Open Mic and Worship Night at LifeChurch

LifeChurch is having an open mic and worship night tonight (Friday 16th, 1009)

Open mic will be from 7pm to 8pm and worship will start at 8pm.

Childcare, coffee and some snacks will be provided.

LifeChurch is behind the JoAnn fabrics in the Tejas Center on Texas Ave. and Villa Maria. Next to the Theater Company.

Where to Throw Away Your Oven

My oven broke. It was all metal and fairly old. It was really heavy. Like really heavy. So I found out that there’s a metal scrap yard in town off HWY 21 called Bryan Iron and Metal and got the oven in the back of the van.

This was a really cool place. Metal all over the place. Cranes with magnets sifting through piles of scrap metal. Thin pieces, nails and screws, large heavy looking things like desks and chairs. Just metal everywhere.

Further back there were some guys cutting pieces down to smaller sizes. I just sat and watched the cranes picking stuff up and dropping it in the trucks to get taken deeper into the facility.

So, they told me where to go to take my oven. I backed up to the large metal driveway and pulled the oven out of the back of the van.

This huge claw came and grabbed it and made it look like it was made of cardboard, swung over to the massive pile of appliances. This big metal oven that I thought was really heavy and quite large, suddenly looked miniscule compared to the immense pile of appliances it was getting dropped onto.

My ugly yellowish oven disappeared into the blur of thrown out appliances.

I was just so amazed at the size of the piles of metal. It was really cool.

So, they had weighed the van on the way in, and weighed me on the way out and I think I received about $1.60. So, don’t go expecting a bunch of money for your metal unless you have a bunch of it lying around.

Anyway, just thought you’d like to know what you can do with your metal stuff. And maybe something cool to go take your kids to go watch…I don’t know if they’ll let you if you don’t have something to throw away, but it’s worth a try.

Here’s a recipe we used to make using this oven:

Portugese Chicken

Chicken Breasts or Tenders
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 can of Diced Tomatoes
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper
Sugar
Cinnamon

Season chicken breasts or tenders with salt and pepper, then grill, cut into bite size pieces and set aside.
Put 1 can of Rotel Tomatoes and green chilies and one can of diced tomatoes in a blender and blend. Pour it into a pan and simmer on medium. (if your pan is too hot, it’s gonna splatter, so be careful.

Add some shredded cheddar cheese and stir until it’s all melted (as an option, you can use parmesean instead…it’s good too).

Add a pinch of sugar and a dash of cinnamon. (don’t miss this part…the cinnamon is the “secret” ingredient)

Once the cheese is melted, pour this over the chicken in a baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or so on 350…until it’s bubbling.

Serve over rice (we like Basmati) and beans. Refried beans work, but we also like whole beans (go to the international section of HEB or KROGER and get a can of GOYA red beans. Get the red can, not the blue can. The red can is ready to heat and eat. The blue can needs to be seasoned.

Leftovers can be put in a tortilla…yum.

What to do In Bryan/College Station on July 4th, 2009

So, July 4th is upon us again. It’s hot, no sign of the heat lessening, and everything seems to be outside of the 4th, so be careful, wear sunscreen, drink lots of water, you know, all that safety stuff.

As far as fireworks, there’s a burn ban in effect, so you’ll have to ask the fireworks merchants what the restrictions are.

So, we haven’t decided what we’re going to do, but there are plenty of things to do this year. I’ve done a bit of research and found some great, fun sounding activities for Independence day. Some of you might actually be in the same place as me this weekend.

I’ll start with the Tried and True events that happen every year:

George Bush Library

For the tenth year, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum will host the College Station Lions Club’s annual Fourth of July Celebration, “I Love America.” This is the 49th year for this community event. The Museum will open at 9:30 a.m. and extend their hours until 8:30 p.m. Admission to the Museum on the Fourth of July is free for everyone all day. Historical characters will be mingling with the crowd to pose for photographs and answer questions about their distinguished careers. Live entertainment, concessions, and games for the children will all begin at 5:30 p.m. The evening will culminate with a spectacular fireworks display and concert by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. People are encouraged to come early and bring their lawn chairs, picnic baskets and blankets. Please no glass containers!

Parking is available to the public at the West Campus Parking Garage on the Texas A&M University campus. Shuttles will begin running at 4:30 p.m. from the garage to the Museum. Handicapped parking is available in Lot 41 in front of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum entrance.

For more information, please call (979) 691-4068.

Washington on the Brazos

Celebrate America’s independence on the site where Texas declared her independence!  Enjoy a full day of festivities on Tuesday, July 4th at the “Birthplace of Texas,” Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site.  Admission to the Park is free, and activities will be held from 10:00a.m. until 10:00p.m.

Children can participate in period games from the late 1800’s beginning at 6:30 p.m.  Free Blue Bell ice cream and free Coca-Cola drinks will be served at 7:00p.m. At 8:00p.m. relax with a picnic and listen to the Houston Symphonic Band perform patriotic favorites. The highlight of the celebration begins at approximately 9:15p.m. when HEB presents Fireworks-on-the-Brazos – an enormous fireworks extravaganza that can be viewed from all locations within the 293 acre park.

Visitors can tour historic sites within the park during the day, including Barrington Living History Farm, Independence Hall, and the Star of the Republic Museum.  Regular admission/tour fees apply. Call 936-878-2214 for tour hours and fees.

Food vendors will offer a variety of food choices on-site.  Visitors may wish to bring picnics, blankets or lawn chairs, and flashlights.  State park rules apply; alcohol prohibited.

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site is located halfway between Brenham and Navasota on State Hwy. 105, approximately one hour northwest of Houston.  Directions and more information are available by calling 936-878-2214.

Family Movie Opening this week: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…Opening Wednesday the 1st of July…here are more movie times. Looks like it’s in 3D. We watched Bolt in 3D And it was pretty cool. Toy Story 3 is gonna be 3D. Up is still playing…if you haven’t watched Up, go watch that. I cried within the first 30 minutes…great movie. We didn’t watch it in 3D, but I heard it was really fantastic in 3D.

Here are some other things that might interest you:

Soggy Bottom ATV Ranch

Independence Day, Picnic at the Lake [more]
* Come hang out, listen to music and enjoy all the activities, celebrating the birth of our proud nation.
* 4 on 4 Water Volleyball Tournament, Prizes to be given.
* Washers Tournament
* Free hot dogs and sodas while supplies last.
* Bring your fireworks and let’s have a blast!
* Regular park hours, gates will open at 8 AM on Thursday and close Sunday at dark.
* Normal Park Rates Apply
* Mud Races

Live Music:

Stafford Downtown Bryan: Reverend J Goodin and Bulletproof Brown – 9pm

Other Events:

Aquablast at the Bryan Aquatic Center. Celebrating their 25th Birthday from 1-7pm $3 admission.  For more information call 979-209-5222

Triumph Homeschool Community: 4th of July Picnic! Cornerstone Acres, 5105 Wallis Road beginning 6:30 p.m. [more]

Traditions Club House: Food and Fun. Live music by Elmo Weedon (Traditions memebers only)

JJ’s Snow Cones: Don’t forget to stop by to get an ice cold yummy snow cone.

5th of July

Texas World Speedway: Fireworks, Miata Ride Along, Vintage Indy Car races, Burn out contest, 5K Fun Run. Check it out.

Have fun!

Healthy and Organic Grocery Store in Bryan

OK, so many of you have probably already seen this, but the Appletree on Briarcrest is now a Village Foods.

We found out because we received a Wednesday “Weekly” flyer in the mail advertising healthy food products. Coming from San Antonio, we miss going to Whole Foods, Central Market and even Sun Harvest. Here in College Station and Bryan, there are only a few places to go for healthy food, organic stuff and herbs and vitamins.

Brazos Natural Foods over on Texas and Rosemary is the obvious place, then there’s the HEB on Texas and Holloman…they have a natural foods section, so does the Kroger on Boonville and HWY 6.

So, we were excited that someone brought a natural foods place the likes of Whole Foods or Sun Harvest..

Well, we were a little bit disappointed. OK, only because our expectation was so high, but it’s a great store. Here is an exceprt from their website:

Village Foods is locally owned.  We live right here in Brazos County with you.  (Did you know that for every $1 you spend locally, 45 cents stays in the community?  If you shop at a chain, the community only keeps 14 cents.*)

If you have been shopping at AppleTree on Briarcrest Drive for the last 20 years (or any portion of that), then you may be worried about what we are going to do with your store.  Well, we hope to continue to provide all the things you wanted before – and to provide great options in case you would like to eat a little (or a lot) better.

Most of the merchandise we offer will be the very same as you have been buying.  We have consolidated space (and eliminated low-demand items) so we could add more than 7,000 new natural, organic, or better-for-you items.

Our intent is for this assortment to save you time by allowing you to get everything you need in one trip, to one store.  (We believe it will improve and extend your life too, but you may not be ready to hear about that yet.) (read more here)

OK, it’s definitely a bigger section than the other stores in town. I am really impressed by their standards and how much they are doing to trying to be a really great store. Go to the website and read their “About Us”. Very cool.

What they do have is a Gluten Free Section. It’s at least one whole aisle (maybe two) with Gluten free stuff. That’s pretty cool, Expecially if you are one of those people with wheat allergies or are just trying to cut out wheat from your diet. It is a pretty good selection.

They also have Xylitol products, which are good for your teeth. They have gum and toothpaste. We like this stuff. See, cavities are caused by bacteria, not by sugar. Bactiria grows where there’s sugar, but the sugar itself is not the culprit. Xylitol kills the bacteria in your mouth, so it’s actually doing good in your mouth. I would say better than flouride, but that’s another story.

Another thing they have is local honey. And by local I mean from College Station…not Snook or Spring or somewhere in the vicinity…actually local. That’s a good thing. We look for local honey wherever we live. It’s good for helping your body become accustom to the pollens and stuff in the area…which could help alleviate allergies from the stuff that’s around here…which is quite a bit.

Oh, they also have a large selection of healthy frozen and dairy stuff, including Water Oak Farms Goat products. Try the Brazos Supreme Goat Milk Ice Cream…it’s really tasty. Those guys know what they are doing when it comes to making sure their goat milk doesn’t taste too goaty.

Jesus, Mary, a Lion and a Piggy Bank

My 7 year old has been wanting a piggy bank. I’ve gotten into the habit of giving her my pocket change at the end of the day. She really likes the quarters with the states on the back, and she also likes using them at gumball machines.

We’ve tried all sorts of piggy banks. For a while  were using a “Noah’s Ark” piggy bank, but I think it broke or something. It had a rubber stopper at the bottom. Then my wife’s mom gave her a “Talking Piggy Bank” that would calculate how much money was in there, but you had to put the money in at the right angle and if you took money out, it didn’t subtract from the total. That kinda seemed like counter productive…we’re homeschooling our kids, and any opportunity to learn is taken, so if this thing counted her money for her, she wouldn’t get good at adding up her money.

We are currently using a cute little pink box that she can lock. She’s lost the key a couple of times but then found it again. I use the word “lost” loosely because I think my 4yo boy challenges himself to find the key and hide it in a different place.

So, this thing is not really a piggy bank. See, the piggy bank I grew up with, as I’m sure many of you did too, was one that did not have a hole to get the money out. I’m not sure when piggy banks started to be designed with holes in the bottom, but it sort of defeats the purpose.

You save money for a long time because you want skates or a Cabbage Patch Doll or a Star Wars Millenium Falcon or whatever, then one day you can’t stuff any more money into it, so you take a hammer to it. Then you find out you have just enough money…something like that.

I am assuming that why piggy banks started to be made with holes at the bottom was so either people could reuse the piggy bank, meaning that the ones without holes were not being bought anymore, or for collecting. I mean, really, if a piggy bank costs you $35 and the Muppet Show Lunch Box (the one with Dr. Teeth on the back) costs you $5, there’s a problem. (I used to have a Sesame Street Lunchbox, a Kiss Lunchbox and this Muppet Show Lunchbox…here’s a flash game I made where you hit me in the head with one…)

So, my family was out bike shopping at pawn shops and we stopped by the Appletree on Hwy 21 and Texas Avenue to use their bathroom, and up in the front area, there was a little store with those Mexican Decorative clay-ish statues. You know, they have Mary holding baby Jesus, they have a Bust of Jesus, a Lion, a cheetah, I think I saw Mr. Incredible and Dora the Explorer among others. “SE VENDEN ANGELITOS” is what the sign on the front of the shop said. (Little Angels for sale)

The shop is Packed full of stuff on the shelves, just like what you’d find in a border town shop. It was pretty authentic, I thought, with not much room to turn around and the cashier girl on her cell phone and the Tejano music blaring.

The statues made out of that resin stuff. I don’t know what it is. Some sort of clay stuff. I asked and the girl didn’t know.

Anyway, this is where I found the piggy bank we’re thinking about getting for my daughter. They had all colors, and a couple of sizes. The large one was around $8…and no hole on the bottom. It’s funny, the first thing my daughter did was look on the bottom for a hole. Once she saw it had no hole, she was like, “Oh, cool, you have to hit this one with a hammer to get the money out!”

So, there you go. Looking for a catholic statue or a statue of an animal, or maybe Mr. Incredible? Or maybe you need a piggy bank? Check this little shop out.

I might just end up getting her one of those State Quarter Collection Boards instead.