Attention Christian men: Stop acting like boys

I feel the need to speak on an issue that doesn't get addressed enough.
Christian men, stop dragging women along if you have no interest in them. For the life of me, I cannot understand why you continue to invest emotional energy in the women in your life if you have no interest in pursuing a relationship with them. I'm not talking about causal friends who just happen to hang out once in awhile and have surface level conversations. I'm talking about the guys who give specialized attention to one of their female friends on a consistent basis with no intentions of the relationship progressing whatsoever.
YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO A WOMAN'S HEART!

I have multiple friends (3 without even dwelling on it) in this situation:
A guy starts hanging out with her alone consistently, texting her constantly, giving her compliments on a regular basis, having her spend time with his family, etc. He doesn't do this with anyone else. It's not as if she is part of a group of people he is inviting to do all these things. When asked by the girl, or others, what his intentions are, he gives generic responses like "I'm not ready for a relationship" or "I don't really know how I feel about you, I need time to think" or any of those generic statements women hear. If the guy doesn't feel anything beyond platonic feelings for said girl, he should change how he is treating her because obviously, he's given her the wrong impression. I understand how this happens. Sometimes, guys are just completely oblivious to the situation, but once it's brought into the light, he needs to man up and change his behavior.

First of all, the girl shouldn't have to sit you, the man, down to have a chat about this. You should make your intentions clear from the beginning. If you are interested, GREAT! If you're not, stop acting like it! Perhaps you didn't realize the magnitude of your actions. So, once this has been brought to your attention, you need to be very cautious about how you handle this delicate friendship. Simply stating that you are not ready for a relationship does NOTHING to remedy the situation without seriously tweaking the way you interact with her. You can tell her you're not interested until you're blue in the face, but if you still text her constantly, invite her to hang out alone, etc. it's your problem, not hers for 'reading to too much into it' which females get accused of enough as it is.

Men - If you have a guy friend who is doing this to a girl, you need to man up and tell him how it is! Stop sucking as friends and rebuke your brother(s) in Christ!

And to the ladies (who aren't completely without fault in some cases) - If a guy tells you he's not interested, but continues to treat you like he is...you need to stop wasting your time. Let it be known that he is not acting like a man of Christ, then cut him out. In the same way that his actions speak louder than his words (in regards to continuing to treat you the same even after the "conversation") your actions speak louder than words as well. Simply telling him he's being a tool while allowing him to get away with toying with your heart will do him no good in the future.

Anyway, sorry I just went on and on about that, but I'm very frustrated with Christian men who act like babies and the men (and women) who let them get away with it.

Bottom line:
Stop acting like tools. Man up and start acting in a manner worthy of the gospel!

apartment chaos

Our apartment is still in the "settling in" stage of its existence. We finally finished all the painting and things, but there are still many items without a "home".
For example, my bookshelf broke, so it's now only 3 shelves instead of 5, so all of my binders from past music classes that I actually need to keep, are piled up under the coffee table with many more stacked to the side in a corner. All of the other books that didn't fit in that 5 shelf bookshelf initially, are sitting on the floor of the office along with all the wedding gifts that need to be returned, given away, or put on the walls. I put trash out on the porch the other night, forgot about it, and something got into it creating a mess and a warning phone call from the office that we received at 730 this morning. And to top off my over-dramatic retelling of the "mess" that is my life (I meant that sarcastically because you see, I know I'm over reacting) my kitchen was a MESS! *Why is it that no matter how many times you clean your kitchen, or how often, it's still messy?*
So, the day started off crappy, and continued with me scrubbing my kitchen and picking up everything I own (with the exception of the bedroom - that's another story) while tears were streaming down my face because I was so frustrated that I still had stuff everywhere.

Now, I know this is a season. We're not settled in all the way, our classes are JUST getting into the swing of things, B started a new job, I have a slight schedule change with my job, etc, but I have NO idea what caused me to flip out this morning. I'm just very glad the husband was already gone because I would have taken this irrational crap out on him.



Ok, I feel better!
<3

Addiction

If you're a SYTYCD fan, you've probably already seen this video, but I ran across it the other day, and I can't stop watching it!

The song is called "Gravity" by Sara Bareillas and the name of the piece is called "Addiction". I love modern dance and this piece makes me cry almost every time I watch it.


Enjoy!










AND as an extra, from a few seasons ago:

Sojourn Community Church

My Tylenol PM is kicking in, so I can't really write a post on the topic of how amazing Sojourn is, but you can check them out here:

Sojourn Community Church
(I tried to make it a link, but it was being silly
You can thank your husband).


I'll write more about why it is such a great community when I am not about to fall asleep!

BBQ RIB SUCCESS!

Hello loves!
In my last post, I mentioned that I was making Bryan BBQ Ribs in the slow cooker! I also said that if they turned out well, I'd share the recipe!
WELL they were AMAZING! I was very surprised and super impressed! I've never made ribs ever...and I've never made anything in the crock pot either, SO I was super pumped to start!
I got the recipe from Taste of Home magazine, their August & September 2009 issue! It seriously took 15 minutes to prep this morning and then I just left them all day!


Secret's in the Sauce BBQ Ribs:
2 racks pork baby back ribs (about 4-1/2 lbs)
1-1/2 tsp. pepper
2-1/2 cups barbecue sauce (I chose KC Masterpiece Original)
3/4 cup cherry preserves
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (Kroger brand for me)
1 garlic clove, minced (I used a tsp. of the pre-minced stuff because I don't go through enough fresh garlic to buy an entire clove.)

Cut rings into serving-size pieces; sprinkle with pepper. Place in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. (I only used 1 rack in my 4 quart cooker and froze the other rack). Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with sauce. (I only had to cook mine for 5...they were already falling off the bone!)




These ribs were so good!! They fell right off the bone. B LOVED them! I threw together some frozen mixed veggies and we had a nice meal!
I've decided that crock pot meals are the WAY TO GO, especially since I will be working dinner shifts 3 nights a week. B can most certainly help himself to a great dinner without having much kitchen knowledge or having to order take-out!

<3
YaY!
I think I'm starting to REALLY like this cooking thing!!!

Next task:
From the same issue of Taste of Home: Gooey Chocolate Cookies!
Tonight?
Perhaps!

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

My husband LOVES BBQ and he LOVES ribs, so this morning, I'm attempting to put the two together using a recipe from Taste of Home magazine! They go in the crock pot, which I'm super pumped about!

If they turn out alright, I'll put the recipe up here! If not, then I'll just keep the disaster to myself!
It's a crock pot, and not that easy to mess up *luckily* and this is my first crock pot dish ever!

I'm pumped!

<3

Fatigue

I have been having a problem for the past week and a half. I'm not sure what is causing it, but I am overly tired in the morning and half of the afternoon. It takes me hours to get moving, and that's just not typical for me. I know I have been sleeping differently because I've been dreaming almost every night the whole night, so maybe this has something to do with it.
I also think that once we get in to some type of routine, it will be much easier on my body. It just SUCKS right now.
I looked up all the possible causes of fatigue, and the only ones that even kind of apply are the stress, unbalanced diet, and lack of routine.

Hopefully, this will be worked out once we get things more settled around here!

I don't like waking up feeling like I took Nyquil every single night!

:(
Sad day.