Wall Words

We still don't have everything unpacked and put away, but our kitchen window is now sporting this extra accent. I got these vinyl wall words from Emily Kate Designs (Edit: looks like she's not doing vinyl anymore). It was very quick and not expensive, and easy to apply, and fun! It's a Korean proverb that I loosely translate as "Before we climb the mountain, let's eat first." I've kind of adopted it as my food motto. When my blood sugar gets low I get cranky (and sometimes downright irrational and hostile) so in order to keep on top of things I really have to plan and start cooking before I get hungry. It's taken a long time to learn (and still doesn't always work out right). This was a particular problem when I was serving as a missionary in Korea, and things were often busy and pretty stressful, but by learning to plan ahead I was able to keep meltdowns to a minimum. And of course, it helped that I like Korean food, too!

The woven straw scoops are from Korea, too. I'm not exactly sure what they're for. In my last area I was serving in Sunchon and a lady came to the door selling them. My companion, Sister Kim Su Gyoung, bought them for me. She said they had something to do with the date, and I think she even said they should be hung up in the kitchen. (I'll have to find someone who actually knows, to tell me more about them.) I've been carrying these scoops around with me for almost 14 years, and I figured it was time to finally do something with them.

Despite all my artistic interests I've rarely done much in the way of decorating. Whether it seemed like too much work, or I wanted to but just never got around to it, or the places we were renting just seemed too small and utilitarian, I can't say. But it's been kind of fun dressing up our kitchen window. Now when I'm in there cooking I can enjoy our pretty white curtains and my Korean motto, and remember to eat before I go climbing any mountains.