New decisions: Affordability vs. Comfort

Affordability and Comfort has been a balance on a thin line that only stays stable until something makes it kilter. That "something" can be increased rent, relocation, decrease in income and/or etc. Recently the affordability-comfort balance has become a debate for my household. Having to create the mental pros and cons related to staying where we are, moving to a more affordable apartment which equals downsizing, location, and various other reasons.

Continuing the journey...

EXCITING NEWS!

In the last six months, there have been some new developments.

FIRST THINGS FIRST! My Love side project.....I have been working on with my husband (My Love). For me, it was a fun activity that I can do with my husband and for him, it helps him in the way he feels fulfilled which is making music. This is exciting because I have never been part of something this real when it comes to being part of the creation except my small crafting projects, so it is cool to see something I have
contributed work to come to fruition and be able to collaborate and experience the creativity of other individuals in different ways.

When you have a chance, check out the music video!

Second, I have been planning for the future.
What do I mean by the future? I mean family.
My husband and I have been married for 3 years now and planning for the future is not easy when there is no definite answer of what is going to happen, but for someone who has based her life solely on defining the happiness of life on stability, this is a new direction I am taking for the better of myself and my future family.

So, in order to prepare for the future of being a stay-at-home mom, I have decided to start my own online business. I have a hard time making decisions especially big ones where I have to use money and my social security number to start it. Have you ever felt excited and sick to your stomach all at the same time due to the nervousness and anxiety that swells up into your heart and brain as you think about the end results of every decision you make from here on out??
Yes. That's how I felt when I decided to become self-employed.

This is a new adventure for me as a move forward and although the business might have its ups and downs, I am happy to do it if it gives me joy and that I can help provide for my family.

I will have more information on my new business venture as I settle in.

Thank you for going on my journey with me!

Until next blog, Stay Tuned and Happy Adventures!

If you'd like to join me, subscribe to my blog and my YouTube Channel!

Wanderlusting at Jo-Ann's!!

 Jo-Ann's Jo-Ann's oh how I love thee!

No matter what your Jo-Ann's looks like, the inside (some better than others) is usually the same, but never a bad day at Jo-Ann's whether it is planned or spontaneous.

As a person with a secret addiction of crafting, this store is the ultimate satisfaction to that crafting crave by fulfilling my creativity by giving such an array of possibilities.


Check out my vlog of my spontaneous walk-through of Jo-Ann's!


So, while on our way home from visiting family, my husband treated me to a time of aimless enjoyment walking through Jo-Ann's.

I had remembered that my sister-in-law had given me a project idea for my new nephew. A swaddling blanket and bibs. You'll see that in my vlog post when you click on the link above.

Now, I am not saying that I am perfect in any way, but my intentions were good. I bought the fabric that I wanted to use for the blanket as well as the bibs. BUT..... still haven't gotten to them and my nephews are a little older, so I need to hurry a little bit.

So here is where I am at so far with this spontaneous idea:

1. So I am at part one where I bought the fabric. 
2. The 1st half of Part 2 where I have made my pattern and pinned it onto the fabric. The Other Half of Part 2 is cutting the pattern out which I haven't done yet.
3. Part 3, 4 and so on....is still yet to come!

I will have a detailed video of explaining how I made my swaddling blanket and bibs in the NEAR future!

Stay Tuned and Happy Adventures! 

If you haven'ts already, subscribe to my blog and my YouTube Channel! 

Discovery with History: Murphy Bed

Hello beautiful people!
It has been some time since I have put up any blogs. I noticed something about myself recently where I think something is a new idea, but realize that they actually have been around for some time. My latest discovery with history is the Murphy bed.

Belated Korean Honeymoon

Hi!

 

It has been a little bit, but it will be great to say that I was on vacation.

 

I want to explain why this post is labeled the way it is.

 

1. "Belated" because my husband and I initially felt that it would more beneficial for us to go on our honeymoon after paying off our debt first, which seems to be more common these days and more sensible for certain couples.

 

2. "Korean" because we decided to go to back to our roots to South Korea.

 

3. "Honeymoon" because although we have taken small trips together. It was different because we had to spend much more time in saving money and planning the trip that would best suit our goal.

 

My husband and I have posted some Youtube videos for each part of our trip. There will be more information on my blog regarding each part of our trip that will be helpful whenever you decide to go to Korea or planning a trip in general.

 

Check out the Vlogs on my Youtube page!

Valentine's Day / Birthday Celebration Part 2

Hi all!

I know Valentine's Day was in February. I apologize for the late blog because I was preparing for my belated Korean Honeymoon. But I hope you had a great celebration of love with your special person or people in your life.

This Valentine's Day was a combination birthday celebration part 2 and celebration of love and family.

I had the special birthday people: My Sister-In-Law and my husband 

Then Valentine's Day all at once.

So I thought I would kind of make a Korean fusion lunch that everyone would like. 

My sister-in-law likes traditional Korean, brother-in-law likes anything meat and my husband and I like fusion.

So I made a variation that will fit everyone's palette. I used recipes from maangchi.com.
The layout on how the instructor has a Youtube video plus written instructions for each recipe.

Below, I have put a link to the recipe I used to make each meal. 

1. Mi-Yeok Soup - Seaweed Soup

2. Jap-Chae - Sweet Potato Noodle Stir Fry

3. Marinated beef

4. Spicy Marinated Pork Belly
5. Rice
6. Cabbage Kimchi

For birthdays, my mother used to always make me Mi-Yeok Soup (Seaweed soup).
I researched the reason behind that 

We ended the meal with some nice freshly brewed coffee with slices of New York Cheesecake!

Great end for a celebration of love an family!

What happen to Old Fashioned Letters?

I was sitting at my desk and typing a blog post and then I thought, what happened to old fashioned letters?

Like the ones that family send to their loved one, lovebirds confess their love and the exciting parts of life and friends send to one another just to say hi.

Then I thought, why don't people send letters to one another if they live together?
The thought came to mind when I was preparing for my husband's birthday gift.

I tried going to the store the other day and to buy pretty letterhead paper to have just in case I wanted to write a letter, and only one Korean stationary store had any selection of papers and envelopes.

I remember that the thoughts that people write on letters are heartfelt even if they fill their room with crumpled pieces of paper because they cannot figure out the "perfect" phrase to write. But it isn't about the perfection, but making sure the words are shared out of love even it is difficult words to say.The beauty of words on a paper that is sent half way across the world or across the table is something that ceases to make my heart flutter.

The vintage communication of letter writing is definitely a beautiful art piece which takes time to admire but well worth the effort.

I encourage you today to write a letter to someone you care for. <3

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Good morning beautiful people!

Beautiful serenade yesterday morning.

And I want to gift this to you!

This weekend as you all probably know is that it is VALENTINE'S DAY!

So I dedicate this song to you!

Thank you for going on this journey of life with me.

Song: Stars Fell In Alabama

Artists: Daniela Andrade  & Hanbyul Kang

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dinner for my Hubby!

My husband's beautiful birthday was this week and we are on a budget, so I figured I do what I do best and make his gift homemade, livanue-style! haha...so corny! Love it!

Homemade meal and a homemade card was my gift!

And my husband appreciated it very much.
Well that is what he said.

If you would like to know how I made the main course and the dessert,
Here is the links for them:

Steak Marinade Recipe

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe

Reese's Cup Vanilla Cupcake Recipe





MAIN COURSE:

Marinated Steak with Stuffed Bell Peppers








THEN TO THE DESSERT! : Vanilla Cupcakes with Reese's Cup filling topped with custard and topped with crushed Reese's cups.

PRESENT TIME!

Now this is when your listening and paying attention to your significant other comes in handy, even it is the small little things.

My husband does not like to ask for things because he is trying to be good steward of our budget, but sometimes its nice just to get something simple so when he looks at it, he thinks of me and is reminded that even though I may not look like I'm paying attention, I am. hahahaha.

The Gifts:

1. Bottle of Wine - $7
2. Pint of Half and Half - $1.30
so he could make his espresso drink at home while taking a break from Starbucks.
3. Setting up the extra TV we had in his office - 30 min.
so that he can take a break from the computer work he does.
4. Homemade card - 30 min. and a little extra $$$ to put towards publishing his children's book.

All of these were gifts for my love, so I hope you take the time to listen to your significant other's ramblings, passions, and when they share things with you. And remember that sometimes it is the small, meaningful things make a world of difference.

Encouragement to those at WAR! with themselves

As I go through this journey of finding myself, I find myself being at war with myself rather than anyone or anything else and all I could think of music to inspire me not to give up.

The songs that came to mind was Alfa Garcia's WAR! 

I prefer this video because its more intimate for me, but here is the link to the OFFICIAL VIDEO: WAR! 

I am 30 years old trying to figure out my life and my purpose. Let's' not mistake this for pre-mid-life crisis. So far I know what is innately inside me. Now I just have to figure out how to make the innate useful and answer questions like: How do I live, create a family and enjoy life with it? 

I'm learning to be not the me that I was a year ago or 5 years ago, but be the me that I want to be today and work forward. Of course, taking life lessons along the way. 

God created me to be unique and you too.

Now, you and I both can learn to use are innate abilities and use them to not only benefit ourselves, but those around us.

My journey is not exactly like yours, but we're both going through something and why not encourage one another. right?

I hope this encourages you as it did me this morning.

Thank you Alfa Garcia for your encouragement today.

#discoveringlife #alfagarcia #journey #musictherapy #encouragement 

I'm Lost. Are you?

I was inefficient today in making any headway with my new fashion piece.
I found myself watching an classic Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand movie, The Way We Were.
I found out that I did not get a job because my skills were inadequate.
I was sitting on the couch, with the television off and covered in my favorite blanket and tears began to roll down my cheeks and overwhelming sadness.
Reason: I felt lost with no directions.

I don't know why that scares me, why that saddens me. Maybe I was expecting greater things for myself and because of how I grew up and how I "trained" myself to be that I needed to live a humble life, it my mind, it has gotten me to where I am of the feeling of not knowing where I want to go and just living with no purpose except doing the best in what I am doing. That all sounds peaceful and great, but when you have this gut feeling that there has to be more to my life than this and not knowing what that particular thing would be is driving me crazy.

People say that you discover life by exploring, but for a person who never really had to drive or desire to and just enjoyed the simplicity of life without feeling the need for exploration due to fear of the unknown, how do you discover life?

Now I am at a place where I regret not taking after some bold qualities in those around me and taking on challenges, having crazy work schedules doing what I found enjoyable and going out with friends just enjoying the moment.

While sobbing and praying to God and asking why I feel like this and trying not to contact my husband because he was in a meeting and not to worry him. I was contemplating if I should post how I was feeling on Facebook.

After long contemplation, I ended up on the internet on my phone and typed in the search bar, "I'm lost" and an article came up called "10 Things To Remember When You Feel Lost And Alone.

You can click on the website if you want to read into it in more depth.
But this was my gentle reality check:

1. You are not alone in being alone.
2. Sometimes when you’re lonely, you need to be alone.
3. You have to be a little lost first to find what you’re looking for.
4. It's all about accepting the reality of what is.
5. In every situation. YOU choose your attitude.
6. Being alone does not mean you are lonely, and being lonely does not mean you are alone.
7. Everyone you care about does NOT need to support your decisions.
8. You are not who you used to be, and that's OK.
9. The best you can do changes from day to day,
10. It all matters in the end - every step, every regret, every smile, and every struggle.

And in #10, the description was the following:
The seemingly useless happenings add up to something.  The minimum wage job you had in high school.  The evenings you spent socializing with colleagues you never see anymore.  The hours you spent writing thoughts on a personal blog that no one reads.  Contemplations about elaborate future plans that never came to be.  All those lonely nights spent reading novels and news columns and comics strips and fashion magazines and questioning your own principles on life and sex and religion and whether or not you’re good enough just the way you are.  All of this has strengthened you.  All of this has led you to every success you’ve ever had.  All of this has made you who you are today.

I hope that if you're feeling lost, that you can be encouraged today.
God works. Just not they way we imagine.

Start of a NEW BEGINNING!

New Year, new beginning, scary thought, but EXCITING nonetheless.

Life comes to a point where it seems like your comfortable, but you'd like to spice it up once in a while. And well.....I'm spicing it up with my husband's help.

Now I know what some people may think, but this is more about personal development as in doing something that you enjoy and getting paid for it.

After multiple times of my husband encouraging me to venture out to do something out of the box, I finally gave in and here we are. Now I have:

         - a BlogSpot
         - an Etsy shop account -
         - a Youtube account
         - an Email for all of my endeavors
         - and a new outlook and drive on life.

So I am at the beginning of a new journey in my life (sounds like the song from Anastasia). And I'm looking forward to what's ahead and the endless possibilities it holds.

#Newbeginnings #Creativity #Life #Fun