Ten Questions

Jyl over at And So It Goes nominated me to answer these 10 questions on my blog.  Since I am trying to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, I thought I would oblige :)

1) How did you decide on your blog name?

I started this blog back in 2004, and I think I was at a loss of what to call it.  So because it is my thoughts on day to day things, I went with Angie's 2 Cents.  Not the most exciting name, but it seems to work.

2) How has blogging enhanced your life?

I have gotten pretty slack with writing posts over the last few years.  I was quite diligent in my first few years.  But I think once social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram took off, I really stopped blogging.  It takes more thought and effort and especially with Fiona, I have less time to sit down at the computer, so most of my online posts are done on my phone.  And typing a blog on my phone does not sound like fun. 

To answer the question....haha....I appreciate this blog, as a sort of a journal of the last 11 years of my life.  I like to go back and read old posts to see what I was up to 5 or 8 years ago, etc.  I also think it is interesting how many people I have met through blogs.  Not specifically my own blog, but I had a friend who blogged, and her brother blogged, so I followed a couple of the people he had linked in his blog, and some people that they had linked in their blogs.  So from my one friend, I have connected with a number of people at least online or on Facebook.  It can be an awfully small world.

3) What tip would you offer new bloggers?

I am not sure.  Write about what you know and what you enjoy.

4)  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I have to agree with Jyl on the Netflix.  These days, once the baby is in bed, and I am avoiding doing the productive things I should be doing, I can be found with my feet up watching Doctor Who. 

5)  What are you reading now?

I started reading The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion when I was in Swift Current at the end of July.  It was quite interesting, but I haven't picked it back up since I got home.  I should spend more time reading, and less time watching Doctor Who!  Haha

6)  What are 3 things you can't live without?

Family/friends, lip balm and pizza 

7)  What season is easiest to dress for?  And what is your favorite season?

I am such a lazy dresser....when you work at home, and you're a new mom, most of my clothes look the same all year round, haha!  I think my favorite season is late summer/early fall.  When it is still nice enough to be outside without a heavy jacket but cool enough that you at least need a sweater.  I love the leaves changing and the smells of fall. 

8) What would you love to get paid to do now?

I have just been thinking lately about going back to school.  When I think back to the jobs I have done over the years, one that I enjoyed was working in a lab where we tested soil samples for different minerals and elements.  I just enjoyed working in a lab setting.  I think once Fiona is in school I may go back to school to get some training and then I could work in a lab, maybe.

9)  What is your favorite place to visit?

I have not done a lot of traveling in my life, but if I could revisit one place tomorrow, I would choose Vandusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver.  It was beautiful and quiet.  One of my favorite stops on that trip.

10)  Have you ever done anything that has taken you out of your comfort zone?  If so, what?

The one thing that comes to mind is speaking in front of our church.  Any time I have spoken in front of a group of people it is outside my comfort zone.  A few years ago our church did a series on marriage.  Each week the pastor had a couple from the church get up and share a personal experience based on the theme for the week.  I am pretty sure when he asked us to share it was about serving each other.  It was pretty scary when we first got up there, but we had some good things to share and a lot of people approached us after the service to tell us how much they appreciated what we had shared.

 

Three Cups of Tea

That is the title of the next book club book. I have been working on it for a few weeks now and I would say it is very different than my usual choice for reading material. I would say I don't often choose to read non-fiction books. It is the story of Greg Mortenson who tried (and failed) to climb K2. When he came down the mountain he was in pretty rough shape and was nursed back to health by a remote village in Pakistan. He got to know the people in the village and realized they had need of a school, so he promised to return to build them a school. Over the next decade and beyond he built numerous schools as well as water wells and other practical things for the remote villages in Pakistan.

I found it very interesting tonight as I read and he recounted what it was like for him hearing about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was in a small village in Pakistan and one of the people heard about the attacks over a shortwave radio. He told Greg that "bombs have fallen on the village of New York in America". It went on to talk about how heartbroken people were in Pakistan (a mainly Muslim nation) to hear of such a terrible attack. I will be the first to admit that I am pretty ignorant when it comes to knowledge of the beliefs of Islam. Three Cups of Tea mentions how the Koran talks about the importance of looking after the less fortunate, widows, children, etc. Greg is repeatedly referred to as an infidel, even by the people who support what he is doing in Pakistan.

I also found it interesting (and a little disturbing) to read about how the extremist Muslims, from Saudi Arabia, with all their oil money started moving into Pakistan and building schools and mosques in communities who couldn't afford to do it themselves. Three Cups of Tea talks about how poor Pakistan is because the government does not provide proper schools or education to it's people. It said that a very small percentage of wealthy people in Pakistan send their children to privately run schools. Then the government does not provide public schools to the rest. So when the Saudi's showed up and offered to build schools (aka madrassas, where the Taliban do a lot of their recruiting) the people were receptive. They sent their children to these schools where more often than not the teachers were extremist Muslims with no training in math, science or literature. They were taught combat and recruited to the Taliban. That is so disturbing to me.....maybe you already knew this, but like I said I am quite ignorant about a lot of this.

Makes me so thankful to live in little ole Saskatchewan. I can't imagine the thought of bombs dropping from the skies over our province. When I was driving to work today I saw an army truck driving the opposite way down the freeway and I thought to myself how rarely we see things like that in Saskatoon. But you see footage from Afghanistan on the news and there are all sorts of vehicles or tanks patrolling. I am so thankful to live in a free and safe country!!

The Time Traveler's Wife

I had mentioned a few posts back about my sister inviting me to join the book club her friends were starting. I decided to join them so I purchased their first book choice, The Time Traveler's Wife. I found out not too long after that, that their first meeting would be this Wednesday, October 28th. Unfortunately it wouldn't work for me to join them because that is Jay's birthday (he's going to be 29!) and we have our small group Bible study on Wednesdays.

I finished reading the book last night. I am a little disappointed that I cannot go to their first meeting. I really feel like this would be a good book to discuss with other people. I found myself discussing it with Jay as I read it. Well maybe not so much discussing as just telling him about different parts of the book. It really made me think. I am still not sure if I really liked it. Well I think I liked it, but I am not totally sure yet.

There are parts of it that are still swirling around in my brain. Like the whole cause and effect thing. Not sure if that is the right way to describe it. When you know what is going to happen in the future can you change it by doing something differently in the present. Like in the book, when Henry travels back to his ex-girlfriend's apartment on the day that he knows that she committed suicide. He tries to talk to her out of it, but by doing that he actually makes her do it. But obviously in the present he didn't realize that it was a his future self that had caused her to kill herself. I don't know if that makes sense, and I don't think that ruins much for anyone who may not have read the book, and may have an interest in doing so. Makes me want to read more books or watch more movies about time travel. It is such an interesting concept.

I have heard that the movie was pretty bad. But I feel that I would like to see how they butchered it now that I have read the book. Just the way the book is written, I think it might be hard to make a screenplay that covers all the details and stories that are written in the book.

The Shack

I finished reading The Shack last night. It is a book that I first heard about on Dixie's blog and then my coworker read it so when I saw it in the church library, I picked it up. It was a very intriguing book. I think I would like to read it again to take in more of the details and think about it some more. It really gave me a new perspective on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I know that it is not scripture, it is just one guy's book and point of view. There were a few theological things that I wasn't totally feeling were completely accurate. I am not an expert in theology by any means, but it did really get me thinking. I was almost thinking of buying that book for my mom for a birthday or Christmas present. She is always looking for things to read and I thought it might be interesting to her. We'll see. It was a very thought provoking book to me and I can't seem to get it off my mind right now. I am glad I finished reading it at home last night and not at work because the last couple of chapters really had me crying.

I feel ripped off

I have been working through a trilogy of books and just started the third book. After reading the second book, which was mainly about a love story between a man and woman, in the second chapter of the third book, she dies. Granted, the books take place about 20-25 years apart, so they were married and had eight children from the end of the second book until the start of the third book. But I still feel ripped off....