I give thanks for this Yamtastic recipe, among other things

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope that you find many reasons in your life to be grateful for this holiday and for life.

This year I find myself grateful for the support I received the past year and a half from my partner, friends and family. As I continue my learning process in graduate school, I am grateful for the patience, love, understanding and compassion that I have received over the semester from everyone. I have truly been blessed and feel honored to have the opportunity to attend more school and learn more about myself and the world. I am very excited to take what I have learned and give back to the community once I finish my degree.

I am also very thankful for good health and for life. I have recently heard about the death of one of my favorite English professors from St. Olaf, which has left me full of tears and speechless until now. I have thought about him and his family quite a bit over this holiday and his life has reminded me again of why we should be so thankful for each day we have here on Earth as well as the importance of being a good person. Thank you Rich Durocher for your passion and spirit and for sharing your gifts with the St. Olaf community, your family, friends and me. While you will be greatly missed, I have no doubt that you have touched the life of every person you have met, and I am thankful to have known you.

On a less spiritual and emotional note, I am thankful for a recipe that my friend shared with me this holiday. I cannot write about Thanksgiving and not mention food, right? :)

This year for Turkey Day, I was given the task of making sweet potatoes. Now, most people don't get too excited about this side. I admit, I was a little bummed that the only thing my mom could think of that I could make was the sweet potatoes--the dish that often gets left behind, the dish that people don't really care about. However, instead of just giving up hope on my responsibility, I decided to find a recipe with some flare to make people think twice about yams and maybe even go for second helpings.

The recipe I found was not your typical marshmallow-canned sweet potato concoction. Check it out on my my friend's blog, she calls it Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole. It was amazing and to die for if you have a sweet tooth, providing a sweet break between the bites of turkey and dressing.

To be fair, I must give a proper introduction to my friend. Her name is Liz and she has a fabulous cooking blog that all foodies should acquaint themselves with. She is a St. Paul local, runs a childcare center and teaches cooking classes to all ages. She is my go-to gal when I need to make something to entertain guests or family members. I have not been let down yet by one of her recipes, I assure you, you won't be let down either.

Also, to those readers out there, a big thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your readership and thoughtfulness :)

November...where did you go?

November marked a month of many emotions in my life. I don't even know where to begin... I suppose I can start with some of the lower points as I believe these moments will hopefully lend themselves as serious places for growth and for great learning. First, there was a mini-car accident I was part of, which began on Friday the 13th after a delightful time with my friend, Ashley and her beloved, Brent, who was visiting from out of town. Nothing serious really happened, but now after considering the events that followed shortly after this wake-up call, I believe that this accident was a significant moment that has inspired much reflection for me. Thereafter, I found out about the death of my little's father, which to this day still remains clouded. I understand some points of it but really still struggle to understand the whole situation. I was supposed to attend the funeral but did not know where it was happening. I have called my little several times now, and have not heard anything from her or her mother. I worry she may have to move away, and I worry about her in general. To top it all off, there was a hit-and-run, which left my friend alive, thank God, but with much suffering and pain. I hope in this time of healing he can make the best of the situation and find the support he needs from himself and his loved ones.

While not all my own struggles, I tend to be deeply affected by the sorrow of others especially those close to me, so I have been a little off these days thinking about how the lives of my friends or any person can so quickly change. And life is quickly changing every second. I try not to frame my world perspective this way because it will stress me out! :)

On the other end of the spectrum, this month marked so many exciting events which I must give great thanks for to everyone in my life. For instance, my registration for new classes in school, one of which will be a meditation course that I am stoked about. This month also included a friend's bachelorette party and some other girly social events and good talks. I have truly appreciated friendship this month as during those reflective times I was fortunate to see some genuine relationships shine through in my life. This month also included more walking and biking for me as well as more cooking with whole foods and organic products. After doing my Ecology and Health research project on corn and its health effects and impact on the environment, as well as listening to my classmate's interesting presentations I learned even more ways I can be mindful in my life. I also made my own eco-friendly, all purpose household cleaner, and have been slowly incorporating new items like these into my daily life. And most recently I have just celebrated my favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, with friends and family, as well as attended guest speakers from my culture as a resource in health and healing course, which retaught me about the real history of thanksgiving--the one including the tragic history of a people displaced from their home land, livelihoods, and culture. I pay tribute to them in my thoughts and prayers. Along the lines of speakers, this month I was also fortunate to have off work and was able to attend Dan Buettner's lecture on his new book The Blue Zones. I gave my free copy to my father to read in the mean-time...really interesting stuff that I will have to post in a later blog. I also should mention I have new travel plans in thought--just signed up for a study at my school that may bring me to India in January of 2011. We will see if that pans out. Also, Jay and I have a trip in mind for the summer that will bring us to Montana, and there is talk of going to Alaska with some of the role model women in my life (as well as Jay if we let him in, it is all still up in the air). If any of these trips can materialize I would be the luckiest person in the world. Beyond that exciting news, in a recent chat with my older sister, Yu-kyeong, I learned that my oldest sister, Yu-jin, and her new love in Korea, a photographer, plan to wed this May of 2010. Whether or not I will go there has not been decided, as any trip to Korea is a loaded experience for me. So all of these mentioned developments leave my head spinning with joy and more mixed emotions.

After this month of great ups and downs, for the first time in my life, I have truly began practicing the art of letting go, and as December draws near, I look forward to making more time and space for healthy habits such as this one.

Which leaves me with a mantra I have been thinking about a lot lately that helps me through the challenges of my program:

You cannot get to freedom on Pharaoh's chariot.

White rice, butter, and soy sauce. My ultimate comfort food.

Stereotypical you think, but seriously, what's not to love about starchy carbs, with a little fat and a pinch of salt? Or in more savory words, fluffy, hot'n'fresh from da cookaa white rice, smothered in butter (liquid gold) and dashed with soy... saucey!!! Exactly. Sign me up for another bowl! Man...I wish...but I should behave, this is already big bowl numba two on the day.

Anyway...pardon my post anat-phys class hunger, its unavoidable. After listening to how hard our bodies are at work, one can't help but feel the need to replenish/reward oneself for all the hard labor going down in the bod-or at least construct a good excuse to.

But truly, on a serious note I came on here for other reasons than to shout out my fave comfort food/show my rice appreciation. I really came here to generally express my gratitude for not only the nourishment this snack provides me on a physiological and emotional level but to give virtual thanks for blessing me with a healthy and functioning body. I know, I know. We always remember how we take things for granted, for a split second, and then we forget about it and continue on with our lives not thinking much on it. But after spending some of my summer nights learning about the human body and the crazy feats it can do, I can save you the details, but I cannot go without acknowledging how incredible the human body is, and how I admire its basic functions and its will to live and all that jazz.

Our lives are precious, our bodies are precious. Life is a gift. Health is a privilege. Our bodies are healthy today, sick tomorrow-- it is only good practice to appreciate what we have and pay our respect to ourselves and listen to our bodies and keep them sacred and whole. We only have one body and one mind. Let's not pollute them. Take care of yourself, you are too awesome to do otherwise.