College Cooking Adventures

So this year, there have been quite a few mishaps between the kitchen and me... I can't entirely blame myself either since most of the time, these mishaps happen because I don't have the right utensils or ingredients. *insert rant about being a broke college kid here*

Since I made a new friend who share my same nationality, we have almost the same taste in food. So we have been making traditional Indonesian food. We made bakwan jagung (fried corn fritters), fried rice, Indomie (the best brand of ramen noodles ever) with all kinds of veggies stirred into it, and of course, beef rendang (without the beef...).  But today, we decided to challenge ourselves by creating a whole knew taste! Ok, maybe it's not a "whole new taste," but it's pretty good.

We cooked spaghetti noodles, cut up 12 hot Thai peppers, and mixed the spicy rendang seasoning with coconut milk, and ta-da we have rendang spaghetti noodles!

BEHOLD! OUR MASTERPIECE!

Maybe I was too brave about the spices because after this plateful of deliciousness, I was teary-eyed, red-faced, and almost deaf in both ears! Nonetheless, this is a 10/10 would recommend thing, at least to me.

If anyone wants to try, all you need are:

eggs (how ever many you want)

spaghetti noodles (how ever much you want to eat)

1 pack of Munik's Spicy Beef Rendang (you can get this at an Asian supermarket, usually)

1 can of 400mL coconut milk

Enjoy :D

Finally Braces Free!

So, some time during my sophomore year of high school, I got braces.  I got braces because my right canines (both top and bottom) grew out of alignment (as in they grew all the way at the very end of my gum line behind my lips).  Not only that, but my mouth was completely overcrowded with teeth, I mean my teeth are gigantic.  During the three-year process, I had to get six teeth extracted (two of my top premolars and all four of my wisdom teeth, since they all grew at 45 degree angles...).  What else can go wrong with my teeth right? :D

Well, thankfully, I got my braces off just two weeks ago.  When I first got them off, I honestly felt like my teeth were so slimy that I brushed them three times before I realized that teeth are just supposed to feel like that, smooth and not going to tear up the inside of your mouth.  I have to say, getting my braces off were both exciting and scary.  I was excited because, I mean let's be real, why wouldn't I be excited?  I'm getting those damned metals out of me!  It was scary because I expected to see wild stains all over my teeth, leaving the bracket-covered spots completely white, and that I'd look so weird with stained teeth.  It turns out that I actually took care of my teeth really well during the process that my teeth came out beautifully :)

God, my teeth are gigantic...

Nothing to Post About... So Here are Some Pictures!

I haven't had much to post about. All I've been doing is shopping at Victoria's Secret and Rue 21. I've been so into floral prints lately, and I have noooo idea why! I want all of the floral prints I see everywhere! I've bought probably more five or six clothing articles that have floral prints on them!

Yay flowers!

Not included are my floral-printed pants and floral-printed cropped jacket. I want all of them! Can I have my hair floral-printed? Haha, just kidding. (Wait, is that even possible?) Anyway, when I have something better to show you all, I'll blog about it sooner or later... Like my trip to Helen, GA. Helen is a tourist area, and it basically imitates an old European village. It's so pretty. And we did a cute little Western photoshoot. There were three pictures made, but I'll just post one.

He was so in the cowboy character, and I just sat there, smiling awkwardly.

But You're Worth It!

So, as my freshman year is coming to a close, I realized that I've been so blessed to be in an awesome relationship with my boyfriend. We are closing in on our first anniversary soon, and I'm very happy to say that I've never been more content with a relationship until now.  I don't feel any insecurities at all about him, me, or the relationship.  I never knew how much I was really worth until he's shown me that, and even though he's the one who helped me see this new concept, new to me anyway, I don't feel the need to always depend on him for emotional support.  And that makes me feel liberated.

Seeing my friends all around me, many are not as blessed as I am.  I know I sound arrogant when I say that, but it's true.  I mean, my relationship isn't perfect, and I see clearly that my boyfriend and I have our own flaws that we can fix, but the ups and downs, the dynamics of our relationship have never affected how I feel about myself, and that's really what's important.  If your significant other - actually, if anyone ever made you feel upset to the point that you start doubting yourself, then you should not be communicating with that person.  You can't let your self-worth be up to anyone else's standards but your own.  Yes, you may need someone else to show how worthy you are first, but you also have to convince yourself, " Is this really how much I'm worth?"

Even if you don't think you're worthy according to your own standards, you are at least still human!  Unless you're like my smartphone or something, then you'd be an Android... haha, get it?  Anyway, but it's true!  You deserve just as much happiness as anyone else, and if anyone, even your own family, makes you feel otherwise, then they are hurting you.  So, please, before you go back to that one person who makes you feel worthless over and over again and again, just think about how much you're worth.

Beauty Is

Beauty is not feeling ashamed after a meal, even if the meal were fried and greasy.  Beauty is feeling confident without makeup on, even at work.  Beauty is embracing stretchmarks, wrinkles, and freckles because they are the body's journal.  Beauty is not feeling incompetent after a birthday because life is not a timeline, but it is a journey.  Beauty is knowing that the number on the scale does not represent a person or his personality. Beauty is the complement of human personality, not a replacement.

Beauty does not require a person to spend hours in front of a mirror because beauty is natural.  Beauty does not cause anxiety or suspicion because beauty empowers its owner.  Beauty does not cause war between an individual and society because beauty is not standardized.  Beauty cannot achieved by means of hard work, money, or any other secular things because beauty is not worldly.  Beauty does not fade as its owner ages, but rather it intensifies because beauty is not an illusion.  Beauty does not end at night, when the makeup comes off, the hair hangs loose, and the clothes no longer restricts and marks the flesh.  Beauty does not need an advertisement because beauty does not label a person.

Any color of skin, hair, and eye is beautiful.  Any shape of noses, lips, eyes, ears, and jaw lines is beautiful.  Any size of feet, teeth, smile, fingers, and nails is beautiful.  Any smile or laughter is beautiful.  Any length of hair is beautiful, even if the hair were not in a "normal place," or even if there were no hair at all!

Beauty is powerful, but it should not be a tool for greed, but for compassion.  Beauty is happiness, not self-hate.  Beauty is passion, not pride.  Beauty is timeless, not ephemeral.  Beauty is the most sincere form of acceptance.

New Pet: Hamster!

Hey, everyone! I know I was supposed to blog an obligatory "new years celebration" thing... but I didn't. Oh well. My sister and I bought a pet hamster over the weekend, and I was reluctant to take his pictures at first because he was getting used to the new surroundings, and he'd hide in the little house a lot. It has been five days now since we brought him home, and he's getting more used to the sounds and smells of our house. Anyway, our hamster is a Syrian hamster, and he's SO ADORABLE! I've had a few hamsters in my childhood, and they lasted for about two years... that is until they turned into cannibalism because I didn't understand that some hamsters couldn't be placed in the same cage! :( But I'm older (and hopefully wiser) now, so I can better take care of my new hammy. My sister named him "Ridley," which doesn't fancy me at all, but hey, we share him! He's not as shy with me anymore. He'd crawl up to my palm and pick up some food that I'd offer, but he'd run back to his little house to eat it and return to my palm.

We also found out that Ridley is a picky eater. He always leaves these things in his food bowl and eats everything else! Anyway, I'm looking forward to spending more time with him, and I'll keep posting pictures as he grows!

xoxo