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I'm an overly dramatic individual doing my best to be a rock star wife that goes in tow where the Army sends her husband... This isn't always an easy task at times... I'm don't find myself to be the most witty, funny or interesting but others tell me that I am... I'll just be cooking and traveling through my sad (probably pathetic) attempt at blogging!

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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

"Please Sir, I want some more."

Why yes little Oliver Twist, you may! Since I've developed a new found love/addiction for Pinterest, I have come across another lovely blog with what seems like endless fantastic recipes. Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour has led me to great things like an amazing chicken enchilada pasta and a fabulous Italian chicken soup. Tonight's meal of choice was the Italian chicken soup. The fun part of these recipes is that I get to put the "I'm in Peru and I can't find that shit" twist on it. So here goes my version of the Italian chicken soup! Oh and I cut her recipe in half too since there is only two of us versus I believe four on her team. Plus another "oh and" I get to have the joy sometimes of trying to remember how many grams is equal to how many whatevers.



250g or 1/2 box of some cute shaped pasta {I used little baby shells}
olive oil {I don't measure that crap, I eyeball it accordingly}
2 chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium/large carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 fresh jalapenos {in my case I use a random safe looking green chili I've used before} diced
1 can {28. oz} whole tomatoes, diced {don't question this just do it}
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. minced fresh oregano {dried is okay too}
3  cloves crushed garlic
salt & pepper, to taste
Parmesan Cheese shavings or shredded as desired


To get started I gather up all the above shit except I leave the cheese and heavy cream in the fridge. Then I proceeded to cook my pasta according to the time listed on the package, drain it, toss with a smidge of olive oil and set aside {there's going to be a lot that setting aside thing going on for a minute}. Also while I had that going on I boiled up those chicken tits till they were cooked through. Now she does hers in the chicken broth but I didn't and that's okay cause I was making this my own little Peruvian way. Once the those chicken tits are cooled enough to tear apart, I got to shredding. Again set aside the shredded chicken. Since I had pasta cooking and chicken boiling, I started on the dicing up of the various veggies. Once those are all diced, I set those aside too.

I would say this brings us to the question of "Why on Earth would I dice up a can of whole tomatoes when I can just buy a can of already diced?" Well according to our good friend over at Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour - The whole tomatoes have more/better flavor than that of the already diced canned tomatoes. Since this was my first time whipping this up, I decided not to argue and just go along with it. You can use a can of diced if you like. I won't judge. Anyways, if you do it this way just pull out the tomatoes with a spoon and dice those babies up followed by putting them back in the can with their juices.

Now bust out your large pot to fit all this shit into, grab that olive oil and go splishity splashity with some of it {enough to coat the bottom of the pot} and getting heating up. Now toss in your onion, carrots, celery, chili and garlic and stir that around like a Merry-go-Round real quick. It should look a little something like this:





I let that goodness cook up for about 10 minutes while I occasionally stirred and sipped on a diet coke {you may have whatever beverage you like}. At about that 10 minute mark, I tossed in that shredded chicken, poured in the broth and plopped in those tomatoes with their juices. It should look just like this:

 If somehow it does not look like this, I don't know where you went wrong and you are probably screwed and should never ever cook again.

Anyways stir that baby up and sprinkle in some pepper and about 2 small dashes of salt. Now just bring that up to a boil, cover and simmer on low for like 30 minutes {I say 30 minutes because it was a little too early to eat dinner and I wanted to wrap some presents, but really just simmer long enough to heat it through and get those flavors mixing}

About that oregano! I did not have fresh {neither did Pearls} So what she did {and me too} was take the dry, add some broth and a splish of olive oil and saute that until it makes your house smell yummy, so just a few minutes. Then I added that to the pot at the above mentioned 30 minute mark and I let it simmer for about another 15 minutes. Just before I dished us up, I poured in the heavy cream plus that precooked pasta and gave it a good stir while I had Scott shredding up that parm. Scooped some up into two bowls sprinkled some parm on top. It looked a little some like this:



Ta-da!!!! I served some ciabatta bread with olive oil and basalmic on the side. It had great flavor and would be good anytime of year. It's filling enough but not so heavy you can't have it on a summer day. I would say this was a win. That's right Charlie Sheen, this soup was "winning".


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Clearly I have been slacking

I must be the world's worst blogger, well at least in my mind I am... It seriously has been since July that I last blogged and I wrote a thriller of a blog about removing gum from the dryer! How freaking exciting am I? I guess I'll do the sparknotes.com version of what's been happening (which after August is not a whole lot). July was relatively boring other than a broken hot water heater followed by the pressure release valve popping off and creating a mini rain forest like setting in my laundry room causing me to panic and scream like a little girl (which I managed to overcome and handle like an adult), a trip to Nazca and the arrival of my wedding dress.

August was a lot more exciting. That involved a trip to North Dakota to party with some of my favorite people and watch my new sister-in-law get married as well. Scott and I decided to jump on the band wagon and get married the following week... Probably one of the best days of my life to date... August 20th, 2011. On a side note, Kim Kardashian decided to have her wedding that day too! I should have bet her the $10 million she spent on her wedding that mine would last longer... Way to go the distance Kim! I can now say I've been happily married for almost 90 days. Go me! It probably helps that I actually like and love the person I married, even though I have a tendency to call him asshole and jackass frequently.

September was a snooze. I really can't recall anything super awesome other than my mom's birthday and my grandma's and my cousin's birthday too. So let's just skip to October.

October was host to my wonderful husband's birthday (see I don't always think he's a jackass or an asshole). I did my best to make it special with balloons, a cake made from scratch (no i didn't use the mix in the box and qualify it as from scratch) and some delicious steaks and baked potatoes... We went to Paracus that weekend which was a nice quite fishing town. I think my favorite moment of October is when I went to Mrs. Schauber's Halloween Coffee on the 17th...... I will accept the jackass of the month award for this one... The bottom part of the invite has black text which kinda went into a black background, so I tried to copy and paste the text to see if it was a costume or no costume required party... Well I ended up thinking it said costumes required... I drive over there and show up in my army girl pinup costume only to have her open the door to everyone dressed in regular casual attire.... How freaking embarrassing..... I really wanted to cry and run back in the elevator but I did what I do best and I rolled with the situation and enjoyed myself until I got home where I chose to continually beat myself up for looking like a jackass..... When Halloween actually rolled around, I didn't even dress up like I usually do and just went out with the husband to dinner and drinks..

November so far has been pretty good. At the beginning of the month Scott and I went to the Marine Corps Ball which was a total blast even with the crazy drama at the end of the night. You know it's not a good night unless some drunk asshole who claims to be a US citizen but is Iranian shows complete and utter disrespect for the US and it's service members tries to assault one of your friends. Let's just say our favorite drunk asshole got what he deserved and all of us were for the most part unharmed (us ladies were just a little shaken up from the unnecessary drama). This Sunday I might go to a bull fight. Now since I love animals and my idea of fun isn't watching a bull get killed at the end of a bull fight, I might not have the best time. It is part of the culture and the adventure though, so that's why I'm going to go anyways. A week from now is Thanksgiving. This would be the first Thanksgiving I'm hosting. I think it should turn out fine. I wish I knew where there was like an arts and crafts store around here because I would love to get my DIY on and make an awesome centerpiece so that I look like a cool, young, hip Martha Stewart...

Anyways, now that we are all caught up basically, I'll try to come up with a fun witty blog in between my endless surfing of Facebook and playing Cityville on FB..... Ta Ta for now folks!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

House Wife 101: Google certification in gum removal

This one is for all you moms and moms to be that have or may run into this problem...

Gum in the dryer... I forgot to check the pockets of Scott's pants before washing and throwing them in the dryer... One of those pockets contained an entire packet of Trident gum... Now I should have inspected the load of laundry further when I thought I got a hint of minty fresh gum when switching from the washer to the dryer, but instead I half ass checked pockets and proceeded with the cycle...

Fast forward to pulling the clothes out of the dryer to discover this wonderful gooey sticky surprise! Oh joy! I would now like to say that I am Google certified in gum removal... So far the trick of downy fabric softener and dryer sheets seems to be working on the dryer.... I have yet to check the clothes for damage but supposedly warm vinegar is what works so when I go to the store to get bread and lettuce for part of tonight's dinner I better invest in an extra tooth brush for scrubbing the gum out of clothes just in case....

I guess the lesson is that you should always have dryer sheets, fabric softener, vinegar and a spare tooth brush on hand just in case you run into this sticky gooey yucky time consuming problem...

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Pass me the vodka with a straw please!

It's turning into one of those days....

It's not one of those days where anything extra horrible has happened but just one of those days where things aren't going quite right or not at all... It's just one of those days where there are too many twists and turns and bumps in the road... It's one of those days where you just say "Fuck it, pass me the vodka with a straw"... We all have them...

I would like the vodka today because I slept like shit, hot water heater isn't working right, car was broken into and I ordered a hat that will get a permanent crease in it if bent....

The hat thing is an easy fix... I can just pick up the phone cancel the order hopefully and order the right hat... Sleeping like shit will be solved hopefully by a good nights sleep tonight (with the help of some of that vodka)...

Now as for the car thing... I go to take pics of the beetle cause we are selling it and the windows on the passenger side were smashed out***.... Now if these had been smart car thieves they would have checked both doors to find out one of them doesn't lock so no smashing of windows was required... This is just an inconvenience since we are trying to sell the car and now have to get new windows...

Last but not least is that hot water heater thing... The pilot light keeps going out on it and we had maintenance come look at it... He said some stuff I didn't understand in Spanish and some stuff I did... Which was that someone would be coming back at 3pm to fix it... Well they did... But it went out again... I managed to get it going again but we will see how long it lasts......

I know there are people with much bigger problems than I so I'll only take a couple sips and pass the vodka down and remember tomorrow is a new day....


***Edit: Upon closer inspection... the idiots only smashed out the small window and then rolled down the other window...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

You can't have a wedding without a few hiccups

I can say that 90% of my wedding planning has gone smoothly. The other 10% involves 2 things.

THING 1:
The restaurant I had planned on having dinner at afterward misled my mom and I into believing that yes they would be available to host our dinner on August 20th at 7:30pm when they replied back to her and asked would we like inside or outside. Of course we want outside and to that they then said "We are booked for a private event the 20th and the 21st. We could do your dinner on the 19th." I'd like to applaud the genius who thinks I can have my post wedding dinner before my wedding... So now I'm researching and emailing different restaurants to see if they are available for my post wedding dinner.

THING 2:
My wedding dress to me has gone MIA. I found a lovely lace halter dress for a whopping $110. Now given that is was only $110, it seems I contributed to child labor in China where some poor little children probably hand stitched my dress. All was fine and dandy with that until now. Supposedly my dress left Hong Kong on June 14th. To me with Hong Kong being right across the ocean from WA (had to have the dress sent to my parent's house first) it should only take a week to get there. Well here we are at June 28th. Today would be the LAST day it should take to arrive given standard shipping. So I have started to panic. This basically leaves me with one month to find and order a new dress and have it arrive here in Lima if this dress does not show up. August 4th I'm on a plane bound for the Estados Unidos and will be up in Bottineau, ND the next day. I have a slight layover in Miami but how on earth during my time in Miami will I find a dress that fits just right and isn't too expensive otherwise god willing there is something in Bottineau, Minot, or even Fargo that I can get to without inconveniencing anyone.

So let us pray that the dress shows up today. Otherwise we move onto the prayers for the poor poor unfortunate customer service agents that will get stuck dealing with me. No dress = no wedding in my mind... And no wedding is just not an option therefore I NEED my fucking dress...

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Friends or lack there of...

It seems to me that I can now expect the length of my friendships to last 2 months to 2 years... With that being said I miss most of my friends back home and I'm going to miss the two really good friends I've made down here... I hope that the connections remain, although since moving it seems that most will fade...

As I have adjusted to life as a stay at home fiance fairly well and managed to develop a Friday night social life for the better part of a couple months... Unfortunately, Nicole has to move on to bigger and better parts of her career and the same goes for Michelle in a couple of weeks... Therefore Friday night dinners and the every now and again Saturday manicure will be put on hold till I find my new group of NORMAL (I emphasize normal because of the lack of normal individuals within this embassy)friends to do dinners and such with... But then again that is this life and something I knew getting into this adventure...

I guess what I didn't fully prepare for was the lack of communication from friends from back "home"... Home is now in quotes because THIS is my new home... I feel like there was a great enthusiasm towards being friends with me because I was leaving but now that I've been gone, it seems I'm all but a distant memory to most... Maybe it's because I have too many posts from Cityville on my Facebook and I've been blocked by people? or is it that sorta you don't see it so you forget about it kinda thing?

I also have a tendency to go along with the belief that my generation is too reliant on TEXTING... Back in WA I was always only a text away and even I have to admit I would rather send a text than pick up the phone and hit the call button... Given that texting is not an option to get a hold of me, I had sent out a FB message to the friends I felt I would keep in contact with the most... I guess really only 2 of them actually picked up the phone and called and even then it seems it's been a couple months.... It's like the excitement of my move and the excitement of my engagement has faded into the background.... Maybe it's also my fault for thinking they should be the ones to pick up and call when I also have not picked up to call them... In my head I know these people have jobs, where as I do not... So I guess I thought that since they are the busier ones that they would call when they have time, as where I do not want to bother them when they are busy...

Now life goes on and I understand that friendships will definitely come and go, but I just think I expected a little more out of those who said they would keep in touch and maybe I need to step up my game in the friendship department as well...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Fuck You Government Travel Office!

I have stated before that I have yet to be a bridezilla... I mean really I've been nothing but go with the flow on this wedding thing, but the one thing that I refuse to budge and/or compromise on is being on a separate return flight home after the wedding... Now due to some overly dramatic tendencies, I have become rather upset and feel my day as been completely ruined... Feel free to label me a bridezilla for this one...

My genius fiance decides to forward me the travel info the travel office sent him without really looking into it better... Since his trip is going to be paid for by the government and mine is not this is where the problem is... He has been quoted flights that cost just over $2300... Now to get on the same return flight we are going to have to spend that much on me... I looked into how much it would cost for a one way ticket on that flight and that was $2100!!! I can fly round trip from Lima to Miami and round trip from Miami to Minot according to this flight info for $2300 but just a one way ticket will cost me almost as much??? This is where I would like to say "What the Fuck?!" to Delta airlines....

So I have continued my research to see how cheap I can get flights for via Bing Travel... The sad thing is, is that I can book us both flights on Bing that get us from here in Lima to Miami and then from Miami to Minot and back to Miami and then back to Lima for just under $2200.... Now can someone please tell me why/how the government travel office does not use Bing to book any of it's flights??? How is it that I can get us both to fly for $100 less than what they've found for just him to fly? This just does not make any sense to me what so ever....

Given that last I checked, technically the US government has some budget problems. So to me something about them not using every available option to get THE cheapest flights for things like this FEML trip is somewhat ass backwards... Now I may have also sent a couple unnecessary angry emails to said fiance, but I am pissed... I just absolutely refuse to fly home to Lima on a separate flight 5 days after getting married... There is just no letting this one go in my book....

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Baking Adventures

Now in order to kick June Cleaver's ass at chocolate chip cookies (I am not even trying to fuck with Betty Crocker) I need all the proper supplies. Kitchen Aid Mixer - check... chocolate chips - check... butter - check... flour - check... brown sugar and regular sugar - check... vanilla extract - check... baking soda - WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?!?!?!?

Finding all the proper supplies for making your basic chocolate chip cookies was derailed by a simple ingredient, baking soda.... I'm sure that lucky bitch June just waltzed into her local supermarket in the United States and picked up a box of Arm&Hammer baking soda and dropped it in her basket... I had no such luck... Since I forgot to Google translate what it was in Spanish before we went to Plaza Veya, I wandered up to Vivanda (Plaza Veya was out of our kind of OJ anyways)... After much wandering around, looking in circles, and feeling puzzled, I finally just did my best attempt at asking...

The first person made it sound like this simple little item was towards the front of the store... Again lost and confused, I attempted to ask someone else... That lady directed me to some guy who then asked another guy who then found another guy... That's right I, Anne E. Riley, ended up with 3 guys looking for baking soda... Finally one comes back to tell me that I have to go to the pharmacy to get backing soda... The fucking farmacia for bicarbonato de sosa...

Good news... The pharmacy was across the street and I successfully obtained my damn baking soda... And praise sweet baby baking Jesus that it was only dos soles ($0.73)...

Since I successfully obtained the last ingredient to make cookies, I can now proceed with my mission to kick June Cleaver's ass...

Friday, May 13, 2011

Wedding and such

Considering it's like 15 weeks till my wedding and I have it all pretty much planned... I would say I'm doing great!!! But what happened to BRIDEZILLA!!!??? I was 100% sure that I would be the bridezilla from hell... the kind that make a wedding planner cry... I was hell bent on having an October wedding most likely back in Washington.... I also was going to have a ballgown type dress and all sorts of formal fancy-schmancy shit... Well let's just put the brakes on that pony right there.... Instead I said okay sure why not? to an August wedding in Key West, FL.... I also found a dress that is more along the a-line slim fitting type... I've been waiting for bridezilla to come rearing her gorgeous head but to no avail... No bridezilla action at all!! I've found a wedding planner and asked the appropriate questions regarding the wedding package she quoted for us, found a restaurant to have dinner at after the wedding, found a dress, and found a hotel.... To keep this nice and simple we left to invites to just family in the form of a "we are getting married in Key West on August 20th... If you can make it that's great... If not don't sweat it..." So at most we are going to have 12 guests... Nice and simple :) I'd like to thing of this as more of a great big happy family vacation with a wedding on a Saturday afternoon/evening... Really I have this whole wedding deal all planned out and it's just a matter of finalizing some loose ends... I foresee this event be 90% booked if not 100% done and ready by the end of the month!

Now onto a more serious topic... School... After the event mentioned above, I plan to start working on my bachelors online... This will not only fill up more of my time so I don't get as bored and feel the strong desire to play Farmville but it will also allow me to get a job that doesn't involve serving beverages and food to overly needy and picky "guests"... Now don't get me wrong, serving is a perfectly good job but I've done my time and I'm burnt out on that gig and I'd just like something slightly more fulfilling... I also have become more fond of the idea of that 9 to 5 kinda thing.... Now comes the big question I've had to ask myself, "What should I get my bachelors in?"  Keeping in mind that I did not do so hot in accounting (maybe it's cause I thought dating a bartender in Seattle was a better idea than studying and showing up to class on time or I just generally sucked at it) and I also did not care for economics (maybe because of the first reason as accounting and it was also at 7am which is not my best functioning hour)... Economics seemed to go right over my head even when I tried to apply myself at first... I have ruled out Business Administration as well as any degree that seemed to have an abundance of accounting or economics classes.... The two that have peaked my interest the most are Public Administration and Public Relations & Marketing... I'm willing to take a vote on who thinks I would do better at which one...

Public Administration
or
Public Relations and Marketing

I still have quite some time to figure out the best course of action for me on this one... In the meantime, hopefully I will start some Spanish lessons a couple times a week to hopefully fill up a couple more hours of my day... There is only so much cleaning and facebooking one can do before both become boring....

I totally missed the fact that Wednesday was the 2 month mark since I arrived here in Lima.... Eventually I'll figure out some hobbies and a couple more fulfilling things to do... I'm still trying to find that stereotypical 50's housewife that is buried somewhere deep inside... I have the dress and I have the heels but I do need the pearls (well I have fake pearls but real would be better)... I got a kitchen aid mixer, which is totally bad ass (Thank you mom!), that should help aid in the whole June Cleaver thing... Watch out bitch! I'm coming for you... Your chocolate chip cookies will have nothing on mine! Now I am pretty sure June didn't chug down bottles of wine and mix and match her alcohol to end up with a hangover from hell the next day but I too am slowly getting a grasp on my limitations since I've become a little on the old side since turning 25.....

One nice thing about this not having to work thing and not having too much to do is that I can go draw myself up a nice bubble bath at 2:30 in the afternoon... With that being said, it's bubble bath time!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Surviving

It's been awhile since I blogged... Not a whole lot happened since I was overly excited with being engaged. It took like a week before it really set in and while I'm not in La La land about it I'm still wonderfully blessed to have Scott... especially after a couple white wine meltdowns........ I think my highlights of April were eating cow heart and "letting my fitness flag fly"... May has started off kinda weird... Maybe it will become a little more normal soon?

I kinda got into a slight routine in April of cleaning... Mondays seem to be scrub everything and put everything back in it's place after the weekend... Tuesdays and Wednesday usually involve laundry... I don't really do much on Thursdays... Fridays I do a light cleaning.... I've gotten kinda bored but I do my best to keep somewhat occupied....  Part of my boredom at times now is Scott working on homework for his first class towards his MBA... I can't bitch too much cause it will beneficial in the long run....

Now onto the cow heart incident... Scott and I went out with some people from the office to a bar just up the street... it's pretty cool... like 4 different levels.... it was almost like an adult tree house!  This guy Danny ordered some appetizer platter that had a bunch of stuff... I thought he was just trying to fuck with the other girls from the office and tell them that the beef on a skewer was cow heart......... It looked like regular beef to me so I just tore into that like it was..... It tasted just like a regular cut of beef but I guess he wasn't kidding and I accidentally ate some poor cows heart...... I can't say that I would knowingly order it and eat it again but if it was served and nothing was said about it, I'd probably eat it again...

As for my fitness flag flying.... I'm not trying to lose weight or anything crazy like that but I could stand to use a little toning and just general getting in shape.... So Scott has actually gotten my ass down to the little gym and up on the Eliptical as well as doing a smidge of yoga... after the first day he was teasing me and said "Little Annie hung up her freak flag and let her fitness flag fly!" WTF? I dunno where that came from but it was kinda funny in the moment....

May... what is there to say about May so far.... Cinco de Mayo was pretty fun after my every little thing seems to be going wrong kind of day... Had Nicole over for some carne asada burritos and margaritas... Friday involved Scott laying on the couch when he got home and not really getting off of it and me taking care of him... It's only fair considering I've had a couple of those days but I was in far worse condition...

Yesterday was a strange strange day....  It's like the moment we left the apartment it was just nothing but crazy... People were driving crazy (well crazy for them cause they drive like bat shit crazy motherfuckers).... I swear we almost got in like 6 accidents on our way to Plaza Veya.... I've gotten used to most of the crazy driving but I was legit in my concerns for dieing in the car yesterday... Traffic was awful around the store cause one of the lights wasn't working... We never get in and out of Plaza Veya in 15 minutes and that happened.... Then we decided to take a different way home which was equally backed up... We then tried to go see Thor up at Park Kennedy to find out it was dubbed not subtitled... Forget that plan... On to trying to find the sushi restaurant across the park that we couldn't find a couple weeks ago.... Looked both ways and proceeded to speed walk across the street... All the sudden Scott is running and I am left behind in the middle of the street only to see a very large very fast moving bus coming towards me.... Running forward would have resulted in me being plastered across the front of a bus so I chose to jump backwards.... I have decided from now on we will stick to crosswalks with green walk lights only.... We eventually made it home safe and sound... Dinner was also kind of weird... Most places you go you just seat yourself... Proceeded to do so at Chilis and we seemed pretty much invisible for the longest time... adding to the overall strangeness of the day... After dinner we caught Fast and the Furious 5 which was good for the kind of movie it is.... On our walk home I saw some wild little guinea pigs on a flat part of a cliff so that was kinda cool... I had to suppress the desire to jump over the little brick wall and try to catch one for a pet....

And here we are today on this lovely warm beautiful mothers day :) Hopefully today doesn't involve almost getting blasted by a bus and is an enjoyable day......

Monday, March 28, 2011

Week 2 has me stuck in the clouds!

I was rather prepared to write the well this was the most boring week down here so far blog... but one little event sorta changed that....

Sunday Scott had flown out to Miami and I spent half the week alone... It was a rather productive week considering I pretty much just cleaned the whole time he was gone... I spent 2 hours on tuesday scrubbing my balcony to try and get it somewhat close to clean... It's safe to say that I somewhat achieved that :) The glass is just such a bitch to get clean so I think we are going to hire someone to clean our balcony so I can watch what they use and how they do it... Our neighbors do something to theirs because it's absolutely spotless and never fogs up.....

One benefit to being alone was I got to watch whatever the hell I wanted on tv.... No boyfriend to come in and change the channel on me while I'm watching Greys anatomy or Private Practice :) Another benefit was having that queen size bed to sprawl out in :)

Wednesday was a nice day :) Jerry who works with Scott had called me on Tuesday and invited me to go out to dinner with him and his wife Jen as a belated bday dinner... We went to a restaurant around the corner from where Scott and I live... I heard Jerry mention something about my birthday in spanish so I just nodded and smiled... After lovely dinner and in the middle of eating the dessert I ordered I hear the Happy Birthday song come on the piano... I started to look around for who else was having a birthday and how lovely that was... I turn to my right and see the waiter bringing me a dessert with a candle in it :) What a great way to end my time without Scott :) He arrived home about an hour after I got home from dinner....

Thursday I started getting a little impatient for him to get home from work beacuse we thought for sure Chief would let him go a little early... He didn't get home till almost 7:30 because he had to take some guy to Polvos Azules and the guy was supposed to take a cab back from there but Jerry is somewhat over paraniod and had Scott drive him all the way back to the embassy and then Scott came home and with traffic that takes a lot longer than it should....

Friday was a nice surprise with Scott arriving home before 6pm... Chief let him go a little early and he stopped by the commisary to get my diet coke and was home before traffic got too bad :) Grilled up some burgers and made homemade beer battered onion rings... I watched a movie while Scott drifted off.... I can't blame the guy too much... Got in late Wednesday and then stuck at work late Thursday and then had to go in early... I guess I would be a little wiped out too....

Saturday was acutally somewhat productive... Once we got going we made it out to the market by the college where they have a butcher shop with great prices and really good meat... I have determined that I like to see my meat the way I would buy it back home in the states... Between the fuzzy little happy pictures of the animals frolicking in the sunshine and grass behind the counter and seeing them butterflied open and chopped up........ I got a little grossed out and traumatized... Next time I will wander the market and look at other stuff while Scott looks like the crazy rich gringo buying up all the meat.... We stopped at the Plaza Veya where I actually got brave and attempted to ask where the toasters were that weren't part of a bundle package... Toaster achieved :) Got the rest of the groceries and came home so Scott could use his Food Saver to vacuum seal the meat... I don't know why I fought the good fight and hated that thing when I was younger and my parents bought one... That thing was kinda fun and cool... Now I know I'm getting old when I find vacuum sealing meat fun....

Polvos Azules is where we went next... And for you Tacoma folks, we will call it the B&I of Lima... Now I can say I've seen what the real Lima kinda looks like considering I live in the fake Lima... We just came to buy a few dvds for beyond cheap and Scott said next time we will come back and he'll let me do a little bit of actual shopping :) We basically bummed around for a few hours till it was time to start grilling the flank steak for dinner...

This dinner was supposed to be what we were going to have on my birthday but since Scott had to leave we just postponed it... Totally delicious dinner :) Well worth the wait... My man sure can cook and grill :) We went out for a couple drinks after dinner and clearly I was rather tired my first night here because I had to ask if it was that crowded and busy before... I was moderately successful in my attempt to order a shot of bailey's for my cafe ameretto... I'm sure I'll get it better figured out as time goes on but I did obtain said shot after having to point to a menu and her bringing me 2 different sizes of glasses to confirm which size I meant... We went to some bar at the end of Pizza Alley and had a couple beers before returning home and attempted to watch a movie... Scott started dozing off again and therefore I got mad... We had a few drinks on the balcony and there were some brides doing photos in the park... Like usual I point that stuff out to Scott and say "must be nice....."

I guess you could say I got to eat those words "must be nice" because much to my suprise at like 2am when we are going to bed, I got the biggest surprise that I could ask for... Scott proposed!!! After much disbelief of the entire situation, I finally managed to get out an acutal yes :) I totally had to go call my mom and then my sister because I am overly emotional and could not contain any amount of excitement :) and then we called his sisters cause they were awake with the time differences.... I think we went to bed around 4:30am... I probably didn't need those extra couple vodka beverages after getting proposed to but oh well :)

I might have looked and felt like ass on Sunday but my ring sure looks good :) I'm still in the holy shit! phase but eventually I'll come down out of the clouds and to ground level  :)

Well here is to week 3 :)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Moderate Success.... Week one finished!!

Overall I would say I completed week one with moderate success... I only had one very slight emotional outburst on thursday and have somewhat been able to navigate and communicate on my own....

Wednesday I would like to be one of my most successful and fullfilling days down here.... Pricing pillows and finding a bed set out here kinda went out the door when I discovered that down here what I could find near by was going to run us $300.... New bedding is kinda pricey but it doesn't need to be that pricey... It was still nice to discover I can buy clinique and Clarins for makeup down here if I really want :)

Onto the Inka Market.... It's rather large and somewhat interesting to wander around... I will have to go back and wander and maybe do a little shopping for me... I was on a bday gift mission so I stayed focused on that (and since I had a limited allowance which only allowed for bday gifts).... I think Scott needs to come wander with me so we can pick out some lovely peruvian art to hang above the couch....

After bringing that stuff home I decided I needed to focus on what to make for dinner... Tuesday having been the first time I've cooked for Scott in say about a year......... I know, I know.... I'm a horrible girlfriend... To step up my cooking game and lack there of... I made chicken flautas from scratch!!!!! This was either going to be epic fail and we would have to go out to dinner or it was going to be a success and added to the list of must cook more often meals.... Great news people!!! It turned out totally awesome and delicious!

Thursday was a fairly nice day overall... I decided I should check out the beach.... I'm quite surprised I didn't abandon ship when I saw how many stairs I was going to have to go down and then back up.... Once I got down there I'm going to have to say I was rather underwhelmed by it... It smelled funny, it's rocky, and the water was looking a little sketchy that day.... So my plans for trying out surfing are out the door... I guess beaches to the south of Lima are nicer so maybe I'll still give it a whirl.... I snapped enough photos of the beach and decided to embark on "the death hike" back up.... I did have to sit my out of shape ass on a bench for a mintue when I finally made it to the top....

I continued this walking adventure to the Parque del Amore... It is rather nice to have so many parks right by the apartment... Some people seem to take the literal of Parque del Amore.... I have yet to see anyone doing it on a bench at night but it seems like a strong possibility.... Since I found the park and the weather to be rather enjoyable I just kept on walking until I got the lovely lighthouse down the way :)

Today was leftover day since we were going out friday and saturday.... After dinner I may or may not have had a slight emotional break down because I felt a smidge homesick... I guess this would be a normal feeling since I would normally be on a plane and back home by then... And seeing all the puppies happy in the park and napping in the shade of the lighthouse made me miss my puppy... I guess once I squeezed out some tears I felt a lot better.....

Friday!!!! Party time!!!!!!! We went to that St. Patrick's Day party at the Marine's House... Good times and nice to meet some people finally! Nicole is only down here until end of May or June I think... Chief was an interesting and fun guy to meet... plus he is a good dancer :) Scott did enjoy himself some Guinness... I had one as well... We left a lot later than we planned on but it was all in good fun... Not to rub it into my fellow WA friends but I totally downed some TGIF's potato skins on the Three-For-All platter.... We popped in there for a snack and drink before heading home and crashing out....

Saturday!!! Time to celebrate my birthday one day early :) We knocked out a few errands before going to lunch and then relaxing... Once we got around to getting ready I would say we turned out to be a rather snazzy good looking couple :) I mean we already are but we just looked extra good :) At dinner I was surprised with some papers that as I started to unfold contained the word "Spa".... My love decided since he couldn't be here on my birthday that I deserved a manicure and pedicure at the Zest Spa on the 11th floor of the Park Hotel.... This would be a very fancy hotel that Beyonce stayed at when she came to Lima... Dinner was absolutely delicious... We both got 2 different kinds of steak and I think I had the better set up with mine but the steak itself was in my opinion some of the best steak I've ever had... We followed up dinner with an after dinner drink at the bar upstairs since he still had dessert at home to make me....

I was good and I sttayed out of the kitchen while he was making this dessert... I started growing concerened when I heard cursing and he said he had to redo it... I still resisted temptation to find out what the hell he was doing in there... Now when one starts shouting my name and comes walking out of a kitchen with a pan of fire, I definitly get concerened.... Concern quickly turned to joy when I realized he had just made me my all time favorite dessert... Bananas Foster!!!!!! Not the best I've ever had but it was still super sweet that he made it for me :) While having some drinks out on the balcony shortly after midnight, fireworks started going off! Totally random and unplanned but totally awesome.... I would have to say this was one of the best birthdays I've had :)

Yesterday being my actual birthday was kinda lame... Scott had to leave around 9:15am :( So I opened my cards from my family before he left... I kinda just hung out till I had to walk up to my mani/pedi appt.... That was nice and relaxing... Now the goal is to not trash it before Scott gets back :) I skyped with my parents for an hour or so when I got back and then I attempted to try and call Nicole back... We were supposed to have dinner together for my birthday so I wouldn't be totally alone... I seriously tried what seems like every different way and option of calling her back using the Peruvian housephone... I seriously need lessons... I was trying the Peru code.. the area code... everything... I didn't think it would be so hard to call a mobile phone from that phone.... I would get all this random spanish that I don't understand and no ringing... I finally gave up and went to dinner alone... I did get rather bummed at dinner cause I was alone but it was a decent meal :) I came home and skyped with my lovely boyfriend for awhile before he had to go to bed since he is an hour ahead of me right now... I almost fell asleep watching tv on the couch before I finally climbed into bed and crashed out....

Now here we are day 2 alone in a foreign country.... It really sounds worse than it probably is... I'm probably going to go up to Vivanda and get some dishwashing/cleaning gloves so I can clean and not trash this manicure :) Kinda strange that Scott and I have switched rolls.... He's alone in the US in small hotel room and I'm here in Peru in an overly large apartment... Before it was him in this apartment and I was alone for awhile in my small studio apt :) Only 2 more nights alone and then he's back :)

Here's to week 2!!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Hello Peru!

So far I have to say that I like it here... There are a couple things I don't like such as my lack of spanish skills and that Scott has to leave on Sunday for some training but what can I do?

Getting here was not my favorite part... It came complete with being stuck on my plane from Seattle to NY for 2 hours longer than expected followed by a not so mild meltdown at JFK.... My poor mother having to listen to my constant babbling of "How the fuck do I get from terminal 2 to terminal 4???" I couldn't find a map let alone anyone to help me.... There was only one random man getting into an elevator that could tell how lost and confused I was and guided me in the right direction! So because of that man I lean towards not all NY people are rude... Once I got where I needed to go I couldn't check in till 4am and then I couldn't find a decent place to sit down and charge my phone which resulted in me feeling more frustrated and having said meltdown.... Probably didn't help myself much having only had a caesar salad and a granola bar.... Once I got a crappy nap and wasn't so cranky it was time to check in and then I finally felt like I was getting closer to getting to my new home :)

Flying into Columbia was beautiful! Thank god I actually woke up for that... I was in a light sleep the entire 6 hours... I am going to publically apologize to the guy next to me if I snored for those 6 hours... My bad... If I didn't snore than I hope I was still a good sleeping passenger to sit next to... We actually landed a little early and all my fears of not making it to my next flight on time were quickly gone once I found out that my plane to Peru was taking off at gate 9 and I was at gate 8 :)

My flight from Columbia was kind of annoying since they gave me an emergacy exit seat and I don't speak spanish so they moved me which resulted in 2 girls who had the seat I got moved to being mad at me... First of all it's not my fault I got moved to where I got moved to and it's also not my fault that both of them had seat 12A... Then the flight attendant never gave me my boarding pass back... Once I gave up on getting that back and made my way down to get my Visa, I was rather happy Scott had emailed me what I needed to say in Spanish because that chic was not understanding why I wanted to stay for 183 days in english... Once she read the paper she put 183 days and sent me onto customs.... I had to fill out the form 3 times cause the first one they gave me was in spanish and I didn't get it and then I didn't need to declare the wine I brought so 3rd time is a charm right??

Well lucky me! I get to have my bags searched!!! Of course the guy wants to search the heaviest one that needs to go on the bottom of my luggage cart..... That I was not a fan of... It worked out okay cause the platform they had it on to search was just high enough I could just push it right ontop of the other suitcase.... Once I was all loaded up again on the luggage cart I made my way to freedom!

I really wish Scott had remembered his camera to get video of little me pushing my really big luggage pile towards him.... This is where I would like to disagree with Scott on what I did when I saw him... He would say I burst into tears and I would like to say a few leaked out before gently streaming down my face out of pure joy and hapiness... I finally got to see my love after 5 months... The drive home wasn't too horrible... We didn't get to go along the ocean like he had planned because they closed that road due to the pending tsunami....

Finally at home <3 and finally a shower! On a good note apparently I'm still found to be attractive after 24 hours of no shower and barely any sleep :) The plan to call my parents didn't work out so good since the internet decided to be down and I could not use our magic jack phone.... Apparently next time I should just risk incuring a bunch of international fees to avoid wide spread panic amongst both sets of parents.... Oopsie! I had to wait to get up to the starbucks that has wifi after dinner to use the vonage app...

After another emotional crying incident later that night... probably influenced by being tired and too many Scottie Scotch's summertime strawberry lemonades.... I woke up on saturday feeling like ass to find out the power was out.... Welcome to Peru! first no internet and then no power lol.... Once I got moving and nibbled on a sandwich we headed out so I could get a hair dryer and curling iron... Those were purchased at the super walmart of peru... Then we went to Wong's which is a grocery store... After bringing the groceries home and a conversation with my mom since the power was back on we took a walk up to Larcomar...

Larcomar is basically a mall with tons of restaurants built into the cliffside :) It was rather cool and I'll have to check it out more... We had an amazing dinner, some after dinnner drinks and a nice walk home...

Sunday we went to the Sodiamac which is basically Peru's version of a Lowe's... We did not find the type of storage container for under my side of the sink we were looking for.... Drove back home and then walked up to park Kennedy for lunch... After lunch Scott showed me how to get to the Inka market and Vivanda (another grocery store that I can walk to).... For dinner we just grilled at home... He made the bacon wrapped chicken courdon bleu and I made the rice...

Yesterday I will count as my first real day here.... Scott was at work and I was home alone... I didn't make it outside other than on the balcony because I was an organizing machine... I figured the sooner I get unpacked and organized the sooner I can just enjoy being here and exploring... As a result of being on such an organizing kick, I failed to plan out or cook anything for dinner... So once Scott got home and I showed off all my awesome organization, we went to this really good Arabic place for dinner....

Today's adventure was me going up to the Vivanda by myself to get the rest of the stuff to make dinner with and I might take a walk in the park before Scott gets home.... and I actually will be making dinner :) Tomorrow I think my adventure should include pricing pillows if they have them at the Ripley's department store and searching for bday gifts at the Inka market :) Hopefully Scott will get home at a decent time tonight like he did last night :)

To be contined....