Tag Archives: holiday

Home For The Holidays

You know, I’ve been humming that Christmas tune in my head all week…I think you know the one…

“Oh there’s no place like home For the holidays, ‘cause no matter how far away you roam, if you want to be happy in a million ways, For the holidays, you can’t beat home, sweet home .”

Really, besides the Grinch, who doubts the lyrics of a Christmas tune anyways?

To think just a few short days ago, I was sitting on the plane becoming so overwhelmed with these crazy persons thoughts about going home for the holidays. Feeling guilty and anxious already about making sure everyone has around the same time to spend with us before even stepping foot back onto US soil. EEK! Can you relate?

Thankfully that anxiety subsided somewhere in the air over what I’m guessing was the state of Washington.

I’m happy to report, We Bees are having such a wonderful trip back home! So much delicious home-cooked food and time spent with people we love so dearly.

For now, I’ll leave you with a few pictures from our merry little Christmas!

Typically we all attend Christmas Eve service but due to the road conditions we thought it would be best to stick close to home.

Christmas Eve with the traditional snack attack fest, this year held at my mothers house.I couldn’t believe the wonderful spread of snacks that she put out for us. Shrimp, spicy cheeses and ring bologna, cookies, and middleswarth chips.   I loved watching my niece and nephew. They seriously sprouted by like weeds! I am sure I have mentioned this before in a past blog post, children always put time into perspective for me.

Followed by opening gifts at the in-laws. Any occasion to involve gifts my sweet sister in-law gets super excited and cannot wait to tear into them, hence gift opening on Christmas eve. It always makes me giggle because her brother is exactly the same! He also is the type to get super excited to give me a gift, what a pair these two.

The traditional Christmas Day breakfast with the in-laws, dry beef and gravy.

Last but certainly not least, the traditional Christmas Day dinner with the other set of grandparents and my family.

Poor Mr. B has been incredibly jet lagged. I guess I better follow suit too.

Run Around

So far its been a crazy busy week, I cannot believe that we are already on day three of our visit home. I knew once we’d get home the hands on the clock would just spin forward ever so quickly. Today we did all sorts of fun little things. We baked raisin cookies, strolled around Giant, and grabbed a bite to eat at Panera Bread.

After baking cookies, we decided to go for a stroll around Giant. Yes, we are really odd and have enjoyed “strolling” around Wal-Mart, Target, Sam’s Club, Heimbach’s, and no trip would be complete without including our local Giant grocery store. Hmmm maybe we can squeeze in a Wegmans too?

Goodness, endless amounts of decisions and options. The experience was almost overwhelming! I found myself wanting to read every single item in the Organic section. It’s incredible how much we take for granted with the endless amounts of selections and sales on food in the US. We are so lucky to be able to just purchase endless amount of stuff. In the end it always leaves me with the thoughts of, do we really need all of this stuff?

We’ve been Panera Bread enthusiast for quite sometime now. The smell of freshly baked bread, the delicious soups, the free wifi, the bakery-cafe atmosphere. We were absolutely delighted to see that they had opened in our hometown while we had been away. I knew we’d have to stop in and grab some lunch sometime while running around. Today just happened to be that day!

Have you ever ate at Panera Bread? What is your favorite thing to order? I think mine is now the Vegetarian garden vegetable with pesto. In the mood for soup? You’ve got to try it out!

Heimbach’s Country Store

When we Bees lived in the area we always picked up candies and lunch meats from Heimbach’s country store. Nothing fancy here folks, just a quaint little country store packed with all sorts of fun foods and trinkets. We had to stop in when we near it, just for a stroll to reminisce. Clearly we are all about nostalgia here folks. Okay, okay, we ended up buying candy for the plane too. We couldn’t pass up the multi-colored black licorice candy and gummy bears.

Feel free to check out the photos. We didn’t even know they still made candy cigarettes anymore…

 


 

Oh Christmas Tree

“For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!”

Did you brave the black Friday sales this year? If you were brave enough, I hope you got some incredible deals!

You know, as crazy as it may sound, I always looked forward to black Fridays. It really wasn’t because of the sales. It was because I got to spend time with family. We crazily braved the crowds together and shopped until we dropped. This is the second year that we missed getting to shop with my dear mother-in-law. I still get visions of the SUV packed so full that we couldn’t even see out of the back window and giggle, clearly we were a road hazard.

After the shopping excursion we’d go home, Mr. B would crash, and I’d be completely wired from the shopping high, so I’d decorate the entire house with all of our Christmas swag. No room was off-limits, even the bathroom had some holly leaves and berries!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Bean and I Christmatized our home with a teeny tiny Christmas tree. I just couldn’t help myself!

When Mr. B and I started to travel abroad together, we started the tradition of collecting an ornament/ thing we could place on our Christmas tree from each country that we visited. The ornaments were just begging to be properly displayed, plus twinkle lights make me swoon. Yes, it was settled! A Christmas tree was needed to continue on with our holiday traditions.

Speaking of holiday traditions…To Bean I guess it really doesn’t matter what size the tree is, as long as she can squeeze at least some part of her body under it.

Crank up those holiday tunes and enjoy the weekend!

Day of Thanks

“To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger – these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life”. ~ Barbara Brown Taylor

Today, I started my Thanksgiving morning off reading this quote. To me there was so much meaning in it. I couldn’t do anything but smile and ponder.

I continued my morning laying in bed much later than I typically do, smiling, pondering, enjoying blogs, news articles, photos, all of others sharing their gratitude for loved ones, delicious holiday feasts, health, family Thanksgiving traditions, you know…all the things we tend to get very mushy gushy over these times of the year. (Don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with that! I’m mushy gushy too!)

I always love working the days that lead up to the big holidays. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I boast and exhale so much positive energy during these times! I feel like it affects everyone. I see it in my co-workers as they inhale and exhale it too! This then affects the customers that we serve, they feed off all of the holiday buzz, even being so far away from loved ones here in South Korea. They are cheerful, more understanding, friendlier. What an incredibly intoxicating feeling! A holiday high! But why, why do we need the holidays to feel like this? To be reminded of the simple everyday things we take for granted? (Don’t worry, I’m guilty of this too, a work in progress).

Continuing my pondering from bed this Thanksgiving morning, I cant help but think of all the many whispered prayers on this day of thanks, including mine. These Prayers will consist of many thanks, personal pleas for guidance and help, prayers of recognition to a higher power, our inner cores, our dear loved ones (to include our pet companions), friends, and the planet that unites us all together in one way or another.

Family, friends, enjoy your day! Please remember, give thanks, take all that mushy gushing and make something of it! Give back! Pay it forward somehow and someway.

…

We are so blessed and thankful to have met the G family while living in South Korea. This marks our second year getting to carry on the Thanksgiving dinner tradition together. This year they so graciously opened up their home to us! We couldn’t imagine passing up the opportunity to spend time with them and enjoy their sweet little munchkins too.

Now bring on that homemade cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie! (You should know by now, I’ve always got my mind, and sweet-tooth, on the most important parts of the meal) Dessert!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dive On Into Memorial Day

2012_05 Memorial Day Korea Scuba Dive

2012_05 Memorial Day Korea Scuba DiveMay 31, 2012Photos: 150
 

Memorial Day! The “unofficial” beginning to the summer months! This is the day the pool opens. Gone are the worries that wearing white pants are judged. This weekend kicks off friendly Pennsylvanian neighbor lawn wars too.

Memorial Day weekend has always been one of my favorite long weekends of the year to look forward to. Not only because it gives me time to reflect on our past and current heroes, but because I get to celebrate my very own hero, my husband!

Typically, in the past this weekend meant going to the beach, eating my weight in ice-cream and fresh fruit, sand in my shoes, fireworks, long bike rides, and the smell of bar-b-que in the air.

This weekend always represents the little taste of summer before it really actually begins.

Just because we’re in Korea doesn’t mean we let the Memorial Day weekend festivities go by without getting out and enjoying ourselves.

Saturday we packed up the car and were some of the only crazies on the road at 4AM, bound for the (East Coast) Sacheon beach.

Lots of diving, cooking out, toes in the sand, and laughs all around.

Did you know Monday is also a significant Korean holiday? Yes, it’s Buddha’s birthday.

Traffic…

Traffic…

Oh yeah, LOOK more traffic…

6 hours in the car…Need we say more? Ah well, totally worth it! Wonderful weekend with great friends!

How was your holiday weekend? How do you typically spend it?

Pepero Day

First, Happy Veterans Day to all of our heroes out there! In the US today, we celebrate you and the freedom that have given us each and every day. We cannot express our thanks enough to you.

20111111-184213.jpg

20111111-184158.jpg

On the other side of the world 11-11 is a South Korean holiday known as Pepero Day!

The company Lotte manufactures these sweet thin biscuit stick that are dipped in chocolate. As years continue on other game players tap into the consumer market with flavors such as, almond chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, nude, lemon, cheese, and then the ginormous Pepero that is the literally the length of one of our arms!!

What exactly does the Pepero stand for? Great question! After asking a few close Korean friends we are told that the Pepero symbolizes friendship. They said that children come home from school with 30 or more boxes sometimes on Pepero day. They give them to their friends and teachers too.

What’s the cost of these sweet treats? Well, this really depends on the type of Pepero that sparks your interest. The original Pepero runs about 800 to 1000 won that’s about 75 cents to 1 US Dollar.

Of course the one that really grabs our American attention is the gigantic Pepero! Sadly, based on feedback, we are told these LOOK very exciting but taste like a cardboard covered in chocolate… Hmmm… I guess we could always do some research. Of course research based purely for all of our followers

Final verdicts in…Mr. B loves the almond chocolate Pepero while Mrs. B is not a fan of chocolate…I know! WEIRD, right?!

Would you try Pepero sticks? If you have, what is your favorite?