Dear Foodie Readers of this Blog,

I need your help. As most of you probably know, healthy eating is not one of my strong points, and never has been. My two best friends, bread and ice cream, can attest to this fact. Being no fool to the benefits of a diet high in fruits and vegetables, however, I recently underwent a challenge. My self-imposed challenge was to eat nothing but fruits and vegetables for a week (maybe more!). My friends, I lasted four hours before I decided that no person in their right mind would ever undertake, much less be able to, subsist on this crazy diet of air - I mean produce - for more than one apple. It took four hours.

Dear foodie readers, how can I change my ways? I want to change, I really do, but it seems oh so insurmountable. My biggest obstacle, I think, is my inability to think of produce as actual food. I know, what's wrong with this generation, right? Back in the day, fruits and vegetables were the definition of real food, or so I hear. But seriously. When I eat an orange, I feel like I am eating flavored water. It tastes sweet, sure, but it is no more food to me than gum is. I could eat 2,000 calories worth of raw food and still feel like I was starving, simply because I hadn't bitten into anything with substance that day (actually that's a lie, I would never make it to 2,000 calories, as my short-lived challenge has proven).

I know there's the chips made out of kale, and the mashed "potatoes" made out of cauliflower. And I do take comfort in the possibility of these. But is it enough? Is there a way to eat more fruits and veggies and still enjoy eating? Or do I need to suck it up and accept the fact that a healthy Mish is one who has come to terms with a lifetime of flavored water?

Please help.

Sincerely,
Picky in Provo

Plans

On the right, you will see that I have created a label cloud. It seemed like a bloggy thing to do. And, man, with labels like 'depression' and 'narcissistic', it is little wonder to me that so many of you (all five of you) keep coming back! I sure know how to keep the troops entertained!

Anyway, here's some things I'm thinking about doing with my life if my schooling proves fruitless:

-professional wreck diving
-family history-working
-manatee-saving
-white water raft-guiding
-living somewhere not in this country-ing
-enchiladas
-playing the banjo-ing
-speaking Arabic-ing
-rugby


Now I know what you are thinking. Wreck-diving and raft-guiding sound kind of adventurous and athletic. And rugby? Is she confused? Nope, folks, after years of searching I think I've finally found my inner moxie, and these are the places I want it to take me. Which means that, when that day comes when going out and doing something sounds more appealing than sitting on my bed watching Netflix, I will know exactly what to do. I am growing up, everybody.

If you read the Arabic-speaking part and thought that was kind of bizarre, it's ok. It is to me too. If you read enchiladas and thought maybe that wasn't a very realistic thing to do with your life, then maybe you, too, have a lot of growing up to do.

Now go show some lovin' to your Fa's!

More than words is all you have to do to make it real

A depthy post on the nature of love is far beyond the scope of this blog (and let's face it, far beyond my comprehension). But I will say this: I think it's very easy for us to offer the words "I love you" as just that - an offering; a gift. We often say it in the same way we would give a compliment; a sort of kind gesture from me to you. The gift I give is the way I feel about you. This is not to say that the backing sentiment is phony, but simply that we don't always take pains for our meanings.

The sages of our time often inform us that love has more to do with our actions than our emotions, and while that sounds all noble and good, the thing is that it seems to actually, quite literally be true.

Exhibit A: Some time ago I began to feel uneasy whenever I got to that part in my prayers when I told the Lord that I "loved Him." My subconscious understanding of love being a gift rendered my declaration immediately ridiculous. Who am I to think that I have anything to give that He doesn't already have? The implication of gift-giving is that one must have and one must lack, and this is never the case in our relationship with the Omnipotent God. Even more disturbing, if love is simply a way of feeling about someone, who am I to "feel" towards the Lord as a man feels towards his pet dog, or the mountains, or Beethoven symphonies? The notion implies a sort of evaluation I have over some sort of raw material. To assume that I have any sort of capacity for evaluating the Lord is probably the most outrageous and offensive thing ever.

But alas, the saving grace lies in the fact that I was wrong about love. It is not a gift you give by saying it. It is an explanation for something you're already doing. Ideally, when I tell you I love you, it is a pleasant but unnecessary caption for the illustration of everything I am doing to support, nurture, and care for you. And you see, when we look at it this way, it makes perfect sense to tell the Lord we love Him. We are not so much expressing a sentiment to Him as we are committing ourselves to continue serving him; to act in charity towards Him and all men, because charity is the pure love of Christ.

There, doesn't that just FEEL better?