round two!

all right friends

round two of the simple realist

because..

#1: i have more time
#2: i come on this blog to check my links the the right (ok..i know there's like blog readers and all that stuff but i don't want to set it up and i don't like change)

#3: bc i do #2, i always look at the past title of "i failed" and feel like that should not be my last parting words

so....

back to showing you guys my current likes, favorites, and just random items :)

i <3 you.

everything is going to be amazing

i would like to believe
optimism needed from here

12/365, 13/365

ohmgeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
cabin fever.
major cabin fever.

i drove home for the first time today
and the roads were okay.
not back to normal
but manageable.

until....i got to my gate
and reazlied the entire street on my subdivision was iced over.
that street is always in the shade and kinda uphill
and i was sliding and slipping
a good samaritan helped me drive it up
and then i slid back down another hill
praying i wouldn't hit a stupid car that was parked on the street
and bc my hubby cleared our driveway earlier on in the week
i was able to get the car into the garage

and then i came inside
and realized i have limited food resources.
sigh
but i was impressed by my neighbors in the afternoon
all pitching in together to get the 2nd hill cleared

new start

lets see how long i can hold onto

au revoir 2010.
hello 2011.
will you be nicer than 2010?

one of my many half thought out resolutions...
#1 blog and take dailys (picture) everyday

merry christmas!

getting older

my bday is coming up.
do you know how i know?

I'm always sick on my bday.
and i'm getting sick now.
ah...perks of getting older.

after months...year of nagging?

so we never went on a honeymoon
i was promised one
but we never went

the parents in laws from another country
were still in town
but we couldn't just leave them
so we didnt go
received a verbal promise...
but never went

a year went by our marriage :)
and yay..
this is where we will be going.

name change

name change is a pain.
bc of my stupidity? selfishness? slightly feminist ways? [pick one reason] I had not checked that little box that asked if I wanted to change my name during the marriage licence process. in my defense, it was really early and i was having digestion problems.
so i didnt.
and then i continued to live as a beloved lee.

and then i realized six months later
that my passport expired.
passport renewals are again a pain.
but the good thing is that it expires once every ten yrs.

and within said six months
ppl kept calling me mrs. kim
wrote checks with mrs kim on it
and during insurance checkups, i had to prove i was married with a marriage license
bc our names were different

so i went to change my name officially to mrs. kim
however, unlike the funny "princess consuela banana hammock" episode
on the 10th season of friends where phoebe simply changes her name
its not quite that easy
lesson learned.

cost: $78 filing fee, $80 publication fee, $5 copy fee
time: 44 days since filing date plus 3 hours in court room

and its official. i am now a mrs. kim :p

[things to change]
name: check
passport: application mailed. check
library card: check. (very excited to be in gwinnett county's library)
voter registration: check

drivers license: closed on mondays. will go tomorrow
social security: see above
bank: tomorrow

am i missing something?

go yuna!

yay yuna wins gold!

she did it :)

there's an app for that

did u guys hear this story
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/24/haiti.survivor.phone.app/index.html

a compassion international aid worker
was stuck under the hotel's rubble in haiti for 60 hours
when he knew he was bleeding and going into shock.
the man used his iphone's first aid app to read what to do.
it possibly saved his life

i love my iphone
i really do.
and although the app i found yesterday
doesnt equate to the magnitude of this guy's app
but still...

i found the mbc radio app.
live.
its just like living in korea.

disclaimer: i am not pregnant

i am by no means pregnant
although there are many ppl asking.

insert rant

(i dunno. korean tradition? why do ppl immediately assume after marriage comes a baby? what if we want to enjoy our married time together without morning sickness and sleepless nights? what if I want to go on my anniversary trip without being preggars? don't get me wrong, i love children. i work with children. i want children...but why do ppl think its ok to ask why you are not pregnant yet when you've been married for only 7 months?)

end rant

anyways... if I were pregnant...
the most thing I would be excited about
well...besides bringing a baby into this world and all
the 2nd most thing I would be excited about
is decorating a nursery.

however..i can see the arguments with the hubby now.
me: honey, we need this changing table
hubby: why? just use the floor.

and ladies and genteleman...until that response changes from the hubby,
that is also why i'm holding off on getting pregnant part
hopefully by then, i will have mastered the art of convincing...

some inspirations by apartment therapy's children addition!!

obsession

i have a confession to make
i am a major drama addict
well...i am a major kdrama addict
for the newbies..thats korean dramas

with the new year, there is so many offerings that are all enticing

my favorites in order:

1)God of Study (공부의신)

something about teen drama and teen angst

i also bawled in the 2nd episode of this drama

and am very partial to Kim SuRo of the Family Outing fame

2)Chuno (추노)

I'm not a fan of Sageuks (사극)

its hard to understand and there's a lot of political/kingdom ish stuff

that I have no idea what's going on.

however...this drama is so much fun!

its fusion (ie...modern sayings)

the cinematography is awesome

and the visuals are breathtaking

the two leads are also very charismatic ;p

3)Wish upon a Star (별을따다줘)

this is the most recent one that I started watching

and I really like the chemistry between the leads

and the story is upbeat about a sad circumstance

4)Pasta (파스타)

and finally we have pasta

i thought this would be a trendy drama

but its actually kinda boring (shhhh don't tell)

i'm only sticking around just to see how it ends

but i am def doing the JJ method of watching dramas

---forwarding to the important parts so that the whole drama only takes like 20 min

guess where i'm going in 16 days

here!!

yay for vacays :)

happy thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving :)

this year i have a lot of thankful for
a new hubby
a new house
a new direction

and great family :)

just came back from a great family vacay
with both sides of the family.
what a great year

after the wedding

after the wedding
its been a month
and i still have wedding presents unopened
and cards unread

but in my defense, the inlaws were over
stressful stressful stressful!
i got a new job
i actually got two new jobs
and one of my current jobs had a big event
in the name of vbs

afterthoughts of the wedding
i wasnt nervous
i wasnt scared
i actually think im pretty calm under pressure :)

in the korean tradition, the bride to be
sleeps the night before her wedding
with her mommy.
my mom and i dont have that kind of relationship
but we ended up like that by accident
(we had guests staying over)

my mom fell asleep waaaay before i did
bc i did a day before the wedding big no no
i stayed up late
like really late
like 2AM late.
and i dont regret it

my cousin and her adorable family stayed at our house
and i gave my nephew a bubble bath (so cute!!),
soaked in the tub, did a face mask while talking with my cousin,
watched a drama, had some wine
keke.

anyways..the groom to be picked me up at 10
and we went to the hair and makeup place, weddingline.
he dropped me off, went to church to clean up and set up
and the makeup lady started working her magic.

part 2 later :)

registry stalking

any brides do this?
bc im not ashamed to admit i stalk my registry
to see what goodness is coming into my new home :)

btw
my mom went craZY in korea
she bought an entire like 70 piece dish set
and my faithful and diligent fiance/husband
(depending on what country we are in)
took all the dishes, wrapped it in bubble wrap, clothes
and carried yes carried it in a bag
through the Incheon airport, on the plane, through US customs
and all the way home.
수고 했어 서방!

anyways..
so our registry is very small in number
and today i get a call from a worried customer service
at BBB registry who wants to know why I have only 20 items
on my registry when there is 300 ppl coming to my wedding.

but i dont want anything else.
we dont need anything else
besides the things on our now registry.

another side note:
i prefer coffee makers :)

korean thoughts

here in rainy seoul
as i count down one week (one week!)
for the wedding.

the flight was actually very smooth
and restful.
i flew prestigious class
so very comfortable
food was very good :)

we got to korea
and my uncle has a house he just bought
thats empty
so we're staying there
its right next to KBS
and in a district with lots of food
and easy to access.

my sole purpose of coming to korea
is food
but my mom wont let me eat
until the wedding
we'll see how that goes

as we prepare to leave for korea on wednesday
my family has been a whole lot of crazy
fun but simply crazy.

for starters, its the first time EVER
(most likely the last time)
that my parents, my brother, and I
have gone to Korea together.

my bro just graduated grad school
finished his CPA exam
and is headed off to DC in the fall for a job

so it will be awhile before
famiLee will go on a korean vacation
and we are all very very excited
and well, slightly crazy in anticipation

presents :)

there's a book called
the five love languages by Gary Chapman
where he write on how we like to give love
and how we prefer to receive love.
the five love languages are
quality time, words of affirmation, receiving gifts, acts of service, physical touch

and since I read the book in college
I totally always thought that the "love" I prefer
is to receive gifts.

i love receiving gifts.
and bc Christmas and my bday are so close together
I dont have the joy of two presents in a year
but rather, just one.
I think that makes me value gift receiving a little bit more.

haha so anyways.
i recently signed on our registries to check and see
if there was anything else that needed to be added
we finished our registry in one day
and havent really added a lot of stuff.

when lo and behold
the best words appeared that can appear on a registry
"fulfilled"

not one but three :)
i was very ecstatic!
and i realized i'm a dork.
or just really really like receiving gifts

disclaimer: the above does sorta sound selfish.
but im just describing my feelings.

wedding countdown

on my iphone
i have this app called
"days until"
and it counts down days until X

so I checked it today as I customarily do
and there's 21 days until my Korean wedding
and there's 57 days until my American wedding.

hyperventilate.

oh i forgot to mention..bc Korean wedding is in Korean time (1/2 a day earlier)
technically its 20 days until I'm getting married in Korea.

more deep breathing.

I hate numbers. they confuse me.
and i feel like so much to do
not sure if I really need to do it?
when do i do it?

breathe. breathe.