Why hockey is the best sport

One thing I love about being home is getting to watch New England sports on TV again! I've been watching lots of Bruins hockey games and I'm reminded of how much I love hockey. I truly believe hockey is one of the best sports out there. Bud and I had a conversation about it, and here's why we think hockey outshines every other sport:

1. It's constantly fast-paced. In other sports (especially football and baseball) there are many breaks between plays. There may be short bursts of speed or great athleticism, but then the play's over, and everyone gets to rest again. Hockey is a game where everyone's constantly moving.  The only stoppage of play is when the refs blow the whistle for a penalty; and even then there's a quick face-off and play continues. Line changes are done on the fly. All the players on the ice are moving all the time. Players typically take less than one minute shifts- and trust me, when you come off the ice after skating hard for one minute, you are tired!

2. Scoring a goal is the right level of difficulty. In some sports it's too easy to score, while in other sports it's too hard. For example, I think it's too easy to score in basketball. The players are tall and can easily dunk the ball and scores get ridiculously high. When one teams gets the ball, they get a basket more often than not. On the other hand, in professional soccer, it's too hard to score a goal. The ball gets booted back and forth across the field without even a goal scoring opportunity presenting itself for many minutes. In hockey, however, there's a huge range. Shutouts are not uncommon (especially if the team has a good goalie) yet scores can range from a few goals to several (7, 8, 9, even double digits). What's more, goals can be lucky or they can a be a result of a great shot that took amazing skill.

3. The Skill. I'm not saying that other sports don't take skill. Each one requires a different set of skills, of course, and the athletes who excel at their sports are truly phenomenal. But hockey is such a unique combination of skills. You need to be able to skate (forwards, backwards, crossovers, and you have to have explosive starts) while controlling a little puck on the end of a hockey stick. You have to be able to deke, pass, and shoot accurately, all while taking hits and checks from other players on the ice. Besides this, you have to be able to play good defense and you have to have the endurance for a 60 minute game.

4. The Intensity. The fights. The checks. The fact that the game is constantly flowing- one minute your team is on the offensive, rattling off shots at the goalie; the next minute the puck clears the zone and your defenseman or goalie has to make a great save. The power plays and penalty kills are exciting because the whole game strategy changes with the difference in the number of players. I love that the momentum of the game can change in a matter of seconds. It takes less than a second to score a goal in hockey, so no lead is safe. There's always the opportunity to come back, even until the final minutes of the game.

5. Moments to cheer for. One of the best parts about being a fan of hockey is that there's practically always something to cheer for. A great goal. A great save. A great defensive play. A fight. Besides cheering, there's an even better reaction that I like to call "the gasp". When a player misses a perfect pass. When a shot hits the crossbar and bounces out. When the puck is sitting in front of the net and the goalie doesn't see it. There's a collective gasp among the spectators because those things are the game-changing, nail-biting moments that hockey is all about.

There's more I could say about hockey because it's such an amazing sport. I think the reason it's not more popular is because it's a sport that a lot of people haven't experienced for themselves. You can go out in the yard and throw a football around or kick a soccer ball. You can play basketball in the driveway. It's harder to find an ice rink to go to. And hockey equipment is expensive. Not only do you need the essentials- skates, stick, puck, and helmet- you also need all kinds of other pads. So there are a lot of barriers to learning to play the game.

The thing is, you don't need to know all that much about hockey to enjoy it. The rules aren't that complicated, and the excitement and enthusiasm at a hockey game is contagious! If you've never taken the time to watch an NHL game, give hockey a chance. You might be surprised at how entertaining it is and maybe you'll even agree with me that hockey is the best sport ever!

Joy to the World

Joy to the World! Yesterday was a celebration of the day God sent his son to earth for us. The God of the universe came to earth as a lowly little baby, born in a feeding trough, surrounded by animals. Our King was born in the most humble of circumstances. From the very beginning, Jesus's life wasn't easy. He would go on to be ridiculed, beaten, tortured, and eventually murdered. God knew all this beforehand, yet he still sent Jesus to us so that He could save us from our sins! How good God is to bless us so much when we are so undeserving.

I saw a reminder this year that really made me think: it was a little slogan that said "It's not YOUR birthday." How true. we make Christmas all about us- the presents we'll get, the trips we'll take, the time off work and time with family we'll get to enjoy. But it's not our birthday- it's Jesus's birthday. Christmas is a celebration of Him. We tell each other to "remember the reason for the season," but do we truly take that to heart? Do we honestly take time to realize all that God did for us on the night he sent his son to earth?

The notes in my NIV study Bible say that many Jews were looking for a political leader to deliver them from Roman rule, while others were hoping for a savior to deliver them from sickness and physical hardship. Instead, God gave them something even better- He sent a Savior who would deliver them from sin and death!

One last thought: It struck me that we use "Santa" as a way to get children to behave. Parents say things like, "You better be good, or Santa won't bring you any presents this year." The message is that we have to be good to get gifts from Santa. Aren't you glad God doesn't work that way? He didn't wait for us to do anything good, anything worthy before he sent his gift. In fact, He sent his son for us "while we were still sinners". Christmas is certainly a season to be joyful, not for what we get, but for what God already gave.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love!

Cupcakes in cups

A couple weeks ago my friend Bettina invited me to a Christmas tea party. We had lots of good tea party food, including baby lasagnas, little bruschetta bites, and these yummy Shirley Temple cupcakes (I know the site says gluten free, but I didn't use gluten-free flour). They were so good that I asked Bettina to send me the recipe, and I made them myself. I think the reason they're so yummy, light, and fluffy is because there's 7-up in the batter. I love that the bottom of the cupcake is red (extra maraschino cherry juice was added to some of the batter).

The cupcakes were so cute, but I had a dilemma on how to package them with all the other goodies. I didn't want to wrap them up in something that would stick to the frosting and I didn't want to waste tons of tupperware or put them in something that you couldn't see through. My mom had a great idea- we got little clear plastic cups to put the cupcakes in. Then we wrapped both cupcake and cup with clear plastic and tied it with colored ribbon. It looked so pretty- I wish I had taken a picture because they were really adorable! I'll definitely use this idea again the next time I have to package cupcakes!

Pretty Pretzels

I've spent the past couple days baking lots of treats for my dad's coworkers, and let me just say, I am ready to be done with baking now! As excited as I was at first to make all these treats, it's a lot of work. I literally spent three days baking stuff all day long. So while it was fun at first, I'm over it. The good news is, I'm almost done and I've got lots of goodies to show for all my hard work.

One of my favorite blogs is Our Best Bites and I'd been eager to try some of their recipes. One of the first things I made was their chocolate covered pretzel rods. I found some colored sprinkles at the store and thought they'd be so cute on the pretzels. I also found an awesome brand of pretzel rods where not a single pretzel in the 2 bags I bought was broken (and now I've forgotten what brand it was, sorry!). Anyway, here's how the pretzels turned out. I used sprinkles on some and dark & white chocolate on others. I plan to get some ribbon to tie on the ends so that they look extra cute.

Here are some other recipes I tried from Our Best Bites:
Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Peppermint Bark Rice Krispie treats

Those three recipes all seem to have a theme- peppermint and chocolate! Mainly because peppermint and chocolate is one of my favorite food pairings. They're each good separately, but together they become super delicious. Speaking of which, there's some awesome mint chocolate Christmas candy in stores right now. Like mint chocolate M&M's and mint chocolate special dark Hershey's. Yum!

Christmas cards

My mom found these do-it-yourself Christmas cards, and I think they are so adorable! All the pieces are there for you to stick on, but you can arrange the parts yourself. I loved making my own designs!

*Tristan and De- yours are different from these since I know you both read my blog! :)

Onion rings and donuts

It's so good to be home. Did I mention that yet? One of the things I was most excited about this year was to get to try some new recipes! Mainly because I finally have time to do so, but also because my mom is paying for the groceries (and some ingredients can be expensive for a poor grad student). I've been baking for the past 3 days, so don't be surprised if the next several posts are about food!

On our first day back, the theme was fried foods. Bud wanted to make homemade onion rings, and I wanted to make homemade pumpkin donuts. We were doing them at the same time, so it got a little crowded in the kitchen, but both turned out to be delicious.

For the onion rings, I sliced the onions thinly, then we soaked the onions in buttermilk before coating them with a flour mixture. Who knew that buttermilk was the key to making your own onion rings? Not me; at least, not until now.

We had burgers and onion rings for dinner. Not only did we have onion rings with our burgers, we put them ON our burgers. With barbecue sauce, too. SO GOOD! Ever since I got the Whisky River BBQ burger at Red Robin one time, I've loved burgers with onion rings and barbecue sauce.

The perfect ending to a good meal is a good dessert. The pumpkin donuts hit the spot. As I mentioned before, I've been addicted to all things pumpkin this year, so I was excited to try pumpkin donuts. I had tried Krispy Kreme pumpkin donuts earlier this year and I wasn't impressed. These donuts are much better!

The recipe for the donuts can be found here: The Family Kitchen. They aren't hard to make and since they're cake donuts, no yeast is required. I didn't have a donut cutter, so I just used a large cup for the big circle and a little protein scoop for the middle. The buttermilk glaze was the icing on top (literally!).

Home Sweet Home

It's so good to be home! Bud and I drove home after my last final on Wednesday. It was a last-minute decision to try to leave on Wednesday. We were going to wait till Thursday but decided that we just wanted to get home! We didn't leave until 1pm, so we drove straight through- only two 10 minutes stops. We didn't hit any traffic and we made excellent time- we got home in 11 hours (usually it's a 12-13 hour drive)! The best part about being home (other than being with my family again) is finally having time to relax and refresh. This semester wore me out mentally and physically. I got sick the last few days of finals and lost my voice. I'm still trying to recover and can't wait to get rid of this nasty cough and cold. The good news is I'm finally done with this semester and I never have to take 21 credits again!

I have lots of fun things planned for break. First of all, I have to help my mom make cookies for my dad's coworkers. Last year we did chocolate & caramel popcorn, but this year I found lots of recipes on Pinterest and other blogs that I want to try. A bigger project that I've been wanting to do is to make a t-shirt blanket with all my old t-shirts. I don't know if there will be enough time over Christmas break, but it's definitely something I want to try in the future.Other plans for break include reading a lot, going to a Sharks hockey game, learning to run in the cold, going to exercise classes at Fitness Concepts, playing the newest Nancy Drew game, and playing on the Kinect.

I'm so excited to be home with my family again! Btw, here's a picture I found from Thanksgiving- me trying to get the frozen neck out of the turkey!

God wants everything

I'm going to be really honest. For the past week I have been struggling spiritually. As hard as it's been, I think it's been a good thing! Let me explain. For a long time, I've basically been ignoring God. Yes, I love him. Yes, I am saved. But I was so self-absorbed that I didn't make a lot of time for God or try to grow in my relationship with him. I followed a lot of the Christian "rules"- I went to church, I was kind to others, I didn't do anything horribly bad. Lately I've been realizing- that's not enough! That is NOT what God wants. He doesn't want us to do our best at trying to live the Christian life. He wants us to follow Him.

Through reading "Crazy Love" and seeking God, I recognized that my life up until now has not been characterized by faith. Now that I am actually trying to follow God, I realize how hard it is. God doesn't want a little bit from us, he wants EVERYTHING. And I feel this inner struggle because I don't want to give him everything. (I want to want to, but right now I'm not there yet). I don't want to give up my plans and dreams. I don't want to leave my comfort zone. I don't want to follow Christ if it will make me look foolish.

Basically, I want to live for Christ, but I don't want it to be hard. I know that's ridiculous, because Jesus tells us time and time again that following him is not easy. I know in my head that the Christian life is not supposed to be easy, but sometimes I still foolishly expect that. For instance, I think "God, I did my devotional today, so you should bless me today and give me a great day." What? When did my thinking become so convoluted? God doesn't need to reward me for spending time with him. It's not a bargain, where if I spend half an hour in the morning seeking God, that means that God won't let anything bad happen to me for the rest of the day. Sometimes I seem to think that my life will be easier and more peaceful if I just trusted God more. Like if I just spend some time with God and trust him more, I'll go about my life never worrying, with an inner joy and peace that no one can touch. The problem is I'm still thinking about it as MY life. I want to get joy and peace from God, but I still want to pursue MY dreams, MY desires, and live life MY way. It's just not possible. If I want to have joy and peace from God, I have to GIVE UP my life. That is the cost. He requires everything. And it's not easy.

In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus talks about the cost of following Him. There are three people who want to follow Jesus, but aren't ready to pay the cost.
1. The first says, "I will follow you wherever you go" (v57). Jesus basically tells him that it's going to be hard. Jesus himself had "no place to lay his head" (v58). He was living in poverty. He was traveling through dangerous places. The first person is so eager to follow Jesus, but Jesus's response wasn't to rejoice that He had gained another follower; it was to warn this guy that it wasn't going to be easy and he had better be prepared for some serious hardships!

2. Jesus commanded another man "Follow me" (v59). This second man hesitates because his father is dying. He wants to take care of his father first, then he will follow Jesus. Jesus's response seems harsh: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Jesus doesn't want anything to get in the way of us following him. Not our love for someone else. Not a family commitment. Not a son taking care of his dying father. Jesus has to be first in our lives. It's easy to say that we will follow Christ soon. "When we have got clear of such a care and difficulty, when we have dispatched such a business, raised an estate to such a pitch, then we will begin to think of being religious; and so we are cozened out of all our time, by being cozened out of the present time" (Matthew Henry's commentary). There is no excuse for not following Christ now.

(I think I relate the most to this guy. God is calling me to follow Him, but I'm full of excuses. For a long time my excuse has been school. I've told God that I'll follow him as soon as I'm not so busy and stressed out with schoolwork. How foolish I've been to let school come between me and God!)

3. The third man said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me say goodbye to my family" (v61). Again, it seems like a reasonable request. But Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (v62). The third man was too concerned about worldly things. He was worried with family concerns and could not easily part from his relatives. Jesus wants us to be totally committed to following him, not looking back at the life we left behind.

Jesus talks about the cost of being a disciple again a couple of chapters later, in Luke 14:25-33. Jesus says that if we want to follow him we must hate our father, mother, brothers, and sisters, even our own life. If we don't, we cannot be his disciple. That's asking a lot- and Jesus knew it! He does not want a blind, naive commitment from someone who expects only blessings. He wants us to count the cost and see if we're ready to give Him what it takes. We can't be half-hearted followers of Christ; it's all or nothing.

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33

Waterfall Braid

Okay, so I'd heard about Pinterest before, but never really had much interest in joining it. I mean, what's the point of having an online pinboard? Can't you just look up recipes yourself when you need them? But my friend Bettina told me about some of the cool things she's found on Pinterest, so I decided to take a look. The thing is, people are really creative and some of the stuff is pretty inspiring! It's not just recipes and crafts- there's info on fashion, hairstyles, photography, fitness, and even some motivational sayings. There's also the occasional picture of a celebrity, which I don't really understand. And I've noticed that there's lots of pictures of places like Italy and Greece, too. Not helpful. It just makes me want to go there more!

Anyway, I came across a picture of this hairstyle, which I just absolutely LOVE!

My inspiration

It's called a Waterfall Braid, and the trick is to leave out strands of hair as you braid so that the extra pieces cascade down from the rest of the braid. You can youtube "waterfall braid" for tips on how to do it. I thought this was such a cool, unique look. I tried to do it myself, although mine didn't turn out nearly as well as that picture.

My first attempt. I did mine a little differently. I started from each side so that the braids met in a V in the middle. It looks a little uneven in these pictures, but I swear, it wasn't!

This is a close-up, but it's still a little hard to see. I thought this hairstyle was great for my hair, because I have thin hair. Usually if I try to braid part of it back like that, there's not enough hair still hanging down for it to look good. But this way, you leave pieces out, so there's hair coming out of the braid all the way around. I'm going to have to experiment more and see if I can do a better job with it, but I was impressed by how cool it looked even with my first attempt!

*Update* My second attempt. (Actually I had to re-do it about 5 times). This time I tried to do one braid and wrap it around instead of doing two that meet in the middle. The hard part is figuring out what to do once you get to the end! Eventually, I just braided a few extra times and then twisted the hair to make it stay.

So cool, and it's not very hard. Like I said, the hardest part is figuring out what to do with the rest of the hair at the end. Hopefully with practice I can get it to look more like that original picture.

Christmas Cones

Last week at Bible study, I discovered Cinnamon scented pine cones. I had been sitting at the dining room table and something smelled SO good. I thought it was something baking in the oven, or maybe a scented candle (although normally I don't like scented candles too much because they're usually too overpowering). This wasn't a strong smell though; it was a faint, muted smell. Sometimes I didn't smell it at all, but then I'd get a whiff of it again, and it smelled so wonderfully Christmas-y and homey that finally I asked "What is that smell?"

Well, I found out it was the pine cones. I was extremely excited when I went to Joanne Fabrics a few days later and found those exact pine cones for sale! I bought them, along with a basket to put them in. I think they look adorable on our windowsill. I love walking into the apartment each day after school and smelling that delightful scent. It reminds me of everything Christmas- woods and cinnamon and hot chocolate and cookies baking and apple cider. I don't know how one little pine cone smells like that much goodness, but it does.

My adorable little Christmas cones

It makes me so happy! I can almost smell it through the computer. :)

Balance

Since getting back from Thanksgiving break, I've felt a little out of sync. I've had some trouble getting back into my routine. I had been doing really well with getting up early to do a devotional and work out, and now it seems that I can't wake up as early as I could before. I've still managed to do my devotional every morning, but I've been tired and I don't have as much motivation as before. I wonder if this is the devil trying to discourage me? Or if it's a sign that I need to have more balance in my life.

I usually have a lot of enthusiasm for things when I first start them, especially when I plan a new schedule. So when I first started this new routine I was really excited about it. But I also tend to get obsessed with things. I'll be really into something for awhile, then it's on to the next thing. I don't want my relationship with Jesus to be like that! I don't want to be really committed and fired-up for a time, then fall away again. So I'm continuing to have my quiet time every day, but still struggling to find a balance among all the things I want to fit into my life.

Sometimes I would love just to spend time with God all morning, but I have to put my journal down and get ready for school. Sometimes schoolwork becomes my biggest time-consumer, but I still want to set aside time to spend with God. Sometimes my workout/running/word-games-on-facebook/blogging becomes a big passion and I obsessively spend lots of time on those things for awhile. I wish I could find a balance and make time for all the things I enjoy on a regular basis. I'm trying to set up some new goals so that I'll be able to do this. Some of my ideas are:

• Cut out time-wasters (things that I don't even really enjoy that much, but I spend lots of time on anyway)
• Stop procrastinating (because that leaves no time for the things I enjoy)
• Plan time for the things I love.

Simple, really. But easier said than done!