{Recipe} Pork & Beef Dumplings

I can't believe 2014 is just a couple days away. This year seriously flew by! My 4th December goal was to make dumplings to prepare for the traditional Korean New Years Meal: Dumpling & Rice Cake Soup! This recipe was surprisingly easy, though a tad time consuming. But the labor is well worth it because in the end you have nearly 50-70 pieces of dumplings made (depending on how big/small you make it)! 

This recipe is great because it's pretty straightforward, easy on the wallet and extremely freezer friendly! All you need is a few mixing bowls, clean hands and a few hours to spare. It's totally worth the labor of love! We've been eating these dumplings here and there when we aren't feeling like making anything new. So far, Eugene LOVES them so I'll definitely be making them again soon!

Pork & Beef Dumpling Recipe

Recipe Adapted from Maangchi

Ingredients 

- 1 Cup of ground pork

- 2 Cups of ground beef

- 2 Cups of Asian Chives, chopped

- 5-6 Shiitake mushrooms

- 1/2 of an onion

- 1/2 package of tofu

- 7 cloves of garlic, minced

Ingredients to keep handy:

- Salt

- Sugar

- Sesame Oil

- Vegetable oil

- Fish sauce

- Egg

- Wonton skins (1-2 packs, containing 50-60 pieces)

Dumpling Filling Recipe

1. Place ground beef and ground pork into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add 1 tsp of salt, 1 Tbsp of sesame oil, 1/2 tsp of ground pepper and mix it together by hand.

3. Wash and dry asian chives completely. Chop/mince 2 cups of asian chives. Add Tbsp of EVOO and mix the chopped chives in a small bowl. Add chives with the meat in the large mixing bowl.

4. Soak shiitake mushrooms in a bowl of water for 1-2 hours. Squeeze water out of the mushrooms and chop into very small pieces. Dice onion into very small pieces. Put mushrooms and onion into a small bowl.  Add 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp of sesame oil. Mix by hand and include into large bow of meat/chives.

5. Drain 1/2 of package of tofu and squeeze as much water out as possible - either by a cotton cloth or paper towel (be careful - the paper towels rip!) Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Mix by hand and include in large bowl.

6. Mince your garlic cloves and add in large bowl. Mix all ingredients together by hand.

7. Use a spoon to scoop your filling into the wonton skins. Use your finger to wet the perimeter and fold using these techniques. 

Line on a baking sheet or cutting board covered with foil and/or cling wrap. If you need to stack it/double layer it, be sure to put a sheet of cling wrap over the first layer, in between the 1st and 2nd layer of dumplings. Freeze overnight. Place dumplings in a large zip lock bag and keep it in the freezer until ready to use!

* * * 

For a quick easy meal, make broth with 4-5 anchovies in a pot of water with half of an onion. 

Allow the broth to come to a boil and remove the onion/anchovies, discard. Drop a handful of dumplings into the boiling broth. When the dumplings begin to float to the top, you know they are just about done. Add chopped onions, garlic, mushrooms and green onions. Season with sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce (I use gook ganjang aka soup soysauce) to taste. 

Voila~ Dumpling Soup! We're all ready for new years! :) 

{Recipe: Peppermint Oreo Truffles}

This super easy, 4-ingredient holiday treat is probably one of the best things I've made this month. 

Not only is it super delightful and a huge crowd-pleaser - it's pretty dang easy (but just a little time consuming). This helped me to accomplish 2 of my goals for December: Make something with peppermint and do something sweet for the neighbors. I purposely made a huge batch so that I could share with co-workers (both Eugene and mine) and gift to our neighbors. It's a fun little thing to do with friends or family whilst listening to Christmas music in the background and/or watching a holiday movie. :) 

The four ingredients are super easy to find just about anywhere! (I usually get mine at Ralphs or Target) - but the CandiQuik is seasonal so get them while they're hot! You only need one package of each (candiquik, oreo cookies, cream cheese) for each batch. 

** I prefer Candiquik over melting white chocolate chips because it's less likely to burn and it's not as heavy in taste/texture.

Crush your Oreo Cookies and candy canes. I put them in large ziplock bags and crushed them with the flat surface of a fry pan. (It's actually easier to just run the oreos through a food processor - just requires more clean up time!) Try to get the oreo pieces as crumbly as you can! 

Let your cream cheese come to room temperature and then soften it up in the foiled package. Squeeze the cream cheese into the oreo crumbles and mix well (by hand or by mixer). 

Roll the oreo/cream cheese mixture into small bite sized balls. Try to make the surface as smooth and even as possible. 

Place your CandyQuik in a glass bowl and melt the candies via double broiler. by placing a non-plastic bowl over a pot 1/3 full of water. Bring the pot to a boil until the water creates a steam. The steam will melt the chocolate - voila, home-made double broiler. :)

 Mix the candy/chocolate when it begins to melt. 

Use two forks/spoons to cover each ball with the melted candy/chocolate. Shake off excess coating gently and transfer to a cookie sheet (covered in parchment paper). Sprinkle peppermint pieces over truffle before the coating firms up! Place in fridge for about 1 hour or until firm.

Eat em, gift em, share em and be jolly together! :o) 

Peppermint Oreo Truffles

{Recipe Adapted from Kraft}

Makes about 30 pieces

1 package Oreo Cookies

1 8-oz package of cream cheese (not non-fat)

1 package of Vanilla CandyQuik Melts (or white chocolate chips)

5-6 Peppermint Candy Canes

1. Crush Oreos, either by a food processor or by putting the cookies into a large zip-lock bag and crushing it with the flat surface of a fry pan/meat tenderizer, etc. Crush peppermint using the latter technique - do NOT put peppermint candies in food processor

2. Leave cream cheese package out until it reaches close to room temperature. Manually soften cream cheese with your hands, keeping the cream cheese in the foil package. Mix cream cheese into the Oreo crumbs thoroughly. Make small, bite sized Oreo truffle balls by rolling the mixture with your hands. 

3. Melt chocolate or candy melts - I used the double broiler method. Be careful

Not to burn the chocolate. Stir frequently. 

4. Coat each Oreo truffle with your candy melts and shake off excess. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle with peppermint crumbs immediately. 

5. Place your tray of ready Oreo truffles into fridge for one hour or until firm. 

Serve within 2-3 days for best results. Keep in fridge up to 5 days. 

Enjoy! 

goals for December!

I know, I know -we are more than halfway through this month and I am now posting up my goals for December. I actually thought of these goals weeks ago (and have been checking them off on my own!) but wanted to share it with you!

Goals are good for me because I am a total check-list, to-do list type of girl. I thrive on agendas and there's something extra special about checking things off of a list. I plan to share more of my monthly goals on the blog in 2014 - but to close off this year, here are my goals for December!

1. Get a Christmas Tree: A simple goal - only because last year we weren't able  to put up Christmas decorations! Around this time last year - we were packing and preparing to move out to Arcadia so it wasn't practical for us to decorate. I've always wanted to go out and pick my own Christmas tree but I'm not sure if we'll be able to fit it in with Eugene's finals week and all. We'll see!

Here's pictures from our first Christmas together! :o)

2. Make Something with Peppermint: For some reason, pumpkin spice never really grew on me. I like the idea of it and the smell of it - but pumpkin spiced lattes and cookies were never my thing. Peppermint, however, is an entirely different story. I can eat peppermint things all day long!


3. Do something for the neighbors. - Two winters ago - I made these peppermint/white chocolate pretzels for our neighbors. It was a great way for me and Eugene to seize the holiday opportunity to meet our neighbors and do something "sweet" for them! I might make these again, but will also consider making something else to feature my love for all things peppermint. :)

4. Make dumplings from scratch - In the Korean culture, it's tradition to eat Rice Cake Soup (떡국 aka "dduk gook") on New Years morning. It's supposed to grant you good luck for the new year or something like that....haha. Growing up my mom always made this for us and I've continued the tradition in our Korean/Chinese home for the past 2 years. Thankfully Eugene loves Korean food and looks forward to this meal as much as I do! This year, I want to make my own dumplings! I'm actually planning on make these today, thanks to Maangchi! Stay tuned. :)

Here's an impromptu "dduk gook" we made and ate together on New Years Eve last year since I had to work on New Years Day! Keeping the tradition alive, baby!

 

5. Prepare Care Packages for the homeless community in Downey - Eugene and I have lived in Downey for almost 6 months now and something I noticed almost immediately was how large the homeless community was here. There are a few people who Isee regularly in front of the Starbucks and Target I frequent, and a few of the same people who stand near my 605 freeway entrance. One of my goals for next year is to get to know these people by name and see if there is a way I can serve them during our short time in Downey. I've been wanting to plan a community lunch for Christmas this year - but seeing that I am scheduled to work on both Christmas & Christmas eve,  a few co-workers have partnered with me in this "Bags of Hope" project! 

 

 We will be making care packages to hand out to the homeless during the holiday season! Please consider partnering with us! You can click on {this link} to donate. Thanks! :o) 

6. Bake Cinammon Rolls from SCRATCH! So this was my goal two years ago and I ended up cheating because I...

1) made mini-cinammon rolls (and not the real size ones... )

2) used Pillsbury's Crescent rolls instead of making my own dough. 

But this is a new year people! I'm motivated to really live up to my goal and bake it completely from scratch - frosting, dough and all. Here are the mini ones we managed to make before. We were obviously a little too excited about rolling the dough (they were almost paper thin!) but they were so good!

 

Less than a month left! Better get started!!

Happy December!

 

Give thanks: a day off to rest, recollect my thoughts and organize our neglected mess of an apartment, starbucks and coffeebean!, a successful week of finals week done for Eugene and only two more days to go (!!!), Spotify, the iced latte I plan to drink after this - yay! :O)

{Tried & True Tuesdays} Hainan Chicken Recipe

When we lived in Temple City, I seriously ate Hainan Chicken once a week! There is a lot of good eats in San Gabriel Valley but they are most known for their asian cuisines. There was one place in particular called Ish Kitchen that served a really yummy Hainan Chicken dish, and another place in Alhambra called Savoy Kitchen  that was actually known for their Hainan dish. Now that we live in Downey - we are surrounded with a lot of tasty kinds of food but there is no Hainan Chicken in sight (insert sad face here)... So, of course we had to learn how to make it at home!!

Hainan Chicken is essentially an asian poached chicken dish. "Asian" because it could be considered Chinese, Malaysian, "Hainanese" or Singaporean - depending on where you get it. It's served with savory rice and two different types of sauce (spicy chili sauce and a minced ginger sauce). I heard about poaching things before - but this dish calls for poaching a whole chicken. Bones, skins and all (guts are removed, thank goodness!).

The key to poaching is to bring the water/chicken to a boil, then immediately letting it come down to a simmer (low, low heat) and letting it simmer away until the chicken is fully cooked (Internal temp 170 degrees). Once it's fully cooked, you immediately soak the chicken in a bowl of ice water - essentially "shocking" the cooked chicken. It's exciting and stressful at the same time, haha. Poaching the chicken was harder than I thought, but the entire process was relatively easy!

Easy Hainan Chicken 
{Adapted from MalaysianFood & SteamyKitchen}

For the Chicken:
1 Whole Chicken (trimmed & cleaned)
1 4-inch section of fresh ginger
1 bunch of scallions/green onions
6 cloves of garlic
Salt
Water (enough to cover the chicken in the pot)

1.) Clean your chicken with cool sink water. Remove any excess fat on the skin of the chicken by rubbing several pinches of kosher salt on the skin of the chicken. Rub vigorously and then rinse. Trim off any excess fat with scissors.

2.) Season chicken with a generous amount of salt (both inside and outside)

3.) Stuff the cavity of the chicken with garlic, sliced ginger and green onions. Use a toothpick to seal closed. (Some of the stuffing may come out once the chicken is placed in the water, but that's ok!)

4.) Place chicken in a large pot and fill with water so that the chicken is completely covered.

5.) Turn heat on "HIGH" and allow for it to come to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to "LOW" and allow it to remain at a simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked (170 degrees, internal temp)

6.) Remove chicken and immediately place in a big bowl full of ice water. "Shock" your chicken! 

** Don't forget to save the broth! Don't you dare throw it away!!

For the Rice:
1:1.5 ratio cups of jasmine (or any long grain rice) & reserved chicken poaching broth
Salt to taste
Cilantro & sliced Cucumbers for garnish

1.) Wash your long grain rice (I used Jasmine) in cool water until water is clear. 

2.) Soak rice in water for 10 minutes.

3.) Cook rice with the reserved chicken poaching broth either in a pot or a rice cooker. Use 1:1 or 1:1.5 rice to broth ratio. 

(If making rice in a pot, cook on high for 10-15 minutes on MED-HIGH heat, and then turn the heat off. Keep the lid closed to allow the rice to steam for an additional 10 minutes. Cook time may vary.)

4.) Garnish with cilantro.

For the Ginger Sauce:
1-2'' section of fresh ginger (finely chopped/minced)
1-2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped/minced)
1 tsp of sugar
1 Tbs of lime juice
3 Tbs of olive oil (I used EVOO)
salt to taste

For Chili Sauce:
2 tsp of the ginger sauce
2 Tbs of hot sauce (Sriracha or Chili sauce)

1.) Mince ginger and garlic until very fine. (or you can roughly chop and "pulse" it in a blender or food processor")
2.) Add sugar, lime juice and olive oil. Mix until desired consistency.
3.) Add salt to taste.
4.) For the chili sauce - add 2 tsp of ginger sauce to a small bowl of hot sauce.  Add more if needed!

The best part is that home-made chicken broth is a by-product of your chicken-poaching labor. I put my leftover broth in a big ziplock bag, and let it sit flat in the freezer. Freeze your broth over night and then you can stack it under your other freezer items and store for a rainy day! :)

Esther is getting married!

This past weekend, we hosted a bridal shower for our dear friend and bride-to-be, Esther!

I love bridal showers because it allows me to enjoy a lot of my favorite things at the same place at the same time: friends, flowers, good food, good desserts, girly things and gift-giving! It was so sweet celebrating Esther and praising God for His faithfulness in her life. So excited for her and J!

It's amazing how everything fell together so smoothy although 98% of the planning was done via email.  Thank God for email :)

 

1 month til she becomes a Mrs. Can't wait!

{tried & true} how to freeze soup

So yesterday, I posted about the "Clean-out-yo-fridge Vegetable Soup" that I made. 

So far, we love the soup and Eugene says that it is "delicious and refreshing, too!" 

When you're cooking for two, you are almost always bound to have leftovers (most especially when you're making soup!!) I probably made about 10 servings of soup yesterday, so I researched several different websites on how to best freeze and store my freshly-made, perfect-for-a-rainy-day soup! Freezing soup is great because it only really lasts a few days in the fridge. Freezing it increases it's shelf-life to almost a month!

 The two websites that I found most helpful suggested either freezing it in a freezer zip lock bag or freezing single servings in a muffin pan. Isn't that genius?

I wanted to see which way I liked better so decided to try both!

(1) ZIPLOCK IT

The first way is extremely straightforward. Label a freezer zip lock bag (size of your choice). Don't forget to date it. Fold the top of the ziplock bag outward to make it into a bowl shape. You can even put the ziplock bag over a bowl to prevent spillage! Use a ladle and pour your soup into the bag. Zip it up, lay it flat in the freezer. It will take 3-5 hours to freeze, but freeze it overnight (single layered) before stacking multiple bags on top of each other.

Reference: {Southern Living}

(2) FREEZE IT IN A MUFFIN TIN

This takes more time than the zip-locking, but its a super cool/cute/creative idea, and it definitely enables you to individualize your frozen soup(s). Clean out your muffin tin (I only had enough for a mini), and ladle your soup into the little sections. You can mix and match depending on what kind of soup-eater you are... i.e. extra hearty/chunky vs. extra broth. I froze my "good stuff" chunks  and the broth separately so that I can add more soup or more veggies depending on what mood I'm in. 

Freeze them in here either covered or uncovered (usually takes only 2-3 hours) and when frozen, you can start loosening them up. You can do so by either holding the muffin tin sideways and letting your hot water faucet run on the back of it OR putting it in a shallow bowl with 1 inch of hot water until it becomes loose enough to take out (this takes only about 30-seconds). You can easily pull the soup sections out with a fork/knife.

Put the pieces in a ziplock bag and store it in the freezer for safekeeping. :) 

Isn't this super cute? 

{Reference: TheKitchn}

Cheers to an empty fridge, easy & ready to eat meals in the fridge and many warm, cozy, soup-eating nights to come!
Hope these tips help you like they have for me!

Give thanks: laughs at work with co-workers, a morning to read/pray/coffee, new school/office supplies, EXPO pens, bad-for-you-but-oh-so-good santa fe quesadillas

{Tried & True Tuesdays} clean-out-your-fridge Vegetable Soup Recipe

Eugene and I have been married for nearly two years now, and I have learned a few valuable things. One thing I learned quite early on is that cleaning out the fridge, freezer and pantry regularly is absolutely necessary! There's nothing like some leaky greens sitting in your fridge and freeze-burned meat in your freezer to teach you a lesson! I've learned that the three best ways to clean out your kitchen are:

1. Put it all through a juicer and drink it! (mainly speaking of your fruits and veggies here)
2. Toss it all in a wok or a skillet and make fried rice (veggies and meat in your fridge/freezer)
3. Boil it all in big pot/slow cooker and make some soup!

Before I go grocery shopping, I try to browse through my fridge/freezer/pantry to make a mental inventory of what I have. I then try to think of meals I can plan around the items I already have. Today our apartment complex underwent an asphalt painting project in the parking lot. Eugene and I woke up at 6:30 am to move our cars and I miraculously scored ONE of probably TEN visitor parking spots for our 300+ unit apartment complex. Because I didn't want to lose said precious parking spot, I stayed at home all day even though today was supposed to be grocery day. I was going through my kitchen today and realized I had alot of unused veggies - so I decided to make soup. This soup was inspired by the soup I ate for lunch at work last Monday. 

Yay, soup!

First, wash and chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces!

 I originally started this soup-making process in a slow-cooker but it got way too full. I ended up moving my soup into a larger pot. (It was overflowing!!) I cooked the "hard" vegetables first since they usually take longer to cook through. Just add water or vegetable broth, if you have it!

{Pictured: chopped carrots, potatoes, celery and onions - onions were moreso for flavor and they can handle the extra cook time!)

The "softer" ingredients that don't require as much cook time can wait. Cooking them the same time as the potatoes/carrots/celery may sometimes cause the veggies to overcook and turn soggy (in my experience, at least!) Trader Joe's now makes his appearance - TJ's Unsalted Plum Tomatoes with Basil, perfect for soups, pastas, chilis, etc! 

TJ's Cannellini white kidney beans also made it into the soup! Yum! 

 Cook on med-high heat until the soup comes to a boil. Let it boil for 20-30 minutes. Add more water as needed. Add small pinches of salt and pepper to taste. Once it's boiled for a good enough time, let it simmer on low-med heat for 2-3 hours. The soup will thicken and your potatoes will be soft and will break easily - this is how you know its about done. I usually leave the lid on for an additional 30 minutes to let it steam through.

Use any veggies that you have! I topped mine with some parmesan cheese and it was so good! :)

COYF Vegetable Soup Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 3-4 hours

I used..

- 6 leaves of kale (stripped from the stem & roughly chopped)

- 4 large stalks of celery (chopped)

- 4 small carrots (peeled & chopped)

- 2 medium-sized potatoes (peeled & chopped)

- 1 medium-sized onion (peeled & chopped)

- 1 medium zucchini (chopped)

- 1 medium yellow squash (chopped)

- 1 can Trader Joe's Unsalted Plum Tomatoes with Basil (chopped, use the whole can!)

- 1 can Cannellini's white kidney beans (drained and washed)

(You can use any other veggies you want to get rid of!!)

- Water or Vegetable Broth

- Salt & Pepper to taste

- Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Wash and chop all vegetables
2. Cook "hard" vegetables first in a pot over the stove or in a slow cooker. Add in enough water to submerge "hard vegetables" Cook about 20-30 minutes over stove, 1-2 hours in a slow cooker.
3. Add "soft" vegetables including the tomato sauce from the can. Add more water in necessary to ensure most of the vegetables are under the water
4. Cook your soup in medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Allow the soup to boil for 20-30 minutes, then lower your heat to low-medium heat until it comes to a simmer.
5. Allow soup to simmer for about 2-3 hours. 
6. Turn off your heat but leave the lid on for an additional 30 minutes to allow it to steam!
7. Add salt & pepper to taste. Top with parmesan cheese prior to serving (optional)

Serve immediately and enjoy it while it's hot.....or freeze it for a rainy day :)
{More on freezing soup tomorrow!}

Enjoy!

fall craft complete! (and other things keeping us cozy at home)

Man, I seriously love fall. Something about the cooler weather and seeing pumpkins of all shapes and sizes everywhere makes my heart feel warm and makes me happy.

Yesterday after work, I wanted to wait for Eugene to come home so I kept myself busy with my fall craft project. A few posts ago, I made some goals for myself to accomplish by Thanksgiving. One of my goals was to make a fall-related craft. I wanted to make something practical so I resorted to making a wreath. I found an idea on Pinterest and found it rather easy! I made a smaller one since Eugene didn't want me to hang it on our door - he says it attracts strangers! (my sweet and protective husband.)

I also made pumpkin bread this week. I tried the trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix and substituted the water for almond milk to add some nutty flavor. It was delicious. Our apartment was filled with smells of warm pumpkin scents for an entire night. Nothing like freshly baked pumpkin bread, warm almond milk and a cuddly blanket to make you feel cozy and warm! 

We've also been juicing more these past few days. We always seems to try to go on a juice craze after we eat something bad-for-us. (in this case, an ungodly amount of korean bbq) Juicing is so delicious and makes you feel really great. It's so nice to start your morning with a fresh cup of fruit/veggie juice.

Our current favorite is kale/spinach/celery/carrot/apple juice. :) Our very own green machine. We've made a goal to juice at least three times a week, but its been hard! I love my juicer and juicing is wonderful, but it does take some work to clean after each use. Hopefully we can keep up with our goal and juice more of our meals. This week we did it twice. Hopefully by next week, we can get it to 3x a week! :) 

My two favorite things about juicing (besides drinking it, of course) is :

1) watching the different colors of juice come out

2) opening up the tray in the back to see the beautiful, multi-colored pulp

Juicing is lovely!

I'm in the process of learning more about the how-to's and benefits of juicing, as well as how to use it as meal replacements (which is Eugene's goal - he's crazy.) Hopefully I'll be able to share all that I've learned in a few weeks or so.

Can't believe we're already halfway through October.
This year has been buzzing by so quickly, I feel like Christmas is just right around the corner. Eugene is currently in midterms season and its been extremely hard for us to spend time together (like, see each other awake maybe 2-3 hours a week type of hard) but we've been hanging in there! :) We're finding ways to encourage each other and make each other smile despite the lack of face-to-face time. It's been sweet!

Thankful that God always gives us the strength we need to do whatever he puts before us.
Thankful that He never faints to remind us of this when we forget! (which I often do!)

Goodnight, friends!
xoxo

give thanks: time to spend with sister today (!!!), leftovers that make lunch-preppin so easy, an easier start to my work week, reminders to pray, short but sweet moments to spend with Eugene, 3x5 index cards

the discipline (and joy) of Work

My job is hard sometimes.  Today my day was filled with....

• "please STAY IN BED! DON'T GET UP WITHOUT US!"
• "keep your IV in please... wait... please, no...don't pull it out...agh!" (5th IV out in 24 hours)
• "please do not call the cops again - we are not keeping you against your will. we're trying to keep you safe. "
• "I'm gonna try to get you on this bedside commode as fast as I can.. please wait" (patient pees on floor/my shoes/my hands)
• "please don't put your hands in your diaper. please don't touch the curtains, there is some poop on your hand" (patient grabs onto the curtain with both hands filled with poop)
• "please don't raise your voice at me. Please, sir, I'm trying to help you" (as he proceeds to call me every bad word that starts with S, SH, F and B")
• "sir, stop kicking me please. keep your legs inside the bed. we really need to keep your hands to yourself, my friend"

On a day to day basis - I get smacked, kicked, spit on, cussed at and threatened. We pour our hearts out. We sacrifice ourselves. We invest our time, energy, strength and love into these lives and desire so much to do all things excellently. But many times, the work we do does not bear visible fruit. There are some days when I feel that no matter how hard I try and no matter how much I invest into people - it is simply not enough. In a job like this, it's quite easy to become burnt out!

What hope we have knowing that God always provides us with the strength to do the work entrusted to us! I'm learning that my strength, my patience and my compassion for people are limited in and of itself. I am so limited. My love is so small. My patience so short! Even when I have the best intentions, it is simply not enough for me to want to do a good job. To do the work that we do every day and to do it excellently is entirely dependent on our reliance on God for strength. It's not the task in and of itself, but from Whom this task and calling was received that I can find the ability to do any job well. It is only when I remember that God is purposeful in all things - and that every patient/work/task he puts under my care is His perfect and sovereign will -  that I can find the greatest joy in doing the work that I do... no matter how challenging, frustrating and trying it can be.

A much-needed reminder for today.

There is no such thing as "Christian work". 

That is, there is no work in the world which is, in and of itself, Christian. Christian work is any kind of work, from cleaning a sewer to preaching a sermon, that is done by a Christian and offered to God. 

This means that nobody is excluded from serving God. 

It means there is no job in the world that needs to be boring or useless. A Christian finds fulfillment not in the particular kind of work he does, but in the way in which he does it.  

The nature of the work changes when we see that it is God who marks out this line of duty for us. It is service to Him. 

Work is a blessing.  

God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.  

The Christian has all these in Christ: work, a Master, a hope. Yet how easily we forget this. Let us lift up our work as we lift up our hands, our hearts, our bodies- a sacrifice acceptable because it is lifted up to Him who alone can purify.

Elisabeth Elliot - "Disciplines, the Glad Surrender."

Tomorrow is a new day :)

24 years to praise and give thanks!

Yesterday was my 24th birthday.

It was the longest birthday I ever had! I was in Florida at the time, so I had an additional 3 hours - and I was awake since 2:40 AM (flying back home) so I was awake for almost the entire 24 hours of my birthday.  I was sleep-deprived and completely wired from having 5 cups of coffee by 9:00AM - but it was wonderful nonetheless. I celebrated with cake (in my face/hair), a korean bbq dinner date (my fave) with eugene and a really tasty family-style italian dinner with my family today. My gifts were from Anthropologie - which happens to be one of my favorite stores, but I never personally buy anything from there because it is just so expensive! I also basically spent a week celebrating in Florida. I even got a whole aisle to myself on my plane ride back home. I got to look out and stare at these lovely clouds on the morning of my birthday.  It was lovely. I'm a lucky gal.

To start my 24th year of life, I wanted to make a list of 20 wonderful things that I've been blessed to learn or experience during this past year. So here we go!

During my 23rd year of life... 

1) I finished my first full-year as a day shift nurse. I'm thankful for all the many things I've learned, all the doctors, nurses, therapists, case managers, etc I've been able to build relationships with this past year - for the newfound ability I have to multi-task and talk to and think about a million things at once. (But I always miss my night shift crew!) 

2) I experienced what it means to have a normal sleep schedule for the first time in 4 years

3) I learned how to use a sewing machine! Thanks to all of those that have graciously received my imperfect/newby sewing projects as gifts.

4) I served in College Ministry, and it has been a huge blessing - it's taught me to serve unconditionally and to trust in God to bear fruit. 

5) I fell in love with my juicer. Juicing is seriously so fun/therapeutic/delicious! It really does feel good to smash/grind things up. 

6) I moved TWICE**! Packing/unpacking is definitely not my favorite - but learning to adjust in different cities and exploring different food places has been so fun!

7) I fell more in love with Trader Joes this year. Especially their Pizza Dough selection!

8) I became seriously obsessed with collecting globes. I've always loved globes and maps but never really got around to buying one until I found out how inexpensive they are. I have 3 so far. (hehe)

9)  I gave myself some ulcers (I'm pretty sure)... but my love for all things spicy cannot be tamed. Sriracha, Chili sauce and jalapenos on top of everything! 

10) I caught a pretty bad case of baby fever - every time I see a baby or any baby things it makes me want to have a child. It's so weird!

11) I learned that vinegar + baking soda is God's gift to wives  - because it seriously cleans everything!

12) I became a believer of Starbucks' black iced tea, no water, sweetened with soy milk drink. I've also converted a few people - it's awesome!

13) I got certified as a Stroke Certified Registered Nurse. I was a part of the first group in the entire nation to get the certification, and it was a huge honor. :)

14) Got a Keurig and had my life changed forever!

15) I learned and perfected the over-easy egg. It was no small feat, people!

16) I experienced Zumba for the first time. It was amazing. 

17) I got a job and then quit that job only a few days later. It taught me that you should never do anything if your conscience isn't sure. It was a valuable lesson learned.

18) I had my first dine LA experience. It made me feel fancy.  

19) Eugene finished his first year of Pharmacy school, and started his second. 

20) Most importantly, I learned (and re-learned, again and again) that I can do nothing on my own strength. The most valuable thing I learned this year is that unless I abide in Christ and find my source of strength, joy and motivation from Him - that all my efforts are in vain and I can bear no fruit in my life.

 I learned how to work joyfully and wholeheartedly, even when the work I'm doing doesn't always seem honorable and rewarding. I learned how to love and serve my husband unconditionally - even when I don't get to see him often because of how busy he is with school/work/etc. I learned that when the bible says "rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances"- that this is not a suggestion to us but a command from God Himself - and that I ought to pursue to obey this every single day of my life. I learned that there really is no substantial or lasting source of hope or joy in this life apart from Christ - and I'm learning each and every day how to have the faith and courage to proclaim this loudly, both in word and in my day-to-day life. 

As I enter my 24th year of life, there is no knowing if this will be my last. Though this year has taught me much about being a wife, a nurse and a home-maker - I know that ultimately my highest calling is to be a follower of Christ. My most earnest prayer is that each day that I live would be spent in a wholehearted pursuit to know and love Jesus more and more - and that I might live a life that magnifies the grace and power of the gospel in all that I do.

Thanks for everything friends!

Cheers to another year.

XOXO,

Sharon

"But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself

if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,

to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." 

(Acts 20:24)