Disclaimer: it's been 4 months since our last update, so we'll post a few updates to sum up our life since February and post them as if they had just happened, including back dating them!

What a great surprise we received this week! Well, it was a surprise for Susan, but Ivan was in on it the whole time. Claire came to visit!!! Just out of the blue to cheer us up and keep Susan company while Ivan is at work. She came on Thursday and is staying for a couple of weeks! It's so great that Claire's not working at the moment. The timing couldn't be better.

Today we went to a friend's baby shower. Liisa. A friend from high school who is now married and lives in New Jersey. So Claire and Susan got to go there together. They are expecting a little boy and won't tell us what they plan on naming him. He's due in April.

We had a great time seeing Liisa again, although we didn't really know any of the other people - well, one gal was at the Christmas party that Ivan and Susan went to in December and Liisa's sister, Karin, was there - she knows Ivan from college.

So, what was promising to be a horrible week is not going to be marvelous! Thanks, Claire!

Oh, and of course, since Claire LOVES to cook, she introduced us to a great new way to eat cauliflower:

Just sprinkle on some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and Mrs. Dash with a pinch of cayenne pepper, rub it around with your hands to mix it and bake at 350F for 45-60 min. D-Lish!

Labels: Food, NY

Yes, I know. A rash of blog postings! What has gotten into us? Well, don't get used to it. Today Susan was cleaning out her office and came across an empty box. The contents at one time (barely 2 weeks ago, in fact) made up a care package sent to us by Susan's family. The great things about care packages from Susan's family is 1. they are guaranteed to contain yummy food, 2. they are guaranteed to contain a few non-food items to brighten your day, and 3. they are guaranteed to come decorated if Susan's sister is in charge of mailing them!!!

What do I mean by "decorated"?

Well, see for yourself:


So many fun stickers!!

As you can see from the photo on the right, we got all sorts of good stuff in this package: Almonds, Beef Jerkey, Chocolate, a card featuring Mom's new dog, Shortbread Cookies, Coconut Macaroon Cookies, Craisins, Gatorade powder, Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seeds, Dove Special Dark Chocolate, Homemade Jam (made by Susan and Uncle David during her visit in October but which couldn't be smuggled onto the plane), Gummy Bears, Homemade Persimmon Cookies, 17 Bean Soup Mix, Sudoku book, Sabrina movie, and a Latin Music Mix CD. Not pictured are copies of the family portraits which we got taken during our Christmas visit as part of our gift to Susan's dad. So as you can see, lots of good stuff to cheer up anyone's day! In fact, the Sudoku book and Gummy Bears came in handy because the very day that we received this package we decided to hop a plane for CA and Susan was able to keep herself occupied with the Sudoku and gummy candy for the entire plane ride. I would dare say that receiving this package was, in fact, a catalyst for our speedy departure to warmer environs. The thought process went something like: "Wow! That's so sweet! I love my family! What are we doing here? Let's go visit them if we can find cheap tickets!"

We love you guys!!

Labels: Food, NY, Quick Trip

I needed a flashlight today. I always forget that in our tool box we have a flashlight, but today I didn't forget because we left our tool box out last night after putting together our bookshelf. So I got the flashlight and went to use it. Of course, the batteries were dying (although, surprisingly, they weren't dead yet [I'll avoid the Monty Python quote...]). Since I need to go to the hardware store today anyways, I decided to check the batteries to see what size I'll need to buy. I found out that they were size "C" and noticed a strange sticker on the side of one of the copper tops:



Notice that TMC Bookstore price sticker? Wow! That's one old battery! And it's not completely dead yet! You know what they say: "You can't top the copper top!"

Labels: NY, Random

Today was another great day to eat out. Last night when we were deciding where to go (we ended up going to Jane's mom's restaurant) another option was to go to Chuckie's (another friend from church) family's pizzeria (Marinellas Pizzeria and Restaurant). We looked at the pizzeria on the map and found that it wasn't that close to home, so we decided to go there today after church when we would have more time to drive there and back again.

We went to the early service, so when we got out there was plenty of time to spare before the pizzeria opened for lunch. Our original intention was to use our GPS to find a mall near the pizzeria and hang out until the restaurant opened. On the way, the road started to look familiar, so we checked "Daniel" (the name of our GPS) and found that the IKEA wasn't far away. We decided to take a detour to IKEA (we need a bookshelf and had previously picked out the one we wanted, but never actually bought it). When we were near IKEA our GPS battery was dying, so Susan quickly jotted down directions from IKEA to the pizzeria and then we turned Daniel off.

We walked out of IKEA with a bookshelf, two end tables, a service tray, and a picture frame - and still had lots of time to spare - so we went to Macy's and then Target looking for clothes for Ivan (although in the end we didn't buy any). Finally, it was time for lunch and we were starving!

We made it to the pizzeria without our GPS and got there just when Chuckie was starting his shift. Ivan decided to get a grilled vegetable salad (lettuce topped with grilled eggplant, peppers, portabellos, etc with a balsamic dressing) while Susan opted for the considerably less healthy sausage, peppers, onion roll (like a calzone, minus the tomato-based sauce - see photo at right from Marinella's website - we forgot to take our camera with us again - grrr!). We also ordered an appetizer of Mozzarella Sticks (which we enjoyed tremendously). The food was fabulous and filling. After we were done the lunch crowd slowed down and we had a chance to visit with Chuckie for awhile. We also got to chat with Chuckie's dad, Anthony Sr., for awhile and he made some fabulous canoli (which Ivan washed down with espresso, which reminded me of the macchiato from Milan). Italian food at it's best (albeit a bit Americanized).

Yet another meal out that left us both completely satisfied, bordering on stuft (or is that stuffed?). We came home and put together the bookshelf that we bought (beware if you've never shopped at IKEA before: you get pretty cheap furniture that you have to put together yourself. If I was McGyver, we could have put it together with a paper clip and some chewing gum, but instead it required two screw drivers and a hammer).

Then, we had to rearrange our living room only to decide in the end that the bookshelf would be better off in our bedroom (which is huge and hardly has any furniture in it). But, Susan always enjoys spicing things up by rearranging the furniture, so now we have a new layout in the living room to make her happy.

Labels: Food, NY

Happy Valentine's Day! It's so nice for Valentine's Day to be on a Saturday - all day to hang out with your honey without needing to go to work or church. Today started out great for us. We slept in without worrying about the alarm clock. Last night we had thought about getting up early to beat the crowd to the IHOP for breakfast (basically the only franchise around here, apart from KFC). But then we decided - it's a Saturday! Let's sleep in and fight the crowd at the IHOP.

First, we exchanged our gifts for each other and then by the time we got to IHOP it was packed! The wait was only estimated to be 15-25 minutes - I think that's the default time they say regardless of how long it will actually take. We decided to go across the street to take care of some banking and got that done with plenty of time to spare. It was still crowded when we returned, but it was only about a 10 minute wait from when we returned to get seated. We enjoyed our pancakes and eggs, coffee and hot chocolate (the whipped cream is the best part of the hot cocoa and the waitress put a TON of the cream on it - it was great!)

We walked home (well, Susan basically waddled, because she was so full) but it was a nice clear day and not too chilly (of course, we were wearing our thick jackets and long johns - thanks, Simsons!).

We spent a nice leisurely afternoon at home. We called Susan's mom to wish her a happy birthday (yep, she's a love baby - born on Valentine's Day), Ivan called his family (one of his Saturday rituals), and we hung out.

We decided to be adventuresome for dinner and went to a Korean restaurant we've been threatening to go to for awhile. It's owned by the mother of a gal in our church, but in general Susan is scared of ethnic food, so every time Ivan suggests we go there Susan manages to come up with an excuse not to. Today we decided that if Susan absolutely hated what she ordered then we would go across the street to KFC (something we never eat because it's so greasy). Well, the backup plan was completely unnecessary. We both loved it. It's called Book Chang Dong Soft Tofu. It was a bit intimidating walking in as we were the only non-Asians in the restaurant. When we were seated they gave us this strange drink that at first one might expect to be tea (like in a Chinese restaurant) but instead it's cold and tastes like barley. We finally decided to order two different kinds of soup: Chicken Soft Tofu Soup and Vegetable Soft Tofu Soup. All of the food comes in one of four spicy levels: Very Mild, Mild, Spicy, and Very Spicy. We opted for the Chicken Soup (which Susan was primarily going to eat) to be Very Mild and the Vegetable Soup (for Ivan) to be Mild. Once we ordered the awkwardness only got worse when they brought out 7 little bowls of food that we didn't order (see picture). Ivan had been to a Korean restaurant before and said that these "side dishes" were for mixing into the soup once it came. However, we saw people eating their side dishes with chop sticks - not putting them into their soup, so we got a bit nervous - like Gringos in a Mexico. Also, why did they bring out these side dishes so quickly if they were supposed to go into the soup? In the end, we waited to put them in the soup and it was a good choice.

The soup came in super hot cast iron bowls and it was literally still rapidly bowling when they put it on the table. One of the side dishes contained two eggs which we promptly cracked and put into the boiling soup to make sure they got all the way cooked. The soup was still way too hot to eat. Thankfully, the side dishes were cold so as we added them to the soup it helped cool it down a little bit (although we still burned our mouths several times in attempting to eat the soup). The side dishes included (we think): eggs, some sort of meat, cucumber, bean sprouts, potatoes, Kimchi, and tofu. We both put a bit of everything into our soup and it was quite a feast. In addition, they brought out a large cast iron bowl full of rice. The rice was just enough to fill up two bowls (one for each of us), but when they were done dishing out the rice there was a layer of it stuck to the bowl. Instead of removing the mostly empty bowl, they filled it up with water and left it on the table. We saw other people scrape out the bowl and eat the rice and then drink the water from the bowl, but we weren't feeling that ambitious, so when we left, the bowl of rice water was still full on the edge of our table.

All things considered it was a very delicious, healthy, filling meal and wasn't too expensive ($10 per person). We had a great time (when we weren't feeling awkward about what we were supposed to do with things) and we definitely expect to go back. It was a great Valentine's Day experience!

Labels: Food, NY

My (Susan's) friend and former Next Door Neighbor, Amy, gave me the idea for this post. Here are the rules: If you want to play, e-mail me (since you can't leave a comment on this post) letting me know and I'll assign you a letter (if you don't know my e-mail address, find it on my Facebook profile). You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it on your blog. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain will continue. I have been given the Terrific letter "T". As a disclaimer, rather that think of my favorite "T" words, my approach at the beginning was more one of finding ways to express my most favorite things using the letter "T".

So, here are 10 of my favorite things expressed with the letter "T":

1. First of all, what's a T list without Tigger. T-I-Double"Guh"-ERRRRRR! That's right. Tigger was always my favorite character on Pooh Corner. Piglet is cute, Roo is adorable, and Eeyore is so pitiable, but none of the characters can compete with Tigger. "Tiggers are wonderful things!... They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!"

2. Now, for a creative way to work my favorite food onto this list: Tomatoes on a Toasted Turkey Sub from Subway (okay, really the pickles are the best part - not the tomatoes, and I rarely actually order them Toasted, but lately I have been getting the Turkey - it has the fewest calories) If you read this, then you probably know me somewhat well and if the fact that Subway is the bestest and most tastiest restaurant in the whole wide world is a shocker to you then we need to hang out more, because obviously you barely know me at all!

3. Another of my favorite things is Time with The Husband. Really nothing beats a relaxing afternoon with Ivan - whether it's at home or away (especially if we decide to get Subway). God certainly knew what He was doing when he created life-long companionship between a husband and wife. (Well, He always knows what He's doing, but you know what I mean.)

4. Torrential Rain - I like to sit inside - nice and cozy at home - and listen to the rhythm of the falling rain (thankfully, it's not telling me what a fool I've been - if it were, then it probably wouldn't be one of my favorite things).

5. Thanksgiving - I basically enjoy all holidays, but Thanksgiving is a pretty good representative holiday - and it starts with a "T". It's great to be with family and reflect on God's goodness and provision. This year has already been one that has taught me a lot about the breadth of God's love and I have a lot to be thankful for - no need to wait until November to give thanks.

6. Tractors - okay, this one might take you by surprise, but tractors hold many happy memories for me. I grew up in North California and at one point we lived on 12 acres of land, so, naturally, my dad bought a tractor. It was not only useful in moving dirt, digging ditches, etc, but also for moving us kids :) During the winter, Dad would tie the sleds to the back of the tractor and drive wildly through the snow in our back yard. During the spring and fall, Dad would put us in the bucket and drive around while raising and lowering the bucket like a wonderful ride at the fair. During the summer, he would take those bucket rides a step further and at the end dump us into the pool for a swim. Such fun you can have with a tractor!

7. Telephone - we live far away from friends and family, so basically the telephone is the best way to keep in touch with people. Also, several times a day while Ivan is at work we talk on the telephone and it helps the day go by faster.

8. Tropics - I love the heat. My ideal vacation would be a trip somewhere beachy and hot. Maybe a cruise to the tropics - or the Caribbean. In general, I'm always cold. When we lived in Sacramento during the summers when it would be around 100F outside, I would enjoy sitting in the car with the windows rolled up soaking in the dry, hot, wonderful heat inside the car. I rarely sweated. I just soaked it up. My mom called me a lizard. I love the heat.

9. Time for another random one: Mr. T - Okay, I didn't watch much of the A-Team growing up, just a few re-runs here and there, but he's right up there with Knight Rider - I mean, come one, Kit is one awesome car.... "The jibba jabba stops here... Take it from me, Mr. T... I pity the foo'." To quote his fan site, he's "a man with a heart of gold and plenty around his neck." Classic!

10. A final random favorite thing: Tailgate Parties. Well, football isn't really my favorite sport and I've never actually been to a tailgate party, but if you ask me, the best part about watching sports is eating the yummy food that is always served at those sorts of gatherings. So, in honor of all the yummy, unhealthy snack foods out there, I'll finish off the list with Tailgate Parties. Some of my favorites at the moment are: Cheez-Its, Triscuits and Cheese, Chips and Salsa, Pretzels and Jalapeno Cheese Dip, 7-layer dip, Nachos, Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Deviled Eggs, Jalapeno Poppers, and Pizza - pretty much anything with cheese - I don't really go for the sweets as much as the salty stuff.

So there's my list of favorite things using the letter "T". If you want to take a stab at it, e-mail me and I'll send you a letter for you to blog about :)

Labels: Food, Random

Where does time go? How do people manage to post to their blogs as often as they do? Seriously, we try to keep y'all up to date, but it's already been 2 weeks since the last post. How can that be? Well, we'll just have to blame another "busy week". I could just write a program that updates my blog every Monday to say something like: "Wow - another busy week! Where does time go? We had a great weekend, went to church on Sunday, and are ready to face another week." That would pretty much keep you "up to date" for the rest of our lives :)

Actually, these last few weeks were a bit out of the ordinary. If you don't know why, then you can e-mail me, because I still have no intention of blogging about it. On Monday we decided on the spur of the moment to catch a plane to CA. In less than 30 minutes we bought the tickets, packed, and got a friend from church to drive us to the airport. Needless to say, we packed light :) We've been enjoying the time out here with Susan's family. We know some of our CA friends have been looking forward to seeing us the next time we were out on this side of the country, but this just wasn't the trip for that - sorry. Tomorrow we head back home and aren't particularly looking forward to it. Alas, all good things must come to an end (or that's what they say, at least).

Unfortunately, we don't have any layovers in Memphis, so no tasty bbq on this trip. We didn't bring the camera with us, so you don't get any photos of sunny southern California to look at, but we'll leave you with this little token of the weather we're not actually looking forward to return to back home.

Labels: Quick Trip