Just Because it is Hilarious!

What has my wee lad and I laughing our socks off these days?

These commercials (below).... Enjoy!

P.S. Little Lad's favorite is the "Liquid Gooold" one. That commercial reminds me of when my brother was little. After we watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, he would sing the Adam Pontipee classic "Bless your beautiful Hiiiiiide, wherever you may beee" with full blown opera-ish voice (what is that called?). It was hilarious, especially since he was a pretty young and definitely pre-pubescent lad trying to intimidate Pontipee's deep voice and singing style. Haha! It was so cute to see him trying to sing like that!

 

 Just so you know what I'm talking about, "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" And the other hilarious commercials in the series....

 





Seriously hilarious... seriously.

My Favorite Steve Jobs Tributes

I keep thinking about writing about Steve Jobs and how he impacted my life through his products and innovations but I can't seem to find the words. I'm going to leave it to a compilation of some of my favorite bloggers to give my tribute to Mr. Jobs.

On Yom Kippur and Gratitude, by Tori Avey of The Shiksa in the Kitchen. (It is relavent, I love this post).

My Plural Marriage, An Ode to Steve Jobs by C. Jane Kendrick of C. Jane Enjoy It.

Steve Jobs by Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom

and a short but sweet one:

Steve Jobs by Freshly Picked

The day he died, I found out 2 minutes after I woke up since it was on the news on the TV downstairs. Cancer. Gosh, I didn't know about that. I couldn't help but to think that this was the second person I know that has died of cancer in the last two weeks. About one minute after that my brother (who teased me for being a staunch Apple fan, until he too converted because the genius of the brand could no longer be denied), texted me to tell me the news. We exchanged a few texts of sympathy and shock. I called my best friend to tell her because her husband develops iphone and ipad apps pretty much since the beginning of that whole thing. She was surprised. No doubt he impacted their life, not only because of her husband's career but because all three of her boys had not only destroyed at least one apple product each in their first few years of life (costing them a small fortune because these were required work tools for dad) but, they are all proficient on the iphone or ipad by the time they are out of toddler-hood. As a result I got my son using the ipod early too. He took to it like a moth to a flame, or perhaps as it will be one day known, "like a toddler to an ipod".

My baby enjoying songs on our (his) ipod. 

For their family and mine, Steve Job's innovations are part of daily life. It's been a real blessing to me and so many others. I know that this can't be an easy time for his family. My thoughts are with them.  Yeah, I didn't know him personally but, I am definitely feeling the loss. As my friend over at Freshly Picked said, "You will be missed Steve, but your spirit lives on....In 5 (make that 2 at my house) devices in my house." 

Inspire Me Monday: Opportunities to do Good

I was going to post something else for today but since I've seen this I can't stop thinking about it and the ways we can come together for someone in need. I love that for this family it included neighbors, church members and eventually everything changed for them because of a stranger and their gift. I hope we remember that our opportunities do not have to be big moments like this either. We don't have to wait until we hear of something like this to make a difference. There are a lot of small and simple needs that are not as large scale as this but would make all the difference in the world to someone. Watch and be inspired to love your neighbor!

Foodie Friday: Apple Honey Cake or Cupcakes

Source: TheShiksa.com

Source: TheShiksa.com

I realize that today is not Rosh HaShanah, that it is Yom Kippur, which is a day of fasting (read more about that here). BUT, I wanted to give one more nod to these Jewish Holy Days with a recipe that I am so excited to try. So, I am posting another fab one from The Shiksa in the Kitchen. This Rosh HaShanah Honey Apple Cake recipe looks fantastic and I am excited to try it.

It also seems just perfect for fall. You have to scroll down a bit for the recipe but there is a place where you can print out a nice copy of just the recipe, which, I think is fantastic. I think the post makes good reading too.

Source: TheShiksa.com

Additionally, I am going to add the link to another post, titled, "Family Fun: Rosh HaShanah Honey Apple Cupcakes" because this is a great idea for those who want to celebrate Rosh HaShanah next year in style. This is a guest post written by Brenda Ponnay of Secret Agent Josephine, another great blog. There are adorable and free little printables for the holiday and she made the cake into cupcake form (which is what I will do when I make them). This recipe looks taste-y to the core! Get it... apples... core... heh. Aw, forget it! Enjoy!

Inspire Me Monday: General Conference

I feel very lucky to have the belief system that I have. I find that when I learn more about and study my religion, I am uplifted and motivated to be better. This past weekend was very inspiring to me. It was the semi-annual General Conference for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I invite you to go to this link and list to it, even one talk. It's difficult to point out one or two things that stood out to me, since the whole conference really lifted me and filled me with the Spirit of God. Pick a title of a talk that stands out to you. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most inspiring thing in my life so thanks for allowing me to share that with you. Here's a clip of highlights from this past conference (October 1 & 2).

Pomegranate Juice and Recipes for Rosh HaShanah

The Photo that inspired this post. Photo Source: TheShiksa.com

 To begin with let me first mention that I have a deep fascination and love of Jewish Holidays, I don't actually know much about them (yet, I intend to study up on it), but the bits that I do know about, I can really appreciate. So naturally, I have been googling "Rosh HaShanah" - the Jewish New Year, which is now (yesterday and today),  over the last few days. One of the reasons why I love Jewish Holidays so much is that everything is so symbolic and significant. It is a very articulate religion that has created traditions to remember the significance of God and his commandments and his many blessings. Everything seems to mean something special.

I was happy to discover that on the second day of Rosh HaShanah they eat something called "new fruit". An About.com article titled, "Rosh HaShanah Food Customs", explains it like this: 

Pomegranate Juice and seeds. Photo Source: TheShiksa.com

"On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, we eat a "new fruit" – meaning, a fruit that has recently come into season but that we have not yet had the opportunity to eat. When we eat this new fruit, we say the shehechiyanu blessing thanking God for keeping us alive and bringing us to this season. This ritual reminds us to appreciate the fruits of the earth and being alive to enjoy them."

What a wonderful ritual... I continue reading on to the second paragraph and discover that one of the fruits often used as "new fruit" is none other than one of my very favorites ... da-da-dum... Pomegranate. This is what the article says about why pomegranate is used: 

"A pomegranate is often used as this new fruit. In the Bible, the Land of Israel is praised for its pomegranates. It is also said that this fruit contains 613 seeds just as there are 613 mitzvot. Another reason given for blessing and eating pomegranate on Rosh HaShanah is that we wish that our good deeds in the ensuing year will be as plentiful as the seeds of the pomegranate."

See what I mean about significance in everything? How awesome is that? So, I dig into google a little deeper hoping to find a really hip Jewish blog that has some amazing pomegranate recipe that someone is using for Rosh HaShanah. Google did not disappoint. I stumbled across this little gem, a blog called, "The Shiksa in the Kitchen", written by Tori Avey. 

Image Source: TheShiksa.com

Photo Source: TheShiksa.com

Beautiful and awesome blog that I WILL be going back to. The blogger/author is a Jewish convert that loves all things food, Jewish cuisine, and food history. Very interesting, I highly recommend you read her "about" page. I am looking forward to reading more. Oh... and her recipes look amaaazing. The article that brought me there was a very thing I've always wanted to know, "How to Seed and Juice a Pomegranate". I have only ever eaten them raw or drank the juice from the store, but I love that I now know how to do this. She lists two methods for doing this. Pretty thrilling. And she even takes it two steps futher, a few later postings she lists a recipe for "Pomegranate Molasses", uhh.. yum... and then another recipe for, "Pomegranate Molasses Brisket". So you get the whole process: juicing, making the molasses, making something with the molasses. 

The Shiksa herself. Photo Source: TheShiksa.com

Her photos are beautiful too. Head on over to her blog (this page has been linked to the hilt so it should be too hard to find). So my little bit of Rosh HaShanah research led me to the sweetest new blog and I learned great new things about one of my old favorite fruits and new ways to consume it, complete with instructions. It's been a lovely Rosh HaShanah for this gentile. 

Inspire Me Monday: A Mother's Love

I saw this posted on Facebook and it made me cry.

This is a true story of Mother’s Sacrifice during the Japan Earthquake.
After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head.

With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman’s body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure.
He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reasons, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruin house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his had through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement,” A child! There is a child! “
The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.
The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said,” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Every body that read the message wept. ” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Such is the mother’s love for her child!!