Pesach

Yesterday, Jon and I had our Passover Seder meal. This is the first year that I have performed the meal on my own, of course with the help of my husband! We didn't celebrate it in Korea and I really missed having the Seder. But, this Seder was also special because my mom gave me my own Seder-ware. I received a Seder plate, candlesticks, matzoh plate, Elijah cup, as well as a menorah. They are all really pretty and have grape vines on them and focus on the verse 1 Corinthians 11:25 as well as some specific ones such as "I am the Vine" and "I am the Bread of Life". The set looked great with the rest of the things I used on our table. This was Jon's second Seder meal with me and it was fun that he helped me lead it, since it was only the two of us. Next year, we hope to have some friends over to help us celebrate it. We already started planning on adding the coffee table into the meal so that we can properly "recline" as the Haggadah says to. Plus, with the coffee table and dinner table, we can have even more people! I won't explain the entire meal here, but you can always ask me any questions about it!

Here's our Seder table setting. Jon and I across from
each other and Elijah's place at the head, in between us.

Seder plate: roasted egg, lamb shank, parsley, charoset, and horseradish.

Molly was very good the whole meal, sleeping on the couch
or at our feet. So, Jon decided after the Seder was done,
the Passover Puppy should be cuddled.

Good Friday Remembrance

The days leading up to Good Friday and the actual day is so full of varied emotions. I dread going to the service, yet look forward to getting a better and refreshing understanding of Jesus' death and sacrifice. If it's such a difficult day (only emotionally), how hard was it for Jesus (emotionally, mentally, and physically)! Wow. We just really don't know. But, yesterday, Jon and I went to Harvest for their Good Friday service where we were able to get a better idea of what really happened. Harvest did a good job with the service and made it interactive. We first entered the church and almost all of the seats were out, so we were standing in a large group. Also, almost everyone was dressed in black and the lights were of course off except for some back lights. The projection screens had questions of why Jesus died for us and below was a verse answer in reply. We read these before the worship portion started. After worshiping, we were told that they had set up five centers for us to visit, worship, learn, and mourn before coming back again for communion and worship. The five areas that we could visit were: God's Word, Suffering of Christ, Roman Crucifixion A Medical Perspective, Art Gallery, and Jesus in ____'s Place. In "God's Word", we could sit and reflect on God's Word and spend time meditating on the account of Christ's death for us. At the Suffering of Christ center, we could look at and feel historically-accurate recreations of the components of a first century Roman scourging and crucifixion. Therefore, we could reflect on the suffering that Jesus experienced instead of us. Here, they had nails, hammers, a crown of thorns, and a cat of nine tails. While we were standing here, some of the workers at the service joined the crowd and they basically acted out the scene where Pilate asked who the people wanted. Since we were in a crowd, it felt like we were in that crowd as people shouted, "Crucify Him!" It was very disturbing and real to me that even though I wasn't shouting at that time, I really was one of them who crucified Him with my sin. In the Medical Perspective area, we learned about the physiological effects of a first century Roman crucifixion on a human body through five short videos. In the Art Gallery, we viewed art created by adults and children in the congregation. There was also a live artist painting a picture of Jesus on the cross from a side perspective looking at us. In the Jesus in ____'s Place, we walked into a separate place and received a stamp on our wrists that said "guilty" in red. Then, we came to a white cross where we could write our names in red on it to symbolize that it was "His blood instead of ours". After this, we returned to the center of the auditorium to worship and take communion. Although this service was very different than any other Good Friday service I have been to, but it was really nice and fresh. I realized even more that not only Jesus died for us to save us, but I was one who 'made' Him have to do that, by my sin. He is the spotless Lamb without blemish. But, the sin in my life required Christ to die in my place. I am so thankful for this and glad that Jon and I were able to attend such a nice Good Friday service. I am also thankful that we can look forward to Sunday, when we know that Jesus will be alive. I can't imagine the depression of the disciples as they saw their friend and Lord die, thinking that they would not see Him again (even after they were told that they would).

I hope my friends, you were able to go to a Good Friday service or at least to an Easter Sunday service. Enjoy the rest of your Easter weekend, whether it is with friends or family!

Goodbye Squirrels!

Two days ago, Jon gave me some great news. Our neighbor had been complaining to our landlords about the squirrels in our shared attic. She told Jon that she called the apartment office several times and nothing was done. So, she did what I was too scared to do, call corporate. Corporate called her back several times to work out the retched squirrel problem. Well, they had people come out immediately and go to every building and patch up the holes in the roofs. They also put out more "friendly" animal traps. I did feel a little bad when Friday morning, I saw two squirrels caught in live traps next to each other, but then I remembered how annoying they were. But, then I felt even worse when I saw them the next day after sitting in the heat with no water or food. I almost threw some bread up there...almost. But, they were taken down and set free (hopefully far away) or something later that day. But anyways, I was so excited to hear that the squirrel problem was being taken care of! I was even more excited when I didn't hear any scratching or rolling around of objects above my head for three days now! Let's hope this continues and we will have a peaceful awake time as well as a peaceful sleepy time!

I Hate Squirrels!

My hatred for squirrels, I believe, really started with a discovery by my dad: our childhood/family camper was completely ruined by squirrels over the winter. Ahhhhhhhh! Makes me want to scream. I'm sure my parents actually did scream. But, my hatred for them has become even worse in the last few weeks. I first noticed the problem awhile after we moved in. We heard lots of running around above our heads on the second floor. Jon called maintenance and they said they would set out squirrel traps. Well, nothing's changed. A few weeks ago, I saw raccoons running across our roof as I entered our place. But lately, it's been a lot worse. During all times of the day, we have heard them scratching and rolling things around and running and what not above my side of the bed. I just can't stand that sound! Apparently, they have their little home above our bedroom. Fun. And during all times of the day, I mean all times. Nightime, dawn, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, evening, well, you get the picture. So, the last few nights, I have been kept up and awoken by these annoying little creatures. These are the times I wish I had my pellet gun here. I'm also starting to think that this guy has the right idea. The only thing stopping me is, how would I retrieve their nasty little bodies. I sound gross, don't I? But, this is how I feel! I hate being awoken and kept up by them rolling around above my head. What makes it worse is that unless it is causing a health problem or is unsafe, our landlords won't do anything about it. I also can't just call pest control and give them the bill, darn. So, I'm hoping that maybe they'll pee so much that it'll leak through the ceiling. Gross, right? I must sound desperate. Well, as in an effort not to be that desperate, I looked up some options online. The best option I came up with was setting up a strobe light to make their living arrangements so uncomfortable, that they vacate them. Well, I'm assuming we don't have an outlet up there to plug one into. Jon did find some battery operated ones on Amazon. But, who would've thought in your online budget that they don't have a heading by the name of Evacuation/Termination of Squirrels. We'll see if this acorn rolling game continues or not, but after a few days of less sleep, I'm already ready to put money down on that light! Stay tuned for what happens in our crazy squirrel adventures, and if you have any ideas on how to safely and cheaply remove these little guys, by all means--HELP!

Game Works

Jon and I had a great weekend, and it's still not over! Friday night was an excellent night of relaxation, but Saturday was a bit more eventful. A few months ago, Jon offered to take me to Chuck-E-Cheese. We were planning on going Saturday night, but I decided I didn't feel like having running and screaming kids all around me, so Jon thought we could go to Gameworks: the adult version of Chuck-E-Cheese. We started off with some Margherita pizza before going to play any games. Then, we played games for 2.5-3 hours, it was a blast. We brought a coupon with us, so we got some free credit put on our pay card, which gave us a little extra time. Mostly, we played racing and other sports games. But, Jon enjoyed playing some games of luck, which just annoy me! One of the games I really enjoyed was a soccer goal kicking one. Even though it was a ball attached to a rope, it made me realize that I really miss playing that game. Maybe I'll just have to visit that game more often, at least it won't make me have an asthma attack! We also played a lot of basketball games. I think Jon was a little surprised when I kept beating him by twenty points. We played it a lot, though, and had a ton of fun competing against each other. Another game that I beat him at was at Big Game Hunting. I don't know why, but Jon thought he would beat me, ha! At heart, he thinks he is a country boy and I love him for that. It was fun to show off my "sharpshooter" skills. Jon did beat me in air hockey, though. I think my hand-eye coordination is not very strong when a puck is moving so fast towards me. He even sent a few whizzing past me as they hopped the edge of the table-slow down please! Jon did play a football throwing game, I figured I wouldn't even attempt it, but he did pretty good, I was proud! We also played some motorcycle racing, Mario Kart, and Hummer Racing. Well, the Hummer Racing made me feel nauseous because the ride was bumping all over the place and going up and down, plus we drove off a cliff and lost the race. So much for that. Mario Kart, Jon beat me by a ton! Anders would have been laughing because he teases me about how I swerve my body to turn in a car game, well I did the same thing for the bigger version as well. The motorcycle racing, we each one a game against the other, that is, once I figured out that you have to turn the gas backwards and not forwards (just a little hint).

YUM!

Keep your eyes on the road.

Pod racing, we were both pretty bad at it.

GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!

We had such a fun time, enjoying being with each other with some friendly competition and child-like fun! We haven't done anything like that together before, so it was a fun date!

A Little Pocket Flashback

I meant to post these pictures about six months ago, but I did not have them until now. This is one of my favorite stories about Molly and I really wish I had witnessed it for myself. But, you will have to take the second-hand version from me.

When Jon and I took our little trip to Japan in October, we left Molly with her Aunt Betsy. Betsy was my co-teacher from POLY that went to the shelter with me when we brought Molly home. Therefore, she is Molly's aunt. I knew Molly would have a great time with Aunt Betsy and that she would take great care of Molly. Betsy even began the beginnings of Molly's house training, which helped greatly as we transitioned to the States and we were no longer living on the 12th floor or 1/4 mile away from any bit of grass. Betsy was so faithful in letting Molly go out and do her thing. And poor Molly, the only place she could do her business in the different neighborhood, was in this little 4x4 patch of grass. But Betsy was a great aunt and took her to a park to get some exercise and outside time as well. Another teacher came with on the park adventure and had a great time. While they were at the park, a little Korean girl ran up to Molly and was really intrigued by her, I guess. I can only imagine how Molly greeted the little girl. The little girl continued to watch and follow her. Then, the girl picked up a leaf and tried to feed Molly, she kept saying, "Meogeureo!" the Korean word for "eat". But, Molly just stood there, not opening her mouth and instead trying to look away. Well, the girl kept telling her, "Meogeureo!" So finally, as to not be rude, Molly took a bite of the leaf to appease the girl. She was very happy, the girl that is. I just love it when Betsy tells this story, so here are some pictures that narrate it. Also, you can see her short hair cut, although this is long compared to what it had looked like two months prior to this day! Her haircut does not make me miss Korea, but the pictures, friends, and funny Korean stories make me miss it a lot!
Janis and Molly. Molly is distracted. Pretty park!

Notice the girl's face, of course she's fascinated and in love!

Aunt Betsy with Molly while she is fed a leaf.

"Mommy, How Was I Made?..."

Well, one of my four year olds, had a pretty good answer to the question. Somehow while eating Ritz crackers, oranges, and carrots, a few of my kids were talking about how they/people were made. I'm not entirely sure how it started, but I know that at the end, the little Chinese girl said, "God made us out of mud and then he blew in our nose." Ohhh, I laughed! But, I took awhile to think about it and although we are no longer made out of "mud", God did "make man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being," Genesis 2:7. The other kids thought it weird that we were possibly made out of mud, but I tried to clear up, in basic terms, that we are now made differently.
This also came from the same girl who will randomly start belting out Amazing Grace in a high pitched song. I remember one of the first times she did it was when Nona was sick and how it is Nona's favorite song, it was very special to me. This little girl makes me smile quite often throughout the day for various reasons and it's wonderful! Oh, I love what little ones say!

TWF!

I just returned from my Trinity Wives' Fellowship bible study. We have been working on the book Lord, I Want To Know You by Kay Arthur. I started attending the Bible study around mid-February, so I've still been adjusting and getting to know the women. But tonight, I really began to feel connected to the women and feeling more like a Trinity Wife! I found out one other woman has only been in IL as long as Jon and I have and they are far from family, so we are kind of in the same type of adjustment period as well as the same age. But, a big difference is she has a young, baby boy. We both realized us and our spouses are looking for some friends and so I got to talk more with her. Hopefully we will be able to get together with our hubbies in the next few weeks. I was happy to have found a friend and also found out that her husband shares the same Monday night class with Jon, that occurs during Bible study. So, that's also fun!
Anyways, my adjustment here has been pretty slow. But I think that it's starting to be better as I've been more connected and feel more comfortable with other Trinity Women, who are going through the same things as I am.

Not-so-Spring

This last week, I heard that we might be getting snow this weekend. In Chicago, it got up to 65 degrees this week and I think I was hoping that this forecast prediction would not come true. But, I awoke this morning to find out that did not happen. When I woke up, Pocket was very excited to be able to go outside. She did her usual spinning around in circles while hopping and breathing a bit like a pig. Last night, she went outside to grass and warmth, little did she know, she was going to be hit with cold air and an inch of snow and more falling as she stood there. I decided to capture her reaction of the snow on video to show you. If you have ever taken Molly outside, you know that this is not her typical reaction to getting to go outside.

Poor Pocket, so shocked.

A Visit From Mom!

It seems to be that I was on a bit of a blogging hiatus, but at least it was not a too terribly long one. In this time, we have had another visitor: my mom! My mom volunteered to take the train down here to visit during her spring break. I was so happy to have my mom here as I have been missing my family and missing Nona a lot. So, I guess I just needed some good "mommy" time.
She came down on the train last Saturday and was able to stay until Tuesday afternoon. Jon and I picked her up at the station, stopped at home briefly to let the Pocket out and then went straight to Saturday night church. Mom has been to Harvest one other time and really enjoyed it, so we were happy to share our church with her again. When we got home, I had a little surprise of early birthday presents! I didn't know why mom wanted to give them to me early, but after opening them, I understood. Almost all of my presents were Passover Seder dishes and pieces to accompany the meal. I was so excited because Jon and I were just talking about having our Seder meal in a few weeks! I also get to share about Passover at school, so now I have some of my own dishware to bring in. Thanks again mom; what a great surprise, they are very special gifts to me!
On Sunday, mom and I had lots of things planned, but only made one of those things happen: Puppy Palace. Oh, we saw lots of cute dogs! I think Jon was proud of me when I came home with nothing and said "no" to the sales woman on a very nice doggy! Look how good I've become, tada! But, that doesn't mean I don't want a playmate for Pocket... It was fine that we didn't get much done on Sunday, because we just needed some rest and relaxation. We ended up hanging around the house a bit and watching some older shows that we like.
Monday, though, was our busy day. I surprised mom by taking the day off from work, so I could spend more time with her. I was also planning on taking her to my Trinity woman's bible study, but unfortunately, it was canceled. First, we went to IKEA and wondered around a bit and of course, ate some Swedish meatballs and lingonberries! After that, we were able to run a few other errands and then returned home. It was so wonderful, mom offered to cook us some beef barley soup and Nona's pasta sauce so we could freeze some and have it ready to eat. So, she spent time making that on Monday night and Tuesday. Jon and I have been scarfing the refrigerated ones and look forward to thawing the rest in the future.
Mom and Jon brought me to work on Tuesday and mom got to see my classroom again and meet some of my kids as well as my co teacher. But, it was really sad to say goodbye and see her go. I really enjoyed my time and was definitely more relaxed and feeling better after getting to be with my mom. I am grateful that I get to see her in a month at a woman's retreat in WI!
Thank you so much for coming, hoodie! Love you lots!

A Spring Walk=A Bath for Pocket

Yesterday was a gorgeous day! I have been really missing the sun; I don't think I have had cabin fever as bad as I have the last few weeks. It's really quite sad, when I take the kids outside, I face the sun trying to catch some Vitamin D on my only exposed skin: my cheeks. So when the sun came out yesterday and warmed us up to a nice 45 degrees, it felt like a heat wave! I took advantage of the nice weather and took Molly on a nice, long walk around our complex. We had a lot of fun looking around at birds and other such things. I'm sure Molly had fun sniffing new things and seeing new people and dogs, as she felt the need to bark at some other little dogs, just to show who was boss, I suppose. Because of the sun, the snow was obviously starting to melt and form wonderful puddles. Unfortunately, I didn't have my puddle jumping boots on, but Molly certainly didn't care if she had hers on! Molly rarely jumps or goes around a puddle. So, you can imagine what her fluffy white feet looked like by the end of our walk. Yeah, yucky. When we got back to the house, she wasn't even allowed to put one little paw down, she went right into the tub.

I really don't mind bath time, I think it's pretty fun. Most of all, it's funny to see Molly's fluffy fur be wet down and her to look like a drowning rat. Jon and I are always amazed at how big and fluffy she looks, especially her legs, and when they're wet, they are just little sticks. I called Jon upstairs to partake in laughing at Molly. The poor thing, just was patient and took it; you'll be able to see that in her pictures.
Notice her stick legs.
Good baby!

Clean baby!

Now, she is so soft, fluffy, clean, and smells wonderful!
Good Pocket! Now, the next task is brushing her...her least favorite task.

Happy Birthday Jon!

Yesterday was my Boy's birthday! I was so excited about it, I accidentally woke up an hour and a half before my alarm was to go off. oops. So, I made use of my time and made some somewhat healthy banana muffins for him to eat while he was skiing that day. Yes, Jon went skiing on his birthday. I was actually considering going with him, this might be a surprise to those of you who know me from high school, as I have injured myself many a time while skiing. But, I thought since he loves it so much, I would be willing to give it another try, but it will have to wait until next year since I had to work on his birthday. Jon had a wonderful day of skiing, it was a little warm, so the snow was getting a bit soft. But, he had a lot of fun going through the terrain park and enjoying the outdoors. After the full day of skiing, Jon picked me up from work and we later went out for a birthday dinner at T.G.I.F. Jon was so excited to get three of his favorite foods right on one plate: salmon, steak, and cheesy potatoes! I had Parmesan crusted chicken with tortellini and a mini tomato mozzarella salad, yum!

After dinner, we came home and Jon got to open some presents from both sides of the family. My mom even sent me some surprise gifts inside his birthday box, I was extremely excited. I only wished she had been there to share in my happiness! Oh, this is about Jon's birthday, isn't it...well, he also loved his surprises and is very excited to enjoy them.
I told Jon that we could do whatever else he wanted for the night and he chose to cuddle on our new comfy couches while watching Lord of the Rings. It's such a long movie, but I lasted through the first half before falling asleep, so I thought that was decent. Even though our tummies were full with our great dinner, we ate his birthday chocolate peanut butter cream pie! I got the recipe from Betsy, my friend from Korea and a wonderful baker! It's so rich and full of wonderful peanut buttery goodness. I just have to say, I pity the peanut allergy kids because they sure are missing out, seriously!

Anyways, happy birthday baby boy! Love you
and so glad you were born!

Sickie

Today, I unfortunately had to call sick into work. A sore throat came on last night and I was up most of the night bothering me (and bothering the Boy). I woke up with a nice manly voice, a scraping and aching sore throat, deep cough, and stuff/runny nose. Yay. Even though I'm sick, I am thankful that I haven't been sick for a long time. I was very surprised that I haven't been more sick, especially working with preschoolers. So, I really am grateful for the good health that I have had. Even though I had to miss school, I did get some special cuddle time with the Pocket; she's so lovable! The Boy has been careful not to be too close so he doesn't get sick before midterms, but he has been so sweet in other ways. He surprised me by bringing home my favorite soup, Progresso chicken noodle, Gatorade, and Snack Pack pudding (just like Nonie). What a sweetie. I sure hope that he doesn't get sick.

More Visitors!

This last weekend, we were blessed to have another couple of visitors; Jon's parents! They took the day off on Friday for travel and arrived at our place in the early afternoon. Jon had some special time with them while I was at work. Jon was also able to get his nice watch fixed, which had been on the To-Do-List for um, probably a few years. We can finally check that one off! After work, I met them at Lou Malnati's a great Chicago pizza place just down the road from us! We went here when my family helped move us down here, so it was nice to bring the other side of our family there as well. The pizza is nice and cheesy and garlicy, and you can even add garlic on as an extra topping! After dinner, we had some relaxing time at our home watching the Olympics and chatting.
On Saturday, we decided to go into the city and explore downtown a bit. We parked and walked quite a few blocks to Michigan Ave. There, we saw the famous "Bean" and took in some views of the old city buildings. Unfortunately, Jon and I both forgot to bring the camera, so we have no pictures, sad! On our walk back to the car, we stopped in a Trader Joe's to give the Enger's their first TJ's experience. We also ran into some other fun stores, but thankfully exited without any bags! The one thing we did pick up was a few cups of coffee since it was quite cold and of course windy. The bank temperature said it was 42 degrees, but I know it didn't feel that way. Despite the cold, it was really enjoyable to walk around outside and chat with family while doing so. Saturday night, we were also able to go to church, which we were also excited to share with family. We have really enjoyed our new church and it has been really nice for our family to visit and see where we have been worshiping. After church, we had another relaxing evening eating dinner at home, watching the Olympics, and playing Apples to Apples. I was excited to get to play this game because the Boy doesn't usually like to play games unless they are strategy games. One thing that the Enger family really enjoys, is to play games together, and I am so happy I married into a family like that because I grew up the same way!
Sunday came fast, but we were able to enjoy a nice Sunday brunch at IHOP before Bob and Diane took off. I know Jon loved talking to his parents in person, about his seminary experiences and things he's learned. I can see him growing in a lot of ways and it's really fun! I am so proud of him. :) After saying our good-byes, I somehow managed to take Jon to look at some cute puppies and even pet a few! And again, I didn't bring any home, aren't you proud, dad? I would never buy a puppy from a shop, so I guess that helps me not to pick one up, just "oooo" and "ahhhh" over them. But, we were very happy to come back to our dear little Pocket girl and so was she!
So, thank you Bob and Diane for making the trip to come down and visit us, it was nice to see you. We hope you had fun and we look forward to the next time we meet!

"Valentimes!"

I feel like neither Jon or I are big Valentines people, but still of course like to treat each other. Last year, we also got to celebrate White Day in Korea. White Day is March 14th and the boys give the gifts whereas the girls give gifts on Valentine's. I remember Jon getting me a Coldstone cake, notebook and pen, and curtains to turn our one room into two. This year, we had a nice relaxing day mostly watching the Olympics. In the morning, Jon had a meeting at church and so when he came home, I had breakfast ready for him. His breakfast consisted with heart shaped cinnamon rolls and heart shaped pancakes with sprinkles and strawberries and of course coffee! The cinnamon rolls were unfortunately not homemade as I didn't have time, but they were still pretty tasty!
Those are melted sugar sprinkles in the pretty heart pancakes!

Not quite as pretty as my homemade ones, but still tasty!

After the meeting, Jon brought home some beautiful tulips that are still looking pretty! The rest of the day we cuddled on our comfortable couches and watched speed skating, figure skating, and the luge. I did make a brief breakaway running to Target and then wandering to Puppy Palace to drool over the dogs. Although, I would never buy a dog from a puppy store, it doesn't mean I can't window shop! I saw a pug, two boxers, two shar pei's and many other cute puppies! I tried to convince Jon to come back and look, but he didn't want to. I think he was just glad enough that I didn't bring one home! The Pocket sure could tell that I had pet something other than her, even after washing my hands!
We also received two fun packages from our families, they were nice surprises! I realized the last few years that I have missed being with my family on Valentines because my parents made it a family holiday and there was always lots of love given to each other. So, it was nice to get some fun little gifts and be remembered. Thank you so much for your notes and nice thoughts! Love you all!

Kidisms

Besides the last Obama comment, I had a few funny comments from my kids that I also wanted to share.
1. One of my funny kids was waiting for the bathroom and chanting, "Barack Obama, lives in a log cabin!" Now, although he's confusing some presidents, he is retaining information at least...
2. Another student asked me today, "Is Barack Obama George Washington's son? That's right, right?" I replied, "Do you mean they were both president? That they had the same job?" He looked confused and then kind of forcefully said, "Oh, yeah..."

My personal favorite of the week is this last one.
3. One student came up to me today and said, "I made a Wii character for you and I put lots of freckles on your face and you played 5 baseball games and you won them all, but only because I was playing your character." I then asked her if I hit the ball lots of times and she said, yes. This is great since I never can hit a baseball in real life. This was hilarious to me! I can't believe she made a video game character based on me and then had me play in the game.

Oh, Obama...

This week, my unit is focused around U.S. presidents because of Monday's holiday. In the block area, I taped on several pictures on blocks including the White House, a Lincoln-like cabin, Washington, Lincoln, Clinton, and Obama. I chose these four for various reasons, but of course living in Chicago and that he is our current president, I included Obama. At the block carpet, I had these blocks out as well as some plastic people. One of my kids was playing by himself on the block carpet and didn't know that I was watching him. I listened as he played with the Obama block and two policemen and he said, "Hey, Obama, we're going to take you in, to the police station. You've been bad." He continued to keep playing, but I'm not sure what else he was saying. I laughed about it and later he said to me, "My dad doesn't like Obama." I wanted to understand a bit more, "Oh really, why is that?" He said, "My dad says that he steals money and he's a bad man." I really tried hard to keep my laughter in, but it's so funny what kids share with their teachers. Parents really have no idea what their kids retain and then choose to innocently share with others.

Sweet Tooth Pocket

This morning, Jon and I were getting up and ready to go and Jon looked into the 2nd bedroom and discovered some things left behind from the Pocket: a Tootsie Roll Pop and a wrapper.
The Evidence.
I called the Pocket into the room and asked her what she did and why. I think what happened is that when I left her out for the afternoon part of the day, she discovered Jon's big bag of candy from Christmas. She sat down on the floor next to me and we discussed why we shouldn't eat suckers.
The culprit. Talking to the Pocket about her bad behavior.

The Pocket trying to divert the questions.

Later, Jon came in and consoled her because she was
hanging her head and putting her tail between her legs
feeling guilty. The candy bag is now put away for good!

Blast From The Past

I made a huge discovery this weekend while grocery shopping, I mean big. When I was little, I always wanted the Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting. I would probably have eaten it straight out of the tub if I could. But, my mom was a good mom and kept me eating healthy things and makes her own homemade frosting, yum (really, thank you, mom)! But, I remember being jealous of a friend that had the Rainbow Chip frosting and how I loved the little chips, they were so tasty. So, since I am a grown-up, I have been looking for the last few years when I pass by the frosting aisle. I thought, "Now that I'm a grown-up, I can buy it for myself!" I don't know if they temporarily stopped making it or if the stores I went to didn't carry it. But, I have never seen it until this weekend! I got so excited, I probably jumped up and down in the aisle. Plus, it was on sale! I did get one tub, I don't know when I'll use it because I usually make my own frosting, but for some special occasion or comfort food day, I'm sure!

Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique

The Pocket visited our Disney version of the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique today (without the glitter and hot pink accents). A few weeks ago, she had to face trimmed, but I felt she needed a little update. After days of Jon pleading not to trim her face and fluffy butt fur, he finally gave in and I brought out the scissors. I don't think the Pocket was very excited about her trip to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, though. She certainly did a good job and didn't nip, she only tried to scurry away from me and hide herself behind the toilet. I definitely didn't spend much time or was even very particular when cutting her hair, but just tried to get some of it cut in a timely fashion. You can see for yourself how good she's being in the video and pictures!

Notice Molly is in a headlock between my
knees. You can't escape now, my pretty!

Getting started.

I don't really know what happened here, but I think
Molly just got tired of me grabbing her face and standing
up/trying to run away, so she collapsed on the floor.
Cutting her face hair got much more difficult at this stage.

חלה Challah Day!

A few days ago, I decided that Saturday would be Challah Day. For those of you who are not familiar with Challah, it is a traditional Jewish bread usually used for the three Sabbath meals as well as holidays. Challah is a braided bread that commemorates the manna that fell from heaven for the Israelites in the desert. It is usually made with made with many eggs, flour, water, a sugar, and yeast. Raisins are usually added for holidays and then braided. There are a few variations as I've discovered, but I feel like I went with a pretty traditional Jewish recipe.

The last few weekends, I have spent Saturday baking and cooking and it seems thinking of my Nona. Today, I thought about her in a few ways while baking. First, while I was breaking my eggs, I remembered baking with her and telling me how so many people waste the white part by not scooping it out with their finger. So, she showed me how much extra you get out rather than throwing the shell out fast before you make a mess with the dripping whites. The second thing I thought about is when I was kneading this double recipe of dough. I used to hear stories of how she used to make many loaves a week, obviously by hand, for her family. And boy, Nona must've had the strongest forearms and hands, I can't imagine kneading dough everyday for that long. I thought that my arms were strong enough to knead some silly dough, but it was harder than I thought it would be. I also discovered it'd be helpful to have a stool for me to stand on because my counter seems a bit too high for me.
Here are a few pics of the process.

Pre-knead.

Post-knead and after the first rise. Notice the fruit bag
from Dominick's, no plastic wrap so I improvised and
then covered the top of the bowl with tin foil.

After the second rise.

Braiding the first loaf.

Almost done, the first one was well, not as pretty.

Towards of the end of the first loaf cooking, I
realized I had made a mistake. I hadn't let it rise
the third and final time. oops. I was worried that
it would be ruined and be a waste of ingredients.

The outcome of the first one despite the lack of one last
raising. It is supposed to be brownish on the top
because of the egg/honey glazing brushed
on before baking. It gives it a sweet and
crunch top while the middle is soft. Yum!

Thankfully, the first one wasn't too bad! I cut the bread and
brought a piece up to Jon to be my guinea pig. Besides
it being a little fluffy and more dense than I would
have wanted it to, it turned out quite well.

I have the other one in the freezer braided, just
ready to raise one more time (if I remember) in
a week or two. You can tell I did not put raisins in
this one, but the other one tasted surprisingly good
with them, that I might have to squish some in the top.
Tata little loaf! Until next time!

Dear Santa...

For those of you who are on Facebook, might have read this already, but for those of you who are not, I thought I'd share my new favorite kid quote from yesterday.
Yesterday, we were just starting lunch in my classroom and the kids were washing their hands and grabbing their plates. As they were doing so, one of my fun girls from Romania came up to me, gave me a big hug and said, "Ms. Anika, do you have kids?" I replied, "Well, no, but I do have all of you crazy kids!" She said, "Oh (as if my answer didn't phase her at all). Well, do you want kids someday?" I of course said, "Yes, someday." She replied very seriously, "Well, maybe you can ask Santa for a kid and he'll bring you one!" She said this, gave me another hug and ran off. I laughed so hard! What a funny thought from a five year old. I love how children at that age think, they have such interesting and fun ideas.

Pocket's Home Day Spa!

Several family members and friends have commented on Pocket's fluffy mane of well, fluff. Some have said, "Why can't she seeeee!" or "What a sad looking thing, why don't you cut her hair?!" Well, after several months of people saying this, I did! Well, kinda. I really only trimmed her face and back end a bit. First, I enticed her into the bathroom by promising treats and a nice baffers. She ran away once, but I soon found her and carried her to the tub and plopped her in. Needless to say, she was not too happy to be there. Also, I've realized that it was easier when we only had a shower to put her in in Korea and I just got wet with her. But, this time I stayed out of the tub and it was much harder, sigh. I really should have taken a picture of her in the bathtub because she was the most homely thing I've ever seen; like she looked like a dog that had lived on the streets in a monsoon her whole life. Literally. If someone had walked in at that moment, they probably would have wondered why I had a big dust bunny in the tub, why it was moving, and why hadn't I taken care of that ugly old thing already! Sigh, now I really wish I would've taken a picture, maybe next time! For now, you'll have to do with the before and after pictures.

Before:

Although Jon did puff up her face for the picture, I have
to say as a dog mother, this thing looks gross!



After:

What do you think?! I do have to say that I don't think I did too bad of a job (especially if you are aware of my childhood adventure of 'Crew-Cut-Barbie...)! I didn't take too long cutting it precisely, but it works for her with all her fluff left over. Much cuter, wouldn't you say, you can actually tell that she has eyes. It's a wonder how she still has them after running into several things the last few weeks such as doors, hinges, walls, and other various things.

Dinner!

Tonight, Jon and I had an interesting dinner. We went to Dominick's to get food after 3 weeks of neglecting any sort of grocery shopping. We got home and even after buying all this great food (of course for a great price), Jon had a funny idea for dinner. We pulled out the soy bean pods and boiled them, Jon cooked up "Japanese tacos" and we drank Naked Juice; YUM! You might be wondering what a Japanese taco is, well, it's something that we ate with the Conrads at Uminonakamichi Park in Fukuoka. It was funny, there was a guy in a van selling "tacos" from the back of his van. People from the US would find this very sketchy, but in Asia, it's very normal. What wasn't normal, was the taco. It was a cut up hot dog with hot sauce and a few veggies on it. So, after getting tortillas and Johnsonville Cheddarwursts, we cooked them up and made a Japanese taco. But, the most important thing is that he gave me his "Last Bite Love" of his plain cheddarwurst, he must really love me.

Cheese Head

I just got home from a long day of work and a meeting afterwards. I was walking out of the center with two women and they were talking about the cold and how horrible it was (it's around 20, feels like 10 or something). Here I was with my coat unzipped, no mittens, no hat, "Ooohhhhh, it's not so bad, this is pretty warm!" One girl replied, "Are you crazy?!" The other woman, Nicole, replied, "Oh, Anika's a country girl from Wisconsin, that's why she's like that." Again, I replied, "Really, it's really not that bad, I'm used to much worse." As we parted ways, Nicole joked about cheese being a fun thing and I was confused why it was a joke....So, I replied, "Actually, cheese is a big deal and I love going to Cheese Houses!" And again, Nicole joked about going to a cheese house to try all the cheeses and I said, "Absolutely, it's the best, I think it's great fun!" I even shared with her that some people do nickname me "The Cheese Girl." It's a fair guess that she might think of me as a crazy Wisconsin Cheese Head, but I'm okay with that.

According to a 5 year old...

This afternoon, one of my assistants, Sam was talking with the class after nap. One of my students Annie, brought up that she goes to Sunday School and so Sam asked her what she learns there and she said, "Jesus." I was on the other side of the room taping polar bear feet to the floor, so it was interesting to listen to their thoughts. Some other friends added in their thoughts and I thought I would write some of the ones that I remember. Sam asked, "Who's God, then?" Most friends replied, "Jesus' Father." Sam, "Then who is Mary and Joseph?" They replied, "Jesus' parents." After that, was a short and confused conversation about Jesus having three parents, but one student moved on and said, "Jesus doesn't have a telephone." (This telephone idea came from a conversation we had around Christmas time and talking to God). Then Sam asked, "Well, then how do you talk to him?" In a loud chorus, "We pray!" I felt like I was in a Sunday School when I heard this, it was fun. A child that has difficulty following directions then said, "God is watching. He's always watching. He knows when you've been good or bad." This sounds an awful lot like the creepy Santa they were just singing about...suspicious. Several friends started talking about this at the same time, so I'm not really sure what was said, but I think something about God being with us. The conversation soon ended and they started talking about animals or something. Anyways, I thought that this was kinda cool, that we can have conversations like this and it's okay! Now, I wonder what my views of God were as a 5 year old...

Chuck-E-Cheese

After driving back from the "North" today, we drove past a Chuck-E-Cheese by our house and Jon said, "How about we go to Chuck-E-Cheese this weekend for something fun and different." My mom's comment below also reminded me that he said something to the effect of a Cheese date for my Cheese Girl. I truly am the Queen of Cheese. He knew I needed a pick-me-up and some childish fun, what a great guy, awwwwwww.
About this last week, I didn't know I could hurt this badly, it's torturous. But Jon's been so good, holding me when I need it and giving me space when I need to be alone and encouraging me to cry on his shoulder when I want to be stubborn about it all. It will take me a long time to get over this great loss, but I'm glad that I have such a wonderful husband at my side.

That's all for now.

Churches Helping Churches

Normally, I wouldn't "advertise" something on my blog, but Jon and I felt lead to share this website with you. At church last night, our pastor shared with us his burden for the Church in Haiti and the people who are in desperate need for God. Because, isn't knowing God the most important thing? I am very thankful for the medical aid and so on that has been given, but we can't forget the Church! It seems that God has put a burden on Pastor James' heart to visit Haiti, help, and document about the Church there so the Christians outside of it can be aware of the great need. Jon sent out an email to some family and I thought I would post what he wrote here as well as the website you can take a look at for prayer as well as donations to helping the Church of Haiti. Please, don't forget to play the video, "Who Will Rise Up", it's a great one by one of the church worship leaders.

Hello friends and family,

I felt that I should share this with all of you. As you all know, Anika and I moved to the Chicago area last month. Since moving here, we've been worshiping at Harvest Bible Chapel. The service last night was very moving. Pastor James MacDonald talked about the earthquake in Haiti at the end of his sermon, and posed this question to the congregation: "Who will help the church?" Tomorrow, Pastor MacDonald will be flying to Haiti along with Pastor Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and they will be accompanied by a film crew and team of workers. Their goal is to assess the needs of the church in Haiti and report back to churches in the United States so that aid may be directed specifically to the church. Pastor MacDonald expressed that governments around the world have rallied to provide aid to the devastated people in Haiti, but who is providing and and encouragement to the church? Pastor MacDonald quoted Galatians 6:10, "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." The people of Haiti are receiving huge amounts of aid from the nations that have rallied to them, and their needs will be met. However, as Christians, it is our priority to meet the needs of the church and of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Haiti.

Pastor MacDonald has launched a website, http://www.churcheshelpingchurches.com, in order to mobilize Christians in the United States to help our brothers and sisters that are hurting in Haiti. The goal is not to single out Christians and provide aid to them alone while ignoring everyone else who needs help, but it should be our priority to meet the specific needs of the church in Haiti while the governments are helping the nation as a whole. As Christians, we need to care for the body of Christ as our Lord has commanded. If you would like to give specifically to churches in Haiti that need our help, please consider giving to Churches Helping Churches. Also, please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and also for Pastors MacDonald and Driscoll and all that are traveling with them. If you want to follow along with their trip, check the website for updates. Don't forget to watch the video on the website!

I felt led to forward this to you, so please feel free to share this with others as you feel led.

May God have all the glory,

Jonathon

Happy Birthday Pocket!

Today is Molly Pocket's adoption birthday! Can you believe a year ago, I was pulling her out of the pit of death! We celebrated by singing happy birthday to her after which she was able to eat her doggy "cake". Her cake was made out of softened doggy treats, little pieces of dog food, and a little topping of shredded cheese. She is such a cheese-head! Then, she received two gifts: a tennis KONG toy and some Freshies Dental Bones. Before you showing you her birthday videos, I thought I'd first remind you of her adoption day as well as how she looked on her adoption day on year ago! I'll never forget going to that mountain-side kennel. If you remember correctly, I was not intending to adopt a dog, but rather foster some needy dogs until someone adopted them. I posted an adoption page for Molly and I had hundreds of hits on the site. Three people had inquired about her, one chose a different dog, another did not reply back to my message, and another wanted to bring her to Africa and later found a different dog. Jon and I really got attached to her, but knew we had to pray and give her over to God before deciding for ourselves whether or not to keep her. As all of you know, I am an animal person and so I was so happy when we felt comfortable to keep her and eventually bring her back to the States. I can't imagine her living in that shelter and being so scared as she was when I found her; she wouldn't even come out of her cubby for a treat. But when I took her on her walk and she was bounding and leaping for joy, I knew I couldn't put her back. So, here she is with us! I am so thankful for her and the joy she's brought to our life in Korea as well as here in Chicago!

Me at the shelter and Molly's first walk outside of
the cage in probably a long time.

After her bath, doesn't she look sad and pitiful! Look at her bare skin,
it had been worn off I believe by being in her wooden cubby
and being too scared to come out. It took months for her
fur to return to normal, poor baby.

At first, Jon was very skeptical about having a dog,
especially one that looked so odd. But he soon warmed
up to her and even tucked her in her suitcase
bed with his own shirt to cover her.

"Happy Birthday to you.."

Pocket's birthday cake!

Molly learning how to play with her new toy,
she's always a little slow at that...


She did a little better this time!

Not-So-Minnesota-Nice

Since moving to the Chicago area, I've realized a change that I miss when compared to the Upper Midwest: Niceness and Friendliness. Jon explained "Minnesota Nice" to me, and I didn't really realize it until living outside of Wisconsin/Minnesota. Without thinking about it, I guess I do things that are considered "nice" such as saying hello and smiling at people I'm walking by or opening doors and so on. When doing these things, I've realized people tend to look at me very oddly, like, "Who is that weird girl and why is she talking to me? Do I know her?" Then, I walk away feeling very odd. Or even the waitress' we've had, don't seem to be quite as well, nice. Jon reminded me, "You know honey, we're not in Minnesota anymore." I was glad that that night, we were able to show love towards that waitress. Well, Jon and I will just keep spreading the "Minnesota Nice" and God's love to others.

Flopsy The Second

Most of my family knows my childhood story of "Flopsy and the Great Adventure", but for those of you who don't know it, I'll tell it quickly. The story relates to what happened today, so stick with me! When Anders and I were little, our first pets (besides fish) were two little girl guinea pigs: Flopsy and Mopsy. They were the best pigs any little kid could ask for. Flopsy was the sweet submissive one and Mopsy was the domineering one who would control Flopsy with her machine gun sounding grunts. I remember Anders and I would watch Mopsy as she'd sway her bottom half and grunt at Flopsy, it was so weird. Anyways, I was always really good about making my own fun and what not, so one day, I decided I wanted to go on a great, ship adventure and needed a pal to go with. So, I took my friend Flopsy. When you go on adventures, you need lots of supplies, so I grabbed my supplies, along with a fluorescent colored backpack so Flopsy would have a comfortable ride. We hopped in the boat that was in the trailer in the backyard, and started our adventure. You should've seen our pretty wooden boat, it was cleaned and shone so much, it was sparkling in the salty air! We sailed over the biggest waves ever! We even found an island! I don't know if my mother called me inside or I got distracted by something else, but needless to say, I did not grab all my supplies...Later that night, Mom came into the laundry room where the cage was kept and asked, "Where's Flopsy? Does someone have her out?" Neither Anders or I knew where she was. Where could she be? We looked and looked and I'm sure we prayed our little hearts out. A few days later (and after a thunderstormy night) I wanted to have another great, ship adventure. I climbed into the ship and, "Hey! I found my backpack!" How exciting! "Hey! Flopsy's in it!" Poor Flopsy, she had been in that backpack for I think it was two days, maybe three, without food or water (except for the thunderstorm). Her little ribs were sticking out, I remember that I thought she looked so skinny, it was kind of scary.

To this day, I can't believe that I forgot poor Flopsy out in the backpack in the boat for so long. How did I do that? So shocking. Well, I guess I'm not totally over that daydreaming part in life because today I forgot a guinea pig in the backseat of the car. But don't worry, it was only for a few minutes. Give me credit, at least it wasn't days this time. Anyways, in my classroom, we have several animals, one being Max the long-haired guinea pig. Max has had lice for several weeks. The vet says that it is animal specific and won't transfer to me or Molly or the kids. But, we've been taking him to the vet to get sprayed and everything but nothing worked. So Vikki (my co-teacher) brought him to the vet today and left him for me to pick up later. The vet said they would shave his head to help with the lice problem as well as putting some more spray on him. Before leaving, the vet kissed the shaved licey head of Max and told him to get better (cute/kinda gross). She handed me the crate and towel that he was wrapped in and we headed for the car. I put him in the backseat and away we went! We got to school a few minutes later and I got out thinking about my Antarctic lesson plans and what I needed to do as I walked into school. As I was walking, I realized, "Aren't I supposed to have something else in my hands..." Stop. Think about it. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Run back to the car. Unlock it. Grab Max. Apologize. Seriously? Did it just momentarily happen again? I don't understand, I guess I'm just not used to having animals that are quiet in my backseat. But anyways, I did get him safe and sound in his clean cage. Here is Max safe and sound inside with his new haircut!


Now, not to say that this experience was like the first one, but it reminded me a lot of it especially since I recently told my sister in law, Emily, about Flopsy. I'm glad that Max wasn't left in the car for longer than a few minutes. Maybe I just do better with dogs rather than little animals...I don't know.

Korean Yumminess!

Jon and I were really excited that when we moved here, we discovered that we have a lot of Korean markets and restaurants all over! One of the markets, Seoul Market, is right down the road from our home! Also, it is conveniently located next to ALDI's, which is wonderful. I have wanted to go there since we moved here, but I never wandered next door after a quick ALDI run. Jon, though, went to pick me up a few surprises a week or two ago and I was so happy. He picked me up some Aloe Water (technically Aloe Juice with chunks of Aloe in it) and Gimbap (kind of like sushi, but wrapped in seaweed and not raw). I was so excited to have these treats because I have really been missing them. I savored my 18 oz. of aloe water over three days taking little sips. But, the Gimbap lasted only five minutes between the two of us. Since I had to make a run to ALDI's today, I decided I better run into Seoul Market for some lunch. I stepped in and, wow, I felt like I stepped back in time to Korea because everything was the same. Everyone was speaking Korean (of course), there were at least 15 kinds of kimchi to choose from, there was everything. Everything except my dokboki chips, sad. I will have to keep searching for this in other Korean markets in the area. I could have spent so much money there, but limited myself to four things: Aloe Water, Gimbap, California Rolls, and Green Tea Mochi. Yes, mom and Andersons, I found Mochi, every kind of Mochi under the sun! There was strawberry, red bean, mango, green tea, coffee, remember them? Although Mochi is really Japanese, they still have them there, for which I am very grateful.

Unforutnately, I was just in the market for less than ten minutes, but I also spotted my favorite Apple Demi Soda and some funny treats the kids always used to give me. I look forward to going there more often and cooking up some tasty Korean BBQ, kimchi jigae, and other wonderful things we miss. So, if you want some Korean treats and cooking, come visit us!

Some Randomness For You.

I don't have anything specific to write about but I really feel like writing tonight. Too bad I don't have any cool topic or something I can narrow down to an interesting point. So, I guess I will just talk about some random things! Yay!

• We had a lot (a lot being about 7-8 inches) of snow on Wednesday and Thursday. I loved watching the snow fall and getting the kids excited to watch it out the window. Unfortunately, it has been too cold for them to go out and enjoy it, so we've brought it in to them to play with in the sensory tub! Molly on the other hand is not liking the snow so much. I'm sure it must be difficult when the snow is piled up above your head, don't you think so! I meant to get a video, but Jon's been the one taking her out. She usually likes to hop in the snow to do her duty and since the snow is so tall, she has been stubborn. At least she's learned how to pee on the sidewalk. :) Hopefully she'll learn.
  
• Last Saturday was a very exciting day for me, I opened my Wheeling library account! I love libraries and library days and the smell of libraries and just that I can walk around and look at all these cool books and take them home with me and not have to pay (unless I'm late...). I think a big reason why I love going to the library is because my parents were always great about surrounding me with language and taught me a love for books and therefore took me to the library often (thanks Papa and Hoodie!). I can still remember the smell of the old Manitowoc library. It's too bad that they have a new one now. Anyways, I had a wonderful time exploring my new library, they have a great collection of children books, DVD's, and many other sections including foreign language novels; I thought this was great! I found some newer movies I was wanting to see with The Boy, so that was great. I also saw that they had Laurel and Hardy, Animaniacs, and some other wonderful oldies! Today, I went to the library again, yay! This time Jon came with me, but didn't make it past the entrance chair to read the book he already brought with him. Maybe next time he will skip along with me through the library, maybe. I was excited because I was picking out books for my classroom winter unit. What more fun could you have on a Saturday morning than looking through children's winter animal books! No, I'm serious. I checked them out along with a few new movies and as I was walking out of the doors, the beeper went off. I thought I checked everything out correctly (the computer self-checkout is not as easy as they want it to be). I had a pile of about 20 books for the lady to go through where I proudly told her, "These are for my classroom!" I don't know that she was overly impressed, but just glad that I didn't steal any children's books.
• After going the library today, Jon and I went to the mall hoping to find him a new pair of jeans. No luck. But, I found a pair! We both seem to like to pick out clothes for each other to try on, but not usually buy them. I still don't exactly know what styles Jon likes on me. It was nice to wander around while sharing some Caribou and not spending more than $30.
• Jon was able to hang out and go to a movie with an old Bethel roommate that lives in the area. So, I had some fun of my own by organizing the kitchen a bit and emptying a few boxes left over. What a feeling of success! We are looking forward to getting our new pantry cupboard to help organize even a bit more.
  
• Oh, picked up my new reading glasses today; I must be getting old. sigh. Jon said, "You're 23, you have pretty old eyeballs," he was trying to encourage me. Thanks honey.
• I am hoping for more good news about Nona. I'm thankful for all the family that has been able to be there and help out.
  
• I'm looking forward to going to church tomorrow! I suggest listening to these sermons, they're great! We've been going through Revelation and I am learning a lot that I never knew or could even realize on my own. So, that's why I'm excited to go to church with the Boy tomorrow. If you have time, take a look at the sermons, they're very God-inspired and therefore very inspiring and insightful.
• Now, time to cuddle with the Pocket, read, and wait for the Boy to come back from the movie!
  

Thanks for reading my random overview of the day!