Would You Like To Know...

...one of the funniest scenes from television I have ever seen?  It's from The Vicar of Dibley, a hilarious show about a female vicar in a tiny village in the UK.  The show is a bit older, but you don't have to know any of the background story to enjoy this exchange between Geraldine and Alice.

Would You Like To Know...

...what is in my desk drawer at work?  Some of the following items are sure to be found in my top left hand drawer throughout the week:

The Happy World of Haribo: the best gummy candies of all time- specifically, Haribo Frogs

My favourite tea (I also adore Twinnings Irish Breakfast as well): perfect anytime of day

Chocolate, as in good chocolate.  As in, most likely not American chocolate

Before you chortle, I will have you know this drawer is very necessary not only for my survival, but also for the survival of several other coworkers.  Notice the (over) abundance of chocolate, sugar, and caffeine.  Does this say anything about my job?

Also, please know that I do have a toothbrush, toothpaste, and even floss in my drawer as well.  Yes, friends, I take my tea, chocolate, and dental hygiene very seriously.

Would You Like To Know...

....my favourite piece of music?  It's Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  Hands down- best.music.ever.  I know it sounds lame, but in college and graduate school, I would study with classical music in the background; I like to think I produced some of my greatest work while listening to Vivaldi, Brahms, and Grieg.  Here's a great clip of Summer; just try to ignore the nutter violist in the background.

Would You Like To Know...

...what my husband reads to me at night (or rather, tries to read to me since I am generally passed out well before he's finished all of his studying and reading and researching and writing for class)?  This lovely book:

The Jesus Storybook Bible is amazing.  If you have children, this is a definite must-get for them.  It goes through all the major stories of the Bible- both Old Testament and New Testament- and delivers the stories accurately, but in such a way that it is easier to understand how Jesus is seen throughout the entire Bible, and not just the New Testament.  Seriously, it's the best children's Bible ever.

Would You Like To Know...

...whose birthday it is today?  It's this girl's:

That is, it's Jen's birthday.  I'm not even sure when Jack's birthday is.  This chica (also known as smuckabeine, skank, and hoochie mama- all lovingly endearing terms) is one of my best friends.  We were roommates basically from 2002-2007 (in two different states, two different dorm rooms, and two different apartments).  She moved out of the country right after Isaac and I got married, but I was able to convince her to move to Louisville when she came back to the States.  Let me tell you, it's weird to be living in the same city but not in the same house as Jen.  Still, I'm glad I get to celebrate her birthday with her- in the flesh- for the first time since 2006.

Happy 27th Jen!

Would You Like To Know...

...my favourite magazine?  It's the only one to which I currently have a subscription (but due to budget constraints, I won't be able to renew that.  Good thing it's got a great website):

One of the best things about Good?  You pay for the subscription, but the money is donated directly to charity; they raise all their money from advertising.

Would You Like To Know...

...what I bought at Target last week?

Oh.yes.I.did.

Would You Like To Know...

...my favorite websites to visit on a regular basis?  Here's another infamous top five list; I did not include checking my email or even visiting facebook, because as much time as I spend 'writing emails, sending emails, deleting emails...I could go on' (a little nod The IT Crowd, only the greatest show of all time) and as much as I enjoy looking at my friends' pictures on facebook, it's not really a favourite place on the web.  Here are my true favourites:

1.  BBC News- This is my all-time favourite news site (no surprise there, I'm sure).  It is packed to the gills with information from all over the entire world (and it obviously does not have a US-centric view, which can get quite annoying), but it also has one of the coolest features in the entire world: the one-minute world update- the latest news in literally one minute.  Whenever I need a break from work, I usually pop on over to BBC News and watch the one-minute clip.  My other favourite bit is the 'In Pictures' section, which contains pictures from the day from around the world.  Granted, it's not as intense as The Big Picture, but it still pretty cool.

2. BBC Pod Casts- At 9:00 am, NPR broadcasts the BBC News Hour; unfortunately, I'm rarely in my car at 9:00 am.  I'm either sitting in my office or at the Refugee Elder Program, and I therefore miss the News Hour pretty much every.single.day.  Enter BBC Pod Casts (cue angels singing).  Check out this website to download the latest News Hour on BBC Radio.  I listen to it while I'm typing on reports, lesson planning, and heck, even while I'm on hold with the SSA (which ironically enough, hold music at the Downtown SSA office= church music.  Hmmm, I'm all for church music, but a government office selects it as their hold music?  My church doesn't even have church music as their hold music).

3.  NPR- Again, I'm not always in my car to listen to the different broadcasts on NPR, but I can pop over to NPR's website and listen to just about whatever show I want.  The site isn't just a bunch of podcasts; they have excellent news coverage with great analysis, including national and world news, art, film, and music, as well as editorials and random other fun tidbits.  Be sure to check out Will Shortz's Sunday Puzzles section!

4. The Big Picture- I've shared this website with you in the past, and it's really one of my favourite places on the web to visit.  The Big Picture is the photo blog of The Boston Globe and gathers images from around the world to convey newsworthy stories.  Each week, the editor publishes a few different collection of photos (generally Monday, Wednesday, and Friday); the photos are always high-quality and include detailed captions.  Most of the time the images are related to popular current news, but sometimes the photos focus on lesser-known news; historical photos are also published as well.

5. FreeRice- The site has been around for a few years now; it was created in 2007 by John Breen, who donated the program to the United Nations in March 2009.  The site is now run by the United Nations Food Programme and has two goals: 'provide education free to everyone' and 'help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free'.  Basically, you choose a subject and are quizzed; for every question you get correct, ten grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Programme.  Money comes from corporate sponsors and advertisers.  Ten grains may not sound like a lot of rice, but over half a million people have been utilizing the website every day for the past three years.  All that rice certainly does add up!  In Uganda, 66,000 school children were feed for over a week; in Nepal, 108,000 refugees were fed for three days; in Bangladesh, 27,000 refugees were fed for three weeks.  That's just a snippet of the work FreeRice is helping to accomplish.  Click here to see a great video explaining how FreeRice is making a difference.

Would You Like To Know...

...what we had for dinner last night?  Delicious Deutsche food in honor of Oktoberfest's final week.  I told you I was going to enjoy some overly-fattening German cuisine this week!  The hubs took me out to Erika's German Restaurant, where we enjoyed not only delectable food, but also the wonderful hospitality of Erika, the ridiculously cute owner of the restaurant.  Seriously, I wanted to take her home with me.  Erika is originally from Nurnberg (bonus material: I got my elbow x-rayed in Nurnberg when I broke it as a child.  The x-ray machine in Bamberg was broken...) and came to the states twenty-four years ago.  She opened the restaurant seven years ago and has been serving up authentic German dishes ever since.  Behold our meal:

Spatze, made by request.  Oh how I love this concoction.

Schnitzel and spatzel.  To.die.for.

Black Forest Cake- the best I've ever had. 

The best thing is that the portions are huge, so we took home plenty of schnitzel and spatzel.  I am so excited for leftovers!



Would You Like To Know...

...one of my (not so) secret ambitions?  To be on NPR's Sunday Morning Puzzles.  Isaac and I listen usually listen to the show on the way to church, and I always imagine being on air and brilliantly answering all of Will Shortz's tricky puzzles.  But then the enthusiasm is usually dampened by the realization that I would probably make a complete idiot of myself on national radio.

Oh well.  A girl can dream, can't she?

Would You Like To Know...

...what I'm doing today?  The hubs and I are flying here:

to meet her:

Not your fairy godmother, by the one and only Mumsy.

so we can attend the wedding of her:

Beloved childhood friend in incredibly embarrassing picture from our New Year's Eve adventure...

And while we're there, we're going to see this:

Only my favourite Broadway show of all time...

Could I be anymore excited?  Let me check...No.

Would You Like To Know...

...my new favourite music-makers?  It's the chaps from Mumford and Sons.  Isaac introduced me to this band a few weeks ago (This is how our marriage works: he finds the good music, I find the good television shows, and we both find the good books.  This way, we ensure quality entertainment for our life together), and I can't get their music out of my head- which I feel is a good thing, I might add.

I can't really decide which is my favourite song of theirs; basically, I think it's whichever song to which I'm listening at that moment.  Isaac decided his favourite is The Cave:



Little Lion Man is probably their most famous song; apparently the Aussies especially love it (I'm showing you a clip of them playing on Letterman several months ago instead of the official video, which is super amazing and will blow your mind, but unfortunately has a pretty severe curse word in the chorus):



Several of their songs are simply haunting beautiful: Timshel and Awake My Soul.  Others are more intense: I Gave You All and Dust Bowl Dance.  All of them are amazing and pure.musical.genius.  What also is incredible is that the guys all play multiple instruments; apparently, they often switch instruments during the show according to what is convenient for the song or set.  And did you notice him playing the guitar and the bass drum at the same time?  Um, hello.  I wish I possessed some fraction of talent like that!  Now, their musical genius aside, my other favourite bit about these guys is their lead singer.  Isaac and I decided that if comical geniuses Ricky Gervais and Stephen Fry were to have a child together, Marcus Mumford just might be the result.  I present to you the evidence below:

What do you think?  Of course, I mean no disrespect to Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry, and Marcus Mumford in making this connection.  Because really, they are all phenomenally talented in their trade.  So, show them some respect and go watch some of The Office, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and then listen to Sigh No More ...and allow yourself to be amazed.

And I'm going to help you do just that: if I could, I would seriously post every single one of their songs, but since I can't, you'll just have to settle for one more song from Mumford and Sons.  Right now, I think this song- Dust Bowl Dance- is actually my favourite.  Thanks to the students who filmed this last year for a student project (don't they sound amazing live?!?): 

Would You Like To Know...

...some great websites to help you save and even earn a little money?  But of course you do!  I have no shame in admitting we're a poor couple consisting of a seminary student and a social worker (yeah, we're bringing in the big bucks), so we try to take advantage of every opportunity for freebies or discounts.  I don't spend all day scourging the Internet looking for deals, but I have come across some very easy websites which help me a bit with the finances.  These websites aren't a replacement for good old fashioned hard work and determined saving, but every little bit helps.  I'm determined not to involve myself (or you) with any gimmicks, so these websites are tried and true!  Here are my favourites:

1) Swagbucks.  You know I have to mention this one.  It's simply fantastic!  Swagbucks is a site which started out as a search engine but has developed into much more.  The whole concept is centered around earning these nifty little digital dollars called Swagbucks, which you can then exchange for items in the Swag Store.  The store is stocked with all sorts of goodies, but my favourite are definitely the gift cards available: Amazon, Target, Starbucks- even Southwest Airlines!  You earn Swagbucks through using their site as search engine, randomly winning various amount of the digital dollars.  You can also earn Swagbucks by participating in daily polls, surveys, and other activities, as well as referring other people to the website.  It's completely free and 100% legitimate.  I have earned over $100 to use at Amazon.com and have purchased a good deal of these year's Christmas presents using Swagbucks.

2) Ebates.  This is a relatively new site to me, but I have heard it mentioned before by several people.  Ebates offers you cash rewards by shopping online; you simply log into the Ebates website first and then click through to the store at which you are shopping.  You can earn as much as 25% cash back on your purchases, but most of them are around 2-5%.  They have all the usual stores: Target, Kohl's JCPenney, Half.com, Ebay, etc.  Once a quarter, Ebates sends you a check.  Again, this probably isn't going to add up to much (unless you are doing a lot of online shopping), but why wouldn't you take the opportunity to get a little bit of money back if you are purchasing something anyway?  You can also refer people; I was referred by a friend and was even given five dollars to start (and don't laugh at that- five dollars is a lot of cash, friends)!  If you're using Swabucks and Ebates, imagine what a difference it could actually make in your budget.

3) RewardPort.  The website looks a little shady, but I promise it's legit; it's even a member of the Better Business Bureau.  RewardPort simply sends you emails with links to different websites; by visiting the website, you earn a certain amount of points.  I usually click on the link, let the web browser open the site, and then move onto the next email.  It's always a good idea to clean out your cookies!  If you click through the emails once a day or every few days, it literally takes about one minute to earn a fair amount of points.  You then exchange your points for gift cards in a way similar to Swagbucks.  I've got my eye on a $10 Amazon giftcard or $25 Restaurant.com card.  I think it's a good idea to have an alternative email to use for sites like RewardPort; otherwise your main email could get rather clogged. 

4) MyPoints.  MyPoints is similar to RewardPort; they send you BonusMail through your email.  You simply visit the partner site to earn points; there are also opportunities to participate in surveys so that you can earn even more points.  You can also do something similar to Ebates in that you click through to your online shopping by going through the MyPoints website first.  You can then exchange your points for a ton of different giftcards.  MyPoints seems to take a bit longer for me to store up points, but again, it's literally about thirty seconds of my day.  The prizes are comparable to other sites like RewardPort, etc.

5) Book Review Blogging Sites.  Okay, so you're probably not going to actually make money doing this, but you can definitely save a good deal- especially if you are a bookworm who finds a shopping trip to the book store way too tempting.  I started doing book reviews on my blog for several different companies just last year, but I've already gotten tons of free books!  Not all of them are destined to set on my shelves forever, but I have definitely enjoyed getting to read just about all of the books.  Generally you are allowed to request one book at a time and aren't allowed to request another book until you've posted your review, but some companies will allow you to request several books at once, and you'll often get them all!  Keep in mind you can't just request any book- there is a limited selection each publishing company offers and you choose from that selection.  Shoot, sometimes you can even get DVDs too.  I currently review for Thomas Nelson, NavPress, Bethany House, Waterbrook Multnomah, and Tyndale House.  Mmm....free books!

What about you?  What do you do to save money?

Would You Like To Know...

...my all-time favourite painting?  It's this one:

 Vincent van Gogh, Almond Blossom, February 1890

It's even more amazing in person; trust me, I stared at it for three hours straight at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam a few years back.

Would You Like To Know?

So you know how it seems everyone has those themed posts for particular days of the week?  The ones with titles like, "What's on the Menu Mondays" and "Wordless Wednesdays" and "Fanciful Fridays"?  It must be a requirement to employ alliteration when choosing a name.  I've thought about participating in those...but then I feel all odd about it because I'm not a professional blogger or even a very good blogger at that!

However, I kept thinking back to what Tracie mentioned several months ago: she wanted to more about my everyday life.  I'm pretty sure you don't want to know that I ate a whole wheat English muffin with Laughing Cow Sun-Roasted Tomato Mozzarella cheese for breakfast this morning or that I had a brilliantly hopeful meeting about N-648s earlier this week or that my coworker is making me fat by sharing her chocolate bars with me (while she, of course, remains blissfully skinny).  At any rate, I thought it might be fun to at least try to be a better, more consistent blogger who refrains from posting an obscene amount of video clips just to get in a few posts before the end of the month; so I submit to you my idea to ensure you are blessed with the chance to read a post written by me at least once a week (well...okay, in theory...but you get the idea).  It's called Would You Like To Know Wednesday.  I don't plan on making it a big deal, but thought I might as well give it a try...but if enough people tell me this is the most ridiculous idea they've ever heard, I'll give it up...but I kinda like the sound of it.  And yes, I like alliteration; hence, I use it on a regular basis.

Hopefully this endeavor will force me to become a more consistent blogger-which is just what the world needs, I know- but wasn't that one of my goals for the year?  Discipline is a good thing...and a good thing of which I need to learn a great deal more.  Feel free to participate (I'm not doing one of those Mr. Linky things because I have absolutely no idea how and I object to the name 'Mr. Linky' in the first place), and if you have something you would like to know...well, ask me.

PS- Anyone want to take bets on how long I actually keep up with this initiative?