My Day in Pictures

Before I get into the assortment of pictures I took today, I just have to give a big congratulations to my sister-in-law and her husband! Sharon and Keith had their baby today. Welcome to the world, baby Tobias! I'm so excited to finally meet this 3rd member of their family. We'll hopefully get to see Toby this Saturday. 

Okay, so I decided that I'd snap some random photos from my day because I realized I actually stopped taking and posting pictures on Instagram. Clearly, there is no "need" for social media, but it was a way for me to keep track of the seemingly mundane things of my life. I like going back to the photos I took when I first got my iPhone because it documented a ton of what Howard and I did during our first year of marriage. So even though the following pictures might seem pointless to a reader, it's something I wanted to do for myself!

I had a simple breakfast of plain toasted cinnamon bread. These were on sale for buy one get one free at Stop & Shop as you can see by the sticker. Plus, there was a $1 coupon on two. It's a quick morning bite for both of us. The raisin cinnamon one is for Howard. A lot of the times, I'm not in a mood for raisins, so I got both varieties. These swirl breads remind me of my mom though because it was on the rare occasion that we'd have these because they're, of course, more expensive than regular toasted bread with some peanut butter on it!

Since we don't have a dishwasher (haha, when I'm at my parents' house where they have a dishwasher, I always have to be all Upton Sinclair-ish and state, "Oh, how the other half lives~"), we have to air dry our dishes. Yes, we could just use a towel, but we'd still need a place to put them all once they're washed. Before we got married, I imagined that one of us would wash dishes and hand it off to the other who would dry them. Um, yeah. I didn't realize just how unrealistic that picture in my head was. Haha, to think that we'd just purposely carve time out of whatever we're doing so that we're both free to do the dishes is kind of entertaining to me right now. Why take the time to do that when the air can do it for us? The dish drying rack is from IKEA. It's expandable, so it can be made smaller or larger based on the size of your dishes. It was probably one of the best purchases we made as simple as it is! We didn't need an entire drying rack that people have that drains next to the sink; we just needed one for plates and bowls. Anyway, I also have a need to line up all the things by size order, which means if we have bowls, they're always in the front. This picture also makes me happy because I remember how Howard and I initially were going to buy patterned Corelle dishes but then switched to plain white because the Amateur Gourmet said it makes food pictures look better, haha!

Instead of having my usual cup of tea this morning, I had a Nescafe Memento in Caramel Latte. I first tried Memento via free samples. They hooked me into loving this stuff as an occasional treat! That's why I think it's awesome how companies are so willing to give free samples and there are so many free sample sites and programs. This definitely worked on me because otherwise I never would have tried it. I like it because it gives me something different to enjoy. Thankfully, I'm not affected by any potential caffeine in here. When I have regular Tetley tea, I want to jump out of my skin. Even so, I have it in the morning just in case. I just bought two new boxes from Christmas Tree Shop because they were 2 for $3. I remember when I bought a bunch of boxes at CVS when I did all my couponing hauls there. Haha, that picture is on Instagram from a LONG time ago! The other thing I like about this picture is that it showcases my large Pooh cup! I bought this one for myself and the Eeyore one for my mom when I was still living at home. My mom never drinks that much at once though, so I think my dad actually took over "ownership" of the cup!

I wasn't as productive with getting things cleaned and organized in the apartment today as I was yesterday. Instead, I was wanting to craft because my stomach was a little off, and I didn't want to move around too much. My Cricut mats weren't as sticky anymore though, so I opened my new tub of baby wipes from Rite Aid. I bought two of them maybe two years or so, and the first box already dried up. Haha, guess people don't buy wipes that far in advance or leave them open for that long! I still use them, but I wet them a bit. I couldn't find the open box today (it's totally under the paper I have stacked on the couch or something), so I opened the new one, which was scented. It made my hands and my mat have that baby powder scent. I was wondering if it would make the cuts smell like it too, haha. With some quick yet vigorous scrubbing, my two mats were sticky once again. 

I'm back to using my candles! I stopped for a while because the weather wasn't really the right fit in my mind. But candles really made the apartment seem more inviting even when there aren't any strange odors coming in from the hallway outside. I am so glad I am well stocked on candle scents that are appropriate throughout the year because I have read some more rumors that Bath & Body Works might try raising the sale price to 2 for $25 once again. Today I enjoyed the Mahalo Maui candle, which is light and a tiny bit citrus-y without being too sharp. The throw isn't that strong compared to other candles, but since I usually have it lit right next to me, I enjoy the scent a lot.

For the most part, I've never had problems with the wicks as long as I'm good about trimming the mushrooms before I use it again the next time. I took a few pictures of the wicks, and this was the best one to show what is meant by "mushrooms." You can see it fairly clearly in the wick on the right.

Howard went to the hospital after work to visit his sister and see if he could visit baby Toby and take some family pictures for them. When he got back, I was really hungry because I'm so used to eating early. I had gotten the broccoli ready to roast, and then I started the Bubba burgers on the stove. These things are so yummy! We've had the store brand patties before that clearly had cartilage in them. These don't have that, and they taste good too! I like the sweet onion one. Anyway, my in-laws gave us some tomatoes from their garden this past Sunday, and I sliced one up into thick pieces. I love how the tomato is not that much smaller than the burger patty itself!  

Those are all the pictures for today. Hope everyone had a pleasant Tuesday!

Scheduling the Summer

Before I fell asleep last night, I emailed myself a schedule for today. I listed the hours of the day starting at 7am and what I wanted to accomplish within that time frame. The first hour was easier with just waking up and brushing my teeth, taking my medicine, doing my devotions, eating breakfast, and starting a load of laundry. I check email and all that in the morning as well. Then the rest of the tasks in the day included things like washing the bathroom sink and mirror, vacuuming (hardwood floors mean my hair is everywhere all the time; sorry, hubs!), doing the dishes, tying up boxes for recycling, and putting items away in the top shelf of the closet. There were other items on the list that I didn't accomplish, but I really felt so productive! I didn't feel guilty at the end of the day when Howard got home like I do on some other days (the guilt is from my own expectations of myself and not from him!). 

I have to say I love Howard's non-iron shirts! I just hang them up to dry, and they're wearable!

I think I just have to function that way. I usually do "To Do" lists, but sometimes it's too intimidating because I'll put 30 things on the list knowing I'll only be able to accomplish 10. I figure it gives me a chance to choose which ones I want to do that day, but then I feel guilty for avoiding the more difficult tasks. Plus, writing down the times gave me a general schedule to stick to even though my timing ended up being off as the day progressed. I'm hoping that this is a helpful method for me. 

Crossing my fingers this method works tomorrow too!

Snack Time in Chinatown

After morning service at church, Howard and I usually pick up something to eat during the beginning of Sunday School. It's something the majority of us do considering our church is in Chinatown, and we're surrounded by good eats that most of us can't get on a daily basis. Lately, we've been getting "pai-gwut cheung," which I can't quite translate exactly. Haha, it's basically little pieces of steamed spare rib with noodles. It's kind of an appetizer size, but it is much more filling than a "bou" or bread/pastry/bakery item.  

However, that means that once Sunday School is over and we're ready to pick up lunch, we're not always hungry to eat what we get. Other times we just bring it home because of time or because it's better for me to eat it with a hot cup of tea. 

Since we've been visiting my grandma at the rehab center (praise God she's out of the hospital and looks better each time we see her!) right after church, I knew I wouldn't necessarily last until we got home to eat our food. While we were picking up some fruits and veggies at the Hong Kong Supermarket, Howard and I each chose a snack item to munch on once we got to the car. I've actually never had Yan Yan before. It's the same concept as like, Dunkaroos or the Nutella snacks nowadays in that there are biscuit sticks in the container along with a separate section for the frosting/cream to dip. I chose the chocolate on the left, and Howard chose the hazelnut one on the right.

It was a rather yummy treat! I mentioned to Howard that these would make great road trip snacks. I like that they don't get your fingers all gooey the way chocolate Pocky does sometimes. The only minor flaw was that I probably could have used a little bit more chocolate! For $0.89 a package, I think this might be something I'll want to get again in the future as a special treat.

Feeling Productive

I made 24 cards today. There was a set of 6 sympathy, a set of 16 thank you, a custom card for a birthday, and then a custom card for a 60th birthday. Therefore, this is the post you get for today. Good night!

A Slightly Disneyfied Burger

I remember how there weren't as many fast food locations when I was growing up. Or maybe it was because my parents didn't really take us to eat fast food except on the rarest of occasions and when we were driving down to Florida. We would stop at a Wendy's, but the only thing I was willing to eat was the baked potato because I didn't like burgers yet, and they didn't have chicken nuggets on their menu yet!

As I got older, I enjoyed going a bit more often, but then once I got to the age where I could technically get it whenever I wanted, the excitement was gone. Haha, I guess it's just the thrill of the occasion that used to entice me more often. Even so, there are times that fast food restaurants are a good place to stop for a quick bite to eat. A few days ago, stopping at Wendy's with my mom was one of the highlights since we were actually both starving because we hadn't yet eaten lunch!

We normally only get the value menu items, but this time we splurged on the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. The burgers on the regular menu are always better than the value menu ones in the first place, but this one was even tastier because of the thick-cut bacon, the cheese sauce (could have used more though!), and the pretzel bun. This is not a good picture of it at all since mine was a little lopsided, but it was just a quick snapshot to document it before I devoured it. It does remind me a tiny bit of Disney World since I love getting the cheese sauce at Cosmic Ray's, Pecos Bill, or Casey's Corner. Plus, the pretzel bun reminded me of the pretzel breadsticks at Le Cellier. I'd definitely get this again!