Singapore

Jared and I recently returned from our trip to Singapore. It was amazing! Jared served his mission in Southeast Asia and for about six months of his mission he lived in Singapore. He's wanted to go back to visit for as long as I've known him, and we finally made it there this August. We spent about two weeks in Singapore and four days in Thailand (I'll post Thailand pictures later).

Singapore was beautiful. The trip was perfect. We were fortunate to be able to stay with friends from Jared's mission; they were incredibly generous and accommodating. We packed as many activities as we possibly could into each day. We went to several different museums and parks, attended the 2010 Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Rehearsal (Singapore was hosting the summer games), visited some of the beautiful Hindu and Buddhist temples, toured the President's House (we happened to be there on their Independence Day), shopped in Chinatown and Little India, and ate delicious local cuisine. It was my first experience in Asia and I loved it!

We took a million pictures...it was all so interesting we couldn't resist.:)

Botanic Gardens

National Museum

President's House

Dinner at the Tan's house

Marina Bay Sands Skypark

Science Discovery Museum

Chinese Gardens and Live Turtle Museum

Sentosa Island

Little India

Night Safari

Little India and Raffles Hotel/Museum


Singapore Zoo


Korean BBQ

Jurong Bird Park

Seafood

Chinatown

Clark Quay and Boat Quay

Asian Civilization Museum

2010 Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Rehearsal

The LDS Church and Mission Office

Summer Happenings...

Our adorable niece, Zoey, turned seven! We were lucky enough to get a personal invite to her exclusive birthday bash. The party was very fun!





We've been spending many of our afternoons relaxing by the pool - definitely one of the perks of living in this community.


Our good friend, Ee Chien, completed his mission in Singapore and is now attending school at BYU. We spent a fun evening celebrating his birthday in Provo.


Jared's work participated in a bike ride for the National MS Society. The ride was 100 miles total and other than one flat tire, there were no issues. Jared loved it!

Twilight Concert Series

I'm so excited for these FREE summer concerts...

July 8 Modest Mouse / Avi Buffalo
July 15 Girl Talk / Memory Tapes
July 22 Beiruit / Twin Sister
July 29 The New Pornographers / The Dodos
August 5 Sharon Jones Jamie / The Dap Kings Lidell
August 12th Matisyahu / Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
August 19th Big Boi Chromeo
August 28th She & Him / Dum Dum Girls

Click here for all the info.

"Keen-what?"

My mom introduced me to quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). Initially I was a little reluctant to try it; however, it's now become a staple in my diet. Recently at work, some of the other nurses and I were having a little discussion about quinoa. Everyone wanted to know if it’s really as great as it's been cracked up to be - in terms of its nutritional value, health benefits, etc., so we all did a little research. I now understand why it was considered “the gold of the Incas." Here are some interesting tidbits I learned about this little gem:

Although quinoa is grain-like, it’s not a grain but actually a seed that's related to the spinach family. It’s been a food staple in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile for the past 5,000 years, but was really only introduced to America in the 1980s.

Quinoa is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids that the body uses as building blocks for muscles. One particular amino acid that it’s packed with is lysine (which is particularly important for allowing tissue growth and repair).

Quinoa is a really good source of iron, manganese, phosphorous, copper, riboflavin, and magnesium. And actually in comparison to other grains, quinoa is much higher in potassium, calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium. Magnesium is a particularly important mineral that the body uses to relax blood vessels and prevent constriction, so there are actually cardiovascular health benefits associated with quinoa, including lower blood pressure and decreased atherosclerosis (plaque build-up). Studies are also being done with migraine sufferers (migraines are caused by vessel constriction with rebound dilation) because extra magnesium has been shown to help reduce migraines.

The copper and manganese found in quinoa act as antioxidants and guard against free radicals (free radicals damage cells throughout the body). Quinoa also has a lot of fiber, and its ingestion helps maintain the microflora, or good bacteria, in the intestines with its prebiotic effects. In other words, it’s a great food for our digestive systems.

We all agreed that for as simple as it is to use (it basically cooks like rice) it sure has a pretty complex nutritional makeup. For that reason I’ve been even more eager to use it. Jared and I have experimented with different ways to eat it. My sister's recipe, which includes quinoa mixed with a little feta and spinach, is probably our favorite right now. It's simple and tasty!

Anyway, if you’re looking for ways to incorporate a nutritionally-rich food into your diet, you might consider quinoa. It’s very satisfying!

Anticipating...

We're both very excited about using these:



For our much-anticipated trip here:


I can't wait for August!!

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we packed a picnic lunch and headed up City Creek Canyon for a little hike. It was really beautiful, and such a relaxing way to spend part of the day. Later that evening we enjoyed a little barbeque with my family. It finally feels like summer's just around the corner!

San Diego, California

My brother, Daniel, just graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law so we went to California to help him celebrate.:) His wife, Kristi, was the perfect hostess and planned lots of fun activities. We were a little bummed that the expected "California sunshine" wasn't there. It was mostly overcast -- and of course it had to be that way the one week we were there. In spite of the mediocre weather, we still had a wonderful time!

As usual, I took lots of pictures.:)