Tis the Season

13 more days until Christmas, 12 more days until our ski trip, and here's the scary one...11 more days until our Christmas Party!  I am not sure if I feel excited or like I want to go hide under the covers and cry because of what I have gotten myself into this time.  Normally I would be beyond excited to host a Christmas Party, but this Christmas Party is not what I would describe as normal.  Paul and I decided to organize a Christmas Party for all of the soldiers in his Platoon, thankfully the other LTs have decided to help too.  However, even with all of their help the cooking has been left up to me.
You see, I know I could just have all of the food ordered and sit back and maybe make a dish or two, but that defeats the purpose of why we decided this party was such a good idea.  We are blessed, I am able to live here with Paul and our house feels like home.  Of course we miss our families, but we still have that feeling of family here.  Paul and I get to enjoy home-cooked meals every night (every night I feel like cooking that is!).  The soldiers who don't have their families here are required to live on post in barracks, and the food available here gets old quick!  So this year we are going to try and give them a Christmas meal and a few hours that will make them feel like they are back home.  This means I am cooking for 30 people, organizing games, and trying to find holiday decorations that will make plastic tables and chairs look like a family table.  If only Martha Stewart could come and help!  I know she could make it work!
But alas there is no Martha here, so I will take it day by day....My goal today: bake at least 60 cookies, hopefully more.  I am excited about this party, I will just feel better once I see it coming together.

I love Fall!!!

We found a quiet spot to eat at the Rock Festival

Fall in Korea is absolutely fabulous!  The sun is shinning, its just cool enough for a sweater in the mornings, and during the day all I want to do is be outside!  This last week we really were able to take advantage of this weather because we were dog sitting one of our favorite dogs!  Zara had a great time visiting Soyosan for the Rock Festival, I think she may have liked all the attention more than the music though!  
I have also been keeping busy working out.  Maybe its the second trimester or maybe its the weather but I have been so motivated to get out to the gym!  Swimming has become my favorite cardio (we did 32 laps tonight)!  I am still able to beat Paul rowing!  Hiking is so great this time of year I just wish I could do everything everyday!  If Korea were like this year round I would never leave.

14 weeks 4 days

 

I'm pregnant not paralyzed!

Finally my normal energy level is back (unfortunately for Paul I am back to getting up early even on the weekends!), the weather is amazing, and I am so excited to workout!!!!  However, I have found not everyone is as excited for pregnant women to be working out...  I understand people are concerned for the safety of the baby, but I am not going to push myself so hard that it is uncomfortable.  That being said, I STILL WANT A WORKOUT!!!!!  I guess I need to vent.  Do not tell me to go to physical therapy because I am pregnant...there is nothing wrong with my body.  Last time I checked it was designed to do this whole pregnancy thing.  So if you don't think I can handle your fitness class fine, but don't think that is going to stop me from working out the way I like and doing what feels good to me.
I still have a little bit of hope left.  I am meeting a trainer on Tuesday and I will give her a month, I am going to be very honest with her.  I want a workout not a brisk walk, and a few old granny strength exercises.  I want to feel good after my workout, and I want it to be WORK!
For extra inspiration I have found my new favorite blog!  http://onefitmom.ca/

Oh Baby!

We're pregnant!!!!!  Somehow those words sounded so much better before morning sickness...but I have made it through three horrible months and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Yes, I can see the glorious second trimester light!
Those three months were far from easy, ending with a trip to the ER.  However, this was not a bad thing, you see I met the most amazing doctor in the world!  He gave me drugs that stop the nausea, I love him!  So now that I am eating somewhat normal foods again, and this cold (that I seemed to have caught while I was in the hospital) is going away I have to say I have never felt so good before in my life!  I can't wait to get back to the gym everyday...spin class here I come!  The other news that is so exciting...mangos the commissary has boxes of mangos and I am going to buy some today!  Maybe this is just exciting to me since I have been craving that glorious, juicy, so sweet, and soooooo YUMMY fruit for a couple of days now!  I feel like this is going to be the best fall ever!!!!

Bastrop Wildfires

I have been following the news lately about the wildfires in Bastrop and it breaks my heart.  Thankfully my parents sold their house last year, so they were not hurt, but all of our neighbors have lost everything.
It is one of those times when looking back I can see that God had a wonderful plan for my family, and I am so thankful for that.  My parents were able to sell their house and find another place they love, I'm not sure that they had ever planned on moving exactly when they did, but now I am so glad they followed God's plan and not their own.
The wildfire started a street away from where we lived, I'm not sure if they would have been able to get all of our dogs out in time.  Even if they would have there is no way everything in the house could have been saved.  I can not imagine how people who still live there must feel, to me it is still unreal that the house I grew up in is gone.  It hasn't sunk in that the rose garden I built when I was little has been burnt to ashes.  Or that the trees I climbed aren't there.  But those things aren't what really matter in life.  What matters is family and loved ones.  So while I am so sad for everything that has been lost, I am so happy everyone is safe!

Thanksgiving in Bastrop

I feel like God has put me in a position to really reach out and help those who lost their houses, unfortunately since I am on the other side of the world it is not as easy as driving to Bastrop with donations.  I will continue to pray for everyone, but I wish more than anything that there was something else I could do to help!

What do you do everyday?

"What do you do everyday?" seems to be the question I get asked the most...so here is the answer, and I am so sorry if it is extremely boring, you asked.  This morning I slept late so my morning cleaning was cut short, and to be honest I am not too disappointed about that!  Morning cleaning consists of cleaning the floors, picking up stuff that gets scattered around the house, cleaning the kitchen, laundry...fun stuff!  After that I spent 30 minutes reading "Water for Elephants" still not done with the book.  By that time it was 11:15 which means time to start getting lunch ready...today I made green monster smoothies, potatoes, and green beans.  I usually start eating before Paul gets home so I have time to put some make-up on and look like I kinda tried to get ready.  I drop Paul back off at work so I will have the car for the rest of the afternoon (YAY!!!!).  Since I now have transportation I try and run a few errands, today I tried to go by the finance office, but it was closed, so instead I went to check mail.  I don't know why but checking mail has always been my favorite.  Even when I paid for all of the packages we get it is still like Christmas time (this could be because it can take up to a month for stuff to get here so half the time by the time I get what I ordered I have completely forgotten exactly what I ordered...).  I use this excitement to get me through a tough workout at the gym and now its 3:00 so time to go home.  Now I usually get rushed, I make a quick snack eat, do any extra cleaning that needs to be done, maybe start on supper, and pick up Paul from work anywhere from 3:30 to 6:00.  We eat supper, then he either has a flag football game or needs to study for the LSAT (I prefer flag football!).  After that we are ready to sit on the couch and watch a T.V. show, read, or talk (yeah WE aren't always so into the talking!).  That is a normal day here.  I am starting a new project, that end up taking LOTS of my time, but for now I am going to keep it a secret. ;-)

They do exist!

I would just like to share my joy with everyone, and perhaps you can not truly appreciate this joy unless you have dealt with the lovely military health care system...but after being referred to an off post doctor (which took weeks to process) I spoke to a receptionist who was friendly!!!!!!  She was not able to get back to me this morning and she apologized for it.  So to all of those people who work in customer service and take responsibility for your actions and who are not lazy and who do not tell people to call back in a week and who do not give clients another number to call just so you don't have to do work...THANK YOU!

Lotte World

Lotte World is the Korean version of Disney World, only so much cuter!  We spent all day riding roller-coasters, watching parades, and trying to look like all the other Korean couples!  I can't wait to go back!

Of course it's green tea!

We were so excited to see what Lotte World is all about!

Ok, now I'm kinda scared of the ride...

So all of the Korean couples wore matching bows (and clothes) so somehow I convinced Paul to do the same!

No Sick Days Allowed

I have been so excited for Paul to finally get back home from the field and yesterday that day finally arrived!  I would like to make a side note that I would not normally write this on my blog but because of some comments that were made I find that now is as good of a time as ever to make an exception to what I would "normally" do.  So anyways I was so excited for Paul to get home I have been cleaning the house, making plans for what we would do when he got home, basically anything to keep my mind off of only so many more days!!!!  Of course my body seems to always have just the best timing for everything and I have been feeling myself starting to get sick the past couple days...last night it really hit me and I fell asleep at 7:30pm.  I was woken up at 10:30 by Paul calling me telling me to come pick him up, I can not describe to you how much my head hurt and how awful I felt for feeling bad the day he got home...but I was determined to make the best of the situation so I told him I would be there to pick him up just let me wake up so I could drive.  Ten minutes and an advil later I am in the car driving to pick him up when he calls asking where am I because he is waiting...now maybe I didn't make the best decision at this point but I have never forgotten to pick him up and I am always able to wake up quickly so I was kind of surprised he would doubt I was already on my way but I figured it would be really funny to play a joke on him...so I acted as if I was still really sleepy and was still in bed he totally bought into it which I couldn't believe!  Unfortunately for me so did his friends...I will get to that later.  When I get there to pick him up the advil had started working and I was so proud of myself for pulling of such a good joke!
This morning I woke up feeling so much worse...my headache hadn't gone away, if anything it had gotten worse and my throat felt swollen and so sore, but Paul was home and I had to make him breakfast the first day he was back!!!  So I roll out of bed and make him a great breakfast before I go back to sleep.  I slept until nearly noon today and if you know me that NEVER happens...maybe I will sleep until 9 and that is when I am really exhausted.  So I call Paul and I am not in a good mood, which I would like to apologize for, but when he told me he was going to eat with his friends and for me to meet them I was not too excited to get up and dressed and look presentable enough to go out in public.  Thankfully Paul decided to come home and take care of me!  I someone must have said something because Paul was not in a great mood and it took him all of his lunch break to realize that I was really sick and not just being a mean person asking him to come home.  So finally at the end of his lunch break he tells me that one of his "friends" told him last night that he should divorce me because I wasn't there to pick him up.  Yes, I am sure it was just a joke but that is not something to joke about.  Also today that same "friend" was muttering about me when I was upset Paul wasn't coming home for lunch.
So I know I should just take this with a grain of salt, but I can't.  Maybe its being sick, or maybe its because it is not a good time of the month or maybe it is both of those things combined along with knowing I have done nothing but nice things for this "friend."  But instead of laying in bed trying to feel better I am going to suck it up, get dressed, take advil, make some coffee, do whatever it takes to become semi-functional again and not allow Paul to take care of me.  I have now decided that as a wife there are no sick days.  No matter how horrible you feel, how badly your head hurts, how much you just want to sleep, people still expect you to take care of your husband and magically feel better.  I will never understand why this one person seems to hate me so much, or why I have taken it so personally and allowed it to make me feel as if I can't just rest.  But trying to rest just makes me feel guilty, it makes me terrified that one day Paul may listen to this person and decide that maybe a divorce wouldn't be such a bad idea.  I want to be a good wife, I am sorry I was sick.  I will no longer ask my husband to come home for lunch because I miss him (its been a month since I have seen him for more than a day), I will no longer take sick days, I will no longer be human I will somehow find a way to be super woman.

The trip of a lifetime!

I will post pictures later...once I find my camera cord. 

Korean Time: 8:08am Local Time (Dubai): 3:03 am So far the flight has been great...well besides the whole sleeping and waking up every hour or so, but I really shouldn't complain because that is much better than how I normally sleep on an airplane! I am really going to have trouble when we move back to the States and I have to fly because the last few international flights have been amazing! I could totally get used to the huge airplanes, two meals during the flight, having a variety of movies and T.V. Shows to watch. The only part of this trip I don't like so far is not having enough time in each country. I would love to spend at least a day exploring Dubai and Germany! But, since there is no way I will have time I will have to make the best of exploring England and Ireland! I have a great plan for what I am going to do in England next week...no getting ahead of ourselves though, in Dubai my goals are to sleep and buy a postcard for my mom. I am currently thirty minutes from my first destination, let the adventure begin!

Korean Time: 7:30pm Local Time (Germany) 12:30 pm I am so confused about what time it is and what day. I have never had jet lag this badly, but I guess thats what traveling thru 3 different time zones does to a person. The weirdest feeling was when I got to Dubai....after a 9 hour flight that left Korea at 11pm it was still dark in Dubai! I was starting to wonder if there would ever be daylight again! But now it is daylight and I am starting to wonder when it will ever get dark again! At least now I will be in the same time zone for the next few days. On a much more positive note, I am LOVING this airplane...it has an outlet by my seat so I can plug in my computer. As much as I love this plane I am looking forward next two shorter flights! After over fifteen hours on two planes three hours on two planes sounds like a breeze!

Korean Time: 10:30pm Local Time (Germany) 3:31pm After a large cup of coffee I am maybe kind of adjusting to the time difference...maybe. I just have to make it a few more hours until my last flight! I am feeling very out of place here. Not because I look different but because I look the same. It is the first time I have ever traveled to a country where I look like I should speak the same language. I have gotten so used to looking different that looking the same but not really being the same is so weird! It was very odd going through security and having people talk to me in German, I just stared back and looked very confused! At least most of the words in German are similar enough to kind of figure out (when they are written NOT so much when they are spoken).

So this seems like the perfect time to bring up something Paul and I are considering...we have heard there might be a way to go to Germany after Korea. We haven't made our minds up either way yet...just something we are thinking about. Right now I would love to move here! We still have a year and a half to decide, I just thought I would mention it since I am here. Now time for some SNL while I wait three more hours until I'm on my way to London!

Korean Time 12:30am Local Time (Ireland) 4:30pm: My flight arrived early this morning so I was able to spend some time walking around exploring this quaint town (Killarny). It really is quite lovely! Megan and Chase got here around 1 and we have spent the past three hours walking around and enjoying this Irish afternoon! Now everyone is resting and trying to adjust to the time change...we are going on a carriage ride either tonight or tomorrow morning to see a castle! I can't wait to take pictures from that trip!!!!

London Time 6:30: Today is the last day of my vacation...kind of sad, but I am happy to be on my way back home. This was truly one of the best vacations I have ever had! Megan and Chase's wedding was so special. The church was unreal, it looked like it was from a fairy tale, Megan's dress was elegant, the reception was a blast, but what really made the wedding so special were the people. Just looking at Megan and Chase you could tell they really love each other. They had their closest friends and family there, all of whom loved them, as was evident when the toasts were given. I made it through the wedding without crying too much, but when I heard the toasts...that is another story! Enough sappy stuff the reception was a BLAST!

I am exhausted from last night, but I did manage to drink enough coffee to go into London today! What did I do in London? SHOPPING! I found an adorable teapot and teacups. I am so ready to host an afternoon tea when I get back. After the first part of my shopping trip I stopped in a pub for some fish and chips...YUM

P.S. My two new favorite words are lovely and brillant. I love the food here and American food is very quickly becoming my least favorite.

Korean (and now local) Time 6:00pm: I am so glad I made it on the express train to Seoul Station. I hate line 1 more than just about anything! It seems like the perfect way to end a perfect trip catching the train to cut my travel time back home from the airport in half! Paul won't be home for a few more days so I have time to rest and finish unpacking from our last shipment! I am so proud of all the things I bought on my trip...among other things I bought pillow cases from Dubai for our couch, tea set from London, and Baileys straight from Ireland for our bar! I find it very funny that a small town girl from Texas is traveling the world. Five years ago I would have never dreamed that I would be living in South Korea, traveling around Europe, and planning other trips around Asia. I know God has a wonderful plan for my life and I can not belive what he has already done!

One Year Anniversary!

This past weekend was our one year anniversary, I can't belive it has already been a year!  Since Paul had a 4 day weekend we decided to spend Friday-Sunday celebrating.  I had made it very clear what I was expecting and I have to admit I wasn't too sure Paul would be able to pull it off.  We had great plans to go to Ireland for our anniversary, but Paul couldn't take leave for that long...then we had great plans to go to the beach for the weekend, but no one could tell us exactly when Paul would have off... and then, thanks to the army, the great plans were no more...or so I thought.  Friday we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, amazing!!!!  We spent all morning there walking around (I had no idea the palace would be so big, with so many different buildings!).  By lunch time we were both starving...so we went to Rollin'!  Saying I LOVE sushi doesn't really describe my obsession with that food.  When we got back I was a little upset we weren't able to stay anywhere overnight, I don't know why but staying in a hotel is relaxing.  Paul reminded me how we had wanted to but it just wasn't possible...so Sunday (our actual anniversary) rolls around and all of a sudden my makeup, some of my clothes, and Paul are missing.  I knew he was up to something...he knew how much I had wanted to just stay somewhere overnight that was not our house so he had made a reservation at the Camp Casey Lodge and had rose petals and candles everywhere in the room (just like he had the night of our wedding).  He even remembered the kind of chocolates he had bought and had them in the room too.  It wasn't Ireland nor the beach but it was so special.

One of the palace gardens

The guards in front of the palace...I was a little scared!

A Typical Weekend in Korea

This past weekend we decided to go on a shopping/exploring trip and we had a great time!  It was only supposed to be a few hours but there was so much to see we ended up spending the entire day walking around Lotte Department Store and the surrounding local shops.
Lotte Department Store is unlike any other mall I have seen.  It is 10 stories and has an amazing food court, restaurants, a movie theater and EVERYTHING you would ever want!  I mean there are tons of different departments: electronics, clothes, kitchen, furniture, sports, sports clothing, professional clothing, casual clothing, baby clothing, shoes, purses, make-up....you get the idea!  I found a cute little purse there!

Once we left Lotte, we found a huge shopping area across the street...I was so excited to find a headband to match my purse!  It makes me feel Korean when I wear it.

  So they take seafood seriously here...there are so many of these tanks outside of restaurants.  This one was one of the best we have seen yet, I loved the eel in there!

We spent Sunday recovering from our day of shopping and I made some blueberry breakfast bread for Monday morning.  I don't really like Mondays, and who does?  So at least I can try and make the day better with a great breakfast!  We love the weekends here!

Spring Has Sprung

Paul and I have spent the last few weekends digging up rocks and replacing them with lovely flowers.  Our living room has been turned into a greenhouse for all the little seedlings to delicate to go outside just yet.  There the trees here are look so pretty covered in cherry blossoms, and they smell heavenly!  The weather outside has been perfect, sunny and the high is in the 60s!  I have seen huge earthworms in our garden, which makes me so happy, and everyday, when I look outside and see my rose bush it makes me smile!

I got so excited when I saw him crawling around in the garden!

I had to include this picture, I have found two of these bugs in our house and they are so scary

Besides our garden keeping me busy, I have been debating what I should do for work.  I don't really want to work at the PX or Commissary (these seem to be the only jobs available), so I am going to see what I would have to do to be an English Tutor.  I already have a work visa, so I think it is a good idea to look into.  I have also broken down and decided to see what the FRG is like here.  Some of you may know I hate the term Army Wife (I am Paul's wife I am not married to his job and you never hear the term business wife, or lawyer wife) and I HATE everything I do to revolve around Paul's job.  I feel like it is important to have things I do that are separate from Paul, things just for me.  That being said, I also like to be busy every second of everyday.  I like to be the kind of person that is able to and has to get a million things accomplished in one day... Since I quit my job I have not had a million things to do each day so adding some things to my to do list is a necessity.  We will see how this FRG stuff turns out, and if it is too "Army Wifeish" I will say adíos!  But just for the record I am going into this with an open mind and I am hopeful that there will be meaningful volunteer opportunities.

Paul and I are also planning to have a party this summer (I like to say garden party he prefers to say grilling party, we'll see what ends up on the invitations...).  We have been looking at outdoor furniture and trying to decide exactly what we would like for this party.  I don't want to say too much, but if it turns out like we want it will be a great party!    

What we have been up to

I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated out blog!  We have been so busy the past few weeks, and the weekends have been packed with everything we wanted to do during the week but never had time for!  A couple weekends ago we decided to pick a place and go see what was there...  We found a fun little shopping area with all kinds of touristy shops and some restaurants.  We had been looking for one that was supposed to have a good kimchi stew...no luck finding it but we did find kimchi pancake!!!!!  Paul is never too sure about anything as spicy as kimchi so we also ordered a leek and seafood pancake...we both ended up liking the kimchi pancake more (the leek one was also very good!)!

That weekend we also adventured out to Itaewon for some antique furniture looking, there were so so so so many shops!  It really was a bit overwhelming so we needed a great mean afterwards...and we got it!  Some of the best sushi I have ever had at Rolling in Sushi!  I would give up a lot of things to eat that sushi...and I didn't even take a picture of it, but I did remember to take a picture of the wine...very different from what I am used to.  It was good but VERY strong and it tasted similarish to Moscato. 

I have to say I have become very spoiled when it comes to food lately...I have lunch and dinner cooked for me at the school and whenever you go to a restaurant here the main course comes with lots of different sides, and costs much less than meal would in the U.S.  The food at the school is all organic and so amazing!!!!

This was my snack while I practiced Korean!!!!!!!

This post seems to be jumping from one thing to another so why not add another funny random thing...  Paul and I got a mirror for our house.  I love mirrors and couldn't wait to get it up (still can't wait)!  Well who knew a mirror could be so difficult to hang, an hour and half and 11 holes in the wall later the mirror is still sitting on the floor...  We did get it right once, but it was upside-down.  But to be fair it was 9pm before we started and we had spent 4 hours on the subway (another funny story) and 3 hours gardening...maybe that justifies why it took us so long to not hang a mirror?

 

Flowers

This past weekend was wonderful!  So much so I forgot about work until Sunday night...which is both good and bad.  It was a great break, but I ended up needed lots of help from Paul today so I could do my science experiment.  He was so wonderful because he had to go find play dough, and something to make a volcano...I know it doesn't sound hard, but when your in the middle of a huge city with no supermarket close it is very difficult.  He found everything and my students were able to learn about volcanos!

Anyways, this weekend we were able to explore Yongjae Flower market in Seoul.  It is about 6 stops from my house, but when you walk into the green houses it feels like a world away!  There were thousands and thousands of orchid plants in the two green houses we went into.  Honestly it was a bit overwhelming.  We had to take a break for lunch half-way through our trip, so we went to a traditional restaurant where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor.  Let me tell you I LOVED it!  It was so relaxing to take my shoes off and just sit down and enjoy a meal...not exactly sure what we ate, but it was pretty good!

Paul had to carry the flowers all the way through the subway!

It made it home safely! 

I love looking at it every time I come come!

So so blessed!

I had to write this blog entry now while I was feeling inspired... It's from my iPhone so there may be some mistakes which I apologize for now! But this flower cafe (floriat) is just too cute! And sitting here mad e me think about all of the wonderful experiences I have had! I have been to the Dominican republic, Mexico, costa rica, Korea, and soon Ireland! I have tasted some of the best fruits, coffee, chocolate, kimchi, and now my taste for teas is expanding! I may only be 20 years old but because I was blessed with such a loving family I have also been so blessed to have visited so many very different places! Sure, there are many other 20 year olds who have been more places, but it's not the places that make traveling so special. It's the people. Everywhere we go there is something that can be learned both about ourselves and others. Every culture expresses things differently, but in every culture there is love. Because without love for others there would be no common bond, there would be no culture. So while I could talk all day about each individual culture an how they are different I think it is more important to say remember how they are the same. the greatest expression in the world is to love others. So while it is so easy to see how others are different, remember everyone needs to be shown love. Without it what is there?

Finally I get to Unpack!

After living in a temporary apartment for 10 days, I can not tell you how excited I was to move into my apartment and be able and unpack all of my clothes!  But, at the same time I was nervous that my place would not be as nice as I had wanted.  I LOVE IT!  It is a 10 minute walk to the school, and about a 5 minute walk to the subway!  The only bad thing is, in Korea very few apartments have ovens...Koreans don't bake!  Then again maybe it is a good thing because I won't be eating brownies and cookies...or I will just find a good bakery!

This is going to be my garden room!

and I thought I was done with little beds...

My kitchen!!!!

This is what you see when you walk in!!!

I am supposed to be getting a dresser either today or tomorrow and then it is going to be shopping for my apartment time!!!!  I have some really great ideas of what I would like to do with the place!