Jeju Island

Drew's parents were in town this week (they just left yesterday), so we took them to a really cool resort Island here in Korea called Jeju. It was a little chilly, but you can tell that it usually is pretty tropical. Anyway, we spent a couple days there and toured ourselves around. We found a cool waterfall, a lava cave and a Teddy Bear Museum. We arrived at the Teddy Bear Museum nearly as soon as it opened and thought we had totally avoided the crazy tour buses of Korean teenagers that seemed to be all around the island. Unfortunately, no more than 10 minutes after we arrived a huge group of teenagers came bounding down the steps. Knowing Kami sticks out like a sore thumb here in Korea, I knew all of there attention would immediately be on her and I was so bummed out because I wanted her to be able to enjoy the Teddy Bears instead of posing for pictures and having these cute, well-meaning teens in her face. So, I had to be a big meanie and step in between many cameras and Kami and stand so close to Kami that the girl's knew that their hovering advances were not welcome. Awe well. A mom's gotta do what a mom's got to do for her babies, right? Anyway...here's some pictures of what we saw!

Flower Market Photos

Oh my goodness! I am so behind at blogging! I truly apologize to those who regularly check my blog looking for updates into our lives! It's been a crazy few weeks, and hopefully bound to settle down here shortly! Anyway....here are the long promised Flower Market pictures I was telling you would come! These pictures kind of give you a glimpse of what the market is like. So, when you see these pictures, also picture in your mind row after row of these flowers and plants on two floors of a large building and two huge greenhouses. Amazing! The first picture is of Kami and her BFF, Charlee. If you want a better picture of them, check out either my friend Karen's blog or my friend Bernie's blog. The link is under my "Family and Friends" (Karen and Joel or Bernie and Rich).

New Beginnings

We had the most amazing Young Women 'New Beginnings' last night! The two oldest Young Women in our branch organized everything for it and I am so increadably impressed with the work that they put into taking on this huge responsibility! Each one of the girls presented a value and explained how that value brought out the beauty within themselves, which was the theme for the night "Beauty Within". They also invited a super cute sister in our ward as a guest speaker (actually, it was my friend, Erin who spoke) and she gave the most awesome talk! And one of the members of the Branch Presidency, who happens to be one of the girls dads, also spoke. I am so impressed with the spirit that was there at the chapel last night and am so greatful for the opportunity I have to serve in the Young Women's.

So, I was in charge of the decorations last night. I had made these super cool triange flags, each one holding the YW's pictures. I made two for each girl. One smiley pose and another, goofy. I had also gone up to the Flower Market on Monday in Seoul (pictures of that coming soon!) and bought vases and a bouquet of gerber daisy's for each of the Young Women. Each boquet was a different color with the exception of one, which was different color than all the rest in the boquet and stood higher than the rest and had a ribbon attached to it that said, "Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful". I brought my camera to New Beginnings last night with every intention of taking pictures of the event. By the end of the night, I realized that my camera went untouched! Opportunity totally past! Awe well.

But, I wanted to show you some of the pictures that were inside the triangle flags. So, I hope my Young Women (and counselors) don't totally hate me for this, but, here are six of the most awesome, most beautiful, most spiritual Young Women I know:


And the most amazing and wonderful women I know:

Chinese Birth Calendar

Okay, so my friend Bernie sent me a link to this website that 99% accurately predicts your baby's gender. I'm super curious. If you have kiddos, check out this website and see how accurately it predicted your children's gender. It was accurate with Kami, and if it's accurate with this baby, Drew and I are going to have to battle out girls names. :^) Let me know what your results are!

http://www.webwomb.com/chinesechart.htm

And Tagged Again!

Alright. This one is coming in from my friend, Ruth. For some crazy reason she loves to hear me ramble. Maybe that's because, unless you really get me going, I don't do a whole lot of rambling. Maybe she thinks it's out of character for me and she likes it. Either way, I can get on a rambling streak. See? Already done! I'm on one. So. Okay here's what she's got for me:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmm. Ten years ago would put us in April 1998, yes? Then that would place me at not quite a year out of high school. I had gone to Snow College for a semester and loved it. But, decided college wasn't the place for me. I had just spent the last 13 years of my life in school and now since I was paying for it, it just wasn't that worth it to me. I didn't know what kind of education I wanted to pursue and I wasn't taking school serious enough. This decision has later since caused lots of mixed feelings. Not finishing school has been one of my biggest regrets in life. Yet, had it not been for the decisions I made then, that very year, (1998 was a year of serious turning points and decision makings for me) I would not be where I am today and with who I am with today. So, instead of returning Spring semester to Snow College, I flew over to stay with my sister, Mindy for a few months while she and her family were stationed in Japan with the US Navy. I had a fantastic time there and came to easily love the people and culture. Upon returning home, I applied for and was accepted into a training program for Medical Administrative Assistants (aka - Medical Secretary). I loved it! The first job I took after completing the program was in a place I had interned for while I was in the program. The office that I had interned for liked me so much, that when their secretary decided to take another job, they hired me in her place. I was also dutifully and faithfully waiting for a missionary that year. He was a friend from High School who asked me on a date the summer after we graduated and then one date turned into another and then another and another. He was and I'm sure still is a fantastic person. And I didn't understand why, when even after he came home from his mission a year and a half later, and I had prayed about continuing our relationship (yeah, we're talking marriage, that's how serious we were) my answer kept coming up "No." Now, having met Drew and having a knowledge of promises and blessings from Heavenly Father, I think I understand why. Anyway....that's what I was doing 10 years ago. Sheesh! That seems like a decade ago! Oh wait! IT WAS!!! LOL!

2. 5 Things on my "to-do" list.
1. Finish the bookshelf laying in my living room.
2. Put clean linens on my bed.
3. Drive up to Seoul and get some flowers from the Flower Market before New Beginnings.
4. Keep working on the OOSC Scrapbook.
5. Send a Wedding card to my brother who is getting married in a couple of weeks.

3. Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire.
Okay, isn't it funny how inflation works? I'm sure if this question were posed 10 years ago, we would have been talking mere millions. Crazy world. But, if I were suddenly a billionaire, I would make sure my children had enough for a good education, make sure my parents were taken care of and then give the rest away. Totally a Brad and Angelina thing to do, right?

4. Three bad habits.
1. I procrastinate. Big time.
2. I'm on the computer WAY too much.
3. I forget things all the time.

5. Places I have lived.
1. Riverton, ID
2. Groton, CT
3. Ogden, UT
4. Bremerton, WA
5. Layton, UT
6. Quilcene, WA
7. Edmonds, WA
8. Auburn, WA
9. Cedar City, UT
10. SLC, UT
11. Clearfield, UT
12. Ramstein, Germany
13. Shiloh, IL
14. Oklahoma City, OK
15. Songtan, S. Korea
*Just to name a few*

6. Things most people don't know about me.
Well, I think question #1 took care of a lot of that. But, just for the questions sake, I am not as book smart as most people tend to think I am. I hate to study. I would rather be doing anything else than reading and studying a text book.

7. Jobs I've had in my life.
1. Worked for my mom when she owned a church book store in Washington. But, I only got paid in books.
2. WorkMed, VVMC, Cedar City, UT - Medical Secretary
3. NICU, Primary Children's Medical Center, SLC, UT - Medical Secretary/Equipment Tech
4. Boyd's Framing and Art, Landstuhl, Germany - Sales Person
5. Scrapbook Factory, O'Fallon, IL - Sales Person/Instructor
6. SAHM

Book Tag

Okay, I've been tagged again. Let's see:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages)
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

Alright then. I've got a big stack of books right by my feet waiting to go on a bookshelf that I bought yesterday that is half-way put together (we ran into lunch time/nap time, so I didn't finish it yet!). So, the book on top is a digital photography how-to book called "The Digital Photography Book" (hmm, go figure!) by Scott Kelby. So. Here you go!

Just find a place you'd normally go to get out of the sun on a hot day, and you're ready to get portraits where your subject isn't squinting, and the light is soft and flattering.

So. There you go! Now. Who to tag? Who to tag? Okay. Let's see. Ruth, Erin, Bernie, Pamela and Karen. Have fun ladies!

Blog Background

I've had a couple comments on my new background - thanks! I love it, too! I wish I were talented and patient enough to learn HTML on my own (maybe one day), so kuddos goes to:

http://www.matiekay.blogspot.com/

for the awesome background. She's got some backgrounds she does for free (such as the one you see on my site) and she'll also do custom work for a fee. If any of you are interested, check out her site!

Gyeongju Trip

Hey Everyone! Here's a quick post from mine and Kami's trip this past week to Gyeongju. It's a beautiful town in Southern Korea, near the coast. We went with a bunch of people from our church (13 kids, 5 teenagers, 7 adults) and had a wonderful time at some Buddist Temples, the Beach, riding bikes through the town (which I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do when you're pregnant....but....it was too much fun to pass up!) and enjoying the cherry blossoms which are now in full bloom! I'm so excited for spring in Korea! This is when things start to get totally beautiful with the trees getting some green on them and the farmers planting barley and rice. I am so ready for the yucky brown-ness to go away! :^)

Hair, Cravings, Koreans and more!

Okay, so I've been officially "gotten" after by a fellow blog stalker/friend of mine, that I must have absolutely nothing to blog about. And to be totally honest, I didn't and really still don't. So, I've decided to blog about the randomness that is my mind (you asked for it, Ruth!).

So, today I woke up and decided to actually do something with Kami's hair! She's got a lot of it and has had for quite some time, so I thought today is the day I play with my daughters hair! This is what I came up with:

Not too bad for my first try, right? Up until 2:00 PM today when I dropped Kami off at "school" (aka, CDC or Day Care) she hadn't taken them out. We'll see how it looks when I pick her up in a couple of hours.

And here's a random picture of Kami doing a dance. We have a little kitchen set for her in her playroom here and it spontaneously started playing music! So, Kami jumped up and started doing a little jig! I thought it was pretty cute. She dances like her mom. Awe!

On a totally separate note, I just drove home from the base and....I've said it before and I'll say it again. When it comes to driving, Koreans are stupid, stupid, stupid. I don't even know how to explain what I saw today. Let's just say there could have been a MAJOR accident (times 10) right in front of my eyes (not involving me, but I'd be a very close eye witness). Why? Because people here put themselves in very stupid positions when it comes to driving and safety. I was cringing every time someone would come up behind this stupid guy waiting for him to be hit full on speed. Crazy. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I wish all of you back home could see and understand what I'm talking about. I seriously want to bring my camcorder along and just have it running one day while we're driving. Oh! Maybe I'll do that! We're driving up to Seoul on Saturday to go to the temple and that would be all too perfect to show you the craziness it is to drive here! Stay tuned!

So, speaking of stupid, what is up with totally losing all brain power when you're pregnant??? I cannot tell you how many times I've dropped stuff for no reason at all, continuously run into walls while walking, and totally say random things that don't even make sense. Like, for example, I was talking with a friend of mine who teaches French & Spanish at the high school here and I was asking her how her summer was and if she was liking the break from school. Yeah. You heard me right. Summer. It's not even spring break for these guys!!!! Sheesh. Oh my goodness. I wish I could tell you more things that I've said and done, but, well, that would require me actually remembering these things!

Let's see. What else random? Oh yes. Cravings. My big craving for this pregnancy has been fruit. Isn't that cool? I just can't get enough fresh fruit. So, I was talking about cravings the other day with my friend, Clarissa and she mentioned that with one of her kiddos, she craved tacos. Then I remembered that with Kami I craved chips and salsa (Chevy's chips and salsa to be specific). So, I got to thinking about that and now I'm starting to really want fresh salsa (thanks alot, Claris!). So....I'm headed to the commissary now to get all of the ingredients for Ben Lomeli's Family recipe for fresh salsa! Does fresh salsa sound good to you? Here's the recipe:

• 5 tomatoes, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (no stems)
• 2 cans (8-oz) tomato sauce
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 jalapenos (keep the seeds in, you chickens!!!)
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Mix first three ingredients in large bowl. Blend remaining ingredients in blender or food processor; then mix together with tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Store in refrigerator. Yummy!

Okay! I'm off! Enjoy your day!

Ooops! I've been tagged!

I just noticed my friend Karen tagged me for a "Friday Fill In". Here's my answers in bold:

1. Some relationships are meant to last forever.

2. Shania Twain (I think...it's been a while!) is the last concert I saw; it was super entertaining.

3. Spring should be showing up soon.

4. Oh no! I forgot to do and say so many things!

5. I've recently started feeling the baby move around!

6. My family never fails to make me smile.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out to eat and just chillin' out at home, tomorrow my plans include going up to Seoul to go to the temple and Sunday, I want actually get Kami down for a nap before 1:00 PM church starts...hey, I can wish, can't I?

Okay, so I wasn't going to tag anybody specifically, but I changed my mind. I tag: Jenna (because I would love to see her answers), Rachel (because she hasn't posted anything in a while!) and Ruth (because I think she secretly stocks my blog more often than she admits!) ;^)

Diaper Mishap

So, yesterday being Easter for us over here in Korea (Happy Easter to everyone else, by the way!), Kami got to wear her cute new Easter dress to church! Unfortunately not long after we arrived at church I realized I had forgotten to put Kami's little bloomers on. Oh well. Not the first time I've forgotten those. Just before the sacrament, however, Kami started to get a little crazy, so Drew went to pick her up and put her on his lap. As he picked her up, Kami said her new favorite phrase, "Uh oh!" And at the same time Drew and I looked down and there was Kami's diaper in front of us on the floor! It had totally fallen off her little bottom! Drew quickly gathered up the diaper (which was clean, thank goodness!) and Kami and rushed out of the chapel to fix the mishap. Me, however, left alone got over the initial shock and realized just how funny the whole situation was - especially after I had the thought, "Man, I knew I should have put that bloomer on today!" So, there I was, a huge smile developing on my face, my face feeling suddenly hot and bright red, and then came the convulsions of me seriously trying to hold back a huge laugh out loud, roll on the floor laugh! I'm actually surprised nobody else in the congregation noticed (we were sitting in the back row), besides Mary, the 5 year old sitting in front of us who was looking back as she usually does trying to get Kami's attention and I'm pretty sure President Knudsen, sitting on the stand (he's a counselor in our District Presidency, but our branch is his home branch - his wife is the one who taught us Korean cooking last week). So, finally, before I got the attention of the whole congregation and before the sacrament was to be blessed, I quickly dashed out of the chapel and into the hall (meeting Drew and Kami on my way), rushed into an open classroom and let the laughter come!

Ah! Just thought I'd share the experience. We missed the sacrament that day, by the way. Easter of all days! Awe well. I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father understands; in fact, maybe He was laughing, too! ;^)

Hey!

Hasn't anybody noticed the new little ticker I put at the bottom of my blog yet??

Korean Cooking Class

So, today some of the ladies in our branch got together at the Relief Society counselor's house for a Korean cooking lesson. Jihyun was a fantastic (and very patient) teacher. She is such a talented and incredibly sweet person. She is so awesome, I just love being around her!

Today's lesson was on how to make Kip Bop (Korean Sushi) and Korean Vegetable Pancake. She first took us to a little market by her house to buy the ingredients, which was so helpful, since not many of us can read Hangul! Once our shopping was done, it was back to her place to start chopping, cooking, steaming, assembling, chatting, laughing, etc., etc.! Here are some pictures from our afternoon!

Jihyun cooking the meat for the Bolgogi & Mint Leaf Kip Bop.

Daniella & Meredith (and Erin, who was also taking pictures at the time I snapped this one) doing some prep work for the Kip Bop.

This type of Kip Bop consists of Spinach, Carrots....

....Korean Radishes (two different kinds), ham, crab....

....and egg!



We also bought the ingredients to make Korean Vegetable Pancakes which you make with a special batter, chives, carrots and onions.

We ran out of time to make it at Jihyun's house, so I attempted to make it at home this evening for dinner. I think I did okay, however, the next time maybe I'll make them a little thinner - it was kind of doughy in the middle. But, everything tasted so yummy!

Saipan?

Okay, so. If you're anything like me Christmas morning, you would have opened one of your presents, looked at the airplane tickets and said, "Where the heck is Sai-p-an?" Hum. Who know such a place existed! And come to find out that the place is a US Commonwealth! Holy Smokes! For those of you who are geography dummies, such as myself, Saipan is an itty-bitty island that is part of the Northern Mariana Islands. Look it up on Wikipedia or something if you want to know more!

So, anyway here are some random pictures of our vacation this last week! We all had a ton of fun. Kami could have spent every waking hour in the pool, if we let her. Unfortunatly, she got the brunt of the sun. In fact, I feel like such a bad mother! She came home with a sunburned head, face, back and arms. I promise you that I put sunscreen on her and reapplied it! Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Me, Drew and Kami going down the Lazy River at the resort we stayed in.

Is Kami's Mommy cool, or what? And, no, Kami's feet aren't on backwards, that's just her shoes!

At the Beach! I LOVE B&W beach photos! They're the best!

Here are a couple of cool sunset photos from our room! It was so beautiful!

A big wave came in and splashed all over Kami. She loved it, of course. Unfortunatly, mom didn't bring a change of clothes!

Here's a sample of what Saipan looks like. The pretty parts anyway. Most of the cities look pretty poor and run-down.

Does anybody else remember their dad's doing this with them?

First golf lesson.

Another picture from our hotel room.

So many times since we've been in Korea, Koreans love taking pictures of Kami. This mom that we ran into was determined to get a good picture of Kami with her daughter. Since she was snapping pictures, I though I'd join in, too. I dunno. This just looks like two mom's forcing our kids to be friends or something. Hmm. Anyway, I hope that mom got the picture she was wanting!

Major Feth!

Yeah! So, as of last month, Drew is now known around the office is 'Major Feth'. Whoa there, Mr. FGO! No really, we are all very proud of Drew and the hard work and dedication he puts into serving his country. He truly loves what he does. Okay, maybe not every day, but the overall picture of what he's a part of makes his job worth it.

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures courtesy of our friend, Eve Robinson. Pictured is Drew and Lt. Col. Jack Stokes. Jack is a friend of ours from church and is the commander of the 25th fighter squadron here at Osan AB. He's also the dad of one of my super cute Mia Maids (soon to be Laurel)! ;^) If you're wondering about his hair-do, it just happened to be 'Flat-top February' for their squadron. For the month of March? You guessed it, he's sporting a mustache! LOL! Those pilots are crazy!

Cute Cousins

So, just before returning to Korea, Kami and I made a stop in Seattle to visit my sister, Rachel and her family! While we were there we hired one of her photographer friends to take pictures of our girls together! They turned out awesome! Here's a sampling of one and the rest you can visit her website at: http://carriestroudphotography.blogspot.com/