Hello p3! (+ a survival guide)

Eugene started his first week of "p3" this week. 

"p3" aka his 3rd year of pharmacy school is known to be extremely gruesome.  He spends the majority of his day at school in class, has work at night a few days a week and the classes are known to be extremely fast-paced and overwhelming. He already has his first midterm next week. Yipes!  We've been preparing for this year all summer. Knowing how extremely challenging it was going to be - we spent extra time resting up, praying for strength and grace to get through it victoriously and I have been stocking up ideas on how to keep Eugene happy/motivated/pumped during his 3rd year. 

As Eugene's wife - God has been teaching me the way to my husband's heart. Even though we've almost been married for 3 years now - I'm constantly learning new things about my husband and getting more and more ideas on how to keep his spirits up. I know Eugene won't be a student forever- but I'm sure this process is going to be ongoing and I'll be learning and growing in this aspect for the rest of my life. As wives, we're called to be our husbands' helpers, supporters and greatest encouragers. My role as Eugene's wife in his season as a student is pretty different than what I envisioned my life as a wife would be - but I'm learning to give thanks for it and to embrace it and have fun with it while I can! 

I decided to make a "p3 survival guide" for Eugene's 3rd year. This is obviously a work in progress, as it's only been a few days - but I'm hoping that this will help jumpstart a year of finding creative, fun, unique ways to keep my husband happy and motivated during the most challenging  year of his grad-school career.  : ) So here it is: 

1. Multi-color pens that I get from the hospital so that he can color-coordinate his notes! (It's always a bonus if it has a green pen included since that's his favorite color!) 

This may mean that I have to use boring black pens at work instead, but it's worth it!

2. A new bottle of vitamins (per His request)

Getting sick during this year is not acceptable when the demand for your energy, focus and attention are in line - so staying stocked up on multivitamins is a must. Also, Eugene is in a nutrition class this semester so he specifically requested that I buy him a new bottle. : ) 

3. A brand new pack of notebooks (+ attached folders)

There's nothing like fresh, new school supplies to make you excited about the new school year. Thank goodness for Costco and their amazing deals on their high-quality items! Eugene actually liked these so much that he requested me to buy a second pack for him. Of course I had to say "yes!" : )

4. Fun little DIY meal request forms

I'm trying to create an inventory of these little worksheets to surprise Eugene with in the morning so that he has a fun, personalized meal to look forward to when he comes home after a long day. Eugene's love language is definitely good food - so these will definitely come in handy. I'm hoping to make at least 10 more to keep it fun and fresh! 

5. Surprise milk tea drop-off's

Eugene loves late night surprises - especially if I'm coming home late from something. He usually loves a large, iced diet coke from McDonalds ($1!!) or milk tea - especially if he's planning on staying up late. (This one was courtesy of my dear friend, Erin! Thanks Erin - he was so happy!!)  

6. Healthy meals to take on-the-go!

I am a total stress eater and I usually crave bad, carb-filled foods when I feel overwhelmed.. but thankfully Eugene is not like me. He actually really appreciates healthy, whole meals when he's busy and stressed. I've stocked up a lot of healthy lunch ideas in my head and will hopefully be able to meal plan well and have these lunches handy every day. 

7. Snacks for late night cravings

Last year - I found that Eugene always requested for small late night snacks while he was studying. It gave him the extra push to study into the wee hours of the night, even if he was feeling sleepy. I'm trying to plan meals that can easily be changed to little midnight snacks. Thankfully, Eugene never minds eating the same things twice. (He even requests to eat a particular thing two times in a row!) That's God's grace to me...whew  :) 

No matter how challenging this year seems - I know that it is God's grace that carried us through these last few years and I know that it is that same grace that is helping us today.  I'm looking forward to the many lessons that we'll learn and praying that God increase our faith, trust and dependence on Him as we victoriously sail through this year. We're ready. Let's do this!!!

P3 aint got nothin' on us!

: ) 

{tried & true} meal-planning

in my humble opinion, i think that one of the hardest things about becoming a wife was learning how to cook for another human being. in college, all i really ate was pasta, rice + eggs, rice + eggs + bokchoy, or in-n-out. I honestly just ate anything that was quick, easy and cheap. let's be honest - in college, most of us just eat to survive. 

however, when I got married - I really embraced this new calling I had to serve my husband by way of cooking for him. by God's divine plan and sovereignty, He granted me a husband who loves food (it makes cooking so fun!). It was seriously God's grace and mercy to me in granting me a husband who is really not picky at all (also, he loves Korean food, which is a huge plus for me!) cooking becomes a whole new art when you're doing it for someone else. I was so eager and excited to make many extravagant meals and to pack really cute, thoughtful snacks throughout the day for a guy who would otherwise eat costco nuts all day long.

to my dismay, I found that cooking three meals a day is really, really hard to do (especially around work and things). I've tried different techniqes and read an embarrassing amount of blogs/magazines trying to figure out how to do this "meal-planning" thing. I still have a lot to learn - but I'm definitely getting better at it every week. It's definitely a trial-and-error type of thing, and more often than not I don't really do a good job at it. but by God's grace and the patience of my gracious husband - i'm learning new things and finding the courage to try again and again. 

I knew that I really needed to start getting better at meal planning. life gets dangerous when you don't have good, healthy food on hand. for example, last week I didnt bring lunch to work and I had a stressful day so I ate a huge chicken quesadilla. (i'm serious, it was huge - like probably 3 servings. but I was stressed!) anyway - I realize the enemy of healthy eating is not having healthy choices on hand. I've been following a few people on IG who eat really healthy, whole-food meals. I've been so inspired. I'm really motivated to eat/cook more healthy food at home. On a related note - I went to the optometrist today and he said I have cholestrol in my eyes. yes, IN. MY. EYES. (I know, so embarrasing.) honestly... who gets cholestrol in their eyes? sigh. 

anyway - I set aside some time this afternoon to prep a few meals for the rest of this week. I tried to prepare enough meals to last eugene until saturday (since I'll be staying in Irvine for the rest of the week) and it looks like he'll be all set for the week. I actually only spent about 3 hours to make/prep/pack everything. I learned a lot of new things today that I think will be helpful for my fellow meal-prepping, meal-planning friends. 

A few things I learned and will continue to practice in my kitchen:

1) cooking things in the oven is the best! roasting/baking, etc. I rarely used my oven because I used it as storage for all my pots/pans - but after today, i re-organized my kitchen so that I could leave the oven as empty as possible. 

2) roasting veggies is my fave. it's so yummy and easy. I basically start my meal prep by washing and cutting all my veggies. I toss it in some EVOO with salt + pepper, line em up in a single layer (not touching) and put it in the oven (400 deg) for 10-12 minutes. I basically did this for one hour, cycling 4-5 times and finished all my veggies. (I used a timer to remind myself when to take it out)

3) google is my best friend. so many great recipes! 

4) clean out your fridge as you're prepping for meals. I bought canned tomatoes and beans at the store today - so i decided to make soup. I basically just took out all the veggies out of my fridge and threw everything in my soup! (zucchini, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, celery, etc). it's kitchen multi-tasking and its the best! (check out this clean-out-yo-fridge vegetable soup recipe that I made before!)

5) quinoa is my new best friend. I've been trying to cut down on our carbs at home, so I bought a bag of quinoa today and it is so good. I basically just threw in a cup of quinoa with some water and let it steam for 10-15 minutes. it goes well with everything (salads, rice-substitute, etc.)

6) clean as you go! this is definitely my biggest flaw/weakness. i make such a mess when I cook... but today I really tried to clean during my idle time (waiting for things to boil, etc..) and clean-up at the end was way easier (and less burdensome.. hehe)

7) throw stuff into the oven while other things are baking/roasting. I had a little bit of extra room on my cookie sheet while I was roasting my veggies, so I threw my sweet potatoes on top (scrubbed/dried with skin on, no foil) and it came out perfect!

8) I personally like organizing all the meals in tupperware vs. storing each thing separately. eugene and I are a grab-and-go couple in this season of our life so that's easiest for us. 

9) label everything (and make sure to date it) - isn't it the worst feeling when you spend all this time making/packing/storing food and weeks later you see a rogue tupperware sitting in the corner of your fridge, covered in the mold of death? ...no? just me? okay. well, anyway - that's why I have to label everything. 

10) challenge yourself! make things you've never made before. be creative with your ingredients, too! just use what you have. for example - i had two packs of eggs in my fridge (really, who needs TWO packs of eggs?) so I decided to make egg salad. It's a pretty simple recipe (boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, green onions, paprika, salt/pepper). I didn't have mayo or greek yogurt (which I would have preferred) so I just used a dollop of sour cream instead.

I'm excited to try new things and to keep up with my meal planning. Euene really liked all of these things I cooked today (even the quinoa!) so I hope to make lots of delicious, colorful and healthy meals on a day-to-day basis.

 

shredded salsa chicken // sauteed onions + mushrooms // roasted butternut squash // baked sweet potatoes // roasted vegetable medley - carrots, eggplant, zucchini, asparagus // minestrone // mixed quinoa // egg salad // lemon garlic grilled chicken

 

 

all packaged up and ready to go!

 labeled up with name + date of preparation // no more mold...hopefully.

cheers to many more meal-planning, meal-prepping adventures! 

....and to eating better so that I don't have cholesterol in my eyes.

xoxo

How to feed your husband when you're out of town.

Happy Monday!

My hospital is sending me to a nursing conference in Florida this week, and I leave early tomorrow morning, Yay! I will be going with my charge nurse, B but we will be flying/hotel-ing in different places. This is my first time traveling all by myself, and to be honest I'm a little bit scared....(but more excited than scared!)

I'll be gone from Tuesday to Saturday, and this will be the longest amount of time I've been away from home since I've been married. Eugene's midterm season begins this week and I felt so bad that I couldn't be here to encourage and support him.. They say the way to a guy's heart is through his stomach, and I'm sure having pre-made, ready-to-go meals can warm a guy's heart up pretty quick, too. Since he's usually too busy to make food for himself during his busy season, I had to think of creative ways to help my husband survive this week without me. It only took a few hours, two trips to Costco and a lot of Breaking Bad. (I finished the 5th season while I was preparing this! What a great show!!!)

I first prepped his lunches. On most days, Eugene will be gone the entire day so I just needed to prepare something to send with him. I whipped up some simple teriyaki salmon and grilled chicken with tuscan balsamic marinade. I also steamed and roasted huge bags of broccoli and made some rice.  Five days of lunch ready to go!

I also bought a Costco Pizza on my way home today. We live less than 5 minutes away, and this only costs us $10 so this was an easy decision for me. Eugene usually comes home pretty late (after LA traffic dies down) and is pretty hungry, so this is perfect! We love pizza! 

Here we are, individually foiled and ready to go into the freezer! 

Don't mind my pile of dishes!

These are also very wonderful, affordable and delicious little things from Costco. These little salads come in a pack of two for $5! They are really delicious and even have a fork inside! Perfect when you need to eat lunch on the go. 

...and these little, mini-sized guys are also from Costco. (Can you tell that we really, really LOVE Costco?) They come in a pack of 12 (mango, berry blast and green machine flavor) and are only $10! Perfect for on-the-go breakfast.

Now I can go to Florida in peace. :) 

Still sad that I can't be with Eugene this week  - but at least I know his tummy will be well-fed and happy! I'll try to keep you posted about my trip. Have a great week, everyone!

Give Thanks: breakfast at Jenny's, trips to Costco, the smell of lemons (and lemon zest!), Eugene coming home early to see me before I sleep (!!!), a yummy and encouraging boiling point lunch with Kristen, excitement for my week in Florida!

beautifully mundane and ordinary days.

People often ask me what I do on my days off.

Because nurses who work in the hospital usually work 12-hour shifts,  we usually only have a 3-day work week. This is definitely one of the many perks of being a nurse! Before I was married, most of my days off were spent going eye-shopping, meeting up with people, spending hours reading at cute cafes, taking spontaneous trips with my family and/or friends and basically doing whatever I wanted. It was pretty splendid.

However, now that I'm married - my "days off" are now primarily reserved for my household duties (aka wife duties). On the days I work, I usually work from 7:00am to 7:30pm, which usually doesn't leave a lot of time for chores, sanitizing the kitchen, organizing my fridge, cleaning the mildew from the showers, watering the plants, meal planning, grocery shopping, sweeping the floor, vacuuming, picking up my hair from the bathroom floor, doing laundry etc. This has forced me to be creative with the time I have on my days off to catch up on my chores and keep my apartment from looking like its been hit by a storm. It's a lot of work -  it's tedious and sometimes mundane - but I'm learning to find many reasons to be thankful for the season I'm in now. I know that our life is full of many different seasons and I'm determined to enjoy each one that God graciously gives to me. I know that one day this season will end and I will have to adjust to another... so in hopes to embrace the life I'm living now, here's a snippet of an ordinary day.

Today I attended a 2-hour class at work for a new change they are doing in the computer systems at our hospital. I actually only got about 3-hours of sleep last night, so I had to make an emergency run to Starbucks before. I was feeling super tired and my fatigue deceived my mind into buying a Venti quad-shot (4-shot) caramel macchiato. This was pretty foolish of me because I can never finish more than a few sips. Here I am walking back to my car with my 3/4ths full Starbucks drink. Poop.

After my computer class, I stopped by Trader Joes. 

 This season of my life is truly marked by a deep love for Trader Joes. I seriously love it there. It is currently my favorite spot when I need some retail therapy. (haha, don't judge) Now that we're living in Downey, our closest TJ is a 20-minute drive away so whenever I happen to be near one, I try to find an excuse to go. Last time, it was to get a new bag of chia seeds. Today we were out of eggs. Every time I go to shop, I always look for one thing I've never tried before. 

Today, I got a little can of Thai Curry!

Then, I stopped by the Costco near our apartment.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our budgeting system. With only $120 to spend for 2-week's worth of groceries, I've been saving up my spare change for a few weeks to buy some meat from Costco. I was really excited to finally be able to walk out of Costco with my HUGE packs of chicken and salmon. I came home and immediately cut everything up into smaller pieces and foiled everything and organized it in my freezer. I was really happy! It's all about finding joy in the little things, people.. :) 

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment, wiping down the kitchen/bathroom, putting things away, sweeping/vacuuming and organizing my fridge/freezer. Eugene was able to come home early for dinner after class so I quickly whipped up dinner for us.

 To celebrate my victorious purchase, of course we had to eat salmon for dinner! 

I made a simple teriyaki salmon with a soy sauce/sesame oil/brown sugar mixture, steamed some veggies and served it with some jasmine rice. Victory (and our celebratory dinner) was sweet. 

I read in one of my food magazines earlier last week that the best way to save time with meal planning and cooking is to make big portions for dinner and plan to eat leftovers for lunch. As simple as that sounds, I never thought of that before! For dinner tonight, I made a lot more than the two of us could eat and the rest of our meal went into a tupperware for Eugene to take tomorrow! :) 

Although my days are ordinary and full of seemingly-mundane tasks and responsibilities, I'm reminded time and time again that my ordinary life ultimately belongs to an extraordinary God. I'm learning that all the seemingly ordinary things that I'm doing can be acts of worship before God when I do it with a heart to honor and serve Him. The tasks in and of itself are tedious, and often seem without end since I basically have to sweep, sanitize, wipe, vacuum, dust and put away clothes almost every day! Though my life and the things I do to spend my time seem mundane to me at times, I know that even my most ordinary tasks do not go unnoticed by the God I am pursuing to serve. 

I hope that no matter what the season - whether it be a busy one full of new experiences and lessons and adventures, or a quiet one with a daily grind full of routines and to-do lists and never-ending chores, that I could approach each day, each season, each task  with eagerness to do all things wholeheartedly. I'm learning that the beauty and glory and purpose we find in our lives is not found in the things we do from day-to-day but before Whom we stand and serve. 

So thankful for this season in my life. :)

* * *

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

Give thanks: short-days at work, the tremendous blessing I have in my job, my free-reward drink at Starbucks that I can look forward to tomorrow (!!!), a clean apartment, frozen lemonades, washi tape, bedtime prayers with eugene 

{Tried & True Tuesdays): Budgeting

I think budgeting is one of the hardest things!

It takes a lot of thought and time and energy trying to organize all your spendings and manage your money in such a way so you're always on the (+). Now that we are living on our own again, Eugene and I have to be a lot smarter with the way we spend and save our money. Eugene is about to start his second year in Pharmacy school, and with three more years of tuition before us - there is a certain amount of financial planning that needs to take place so we don't get stuck having to eat mac n' cheese every day (even though I love mac and cheese!) There are a few things we've tried and a few tricks I've learned in our 1.5 years of marriage so I thought I'd share. :)

When we first started budgeting - two programs that friends/pastors recommended to us were Mint and YNAB - You Need a Budget (FYI - these photos are not mine. They are from the websites)

 

Mint is a free online program that helps you allot money for different categories so you can keep track of how much you're spending on each category. 

 

You link your bank statements to this website and they automatically categorize themselves. It records month to month and will email you monthly statements on how you're doing. The program will also notify you via email when you spend too much on a particular category (i.e. groceries, gas, shopping, etc) 

YNAB is a program we tried when we first got married but we dropped it pretty early so I'm not as familiar with this one. It's an actual computer program that you download onto your computer (FOR $60).  

 
In theory, it basically does the same thing that Mint does but you are required to manually record and categorize the money you are spending yourself. When we had this program, we were saving all our receipts and designating a day or two during the week to input the data into the program. It was fairly time consuming and hard for me to manage with my inconsistent work schedule so we were unable to keep up with it.

With both of these programs we got pretty discouraged.



However,  in January we started an "allowance program" and it has been working great for us! Basically what we do is this -  I get paid every other week on Thursday - so my "pay day" is "allowance" day. On pay day, I would pull out $240 cash for the both of us to spend for the next two weeks. Eugene gets $60 to spend on food/coffee, etc. and I got $180 ($60 to spend for my personal things & $120 for groceries/home needs.) The rule was we were only allowed to use the cash allotted to us every other week. No credit card. No debit card. (unless it was for gas.) This really forced us to watch what we were spending because we physically saw what money we could use/not use. 

This forced me to find creative ways to budget my money and really maximize our money. 
Here are a few tips and tricks I've tried and found to be very helpful in saving money - specifically  in terms of grocery shopping and meal planning.

 1) Make a grocery list: When I first got married I was often overzealous about my cooking adventures that I would just go to the grocery store and wait to be inspired. I usually left the grocery store with enough supplies to make 10 different exotic meals. This often resulted in wasted food and wasted money. Never again! Making a grocery list forces you to go in and out. Try your best not to add things just because they are on sale or because you are temporarily inspired to make something crazy. It can wait. 


 

2) Use a grocery basket: My rule of thumb when I go shopping is to only buy what I can carry. I found that using a basket instead of a cart helps me to stay conscious of how many things I'm buying and it forces me to reconsider if I really need that extra bottle of cooking wine that is on sale or that 50 lb bag of meatballs that they are sampling! It helps!

 

3) Maximize your ingredients: We now live only 3 minutes away from Costco. This is good/bad. Good because Costco is awesome and you really can't beat their price. Bad, because they sell everything in bulk so buying your produce there is probably not the best choice. When I do choose to buy my produce at Costco, I plan my meals in such a way to maximize every ingredient and yet keep the menu versatile.

In this case, I bought romaine lettuce, avocados and cucumber at Costco. I also bought a huge back of sprouts from the Korean Market. I've been using these ingredients for our lunch sandwiches and integrating these same ingredients into our dinners (i.e. California Bowl - yum!)

It also doesn't hurt your wallet to eat $1.50 fish tacos on Taco Tuesday at Rubios!

 

I'm also saving up my pennies for this cast iron I've been eye-ing for the longest time. Nothing wrong with saving up pennies :)

In the end, we know that everything we have is not really ours but the Lord's. Even the money we have to save and spend is ultimately something God has entrusted us to be good stewards of. Our prayer in these next coming years is that we would faithfully manage our finances in such a way that would be honoring to Him! We know that He is the giver of all things - and we trust that He will continue to give us the wisdom to be good stewards of all the things he has entrusted to us!

Hope this helps! If you have any good tips for me - please share! :)

Happy saving!

XOXO

1st semester of pharmacy school-- DONE!

Eugene finished his 1st semester on Tuesday-- and it's been non-stop partying ever since! Well, sorta.

We've been sleeping alot, lounging alot, drinking lots of hot tea (and the occasional decaf coffee's to fight off the withdrawals) and trying to get rid of our nasty headaches (and body aches/stomach aches for me). It's been sweet and exhausting at the same time but we are both so thankful that the semester is over! Eugene has been taking non-stop surprise naps as of late, making up for all of the sleeptime he's missed out on the past few weeks and I'm just thankful to have a stress-free husband in the house. (Woot woot!)

Since Eugene doesn't like making his little debuts on our blog, I had to be creative and did a mini-interview.  So here it is.

----

1. What was the hardest thing about your 1st semester?
Driving in traffic

2. What did you like about it?
 I learned alot in a short period of time. It was fun learning everything

3. What did you miss most during your 1st semester?
"Sleep"
 ("and my wife"... after some prompting, of course. hehe)

4. What will you do differently next semester?
"Study earlier"
 ("and spend more time with my wife"..this also required some prompting)

---

 And... there you have it folks! 

I seriously praise God for His faithfulness in carrying Eugene through this quarter. With the hours and hours of driving in heavy, stand still traffic a day.... to rushing after class to get to work on time (in traffic of course)... to coming home late from work (and traffic), having to study, sleep late and wake up really early to do it all over again......from waking up in wee hours in the morning to leave for school by 5:00am...... my husband is a trooper!  Even though it was just ONE semester, it's been a tough and long road. We've learned alot of hard lessons together during this season, but we're glad to say we'll be prepared for next year!!!!!

(after a long, fun-filled, relaxing and fruitful break of course!)

 

Have a great break, everyone!

As for you, Mr. Pharmacy School, you are so dead next year.

We will love you and destroy you to bits and pieces :)

love always,

Sharon & Eugene

give thanks- a semester to testify of God's faithfulness in our lives, hard lessons learned, grace to get through each day, time to spend with my husband (thank you x1000000!!!!), time to rest, time to recover, our physical weaknesses that serve to magnify the strength of our God.

{Recipe} Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Today was a very quiet, uneventful Saturday.

There were no crazy church events/weddings/bridal showers, etc so it was an unusually quiet but sweet day. Today was spent with some sweet sisters (my fave) and lounging at home with my husband (my super fave!) I haven't had these kind of days in a while, and it was lovely! Eugene and I slept in, enjoyed some warm toast with avocado for breakfast, and savored the wonderful quietness of an autumn morning. It's days like today that provide much opportunity to praise God for even the simplest and smallest things in life.

Our mantle is decorated and all ready for autumn to come and settle in.

I've been collecting orange, brown and yellow goodies since late September. The twig banner was 75% off at Joanns, the succulents and pumpkins from trader Joes, and the candles and other sweets from Target. I love how warmly these colors come together!

To honor the autumn season, I decided to purchase my very first squash last week. A butternut squash to be specific! Squash is really good for you because it's low in fat and really high in fiber. Butternut squash in particular is really creamy and rich in flavor. It's also super meaty inside so you definitely get your money's worth! 

To be honest, I initially bought it because it was really cute and I wanted to use it as a part of my mantle decoration (It was less than $2.00!) Then I thought, maybe I'll make soup... so I did! and it was so easy and so pretty and delicious that I had to share! 

Annnnnnnd, off we go! 

First, peel and cut your butternut squash. Use this helpful tutorial. Pure genius!

P.S. Do you like my new cutting board? I lurve it. I bought it at Costco, too!

Don't forget to seed your squash with a spoon and throw it out. Doesn't this just scream "Autumn"? 

After you have your squash peeled and cut, throw em on a cookie sheet and drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some salt. 

Now, ROAST!

Chopping party!

I served my soup with some wheat sourdough bread, toasted in the oven with some butter and basil pesto spread. Yum!

After some simmering and some blending (either with a blender or with an immersion blender), it pours into THIS. 

Top with some creamy sour cream and chives, and you're ready to go! Eugene said this is now one of his favorite dishes EVER. Yay!  Next time I make this, I better make alot more than two servings. :)

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Inspired by Rachel Ray Magazine           

 Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart

Cook time: 1 hour          Serving Size: 2 (double or triple or quadruple the recipe to make more servings)

*      *     *     *     *     * 

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut in cubes

4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

4 cups of chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Toppings

sour cream (or plain yogurt or heavy cream)

chopped fresh chives

*      *     *     *     *     * 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, seed and cut your butternut squash.

2. Lay butternut squash squares evenly on a cookie sheet.
 Toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until soft.

3. Cut onion and mince garlic. Saute in the pot you will use for the soup with olive oil and spices until tender. Add butternut squash, and toss together. 

4. Add chicken brother and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, simmer for 10 minutes. Mix often.

5. Add soup mixture into a blender (or blend with an immersion blender) until creamy and smooth. Pour directly into a bowl and top with sour cream and chopped chives. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Have a great Sunday, everyone. Don't forget to "fall back" an hour on your clocks before you sleep!

Give thanks: mornings to sleep in, a sweet coffee date with Stacey, spending another day with my sisters, my dishwashing machine, singing praises with my husband at home, trader Joes, our extra hour of sleep tonight!

our first anniversary!

Time seriously flies!
Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary and it's amazing how fast our first year has come and gone. Eugene was at school all day yesterday and I was at work so we celebrated with some Brazilian BBQ last weekend.  We ate a lot of meat (and even more from the salad bar) and shared about the many things we learned from our first year of marriage.

A lot has happened this past year: I became a sandwich-making machine. I learned how to schedule my day around my laundry time (our dryer takes FOREVER). I cut my hair short-short for the first time since I was a child (still regretting it!). I got a Costco card. I inherited a chinese last name. I learned how to make a strawberry trifle! I became a firm believer of the slow cooker and I subscribed to the Rachel Ray Magazine (which is now to be one of many magazine subscriptions, hooray!)

This has truly been a very sweet, humbling and sanctifying year. God has really shown us much of our own sins, our selfishness and our self-seeking tendencies. We're still learning what it means to die to ourselves and to really love, serve and sacrifice for each other the way Christ loved, served and sacrificed for us. We still have a long, long way to go-- but we know that he who began a good work in us will bring it completion at the day of Christ (philippians 1:6) so we're still working hard! We've learned what it means to show grace to each other, to confess our sins to each other and to ask for forgiveness. We've learned the great comfort found in coming before the Lord in prayer and what great joy is found in trusting in Him in all circumstances. :) God is so faithful and so good.

We shared a few things we both learned this past year,  so here they are.

3 things Eugene learned:
1) "We live very differently." He likes using his towel multiple times,  while I only use it once or twice before throwing it in the laundry. He puts things away immediately after using it, while I like cleaning it up all at once after I'm done (i.e. whilst cooking, getting ready, etc) He hangs clothes that he wants to re-wear on top of his drawer, and I'm still having trouble getting used to this.
2) "You're not as girly as I thought." He was surprised that I don't PMS. (YAY haha!)
3) "Life is easier with a wife." It was not good for man to be alone ;)

3 things I learned:
1) Eugene top three comfort foods are 1) any kind of curry 2) sushi 3) ramen 4) the "big gulp" drinks at 711, if this counts as a "food". We've gone to eat sushi or ramen almost every weekend since he's started school :)
2) Eugene is excellent at saving money and is really cautious when it comes to finances. I attribute it to him being Chinese! This is a huge blessing because I can be pretty nonchalant about it. Having a joint account really serves as a good source of accountability too since he can see everything I spend my money on!
3) Eugene has absolutely no ability at reading my "girly signs." If I'm upset or hurt about something and I want him to know, my immediate "girly tendency" is to want to withdraw myself, to give him a cold shoulder, to silence myself, to not send smileys or exclamation marks in my text messages and to make it extremely obvious that I'm unhappy and I need attention. I think God was sovereign in making Eugene the way he is because Eugene never falls for these signs. If I want him to know something is wrong I have to tell him and verbalize why, what initially caused it and what I want him to do. This has been humbling for me, because I usually wish he would just know how I feel and know how to fix it but he doesn't. It's hard to practically live this out day-to-day but it definitely helps us communicate better, so in that sense its a huge blessing :) haha

P.S. For our first anniversary, Eugene bought me a sewing machine! I've been wanting one for years but didn't really feel confident enough to buy one..but I'm soooo happy and so excited to use it and start on the many projects I've planned for myself!

Hopefully I can learn how to make a few things before we have kids. I'll also try to learn how to hem/alter clothes so I can do it for my friends in the future! :)

Have a great day, everyone!

XOXO,
sharon

give thanks- pandora, sweet patients, readings in the morning, a weekend full of fellowship, a 6 hour AR to spend this morning resting/cleaning/recuperating, sleeping in, a weekend with Eugene, salompas for my poor wrist, a year to testify of God's grace and faithfulness to us in our first year of marriage :)

Quiet Tuesdays

Happy Tuesday!
I'm feeling alot better today (YAY!) and now I'm itching to get back to busy bee life and get back to work!  I forsee these next few days to be full of errands, meal planning and house cleaning and packing (yes, packing! yipes.)

Today was a quiet Tuesday at home.

Kat is moving all her stuff out today, which means no more 3rd roommate. In the 7 months Eugene and I have been married, Katherine lived with us for 5 of those months so it will be pretty different without her presence in the Tseng house. I will miss all the of random dinners and spontaneous Target trips! We always joke about how she was our "practice child" because we would share meals with her and pack her lunches and take her to school, but she totally spoiled us! We will miss you, our dear Katness!

After a long hiatus of cooking real meals, I've finally come back with it in full swing. Today we enjoyed a spaghetti recipe I found on a food blog last week. This is my rendition of a Tomato Basil Garlic Spaghetti with shrimp. I need to find a cooler name for it, but for now this will do.

 We ate it with some Roasted Garlic Parmasean Green Beans on the side. Light & Healthy - my fave.

The rest of the day will be spent reading, doing laundry and dusting around the house before I go grab coffee with a few of my favorite girls. Quiet Tuesdays are pretty sweet :)

Give thanks: home cooked meals, Instagram, photography, pink notebooks, lemon juice, mysterious Asian ointments that help relieve every discomfort, long mornings, hymns, reminders in psalm 37

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand"

Psalm 37:23-24