The Honeymoon Begins!

Finally, I bring to you stories from the honeymoon-adventure that Lucas and I enjoyed in Thailand from mid-February to mid-March of this year.   Most of  what I will write about our trip will come directly from the journal I diligently kept while traveling, with some new reflections added in.  It will no doubt take several posts to cover all of the experiences we had while there.   So, please check back here for more posts in the weeks to come!  


As a preface to the chronicles of our trip: 

The 6 months that followed the day I married my love in Mt. Shasta were jammed full of work, holidays, moving from Dunsmuir, CA to Portland, OR, putting our trailer in Dunsmuir on the market, putting an offer on a home in Portland, and discovering our pregnancy.  Together with the months of wedding preparation we previously slaved away at, Lucas and I had had very little down time in the past year.  We were ripe for a big vacation and are blessed to have been able to make that happen.  As a last minute bonus, our honeymoon also became our celebrated baby-moon, likely the last big trip we will take alone as a couple for a long, long time.   Little did we know how awesome our honeybabymoon would be. 


From journal entries, February 18th and 19th, 2012: 

On Valentine's Day, we boarded our evening flight to San Francisco from Portland.  We had a 1.5 hour flight and a 1.5 hour layover before boarding our 13 hour overnight flight from San Fran to Taipei, Taiwan.  When we arrived in Taipei, it was 6:30 in the morning on the 16th.  How strange.  The older Taiwanese woman seated next to me and I did a televised Chi Gong routine together, as the immaculate and beautiful crew of China Air prepared for landing, my seatmate translating for me.  It was a nice way to end the long flight and wake up my body after being sedentary for so long, not to mention a lovely way to connect with a stranger.  Our brief time in the Taipei airport was a confused rush of finding the correct terminal, barely enough time to catch our connection to Thailand.  4 hours later we were landing in Bangkok, on the opposite side of the world from where we began our journey. 

Stepping out into the sweltering hot and humid morning, we briefly searched for our ride.  Lucky for us, Lucas has friends living in Bangkok who were happy to pick us up at the airport and house us for our first night in Thailand.  They were wonderful, and helped make our transition to a new place so smooth and easy.  Our day with Melissa and John was all about awesome food.  

We started our food tour with a fresh fruit smoothie before having a late lunch at a traditional Muslim restaurant.  This was the first Muslim food I have had, and, wow, was it amazing!  Rice cooked with clove, saffron, and cinnamon, topped with simple but perfectly cooked lamb chunks and a delicious tangy/oily sauce.  We ate this with a chicken soup: a few pieces of perfectly cooked chicken in a spicy, sweet, sour, and flavorful clear broth.  I have no idea what spices were in the soup, but it was almost too good.  Our first afternoon snack was Roti, a common street-cart specialty.  Roti is basically fried dough topped with sweetened condensed milk and sugar and stuffed with slices of banana (it was fried in the orangest margarine I have ever seen - read MSG!).   Not something I would normally eat, but indeed a good taste of Thailand.  Our second afternoon snack was butter chicken cooked by a man who does this Indian-Pakistani-Afghani fusion.  An awesome chicken curry Indian style, but with some little differences.  Fresh mangosteens and rose apples from the market were our pre-dinner snack. 

For dinner we went to this nice restaurant called Face with a Thai menu, an Indian menu, and a Japanese menu.  The ambiance was the best part - you walk to the restaurant via a wooden deck lined with little coves, hangout nooks on different levels, a massage hut, koi ponds.  Inside the all wooden structure, it is decorated very authentically with Thai antiques, artwork, and dim lights.  Dinner consisted of the best mango lassi I have ever had as well as several shared Indian dishes that were unique in their preparation and ingredients - different than any other Indian food I have had before.    

With all the food stuffed into my belly during the day, on top of jet lag and lack of sleep and being pregnant, by the time we returned to our host's beautiful house, I had hit a wall of exhaustion.  I slept great that night!  John and Melissa, in Thailand on a military assignment, live in a very nice neighborhood in Bangkok rightly nicknamed Little America, made up of 90% American ex-pats.  Big beautiful houses in a well kept gated community with lots of trees and beautiful plants - hard to believe it was Bangkok and not in the middle of the jungle instead.  Incidentally, they have seen pythons and cobras in their yard! 

The next morning, we got a taxi to the bus station and were just in time to catch the 11:00 bus, headed south to the coast.  It was about a 5 hour journey to Prachuap Khiri Khan, beautiful as we got further away from Bangkok into the jungle and closer to the ocean.  The bus dropped us off on the highway outside of town.  We apparently had no other option but to hire 2 motorbike taxis to take us into town.  Yes, imagine pregnant me on the back of a little motorbike, wearing a big backpack and no helmet, riding at a high speed on the highways.  Praying is what I did during the entire 10 minute ride. 

Safe and sound, we were dropped off at Maggie's Homestay, just 2 blocks from the ocean.  For 2 nights we rented a cute 2nd story room in this big house that rents out several rooms to travellers.   We shared a bathroom with a few other people and had use of the communal kitchen too.  It is a nice, laid back place with a central location, clean, friendly and very safe feeling. 

Prachuap Khiri Khan is a noisy and bustling coastal town, with lots of cars and motorbikes and bicycles and people zooming around.  Other than a beautiful view of surrounding islands, the beach scene was pretty much non-existant.  We didn't see one person in the water during our stay and few people walking on the littered beach.  We stayed in this town long enough to explore a few of it's perks, but honestly were ready to leave in search of a more tranquilo beach. 

Before leaving, we ate some good food:  fresh caught cotton fish topped with a green mango salad, the same fish topped with a tamarind sauce, fresh pineapple smoothies, mango-coconut sticky rice, rice with pork and a basil sauce, sweet coconut sticky rice with red beans roasted in a bamboo stalk, and my favorite, a brothy pork soup jam packed with a variety of seaweeds...yum! 

Prachuap's weekend Walking Market was a fun experience too.  Booths lined street upon street selling food, clothes, beautiful furniture, random household items, and our favorite - plants.  There were booths completely full of flowering orchids for sale at incredibly low prices.  It was beautiful and filled us with a sense of longing. 

People were very friendly for the most part, loving to practice their English with us...waving and calling out "Hello!"  Lots of smiles and laughter.  Lots of white tourists and lots of Thai tourists here for the weekend. 

Our favorite moments in Prachuap were spent at the Khao Chong Krajok temple, a nice steep walk up the town hill.  There were about 400 stairs leading to the hilltop temple. 

But, the cool thing about the walk to the temple was the monkeys.  They were everywhere, on the surrounding rocks, in the trees, on the stairs and railings.  It was the coolest sight.  So interesting to watch their mannerisms and interactions and how they are so similar to us humans, yet so different.  Several mamas had their tiny babies clinging to their undersides as they walked, nursing as they sat.  They were grooming each other, fighting over food, baring their teeth and hissing at us when we stared too long or got too close. 

The temple itself was beautiful, perched above the town, the bay, the Thail Gulf with it's lush islands, and the surrounding coutryside of rice fields.  Picturesque and tranquil, a perfect spot to build a temple to honor all that is sacred in life. 

Up here, looking out at the beautiful expanse around us, I sure felt grateful for this good life, for the patience I had in times when I have had to wait for all of my life's pieces to fall into place, and for the chance to be on this trip with Lucas. 

In Full Spring!

Today is a wonderous day. I am sitting under the blooming lilac and apple trees in our small side yard, enjoying the coolness of the shade on this warm day, as well as the scent of lilac all around me. It is the Saturday of my work week, a much needed weekend.

Lucas and I awoke relatively early today and had our first meeting with our wedding caterer. We then hiked through the snow in our t-shirts up a steep mountain that edges the snow covered Castle Lake. I almost took a polar plunge as we tentatively crossed the lake - my foot fell through the snow into the icy water!



And now, I have color on my skin, my legs feel like jelly, and I am soooo happy that spring is here - it sure is amazing! The temperatures are quickly rising, the flowers are blooming all around, and the trees are starting to fill out with leaves. Finally, we can start to plant some hardy items in the garden and get some other starts going indoors. The weather is allowing us to explore the lay of the land more, in our style. And as the beauty of the area tip-toes to it's summer fullness, we begin to understand more deeply why we are here - this land inspires creativity, activity, meditation, and awe. It brings us closer to ourselves and deepens our connection to the sacred sides of life.



This past week was the final class in the free Infant Massage Series that I taught. It was a wonderful class, and wonderful to see how the babies and parents in the class continually opened and relaxed during the course of the series. Even I found the class to be one of the most relaxing points during my week, just being in the same room as 5 little ones blissed from massage. I learned a lot from the process of teaching the series, and look forward to creating another series in the future.


My job at the Crystal Room is working out great. I am finally starting to feel comfortable with most of my tasks and feel that I am doing well at them. Although it can be stressful at times, the days go by fast and I am grateful to have work. AND, I am lucky enough to have this amazing spot, Sisson Meadow, to eat lunch at every day, just a few blocks away from the Crystal Room:



Between working at the Crystal Room and in the studio, planning our wedding, and taking care of daily chores, life has taken on a new level of fullness. I highly delight in my days off, and the little sprinklings of nature and music and friends that I am able to enjoy during them.

The End, or Just the Beginning: Day 40!!!! of 40 Days

The time has come to conclude this lil' daily project of mine. I sure hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. And despite my ramblings of looking forward to the 40 days being over, I have enjoyed the project greatly as well.

Thank you thank you thank you for reading all that I have been writing! Really, thank you. It has been a pleasure to share more of my life with you, more of my inner thoughts and experiences. It means a lot to me to have the support of family and friends in this sharing. So, again, I thank you for visiting my "home," for warming me up inside.

My intentions with the days and months to come regarding this blog are simple. I am going to keep writing. Most likely I will be writing on more of a weekly basis than a daily basis. But I will keep writing. I will keep my door open, keep my self open to you.

And for tonight....I am blogging earlier than normal while Lucas cooks a delicious smelling African vegetable nut soup, sipping on a Pipeline Porter (out of Kona Brewing - yum!), enjoying the lingering evening light outside and the scent of spring on the air, celebrating my first payday today and the gratification of doing well at my new job, and preparing to spend the rest of my evening with my love! Life is damn good!

New Balance: Day 39 of 40 Days

It feels like balance is finally returning to my life, somewhat anyway. A newer version of balance. It feels good to be busy again, living a full life, and to be finding all the little spaces to fill with good things. Balance is the key, balance is always the key.

I approach my job, which is not the type of job I would typically try to get, with a sense of curiosity and interest. What I am learning to do is quite complicated, with a steep learning curve. But I am learning it, and my brain feels good under the new stimulation. I can even say that, surprisingly, I am enjoying the work thus far, because of the challenge and because it is using my brain in a way it hasn't been used in a long time. Thus, it feels like a healthy activity.

When I leave work, I let it go. Literally. When I walk out the front door at the end of the day, I make a conscious effort to exhale deeply and and with my breath I leave the events of the day at work. I intentionally try to not bring home any stress or lingering tasks. Home is for other things, for other parts of my self.

With limited free time, I have to fit in my other interests and necessary responsibilities here and there, where ever they may possibly be sneaked in. This is where the balance comes in. I cannot expect myself to clean the whole house in one day. I do a little one day, a little another. If I try to do ceramics every single day, other parts of my self get neglected. I have to moderate myself. Just like I need to moderate how many cookies I eat or how often I drink wine, I need to moderate how much time I spend watching movies, reading novels, doing artwork, cooking and cleaning. To make time for it all, I need to live my life in bits and pieces.

Lucky I am to have a partner in crime, a partner in living. We help each other out. We have started to take turns cooking dinner. This has been awesome. Every other night, while Lucas cooks, I stretch or go for a walk or take care of things that need to be taken care of, and then am fed a warm delicious meal. The alternate nights, I enjoy cooking a healthy meal for us both to delight in, while Lucas does what he needs or wants to do. We support each other in maintaining balance, help and encourage each other to have time to do all the things we love. This is good good stuff.

As I said a few days ago, one of the things I have learned during these past 39 days is that blogging every day is not in balance for me. Blogging this often is not moderation for me. I have done it every day as I committed to, and I am glad that I have. I have learned from the process. I have learned that it is too much, and if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have learned that. AND, as always, I have no regrets about it either. It was a worthwhile experience, it helped me learn and grow, and I am happy for that. It is part of the continual process of learning how to establish balance.

And now it is about time to readjust and realign and reestablish a new sense of balance.

Kraut Time: Day 38 of 40 Days

Tonight I started a new batch of Sauerkraut and thought that maybe you would like to join me in the adventure of fermenting vegetables. Not only are fermented vegetables super tasty and easy to make, they are also packed full of enough amazing health benefits to be considered one of the Superfoods.

The process of making sauerkraut was developed as a means to help preserve vegetables during the winter months in both China and Germany. Immigrants and military found it a helpful way to carry vegetables along during their endless journies, and discovered that they stayed healthier because of it. Rich in vitamin C, Calcium, other vitamins and minerals, and fiber, Sauerkraut is a cancer fighter useful in treating and preventing many forms of cancer. It boosts the immune system, decreasing rates of colds and flus, skin problems, and weight gain. Because it is packed full of benefical bacteria such as lactobacilli, sauerkraut is a powerful digestive aid, and can even help cure an upset tummy, candida, and other chronic digestive issues.

In our home, we like to have a couple of bites before we start dinner, when we feel like we've eaten too much, or when we feel like we are coming down with a cold. Sauerkraut is a great addition to sandwiches, tacos, salads, and more.

The process is quite easy. While cabbage is the traditional veggie to make sauerkraut with, any vegetable can be used, as well as spices, herbs, and seaweeds. The ingredients may be chopped finely or coarsely. The finer they are chopped, the faster the fermentation process will be complete enough to eat the kraut. It is also traditional to use salt to aid in the process. Salt will draw water out of the veggies, providing an appropriate bath for them to ferment in. Salt will also help prevent bad bacteria from entering the process, acting as a preservative. Some people choose to not use salt, and some use quite a bit. The more salt you use, the longer will be your fermentation process. If you need to watch your salt intake, you may choose to not use salt, or very little, in your kraut mixture. Be assured that there are other ways to prevent the rare bad bacteria, ie mold.

This is what I made my kraut with tonight:

1 green cabbage, finely sliced
1 carrot, shredded
3 Tbls shredded red beet
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbls + 1 tsp salt (you really don't need more than this, though you might play with using less. A general rule of thumb is to use 3 Tbls per 5 pounds of veggies.)

* Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Use your fist to punch the mixture. This helps break down the fibers enough so that the vegetables will start to release it's water and the salt and bacteria can start it's action.

* Put a couple of handfulls of the mixture into a glass container. I use a tall crystal vase. Use a wooden spoon to beat/tamp down the mixture into the bottom of the container, compacting it. Add a couple more handfuls. Tamp down. Repeat till all of the mixture is in the vase.

* Next, you will need to put something heavy on top of your mixture to keep it weighed down. My grandmother apparently put her kraut in a crockpot and weighed it down with a brick. In my vase, I nest another smaller glass vase filled with water on top of my kraut.

* Cover with a towel or cheesecloth.

* In the morning, check out what is happening in your container. You should see that a lot of water has been drawn out of the vegetables, depending on what veggies you used. If your veggies are not submerged in water, add enough water so that the veggies are submerged an inch below the surface of the water. No veggies should be sticking out of the water, in order to prevent mold growth. Recover with your cloth, which will help keep fruit flies out.

* Now the magic starts to happen. Somehow, bacteria from the air seeps into the water and then into the veggies and starts the fermentation process. In three days, give the kraut a taste. If you see a film on the surface of the water, skim it off before dipping in to scoop out some kraut. If the kraut still tastes quite salty, it isn't done.

* Check the kraut every 2-3 days to see what it's progress is. You will know it is done when it isn't super salty, when it tastes good, and when it has that familiar fermented flavor. I usually find that my kraut is to my liking about a week to 10 days after I started it. It is fine to let it go longer than this, it will just develop a stronger flavor, and odor. With a little experimentation, you will find what length of fermentation is to your liking.

* When it tastes done, place the kraut in a glass jar, and store in the fridge.

* Enjoy!!