Pasta Progress

  

I wanted to post pictures to show some times where I have made pasta.  The last two times were with Jon's family.   At our house, we made spinach and cheese ravioli and at their house we made roasted garlic linguine.  I have been wanting to make some more since then, but haven't quite had the time, but hopefully in the next month.  As I have more practice, I'll be able to try some new things and get a little more adventurous by trying new flavor combinations. 

 Filling the bottom layer, while I straighten out the top layer for covering. 

 After ravioli divet is filled, you cover it with the second layer and press around the edges to seal it.  

Flip them over and pop them out!

Drying each side for at least an hour.  

Some finished linguine ready to dry for about an hour. 

Here, making linguine.  It's nice having some extra hands as passing it through the press, pulling it and then doing it 7 more times by yourself is difficult.  But, catching the cut pasta while still feeding it through the machine to cut is even more difficult by yourself.  Although teaching the art of pasta making to a bunch of non-Italians was a completely different and difficult task!  haha.   I even taught them how to make from scratch pasta sauce for their homemade pasta/ravioli.  No, for being basically German and Norwegian, they did well, except for including a German accent here and there...blah.  Next time we're together, we'll have to try some more pasta making! 

 "Mangia, Mangia!"

Any guesses...

as to what I have on my face?

This weekend, I've taken some time for myself.  While my hubby's been busy studying I've enjoyed a few homemade mini-spa treatments.  There are four ingredients in this mask, can you guess what they might be? 

Okay, Okay, I'll give you the answers!  

1. Cocoa Powder
2. Oatmeal
3. Sour Cream
4. Honey

Are you comfortable?

"Comfortable" can mean many things.  For example, when I sleep, I need to have several blankets, weighing down on top of me as well as the blankets wrapped up to my chin.  Then, I am comfortable.  For Jonathon, comfortable means having barely any covers and sprawled all over the bed.  Basically, we are quite opposite.  But for the Pocket...comfortable for her usually means curled up in a ball on top of 3 pillows and 4 of the softest blankets.  The other day, though, she decided to throw us off by showing us a whole other level of comfort: halfway hanging off the pillow, butt elevated, while face-planting into Jon's seminary books.  

 

But, what you can't see is that Jonathon is taking the picture from his desk and Molly will do just about anything to be near him when he's studying all day long.  Apparently, when it comes to being near the one she loves, she gives up what would normally be comfortable to her and fits where she can fit.  What a doll!

Spring is Coming!

Spring is in the air! And after a 57 degree day, it better be! We have had some lion-like days lately and I'm about ready to be done with them. I love winter and all but it's the rough transition from pretty snow and still days to cloudy skies and cold, windy days. So tomorrow with a promise of 62 degrees sounds even better! Apparently I am living south enough where we get these warm days early on, even before winter is officially done. Whereas in Birchwood, we are still betting on which day the ice will fall out, which usually ends up being in mid-April, still a month away.

Being outside with the kids today was great since I didn't have to wear a coat and the sun was shining warmly on me. I do miss my friend, Vitamin D during the winter. After school, I got home and took Molly for a walk around the entire loop of our complex. We hadn't done this since November and it was wonderful to go on such a nice walk together. Her poor patties get so cold with the snow that she holds up one foot and refuses to walk any further. It's pretty pitiful. Therefore, we were not walking any further than she wanted to, which was basically out to our corner and back. As we walked, I could smell the ground thawing that I love so much. Besides the smell after a summer rain, the spring thaw smell is one of my favorites. It reminds me that things are starting over and that life is springing forth where things seemed to be dead. It's just so beautiful! I can't wait to explore the buds with my students and see all the new things growing! Seeing the bright blue sky always makes me smile and I get so happy! I am also looking forward to more lamb-like days ahead for more nice walks with Jon and the Pocket.

NOT my Nona's Pizzelles!

This last week, I made a trip to Aldi's and I didn't walk 15 feet into the store and a type of cookie caught my eye.

Sorry for the poor quality picture, but I was trying to snap it with my phone before the manager came by and wondered what I was doing. Well, if anyone knows my family at all, you know that my Nona and us have always made Italian Pizzele, usually around Christmas but also around many family get-togethers. It really is quite natural for us to all end up in the kitchen. So for my whole life, I've grown up eating these tasty light treats that are usually flavored with almond. Well, I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I see these in a plastic package, but they must be good, they have the Italian flag stamp of approval! HA! I just wonder what Nona would say when she would see these. For those of you who know her, feel free to take weigh in! Needless to say, I did not spend my money on these, I knew I'd be utterly disappointed. Why buy a cheap knock-off Italian treat when we could make them homemade with love at home?
Hmmm, now if only I had a pizelle press here!

A Full Weekend

Jon and I have had a pretty busy, but great weekend so far. Friday consisted of Jon studying and then us hanging out for a bit, so nothing too exciting. But Saturday and Sunday were loads of fun! Saturday night, we were went to a Bethel choir concert in Deerfield and also brought two of the students home to host for the night. But about an hour and a half before the concert, Jon decided he needed a haircut...by me. So, I cut his hair. Yes, mom, I cut his hair. While cutting his hair, I asked him if I had ever told him the story of "Crew Cut Barbie", if you want to hear about my Barbie, let me know, but I'm pretty sure you can guess what happened to her when I started to cut her 7 inch long hair. Anyways, although we have had a hair cutting kit from Jon's mom for awhile now, Jon never allowed me to cut his hair. But finally, rather than spending the money, he gave in and directed me on how to cut it. It never would have turned out well, if he were not so good at directing me. But, I think I did a pretty good job at trimming, blending, and buzzing the neck. So, we saved a little under $20 and Jon said he'd let me do it again! Yay for saving money and spending quality hair-cutting time together. When I was done, Jon said, "Okay, your turn now?" haha. no.

So after our hair cutting experience, we rushed off to the Bethel concert. Right away we saw one of my professors and head of the music department. Dr. Veenker. I had several classes with him including music theory and composition. It was nice to catch up with him and see him after we have been gone from Bethel. We also got to talk to Benji, the bus driver that drove us for two band tours. He also happened to be in the same bus lines as Jon's grandpa and they know each other, pretty small world. When I came up to him, he said, "Hey, you're the one we had to drive down to a lower altitude because of asthma?" I replied, "Yes, I was that asthmatic." Jon said that my situation was apparently memorable since that was in 2006. Benji said he was actually talking about it with Dr. Veenker because a girl in choir was sick that day as well, but obviously not from asthma and altitude sickness. After the concert, we waited to get our two students and one of the students spotted me and we gave each other a hug and started chatting. Korah was in my string pedagogy class senior year and a fellow music major. We were catching up while names were being called and during this time, we found out she and another girl were paired with Jon and I! What a surprise and blessing! So, we didn't have to cut our catch up time short at that moment, but was able to enjoy time together all night. Korah is from Minong Wisconsin, not too far from where I grew up. So when we got home we immediately had a mini smorgasbord of treats including cheese curds and cheese spread, we had to 'relish' in our shared love of cheese! Our other host student, Christa, also loved cheese and we ended up playing Mad Gab as teams which was so much fun. We ended up talking about funny things that have happened on our tours and it was fun to share similar experiences. In the morning, we brought them back to church for service and afterward, it was definitely sad to say goodbye and know that we were coming to an empty house. I do like hosting people and last night was something a little different than we have done before, but I will definitely be looking to host some band or orchestra people next year!
Now, onto tonight, Jon and I actually have to get going because we are going to meet my Uncle Paul and cousin Sandy at a restaurant while my uncle is in town. I haven't seen my cousin since we got married and my uncle not much more than that, so it'll be nice to see family in our area.

Thanks for checking in with the Engers!

Shnuggles

I've been pretty busy and I feel like I have a list of things to blog about, even from months ago and I just haven't gotten to actually sitting down and doing it. Besides my regular job, I have been babysitting more as well as leading a Bible study, in a couples Bible study, taking Spanish, and my weekends keep filling up with so much! So, I just haven't made it to The Enger Café very often. But, I did want to throw a few Pocket pictures in to 'wet your whistle'.

As you know, she's such a shnuggle baby and loves to be loved! If I am off to work before Jonathon awakes, I take Molly outside and then put her back into bed. Often times, she cozies up next to my pillow or crawls in next to Jonathon or climbs on whatever pile of blankets there might be. She also enjoys laying her head on my stuffed animal, Hershey's. But, when I saw came in to the bedroom to say good bye and I saw her like this, I couldn't get over it!
Yes, she is spooning with Hershey's; how sweet, or something.
She's a dog after my own heart.

The second picture I took while Jon and I were watching a movie. Molly just loves to have her head close to one of her loves.
Doesn't she look so serene? What a baby!


**As I was writing this, Molly happened to be on the bed on top of a pile of blankets and as she stretched on her back with her legs pointing outward, she rolled and rolled right off the pile. But, did it phase her? Nope, she's still laying on her back, spread eagle. Oh, Pocket baby.

Happy "Valentime's"!

Some of you have already seen this picture since it is my profile picture on Facebook, but if you haven't, here you go! Jon and I had an interesting, but fun day-after-Valentine's dinner. I love when I can get dressed up for my Boy and go out some place new. Jon was lucky enough to pick out his own Valentine's present, which was a new dress for me. It's a win-win, right? New clothes for me and a fancy wife for him. Before going out to dinner, we realized that this is the sixth Valentine's we have celebrated together. Phew, does it seem like that long already? We didn't think so either, how time does fly.
I just love being with Jonathon and am so glad he chose me as his wifey!

Hot Potato

This is my life.
As we continue to have sickness swim around our school, this short commercial is sadly too real to me. When I first saw it, I was a little delayed and thought, "Oh, I probably should be thinking 'gross', but I'm not. Instead I'm thinking 'Yeah, that happens, glad I'm not the one in the circle!" Oh the life of a teacher, specifically, a preschool teacher. I posted the Valentine's Day one from Target a few weeks ago, but saw this one and knew I needed to share it with you!

"I got a fever....it's goin all around..." Gotta love it.

Little Kid Love

I saw this commercial and burst out laughing because I can totally relate with the boy! Now although it wasn't on Valentine's Day, I know that this happened to me where a boy would show me worms or frogs and my response was, "Wow! Cool! Let me see!" With the big V-Day coming up, I realize that really, I don't need anything that all the commercials say, but maybe my Boy and some special time together.

One last thing, with my kids, we talked about what Valentine's Day means to them and what traditions they might have. A lot of kids talked about how they spend time with their families whether it's going out for a special breakfast or making each other cards. One thing that I love is that Valentine's was always a special family day that we spent together and made each other feel loved. I especially loved getting surprise carnations delivered at school from my dad and the special breakfasts from my mom. Such special memories, and many more to come, I'm sure!
Happy soon-to-be Valentine's Day!

My Italian Kitchen

This week of meals were pretty Italian, I do have to say that. But, I guess when I look back at our meals, most them at least have some sort of Italian flare in them. Yesterday, I started questioning if I was maybe reaching a point of being "too Italian" in my eating and cooking. This idea hit me as Jon and I were eating at Applebee's and the waiter brought me my pasta and I said to Jon, "This needs more garlic. These are the times that I wish I carried either fresh garlic or garlic powder in my purse." Seriously, I said that out loud. But, it's true, so many times, I want more garlic added to my meals and really, so many dishes are often lacking in herbs and spices anyways. Well, I didn't get extra garlic at the restaurant, but let me tell you, I added both minced and garlic powder to my leftovers. I had the most lovely garlic breath-EVER! I'm glad Jon doesn't mind garlic breath (or at least that's what he says).

In Korea, both of us always had garlic breath because it was so heavily used in all Korean food. So, maybe I have reached a crazy Italian-garlic stage, but so be it, just don't get too close

to me if you don't want garlic breath!

Anyways, on Wednesday, our snow day, I decided to make a very Italian dish called Pasta e Lenticchie. I got the recipe online from Buddy Valastro, he's TLC's extravagant Italian Cake Boss who also has a new show called Kitchen Boss. (I did add beef broth instead of water, which I think he may have mentioned on the video). But, I figured after shoveling so much snow, a nice, warm Italian meal would be great for dinner! Lenticchie is Italian for lentils

and although they haven't been my favorite in the past, I have learned to work with them better and create some tasty dishes. Jon really enjoyed the full-flavored dish, so I think it'll be making another appearance before winter is completely over.

The other Italian thing I did recently was make pasta. I don't have any finished pictures yet because my dough is actually resting as I write this. But, you can see the beginning process pictures to give you a better idea. Today, coincidence or not, I made a green and gold pasta. It's actually herb pasta, but we'll just call it Packer pasta.

Here, you make a well of flour and then put in

eggs, olive oil, salt, and fresh herbs.

Mix it all up and slowly bring in flour from the outside.

Kneading process, it's actually kind of fun-unless I had to do it for hours a day...

By the way, take a look at this picture, it really couldn't get more Italian, unless I threw some sausages hanging from the ceiling and a bottle of open wine (which is actually just outside the picture...). Can you spot... Nona's pasta machine from Italy, Nona's Country House

birthplace mug, semolina flour, olive oil, Italian apron, wooden spoons, wooden pasta board, dried pasta, "romantic" Italian lights (that's a stretch), and a little northern Italian ragazza. Did you find them all? I will update you later with more pasta pictures! Yum, yum!

To add more to this Italian post, I will show you my makeshift pasta rack. Tools: wooden spoons & cook books (both Italian of course). I asked Jon's grandpa if he could make me a pasta rack with his great woodworking skills, but until then, I'll be using my homemade one. Now to let my fresh pasta dry, yay!

Christmas Caramels

I've been meaning to tell you about Molly and her carmel stealing from last week. My Auntie Sasta makes the best caramels, it's a family tradition to make them at Thanksgiving and have them ready for Christmas. Well, we were not together for Thanksgiving, but I did get some caramels at Christmas-YUM! We had a few in our candy dish on the coffee table and I figured they'd be safe and only for humans. Well, I got a surprise when I got home after quickly running to the grocery store. Since I just ran to get some essentials, I left Molly out rather than putting her in the bathroom as she's been there all day while we are at work. Well, Molly was a bad Pocket and I wonder if she had been planning this heist and was just waiting for the perfect moment to eat her long awaited caramels. Well I came home and found 4 half eaten caramels and two empty wrappers on our living room floor while Molly was excitedly spinning around, hopped up on sugar, no less. I'm not sure how she reached the candy dish or how she even unwrapped the caramels without ripping them open, but she was apparently persistent. I just can't believe that she left the wrapper flat and completely unripped on the floor-so funny. I don't think she felt very guilty about what she did because she was still hopping all over the place, excited to see me and sugar crazed.

Caramel fur on the left side (click picture for better view). She

also had some sticky ear fur as well that she later

chewed on (yes, her fur is that long).

The Morning After

Molly and I were the first ones to go outside this morning. I didn't know how much accumulation we had got yet, so I was in for a surprise. I do remember Jon waking me up in the middle of the night when he took Molly out as he was excited to take pictures of all the snow. Well, here's some pictures and video of the morning, I'm sure Jon will have more for us later.

Our Civic is there somewhere...I think.

Pocket bearing the wind and sun.

I stayed outside for awhile with our neighbors as they shoveled our walkway and cars. While talking with the neighbors, I found out I took the good road last night and made it home in 40 minutes (only 10 more than normal). The road I usually take, my neighbor took home and it took her more than 2 hours from the same area I left from. So, I'm glad I took a chance with a different road rather than sitting in my car for hours!

Our doorway and walkway.

Are you ready to go outside? (sorry it's sideways, I don't know why I always do that).

Are you ready to go back inside?

I guess our snow total for our area was a little more than 16 inches. O'Hare got a little more than 20, so we have quite a bit less than them. But, I am just so thankful that we didn't lose power and heat like so many downtown did. Oh, Jon just shared a story from last night when he took Molly out. Warning: bathroom talk ahead! When she stepped out the door, she immediately went pee, but Jon didn't know she was going, so he was still trying to drag her out. Poor Pocket. While outside, Jon also realized Molly had NOT made a little pooper today. So he tried to drag her further out than our little walkway. But, Molly was having none of it. So what'd she decide to do?...make a pooper on our neighbor's front door rug. Oh, yes she did! But of course, Jon picked it up, but how he made it to the garbage bin, I have no idea! Well, the Enger's had a nice night together and we are looking forward to a snow day together!

Pocket + "Snowmaggedon" = Shocked Pocket

Well, in Chicago, we are finally getting hit with a lot of winter weather. After Wisconsin and Minnesota getting a lot of snow and crazy weather this year, I'd say we are due for some winter as well. So far, we have a little more than 6 inches where we are at, but the wind and drifts that are being made are becoming a big problem. We should be getting a lot more snow throughout the night, but should slow down in the late morning. Both Jon and I have a snow day tomorrow, so we get to stay home and study and maybe have some free time together! It is very uncommon for All State to close and so if they are open, my school is open. So, it was a nice surprise to get a phone call saying to stay home tomorrow.

Well, onto the actual title of this post: Pocket and the Snomaggedon. Being friends and family of the Enger's, you should know that Molly does not like snow. Even just a little snow, she will stare at it or look up at us saying, "I'm not going to step in the freezing stuff!" Well, today has been no exception. Jon has been a great guy and taken her out in the snow and when he did, she got all excited as he put her harness on. But, little did she know, we are getting dumped with snow with crazy winds taking it sideways. She was hopping and spinning about per usual until she took about 5 steps onto the sidewalk, got hit with a huge gust of wind and ran away back to the door. She didn't even go potty, she just ran after being out for 5 seconds. But Jon was a good papa and drug her through the snow to make her go potty. She sure was glad to get back in, let me tell you! But, I would be too, if I were a little fluffy fur-ball and a 50mph gust of ice/snow hit me in the face. Needless to say, the second time Jon took her out, she was much more hesitant and stared at Jon from the top of the stairs. No excitement there. On the way out, she tried running away from the snow once again but Jon made her go potty in the "Blizzaster".

I would take a picture of what it looks like outside, but Jon won't let me open the door and let the heat out. After all, he did add more plastic window covering to my side of the bedroom; what a good hubby!

This is Pocket signing off (and hoping she doesn't have to go back outside again...)

"There Will Be A Day"

Today marks a very sad yet rejoicing day for my family when my Nona (grandma) went to be with the Lord. For me, it was crippling because I was so close to her and she had so much love for me and I was so upset that she was gone from here. Emotionally, it has been a difficult year because of missing her when I'm cooking and at holidays, especially Thanksgiving, which was the last time I saw her and a very special holiday to my family.
I don't think a whole lot has made this easier, but reminding myself that God has a special place for us and she's enjoying it to it's fullest. As a child, I always clung to Revelation 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” I'm not sure why I always liked this verse, except I was afraid of pain or death or something when I was little. Along these same lines, a song from Jeremy Camp has helped me and realized the hope we have as Christians. His song also includes Revelation 21:4. Below is the video, There Will Be A Day; I thought you also might enjoy it.



Isn't it wonderful to know and have this hope in Christ and His saving/loving power?

Happy Korean Birthday, Molly

Yes, it is Molly's 2nd birthday/anniversary of getting brought home/adopted by us. I loved her right away with that love you have when something is utterly pitiful and helpless. For those of you who don't know, I will try to give a quick recap on how Molly came into our lives. When we moved to Korea, Jon made me promise I would not touch any animal while there (for rabies and other lack of vaccination reasons) and for those of you who know me, that is nearly impossible. So, what did I do? I started looking online at Animal Rescue Korea, dangerous. I found out about fostering dogs while finding homes for them and really wanted to do it. I told Jon I was meeting up with some animal rights people to go to a shelter in the country. Now, we seem to have a little disagreement in whether he said I could take anything home or not..so when I came home I said, "Don't look. I might have something with me, but it's taking a shower first." Before going up to our apartment, I stopped by the veterinarian on the first floor of our building to try and communicate about her skin problems. It happened to be late at night and the nurse there had me call the vet at his house to try to communicate to him. It was a weird experience. Anyways, since Molly had hardly any fur and looked horrible, I figured I may as well clean her up before presenting the little waif to Jonathon. I can't even imagine what was going through his mind at this point. I think Jon gave a big sigh something to the effect of "Why did you do this? Who is my wife?" sort of thing. I brought her out and she was a little wary of Jon, but later on in the night, Jon made her a little bed in one of our suitcases and covered her up with one of his own T-shirts; what a guy! Anyways, I could add so much more, but long story short, no one ended up adopting her so we prayed about it and felt that God wanted us to take her home. We are so happy we had her in Korea as she made our lives and time there so much better!

Happy Birthday Molly Pocket!

Since I had a 14 hour day today, I made no dog treat cake like
last year and didn't have any new toys. Instead she got some
rawhide chewies that she never gets. Hooray for her!

Sorry about the sideways videos, by the way!

And another semester begins...

...for both of us. Yes, both of us are starting new semesters. In December, Jonathon officially completed his first year of seminary (thank the Lord & woo hoo!). I'm pretty proud of my boy, and now he just started his second year this week. I will also be starting a bit of school this next week. I have felt led to take Spanish for awhile in order to make me a better teacher and for my someday masters in TESOL, as well as to help in ministry. I also worked with the Spanish ministry at our church during an outreach and realized how much I missed outreach to speakers of other languages. So, I'm finally taking the plunge and getting started on this language learning. Although I took Spanish in middle and high school, what I remember is limited. I can understand the gist of some things, but definitely cannot speak it to save my life. Therefore, starting it all over will be good for me and although I'm nervous, I'm also pretty excited about it. So, when you're praying for Jon's schooling, think of me too! Jon could use some extra prayers as he has a very full semester including 15 credits, 10 hours working at the library, and a field ed. at our church. Even with the busy schedule, I know it'll grow him and he will do a great job while it prepares him for ministry.
Thank you to our friends and family who have all been a great support to us!

Taste of Thai

Being with our friends in Manitowoc inspired me to try out cooking a new genre of food I hadn't before: Thai. Rebecca and I made a red curry, peanut, chicken, vegetable stir fry for dinner one night and both Jon and I really enjoyed it. Since Jon was craving the meal again and I wanted to try a different style of cooking, so it worked out well. I ended up making something very similar, but with toasted coconut rice to add to the stir fry and sauce. I thought I'd share some pictures with you of the tasty meal!

Fresh Veggies & Chicken

Toasted Coconut Rice

The Complete Meal with mango-coconut smoothies!

Tasty goodness!

Happy New Year

Well, I have not written an update in more than a month. So I figured since Jon is watching the Packers game, I may as well write as I sit next to him and write while semi-watching the game as well. We have had a lot going on despite the lack of updates on The Enger Cafe. I also have some pictures I have been waiting to share while Jon takes them off his camera. But, since New Years was the latest excitement, I thought I'd at least start with this and maybe give some photo updates later on.

For New Years, Jon and I traveled up to Manitowoc, WI where I had originally grown up before moving to northwest Wisconsin. I still feel connected to that area and really enjoy visiting my friends who still live there. In high school, I used to visit my friend, Paul and his family almost every New Years. During this time, we would go to their church where they had fun options for the celebration of the New Year. One of those activities was a Scottish Céilidh, that their Scottish pastor and wife led. A Céilidh is a social gathering where people can tell folk stories and enjoy some traditional folk dancing. I have never been interested in any modern dancing, but really loved the Scottish folk dancing and wanted Jon to experience this with me as well. It had been several years since I had been back for the Céilidh and I was pleasantly surprised that I still remembered many of the dance routines. There are many different types of dances that include pairs, groups of 4, 6, 8, or even higher depending on how the routine. Let's just say, it's a lot of hopping, kicking, spinning, and running. Jon and I danced almost all of the dances, so we were pretty tired by midnight since we had been dancing since about 8:00.
In the Céilidh, they also play a game, called Knight, Horseman, and Cavalier. I would liken this game to a crazy intense game of musical chairs. In this game, you need to keep an eye on your partner as the men walk in a large circle clockwise and women walk counterclockwise inside of this large circle. When the leader stops the music, he yells out "Knight, Horseman, or Cavalier," and you have to run to your partner and perform the correct action while not being the last person or you are out. When Knight is yelled, the guy has to kneel down and the woman sits on his knee. For horseman, the guy gets on all fours and the woman sits side saddle on his back. For Cavalier, the man must pick up the woman. We did pretty well for it being Jon's first time with the game, but it gets pretty chaotic when there are 100+ people running for their partner. I may or may not have knocked over some people. I was also impressed that Jon was able to catch me after Cavalier was yelled because I definitely jumped in the air hoping that he'd catch me in time. I wish we could have gotten some video of this, maybe next year.
But, I found some videos online that will give you a better idea of what we did, in case you're overly confused.
1. Gay Gordon's Meledy
2. St. Andrews Dance
Anyways, we had a lot of fun meeting some new people at Paul's church as well as hanging out with them at their house. We hadn't seen them since they got married two years ago, hopefully it won't be that long until the next time!


Happy New Year!

Molly Impostor

While looking at doggy coats online, Jon and I found a Molly impostor. Quite similar, wouldn't you say? We always speculate what her life was like before we found her, maybe she was a doggy model...

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Coat-Black-Houndstooth-Medium/dp/B0030N45LE/ref=sr_1_223?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1291092030&sr=1-223

Doggy Date

Sunday marked a special day for our Molly Pocket: her first official doggy date. My coworker, Kelly, who is also Molly's babysitter when we're out of town, asked to have a doggy date with her dog. Both our dogs need a little socialization, so it was a great idea for a beautiful Sunday afternoon! The other dog, Mindy, was not as excited to socialize as Molly. Molly tried and tried to get Mindy to play and run, but to no avail. At least they both were able to walk next to each other without any fights or anything.

The picture below shows one of the hilarious moments of the afternoon. We took the dogs to an enclosed tennis court and while the dogs were running with Kelly, Molly got a little left behind when Kelly turned to go around the net. I don't know if Molly just couldn't figure out how to go around, but I think she may have had a flashback to her kennel days in Korea. She just stood there and looked at us from the other side of the net. She moved over a few feet, but still, kept watching us until we saved her and went around the net. Boy, just when I thought my dog was so smart she gets stuck in a daze and can't figure out what to do!

Here's a little video of her trying to play and run, but eventually
realizes her mama's not following her!

Hopefully we will have another play date sometime.
Molly loved being with another dog her size!

My Princess and the Pea Girl

There are two "Prince[ss] and the Pea" people in this house; here's one of them!

For the record, I am not the other one!

Date Day

I had taken today off a month or so ago, but what we had originally planned for this long weekend had changed. Since I still decided to keep this day off from work, Jon and I thought it would be good for us to have a special getaway/date day! And still, as of last night, we still were unsure of what we were going to do. But, the last 20 or so hours have been great! When I got home last night, we just watched a little TV and talked while eating dinner. Then around 9:15, we decided we'd make a Target run like old college times. We went there intending to buy a new game that we could play as a pair and wound up bringing Scrabble home with us. My family does have a very old version of Scrabble (which still happens to be in my old room), but we thought it'd be good to have our own. Jon said he remembers playing it with his grandma and really wanted to play it, so it was a good, relatively cheap buy. While we were there, I got a really random idea to have an old-fashioned sleepover together-sleeping bags and all. So, when we got home, we got out the air mattress (for my princess and the pea boy) and set it up downstairs with blankets and pillows. After setting it up, I made homemade hot chocolate on the stove and we started our late night game of Scrabble. I also remember playing Scrabble with my family and also getting frustrated by it, so I'm surprised I made it through the game! To rest our nerves after such an intense game, I put in an Italian-style chick flick (and Jon laughed and semi-liked I think), but I quickly fell asleep. I guess I'll have to finish the movie later. Molly Pocket-face was enjoying our sleepover as well because she was either curled up on top of the pile of blankets or under the covers keeping warm! I'd say the sleepover was one of our best ideas yet; it was like "little kid fun" with my husband! We definitely had all the ingredient for a great sleepover, puffy blankets, snacks, a game, and a movie to fall asleep to!

Today, continued our Date Day and we had decided to go to a historical landmark and wildlife preserve about twenty minutes from here. Before leaving, Jon suggested we have coffee, devotions, and prayer time together; it was a great start to the day! Once we got to the preserve, I was pretty excited because it felt like we stepped into a far away place from Chicago! We were in the middle of a forest and there were old buildings around including a life animal exhibit including various turtles, snakes, and fish. They also had some cool animal skins and skeletons that you could observe as well. While we were there, I quizzed Jon a bit about the wildlife and told him facts about trees while identifying leaves and nuts on the ground-I loved it! There were other exhibits outside such as tepees, long houses, and cabins. There was also a trail on the back 50 acres that Jon and I took to look around at the trees and scenery and just enjoy the 'country'. While we entered the forest, Jon asked if I felt like I was back in Wisconsin and felt at home, I answered "Yes!" with a great big smile and a squeeze to his hand. While walking, my city boy spotted a little buck running away from us, but 50 yards after, he spotted an 8 pointer looking right at us! We were only about 50 feet away from it and it just watched us while Jon took some pictures. After that, we only saw a bunch of gray squirrels, so it wasn't quite as exciting, but still pretty! Oh, on top of it all, this was all free! One thing I like about living here is that they have a lot of forest preserves that are a nice break from the crazy life here.


Yummy Venison!

Look carefully, you'll see the buck behind me somewhere!


After walking around the preserve for two hours or so, we were pretty hungry. We ended up going to a Korean market called H-Mart, but how we came to that idea is kind of funny. While we were walking on the trails, we saw a lot of beech nuts and it reminded us of roasted chestnuts from Korea that we would buy on the street. Because of our craving, we realized it had been a long time since we had Korean food and decided that would be another great addition to our Date Day. My dad had forwarded me H-Mart's site a long time ago, but we had never visited there. It was just like stepping back in time to Korea, but with less Koreans yelling and running into us with their carts. Before shopping, we ate at their food court, Jon had kimchi jigae and I had dol sat bibimbap; both favorites of ours in Korea, but much more expensive here. I was not affected much by the heat of the food, but Jon forgot how spicy kimchi jigae is and it definitely cleared his sinus', ha! After eating, we walked around this huge store and picked up a few of our favorites: slip-skin grapes, raw chestnuts, aloe water, kimchi, and melon bars! We are pretty excited to slowly eat these coveted Korea items!
"History of Korea. Taste of Korea. Kimchi."

Yummy Kimchi Jigae!

So, that is our day so far. I have a feeling we'll be playing Scrabble again since Jon has been bugging me the whole time I've been writing this post. Maybe we'll have some more talk time and then throw another movie in before the night is done; who knows?

Cheese Basher

At my school, we have several enhancement programs throughout the week, one of them being the Kohl's Science museum. Every Friday, we have a few teachers from the museum come and set up an activity that focuses on a topic that my co-teacher and I have chosen. This last week's topic was on nutrition. Now, I'm all about raising kids healthy and to learn to make good choices, but this lady must've known I was from Wisconsin and was on a mission! Seriously. She kept talking about how unhealthy cheese is and would have the kids choose between cheese and brocoli for a snack. I replied to myself, "I would like a three cheese platter, please." Now, I know that cheese, really, is not wonderfully healthy in that it is fatty and shouldn't be eating strictly as a main meal. But, I was honestly a little offended. In an aside, my dad sent me a shirt two weeks ago that was a "cheese curd" shirt and had an animated cheese curd on the front advertising for Wisconsin cheese curds ("Enjoy, deep fried or fresh & squeaky!"). On the back, there were several facts about Wisconsin cheese including the amount eaten every year by the average American; 32 pounds! If there was ever a time to wear this shirt, it would have been today. If only to show my "cheesy" heritage and for her to read the rest of my cheese facts! But sadly, I did not wear that shirt, maybe I will save it for next Friday to show to the Cheese Basher!

All the time that this lady was presenting the food pyramid and making good choice, my co-teacher was laughing at me. She knows I am pretty healthy, but love my cheese. I have even incorporated a new saying for our room when the not-always-wonderful school lunch is delivered; "Everything's made better with cheese".

I am a proud cheese-lover. So there.

Cooking: "The Norwegian Way"

As all of you know, I AM NOT NORWEGIAN. I'M SWEDISH! But, since I've pushed my Italian and Swedish sides on Jon long enough, I figured I had to give into his heritage a little to be fair. After all, I do talk about how Italians are such good cooks and that Swedes are the 'real' Scandinavians. What a nice and encouraging wife I am...Because of this, I decided to cave in and get a Norwegian cooking book at the library and make Jon some things from his heritage. I haven't tried anything yet, but they don't look too terrible and look somewhat familiar, since our two Scandinavian countries are very close to one another. You can take a look at the book and just by reading the title, you might laugh a little. I mean, I am Italian and I am from Wisconsin so the phrases 'low-fat' and 'vegetarian', aren't used very often. Good thing my family is pretty healthy and we do eat more than just meat, cheese, and pasta (although some nights, it's debatable).

The recipes in the book are really simple and so I don't know how authentic they will actually taste, but I'll give them a whirl. When I do try some recipes, I'll let you know and will add Jon's Norwegian review of them!

...After reading my mom's comment, I did realize I have two Norwegian cookbooks already. One is from Norske Nook, my favorite place for pancakes. Although it is called Norske, it does have many Swedish things on the menu as well, so that's why I can justify walking into the place. Jon and I also have a lefse board, stick, and special chef's hat for Jon. So, now I don't feel so bad by giving Jon and identity crisis for the last three+ years....love you!

Fall Baking

I love fall! It is by far my favorite season for many reasons. But, one part I especially like is the tastes and smells of fall baking. Unfortunately, I haven't done much baking fall items, but I hope to do some before time slips by. I did try a new recipe of Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled Muffins that turned out all right. I used half whole wheat flour and less sugar, so it was a little healthier (well, considering cream cheese was in it.

..). They were pretty good, but they could've used more pumpkin spice flavor. The streusel topping has a really nice flavor as I did add more spices to to enhance the pumpkin flavor underneath.

Harvest Crusade

Last weekend, I fulfilled one of my dreams that I've had since I was eh, about 14: to see Greg Laurie preach. Greg Laurie is a well-known pastor who preaches at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. When I was younger, I loved listening to him on the radio as my parents and I were driving to and from Rice Lake. I remember while listening how 'real' he is and I could hear his passion for Christ and it encouraged and excited me in my faith as well. I told my mom that I thought we should make a trip out to California, just to go to his church. Well, that has not happened yet, but instead Greg Laurie came to me! At Jon and my church, we had been preparing for a few months for the Harvest Crusade to come to Chicago by praying, going to evangelism classes and asking friends to come to the event. The crusade was three nights long and featured not only Greg Laurie, but other major Christian bands. I went on Saturday night and brought a friend and met up with some other people from work. You can actually watch all three nights if you wish, but I just linked Saturday night. For Saturday night, the bands were The Katinas, Kirk Franklin, and Skillet. Afterwards, Greg Laurie spoke and so you can skip ahead to the second half to listen to what he has to say; it's so good! I also learned more about Greg Laurie's background and testimony and I had no idea the life he had growing up. It's amazing how we (or maybe just I) get into thinking that many pastors were just born into the pastor roll and they haven't had struggles. But, I was really moved by his testimony and knew that Jon would also enjoy it, so I ordered his autobiography Lost Boy: My Story online and just got it yesterday. Once I finish the book I'm reading now (Don't Waste Your Life), I will quickly move onto Greg's book.

I wanted to go to Sunday night, but I was coming on with a cold and didn't make it. Sunday night's focus was "An Evening of Hope" featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, and Greg Laurie sharing about their family loss' and how with God there is still hope even in great sorrow. Since I wasn't able to make it, I'm going to listen to it online. So there, I linked two out of the three nights if you want to listen or share it with someone else. Apparently, there was 47,600 people in attendance the three nights and 4,758 decisions for Christ! I had never been to a Crusade before, but it was amazing to hear how God uses people and their circumstances to reach others and then to see so many people walk down to the first level of the arena to accept Christ. Greg Laurie asked that rather than talking to your friends, that you pray for the people coming down and those still in their seats and I thought that was so important! I really wish I could have gone all three nights, but glad I was at least able to go to one of the nights.
I hope you get a chance to look at a link or two that I posted, I know you will be blessed.