Pasta Making

We finally bought a pasta maker!
Keith was so excited. We went and got it on Wednesday at Kitchen Stuff Plus.

Fox Run Pasta Maker

We wanted to make spelt linguine, and that's what we did! We first had to make a dummy dough to run though the new machine to pick up any dirty or dust or stuff we didn't want in the pasta.

Then it was time for the pasta making. It was actually quite fun and didn't take as long as we thought it would.

Running it through the pasta maker to make it nice and flat and smooth.

Voila!

Time to make the linguine.

There it is!

Hanging to wait for the others...

Boil time!

Add a little goat cheese love, spinach, garlic cloves and olive oil - YUM.

So as long as we're actually home on a Friday night, we'd love to make this a Friday thing! Or at least a once a week thing. So yummy.

Jaime and Matt joined us tonight - fun!

1K

Tonight was run one of many to come.

1K run only.
But will slowly make our way up to 10K!

Back from our run!

Fruit and Veggie Wash

I spontaneously went grocery shopping after my volunteering since there was a grocery store in the 'hood I wanted to check out. Ended up scoring some sweet deals which is always such an amazing feeling while grocery shopping.

When I got home, I decided that I would wash and cut all the fruit and veggies I bought so that they'd be ready to eat and cook when I need them to be!

I had a lot of fun doing this. And it adds on to my last blog about finding ways to keep healthy.

I hope this becomes a normal thing after coming home from grocery shopping because man, it's so awesome to have everything packed in the fridge and it's washed and cut already!

Fruits and veggies after being soaked in produce wash for 10 mins. Gotta rinse those bubbles off now!

Okra, yu choy and broccoli on a towel drying and waiting to be cut and prepped.

Strawberries and blueberries drying and waiting to be prepped.

Yu choy is chopped and packed in le tupperware.

Okra and broccoli are in the tupperware and ready to go as well.

Last but not least, strawberries and blueberries are in the tupperware and ready to be snacked on!

Here We Go 2012

January 2012. It has come.

Keith and I are determined to up our exercise this year and it begins today.
We're going to run every Wednesday and Saturday (this is the hope!) to train for a 10K run coming up in May. Keith started his P90X again this Monday, and I began my Turbo Jam videos again.

We'll see how this goes!

Since we got married in July 2010, we've both eaten a lot healthier. Always buying fresh food and cooking from scratch is one of the main things we do to keep all the bad and yucky stuff out of our diets. As of October 2011 we stopped eating out (we have gone out I think maybe only 3 times since then, but it was for some special event!) mostly to save money, but hey! It's helping us keep healthy as well.

One of Keith's goals has been to get to work before 9am. Even 8:30am (the time he's supposed to start). This is HUGE! And he's been doing it and I'm so proud of him. It means he gets to come home earlier too which is sweet! Usually if he got to work at 9:15am he'd always stay at least until his 5:15pm time, but usually later. Now that he gets there earlier and leaves earlier.

One of my goals this year was to try to actually do what I write in my agenda. And I write everything in my agenda. So this includes house chores, school work, Bible readings, shopping lists, exercise goals etc.
So, today I'm working through all the little tick boxes I made in my agenda and really hoping to get them all done!

This year is a year I hope to be more disciplined...in every area. I just need to make the time to do the things I've always said I wanted to do. And being realistic about them. I tend to cram too many things in my week. If any of you have seen our week-at-a-glance chalkboard - you know exactly what I'm saying. I then get overwhelmed because I didn't have time to do any of the little things here and there that I need to do. And these are simple everyday things, like cleaning the house, cooking a meal, doing laundry, spending time with God, taking care of myself etc.

I think my problem is when someone asks "are you free?" I look in my agenda, find a time and say "yes!" Which have made for so many awesome hangs. But I realize that my family and myself is important too. And I need to make time for that.

I'm hoping to keep my week days and night focused on school, work and the home while spending time each day in God's Word. Weekends can be my time to relax and spend time with friends. Sundays are reserved for spending time with my church family and times with my flesh and blood family and my in-laws. :)

2012, this is it. Here we go.

Jesus Loves Miso

So back in...May? June? Keith and I got our first pet. Miso.

I've wanted a hedgehog since Gr. 8. I always said "when I grow up I want a hedgehog." And then a bit later it was "When I grow  up I want a hedgehog named Miso."

I remember holding a hedgehog in Gr. 8 and at first being scared but then realizing that it was actually "soft". If felt like a guy's hair with hairspray in it.

Well, years later, my amazing husband surprised me (well, tried to) with a hedgehog!

We named it Miso. Just like I always wanted.

Except. He is NOT soft.

In fact, I'm slightly terrified of him.

He's not the friendliest hedgehog. He's quite a jerk actually. And our friends that babysat him while we were away called him an a$$hole.

That said. I love him. I don't hold him. But I love him.

I've learned to enjoy him from a distance and I clean his cage every morning (and when I forget or run out of time, Keith does).

I must admit, I did want to give him away at one point. Who wants a pet you can't hold??
But, Keith holds him a lot and Miso and Keith are great friends and it warms my heart to see it. Like for real.

Me on the other hand - I actually cried once because I was so scared to touch him when he was on my lap and he was burrowing. Sigh.

He's adorable. So it makes up for me not being able to hold him.

I think when/if we get our next hedgehog we'll do it properly, as in get it from a breeder when it's still young. Miso had a traumatic upbringing (in my eyes). He started off at a pet store (ack!) and then moved to a home where he was loved and cared for for a month, and then came to our home. I think the pet store start and the moving from home to home scarred the poor fellow. He's so jumpy and scared and hissy.

Keith is really patient and gentle with him though and he's slowly, very slowly, warming up to us (Keith).

So, that's our Miso! He scares the crap out of me and warms my heart at the same time.

Keith picking him up from his previous owner.

After Miso's first bath. Keith is holding him in his towel. It has a chicken on it.

Miso being babysat by Keith's friend. This is where he was nicknamed  a$$hole.

A shirt that I got for Keith after we got Miso that he proudly wears.

Remembering Asia

This time last year...

Bus reflection in Taiwan.

Po Po cutting down rambutans from the yard, Malaysia.

Keith's "adventure" helmet, Malaysia.

Us on the bike at Po Po and Gong Gong's home in the driveway, Malaysia.

That's So Pinteresting!

I'm completely addicted to this site. Slightly obsessed.
It's just so wonderful. And my absolute favourite website to spend time on.
Such a great way to collect ideas and interests!

Thank you pinterest.com!

My Pinterest Boards...where I collect ideas!

Inspired

Yesterday was Day 1 of 10 Minute Trainer.

Today was Day 2. I'm hoping that this is a lifestyle thing for me. I finally found something that I can do and have absolutely no excuse even though I hate exercising. It's only 10 minutes. I can't complain or make excuses.

Here are some quotes that made me happy and inspired today:

"Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret."


"Eat for the body you want, not the body you have."


"You should save the best part of yourself for the person who deserves you."


"Happiness is being married to your best friend."

Food Thoughts and Wall-E

We're down to our last 3 hours of the 30 hour famine.

We've been very productive - which shows me how much food runs our lives. I felt so lost yesterday around dinner time - shouldn't I be making dinner right now? Nope. Or having snacks available for us to eat, I always have little things to snack on in between meals (at the moment we are hooked on wasabi peas). It was so odd to not have food to eat or even as a thing to pass time. I realized how much of my energies in the day revolve around shopping for, preparing, eating and thinking about food.

You gotta love missing out on something to appreciate it...

Last night we did our taxes, we've been meaning to do them forever. Last night was the perfect time to do it since I didn't have to cook, eat or clean up after dinner. So that got done, woohoo!

This morning, I'm going to clean around the house in these last few hours since I don't have to plan, prepare, eat or clean up after breakfast.

Keith is making Wall-E. Yup. It's pretty adorable. We'll have to find a place for him in our home once he's done. Keith is painstakingly cutting out tiny pieces of paper and gluing them together to make an adorable little Wall-E.

What the finished product will look like, can't wait to have him in our home!

I love his little rubrics cube.

So far he has this much done.

This is the step he's on right now.

And yes, I count this as being productive :)

A good good night...

Walima's Cafe, amazing food, incredible people, home sweet home...

Photo Credits: Christine Tan and Iris Fan

Sleep Singing

Keith sings.
A lot.
And I love it.
I can always tell when he's coming home because I can hear him singing or whistling in the hallway.
He sings in the shower.
Doing dishes.
Right this minute beside me on the couch with a guitar.

And get this...in his sleep.

There's been many a night where I've woken up because Keith is humming in his sleep! I'm a light sleeper so I wake up easily to these impromptu concerts. It's wonderfully hilarious.

The other night he did it and I hummed the tune he did in my head a few times before going back to sleep so I could remember and tell him in the morning. But then that same night he did it two other times. So I got them mixed up. But was at least able to tell him in the morning I heard him three times!

Ben

I'm so proud of Ben.

[Ben, if you ever read this, I'm so proud of you.]

I wish I could find that note you wrote me before you went to Thailand, it must be around somewhere. I'll keep looking for it.

You keep finding what you're finding.

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." Jeremiah 29:11-13 [The Message]

Photo and more info from here.

Recent Life

Here are some recent life happenings.

This is Keith playing guitar the other night, reclined on our couch. He was tired, but the music was still beautiful.

This is Keith playing guitar the other night, reclined on our couch, through a chip hole. I was tired, hence the photo-through-a-chip-hole shot.

This is my favourite view in our home. When we're on the couch watching TV, I'm really looking at our dining room. I love it.

Our home makes me happy. I love being here.

These are the bunny Lai See's I got for the kiddies in our lives. I handed them out at church this morning, it was really fun.

This is our new plant Boo. He's a bamboo money tree. Forget the "luck" attached to it and the year of the Rabbit tag it came with, he's just plain handsome! He'll get along well with Craig, Lily, Pom, Vera and Spidey.

These are some really cute postcards I got today from Deadweight. Can't wait to send them out!

These are some really cool vintage stamps I got from Send More Mail. She had them displayed in the cutest little suitcase! Her pics of them are way better. Here's a little blurb and pics about the show.