This morning I am going to take a little bit of time to thank God for my family, friends and the friends that feel like family. God has blessed me with some amazing people and I need to recall these memories with a glad heart, not a bitter one because I'm so far from them now. I need to make a better effort at keeping in touch and not ruining the relationships God blessed me with in Florida and in Boston.
I have so many amazing memories of roadtrips with anna, amanda and mandi. beach and lazy days with steph and casey. lounging around the house with dd, dakota, abby and mandi. having lunch with boo and helping her and tim move in to their new place. oh and dance parties at their house. pool parties at the gesners and 4th of july memories with the williams, martins, gesners and dakota. i miss hanging with carly on her couch and having pool parties.
Lord, I know that you are constantly in the process f having me live out your will for my life and the last thing i want to do is be bitter while you do this. I'm sorry for the ways I have blamed you for taking me from my friends, but I am so thankful for the new memories you have given me. I pray for Maike, Lord. Please help sue me or someone at TC to help bring her to know you. Lord I pray for all the girls in my group, and pray that they are having fun, rich, memory filled summers. Lord I pray for Amy and her wedding. I pray against stress and anxiety and I pray she would be hopeful about marriage. Excited and ready to serve Alex and love him.
Lord, I ask for you to invade my thoughts and emotions and help me think wholly and peacefully. I pray against negative emotions, sad emotions, and angry/bitter emotions. I pray that I would see these people and NYC with your eyes, eyes of love and of true grace.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Family Longings
I'm reading this devotional book by shauna neiquist called "Savor" and it's pretty good, but can easily be geared more towards a married woman with kids... and not really someone who lives in the city. the devo today was her talking about how she wants to be the kind of person who wants to be around her parents often, for her parents to be around her kids often, and also to be around for her siblings. She asked us to think about the last time we made space for deep encounters with family.
isn't this everyone's perfect dream? Who wouldn't want this? I think the devotional for me today is to continue to submit to praying for my biological family and the people I consider family in a way that doesn't seem prideful. I still get my feelings so hurt over who does and doesn't keep in touch with me and who says they'll call and doesn't. so when I think about them, I have ill feelings, emotionally sad feelings usually. and as much as I want to be there with them, i'm also glad that I'm not and I trust god's plan for me here.
for my biological family, lord today i pray for brandon. god he believes he is fine, and i really don't think there is much to "correct" about his lifestyle except for all the ways he doesn't glorify you. with his words, the ways he treats people, his money, his drinking and drug issues. he is a good kid who needs to grow up and travel. more then anything he needs to get to know you. he needs to know what this life is supposed to be about and start living it.
lord i also pray for my parents. I pray that you help bring them closer together in their faith. it has got to be hard on my mom for her to see my dad always be the one in the limelight. i think she would say she's fine with it, that he can have it all because it lets her do her own thing, but i think that is a lazy cop out. my mom is so sweet and personable and friendly and i pray lord that you help my dad envelope her in the things that he's a part of and i know this includes you also softening her heart to say yes to the invitation.
lord i pray that you use me and my parents and Pop in whatever way possible to help bring Mom to a loving faith in you alone. i think education has steered her in the wrong direction and she needs to know that above all information to be found and read, there is a saving faith in you alone that all of her other rituals and religions can't offer.
lord, for my friends back home, I forgive them. I ask for forgiveness also for not keeping in very good touch with them, with Boo and Abby and the Whatleys and those. I forgive Mandi for not keeping her word over and over again. I forgive Brittany Wheeler for saying one thing and acting another way towards me. lord i ask that you forgive me for blaming you for this sometimes too. for blaming you when it's hard and when people don't pursue a relationship with me. I ask for mercy, a lot of love and even more grace to continue to get used to this. please help me change my perspective if that's what needed.
and lastly lord, I thank you SO much for Maggie and Dave. Dave is such an amazing hard worker and I know this is a huge adjustment for him also. he is handling it so well and i pray that you help us get into the swing of things, even if it means i lead the whole 'getting up early thing'. and lord, you are so perfect in all of your ways and you have blessed me with maggie. my dear friend from high school that I didn't keep in touch with well. she's living up here with her husband brian who is a lawyer and she has a precious 2 year old son Jude. we had dinner with them las night and dave and brian got along great. maggie is so sweet and I am so thankful for her being here and for us reconnecting.
lord, you are so good. I trust you completely with everything. our friends, our lonely time, our work, our school, our finances and our health. everything. you are the giver and the taker of life and i promise this week will be different. we will wake up, eat breakfast, watch news, do bible study and get an early start to our day.
isn't this everyone's perfect dream? Who wouldn't want this? I think the devotional for me today is to continue to submit to praying for my biological family and the people I consider family in a way that doesn't seem prideful. I still get my feelings so hurt over who does and doesn't keep in touch with me and who says they'll call and doesn't. so when I think about them, I have ill feelings, emotionally sad feelings usually. and as much as I want to be there with them, i'm also glad that I'm not and I trust god's plan for me here.
for my biological family, lord today i pray for brandon. god he believes he is fine, and i really don't think there is much to "correct" about his lifestyle except for all the ways he doesn't glorify you. with his words, the ways he treats people, his money, his drinking and drug issues. he is a good kid who needs to grow up and travel. more then anything he needs to get to know you. he needs to know what this life is supposed to be about and start living it.
lord i also pray for my parents. I pray that you help bring them closer together in their faith. it has got to be hard on my mom for her to see my dad always be the one in the limelight. i think she would say she's fine with it, that he can have it all because it lets her do her own thing, but i think that is a lazy cop out. my mom is so sweet and personable and friendly and i pray lord that you help my dad envelope her in the things that he's a part of and i know this includes you also softening her heart to say yes to the invitation.
lord i pray that you use me and my parents and Pop in whatever way possible to help bring Mom to a loving faith in you alone. i think education has steered her in the wrong direction and she needs to know that above all information to be found and read, there is a saving faith in you alone that all of her other rituals and religions can't offer.
lord, for my friends back home, I forgive them. I ask for forgiveness also for not keeping in very good touch with them, with Boo and Abby and the Whatleys and those. I forgive Mandi for not keeping her word over and over again. I forgive Brittany Wheeler for saying one thing and acting another way towards me. lord i ask that you forgive me for blaming you for this sometimes too. for blaming you when it's hard and when people don't pursue a relationship with me. I ask for mercy, a lot of love and even more grace to continue to get used to this. please help me change my perspective if that's what needed.
and lastly lord, I thank you SO much for Maggie and Dave. Dave is such an amazing hard worker and I know this is a huge adjustment for him also. he is handling it so well and i pray that you help us get into the swing of things, even if it means i lead the whole 'getting up early thing'. and lord, you are so perfect in all of your ways and you have blessed me with maggie. my dear friend from high school that I didn't keep in touch with well. she's living up here with her husband brian who is a lawyer and she has a precious 2 year old son Jude. we had dinner with them las night and dave and brian got along great. maggie is so sweet and I am so thankful for her being here and for us reconnecting.
lord, you are so good. I trust you completely with everything. our friends, our lonely time, our work, our school, our finances and our health. everything. you are the giver and the taker of life and i promise this week will be different. we will wake up, eat breakfast, watch news, do bible study and get an early start to our day.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Summer House
Well, I haven't written since September of 2014 and I titled that one "settling in". Seems like a theme has developed of us constantly settling in to new places, because today as I write, we are settling in to a place. It's almost as if God is saying "JK!! Don't get comfortable". Which is fine, but sometimes can create a false sense of stability. Maybe I need to just start finding my stability more in God.
Lately my relationship with the Lord has felt very dreamy. And by dreamy I don't mean pretty and fantasy like, but I reminisce on how our relationship used to be and I long for it again. I'm not exactly sure whats holding me back from the whole waking up early, being healthy, quiet time old version of myself, but it's taking a lot more disciple to do it now then it did back then. Maybe because I'm on auto pilot and I feel fine and I'm not in need or want and I just am not in a place where I feel like I need to be closer to the Lord. Which is so horrible. and so lukewarm and probably disgusts jesus.
when in reality i have so much i need to draw closer to him about.
the salvation of my brother
my health and preparation of my body for a baby
katey and patrick - katey's health and pat's job
dan and rach going to angola
my parent's relationship
daves job
my future
right now I feel distracted because dave turned the tv on to watch sports and I wanted to journal but felt it pass.
Lately my relationship with the Lord has felt very dreamy. And by dreamy I don't mean pretty and fantasy like, but I reminisce on how our relationship used to be and I long for it again. I'm not exactly sure whats holding me back from the whole waking up early, being healthy, quiet time old version of myself, but it's taking a lot more disciple to do it now then it did back then. Maybe because I'm on auto pilot and I feel fine and I'm not in need or want and I just am not in a place where I feel like I need to be closer to the Lord. Which is so horrible. and so lukewarm and probably disgusts jesus.
when in reality i have so much i need to draw closer to him about.
the salvation of my brother
my health and preparation of my body for a baby
katey and patrick - katey's health and pat's job
dan and rach going to angola
my parent's relationship
daves job
my future
right now I feel distracted because dave turned the tv on to watch sports and I wanted to journal but felt it pass.
Monday, September 1, 2014
settling in
(update - it took me 2 weeks to post this... but I'm not starting over lol)
i promise i have plans to update on some more trader joe's purchases but, i went to costco and stocked up, so we aren't buying a lot from trader joe's. just veggies, milk, eggs, the essentials. although last trip there i did buy the mandarin orange chicken that i'm looking forward to after reading all the reviews!
(another update - we cooked the frozen mandarin orange chicken tonight and i served it with quinoa... SUPER yummy but not healthy at all. beware.)
house update: dave is currently (literally, my hot husband is shirtless on a stool right this second) hanging the shelves in our "room", which is the last big project. this will get everything off the floor and the book case that isn't really useable right now because everything is just shoved everywhere. it's been quite a process to get everything to where it should be, especially since ikea is diy and therefore, we've had to do it ourselves on our own free time. not a ton of that. i'll explain later.
i'm baking, cooking, meal prepping and listening to music, and using all my fun kitchen gear that lovely friends and family bought us for our wedding and ohhhhh does it make my heart happy! nesting is in full swing. insert way too artsy pictures of blueberry quinoa muffins I made a few weeks ago.
i promise i have plans to update on some more trader joe's purchases but, i went to costco and stocked up, so we aren't buying a lot from trader joe's. just veggies, milk, eggs, the essentials. although last trip there i did buy the mandarin orange chicken that i'm looking forward to after reading all the reviews!
(another update - we cooked the frozen mandarin orange chicken tonight and i served it with quinoa... SUPER yummy but not healthy at all. beware.)
house update: dave is currently (literally, my hot husband is shirtless on a stool right this second) hanging the shelves in our "room", which is the last big project. this will get everything off the floor and the book case that isn't really useable right now because everything is just shoved everywhere. it's been quite a process to get everything to where it should be, especially since ikea is diy and therefore, we've had to do it ourselves on our own free time. not a ton of that. i'll explain later.
i'm baking, cooking, meal prepping and listening to music, and using all my fun kitchen gear that lovely friends and family bought us for our wedding and ohhhhh does it make my heart happy! nesting is in full swing. insert way too artsy pictures of blueberry quinoa muffins I made a few weeks ago.
work update: dave started work at a VC firm right after we got back from dubai. while still in dubai, he realized that his internship that started early was ending early, or at least earlier then most other internships. so he took upon himself to find a-NOTHER internship to make some extra $$$ and meet new contacts during the month of august. he worked really hard for these guys and when everything wrapped up over a conference call on friday, they asked if he would be interested in doing contract work over the school year. yay!! my man!
i got a job about a week after arriving to boston. i knew i wanted to work in a coffee shop type setting again so i had a few interviews set up at places for when i returned. how-everrrrr, dave went into a place called thinking cup and called me and told me i should check it out. i did, got interviewed on the spot and was hired 2 days later. since then, i have been promoted to mid shift, which is half barista, half cashier! my new schedule is m-th 8-6. can you say 3 day weekend!?!?!? it's been quite an adjustment going from sitting at a desk to standing on my feet 24-7, but with some new tennies and show inserts (don't judge), i'm doing pretty good!
free time:
this is the river a block from our home, charles. the charles is super polluted and gross but very pretty to look at! there is a trail running pretty much the length of it, and about a half mile down one way is a workout park. mostly dave and sometimes me will walk to the park (or run) and workout. it's great to have close by. also close by is this bench. to be honest we have only frequented it once, but we plan to much more often. we laid a blanket down and read for about 2 hours. it was so nice!
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| that dome is part of MIT, but really as far left and right as you can see is part of MIT's campus. |
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| i just need you to know that those coffee's were $1 at the local corner shop. yes i'm a barista. no i don't care. |
so anyways, that's an update on that. we are having an absolute blast hanging with people from church also. two couples in particular, alli and keith are a young engaged couple. alli is 22, keith is 25. they became engaged just a month or two ago and are very excited to get married. keith has an amazing testimony and because of it, has some funny stories. both are from boston! recently they asked us to come with them to view a property on the ocean on plumb island that they would possibly be having their wedding at. it was so beautiful and we ended up walking around the boardwalk area all day, having lunch and ice cream, then walking some more. they are such a sweet and fun couple.
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| i stole this from alli's fb page. i hope that's legal. |
brittany and raleigh are from seattle (secretly i'm super jealous of this) and they both were worship leaders at their church. it too was a very large church and because they were both on the "inside" we have been able to relate a lot to each other with what it's been like going from full time ministry to a normal job. brittany is dave's age and raliegh is my age and raliegh has the best laugh on the face of the earth. i'm talking like every 5 seconds throwing his head back laughing over the smallest stuff and you can't help but just laugh with. britt and i are totally on the same wavelength and for this reason, we hang out with them a lot and d & r has to listen to us talk for hours. we have gone on a double date with them, lunch date and also attended r's surprise b day party last weekend. such a fun couple! they are both also worship leaders at aletheia. again... this pic is stolen from fb!
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church life: we are loving the church family and teaching at aletheia. we just finished a short series on What Love Does and now we are going to go verse by verse through the book of john. the church is lively and this past sunday, there were SO many new faces with all the new college kids in town. what a fun sight! i attend a womens community group on tuesday nights and these girls are fantastic. loud, emotional, prayerful and transparent. dave's mens community group will get started up probably within the next few weeks ago. everyone has been traveling for summer and within the last few days they have been arriving back in boston for classes that start on wednesday.
i look forward to writing again soon! much love!
the hoyme's
Thursday, August 14, 2014
#bostonforthewin update and my first 2 trader joe's experiences
oh gosh. here i am!
kitchen table.
new apartment
freshly ground and pressed coffee.
windows open.
what more could a girl need?? seriously though, i could survive off this for a few days i think and not perish.
so jax --> boston --> new york --> dubai --> oman --> mumbai --> boston. this was all done in 9 weeks. i'm tired! to say the least. actually, my body is tired, but i have had a ton of energy. the flight back from dubai was a DANG miracle because never ever in my life have i slept for longer then maybe 2.5 minutes on a plane without the help of drugs. and i don't mean melatonin. this girl needs more then a flippin vitamin to sleep on a plane. so this time, unequipped, i was nervous. 14 hours nonstop calls for drugs and i had none. the person on m left popped something and i thought to ask him to share but the person on my right looked like an undercover person of some kind and i figured he'd tell on me. so, here i am, 2 hours in, watching a movie and eating plane food that they name dinner, and i get the proverbial uh oh ache in my knees. WHICH usually doesn't happen until like the 8 hour mark. i'm thinking I'm doomed. this is going to be hell and back. i rubbed my knees, got up and walked around (to my drugged out and soundly sleeping neighbors disturbance) and drank a of of water. begrudgingly, i walked back to my seat and tried to get comfortable. this included indian style, crossed legs, feet out front resting on the back of the armrests in front of me (you know this position - the birthing position) (and yes i was wearing a dress... I HAVE NO CLUE WHY.... and yes i was covered in 2 blankets). I started to feel sleepy and so then........................ wait for it..................
I WOKE UP!!!!!! ha! hahahahaha. i'm tellin you i have absolutely zero recollection of falling asleep. good lord it's such a miracle i can't even stand to not talk about it all day long. i tapped my finger on the tv screen in front of me and it said there were 3 hours left on the flight. i laughed out loud! ha. man. i couldn't even believe it. therefore, i had zero jetleg which has been awesome because we have had a crap ton to do.
so i arrived late thursday night and stayed in a hotel since our keys weren't available until noon the next day. dave arrived friday morning around noon. we picked up the car and left our stuff at the hotel while we ran 2 trips back and forth from the storage unit. we had a tiny storage unit, like a 3x5, but dang it had some heavy boxes in it. want to know how i know? check out my awesome thigh muscles after countless trips up and down our 4 flights of stairs. that's right. you read it right. next time you pull into your driveway and walk 5 steps to you door, be thankful :)
saturday we went to ikea. which is heaven and a gift from God. want to know what else is a gift? amazon prime. we should have paid hundreds in shipping but instead paid 6 for amazon prime pantry. which you should go look up now.
for the first few days the house (by house i mean room) was super messy. we had boxes everywhere and were sleepin on a thin ikea twin mattress that dave kept in storage. his head at one end and mine at the other. super sexy huh?
then our amazon shipments slowly started coming in and now we have a mattress, cooking utensils, vacuum, wifi, a toaster, cleaning products, cooking products (amazon prime) and it's starting to look like a home and not just a house! our air conditioning window unit should arrive today and then we'll be GOLDEN and comfy :) i'll post pics of something online as soon as it's not all cardboard and clothes.
so, let's talk food. the closest grocery to me is a trader joe's and for weeks before moving here i read blogs and articles on the best items to buy. i didn't buy it all at once, because... budget, but I have gotten a few of the good name-dropped and talked about items.
here are the "I'd buy again's", the "I'd try something else" and the "not ever again" purchases thus far.
also, just to let you know we get all our groceries here. so this includes milk, eggs, shredded cheese, veggies etc. some stuff seems a little bit higher but not so much higher then normal that i'm going to try to find another store to WALK to to get just one item. i like a sale. but not if it's over a mile away :)
I'd buy again's (I rated these between 2 stars and 3 stars):
** guilt free guac - holy moly this stuff is good. creamy avo and small chunks of onion and tomato. it's very good. i usually like my guac with a little more lime and dave likes to add a kick, so when we make it thats what we do, but when avo's are $$$ (at trader joe's the big hass avo's are 1.39 a piece... eek!) then I'll buy this for sure.
*** guilt free kale and spinach yogurt dip -
*** to go with it, the soy & flaxseed tortilla chips are very good. large, crispy and healthy!
*** this morning we tried our coffee for the first time. we bought the joe's dark coffee - dark roast and ground it ourselves. dave likes it dark and i like it smooth and this is a really great bean!
*** they have a really nice selection of nuts and berries and trail mixes but i decided to make my own. i bought a bag of raw sunflower seeds, raw almonds, raisins and the orange flavored dried cranberries, which i'd read about, and made my own mix. it made 3 huge jars and next time i can change it up!
*** multigrain british english muffins. very good. airy and yummy. toasted and made a breakfast sandy this morning.
** bite size everything crackers. tj's has a ton of crackers to choose from and i randomly grabbed this one. they taste like small everything bagels and are really good dipped in the hummus
*** dark choc covered caramels - i know you're probably thinking, "how could these be bad?" and you're right. but dang these are good. one after dinner before bed and you'll never miss dessert every again. they are about 1" x 1" in size, and the dark choc is super yummy and the caramel is super creamy. ugh. it takes me like 10 minutes to eat just one with a cold glass of milk. soooooo gooooooddddd. and also the only sweet thing we have in the house right now (other then these fantastic organic blueberries that taste like candy), so i'm geeking out on the sugar.
***organic lowfat yogurt - super yummy, smooth & creamy
***salsa especial - this surprised me! it tastes like the salsa that ground really smooth that you get from hole in the wall mexican restaurants. dave and i really liked it!
***chicken sausage - spicy jalapeño - these were yummy! I added some coconut oil to my cast iron pan, sautéed these so they'd get a nice char on all sides, added a little water to deglaze the pan, then threw in some green beans with just a few minutes left and covered the pan to steam the green beans. one pot wonder! They were spicy but not overpowering and had really good flavor. i'm pretty sure these are a knock off of the flavored brand sausages you can get at publix and target (the name is escaping me), but, they are about the same price, maybe a little cheaper, and MUCH less salty, which is why i didn't buy the other brand.
***thai shrimp gyoza - these are pretty big potstickers basically. I was not paying attention when i picked up the bag that the serving instructions said to serve with your fave dipping sauce, but, they didn't really need it! I served it with steamed broccoli, and the shrimp filling was very flavorful. a sauce packet included would have been nice, but we didn't feel like it was "missing" something. i pan fried then as the directions stated to get a little crust on them, then added water, covered and steamed. YUM!
I'd try something else:
* hearth oven bread - seeded multigrain. so, it's good. i don't want to say that it's bad. but i buy bread for 2 reasons. eggs in a basket and sandwiches and this wouldn't be good for either. i had it as a sandy yesterday and it's way too dense. we'll finish it, because i bought it, but i will definitely try something else more bready. i usually buy a seeded mulitgrain but this has the density of a loaf of christmas bread or something. just way too thick. not airy fluffy bread. not really sure what I'd buy it for, but the taste is great!
* broccoli slaw & kale salad with chicken and sweet & spicy vinagarette - eh. like it because it's healthy and has seeds and stuff in it but the dressing wasn't a vin at all and i'd try something else.
* pomegranate limeade - dave loves it! i had to water mine down. really good flavor and i like that it's refined sugar free and has no preservatives, but dang it's strong. very sour then gets sweet. good, but i'll be looking for another juice to try.
* wine country chicken salad with pecans and cranberries- good chicken salad but i like mine with celery and a bit saltier. i've eaten almost half the container with the everything bagel crackers, so it's not horrible, but I'd rather make my own.
* multigrain pita chips with sesame - small tasty salty crispy. exactly what you want from pita chips. but SUPER salty. maybe it's just me, or maybe i'm used to the stacy's brand, but these are very salty. i'll look for something not so laden.
not ever again:
*well, it's a pre-prepared frozen dinner thing. tj's is known for their selection of this type of stuff and while this isn't something id' read about, i wanted to buy fish and this seemed yummy. i was wrong. the wild salmon with orzo in a mint and yogurt sauce with zucchini sounded good to me. i baked it in the oven as directed and it was just all wrong. the orzo was mushy and the sauce has zero flavor. seemed like it was there simply so that the pasta wouldn't dry out. the salmon tasted like it'd never touched a flake of seasoning in it's life and was kinda dry. i don't know what i was expecting but this was not it. fail.
*ancient grain pizza with asparagas and cherry tomatoes - the picture on the front of the box looked very enticing, but i PROMISE there was no sauce on this pizza. it was crust, a liiiiiiitle cheese, cherry tomatoes and, like, inch and a half long spears of asparagus...... which btw is not easy to bite into. the chunks needed to be smaller.... and they forgot to add FLAVOR. no go.
things i have not tried yet and will update on soon:
medium cooked frozen shrimp
frozen veggie mix
mini croissants (i don't have a sheet pan yet but i want to DEVOUR these so bad!!!)
so! there you have it. our so far trader joe finds. at this point, i am just getting staples and meats, veggies. i'm guessing the reviews that come after this will be on pre-prepared stuffs. and cookies. and goodies :)
much love!
kitchen table.
new apartment
freshly ground and pressed coffee.
windows open.
what more could a girl need?? seriously though, i could survive off this for a few days i think and not perish.
so jax --> boston --> new york --> dubai --> oman --> mumbai --> boston. this was all done in 9 weeks. i'm tired! to say the least. actually, my body is tired, but i have had a ton of energy. the flight back from dubai was a DANG miracle because never ever in my life have i slept for longer then maybe 2.5 minutes on a plane without the help of drugs. and i don't mean melatonin. this girl needs more then a flippin vitamin to sleep on a plane. so this time, unequipped, i was nervous. 14 hours nonstop calls for drugs and i had none. the person on m left popped something and i thought to ask him to share but the person on my right looked like an undercover person of some kind and i figured he'd tell on me. so, here i am, 2 hours in, watching a movie and eating plane food that they name dinner, and i get the proverbial uh oh ache in my knees. WHICH usually doesn't happen until like the 8 hour mark. i'm thinking I'm doomed. this is going to be hell and back. i rubbed my knees, got up and walked around (to my drugged out and soundly sleeping neighbors disturbance) and drank a of of water. begrudgingly, i walked back to my seat and tried to get comfortable. this included indian style, crossed legs, feet out front resting on the back of the armrests in front of me (you know this position - the birthing position) (and yes i was wearing a dress... I HAVE NO CLUE WHY.... and yes i was covered in 2 blankets). I started to feel sleepy and so then........................ wait for it..................
I WOKE UP!!!!!! ha! hahahahaha. i'm tellin you i have absolutely zero recollection of falling asleep. good lord it's such a miracle i can't even stand to not talk about it all day long. i tapped my finger on the tv screen in front of me and it said there were 3 hours left on the flight. i laughed out loud! ha. man. i couldn't even believe it. therefore, i had zero jetleg which has been awesome because we have had a crap ton to do.
so i arrived late thursday night and stayed in a hotel since our keys weren't available until noon the next day. dave arrived friday morning around noon. we picked up the car and left our stuff at the hotel while we ran 2 trips back and forth from the storage unit. we had a tiny storage unit, like a 3x5, but dang it had some heavy boxes in it. want to know how i know? check out my awesome thigh muscles after countless trips up and down our 4 flights of stairs. that's right. you read it right. next time you pull into your driveway and walk 5 steps to you door, be thankful :)
saturday we went to ikea. which is heaven and a gift from God. want to know what else is a gift? amazon prime. we should have paid hundreds in shipping but instead paid 6 for amazon prime pantry. which you should go look up now.
for the first few days the house (by house i mean room) was super messy. we had boxes everywhere and were sleepin on a thin ikea twin mattress that dave kept in storage. his head at one end and mine at the other. super sexy huh?
then our amazon shipments slowly started coming in and now we have a mattress, cooking utensils, vacuum, wifi, a toaster, cleaning products, cooking products (amazon prime) and it's starting to look like a home and not just a house! our air conditioning window unit should arrive today and then we'll be GOLDEN and comfy :) i'll post pics of something online as soon as it's not all cardboard and clothes.
so, let's talk food. the closest grocery to me is a trader joe's and for weeks before moving here i read blogs and articles on the best items to buy. i didn't buy it all at once, because... budget, but I have gotten a few of the good name-dropped and talked about items.
here are the "I'd buy again's", the "I'd try something else" and the "not ever again" purchases thus far.
also, just to let you know we get all our groceries here. so this includes milk, eggs, shredded cheese, veggies etc. some stuff seems a little bit higher but not so much higher then normal that i'm going to try to find another store to WALK to to get just one item. i like a sale. but not if it's over a mile away :)
I'd buy again's (I rated these between 2 stars and 3 stars):
** guilt free guac - holy moly this stuff is good. creamy avo and small chunks of onion and tomato. it's very good. i usually like my guac with a little more lime and dave likes to add a kick, so when we make it thats what we do, but when avo's are $$$ (at trader joe's the big hass avo's are 1.39 a piece... eek!) then I'll buy this for sure.
*** guilt free kale and spinach yogurt dip -
*** to go with it, the soy & flaxseed tortilla chips are very good. large, crispy and healthy!
*** this morning we tried our coffee for the first time. we bought the joe's dark coffee - dark roast and ground it ourselves. dave likes it dark and i like it smooth and this is a really great bean!
*** they have a really nice selection of nuts and berries and trail mixes but i decided to make my own. i bought a bag of raw sunflower seeds, raw almonds, raisins and the orange flavored dried cranberries, which i'd read about, and made my own mix. it made 3 huge jars and next time i can change it up!
*** multigrain british english muffins. very good. airy and yummy. toasted and made a breakfast sandy this morning.
** bite size everything crackers. tj's has a ton of crackers to choose from and i randomly grabbed this one. they taste like small everything bagels and are really good dipped in the hummus
*** dark choc covered caramels - i know you're probably thinking, "how could these be bad?" and you're right. but dang these are good. one after dinner before bed and you'll never miss dessert every again. they are about 1" x 1" in size, and the dark choc is super yummy and the caramel is super creamy. ugh. it takes me like 10 minutes to eat just one with a cold glass of milk. soooooo gooooooddddd. and also the only sweet thing we have in the house right now (other then these fantastic organic blueberries that taste like candy), so i'm geeking out on the sugar.
***organic lowfat yogurt - super yummy, smooth & creamy
***salsa especial - this surprised me! it tastes like the salsa that ground really smooth that you get from hole in the wall mexican restaurants. dave and i really liked it!
***chicken sausage - spicy jalapeño - these were yummy! I added some coconut oil to my cast iron pan, sautéed these so they'd get a nice char on all sides, added a little water to deglaze the pan, then threw in some green beans with just a few minutes left and covered the pan to steam the green beans. one pot wonder! They were spicy but not overpowering and had really good flavor. i'm pretty sure these are a knock off of the flavored brand sausages you can get at publix and target (the name is escaping me), but, they are about the same price, maybe a little cheaper, and MUCH less salty, which is why i didn't buy the other brand.
***thai shrimp gyoza - these are pretty big potstickers basically. I was not paying attention when i picked up the bag that the serving instructions said to serve with your fave dipping sauce, but, they didn't really need it! I served it with steamed broccoli, and the shrimp filling was very flavorful. a sauce packet included would have been nice, but we didn't feel like it was "missing" something. i pan fried then as the directions stated to get a little crust on them, then added water, covered and steamed. YUM!
I'd try something else:
* hearth oven bread - seeded multigrain. so, it's good. i don't want to say that it's bad. but i buy bread for 2 reasons. eggs in a basket and sandwiches and this wouldn't be good for either. i had it as a sandy yesterday and it's way too dense. we'll finish it, because i bought it, but i will definitely try something else more bready. i usually buy a seeded mulitgrain but this has the density of a loaf of christmas bread or something. just way too thick. not airy fluffy bread. not really sure what I'd buy it for, but the taste is great!
* broccoli slaw & kale salad with chicken and sweet & spicy vinagarette - eh. like it because it's healthy and has seeds and stuff in it but the dressing wasn't a vin at all and i'd try something else.
* pomegranate limeade - dave loves it! i had to water mine down. really good flavor and i like that it's refined sugar free and has no preservatives, but dang it's strong. very sour then gets sweet. good, but i'll be looking for another juice to try.
* wine country chicken salad with pecans and cranberries- good chicken salad but i like mine with celery and a bit saltier. i've eaten almost half the container with the everything bagel crackers, so it's not horrible, but I'd rather make my own.
* multigrain pita chips with sesame - small tasty salty crispy. exactly what you want from pita chips. but SUPER salty. maybe it's just me, or maybe i'm used to the stacy's brand, but these are very salty. i'll look for something not so laden.
not ever again:
*well, it's a pre-prepared frozen dinner thing. tj's is known for their selection of this type of stuff and while this isn't something id' read about, i wanted to buy fish and this seemed yummy. i was wrong. the wild salmon with orzo in a mint and yogurt sauce with zucchini sounded good to me. i baked it in the oven as directed and it was just all wrong. the orzo was mushy and the sauce has zero flavor. seemed like it was there simply so that the pasta wouldn't dry out. the salmon tasted like it'd never touched a flake of seasoning in it's life and was kinda dry. i don't know what i was expecting but this was not it. fail.
*ancient grain pizza with asparagas and cherry tomatoes - the picture on the front of the box looked very enticing, but i PROMISE there was no sauce on this pizza. it was crust, a liiiiiiitle cheese, cherry tomatoes and, like, inch and a half long spears of asparagus...... which btw is not easy to bite into. the chunks needed to be smaller.... and they forgot to add FLAVOR. no go.
things i have not tried yet and will update on soon:
medium cooked frozen shrimp
frozen veggie mix
mini croissants (i don't have a sheet pan yet but i want to DEVOUR these so bad!!!)
so! there you have it. our so far trader joe finds. at this point, i am just getting staples and meats, veggies. i'm guessing the reviews that come after this will be on pre-prepared stuffs. and cookies. and goodies :)
much love!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Oman Road Trip
so, a little on why we went to oman...
we primarily went to oman for what's referred to as a "visa run". My dad wasn't too keen on us going, but I actually had to, or risk being deported or fined big time when we did actually leave dubai. for those of us who enter on tourist visas, they are only good for 30 days. so when the 30 days is up, most people just drive across the oman border (because it's so close), get the proper stamps in their passports, pay the fees, then turn around and drive right back. i even found blogs upon blogs where people join up and rent a car together or split the cost of gas with someone who owns a car because these visa runs happen so often. our pastor here said they had to do it every month for the first year they were here. so we decided to make the most of it and when i logged on to find out that we had almost $700 in rewards on our credit card that we could just cash out, well, DUH, we did :)
oman was beautiful and it was oh so refreshing to see some mountains and breathe in the cool (yes cool) air. dubai is shiny, flashy, cemented, hot and dry, so it was a welcomed break. we drove over the border from dubai through al ain (if you want to look it up) and then drove another 3 hours to jebel (sometimes jabal) akhdar. dave lived in salallah for 3 months in college, which is a coastal town that has a ridge of mountains behind it, so the monsoons come over from india and get trapped there, making it very lush, green and wet. jebel akhdar was cool but the mountains were more rocky, as you'll see in the photo's.
we found a hotel online called sahab hotel near nizwa that was offering a ramadan special. this time of year can be very slow for local travel because everyone usually flees the heat and takes the occasion of ramadan and the challenges it brings to take a holiday and come back when it's over. therefore, car rentals, hotels and food usually offer some kind of discount. the hotel was up on the top of a mountain ridge where we had to rent a car with 4 wheel drive to reach it. dave let me drive on the way up and it was so fun! paved the whole way... which felt like cheating, but still fun.
first, here is the hotel and view.
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| view from the back of the lobby |
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| our little room! (just the downstairs...I don't want to TOTALLY mislead you!) |
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| view from the back patio and pool area |
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| across the street from the hotel (the other way from the awesome view) |
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| the studmuffin himself rounding the corner to a very creepy wife who captured the exact shot she wanted! MUAH HA HA!!! |
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| more view. can't get enough. |
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| can you see the little villages? they kind of blend. |
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| pretty!!!!!! |
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| yeah this little (by little i mean HUGE) sucker was right outside our door in some bushes |
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| thought this was a pretty flower! |
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| 'nother big one! |
ok next, we went on a walk through the nearest town hidden in the mountains that we could get to. the hotel told us it was through a local village, right near people's homes, but that i was marked with painted signs.
so, off we went!
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| here we go! Heading down to the path that heads to that faint village you can see behind the lamp post |
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| ran into some kids. one of whom thinks he's surfing. one of whom brought out the guns a 'blazin! P.S. this is very traditional wear. this is what all boys over a certain age and men wear. |
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| more view! |
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| just to prove i was there. |
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| hi! |
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| most of the doors look like this. hand crafted wrought iron. |
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| these are the painted signs we followed |
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| pomegranate tree! (that's not dave's hand, btw. we were talking to a local guy) |
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| acting like he's hiking |
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| see the painted sign? |
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| if you're wondering why I'm wearing a man's shirt, it's because a.) you can't show skin and b.) it's ramadan so you can't show ANY skin |
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| found a guy to take a pic for us. we really do love each other but started to hug for the pic and the other guy with the photog turned away so we realized we were being rude. oops. |
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| yay! |
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| found a vineyard! |
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| then found this kid.... |
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| at this beautiful place.... |
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| DOING THIS!!! SO COOL!!!! i don't know about you, but this is not what i did after school and homework were over... |
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| i'm on top of the world! (echo world, world, world) |
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| found these two babies i wanted to ABSOLUTELY STEAL |
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| these waterways are all through the villages! |
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| just walkin... |
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| found this... and it's either a prayer room or someone's home. not sure. looks sketchy though! |
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| beautiful, clear, mountain water! |
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| my habibi |
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| made it back! |
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| our pretty faces and the prettier sunset we wanted you to see |
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| HI!!!!! we love you all! |
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| headed back to the hotel to eat dinner and watch the rest of the sunset |
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| AND THEN FOUND THIS IN OUR ROOM!!!!!! thankfully, my husband is a hero and climbed every piece of furniture to KILL this thing and send it to Sheol. where it belongs. |
we also met an archeologist in the village that told us that it was bombed by huge boulders in the omani civil war. i kiiiinda feel like i should go with what the archeologist says!
so, there were steps leading down to it, but it was much more unmarked then the trail the day before.
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| do you see the village? blends.. then at the bottom of the photo are the steps that lead to the "wadi", which is the arabic term for a valley or dried riverbed. |
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| still heading down |
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| and we reached the first home! |
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| this is also another reason why i think it was bombed. the archeologist we ran into told us that helicopters dropped huge boulders on the roofs. this picture seems in line with that. |
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| hi! |
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| climbing & exploring. SO FUN! |
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| this is andrea. she's from spain and has been hired by the omani government to explore this area! |
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| andrea took us to see some stuff we never would have found. through thicket and bush, without any path, she brought us to this mosque. obviously the thing these village people spent more time on then anything else. with the rest of the village being stone, mud and sticks, this is cement and even has carpet on the inside and paint. |
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| so intricate! |
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| this is probably where they burned incense. |
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| vaulted, painted ceilings. so beautiful! |
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| window looking in from the handwashing station. |
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| according to andrea, this is an oven. |
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| good view of a path. |
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| according to the smoke, andrea said this was a kitchen. |
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| this is a beautiful window in the kitchen. |
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| taking advantage of the pretty window design. |
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i would love to know how long that spiderweb has been there.
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| found this room, which i thought was pretty, before we walked back to the car. |
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| taking it in one last time! |
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| we're sweaty, happy and tired! |
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| there's the pretty kitchen windows behind us! |
well friends, until next time, all our love from Dubai!
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