Friday, October 31, 2014

32 Reasons Why I Love My Hubby


Surprise post it notes in Alan's bedroom door :)
I LOVE YOU BECAUSE.....


1. You show me how its like to be genuinely kind and gentle. You inspire me to be a better person.

2.  You not only sang to me the words "I can show you the world" you rather took me to places I never knew existed and life has been shiny, shimmery, and splendid!

3. You don't care too much on your appearance but you still let me buy you clothes and dress you up.

4. You take pleasure of taking care of me and spoiling me with good gifts and good food.

5. You love and brag about my cooking.

6. You take me seriously, even my jokes! lol

7. You're up for anything I love. You made me so happy when we watched Gossip Girl together. haha

8. You are loyal. Like what Rihanna said, you make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world.

9.  You're forgiving and gracious to me. You never let the sun go down on your wrath.

10. You're a hard worker and trustworthy in what you do.

11. You let me be me, you love me for who I am and all my flaws, never controlling.

12. We have the same idea of romance :)

13.  I get butterflies in my stomach every time you sing.

14.  You know how I hate roller coasters but you encouraged me to conquer my fear. I feel like together, we can do anything!

15. You love being around your family and you love being around my family too!

16. You're intellectually humble.

17. You are so patient in waiting for me.

18. You lovingly correct me if I'm wrong.

19. You don't encourage me to quit rather you push me to my limits.

20. You're slow to anger, you never curse and use profanity.

21. I couldn't ask for a better engagement ring, proposal and wedding ever!

22. You run and chase after mamang taho for me.

23. You showed me the meaning of unconditional love.

24. You prioritize me. You put toothpaste in my toothbrush first before you. hehe.

25. You are willing to give everything up for me, your sweet kryptonite.

26. You keep me going.

27. You make the tea for us.

28. You give the best back and foot massages.

29. We have the same values and faith.

30. You never miss to remember special days in our lives.

31. You don't forget to end the day with a prayer and thank God for all the blessings.

32. You give me hope that the best is still yet to come!

Happy 32nd birthday to you my wonderful source of joy, my husband. Thank you for the kind of love you've given me. A love that is immeasurable and no doubt, boundless. I couldn't imagine how my life would have been if you didn't come in the picture. May our gracious Lord bless you with more happy and healthy years so that we may be able to enjoy to the fullest the fruits of our marriage. I love you and I miss you!



I'm so sorry I couldn't be there with you on your birthday but hope you liked my little surprise.Thank you Risa (Alan's sister) for being my hands and feet and for helping me come up with this awesome idea. Arigato! :)

xoxo,
Joselle
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

One more surprise! Here are messages from your dear GS buddies from Ateneo especially for you :)

Alan!

Happy birthday! I am happy to have met a kindred spirit in many ways – a fellow milk tea-lover, video and tabletop gamer, and frustrated professional singer! XD Thank you for being an occasional Japanese translator as well. Here’s to more game nights, karaoke nights, pig-out dinners, recording sessions, and live jams!

Wish you more love, laughter, and music. And I do hope you and GK rub off a little bit of your luck in love on me, so I can get hitched and we can finally call our little trio “The Married Men.” Haha!

Migs


Hi Al,

Happy Birthday! I am truly thankful to have you as a friend. Nothing gets you down and you're always game for anything. Thanks especially for being there whenever I need my board game fix! Speaking of which, we still have to do our grudge match to settle who wins the Cold War. See ya Friday?

I wish you many more birthdays and lots of luck with everything you've got lined up!

誕生日おめでとう。


Dear Al,

It's amazing how--after all those years--everything turned on one day of pure dumb luck. Of course, this was two years after you’d come back, so Fate was dragging its heels a little. Still, if it hadn't been for that happy accident:

The rest of us would probably still be dredging up all your namesakes through the magic of the Internet.

There would be no Chipmunks recording of “All for Love,” or, for that matter, no recording at all.

There would have been six fewer people for that picture at your wedding.

GK would probably have gotten struck down by the first chef who put in an errant shrimp or squid in the frying pan in Japan.

And there certainly would be no sitting around the table at Zaan playing Coup, with everyone spending a whole turn pretending to be the Duke and you finding out the hard way that Joselle never lies.

We wish you more happy accidents and welcome turns of fate for you and Joselle this year, and in the years to come. We're very grateful that you came into our lives. Cheers and welcome to 32!

GK and Joy

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Foodie Journey: Chili Garlic Butter Shrimp Saute

For young wives/moms and all the working men and women who do not have the luxury of time to spare in the kitchen, here's another quick and simple recipe that I would like to share with you. This should not take you more than 30 minutes. 

I've learned an amazing trick from my mom that added some twist to the shrimp. It's an old time trick that she learned from her mom also and that is marinading the shrimp in lemon soda. This adds a hint of sweetness and it takes out the lansa (fishiness) in my opinion. I've also realized that cooking the shrimp at home gives me liberty of deciding how spicy I want my shrimps. I'm not a big fan of chili but sprinkling a right amount of chili flakes gives the dish a nice kick. Best of all, its cheaper alternative of satisfying your shrimp cravings. Needless to say, for us Pinoys, this flavorful dish is paired well with a bowl of steamed white rice! 

I hope you enjoy and try this out :)

Chili Garlic Butter Shrimp Saute   

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb shrimp
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
  • 1 tsp red chili/pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp dried/fresh parsley 
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 can lemon soda/Sprite
  • garlic powder
  • pepper


Procedure:

1. Marinade the shrimp in lemon soda for about 10 minutes.

2. Melt the butter and olive oil in a saute pan until hot enough to cook the garlic.

3. Put in the garlic and cook until golden brown. 

4. Add in the chili flakes.

5. Put in the shrimp and cook until the color turns orange.

6. Pour in just a little bit of the remaining Sprite and let the liquid evaporate.

7. Add parsley, garlic powder, and pepper as needed.

8. Serve and enjoy!