Bits for Sunday, July 15, 2007

Happy National Ice Cream Day! Did you not know about the big holiday? I am not sure how I got behind on this one, since ice cream is one of my favorite things in life, but until I got online this afternoon, I was sadly unaware that today bore such significant importance!

So in honor of the day, I thought I would tell you about some of my favorite things – some of them new, some of them old, some of them summery, some of them not.

1. Moose Tracks Ice Cream. Since it is National Ice Cream Day, we’ll start with this one. I love most flavors of ice cream, but if I had to narrow it down and pick one, I’d go with moose tracks. If you’ve never had Moose Tracks ice cream before – let me start by explaining it. It’s vanilla ice cream with chunks and shavings of melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate pieces alongside tiny peanut butter cups. Three of my favorite things all in one place! Because it’s too good to stop eating, I rarely keep it on hand at home (though I am never without ice cream of some sort in my freezer) – but every now and then I buy some just for a special treat.

2. Coconut Lime Verbena. Nope, not food. This is my favorite Bath and Body Works scent. I’ve long been a fan of coconut lotion, but some of it is way too coconut – too much like suntan lotion. Adding the lime was the perfect touch – because it still has a great summer smell but it doesn’t make me feel like I just crawled out of the tanning bed. (A nasty habit I no longer participate in, but the straight up coconut smell took me back to the brief span of time when I did.) I was very excited that this coconut-lime blend also made its way into the cheaper lines of lotions and shower gels – since I’m usually too cheap to buy brand name.

3. Army Wives. This is my new favorite TV show. All my regular shows are on break for the summer, which is actually very nice. As much as I love watching them, I do enjoy the break from them too. Many of the cable networks, though, have started their own original series of shows that premiere in the off-season. Army Wives is just such a show. It’s on Lifetime and is about a group of wives living the military life alongside their husbands. (Or in one case, the wife is the one in the military and her husband is the one back at home alongside all the wives.) Having very little real life exposure to the military lifestyle, I have no idea how accurate it is depicting the way of life, but I think the characters are well written and fascinating.

4. Walking Tacos. Or tacos in a bag. Whatever you want to call them. I had my first one yesterday and loved it! I go to the county fair every year, and, being the routine girl that I am, must have a breaded tenderloin and elephant ear as my standard fair meal. This year, though, I ended up going to the fair twice, so the second time around, I decided to step outside the Bekah-mold and try something new. I’d always walked past those little walking taco stands and never tried one – so yesterday was my lucky day. If you’ve never had one of those either, it’s a bag of corn chips with taco meat/lettuce/sauce poured down inside. It really did work out well to walk and eat at the same time – as long as someone else carried my drink. Now I’m going to have to go to the fair twice every year so I can keep up my new tradition of two meals!

5. Self Tanner Lotion. I said I’d never get into the self tanner thing because it just seemed vain. But that’s because most every year, I live my life as a very pale person. (I prefer the terms “Victorian” or “Nicole Kidmanesque” but “pale” is probably more accurate.) Anyway, this year, with all the outside exercise I’ve been doing, I have the first real tan I’ve had since elementary school. Unfortunately, exercising means I’m wearing shoes and socks, so I have the most precious little sock line that started gathering a rather ridiculous amount of attention from my co-workers. One of the ladies in the office next door felt sorry for me (or was sick of my sock line) and brought me a bottle of self tanner lotion. I’ve been using it for three days and while I still have a line, it’s not nearly as “hello!” as it used to be. I think I’m hooked!

6. Loving God With All Your Mind. This book is written by one of my favorite teaching-authors, Elizabeth George. I bought it on some sale rack last year and immediately started reading it. I read about three chapters, loved it, and put it aside for months. This happens to me sometimes and I’ve learned it doesn’t mean the book is bad or I’m not interested. It means now is not the time and when the time is right, God will push me to pick it up again. That time came this week and I’ve started back up. Many books talk about how to prove that you love God through the things you do, but this one backs up to that secret place that no one sees – your mind. A very convicting book – so therefore, very hard to read at times, but the reading itself is very easy to follow.

7. Flour Child Cupcakes. My friend Sarah Rife is the best cupcake baker I’ve ever met. She calls her creations “Flour Child Cupcakes,” and they are so good! Yesterday she borrowed my refrigerator to store several dozen cupcakes before the church auction (where I hear the cupcakes brought in QUITE a bit of money) and when I came home, I found one remaining in my refrigerator for me! I ate it this afternoon and pronounced it amazing. The one I sampled was the chocolate covered cherry: chocolate cake with a cherry in the center with chocolate ganache and a cherry on top. YUMMY. A full list of her specialties can be found at the link on the side.

8. Purple Petunias. I received the most beautiful hanging basket of petunias this year. They were a gift from the ladies of my Bible study – they gave them to me on my last night of teaching back in May. I was so worried I’d kill the plant as sometimes the more delicate varieties of plant-life do not fare well under my care. But this basket is still alive and still blooming! Purple is my favorite color and I just love how it brightens up the backyard! Now they’ve spoiled me and I’ll have to go get a new basket of flowers every year.

9. Archaeological Study Bible. I purchased this new Bible for myself right at the end of last year. We had to work some overtime and I rewarded myself for the long hours by springing for a new Bible. I love study Bibles and every few years, I like to get a new one so I can see the words from a fresh perspective. This one is unique from the other ones I have because it has pictures of places and artifacts from Bible times, and it helps me visualize what I’m studying. I am learning all sorts of new things with my new Bible!

10. Ice Java Coffee Mix. Well I started the list with food, so why not end it with food? A love of mine (equal to ice cream) is coffee – and my favorite coffee is any blended iced coffee. I could spend my entire paycheck on these coffees, but I doubt my other bill people would appreciate that. I try to limit myself to one (two at the most) per week from an actual coffee shop, and the only way I’m able to be successful with this limit is because Nestle makes this great coffee syrup that you can use to make your own iced coffee drinks! I stop at the gas station, get a cup of crushed ice, come home, dump it in the blender with some milk and the mix – and pretty soon I have an almost-as-good-as-the-coffee-shop drink!

So there you have it – ten of my favorite things. If you’re looking for something new to try, you can’t say you don’t know where to start!