the everyday stuff

Cultural differences come in all shapes and sizes.  And, one of my favorite cultural differences is keys (I've blogged about them before).  They are so different here.  My first apartment had a "treasure chest" key that I thought was awesome, now our new apartment has a "retractable key" that also has a "treasure chest" key  feel to it and it's super long.  The round gray disk attached to the key allows me to enter our apartment complex's main door, our building's door within the complex  and access the elevator.  Without that gray disk, the elevator will not budge.



The two cards in this photo are also apart of my daily life now.  The bottom one is an subway card--we add money to it, and then zap it when entering and leaving the subway stations, and the cost of the fare for the ride is taken off our card's value.  The top one is a magnetic pre-paid card that I can use to buy train tickets with without having to use coins at a ticket vending machine (pictured below).  If you use one of these pre-paid cards, just remember to always take it from the machine when you leave--sadly, I can give this piece of advice from personal experience to the contrary. :(

move over, daisy

I think I’ve fallen in love with a new flower.

For a long time now, sunflowers and daisies have been my favorite flowers.  They just SMILE at me!  They make me OH so happy!!   Lawrance knows I’m not a rose fan.  They smell wonderful, but that’s about it.  Daisies and sunflowers are just so much more joyful.

Our second date was to a sunflower field.

___We used daisies as the inspiration for our American wedding.

___See?  They are just HAPPY flowers.

But, move over daisy . . . and, move over sunny . . . there’s a new girl in town.

I think I’ve fallen in love with the peony.

Deep Blue Peony by geishaboy500 on flickr

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If sunflowers smile at me, peonies whisper to me “Come closer, I have a secret.”

Paeonia, Tree Peony detail byTie Guy II on flickr

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Like all women she is complex.  She appears soft and delicate, but she is so full and flamboyant at the same time.

Peony Momo by geishaboy500 on flickr

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She starts out so tight and guarded, yet she bursts with potential, waiting to unfold.

Peony Opening by nettsu on flickr

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The Tang Dynasty saw the first female ruler in China’s history.  She declared that no flowers be allowed to bloom.  Only the peony broke her orders and bloomed anyway.

peony in a vase by tanakawho on flickr

____In Chinese culture the peony is a symbol of richness because of the luxuriousness and abundance of a single peony bloom, making her a favored subject in paintings.  Again, I see why.

rainy day peonies by Pear Biter on flickr

___Sunflower, you will always make me smile.  Daisy, you will always hold a special place in my heart.  But, move over girls, it’s time to invite Peony to the party too.

Do you have a favorite flower?  What does your favorite flower say to you when no one is looking?

___

apricot chicken delight

The first half of this semester was hard.  Weird schedule, lots of new pressures and responsibilities, and a lack of energy.

Unfortunately lack of energy is a vicious cycle--no energy to cook good stuff = eating out; eating out = not always eating the best foods; not eating healthy = no energy. 

So, during the midterm week, when I wasn't grading tests or catching up on laundry.  I searched for some recipes to turn into the 30 meals project that Carrie, my RD in college (well, and my college roommate's sister-in-law) told me about on this post. (BTW, thanks Carrie!!)

My requirements were that the recipes:

• could be made in less than 20 min,
• needed to be low-carbish,
• needed to delight mine and my husband's taste buds, and
• could be made with things easily found in Taiwan.

Finding meals that meet all four requirements was no small task!

Although Lawrance is generally easy going and not too picky about food, finding things we both love to eat often has proved to be a challenge.

So, my first recipe test was something I found at Cooking During Stolen Moments: Apricot Chicken.

It was SO easy and best of all packed full of flavor!!

I kinda went a bit overboard using freshly cracked black pepper and might have used extra garlic--so our's was not only tangy, but spicy too--she does say to season to taste. :)

This is probably the least low-carb recipe I collected since it uses apricot jam, but it is definitely something I'll be making again before too long.

Side-note to anyone in Taiwan wanting to give this a try: I used half of a jar of Carrefour brand apricot jam (french name on bottle) to cover 6 chicken breast quarters.

living my dream (aka: doing my man's laundry)

Summer vacation is not here for me quite yet.  Grades are due this Friday.  And, Lawrance just started working full time two weeks ago (YAY!!  PTL for his new promotion from part-time teacher to director of the English program!!) .

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing for my summer break.  I reply "just being a housewife." 

Without exception every Taiwanese friend, student, and stranger I've had this conversation with then expresses their sympathies for me, trying to cheer me up.

What they don't realize is that I need no cheering up.  I am SO looking forward to the month of July where I get to be a full time housewife for the first time in my life.  I've already enjoyed these past two weeks of laundry and washing dishes . . . it's so much easier and more enjoyable when I can do it during my day as time allows and as my work for the day rather than as a chore I must squeeze in before going to work.

They don't get it.

 I don't know.  Maybe you won't either . . . maybe you think, "silly girl, wait to you've done ten (twenty, thirty) years of your man's dirty laundry--then we'll talk about the 'joy' you have then."

They also worry about me being lonely being home alone all day.  How could I possibly look forward to being home alone all day with nothing to do but take care of the home? 

Depending on the situation and/or depth of the relationship, I will remind them that not too long ago I was living alone all day everyday.  Now, I have someone to anticipate coming home to me.  Now, I get to eagerly wait for him to call me and return back to me.  It's WAY better than living alone 24/7. 

 And, crazy as it may sound, it is way more fun to clear the table, change the sheets, dust the furniture, or what-have-you when I know I am blessing someone else.  When it was just me living here . . . OH it was SO miserable "keeping house." 

I hated it with a passion. 

I secretly wondered if I'd even make a good wife.  My married friends were able to manage their households of 3 or 4 or 5 . . . . and me?  well, I was struggling with my little household of 1.  :( 

I know I wouldn't score perfectly in housekeeping 101 (I thank God my hubby is so patient and understanding), but I do know (again, crazy as it may sound) keeping house is a lot more fun and rewarding and joyful when I'm not the only one making the messes. ;)

So, yes, I totally look forward to a "boring" summer of being a stay-at-home wife.  I'll be honest: it almost feels as if I get to "play" at being a house keeping wife.  I'm all giddy and happy about it.  Is it weird that I feel that way?

And, actually, it feels like I'm getting to live my dream.  For the latter half of my 20's I dreamed about being married . . . I longed to have someone's socks to wash and underwear to fold.  

Speaking of . . . I think there's a basket a clean laundry awaiting me in the other room right now as I speak!

apartment tour: our living room

In my opinion, our living room is comfy.  We've not finished decorating it yet.  We have a few more pillows to add.  And, the things along the wall with the TV aren't permanent.

We are blessed by having a huge window in our living room.  And, it has a "window seat"/ledge.  Of course it is too scary to actually sit on since we live on the 7th floor and it is ALL WINDOW. :)  So, we keep wedding photos on it.

 If you were to sit on it and look out across our home, this is what you'd see.

We keep two baskets by the front door.  One for guest slippers and one for Gilby's toys (which he has too many of and needs to declutter).

In between the living room and dinning area is a "little hallway" to the bedroom.  Next to the front door in this little hallway is our shoe cabinet.  And. here it is open and closed.

Here is a close up of the things hanging on the walls in our living room in addition to our new wall hanging that is. 

And that's all for now.  We have a guest bedroom, a study, and a hall bathroom too, but they are still in need of a bit of "spring cleaning" that will hopefully take place this summer.  So, that would make it summer cleaning, but that just sounds so totally wrong!  Anywho, thanks for coming along this week and touring our home from afar!  :D

apartment tour: our master bathroom

Like I mentioned yesterday, I totally love our tiny tropical master bathroom.

All our monkey stuff came from my bridal shower in the States--from my aunts.  

When one of my aunts asked me about the back story of the monkeys my simple answer was "I took my kid brother to help me register. :)

I later double checked with Law about the monkeys and he LOVED them too.  

So . . . as a result, this room saw the largest transformation due to marriage. :)

It truly is tiny. :) (The photo's kinda blurry. oops.)

Some of the really cute monkey stuff. :)

When I visited Japan, every home I stayed in had a calendar hanging across from the toilet.    I have NO clue if it was just coincidence or if it is an actual Japanese cultural thing.

However, I kinda liked the idea. So, every time you hear nature's call you can review your monthly appointments. :)

Can you see why I love it?  Isn't it SO cute?? :) 

Tomorrow, the last day of our apartment tour, I'll show you around our living room.

apartment tour: our master bedroom

We've not hung anything on our bedroom walls yet . . . it is on my to do list . . . maybe this summer.

The doorway to our bedroom is kinda unique.  It opens right up into the bathroom and to the left is the bedroom.

My bedroom used to be light tan and blue.  In order to keep most of the decorations that I have (lamps, wall hangings, flowers) but make it a bit more masculine, we decided to juts change the bed linens.  When I was back in the States, I fall in love with this duvet cover that added a dark brown.  So, my best friend gave us the duvet cover as a wedding gift.

Our closets.  Unlike in America, they are not built in.  Here is a little confession . . . I take up two and a hallf, Lawrance only takes up half of one . . . poor guy.  However, he does get twice as much dresser drawer space--so maybe it's fair after all. Nah . . . it's probably not! :)

Here is totally boring photo . . . but this is what you can see from the bed.  It is our dresser and make up table.  Along with our laundry baskets.  I'm not sure where I got the idea from, but we sort our dirty laundry as we throw them into the right hamper--lights, darks, and towels/sheets.  (I don't like the baskets out in the open, but it is practical and there is no where else for them to go.)

And, that's it for our very simple master bedroom. :)  Tomorrow, I'll show you our tiny tropical master bathroom that I just LOVE! :)

apartment tour: our kitchen

Welcome to our tiny kitchen.  It is literally about 2-3 foot wide to about 7-8 foot long.  We can stand side by side, but passing each other to get back and forth is not easy.

It didn't take long for me to begin to despise what I once appreciated . . . kitchen counter space!!! 

At first I was SO happy with the counter top space.  Very quickly I began to complain again that they were too small.

If you are standing at the door way to the kitchen, this is what you will see:

Stepping past the new fridge, you'll see the sink with the dish dryer over it.  Of course if you want see exactly this view, you're going to have to step outside onto our porch. 

Turning around to the left, you'll see this on the right:

and this on the left.  It is our "pantry."  And, yes, it is all
totally open--no pantries are needed when you shop fresh at the market
daily (which I don't, so hence the need for a pantry).

At the end of the kitchen, if you turn around, you'll see this.

Right behind our sink are double glass doors leading to our laundry porch.
  

And if you come back to the kitchen doorway and look the other way, you'll see where we eat. That's our bedroom door in the background.

This photo taken from our bedroom doorway shows the kitchen/dinning room table and cabinet where we store all the dry baking goods and Lawrance's snacks as well as keep our rice cooker, little oven, and cookbooks.

There are some random facts about our kitchen here.   And, if there's anything else you wanna know, just ask. :)

Up tomorrow is a look at our master bedroom.  See you then!

apartment tour: from the front door

My mom and sister have both been asking for photos of our apartment.  So, I took a few.  And thought I'd share them this week.

Standing from the front door here is what you can see . . .

Looking right:

Looking a little less right:

Looking straight ahead:

Looking kinda left:

And, looking very left:

Coming up next . . . our kitchen.

And, here is what our apartment looks like empty; taken two years ago before moving in.

my first birthday married

I made the traditional birthday cake for my mom's side of the family.  It is a peppermint cake.  It is really easy--add a few drops of green food coloring and a 1 teaspoon of peppermint oil to "white" or plain cake batter.  Layer with chocolate frosting and crushed peppermints.  DELICIOUS!!!

But . . .  there was one huge disappointment . . . the "peppermints" I bought here in Taiwan had some extra "flavor" (menthol).  That's just not right on a birthday cake!! :)

My birthday present was the purse sitting behind the flowers . . . I got to pick  it out. 

And, on the Saturday before my birthday, Lawrance came home with the flowers.  At that time all the lilies were closed.  It was fun watching them one by one throughout the week.  He is SO thoughtful!! :)

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And, Lawrance took me out to a stake place called "Tasty."  They have a set meal that is 7 courses--for most of the courses you get to choose between 2 or 3 items.  It was very nice! 

I think they have some of the best wait staff in Taiwan. 

Not all of the courses and also not in the correct order, but to give you the basic idea . . .

Maybe not the best dessert they have but definitely the coolest (as in most unique) is a fried chocolate wanton that you break and pour over vanilla ice cream.  Then you get to eat the rest of the fried chocolate wanton.