Spring joy!

I love Spring! It's hard not to like this wonderful season of complete and majestic nature rebirth (only of course, if you have terrible allergies but we'll leave that aside for now.) And since we live in TX, we are fortunate to "see" Spring sneaking in.... even in our garage... like this:

We parked our beautiful azaleea plant in our garage hoping to protect it from the winter cold and freeze. Well, not only it survived but it thrived! This is huge since we have not been able to get another azaleea plant to bloom a second time. I was ecstatic to this beautiful discovery a couple of days back! I don't know why, but plants and flowers in particular touch me in a very special way and although I have not yet dedicated myself to gardening  (at least not to the scale that I'm dreaming up in my head), I take every opportunity I get to tend to plants... I even saved one once from what seemed to be the inevitable:

More plants/flowers at our former Omaha home ...(I go crazy for that lush green grass back there!!!)

 

And how could I pass this one up? (She was mesmerized by "Goffer", her pet frog. This is from two years ago.)

Our student

One thing about Hrishi that you soon come to learn is that the guy is never completely happy or satisfied with himself; he's always looking for ways to improve personally and professionally. We all do, you may think but he is a little different as he has the ability to quickly make actual changes and adjustments that lead to  improvement. I'm not like that and how I wish I were, but maybe some day. Maybe it'll just magically crawl into my brain just by sleeping next to him :)

He likes to study and is now thoroughly engrossed in studying for his Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam. Although he's been studying late nights and weekends, he still manages to make time to take Ella to the park and other fun activities. I'm so proud of him!!! We love you, baby! We're cheering you on to pass with flying colors!
Look at his monster exam prep book: that sucker is probably 5 inches thick!

Baby

Ella's took baby pictures to school today in a sealed envelope. Apparently, they will be playing a game tomorrow to recognize themselves as babies in those pictures. How fun!!! So we dug out her baby albums late last night and selected a couple of pictures. How sweet those memories of the first few days, first few months.... loved reminiscing and pictures are great for that!

Here's my baby:

A few days after she was born:

A few weeks old: she smiled for the first time (and she chose mamaie and tataie first to smile at. Mommy and daddy were grocery shopping... trying to get mommy out of the wonderful, yet extremely tireing "new mommy" routine):

Fresh from Heaven:

In Aaji's and Mamaie's loving arms after her baby blessing and family photo session (fast asleep):

A couple of months later, ready for church:

Almost six months old (I think.) I adore that smile:

Not quite sure what to do with that....

 HUUUGE smile:



Fuzzy loved books the day she laid eyes on them:

We just love you to pieces, darling! Adore and thank God for you, every moment!

Valentine's

Where do I start? We had a full past week and weekend and I'm so glad that today we get to celebrate one of my favorite holidays (I know, I know, I'm sappy!)--Valentine's Day!!! So Happy Valentine's Day!

Let me rewind: Saturday night we went out to the Dallas Children's teather and watched a great production, "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs", a very neat and smart twist on the traditional story. Loved it, laughed so hard! We then went out to Whole Foods for a quick but yummy dinner, picked up our Valentine's Day flowers and headed home. It was magic, just loved spending that time together.

Yesterday/Sunday I gave my sacrament talk on the Book of Mormon, the Keystone of our Religion. And although I'm so glad I had the opportunity, I felt so relieved when it was done. I loved preparing for it as it's probably the best gospel topic one can be asked to speak on, but standing and speaking in front of the entire ward was no small feat for me. Although I have done it so many times in the past, I still get just as nervous every time. But as I stood there, the Spirit once again bore powerful testimony to me of its truthfulness and power in my life and I'm so grateful for that testimony, and for the book. Back to my nerves now: my sweet Ella offered such wonderful prayers at lunch and before heading out to church so I could give a good talk and not be nervous. (Yes, she is the best daughter I could ask for!) While we're waiting for my turn to come, Hrishi told me that she got so nervous that she wanted to walk out in the hallway. How cute and silly is that? :-) I just love her to pieces! Hrishi was able to manage her anxiety by offering up his new iPhone for a few coloring jobs and that did the trick. Only after I was done, she lifted up her head and gave me the biggest and best smile ever! (I tried to decipher it and I think it was a smile full of love, joy, and RELIEF!!! ("You did it, mommy!!!") I probably felt the same relief! After church, Hrishi made the best steak fajitas ever, while Ella and I baked cookies and brownies.

(My favorite flowers: polianthes/tuberoze, I simply adore their strong enticing fragrance.)
Ella's pick was the classic and classy red/white/pink roses. What a perfect choice!)



I am so happy, I feel so blessed and grateful for everything I have in my life. I used to think or live sometime in the future, or hope for one day when this or that would be different, but I've learned to live in the present, and soak it all in, treasure it and be present in my present life, simply because life is a gift and no matter what great things the future holds, all you really have is the "right now and right here."

It was a priviledge and one of the best valentines one could get to hang out and have lunch, first with my little sweetheart, Ella, at school where they had a special Valentine's Day luncheon; then pick up my other sweetheart and hang out at a favorite BBQ joint. Love you both!

Ella's classroom on Valentine's Day.

(I've also gained an increased appreciation for teachers and all they do for our children. Thank you, Mrs. Larkey!)
These are the valentine's we made for her favorite teachers.(We inserted a little bottle of fragrant hand lotion in a little bag that is gently held by two carefully cutout handprints (Ella's of course.))

Here are some additional crafts we worked on:

Heart rose/flower lolipop:

Little white mouse (Ella made this little guy with very little help from me):

Far away and long ago

A couple of years into our marriage, a TV commercial caught our eye. They were not selling anything really but rather trying to get people to support their cause. I love (good) causes and so does Hrishi, so we jumped right into it. We requested an informational packet to learn more about their organization and see how we could help. The end result was sponsoring a sweet little girl whose smile just won our hearts the moment we first saw her picture. Isn't she cute?

This is the first picture we ever got of her, back in 2003 when she was only three.

Her name is Alejandra and she is from Guatemala. We love getting updates from her every few months on her hobbies, drawings, and her life back home in Guatemala, along with a picture. And we send her and her family updates on us once in a while. She is now a beautiful young girl who now writes the updates by herself.

Since then, we "made" another friend in India: this sweet little boy, Debjyoti who loves to draw, play with his friends, and go to school.

We'd really love to meet them some day as I'm dreaming of traveling with humanitarian projects and all kinds of service opportunities we could take on as a family once Ella grows a bit older. Until then though, we'll be pleased with the more domestic ones, like cleaning our church building.

I'm just so grateful for those good people who are out there working hard to help others of not so fortunate circumstances, who volunteer their time, their means, and their hearts. No better way to spend one's life than "losing" it in the service of others.

Picture perfect

Today was one of those perfect days. It felt like I had time to do everything (or almost) everything I had planned on (read from the Ensign, read to Ella, bear testimony, cook a healthy yummy lunch, talk to my parents on the phone, and GET TO STAKE CONFERENCE ON TIME!!!) And we did. The sun was shinning, birds were singing, snow was melting, and we found good seating (one of the perks of getting there on time, I guess!) The speakers were great: Elder Marlin Jensen of the Seventy, Sister Anne M. Dibb, second Counselor in Young Women, Elder Ballard from the Quorum of the Twelve, and our dear Prophet, Pres. Monson. Ella was so excited to see him on the projection screen. The talks covered several topics, from being honorable, having integrity so the Lord can trust and rely on us, having virtue and living our moral values at all times and in all places, to making and keeping covenants, enduring to the end, and lifting those who are tired or lonely, or desperate, and rescuing the "lost battalions of the inactive." (Pres. Monson.) Pres. Monson as always had so many wonderful faith and testimony building stories. I love his wisdom, and enourmous charity and love for others. So I just loved today.

We came home and made yummy snacks for a little "family party": hot and spicy wings, honey BBQ chicken nuggets, celery, yellow peppers, cucumbers, homemade guacomole dip with pita chips, idli (rice cakes), and strawberries and grapes.

Now we're just lounging... got her meals/snacks packed for school tomorrow and I'm just happy I have the rest of evening to relax. We'll be turning the TV on to watch some of the SuperBowl festivities.

I'm excited for nice sunny weather next weekend when we hopefully get to plant these babies...

 They will look perfect lining our backyard fence. Already dreaming of the yummy yield!

Love baking

You name it: apple pies (and I never make my own crust: I don't have the time or the skill, plus Pillsbury is my best friend so I use theirs!), chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, cakes, etc. They're not close to professionally looking (I mean for the cakes) but they're yummy and safe for Ella to eat. Snowy and freezing cold days like these are perfect for baking. Today we made chocolate chip cookies (I used the Divvies' recipe but added some oatmeal and coconut flakes and the batter felt a little runny?) They are absolutely scrumptious! For folks like us this recipe book is a treasure!

I'm excited to try all her recipes. She is just a really amazing person and I'm so grateful that she took her son's Benjamin's food allergies and turned them into a great opportunity to help others (especially children) to enjoy the simple pleasures of eating a good (and healthy) treat without being scared for their life.

And on the same topic (of baking) another family favorite is baked veggies (cauliflower, carrots, and zuchinni.) We usually add sweet potato to the hearty mix but today being (my) low carb day, I didn't add sweet potatoes. To mix it up a little, I added bacon bits, toffutti cheese, and French fried onions. Yum, it turned out great.

And this is what I'm looking at as I'm typing this... it's pretty you know but ballet classes are cancelled again tomorrow...

Winter days

The temperatures have been dropping below 0 around here like it's nobody's business. With windchill, we're in "for a [frozen] treat", -4 F... Brrrr! My only comfort is that in a couple of days we'll be back in the 50s or may not, they keep changing their story! This is something you love or hate about TX, the crazy changing weather.

School has been out for two days now and we've been staying warm and cozy inside the house. Keeping my fingers crossed for the heater not to break down!!! So we've baked, made crafts, got a headstart on Valentine's, did some more baking, worked from home, read, and just had a good time.
(And I've been making collages, I'm having way too much fun with it, I think... (hehehe))

On Saturday Ella got to make her first purchase: she bought a cute toy puppy. I haven't seen her prouder before!  She helped make apple pie and has been so good about practising the piano. We learned the eight note and are counting it using the cute "ap-ple ap-ple" "tempo." It's especially funny when the eight notes are followed by quarter notes and we get to count "ap-ple ap-ple PIE"!!!!! Love it and so does she. We're expanding her repertoire and learning pieces outside of the curriculum. At first I thought she was going to "rebel" and not go along with it but surprise, surprise, she likes the extra curriculum stuff! Yeay!!!

Art and then some more art!

Then some more and the Valentine's we made last night. (I'm just so glad that I found a way to document/"keep" her creations beyond the few weeks they are in our kitchen display.




And finally, these beautiful doodles she drew all by herself. I was  impressed with the Milky way, Sun and planets and the meteorite.


Oh, and one more: EXPRESSIONS!!! Aren't these just amazing! Done all by herself: