Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Telekinesis Tuesday

Welcome to Telekinesis Tuesday, where you will enjoy random rambles about my philosophy on the human being and life.

What do you think you would be capable of if no one ever told you that you couldn't?
I think every person possesses an incalculable amount of power over their body and surroundings that we just don't realize.

The media tells you that you need pills to control whatever ails you. No, you don't. Forgive me for getting religious on you here, but would an all-loving Heavenly Father send us to this earth and lock our souls in a prison that we had no control over? To further my point, I will ask: why do we fast? To gain control over our bodies and our desires of the flesh. To what extent can we gain such control? I believe it is limitless.

I watched a movie the other day that said "what if no one ever told you that a bullet only goes straight?" and from there proceeded to make bullets bend around objects, which I have to say was very cool. But seriously, what if no one ever told you that germs make you sick and you have no control over it? What if no one ever told you that your family has a history of diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, so you would probably get it?

I really believe that we have the possibility to have so much control over our bodies, and Heavenly Father urges us to develop that. I have always been fascinated with people who were able to heal themselves of cancer, defy all the odds and the expectations of the "professionals". YOU are the professional of YOUR body. No one can know how to take care of your body better than you.

Your homework: watch "Men Who Stare at Goats". First of all, it is hilarious. Second of all, it strongly supports my thesis.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Magniloquent & Maieutics Monday

Over this next week I have decided to write every day, each day with a totally random theme on which I will totally randomly rant.
I do this because I naively and narcissisticly believe that someone out in the universe may find it interesting.
Enjoy.

Today I begin with Maieutics & Magniloquent Monday.

Magniloquent because I chose the word Maieutics to describe Midwifery instead of just saying Midwifery. I like to use big words. It makes me feel smart.

I have some very strong feelings about childbirth and I have my sisters to thank for it. I'll be forever grateful for the education they have provided me with.
I will have a home birth. I will have an unmedicated birth. My birth will be the way I want it, because it is my body and my baby. I will not have a doctor tell me how to deliver my baby. If I want to squat and let gravity help me, get the heck out of my way. Don't put me on my back merely for your convenience.

I think midwifery is a beautiful thing. The midwives that I have met share my vision of what childbirth should be: a spiritual event.I don't want to be knocked out or on any sort of medication when my baby enters this world. They tell you not to take any medicine or drugs while you're pregnant, but they shoot drugs right into your spine at the moment of highest stress for your baby - I don't believe that has no effect on them.

I wish I had more time to rant about this because I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Open a discussion with me anytime about childbirth and I'll tell you ALL about it.

Tune in tomorrow for Telekenisis Tuesday.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Sucky and Not Sucky

Here's what has been sucky:
- Strep. Throat. I thought I was going to literally die. My throat has never hurt so bad in my life. Also, moments of insane chills and fever, blood rushing to my head, imagining how the excruciating pain would compound with such exceeding greatness that I might explode if I let myself throw up. Bless the Doctor's Free Clinic and $4 antibiotics.
- My manager of 3 years was laid off today... We were like family. :(
- No one that was all excited about me starting the group comes to my craft nights... But it's cool, cuz I have fun with Janet and Shauntae always.

Here's what has been NOT sucky:
- This freakin weather! One perk of being sick all week was that I was not stuck indoors at the office trying to enjoy the weather through all the windows and one open door.
- SPRING!! I love, love, love Spring. The beautiful blossoms on the trees, the fresh air, the super cute flowers. I am obsessed with daffodils. When I see them sometimes I make Alex pull over so I can look at them. They are so happy!
- I made a really cute Easter craft.
- My husband is the greatest and we are just so happy.

It's good to see the NOT sucky outweigh the sucky. All in all this week has been pretty awesome, aside from the feeling like I would/wanted to die moments. It's Spring Break so all our friends are in town, and that's awesome. And who doesn't need more awesome in their lives?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

OSCARS

First of all, I am horrible at taking pictures. I used to have the excuse of not having a camera, but I have one now and I still suck. So I'm sorry I don't have pictures from my awesome Oscars party, but you'll just have to believe me when I say it was super fun.

One of my favorite part of the Oscars is commenting on dresses, so here are my votes for best dressed (and maybe a few worst dressed).

This was my favorite dress of the entire evening. She ALWAYS looks stunning.
Penelope Cruz

This was my second pick for the evening. So elegant with just a little splash of color to make it exciting.
Rachel McAdams

She is SO hot. How does she do it at her age?
Demi Moore

There were a lot of people who didn't like this dress, but I thought she rocked it.
Vera Farmiga

I think Helen is one of the classiest, if not THE classiest, ladies in Hollywood. She is always looking good. This was no exception.


Here are a few that didn't rock their dresses.
I hate Maggie Gyllenhaal. She drives me insane, and this dress made it even worse. Are we at a luau? Hmmm, cuz I thought we were at the Oscars.

I usually like Diane Kruger, but this dress was a mess.


As for the awards, well let's just say that I was SORELY disappointed in how many awards The Hurt Locker received. I don't know how to tell you this, but IT WASN'T THAT GOOD OF A MOVIE. I nearly fell asleep three times. And let's be honest, the best director award was purely political (it being the first time the award was given to a woman) and less about actual talent shown.

In my opinion Avatar changed the way movies are made forever, and it totally got snubbed. James Cameron may be disliked in Hollywood, but he makes dang good movies. And hmmm, isn't that what the Oscars are about?

On the other hand, Sandra Bullock scored a million points in my book with her classy, funny and moving acceptance speech. I think it was the highlight of the evening.

Overall I guessed 13 of the 24 categories correct (tying for the most at my party). It's not that great of a score, but I was correct on all the important awards (like I would know who would win best live action short film) except for best picture. As much as I was worried Hurt Locker would win, I voted Avatar and crossed my fingers.

I have conceded to watch Hurt Locker again to see if maybe I was just in a sour mood when I saw it the first time. I will try my hardest to go in with an open mind. But I'm not making any promises.
Avatar should have won.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Weekend of Awesome

I admit that Friday was lame. I was sooooo tired from a week of not sleeping at all. Alex has been sick, and he breathes REALLY loudly. So we took turns on the couch for most of last week. So Friday I went to bed super early, but that was perfect because then I was prepared for a full day on Saturday.

First, we woke up REAAAAAAALY early

I totally want a Care Bears alarm clock, by the way.

Then we went to go get our Bountiful Basket!

This is easily the coolest thing I have come across in a long time. We got SO much stuff for SO cheap. We got two small cartons of blueberries, a carton of strawberries, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, several baby cucumbers, zucchini, a ton of oranges, apples, two bunches of bananas, one bunch of asparagus and several pears. It was only $15!! We went to Wal-Mart after and found out that the berries ALONE would've been $12! I am super psyched about it. http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Then we went to breakfast at JB's. It was surprisingly delicious.

Then we went to a flea market to kill time until the bread store opened.

Then we got our filthy car washed!

It has not been so sparkly clean since we bought it! And we got a free air-freshener!
And then it rained that night...

Then we got CHEAP bread at Old Home Bakery. Seriously, it's like $3 at Wal-Mart and they sell it for 75 cents!


Then we went grocery shopping and only went $6 over budget. Score.

Then we got home and it was only 12:00!! I have to admit that as much as I hate mornings, it was so nice to get so much done before the day was gone.
We left all doors and windows open because it looked like this outside:

We laid on the couch and took a short little nap and I thought to myself: This. Is. Awesome.
We got the best Won-Tons ever for an afternoon snack.
We played Super Mario on the Wii (best Wii game ever).

Then we went to dinner with my favorite brother and ate delicious Brazilian food.


Then we played games with said favorite brother and my cousin Jeffrey.

After games Jeffrey had us in stitches with mission stories. "EFF France!!" :)

All in all, it was one of the best days ever. On Sunday my cousin Amy blessed her adorable, big-ol'-cheeked little boy so I got to spend time with my awesome fam, and eat freakin awesome food. These rolls were one of the best things I've ever tasted. I had like 5.

Chicken Rolls
Filed under: Dinner - degraff @ 2:37 pm
8 oz cream cheese softened
6 T melted butter
4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 T milk
2 T chopped onion
3/4 cup bread crumbs (seasoned is a good choice, or you can season plain crumbs yourself)
36 count package Rhodes frozen dinner rolls

With a hand mixer, blend cream cheese, milk and 2 T melted butter until smooth. Add chicken, salt, pepper and onion. Mix well. Flatten out one roll and put spoonful of chicken mixture in the middle. Pull corners to twist and close, sealing dough. Dip in butter and then bread crumbs. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Top with chicken gravy.

I hope everyone's weekend was as great as mine! I'm excited to make this week just as good!!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Favorites

I saw this on a friends blog and thought it was super cute, so I'm stealing it!
You go to Flickr and enter your answer to the question in the search box and choose one of the pictures from the first page to represent it.
The top pictures are mine and the bottom are Alex's.

1. What is your first name?




2.What is your favorite food?

"Mexican Food"

"Mollete"


3. What school did you go to?

"Pine View High School"

This one is the same for both of us. And. I love that this green door has nothing to do with Pine View, but it's what came up.



4. What is your favorite color?

"Purple"

"Green"


5. Who is your celebrity crush?




6. Who is your favorite Disney Princess?

"Meg from Hercules"

"Jasmine from Alladin"


7. Favorite Drink?




8. Dream Vacation?

"Tahiti"

"Sweet Beach"


9. Favorite Dessert?

"Chocolate Molten Cake"

"Brownie with Melted Ice Cream"


10. What do you want to be when you grow up?

"Mom"

"Daddy" Yes, indeed, he is the cutest husband ever.


11. What do you love most in life?

"Husband"

"Play"


12. One word to describe you?

"Tired"

"Carefree"


13. What do you dream about?

"Flying"

"Whatever" This is because he couldn't think of anything to say.


Isn't that fun? I probably defeated the purpose of the pictures by putting the answers, but that's how I roll, mmmmkay? Now, you go do this on your blog so I can see your answers :)