{crafty} Cambodia layouts

Last August I tackled my first layout to document my trip to Cambodia and since then the rest of those pictures have been sitting and taunting me. I have been squeezing in more and more time lately to craft and create some scrapbook pages and I find that I am reaching for those pictures more often than not. I have started with a few of my favorite pictures but I have so many more! I *think* I might create a few more layouts and then stick them in album together with pocket pages to hold the rest of the photos.

With this layout I wanted to record some of the details of the trip. It is so amazing to look back and recall just how amazing it was to be there and help.

 Thanks for looking!

{flashy} Photo Share

I have a couple of frames in the house that I have been thinking of swapping out with new pictures. I had a few in mind already but as I was looking back at my pictures, I realized I totally neglected my camera this year. I am terrible about capturing everyday moments from anything other than my phone, and on my phone they usually stay.

Since I am going through my small collection of photos I thought a blog share was in order. It's been a while for that too! Some of my favorites from this year...A few from Cambodia

look at those feet! these kids live in the dirt, it was rare to see any wearing shoes

this little girl was so precious

one of the nicer homes we saw in the villages

I snapped this from the van as we drove by on our way to a village

I just adore this picture! Taken at Remember Nhu.


Back at home, a few macro shots.

and of course some Instagram pics

Pike's Market in Seattle

Space Needle, of course

View form the Space Needle

A nearby park where I run...when I run

And most recently, on the road to a friends house on a beautiful fall morning

{off topic} His love is wide

There was a time when this blog was supposed to be about my artistic endeavors. Yes, even cooking is an art. Oh, what good times they were. I started off so strong and then lost all my umph. One thing about me is that I am NOT a naturally creative person. Not in the least. I have always been more logically driven. It just so happens that everything I find passion for, that I enjoy and strive for, involves a decent level of creativity. Since it doesn't come naturally to me I work at it. Painstakingly work at it. At times...err, always...its a slow process. I'm working on that. In the meantime I find it impossible to not share where I am personally. 


When I started going to church, just over a year ago, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had gone to church as a kid but don't recall being too involved. What I never expected was how much it would change me, consume me, fill me with joy. I was seeking to refine my beliefs, and I got exactly what I asked for.

I have had the song Furious by Jeremy Riddle in my head for the last two days. I have heard it in church a couple of times and all I can say is that this song completely overcomes me. One thing, in any genre of music, that pulls me in is emotion. I want to hear it in their voices. To feel it in my heart. And when that happens I am moved to tears without any real knowledge of why I am crying. This song is no exception. The only thing I can say is that it fills my heart with love, and who doesn't want that? And His love at that. 

I came home from Cambodia two weeks ago. I have been struggling with what to post and sat down several times at my computer to do it but the words would not come to me. This song has inspired me. Although I'm still not sure what I am trying to say while I am typing away :)

"His love is deep. His love is wide. And It covers us. His love is fierce. His love is strong. It is furious."

My time in Cambodia was spent helping people that needed to be shown this kind of love. To know that it is available to them, waiting for them. After enduring years of genocide, which is still fresh in their history, their country needs healing. And what better way to heal than with God's love? It empowers us to do more than we imagined possible. 

During the week we spent in Takeo visiting different villages I helped register our "patients". I struggled with not having much opportunity to interact with the people more than I did. They told my translator what they needed to be seen for; I wrote down what he said. But I tried to find moments to connect when words were not necessary. A smile is universal, right? Those small connections were some of the highlights of my days that week. Of course learning a tiny bit of Khmer, their language, helped a little too. 



We saw just under 900 people in that week and I saw many people turned away because we simply could not help everybody. A majority of the people had pretty standard complaints; arthritis pain, toothaches, colds and stomach aches.  There were some that had been dealing with chronic issues for 5, 10 even 20 years without ever seeing a doctor. Whether it was a 7 year old boy that had an abscessed tooth pulled. An 85 year old woman getting glasses so she could read again. Or a 40 year old man being given pain medication from falling out of a palm tree, true story! We brought relief and hope. 

I was met with so many faces of endurance. Of resiliency.


of innocence. 

The children. Oh, don't get me started on the children. They truly stole my heart. Seeing as though I could probably talk about them for hours, I will save that for another post. 

I can only hope that I helped touch their lives as much as they touched mine. 

{flashy} Snow Day + I Heart Faces entry

Growing up in sunny southern California we never got to experience snow unless we jumped in the car and drove an hour away to look for it. I have memories of playing in the snow with my family when I was young, but in recent years those experiences were few and far between. About 7 years ago (geez has it really been that long?) I was visiting my parents for Thanksgiving and while up late spending time with my family we realized it was snowing. I was so excited and so in awe, you would have thought I had never even seen snow before. I think I spent the entire next day sitting on their couch staring out the window, watching the snow fall. Much like rain, I find it to be so peaceful for me. It makes me smile. It makes my soul sing.

When we moved up to the Portland, OR area last summer one of the things I was looking forward to most was winter. Or to even have real seasons at all. The area we live in is no stranger to snow, or so I was told, but I quickly learned that our weather is totally unpredictable. Throughout the winter months we had snow forecasted quite often but rarely did it ever show. And when it did, it was very short lived and never amounted to anything.

Finally, last week there was talk of us being hit with the worst snow storm of the season and I started getting antsy. In the back of my mind I doubted it would happen. Thursday morning we woke up to a beautiful white blanket of snow, and better yet, it was still coming down. Here we were, in the last few days of February and now we have snow.

Carson and I ate breakfast and then went outside to play. I snapped some pictures first and then put my camera away to play in the snow with my son. Within a couple hours the snow had nearly completely melted away. We watched it snow off and on for the rest of the day, never again sticking to the ground.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day, and that I've taken in recent months as well. It makes me smile. This is what I have been ever-so-impatiently waiting for.

I've come to realize I have a hard time sharing without story telling. This whole entry started because I wanted to submit this photo for this weeks I Heart Faces photo challenge.

So there you have it. A photo, and its story.