Yum or Not?

For many years one of our go-to recipes has been Lemony Broiled Chicken. It is chicken marinated in olive oil and lemon juice with some salt, pepper,cinnamon, and oregano. Easy and tasty. Here is a picture -

Many years ago, when we only had two kids, I discovered this recipe. I made it a lot back then. And by a lot I mean like at least once a week. Anyway, The Crafty One eventually lost her appetite for my culinary masterpiece.

Back then, we ate dinner in front of the TV on most nights. Dude-Man and The Crafty One were eating in the TV room while I chose to eat at the kitchen table while reading a magazine. I had finished my food when she came downstairs with her plate. She had a dazzling smile on her face and sweetly asked me if I would like her rice. What a sweetheart! I hungrily accepted her offer and scooped her rice onto my plate. I thanked her for her gift and sent her on her way.

I resumed reading and eating but some thing wasn't quite right. The rice was some how gritty. I took another bite. This time there were tiny hard things in the rice. I swallowed. I examined the food. Nothing looked suspicious. I called the child (who happened to be observing me from the stairs) and she burst into laughter. "What did you do this food?" I demanded. Beaming from ear to ear she replied, "I put the sand from my shoe into it!"

After that there was a lot of spitting and swishing happening at the kitchen sink. And my darling daughter? She was overcome with fits of laughter. And Dude-Man? Where was he during all of this childhood treachery? In the bathroom.

After that experience, Lemony Broiled Chicken became relegated to the occasional meal. It was also a long time before I accepted any food from my eldest child.

The youngest member of Super Junior is Kyuhyun. He is not a good cook. He can't even make ramen right. Who doesn't know to put the flavor packet in? I guess he doesn't. Anyway, there is a new Super Junior show on in South Korea. It is called Super Junior's Foresight. At the beginning of each show Kyuhyun "cooks" something for the guests. In this episode he makes a smoothie - WATCH!


I hope you watched the video clip because it's funnier than my description -

Kyuhyun describes what he will be making- a black bean smoothie. The guest on this episode has had problems with hair loss in the past and black beans are supposed to be good at preventing that. Kyuhyun also keeps mispronouncing the word for bean and the others tease him. He gets embarrassed.

Kyuhyun explains how he prepared the beans and the sesame seeds and then proceeds to dump the beans into the blender, all of them. But this is a mistake, and with trembling hands removes some of the beans. He adds some sesame seeds and interestingly colored milk. The guest is worried when he sees the milk and questions that it is milk. Kyuhyun explains that he has added soy milk to the blender.

Then the blending begins. Eunhyuk jumps when the blender starts and everyone is startled. Kyuhyun explains that he will be blending for 20 seconds and encourages the others to continue talking.

The conversation continues with everyone shouting at one another. For some reason they keep asking the guest that they heard that he likes to eat trees. The guest is confused by the questioning and alarmed by the drink. He states that it looks like vomit and has a bit of a fit about drinking it. Eunhyuk stands up to tell the guest that he can't behave like that on their show.

Reluctantly the guest tries the smoothie and as he chews it, he is asked how it tastes. His answer, "good". Then he proceeds to check Leeteuk to see if he is experiencing hair loss and determines that Leetuek is good. He checks Eunhyuk's hair and shows how his hairline is receding. The guest gives Eunhyuk the smoothie and with much trepidation he has some. And when asked how it is he says it tastes like beans.

Fortunately for me The Crafty One never tried a bean smoothie on me. Although, I did get her back by serving her some "slug juice". Dinner anyone?

Gratitude - a Sunday Kind of Thing

I didn't post anything about gratitude last week. It wasn't because I had nothing to be grateful for but because I was busy making this huge Korean feast  -

 Hmmm, that doesn't look like a lot, but it took me and Dude-Man five hours to cook everything. We don't normally spend five hours cooking on a Sunday (or any other day, for that matter) but The Crafty One was having a birthday, so yeah. And all the in-state relatives came.  There are 13 of us, the same as in Super Junior. All afternoon I pretended that I was cooking for them. Silly, I know. Anyway, I was glad to have the opportunity to cook Korean food for so many.



First, I am thankful for The Crafty One-

This is my oldest child and my biggest experiment in parenting. I am very lucky that she is our first. She is really smart, like crazy smart. As you can see from the picture, she has interesting ideas about hair. This is true even today. But for all of her unconventional ways, she has gorgeous hair. She has a great sense of humor and helps us to remember to see the funny stuff in life. As the oldest, she takes the responsibility of keeping the younger ones in line very seriously. I'm not saying that she's bossy... well maybe sometimes. She is good-hearted, honest, and reliable. I love her a lot and I'm so glad she is my daughter.

Second, I'm grateful for this sunset -

After spending an entire day cleaning my room, I was rewarded with this beautiful sunset. It reminded me that even though I can and should do much to make my life the best that it can be, there is One who ultimately has control. He is the one that can transform clouds into beautiful sunsets. It gives me comfort to know that after all that I do He will make up the rest and help me to become the best version of myself that I can be.

Third, I'm thankful for unity and forgiveness -

This is one of my favorite Super Junior stories. The guy with his back to the camera is Kangin. Early last year he got in trouble for drunk driving. A month later he was in a fight or tried to break up a fight (I'm not sure which). Management was unhappy with his behavior and it was decided that he should enter the required military service early. The guys in Super Junior were pretty unhappy with him too.  He was suspended from the group's activities and wasn't allowed to participate in the album released in 2010. After a period of introspection, Kangin was reunited with the Super Junior guys. They were really glad for his change in heart and willingly welcomed him back. Two members collaborated on a song for Kangin and managed to convince management to let him sing the song. It appears on the repackaged version of the album and is called A Short Journey, it's one of my favorites. You can listen to it here -


Credit: aph105 baidu bar

That picture (up there) was taken on the day Kangin went into the army. The management company did not give approval for the group to see him off. The day before, the group was working on a new music video and they could not leave until it was completed. They all worked hard and late to get it done so they could be there for Kangin.

This story reminds me to forgive others and to support them through the tough times that come to them from the choices that they make. I hope that I can always express my disappointment in another's actions in an appropriate way, and then stand with them as a support in their trials.

As always, I'm grateful for my home, my family, and my faith -

And don't forget Super Junior!

Now tell me what you are grateful for.

  

Bang, Bang, BANGS!

A long time ago I was a child. And as a young child I has bangs. I was cute. Check me out -

Then I got bigger and I didn't have bangs -

At the age of 11, I didn't remember that I'd ever had bangs. I thought I would look cute with bangs and so I cut some. I didn't get permission to cut those bangs. Even though they were cute, I decided that I would have to hide the evidence from my mother. Naturally, I did what any "intelligent" 6th grader would do- I cut them off. Right at the front of my hair. Dead center. Exactly at the place where my hair obstinately parts.

My mom took one look at me and asked me why I had dirt on my forehead. I played dumb. She saw right through my "confusion" and ordered me over so she could clean it up. As she attempted to erase my "smudge" with her mom spit I knew I was in for it. Busted!

Surprisingly, she did not get mad, she laughed. And laughed. And laughed. A lot. Because she remembered what I had forgotten - school pictures were the very next day.

And so my 6th grade picture was unfortunate. I would share it with you but after 2 hours of searching I have given up. I will describe it for you instead -

My hair was slightly parted on the right, shiny and straight. I sat in some weird hunched position with my left shoulder lifted and my head tilted slightly left. Even my glasses were crooked. Maybe I was trying to keep my hair in its proper place to hide my bangs gone wrong. I don't know. It was a bad, awkward picture and it is burned into my memory.

Anyway, years went by and I've had many hairstyles with and with out bangs. But for the last 12 years I have shunned bangs. They require too much effort what with all the trimming and styling. I haven't been very into doing much of anything with my hair. I wash it. I brush it. And then it usually goes into a pony tail. Done.

Enter Super Junior. Most of them have bangs.

Of course my thoughts have been warming towards the thought of having bangs. In November I had some bang-like things cut -

Can you see them? No? I don't see them either. I wanted them to blend in. They blended in very well. A little too well. A few weeks later I asked her to cut more -

Do you see them now? Nope? That's ok. I was timid about the change and I still wanted them to blend in. But once again they were blending in too well. And so today I got my hair cut again. This time I said I want bangs. And so I got some -

I took me 2 months, but after many years I have bangs again. Woop! Who knows? In 2 more months I might actually do some thing drastic with my hair. But until then, what do you think?

For the Love of a Song

Today Shindong tweeted about a new song that was just released. It features him and Leeteuk. I listened to the song and immediately had to get it. But what to do? Our debit cards expired at the end of last month and we had misplaced the new ones.

My side of our bedroom is in a perpetual state of chaos. It is better since I now put all of my clothes away every several days but it is still a hot mess. All last week I meant to clean it but life kept interrupting. Anyway, in order to determine if the missing cards were buried in that hot mess I had to clean it up. Of course, the cards were found in exactly the same place where they had been left over a month ago- the mail repository (also a hot mess).

So, for the love of a song I dropped everything, and totally cleaned up my room. It is now a shining beacon of sanity in my otherwise chaotic home. What do you think? -

And who do I thank? Super Junior of course!! But specifically Shindong and Leeteuk -

And for your listening enjoyment here is the song. (Unfortunately there is no music video for it yet, bummer.) -

Baby It's COLD!!!

One thing I've noticed about the Super Junior boys is that they dress warmly. And by that, I mean they wear coats hats and scarves inside the radio stations where some of them work. For example, here are some pictures taken last week of Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Sungmin, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Khyuhun during the Kiss the Radio broadcast. In an hour and a half they all kept bundled up -

Here is a video of some of them dancing in the radio station (Leeteuk is wearing a scarf and mittens, Eunhyuk is wearing a white coat, and Sungmin is wearing lots of pink)-



Aren't they cute? Don't you think it must be cold in there? Don't they believe in heat in South Korea?

I have been pondering these questions and while I don't have any answers I have come to a realization. It's OK to be cold!

Ugh! I hate being cold! But I like to save money. Turning down the heat is one way to save money. So now I keep the heat at 65 (cold for me) and if I get cold I start adding on the layers - a hat, a scarf, a jacket, socks, fingerless gloves..... You get the picture. And then if I'm still cold I toss a blanket on top of everything. Of course the better idea is to put on some music and dance around. Or exercise. I'm off to the treadmill to work up some sweat and listen to, who else? Super Junior!

Gratitude - a Sunday Kind of Thing

Well I've had all week to think about things that I'm grateful for. The trouble is, I didn't think about it too much. Whenever I make a new goal the first thing I do is push it to the back of my mind. In case you were wondering, this is not a very good way to accomplish things.

I was hoping to come up with some awe inspiring life details, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention. Sadness. Anyway, these are some things that I'm grateful for but I didn't take all the pictures this week.

First there is this Korean cookbook -

Korean cookbooks are hard to find. In fact, I've only ever come across two of them in all of the perusing of bookstores that I've done. And I do a lot of perusing. Also, everything that I've made from it has been so tasty. This week we had shredded carrots dressed with sesame oil and salt. It was simple and delicious. It was also supposed to be briefly stir-fried, but it was so tasty and I didn't want to make another pan dirty.....



The second thing I was grateful for this week is my sister -

She is my best friend and always willing to help me out with anything. She helps me stay out of a rut and if  I do happen to get into one, she keeps pushing until I get out again. She always listens. And she laughs at my jokes even if I have to prompt her to do so. She puts up with all of my Super Junior babbling. She will even let me play KPOP when we are driving around together. But only rarely. This week she fed my hidden shoe mania.

The third thing I was grateful for was this bird -

 I was doing the dishes the other morning and glanced out the window. I love watching birds so we have a bird feeder set up right next to the kitchen window. Therefore, it is not unusual to see birds at the bird feeder. But there wasn't any bird seed in the feeder. And the bird wasn't scratching away, trying to get any bits stuck in the cracks. This bird was sleeping. I was amazed. I watched it for many minutes before thinking about taking a picture. Then I had to find the camera. And still the bird peacefully slept in the sunshine. It was tender.


As always I'm grateful for my home, my family, and my faith -

And don't forget Super Junior!

Now, let me know what you're grateful for.

Lots and Lots of Shoes

I went on a shoe binge this week. I didn't plan it that way, it just sort of happened. When I told Dude-Man how many shoes I purchased he didn't even blink, although he did turn several shades paler than he normally is.
 

On Tuesday, my sister and I had an unplanned outing that included lunch and a "quick" trip to boutique where she had recently purchased an uber cute handbag. I coveted her bag and made her take me to the boutique so I could also have an uber cute bag. Sadly, they had nothing that even came close to the cuteness level that I desired. So I set my sights lower. On shoes. They had lots of cute shoes. I showed some restraint and only bought two pairs -

 On Friday, MoLi and I had some errands to run. None of those errands included shoe shopping, and yet, that's the first place we went. Forever Young Shoes. Upon walking into the store, the sales ladies kindly informed us that it was buy one get one half off. And then the shopping began. It kind of got crazy. I bought EIGHT pairs of shoes! Five for me and three for Moli -

Then we had to pick up The Crafty One from her classes at college. When she heard of our acquirement of shoes she didn't even make a peep. No cries for cute shoes of her own. She's pretty mellow that way. Anyway, MoLi wanted The Crafty One to get some cute boots. Off to Target we went where The Crafty One got three pairs of boots and Moli got a pair too -

When Giggles got home from school she was pleased to get hand-me-down shoes from MoLi. She's pretty mellow that way. But I'm not so mellow that way and decided that she also needed new shoes. It's a good thing I only have three daughters. Giggles got a pair of Sunday shoes and three pairs of boots -

And that's the story of I how ended up buying EIGHTEEN pairs of shoes in one week!

And since all of my posts are to linked to Super Junior in some way, here is a picture of the Super Junior boys wearing shoes -

Thanks Donghae!

In December, Donghae made a post on the website for the show he is currently in (It's OK Daddy's Daughter). The following are some excerpts from that post -

Hello!

We are Super Jun~~ior~!!^^

This is Choi Wookgi (Donghae) who’s been living so happily busy recently^^

To me, each and every day is exciting and happy because I’m living a new day every day.

Be careful of cold in this cold winter!!

Most important thing for Donghae which is Stay healthy!! Don’t get sick!!

When you go out, don’t wear light clothes because you want to look pretty!!^^ Always wear a scarf!!

This was Super Juni~~~~or!! It was Donghae(Choi Wookgi)!!

God bless u…& Merry Christmas!!

 "Always wear a scarf!!" Now those are words to live by!

When I read that post I thought, "Hmm... I could wear a scarf. If Donghae says wear a scarf, I think I will do it." And so I did -

That's me on the day after Christmas. We walked to Church and it was nice when we left home so I didn't think I needed a coat. Unfortunately it started to rain while we were there. I was so grateful to have my scarf because it kept me warmer and drier than I would have been without it. Thanks, Donghae!

A couple of days later we went out to shoot rockets in the desert. Typically we do this on New Year's Day, but since my sister-in-law was visiting and she would be leaving before then, we decided to do it earlier than that. We had a great time in the COLD winter weather. Silly me, I wore a jacket and not a coat. Big mistake! It was soooo freezing out there! But I had my scarf and was able to enjoy the day despite the frigid temps. Donghae, thanks for that great tip!

Yesterday, Dude-Man and I went out for lunch at The Olive Garden with our two oldest girls. Halfway through the meal I realized that I had gotten some creamy pasta sauce on my shirt. Bummer! Not too long after that I had another spot of sauce even bigger than the first. Of course I tried to clean it up, but since it was creamy sauce it wasn't going to go away without a fight. Lucky for me I had my scarf and with proper draping it hid those embarrassing spots until I could deal with them in private. Donghae, it's so awesome to always wear a scarf! Thanks again!

Today my mom called me and sounded like death warmed over. She has a bad cold. Poor Mom! In a rare burst of compassion I offered to drive the 20 miles to bring her some things to make her feel better. Of course I hadn't showered yet and I was still in my exercise clothes. But Mom comes before fashion, or cleanliness. And so off I zipped to the grocery store to purchase the needed supplies. I took care of Mom and then headed off to visit with my sister before going home.

One thing you should know about my sister is that she is my best friend. The other thing you should know is that if we spend any time talking at all it will usually end up with us going some place together. And lunch will be involved. And today was no different. As I was lamenting my lack of cuteness because of how I was dressed she casually remarked, "But your scarf makes you look cute anyway." The SCARF! Donghae! I never knew how important wearing a scarf would become! Thank you SO much!

Of course we did end up going out to eat. And of course I had to take off my coat because it was just too warm in Rubio's. And that's when I remembered that I was still wearing my bright BLUE sports bra under my thin WHITE T-shirt. You can probably guess what happened next. That's right, I was once again rescued by my scarf! What a freaking fantastic thing! I will never leave home without it. And you shouldn't either. Oh Donghae, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for telling me to always wear a scarf.

And here is Donghae following his own advice -

Now THAT'S a scarf!

Gratitude - a Sunday Kind of Thing

While I was a blogging slacker last month, I started looking around at other people's blogs and I noticed a trend. Some people have a certain day of the week devoted to some specific topic, like breaking style rules. I kind of like the idea and so late last night I settled on Gratitude Sunday.

The Super Junior boys are always being grateful for something- their parents, the fans, everyone they meet, all their jobs, and on and on. Also, there have been times in my life that I tried to make being grateful a bigger priority and I always felt so happy and blessed. Who could not want that?

So, during the week I will take pictures of things I am grateful for and then post them here. I invite you to do the same and post the things you're grateful for in the comments for that Sunday.

For this week, I am grateful that we have church at 9am because that means that I get to have Sunday naps in the sunshine-

And, as always, I'm grateful for my home,my faith, and my family.

I'm Not So Sure...

I didn't say it before, so I will say it now - Happy New Year!!!

But before there is a New Year there is always a New Year's Eve party. Our family celebrated in our typical fashion, which meant Chinese meat pastries and games. And friends, don't forget the friends!

First the Chinese meat pastries - This is quite the production. There is the making of the dough and the making of the filling. If we didn't have to make so many it wouldn't be a problem, but this year we made 180 of them. That meant multiplying the recipe SIX times. And by that I mean six FREAKING times!

Here is Giggles on her maiden excursion to Dough Land -

She was an excellent helper and made what is typically my job a whole lot easier.

Then all those blobs of dough had to be divided into small bits that would later be rolled out and filled with a delicious filling of ground pork, Chinese cabbage, and flavorings -

Here is Dude-Man mixing up vast quantities of the filling. (He is really awesome for doing this part.)

 

And then there is the actual assembly of the meat pastries -

Dude-Man stays up for half the night steaming these buns of deliciousness. (He is a really good man.) The rest of us gobble up the buns as soon as they are cooked. He cooks them 21 at a time for 26 minutes. That means it took him about three and a half hours to get them all done. (I did the math) Whew!

For the first time, The Boy invited some friends to join in our festivities. Meet Thing1 and Thing2 -

 

 These two are great guys and don't cause too much destruction. (Except for that one time that they had a food fight in our basement..... I'm still finding the Reese's Puffs.And that was years ago!) The three of them spent the rest of the night watching movies and playing video games.

Dude-Man and our girls (plus one extra, The Other One) spent the night playing Spoons and I Doubt It (our cleaned up version of BS). And me? I rang in the new year by watching Bonamana over and over and over.



Not to be outdone, the Super Junior boys were performing a new, revamped version of Sorry, Sorry, Sorry and Bonamana. I'm not sure I approve -



So after watching it at least a half dozen times I think I like it. It has a really different feel to it which makes me feel like a little uneasy, kind of like walking into a room that has been rearranged without your prior knowledge. (If you know what I mean.) That reminds me, I think it's time to do some furniture rearranging. Sorry, sorry, sorry, Dude-Man!

Why?

When someone learns that I am learning Korean they usually ask, "Why?" I take the opportunity to gush about Super Junior, and they just shake their heads and think I'm either going through a mid-life crisis or a loony woman. End of story.

But see, it's much more than that.  All of my life certain things have called to me and I have learned to follow the call. Oh, and I always follow it passionately - becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, education at BYU, social work degree, Dude-Man, motherhood, teaching preschool, Girl Scouts, gardening, painting, scrap booking, decorating, and now all things Korean. I run down a road as far as it will take me or until I run out of steam or some life event brings my pursuit to a screeching halt. I can try to fight it, but then I am miserable and I make everyone around me miserable because of my extreme grouchiness.

So what is it exactly about Super Junior that has caused me to have a burning desire to learn the Korean language and understand the culture? I think it's love. Yeah, that sounds sappy and weird. I'd try to reword it but nothing better comes to mind. This is about to get maudlin.

To  begin with, the spark is their amazing talent. Then, there is their story. Thirteen young guys plucked mostly from South Korea by SM Entertainment and then trained under rigorous conditions (2-5 years, with no vacations or sick days, learning to model,sing, act, etc.). Then they debut and make it big. Hooray! But wait, heartache follows with the death of Donghae's dad (he was well loved by all the members of the group). On the way back to Seoul from the funeral Heechul was in a terrible accident where he broke his leg in 5 places and nearly severed his tongue. Not to be deterred, the group presses on and sees more success. Several months later another car accident involves four members of the group. All of them are injured, two of them badly. Leeteuk has many lacerations and Khyuhun has broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken hip. Here is the part that gets to me every time - they do not give up. Ever. I find it so amazing that they keep bouncing back from adversity. I find this so curious because I don't think I have very much bounce. Ever.

But the love doesn't come from that part of the story. At this point I have a lot of admiration for these guys and nothing more. I have learned that when you really love someone or something, you you are inspired to become a better person. Not the vision that other person may have of you but to be your own true, best self. And for whatever reason, Super Junior does that for me.

When I think about the adversity some of them have faced, I look at my own problems and say, "That's not such a big deal. They overcame ...., certainly I can overcome this small thing." When I noticed that some of them do yoga, I decided that yoga needed to be part of my life. The side benefit of that choice was that I gained stamina to be able participate in life more fully. There are so many little things that I have noticed about their lives that make me go, "Hey, I can do that!" And then I do. And then my life is better. And then I want to spread the joy. Which is what this blog is supposed to be about.