When we moved to California two years ago, I felt lonely, homesick and unstable. I felt like we had no roots here, and it was weird to not have family and friends around. Slowly, I made friends, but those friendships were still on the superficial level. It sucked that no one truly understood me, or thought to call me up just to hang out. And maybe you can’t tell, but I am a social person. Yeah… shocker.
It was the worst on Sundays, when we’d go to church and people went dashing off after service to go to their dad’s birthday party, or sister’s baby shower. Joe and I would look at each other, shrug and go out the door, back to our quiet apartment to conclude our full weekend of no plans. Okay, if you hear a sad little violin playing in the background, I know… I’m being dramatic. But it doesn’t end there. This is a happy entry.
Because you see, this is indeed two years later, and I am now a happy California girl…with daisy dukes and bikini on top… (no not so much). It took a while, but the day has finally arrived where I feel settled, and my “superficial friendships” have blossomed into ones with true foundations and depth. And the weekends that were once empty with no family obligations are now busily filled with shooting videos and never having enough time to do everything.
On Wednesdays, we have our married couples church small group meeting called PAIRS. But right now, we only have one car. Joe works far away, so he can’t possibly come back home, pick me up and then go to the meeting together and make it there on time. So our friends Min and Janice have opened up their home for me to stay there by myself during the day, since the meeting is at their place at night. This works out great since Joe drops me off in the morning before work, which means he can take the carpool lane and avoid traffic, and then I just stay there and work on the blog.
And in case you didn’t know, I LOVE dogs. As a bonus, I get to spend every Wednesday with Min and Janice’s dog, Mister Lee, who I have nicknamed “best friend.” I love him so much that I tire him out by giving him too much attention. Yes he wraps himself up in a blanket by himself, using his snout!
Sometimes he gets hot and comes out for air.
On one particular Wednesday, it was our turn to provide snacks for the group. I didn’t have time to go to the grocery store. So I called up my friend Amy, who lives near by. Since I was car-less, she picked me up, took me out to lunch, and then to the grocery store so I could buy snacks.
But since she had to do all of this during her one hour lunch break, we had to rush through the grocery store in 10 minutes or less. So I decided to take some more help with my good friend, Trader Joe’s. I found this was a great place to go when you don’t have inspiration but just need some good quality ingredients. In 10 minutes, Amy and I were in and out. Then I had to go back to Janice’s place, use whatever other ingredients she had in her pantry and whip up some snacks.
With Amy’s suggestion, I grabbed beef taquitos and salsa.
All I had to do was cut them up, heat them in the oven, and serve them with a side of salsa.
Then without any specific game plan in mind, I grabbed lavash bread, artichoke parmesan dip, a couple tomatoes and basil.
I thought about using the lavash bread as a base to make pinwheel type sandwich rolls.
But after I shmeared on a layer of artichoke spread, I quickly realized that I should’ve grabbed two containers, because one would barely be enough to make pinwheel sandwiches. So with cat like reflexes, I changed my game plan and decided to make petite sandwiches to make the spread stretch more.
So I rummaged through Janice’s pantry and found some paprika. I sprinkled it on top of the spread to add a little punch.
On top of the artichoke spread, I scattered some basil leaves. Then I sliced the tomatoes, before deciding I’d rather dice the tomatoes. So I popped out the seeds so it wouldn’t get too liquid-y, and cut the slices into cubes.
But the tomatoes, basil and spread didn’t seem like it was enough, so I ransacked their fridge to see if there was anything I could use. All I found were some diced onions. So I decided to make some caramelized onions.
After they cooled slightly, they were spilled on top of everything and then covered with another piece of lavash bread smeared with the last of the artichoke spread.
And then they were cut into little squares, which was a pretty messy job, but hey, I was in a bind.
I also made sure to grab a few “filler” items at the store, which rounded out all the snacks.
Then Joe got off of work and came over, and chilled with Mister Lee while they waited for Janice and Min, and I got the snacks on the table.
My little sandwiches turned out pretty cute in the end, and they tasted really flavorful and fresh.
And these were my snacks, which the group thoroughly enjoyed. And I am happy to say that everything was made possible with a little help from my friends. It’s been two somewhat difficult years, but I’m thankful to be here and grateful for all our awesome friendships. See, told you it was a happy entry.
