A CULTURED WEEK AHEAD

This week, Matt and I have two great dates planned. We usually don't spend much money for our date nights- we'll cook together, or eat out with a coupon, and do a free activity like go on a run or watch something online together. So when there is something more expensive that we want to do, we don't feel bad spending the money on it. And it just so happened that two events we wanted to do, were in the same week- which is this week.

Back in November, we bought tickets to see the opera, La Traviata, this upcoming Friday night in Salt Lake City. We are really excited to see a live opera. We often listen to Pavarotti on our record player while cooking, and one of the songs we have by him is featured in this opera. La Traviata is what Moulin Rogue was loosely based on, if you want an idea of what the plot is about.

We also decided to finally go see a film at the Sundance Film Festival! We have both lived here in Utah for several years, and neither of us has gone. We got tickets to see Listen Up, Philip on Tuesday night. We are seeing it up at Sundance Resort, and not at the main venue at Park City, since it is closer to us and it is a school night.  Here is a teaser for it:

I am especially excited that these fun dates fall this week, because this past weekend marked the anniversary of our first date, and today also marks our 6 month wedding anniversary- we have been married for half a year already! (Can you tell that I love to keep track of time, and count things?) Matt had a dozen red roses on our kitchen table when I came home from work as a surprise :) I just love him.

2013: IN REVIEW

Things that happened in 2013....

JANUARY:
- I got called as Relief Society teacher in our singles ward
- I started my internship with Alpha Home Health and Hospice
-Matt started his last semester as an undergrad
- First date on January 19th- a snowshoe double date with Lee

FEBRUARY:
- Matt surprised me with great presents on Valentine's Day
- I went to Boise to visit my grandparents
- We fell into dating exclusively
- I presented a research project at the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Researchers

MARCH:
- I presented research again at the American Women in Psychology Conference
- We saw each other everyday
- Celebrated Matt's 25th birthday all weekend with our friends
- Matt got accepted for grad programs at Columbia and BYU

APRIL:
- Watched all of General Conference together, and attended the Saturday Afternoon session together in Salt Lake
- Matt officially decided to attend BYU over Columbia
- I finished my internship, and had my first 4.0 semester
-Matt finished all his classes and unofficially graduated
- We bought tickets to fly back East to visit each other's families
- I moved into the Labyrinth house

MAY:
- Sat on the porch of my house and talked with friends almost every evening
- Matt and I talked more about marriage, and set a date of August 3rd in the Salt Lake City Temple
- Flew back East to meet each other's family
- Officially got engaged on May 23rd

JUNE:
- Switched wedding date to July 20th in Manti Temple
-Had our friend take engagement pictures
- Went to garage sales, apartment hunted, and planned a wedding

JULY:
- Spent 4th of July with friends, and enjoyed our singles ward
- Family came into town for the wedding
- I received my endowment at the Mount Timpanogos Temple on July 17th
- My car got T-boned while I was driving to the temple on July 18th and was totaled
- Were sealed in the Manti Temple on July 20th
- Went on our amazing honeymoon to Seattle

AUGUST:
- Settled into our great apartment and new ward
- Matt spoke in church about temples and our marriage in Manti
-Got my record player fixed and started listening to records constantly
-Ben left on his mission to Houston, Texas
- Bought my car back at salvage value and had it fixed with junkyard parts
- I started my internship at the State Prison
-Went on a roadtrip to Southern Utah with 10 friends from our old singles ward
- Had a housewarming party for all of our friends
- I started watching Korean Dramas
-We started eating less animal products

SEPTEMBER:
-Hiked Stewart Falls on Labor day with friends from the singles ward
-Matt got called as Teacher's quorum advisor
-Matt's best friend Clark and his wife Lizzie came into town for a visit
- Matt started his first semester of his Phd program
- I started classes again for my last year at BYU
- Went camping with Christine and Jacob on Antelope Island

OCTOBER:
- Celebrated my birthday, with many surprises and lots of presents
- Watched General Conference in our new apartment
- Had several new friends over for dinner from our ward and Matt's program
- Went over to our Iranian friend's house for a traditional dinner
- Had a night of Fall festivities with friends from our old singles ward
- My wallet got stolen out of the car

NOVEMBER:
-Dropped my iphone into the toilet- this time it was officially dead (in October it slide off the dryer and got a cracked screen)
- I started scrambling to get all of my volunteer hours in for a class
- I got called as CTR 5 teacher for Primary
-Had more new friends from the ward over for Korean barbecue dinner
- Some good friends of ours had their 3 month old baby pass away, and we attended her funeral
- Visited my grandparents in Boise for Thanksgiving
- Got our first Christmas tree together

DECEMBER:
- I finished all of my volunteer hours and papers, and had a 3.7 semester
- Went to Professor Bundy's Research Lab Christmas party
- Matt finished his first semester of the program!
-We sang in our ward choir's Christmas Program
-Matt got called as Young Men's President
-Went to our friends Tyler and Rachel's Christmas party
-Went to the Nutcracker Ballet with Christine and Jacob, and Matt and I cooked a 3 course meal
- Enjoyed a relaxing Christmas Eve and Day with Christine and Jacob
- Matt's parents visited for a few days, and cooked us so much Korean food and just spoiled us
- I decided officially to not apply to the MSW program now, and to quit my internship/job- things I had been debating about for months
-I applied and got an interview set up for a job I am really excited about
- Spent New Year's Eve with Christine and Jacob, and lit and flew wish lanterns

We have a great year with so many blessings, and growth experiences as well. I am so grateful to have had almost all of 2013 with Matt by my side, and to start 2014 with him!

2014 MONTHLY CHALLENGES

On the morning of New Year's day, we were walking out of a diner with Christine and Jacob. We think it was Christine who brought up the idea of doing different monthly challenges, like no eating out,  instead of year-long resolutions. We all were quickly excited and scrambled home to all write out ideas of things we'd each like to change and improve on, month by month. After an hour of discussion, we have come up with our list and are very excited to start these challenges together, both as couples and as an extended family.

JANUARY:
 Have meaningful Family Home Evening each week. (Read more about it here.) Complete with song, prayer, lesson, activity, and treat. On the last week of the month, we will all have an FHE together.

FEBRUARY:
Read a novel of our choice together as a couple. Matt and I are going to finally finish The Brothers Karamazov by Lev Tolstoy that we started when we were engaged.

MARCH:
 Daily scripture study, and share and write insights with each other throughout the month. Laura is planning on trying to finish the whole Book of Mormon in one month, which is about 17 pages a day, and Matt is planning on studying by topics.

APRIL:
 No blog reading or internet games. (Blog writing is fine though) Laura is also going to limit Facebook during this month, perhaps to 10 minutes a day. This we hope will cut down on internet time that is wasted, and gain some control over how we spend down time.

MAY:
 Cardio exercise for 30 minutes, 5 times a week. We want to improve our exercise habits and health overall.

JUNE:
 Go on a walk as a couple, every day. This sounds like a lot, but I can think of no better way to wind down on a summer evening than walking along the river with Matt. It will help us enjoy our time together and the great weather.

JULY:
Write in a journal, or take a photo, everyday. We want to document some of the fun things in our lives this summer through pictures and words, so we have them in the future to look back on.

AUGUST:
 Attend the temple as a couple weekly, and last week all go to do temple sealings. (Read more about it here.) We want to be better at making temple attendance a habit, and also to enjoy those blessings and feelings of peace together.

SEPTEMBER:
No dining out, instead try a new recipe and cook as a couple once each week. We want to learn to eat cheaper, healthier, and to make great foods at home together.

OCTOBER:
 No eating meat. We might change this one, come October, because we like monthly challenges that focus on doing instead of avoiding, but this is on the list for now. :)

NOVEMBER:
 Spend time developing a talent or skill each day. Matt will probably spend a little time working on art and painting, and I am going to spend time studying Korean or getting better with my sewing machine.

DECEMBER:
 Do something nice for the other each day, record, and share at the end of the month. We want to focus on giving service to the person who matters most to us, and to remember those things and share them with the other people that are important in our lives.

DATE NIGHT 10/11

Today is Friday here - the end of a long, long week. Today, Laura says "I plan a wonderful date for us." Shuh dooz.
"It'll be a secret date. I am putting a lot of thought into it" Shuh dooz. Shuh gooz to Sprouts and gets secret ingredients for our secret date. Shuh dooz.
Six o' clock rolls around, and shuh asps muh, "Mataitai, yuh ready for our secret date?" I says "Yoss!"
Wuh start drivin', and wuh gooz to Utah Lake for a wonderful picnic. Whadda surprise! Laura brought Camambert (muh favorite cheese), Salame (I told her I was a salame fiend when I was a tidgin toddler) baguette, grapes, and chocolate. Wuh make ourselves comf by the lake and snack and watch the sun goo doon. Bangalore Jack! The bogadaidai! Laura plans ngyewd dates! Shuh dooz! I love her. I dooz.

LETTER TO BEN, #1

Dear Elder Binyamin Schinn,

This is your brother Mattisyahu Schinn. It was nice to get a little email from you. You are missed. Both Laura and I miss you very much.

As you requested, here is an update on my life. It has been full of experiments.

Experiment #1.

Have you ever had a mango sticky rice dessert at a Thai restaurant? I decided make it a shake. A mango rice shake! I thought it was a brilliant twist. I got some fresh mango and rice and put it through our food processor. Then I blended it with milk and coconut milk. It turned out OK. Lots of things were slightly off because it was my first time winging it.
The biggest thing was the texture. The blended rice still gave it a slightly chunky texture. Next time I'm going to let the rice sit in coconut milk in the fridge, so it gets really nice and soft.


Experiment #2.

Well, Laura had made some eggplant parmagian (which was a great experiment in its own right!), and I got some black soy bean paste (짜장) from Christine. I refried the egg plant with the jjajang, and it tasted quite good. The crispy thin layer of parmaggiano cheese worked surprisingly well with the paste.  Laura didn't like it though; she doesn't like greasy frying business. I'd make it again, but would try to make it less greasy.


Experiment #3.

Remember those grapes you and Jessica loved? Well I read somewhere that a common mistake people make when cooking is that they leave the sour taste out. Lots of times when you think you need more salt, you actually need more acid - balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, whatever. So I decide to make a tart garden grape vinaigrette for a nice spinach salad.
It was OK. Like a 'meh'. Or a 'bleh'. Too tart, too strong. I don't know what I can do here. It might have worked better with normal grapes. I keep looking for opportunities to use them instead of vinegar though. Haha.

Experiment #4.

Had another great idea: a Mexican chocolate cake. You know how those Aztecs drank cocoa with chili (they called it cacahoaquahuitl; they were so bad-a)? I decided to make a cake like that - sweet and spicy - something more interesting than just a sugar dump. Well, it didn't turn out how I wanted it to. But I was still proud. I pretty much winged the whole thing, not following really a recipe, and it came out edible, even enjoyable with whipped cream. The chili peppers I crushed were nowhere to be found. I don't know if putting more peppers is a solution though, so I will have to research and experiment. I will keep you posted.

Experimenting is great fun. It's like exploring your little uncharted territory. Both Laura and I are exploring, and it has taken us out of our comfort zones. Laura has recently started her job at the state prison. She works with sex offenders, and it has taken some emotional toll on her. She has been very resilient though, and she is taking the challenge head on.
I am starting my PhD program this week. I have been reading up a ton about the pharmaceutical industry and the job market, as well as potential research areas. I have to make a decision with which professor I will work with for the next five years. It has been stressful and rewarding. It's great to venture into a new world.

That is exactly what you are doing, right? Congratulations on your first week in the field. I remember the first lesson I taught. It was like a chicken with its head cut off, only on a roller coaster. I hope you have a lot of fun - I did. Love your trainer and be easy on him - it's pretty tricky to train another missionary. I didn't appreciate mine as much when I was a greenie, haha. I'm sure you are doing great - befriending people, loving them and bringing the Spirit wherever you go. Tell me all about it.

Your brother,

Mattisyahu

DATE NIGHT 8/16

This date night, Laura made black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, complete with enchilada sauce from scratch, and an avocado cream to put on top. (And it was free from all animal products!) It was delicious, fresh, and filling- just one enchilada had us satisfied. We also had a small amount of chocolate non-dairy ice cream made with almond milk, which was also delicious.

We then walked to DI to just browse, but of course, came back with 4 plastic bags worth of stuff. We got drapes for our sliding glass door in the kitchen, 3 baskets for fruit and other storage, 5 picture frames to put up, a t shirt for Matt, a cool National Park book from the 1960's for Laura, and a version of Trivial Pursuit called Celestial Pursuit, with all LDS questions. This all sounds like a lot...and it was, but it only came to $18.00.

Laura then worked on decorating and organizing, while Matt decided to cut his hair himself. Laura felt this was a bad idea, but she lets Matt make his own decisions. 30 minutes in, she goes to check on him. It is very uneven and Laura is getting concerned. She suggests just stopping for the night and paying 5 dollars to get it cut tomorrow so he doesn't ruin it further. He refuses. She leaves. 15 minutes later, Laura hears a scream coming from the bathroom, and the word "No" uttered repeatedly. She walks over,  but already knows what has happened. Turned out Matt forgot to put the 4 inch plastic guard on the razor, so he cut nearly all the hair off in one spot. Laura refrained from saying, "told you so," even though she did, in fact, tell him so. Matt kept saying all night, "What am I doing to do, Laura?" But all he can do is wait for it to grow...

TODAY

Today at work, Laura's been....

Reading this book...

doing this Rosetta Stone demo...

cause she just loves this cute Korean guy.