My Favorite Shots - Part Three

When I deleted hundreds (thousands?) of my photos this past summer, I found some old gems including these. Here are some favorite photos from the past few years.

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Michael and baby Grace holding my fingers.

Cora starting solids. I love how clear and bright and sharp this picture is.

Grace and Cora playing on a bag of rice.

My piano.

Hydrangeas from the side of our house.

Spices from our favorite Thai restaurant.

A purple haze carrot from our garden.

Grace getting soaked in the rain.

Here's part one of this three part series. And here's part two.

My Favorite Shots - Part Two

I recently deleted about 80% of my photos. It was a months-long project, but I figure that the fewer photos I own, the more I will look at them. So out went hundreds of shots. In the process, I discovered some old gems. Including these.

Here's part one of my three posts. And part three.

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Bristlecone Pine tree at Cedar Breaks National Monument. It is thousands of years old.

Snowflakes.

Why, hello there!

We set the camera on the trunk of our car with a timer to get this one. Cambria, California. Little did we know how much our lives would change just a few weeks later when our first was born!

I love coffee.

Self portrait using my bathroom mirror.

I don't even really like makeup, but I like this shot.

Another engagement photo of Jason & Andrea.

My Favorite Shots - Part One

For the past several months, I have been deleting, deleting, and deleting old photos. I figure that the fewer photos I own, the more I will look at them. So out went all the boring shots, the super blurry shots, and the doubles, triples, and quadruples of the same old thing. I only kept the best 20%, and I'm so glad I did it. Even though pictures don't clutter up physical space, it still feels good to do a giant purge.

As I went through every picture, I found a few I love. Here are some of my favorite shots.

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Sunset outside my parents' home in Colorado.

Sixth anniversary flowers

My dad at St. Mary's Glacier shot on a piece of junk point and shoot. You don't necessarily need good equipment to get fun shots, though good equipment sure helps!

Another Colorado sunset.

I don't know why I like this one so much.

Cheery.

Engagement shot for my sister and brother-in-law.

Grace kissing Cora.

I'd like to say this is dew, but I think it's just sprinkler.

A dead, gnarly tree at Joshua Tree National Park. (No, this isn't a Joshua Tree.)

Oh, crab!

My Favorite Shots - Part Two
My Favorite Shots - Part Three

These Are the Days

These are the days of...

Potty training my two-year-old.

Building a marriage that will last.

Two girls in highchairs.

Simple meals.

Going on dates again -- a much needed breath of freedom and friendship.

Early evening walks.

Board games after the girls go down.

The daily ritual of sweeping scraps of food off of the kitchen floor.

Battling ant invasions.

Reading my Kindle before bed.

Fitness Blender workouts at home.

Watching God build a $70K missions budget one generous supporter/partner/friend at a time.

Growing in prayer.

Growing in trust.

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I have a habit of always looking ahead to the next bigger, better thing rather than celebrating the smallness of my everyday life. This makes me a very productive person who always has a plan. It also makes me a very distracted person who misses life in the present tense.

I had the privilege of getting an advance copy of a favorite writer's newest book Simply Tuesday -- a book all about how "life happens in the small moments, the kind we find on Tuesday, the most ordinary day of the week." The author, Emily P. Freeman makes it a regular practice to make a "these are the days of..." list in her journal to practice being present to life as it is.

In these hectic days of always thinking forward to the next big thing (moving to Thailand!) I have so needed the reminder to slow down, to breath, and to celebrate the simple small things of my everyday life. I want to be present to my life even as I look ahead to the next thing.

The Past Month in Pictures

We just got back from a month-long trip to Colorado. Here are some of my favorite shots from the past month.

We spent some time in a mountain house in Crested Butte with my parents and siblings. The incredible display of wildflowers ran our allergies wild. We went on a few small hikes and picnics. We ate lots of delicious food, including campfire s'mores for breakfast.

We attended a two-week orientation with the missions agency that is sending us to Thailand and supporting us while we're there. It was an incredibly intense and exhausting two weeks. But, we survived and we made some awesome friends with like-minded, Jesus-loving people, including the Pals (pictured below) who are headed to Japan.

Post-orientation decompressing at the park and at the pool:

May August be peaceful and uneventful.

Cora - Ten Months Old

Cora is ten months (and a few days) old. We're in the middle of two crazy weeks of both Michael and me working full time while our kids are in childcare, but I'm going to try to squeeze in a few words about this awesome kid anyway!

When Cora was eight months old, she started to do all sorts of stuff. She began crawling, pulling to standing, getting from her chest to sitting, and she began cruising around the house holding onto furniture. She also started talking. Her most consistent words were bubble, balloon, car, and ball.

During the past month, Cora has been perfecting all those skills she picked up at eight months old. She is babbling a ton and saying lots of words. She is always on the move and has gotten really really good at walking with assistance. She could be walking in a few days. Or it could be a few months. It's so hard to tell! And she's so into everything, I can tell that once she starts walking, my days will be spent chasing her around making sure she isn't getting into too much trouble!

What are some of Cora's favorite things?
Her daddy. She's in a major daddy phase. When Michael picks her up, she squeals, flails, and starts hitting him and kicking him -- all signs of affection, I promise!
Eating tomatoes. So strange, right?!
Kicking and rolling balls.
Goofing around. She's got a great sense of humor. She's always up for a game.
Being thrown, bounced, tickled, etc. She loves anything physical.

What are some of Cora's least favorite things? Three things almost always prompt tears and/or screaming.
Going to sleep. She hates being put in her crib.
Getting her diaper changed.
Getting dressed.

Homemade Thai Tea

**I first published this post in November 2013. Over the past few months, we've shared this recipe with several people who never knew you could make Thai tea at home and who were very excited to try it out. So, now I share it broadly again to spread the Thai tea love! Recipe is at the bottom of the post.**

A couple of years ago, after our attempts at making milk tea were successful, Michael and I decided to try to make homemade Thai tea. We scoured the internet in search of a recipe, but everyone said to just buy the mix. That's not what we wanted. We wanted to know exactly what ingredients to use to give black tea that orange color and that fragrant aroma.

In December 2011, we were visiting Michael's Thai aunt who lives about an hour outside of Bangkok. She spends her days cooking in her outdoor kitchen and tending fruits and vegetables grown all over her large property. Thailand has some of the best food in the world and the best food we had in Thailand came out of her kitchen. If anyone knew how to make Thai tea from scratch it would be her.

Via my mother-in-law's translation, we asked her, "How do you make Thai tea?" She answered, "You buy the mix." Oh, the disappointment!

Our disappointment was eased when we found out that Thai tea "mix" is actually Thai tea leaves brewed properly and mixed with the right amount of sweetened condensed milk. Without further ado, here is how to make a large pitcher of Thai tea, restaurant style, at home.

Thai Tea (ชาเย็น, "cha-yen," literally: "cold tea")

1) Buy a bag or two of these Thai tea leaves and a can of sweetened condensed milk.

2) Brew 9 tablespoons of the tea leaves in 8 cups of boiling hot water. Let the leaves steep for a very long time to get the tea nice and strong.

3) Mix in 2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk. Stir thoroughly as it tends to settle on the bottom.

4) Let it cool. Put it in the fridge for a few hours.

5) Drink!