Saturday Somethings - Holy Smokes!!

My friend Rachel, again of Winsor Bloggityblog, told me about a great freezer meal resource, Once a Month Mom! It's perfect! They do all the work to create an ingredients list. For some reason, that's the hardest part for me (Maybe it has something to do with math. I just can't wrap my head around it.). AND they have new menus for each month!  Thanks Rachel!

Friday Finds: A Link Round-up

Powdered Milk Food Storage Recipes, Everyday Food Storage.  I love chocolate.  I love chocolate milk, ice cream, shakes, etc.  Enough said!

Google Chrome: Taking Aim at Microsoft -- and the iPhone, Time.com.  Interesting!  I had no idea you could make a free operating system.

Where Rich Countries are Buying Farmland, The Christian Science Monitor.  And some people think we're imperialistic!


The Amazing Backwards Adventure.  This is a fun video a friend of mine from High School made with some friends.  Everything is backwards!!!  Found it on his brother's family's blog.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
So this picture proves that my maturity level is what, 8 years old at the most? 

Thankful Thursday - Freezer Meals

I am grateful for freezer meals today.  And I was yesterday, and I will be tomorrow.  They are great!  So nice to just take them out of the freezer, thaw and then cook!

They were a bit of work to assemble, but so worth it!

I found this recipe book, Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer, through Amazon.com, then checked it out of the library.  I like it so much that I ordered it and the sequel plus another!  Hopefully they come soon!

My Cat... again

I've been having fun with my newly learned PSE skills from Jessica Sprague's photo editing class.  She's great!

 

Yes, my cat really is that cute! She covers her eyes while sleeping.

Way Back Wednesday - Exit Korea This Way

We had quite the time moving back to the States from Korea.  We had way too much stuff, and didn't want to part with any of it.  Eventually we got it paired down to four suitcases and four carry-ons (the maximum limit of two of each for each of us).

The next question was how we were going to get all eight bags and the two of us three and a half hours from our place in Sokcho, on the East coast, to the airport in Incheon, on the West Coast.  In the past, we got a ride to a nearby town, Gangneung, to take a bus directly to the airport.  Very convenient!

This time was different.  Our flight was scheduled to leave around 10 am.  The earliest bus left the Gangneung station at 6 am.  Since the bus ride would take at least 4 hours, we didn't think we'd be able to get to the airport and through check-in and security on time for our flight.  We figured that we would need to get to Seoul the night before, and then travel on to the airport the next morning.  That leg of the trip was only an hour so we'd have plenty of time.

So how were we going to get us and all of our stuff on the three legs of the trip: From our house to the local bus station, from the bus station in Seoul to a nearby motel, from the motel back to the bus station, and then from the bus to the check-in desk at the airport.  Remember, we had the four suitcases and four carry-ons.

We arranged with our boss's wife, Mrs. Jung to take us to the local bus station the afternoon before our flight.  She came and we loaded everything up.  Or at least we thought we had.  Once we got to the bus station and had bought our tickets, we realized that we had left one bag at our apartment, Derek's lap-top bag.  Something we really didn't want to leave!

So we immediately called Mr. Kim, our boss, and asked him or his wife to get it for us.  He told us that since our bus would be leaving in about 10 minutes, we should change our ticket to a later time because his wife was running errands and probably wouldn't be able to get the bag to us in time.

I asked Derek what I should say to the ticket seller.  He basically told me to show her the tickets we had, then say the new time in Korean and then say change in English.  They should understand that.  I did that easily and as I came out I saw that Mrs. Jung was there with the bag and that we would still be able to make our original bus time.  So I ran back inside and repeated the same ticket exchange--except in the reverse--with the same ticket seller.  She sort of laughed at me, but was willing to do the exchange... again!

Fortunately we were able to make it on the bus just in time, even with all our stuff and had an uneventful trip from Sokcho to Seoul.  But then once we got off the bus in Seoul, we realized that we had to figure out some way to get to a motel for the night, and we didn't see any just outside the station.  We didn't want to drag all eight bags all around with us so we thought we'd find a taxi, load all our stuff, and then just tell him to go to the nearest motel.

Sounds easy right?  It should have been.  There were plenty of taxis waiting for customers, but none of them would take us!  And we couldn't figure out why.  After what seemed like hours of trying to get a taxi in the dark, a kind Korean woman came to help us.  We told her all we wanted to do was get a taxi to take us to a motel nearby because we would be needing to get back to the bus station the next morning.

She spoke excellent English and understood us perfectly.  She went to talk to a few drivers and then came back to report that all of those drivers did not want to do a local run.  They only wanted to take passengers long distance.  It didn't make any sense to me, but then again, a lot of things in Korea didn't make sense to me.  She told us she would continue to find a taxi for us, and very soon, she did!  Sometimes things are so much easier when you don't do them yourself!

We loaded up our bags in the trunk and the back seat.  I sat in the back, and Derek sat in the front.  The driver had to drive very carefully because the trunk was unable to close because our bags were so big!  The funniest part (funniest after the fact) was that he literally drove just around the corner.  We could have walked!!!  But at least this way we didn't have to drag our bags around!

As soon as the taxi stopped and Derek and the driver started unloading our bags, I jumped out to see if the night manager of the motel would be able to help us get our bags inside.  I don't remember what I said, or even if it was in Korean or English, but he did come out to help us.  He helped us all the way up to our room!

The next difficulty we had was that the size and amount of luggage was almost too big to fit in the room!   All Korean lodgings have a separated entryway.  This is the place where you take off your shoes before entering the living areas.  In this particular motel room, there was the main door to our room, and then another door to the sleeping area.  The door to the bathroom was off of the entryway.  Since only one or two of our smaller bags would fit in the sleeping area with us, we had to put all the rest of our bags in the the entry way.

And they just barely fit.  We were able to maneuver to and from the bathroom, but if we wanted to get in or out of the room, we had to shuffle our bags around to make room for the main door to open!  Thank goodness we were only there for the one night.

Since our flight left in the morning, and we still needed to take the hour bus trip from Seoul to the airport, we decided to take another taxi to the bus station the next day to make things just that much easier.  The manager helped us get a taxi, and then we had no trouble getting from the bus station to the airport and from that point, our trip home went without a hitch!

Top Ten Tuesday - Provo Trip

Derek and I just got back from a wonderful week in Provo with his family, and we're kinda wishing we were still there! So for this week's Top 10 list, I'm listing...

Top 10 Fun Family Memories

1. Derek's new tie.  And book, and hex key set.  Whenever Derek's gone, I miss him a lot.  When I miss Derek a lot, I want to buy him a present.  Gift giving is my primary love language.  Not usually a problem unless he's gone for a long time.  Then I buy him multiple presents.  This time I bought him three.  It was like it was his birthday or something!  He loved all three, but I think he loved his new tie the most.  I found an awesome deal at Costco on an awesome green tie.  He's worn it twice already!
   
   
2. Seeing funny things nieces and nephews do.  For example, one afternoon two nieces and one nephew were discovering the joys of pepper jack cheese.  And of course since it came from a cheese block there were plenty of "cutting the cheese" jokes.  Funny thing was it was the nephew who didn't get the joke.  While the girls were giggling uncontrollably, he was looking confused and saying, "Ok, what part of the body is 'the cheese'?!"  They finally gave in and told him.
   
   
3. A 27 mile bike ride with Doug.  So this wasn't me, obviously.  It was Derek and he thoroughly enjoyed it!  Doug is his oldest brother.  He graduated and left home while Derek was still pretty young, so Derek jumps at opportunities to get to know him better.  Derek came back happy that he completed the ride.  He hardly even seemed winded, and he only crashed once.  It was his own fault, and a little silly so I won't post the details here.  You'll have to hear it from him.  AND he got rid of his watch tan.  He's been trying to do that for months now!
   
   
4. Playing card games.  Daryl and Kim brought a big box full of different card games.  We love playing games.  You might even say we are a game playing people, so we really enjoyed playing with family over the week.  Especially on Saturday night.  Six of us (David, Daryl, Kim, Sarah, Derek and I) played 5 Crowns, and were over the top silly.  It was so much fun!
   
   
5. Running errands with Kim.  One morning, all the grandkids and most of the brothers went on a canyon hike.  I was feeling a little sad because being pregnant, I wasn't able to go.  But then I found out that my sister-in-law, Kim, wasn't going either (she has a 4-year-old) and was going to be running some errands.  Perfect!  I wouldn't be stuck at home and bored!  And boy, did Kaylee--the 4-year-old--entertain us!  It was hilarious!
   
   
6. Blockus Duo.  While Kim and I were running errands, we stopped by a really fun toy and games store called Funfinity.  The store has so much great stuff but sadly is wildly overpriced!  I stood there looking at their great selection of games--any and all of which I would have bought in a heartbeat if I had the money--for way too long!  Finally, I decided I couldn't live without buying Blockus Duo because I knew Derek would love me forever if I gave him that game.  So I got it and he loves it, and I love it too.  I actually won once or twice!
   
   
7. A present from Derek.   While I was waiting for the store clerk to wrap Blockus Duo, who walks in?  Derek!  Good thing she had it mostly wrapped.  I was shocked to see him there and he was surprised to see me as well.  I thought he was still in SLC with his Mom picking up his brother David.  I asked him what the heck he was doing at the toy store (I didn't figure that was a place he normally went by himself), and he said he was there to buy me a present!  How cute is that?!
   
   
8. Going to a Korean Restaurant.  Everytime we're in Provo, Derek and I love to visit the best Korean restaraunt we've been to in the States, Sam Hawk.  This trip, we were able to go with Derek's parents, his brother Doug and two of his kids, us, and our friends Yi and Sarah.  Delicious food and wonderful company!
   
   
9. Playing Mah Jong with Yi and Sarah.  Yi and Sarah are very near and dear to our hearts.  Yi is our oldest and best friend from college and his wife Sarah is wonderful!  We love to spend time with them whenever we can!  On our last trip down to Provo, they taught us how to play Mah Jong, the real Chinese way.  We got together again this week and played.  It was so much fun!  And they brought us some fun stuff back from their trip home to China.  Thanks guys!
   
   
10. All the 4th of July Festivities.  Derek's family really knows how to party!  All day Saturday we had fun things to do.  Saturday morning some of the family went to the 4th of July parade.  Derek and I elected to stay home and make cherry turnovers (yummy!).  Parades really aren't for us... yet.  Our kid's still baking.  That afternoon most of the family went kayaking and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Kim and I again stayed home for the same reasons as mentioned in #5.  We played games and took turns kicking each other's trash.  That evening we had a great BBQ and then we watched the fireworks from BYU's Stadium of Fire.  A great day full of family and fun!
    
    And a bonus!  It's really hard to limit it to 10 great memories!
    
    
11. Going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.  My sister-in-law, Becca, was able to get us all tickets to the temple open house.  Yay Becca!  It was a great idea!  The temple was so beautiful and it was special to be there as a family to experience it.  I was a little disappointed though because at one point Elder L. Tom Perry walked right past us and we didn't even notice!  The ushers had separated the line so that something could get through.  They didn't tell us what. When a group of people started to pass us all we thought was, "Well, that's not a wheel chair," and turned back around so that we weren't staring at a bunch of strangers.  Little did we know Elder Perry was in that group!  Darn!
    

Monday Morning Musings - Hello Again!

We are home!  Emphasis on WE because Derek is finally back!  Hooray! 

We had a wonderful week in Provo visiting Derek's family.  Four of Derek's brothers and their families were able to visit HQ in Provo all at the same time!  It was tons of fun and we did all kinds of fun things.  I'll be giving more details in tomorrow's Top 10 post.  Be sure to come back! :)

It's a shame that all the brothers live so far apart from each other.  It would be a blast to get together more often.  But then would we really appreciate the time we spend together?

But as great as it is to be on vacation with family, it is really nice to be back home.  And especially to be back home with Derek.  I told him next time he traveled.  I'm going to come with him.  NO MATTER WHAT!!! :D