Movie Night

We went to see Casino Royale last night. We went to the theatre downtown. It was pretty neat! When you walk in you go up to a counter to buy your ticket. The lady shows you a computer screen and lets you point to what seat you want. It's like going to a concert. Between the three of us..me..the Capt and her..we got a good idea of where we were to go. She spoke no English but tried really hard to explain that our seats were G-23 and G-24. heehee It was pretty funny! Next you wait...and I mean wait. You don't go into the theatre til the movie time. If your ticket says 9, like ours did, then you wait in this waiting room area til 9. The tickets were $7 dollars apiece but get this...a big popcorn and a big soda were all of $5!!! TOGETHER!!! The popcorn came in regular yellow colored and a very bright and festive rainbow color. We got the yellow. :) I was kicking myself for leaving the camera at home but who would've thought the movies could be so exciting??!

When we found out that we had to wait 45 minutes til we could get our seats we decided to look around outside. I found these boots for $10!! Since it was about 800 below outside the lady had me put them on and leave the store with them. I felt very Jessica Simpson-ish walking around!! They can really dress here let me tell ya!! After the boot buying we went back to watch the movie. It was 10 minutes to 9 so we're thinking they will let us in. Nope! Another man led us to an even smaller waiting area. He was pretty tickled we were there "so" early. Finally we got in. The movie was really good! It was in English with Korean sub-titles. So now the movie offbase adventure has been completed. We went to bed happy campers. Next up..going to see a Korean movie in Korean. We want to try and see if we can figure out what's going on. Oh, the people in the theatre thought it was funny we were even there. There was much pointing and giggling. One lady came over and sat by us for a couple of minutes. I figured it was the Jessica Simpson boots and she had me confused with her. The resemblance is pretty striking! heehee She finally went back to her hubby and settled down. The movie was good and I highly recommend it for a future date night! bye everyone

Counting my blessings

My boo-bear is having a friend spend the night. They are 9 and 8 so you can imagine that we are all still up at 11:30 listening to them giggle and sharing secrets. I am just thinking how blessed I am that I can hear those little voices. We took them bowling...now I abhore! blowling. I would rather watch paint dry!! After we got them home and fed them some cookies and milk I kept thinking the same thing...
2 bowling games each - $8.00
french fries and sodas - $12.00
my babies home and in bed safe - priceless.
Hug your babies tonight my friends, they are truely priceless and the time we have with them is a gift. Every day. I know that tonight I go to sleep with a full heart.
night everyone,
dawn

In Memory.

My mom works with a secretary who lost her beloved daughter on Christmas day. I don't want to put in any of the details out of respect for the family. I did want them to know that here at Chez' Owens our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go out to them.
If you have an extra minute please say a silent prayer for them. They will be going through a most difficult time in the next days and months.
To this grieving momma I say to you how sorry I am for your loss and that even though the words seem small right now please know they come with much feeling.
dawn

It's official...............

Last night we went on a double date with Downstairs Jen and her hubby Downstairs Rob. They were going to Ariana's, an all you can eat buffet/beer place, so we tagged along. Now you ask..what is official..hold on I'm getting there. Here is Araiana's. Now at this place you pay to eat at the buffet and you pay around $6 for all you can drink beer..here is about where the story goes horribly wrong! Stay with me now..this is what the big beer vats looked like...





Pretty big huh! With all that beer you'd think people would be stumblin' and duckin' and you'd be right! Before I tell you all about naked (trying to be) man let me show you what we ate.










Pondiggi...the silk worms in the cocoon was on the lovely buffet menu. Yeah yeah I ate one just to prove that I am the woman. :)














This I call eye-ball fruit. You open this cute ball up and you eat what Downstairs Jen says tastes like a grape........so not!!!!!!!!!!!!! As soon as I put it in my mouth I knew I was in trouble cause my stomach started screaming at me "what the heck is this eyeball doing in there and don't think it's coming and staying down here!!" I swallowed it whole and went on with life.






There were a couple of birthday parties going on. The table behind us was trying to take a picture so helpful Jen decided to take it for them. They then came over and gave her a piece of cake. Can you see the brown thing in the middle of the cake?? IT'S A YUMMY KIDNEY BEAN!!!!!!!!!!! Jen and I ate this little baby amid much laughing. It was like..hey cake..hey beans in the cake...let's eat it!





Here is a picture of a pretty neat potty. hee hee You press the red button and cellophane slides around the seat. Downstairs Rob tried for all of five minutes to figure out how it all worked...he is so an engineer!! :) Okay, at around 7:30 a live band plays. Now when we first got there a man who had probably had a whole vat of beer came over to check out the hotties (Jen and I of course) in the front row. Yep..they put the Americans smack dab at the front table for all the place to see. So he comes on over and says "hi honey" to me. When the Capt. stands up to ask him to leave he sits in his chair. Pretty funny! The bus boys/secret service guys got on their walkie talkies and hauled him away. Crisis averted. The band started playing and everyone was having a good time...........especially the table next to us. Two of the guys got up and started dancing. They got the Capt to get his groove thing on as well. Here is a picture of my guy getting down..................



Sigh! See the guy to the right?? The one in the white shirt and black tie?? He was wasted and kept trying to take his shirt off on stage and off! The secret service guys were on their walkie talkies continuously trying to figure out what to do. When he started taking off his belt it got a little hairy..and I don't mean that figuratively. He was right in front of our table and tried a couple of times to "entice" me into a dance of love. The Capt saved the day cause hey..he is a hero you know. So it is official....I...AM....A....HOTTIE. There is just no getting around it and I need to learn to live with it. My new motto is "go with the hottiness, live it, be it." Maybe it is the whole mom vibe I have going on. Maybe they love the put the hair up in a pony tail look and go style. Could it be the sweats I love to wear?? Who knows..probably all of the above. I am not putting a picture of me on here cause you will, as well, be amazed at my hottiness. Think Angelina Jolie/Martha Stewart and you've got me nailed. heeheehee That was all typed while I laughed hysterically!! Here is a picture of the house band. This was the lead singer and she was just cute as a button......



This next one is the second lead singer...is this a man or a woman??.............












She was a woman! And could sing Korean fluently! They sang most of the songs in English and yes we did hear some "Ice Ice Baby!!" Much to the delight of Downstairs Jen!










Here is a larger shot. We decided to leave when the drunken/partying started toasting my hotness cause then it was just a little weird if you ask me. I am a lethal weapon hear me roar!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha I did call my mom and tell her everything that happened and we had a good laugh. I told her if I wrote all this down people would never believe me but people..this stuff really happens here!! Downstairs Jen and I are the Babes Of Korea!! What can we do but just go with it???! bye all!!

Not to much going on here....

It's pretty quiet here at Chez' Owens. The Christmas decorations are all taken down and put away...can I get an Amen!! Last night Lauren had a friend spend the night so we went downtown. I know you've seen a million pictures of downtown so I was looking for some really great ones to post and not bore everyone. I did find this deranged Bart Simpson on a restaurant. I'm not sure if he's excited about being there or scared that he's about to be eaten...what do you think??




While Lauren and her friend were off being free Kareem boo-bear and I went to Seattle's Best. Yep they have those here. We got a chocolate torte and the thing in the package is a cheese muffin. Our hot chocolates were really pretty. Sorry about the picture. It didn't come out so great.
Today is going to be spent at the grocery store and the PX. For those of you not in the military the PX is like a small Target on base. So exciting things will be happening here today...not. I think I may treat myself to the fabric store tomorrow for being a good girl and getting my errands done today. Have a wonderful Thursday everyone!!

a new friend

hey everyone! I found a blog you've gotta read! If you go to my links on the left you will see a new addition...A day in the life of a deputy's wife. She is a riot!! Go on over and visit a little. Make sure you say Merry Christmas and wish her well...a sinus infection has taken her over. I made sure I asked her permission before I posted her site address. :) Proper Procedure and all that. Hope you like this one...it's one of my favorites. HAPPY BLOGGING!!!

Our first Christmas in Korea

Today was our first Christmas here in Korea. Here are some pictures I took. This one I call "The Calm before the Storm." :)

My Capt...buyer of Step-Tan-Su's. :)

Anthonie..with his rockin' MP3 player.

Lauren.

Anthonie...Mac Daddy. :)

Another shot of my handsome cutie pie.

Sarah.... :)

Lauren...

And Lauren again....

Sarah...

Another picture of my little boo-bear.

EXHAUSTED!!!

They came...they opened...they rocked!!

happiness is Christmas with your family. Hope everyone out there that I love is having a wonderful day!! I am truly thankful that the hubby is here with us and not in Iraq! God is good. Merry Christmas everyone!!

LOOKIE WHAT I GOT FROM MY SANTA!!!!

My man is sooooooooooooooooooooo good!!! I got my STEP-TAN-SU!!!!! I am sooo psyched! I'm in the living room feeling all crabby, cause that's what I do, when I hear Ms. Lee in our house!! Ms. Lee supplies my furniture needs like a crack dealer!! heehee So anyway, I go around the corner and see her putting this up in the hallway. She is giggling and saying SURPRISE SURPRISE!! It surely was. I have wanted one of these things for years and years!











Here is a close-up...................













and another one....













and just one more. As soon as the tree comes down I am putting this baby in the living room! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!

Quilting Happily

I thought I'd show you what I've been working on with my quilting. This is a pattern I bought a while ago. I think I got it at Quilts by the Bay in Houston right before we moved. It's called Joshua's Prayer and it's by Pat Patterson. Whew...always make sure you give credit where credit is due!! :) You can see by the pins that it's all basted. So far I've quilted the middle. My machine is one I got at Walmart and it's slowly becoming obvious that it's time to start putting money aside for that Bernina of my dreams!!



Here is a close up.














Now this one I am soooooo proud of!! It's a Thimbleberries block of the month that I found. I'm thinking that I'm going to give it to one of Lauren's teachers. She just found out that her 16 year old son has lymphoma. Can you believe it?? I saw her last week when I was FINALLY! turning in my sub-package and she told me. My heart goes out to them and there is much prayer at Chez' Owens for the Obermite family. If you think of them please pray that all is well with his tests. The last I heard was that he is in stage 3. Not to sure what that means but lymphoma is one of the treatable ones if you get it early. I'm thinking that during these next months she will need some love and support so this is my way of giving her some. I just need to baste it and get it quilted. That is going to be my focus next week so that after Christmas break is over Lauren can take it to her. We quilters do what we can!! As I'm typing this I keep looking at the picture and I'm thinking...WOW! I MADE THAT!!! Whoda' thunk?? I am off to Downstairs Jen's house for a night of party-ing with the families. We've got three Capt's here...hers...mine and Gretchens. The men have a "thing" at work where they will get together and look very important. We will be having a Mexican feast and waiting for them to get done. Have a wonderful night everyone and hug your kiddos tonight if you haven't yet today!!! OLE!!

Peace at Chez' Owens

Only at Christmas time!! Here is Abbey and Buster taking a little nap together in the hallway.












Here is Abbey realizing she has been found out being nice to her arch enemy.

Dearest Friends and Family

To our dear friends and family...a Christmas letter. Written with tongue firmly planted in cheek and winking madly! heehee

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this Christmas letter finds you well. I am sure you were waiting with baited breath to receive a Christmas-once-a-year update on our family. Knowing how extra special-gifted-and-talented we all are I decided to oblige.

We are all doing well here in Korea. Let me start with our oldest child...Anthonie. Anthonie is now 17 and showing no signs of adolescent angst. He is a cheerful sunny young man who is ever willing to help around the house. Just this morning I peeked in on him and saw that he, again, dusted and vacuumed. What a pleasure he is. I am fully expecting a special ceremony at the end of the school year to commemorate all of his accomplishments. Not only is his grade point average a 10.5 but we are told he is well on his way to curing cancer.

On to Lauren. Our Lauren is 14 this year. As we are nearing her High School years we were a little worried that our middle child would bring home much drama from school. That is so not the case. She is so special that her friends do a cheer as she leaves the school. Her teachers come over regularly to tell me how much they adore her and I have had to resort to keeping tissue on hand to wipe up their tears of love. We expect her to be the first woman to man a space station on Mars.

Now the youngest. Our little boo-bear is 9. This is such a wonderfully quiet age. She sleeps in and NEVER wakes up at 5:30 hungry and wanting to talk to someone. Her favorite shows are Bill Nye the Science Guy and Math for Those On Their Way to Mensa. How proud we are of her! Her grades are so above average that they are unable to keep up at school. They are even thinking of doing away with the curve when she hits Jr. High so as not to be unfair to the other students. Sigh! I see Madame President in her future!

Now the Capt. We are expecting Colin Powell to walk in any day now and let him know he has been chosen to by-pass all other ranks and go straight to 15 Star General. He has taken up the habit of bringing me coffee in bed. The coffee is picked up fresh from Starbucks and there is a cinnamon roll on a pretty plate next to it. He has even told me that since I work so hard around here that he is going to hire a maid...and a chef...and a masseuse! Yeah for me!

Last but not least is me. I have learned to balance the checkbook, I have started a strict exercise regimen, I have also curbed my fabric buying habit. I am in control of my world and those around me...I am woman hear me roar!! Never a day comes that I am overwhelmed. My home is spotless and very organized. I have even started classes on "How to be a quiet obedient wife". It is standing room only.

There you have it. We are all thriving and accomplishing much here. I have heard a rumor that Lil' Kim up North may even be reconsidering his tantrums of late because he doesn't want to disturb the Owens family. I may pencil him into my busy schedule to teach him how to Win Friends and Influence People.

heehee...I hope this was as much fun to read as it was to write!! Merry Christmas and much love to all!!

dawn

oops...forgot...

I almost forgot to show you what I got at the Christmas party!!!! Ms. Sunny got my name. Here is what she got for me!!!!!!!! The screen is absolutely beautiful. On the back is the story in caligraphy. The bag in the right corner means good luck and in it was a pair of baby shoes...meant for good luck trying to have a baby!! hahahaha They had a good laugh over that one cause no more baby's here guys!!! Even if you ask!!!! The chopsticks are so pretty. They each come in their own bags and every end is carved differently. The little jewel case had three thimbles in it and was my favorite!!!


Here is a close up of one of the thimbles. There were three. I LOVED THEM!!!! How nice of her to remember I love to quilt and to find these for me! Next is a close up of the screen. I though my brother would like to see it. :) If you come and visit me Mike you can see it in person!! hint hint!

Tuesday night we had our Christmas party with our English class. We each had to pull a name and get a gift. It was a lot of fun!! The students outdid them selves with all of the food and the gifts! Sarah was invited so she was pretty excited about that. The love these gentle people have for children continues to amaze me every day. Here is Sarah's Christmas card from Ms. Sunny. Ms. Sunny didn't pull Sarah's name she just wanted to get her a present...or should I say 60 presents!! Sarah got stickers..pull toys..a purse...a coin purse...paper...color pens...it just went on and on! Sarah was soooo happy. Then Mr. Tom stepped up and had her open a gift from him. It was the cutest bunny scarf! Sarah wore it today to go out shopping or else I'd have a picture of it in here. I'll post it later.

Here is my boo-bear opening up all her stuff. :)Now since none of my posts can leave out food let me show you what we had....













Oh yeah!! If you're thinking that my Capt was a happy man you would be right!












This is bulgogi and rice cakes. We had black rice to go with the bulgogi..it was really! good. It tasted a lot like white rice. The noodle dish is called chopchee. It's a dish that Koreans make during a special time.









See this round thingie...it is a dish that took our new girl, Sue, 4 hours to make!!!!!!! The middle holds crepes' and surrounding it are vegetables sliced super thin and mushrooms and also chopped squid...Yes I tried it and yes I know you are bowing before me saying that I am your hero...I will try and stay humble. It is a dish that they only make at Cheu-Sok so we were very honored that she would make it special for us. Notice the cheese and crackers over to the left...Yep I was representing the Americans baby!!!! hahahaha Ms. Sunny showed everyone how to eat cheese and crackers but they didn't have to many cause they said cheese would make you fat! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha



Here is a close up. Ohhhhh see the kimche. My man was in heaven! It was homemade too!!












I pulled Jessica's name. Here she is hugging Sarah. :)











This is my little boo-bear...this one is for the grandparents. hi!











Here is Jessica. :)













Kareem got Jason. He picked out a smoker from Germany. These things are pretty cool. You put a cone of incense in their belly's and smoke comes out of their mouths. Hmmm maybe not so good for saying Don't Smoke to the kiddos...I'll have to think about that one! :)









Here is my Capt getting his gift. He got his first set of frames here in Korea. Now we all know how much he loves frames so he was thrilled!










This is our new girl, Sue. She got Tom the book Animal Farm. It's got one side in English and the other side of the page is in Korean. This helps learn English.










Here is our Tom. We had a good time and didn't get home til late. I'm so glad that the little boo bear only had games and a party the next day at school. She was pretty tired but being her she wouldn't have missed this for the world and neither would I! Thanks to our Korean family for making us, again, feel special and at home!!!!!
Comsahamneda!!