Sometimes it's the little things...

I just love our neighborhood and our cute little house here in Chiang Mai. God has really blessed: I have my own room, aircon, piano, a front porch to sit out and drink coffee, wonderful housemates and even a banana tree in the backyard! I got so excited when Carolyn came in the house the other day and said one of our banana bunches was ready to be picked. We went out armed with a camera and the largest knife we could find! After lots of effort and too much laughing, we managed to get the bunch of bananas cut down. We have another bunch just about ready to be picked and I can't imagine what we are going to do with all these bananas....perhaps banana bread, smoothies, fried bananas and whatever else we can think of! I can't wait to see how creative we can get using up all the bananas...sometimes it's just the little things in life that make the days so marvelous!

Vintage Crochet

I absolutely love vintage things! A couple of months ago someone gave my mom a vintage kitchen washcloth that was crocheted...it was so unique! I fell in love with it so much that I decided to teach myself to crochet just so I could make one for myself. I found and bought a set of bamboo crochet hooks and some thread and started crafting!

I know that since I made it it's not vintage but it looks like it! It came out better than I thought, especially since I didn't have a pattern!

Coffee, Cleopatra and more

I'm headed home tomorrow but I can say that I've truly had a wonderful time here in Pennsylvania and Maryland! Time spent with my sister and brother-in-law, painting a new house, coffee in the morning, visits with old friends, canoeing on the Delaware, wonderful church services, walks in the evening with Bandit, a beautiful wedding, coffee in the afternoon, new shoes, Cleopatra exhibit, fireworks, all-day trip to Philadelphia, coffee in the evening, hours spent chatting with my friend Rachel, antique shopping and so much more! I'm gonna hate to say good-bye but I'm looking forward to heading back home!

Escaped time...

"Once after finishing a picture, I thought I would stop for awhile, take a trip, do things--the next time I thought of this I found five years had gone by."
Willem de Kooning

I read this quote and had to laugh! How many times have I checked the date on the calendar or looked at the time and realized how much time has escaped me... specifically in reference to how long it's been since I've blogged! More than a year...and to think I really enjoy blogging...Lol one would probably question that if they were to look at the last date of my post!


I was reading this morning in James 4:14 where it says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." Although time may often escape me, my heart's desire would be that I would stand before my Lord and hear the words "well done, thou good and faithful servant." To know that I used my time wisely and spent it for Christ's glory is one of the greatest blessings I can think of! But yet, how many of us can say that we really spend every moment of our time for Christ?

Greens, greens, and more greens!!!

My sister is getting married in June and I have decided to try to and get into better shape for this cute little black dress we get to wear. Well...easier said than done! I started doing some research about weight loss, average size for your age and height, diets that work and don't work, etc...there is so much information out there that's it's almost overwhelming. I'm not taking diet pills and I'm not doing some crazy diet that consists of nothing but brussel sprouts and beets. After talking with several people who have lost weight successfully and have kept it off I finally came up with a plan that I knew wouldn't be easy but that I knew I could follow if I just stuck with it. I try to exercise three time a week and I've decided to eat about five to six times a day (that's a good start because I do like to eat :) But in order to do so, I have to control my portions; I eat only until I'm satisfied and nothing more. I'm told that when you eat five to six times a day it keeps your metabolism working constantly. When you eat just two or three times a day your metabolism slows down and your body stores what you eat as fat for a future energy source. I eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies, protein and whole grains and try to stay away from processed foods. I've read and heard that dark green veggies are what your body really needs! The first week was horrible cause I kept cheating and eating what I wasn't suppose to. The second week I did a little better but not by much, the third week I actually stuck with it but didn't really enjoy it and now my fourth week, which is what I'm on now, has gone so much better that I've been eating really good and I'm actually beginning to crave fruits and veggies. Saturdays and Sundays aren't all that great and I have to try harder on those days but the rest of the days are pretty good. Here is a typical day:

Breakfast - Yogurt and toast or whole grain muffin
Mid morning - One piece of large fruit
Lunch - Salad with lots of greens like spinach, romaine, broccoli, and peppers with some protein like turkey breast or chicken, a few almond slices and a small piece of fruit.
Afternoon - raw carrot sticks or celery
Dinner - Grilled chicken breast or fish, 1/2 cup of barely steamed veggies and
maybe a little whole grain pasta or brown rice
Evening - Granola or popcorn without anything on it

Of course I vary a lot of my meals and I don't eat the exact thing everyday but as long as its healthy, raw, or whole-grain I'll eat it. Now I've been doing this for four weeks and this past weekend I was getting a little frustrated thinking 'is this really working or even worth it?' But yesterday at church I had several people tell me I looked like I was losing weight!! Yea!!! I was so excited, I guess it is working it just takes lots of persistence and stick-to-it-ness!