Difference Between Spanking and Beating

Recently a video was released by the daughter of a judge who had used a belt to discipline her. You can view the video here if you have not seen it. Proceed with caution, it will make your gut churn.

Why I am so bothered.... This man gives parents like mine a bad name. When I was in trouble you bet I got a spanking. But that was BIG trouble. Here is the difference, getting licks with a belt were last resorts in a big situation. Our father NEVER spanked us with the anger that the judge in this video showed.  But we knew to lay there take the two-5 licks and it was over, and then we were going to talk more about our actions and how they lead to consequences. Our spankings were never conducted with the same behavior as that man used. This man blatantly beat that girl, and that is no way to discipline a child. That in NO way is conducive to a learning experience even if the child has committed an over the top rule breaking act.
I am grateful for the rules and punishment that I was raised by. I know that boundaries and consequences were set to make me a better person than if I were just left to run wild. As soon to be parents, I want nothing more than for my child to grow up happy and be a upstanding contributing member of society. Do I think that Nathan and I will be perfect parents that never have to discipline our children because we are just that good...NO, but beating the ever living snot out of our children will never be an option. This video disgusts me, and my rant was too long for a FB status or tweet.
KP

Kim K Gets Divorced after 72 Days

Haven't blogged in a LONG time but I am still around!


Not that this headline is incredibly surprising, but it is still just as sad. Wedding vows are suppose to be a stronghold. Telling someone that you are going to spend the rest of your life with them in front of your friends, family, and most importantly God is not something that can just be thrown away in 72 days. That is nuts. Yes it is a "celebrity marriage" but that thing is, that everyday "regular" people are doing the same thing. When I accepted a proposal of marriage from my husband, I made a commitment to him. When I said "I DO" June 7, 2008, I committed the rest of my life to him. Not the rest of my life...until things get a little rocky. Every couple will have disagreements. And have days when you would rather strangle them than give them a lot of affection. But that is because God created each of us differently.

"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

— I Corinthians 13:7

I truly believe He made Nathan for me. But that doesn't mean that we are made to agree on everything and do all things the exact same way. Either way, this situation and the divorce plague that our country knows as something normal, really bothers me. We should all put every effort in to making our marriages work. They are a beautiful union which God has brought together and we should protect its integrity.

Just a fun fact....Kim K's wedding was estimated at 10 Million dollars....FOR 72 DAYS OF MARRIAGE! ugh!

Animal Welfare Issues

With the recent  surfacing of the Mercy for Animals video, I have been thinking alot of how our cattle are treated at the farm. As well as how our sheep were treated, and chickens too. As a kid, each morning I woke up to feed, water, and care for all animals on the farm.  They always had shelter from predators and weather. Still today we raise beef cattle which do not go a day without seeing my dad. They are all counted and fed everyday. You see, my dad is a caretaker for his animals. He forms a relationship with all of them and would never think to put them in any harm or suffering. When we get yearling calves up for sale, they are fed, and easily worked into the trailer. No stress or physical harms comes to them during this time. Please remember that not all farmers act the way these on the videos do. We care for our animals and send a quality product to sale. We do agree with any of the action taken on the animals in the video and hope to see these people prosecuted. But consumers should not feel that this is what is happening across the nation.

Christmas Break

Christmas break has been wonderful. We got 5 weeks off. I did have to work part of that time but being away from school has been wonderful and given me a chance to visit with friends and family that get neglected throughout the semester! Nathan and I had a wonderful Christmas seeing all of our family over a weeks time! With so many of them we have to space it all out! This year, our schedule ended up more balanced than ever and we got to spend a lot of time with eveyone! I also got to catch up on sleep and read...for enjoyment!
Nathan has been working really hard lately and has had to work some overtime. The money has been nice though (rebounded from Christmas spending). He took some extra days off around the holidays and they were great! I recently scheduled a trip to NC to visit my brother and his family which unfortunetly Nathan does not get to go on. His vacation does not reset until May. I am bummed to go without him but excited to see that part of my family. So if you think about it check on him March 17-25th!
Classes begin again on Tuesday the 18th and I think I am ready! I am excited to get another semester closer to having a masters degree. This semester I will write the first 3 chapters of my thesis and have a proposal meeting with my committee! Wish me luck!

Until next time,
KMP

Cheesecake Brownies!

I got a new brownie pan from a friend for Christmas and wanted to try it out. So I made this recipe! It turned out so great.

Dark Brownie Ingredients:
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cheesecake Layer Ingredients:
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 8 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. To make the brownie layer, mix the sugar, cocoa, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually add flour and salt. Then blend in the butter. Add chopped nuts if desired. Set batter aside.

In a separate mixing bowl (medium to large) combine the cream cheese, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

Coat a 9x13 pan with butter and flour. Pour the cream cheese mixture in the bottom of the pan and then spread the brownie mixture on top. Unising a knife, swirl the top layer to create a marble effect. Bake at 325°F for 40-45 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes.

These are best served warm.

First Full Semester of Graduate School!

I have made it through my first full semester of Graduate school...AND I have a 4.0! I would say that equals SUCCESS! Next semester may be a little more difficult as I venture in to writing my first three chapters and proposing before my commitee!

End of the semester is here and this is my final assignment for ETEC5213. We were asked to create a recorded message discussing the differences between downloadable audio files and podcasts. Audacity is a free recording software and very simple to use. There are also tutorials available for using many of the tools within the program. I simply recorded the message and then imported an mp3 music file to lay in behind my recording. I then exported the file into an mp3. When downloading Audacity you are prompted to also downloaded "LAME for Audacity" which allows you to change from the ".aud" to a ".mp3". The hardest part of this post was making sure the mp3 was available on my blog. Earlier int he semester we learned HTML coding which became very useful this week! A couple times, when i previewed my post the mp3 player was not present. FRUSTRATING!!!! But then I figured out that I was missing a forward slash and the file name was not capitalized! Simple things most of us would overlook! At least the problems were minor! While preparing this assignment I had an idea. Ag teachers are constantly training teams for contests. Creating recordings of oral reasons would be a great study tool for these students. Almost ALL students have an mp3 player and could learn to give reasons by simply listening to old sets. They could even take notes on the format and similarities and differences between the different files in order to create a format for them to follow. Also, if you added a visual component, you could recorded classes and create promotional videos for your FFA chapter! If you would like instructions on how I completed this assignment please leave a comment and I would be glad to share!