Childhood Memories

Today at lunch Melissa and I warmed up some microwave meals, since we both had to be at work and it was quick. Of course I haven't come across a microwave meal that has satisfied my hunger. I eat them more like snacks between meals, its like a meal before a meal which is nice especially when they compliment each other.

Anyways, I needed something else to eat if I was going to make it to dinner, so Melissa suggested a hot dog and cheese in a tortilla. I have heard her talk about this before, but have never really had a desire to try it. I did. It was actually pretty good. However, it reminded me of nacho cheese rollups. This was a meal that went horribly wrong on an afternoon when my mother was sick and my sister decided to fix us some lunch. It consisted of a tortilla, cheese, and tortilla chips microwaved. I was already feeling upset because my mom was puking and the lunch did not help me out.

After remembering this I was thinking of other funny childhood memories and decided that Melissa and I would both share one from our lives.

The first one is about me.

I have a lot of funny stories...I was a funny kid. To narrow down to just one is hard to do. One of the ones that I find particularly funny is about my sister and me. My sister could be really mean. First off, she would never call me brother, and only called me Ben. This caused significant psychological damage. I would cry and beg my mom to make her call me brother, but she refused. I say that to set up what she did to me. She told she had an evil twin. Like all good, naive, little brothers I believed her. She told me her name was Bessica (like Jessica, which is her name, but with a "B") this terrified me. First off why didn't my parents tell me that she had a twin, and why did this twin no longer live with us. Obviously she was so evil that she could not live with because it would put our lives in danger. Second, did Bessica know where we lived and would she try to seek revenge on the family that deemed her as an outcast. Third, was my name really even Ben. If this information has been held from me what else is being hidden from me? Maybe I also had an evil twin named Ven, or Jen, or maybe Ken!! I would never know. I was scared, I cried and it took some convincing from my mom to know that this wasn't true.

One of my favorite stories about Melissa when she was young was the time she found her way into some diapers. She says she doesn't remember it, and I believe her. But from I have gathered she was about 7 years old and her youngest sister was just a tiny one. There were some cloth diapers in the house and after they were used they were rinsed out in the toilet. One night I guess Melissa was feeling a little too clean while she slept and decided to do some sleep walking to where the dirty diapers were stashed. There was a commotion going on and Melissa was found rubbing dirty diapers over her legs. HAHAHA....that just cracks me up.

Something about Beauty

There is something about beauty. It is something we all long for. We want to look beautiful. We want our yards mowed and edged contributing to the other beautiful houses in our neighborhoods (in my case we cant hang towels outside on the balcony cause it could look tacky). I even got wrote up in college for hanging a skeleton (my roommate's idea, of course I went along with it) because it took away from the decor of the building. The decor that consisted of peeling paint, mold, and cracked bricks (if anything we added decor).

I myself have always been captivated with beauty. Whether it is my wife, a landscape, or parent loving their child. It reminds me that beauty is not found just in concrete forms but also abstract. I have come to see that the abstract beauties are the most beautiful.

I have recently learned a new song at church. It's a song on how God makes us beautiful.

The chorus goes

"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us".

We held a worship night the other evening built around this concept. Although I didn't walk away with any particular spiritual experience or an emotional high, but I did however walk away with comfort. And maybe comfort isn't even the right word. Because I haven't really been feeling that I am not made beautiful through God's grace. I know I am, and it is something that I am very grateful for and realize daily.

It's just that beauty is something that I have always loved equating with God. Obviously (maybe not so obviously for some) God is the master of beauty. I like to imagine God singing the universe into existence. Not really singing as a command telling the mountains to rise or the rivers to form, but more like because of the pure beauty coming from His voice land forms cannot resist coming to life.

Even if we look to His creation we realize that His creation is just a reminder of the true beauty He is, which is His flawless unconditional love that was the root of His ballad that creation couldn't resist.

So back to my original thought, when God makes us into beautiful things it doesn't mean that we are more appealing to the eye, it simply means that He is singing to us, love is pouring out of His mouth, and we can't resist but to come alive in Him and join with him in his chorus of love. Because love is the creator of beauty...and God is the creator of love. If the reminders of his beauty is captivating now, just imagine being enveloped by the real thing. But then again to be enveloped are ears have to be open to the music.

"Set your minds on things above, not earthly things.For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then also you will appear with him in glory". Colossians 3:2-4 (NIV).

Dear Blog, It's been awhile

I haven't updated in awhile and I am sorry. I know that you all have been dying to hear about what has been going on. Part of me wanted to write a blog to top our children/cat relation blog. I have come to the realization that some of our blogs will be boring. Maybe not this one though. I have been thinking a lot about marriage... particularly my own. I love being married, and I love my wife. I have mostly been thinking about the things that I have learned in just the short nine months Melissa and I have been married. If there is one thing that I have learned it's don't underestimate proportion sizes. Melissa is petite...I am not so petite. I'm sure this subject would be different if we were both the same size and ate the same amounts, but that also might be a little awkward (not that we wouldn't love each the same).

Both Melissa and I enjoy cooking, so we share and both cook for each other. Now when I cook I like big meals i.e. chicken fried steak w/gravy, mashed potatoes w/more gravy, green beans, salad, and of course a big glass of ice tea to wash it down. When Melissa cooks she likes small but complete meals i.e. a chicken strip usually marinated in some type of dressing, and a side salad.

Now both of us like both types of meals, except where I see an everyday dinner, Melissa sees a Sunday lunch (which are always big in OK). Needless to say, when I cook I have to finish off Melissa's meal, and when she cooks I'm usually rummaging through cupboards 30 mins later to fill in the empty spaces in my stomach.

I soon figured out that this lesson in marriage was about compromise, and we have done just that. Instead of cooking medium sized meals we'll usually cook something that can fill me up and then serve ourselves. The problem was never how much one of us prepared it was when we tried to be nice and prepare each others plates. So now I can have as much as I want, and she can eat as much as she wants (and then I can have the leftovers as well).

We have also compromised by buying Melissa sized items, and Ben sized items. This doesn't always have to deal with food either. I have posted some pics below to demonstrate what I mean by Melissa sized and Ben sized.






Me holding normal sized wine glass













Melissa holding the same glass
















Melissa sized watermelon











Melissa holding Ben sized pen










Ben sized calculator









Melissa sized glass (usually filled only half way)

16 and NOT pregnant!

So lately Melissa has got on this kick of watching the MTV show 16 and Pregnant. And since she does have the computer tied up watching them I sometimes sit down and gather in a few moments of the shows. It is sad to see some of the girls and the insecurities they have. It's heartbreaking to watch their stories. I was reminded of how blessed Melissa and I are. I also know that I will be well prepared to have a kid someday because I have a cat. There are a lot of similarities between children and cats. Our lovely cat Jenga keeps us entertained as I assume our children will also. I have decided to compile a list of a few things that Jenga has helped me see what my future will be like, and some things that I hope I can train my child to do that I have trained Jenga to do.

1. Jenga has pooped and peed on me
No doubt this will happen often with my children.

2. Jenga now uses a litter box
Hopefully I can train my child to do the same that way we can eliminate #1 above
(the litter box is pre-toilet of course)

3. Jenga is easily distracted by shiny objects and things that fly
When I need a few moments to recuperate I can just toss my keys across the room hopefully that will buy at least ten minuets.

4. As long as I keep food and water in Jenga's bowl
she is satisfied
I hope this works the same way for Ben Jr.

5. If Jenga somehow does get annoyed with me I just have to give her a treat that tastes like fish
I think this will be more beneficial in the teen years. Just have to find edible fish crackers. If I can't I am sure an actual cat treat won't hurt the kid.

6. Is it ethical to get your child declawed?

7. I can leave Jenga by herself for a few hours and not worry about coming home to a dead cat. Still working out how I can do this with my kid.

8. Jenga sits at the table until all of our food is gone Hopefully little Ben/Melissa will not be looking for a few scraps, and eat there smashed up green beans.

9. Jenga meows relentlessly until she gets some
milk
Not looking forward to the crying, mainly because I am a softy and will give in.

and...

10. Unlike Jenga... my child will learn how to do more household chores This will benefit me because then I won't have to do as many.

Catching Up

The past few days have been hectic! Melissa and I have been recuperating from family visits. We had some good times with Melissa's brother (Jedidiah) and her youngest sister (Naomi). We had a week full of non-stop excitement.

Here are some photos of our activities to make you feel like you were with us.


















































































We had a great time and enjoyed having family close. Hopefully more will be able to come visit soon.

Eventful Days

It had been awhile since we have posted anything. Mainly because we have been crazy busy! But there has been a lot of eventful happenings going on in the past few days. I got back from youth camp this past Friday... and it was amazing! It was emotionally, spiritually, and physically lifting and exhausting at the same time. God did some amazing things, and just when you think God is wrapping some stuff up He slaps and says I'm never done and deal out some more. It is truly amazing.

Two days after I returned from camp Melissa's brother and youngest sister flew into town and we have been busy catching up and entertaining (which is always fun). Sunday we let them sleep and then took them to down town Disney where we fought the crowds and watched fireworks.

Monday we went to the San Diego Zoo (where Melissa and I got to activate are Zoo season passes). It was good times seeing all the animals. We even saw this big crane like bird snatch up and eat a baby duck!

Tuesday (today) we went up to NBC studios in Burbank and watched a taping of the tonight show where Jay Leno gave me a high five, and we saw Betty White who is hilarious. We got there early and got great seats! We set on the floor right in front of the stage.

Tomorrow we head the happiest place on earth...Disneyland!! It's going to be good times!

HOME ALONE AHHH!

I've been home alone this week with the cat. Ben left this past Sunday afternoon to go to church camp with the youth group. I decided to post something so that you, our avid readers don't think we dropped off the face of the earth. Now, I'm not a writer and I'm definitely not funny when I write, so I apologize and promise that when Ben returns he'll take over again! :) This week has been uneventful to say the least. I've worked at my part-time job at Bath and Body Works and went in for a second interview with a preschool today which hopefully I'll be getting the position. Other than that I've just been "spring cleaning" our apartment and getting things in order for when my brother and sister come to visit next week. I will definitely post pics of everything we do! I hope that everyone has a great rest of the week!

Melissa

**Ben gets back Friday, I'm sure he'll write all about how camp was, so stay tuned!**