I Am Addicted To Purses!

This house we live in here in California has TWO walk-in closets in the master bedroom. It's a good thing because I have more purses than clothes. Before we ever got stationed in Korea I use to make my own purses...not anymore.
Not only do I have enough designer purses to go a month carrying a new purse each day, I have wallets...
...and designer sunglasses....
...and a drawer full of scarves. Korea was the bomb for fashion. These Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, Gucci scarves were only $2-$5 each, so I bought one of each. :-)
Until I picked up my shiny red Louis Vuitton to use the other day I was using this plain grey and black Prada. Every few weeks I change my mind as to which one is my favorite.

A few weeks ago I was really down about my struggle with my weight. But since then I have been doing really well the last few weeks with making lots of healthier choices...I have lost almost 10 pounds. I am very excited but have a long hard road still. But when I get there I can't wait to go shopping for some super fun clothes to go with all the neat things I bought while living in Korea. When I get to a 25lb. weight loss one of my girlfriends still living in Korea is going to go purse shopping for me...I know I need another purse like I need a cookie. But ooooo I am already dreaming of what kind of purse I want later this year. My name is Jeni and I am a purseaholic!

Hershey Kisses

At Christmas I saw the idea of these Hershey Kisses but had already made other treats for the kids to hand out. So when they came around again for Valentines it was a done deal. Those are the cutest stickers to place on the bottoms of Hershey Kisses. I made tags that read "Happy Valentine's Day Kisses, Madi". To top off the cuteness I have "I heart chocolate" twisties I bought in Korea. I have found some of the most fun things when shopping in Korea. I just bought stuff knowing that one day I would find the perfect use for it all. Here is the link for the Kiss stickers if you want to make them. Ben is going to take a big red bowl of the these for his last class of the day. Middle schooler's don't want Valentines....just a big bowl of the candy.

These are the twisties...I only paid $1 for a pack. So of course I picked up a few packs and other kinds too. These were found at the outdoor Namdaemun Market.

We LOVE Korea!

My heart just stopped last night when I heard the news coming out of North Korea. I believe the world is a better place with a man like that gone. We love the country and people of Korea. I want all my friends still living there to be safe.

Look at this picture of Madi...when we first moved to Korea she could NOT eat with chopsticks. Now she is a pro!

As a mom I am thrilled my children lived in Korea and experienced so many wonderful things. I know they will forever love Korea and it's people. And speaking of Madi here is a funny story:

We lived off post in Seoul. So many of the kids friends were Korean kids that lived near us. Koreans love love love baseball. All the kids would spend hours playing baseball outside. The Korean kids spoke enough English to speak it while playing with Ben and Madi because you would hear "strike one, strike two..." Most of the Korean kids my kids would play with were boys. Well one day after school everyone was playing at the park. All of a sudden I started hearing "jdjfiowjejeijowj Madi." "sdfowjeijwjfe Madi." So I started paying closer attention to what was going on because the Korean boys that were saying this were not even playing with Madi at the time. Then one of the boys ran over to Madi and was saying "love Madi" and pointing at one of the other Korean boys. Then a different Korean boy came over to Madi and asked her if she liked Korea and she shook her head yes. I guess the kid was making sure Madi liked his homeland before he started making long term/marriage plans. It cracked me up...it still does.

So I am keeping a prayer in my heart that whatever happens just might be better than before. Also I will be thinking of my military friends who are still there. Many of the spouses will be working lots of overtime with all this uncertainty on the peninsula and it's the week of Christmas. Let's just hope for peace.

Pillowcases, Washclothes, Unpacking

Madi went to a birthday party the other day. We made a pillowcase to give with a copy of the newest Dork Diaries...the little girl loved her gift. :-)









I had a friend in Korea who was Korean. Whenever I needed help finding something in Korea or needed anything she was there for me. And she showed me all kinds of yummy Korean foods to buy. She has a little girl named Olivia that is who this is for. I made the pillowcase and Ben and Madi found the Olivia bood to go with it...it's Halloween so I need to get this in the mail right away.




Festive homemade washclothes are my must have in my kitchen...my new ones for fall.





I have ben unpacking, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking.....and finally I unpacked something really fun. I bought these push and pull signs in Korea. This "pull" one is on my pantry door in the kitchen.

Where's the bathroom? Yep a "toilet" one too.

My kids have gotten out of school at noon everyday this week and today no school. I told them we could go out to lunch and go bowling or something, but they wanted to stay home and play in the hood. What the heck are they doing out there?

Chuseok...Korean Thanksgiving 2011

We may have left Korea but our love of Korean food will last forever! This past Monday was Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving. It was so fun last year to celebrate it while living in Korea. Last year Chuseok fell on 22 Sep. this year 12 Sep. it all depends on the phases of the moon as to when it will be. So does the New Year...Lunar New Year. Anyways, my family, even though we live in California now still wanted to celebrate Chuseok. We did so with a delicious dinner of Chop Ch'ae. I am proud of my ability to make some yummy Korean foods...my family loves it.

Chop Chae is pretty easy. It's made of glass noodles. You can buy these noodles from many stores and the commissary, they are noodles made from potato startch...that's what you need to know when buying the noodles.

Chop Ch'ae

Soak noodles for 1-2 hours in water until soft. Cut them into 3 inch pieces.

Marinate 4 oz diced chicken in in 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp. sugar, garlic, 2 tsp. sesame seeds.

In large frying pan heat 1 tbsp. oil and add chicken. Cook until not pink, maybe 3-4 min. Set aside in a bowl. Wash out pan. Add another tbsp. oil and stir-fry 1 chopped onion, 1 large carrot. Add chicken and noodles, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 5 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp sesame seeds and stir-fry. You can also add mushrooms and chopped spinich if you like. Serve warm with your favorite rolls...egg rolls, lumpia, gyoza, yaki mandoo.

I fell in love with the taste of citrus tea years ago when I was stationed in Japan. It is a Korean tea though. This is my favorite...honey citrus. It looks like a large jar of jam. You just add a few spoonfulls to hot water. Steve and I enjoyed a warm cup the other night on Cheseok and I am drinking a cup right now.

My beautiful Korean home

lHere is a video of my beautiful Korean home. I have enjoyed it very much. We are now at the Dragon Hill. The packers came on Wed. OMGosh!!! We are flooded here in Seoul right now. Another record was set while we have lived in Korea...in the last 3 days it has rained so much, the most in 100 years...as much as they would normally get in one month of rainy season. And this is after it has already been raining for the last month. The Han River has swallowed the roads. My packers were suppose to be there at 0800 but didn't come until 1400 because all the roads were flooded. But, we finished all the packing and finally made it into the Dragon. Before I moved here I was nervous about what the housing might be like...if you are moving to Seoul, Korea housing is not the thing to worry about. This has been the nicest, 5 star housing I have ever lived in. I am going to miss living like the rich and famous!

My Neighbors...

...are the best neighbors in the world. I wish I could pack them up and take them to California. Today Oxana, my Russian neighbor had Liz and I over for a Russian lunch. Oxana is the best cook and I always love her Russian food. She is my first Russian friend and I am her first American friend. During the school year all of us moms meet at the bus stop with our kids. After kissing the kiddos good-bye we walk together to one of our homes for a visit and morning tea...it's so fun! This picture is from today's lunch.

Last week Oxana had us over too. She served the kids a German Kinder fruit tea.

With tea, she served these sweet Russian waffle cookies. I want to learn to make these. They are so good and look how beautiful.

Today we had a few Russian salads. Look at the chicken salad that looked like a sunflower.

The Epyonghansaesong gang. Boy am I going to miss these ladies...they are the best neighbors a girl could ask for!!!!!

My Farewell

Tonight is Steve's going away party. Mine was the other night. What a wonderful night it was. I love these ladies. It has been such a pleasure being one of the 607th Weather Wives! We stick together are a strong group of ladies. Seoul, Korea is AMAZING. It's been the most fun assignment we have had. But, we are here for a serious reason... We are members of the most forward deployed Air Force Squadron there is. We live 35 miles from the most heavily gaurded border in the world. And face the largest artillery in the world. Not only all that but this past year has been one for the record books too. We had the coldest temps in 90 years this past year. We had the worst typhoon hit here in 2 decades. We had a new record set with 20 inches of rain in like a few hours...we had a HUGE flood. And back in November that scare where North Korea actually shot missles into South Korea for the first time since the active war. So we are taking so many memories with us. I have loved every minute.

Okay so my going away. It was at my favorite Italian place here. Who would have thought I would move to Korea and eat the best Italian food of my life. The other wives gave me some gifts and also gave me the most beautiful traditional Korean tea set...in their famous green pottery too. I am so thankful for the treasure.

Luckily, I bet I run into some of these great friends again. It's a small world.

I'm liking bikes...

I have started to panic...it's hard to breath! My packers come in less than two weeks to take all my things. It will most likely take 2 1/2 months for my things to go from Seoul, Korea to Sacramento, California. So I have been hanging out in my craft room alot!!! I have gotten together a few projects I can work on by hand during my move so I really don't go nuts. But boy am I going to miss all my sewing and crafting things while they sail the ocean blue! The other day I made these bike cards.

And check out this cute bike necklace I got at Dongdaemun for $4. I have mentioned before I love Chanel so I also picked up these diamond Chanel earrings for $9. I am going to miss this Korean shopping.

Now Chanel may be my favorite name brand but this Louis Vuitton is my everyday purse. That chocolate brown and letters...I love it.

Last night we went over to the I'Park mall for dinner and ate Jim Dak...MMMM

Jim Dak action shot. :-)

I started cross-stitching trees for a Christmas project. Christmas in July.

Insadong, Korea

I went out on the town with some of my wonderful friends. This time we hit the shopping district of Insadong.

I want this painting so bad! It's the street where I live. But it cost $600.

I did get one of these vases...perfect for the flowers Ben and Madi bring me.

We were starved after all the fun walking around and shopping. So June Young took us to a delish place there in Insadong.

We ate Jim Dak...YUMMY!!!!!!

Seoul Olympic Park

It was in 1988 when Seoul, Korea hosted the Summer Olympics. We live pretty close to these Olympic grounds. Back in 1996 while I was stationed in Tokyo, Japan and Steve was stationed at Osan AB, Korea we planned a trip here to Seoul and came to this stadium then too...so it was a little extra neat for Steve and I. This time around we had our kids with us.

Now who could that be whipping around that track at the Olympic Stadium.... :-) Look at them go!!!!

Go Ben go!

This is inside the Exhibition Hall.

After the Olympic Stadium we were hot, tired, thirsty and hungry. So on our way home we stopped by the food court in the COEX Mall. MMM...Korean chicken on a stick.

Here in Seoul, we can get around on the train/subway really well. But above ground public transportation is another story.... I am getting there. We rode the blue 730 bus all the way over the river to the Olympic Stadium and the COEX.

I prefer the bus over the train because you can see everything! Seoul is so pretty. The streets are lined with trees and they are boasting their Korean pride...look at the flag lined streets...I LOVE that.