Creative Culinarian

I just wanted to let you all know that I finally got my food blog up and running. I don't know why I am doing another blog...I barely can keep up with the ones I have. This one though is a little more personal, it's my own little recipe box. I like to try out a lot of different recipes and I want a way to keep track of the ones I tried and liked. I also run into a lot of interesting facts about food that I would like to write down too. You are all more than welcome to visit and try out the things I am trying out and give me some feedback on what worked for you. You can find the link for it under "Our other blogs" on the right-hand side of the page.

Spring Routine

After having two kids my body is......well, not in its best shape. Actually, it's done horrors to itself and since the weather has been getting nicer and the inevitable trip to the pool is coming soon I decided to get my butt back into shape. What was formerly called just the Orem Recreational Center (now the Orem Fitness Center) has a great schedule of aerobic classes that they offer all year. I LOVE aerobic classes. Sounds cheesy, probably is cheesy, I know. But I am not really good at keeping myself motivated enough to get a good enough workout on my own on a treadmill or elliptical machine. I do much better when I am in a room full of people and an instructor watching and pushing me. The same goes with taking independent study classes versus regular classes in college. When no one is watching, I am a quitter....sad, but true. Anyway, I am on my second week of classes and still going strong! What do they say about habit forming/breaking? If you can do it or not do it for two weeks than it becomes a habit...? On Mondays and Wednesdays I do step aerobics and pilates, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do kickboxing and yoga, and on Saturdays I do yoga and an awesome latin dancing class called Zumba. I get Fridays off. Exercising has been really great. Not only do I get all the physical benefits of regular exercise but I also get some time for myself. I love spending the day with Vivi and Maya but I need some "me" time too. Well, maybe since I through this little bit of knowledge out into the blog-o-sphere it will be extra incentive to keep it up...I mean you guys are probably going to ask me about it sometime and I would like to say that I am still going strong and a little closer to my health and weight loss goals. 

Innocence

The other evening, while I was changing Vivi's diaper, she turned her head toward me and smiled. This wasn't her first smile (she's been smiling for awhile now), but I was particularly caught off guard by its frank innocence. As I finished putting on her diaper she kept gazing into my face and smiling. I couldn't help but think of how babies come into this world full of trust. They have to...they have no choice but to put their full trust into those whose job it is to care for them. How horrible it would be to abuse that trust. As I picked her up I started to think about the children in the world who aren't taken care of; the ones who are abandoned and neglected, abused and exploited. I think that crushing a child's innocence is probably the worst crime human beings can commit. 

I hope that I can continue to love and care for my babies. They (and all the children in this world) deserve at least that. 

Last Day at QuicKutz

(By Daniel)

My last day at work was actually about a month ago, but moving to the other side of the world has kept us pretty busy, so I am only getting to writing about it now. QuicKutz is a scrap-booking company for which I worked for about 5 years while going to BYU. I worked in the tool department, quality assurance, and fulfillment during that time, so I got to know lots of great people there. On my last day, I brought the camera with me so that I could remember people. I thought that the pictures came out really well, so I'm putting them up for everyone to see. I guess if someone doesn't like their picture I don't have to worry because I'm too far away for them to come after me. Take a look for yourself. This first one is Marriner breaking plates.















Next is Stacey and Kris, my supervisors.















These next two are of the sanding room (where we took the rough edges off of metal dies). This was my favorite place in the world and I miss it dearly (yeah?). Chani is the one smiling in the back.





























Here we have Brad in the sanding room. Great guy, but he doesn't know a thing about sports--he actually thinks Utah has a good football team.















And here is Christine.















Here is Jackie; in the breaking room we referred
to her as the mean one.















The next two are of Crystal and Steven. I must have been very lucky to have caught Steven at work--it is a rather rare occurrence.





























This is Mo: she was having a good day
until I pointed the camera at her.















Nona was gracious enough to let me take a picture, but she didn't share her pudding.
(I actually didn't ask her for any and she probably would have shared had I asked)















Winding down, we have Chris in shipping, where he is supposed to be (not snatching CDs from the breaking room).















And there's TJ; ladies, you'll have to wait till he gets back from his mission. Has he found out where he is going by the way?
















Last of all there's . . . Me!















(I was acting like I was working)
I hope that everyone has been respecting my employee of the month parking space rules this past month.

Seriously, I had a great time working at QuicKutz. Anytime you spend that much time in one place, it can get boring, so I am glad that I had some good people to work with. I hope no one is too upset about that Utah comment, or their photo for that matter. I just wanted to get Brad going. I actually root for Utah when they aren't playing BYU. If anyone is upset about their picture . . . tough; I did the best I could, and I think you look spectacular.

(disclaimer: sorry to those whose picture that I didn't get. I tried to get as many people as I could. Perhaps you are happy that I didn't embarrass you online)

An End and a new Beginning

Hey everyone. Sorry it has a been a long time since our last post and I know that many of you are wondering about how Seoul, South Korea is. Well, it is wonderful. But maybe we should start from the beginning...or should I say the end...or the end of the beginning...

The last week in Provo was really very stressful and hectic for us. Because storage units were almost none existent at the time, all our moving plans were pushed back until the last week. But, we finally got all of our junk out of there and the place clean the day before we were supposed to leave for Seoul. We had a few delays on our trip. We left San Francisco for Incheon about 4 hours later then planned because there was some problem with the the plane's auxiliary power. Anyhow, we made it Seoul. We were greeted at the airport by my uncles and a big van to carry all of our bags. (6 from us and 2 from my mom.)

Things have been hectic for us here as well, since we needed to find an apartment, get Daniel ready for his classes at Seoul National University, learn the subway and bus system, get a cell phone (they are called hand phones here), get the internet, open a Korean bank account, and all the necessary supplies to start living on our own in a foreign country. But, despite the hardships of these past 2 weeks, we really like it here in Seoul. On one of our walks we took around our apartment complex, Daniel and I discussed how the nightlife in Seoul is very different than that of Washington DC. It feels much safer here to be out at night. There are so many people out and about (I think it is because Korean people like don't go to bed until after 1:00 in the morning), shopping, and eating, going to noraebangs, etc. It is a very vibrant city!

I did set up a new blog site for our experience in Korea. The new site is www.dowlerseoul.wordpress.com I will be blogging on that site from now on until we get back to the USA and then I will resume our old blog. I need to figure out some things on Wordpress though, so the site might be changing a lot each time you visit. So, this is a new beginning for us....wow. It is finally here. I thought that we would never get to Korea, and here we are....

We really miss all of you guys and we want to definitely stay in touch! Thanks so much for all of you who helped us move out of our apartment in Provo! See you guys later!

A little knowledge

The other day, I ran into this book at Costco:
Everyone Poops, written by Japanese author Taro Gomi, is a humorous biological children's book about a very natural process that everyone does: poop. I couldn't help myself, so I read it. It is really rather charming and cute. At Costco, you can buy this book as a set with The Holes in Your Nose, The Gas we Pass, and All About Scabs. I enjoyed it because Maya is learning to potty train right now and I don't pass (no pun intended!) a day in which I explain what we are supposed to do in the bathroom. I really think that I will go back and buy that set.... for Maya of course. ;)

It is done

I just finished the 7th book in the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling and it was really good. I came into the book with mixed feelings. I started the 7th book later than most people, since I wanted to read through the 5th and 6th books in their entirety before I began the 7th. Then because of that, I went to watch the 5th Harry Potter movie. I was sorely disappointed. Note to self: do not watch the movie right after finishing the book. Anyway, I was curious and read some reviews about the 7th book. A lot of people really liked it and a lot of people really didn't like it. There were a lot of criticisms about the book and the lack of developed characters. But, I for one, believe it was well done. Albeit, there were some odd parts, but this is J.K Rowling's story, not mine.

I read this article online about the Atheistic leanings of the Harry Potter story (thanks to a friend), but did anyone else find the ending had a lot of Christian symbolism in it?