Judgement...

I have dwelled on whether or not to write this post, but I figure if it is gnawing at me that bad, it should be out there. I even ran it by a few friends who felt like it should be posted publicly because it might give a voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless and/or understanding to the lost. I am not one for airing dirty laundry, that is not what this is about. Yes, its personal, but it is a learning experience. And, hey, its a problem that this broke fat girl faces... ;]

I have an acquaintance that I met through hobby channels. She lives in the same state, but too far away for us to be able to get together as friends per-say.  Last week she sent me a message on Facebook that said she was confused by my relationship status. I wrote her back and asked "What is confusing about it?"

Now, understand that my "in a relationship with" on Facebook clearly shows that I am in a relationship with a woman. So, I consider that pretty plain. I will say that the last time I spoke to her, I was recently divorced (from a man), but I didn't feel the need to disclose that to her, because well, I honestly didn't feel like it was anybody's business. That convo was about a year and a half ago. All that time she was on my friend's list and I did change my relationship status to reflect my status as it changed. I have been in my current relationship for just over a year now and she JUST now noticed apparently. I tell you all that because we obviously are not close enough to have our noses in each other's business, right? Right! On with the story.

She writes back saying that she knew I was supportive of my friends that were not straight, but that she thought I had ties to Christianity. That last she knew I was married. I write her back and say that you can be a Christian and not be straight and explained the divorce and the time that has been, blah, blah, blah. So I get this message back that basically says that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong too many times for her to be okay with it and that men and women were designed to be together for procreation, but she will still be my friend. *sigh* I get to break out the biblical beliefs argument. This ain't my first rodeo on this subject. Should I mention that she is married to a minority, has no children, and freely admits that she does NOT attend church due to how those people cram beliefs down your throat?

So before I post my reply, I want you to stop here and ponder. Why do people feel so free as to admonish someone for their sexuality? I feel certain if I were seeing someone outside my race, no one would have the gall to openly say something about it, even if they did disapprove. The Bible does speak about not being with people of other nations... Okay, Onward!

Here is my reply. Its long, but I promise you it is worth the read:

"In my journey of my faith, I really struggled with the idea that God would condemn a person for loving another even if they were of the same sex. Some of the healthiest relationships I have ever known were between two people of the same sex. Some of the people I knew I could depend on the most outside of my family, were homosexual. So I set out to explore where all the hate from Christians was coming from, many years before I found myself attracted to a woman. I seek to understand all things and this was no different. Read this with an open mind. I am not "preaching" to you here, simply laying out what I have learned and discovered over time.

The Bible was written by man AFTER stories had been passed by word of mouth. Then it has been translated over many years to many different languages. It is a historical text. When someone tells you a story are you able to relay it word for word? A lot of people will even embellish a story when retelling it. Its true and proven. So before the Bible was even written, it had changed from the original story. Then the only way to make copies of the Bible was for it to be handwritten. Again, how many times have you tried to copy something word for word and got it completely correct? Which brings us to translations. As you know the English language is one of the most complex and confusing languages. We have lots of words that sound the same but mean different things, they may even look very close with only an change in a vowel, and even those vowels sound the same, ex. pen and pin. I do believe some things got lost in translation. Just as any other text that is translated. We don't even structure sentences in the same manner in all languages. Word of mouth, hand copying and translation were all done by mankind, who from the very first book we learn is flawed and not perfect.

Most Christians want to use the Old Testament to point out homosexuality as a sin. Now we all know we do not live by the OT. We cut our hair, wear blended clothing, women are not banished when the menstruate, we don't sacrifice animals or stone our children. The list can go on and on. Even the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, I find it much more appalling that the father offered up his daughters to raped by the men of the village, then said daughters got their father drunk in order to sleep with him and try to conceive children. Rape and incest are not something we condone in today's society. You cannot use the Bible as if it is a cafeteria where you can pick the things you like to go on your plate.

So that brings us to the New Testament. Which covers Jesus' life and death in detail. Most Christians today will say that they do not live by the OT, but by the teachings of Jesus. Never once does Jesus mention homosexuality. Jesus loved all people, including lepers and prostitutes. We even have high praise for Mary Magdalene, (who tradition says was a prostitute, even though there is nothing in the Bible to support that view.) according to the Gospel of John, Jesus chose her to appear to after his death. The only sexual sin the Bible mentions over and over is adultery and even that has is different definitions depending on who you talk to. Some people claim that even finding a person attractive other than your spouse is a form of adultery.

There are so many people that live their lives in misery and sadly take their lives over the judgement of Christians on homosexuality, where there is no clear proof that it is as detestable as mankind has led us to believe. Not everyone was put on this earth to procreate. There are plenty of straight people who cannot conceive for one reason or another. I was not born to have children, period. It is not in my personality make-up.

My divorce taught me that failure is an option even when you have given your all to something. Not that its the best way, but failure is going to happen sometimes and can be completely out of your control. You can try too hard and only make things worse. You can do everything society says you should do to be happy and still be miserable. So just like coming off a horse, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and tried things my way.

I don't have any issues discussing my trials and tribulations about falling in love with my partner. It wasn't something I took lightly. I am open to any and all discussions about it, when those discussions are not meant for ill intent, even if they are pure curiosity. Just like most relationships, ours isn't built solely on the physical intimacy. Its build on love, trust, honesty and partnership above all things."

And that my friends, is how you nip it in the bud. ;]

Peace, love and chicken grease,
BFG

Woo! Two epic food discoveries in two days, your BFG is on Fi-yah!

I have been on the journey of the smoothie discovery for sometime now. Something healthy, tasty and filling to replace breakfast or lunch with. My first attempt was a huge failure. I mean gag a maggot failure. That's what I get for following a recipe made by a well meaning mom for her kids. I assume either she never tried it or used it as a punishment/torture device for her poor children. "Never mind timeout kids, if I have to tell you one more time, I am breaking out the blender!" Seriously, that bad.
Anywho, I have been on a mission with my own recipes since then. I felt like I was getting way too much fat and calories from the milk I was using and really defeating the whole purpose of what I was trying to accomplish with using a smoothie as a meal replacer. Until...(don ton ton) we were cruising the dairy aisle at the grocery this weekend I rediscovered vanilla almond milk! Why, oh why, didn't I think of this before!! I love that stuff!!
Yesterday I decided to make myself a smoothie for an on the go breakfast with my vanilla almond milk...It was FAB!! A cup of the vanilla almond milk (which only has 90 cal) a few strawberries, a palm full of blueberries on a surprise trip through the blender was the ticket. It was sweet and fruity and milky and just good! I am out of Greek yogurt to mix in, but I know it will be positively grand with that little bit of added thickness. Oh payday, come on so I can get to the grocery!

Which brings me to my second food discovery, which I will admit is not nearly as exciting as the smoothie, but I figured I would let you down easy from all that elation. I had to ditch the rest of my lovely organic baby spinach this weekend. Which left me with no salad greens to go with the beckoning grilled chicken breast we had leftover from this weekend. What's a girl to do without salad greens and its still a few days until payday??!! She cuts that chicken up, throws in some feta thats been hanging out in the fridge, tosses some of her own amazing spin on Italian dressing and she owns that mofo for lunch. Yes, it was delish even without the greens. Ahh, the feeling of victory. What can I say? I am easily entertained and food is an excellent playwright.

Ahhh, love is in the air! It's Valentine's Day! The one holiday that keep florists in business.

You don't have to have a sweetheart to enjoy this day. My first rule in life is love yourself. It will benefit everyone and everything around you. That doesn't mean get stuck on yourself, be vain, or a cocky jerk, it means be someone you could love. It takes a lot of practice and awareness. I know I am not loveable at times, and I have certainly had my times of not loving myself. Its okay, just try it.

Even though I am not an overly religious person I am attempting to give up sweets for lent. You can thank me later when you get all that Valentine's candy half off tomorrow because the broke fat girl didn't beat you to it. ;]

Oh and don't forget, your resident BFG (broke fat girl) says its tacky to have your Christmas lights up after Valentine's, so hop to it and take those suckers down! If nothing else, at least unplug the damn things. If you won't do it for the tackiness factor, at least do it to save electricity, which will save you money.

XOXO,
BFG

Traveling photo ops.

I will start off apologizing for my abcence. Last week was beyond stressful both personally and professionally. This blog is supposed to be fun and light hearted and I was not in the mood for either. ;]

Onward and upward!! Because I have an amazing partner and equally amazing friends, we chose to get out of town for a portion of the weekend. It was much needed and I found some funny photo ops on our travels.

Believe it or not, I found these two gems in the same town!

Can you believe this place didn't make it?  

If you don't use the left, you will certainly need to go right!

I missed a few great photo ops along the way because we couldn't stop to get them all. Like the shack, I mean house that had about 8 Romney/Ryan signs in the yard, two of them being the really big ones. They looked to be in good shape too, like they have them stock piled to replinish them when they get damaged. Someone should really break the news to them, gently, but quickly because I am quite certain they have at least heard the news that we are going to completely lose our second ammendment right and have created a stock pile. I'd do it, but something tells me a somewhat butch tree hugger driving a Prius coming up the drive would put them immediately on the defensive.
Now now, don't go getting your panties in a bunch, if I'd seen a house with Obama/Biden signs all over the yard, I would have had something witty to say about that too. I am an equal opportunist like that. I was just not afforded the luxury of that opportunity. Leaving campaign signs up way after an election is even more tacky than leaving your Christmas lights up when its well past Valentine's. Which is quickly approaching, and I still pass houses at night that not only have them up, but turned on. What the hay people?
Now get on with your Monday and admit, you now have that Bangles song stuck in your head after reading my header. And if you didn't, you do now, because you scrolled back up to read it. AND if you don't know what the hell I am talking about, head over to youtube, look it up and gain some culture. ;]

Stress eater :-/

After a crazy turn of events at work yesterday, I am stressed beyond measure. I am supposed to hear from the powers that be after lunch. I have been going back and forth from wanting to eat the most unhealthy thing I can find, to feeling that my entire digestive tract is a series of knots. Its not life or death, its not even keeping my job or not that is on the line, but I am a worrier. That's one of my many attributes. ;]
Instead of all the healthy stuff I keep in my office to munch on, I went all out stress eater for lunch. Grilled onion cheddar burger, small fry AND a snack size McFlurry. The good news is, this outta my mind experience only cost me $4.06 WITH tax. *sigh*

Food 4 Thought Friday

Woohoo! Its Friday, wish it was paycheck Friday, but alas, it is not. *sad face*

Today's Food 4 Thought Friday is inspired by crazy things I see people post on Facebook. Why must we always put ourselves (or others) into certain groups? I see these memes about "All those liberals say or do blah blah blah", "Those crazy conservatives say or do such and such", "All democrats are this, All republicans are that" You get my jest. Are we not individuals? Are we not encouraged to "think outside the box"? Well how in the hell am I supposed to think out side the box, when someone is constantly trying to shove me in one? I mean, I an unique just like everybody else, right?

I find myself offended by all these labels, even the ones that don't apply to me, because they apply to people I know and love. I happen to be liberal in some views, but conservative in others. I have friends and family that are all over the place, politically, religiously and in personal views. I love them all, why can't everybody else love them for them? Why must people post hateful, degrading and mostly untrue about your everyday neighbor?  Live life, love life, love each other!

While you are sharing all that love and possibly some football this weekend, try out my favorite Not-Chew Cheese Dip. (Okay, you should probably chew it, but I like a play on words and phonics, blame my ADD or my mother, isn't the mother always to blame?)

1 smaller block of Velveeta (you can use the Wally brand, it works just as well).
1 can of Ro-tel, the heat you want is up to you. (again, store brand is fine).
1lb of ground beef or ground turkey
1 packet of taco seasoning.
1 bag of tortilla chips or corn chips of your choosing.

Cook your ground beef as directed on the taco seasoning pack. While all that goodness is going in your skillet, cut your cheese product into cubes, approx 1in x1in. Now here is where you can go two different directions and end up with the same result. You can either: A) Dump the can of Ro-tel and the cheese product cubes into a large-ish microwave safe bowl and nuke it for a minute or so, stir and repeat until its all melty. Then add your now finished taco meat. Or B) add the cheese product cubes and Ro-tel to your finished taco meat in the skillet, over low-medium heat stirring until melted and well combined. Then get out your chip and dip platter and enjoy!

Its a little more involved than the ol microwave cheese product and salsa deal, but I can promise you its completely worth it! Its an easy game day favorite at our house.

Don't forget, Live life, love life and dangit, LOVE EACH OTHER!

The battle

That meme is a true story! For lunch today I had an epic baby spinach salad with, grape tomatoes, grilled chicken, feta, and my own specially mixed Italian dressing. You know what's on the menu at home when I get in from my class this evening? Pizza. Do I fell guilty now? A little. Will I care when I am eating it? Not a bit. After I have eaten the entire frozen pizza? Hell yes! Will I lose sleep over it? Not tonight...lol!