Category Archives: Self Improvement

Coffee Pu’erh

16 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in Cafe, Self Improvement, tea, Update

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The taste.  The smell.  The thickness of it.  The endless options to put in it.  Coffee, that’s what I’m talking about.  I like a good cup of coffee in the morning.  I have slowed down since about a year ago when I had to stop drinking coffee altogether.  But I started up again last Spring!

I could drink lattes again that weren’t decaf!  I was able to drink coffee again and feel no pain!  That was exciting.  But the last couple of weeks have been sad.  The sad realization that I am going to have to give up coffee once more.  I wonder if it will be harder to give up coffee than it was to give up Facebook?

I’ve done it once, so I can do it again.  Right?  I just love the taste and the feel of coffee.  I love adding eggnog or chocolate milk and maple syrup.  Oh and my favourite, a little cod liver oil, just kidding!  Coffee is comfort.  Coffee is good.  Do you get my drift?

I love tea.  I have a variety of loose leaf tea (which is way better then tea in a bag – sorry Tetley).  It’s just not the same.  I don’t add anything to it so it is like drinking flavoured water, which I don’t mind but I just don’t get the same feeling as when I drink coffee.  It’s different.

HOW AM I EVER GOING TO SURVIVE?

The answer:  Coffee Pu’erh

It is a tea!  I had never heard of it before until one day I visited David’s Tea in the city.  I thought I would try it out.  Today is the first time I’ve had some.  It’s dark!  It looks like coffee.  Not the same taste of coffee, but I think it will do the job.  I thought of adding a little eggnog to see what happens.  Today I will just have it black.  Here is what David says about this tea:

“Pu’erh has come a long way since its heyday as a tribute tea to Chinese emperors a thousand years back. It’s still got that legendary healing power, but the new “cooked” varieties are really something special.  it combines coffee, chocolate and a touch of caramel flavour.  Rich, smooth, aromatic and subtly sweet.  Even your coffee-addict friends will go crazy for it.”

As I take another sip it kind of reminds me of after being out in the snow all afternoon and your mittens are soaked and your hands smell like sweat and wet mittens and you can kind of taste it in your mouth.  Now I know you really want to try it!

Would you ever give up coffee?

Cup of Coffee Pu’erh
Looks Like Coffee to me!

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Facebookless: 1 Week Already!

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in facebook, Self Improvement

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So far tonight I’ve come home and shared supper with family, cleaned up the kitchen a bit, fed the animals and finally have come to the computer.  This is not much different then any other night, except for the fact that I didn’t think about Facebook at all during this time.  I haven’t thought about Facebook at all today.  When I say that I haven’t thought about Facebook, I mean that I haven’t thought about needing to check it and see what is going with my FB Friends or worried about not having my FB account.

It has been a week since I decided to take a break from FB.  It doesn’t seem like it’s been a week, maybe a couple days, but not a week.  I look at that as a good thing!  The first couple of days it was very weird not signing on every time I used my laptop, not giving a status update, not creeping on peoples page to see what they were up to or saying to other people, and not spending hours looking at videos on Youtube after being linked to the site when I watched a video someone posted.  There was a feeling of disconnect the first few days.

The only thing I miss about FB is how easy it was to connect with friends (the ones that I would send messages to or talk to often through this social media).  How do I do it now?  I send an email or Skype them.  I do have a twitter account and have tried not to up my usage just because I don’t have FB.  I’m not obsessive about it like I was with FB.  It has been a bit of a substitute for status updates, but I am still trying to not use it that much.

What I have been doing instead of being on FB?   Homework.  Reading.  A little chalk art.  Going to bed at a decent time enabling me to wake up early to exercise.  Dealing with life.  Trying not to substitute something else as a procrastination tool.

That’s been a little bit about my experience on giving up FB.  I think that as I continue with this it will be refreshing and I do hope that I don’t substitute the lack of it for something else, like Twitter.  If you see me on there too much, let me know!  I doubt I will post on this topic again unless I am really struggling with it.  I will also be honest with my readers and let you know if I gave in and signed on to FB.  I don’t want to have to tell you that, so this will help me to keep myself from signing in.

See you again on Facebook after the semester is over – after my last exam!

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Facebook Escape

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Self Improvement

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Facebook.  A social media.  A connection with friends.  A information hub about others.  A huge distraction!

I’m sure Facebook means something to you.  At this point in my life Facebook has become a distraction.  I want to go on it all the time and perhaps that is part of procrastinating from school work, but I can’t do it anymore.  Yes, I might find another way to procrastinate, but I am hoping this will help the problem.

I will loose the ability to connect with friends easily and let everyone know what I am doing all the time, but really, does everyone need to know what I am doing ALL the time?
It makes it so easy just to check on FB instead of actually picking up the phone or writing an email (which I heard some people talking the other day saying email is a thing of the past.  I’m not sure if I agree with that just yet.).  There are definitely ups and downs to leaving FB, but for now it’s only until the end of November.  After that I will revisit and see how things go.  I’m debating on doing again for longer during Lent.

To help me really not go on FB I will deactivate my account, because let’s face it, if my account is still active I am going to go on there.  If it is deactivated then I won’t do it.  That’s how I went cold turkey with Farmville and it worked, so here’s hoping!  

If you connect with me normally on FB, you can always send me an email or give me a call or add me to Skype (jackmastere).  I’m not getting rid of all forms of communication, just the one that leads me to not focus on school.    I hope you enjoy FaceBooking while I am gone!   Bookmark my blog and maybe you will see a few blogs here and there.

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Back to God’s Country

04 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by in Div College, Me and God Time, Rest, Self Improvement, Update

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Heading back to the homeland – to God’s country – to a beautiful place that I miss and love.

I’m sure that most of us think that where we come from is God’s country, but the Maritimes are so beautiful.  Yes, I know I haven’t been out West yet to compare, but one day I will get there and I will probably still say that the Maritimes is God’s country.  Some might argue about which part specifically is the best, but I say it all is great and wonderful.

For my reader’s who don’t know, my journey has a bend in the road and I am indeed heading back to God’s country in the fall.  It was not an easy decision to make.  It is going to be challenging and a lot of hard work.  The easy and safe road would be to stay here, but I have been called to do more and so I am off.  Where to exactly?

I’m heading back to school to get my Masters of Divinity at Acadia.  I’m excited about this as I will be closer to family (so close I will be living with my sister).  I can see my niece more often (very much looking forward to this).  I get to study full time again.  Something that makes me a bit nervous, but with the help of Christ I will make it through.  At this time in my life I need a bit of change and have the sense that God is leading me back to God’s country.

The program is 3 years.  So for these next few years, that is where I’ll be.  If you are someone I’m leaving behind in Ontario I want to take this time to tell you that Nova Scotia is an awesome place to take vacation!  Which means you will have to let me know you are coming so we can get in a visit!  For friends and family that I am coming back to – I will see you soon!

I don’t know where I will be after 3 years, but I do know that I want to encourage leaders in Children’s Ministry and encourage networking among this very important ministry to kids and their families.  It is so important that these amazing leaders have support among each other and know about the resources that can help them do ministry 100 times better.  From experience, I know how important this is and is a ministry in itself.

Yes, I am excited to go back to my family and friends in the Maritimes.  Yes, I am sad to leave my friends and church family that I have grown to know over the past 9 years here in Ontario.  No, I won’t go insane over the next 52 days trying to pack, finish things up at work, and try get everything done on my Ontario Bucket List (already have 2 things checked off)!

Don’t worry, I still plan to blog along the way!  I will have something new to blog about – going back to school!

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What do you hope for in 2011

04 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by in Self Improvement

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I have a new devotional book for the 2011 year and the first devotional was for the New Year.  I read Revelation 21:1 – 6.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

 1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”<sup class="footnote" value="[a]”> for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’<sup class="footnote" value="[b]”> or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 

www.biblegateway.com

Then a question was asked:

As you enter the new year, what about your life, setting, or circumstance fills you with hope?

I need to think about that question.  I think it will be a great and interesting year with getting married and all that comes along with planning, the wedding day, and then living with your spouse.  I know there will be struggles but I hope there will be more good times than struggles! 

At work I have more hours and a new title and with that comes new responsibilities and I hope that I can live up to them.

I started a new work out plan and I hope that I can finally enter a healthy lifestyle that works for me and stick with it.

But with all of these things that I am looking forward to in 2011, I must keep Christ at the center of them all or else I will probably fail at them or struggle or get burned out.  I know with him all things are possible and he gives grace and joy in all circumstances.

So here is to a new year where I will look to Christ for strength, guidance, and wisdom as I journey through life’s ups and downs.

Encouragement from My Sister

14 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by in Self Improvement

≈ 2 Comments

My sister responded to my post through e-mail and this is some helpful tips that she gave me to learn Albanian.  Maybe you can use it to help you learn a language you’re interested in!  Just plug in the name of your language where it says “Albanian”.

From My Sis:
That’s great! I have a couple recommendations that helped me learn Acadian.

1) Why don’t you try to only speak Albanian with Bes and his sister [For you this would be someone who speaks the language you are learning] on certain days? You have to figure out what the message with out any English.

2)  Except  you can ask  “How do I say XXXXX in Albanian, and how do I spell XXXX in Albanian? but ask those questions in  Albanian. Have Mon Wed Fri as Albanian days- no english! That’s part of your immersion.

3)If you can, listen to Albanian radio/news 15 minutes a day, even if you don’t understand the language, that way you get the “rhythm” of the language, and tune your hearing to the flavors/accents of the language.

4) Carry a little book with you at all times to write down the sayings/expressions/ and words that you would use in your daily speaking. 10 words a day sounds great, but as you see, it is hard to follow through, and they may not be relevant to your daily living. Review the book any time you have a minute, or a few minutes before you go to sleep. That way it is kind of in your brain while you sleep.

Hmmm…sounds like a plan.  Three days with only Albanian? Boy that’s a tough one.  What about starting with 1 day first and then working my way up to 3 days!  😉  We are strying to get his Sister to learn English too.  But we could do the same with her and make the Albanian day a break for her that she doesn’t have to speak any English….hmmmm…..

Well, there is some tips from my Sis for learning another language.  Why not try it out yourself.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

Shihemi me vone – See you later