Saturday, August 30, 2008

a p-town reunion bbq





My in-laws (J&G) hosted some ex-Oregonians, Jorge & Nancy and their two girls for the night and invited the Portland team to join them for a BBQ. The food was divine, but the company was truly refreshing! It's funny how the photos ended up mostly being of the food.



Saturday, August 23, 2008

rodents of unusual size

R.O.U.S.-es? I don't think they exist.
But they DO:

We pulled up to the bed, bath, & BEYOND parking lot in Southpark Meadows (not quite the fire-swamp in the Princess Bride) to discover this on a leash in front of us. A capybara sighting! Luckily I had my trusty camera in my bottomless purse (see! they DO come in handy). So I whipped it out and took a few prime photos of the capybara.

Here are a few facts pulled from Wikipedia:
  • Capybaras are the largest rodent in the world.
  • As adults they can weigh up to 140lbs.
  • Though now extinct, there once existed larger capybaras 8 times the size of modern capybaras. That's larger than a grizzly bear!
  • Capybaras are semi-aquatic mammals.
  • They are found in the wild in/native to South America.
  • Capybara's are herbivores, more specifically a graminivore.
  • But not only that, they are coprophagous (Meaning they eat their own feces! Ewgh gross!).
  • Capybaras are very social animals, found in groups.
  • They also are very vocal: with purrs and alarm barks, whistles and clicks, squeals and grunts.
  • Capybaras are gentle and will usually allow people to pet and hand-feed them.
  • They can live up to 12 years in captivity.
For some reason the sound of the word capybara makes me want to adapt that old song to ...Capybara sits in the old gum tree....

Sunday, August 10, 2008

long time no see


Standing with me is a long time aquaintance, Pei-Ling... originally from Taiwan, but now residing in Fullerton, CA. I met her over ten years ago when she and her brother were on a church blending trip with a bunch of other believers from Taiwan. They took hospitality in my parents home. After they left Pei-Ling and I would write letters (her's were in Chinese & mine were in English) and have our friends translate them for us. She taught me how to write a few Chinese characters, and to this day I can pick a few of them out of a piece of writing. What joy to look up and see her across the hall during last Lord's day's meeting. (Hi Pei-ling, if you are reading this! *smile*).

Friday, August 8, 2008

tale as old as time


Went to the Zilker Hillside Theater for a spectaular performance of Beauty & the Beast with my husband and two friends. Not only was it free! It was AWESOME! Totally worth the wait in the heat for a seat on the side of a dusty hill (we moved in towards the middle after the intermission when some families with young children took off to send their sleepy children to bed). We brought blankets and a small cooler with drinks and delicious 'saterday-sandwich' worthy sandwiches (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of those). We're definitely going to have to find places like this in Portland, surely they exist!?

[I promise to post photos as soon as I snag 'em off Erik's computer.
His camera takes the best night shots].


Thursday, August 7, 2008

a cutie patootie!



In the Lord's sweet and sovereign arrangement I had the privilege to watch an Austin-ite cutie this week while her mommy labored on a demanding project at work. We had a blast together... Building houses for big-bird (her imagination is awesome! big-bird was the larger yellow block that she stood on end) with the blocks, playing with playdough, building legos, drawing pictures, reading stories, walking to the park, and so much more.


fu & tina


Attention all fellow friends of Fu & Tina, they have created a new blog in honor of their union. Please visit, comment, and share the joy of their new marriage!

walk a mile in my shoes


Dude, that granny's got a pair of lace up boots!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

spicy expectation

Two hours in, the apartment is filled smells of a delicious crock pot concoction dreamed up last night with expectations of a full day away from home awaiting me. I did however remember to shut up the bedroom and bathroom doors to try to contain the aroma to just the main part of our place (This is because the other night a piece of onion accidentally was left out on the counter and when we woke up the next day the entire apartment, including the bedroom reeked of onion, it was gross. Certainly didn't want to duplicate that again).

I had some beef stew meat thawing in the fridge, jalapeno, bell peppers, garlic, onion, and stewed tomatoes so I decided on a slow cooker fajita recipe. I made my own fajita seasoning from an online recipe. Didn't have the paprika, so I added a little extra cayenne (from that mondo jar my DH had purchased during the adventure with Henkel's knives), that combined with the jalapenos will spice things up quite a bit. With six to eight more hours to go, the aroma is making me salivate.

Originally I was supposed to be gone babysitting all day so I figured I'd give the trusty-most-duplicated-wedding-present-Crock Pot a try. It was going to save me time this evening, however my employer called to change my hours to later this afternoon through dinner... So I won't get to partake until later. Still, thankfully food will be ready when the DH gets home, even if I can't be there too.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

horns helping horns

I was surprised to see this in an online newsletter article (click here for extended photo and full article) for UT after a friend emailed it to me the other day!



It's funny to see that I'm the only one aware of the photo being taken... had no idea it would be used for an article though.... such a cheesy smile. Hey now, it was HOT out there!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

nice day for a white woo-ding!

Congratuations Kuan-Fu & Christina Ding!
Saturday, August 2, 2008.
Austin, Texas.

It was a nice day for a Woo-Ding wedding celebration!



Father & Mother of the Groom.

Mother of the Bride.




Us and the lovely newlier wedds.