planning

Since my life is and will be changing significantly, I have decided to also make a change in my blog. I'm not sure about the title yet, so any creative suggestions would be much appreciated. The background is an engagement picture we took a couple weeks ago. It's one of my favorites.

The next six months are going to be months of planning for us. Wedding planning, and future planning mainly. For the most part, it's ground that neither of us has covered. The plan thus far is to marry in Thailand in April, head to the Bay Area for a reception for all those Cali people, and then do the big move to New Zealand where I can begin to see how I fair as a Kiwi.

I am super excited about this journey! I want to keep you all updated as much as I can, but as past experience has shown, I am not to great with keeping up the blog. My main excuse this last year is a major distraction in the shape of a South African born Kiwi. Maybe now that we are getting a little more settled with each other, I might be able to devote more time here. Don't cross your fingers.

A thought on the wedding planning: I can honestly say I was never ever the type of girl who dreamed about her wedding day. I was more the type to dream about the man. Now that I have found someone who has gone above and beyond my wildest dreams, I have been forced to think about the wedding. I can't say I'm good at this. When I actually sit down and look at bridal magazines or blogs, I do get somewhat excited and love the ideas, but fall short with the follow through, particularly with the DIY stuff(do-it-yourself, for those who don't know). For me, a simple beach wedding with lots of partying sounds best, and so, that's what I'll have. I hope to have my closest friends and family beside me, getting along and celebrating the choice that I've made to marry someone who suits me just so. Isn't that how its meant to be? Don't we lose sight of what a wedding is meant to be? What wedding advice would you give this bride-to-be? What would you do if you could do it again? Or, if you aren't married, what is your dream of the ideal wedding?

plus one

Last night, my wonderful boyfriend of 11 months asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. How could you say no to such a wonderful person? I am happy to spend the rest of my life with an amazing, adorable, caring man whom I know will take care of me and make me laugh for years to come.

We have tons of fun together and are constantly laughing:

Here is the beauty he picked out for me. Love it.

I couldn't be happier. I actually don't remember ever being this happy. The kind where I want to tell my neighbor, whom I have never spoken to, that I am marrying the man of my dreams. Super cool.

Sick Day

After a little cajoling from myself and my boyfriend, I decided to call in sick today. For some reason, even though I am as sick as a dog, I feel guilty calling in sick. Koreans don't seem to do it unless they are on their death bed. Well, I am not Korean, and I believe that a good day of rest is all you need to get better.

Right before I got sick, I decided to try something a little new. I was making fajitas and didn't have any tortillas. So, I tried this:

It turned out to be a really good idea! It made the lettuce a little too flimsy to pick up with hands, but the lettuce gave the fajita meat a nice cool and crisp addition. It was a great substitution!

The last few weekends the weather has been perfect. We've had a BBQ, and have done lots of sitting in the park and riding bikes. Erlo and I even made it to a Korean League soccer game last weekend. I've never been to a professional one so it was a fun experience. They even had some Brazilians on the Korean teams. As you can see its a very nice stadium!

There weren't many people there, so we got to sit pretty close to the action. Very fun!

Eats

I've discovered recently that I really enjoy cooking and creating new dishes. While, as you know, my resources in this country are quite limited, but nonetheless, I have enjoyed creating dishes with what I do have. Some of the recent ones I've decided to share with you all. I don't know if they are that spectacular, but Erlo sure seems to think so....or at least he's being nice.

First up, we have Erlo modeling a lovely pumpkin soup that I decided to try seasoning with red curry paste. We couldn't get enough and had the leftovers later that week. Erlo also had an andouille sausage on french bread since the soup wasn't filling enough.

Next, a lemon pepper crusted chicken breast with ricotta cheese and tomato sauce topped with capers. Also a hit.

Last night I made simple chicken salad sandwiches with avocado. The chicken to avocado proportions were just right. It takes living in a country where these kinds of things are not readily available to really appreciate this one. It was just lovely. The kind of thing you can't eat fast enough, and yet you regret not savoring it longer when you had it.

Unfortunately, these dishes come around only about once a week, when Erlo and my schedule allows for enough time. It really is tricky working with so little space.

Most of the things I miss are veggies I recognize(although there are quite a few good ones anyway), organic choices that don't go bad in a day, and spices. Oh, and a kitchen with a counter larger than 2 square feet, an oven, a microwave, and more than two stove top burners. Well, someday I'll have it all.