Li'l Shoppe Around the Korner

There's a small Korean/Japanese restaurant right by my bus stop on my way home from work called Seoul Korner. Although I lived close to it, I've never patroned it in all my years of college. I guess I never held a huge interest in Korean or Japanese food, well not until I started watching Asian TV dramas. I've had a habit of missing the bus lately and having to wait the extra 15 or 20 minutes for the next bus, giving me more time to observe this restaurant. The restaurant is never busy; at most 3 tables are occupied, usually by a single person with his or her newspaper or by cozy couples gazing out at the snow. Maybe it's my romantic view of life, or maybe it's the effect of freezing in the snow and hungering for a warm dinner after a long day of work, but I would rather like to stop in this restaurant sometime for dinner after work. Maybe with a dear friend, so we can sip udon soup and eat kimchee in the warm restaurant while staring out at the snowy passerbys. That'll just have to be one of the things I do before I leave Ann Arbor.

Timing is Everything

What a bad time in life for my suitcase to finally break after 9 years of faithful service.

Looking forward to the weekend. I'm sleep-deprived and ready to be a bum and stay in!!

Infrequent Update

I've been blogging far too infrequently this year! I feel like I started this New Year's off on the wrong foot, but it's never too late to recover from that. Some random updates from the last 18 days:

• I realized this morning that I can finally donate blood again!! I can't remember which day I got my tattoo last year (was it the 14th or the 21st of January??), but I plan on giving blood as often as I can after the 21st of this month.
• I went in for physical therapy (finally!) and found out that my back is hurting - not because my spine is misaligned again (although the therapist says there's definitely kinks in there), but it's because I basically have no core body strength to hold a decent posture. I've been working out a lot since the new year, but I've been doing more cardio since I absolutely hate lifting weights. So to boost up my core strength, I enrolled in both a pilates class and a weekend Iyengar yoga class. We'll see how I do with that.
• After a 2 year hiatus, I decided to finish watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (I finished all 10 seasons of Friends). Some of my old roomies back during the Pirate House days were obsessed with the show so I watched through season 4 with them. Mel's letting me borrow seasons 5-6 from her to return in July when I next see her, so I've been plowing through them. I just started season 6 and it's getting SCARY!! Well, scary as in cheap blood and gore horror movies, but I'm such a wimp that those give me nightmares. I keep thinking I shouldn't watch anymore, but part of me just wants to finish the entire series because I started it!
• Speaking of nightmares, I'm not one to remember dreams, but I've been having sad dreams every night this year. Not only do I wake up feeling upset, but I think I don't sleep well at night. Anyone know a way to keep from dreaming?
• On a whim, I ordered all six seasons of Sex and the City. Since I picked it up from my leasing office this morning (I had it mailed there so it wouldn't get stolen), it's sitting next to me right now on my work desk. It's the collector's edition and the packaging is soooo pretty. I keep running my hands over the felt pink cover. =) Very rarely do I find a series worth buying (actually this is the first one), and I'm very excited to watch it again!
• New small groups are starting up this Sunday. It was difficult saying goodbye to the old one, but God's just confirmed over and over again that planting a new group is His will. Already 12 people are coming on Sunday and we haven't had a meeting yet!

Okay, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be updating more frequently!!

Ricotta Shmicotta

I love cottage cheese. In an attempt to be healthy, I decided to try out low-fat ricotta cheese since it's known to be much healthier and more nutritious than cottage cheese. Besides, ricotta cheese just sounds healthier.

I'm not kidding you, it was disgusting.

Then I heard I shouldn't eat it plain; people usually top it with cinnamon or something. So I sprinkled cinnamon on it. Now it's just disgusting with a hint of cinnamon.

I finally gave up and washed down the aftertaste with a couple squirts of whipped cream. Yum!

If You Want Me To
Ginny Owens

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will go through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley
If You want me to

When I cross over Jordan,
I'm gonna sing, gonna shout
I'm gonna look into Your eyes and see
You never let me down
So take me on the pathway that will lead me home to You
And I will walk through the valley
If You want me to

Yes, I will walk through the valley
If You want me to