Another Note to Self...

Change my blog password so that my husband can't hack in and write exciting and heart-breaking lies.

A New Joy

Those of you who follow this blog, or have ever talked to me for more than seven minutes, know that my kitty is the baby around the house. Well, Gideon won't be the only thing I converse about any more! That's right...Gideon is making new friends with our brand new PUPPY!!!

Here she is...black just like Gideon! We picked him up a few hours ago! I was going to wait until I had more pictures, but I couldn't wait another second to tell everybody! This is the terrible box we bought him out of...he is much happier in our home!

Well..I am going to go play some more!

An Experiment

Over the summer I came across a website that was suppose to email me lists that would "Just Tell Me What to Cook." For some reason it took a looong time to get any emails, but when I was browsing the site way back in July, I copied down a recipe and it has been stuck to the fridge since. This is what I wrote:

Chicken w/Lime Ginger Sauce:

plain yogurt

lime juice

ginger

garlic

salt

pepper

Mix together. Spoon over chicken in greased baking dish (coat both sides). Cook at 375 until no longer pink...50-60 minutes.

A very detailed recipe, isn't it? It sounded good though, so I decided to try it tonight.

First, I dumped a container of plain yogurt into my scratched (but lovable) mixing bowl.

Then I juiced up the lime. Except this lime had been in the fridge for...awhile...and it produced point 2 drops of lime juice. So I squeezed this leeetle green container in the fridge labeled "lime juice" and I magically had enough. "How much is enough?" You ask...I have no idea. 5 tablespoons?

After the lime juice, I made myself feel like a real-live gourmet chef because I grated fresh ginger. Never have I had fresh ginger in my kitchen ever before. And actually, it wasn't fresh...it was frozen. Did you know you can keep fresh ginger in your freezer and pull it out to lop off a piece whenever you need it? Well you can!

With the help of my amazing, beautiful, and handy-dandy zester, I grated up that ginger in the blink of an eye. B-E-A-Utiful.

Time for garlic. Normally I would grab a couple of cloves and use my garlic press, but I thought maybe this recipe would be better with something a little more substantial. So I chopped up the garlic. Then I chopped another clove of it. Mmmmm. My likes the garlic.

*Sorry. When you work with students that are learning English, you inevitably have moments like that.*

Here's a picture of all those ingredients before they're mixed together. Not very colorful. Oh well.

After they were mixed I ground in a bunch of pepper and monkey poop.

Then I thought the mixture needed....more. So I pressed a garlic clove into the mix. And I chopped up a little ginger...more texture! More pepper...you can never have too much of that!

And then I found this baby garlic clove and threw it in whole for good luck.

Regular size clove vs. baby clove...It's like a sunflower seed.

When I mixed it up, it looked just about right. (Whatever that means!) So I grabbed a couple of slightly freezer burnt chicken breasts and chopped them into a few pieces each. Then I coated both sides and put them in the greased baking dish. To finish, I spooned the rest of the mixture over the top and sprinkled with a little kosher salt (because kosher is more gourmet than regular, apparently.) and more pepper. Viola! Ready for the oven.

I let my chicken cook for about 40 minutes whilst I made some couscous and steamed some carrots and started this blog entry. I wasn't sure how this meal would turn out!

As you can see, it came out of the oven looking...less than beautiful. But I'm happy to report that it tasted better than it looked!

The yogurt bakes into a tangy coating...it reminds me of tzatiki sauce that is on Greek Gyros. Delicious! In fact, I thought the garlic was a little strong (surprise) but the couscous was mild enough to even it out.

It passed my husband's taste test, so I guess we have a winner! It's always fun to play with recipes like this....pretend you're on the Food Network, and add however much of each ingredient you think looks good! I don't think you can mess it up...if I can do it, YOU can do it!

P.S. My husband "helped" with part of this post. Can you tell which words he typed? It caught me by surprise and cracked me up so much that I cried and couldn't bear to erase it. The End.

Comfort Food

It was a tough couple of days at work. Luckily, my friends met me at out favorite THAI restaurant for some great food. K and I always order Thai iced tea to drink, and A shared some delicious Tom Kha soup with me. Mmmmm Mmmm...that soup was exactly what I needed. That and spending some time with people that you love:).

Oooh, and did I mention I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow?!?

We love this Thai restaurant. The waiter always treats us very well...because A is Thai and always chats with them in Thai...but also because he thinks I'm cute;) Or so A tells me...I don't understand what they say to each other because it's all in Thai!

Before our food came, the waiter brought us an appetizer that we hadn't ordered...on the house. Then he brought an extra large portion of rice because he was afraid we would still be hungry! When we were done, he kept asking if we wanted dessert. We politely declined...seeing as we had already stuffed ourselves sillly! But a minute later, while A was chatting with the waitress, he brought us out some delicious coconut ice cream! Good thing it was just one scoop for us to share!

Being spoiled like this was a welcome comfort this week.

Hahah, and did I mention the owner brought us each a calendar that is full of pictures from Thailand:)

January

Historically, January is not my favorite month. The excitement of Christmas has worn off, and although it is still freezing cold, my heart yearns for spring! Often I find it difficult to motivate myself during this month. So let me focus on something good and exciting...


My dear beloved little sister turns 21 on Saturday! Part of me cannot believe she's possibly that old...but she'd tell me that she's only 2 years, nine months younger than I am. When we were young, people always asked if we were twins. I hated that they couldn't tell I was older! When I would say, "Um, no. We're not twins. I'm three years older," my little sis would correct me. Two years nine months. I remember, Em. Anyway, we've got big plans for El Maestro and I to take her out on the town for her big day!

Didn't she make a striking bridesmaid?

So, as you might guess, we're looking forward to this weekend! It should be a fun time spent with family, celebrating my little sis!

Note to self...

If your last load of laundry on Saturday night includes all of your husband's jeans, be sure to have them out of the dryer before he gets dressed on Sunday morning.

Otherwise, he'll show up to church in shorts...even though it snowed last night.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

I'm pretending I'm in the tropics this morning. My house is a balmy 72 degrees inside, and has been all night! Not because I love paying for the heating bill...but because of a 5th grade project.



The 5th graders in El Maestro's class have been learning about something along the lines of archaeology this week. So for their Friday project, my husband has prepared a miniature archaeological dig! Last night he painstakingly mixed together plaster, gravel, sand, seashells, and marbles to fill up 10 inch plastic pots. Unfortunately, gravel comes soaked in water...and the additional moisture is going to make it difficult for these molds to dry by this afternoon.



So my living room is scattered with my good cookie sheets full of 5th grade projects, patiently sitting in front of the heaters that are cranked way up!

This stuff looks like fun.

I'll never bake a potato again.

I've learned to microwave them. Seriously. I've tried to bake potatoes in the oven before, and they've never turned out right. Either the temp. was too high or I baked them for too long, or something. I don't know. I followed Betty Crocker. Still never worked out.

Yesterday I tried baking them in the microwave. Eight minutes later I had three beautiful and perfectly baked potatoes. Amazing. Just to check that it wasn't a fluke, I tried again today. In six minutes I had two perfect baked potatoes.

Hip Hip. HOORAY!

To do...

These are a few things I've been wanting to do lately. They are certainly not that important in the grand scheme of things...but I know that doing any of them will make me feel like a better, more organized person.

1. Pick the lint out of the back of my hairdryer. It takes a toothpick and some time. I LOVE my hairdryer. I want it to last forever.

2. Organize the pantry. I like to have soups with soups, veggies with veggies, spices with spices. It makes everything easier to find. And it makes it less likely that I'll have 12 packets of taco seasoning at one time.

3. Clean out my closet. Ugh.

Does anyone else take such great pleasure in knowing that one teeny tiny part of your life is beautifully clean or organized? The chances of everything in my life being organized at once are very very slim. Like, impossible. So I have to enjoy any glimpse of order that I have:)

Sometimes I say things like that, and then feel fearful of the day that I have any number of my own children running around. Haha. Organize the pantry....

Confession

I was in a cooking mood last night. There must be something kind of inspiring about having an almost clean house...I don't know. But I made a yummy dinner, and then a delicious dessert. Pioneer Woman has a recipe for The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. And since El Maestro wanted something chocolatey (who am I to mess with that impulse?!) I decided to try this cake.

It is sinful. I know this because I woke up this morning, and it was all I could do to not eat a huge slice of cake for breakfast! Really. I stood there, staring down the chocolate cake, struggling to remember that sugar would not stick with me as long as protein or something. So I thought, "Well, maybe a slice of cake and a nice big glass of milk. That would be healthy." Or not.

I resisted the temptation to have it for breakfast...but I am eating a small slice of it now. For dessert. At 7:02 AM.

Hehehehe...seconds after I typed that last sentence, El Maestro just walked out, looked at me with a knowing glance and said, "You're having cake for breakfast?" No! I would never do that!

Seriously, he should know me better than that by now....

Monday's Money

Back when I taught first grade my math curriculum always had a money activity on Mondays. The kids would sing their money song to help them remember which coin is worth what amount. It was fun. Money is pretty motivating. I don't know why I thought of that. But now you know.

My cat keeps trying to eat my cereal. Kitty really likes Honey Bunches of Oats...and it doesn't help that I can't finish the serving. I tried to use up the last bits of the box, but it ended up being toooo much. I can never eat very much in the morning.

And for a final random thought this morning...I want to show you something cool! My in-laws got me this for Christmas. And I don't know how I ever lived without it.

This is a santoku knife. See the little waves at the bottom of the blade? Those are s'pose to be good for you because they keep the food you're chopping from sticking to the knife. See the sliced tomato? That is exactly how it looked after I chopped it. I have never, ever been able to cut a tomato that easily. It's amazing.

I just felt a little deja vu. Have I already posted this picture? I had better go drink some coffee. I'm so glad God made coffee. Amen.

A Fairytale

At school, I gave several of my students journals to write in. I said they could write whatever they wanted...and I would respond to it in the same journal. This activity is meant as an authentic way to help students see improvements they can make in their writing as I model for them. One of my students wanted to write a story, and it is so precious that I have to share it!

So that you have some background of the author, imagine a beautiful, sweet little girl in third grade. She came to kindergarten with no English skills and is finally starting to see some fruits of her labor as she improves academically this year. Her story, while definitely not perfect, shows the language skills she has now, and the things we will begin to work on more deliberately. I tried to copy most of the spelling and punctuation, so I hope you can understand.

Her Story:

Once apon a time there lived a king and his wife. The next morning the Qwen had a baby they named it Wendy. They loved there baby Wendy. The king said his daoer Wendy will groow big and pritty.

The next few year the baby groow. She was very pritty. And she love butterflys. The next morning she went out the palis she saw a boy outside he was playing fache with his dog named Pal. And then she went to say hellow hiy my name is Wendy hi said the boy. My name is Max.

And then when she got home she sang and sang. Her mother and father said what is going on with her. She sang very happy. Her mother said maybe she is in love said her mother. Hre fother said I thnuk that she is in love too.

Her mother said what is going on with her said her mother. Mother I am in love becues I went outside the palis and I saw a boy playing fache with his dog Pal. Her mom said that is he a princs yes said princess Wendy. But you are not supoost to go outside the palis. You are getting merry soon said her mother. Her mother went out of her bed.

She started to criying. She said to her self I don’t even no who is the prince I am going to merry. She went to ask her mom and dad they said his name is prince Max. And then she started to sing and sing.

The End

The Weekend!

It is always so hard to go back to work after a long break. And this Christmas was a looooong one. So I'm looking forward to coming home this evening and knowing that I've got a couple of days to rest, clean, and watch 24...before I have to work again:)

How are you doing with your New Years Resolution? Just curious because, as usual, some of mine are working and others aren't. My bed has been made 6 days out of the 8 days this year. That's good. The idea of working out a lot....not happening. I was doing my yoga and some strength training for two days, but then we bought 24! Oh well, we're almost done with season 4 and then maybe we'll take a break. Haha. Yeah.

Anyway, Happy Friday!

Obsession

Over Christmas break, we got the 4th and 5th seasons of 24 on dvd. And now our spare time is spent rooting for the manly Jack Bauer (pictured above) as he saves our country from terrorists. When we were dating el maestro and I watched the entire first season in (almost) one sitting (Gotta love college!). Then when we were engaged, we devoured the second season as well. After each set of episodes, I would need a shoulder rub because my back muscles would get so tense! We watched the third season sometime in the first 6 months of our marriage. I was so glad to have a husband to protect me from all the sneaky bad guys!

We tend to take a nice long break between each 24 binge. Every episode is such a cliff-hanger that it is easy to spend hours on end caught up in the fictional events. I've heard about people that call in sick from work so that they can keep watching...Sometimes it is hard to come back to the real world...but I try. We've been on time to work and the cat's being fed. Suspenseful thriller TV shows can really eat up your free time...

Back to School

Things I need to survive the day:

1. A good attitude

2. A good breakfast

3. A few moments of heartfelt prayer

4. Warm clothes to brave the new snow

4. A nice big cup of coffee

Happy Monday

BS Design Inc.

The BS in the title of the post is for our names, of course.

I'd like to talk about something that they didn't prepare us for in pre-marital counseling. El Maestro and I read a book with a bazillion questions to ask your future spouse before the wedding, and I've discovered that they skipped over an important topic. Among the questions like, "How many children do you want? Describe a marriage that you respect, and How will the housework be divided?" they forgot to ask, "What is your personal decorating style? and, Who will be in charge of decorating your home?"

You see, my husband is quite vocal about his style beliefs. And many times, I disagree. I never imagined that my husband would have an interest in the way I choose to make our apartment a home...and I certainly never thought it would be difficult to compromise! And here we have Problemo Numero Uno: different style preferences.



He leans toward a very modern decorating style. He likes clean, straight lines and very simple decor. I think his knowledge and opinions about home decor stem from his carpentry and construction experience. It's good to know what looks nice if you're building it!

However, I lean toward the more traditional decor. I like warm and inviting rooms. I don't have a problem with my husband's more sterile choices in furniture, but I'd like to warm it up with some colors and accessories that make our place feel like a home.

Yesterday we went shopping to find some new bedding for our room. I was looking for something in the silver/grey color scheme that is found in the inspiration room.



When you look at the room above (NOT my room, but the general look I'm going for), you see that a mix of white, dark grey, and light grey bedding is used to achieve the calm look that goes so well with the walls. In this picture, decorative pillows are used to make this bed look cozy and inviting. And here we encounter problemo numero dos: My husband HATES throw pillows. Please don't ask me why. But we have exchanged heated words on more than one occasion over this decorative staple.

As we were shopping, we found a bedding set that we thought might work. It was a dark, charcoal grey. We also easily agreed on some silver/grey sheets (with a great thread count) that were on sale. I found a beautiful throw pillow that would nicely pull together the silver and the charcoal, which my husband refused to allow in the house. Is he allowed to do that? Knowing that we still had other things to talk about, I decided not to completely ruin the whole shopping experience by fighting him. I put the pillow back on the shelf, letting him know that he couldn't stop me from returning to the store to buy it later.

We moved on to lamps. I chose the lamp shades, a nice traditional, warm look, and my husband chose the lamp stands. A cool, modern look. That's a good compromise. I think.

When we got home, we put the new bedding on and discovered that it looked almost navy blue or purple when it was in the blue room. El Maestro liked it. I did not. Luckily my friend K was just getting off of work at this point, so she came over and confirmed my case. It was too dark. Either we needed some throw pillows to contrast with the charcoal, or we needed lighter bedding.

K and I went back to the fashionable boutique (Tarjay) where we bought our original bedding, and chose a different set that was in a much lighter silver. We also purchased the light throw pillow that my husband had tried to burn with his eyes earlier in the day. We took them home and tried out our different options.

This is what we've decided on so far...El Maestro still proclaimed his hatred for throw pillows, but eventually I want to show him what is possible by adding a little contrast to our bed. I think we need some black or charcoal and white to make it stand out from the wall color...Hopefully once we get some nightstands and some pictures on the wall it will look a little more put together.

Close up of the lamps...I know the lamp shade is not white like in the inspiration room...but I just loved this shade! I need something like this to add a feminine touch;)

Our next move is to bring in some simple nightstands. El Maestro is in charge of design and construction. I'll let you know how it goes....

Thanks for listening.