tina & carol

(Sorry, the comments had to be turned off, since we’ve been bombarded with spam, and need to figure things out first.  So, we *really* appreciate your patience.  :) )

So, the last several weeks after our exchange student left, Steve and I fell into a sort of oblivion.  All the discipline we had racked up until now, flew away somewhere.  Eating-wise, TV-wise, so on and so forth.  So, I had a “That’s it!” moment, too early in the morning for Steve’s taste, but still with a rallying cry, yesterday was a turning point.

I made a healthy dinner, and instead of TV, Steve played Trivial Pursuit with me, on his iPhone.  :)  It was actually fun, though, I’ll have to admit, I was a bit rusty with some of the more current information…  Needless to say, the world’s a much bigger place now, as far as information goes…

And then, this morning, I read - for the first time in a long time…  The title of the book being, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie.  Okay, I’ll admit it, the title is a little more straightforward than I’d like, so I was a little embarrassed to even buy it, but I really liked Dale Carnegie’s old-fashioned views from his other book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  And when I write “old-fashioned,” I mean the Judeo-Christian values that were still around in the 1930s.

So, the first chapter was about, “Today.”  What a powerful word.  Not yesterday or tomorrow, but today.  How much of the last several years had I spent on the yesterdays and the tomorrows…

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24

I wanted to share one more find, but there is a story behind this one :)  When Mark and I were dating, one of the times, we all (parents, sister, brother in law (BIL), Mark and I) met at a chinese restaurant by Mark’s place for some jjah jjang myun.  Afterwards, I had to take my parents home, but Mark and the rest went over to his place and my BIL asked for some iced coffee.  Since I had made it for Mark several times in the past, he didn’t realize the work that went into it… what resulted was, a “war” in his cup.  ^__^ What I usually did was, boil some water, mix a tiny bit of water with some Maxim dah bahn coffee mix and add a ton of ice.  Mark had only ever seen the result of my delicious concoction :)  Ever since then I had wished that they would make one that didn’t need the hot water and the other week, guess what I found???

not only was it a mix that didn’t need hot water, it came with this beautiful cup:

*I got two bags of coffee just so I could get 2 cups because I like to have matching items.    One for me and one for Mark :).   Now we use it for everything, I’m in love with the size of the cup, and that it can handle both hot and cold drinks and it’s sturdy so I don’t have to worry about it breaking and lastly I love that it has a handle

Many, many years ago, I had a small solo part for a song some of the church members were singing for our pastor’s ordination.  Well, I forgot my entire line and basically made up my own words, mixing in parts of the other guy’s solo part, too, to somehow get through!  Hahaha~  Needless to say, my mother and sister were laughing at me during the song and not quietly either!  :)  I came off stage laughing, too, thinking, “Oh well!  What more can I do?”  And shrugged it off.  That’s just how I was - I was very confident because I knew who and Whose I was.

Well, fast forward many, many years later…  And just the other day, I had a lot of errands to run, but I didn’t really feel like dressing up.  So, I just threw on whatever I could find, smushed Danskos included, and walked out the door.  Well, one of my errands just happened to be at Nordstrom.  Eek!

When I was younger, I really wouldn’t have cared what I wore, but years of depression gave me a sort of amnesia…  For a moment, I forgot myself.  And I let my inner self reflect my outfit (or vice versa?), which the clerk quickly picked up on and treated me accordingly.  (Steve, doesn’t this seem like an episode of the Dog Whisperer?)

I later shared this with my sister and she reminded me of “me”…  (Sometimes, you need people to remind you of “you.”)

“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”  {Paul in Galatians 1:10}

It’s really weird.  The last 10 years, I’ve had the full spectrum of depression.  And in that time, I’ve been healing also.  Slowly, the Lord’s been showing me who I really am - the authentic me.  In essence, the same, but hopefully, a little wiser…   Let’s just say, it’s been a truly humbling experience…

Our director made white chocolate mint oreo truffles (there’s another name it goes by in our department, but not sure if it’s internet appropriate ^__^) one year for a dessert competition and since then, everyone’s been attempting to make it as perfectly as she does, but no one has quite mastered it…  Here is my latest attempt:

Recipe:

• 1 package of oreos
• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 lb. of white chocolate mint wafers*

*I’ve only been able to find these at a chaotic little store called Home Cake Supply (9514 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA ), if you ever visit you will understand what I mean by the “chaotic” but I love the store, the people are so nice and helpful.  They sell it by the pound, but sometimes it’s not out in front, so you have to ask for it.

For the first step, take the oreo’s and grind it up, if you have a food processor, it’ll be super easy… if you don’t, you’ll need a large ziplock bag, rolling pin and some muscles to crush finely as you can, it should look like dark dirt when you are done.  Mix in the cream cheese and oreos.  After it is mixed well, form into small balls around the size of a quarter and place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about an hour until it is set.   Before you take them out of the refrigerator, melt your white chocolate mint wafers in a bowl over simmering hot water, if you’ve never seen this before watch Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa, she seems to do this at least once a week ^__^ (she seems so kind, I love watching her show). I used 2 spoons to cover and carry it over to a silpat to set.   One mistake this time around was that I didn’t let my oreo balls refrigerate long enough and it ended up coming apart a tiny bit and making my white chocolate freckled with oreo bits… but I think it made it more cookies n cream kind of effect so I liked it :).  These need to be kept cool, so remember to refrigerate after making them, unless you plan on eating it right away :)  Sorry I don’t have more pictures, I only made a half a batch this time because I was tired and sort of rushed throught the process. 

(I didn’t have any cute containers so I had to use a salad dressing bottle and try to pretty it up… I probably should have just gone to the store to pick one up, but since it was around 11pm, I couldn’t get myself to change out of my pj’s, so… sorry Mark’s friend who got the not so cool container :) )

A few months ago, I saw these packages on sale at Uwajimaya and remembered my coworker telling me how she loved Japanese Ramen and decided to pick up a couple of different kinds and brands.  Plus I’ve been hearing Korean ramen has negative nutritional values…

We tried the shoyu and miso flavored and there were some no MSG kinds and I got one package of the “value pak” just to see and that one was definitely a “never again” one, but this one quickly became our favorite.  The no MSG (shoyu) a very close runner up. 

I love how the noodles aren’t deep fried and feel more fresh feeling *did I mention this is in the refrigerated section. The only thing that caught me off guard was that there this fatty stuff in the soup base, so I only use 1/4 of the fatty stuff just for a touch of flavor

I used deli ham and an egg and green onions to pretty it up (you can tell when I’m running low on groceries when I break out the deli ham  ^__^) oh also, for those who miss the spice that Korean Ramen has, Sriracha sauce adds a nice kick :)  I like to put a drop on each bite of ramen, for some reason it tastes better than if you just put a huge glob and mix it into your soup…

Every year our boss reminds us when National Boss day is… so this year, we decided maybe we should do something for him.  Some how he figured out that I was the instigator, but… in my defense, I just mentioned it in passing and no one, thought it was  a bad idea, plus we had a copy cat down the hall because they thought it was such a good idea ^__^.  We got him king sized chocolate bars and mountain dew (his favorites) for presents too.   He even kept half of the stuff up because he liked it so much.  One of my coworker’s made alittle signs that said “world’s best boss” (she loves the show “the Office?”)  but we really do think our boss is pretty cool and not like the guy on the show :). 

(photos compliments of my boss)

My original post didn’t save properly, so I decided that it just wasn’t meant to be.  On to other things then.  :)

First, try the newest Altoids variety.  Dark chocolate dipped mints.  Maybe it isn’t new, but it’s new to me!  And oh my - I can’t stop eating them!

Secondly, I’m once again accepting the fact that change is constant.  I’ve struggled with change for most of my life, and yet, I’m still alive!  By God’s grace…  I feel like Anne of Green Gables asking why things have to change…  But I also see the beauty in change, like the greens of spring and summer turning into the reds, oranges, and yellows of fall…  So, I press on, knowing that “He has made all things beautiful in its time.”  Ecclesiastes 3:11a

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Paul in Philippians 3:12-14

I absolutely love google, it’s so amazing in every aspect

These are the features I use: google (although, I’ve been using bing lately too), gmail, gchat, picasa (photo), calendar, reader, maps, documents, etc...  Over a year ago, I had asked my then fiance (now hubby) for his list of guests and their addresses.  For my friends and family, I had sent out a mass email and was copying and pasting all the information into my excel spreadsheet.  Mark, on the other hand, found a tool on google that alleviated his load.  Google documents! If you have gmail, you should be able to see this feature on the top left hand corner.   After you click on it, you should see the document site and there will be a section that says new, upload, share, etc…  Click on new and go to forms.  From here you can make a bunch of fields and make them required or not. You can even change the theme to make it pretty.  After you are done, you can email it to your friends and all the information will stream into your google spreadsheet (which you can change to an excel sheet later on).  It only took me a year to figure out how he did this, and it’s mainly thanks to one of my favorite IM buddies… I know I’m sort of a geek, my friendships are through IM lately O.o…  Here’s a list of items I’m going to be inputting into my list for when I decide to send out Christmas cards this year? maybe?:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Street Address
• Street Address 2 (opt.)
• City
• State
• Zip
• Phone Number
• Birthday

It’s important to add the name part because it won’t link who sent you what :)*maybe I need a spot for email too?

Here’s what it looks like (I might change the theme later… but this was the mood I was in today:))

My aunt spoiled me and started my obession of purses and wallets by sending me her great finds and her wallets and purses that she no longer had a use for (she’s sent me Furla, Cartier, LV, Gucci and a ton of no name brands, but I love each and every one equally).  So whenever a purse or wallet catches my eye, I dwell on it for a while :) 

In Venice (during our honeymoon), I was obsessed with a Valentino bag, but couldn’t get myself to spend $2,000+ on a purse that I would only use for a couple of months since it was a pretty bold pink, so I passed by the store every chance I got to get my fill of eye candy.  Being a pastor’s kid, my family used to window shop a lot when we were little and once in a while still, it seemed normal to look and relook and not buy things, but Mark was a little confused by this concept.  My current obession is this bag…  The moment my eyes drifted past the lovely coat to the purse, my heart melted and I knew at that moment I had to find this purse.

When I found the purse, not only was it beautiful, lovely and full of intricate details that I love… it was only $42!  but alas… I saw the dreaded words “sold out” and not only was it sold out, they had a note that said: This is permanently out of stock. :T . So once again, I am back to window shopping, but it would have been easier if I had been able to hold it in my hands, smell the fine - man made leather and prop it on my shoulder to see how it to lay against me or place it in the crook of my elbow and let it hang and walk around with it a bit… but for now, I’ll keep this picture as my desktop picture, until I get my eye full ^__^ I love you, rose zipper bag in gray…  Someday soon I will try to forget you…

Moving forward isn’t the easiest thing to do.  But most of the time, it just has to be done.  And that’s where I’m at.

I haven’t figured out the details yet, but I’m working on it.

First things first though: reorganizing my house, from top to bottom.  Housecleaning in essence, and not just because guests are coming over.  :)

Sorry, this is a terse post, but I’ll update you guys as things get more defined…