(And, p.s., how long can I keep calling myself a "girl?" Is there an age limit before I finally feel like a grown-up woman? Or a rite of passage I have to pass through first?)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Promotion!
So proud of Paul! After just two months with his new company, he got a promotion with a pay raise! Woohoo! Now he'll be a team leader for the part-time hires coming in at the end of this month. We woke up this morning not seeing any of this coming our way, but I sure do feel extra blessed! Between that and my starting to sub (hopefully next week, they said!)...we may actually get a handle on our student loans AND be able to save up for school after all! SOOOOOOO proud of my husband! Just goes to show what an incredibly hard worker he really is. I'm so grateful that in this economy he has been able to find and keep a job constantly...it's such a load off my mind and it frees me up to do as I please. How lucky can a girl get? :)
(And, p.s., how long can I keep calling myself a "girl?" Is there an age limit before I finally feel like a grown-up woman? Or a rite of passage I have to pass through first?)
(And, p.s., how long can I keep calling myself a "girl?" Is there an age limit before I finally feel like a grown-up woman? Or a rite of passage I have to pass through first?)
Monday, January 16, 2012
Asian Date Night!
I'm so glad Paul has this new job, because the regular hours mean we can schedule regular date nights! And, since his job is really boring not too challenging, he has the energy to enjoy them. Hopefully, Saturday nights will be fun again now that we're dating! :)
This last weekend we had an "Asian" date night. I made some ginger-teriyaki stir fry and some ginger cookies for dessert (I have a lot of ginger at the moment :), but the real fun of it was busting out the decor for the table:
Yeah, I painted that picture and bought the candles/candleholders, zen garden, and placemats over a YEAR ago, just waiting for the right date night to use it. Everything was from Dollar Tree except our dishes, which we already had, which means this date cost us a whoppin' 10 bucks (including the food)! I was so excited to finally use these goods, that I had to try and hide from him for months and months and months now! :)
After dinner/dessert, we played gonggi, a Korean jacks-like game, even though we are TERRIBLE at it. It's still fun! You can get a set (enough for two players) from ebay for between $3 and $10, and it's a super fun game so I recommend that! But we have had this for years, so it was free for us. Free = favorite. :)
Then we watched an episode of a new Asian drama...it was Korean too, come to think of it. :) What Star are You From? If you're not an Asian drama fan like me, you can always watch something on Netflix or Hulu that is set somewhere in Asia or that has martial arts or something (I'm sure the hubs would appreciate that!). Or you can rent Big Bird in Japan (a staple of my childhood!) or Big Bird in China from your local library, if you want to go the cheesy/kiddie/totally-G-rated route. :)
Or, if you're nearby and want to host your own Asian date night, you can borrow all my dishes, decor (I have more), Gong-gi, and any drama you want...I have more than a dozen shows to choose from. :)
It was a really fun night celebrating all things Asian with my Asian sweetheart! :)
This last weekend we had an "Asian" date night. I made some ginger-teriyaki stir fry and some ginger cookies for dessert (I have a lot of ginger at the moment :), but the real fun of it was busting out the decor for the table:
 |
| Although I painted this picture, I got the idea from THIS POST over at Love, Actually. Her set-up is MUCH fancier than mine, but I still like ours. :) A nice red tablecloth next time, maybe... |
 |
| You can get the recipe for these AWESOME ginger/molasses cookies from Food Allergy Mama over HERE...I added a little extra powdered ginger to it as well as a huge handful of chopped candied ginger, for extra spice and texture. :) |
Yeah, I painted that picture and bought the candles/candleholders, zen garden, and placemats over a YEAR ago, just waiting for the right date night to use it. Everything was from Dollar Tree except our dishes, which we already had, which means this date cost us a whoppin' 10 bucks (including the food)! I was so excited to finally use these goods, that I had to try and hide from him for months and months and months now! :)
 |
| gonggi (pronounced goon-ghee, don't listen to those wikipedia people!) |
After dinner/dessert, we played gonggi, a Korean jacks-like game, even though we are TERRIBLE at it. It's still fun! You can get a set (enough for two players) from ebay for between $3 and $10, and it's a super fun game so I recommend that! But we have had this for years, so it was free for us. Free = favorite. :)
Then we watched an episode of a new Asian drama...it was Korean too, come to think of it. :) What Star are You From? If you're not an Asian drama fan like me, you can always watch something on Netflix or Hulu that is set somewhere in Asia or that has martial arts or something (I'm sure the hubs would appreciate that!). Or you can rent Big Bird in Japan (a staple of my childhood!) or Big Bird in China from your local library, if you want to go the cheesy/kiddie/totally-G-rated route. :)
 |
| Can't wait to finish this with GOOD subtitles! :) |
Or, if you're nearby and want to host your own Asian date night, you can borrow all my dishes, decor (I have more), Gong-gi, and any drama you want...I have more than a dozen shows to choose from. :)
It was a really fun night celebrating all things Asian with my Asian sweetheart! :)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Project 366--January 8-14
(Click HERE to download your own BLANK .png version!)
Jan 8th--Fast Sunday. Came home to find Paul's beloved childhood teddy bear, Goliath, mutilated in the most brutal fashion by our two dogs. We're laughing now, but I certainly wasn't laughing then!
Jan 9th--Made chocolate crinkle cookies (our favorite!) to celebrate getting *most* of the housework done. Also, happy 11th birthday to my brother, Ben!
Jan 10th--Made these cute origami paper dolls, chatted with little Sam Galbraith (one of our old primary kiddos!), and had a movie night with Paul (Rise of Planet of the Apes).
Jan 11th--Went grocery shopping. Nothing exciting--it rained all day and I took a nap. We watched another movie (Nacho Libre...hence the picture).
Jan 12th--Happy birthday, Dad! Snow all day made us cancel our plans, but Obi started using Voodoo as a pillow and that was entertaining! And the puppies LOVE the snow.
Jan 13th--We babysat for friends, who paid us in food! I sure do love babysitting! :)
Jan 14th--Asian date night after a nice, lazy Saturday.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What question do you want your life to answer?
I am most profound when I'm in the shower, on the toilet, or in a hazy, half-conscious state as I fall asleep. I feel like the answers to my prayers come more in those silly, small moments than they ever do while I'm on my knees. As I was falling asleep this afternoon (took a much-needed nap, as my body is rebelling against me these past few days), and thinking about the things we do and worry about in our home, this question popped into my head almost as though someone else were asking it of me. I just wanted to pose the question to the rest of you. Maybe after I mull it over a little longer I'll have an answer...
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Kimono Paper Dolls :)
My sister Charissa got me this cute box full of origami paper dolls for Christmas, and today I finally had the time to make them! I'm going to frame them and put them in our bathroom, I think...what do you think? I LOVE origami paper, and the detail in this kind is no exception. :)
Monday, January 9, 2012
My dog is an alien
Gotta love camera phone flashes; this little gem (unedited!) had us laughing for HOURS:
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Project 366--January 1-7!
(Click HERE to get your own BLANK .png copy!)
Jan 2--Had a hard time deciding which picture to put in! Paul put together his "robug," a Christmas gift from Charissa. Not pictured--Steak 'n' Shake for dinner and a quick walk around the mall with Emilie, which included FRANGO!
Jan 3--Lazy day! TV marathon in our PJs all day! (While Paul had to go back to work...boo.) This picture of Voodoo pretty much sums up how productive we were. We watched some Melissa & Joey, Buffy, and Pretty Little Liars. And ate a ton.
Jan 4--Visited Caida in the emergency room! (Her new liquid/overprescribed seizure medication caused her to throw it all up and have seizures her first day back at school, so she was rushed by ambulance to the ER and taken care of there.) She was feeling much better by the time we left--so we all went to Taco Bell. Also, Activity Days--planning meeting for the whole year.
Jan 5--Took our own curry to McDonald's so we could buy drinks. Went ICE SKATING! :)
Jan 6--Errands (including getting my phone back!), All Fired Up (paint-your-own pottery) with Emilie, Chuck E Cheese with Paul and Em! Brief stop at Cold Stone before heading to Walmart to buy a game for the kinect.
Jan 7--Good Will raids, Papa Murphy's, laser tag (pictured), Just Dance 3, Taco Bell on the way to drop off Emilie (sad day! but it was a REALLY fun weekend!).
Speaking of Just Dance 3, if you want to see embarrassing videos of us dancing, check us out here or here! :)
Week 1: done! (Fascinating, I know.) Only 51 more to go! :)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Gift of LOVE--a calendar!
I thought I would quickly share one of the gifts I made for Paul. It was probably the cheapest gift I gave him (and easiest to actually make), but it's also my favorite! As with any marriage, we have our ups and downs, and moments where it feels like we're just two roommates instead of totally in love eternal companions. To help "bridge" the gap (hence the bridge theme...I thought all the lovey-dovey calendars were a bit much for our taste) and strengthen our marriage by making it a priority EVERY. SINGLE. DAY, I made a calendar of small things we can do daily to draw closer to each other. I'm calling it our "love" calendar, although you could easily modify this for anyone, not just your spouse!
The basic idea is this:
Step 1: Go get a cheap calendar from the dollar store.
Step 2: Mark down all your special days--birthdays, anniversaries, even date nights. Any day you might already be celebrating or spending ample time together, you don't *have* to write down anything additional for that day. For example, Saturday nights are going to be our date nights this year, so I didn't write down anything else lovey-dovey for those days...it just wasn't necessary since we'll already be planning something fun.
Step 3: Write down something small every day of the whole year to do together--it doesn't have to be anything huge (see below), and you can ABSOLUTELY reuse ideas more than once! (We ended up with about 50 ideas, which ended up being rotated every two months.) In brainstorming ideas, I used a few online resources and mostly just thought of things that satisfy all the 5 "love languages," (since Paul and I have very different ones, we need to include a bit of everything!). After brainstorming ideas that have to do with touch, service, gift-giving, quality time, and words of affirmation, I just tried to rotate them as reasonably as possible (the gift-giving and service only had so many variations, but we still do a little of each a few times a month). I'll admit, since I'm a physical touch girl, we're doing a lot of that. ;) Also, in rotating things I had to make a few modifications--like only putting "pay each other a sincere compliment in public" on a day when I knew we would be together in public, or changing what we were "sharing" about each time so that the same conversations didn't keep happening over and over again. So, moral of the story--modify to be realistic to your family schedules, tastes, and lifestyle!
Step 4: Post it somewhere you will both see it every day, and make it happen! That's IT! This would be fun to put together as a date night activity--gettting your spouse in on the brainstorming is always a plus!
If you are stumped or stuck or just plain lazy (like *I* am, no judgment!), I'm including my list of marriage-strengthening ideas below. You will see a few repeats--that's because, like I said, there are only so many acts of service or compliments you can do/say. But I'm pretty pleased with the end result, anyway. So far, 2012 has been treating us awfully nicely. ;)
If you come up with your own ideas for friendship or parent-child relationships, though, let me know! :) I could always use more inspiration from YOU.
53 Daily Ways to Strengthen Marriage:
Have fun drawing closer to your spouse!
The basic idea is this:
Step 1: Go get a cheap calendar from the dollar store.
Step 2: Mark down all your special days--birthdays, anniversaries, even date nights. Any day you might already be celebrating or spending ample time together, you don't *have* to write down anything additional for that day. For example, Saturday nights are going to be our date nights this year, so I didn't write down anything else lovey-dovey for those days...it just wasn't necessary since we'll already be planning something fun.
Step 3: Write down something small every day of the whole year to do together--it doesn't have to be anything huge (see below), and you can ABSOLUTELY reuse ideas more than once! (We ended up with about 50 ideas, which ended up being rotated every two months.) In brainstorming ideas, I used a few online resources and mostly just thought of things that satisfy all the 5 "love languages," (since Paul and I have very different ones, we need to include a bit of everything!). After brainstorming ideas that have to do with touch, service, gift-giving, quality time, and words of affirmation, I just tried to rotate them as reasonably as possible (the gift-giving and service only had so many variations, but we still do a little of each a few times a month). I'll admit, since I'm a physical touch girl, we're doing a lot of that. ;) Also, in rotating things I had to make a few modifications--like only putting "pay each other a sincere compliment in public" on a day when I knew we would be together in public, or changing what we were "sharing" about each time so that the same conversations didn't keep happening over and over again. So, moral of the story--modify to be realistic to your family schedules, tastes, and lifestyle!
Step 4: Post it somewhere you will both see it every day, and make it happen! That's IT! This would be fun to put together as a date night activity--gettting your spouse in on the brainstorming is always a plus!
If you are stumped or stuck or just plain lazy (like *I* am, no judgment!), I'm including my list of marriage-strengthening ideas below. You will see a few repeats--that's because, like I said, there are only so many acts of service or compliments you can do/say. But I'm pretty pleased with the end result, anyway. So far, 2012 has been treating us awfully nicely. ;)
If you come up with your own ideas for friendship or parent-child relationships, though, let me know! :) I could always use more inspiration from YOU.
53 Daily Ways to Strengthen Marriage:
1. share a French kiss (or other "special" kiss that works for you)
2. find something free in your day that you can give to each other (flower, rock, etc.). be prepared to explain why you chose that item, though!
3. stare into each other’s eyes for two minutes, no looking away!
4. do one chore your spouse normally does today
5. share what makes you feel loved
6. share an extra-long hug before parting ways today
7. write each other a poem today and share it over dinner tonight (doesn't have to be a serious or publishable one, even a cute little couplet or limmerick will do!)
8. husband’s choice!
9. give each other 3-minute back massages
10. make a small, free or cheap gift for each other today (card, collage of things you've found in your day, a special meal, something practical, etc.)
11. play with or brush each other’s hair today
12. leave each other something special on the computer (note, picture, video, slideshow, etc.)
13. give each other 2-minute scalp massages
14. make coupon books for this week (3 things you'd like your spouse to do for you), and spend the rest of the week doing those things!
15. wife’s choice!
16. share an extra-long hug when you meet tonight
17. write each other a sincere love note today
18. make dinner together tonight (weekends, or a night you will actually be able to do this)
19. pick out a book to read together--and read a chapter each night until you've finished!
20. play footsie as you eat dinner tonight
21. dance to your special song tonight
22. pay each other sincere compliments in private today
23. work tonight to do a small random act of kindness for someone else
24. shower or bathe together
25. share where you see your life together in five years
26. Share a toast to each other over dinner tonight
27. hold hands tonight while doing something you ordinarily do
28. do one chore your spouse normally does today
29. plant something together in honor of your love for each other, and take turns nourishing it (call it your love cactus, or love fern, or love chia pet, or whatever!)
30. cuddle closely before sleeping tonight
31. do something to promote healthy living together (work out together, share an extra healthy meal/snack/dessert, stretch together, go for a walk, etc.)
32. heart attack each other today!
33. share a random fact about you
34. give each other 3-minute foot rubs
35. Send each other spicy/romantic texts/emails today
36. make(or buy) a special treat to share tonight
37. kiss “x” number of times today (especially good for special anniversaries, or dates, etc.)
38. play LDS spin the bottle (or just any question/conversation starting game, getting to know each other better) over dinner tonight
39. help shorten each other’s to-do lists tonight!
40. share a secret tonight
41. give each other 2-minute hand massages
42. create goofy pet names for each other and use them ALL day today
43. talk “very closely” about your day and try not to kiss
44. share a special touch today—anything goes
45. give each other 5-minute massages…anywhere goes
46. start a “service tag” that lasts all week
47. do a crossword, Sudoku, or other puzzle together
48. buy something small for your sweetheart today ($2 or less)
49. give each other 3-minute neck rubs
50. use dry erase markers to write little love notes on each other’s bathroom mirrors
51. share a 30 second kiss today
52. list 5 things you’d like to do together over the next week and focus this week on making your lists happen!
53. pay each other compliments in front of others today
Have fun drawing closer to your spouse!
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year's Eve 2011-2012!
We had a nice, relaxing NYE here at home with Emilie. We went out earlier in the evening to one of our favorite restaurants, Hu Hot. They are SO good about nut allergies, we were really happy. Then we headed out for a house in Battle Ground that does their Christmas lights timed to the music of a radio station, but our car started smelling funky halfway there (it does that now, I don't know why) so we turned around and headed home instead. But it was still a fun night watching the ball drop and debating the merits (or lack thereof) of Lady Gaga...we had sparkling cranberry juice (Obi loved it, but Voodoo was scared of it and wouldn't drink any more), cheap poppers that spewed out paper bits and pieces (which Obi proceeded to eat before we could stop her...and Voodoo was scared of those, too), and sparklers INDOORS (which Obi also tried to eat, and Voodoo just watched in amazement most of the time). Not much to say, other than that we're happy and healthy and excited to get our 2012 on!
Here's the scrapbook page of our night. Incidentally, it's the exact same layout as my first week of Project 366. P.S., I'm doing my own project 366 this year, and I have all the digi pages already made up. SO if you like what you see, email me and I will get you a copy to use for yourself for free (it seriously makes the project SO easy...snap a picture, put it on the computer, then plug the picture in behind the page wherever you want it in any image editing program...paint.net is what I use since it's free, but of course photoshop is most digiscrappers' choice). Seriously, just let me know and I will get you an entire year's worth of scrapbook/project 366 pages already made up. :)
Here's the scrapbook page of our night. Incidentally, it's the exact same layout as my first week of Project 366. P.S., I'm doing my own project 366 this year, and I have all the digi pages already made up. SO if you like what you see, email me and I will get you a copy to use for yourself for free (it seriously makes the project SO easy...snap a picture, put it on the computer, then plug the picture in behind the page wherever you want it in any image editing program...paint.net is what I use since it's free, but of course photoshop is most digiscrappers' choice). Seriously, just let me know and I will get you an entire year's worth of scrapbook/project 366 pages already made up. :)
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