Highlights from Chiang Mai

Sometimes I think my blog is like a Jason Bourne movie without the action.  Things just don't happen in chronological order when I write them.  Unfortunately, there isn't any rhyme or reason to it.  So if you were thinking I gave you promises of future Thailand postings and then made you wait for some purpose, I'm sad to say that is not the case.  So all of a sudden out of nowhere, back we go to Thailand with this list of some things I enjoyed in Chiang Mai.  Please, don't be concerned by my numbering system.  It isn't about rank--just trying to keep things tidy.

1.  Wat Chedi
Considering the hard core celebrations I took part in for Idaho's centinnial growing up, you have to know I am a connoisseur of places with century-plus years on them.  So you can imagine with what joy and reverence I greeted this beautiful old buddy from the 14th century.

It absolutely enchanted me to walk along a road and run into an ancient structure peeping out from between the buildings.  Sam and I both thought the snakes were incredible:

2.  Outdoor Markets

Maybe it's just me, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Thailand seems pretty exotic.  For example, I don't think I've ever encountered anything like this before at home.

Yes, this is a truck of pigs heads.

The flower stalls were so lovely that I wanted to swoop in and buy armfuls of birds of paradise and orchids.  But since I had no home to put them in, a tragic lack of flower purchasing ensued.  

The larger Sunday market was amazing.  There were incredible crafts to discover (though we were tempered by the backpacks to curb crazy shopping impulses).   

My favorite part were the smoothies these ladies made for us.  I got fresh coconut passion fruit and it was ridiculously good.

3.  The Guest House

Our guest house advertised it self as having 24 hour toast and tea.  How in the world could you possibly beat that?  Sam got so addicted to the luxury of having toast available at any time of the day or night that he began to get toast withdrawals once we moved on.   

The people who run this guest house were so kind and helpful.  And best of all, something about the brick buildings and garden reminded me a great deal of being at my Grandma Bonnie's house, only Thai style.  

4.  More Temples!

I don't know what to say about this.  Chiang Mai is a city filled with beautiful temples.  I love them.

5.  Cooking School

If I was going to play favorites, this would be number one on my list.  I LOVED getting to cook a five course meal with a Thai family.  We got to tour the family herb garden.

We went to the market to learn about all the foods we would be cooking...

Sam and I got to wear matching aprons, pound curry, and cut up wood ear mushrooms, which isn't something we do every day, I'll be honest.

The grande finale was an incredible dinner.  Here is a recipe for mango and sticky rice that we particularly liked.  However, I must warn you (as I was strictly warned by our teacher) that it is completely incomprehensible and impossible to make this with anything but Thai sticky rice.  To do so will result in things so terrible they cannot be spoken.  Knowing you as I do though, dear readers, I figured you might try to pull something like not using Thai sticky rice.  So I came home and tried using sushi rice because I had it, and (though it was different from what we had at school) I was satisfied and my face didn't fall off.

Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango


1 cup sticky rice soaked 4-6 hours
1 cup very thick coconut cream (I used sweetened coconut cream for baking and didn't add palm sugar)
2 tablespoons palm sugar
2 pinches salt
2 ripe mangoes


Drain the rice and steam over a medium heat for 20 minutes (I cooked in a pan on the stove, oh I'm so bad!)  Remove the rice from the steamer and mix with coconut cream, sugar and salt immediately.  Stir gently.  Cover and let stand for about 1/2 hour.  Serve with peeled, sliced mango.

The Camera and Me

So I know I'm always saying this, but boy have I had a lot going on lately.  In the midst of getting back from the great voyage, starting my new job, being sick, and making sure that Sam's birthday was celebrated to the largest extent possible, I've also developed a new interest in photography.  

I'm pretty sure that I will never qualify as being a Photographer with a capital P, but the other day I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, and she has a section on BASIC photography skills.  I was so excited because it was all the questions I was too embarrassed to ask friends who are  photographers.  I just about fell out of my chair when I took my first real look at the buttons on my camera and realized it could do way more than flash or not flash, which has been the extent of my skills up to now.  

As I read through the online tutorials my enthusiasm just grew.  Sam helped me learn about my camera by jumping around so I could see if I could find the button that would make my shutter speed fast enough so he wouldn't blur.

  

Not a blur in sight!  Unfortunately the sun was setting and I had to turn to the apartment to find subjects.  

This is the clearest portrait of my shoes that has yet been taken.  You can see they are well loved.  We are conquering the elliptical together.  

Perhaps no plastic flower has been photographed more than this one.  I really wanted the flower to be clear and everything else to be fuzzy, but it was such an uphill battle.  You can see I found the black and white setting.

My favorite photo from this session though was this one, in which our modest t.v. is about to be beamed up into the mothership.

The next day I had a lot more success when I was able to go outside.  I lose time when I am experimenting with taking photographs.  Reggie, the maintenance person at our apartment (who I've spent a lot of time getting to know due to a few apartment disasters) thought it was pretty hilarious when he found me huddled behind a bush with my camera in the parking lot.  I spent about two hours taking pictures of leaves and flowers (again hoping to capture the clear flower fuzzy background look all the cool kids are using) and I only stopped because I had to go somewhere.  

If you wanted to see a couple hundred more pictures of this bush let me know!

Sam has been happy to review all the pictures of grass and leaves I'm taking lately when he gets home from work.  He even votes on which of the twenty pictures of this bad boy is the best...

Sam's choice for Dead Leaf of the Day

  

However he is getting sick of being the star of my portraits, so if you want to sit and let me take your picture for a few hours, let me know.  He will LOVE you.  And I will do everything in my power to make the background fuzzy behind you, I promise.

On a very important side note, thank you for reading my blog.  It means so much to me when I hear that you have read what I wrote and you share comments.  Have a happy day!

Day of Days

Well everyone, today is a HUGE holiday in my year.  I've been waiting and waiting for it to get here, and at last it is Sam's birthday!!  Those who know me well know that while I joke about a lot of things, I take birthdays VERY seriously.  This week for me is all about celebrating the incredible blessing that my husband is to me.  So here are some things I love about my Sam:

He takes my need for cheap puzzles in severe blizzards extremely seriously.  

His smile absolutely makes my day.  Every time.

He doesn't outshine me when it comes to making dogs comfortable.

Plus he is gracious when I choose the picture where his mouth is weird because I look cuter in it.

He can kick major tail in a 5K.  Or even a 10K.  And maybe even a half marathon (go 34!).  Plus he always encourages me in every goal I set and makes me feel like I can try for things that I've never thought possible (can we all remember the backpack I took to Thailand?).

He loves my friends and family and is kind to everyone he meets.

He is ridiculously good to me.  On the day this picture was taken I was sad, and he taught himself how to make cookies online to make me feel better.  

He is so much fun to hang out with.  He cracks me up every day and he never thinks my crazy ideas are too silly to try.  I am so happy, proud, and grateful to be married to him.  Happy Birthday Sam!