Category Archives: slice of life

It’s a new year!

Okay, I’m a little late, but better late than never.

Here’s my impromptu list of resolutions:

  • get a job
  • stay at a healthy weight
  • exercise every day (even if it’s a little)
  • be the best wife I can be
  • figure out a good hairstyle for my hair
  • stop biting and picking at my nails
  • be more patient

I think that’s a good start, being healthy and patient will probably go pretty far in improving myself.  I have to say, despite the past year being so difficult, a lot of good things have happened so I am very thankful for many things.

  • got married to a great guy
  • got married into a nice family
  • have a good temporary job until we move to Seattle
  • both kitties are doing well, especially Indoor Kitty
  • got a reliable car that is comfortable and looks nicer than my old car
  • graduated from college

I hope that this year will have new surprises, good ones that is, and that both of my families will be healthy this year.  I’d really like a good job that pays well so I can help the family out more, and hopefully some time off so I can spend time with my husband and do more fun things this year.  My creative side would also like to learn new skills and maybe I’ll get more energy so I can bake and work on some paintings or mixed media projects.

Well, I hope you’ll have a good year too, and that you get what you want, whatever it may be.

Faint Line

So yesterday I did a pee test, and today I did one in the morning, we got ourselves a faint double line! Gus isn’t completely sure I’m pregnant though, he’s totally playing it cool.  Me, I can barely handle myself.  I don’t think he’ll be convinced until I have a dark double line.  In any case, my boobs aren’t going nuts anymore, but I’m drinking plenty of water, eating frequent, small meals because I feel hungry all the time.  Gosh I feel like a pig, an obsessive, pee-testing pig. ;)

I think I’m going to calm down, I bought some extra pregnancy tests at the $Store, just to keep myself on track.  I really, really want to buy the Mayo Clinic book but I don’t want to jump and then have a miscarriage or even my period.  I just wish I had someone to talk to about this, someone who gets excited and happy for me.  It’s a little lonely since I don’t dare ask anyone I know because I’m afraid they will blab and secondly, I don’t know anyone well enough that they would be happy for me.  That’s all I want today.

I also noticed I’m getting really emotional today, which doesn’t bode well for the next few days.   Honestly, right now I want to sleep, all I did was study, go to class, take a test, read a Men’s Pregnancy Guide and get groceries, I feel like I’m gonna pass out!  What a wimp! Sheesh.

If I had it my way, I’d talk to my brother, tell my MIL and FIL, and that’s it.  Holding a secret is hard, and I feel so happy about it!  At the same time, I worry about getting a job, who will hire a pregnant chick?  And if I don’t mention it, will they get rid of me?  I guess I was being a little selfish by wanting to start this month, but I don’t want to deny the good grace that allowed us to make a child so easily.  Nothing will be the same, but that’s okay.

I’m happy.

Veteran’s Day

Having a day off in the middle of the week is actually pretty fun, I’ve been slacking all morning, but I decided to do something serious before I do my homework.

Veteran’s Day has always been a strange holiday for me, I have family and know people who were in the service but nobody has ever talked to me about the experience of being in the service, especially the ugly side.  So I have been going along for the Veteran’s Day ride for a while now, just thinking that I was thankful that people fought for me, the lifestyle I live, that sort of thing but I never could figure out what it was like, so I couldn’t really understand.

This year is different though, I got a bit of a shock due to a guest speaker that came to our class on Tuesday.  He was showing his work for Veteran’s Day at WSU Tri-Cities and he came to our class to talk to us about his experience as a photographer and how he developed his work of art, “Exit Wounds”.

He gave a presentation, showing us some of the images he used in his installation, as well as some of the images that soldiers shared with him, some which are sad, cheerful and horrific.  I have my own personal reasons for not wanting to look at violent images, but I felt compelled to see what these soldiers decided to share, which was new for me.  I’ve always avoided looking, because the sight of violence like that usually sticks with me for a while and strongly effects my thoughts and emotional being.  This time was different though, I guess it was the way that Jim Lommasson shared his experience talking with soldiers about life after returning from war.  If you have a chance to hear him speak, do so, it was hit of reality.

I also learned that many soldiers have a hard time because they don’t equate being a soldier and all the good/bad things that come with it equate being a hero.  Even though I can’t understand the experience of being a soldier or being at war, I can still appreciate the work they have done and want to say thank you today.

As Lommasson said during his presentation: “hate war, don’t hate the soldiers”

Here’s Lommasson’s Exit Wounds blog if you want to learn more about his process.

Gulab Jamun

  1. The first rule to making gulab jamun is saying (and spelling it) right.
  2. The second rule is to make sure your oil is the right temperature.
  3. The last rule is to let your fried bits cool off and drain off excess oil.

Other than that, easy-peasy, lemon squeezy!

Here’s the recipe for gulab jamun from my favorite Indian recipe site, Manjula’s Kitchen.

Gulab Jamun in Cardamon Syrup

I’m not Indian, but I am a Punjabi bride, and making sweets is my favorite thing to do, so it wasn’t too hard to hit up Winco last week for some milk powder.  Since it was my first time, they were a little heavy, but not horribly so, and I think my syrup was better than pros. ;)  Overall, it was successful and my husband was very pleased that I learned to make one of his favorite sweets.

I do have some tips to cut down on any issues:

  • I am working with an electric stove, so I ended up setting my burner to ’3′ with a range from (low-2-9-high).   The recipe says medium heat, but that was way too hot for my test bolitas.
  • The dough was a little dry even though I used all the milk, so I ended up adding two more tablespoons of milk to get it slightly sticky.
  • This recipe didn’t have a measured amount of baking soda, so I used a pinch, guessing that it was around 1/8 of a teaspoon.  I’ll make sure to measure next time!
  • I used a wire strainer over a mixing bowl so I could drain (and cool) the gulab jamuns before dipping them in the syrup
  • When I made the syrup, I used a single black coriander pod and let it reach a boil, which gave the syrup a darker, strong color.

This recipe took a long time, mostly because I was fiddling with the oil temperature.  Once I got it down, it was pretty easy to just drop in the dough and swirl the oil so they browned evenly.  I used a timer to make sure I cooked them long enough, the low heat helped keep the outside from getting too brown and not letting the inside get cooked.

Honeymoon 2010

As I wrote the title, I stopped and wondered if I was planning to have a honeymoon EVERY year, haha. In my mind, yes, I plan to have one, even if it is something simple like going somewhere with Gogu-ji and staying off the computer.

We had a great time in Seaside, Oregon, and also got to visit Cannon Beach and revisit all our old haunts (except for the Happy Clam, RIP). We also got to try out some new places, and believe me, it was worth exploring new restaurants. As luck had it, Junior and his girlfriend Corina were visiting Seaside as well, so we ended up having dinner and a bonfire on Junior’s birthday. From what they told us, Corina planned out the birthday trip for Junior, what a great girlfriend!

We met a few characters at the bonfire, which made things really hilarious because everyone seemed to be “clam digging” which is basically saying they were wandering the beach while super drunk and/or stoned. Our group wasn’t, so we had a good laugh at all their antics, and just enjoyed the ambiance of a warm fire and a beautiful ocean right in front of us.

It was a really great night, especially since we had fresh seafood earlier. I had fresh crab and Gus had fresh halibut at…I want to say Broogies, but that isn’t right. Ah it was Dooger’s! Their service was okay, the waitress forgot our salads and gave us a bit of attitude, but the fresh seafood was very good. Gus preferred Norma’s Ocean Diner and I agree on principle because my chowder was really good, with lots of chunky clam bits (and without pork to flavor it up), and his grilled halibut sandwich was really amazing. The prices were a bit better as well, and we noticed that the clam appetizer was filled all the way at Norma’s, and didn’t look dried out in comparison. The environment is definitely more casual, but we were there at lunch so it isn’t a fair comparison.

One thing I’ve noticed, especially with me working on web design/development is the state of small local websites. Dooger’s website isn’t too bad, but it could use a little help but Norma’s needs a design update, badly. I think if I was to go with social networking, I’d do updates on specials, maybe mention what’s fresh that day, etc. It doesn’t take much to give information, especially with Twitter’s API, which you can use in your website, or even a Google map so people can look up the location.

That’s just me though. Anyway, I’m back to bed, I had to get up at 3:45 am to get Gus off to an early workday, and now it’s hitting me hard.

Expanding my experiences

This summer is passing by so quickly! I got an email from my professor regarding my internship/independent study and all my materials are due next week! It isn’t as bad as it sounds though, I’ve been super-busy working on various projects so I have a lot to show for my time.

For me, the end of summer classes means that I have to start preparing for fall. There’s a lot to do, and I’m really excited and a little nervous about all the potential awesomeness for my last semester.

Still, I’m in “summer” semester now, and I just realized how happy I was today. I married a great guy, had a great wedding, made some new friends, painted some kickass pictures, and learned more about web development/design.

My summer hobbies have been working on my garden with Gogu-ji, doing some paintings, learning about making quilts, and reading a ton about web technologies and design. I’ve also made a habit of trying out a new Indian recipe after I visit my in-laws, because Gogu-ji’s mom has been pretty good about teaching me something new every time, so I practice making Indian recipes. I still need a lot of practice, but I learned to roll out rotis, make parathas, make daal, Indian salad, and cha. In return, I’ve made breakfast (eggs and toast) for them and had them try my homemade salsa. I even made my first loaf of ciabatta from a no-knead bread cookbook that I got from my mom. It was good but my yeast was a little old so it didn’t rise as nicely as it should (but it had really good flavor). I’m sure my next attempt will be better, I have fresh yeast and now I know what to expect.

I’ve been slowly learning AJAX over the summer, I found a library book on it, but the code was horribly outdated and it had a ton of typos in it. Although it was troublesome, I think I learned a lot by troubleshooting the code.

I haven’t had many opportunities to take photographs, except at a few weddings, but I think I’ll make more opportunities when fall starts, it’s been too busy with work and being a newlywed.

As for the married thing…well I love being married to Gogu-ji, and I feel pretty good inside, especially with respect to being a part of his family. There are so many ways that things could go wrong but we are all being patient and kind with each other as we get accustomed to the changes.

Last weekend we had a really nice dinner at one of the relative’s house, and I got to get to know them a bit better. I was a little nervous at first because I wasn’t sure what to do, but I realize that the Punjabi lifestyle is pretty much the same as the Mexican lifestyle, where the women help each other in the kitchen. It’s actually a really good experience for me because I get to see how to set up the area for a dinner and what types of food and snacks are typically served.

Since the family is vegetarian, I got to enjoy some of my favorites, like daal, subji and paneer, rotis and bhurta. I’m not a vegetarian but Indian vegetarian dishes are really the highlight of my dining experiences. It’s also what I’m focusing my efforts on, because I have a few vegetarian friends and I would like them to feel like they can visit me without any worries. The health benefits don’t hurt either.

In any case, I’ve been so busy trying to complete my requirements for my summer internship credit, I just have to get everything signed off and dropped off to my advisor by Thursday.

Hope everyone is having a great summer :)

Brides: Advice on changing your name (in Washington)

So here’s the thing, you can learn from my messy transactions and be a smart bride, or you can run along and waste time.

Ladies changing your name…buy 2 certified copies of marriage license when you turn in your marriage license, it’s fairly inexpensive, I think mine was $4 for one copy in Prosser. You want one copy to keep at home for those unforseen circumstances and a copy for immediate use.

When you have a day off go to Social Security with your certified copy and current driver’s license, they will update your social security card and mail you a copy that will come in a few weeks. No charge.

Give 24 hours or more for the update to go through the computer network, then go to the DMV. If you are like me, where I had to update my address, change my name and get my EDL (enhanced driver’s license), you will need a few things. I needed my current valid driver’s license, a bill in my name at my new address for the address update. You will need your certified copy of your marriage certificate to change your name, your current valid driver’s license (prove that you are a WA resident) and I also had my passport to show that I’m a U.S. citizen, but there are more ways to prove that, see the DMV site for a list of acceptable docs. You also need to know your social security number, but you don’t have to have the card. The DMV person needs to be able to find your SS with your new name in order for them to issue you an EDL, but they’ll give you a temporary driver’s license so make sure you get prettied up.

Now that you got that done, you can then do your passport change if you need to (that’s what the second certified copy of your marriage license is for, they have you send it in, so you don’t get it back).

I still need to update my accounts and talk to work about my name change, and I’ll update if I need anything unique when doing so.

Hope this saves you some time :)

Hangovers stay in Vegas

Beware Vegas, the GIOs are on their way to wreck havoc and mayhem in Las Vegas for the rest of week.  All I ask is that Gus come back in one piece and alive, preferably with everything he came with and nothing extra.   I admit I’ve been turning green all week because he gets to go do something fun with his friends without anyone to keep an eye on him, plus it’s probably warm and sunny over there too!  So as you can guess, I’m stuck at home and it’s Spring Break, the first spring break I haven’t gone anywhere in a while.  At least I’m making some extra money, right?  Although Gus has earned his vacation, I kinda want one too, I’m really tired and not feeling very inspired.

Still, I have some goals for this week.  To finish the mobile website (almost done), test it and have it look good on most browsers, and have all the calculators/downloadables work. I decided to work on a wedding template, just to see what I can do since I don’t have anyone to ask for dinner or want attention (other than the cats).  I definitely need more work so I want to get some portfolio pieces going so I can say I have done something with myself this week, other than play FF13 (which is rather dull so far) and do a little bit of reading for next week’s work. Anyone in DTC 477 give me the head’s up on what is due for next week?  I e-mailed Farman but he never got back to me. :(

Intrigue still reigns with my wedding, it seems I’m not allowed to share the wedding date like I want to, and it’s a little embarrassing that things are so last-minute.  It kind of makes me feel sick to my stomach sometimes, even though there is no reason for me to worry.  If things don’t go well, it wasn’t because I didn’t try to plan things, but it’s really hard for me to enjoy the experience if I have to worry about not having the basic things planned out.  I’m going to let it go, it’s only going to make me unhappy.

I got a little talk about writing on my blog, that writing about my angry feelings isn’t the best thing to do, and that it makes people upset.  I think my writing style is so completely…tame compared to what I used to write about.  I guess it’s okay to write about topics and send warm fuzzies, but heaven help me if I get mad and write about it.  I’ve mentioned this many times in my old blog and I’ll say it here:  Each post is a snapshot of my feelings and mental thoughts at the exact time of posting.  As soon as I hit the publish button, it is no longer a “current” snapshot, it’s in the past.  I usually go through a process when I write and afterwards I’m wiped clean of any emotion and usually any tension as well.  This is my therapy, how I keep myself from feeling down, from getting too stressed out.  Once my classes are done, I’ll probably change my blog back to a private one because it always gets me in trouble.  How do people keep it honest without everyone getting mad?  I could use some tips, and don’t give me the “oh don’t post about private stuff” because that isn’t going to work.

Anyway, on to something less controversial.  I sound like a money-hungry beeyotch most times, but I am so tired of not having money.  I want to do well in my classes, but I also want to keep my business going.  I’d really like to get my business license so I can be all official this year.  So that means goals.  I sometimes try to think about the things I want in order to motivate me to work harder.  I’d like a pretty wedding outfit, one that suits and fits me.   I’d also like some new shoes, and some hot rollers for my hair.  I think I’d also like some nice earphones (the small ones that fit in my ears) and inspiration to become more creative (maybe paint more).

Today my goal is to create a template that I can use for a simple wedding informational website.  Password-protected of course. ;)   2nd goal is to test the mobile site.  If you have an iPhone, please check out the mobile website, let me know if it looks like crap.  Not everything works so be kind.  At least it works and looks good in Opera, next stop, Blackberry.

Bad Day

I finally sorted out my troubles that I’ve been having with that one relative I’ve been writing about, thank goodness.  It was the only good part about the day, well Gus gave me a mental pat on the head for working it out with her, so that made me happy too.  I’ve been working on my midterm since the weekend started, and I admit I’ve had a lot going on so I felt really distracted with all the drama and other schoolwork so it was hard to concentrate, but I did prevail!  I finished my essays on Monday, but I needed to go through them, edit and add all the MLA bits that I have trouble remembering to do.  I ended up finishing at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, which was very bad for my head because I accidentally sent my work to someone else, which was really embarrassing.   Luckily I figured it out before the due date at 9 a.m. (on Tuesday!!!) and re-sent it at 8 a.m.  Some days I just wonder, right?

So I managed to wade through the day with only a few hours of sleep, and I did manage to sound coherent even if I didn’t look so good (today someone said I looked tired, even though I wore my eyeliner, FML).  On my way home, my car started to fail, the lights started flashing, dimmed and then turned off completely.  Right near the main stop near my home, I felt the power steering go and the next thing I know, I’m rolling down the hill towards my house.  Thank goodness for that!  I switched gears to neutral, rolled down the slight hill and right into my street parking space with a sigh of relief.  Unfortunately nobody was home because Gus was leaving that evening for work-related travel, so I was out of luck on getting him to fix my car.  After I called him to update him on my problem, he told me I could use his fancy car to go to school.  Which was great, until I remembered that his tabs were expired.  I managed to get to school today, but I don’t think I’m going to risk it in the next few days, there’s too many cops on the road, at least on the freeway towards Tri-Cities.  I’m sure they are out because Spring Break is coming up.  Gus will be back on Sunday so he’ll bring back the part (alternator) for my car and hopefully we can work together and get it fixed (and get his tabs updated) so we’ll have a vehicle.  He’s leaving for his bachelor party in Vegas next week during Spring Break so I’m planning to focus on work, and making some money!

I hope Dr. Farman will figure out a way to get the Iphone application installed on the Mac lab computers, I really have a bunch of cool ideas that I want to try out, but I need a way to do it and I can’t really afford a Mac just for development purposes only.  This might be a good way to get some group collaboration with some of the graphic designers in my class, I have been trying to think of an interesting way for us to work together on a project we could use for our portfolios, but haven’t come up with anything useful yet.

The Day Before

The day before my engagement ceremony was probably the nicest day I had in a while. Just thinking back on it, I wonder how everything could run so smoothly and then turn into such a jumble. I figure that’s what big ceremonies are all about, especially when you are going into it with a blindfold, 5 blind women leading you and an off-kilter walking stick.

Friday I skipped my only class, it didn’t seem right to wait until 2 p.m. to leave for Seattle, even though I didn’t have any pressing obligations. My to-do list for that day was to make to Seattle with my mother (and Gus) without getting into an argument and pick up Katie (my “younger sister”) at 8 p.m. I also had to pick up a few more things for the engagment like the girl’s gifts and the gift for Gus.

I was really disappointed that Sophia couldn’t make it, there was a little bit of drama about that, because I had asked to take her to Seattle, and then her mom started calling my mom and brother to tell them that Sophia was sick and couldn’t make it.  I don’t know what to think, she was acting a little odd the days before this, she had called my brother to ask about who was driving and in what car, basically concerned mom questions, which is fine, but I already answered those questions for her.  Maybe the idea of Gus driving was scary? I thought she’d be less concerned because we’d be driving a safer, reliable car rather than my junk car with questionable reliability.  I wasn’t in the mood to play back and forth with her, so I just waited until she was ready to talk to me herself, which she did on the Friday morning.  She had asked my mom to tell me about the cancellation, and my mom reliably passed it along (as well as my brother), but they were both complaining about why she was bugging them about it instead of calling me.  That’s my family for you, we get annoyed by stuff like that, even though they pass it along.  So I was really annoyed that I had to listen to both my mom and brother complain about it and then deal with the big disappointment.  I wasn’t raging inside, but I wanted to cry because it would have meant a lot to me to have my niece there and I admit I was a little suspicious about whether Sophia was really sick or not.

It didn’t help that before the ceremony, Sophia called me to wish me good luck, and when I told her that I hoped she felt better, she stopped and drew a blank.  I’m paranoid, I suppose but something didn’t feel right.  In any case, I’m going to invite her family to the wedding, so even if she can’t go, she can have an invitation for herself as a memory.

There was one good thing about Sophia not coming, we didn’t have to wait until 3 p.m. for her to get out of kindergarten, so we took off that morning with my mom and while I drove to Western Washington, Gus started calling venues and keeping my mom occupied.  My mom makes me crazy so spending too much time in a small, enclosed space is hard on my eardrums and my mental health, so having someone to distract her was good.  We got there in record time and dropped my mom off at my brother’s place so she could rest and wait for my brother to get off work.  Gus and I decided to pick up some conveyer-belt sushi at Sushi Land, and checked into the hotel.  The Marriott in Tukwila is nice, but not as nice as some of the other places I’ve stayed at in that area, so if you want something basic, clean and looks up to date, stay there, it’s in walking distance of Southcenter and many food places.

I had a long drive to Kirkland after that, Katie (a girl I’ve known since she was 4) needed to be picked up and we had some shopping to do.  Part of the engagement ceremony is buying gifts for the family, and I still needed to buy a gift for Gus.  Traditionally the girl’s family buys an outfit for each member of the boy’s family and depending on who is invited, you can also buy an outfit for the boy’s relatives as well.  In my case since we were having a quiet engagement ceremony, I had to buy for Gus, his dad, his mom, his sister, my future brother-in-law, and Amrit, his sister’s son.  His mom and sister helped me buy an appropriate Indian women’s suit in Canada a few weeks back for themselves, and so it was up to me to buy the outfits for the guys, which was basically a dress shirt, and dress pants.  Gus helped me by getting the sizes and approving what I picked out for them even though technically I am supposed to buy everything by myself.  But I paid for it out of my wedding savings, so that should count in theory.

I ended up buying some really nice dress slacks and a shirt/tie set that I thought would look good on the guys, and also got a brown dress belt for his father because Gus said that he needed one.  I also picked up the cutest little pseudo dress suit for the nephew, which Gus thought was a great idea, I admit I am a sucker for those outfits, they look so sharp on the little boys. With Katie’s help,  Gus ended up getting an extra-special outfit that I picked out for him at Nordstrom Rack, they had the nicest Calvin Klein white shirt (his favorite brand), a super soft sweater cream sweater vest  and a pair of textured black and brown Kenneth Cole dress pants.

Next on the list was a Fruits Basket marathon!  Katie and I are not hardcore anime people, but I spread my addiction to this anime to her, and since she’s the only one I know that likes this particular show, I usually watch it with her.  Since it was late, we decided to pick our favorite episodes and watch as many as we could.  I passed out at 12 a.m. because I was too tired to watch, even though I really wanted to.  I really missed Katie, I haven’t seen her in about 2 years and she grew really tall!  She was probably almost 13 when I last saw her, and she was only a few inches taller than me, but now she was a towering 5’10″ give or take at 15.  Anyway, it was great to see her and we got to spend some quality time with her.  She had gotten her driver’s permit that very day, and if it hadn’t been so dark (and in Gus’ car), I probably would have had her drive.  It was really great to hear about all the things she’s been up to and her plans for the summer, which were all theater-based.  She loves being involved in the theater and even teaches a class about it to younger kids.  All in all, she’s amazing.

We ended up screwing around after getting all sugared up and taking pictures of each other with my camera.  They turned out terrible, but it was funny anyway.  I taught her my technique for looking like your teeth are knocked out, a la The Hangover (although this technique existed to when I was in middle school, my brother and I created it, along with the brownie cat poops).  Basically you take a sweet made out of chocolate, like cake, a brownie or a Tootsie Roll.  You squish it into a small square and place on your front tooth.  If the sweet is soft enough, it should stick and then just adjust it in the mirror to fit your tooth shape.  Next, refrain from laughing and smile at the first person you meet.  I guarantee they will look so surprised that it will make you die of laughter, if you haven’t already started laughing at your reflection.  Anyway, we took pictures, Katie looks downright scary with her missing two front teeth, and I look haggard in my picture or I’d share it.  Maybe if someone posts a pic then I’ll post mine, how about that?

I remember waking up a few times that night to her watching Fruits Basket and wishing that I had more time to spend with her, but I knew that I’d be in Seattle soon enough, but before she goes to college!  It’s okay though, she was there at an important time for me, and that meant a lot, I don’t have a lot of people that I’ve known for a long period of time since I move a lot.  In any case, the last time I woke up she was snoring a little and hanging over the bed in an odd position, which reminded me of the time I tried to have her watch “Lovely Complex”  with me in my twin bed (at her mom’s house).  That time she ended up falling asleep during the first episode and whacking me in the face while I was trying to enjoy the show.

I was looking forward to the next day, although there were a lot of unanswered questions in my mind.  Would the weather hold?  Would my outfit look the same as I remembered it?  How would I know what to do in the ceremony?  Would everyone show up on time?  Still, I didn’t want to show up to the engagement with big dark circles under my eyes, so I tried to go back to sleep and the next thing I knew, it was morning.