Good Bday.. Relaxing Weekend..!

My husband always knows how to make my birthdays special!  And this weekend was twice as special because we found out Thursday night that he made Staff Sergeant!!  So congrats to my hubby, I'm so proud of him.  :)  So for our wonderful reasons to celebrate, I made a cake.. which turned out to be freaking amazing.

I used this yellow cake recipe and then a chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting.  I think it's safe to say that it's the best yellow cake I've ever had.  I even had a piece for breakfast.  I love being an adult for that very reason, ha ha!

So for my birthday my hubby took me shopping in Itaewon all day on Saturday and I bought some really cute tops and a necklace.  He surprised me with a couple of other things and a really sweet card... and he also told me that I can pick out a keyboard so I have something to practice on after my piano lessons!  Getting to Itaewon in itself was an adventure.. but I won't tell that story, for my husband's sake (your welcome, babe.. hahaaha).  Besides the Koreans breathing down your neck to buy something, and every 5 minutes some man is asking you if you want a custom tailored suit, it was a good time!  We even bought some super awesome sunglasses..

 

Ok, I'm so totally kidding... but those sunglasses are hilarious!  I was hoping to actually see someone walking down the sidewalk with them on, but no such luck.  Instead of riding the subway back to Osan... because I had definitely had enough of the subway for one day... we hopped on the bus at Yongsan Army Post.  When we got back to Songtan we decided to take a chance and finally go out for some Korean food (for the first time since we've been here!).  I think the restaurant was called Nobloo?  Maybe.. I'm not really sure.  It was actually really good!  Don't ask me what we ate, because I have no idea.  Coleman called it 'beef on a leaf'... which pretty much sums it up.  It was like a lettuce wrap... beef, kimchi, onion, some sauce... yum yum.. 

Sunday we had a super relaxing day... it was gorgeous outside so we went to the pool, and then we hung out and watched movies all day and ordered in some pizza.  Now that is my kind of weekend!  Had to get all my relaxing in because I have a feeling this week is going to be crazy.  Time to start looking for some flights back to the states so I can be there for when TMO comes to pack up our stuff... FINALLY............

Orangeade

So this past weekend Coleman and I went out to eat at an Italian place called Pasta Vino.. and it was SO good.  I ordered the linguine alfredo with a lemonade and Coleman ordered the chicken linguine alfredo with an orangeade.  I've never had orangeade before, but it was delicious.  It was just like lemonade, except with oranges.. obviously.  They made it right in front of us (yes, they squeezed the oranges and everything!) so I kind of got the idea of how to make it so I could try it at home.  It's delicious and refreshing and perfectly orangey.

 You will need:

• 6 Oranges
• 3 Lemons (or limes, either will work)
• 1/2 cup Sugar Syrup
• Sprite/Soda Water/7up

For this I made a simple syrup, or sugar syrup, kind of  like I made for the fresh-squeezed lemonade.  So you can go take a look at that if you don't know how to make it.

 Then squeeze the juice from 6 oranges (should be about 1 3/4 cup) and squeeze the juice from 3 lemons (should be about 1/2 cup).  Mix together in a pitcher with 1/2 cup of the sugar syrup and top it off with sprite... or soda water, whichever you choose.  You can add some water if it's too tart.  You can always alter to ingredients to your taste!  Add some ice, and you're set to serve!

 It makes about 1 liter of orangeade.  And I put it in my new, cute little Korean pitcher... awww..

Weekend at the Zoo & Learning Korean..

So I've took it upon myself to start learning Korean.  I'm going to try to teach myself, and I think with the right materials it will be pretty easy to do.  When Coleman and I went to Home Plus a few days ago (another place that's kind of like a Wal-Mart), we bought some giant magnetic Korean letters and this weekend we're going with some friends into Seoul to get some workbooks and things.  I think I have the alphabet down.. so that's a start!  Knowing some Korean will definitely make life a little easier around here.  At Home Plus we also got this adorable water pitcher -- I'm going to try to make some orangeade tonight, so I'm excited to use the pitcher haha.  When Coleman and I went out to eat last weekend at Pasta Vino, he ordered some orangeade and it was absolutely amazing.  So I'm going to try to recreate it.. yum.

 This last weekend we also went to the zoo in Seoul.  It was only about an hour train ride and the zoo was absolutely huge.  I'm pretty sure my feet and ankles were swollen at the end of the day from all that walking.  I think it's time for me to invest in some new walking shoes... pumas, maybe?  My birthday is coming up.. sooo.  :)  The trip to the zoo was quite the adventure.  And it's kind of hard to ride the subway when you don't read Korean.. there was an old man on the train who was trying to help us, but of course he didn't speak English.  But he was really sweet anyways.  It was so hot out that day (let me tell you, Korean heat is the worst heat EVER) so I was fanning myself with my hand.  Well the old man was carrying this huge fan and so he started fanning me with it... hahahaha.  Now I know why they carry those things.. I need to get one.. heat & humidity is horrible here. 

I still haven't had any Korean food yet.  I don't know how that's possible, but I haven't.  I've had Japanese, American, Italian... but no Korean!  What the heck!  Maybe we'll have some this weekend when we go into Seoul.

The next couple months are going to be busy.  My birthday is this month, but I'm not sure what we're going to do for it.  I'm sure we'll think of something.. there's tons to do around here, and so much to explore.  I definitely want to go to Itaewon to go shopping, and take a tour of the DMZ too.  Maybe that's what we'll do.. :)  Or maybe I'll get new pumas.. or a kindle.. orrrrr.. who knows.  But I do know that I want to make a birthday cake... I'm thinking this one, yes?  I don't think Coleman will object.  And then September 1st we leave to go back to the states for a month.  I'll get to finish up some things for the wedding, and we will renew our vows on September 25th!  I CAN'T WAIT!!  There are so many awesome wedding websites that have been giving me such awesome ideas (TheKnot, WeddingWire, StyleMePretty, ProjectWedding are some of my favorites).

Ok, well I'm going to go create a recipe for some orangeade.  And maybe watch a little CSI, since that's the only TV show they show here that's in English.  Ugh.

I'm not in the USA anymore.

And I think I just realized it yesterday.

Coleman and I decided to take a trip out into the city the other day.. a little change of scenery, to see what else we could get into around here. We went to E-mart, which I suppose would be the equivalent to a Wal-Mart in the states. It was fun to look around and I can't wait to go back because they had some really neat things there. While we were there I had to pick up a hair dryer because the one I brought with me about fried our power converter. Not only that, but it sucks having to drag that converter box from room to room whenever I need to plug something in.

After that, we were pretty hungry so we were going to get a bite to eat at the food court in E-mart. We got in there and realized.. well crap, we can't read anything on the menu. And there were no pictures, so it's not like we could just point to something that looked good. That really sucked. And that's when I realized that I'm definitely in a different country. It's weird being the outsider, being the minority. Looks like it's time to teach myself a little bit of Korean, otherwise it's going to be a long 2 years! So we went downtown and ate at Happy Teriyaki.. which seems to be a favorite around here. And now I have a new favorite appetizer/snack.. yaki gyoza. YUM.

This weekend we also went to this neat little restaurant/coffee/pastry place called the Heavenly Bread Company and it's only like a 5 minute walk from our home.. awesome!  Coleman has a strawberry mango smoothie and I had a white chocolate mocha.. and we split this chocolate mousse cake thing.. I'm not really sure what it was, but it was delicious!  I can't wait to go back- they had all kinds of yummy looking pastries and breads, and their coffee was good too!

 

 One thing I wish I would have done before coming here is shopped for more summer clothes.. it is dang HOT here.  Now, I have a lot of clothes (or at least my parents think so.. haha), but not nearly enough tank tops for living here, imo.  Maybe it just feels 10x hotter because I walk everywhere?  Maybe.

Finally made it to Korea!

I'm trying to do laundry right now.  We have an insane amount to do, and I have no idea how to work the wash/dry machine.  The landlord came over to show us how to work it (because it's all in Korean.. all of our appliances are), and I just put in a load of towels... sooo.. we'll see how this turns out.  I don't even know if I put the detergent in the right spot, haha.

All the flights to get here were good.  They were all smooth and trouble free.  I slept for about 7 hours on the flight to Japan, so that helped to speed up the flight.  We stopped at Misawa AB in Japan for about an hour and half, and then headed to Osan AB, which was a 2 hour flight.  I was so impatient when we landed!  Of course they let all the "important" people off the plane first.  I saw Coleman in the follow me truck outside while I was sitting on the plane - oh yeah, did I say I was getting impatient??  I just wanted to get off the plane to go see him, but everything felt like it took forever.. getting off the plane, going through customs and immigration.. bla bla.. but I finally got through it all, got my bags, and walked out to see him standing there waiting for me with some beautiful flowers!  The best feeling in the world.  :)  He was able to get off work early that night, so we went out to dinner at a place called Happy Teriyaki... they had some amazing egg rolls!  Jet lag caught up to me at about 3:30 in the afternoon, so I had to force myself to stay awake in hopes of getting on a somewhat normal sleep schedule right away.  I was able to stay awake until 9pm.. and then woke up at 5:30am.. earliest I've woken up in a LONG time, haha!  But we got a lot accomplished today!

Now Coleman is at work, so I'm working on cleaning the apartment.  Maybe later I'll take a little walk in the city, or on base.. I really need to go to the BX and Commissary.  But I don't know if I'm that brave yet.  We'll see.  :)  First I have to conquer that washer/dryer..  Maybe if I get this apartment cleaned up today I'll be able to do a video tour of the apartment.. I know our families would appreciate that.

I really missed the jet noise.  Although it seems like it's 10x louder here than it was in Virginia.. but that's okay.. sometimes I still run outside to see if I can catch a glimpse of them lol.

Stuck at SeaTac

I have been in Seattle for 6 1/2 hours now, and I still have 4 more hours until my plane boards for Japan.  That is much too long to be in an airport, I must say.  I would really love it if they would just board the plane so I can go to sleep.  I can't sleep in this airport.  It's freezing.  Of course the plane probably won't be any better, but I just wanted to whine about it.

When I checked in at the counter for my flight here in Seattle, they made me stand on the scale so they could see how much I weighed.. LOL.  I've never had to do that before - it was kind of funny to see everybody standing on the scales.  Everything has gone smooth so far, thankfully!  I'm so excited to get to my husband.  I  keep playing it over and over in my head how it's going to be when I see him.  I just hope I sleep for the majority of the plane ride so when I get there in the afternoon I'm not sluggish.  I even bought myself a little neck pillow, so I'm really excited to use that.  Someone let me borrow their neck pillow on the flight from Chicago to Seattle but it was this cheapo inflatable one that you blow up by mouth and it was half deflated.  It SUCKED.  Mine is nice and plush and I paid more for it than I should have but I can't help that the airports like to jack up their prices!  It's worth it with all our traveling.  I'm pretty much an airport pro now.

Ok, I have to go splash some cold water on my face before I pass out on my keyboard.

PS-  Note to self... next time bring a sweater.  It's cold.  :(