You know you watch The Great British Baking Off to much when.....

So over the last year I introduced my family to The Great British Baking Off. I've been a fan of the show for a while now, so I wanted to share with my family the greatness of the show, little did I know what would happen afterwords.
                                       
Any-who, I walked downstairs this morning to hear my little sister, Sofia, singing Jingle Bells with Paul Hollywood's( one of the judges) name in it.
                                                
Although I'm sure he would be tremendously honored, it was a little weird.
I've also heard my brothers debating whether or not Mary Berry's( the other judge.) name is really Mary Berry.
                                            
I'm sure she as well would be tremendously honored.
After watching the show, we talk about it a lot, who we want to win, who we want to loose, and we think that we've become world famous chefs as we critique the people on the show.  Although in reality I have tried some of the recipes, and I have failed. I am 100% sure I would not make it through the first round, it would be a mess. I love to cheer on my favorites, and to not cheer on my least favorites. I cry (inwardly) while they cry ( outwardly) and I laugh when they laugh. I've probably become too attached to this show than humanly possible and it's probably not healthy for me.  I super duper hate that they won't put the past seasons on DVD I came in halfway through. If you too want to come in halfway through it comes on at 6:30 on PBS, Sunday nights. I hope that you too can become emotionally attached to it so I'm not the only one! :)

Whistle while you work,
                                 Emma

Today I'm Thankful for My Struggles

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I think it's fitting that I tell you all what I'm thankful for. I am thankful for my struggles.  Yes, you read that right. There are other things that I am thankful for of course,  my faith, my family, my friends, my home, but I do feel thankful for my problems too. One of my main struggles is taking things slowly, I am the kind of person who jumps headfirst into a situation without a plan, it usually ends with someone helping me out of the hole I dug. I also want people think and function like I do, a million things are always going through my head, and I do get angry when others can't keep up. Another struggle is following a pattern/plan. I like to crochet and knit without a pattern and make it up as I go, I do this with food as well, I would rather cook and see what happens than cook with a recipe. ( I should probably learn how to fix that, because I will be going to culinary school next year, and I don't think that they'll let me do that.) And as it normally goes, the food and craft doesn't always turn out like I want it to. Which leads to the problem of writing, specifically school, I have a 10 page paper that I am dreading with all my heart. Mainly because I would rather write my opinion, ( like on my blog) than write what someone wants. Which makes me great at creative writing but horrible at any other kind of writing. The reason that I am thankful for these things is because they make me the only me there is out there.  Yes, they are quirks, but once I put all my struggles out on my plate, and accept them, I can let God in to fix some of those problems, and make me the Emma Mooradian that He wants me to be.  Go and stuff yourselves full of turkey and pumpkin pie, consider your struggles and let God help.

Happy Thanksgiving, and Whistle while you work,
Emma

Salvation Sunday: Remember remember the 5th of November; Catholics and Guy Fawkes.

So, this post is a little late, seeings as it is the 6th and not the 5th. First thing first I'll give a little history on Guy Fawkes, Guido Fawkes became a Catholic when his mother remarried a Catholic man after the death of her husband. Once Guido grew up he went to fight the Eighty Years war with the Spanish. The Eighty Years war was fought between Catholic Spain and the Protestant Dutch. Guido changed his name to Guy during the war. When Guy returned to England, he and 12 other men devised the gunpowder plot, the plot to blow up parliament and King James the first. This plot failed, Guy was caught, and sentenced to death. Guy met a gruesome end when he jumped from the gallows, breaking his neck, to escape being hung drawn and quartered.
                             

                             
Most people probably only know Guy Fawkes for this mask.

Over all Guy Fawkes was a failure, his plot failed and he died. Yup, I would call that a failure. But was he? Let's back up a little and talk about Guy Fawkes being Catholic. What should we as Catholics think of Guy Fawkes? Obviously we know that trying to blow up the king goes against Church teachings, but let's put King James into the spotlight. Why would a Catholic man try to kill his king? Because King James was oppressive to the Catholics,  being a Protestant king himself. What should we ( Catholics) do when we are being oppressed by the government? Stand up for ourselves. And no, we should not blow them up, that would not be good. We should never go down without a fight, even if it isn't a physical fight, maybe it's a debate or maybe it is a physical fight. In modern day times it may seem like we won't be oppressed, but we are being oppressed, by the media, by the government, and by other religious denominations. Today ( or really yesterday) in England people celebrated Guy Fawkes day by burning a dummy that looked like Guy Fawkes.  They believe that they beat Guy Fawkes back in 1605, but did they? He seems like a failure, but Guy Fawkes' face ( mask above) is the face of rebellion. By wearing the Guy Fawkes mask people say that they will go against the government, against oppressors and the such.  He seems like a failure, but he's not, even today hundreds of years later he is making an impact. So the Church doesn't approve of Guy Fawkes' actions but I tip my hat to him. Whenever you are being oppressed remember a certain English man who stood up for his faith. Always remember remember the 5th of November.

Whistle while you work,
                            Emma