Too Smart?

Nick had new tires put on my car last week. It was desperately needed since my tires were so bald I felt like I was sliding into first when I came upon a stop sign, and like roadrunner where the wheels would be turning but the car wasn't going anywhere when I tried to leave a stop sign. We have been saving up each month for the tires since we had an idea they were coming soon (another Dave Ramsey shout out!). The following day, Nick drove my car to work to try out the tires and the battery died while he was there. Now I have never had the battery die since I've owned the car for the last 3.5 years, but Nick says it was something about corrosion on the battery terminal. I'm still wondering if he left a light on or something ;)

Either way, apparently when my car battery dies, it wants you to reset the stereo system; some sort of anti-theft protection deal where you need to enter a code. So I get in my car today, and try to turn on the radio. It says, “enter code.” Huh? I don’t know what the code is. I, therefore, texted Nick who told me he needed to look at the paperwork to find it. What happens when our cars are too smart for us? Now I haven’t test driven one of those cars that can parallel park itself, but isn’t that kind of an important thing to know how to do? Does our reliance on technology impair our ability to complete tasks that we used to have to do independently? I always cringe at the idea that schools these days are encouraging the use of calculators for math and not even teaching long division. I recognize we frequently have access to calculators, but isn’t there something to be said for completing a math problem without the assistance of computers? I know I'm supposed to be from a somewhat techy generation, having mostly grown up with computers (hey, Oregon Trail was a computer game), but I wasn't that two year old who knows how to operate the iPad independently. Hey, I still don't know how to operate an iPhone (see The Age of the Cell).

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Needless to say, I completed my drive in silence. This actually proved to be somewhat torturous, because although I am really sensitive to loud radios or bass (I’m one of those highly sensitive people, or HSPs as we are sometimes called), I’m even more sensitive to those little rattles and shakes that cars have. Like the rattle in your dashboard, or the change in your console shaking against each other; it makes me shiver just thinking about it. Now to find that radio code!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful and quiet Christmas here in the Mortellite house. As we wind things down, we're thankful for the gift of Jesus and what that means for our salvation.

We hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas, as well!

 

COOL!

It isn't a surprise that I love Give1Save1 and the girls over there, right? So I'm pretty pumped that the opportunity came up for me to become a contributing blogger. My first post is up today about Ethiopian Christmas. Go check it out and support the Alexanders this week!

Betam Melkam Genna!

UNICEF

I have known UNICEF and what they do as an organization from the days when I was in elementary school and trick-or-treating for change to help support their organization. Remember these?

Well, if you've allowed me to get on a a soapbox about international adoption, you may have heard me speak negatively about this organization I once blindly supported. In the most basic of explanations, UNICEF takes the stance that children are better off remaining in their culture, whether that means they may spend their childhood with a family or not. I argue that growing up in an orphanage is a culture all it's own, and not necessarily that of embracing the best of the heritage their country has to offer. In a country like Ethiopia, 1 in 6 children die before the age of 5, a statistic that accounts for ALL Ethiopian children including those with families and those without.

Do I think family preservation is the absolute best solution? Yes. I do. Do I believe that all adoptions, Ethiopian or otherwise, should be done ethically and that there should be a quality system in place to ensure the integrity of the adoption process? Yes. Of course. But I also believe that adoption (domestic and international) can bring beauty after the tragedy, recognizing that the tragedy exists in the form of loss.

I could go on, but I saw an article posted via Facebook today and I appreciate the points it makes regarding UNICEF's stance on international adoption. Check it out for yourself and you can make your own conclusions.

UNICEF's Unethical War Against International Adoption

Huhhhh??

I was in a store picking up a small white elephant gift and I saw a sign. It said 'last minute gift ideas.' WHAT do they mean last minute?! How did this happen?!

The Age of the Cell

So I've been sans cellular phone for a day now. No clue where it is, or where it could be. The phone itself really isn't anything special. It's a flip phone (am I, like, the only person in the world who still sports one of those) and I don't get new phones until my previous breaks. What I can tell you about my previous three Sprint phones...they have all needed to be replaced around 2-3 years old because when I plug them into the charger, a little charging component (maybe a wire or something) breaks off in the phone and it will no longer charge. 

My only criteria for the next phone...that it flips. You know, so I don't get that embarrassing butt dial. I'm really not important enough to have to check my e-mails all the time and rarely am I dying to play angry birds, so fancy phones, albeit fun, are not a necessity for me and are not something I want to spend a lot of money on.

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That phone though? Has pictures of my little girl on it. A friend visited her in her orphanage in the fall and texted me a few pictures. I see them clearly in my mind still. And I'm praying it won't be all that long (no, I still have absolutely no timeline what so ever) until I see her face again in real life.

I have thought about just not having a phone. Plenty of people don't have cell phones. But then I wonder how things would go on. I mean, seriously. Don't people need to get a hold of me to tell me something? In truth, yes. Because I have responsibilities that require me to be accessible. And because I get calls for personal reasons, and for work, and maybe some day, for our adoption. If for nothing else except that reason alone, I will find my phone or at least replace it with an equally unassuming flip phone. For a few days, though, you may be out of luck trying to reach me.

Unless you facebook me. Because I'm on there too much.

Or if you e-mail me. I check that a lot.

Or if you comment on my blog. I'm lurking frequently.

Or if you call Nick's phone. Although he doesn't answer his phone (seriously). Maybe you should actually try texting him.

What did we ever do without technology?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Christmas! The tree is decorated now, ornaments adorn our dining room chandelier, bows wrapped on our storage boxes and glittery trees add a little sparkle to our dining room table. A beautiful Advent calendar also adds some decoration to our home. I've been so excited to begin an Advent tradition in our home and having received the calendar for Christmas last year, I figured this was our first opportunity (yes, I now know, having researched some advent ideas, that we could definitely have advent without the official calendar). Well, here's what I can tell you...Advent takes a lot of planning! Whew, that snuck up on me (yes, Dave Ramsey, I know, Christmas comes EVERY December, it's amazing!). The first day, I put a little piece of candy in. Nick opened the little door and although I don't know what he (or I) was expecting, that piece of candy was a bit disappointing. See, neither of us love candy. I think I had to guilt him into eating with some sort of statement about how important celebrating the Advent was to me this year.

I think our second advent present was on December 4, when I cut the label off something we were already planning on eating. Hm, that may be the last day I did something. I'm missing the point though, aren't I? See, I understand it in theory. 

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means arrival or coming. The point of the Advent season is to prepare and celebrate the COMING of Jesus. So why did I think throwing a piece of candy that Nick and I didn't care about into a little door would someone create a beautiful tradition honoring all that the Advent is meant to be? Yeah, I know, doesn't make much sense as I reflect back on it.

Okay, so perhaps the Advent calendar this year will simply add to the decor to brighten our house for Christmas. But next year, I've got some big plans for that calendar! (Maybe I should start now, knowing my record.) I'd love to put a verse, an activity or project each day that would encourage us to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ, and what this means for us as Christians. I guess Nick and I are lucky in the sense that we haven't started Christmas traditions with children yet, because up until this year, I bet they would have included things that revolve around presents, Santa and perhaps some of the hustle and bustle, when really, my heart desires to have a Christmas like this.

 

Here's praying our Advent can really reflect the spirit of the season.