Happy 2016!

So I must admit, I'm getting old, for the last few years I've been asleep, along with the hubby before the stroke of midnight.  Our kids wake us up to pop their kiddie bubbly for them, then we all go to bed at exactly 12:05 a.m., every.single.January 1st!

  So I know people make new years resolutions, I've personally never done that because well, I'm a chronic procrastinator, just ask my kids!  Makes me wonder if the people who actually do makes resolutions *ever* keep them?I mean seriously if you feel the need to sit down an make a list of things about yourself, your life, situation, what-have-you, do you really think you're gonna do any of them?  Besides maybe cutting back from 6 cups of coffee a day to 5?!?

  I think that this is one aspect of Romanian mentality that doesn't drive me nuts....they don't make resolutions, they know what needs to be done, and they do it, without any fuss, or social media announcements.  They announce things that matter: marriages, births, baptisms, important life events.  The rest is just the day to day of it all.

  I see all these meme's all over Facebook from friends that say something along the lines of "this is the year you'll receive God's blessings"....I have a problem with that line of reasoning.  I think if you are a Christian and know what the bible says, then you know you only receive His blessings by living a Godly life.  Posting a random meme about God isn't going to reign down pennies from heaven on you.  All through Proverbs and the Gospels, God's word speaks of honest men, doing honest work, and reaping the benefits of working for what they've received, and yes, God rewards the honest, God fearing man with opportunities, blessings, etc.  But everyone seems to be so BLESS ME oriented, as far as money is concerned that they have forgotten that God says that the MEEK shall inherit the earth, and that it is easier for a rich man to enter through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  Okay so there's my Rant for New Years.  Now here's my Rave:  Hubby was out of work for like 5 months, it's been a ROUGH summer, fall, and beginning of winter.  Hubby just left at 3 a.m. this very morning to head back to Malta to start work.  It's gonna be hard on him physically, but it's good that I won't have to keep asking the parental unit for help......that's a BAAAAAAD feeling; being 37 years old and having to ask your parents to help you pay bills and buy food.  But now that he's going back to work, we'll be able to finish doing the home improvements we started!  So YEA for the Toma Family!

 Now for my Rave, which is an old rave.  Romanian version of potato salad, which is called Salata de Beouff.  Not sure if I spelled that right, but OMG it's good!  It's made with, potatoes, green peas, carrots, olives, pickles, chicken breast and home made mayonnaise, which yes, I have learned to make!  This stuff is so good, it will make ya go home and slap ya mamma!  It's made at Christmas and New Year!  Some make it at Easter as well, well, at least I do, cause it's just awesome!

  So there, my Rants, Raves & Faves for the end of 2015!

  

Tis The Season

  So i've ranted about Starbucks in my last post. But tonight up the hilly, bumpy dirt road to my house, I got convicted.  I call myself a Christian, bust in the 6 almost 7 years I've been here in Romania, what have I really done to show His love to my "neighbors"?  Sure I've helped my immediate next door neighbor after her house burned down, but apart from that, what I have I really done to show these people that I'm not the "American Slut" that I know they call me?

  The holidays are fast approaching, and I know that there are a lot of old people and orphans going without this holiday season.  So what I want to know is this:  if you are willing to donate some money towards food to feed those in desperate need in the old Eastern Bloc, please let me know.  I would like to have something to back me up when I go to local businesses, hotels, restaurants, etc. with my plan.

  I've said in my last post and on Facebook posts that Christ could care less whether or not a  coffee shot celebrates his "birthday"; that we should be focusing on what Jesus commanded us believers to do..... and if what is going on in Syria with Russia is any indication, then we should be prepared, we shouldn't be focusing on trivial matters like Red Cups for coffee containment, but rather the container that holds a persons soul.

  So who's with me?  I kind of need to know what kind of support I have before starting a "go fund me page".  I know that if this is something He has placed within me, that the money will come.  But of course I'm gonna be mu human self....God knows me, He knows I'm gonna be obstinate!


  C;mon people let's show the world HIS love!

Starbucks, Corrupt Politics and life on the Danube

  So fall has arrived, and this year, fall in Romania is reminding me of Louisiana.  The temps are flip-flopping all over the place.  Some days its sunny, and mild, with just a mild chill in the air, and the next day it's colder than a witch's titty....excuse the expression.  But I like it.  Hubby insulated the house over the summer, which has made QUITE a difference when it comes to keeping in the heat from the "fireplace".  Actually it's more of a type of stove, than a typical fireplace that you find in the U.S.

  So since it's chilly at night, I have a bit more time to surf Facebook and news sites.....the latest thing gaining traction in the U.S.A., besides racial tensions is #Starbucks using Plain red cups this Christmas season.  I've seen several meme's regarding this, and the one that sums it all up the best is one that says something like: "If you need a cup of coffee to something about Christ, then, Honey, I think you are the one who needs Jesus".  And that's pretty much it.  Christmas, or rather December 25th is a pagan holiday, the winter soltice, and many other pagan holidays.  The Gospel of Luke says Christ was born when the sheep were still in the fields.  I live next to shepherds.  The flocks are brought in around November.  Christ was born somewhere between September to October.  Santa Claus is a variation of a Nordic God.  My kids have never been told about Santa Claus, he isn't mentioned in our house.  I've had angry parents confront me, because my kids told theirs that Santa isn't real, that the parents are "santa".  I've had to tell the parents, I don't lie to my kids, I'm not going to say Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy are real, only to have them grow up and think "well she lied about them, she must of lied about God and Jesus too"! Constantine was the emperor who combined pagan holidays with the Catholic church as a political move.  He was never truly a Christian, it was all show for him as a way to gain more of a political foothold.

 Besides, as Christians, do we really, and SERIOUSLY think that God, in His infinite wisdom, really cares whether or not a secular company puts the words Merry Christmas on their merchandise.  The thing is, Christ says that the GREATEST COMMANDMENT, besides loving the Lord thy God, is Loving Thy Neighbor as thyself.  So, why all the anger?  Why all the misguided rage?  We've made ourselves no better than the Jihadists raging holy war in the name of Allah; whom we all condemn.  Christ said that the world would know us by our Love, by our witness of Him in our lives.  Christians should be out there helping the widows and orphans, first, and everyone else after that..... the rest is politics!

  As for the race issue, I have just this to say.... we are ALL ONE RACE, the Human Race.  Doesn't matter if you believe in Evolution or Creation, we all come from the same place  in each theory.  The difference is the amount of melanin each of us have in our skin.  Some have more, making them appear dark brown or black, and then there are those who have less making them light brown or white.  If you're like me, you look like snow white, with freckles, minus the 7 short guys!  So, really, what's all the fuss about?!?  I'll tell you what it's about.  It's about the "Great and Powerful Oz"; those 'wizards' behind the curtains, pulling the stings and levers, editing the evening news, and telling us what to think and buy, etc.  Use the brain you were given. Stop, take a moment, talk to a stranger of a different pigmentation, and you'll see, you think alike, probably believe alike!  We are the only species who fight among ourselves.

  As for the corrupt politics I mentioned in the title.... on Halloween, a club in Bucharest caught fire during a concert, because some idiot set off fireworks inside the club.  So far the body count is up to 45.  The fire marshal never signed off on the building, and the mayor went ahead and signed papers allowing the owner of the club to open.....That's the way things go here, if you can't get what you need from one agency, you go to the one higher, pay that official some money, and everything is done.  Because of this incident, people have taken to the streets in a peaceful manner, protesting the corruption that exists here.  It's about time, because it's unbelievable what can be done with just a few hundred Euro or Dollars!