter on each book from Peter Leithart's Austen commentary Miniatures and Morals while I'm at it. It feels like a Jane Austen year.

Next, I just need to get my hands on a copy of The Jane Austen Book Club and A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith to continue the theme. Anyone willing to lend me theirs? Or buy it for me from Amazon? ;)

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Tales from the Crib

Oh, no! The blanket monster is coming to get us!


"Wait, mom! It's just me, see?!"


"Hehehehehe! I scared you!"


Thank goodness! It's only Jacob under there!




"How could you ever be scared of me? I'm too cute!"

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Mmmmm...Bacon!

Bacon and chocolate? Seriously? Yes! We've tried this inspirational recipe for Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies twice now, and we can definitely say the secret is in the maple-cinnamon glaze and bacon strip topping. Otherwise, it's just a slightly salty chocolate chip cookie and nothing special.

Here is the recipe (halved, for only 2 dozen) in its condensed form, as I've been making it:

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips (it's all I had)
1 cup REAL bacon bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Beat together the butter, sugars, flavouring and eggs until creamy. Sift dry ingredients into the butter mixture and stir together. Dough will be slightly soft. Add in chocolate chips and bacon bits. Stir until well integrated. Freeze dough for 20-30 minutes (or refridgerate an hour). Remove dough from fridge, pinch off 1 1/2 inch pieces of dough and roll into balls. Set dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls slightly with your fingers in the center.

Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack while you ready the glaze.

Maple cinnamon glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
enough water to make a thick glaze (I used about 1 tablespoon)

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Spread a small amount of the glaze on the top of each cookie and top with a small piece of crisp cooked bacon.*



*The bacon piece on top is the piece d'resistance. An easy way to make it? Once you've got the oven preheated, put a few strips of your favorite bacon on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake about 10-15 minutes (while the dough is in the fridge) or until it comes to the consistency you like. We prefer slightly chewy. Enoy!

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Is it 2008 already?

Where did the holidays go? I've got lots to share from the last few weeks, including pictures. More on that tomorrow.

For now, I'm looking ahead: Jacob's First Birthday, the Olympics in Beijing, and a Presidential election. It's going to be quite a year!

Some of my resolutions:

1. Attempt to have a regular schedule, especially at bedtime.

2. Read more, watch TV less (thank you, writers' strike!).

3. Show hospitality more often.

4. Do something creative every day.

5. Blog about all of the above and more, if only to fulfill #4!

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!

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Books Read in 2007 (Allison)

• Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith


• Girl Meets God


• The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth


• Fahrenheit 451


• The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12)


• Praise Her in the Gates: The Calling of Christian Motherhood


• The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning


• The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)


• Of Mice and Men


• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation


• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


• The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two


• Flabbergasted: A Novel


• Midwives


• Children of Men


• The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson


• A Passage to India


• The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night


• Gilead


• On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense


• The Hidden Art of Homemaking


• And Then There Were None


• Witness for the Prosecution


• The Time Traveler's Wife


• Housekeeping


• Murder on the Orient Express


• The Nanny Diaries


• Redeeming Love

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Books Read in 2007 (Gaines)

• The Story of Christianity, Volume One: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation
• How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
• Around the World in Eighty Days
• The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12)
• The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)
• Future Men
• The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism
• To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy to the Children of God
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Hebrews for Everyone
• The Children of Men
• Evil and the Justice of God
• The Luck of the Bodkins
• Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
• Death in Holy Orders
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd
• Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It
• The Code of the Woosters
• Into The Wild
• State of Fear

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Christmas Tunes To Go!

Sufjan announced the winner of his Christmas song contest today...it's a thoughtful, witty tune called "Every Day is Christmas" and you can find out more and listen here! My favorite line: "Your love is so much better than a plasma screen TV!"

If you're like me, you might find the Christmas tunes on the radio and in shopping malls to be a bit nauseating. I mean, I love the classics as much as anyone but some of those versions are just, well, plain awful! Thankfully, I've been reminded of the perfect collection to cheer me up while in the car:

Sufjan Steven's Christmas Box Set

As I've been runnning errands the past few days, I've found that Sufjan's five short volumes offer me the perfect interval in between trips to the mall (ugh), the dry cleaners, the post office, lengthy gift shopping expeditions, and back home for some apple cider and MORE SUFJAN. Go ahead, listen to the streaming audio or even buy the box set! You'll get fun stuff like stickers and a songbook!

Remember: Since it's Christmas let's be glad, even if your life's been bad, there are presents to be had! (And don't forget to indulge in the elf boogie!)

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Glimpses of God

La Shawn Barber updates us on what those Hanson boys have been up to. I'd like to check out their most recent release, Walk, and I'm thankful for this being brought to my attention. (By the way, they all seem to have lost the blonde hair...)

All that to say, I'm not sure what to think about his new "Glimpses of God" series Christianity Today has started. At the bottom of the Hanson article, I found this statement: "Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author's. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here." I clicked, and this is what I found:

In recent years, we've noticed an increased interest in spiritual themes in today's popular music outside the Christian subculture. We refer to these faith-inspired examples as Glimpses of God. Some of them are by Christian artists working in the mainstream music industry. Others are nonbelievers who are clearly soul searching. Regardless, these challenging examples give the listener something to think about—and an open door to discussing matters of faith with non-Christians.

I suppose it's a step in the right direction -- a major Christian publication is actually acknowledging that there is other good stuff out there than what falls under the "CCM" label, even if they do have to limit it to stuff with "spiritual themes." I'm all for that. I just wish more Christians would realize that a work of art doesn't necessarily need to have "spiritual themes" to be good, beautiful, and true. But I'll save that soapbox discussion for another day.

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Best. Fundraiser. Ever.

It's all over the blogosphere, but I have to mention it here for my readers who only get their news from the mainstream media. Yesterday, due to efforts of volunteers unrelated with his official campaign, Ron Paul raised over $6 million, the most any candidate has ever raised in one day (beating Kerry, even), but there's barely a mention of it on any of the news stations or political websites or newspapers. At least the AP/NYT is taking notice.

Even if you think he's unelectable, that's a remarkable feat, especially since the median donation amount was $50.

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In Sickness and in Health

What a week it has been since I last posted! At J's 9 month well check-up last Wednesday, the doctor discovered he had a serious ear infection in his right ear, and put him on antibiotics. The medicine didn't help this weekend, though, when he developed a fever we now think is due to a viral infection he picked up sometime last week. Saturday night was pretty rough, what with J's fever spiking and me feeling pretty miserable due to the weather changes and stress and getting little sleep. Sunday was better. We had to go back to the doctor this morning due to his continued fever and other issues. We get to make a return trip on Friday to get the final word on the ear infection, but in some good news the antibiotics are working and the ear infection seems to be clearing up.

On top of all this, we are getting word of extended friends and family who are in the hospital or enduring doctor's visits, and are praying for all. This is a reminder for me to be more thankful during those times of health!

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Ron Paul has a Blimp

It looks like another crazy idea is taking shape from Ron Paul supporters, but I only wish they could somehow fly the blimp over useful places like the BSC bowl games and the Superbowl in February instead of just campaign rallies. How do you get permission to do that sort of thing?

By the way, for those of you who don't know, since I first posted about this Ron Paul guy I've been reading everything I can about him and watching tons of interview clips (including these by John Stossel). He's greatly overlooked by the media despite his amazing ability to raise massive amounts of money (he's up to almost $11 million in just the fourth quarter!) Now that I've learned more, I'm very intrigued by his honesty, his consistency, his pro-life and non-interventionist stances, and his push for limited, Constitutional government (No more IRS! No more Dept. of Ed! Yay!). I even plan to vote for him in the Republican primary. *gasp* And yes, I do think he has a chance to win, but even if I didn't, I still wouldn't want to vote for someone I didn't believe in, like one of those "frontrunners." I guess I'm proof that those bumper stickers really DO get people's attention in a positive way...



P.S. Some friends and fellow RP supporter and I have a new joke where we greet each other with the phrase "Ron Paul" said in quick succession, like the SNL sketch of "Buh-bye!" Do you think it could catch on? Maybe I should teach J to say it as his first words and then record it and put it on You Tube...he might be like the little Animaniacs girl. Remember her? "Love ya! Bye-bye!" Heh heh. Ok, nevermind me. I'm off to attempt to be more productive and less random...


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Which god?

You've probably gotten an e-mail forward or two or heard the news stories about The Golden Compass, which opened last week in theaters. It's based on a series of books by Phillip Pullman, a professed atheist, and the final installment of the trilogy includes a controversial scene in which "God" is supposedly killed. (As a note-- we've yet to read the books but hope to get them from the library sometime in the near future...)

This post (thanks Common Grounds!) asks a very important question about which god is actually being killed in Pullman's book. Is it the God revealed in Jesus Christ, or a caricature, a capricious old-man figure? Although Pullman obviously is antagonistic towards Christians and the church, and is not killing some false god in order to set the True God in its place, it does put a different spin on the idea.

It reminds me of the story N.T. Wright often tells from his days as a college chaplain. A student might confess to him: "I don't believe in God." And Wright would go on to ask the student to describe this god in which he didn't believe--usually some angry-grandfather figure who looked down from on high to punish people according to his whim. The students were often surprised to hear the chaplain Wright respond, "Well, I don't believe in that god, either!" Wright tells how he would go on to say that he believes in the God revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, and begins a dialogue. That's certainly one way to catch an atheist's attention!

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More Tech News

A few notable announcements from the Yellow Jackets today:

Durant Brooks Wins 2007 Ray Guy Award As Nation's Top Punter
Best punter in the nation. Not too shabby.

But the big deal today is:

Paul Johnson Named Georgia Tech's Head Football Coach
This sounds like it could be a good move. I think he could definitely help re-tune our struggling offense. I just hope he keeps (Defensive Coordinator) Jon Tenuta around. Then we might become a force to be reckoned with.

I swear this blog isn't becoming an official GT news outlet. More diversified output to come, I promise!


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Back in Blue

Well, it's official -- for the second time in four years, Georgia Tech's post-season will include this:



That's right. The smurf-colored turf of Boise State U's Bronco Stadium, site of the Humanitarian Bowl. Come December 31, the Jackets will square off against Fresno State. That's right, it's a showdown between the ACC and the (wiggety wiggety) WAC. Ah yeah.

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While We Were Out

Whenever I leave home for a few nights or a long weekend, one of my greatest fears is to return home and NOT find things exactly as I left them. Well, I can say we've crossed that one off the list.

We returned home Sunday afternoon from a wonderful time with family over Thanksgiving, with lots of travelling and turkey and too much time in the car, longing only to sleep in our own beds. Instead, we climbed the stairs to the sound of an industrial fan and found all of our posessions piled high in the non-carpeted areas of our two-bedroom apartment. Sometime early Friday morning while we were away, a pipe near the water heater had burst and our apartment had flooded, mostly in the closets and bedrooms and hallway. When they called on Friday morning, they said it was a "leak" that got the "carpet" and would be "cleaned up" by the time we got home. Bleh for bad communication! Though not completely unexpected, it was still a shock. Thankfully, the water didn't get everything, but they had to clean the entire carpet so everything was moved and rearranged and piled up hurriedly. I will say one thing -- the poor guys who had to move all our heavy furniture and bookshelves and stuff miraculously moved three bookshelves and our computer desk without taking anything off the shelves. (Even Gaines' little Yoda figurine above the computer is still there!) Way to go, Carlos!

We stayed in a hotel for three nights and were able to return to our apartment on Wednesday night. (In between, some very gracious friends offered us places to hang out, nap, eat, play and check e-mail. We are so grateful for their hospitality! Jacob, especially, since it meant he could actually crawl around and interact with other kids!) They dried out the carpet and replaced the carpet pad, and now we're cleaning up the rest of the mess. We are just now finding out exactly what the damage entails. I'm finding all sorts of stuff that I didn't think about being on the floor, like the mesh laundry bags or the cardboard boxes of pictures under the bed. Thankfully, all of our electronics/computer stuff and furniture has survived unscathed. So, here I am, sitting at the computer researching how to get that mildew smell out of clothes! I'm very thankful for internet access. If you have any cleanup tips, please let me know.

I'll end with a few important things I've learned this week:

1. I am way more attached to things -- especially favorite pairs of shoes -- than I should be.
2. Always clean up before you go on vacation because you never know who may have to rearrange your stuff.
3. We have too much stuff.
4. Even if your home is in disarray and smells slightly musty, if you've been away for a while, sleeping in your own place is always better than somewhere else.
5. Always, and I mean ALWAYS, turn off the water before you plan to be out of town. It will just make things so much easier in case of unexpected emergencies.

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Fare Thee Well, Chan

On Monday, Georgia Tech announced the firing of head football coach Chan Gailey, a move that was hardly surprising to long-suffering Jackets fans. Personally, I'm conflicted about the news. On the one hand, Gailey never had a losing season during his six years at Tech, and Tech recruited some stellar talent during his tenure. On the other hand, his teams always seemed to have the potential to perform much better than they actually did. One assessment I heard rings true: Gailey did a great job of turning average players into good teams, but he was never able to turn superior players into excellent teams. Of course, there's always the question of how much responsibility the head coach should bear in the first place, but that's another story.

Anyway, coaching talent aside, Gailey is a fine Christian man. This article gives a great example of how classy he is. I can only hope that his replacement is at least as good a person as he is.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Travel safely, eat well, and most importantly, be thankful!

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Odds & Ends

Not much time for blogging these days, and even when there is, the office firewall doesn't always play nice with Blogger. I know, excuses, excuses. Anyway, here are a few links for your perusal.

Re:Greek is an online Biblical Greek resource from the folks at Mars Hill Church. From my limited poking around, it looks like the site has plenty of neat features, including parsing, lexical tools, concordances and what-not. Plus, it's FREE.

N.T. Wright spoke at Asbury Theological Seminary (Kentucky) earlier in the week, with chapel messages on "Use of Scripture in Contemporary Political Discourse" and "God is Public? Biblical Faith in Tomorrow's World." You can listen online at the Asbury chapel site. (Scroll down to 11/13 and 11/14 for high- and low-bandwith recordings of both talks.)

I have already listened to the first one, which was good. Wright gives an overview of how politically-minded folks in both the US and Britain use Scripture to advance their causes, noting that they tend to cherry-pick a few verses here and there while ignoring major themes and key passages. He then offers some insight on how the full story of Scripture (with particular attention to the Gospels) can and should inform the Church's interactions in the world. (Apparently, there was a third talk on Acts with Q&A, but it does not appear on the webpage. Pity.) Update: The third talk is now available.

Speaking of the Bishop of Durham, I just received my copy of John Piper's newly-released The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright in the mail this week. I think I would have been more interested about this book a year or two ago, but I'm still going to read it. I might even write a review.

Sufjan Stevens has a great Christmas present in the works: the rights to one of his songs. Contestants enter by submitting an original song. The winner gets to exchange the rights to his/her song for the rights to an unreleased Sufjan song.

Oh, and Sufjan has put up his entire (excellent) Christmas box set for free streaming here.

And finally, as a shout-out to Duke fans everywhere, here's a site devoted to their upcoming bowl game.

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Christmas Giveaways at 5 Minutes for Mom!

Lately, I've been addicted to entering contests, and this is one of the best. So far, the prizes include diaper bags, a stroller, cameras, and a Secure2Me blanket (I have a sun-protection one, and think these are a great idea! Love the warm winter cuddly ones!). Click on the graphic here on in our sidebar to find out more -- it runs through Nov. 25th, so you might want to check it our soon!

Also, for those of you who aren't moms, I'm adding a Prizey graphic way down at the bottom of the sidebar, because online giveaways are fun, and someone has to win them, right?

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happy 30th, daddy

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