thailand // Deep Water Soloing

One of the main reasons we went to Thailand was for the rock climbing. Alden grew up bouldering and has dreamed about going to Thailand to try deep water soloing. Deep water soloing is when you scale tall cliffs without rope or harnesses and drop into the blue green waters below. The perfect mix of rock climbing and cliff jumping. It was so fun to watch his dream come true.

While staying on a peninsula called Railay we got up early one morning and jumped aboard a sail boat. We went out with a group of six and our guide and sailed out to some small islands made up of steep cliffs.

We all loaded into a dingy and pushed off toward the cliffs. Alden jumped out and started climbing like a pro. It was so fun to watch him. Just to get this out there.... I'm terrified of heights, and the ocean, and sharks. BUT I did manage to scale about 7 feet up a cliff and jump off. GO ME.

For lunch we ate at a small beach (fried rice! woot). Right after we finished, a massive storm came in. It was freezing cold so we got in the water to stay warm and hung out under and overhang. We were in the water for probably 45 mins when things cleared up enough for us to move on.

We headed to another spot where Alden and our guide were the only ones to scale this crazy cliff. Alden had to basically do the splits from the wall to a hanging stalactite.  We were all cheering him on and this British woman on our tour asked when he stretched into the splits, "Did you know he could do that?".... No, darling, I did not.

That boy never ceases to amaze me. I love watching him do things he is good at, things he is passionate about, things that scare me a little bit.

The day ended with a sail back and Bob Marley blasting from the stereo. Oh... and a cold pop. 

wear / there / morocco

pants | blouse | shoes | scarf | necklace | bag

I've decided to bring back the wear there posts! For those of you who are new around here... Wear There posts are when I pick a place I'd like to visit and then create an outfit of what I'd wear there! Check out the bottom of the post to see some of the past wear there's.

I have a neighbor, Julie, that I grew up with in Idaho, who also ended up being my neighbor in Hawaii for a short time who is in Morocco right now. Her and her husband joined the Peace Corps and will be in Morocco for over 2 years. It's been fun to read about their journey and see what life is like in another country. (Click here to read her blog about their time in Morocco!) Their adventures inspired this post... and while Morocco isn't at the top of my list I do think it would be a neat place to visit (maybe take a boat ride there from Spain?) I asked Julie how to dress in Morocco and what to expect if you visit. Here is what she said,

"There are certainly spoken and unspoken rules of modesty here in Morocco, which vary region by region. However, a good general rule to follow is cover your elbows, cover your bottom, and avoid showing your figure. This makes you and everyone around you more comfortable.
Morocco is nicknamed "the cold land with the hot sun," and nothing could be more accurate. In the winter, the weather is bone chilling. Without central heating in most buildings and houses, thermals, winter coats, and gloves can be worn at all times. In the summer, temperatures sky rocket above 100 degrees in many areas. This is when being modest is challenged."

Also, click over to Say Yes to Hoboken where I am talking about overalls today! Would you wear overalls? Did you wear them when you were a kid like I did?

Past Wear There Posts
Thailand | Switzerland | Ireland | Greece | New Zealand | Paris | San Francisco | Italy

Thailand // Ko Lanta

This is part two is a series about our trip to Thailand. To see part one, go here.

After our relaxing time on Ko Phi Phi we took a ferry down to Ko Lanta. Ko Lanta is a larger island with one main road and the main form of transportation is moped! We checked into our little hut and headed off to our cooking class. The class was VERY interesting and was timed nicely since it was pouring outside the entire time. We learned the different ingredients in Thai food and when or when not to eat certain ingredients in the dishes. We then got to make our own food. Our favorite was the green curry, we have since whipped up a batch at home and it was delicious! Our only complaint about the class was how long it was. We were on our feet for about 7 hours, barefoot on cement floor. My feet were swollen and my ankles turned into cankles.

The next day we rented a moped and cruised around the island. We stopped at huge cave and had a guide take us through. They didn't tell me before hand but the cave was full of spiders the size of my hand! The guide got a kick out of pointing out the spiders whenever he saw them just to see me freak out.... We saw at least 10 spiders. I probably wouldn't have gone in if I would have known about the spiders but it was fun anyway. Alden was brave and swam in a pool at the bottom of the cave. His words were... "How can you pass up the opportunity to swim in an underground secret lagoon in Thailand?"

We had planned to go to a national forest after that but it began to rain. We stopped and had lunch and enjoyed the view. We made a stop at a beach on the way home and collected shells until the storm started up again. The next day we loaded up and headed on to the next part of our adventure. It was a short trip and we didn't really get to take advantage of Ko Lanta because of the lack of time and the weather but we enjoyed the change of scenery and driving the moped around on the other side of the road!

*If you are planning a trip of your own to Thailand, we stayed at Lanta Castaway. The cooking class we took was through Time for Lime.

Two ingredient breakfast

I enjoy cooking and sometimes I thrive on making recipes that are complicated. For example, I told my mom I wanted to make Baked Alaska when I was 10... and so we did! And surprisingly it turned out!

But my life is far more crazier now than when I was 10 and I've learned that simplifying is usually the best solution, especially for breakfast! Here is a quick recipe I learned from my friend Becca for a simple breakfast. It's perfect by itself on the go or with toast and eggs or even pancakes!

Grapefruit Soup
1 Grapefruit
2 Oranges

A citrus juicer works best if you have one.
Cut the grapefruit in half and with a butter knife cut each segment out into a glass. Juice what is left of the grapefruit into the glass. Do the same with the other half of the grapefruit into a separate glass. Juice both oranges with the juicer. Poor the orange juice in the glass until its full. Drink and enjoy! Makes 2 glasses of juice.

*If you like a heartier and more tart drink then do one grapefruit to one orange.

Daily Eats #03

This week's Daily Eats is a round up of sauces, syrups, frosting and dips.

Breakfast: Buttermilk Syrup from my cousin Jarica
I'm excited to share this recipe with you because its a family recipe and we've been making it for years at all our waffle parties. This syrup is so delicious and easy. I'm convinved that even if I poured it over cardboard and ate it would be delightful.

Buttermilk Syrup
1 square butter
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.
Take off heat and add:
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda-this will make it foam and expand
*store in the fridge when not using

Lunch: "The best hummus you'll ever have" featured on A Cup of Joe, by Sprouted Kitchen
I was excited to make this because I had bought tahini for another recipe and I needed to use it up. We halfed this recipe and it still had plenty for the two of us. We accidentally doubled the red chilli flakes and caught it just in time to scrape some out but the hummus did have a nice "kick" to it, so I'm not sure if that is normal or because of our mistake. I love the use of lemon and herbs in this recipe. I did substitute dry dill for fresh dill because I couldn't find any fresh dill and I reduced it by more than half so it wouldn't be too overpowering.

Dinner: Great Grandma's Pasta Sauce by Table for Two
I'll admit I haven't made this recipe yet but it looks tasty! Right now the way we do spaghetti sauce is 1 jar of pasta sauce, throw in some spices and frozen meatballs and let it simmer in the crock pot all day. I'm wondering if I could get the best of both worlds and mix the two recipes!

Dessert:  Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting by Not So Humble Pie
This frosting has so many things going for it. It has a great consistency for cakes, cupcakes, cookies and melts perfectly on warm cinnamon rolls. Its not overly sweet and has a great cream cheese taste. I've made this frosting many of times and its definitely on my "keeper" list.

No longer pretending

As the second oldest with four siblings below me I was no stranger to babies. In fact I once put approximately 25 drops of green food coloring into my little brothers bottle so he would drink it. And he did! He also throw up and pooped turquoise green for the next few days and I was warned of the dangers of "food color poisoning". I was practically a baby myself (11 yrs old) at the time so the concept of mothering to me was the same as playing house.

But now I'm playing house for real (sans baby) and its not so much play as it is work. And while the thought of mothering still seems like "pretend" to me, I am one step closer as I picked up my nephew Bane for the first time and watch him lock his eyes on me. My heart got warm and my eyes a little wet as I held this little miracle in my arms. A little piece of my baby sister.

And then I watched my sister be a mother. No longer pretending. She was such a natural, even in her learning. She wasn't scared. She was brave and selfless, just like she has always been. The love poured out of her heart and straight into her arms as she held him tight. I thought of all the mothers in my life, my grandma's, my mother, my mother-in-law and now my sister and I became overwhelmed with love and respect for the sacred calling that is motherhood.

Thailand//Ko Phi Phi

This is part 1 of a series on our trip to Thailand.

Going to Thailand was an amazing experience for me on so many levels.

I had some reservations going into it... long flight, safety, getting sick, and the fact that I had never even been out of the United States.

On the 19 hour flight over I took some medicine so I could sleep through the flight and I also took a little pill to help me keep calm (because flying kind of freaks me out) and I swear that pill kicked in and lasted the entire trip. I felt SO safe in Thailand. More safe than I do in California sometimes. The people were really nice, and ya they were usually trying to sell you something but they didn't take advantage of you.

We flew into Bangkok, transferred airports, slept on the floor and then flew down to Krabi. We spent one night there to kind of "recover" but we were doing surprisingly well so we got out and explored a bit. Krabi is a pretty authentic city and was run down but we caught a "little white bus" aka a small white truck that you ride in the back of and headed to Au Nang where we found a secret beach and some wild and crazy monkeys.

The next day we took a 2 hour ferry to Ko Phi Phi. Ko Phi Phi is an island with a cove on both sides and a small stretch of beach in the middle. The small stretch of beach was crazy crowded and over run with shops and tourists but luckily we had booked our hotel on long beach, which was out and away from all the commotion. We had to take a long boat anytime we wanted to go off of our beach but it was only $3 a person.

Our beach had amazing views of the rest of the island as well as surrounding islands. There were other people there but it was never crowded. Most mornings we even had the beach to ourselves. Ko Phi Phi was definitly the most gorgeous, breath taking part of our trip. It was relaxing and a nice way to kick off our adventure.

Some things we did in Ko Phi Phi,

• Thai massages on the beach at our resort. I think they were one hour for $12.
• Snorkel Trip. Our snorkle trip was probably one of the only disappointing things in Thailand. We booked a cheap tour through our hotel and decided to only do a half day which we were glad we did because our guide was a jerk. Also, the reefs aren't as protected over there so the snorkling really wasn't that great and the places they took us were very crowded.
• Thanksgiving dinner on the beach where we ate a whole fish instead of turkey.
• Ko Phi Phi view hike through town up to the viewpoint and down through the jungle to Rantee Beach on the other side of the island.
• Morning hike to the other side of the island to watch the sunrise.

*If you are planning a trip of your own to Thailand for your information we stayed at Paradise Resort on Ko Phi Phi Long Beach and we highly recommend it.