Carl finds a new hobby...and this one's no mini

One day, while we were driving, Carl said, "I want to go golfing sometime..."

My response was like, "we can go mini-golfing if you like..."

He was almost upset, and said, "No, I want a real golf course..."

And so he did...

Thanks to our friend Louie who took Carl out golfing! Carl is really excited about his new found hobby!

Carl's Birthday Weekend

It has been a tradition that we greet our birthdays at exactly 12 midnight... It doesn't matter what it takes, it has to happen! Before the strike of midnight, we had some visitors to celebrate the tradition. But when it was just the two of us again... it was time to bring out the surprise. While Carl was at work, I baked some banana cupcakes and kept them inside the oven (a place Carl never checks). After dinner, Carl was commissioned to stay inside the workroom while I worked my magic in the kitchen... and so Carl's birthday weekend started with this:

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
topped with semi-sweet chocolate shavings

On the morning of his birthday, we had a BIG BREAKFAST! Carl and I seldom eat breakfast together because he usually packs his breakfast and eating breakfast too early gives me tummy problems, so on most days we have brunch hahaha! But this is CARL's day - and its got to be special!

Birthday Breakfast: Garlic Rice, Bacon, Spam,
and Mushroom Frittata with Cheese and Scallions

If there is one food Carl is willing to travel for, it's a warm serving of Jollibee Spaghetti and Crispy Fried Chicken. Believe me when I say that I have never seen him crave so much for something! But then again, the closest place to get this favorite is a 6-hour drive away from home - in Las Vegas! If it was a weekend, I bet Carl would just pick up the keys and we'll drive to Vegas! So I made my version of Jolly Spaghetti (complete with sweet sauce and hotdogs!) and crispy fried chicken for his birthday lunch!

Birthday Baon: Home-made Jolly Spaghetti Meal :)
PS. It was served on a serving platter we got from Jollibee

For weeks, we have been planning on watching the last installment of the Harry Potter series, and where to have dinner after the movie. Again, we can not say this enough - we are seafood lovers! But we live in a place that is no way close to a coast, and we've never found any good place to satisfy our seafood cravings. So in the end - Carl requested I make dinner myself! And so we bought tilapia and some shrimp from the store - and prepared one awesome seafood dinner!

Birthday Dinner: Garlic Shrimp, Fried Tilapia, Corn on the Cob,
Tomato & Mango Salad, and UNLIMITED Rice

...and we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after...
it was a great culmination to an amazing series!

Saturday was gym day, and laundry day, and most importantly TEMPLE DAY! Since the Provo Temple was closed for maintenance, we went to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and grabbed a burger from Carl's Jr. on our way home...

Sunday was Carl's birthday party... It wasn't a big party - just friends and family... the biggest thing about Carl's party was his CAKE - his BART SIMPSON birthday cake. You see, Carl loves me so much he thinks I can do anything in the kitchen - including baking and decorating molded/sculpted cakes! So high his expectations hahaha!!! So anyway, I went ahead and bought a molded pan from eBay because Wilton has discontinued the Bart Simpson cake pan forever ago. I baked the cake on Sunday morning, cooked the rest of the menu while the cake was baking and cooling, and when everything was cooked, I started frosting the cake (which took forever I ended up missing church).

Happy Birthday Cake!!!

At the end of the day, everyone was full, and everyone was happy - especially Carl. Our friends even brought food!!! We ate and laughed and talked stories... and it was an amazing birthday weekend! Carl definitely had a blast!

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!

the story behind "One Courageous Day..."

You guys have probably seen the album One Courageous Day in my Facebook page. So here's the story behind the photoshoot...

Early last month, I received an email from BYU's International Services that the Women's Resource Services are  looking for some sort of "models" for their "I am Beautiful Because..." campaign. So basically, you finish the sentence "I am beautiful because..." and if they like your statement, they give you a free photoshoot, and in return they use your headshots and portraits for their campaign (i.e., website, ads, posters, book). It was pretty interesting because, traditionally a person has to be seen first (hence, the term go-see for aspiring models) before they are chosen for a particular job. But for this "gig" they base their decision solely on your perspective about beauty. Actually, the deadline was past due... but they sort of extended it to get more responses. I haven't even heard about the thing until I received the email. So, I responded...

I always believed that true beauty is skin-deep. It is something that transcends Hollywood - that sort of thing. I had my time with the beauty pageants back in the day... it was no way a big time stint, but it makes you feel the pressure of keeping up with appearances and all the superficiality. I have nothing against them though, I still am a follower of pageants, but the part that I always look forward to is the brain picking portion - I mean, what use is your fair skin, long legs, and tiny waist if you don't know anything beyond your beauty regimen or your exercise routine?! After high school, I stopped joining pageants - because I don't meet stricter height requirements and I wanted to focus with school anyway. And I am so glad I did...

I strongly believe being beautiful is a matter of perspective. Mind over matter... Personally, I have had enough people telling me how much weight I have gained since graduating from high school, or since I moved to Hawaii, or since I got married... But I still feel gorgeous you know, with all humility. Because the weight gain is something that I have come to understand as a part of biological make-up, I can only do so much about it. Carl always tells me how much he enjoys hugging me... because there is actually something to hug in me... Whenever he tells me that, I feel very, very special and BEAUTIFUL. One of my pet peeve is tanning/bleaching/whitening. I mean, what is wrong with your color?! Healthy skin is beautiful skin... not pale, not tan. Love your color people - I know I love mine :) There is so much about ourselves that make us beautiful, and it is more than our size or shape or color... it's our soul, our principles, our divine worth...

So a couple weeks ago, I got another email, now from BYU Women's Resource Services, inviting me for a 20-minute photoshoot... I couldn't be happier, and honored :)

The full article about my response and the rest of the photos can be found in the WRS website, and of course in my Facebook album.

Stay beautiful everyone :)

P.S. Brooke Schultz is an awesome photographer, a really nice person. Check out her photo blog and see for yourselves how talented she is

food, fairs, and fireworks

Before I even start talking about what we did for the 4th of July holiday, I am just gonna say how much Carl and I are thankful for America. Carl's been here for eight years now (including his mission), and I have been here for a little over five. Uncle Sam has definitely blessed our lives and the lives of our families, and while being non-citizens have its downsides we are still grateful that we are able to live here and work toward our dreams. It is absolutely a life changing experience to live in the land of free, and the home of the brave! To America, thanks for letting us stay :)

So on to our 4th of July Weekend...

We spent most of our weekend in Provo - at the Freedom Days County Fair. Being there was so reminiscent of strolling through town fairs during fiestas in the Philippines! There was so much food and fun and eye candy!!! We decided to do some food tripping instead of going on the rides. At first I wanted to try one of the rides, but when I learned that 1 ticket costs $5, I decided I'd spend that on food instead. So on the first day we went there (July 2nd), I bought corn on the cob. I know I can make this one at home, but they had a fancy corn roaster, and I haven't had corn on the cob from a street vendor for FIVE LONG YEARS!!! Carl ended up with a Carne Asada Burrito. He said it was really good... Carl's been having an affinity with Mexican food lately. We also tried a non-alcoholic colada, i forgot the flavor but its one of the mango/peach/orange combination.

Reunited with my all-time favorite MAIS!!!

The burrito is almost all gone!
(Thanks for holding my food while I took your picture!)

 After feeding ourselves, we headed to the open field in front of the Provo temple to watch the fireworks. The Stadium of Fire concert was ongoing at the football stadium on the night of July 2nd, but the cheapest ticket was still not affordable, so like many others we just waited for the fireworks from outside, which was probably a better idea viewing-wise. The fireworks were great, but both Carl and I thought we've seen the likes of those before. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sight!

Happy Independence Day, America!!!

The fair was closed on the 3rd because it was a Sunday, but we came back on the 4th before the day ended to grab some more food!!! It was actually a fun weekend - and after being in the States for quite a while... I think the holiday is starting to grow on us!

a pasta machine and some yummy ravioli

When Carl and I first moved into our apartment here at Wymount, a neighbor was moving out and was getting rid of stuff. Our intention was just to buy their dining table that came with a bench, but when we went to their apartment to pick up the furniture - the lady decided she'll GIVE everything she couldn't take with her - TO US. Apparently, she has accumulated lots of stuff in the last 5 years and it wasn't very practical for her and her family to take all of their things to Indonesia. So there - we "inherited" a couple of things (ala TVA style) from our neighbor. 

This thing is one of them. The lady said somebody gifted her a pasta machine, but she's never used it at all. Me - for the longest time I had wanted to learn how to make my own pasta. I like how the Iron Chefs make pasta... it makes me feel like a pro. I was so excited to finally have one. But sadly, the little equipment sat in storage for almost a year - like the lady who used to own it, I never found the time to make pasta... Until now... Lately, we've been trying to do things we've never done together before... we brainstormed and I suddenly remembered my lonely pasta machine!!! 

So we decided to go Italiano and made ravioli for dinner two Saturdays ago (I know, the post is late). I honestly don't know much about making homemade pasta - so I did a little searching and found a very helpful article and recipe. The recipe called for semolina flour but I know I can use regular flour (my little sister had done it before for one of her classes). We didn't have a mixer too, so I kneaded the dough by hand on my table top. Kneading, rolling out, and cutting the dough was quite a work-out, I must say, but Carl was a very good helper, as you can see! 

Meet Carl, the Sous Chef, rolling out the dough a little
bit before running it on the machine

For the ravioli filling, I decided to just make a basic meat filling. (Now that I know how to make pasta for ravioli, I will have yet to improve my filling recipes!). I originally wanted to make alfredo for the sauce, but I didn't have heavy cream and parmesan cheese on hand... so I just made a mushroom sauce fake-out. It turned out pretty good too!

Beef Ravioli in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

 It was a great dinner and we totally felt great about cooking it together and learning something new!