Chinese New Year Feast...and Resolutions

Here's the recipes I used for Chinese New Year this year:



Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings




Homemade Egg Rolls



Chinese Hot and Sour Soup



Thai Cashew Chicken



Easy, 15 minute Lo Mein

Mmm, goodness. I might have to make that Lo Mein again next week. Just looking at it makes me want to eat it again!


For 2014, my resolution was to follow two scripture passages and improve upon the areas lacking in my life:

1. Proverbs 31: 10-31

¶Who can find a ^avirtuous ^bwoman? for her price is far above rubies.

 11 The heart of her husband doth safely ^atrust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

 13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her ^ahands.

 14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

 15 She ^ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

 16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

 17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

 18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

 19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the ^adistaff.

 20 She stretcheth out her hand to the ^apoor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

 21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

 22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her ^aclothing is silk and purple.

 23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

 25 Strength and honour are her ^aclothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of ^akindness.

 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of ^aidleness.

 28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

 29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

 30 Favour is deceitful, and ^abeauty is vain: but a woman that ^bfeareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

2. Doctrine and Covenants 88:118-119

118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

 119 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

Pretty sure I forgot about them.

While I didn't make a conscious effort to achieve and fulfill those goals, there was a lot that I did that fits them anyway. I started waking up before the kids so that I could get a head start on the day with prayer, scriptures and exercise. I finished a quilt that I started when Dancy was a couple weeks old. I do consider a field for the purpose of planting a pick-your-own orchard, but we're not buying it yet. Rather, we did buy a peach tree, plum tree, and two grape vines and planted those in October. I've been exercising more, but I need to give my arms some attention. Lately my focus has been my abs to rehabilitate my back; being pregnant this time really killed my lower back. My children don't arise and call me blessed, but I'll take it if I can just get them trained to start the day with "Good morning," and hugs and kisses, rather than, "What's for breakfast? I'm hungry." I bought several books last year, and have a few more on my wishlist, for self-sufficiency, seed saving, foraging, etc. I started working harder on homeschool efforts. Organizing and creating a house of order always needs work for me. I started having morning devotionals with the kids to help us start out with some peace instead of chaos; we don't manage it every morning, but it has helped a lot!

This year, I was bothered for a long time because I really didn't know what I wanted my resolution to be. I don't care how late in the year I start; a resolution to me is still a long term goal for improvement. A focus point. Where am I going? I finally settled on two things, and it's already looking like one might not happen. 

2015 Resolutions

One: Complete online classes to earn a copy editing certificate. Due to having trouble enrolling in a class, that might not get complete until next March. But my grammar lab class starts on Monday! 

Two: finish typing Shad's journals. That's actually a hefty one. I started typing Shad's illegible journals when we got engaged nearly 6 years ago. He writes almost a book a year. So far I've got 170 pages typed in Word. I used to do it maybe once a month, but now I'm typing one month a day, which averages an hour of typing. I'm hoping to complete one journal a month, except for April and July when we'll be travelling, and finish the project by November for a birthday present to him.