should we all be prudes?

recently, i have completed a book by carol platt liebau entitled "prude: how the sex-obsessed culture damages girls (and america too!)." the title is unfortunately not the most shocking quality of the book. while i like to consider myself in the know of student culture (i use student b/c i can't stand the terms "teen" and "youth"), i found out that there are quite a few things that i was clueless about. i mean, i have a facebook page AND a blog, i should know things...but i (along with 99% of parents) do not. we have no idea what our students read, watch, chat, im, or google. and if we do have an inkling that our students are involved in things a little too "mature" for their years, we pretend not to notice and hope for the best. shame on us all. perhaps the most telling chapter of the book is entitled, "do-me feminists and doom-me feminism." after a brief summary of the history of the women's liberation movement and description of the modern-day social scene, it becomes obvious that women do not have the societal freedoms for which they have so long fought. women have exchanged the lie of unresponsive, doormat-type submission to a man, for the lie of "having sex like a man" (author's words). by fighting so hard to love who, when, and how they want, women have lost...well, what makes them women. they have no mystique, no allure, no...femininity. why would a guy want to hang out with a female who pays for her own way, talks like he talks, and think like he thinks? other than the fact that she has parts that he doesn't have (and boy, do they feel good), i can't think of a reason. therein lies our problem. men aren't men and women aren't women. not that i would be upheld as the picture of biblical femininity (i am not even close to mastering the beauty of a quiet spirit), but i do want to strive for it...and now more than ever, i want to help students strive for it too. the obsession that our society and sadly, even professed christians have with sex is scary. however, we cannot run away from the problem. we must proudly commit to being prudes and teaching students to do the same. if you want to read more on the book go to prudethebook.com. **read with caution. it is an HONEST and FRANK look at student culture**

going green(er)

it seems like everywhere you turn, you here the message to go green. besides buying those new funky lightbulbs for our lamps, i haven't really given green a second thought. that is, until tom and i joined the y about a month ago. when we started exercising again, we started drinking more water. and natually, we purchased our water from the store...in plastic bottles. after a couple of weeks, i became disturbed with how quickly our garbage can filled up from the bottles. yesterday, i purchased a brita filtered water pitcher and a nalgene bottle for tom to put an end to the bottle problem. we started off the morning well...tom remembered to take his nalgene to work, but forgot to bring it home. not sure what he will do for his morning workout. hey, it's a start. i even plan on finding the local recycling center next week. come to think of it, i did switch to the green smart cleaners from clorox. they cut through the grease and grime really well and are affordable. however, after handling raw meat i still use bleach to clean up the kitchen...yuck! caleb drinks organic milk and i always try to buy organic (or preservative free) when economical. i've even switched to using whole wheat flour when i bake. alot of people point to studies that say there are no benefits from eating organic, but i just can't help but think that your body runs cleaner without all that gunk in it. i wish that we drove hybrid vehicles, but they are pricey and caleb's carseat would take up the entire backseat. not to mention that his stroller would leave no room in the trunk for groceries. i also wish that i could say we use cloth diapers, or at least the chlorine-free type, but we don't. maybe, we can figure out a cost-effective alternative before the next kiddo (no announcement forthcoming). the agnew family isn't totally green, but working their way towards a lighter shade of yellow.

spring break '08

nana and the girls stayed with us for a couple of days this week and they celebrated spring break in nashville. aside from lots of nana time for caleb, we managed to see some sights. on saturday, we went to the mall at green hills, drove around belle meade (hey, a girl can dream, right?!), and topped it off with dinner at calhoun's--incredible bbq!!! on monday, the girls and i headed to the ymca. i hit the eliptical for 45 minutes while they splashed around in the pool. i think i got the raw end of the deal on that one. we also went to cool springs for a little more shopping that afternoon. tuesday was our last day to hit the town. we went to the opryland hotel, opry mills for yet more shopping (this time, i actually made a few purchases), and the rainforest cafe for dinner. sadly, when wednesday came, nana and the girls had to leave. jack moped around the house all day and caleb was not pleased that i couldn't push him around on his lion as much as the girls did. nicki, michell, ashley, and misty, thanks for sharing your spring break with us!

easter...part one

easter at our house, or at least for caleb, began on friday and lasted through wednesday. his gran and grandad came with easter basket #1 on friday morning. he was really interested in chewing on the little people easter eggs. they had bunny ears that apparently tasted really good. later on that afternoon, nana and the girls arrived bringing easter basket #2. caleb was really excited to see them. on saturday, there was an church-wide easter egg hunt. we thought that caleb and misty would really enjoy it. however, we were 10 minutes late and all of the eggs were gone! no big deal for caleb (he just enjoyed walking around in the sunshine), but misty missed out. she was a trooper though, and managed to snag some candy anyway. unfortunately, easter basket #3 didn't officially get delivered as i was sick sunday morning. my stomach can certainly pick the worst time to act up...i didn't even make it to worship service that morning :( thanks to nana, easter lunch went off without a hitch. we didn't have coconut or carrot cake. instead, nana made banana pudding, yummy!!! i'm going to try to stage easter pics this weekend. hopefully, it will be warmer than the real easter and caleb and i won't freeze in our shorts!

random thoughts

with easter approaching, the agnew family has been on the hunt for easter outfits. caleb's has been set for weeks, but we did run into a slight problem today. he's wearing shorts, shirt, and sweater vest, so i bought some cute argyle knee socks to match. however, while trying on the outfit today (i would hate for something to not fit sunday morning), we discovered that his shorts come past his knees and meet the top of the socks! i laughed until i about cried (which made caleb laugh)...it was cute in a dorky way. despite the fact that it will only be about 50 degrees sunday, he's going to wear his new sandals. tom and i are having trouble finalizing our outfits. i think all tom needs is a lavendar (yes, lavendar) shirt...and i need a white blazer from gap. just last night, my darling husband reminded me that i really didn't need a blazer, especially one from the gap that costs $70...i hate it when he makes comments like that :P i'm having trouble finalizing our easter dinner menu. tom's mom will be bringing ham, sweet potato casserole (i love my husband, but i hate sweet potatoes and refuse to fix them), and deviled eggs for sure. and it's not an official holiday dinner without hashbrown casserole and broccoli salad in our house, so i'll definitely be making those. i was thinking green beans, my mom's "white corn stuff" (not to be confused with sweet corn casserole), and some sort of pineapple/curried fruit to accompany the ham. i cannot decide whether to make a coconut or carrot cake for dessert...any suggestions?!?

tom's a blogger, too

recently, tom has been invited to be apart of the blog, www.twoinstitutions.org. it was started by two gentlemen that tom and i had the priviledge of meeting at providence baptist church in raleigh, nc, mike hall and blake hickman. this website is chocked full of resources to help individuals support the family and the church, the two institutions ordained by God to produce spiritually mature men and women. check it out, i think that you will find it encouraging.

playdate

caleb and i had our first playdate this morning! i know, i know, good mommies would have organized playdates before now, but we've just been trying to keep our heads above water in a new city every year...ha! paula was kind enough to have 4 mommies and 4 boys (ages 9 months thru 20 months) in her home for lunch and a little playtime afterwards. the boys all seemed to have a good time...and i know that this mommy did, too. i've included some pics. the cast of characters includes, ethan (he's the oldest and showed everybody the ropes), caleb, baylor, and blaine(they're the incredibly cute twins).