Book Review: Moloka'i

If you haven't been keep track over to the right side of the my blog, I've been trying to read 100 books this year. I'm a little behind but I keep getting sucked into long books and, even though I want to hit 100, I'm trying to put quality over quantity.

Anyways, I just finished book #28 and haven't done any book reviews yet...but #28 may have been my favorite yet. I want everyone to read it so I won't give anything away but it's worth checking out (no pun intended).

Moloka'i is the story of Rachel Kalama and her life on a secluded "leper" island in Hawaii. It is incredibly well-written and historically/culturally accurate as well as a touching story, which chronicles Rachel's entire life, which she lives to the fullest even under the toughest of circumstances.

See? Shortest review ever because I won't give anything away. There's nothing too surprising about the story but it's sweet. And it has a great message.

I started Moloka'i right after finishing Random Family, which I wouldn't suggest. Random Family was about a family living in the Bronx and everyone ended up in jail with babies at 14 or selling drugs. It was emotionally tough and mentally draining - too many names, too many places and wayyyyy too many pages. So Moloka'i started off really slow for me and I was dreading it, especially after Hawaiian words started popping up. But eventually I got into it and I think you will too.

The Grocery Game

If you follow David's blog, you've already seen this but I'm really proud, so I'm posting it again.

Anyways, if you remember, a long, long time ago I posted about The Grocery Game. It's basically a website where a super shopper, Teri, rounds up all the deals at all of the grocery stores in your area, and matches them with coupons you have (we have to clip them every Sunday, but it's no biggie). She tells you what you'll save with each item, and even categorizes things into great deals (sometimes free!), pretty good deals, and just okay deals. We have really enjoyed hunting for bargains, and it feels great to save all the moolah!

We haven't been very active in it lately, since Mema & Granddaddy have been here (and thus, buying food right and left) but they left to go back to Virginia on Tuesday, so we rounded up our coupons this week and headed to Publix. See what we got?

We got all of it for $7! I don't know exactly what to do with prevacid but we'll definitely use the rest of the stuff. Clipping coupons is definitely worth it for jackpots like this!

If you are interested in playing The Grocery Game along with us, you can get a free 4-week trial! Just use David's email address as the referral when you sign up - david.dma4@gmail.com.

Strawberry-Coconut Pancakes. Or heaven-in-a-skillet...

I love following food blogs - we haven't been cooking much since Mema & Granddaddy have been here, but they leave on Tuesday and I'm dreaming of getting our stand mixer out and making all sorts of goodies.

I won't need my stand mixer to make it, but Cara's Cravings really piqued my interest today with her Strawberry-Coconut Pancakes. Clearly she knows that those are 3 of my absolute favorite foods and that I happen to be decent at making food that needs to be flipped (pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches...I guess that's it).

I'm taking a trip to Publix tomorrow morning to make these bad boys. Does this picture not make you drool? Mmmm!

And even better - check out these nutrition facts! They're healthy!

Calories: 201.5
Total Fat: 5.0 g
Cholesterol: 7.5 mg
Sodium: 524.2 mg
Total Carbs: 24.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g
Protein: 15.0 g

Check out Cara's blog here for the recipe and more information.

Winners.

So, our church had a picnic on Saturday for the neighborhood complete with a kickball tournament, pony rides, and cotton candy. They wouldn't let me ride the pony but they when they declared an eating contest, I was in! I am quite the competitive eater, especially when it is chocolate cream pie.

I didn't win but I did come in 2nd...and you'll understand why when you see the pictures of who beat me. Plus, this was a timed contest and I like to think of myself as more of volume eater, not a speed eater.

Before eating - our friend Goose and I in our matching UGA gear.

All of the contestants. See how 4 of us are laughing and smiling and 1 is not? She is in the zone.

I'm doing a great job of shoveling it in but see the girl to my left? DONE ALREADY. She's like a human vacuum.

Still eating. She's still done. She beat me by a longshot.

My new friend, Janine and I. We did not win but we gave it our all.

We also finished our pie, even after we lost. I don't pass up free food.

AND she got a stupid giftcard to the Cheesecake Factory, which is my favorite restaurant ever. If I had known what was up for grabs, I may have been able to inhale my pie a little faster. Whatev'.

Even though I didn't win the eating contest, David and I did win the bake off! We tried to make a lemonade cake but our layers were like...half an inch high. So we doctored up some brownies (with a LOT of chocolate and peanut butter), won the votes of everyone under 12, and pulled off the whole contest. Here's our sweet basket filled with Homemade Gourmet goodies and stuff for our future kitchen. And yes, we bought the red cookwear set. Booyeah!

What a Deal!

Is it sad that I get fired up about a good deal? Or that I am really excited when kitchen stuff goes on sale? Because I am. So here's a great deal for you:

Oneida has this 10 piece cookware set (with silicone handles, no less!) on sale for $59. And it's red! Which is the perfect color for our future UGA-themed kitchen (one day....one day....).

Plus, if you enter the code 'RCK' when you check out, you'll save $6 and if you go through ebates first, you'll get another 5% (or about $3) back (and $5 if you are just signing up). Sweet!

The Masters

We're all sitting around watching the Masters - I'm the only Choi cheerleader in a room full of Mickelson lovers (but I have to cheer for him if I want to eat tonight...). Just watching the tournament makes me miss home though...palm trees and the ocean are definitely a beautiful backdrop but I hold a special place in my heart for those hot pink azaleas!

In honor of the tournament, I was looking through the pictures that we took when we attended a practice round a few years ago. I can't believe how big we were - must've been all of those delicious pimento sandwiches :)

Go Choi, go!

Send us to Haiti!

So we've been officially accepted to the Haiti mission trip with Christ Fellowship. There is more information in a post a few weeks ago, but if you missed that, we will be in Saint-Marc (which is on the western coast of the country) from May 10-16 and helping orphans and refugees affected by the earthquake in Port Au Prince in January.

The next big step in making the trip a reality is raising support. As much as we want to go, we can't afford the trip on our own, so we are trusting that there are people out there with a heart for Haiti who may not be able to go physically, but would be able to support us financially. Our official support letter is below, so if you know anyone who may be interested in supporting us with money or prayer, please pass it along!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although the stories from Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake have fallen off the front pages of the news, people are still fighting to survive and the country is in complete disarray. We must be careful not to move on to the next big news story or event because the people of Haiti still need our help and they need God to move in a mighty way.

This summer, God has given us the opportunity to go to Haiti and be part of what he is doing there. We’ll be going with a team from Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, Florida and we’ll be working in the city of Saint-Marc. The project will be from May 10-16 and we’ll be working at a Youth with a Mission facility and ministering to the people there. St. Marc has taken in many refugees and orphans from the destruction in Port-a-Prince and we will have an opportunity to encourage and share the love of Christ with those people, many of them being children. What an amazing chance to be the hands and feet of Christ!

We are excited about what God is going to do in our lives and in the lives of others through this ministry. We want to extend an invitation to you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in this mission through your financial support. The cost of the trip is $1,000 per person, so we need to raise $2,000 by May 1 to cover our airline tickets and expenses. In addition to financial support, we ask that you partner with us in this mission by committing to praying for us in the weeks leading up to and during our time in Haiti. It will be invaluable to our team to know that we have people lifting us up in prayer as we prepare for our trip and depart into the mission field of Saint-Marc.

If you feel led to partner with us financially, Christ Fellowship has created an online giving feature on their website where you can donate online - just click here and select Haiti and then our names. All financial donations are tax-deductible and we would be happy to answer any questions you have. We can't wait to share pictures and stories of our trip with you when we return!

Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

David & Nicole

Freebies

There's nothing better than a freebie. I mean, it's nice on your budget but the real fun is knowing that you are getting something for nothing. That's awesome!

One of our favorite newfound freebies is the Block Party at Whole Foods. I don't know if they are happening all around the country, but there are 2 different stores kind of near us (Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington) and both are participating. On different nights, no less! Basically the deal is that you go around and try different samples that each department makes. You vote on your favorite and are entered to win a $100 gift card. Palm Beachers, if you want to get in on the fun, the Wellington store does theirs every Tuesday night and the PGB store's is every Wednesday. Both start at 5 and end promptly at 7.

Another fun freebie available right now is at TCBY. Sign up online here and get a free cone! We don't have a TCBY near us but I'm signing up anyways (the coupon will be sent to your inbox) in case I spot one.

You can also get free money by signing up for ebates. If you're not a member yet, sign up now here. You'll get $5 just for signing up and then a % back every time you shop online. We've made quite a bit of $$ just by stopping by ebates before buying online. And, every day they offer a different store giving double the % back. Sometimes you'll get more back from shopping online than you would pay for shipping, so it's cheaper to shop in your underwear than going to the store!

Any other great freebies you know of?