The Musings of Mireya Browning

So we tried out Vancouver’s first Sonic restaurant.  We wanted to know what the hubbub was all about.   So we waited 45 minutes behind 15 cars to try the new fair.  People were everywhere.  It was madness, one would think the world was coming to an end and Sonic was the last food establishment.

Before arriving at the restaurant we had two choices to enjoy our meal.  One line of cars was for drive through ordering and the other, the most coveted, the drive-in. This being our first time we wanted to enjoy the experience to the fullest.  When we finally arrived, we parked in our spot, taking it all in we pushed the button to place our order of sonic cheeseburgers, tater tots, an oreo sonic blast and a hot fudge sundae.

To be kind and truthful the food held the same quality as McDonalds.  To say the least it was warm but an American meal it was not.  There were all kinds of pieces put together that someone might a hamburger.  I’m ashamed that so many people settle for such poor quality. Anyway, we’re not going back.

A few days later we visited another chain of restaurants newly opened on 164th.  Pollo Loco and South of the Border.  The only difference in the two is price.  Both provide the same terrible excuse for Mexican food, only one charges more for atmosphere and the other charges less.  I would put the two in the same category for taste as Taco Bell.  I don’t under stand people.  So misled. Food is better than this.  Every time we drive by Sonic with droves of people in line, I feel sad they don’t know better.  Making a delicious meal is so easy and economical.  It only takes a little effort and maybe some creativity.  People really should be eating out less.  There is great value in make a meal with your own hands.

I’m a meat and potatoes kinda girl.  I love a good steak or hamburger.  My favorite steaks are made by this really hot guy that I live with.  They are amazing.  He may be a technorati but the man can grill.  He’s a genius god with a grill.  Newport Bay makes an amazing guacamole burger.  I’ve also heard Portland City Grill makes a mean burger.  I may have to try it out.

Maybe I should open a fast food restraunt that actually sells food.  And the food will not only provide nutrition but will also be a pleasure to eat.

My husbands oldest brother, the last bachelor from the Browning clan has finally tied the knot.

It was held in my in-law’s back yard.  The weather was perfect. Congratulations to David and Mellisa Browning.

Weddings are a beautiful thing.  Especially when God is invited.  Today’s society has really misconstrued what God created.  Spiritually, marriage is more than feelings of love.  It’s a real commitment.  A covenant with God.  It doesn’t matter what people think or want.  It’s just you and God.  Marriage is a serious business.

On the superficial side, there is the planning.   And the planning all in all equals money.  Now, this is my own personal opinion.  But can you think of anything more wasteful than a $30k wedding?  Or even a $3k wedding?  You could get a down payment on a house, an education or really sweet computer lab for LAN gaming and fast internet shopping.  But seriously, you only need two things to have a wedding; a licensed pastor and two witnesses. The planning of flowers, decorations, location, and all the minute details that one would think makes or breaks the happiest day of their life, is lavish, unnecessary and useless.  A couple will be no less married or live in wedded bliss without these things.  Weddings are so overrated.  Girls who dream up this stuff from when they are nine are… silly.  Maybe it just doesn’t make sense to me.  As far as the planning is concerned make sure the pastor and groom are present.  Trust me, nothing else matters.  Not the dress, not the food or even the lingerie.  Am I right guys?  But what I do think matters most is the kind of man you are marrying and who you are making this covenant to.  The Creator of life and marriage.

It’s common for most couples to invest more time and especially money in preparation of the wedding day than the days after.  I feel bad for the couples who conjure up fluffy feelings and money for the wedding day only to live a few years as husband and wife.  IMHO, it would be worth more to invest whatever resources in each other in learning how to love and bless one another with marriage conferences, books and weekends away.

And another thing, a location doesn’t make a honeymoon.  It’s who your with.  You could be in the most beautiful tropical beach and still not have a good time with your spouse.  And then you could be on a rainy Oregon beach and have the best time ever.  It’s the company that matters.  Which reminds me, I have the best friend, husband and father for my children in the whole world.

No, not really.  More like sparkling cider.  We celebrated our ninth year anniversary with quality time together.

Dan took the day off and spoiled me with shopping and fine dining.   The shopping on 23rd is so great.  I love this boutique Sloane a block east from Papa Haydns, which is were we had lunch.  We had a simple meal of french onion soup, halibut cheeks and asparagus.  We meant to treat ourselves to one of their famous desserts but before shopping at SOHO boutique we had maple bars and coffee at the Bernhard bakery.

After lunch we did more shopping.  The weather was sunny and warm.  After two weeks of rain, the sun break came just in time for us.  The streets bustled with people of all kinds and a few weird Portland natives.

Once our daughter had her nap we dropped her off at her babysitters.  We had talked about what we would do with the three hours of independence but nothing felt right enough to decide just yet, so we resolved to play it by ear.  We so love our little girl but it was nice to share some quality time alone, just like before.  The day was so lovely we held hands and went for a walk near the LaCamas golf course.

On our walk, Dan noticed a freshly picked flower carefully placed in a branch above our head.  How it got there and by whom, we don’t know, but I like to think because of the perfect timing and moment, it was a simple momento from God.  He is so good.

“Before a girl’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. And this is how she would go to the king.” Esther 2:12-13a

A years worth of pampering would be so awesome.  Although I don’t really care for the scent of myrrh.  I’m seeing my hair stylist at Dosha today and my aesthetician. YAY! Our ninth year anniversary is tomorrow and I wanna get myself all prettied up for my date.

I can’t believe we’re old enough to almost have a decade of marriage under our belt.  We met at 14 and it was love at first sight. It’s been fun.  Dan is my best friend. I think we have a pretty good thing going on.  After all this time, he still makes me laugh and swoon.

So I’ve decided to post more frequently.  That means I will be posting more mundane events and blah blah blah blah blah.  I’m boring myself just thinking about it.  I’m no writer and I don’t do anything particularly exciting so here it goes.

A friend from church and I just finished hosting a tea party for the church ladies this past Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.   The planning was fun, the cooking too but the most rewarding was the serving.  I enjoyed waiting on them and making sure they were enjoying themselves.  The food was fantastic.  From the lemon curd to the chocolate mousse.  I made the  chocolate mousse and cucumber sandwiches. I hope to plan another tea party soon.  Maybe this time it will be a father-daughter tea.  My husband would love that.

Our (Dan and I) love for afternoon tea or high tea began when we visited the Empress Hotel in Victoria Canada.  Politics aside, I love Victoria.  It’s beautiful and romantic.  Where you stay and what you see makes the difference in your visit.  So I wouldn’t recommend visiting on the cheap.  Camping would be out of the question but rather get a reservation at a nice Bed and breakfast or stay at the Empress.  Anyway, afternoon tea.  We made our reservation for 1:00.   We enjoyed 8 pots of empress tea and the full course of the delicacies they offered.  We were so captivated by our conversation, atmosphere and tea that we hadn’t even noticed two hours had gone by.  So needless to say we had a great time and hope to visit again. If anyone is interested I would be happy to make some recommendations if you ever plan to visit Victoria.

Oh and another thing.  I forgot to mention that prostitution and maryjane is legal there so I would avoid any night time excursions.   But yeah, other than that Victoria is great.

My daughter and I are learning Chinese. More specifically, mandarin. My brother in law and his wife speak Cantonese, which I understand is much more complex.

My daughter mimics words and phrases impeccably for a toddler. Our Chinese teacher praises me every week for teaching her so well, but in my heart of hearts I can’t take any credit for her success. It is all her, I just provide the atmosphere and encouragement. My daughter does all the work.

We have so much fun in class. We sing songs, count and read. Its really a lot of fun.

My goal is to learn and teach our children how to speak common and important phrases in as many languages spoken in our country. Important phrases like; Jesus loves you, Hello, my name is, how are you and so on.

This is a list of the languages we hope to learn. Chinese-Mandarin/Cantonese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Thai, Vietnamese.

So far, we can say; Hello, how are you, I’m sorry, thats all right, cup, bubbles, what?, milk, cookie, listen, to make/do, I am 2 years old, water,chopsticks, thank you and your welcome. We’re still working on numbers and colors. My brother in-law was kind enough to offer to help. His accent is crazy good. I hope we can catch up to his uber skills. 再见 zài jiàn

My daughter and I went shopping downtown yesterday. I parked in the parking space. Placed coins in the meter and off we went. When I returned I found a ticket under my wiper, for violation RCW 46.61.590. My first thought was, “Dan is gonna kill me.” So, I’m screwed right? I don’t think so. As bad as I feel for getting a ticket, and as much as I submit to authority, I don’t really think I warranted a ticket. So, I’m gonna contest it.

Violation RCW 46.61.590, means I parked in a parking stall that is not for parking. You tell me. I parked where the black truck is on the left.

Clearly the ticket lady uses Violation RCW 46.61.590 to trick law abiding citizens to pay for the city official’s beach houses. Am I right?

I’m so stoked to see Indiana Jones. But, I must confess mostly because Shia LaBeouf is a lead character.

Now, I’m going to go against what I know is right and mention my favorite Shia SNL parody. It’s funny and wrong. But it’s funny.

Sofa King-who brought you Mattress King, where everything is Mattress King Great!

Watch and be amazed as the computer of bolts and levers solves what most humans cannot do.

We celebrated our daughter’s birthday this last Saturday. Her birthday is especially fun because she shares it with her grandfather. So we celebrated him too. (Love you Dad.)

In our home, we are too lazy to throw fancy birthday parties. I bake a cake, make a dinner, we sing, open presents, pray and we’re done. Some parents would call us mean and unloving for not lavishing our children with mylar balloons, clowns, hosting dozens of sugar-high children, and giving out fancy party favors. But come on, really. It’s not important. It’s like a wedding. The only thing you need in a wedding is a Pastor and two witnesses. So, yeah, if our daughter wants a fancy wedding she’s..well, thats another post. I would say the only really important part of a birthday is cake. We don’t candles either because of the carcinogens.

Anyway, this year I thought I would have a few decorations. I didn’t find anything that tickled my fancy. All the birthday party decorations were chinsy and ugly. Not even what Pottery barn had to offer impressed me. So I made my own. And they came out pretty good if I say so myself. I made a Happy Birthday banner with her name on it and I made one for Dad. He’s a retired forester so I made his banner with a Douglas fir theme. My daughter’s birthday is in Spring so I have flowers and Spring colors.

We had a lovely steak dinner. I made a chocolate cake with fresh strawberries and white chocolate frosting. We like our parties small and intimate. We had grand-parents and great-grandparents so our table fit our party of 7 comfortably. We had a wonderful time. We bought our tot old-school toys like bubbles, a slinky, a bell for her bike and a fancy Westminster tea cup and saucer. My in-laws gave her the best present of all. My daughter loves rocks. They gave her a pail full of painted rocks with the letters of her name and numbers. It is adorable and she loves it. My daughter is so cute. So yeah, we had fun.