A Merry Christmas Indeed

Here is a quick look into Christmas Vonhof Style:

God Bless!

Christmas Egg Rolls

Merry Christmas!

My family has been wanting me to make egg rolls for months.
I learned from making them with my Hong Kong team members for a fundraiser.
So, Ryan and I picked up all the ingredients yesterday and this morning I started cooking!So I mixed shredded carrots, cabbage, celery and some green peppers together in a bowl.
I soaked rice noodles in water until soft then drained, cut them and added it to the bowl.
I added salt, pepper and oyster sauce then started wrapping!
In order to seal the rolls I used egg yokes and brushed it on.
After I finished a good amount of rolls, I fried them up in oil.
And wallah...Yummy, huh?

Our New Apartment

So Ryan moved into our new apartment about a month ago and has settled in.
One day after I was done teaching I decided to be Santa's elf and decorate his apartment with a little Christmas cheer. I have a jingle bell wreath for the door, stocking holders, but no stockings, a few Christmas fabric scraps and some ornaments. Just the little touch made Ryan so happy!
As soon as he saw the wreath on the door he knew I had decorated and cleaned his apartment. :)

Its been hard these past few months teaching and going to classes and rarely seeing Ryan even though we live in the same town 10 minutes from each other and the school I worked at is down the street from the apartment.
Now that student teaching is over I can actually have date nights with him and just be with each other, shopping, making meals together and watching movies!
Yesterday was the best day ever! I packed up my mom's car with all the bridal shower goodies and drove to Ryan's place around 2:00 p.m.. Ryan and I spent about 2 hours unpacking and organizing the kitchen with all the wonderful things from the shower! So I wanted to show you pictures of how it looks with all the goodies in their proper place.

Oreo's New Toy

So my sister got my dog an early Christmas present.
This is what my dog thought of it!

Bridal Shower

Last week my mom hosted a church bridal shower for me.
I have to say it was a lot of fun!
We played games and just had fun socializing!
I got some amazing gifts that Ryan and I will put to great use:
Kitchen utensils
Crock-Pot
Cookbooks
Spice Rack
Towels
Blanket
Tea Kettle
Recipe Cards
Bake ware set
and lots of other goodies!

Here is the start of my rehearsal bouquet.
I will add more to it at my girly bridal shower in a few weeks. :)

Each week that goes by I get more and more excited that I am getting married
to the most wonderful man!

I hope you all enjoy the few snapshots from my first bridal shower!

Das Boot!

About 2 weeks ago, my right foot started to swell as it sometimes does due to an old injury. However, this time around was more painful and my foot swelled twice as much as it did before, so I decided to get it check out at the doctor. The doctor took an x ray of my foot and was a little baffled. He had to get a second opinion and x ray my other foot to see if my left foot was the same! I am so confused by the whole situation until the doctor took me to see my old x rays, from ten years ago, and compare them to the recent ones. The verdict: they were the same. My foot never healed from a fracture ten years ago!
This is what kind of fracture I have:

Pseudo-Jones Fracture

An avulsion fracture of the fifth metatarsal that occurs where a tendon attaches to the bone at this point. When an Pseudo-Jones fracture occurs, the tendon pulls off a tiny fragment of bone from the base of the fifth metatarsal.

In order to fix this problem surgeons have to place a screw in the small bone and attach it back to my fifth metatarsal.

So I am having my surgery in 2 weeks (October 13, 2008). I will be in a cast & boot and on crutches for 6-8 weeks. So please pray for quick healing because I am student teaching at the moment and kind of makes my current money situation even worse! :( Just when I thought the medical bills would end...here come lots more! Right now I am having a very hard time trusting that God will provide for me, I just seem to be getting more depressed about the whole situation.

So, Das Boot is here, I am wearing a foot boot for 2 weeks before my surgery and for many weeks after. Thus this blog is entitled Das Boot.

The Guest List

This weekend was supposed to filled with giggles, old memories and exciting new life adventures. The reason why? My best friend is in town! However, due to a family emergency I have yet to see my best friend, who is also my matron of honor in my wedding. So I am chilling at my fiance's work, Yaks Koffee Shop. I have planted myself in a comfy purple couch and am tapping away on my laptop. I have spent a few hours e-mailing the catering company trying to figure out a menu, creating a guest list and updated this blog.
This is my second mostly work-free weekend in a long time! I can actually get things done that have been pushed aside for weeks. Next weekend should be a blast though, my mom and I are planning a trip to Sacramento to look at wedding dresses.
I am so excited to try looking again and hopefully find the perfect dress.
This is a picture of the invitations I worked on a while ago. I am just waiting for all the paper materials and supplies to go on sale for me to start working on the big project.

This is me...

Well, I am very new to this blog site and am ready to get started.

Here is a little information about me:
I start student teaching in August and will be done with all my schooling January 10, 2009!
When that day comes, I will be a California credentialed teacher! Yeah!

2 weeks later, I will be Mrs. Rachael Swan!

I think January will be a great month!
New Occupation, new marital status, new place; blissful new beginnings to a new year.
I just have to travel the bumpy road that leads up to those moments,
thus the reason I have decided to create this blog.