Jewelry Stand

I like to have my jewelry all in one place. I don't have a lot, but what I had I wanted in a centralized location. Also, my dangly earrings were always being thrown together and were always tangled! I found the stand online from another vendor, so I was very surprised to find the exact item I was looking while browsing in Urban Outfitters at the mall. I love it!!!

Oh, you see the pretty black pair of earrings with two black beads separated by the silver thingy??? I made it! Yup! I did, I did!!!

Ethiopian & Tavern

So last week, the hubby and I decided to finally get out to that Ethiopian restaurant we've always wanted to go to. The Nile Ethiopian Cuisine was not a busy place when we went. The service was, therefore, great! The waitress tried to seat us at a regular table, but, the hubby being who he was, asked to sit at a more "traditional" table such as the below picture.

The waitress took off the cover and explained that, since in the Ethiopian culture usually shared food on a large plate, they didn't need a large table...they just crowded around one. Since we each ordered a different dish, she brought over another table for my dish.

As an appetizer, we ordered the tomato fit-fit:

The hubby ordered a vegetarian dish. There were four different "sides" and a salad. Since there wasn't any silverware, the method of eating was to use the spongy bread to scoop up the food to eat.


I decided I wanted to taste one of their chicken dishes. It was really good! Because you have to use the spongy bread with each bite, we found ourselves feeling full quickly.

All in all, it was a fun and yummy meal!!!

A couple days later, on Sunday, the man and I decided that we wanted to try something different. For brunch, we went drove down by the Millenia Mall and noticed that the Village Tavern looked open! Since the last time we saw it was during its construction, we decided to check it out.

The first thing I thought about when we first walked in was that we must have been under dressed...but I did not get the impression that they were judging us, so that was already a plus.

The second thing I thought was how odd it was that the place looked busy...yet there wasn't many customers seated! Hmmm...

They greeted us...then asked if we had a reservation! Nope, we didn't, but they were okay with that. Then they proceeded to inform us that, if we would consent to being used as test subjects, we would get a free meal with them! Apparently, last Sunday was the first day they were open for brunch, and they were still training their staff for service and on their menus.

Great! Free food, and we get to critique them!

Our first dish was the appetizer - french fries/chips and ranch. I'm serious! The ranch part was part of the dish, not just my request! It was yummy!!!

Since it was brunch, the hubby got some sort of egg dish, potatoes, a muffin and fruit. It was very, very good!!!

I received the salmon, rice and vegetables. I normally don't order fish, but I thought this dish was excellent! The fish wasn't dry and was very flavorful. The vege's were good...probably because they must have made it up with butter and spices.
For dessert, we got a chocolate torte. It was so yummy, it was gone before I thought about snapping a picture. =)

I'm sorry I'm not a very good reviewer of food...I just know we enjoyed our meal very much! Also not pictured was the bread basket and drinks. The bread was good, though the hubby did offer the suggestion of defrosting the butter a bit before serving to the patrons. The drinks were also served in pretty glasses. =)

All in all, I definitely will be going back to the restaurant. Our server was so good that we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how we could tip the guy even though neither of us had cash! In the end, they could not process our credit card (their computers weren't yet set up to take). If you get a chance, check the restaurant out!

Peace...through violence?

This morning, I turned to my Bible for comfort.

I will be the first to admit that I need to rework my devotional life...because it is nonexistent! I turn to my Bible in times of need and sadness... but it is not part of my everyday growth and stability in God. I'm working on that.

In the mean time, I thought I'd share what brought a smile to my face this morning.

I love Psalms! Mostly because it reminds me that I am not alone in what I am feeling. David went through trials, he felt alone and full of anxiety and turned to God for reassurance.

Psalm 55 holds several passages that I turn to often during these times:

"Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help! Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles. My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats, they bring trouble on me, hunting me down in their anger.

My heart is in anguish. The terror of death overpowers me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me. I can't shop shaking.

Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape - far away from this wild storm of hatred." (verses 1-8)

*sigh* Oh to have wings like a dove to fly away and REST. Those eight verses really spoke to me because...wow! David felt that way, too? Reading further down the chapter, you come to the following passage:

"But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I plead aloud in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice. He rescues me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, even though many still oppose me. God, who is king forever, will hear me and will humble them...Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you." (verses 16-19, 22)

Isn't that great? Morning, noon and night, the Lord hears me.

Now, you may be wondering about the title of this post - "Peace...through violence?" As I was reading through the book of Psalm, I did have to smile at something. In the middle of David describing his woes and prayers to God for comfort, it sure looks like David got MAD! And when you're mad...as other humans do...we wish bad things against those who are against us. Is that right? Probably not...yet, it made me smile to picture David muttering under his breath the things he would like to see to his opponents:

"Let death seize my enemies by surprise; let the grave swallow them alive for evil makes its home within them." (P55:15)

"Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord! May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands. May they be like snails that dissolve into slime..." (P57:6-8a)

I like that last one - seriously, David? Snail slime? Okay, that had to make me smile since, could you picture actually saying that phrase to someone who's grating on your nerves?

Anyways...I do feel better and at ease, for now, after opening up God's word. I know my fears and anxiety will be back, but I know, too, that support is there from my Heavenly Father, in so many forms.

Playing Catch-up...Again!

Okay, since I'm running out of time, here are some pictures of my life over the last couple weeks:

My mom finally got the dog that she wanted. World...meet Truman! The name was going to be either Truman or Reagan. He is 3/4 poodle (for my dad's allergies) and 1/4 Golden Retriever...and ALL living, breathing stuffed animal! At this picture, he wasn't yet four months, so as you can see, this pup's going to be a big dog! My family is not used to owning dogs (or pets, for that matter), so it'll be interesting to see how he's raised.

Eww...love the picture of the dog, hate the picture of me just waking up...but hey, I'm not that vain to let a great picture of the dog (in a calm state) go unposted!

Oh, and my dad and the sibs & sibs-in-laws are doing well, too! =)I snapped this picture during our family Christmas Eve party. The next generation of this filipino family, and only one of them's full-blooded filipino! This family is definitely going to be multi-cultural, for sure. Aren't they cute???

Ahh...the order of my pictures are scrambled...back to Florida post-Christmas! This is my aunt and Harry.

Eliasib and I also visited Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was jealous of the relaxed life this Tiger had...so I snapped a picture to remind me to do just that when stress comes around.

The hubby loves bamboo. All around the park, they had planted them, so I shot a couple shots of them.

Finally, here are a couple pictures of the Kohleys on the eve of their leaving Florida for their beautiful home and life in Texas. Kristin & Isaac, we already miss you around here. Hope to visit soon!!!

I took this quiz from the Camachos site and, *sigh*, looks like I'm a goner!


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HAPPY 2008!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This year, we did something a little different. Eliasib, Sean and I first started out our evening with dinner with Eliasib's parents at Bosphorous in Winter Park. This Turkish restaurant was exactly what we were needing. It is a little pricey for a normal dinner, but for a special occasion, it was a lot of fun and so yummy.

On a side note, after we left the parentals after dinner, Eliasib's mom wasn't feeling well and is now in the hospital for observation. She says she is okay, but please keep her in your prayers as this is not the first time she's been in the hospital for heart problems.

After dinner, Eli, Sean and I drove through downtown to see if it was somewhere we wanted to stay...since drunken, stumbling people didn't exactly sound fun, we decided to skip it. We then relaxed at home a bit before meeting up with Kristen and Elizabeth. They picked us up and we headed down to Disney to watch the fireworks from outside the parks.





Long story short, we got turned around once, twice or five times (Kristen, Sean and I left the arguing/navigating to Elizabeth and Eliasib), demonatrated that one didn't have to be drunk to be singing old camp songs and fake cry/laugh one's head off while "trapped" in the back of a car whose navigators didn't know where they were going while avoiding eye contact with the police and resort staff.

Anyways, after all of that, we got to our "secret" destination (perfect view of the fireworks, limited crowd and NO MONEY REQUIRED!), flipped off our shoes, sat in the sand and waited for the Disney fireworks. We didn't have to wait more than five minutes for the show to start, and it was really great. They even had fireworks that shot out numbers for the countdown to the New Year!

All in all, it was a great evening spent with great friends and family. Hope you had a great one, too!