Thursday, October 16, 2014

Good Eating.

So on our mini-moon to Chattanooga, I was really convicted. The majority (if not all) of the restaurants we went to, rightfully boasted that their ingredients were local and/or organic. We went to this one diner near the river called, Blue Plate. And on their menu said:
"Our kitchen has no microwave.
Honest food can’t be rushed.
It’s made to order, everyday at The Blue Plate."
Now, this concept isn't anything new to me. My mom has been trying to convince Michael and me to stop using out microwave for years. But for some reason, this resonated with me.

Anyways, we get back home, and the following weekend, we meet up with my brother and sister-in-law (SIL) for some drinks and dessert. They tell us they have a wedding gift from one of our guests.
Later, we get home and open the gift. What is it? A counter-top conventional oven. (yes!!) I've wanted one for so long, but could never justify the cost of buying one. As soon as I opened it, I knew what it meant - we needed to trade the microwave for the oven. Plus, we were short on counter-top space, so this was an easy fix for that dilemma as well.

So, I now present (and brag) to you our microwave-less kitchen! Because "honest food can't be rushed." :)

Our new convection oven with my bowl of rice in it. :)

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Respecting his Appetite

Growing up, I had the BIGGEST sweet tooth ever.
If we ever stopped by the gas station on the way to church to fill up the car, I'd run inside and buy a pint of icecream with my own money and have that for breakfast. I'd eat half a gallon of icecream in one sitting at home. It's amazing how I was not an obese child growing up. I'd having hot wing eating contests with the guys, or eat full large pies of pizza on orchestra trips in high school. It's really bad and borderline amazing how much I ate growing up... and still stayed ever so tiny. Of course as I got into college, that magical metabolism went away, and I could no longer expect to go to Waffle House at 2am, and maintain my clothing size.
After a while, my sweet tooth was replaced with this love for spicy things. I will put tabasco or whatever other hot sauce is available at the time to anything and everything. I love hot wings. I love dipping my french fries in ketchup mixed with tabasco. I love squirting Sriacha sauce to anything relatively asian. And I love adding some habanero sauce to anything Tex-Mex/Spanish/Mexican. YUM. #mouthissalivating.

So, when I met Michael, it was so strange to find someone love sweets as much as he does. He loves icecream, chocolate, oreos, french toast.
And very recently, we have been trying to be healthier. Not for the sake of seeing a certain number on the scale, or to be able to fit into clothes from x seasons ago. But just for the sake of being healthy. So when I send Michael out to the grocery store for one thing, and he shows up with that one thing plus icecream... it's half humoring, but also when my control gauge turns on.
Several weeks ago, I bought a pack of oreos because I wanted to replace the oreo icing with toothpaste and give them to him as an April Fool's joke. I failed. So Michael's been able to enjoy some oreos every evening. Serving size is 3 cookies, but he insists on having 4. Last night, he snuck in 5.
And later that evening, I realized... instead of chasing him around the house to try to grab that last cookie from him... I should have just let him have it. He's been doing well all throughout the day. He's been making an effort to eat his 5 meals a day. He's been staying away from the heavy stuff and icecream at work. Just let him have a piece of heaven in the evening when he's trying to unwind from the day.
Because I've never snuck in a Girl Scout cookie, or stopped by McDonald's for their fries before..... ;)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Respecting his clothes

I love style.
That doesn't always mean I like being trendy or laced with brands head to toe though. But I do appreciate a cute pair of peep toes from Cole Haan or shift dress from Anthropologie.

When Michael and I first started dating, I refused to be seen in the same thing twice. And if Michael would spontaneously call to hang out, and I was wearing something he had seen me in before, I'd run over to the store and buy a new outfit.
But as far as he went, I thought he was so adorable. He'd either be in his khakis and work polo, or a pair of chino shorts, a polo, and his Sperrys. I was so excited because I thought I was finally getting my preppy frat boy.
Boy was I wrong.
He is gratefully very aware of how he's dressed, but it's different from what I initially thought. I thought he'd be in seersucker pants, and plaid bow ties every other weekend. Nope.
So for the first several months we were together, I'd buy him an oxford shirt here.. a pair of chinos there, but I started to realize there's no need for me to dress him up. He's not my doll, nor does he need to be dressed to be put on display.
I have much to be grateful for. He knows how to iron his own clothes, and he will be in a bowtie, chinos, and a Brooks Brothers blazer in a minute at the appropriate times.
I have to remind myself that there were times where I'd see him in a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, and I thought he looked hot in them with his chiseled and lean calves.

It doesn't mean I can't buy things for him, or share my opinion with him. Because he does the same for me. But I need to remind myself the things that are important in our relationship, and the things that make him the man that I love.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Respecting His Kingdom (Home)

House chores have never been my forte.
I love living in a clean living space, and I love staying organized. But growing up, that wasn't really expected of me. Everything for the most part, was done for me. I'll never forget when I was around 10 years old, I went over to one of my friend's house for dinner. After dinner, I got up and thanked my friend's mother for dinner. She stopped me, and told me that in her house, everyone puts their plates and silverware in the sink. I was so mortified! It was never my intentions to be rude, but I just didn't know any better.

Fast forward give or take 10 years, and I started dating Michael. Having him as my first substantial boyfriend.. who had his own living space was a wake up call. I had an internal freak out moment. Who's going to clean the dishes? Do the laundry? Vacuum the house? Clean the toilets? me.

So from very early on in our relationship, I started to take on a lot of house roles. Just so I could learn how to do them. And if I didn't end up marrying Michael, it'd be good to know with whoever I ended up marrying.

With all that being said, I wish I could say I'm a clean master. But I'm not. And God knew this all along, because he has given me the most patient and understanding man ever. But this doesn't mean I am to take advantage of his patience, and see how far I can go. I need to make it a priority to continue to help around with the chores. And in doing that, I am respecting not only his wishes of having a tidy home, but also respecting the house that he bought for us.

With that, I leave you with a darling song I just came across...

Happy Friday! :)

Friday, March 28, 2014

Respecting his Friends

This subject was an interesting one for me. One, because of the things mentioned in Ashley's blog. And two, just because of our current life experiences with our friends.

"Girls seem to get a bad rap for hating on their man's friends. Like the moment he gets married he is dragged away from his friends and his wife owns him and keeps him locked up never to be seen again. I think sometimes that stereotype can be somewhat accurate depending on the situation, but also a lot of the time the guy just WANTS to be settled and ends up not hanging out with his friends as much. I get that. (The friends don't usually get that from what I've observed.)"

I think there's some truth to that. I'll admit it. I am probably one of the most clingiest things to ever exist on this planet. Gratefully, Michael is too - but given that I'm a female, six years younger, and not as "seasoned" in my dating life - I beat him on this one. 
From day one until now, we've always spent a lot of time with each other. And there have been times, when he's expressed he misses hanging out with his guy friends.. and quite frankly, I'll take it personally. There have been other times though, that I'll miss hanging out with my girls so we'll have a girls night in/out. Funny thing is, when I let Michael know that I'm going out for the day or evening, he gets sad.
So I do see a good amount of truth from that quote above.

-However-

There was something else from Ashley's blog post that spoke to me -
"...instead of always referring back to the good ol' days, continue to HAVE the good ol' days right now."

There's so much truth to this. As much as I adore my time with Michael, and love being able to have him to myself' the last thing I would ever want is to have him sit and think, "Man, I miss the good ole' days with the guys."

These guys have helped shape who Michael is today. And in some areas, probably have had more influence on him than any other group of people. They've been behind him through the bad, and have been right by his side through the good. So if they're important enough to have been with Michael through the thick and thin, then the least I can do is respect them and their time with Michael.

Happy Friday! :)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Respecting his family

It's been a while since I've been on here... the subject I read on after respecting his words was respecting his work. I'm going to skip over that, just to prevent any potential misunderstandings. There's nothing to misunderstand, but just in the off chance that something gets misunderstood......too sticky.

So anyways, onto respecting his family. I'm beyond grateful and blessed  to be marrying into such a wonderful family. Do not get me wrong - Michael and I come from different families. We have different backgrounds and we communicate differently. However, at the end of the day, we both have parents and families that value the same things and we place our values in the same priority - the Lord, our family, our work. And that is a huge relief! I can marry this man knowing that whatever we find important, they will find important and will support us. I can also marry this many knowing we can confide in our families and trust that they will give us sound and relevant advice.

There are times even today, that I struggle to communicate with his family comfortably.

I come from a small family - the majority of my extended family living across the country, if not across the world from me. Having just one older sibling and come high school, just one parent. And by the time my parents divorced, my brother was in college so I rarely saw him. Coming from a Korean background, we are very big on respect, and not being outspoken. So although we love to talk and have fun, we aren't overly gregarious.

Michael on the other hand, is one of three sons. And since his parents owned their own company, they worked long and hard hours. But they always had nannies and grandmothers around to care for them. The majority of their extended family live approximately 530 miles from us, so it's not uncommon that they travel back and forth to each other for holidays and special occasions. And with Michael coming from a Southern and Latin background.... he and his family love to talk and be loud! :)

The differences in our families are fun, but at times, there are moments when I get exhausted. These are the times I need to remind myself that I need to still love and respect them and the time we have together. These are the people that have helped shape and form the man I love into who he is today!

So compared to some families out there, we really are able to have a wonderful relationship. But I pray I will never let that allow me to become lazy and comfortable in showing his family my utmost respect. Plus, over the years of us being together, I've realized that our families have more similarities than differences.

Friday, March 14, 2014

of Respecting my [future] husband


Lent.
Every season of lent, I I always contemplate about what I want to "give up" that year. Much like my New Years Resolutions, I debate between things that are way too easy, to things that are way too unreasonable. Some seasons of lent, I start thinking of things that will help me on a personal level, and then remember what lent is all about, and try to stick a biblical reasoning behind that thing to justify my decision.

This year, after some thought, I decided not to give anything up for lent. I mean, what's the point if I'm going to fail; although I believe last year, I successfully gave up alcohol for lent (woo hoo!). So when my fiance, Michael asked what I was giving up for lent, I pondered for a moment, and told him I decided not to give anything up. I quickly turned the question back on him, and let him ponder about what he'd give up himself. I felt guilty about not giving anything up; so after several hours of internal contemplation, I finally decided to open up my many "Praying for your Husband" pins, and attempt praying one of these prayers for my [future] husband everyday for lent. (And I'm fully aware Michael and I haven't exchanged our "I Do's" yet, but I really don't think there's any harm in getting some extra practice and staying ahead of the game!)
Everything was happy doo-dah over the weekend, and then on Monday evening we had an argument. Honestly, our arguments are never crazy or get out of control, so this one wasn't any different. So anyways, Tuesday morning comes and I'm at my desk at work. What do I pray for him about?
And then it dawned on me. A wife's role is not to pray for her husband's specific needs. A wife's role is to respect her husband, as the church respects Christ.
So then I hit up my dear friend Google and Pinterest, and searched "how to respect your husband".
I came across several blogs and websites, and one of those is Ashley Shellz' "31 Days of Respecting my Husband" series. I'm only on day three, but before I went any further, I wanted to begin sharing my thoughts and findings with whoever may come across this.

soo recap time.
Day 1 was a general post on why we should respect our husband unconditionally. And it's not about whether we think he deserves it or not.
Day 2 was on respecting his words. It had 5 points to help remind me what I could do to be an active listener. Some quotes that spoke to me...
"I am honored to be not only my husband's wife, but his best friend. Someone he can confide in."
"If he is taking the time to talk to me about something - anything - I need to respect that and listen."
"It means actively listening to ALL he has to say. Without thinking the entire time about what I'm going to say next."
What does it mean to be an active listener?

  • Making eye contact
  • Laying aside distractions
  • Responding with body language (facing him, nodding)
  • Clarifying what he's saying
    • "I am often assuming what the person is feeling because that's how I would be feeling - but this isn't always the case."


  • Asking him questions

"Showing respect for my husband's words means letting him know that his words have value."
Day 3 is on respecting him in how I talk about him. So this was actually yesterdays, but I wanted this one to leak over to today's as well. It's not that I intentionally talk poorly about Michael. Let me share my take aways, and explain further.
"I am representing the gospel in my marriage."
"It's one thing to have some lighthearted teasing....But I have to be careful of crossing the line and hurting his feelings, especially around other people. I'm definitely guilty of going too far. And he may not show it. That's the thing - a lot of the time guys don't show that they're hurt. They're usually not as quick to show sensitivity as we ladies are."
"Ask myself if the words are edifying or if I will be tearing him down."
"I think it's frequently innocent - we try to make a joke but it comes out the wrong way and we end up questioning their manhood." 

So you see, even though I may tease him out of endearment, it may not always be received in that manner. And the worst part - is I may never know! That's terrifying to me. To think of all the countless times I could have hurt his feelings... and I'll never know. The even scarier thing is, last night we had dinner with a couple friend of ours. I came home that night, and could not remember whether I did a good job of being cognizant of how I spoke about Michael or not. Scary Mary!!! So I decided to give this one another try. I want to make intentional and successful attempts at each of these topics. So, there you go. Today is Day 3/4 on this journey of mine. I pray God will give me the strength and focus to remain intentional on this.

Okay, it's lunch time. See you tomorrow for a hopeful Day 4/5! :)

PS!!-- I was just introduced to the most interestingly delicious yogurt ever!!

Atlanta Fresh Greek Yogurt's Tropical Sweet Heat!
It's sweet, yet provides a nice warm heat in your mouth. Even better, it's greek yogurt (15 grams of protein) and fat free! Best part? they're local! Not only Atlanta local, but Norcross local! Check it out!