Oh Snap

Nothing says "I Love You" like this...

I don't consider myself to be very good at coming up with creative gifts, especially for Nicole or my mom. I am decent at finding practical gifts I think would be useful for a person (sometimes things they don't even think of), but that can lead to some weird gifts. Examples: one year I got Nicole a mini ladder to help her reach things in her closet; another year I got my mom a laptop cushion; & I think I bought Nicole a hairdryer once. Maybe they aren't, but those feel like weird gifts. All of them were functional and I think they all got a lot of use, but they aren't very sentimental. I'm not in to giving the popular gifts of flowers, spa/massage days, or any of that packaged junk you can get in Bath & Body Works. And when I've tried to be creative with making a card or something like that, it usually backfires and the card is so bad that it looks like I forgot and tried to do something at the last minute.

For Mother's Day this year, I decided to try something different. When Nicole and I were married, one of her friends gave us a photo book as a gift, and I thought it was a great idea. She used a website to format everything and was able to make a book full of different pictures of us - and it had a lot cooler design than the old-fashioned photo album. And while I like putting pictures online as a way of having easy access to them from anywhere, I love the idea of having photo books you can put around the house with pictures from different things you've done. So as a Mother's Day gift for my mom and for my grandmother, I used Snapfish to make a photo book for each of them.

I put together different pictures of my brother and me from all different stages of life and was very pleased with how it turned out. I was able to find baby pictures, old family pictures, sports pictures, and all sorts of other random photos that came out great. I used a scanner to get the printed shots uploaded to my Snapfish account, and the quality didn't suffer much at all. I also took some images from Facebook and saved those to my Snapfish account and didn't have any trouble with image quality in those either. Snapfish made it very easy to get all the photos I wanted and they provided a ton of variety in the layouts of the images and the ability to customize things. It was a good balance of not being too formal, while still looking professional. Another plus is that there always seem to be various discounts and coupon codes online for purchasing Snapfish products. So for once, I was able to come up with a cool, sentimental gift that wasn't corny and my mom and grandmother both really liked their books.

While this isn't a commercial and I'm not brand loyal, especially when it comes to photo books, I had a very good experience using Snapfish. I look forward to creating more photo books in the future and it's a gift idea I'd certainly recommend.

Life of Chai

I have never been a big fan of coffee or tea. There have been multiple times when I tried to like coffee, but I couldn't get used to the taste or the way it would make my stomach feel so I gave up. And I've always liked sweet tea, but hot tea wasn't something I was able to get in to because I didn't think it had much flavor. But, as we've traveled around the world over the past year, I've been introduced to a number of different flavors of tea (I'm looking at you South African Rooibos) that I've started to like.

Milk Frother = The Difference-Maker

So once we returned home and went to a normal grocery store, I was intrigued to find the Tazo Chai Latte in a concentrate where it is already made and you mix it with milk. I tried some of it and really liked it. There is a great combination of cinnamon, vanilla, and other spices that remind me of pumpkin pie. Then, once we purchased our insanely cool Nespresso Milk Frother, I figured I could become a master Chai Tea Latte maker. I must say, I think I've perfected it. I put about 3/4 cup of skim milk in the milk frother and heat up about 1/2 cup of the Tazo Tea in the microwave for one minute. The milk frother heats the milk and I pour it into the glass first when it is ready, which takes about 45 seconds. Then, I pour in the hot tea, which gives it the cool look and allows the milk foam to stay on the top of the drink. I'm still working on creating designs in the foam as I pour in the tea.

Starbucks' Tazo Chai Latte

My Tazo Chai Latte

I noticed Starbucks offers their own Tazo Chai Tea Latte and I tried it this past Sunday when we were there to watch church. It was very good - hot, nice foam, sweet, blend of spices - tasted just like mine. They probably use the same ingredients, but don't have the same milk frother and use less of the tea concentrate, and they happen to charge $3 - for a small! I think it would cost me $5 (we won't talk about how much I paid for the frother) to have the ingredients to make 10 mediums of my own. This allows me to save money in hopes of getting a camera that can take pictures to make my drinks look as good as theirs.

My Chai Latte's have now become a regular drink and it's a great post-breakfast beverage to have throughout the morning. I would become a fan of hot tea by picking a high maintenance drink that requires a spiced tea concentrate and frothed milk. Keeping it simple.

Best & Worst

There have been a number of big things happening in sports over the weekend with plenty of excitement. There was the NFL Draft, the NBA Playoffs, the MLB season in full-swing, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, & much more. I haven't been glued to the TV for any of the previously mentioned events, but I have kept an eye on most of them and have a general idea of what's been happening. All that being said, I'm picking what stood out to me as the best and worst performances of the weekend. I'm completely ripping this idea from The Dan Patrick Show (by far the best sports radio show out there). So...who did and didn't get it done this weekend?

Best: Memphis Grizzlies
Who would have thought the Grizzlies would handle the Spurs with relative ease in the first round of the playoffs? They ended the series in game six on Friday night in Memphis, but they really should have closed it out in game five earlier in the week. Zach Randolph was unstoppable down the stretch for the Grizz' and they played like the more talented team. It ended an era of playoff futility for the franchise and seemed to mark the end of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. Still, most people probably thought the celebration would end Sunday afternoon when Memphis would have to travel to Oklahoma City to take on Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Coming off the emotion of the big win Friday night and having to face a young, talented, physical team in an early start Sunday afternoon seemed like a bad spot for the Grizzlies. I guess everyone forgot to tell the Grizzlies that. They led throughout against OKC and were carried by strong post play from Randolph and Marc Gasol and have jumped out to an early series lead again. It'll be interesting to see how far they can ride this momentum. And one other thing - if I'm coaching an NBA team, I want Shane Battier. He's not going to blow you away, but he changes the culture of a locker room and his teams ALWAYS have success.

Worst: Atlanta Braves Bullpen
I don't care that they pulled out the win today, the Braves bullpen has been terrible this weekend. In the three games against the Cardinals, they have given up the lead in the 8th inning or later all three times. Are you kidding me? With all the negativity and controversy that has surrounded this pitching staff over the past week, I was hoping they would rally together and have a strong weekend on the field. The starting pitching has been very good, but the late inning guys have not done their jobs. Allowing the leadoff man to reach base has been a problem and there have been too many bad pitches to good hitters. The Cardinals are not an easy lineup to retire and Matt Holliday might be hitting the ball better than anyone in the game right now, but you have to be able to get tough outs in the 8th & 9th innings. It was thought that Jonny Venters & Craig Kimbrel would be able to shut the door in most games (and I still think they will) but this weekend will not go in their highlight tapes.

New Season

I've decided to resurrect this blog after a multi-month hiatus. Over the past few months, there were many times when I told myself I wanted to start writing again but I'd never take the time to actually do it. I think I have avoided keeping this blog going for a couple different reasons:

1. I get lazy. Sitting down and taking 20-30 minutes to create a blog post is something I usually enjoy doing. I like writing my thoughts down and adding pictures and links and creative elements and posting it for people to see. However...there are also times when I think it just isn't worth it. I base my decision on the fact that I know many people won't read it and most of the content isn't actually important. But even if it isn't important and no one reads it, I still want to update and post regularly. I want this to be a sort-of journal where I can get my thoughts out and write about things I find interesting.

2. I'm too organized. I want everything in order, in a list and sorted. When it came to creating a blog, I seemed to want the same thing. I was so focused on my blog being organized or having a sort of theme that I didn't write or post whatever I wanted to. I couldn't decide if it should be a sports blog, or a food blog, or a photography blog, or a spiritual blog, or an entertainment blog, or any other random category - so I just stopped. The truth of it is that I'm interested in a ton of different things and I have opinions about many different topics. After all, I'm the type that follows college basketball recruiting on television while reading Water for Elephants (BTW - very good story) and drinking a homemade Tazo Chai Tea Latte. I want to be okay with having a post about what I think the Bible is saying in a certain verse, then having a post about why the Atlanta Braves should get another relief pitcher, and then another post about a recipe I tried making for dinner. I don't want to put myself or this blog in a box or try to organize it.

So here goes...the new blog. Some serious. Some sarcastic. Some light-hearted. Some educational. Some intense. All interesting - for me.

Le Chocolat

I have some serious chocolate updating to do! I'm living in chocolate capital of the world (I don't care what Belgium says) and I've been trying tons of different kinds of chocolate, but I've been terrible about writing about it. There is quite a variety of chocolate to be tried here and I've even sampled some other Swiss & European specialties.

The Japonais bar was a bit of a let down from the expectation I had when I found it in the store. It's milk chocolate with Japanese-style honey cookie crumbles and creme as a sort of filling with the chocolate. First, I have no idea if there is anything Japanese about it. Second, it basically tasted like Crunch bar with better milk chocolate. Okay for flavor but rather disappointing.

The Europeans love their chocolate with nuts. (Insert crude Europe joke here). The milk chocolate filled with pistachios was very good, but VERY sweet. The milk chocolate is already sweet and there is a caramel-y filling along with the nuts. I think pistachios are probably an acquired taste, which I happen to like, but I probably wouldn't give this one as a gift.

Nothing flashy or fancy about the Splendor bar - just high quality milk chocolate. It was creamy and full of flavor and had great texture. Eating milk chocolate like this makes it nearly impossible to go back to a Hershey bar.

I think it's impossible to come to Switzerland and not have a Toblerone bar at least once. I had the classic bar of milk chocolate with honey and almond, and I finished this one quickly. Normally, I'm not a fan of honey and chocolate, which is popular here, but the almonds add some saltiness to keep it from being too sweet.

In terms of major Swiss chocolate companies, I think Lindt is the best Switzerland has to offer. Fortunately for us, there is no shortage of Lindt products in the U.S. And yes, a Lindt Chocolate Truffle is just as magical in Switzerland as it is at home.

I was intrigued by chocolate filled with champagne truffles and ended up being disgusted after one bite. It had Champagne in the name, it smelled like Champagne, and somehow I thought it wouldn't taste like Champagne. Genius. The worst thing about this bar was that it tasted bad even after I swallowed it. I ended up giving away most of it to some people who were big fans.

I have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie. Nicole made this one night for an event we were having and they were AMAZING. The cookies were thick and they had big chunks of chocolate in them and I think I had about six. The best part about these babies - she's making them again tonight!

We stumbled upon a high-end chocolate shop in Geneva a couple weeks ago and were blown away with how fancy it was. It was a very tiny store and there was only one person working but they probably had a hundred different types of truffles. The employee put on a satin glove before touching any of the chocolate and everything was very precise. It was way out of our budget, so we got the smallest piece of chocolate we could find - milk chocolate with pistachio. It was delicious and you could tell it was very high quality. The flavors would fill your mouth as you chewed and it was something where you literally savored every bite.

Nicole surprised me with treat from the grocery store. I don't know anything about Movenpick, but they seem to be the Haagen-Daaz of swiss ice cream and they have many bizarre and creative flavors. We got the Swiss Chocolate flavor and it met my expectations. It even has shavings of chocolate blended in to add some texture.

God bless the French. We spent a day in Annecy, a French town near Geneva, and sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could. We knew we couldn't go to France and not have a crepe - so we stopped at a street vendor and got a nutella crepe, a grand marnier crepe, and a gauffre, which is a heavenly French waffle that is covered in powdered sugar and tastes like a funnel cake. I pigged out on the gauffre and Nicole liked the nutella crepe so much she went back and got another one.

Ovomaltine seems to be the European version of Chips Ahoy or Oreo. Nothing special - although it might be good in a Blizzard or milkshake. Someone notify Dairy Queen!

Apparently, this is the Swiss drink. There is no shortage of Coke in this country, but Rivella is more local. It's a carbinated drink that tastes similar to coke but has a citrus sort of flavor to it as well. It's not bad - but it's also nothing special.

I bought this at the store but I haven't opened it yet. I've had it before at the Coke Lounge in Epcot and I think I remember liking it. It's a type of Coke that Coca Cola sells in Europe and it has an orange flavor to it.

There's many more crazy things I've tried but I think that'll do for now. Looking forward to trying some South African food in a few weeks!

I-C-Y-U-R that way!

In our class this week, we are talking about personality types and how people interact in groups. It is to help prepare us for the outreach phase of our program and to figure out the best ways we can function in our outreach teams. In order to identify our personality types, every one took the Myers Briggs Personality Test and we received our results today. According to the test and it's terms, I'm an ISTJ, which means I'm an introvert, who works through my senses and feelings. Our results included a lengthy description of what a person with the given personality type usually acts like and some of the points stuck out to me with how accurate they are:

-"usually have an offbeat sense of humor"
-"They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules. If they are able to see a good reason for stepping outside of the established mode of doing things, they will support that effort."
-"They resist putting energy into things which don't make sense to them, or for which they can't see a practical application."
-They are not naturally in tune with their own feelings and the feelings of others. They may have difficulty picking up on emotional needs immediately, as they are presented."
-"Likely to be uncomfortable expressing affection and emotion to others."
-"Have difficulty understanding a theory or idea which is different from their own perspective."


And according to the test results, I share the same personality type as Clint Eastwood. Just what I always wanted!

Here is the link to take the test if you're interested: Personality Test. It really is quite interesting to see the results and see how it affects our interaction with other people.

Hi Bear

In my Bible reading from this past week, there was a verse from Proverbs that stuck out to me as both awesome and profound. Proverbs 17:12 says, "Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly." I think there are times when we breeze through the Bible because we know the big ideas and we think most of the Bible is basically saying the something - love God & love others. It's true those are the main things we are commanded to do, but there are so many other great principles God wants to reveal to us through the Bible if we are willing to look for them.

How great is the image of a bear being robbed of her cubs to show the danger of a situation? After watching a disturbing amount of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel in the past year, I can tell you that a mother bear being separated from her cubs is not a pretty sight. Some of the most vicious attacks on humans have occurred when people accidentally came between an adult bear and her cubs. It's believed that nearly 80% of fatal bear attacks come as a result of a bear protecting her cubs. If the mother bear senses a potential threat to her young, she will attack the threat and usually won't stop until the threat is completely destroyed.

So try to picture being attacked by an angry animal that weighs over 800 lbs and is over nine feet tall when it stands upright! And the Bible says it is better to be in that situation than to associate yourself with someone who is being foolish and making unwise decisions. Wow! When it comes to thinking about the people I want to spend time with, I usually make that decision based on who I like, who is funny, and who do I have a good time with. The issue of whether or not that person is making wise decisions usually isn't a big deal unless I think their decisions will affect me. The problem is, their unwise decisions and unwise actions will affect me because their character will have a subtle influence on me. As I continue to meet new people and find myself in new situations, I need to continue to remember the angry bear protecting her cubs.