7QT: A Magical Ramen House, Star Wars, and the Irony of Poker

Happy Friday, everybody!!! Today I'm linking up with Annabelle for some 7 Quick Takes. I figured that it'd be a fun way to share a piece of life in Oklahoma with y'all today.



1. I went to a ramen house. People, it's true-this magical place exists. A restaurant totally dedicated to ramen-how cool is that?!?!?!?! Last Friday, I had made some pizza dough that was sitting in the fridge (which I did not feel like making into pizza, since I just wanted to sit on the couch and feel pukey), and my husband called me from work with a marvelous idea: How about we go to the ramen house for dinner? We had seen this place from afar a few months ago, and hadn't made it there yet. Of course, in my practicality, I said, Oh, it's okay, I've already made dinner partially, so I'll just finish that and we'll go on a date some other time. I hung up, and somehow found myself looking at pictures of Tamashii Ramen House on the internet, before reaching for the phone to call him back...

Spicy pork ramen bowl! The bowls were huge; I couldn't finish mine, and my husband
barely finished his! 

It was delicious! The food was piping hot, flavorful, and filling. I also loved the fact that the restaurant only had 5 ramen bowls on the menu, which is great for indecisive me. Yet, they were fully customizable, with a huge slew of toppings you could add to your bowl. I kept things simple and ordered my bowl "as is," and it was quite awesome. Plus, my friends, they served takoyaki! In case you haven't been blessed to encounter this beautiful appetizer, let me introduce you:

To give you an idea, you pick up one of these lovely fried balls with
spicy mayonnaise, you pop the whole thing in your mouth, and-after
you recover from the fact that it was piping hot and super fresh, you
let the creamy mixture gush into your mouth while the chewy pieces
of octopus bounce between your teeth. So, so good. 

 2. But enough about food. Moving onto STAR WARS! After our ramen date, we picked up our Star Wars: The Force Awakens tickets, and it became so real. This Thursday evening, I will be sitting in an IMAX theater, feasting my eyes on the glory that is the new movie. I. Can't. Wait. Actually, I can wait a little longer, because I have work to do in preparation.

3. I've decided that I want to be like one of those cool people who dresses in costume for a movie. I've never really done this before, but I've always wanted to. (Well, OK, I did wear a Batman costume when I saw Megamind in theaters, but that's a long, weird story. And he wasn't a character in that movie) So, along with a zillion other things on my list today, I'm hoping to make a costume. I know that whatever I end up with won't look super fabulous, but it'll be super cheap to make, hopefully fun and comfortable, and it will (hopefully) look cute (for those curious, I'm hoping to throw a Rey costume together. I have tan-ish fabric, but need to make it into pants and a wraparound top-thing, and I still need to find boots and a belt. But I still have what, a few days to make that happen?).

4. What More Important Things are on my list for today? Well, one of those happens to be a Christmas card I need to write up and mail out today. People, I rarely mail Christmas cards, and I only ever mail a couple of them a year. And I never mail them out before Christmas-I fully take advantage of the fact that Christmas lasts until the Baptism of the Lord. But, there is a person who needs Christmas cards ASAP, so I want to jump on that! In case y'all haven't seen the buzz on the internet lately, there's a young girl in New York who, a couple years ago, lost her family to a fire. All she wants for Christmas are cards, so there's a worldwide movement of people who want to send her cards and brighten her life. 

5. For those of you who haven't heard yet, I have become similar to a TARDIS (it's "bigger on the inside..." hint hint). In other words, there is a human person in my belly! Crazy, isn't it? I officially announced this on the blog earlier this week, which you can read here.

6. It's the Year of Mercy!!!! I'm really excited about it!!! I spent Tuesday morning hanging out at my parish's office, folding brochures that include quotes from St. Faustina's Diary, for people to read from when they prayed in Adoration. After our evening Mass for the Solemnity, there was Eucharistic Adoration for 2 1/2 hours, which was a huge blessing. We only ever have Adoration once a month (and it's during the work day, so while I can go, my husband can't go), so getting to spend time with my husband in Adoration was awesome.

A nice action shot of cards being dealt
while my younger brother enjoys his
mountain of candy. 

7. I've decided that poker is very ironic. Things will be going one direction, and then events suddenly occur in an opposite manner! I don't play poker much, and a couple weeks ago while playing "candy poker" with my family, I did terrible and lost all of the candy I started with (don't worry, I was given a couple handfuls as a consolation prize). Yesterday, my husband's office was throwing a Christmas party, and there was a poker tournament, which I reluctantly entered. I was one of four people left at our table, and I had 6 chips left, so with the ante of 4 and betting, I was forced to go all in. I thought I was done for, but everyone had terrible cards and I had the highest "high card." So, I stayed in! I ended up getting third overall, which I did not expect. I didn't win anything, but it was lots of fun, and very exciting!

There you have it, folks! Seven random snippets from my life this week. I hope that you all have a wonderfully blessed day!