Jet-Lagged... ick!

17 hours on airplanes and 15 hours sitting around in airports is WAY too long.  I can't believe we have to do it all over again in a week and a half.  But we made it to the states and have been on the go ever since.  No time to be jet-lagged.. and it sucks!  Lots to get done for the wedding.  We have all the decor for the reception figured out, I just need to decide what I want to do for decor at the church.  And I still have to get these darn programs done before Monday so they can get printed.  I can't wait to see everything come together for it.  Some inspiration for my wedding...

 

The movers came yesterday and packed up our things for the express shipment.  So when we get back to Korea we'll have our TV, all of our kitchen items (my amazing food network pots and pans that I've missed SO MUCH, and everything else), vacuum cleaner, and a bunch of others things.  I can't wait!  The movers for the rest of our HHG come on Tuesday, I think.  It will finally feel good to have all of our things with us at our home.  Ok.. now back to these programs.............. ugh.

September is a Good Month!

I feel like I have been going nonstop for the past week.  It's all been good, of course.  September has been a GREAT month, and will only get better!  So many things to look forward to - we have house guests for the next 2 months, we are moving into an apartment on base (hello American appliances!), we are getting a car tomorrow, we get to go back tot he states for a couple weeks to see our families, and our vow renewal ceremony is on the 25th!  Lots of little things happening in between all that.. but those are just the highlights.

Our house guests came in last week and are staying through the end of October.  A friend that Husband works with flew his wife and 9-month-old son (who is the most adorable thing!) to visit, and staying at a hotel for 2 months would be ridiculous, so we offered them our spare bedroom.  His wife is from Sweden, so it's been really fun learning new things.  She even cooked us some Thai food one night (she is half Thai)... yummy!  I've been busy cleaning house and we took a couple trips up to Seoul to the Korean War Museum and to Itaewon, we went to the pool a few times, and we went bowling today.  Then tomorrow we get our car and move into our new apartment.  It is SO NICE.. the apartments are pretty brand new.. I am EXCITED!  I am going to start counting how many times I've moved.. I have moved 3 times in the past 5 months.  At least this will be our last move for the next year and a half.  Ha, ha!  I think it's safe to say I lead a pretty crazy life at times, and I wouldn't change it for the world!  I love experiencing all these things!

The museum was fun and after that we walked to the Itaewon shopping strip so Caroline and I could do some shopping.  Sometimes it's nice having another girl in the house! ;o)

So, 5 more days until we leave for the states and 17 more days until our VOW RENEWAL!  I am beyond excited.  Everything is really coming together perfectly it seems.  Even though our original plan of flying me back to the states on September 1st to get things ready for it obviously did not go how we wanted.  But our families and my cousin have been helping out so much.  They have really been a blessing to us, and making things less stressful.  We are so excited to see our families - we can't wait for everyone to be together!  I am also excited to shop at AMERICAN stores!  They have some really good shopping here, but sometimes it can be so frustrating.  So, because we have limited time in the states, I began to compile a list of things that Coleman and I would like to get before coming back to Korea.  I have to be organized so I can really be effective when I go shopping LOL...

I am counting down the days until we land in the states and trying to prepare myself for the insanely long plane ride.  And one step close to getting our TMO.... about time!

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.