Housing hmmmm....

One of the things about moving that is so crazy is just not knowing what is on the other end as far as housing goes. Some housing offices are fabulous and really keep you in the know about what is going on. The websites have floor plans and photos and everything is laid out so it is easy to understand. That, of course, is not the case in Korea. I have been scouring the internet, talking to friends who have lived there before, and been on facebook with people who live there now trying to get information. And with all of my research this is what I have come up with:

We qualify for a 5 bedroom, but will never get one because our family just isn't quite big enough...and there aren't any available anyway...no biggie. We have never lived in anything bigger than a 4 bedroom and that's fine.

We will get a 4 bedroom sometime in June...hmmm...we get there June 2nd. So, we could be in a hotel for a while....

That said 4 bedroom is NOT going to be a duplex as we originally thought....there isn't anything above a 3 bedroom available.

So what is it going to be???  Looks like a 2 story townhouse with an almost non-existent yard, outdoor parking, and not really within walking distance of anything that measures in at 1535 square feet.
OR
An apartment with no yard, underground parking, a 6x6 storage area, and within walking distance to almost everything that measures in at 1762 square feet.

If I had to choose right now, I would say the apartment in the winner, but I haven't seen any pictures of the inside. I have seen pictures of the townhouse...it looks nice, but small.

So my conclusion...there is no conclusion...we just have to wait. :(

Love My Baker!

Brendan decided he wanted to make cookies this evening. He is on board with eating healthy whole food so...he took an oatmeal raisin recipe and modified it. Instead of sugar he used honey, he left out the salt, and he used whole wheat pastry flour. I must say they turned out pretty good. Next time he needs to use a bit less honey as they were a bit too sweet, but overall good. And mostly, I'm really happy that he chose to try it.

Dinner Fail

I have written about quite a few successes with our eating style. Tonight was NOT one of them!!! I attempted to make a spinach, artichoke, bacon pizza. That sounded absolutely delicious to me!! Yeah not so much...well actually the toppings were delicious, but the whole wheat crust I made to put it on was HORRIBLE!!! Shane and I pulled the toppings off, ate those, and threw the crust away. Then we told the kids to do the same...dinner tonight...chips and salsa and possibly ice cream. Ooops!

PCS Craziness!!!

WOW!! What a whirlwind afternoon/evening/morning we have had of planning and replanning. We had our timeline for this move all set about a month ago.  Life was good. We were done planning and almost through the hardest parts to execute--everything shipped, walk through for storage done, plane tickets acquired.  Sounds like a peaceful time right??  Well it was...yep WAS!! Yesterday Shane got an email from the guy he is replacing that went something along these lines...

"We need you here to sit in on some training and exercises the day after you are scheduled to arrive and you need to have done your 5 day inprocessing and get your family set before that"

Yes that was completely paraphrased. He didn't even know our flight plans yet. So...we changed our plans and are flying out a week earlier than we planned. Last night and this morning was spent re-arranging and planning everything over so we can still get to see who we need to see and do what we need to do before we fly.  And FINALLY, we have it all complete. New plane tickets, new hotel reservations, new trip plans....whew!!

In the midst of that, I decided I needed a really good breakfast so here is a photo of what I made for myself...everyone else was already at school/work. I ate late today:)

It was 3 eggs with mushrooms, onions, and cheese; a slice of whole grain toast with butter; and black coffee....mm mm...yum!

Update on our dinner

So we tried out the Sausage and Fennel Pasta...Yummo!!  I had never cooked with fresh fennel before and I'm not big on licorice taste so I wasn't sure how I would like it. It was delicious though. The fennel very much smelled like licorice when I was cutting it and had a mild licorice taste, but with the sausage and onion it was very good. It did have a fresh squeezed orange in it and I think I would add a second next time. Overall, very good.

Ok, but I know what you really want to know. Did the kids like it?? The pot was empty very quickly!!  They loved it. All 4 said it was good.  I think that is a huge success!

So go to Door to Door Organics and get the recipe :) I don't want to steal from them :)

Adding blogging to the schedule!!!

I used to be so good about blogging every day...that was before Facebook. It is so much easier just to dash of a sentence or attach one picture. Blogging takes a bit more time and effort. But, I AM going to get back to blogging. I have been talking a lot to a neighbor--Hi Terri!- who is also trying to make some changes and I'm realizing that this can be beneficial to others. SO...I vow to get on here at least 3 times per week...with the goal of getting back to every day.

I'm going to start with the moving front today....May I just say I hate the logistics that go into an overseas move. Everything has to start so early and then the family is just "displaced" for quite awhile. We have our final movers coming today to do a walkthrough. These are the ones that are going to be putting everything into storage. At least this one will be much simpler...aside from a few things that are going to friends and family, the stuff we are going to sell at the yard sale in 2 weeks, and what we are taking on the plane...everything goes! But, that doesn't all happen until May so in the meantime, we make do with what we have.

FOOD!!!  I absolutely LOVE all the changes we are making. My new best friend is Door to Door Organics. If you have not heard of this, you should check it out and see if it is in your area.  It is a service that delivers organic food right to your doorstep...no going to the store Yippie!! It works like this. You sign up online and determine what type of box you want to receive...small, medium, large and then vegetables, fruit or a mix.  I am getting large mixed boxes. On Fridays I get an email that states what produce is going to be in the box. I can make substitutions as necessary if there is something I don't want. Then I can add other items of my choosing--I have been getting bread and milk. I may add eggs next week.  Then on Tuesdays it is all delivered to my house. Nice and convenient and delicious. The website also has a bunch of recipes you can browse through and notes what is used from the box you ordered.  Cool huh? Anyway, they are my new best friend and my kids plow through the food like crazy!

Notice I said I have been buying bread from them?? Yes, I was all into baking my own. I still want to do that, but I have decided that it is going to have to wait until we get to Korea. It is just a bit more than I want to tackle when all I have for kitchen supplies is a plastic bowl and spoon :) Yes, I know I could still make bread like that, but since I have found some that mostly fits my plan. I'm taking the easy way out for a bit. (The bread does have canola oil in it which I know is a no no, but we are after progress not perfection).

So with all this wonderful produce in my house, what am I going to do with it??  Well, for lunch today my kids all got salads.  I used some lovely green leaf lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, and sunflower seeds and gave them a bit of oil and balsamic vinegar to top it with. They also got plain greek yogurt with a bit of honey and some chopped strawberries on top. We finished up with some applesauce and a clementine.  Happy kids/ happy mom :)

And if you are interested here is my meal plan for the week. Quite a few of these recipes are new to me so I will update on how they turn out :)

Today: Sausage and Fennel with Pasta and a salad on the side
Thursday: Tex Mex Carnitias in the crockpot
Friday: Spinach, Artichoke and Bacon Pizza
Saturday: Brendan and I will be at a soccer tournament all day--so it's Dad's choice :)
Sunday: Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Bake with a salad
Monday: Avocado Grilled Cheese and Chips (we get chips that are only 3 ingredients--I know there are some that are baked, but I haven't been able to find them...so again progress, not perfection)
Tuesday: Coffee Pot Roast, Asparagus, and salad.

Lunches--today was salad, I'm also going to make some whole wheat mac-n-cheese one day, and a Lemony Potato Salad with Basil and Mint one day...and of course the old fall back...sandwiches (which my kids love by the way)

And then we will get another box and start over!  I'll try to remember to take a picture next week of what it looks like when it arrives--there was complete chaos in my house when it got here yesterday.

So, happy eating and please comment or ask questions..I'd love to have a bit of a dialogue :)