Thai Food

First time we are cooking Thai Food, and we are very impressed with the result, it was delicious, exactly as the one we have had in restaurants!! We thank Chris Alquist for the wonderful book on Thai vegetarian cooking :D

Hoy fue primera vez que cocinamos comida Tai y quedamos impresionados con los resultados, estaba riquisimo, tal y cual lo habiamos comido en los restaurantes!! Agradecemos a Chris Alquist por su lindo libro de cocina Tai vegetariana :D

Negin & Nasim

Today I (Leila) would like to dedicate it to Negin & Nasim, two beautiful ladies who I am lucky to have as cousins. I haven't seen them much in my life, Negin twice and Nasim only once, but I feel like I know them and can relate myself a lot to them, and of course love them very much, especially because their father is my uncle Saeed, and he is a very special man, I always considered him a genious in technology and mostly, he is probably the sweetest uncle I have, quiet but very funny!!

Negin and Nasim were on pilgrimage with their mom, Tia Kathya, who also I always enjoyed being with, perhaps because from my dad side she is the only Spanish speaker, as Amu Saeed. I was lucky to talk to them through the phone while they were in Haifa, actually when they were at Nahid as you can see in that photograph, and now I am SOOOOO HAPPY to be able to see them!! You can see how beautiful they both are and can imagine how proud I am (and why I am so showing off! ha ha). We are kind of close now, so with Nuri we have promised ourselves to organize a visit, enshallah, and share some time together...

There is no Spanish version here, since I feel that this may be a good way for the Spanish speakers to practice their English! :D

1 year 1 month...

Today is our 1 year 1 month anniversary, and we celebrated the whole weekend! Yesterday we went to Chicago for the day, we left early and met with Leila's friend Heidi Mathinson (now Heidi Gonzales) and her beautiful 2 years daughter Laily. We went to the Baha'i Temple and there met with Mithaq Vahedi, and all together went to have some Indian-Pakistani lunch. We had a wonderful day; once we farwelled Heidi & Laily, who were leaving that evening to Germany to meet Heidi's husband and all go for pilgrimage, we went to Mithaq's grandma's home, there we had a wonderful evening with Mihdi and Mariam & Anis, and of course their Grandma, who was actually's Leila's grandparents neighbor in Iran, and had wonderful stories from them and the Naraghi family.

Today we saw a movie (War of the Worlds) and had a yummie dinner together, enjoying our home and preparing ourselves for the week to come.

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Hoy es nuestro aniversario de 1 año y 1 mes y lo celebramos todo el fin de semana! Ayer fuimos a Chicago por un dia, salimos temprano y nos encontramos con una amiga de Leila, Heidi Mathinson (ahora Heidi Gonzales) y su bella niña de 2 años, Laily. Fuimos al Templo Baha'i y alli nos juntamos con Mithaq Vahedi, yendo luego todos a comer a un restaurante Indio-Pakistano. Tuvimos un lindo dia. Despues de despedirnos de Heidi y Laily, quienes salian esa noche rumbo a Alemania para encontrarse con el esposo de Heidi y luego ir de peregrinaje, nosotros fuimos a la casa de la abuelita de Mithaq, alli con ella y Mihdi, Mariam & Anis, pasamos una divertida noche ya que la abuelita era vecina de los abuelos de Leila en Iran y tenia anecdotas de ellos y del resto de los Naraghis.

Hoy la pasamos en casa, vimos una pelicula (War of the Words, con Tom Cruise) y cenamos rico los dos... y nos preparamos para la semana que comienza mañana!

Photos: Leila's mom trip to Brazil

To have a gist of the beautiful beaches and lovely places of South America, here are some pictures from Carmen Rosa (Leila's mom) and her trip to Brazil. She went there with two friends, and once in the southeast beaches of Florianopolis, Blumenau and so on, she met with Mogzgan (Moky, with who Leila grew up in Bolivia) and her husband, Marcos. They also enjoyed the New Years celebration, and in Brazil people celebrate it going to the beach and they all dress in white!! :D

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Para darnos una idea de las bellas playas y hermosos lugares de Sudamerica, aqui hay algunas fotos de Carmen Rosa (mama de Leila) y de su viaje al Brasil. Ella fue con dos amigas y al una vez estando en las playas de Florianopolis, Blumenau y otras, se encontro con Mogzgan (Moky, con quien Leila crecio y jugo de chica) y su esposo, Marquitos. Tambien disfrutaron de las fiestas del Año Nuevo, y seguro sabran que la gente en Brasil lo celebra yendo a la playa y todos vistiendose en blanco!! :D

1st Day of School :: 1er Dia de Clases

Ayer fue el primer dia de clases para Leila, despues de casi 9 años!! Ha tomado dos materias y comenzado un curso de diseño grafico. Las materias son diseño basico, y comunicacion (basicamente ingles escrito). Asi que ayer curso una materia y hoy otra y le encanta!! :) Nuri comenzo hoy dia, ha tomado tres materias: arquitectura para computadoras, compiladores y sistemas de tiempos reales. Parece que sera un semestre con mucho trabajo para el, pero al mismo tiempo hara algo que le gusta.

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Yesterday was our first day of class, Leila after 9 years went back to school!! She took two subjects and started a course in graphic design. Her subjects for this semester are design fundamentals and communication skills (written). Yesterday started one class and today another and she loves it!! :) Nuri took three subjects: computer architecture, compilers and real time servers. Seems that it will be a semester of hard work for him, but at the same time will be doing things he enjoys.

New Year with the Waters! :)

Our first day of 2006 we spent it with the Waters, Arlyss and Charles are like grandparents to Nuri, and their family is really very warm and joyful to be with, therefore our visit to their cabin near a lake was quite joyful!!
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Nuestro primer dia del año 2006 lo pasamos con los Waters, Arlyss & Charles son como abuelos para Nuri y su familia es muy cariñosa y alegre para compartir, por lo tanto, nuestra visita a su cabaña cerca a un lago fue muy divertida!!




Here is Carissa, preparing an Alfredo sauce with shrims!! ;)
Aqui esta Carissa, preparando una super salsa Alfredo con camarones!! ;)

***Hombre de Nieve***

¡Hagamos un hombre de nieve! Dijimos un dia e inmediatamente con Nancy & Ruhiyyih nos vestimos, con botas y guantes, y fuimos afuera a crear nuestro hombre de nieve! Hasta la perrita estaba feliz de vernos jugar en la nieve. Asi que armamos a este hombre de nieve que esta saludando a todos y pueden verme demostrando la posicion de los brazos!!! :D

Al terminarlo, la perrita vino a comer la panza del hombre de nieve y por ello Ruhiyyih tuvo que acomodarlo y rellenarlo... uff! mucho trabajo, pero todo fue diversion y risas... creanmelo!!! ;)




P.D. Ven a la perrita atacando al hombre de nieve de nuevo?? al terminar de sacar la foto, nos dimos cuenta que se comio otro chanco de nieve de la parte de atras... jajajaja...

Visiting the Uzimakis

During our visit up North we were able to visit Nuri's good friend Paul and his lovely wife Anastasia (Nastia). We had fun skiing with them and also spent the night with them and Paul's family.
Durante nuestra ida al norte visitamos al buen amigo de Nuri llamado Paul y su linda esposa Anastasia (Nastia). Nos divertimos esquiando y tambien pasamos la noche con ellos y la familia de Paul.




They are building their home and here are some pictures of the work so far.. Paul is pretty much doing it all, and he had started last spring/summer!!
Estan construyendo su casa y aqui hay algunas fotos de los avances... Paul esta haciendo casi todo el trabajo y el comenzo desde la pasada primavera/verano!!

Un dia normal en casa :: A normal day at home

Durante nuestra vacacioncita de invierno estuvimos haciendo muchas cosas. Leila hizo manualidades con Nancy y Ruhiyyih. Aqui esta Ruhiyyih trabajando en un "collage"!
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During our small winter vacation we were doing various things. Leila did some crafts with Nancy and Ruhiyyih. Here is Ruhiyyih working on her scrap book!


Nuri tambien estuvo ocupado, aqui esta el ayudando a su papa, Robert, quien estaba ocupado haciendo un reloj de madera con pendulo. Oh! La segunda foto es del escritorio de Robert, donde guarda algunas cosillas para picar (comer)!!
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Nuri also was busy, and here he is helping his dad, Robert, who was working on a wooden pendulum clock. Oh! The second picture is from Robert's desk, where he keeps some snaks... :)!!



Y aqui estan las mascotas de la familia... Snowy es la perrita de Ruhiyyih, muy jugetona y bastante protectora de la familia. Le gusta nadar y le encanta la nieve, por algo debe ser que se llama Snowy! El gato es el señor de la casa, esta bastante mayorcito, por lo cual es serio y algo malhumorado, pero le encanta dormir en las faldas de Nuri!! ;)
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And here are the pets of the family... Snowy is Ruhiyyih's dog, she is very playful and quite protective of the family. She loves swimming and the snow, maybe that is why her name is Snowy! The cat is the lord of the house, is quite old, therefore he is serious and somehow grumpy, but he loves sleeping on Nuri's laps!! ;)

Merry Christmas :: Feliz Navidad

For Christmas we went to the Simeoni's home for dinner. The Simeoni Family, Bob & Terry, Tonia and Danny, are close friends with Nuri's family, as well as the Belcher and Waters who all kind of had their kids growing up together. We had an amazing dinner, and also played games and open gifts. We enjoyed the spirit of love, unity and generosity that is so particular of this Holy Day in Christianity, and it was a bounty to be close to at least one side of our family...
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Para Navidad fuimos a la casa de los Simeonis para cenar. La Familia Simeoni, Bob & Terry, Tonia y Danny, son amigos cercanos de la familia de Nuri, al igual que las familias Belcher y Waters, cuyos hijos crecieron juntos. Tuvimos una cena increible, y tambien jugamos juegos y abrimos regalos. Disfrutamos el espiritu de amor, unidad y generosidad que es tan caracteristico de este Dia Sagrado Cristiano, y fue una bendicion estar cerca al menos a una parte de nuestra familia...


These are provisional pictures!! You can see Nuri's family and the Simeonis :)


Estas son fotos provisionales donde pueden ver a la familia de Nuri con los Siemoni ;)!

1st Anniversary!!

During our wedding reception we asked our friends & family to help us with suggestions on how to celebrate our first year anniversary! Here are the top results:
1. Travel (many nice suggestions, mostly to go back to the Holy Land for a visit)
2. Participate on a teaching/service project
3. Romantic dinner
4. Have kids (hahaha...)
5. Go mountain biking
6. Go for a mountain hike (and someone suggested to the base of the Everest!!)
7. Give each other something special (one suggestion was of something made by us)
8. Go roller skating
9. Make a contribution/donation
10. Have a pillow fight

Well, we tried to do most of them. We "traveled" from Madison to Land O'Lakes, and that was after having a "romantic lunch" at a Chinese Buffet Restaurant. There was plenty of snow, and snowed more while we were up there, so for all the fun sport suggestions we replace them with down hill skiing and cross-country-skiing. We had a "tickle fight" and we together made special gifts for our families and friends. There were two suggestions we haven't done yet.. but hopefully we will :D

We remembered every single one of you, and thank you for your wonderful notes and cards on our anniversary... Nuri's parents and siblings prepared a very special dinner for us, and decorated the dinning room with a large banner shaped as a hug!! and we thought of all of you who were not there but in spirit.

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Durante nuestra reception, pedimos a nuestros amigos y familiares que nos den una mano con sugerencias de como celebrar nuestro primer aniversario! Aqui estan los 10 resultados topes:
1. Viajar (muchas lindas sugerencias, la mayoria de ir de vuelta a la Tierra Santa)
2. Participar de un proyecto de enseñanza / servicio
3. Cena romantica
4. Tener hijos (jajaja...)
5. Ir "mountain biking"
6. Ir a escalar montañas (y alguien sugierio a la base del Everest!!)
7. Regalarnos algo especial (una sugerencia era de algo hecho por nosotros)
8. Ir a patinar
9. Ofrecer una contribucion/donacion
10. Tener una pelea de almohadas

Pues tratamos de llevarlas todas a cabo. "Viajamos" de Madison a Land O'Lakes y eso fue despues de tener un "almuerzo romantico" a un Restaurant Buffet Chino.

Habia mucha nieve y nevo aun mas cuando estuvimos alla arriba, asi que todas las sugerencias deportivas las reemplazamos con esqui, esquiamos bajando la montaña y tambien fuimos "cross-country-skiing". Tuvimos una "pelea de cosquillas" y juntos hicimos regalos especiales para nuestras familias y amigos. Hay dos sugerencias que aun no las hemos llevado a cabo... pero pronto sera! :D

Nos acordamos de cada uno de ustedes y les agradecemos por sus bellas notas y tarjetas por el aniversario... Los padres y hermanos de Nuri prepararon una cena especial para nosotros y decoraron el comedor con un gran cartel en forma de un abrazo!! y pensamos en todos ustedes quienes estaban con nosotros en espiritu.