Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Movie Review: Annie

Movie Title: Annie

Year: 2014

Director: Will Gluck

Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx

The tune is catchy! My daughters saw Annie in the theater and pretty much came home singing "Its a hard knock life". Although I'm sure they had no clue what it meant; they were singing it.

Annie has the same plot line as the original. Its a modern version of the orphan kid who went to live with Daddy Warbucks. Well instead of a millionaire, now we have a billionaire! Mr. Stacks is a mobile tychoon who needs some help in his current mayoral race. What better way to get publicity and have the people love you than to let a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks stay in your place. You will be captivated with the singing, storyline and humor in this modern version.

Honestly when I saw the trailer my first thought was: "This is lame, how can you redo Annie?" Well I like to admit that they have redone the classic and its a catch! We just bought it from Costco today and my family texted me to see if I could come home early so we could watch the movie. It made me laugh, smile, laugh, ponder and I might have had allergies also because I teared up.

Monday, March 09, 2015

Cambodia Food


Last month I had a very unique opportunity to travel to Cambodia. My hope in this blog post is to share an overview of the food I experienced in Phnom Penh. Not only the food, but the ability to eat at restaurants that helped others out.

Let me start out by saying, “I love Asian food!” Asian is one of my favorite cuisines. Eating Khmer food was a new experience but a great one! The first night in Phnom Penh we went to the best Vietnamese place I’ve ever been to; I’m still thinking about the egg rolls they served! We did end up eating there another night while in the country.

If you are in Phnom Penh here are two places I would recommend to eat at. All of these locations can be found in Lonely Planet (get the kindle version to save on weight).

This location, near the river, on the north side, was our favorite place to eat. We found it after our first full day in the country. It serves tapas (not my favorite) but the food was savory. They had wonderful salads, meet, rice and great shakes!

The food wasn’t even the best part! They had junior servers who would assit the regular server. The junior servers were young adults/teens who had once lived a risky life and are now receiving on the job training. After you eat, walk next door and find some great souvenirs to bring home to your family.

Located near the Russian Market, same street just a block south. This location was my favorite lunch place. They had some great options and the staff was very friendly. When we walked into the restaurant my first thought was “this is small and not what we’re looking for.” Then a staff member said, “we have more seating upstairs.”

The upstairs is the place to sit. Its like a mix between a comfy living room and a great coffee shop that serves killer food! I really enjoyed all we had to eat there and wish we would have eaten lunch here everyday. My absolute favorite part, ok two favorite parts, about this restaurant are their love for Jesus Christ and the great little shop they have. 

They have a page, in their menu, dedicated to their story and how Christ is their hope. The store was a great place to get cute little dresses for my daughters; my only regret is not buying two more.

So if you're in Cambodia check these places out, eat good food and help others!

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

No Facebook February


We have catchy titles for all sorts of things in our culture like: "No Shave November" or "Februhairy". Well After returning from Cambodia I realized something, I cared too much about social media. I also found myself clicking more links and being sucked into a certain app on my phone. At that point I realized I need a Facebook break and quick.

The break was great for me! I was able to avoid the website for all 28 days of February and as I look back on what I've called No Facebook February I've very thankful for the decision. Here are some positives of this experience:

More time with family
I had more time with my family. I noticed that I wasn't automatically going to the app when there was 5 seconds of downtime.

Increased Focus
I felt like I was more focused on things. I was dedicated to what I was working on. I was present when I was on a date with my wife. I wasn't tempted to tune out of a group conversation and grab my phone.

Affirmation
I didn't find my affirmation in what I posted. I wasn't constantly checking my Facebook to see if people liked my picture or cared about my status update. To be honest, like gut level honest, I struggle with acceptance and No Facebook February really helped me find my acceptance in God.

Like anything there can be some downsides in a commitment like this. Here is what I noticed.

Less Connection
I felt less connected. I felt like people were talking about things that I had no clue about. I did see the picture. I didn't watch the video. I didn't know she got engaged. I didn't know he lost his job. The list goes on and on. There is a reality that Facebook keeps us up to date on information.

It's a ministry tool 
Facebook is a ministry tool for me. When I hesitantly logged back in on March 1 I had 7 messages. Some were the typical group message but some were people reaching out. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Facebook is a great ministry tool that needs to be managed.

If you asked me to sum it all up it would sound something like this. Overall, I didn't miss being away. In all honesty I enjoyed it. I felt more present in my life. I wasn't distracted by the thought and I'm sure I'll do it again in the future.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to post this on Facebook so you can read it.