Wisdom from Donkey Kong

Hi again!

It's been a good past few days. On Sunday we got to visit my side of the in-laws. Home sweet home :) Whenever we visit my side of the family, we always play Sequence. It's like a formula really: Visiting the Taguchis = Play Sequence. If any of you have a family of four (or there are four of you who want to play a board game), I highly recommend that game, it's really fun! I've always felt that nothing makes me happier than family, seriously. I'm lucky to have one.

Today my husband and I went to several stores and markets to restock our home. It's fun going grocery shopping with your beloved! If any of you haven't tried it give it a shot, quite fun!

Content Relevant to Title
For these past few days, I can't help but think that my "To-Do List" never seems to run out of things to do, especially when it comes to the things to do around the house. It's been sort of stressing me out, because I'm a huge task-oriented person. My sense of accomplishment doesn't really arise at the end of the day because the list still has stuff written down! My mind keeps rehearsing "We have to do...", "We haven't done..." :O Despite my husband kindly encouraging me to enjoy the journey and take it easy, it has still been a little struggle on my part.

Today for Family Home Evening, after reading a few scriptures, Chadsen and I played Donkey Kong for the activity. While playing this game I started burning with anger. Man, if anyone has this game Donkey Kong on the Wii, world 4 is SO card, the cave world!! My husband of course was able to beat the newest level with just a few tries, but I was far from his skill level with making Donkey and Diddy jump perfectly on a cart to reach the finish line. "Why is it so hard!?" As I kept losing more and more (before the level even started to begin -___-) I began to get SO upset. The more I tried the more angular my eyebrows got, if you know what I mean. I must've tried beating this level around 30 times. When I was about half-way through, I realized something important. I had realized that my goal of course was to finish the level and to accomplish this goal it was going to take patient effort and quite some time, knowing my personal skill level. I then began to slowly appreciate and take joy in the journey of my little improvements. I began to feel happy for making Donkey transition his cart onto two rails instead of just one! No, I didn't finish the level on my own yet, but I got to the halfway point! For me, that was good enough for now. Maybe another day I'll try again and improve a little more :)

So, with my house chores and "To-Do-List", I'm going to work on acknowledging and enjoying my little achievements. :)

FOOD

The following three pictures is the food that I mentioned in my past post, the food that my husband made. He called it the Honey Chook! He used an oven-toaster to make this (save $$, score for small ovens!).   

This chicken tasted amazing. He sort of winged it.
For the flavoring he used honey, soy sauce, a pinch of vinegar and oil (any type).
He just cooked them up in a pan, and poured it on the chicken to cook in the toaster oven :)
Before eating it we put extra honey on just for an extra punch of taste.
Delicious.

Amazing finding by our little family: Caramelized onions + corn = amazing.

I provided his kitchen armor >:).

I made this also on a tired day, when I didn't have enough energy to whip up something from scratch.
This is from Costco! Bacon-wrapped beef. It looks quite small, but don't let the size fool you, it fills you up!

This was really fun to cut into slices and see the chunk of lettuce turn into a fun Caesar salad! :)

The dressing:
Mayonnaise- 2 Tablespoons
Powdered cheese (I cut up shredded Parmesan cheese) - 1 Teaspoon
Milk - 1 Tablespoon
Ground garlic -  1/4 Teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 Teaspoon
Pepper - 1 pinch

Mix em up, and pour on about a 1/4 of a lettuce head.

Sunshine: 

That's me with no make-up. Ohhhp, oh well now you all know what I look like FOR REAL.
This is a huge stuffed toy of the character OM NOM from Cut the Rope that we found at FRY'S. So cute!

The kind Hruby family made this for us as a wedding gift!! Is this not cute?!
This is a homemade pillow with sewn on chinnies. It is sooo creative, I love this so much.
Thank you Hrubys!

This is another cute wedding gift from my friend Gloria.
Observe the right side of the girl cup, it's got a little jewel for her ring :)
We finally got to use this matching up the other day, thank you Gloria!

My husband and I could not resist buying this plate when we went to Marukai today.
This is so cute and hilarious... Cu-larious!

Masumi

Tired of Toast for Breakfast?

Today was a chill day of just going around doing chores. Buying some items, returning other items, working on Thank You cards, etc. One particularly nice thing about today: Chadsen made dinner! I will post about it another day, but it was honey baked chicken cooked with a toaster oven :) So goooood.

On the other hand, yesterday was a big pile of mishaps. You know those days when it seems as if nothing is going right? Well, yesterday was similar to one of those, but not nearly as bad as others. It all started with breakfast going bad, I tell ya. I was late to every appointment I made including my internship orientation. When I finished dinner I found out that I was missing one of the two main sauces to complete the meal (noooo!) The beginning of the day really seems to magically set the tone for the rest of the day. Usually I'm no big complainer, but yesterday I was just a big butt, freaking out about everything.

Please let me add that every issue worked out in the end. One thing I've learned throughout my life, is that at least for me, alot of things seem to work out. in fact I think sometes I take it for granted. When I get lost on the streets, it never bothers me. Despite feeling totally off the map I always feel confident that I'll find the destination somehow. So dear worrywarts, take me if you think you'll get lost! :)

Again, I repeat that the day was not so bad. Oddly, being late to the internship meeting, I got to get to talk to one of the leaders of the program, take home all of the baked goods (an almost full package of mini muffins, pan dulce, chocolate brownie, and another big tub of breakfast pastries), and received an unofficial part-time job offer from my coordinator. Lucky me! I'm excited to start internship next month, this will definitely be a learning experience.

Some things just for me in case I forget:

1. Me + Full-time job = Not good. Tried it week after being married. Don't like it, won't like it. I'm glad to have tried it though, cuz now I know!

2. From this point forward I am going to work on avoiding the phrase: "I'm tired of..." Hence the title should be the last time I very publicly say "Tired of..." hehe

FOOD:

Today the food item is relevant to the title.

Every time my Mom made this for breakfast, I'd beam with joy. This is a twist from the ordinary cereal or toast with butter. It's nice because it's a package of carbs, fruit, and protein in the morning!

Simple recipe: (for 2 ppl)
1 small baguette (or 1/2 a large one)
Tangerines - 1/4 can
Ham - 1/2
Japanese mayonnaise (pronounced Q-P-)

1. Cut the baguette in desired widths
2. slice the tangerines in half (width-wise)
3. Slice the ham
4. Place the tangerines & ham on the baguettes
5. Add mayonnaise to finish the look
6. Toast! :)

This brings back SUCH childhood memories! I remember as a young girl, my neighbors & I would go to the Hogi Yogi store to buy their delicious frozen yogurt all the time. My favorite fruit to add was blackberry. When I found out that they were moving, it was a sad day for me :(.
FORTUNATELY, we found Hogi Yogi at Utah last weekend, so on the way home to Cali we stopped by. Yesss!
Childhood memory: observed.

Sunshine:

Chadsen and I thought that shirt was a total crack up. Maybe we've got odd 
humor, but look! I almost bought it.

I haven't seen www.smosh.com's "20 Images That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity". If you've already seen the other website's, ask yourself if you've seen the picture with the quarters, beautiful teen, duck saving, and the 1st grader. If not, this page is worth your time. It'll lighten up your heart. :)

http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/photos/images-will-restore-your-faith-humanity

Chadsen's dog is absolutely adorable. PLEASE take a look and agree. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcQv3XcF4SU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

See ya!

Masumi

Hypothesis about "Half-babies"

This weekend was a busy one. My husband, father in law & I traveled over to Utah for our cousin Rebecca and Omar's wedding. (Congratulations to the newlyweds! :)) Rebecca looked beautiful in the wedding dress that her mother, who is a seamstress, made for her. The two newlyweds looked so in love :). Rebecca & Omar came out here to California from Utah (or New York? Can't exactly remember) for our wedding last month, and now it was time to celebrate their big day! It was nice going out there and meeting with friends and family, especially our little adorable 2nd cousins. Not to impose the half-baby (half Asian, other half Caucasian) idea on these little ones, but they are so beautiful and well mannered!

It was a nice weekend, but hopefully road trips won't be on the to-do list for a long time. At least not one that takes as long to get to as Utah, because while not being the one driving, I was still pooped out by the end of the trip. (weaksauce)

Content Relevant to Title
For those who know me, I love little kids. I love squishing them, hugging them, pinching their chubs because they are so cute, but I've noticed that many "half-babies" are just particularly cute. I always wondered what it was about these "half-babies". Well, just a few weeks ago I established within myself about the reason why "half-babies" are so often such a beautiful sight to see. Well, it's more of a hypothesis. Most of these children have those large eyes with brown/blonde-ish hair, right? I figured out that they like those characters that are drawn so often in animes, those Japanese cartoons! Man, when I figured it out, wow, what an epiphany! Does anyone else agree?! If anyone else has another idea I'm all ears.

I missed making my own food during the entire road trip. It skipped my mind that a road trip meant fast food. I'm not a fan of fast food.

FOOD:
This is a side dish I made on one of the first days of our marriage. Veggies seem to be something that people just don't enjoy eating, but I think if it's prepared right, they can be delicious! Actually, I love veggie dishes, so much!

This dish has a bit of a potent Japanese smell/taste, so consider this a dish for my fellow Asians :) If you serve this, it's highly recommendable to eat with it plain rice to balance out the strong (yet yummy) taste.

If anyone wants to try it, here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
Tomato - 2
Chopped up Green Onion ~ 1/2
Sesame oil - 1 Tablespoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Instructions:
1. Wash & then cut up the tomatoes in bite-size pieces
2. Mix the Green Onions, sesame oil, and salt together
3. Add #2 to the tomatoes
Yum :)

Sunshine spotlight <33:

BOBA:
Boba was the most stand-off chinnie at BunnyBunch. When we tried to adopt her, she would bark and bark, running away. It took a while to even get her out of the cage when I wanted to see if I wanted to adopt her. She was sooo scared :(. Within a few months she started showing signs of trust by letting me pet her, and a year later after becoming a part of my life with Shifu, she finally has started letting me rub her chin. Now, when I put my head near her she sometimes tries to clean my hair as if cleaning her fellow chinnies' fur. Despite resulting in messed up hair it's really cute! I can't help but say "awww :')" I think she enjoys living with Shifu and her daughter Mimi.

It's the sweetest thing when people or animals open their hearts to you, trusting you <3

It's amazing what an iphone can do!

She often puts her little paws on that ledge, making it look as if
she's waiting for food on a little table. Makes me squirm!

(I'll post pics of more than the chinnies soon, but aren't they cute? :))

Masumi

Newly Married = Provident Living?

Hello, I'm Masumi. :)

This is my first post (It feels so different from having a journal), so here is a little introduction about 5 foot under me.

I am a Japanese American, currently studying Social Work for a BA. Just over a month ago, I got married to a wonderful, sweet husband :) It's been so sweet, so fun being married to your favorite person, your best friend When we moved out, we took with us sweet memories and lasting relationships. We also brought our three adorable chinchillas (shown below).

This blog will talk abt me, food that I've made or come across that my extremely picky taste buds approve of, and also a variety of things that touch my heart (like my irresistable chinnies) :)

Content relevant to post title:

While my husband and I were engaged, I was expecting nothing more than to live a humble newlywed life. You know those stories of dirt-poor newlywed days, "When we were first married..."? Yeah, somehow it didn't turn out so hard for the two of us. A month after marriage, I can't help but feel SO lucky, and SO well-off. What the heck happened? The gifts that the wedding reception guests gave us were mostly items that we had listed on the registries thinking "Well, we'll register for a lower-priced one, but it won't hurt to list this too?" For some reason, we have utensils that we didn't even have in our own homes. Adding to that generosity we've received, my father-in-law has been coming to our apartment weekly since we got married, up-grading our small apartment with each visit. This is bad, but sometimes I even get upset with him for bringing nice stuff (and he knows!)

I can't help but think over and over: "This is not how newlyweds are supposed to be living." Working since 15, I'm not used to having so much cool, nice stuff, and I never expected it for obvious reasons. Wealthy living wasn't a part of my family's life, but let me add that that never changed the value of my family. So, "this girl is so bragging" right? I will say, YES! ha ha but please hear this: I'm gratefully bragging about the generosity and kindness of the people around me. I learned so much during this time of marriage AND engagement. Through experience I make a bold statement that despite the growing number of people who live for themselves, there are still SO MANY people who have cultivated open, loving hearts and are willing to love love love. For those who feel discouraged from seeing a little too many ppl still stuck in the me-world, I know hearts can change. I can't help but feel so grateful, thankful. Thank you thank you thank you, if only I could finish these thank you cards more quickly. I know that God knows me and my worries, and He has blessed me through loving hands, both before and after the wedding.

So for anyone that is currently engaged, my advice: If you ask for help you'll be surprised with how many people are willing to help you. :) To bridesmaids & friends how have engaged friends, please ask them what you can help with (that's if you do want to help hoho), they'll appreciate it, promise.

DISCLAIMER: Overload of pictures. I've just got to post everything I've made so far, it's so exciting! It's quite empowering, knowing that I can cook! YAAS! From the next post, there should only be one or two pics, but it's not a guarantee... can't say how many adorbs will be posted though.

FOOD:

I've started cooking since marriage, and I can't help but feel the cooking flame from within just BURN. These are some of the things I've endeavored to make so far:

Thank you little cookbook, for having so many wonderful and simple recipes for newbies like myself. :))

This used a ketchup and soysauce sauce, and it tasted so good with the veggies :)

Mom makes this better, I need to improve on this one. It looks simple, but the sour plum and seaweed gives the dish a good kick.

This cold dish is so good with that sesame sauce on the side, promise. It's great for hot summer days, we've been stormed with them. My mom used to make this all the time. I loved it. Every time.

We got a huge packet of center-cut bacon at Costco. That meant that we got too much. Note to self: stick the bacon in the freezer. Tasted good tho.

Asian pear with grapes. Ok I just wanted to make it look cute, didn't cook it.

This had all sorts of things on the tomato from bits of bacon, panko, parsley, etc. The lemon juice on top finishes it :).

This simple carrot salad, was refreshing and nice. It felt so good not having to heat it up. The dressing was just olive oil and vinegar, with a little bit of black pepper.

Sunshine spotlight <33: b="b">

From left to right: Shifu, Boba & Mimi.

Mission: Take pictures that capture more light.

According to my husband: Mimi is an attention hog.

This is exciting!
Masumi