November 2011

Home-made dumplings

Earlier in the year, one of my best friends in the world, Lin Lei, taught me how to make Chinese dumplings (饺子, "jiaozi" in Chinese; but the shape I made here would technically be called 包子, "baozi..." they're made the same, though).  They are very simple to make, and so delicious.  When I have extra time and the ingredients, I like to make these.  The wrapper is made of just flour and water to make a dough that you roll out into small circles.  The filling is a small amount of just raw, ground meat with minced vegetables and seasoning.  Closing the wrapper is a little tricky, but you wet your fingers with warm water and pinch the top to make it stick and stay closed.  You can either boil or steam them for a few minutes to cook the meat and the wrapper, and voila!  A beautiful, tasty treat.  Dip them in your favorite Asian sauce.

Thanksgiving in Logan, UT


After school got out for Thanksgiving Holiday, we flew to Utah to see Michael's momma Narayne.  This was the first time we saw her since we were married in June.

Louisiana on the left, Utah on the right.  It's really cool seeing the landscape change when you're in an airplane.  Whenever I'm on a plane, I get a small glimpse at really how big, vast, and varied the world is (or at least the United States).

Upon arriving at the Salt Lake City airport, Narayne was there waiting for us, and she drove us back to her house in Logan.  Her dog Jack (and the dog Mike's known since he was little) came along for the ride.  (He recently had surgery to treat his diabetic migraines, which meant taking out his eyeballs...but he was blind anyway, so to make him a happy dog, his eyes were taken out and his eyelids were sewn shut!  He's as cute as ever still.  He looks like a Chinese dachshund now.)  He was SO happy to have Michael around.  As soon as we got in the car, he could smell and hear Mike and got excited, all wagging his tail and sniffing around for Mike.  What a cute little fattie.

Here's Narayne making our Thanksgiving dinner.  She did ALL of the cooking for us, and the food was all so delicious.  We had dressing, cranberries, turkey (of course), pumpkin pie, and much more, I just can't remember it all (that's what I get for posting 8 months late).  Boy, we were STUFFED by the end of it.  Before dinner Narayne was eating some of the turkey liver, and I decided to try some...oh it was gross!!!  I guess liver is an acquired taste.  At least I left more for her!

Among the other things we did were explore the cute and cozy downtown area, shop at the local stores, meet Narayne's neighbors, listened to lots of Christmas music, and saw the Lee's Marketplace where Mike used to work.  Narayne also gave us a "pre-Christmas package," which included silly, fun trinkets like a small felt snowman pillow and some ornaments, and a beautiful Christmas tree skirt.  It's a deep red with a cursive gold "R" on it.  While we didn't have a tree, I imagined how lovely it would look in our future home.  She also gave us a Charlie Brown Christmas tree!  It's the perfect size for our little apartment, so we were going to have a Christmas Tree after all.  It's good to have such an great mother-in-law.  She has a very giving and hospitable personality.  We felt very well taken care of while we were there.

(This is a picture I found online.  I'll have a picture of OURS in our apartment in my December post.)

It's hard taking pictures on my phone since there's only a camera on one side...  This is the best shot I was able to get of us on our way to church, hahaha.

The snowy mountains were so beautiful.  I love getting to see them every now and again.  They just seem magical, since I'm used to the Louisiana swamp lands: tons of trees, little to no hills, and rarely ever any snow.

So then it was back to Louisiana, and school...  I was sad to leave Narayne's company and Utah's landscape, but at least the semester was winding up, and it being almost December meant it was almost time to see my family in Houston!  November and December are my favorite months of the year because I get to spend so much time with family.

Report on Life

Don't plan on this post being wholly coherent. I'm just typing stuff as I think of it. It may be kinda long, too.




So my laptop is dead. This is inconvenient. I have to go to the library or use my apartment's computer lab to check email/check teachers' websites for homework assignments (I actually found out in class that I had an assignment due online before that class started)/do homework (three classes of mine post homework/parts of homework online)/etc etc. Maybe this will help me use my time better, though. I used all the time that I WOULD have been on Facebook last night cleaning my room. Having my room clean made me feel WAY better than I would have felt after just checking Facebook. And now that my room's clean(er), I can think and study better. There are still stacks of paper I need to sort through, trash to be taken out, and a basket full of clothes that need to get on hangers, but for the most part it's helping my mind. I guess not having a computer always next to me will be a good thing. (everything's what you make it out to be, after all.)

It's also amazing how a clean room can have an affect on your well being! Since my room's been disorganized, I've been disorganized. It's like the state of your room is the state of your brain. And boy would I like to sort through my thoughts and goals. Lately I've been scatterbrained and unmotivated in just about everything, or my mind will dwell on the negative and confusing aspects of life, which is NOT conducive to making good grades, being active in organizations, and keeping a boyfriend happy. Maybe having a clean room will help with this. Scripture study and prayer is also a daily must to get me out of this funk.

My job as a dental assistant's still going good. There are a lot of instruments and procedures I still don't know, but I've only been there just more than a month and working only five hours a week, so that seems pretty understandable. Some things are becoming natural to me, like sterilizing instruments, cleaning rooms, and taking out the high suction tube when Dr. Shea grabs a drill. I just need to get setting rooms up, knowing where instruments are located, and anticipating what the dentist will need next before he asks for it down. I'm really so blessed to have this job. I like it a lot.

I also love my job at Cane's. I would describe is as way fun. I'm comfortable with it for sure. There are a couple managers that I get a little awkward working around, and so I get really self-conscious and consequently start messing up, but the other three are so positive. I feel like I do my job so well when they're working. One in particular is my age, takes a bunch of the same classes I do, and likes a lot of the same stuff I do/did (video games in particular, and he likes anime/manga, too, something I used to be WAY into but not so much now) so we always have something to talk about. He's definitely my favorite manager to work with. Also, you know how on some shifts you work, all your favorite people are there, and everything runs just so smoothly? I love those days.

Speaking of being awkward around people... I'm feeling kind of alone in school lately. I don't know many people in my classes, and the people I DO know tend to want to gab with each other. I'm not so much a gabber. Sometimes I wish I was, but that's just not something I enjoy or am good at. The whole "omg i have a test today, barf!" and "heeeyy, how are you??" thing is so boring to me. Can I find someone to talk about real things to? Things of substance, value? I'm tired of being "in" a conversation with cheerleadery people and I say something incredibly dorky
and feel stupid. For example:
"Me and my boyfriend are going to Gulf Shores for Spring Break! We're gonna get so drunk, it's gonna be awesome. What are you doing?"
"Well, I'm staying in Baton Rouge and studying for the DAT."
"Oh. Okay."
I have far better conversations with professors than I do with other students. I thought college wasn't supposed to be high school. I'm just not like most people, I suppose. Or maybe I just haven't met the right people. Meh, I dunno.

There's at least one person I'm bonding pretty well with. My Chinese teacher is taking some anthropology courses with LSU, and has to do some field research on a group of people. She picked the Mormons! hahaha. She learned I was Mormon when I told her I went to China with a BYU Study Abroad. She's actually been to Temple Square and knew a lot of Mormons when she lived in California. So, she's been coming to Institute and church with me. It's way cool. It's weird, too, just that she's one of my TEACHERS...now I'm on a hugging basis with the person who grades my work. But it's still awesome.



Class starts in half an hour, and I have some studying to do. Peace out.