A Three Day Weekend: So Much Going on Here.

Another weekend has come and gone.
Well, technically, as I'm writing this it's still here.

My tired body and sleepy eyes are telling the tale of a weekend full of fun, friends, family, and activities.


Saturday was great.
I woke up, and felt full of cheer.
I just heard God reminding me of his faithfulness.
That I don't have to worry about tomorrow.
It's nice when that happens.
The reminding part.
The faithfulness always happens. I just don't always see it.

I spent a few hours with these girls.
We may have fallen asleep.
Until one of them started barking for no reason.
I won't name names, but it rhymes with Smiley.

I stole a few of my parents' lemons.
Their tree is just drooping with over ripe dark yellow lemons.

I headed home and got a little baking in.

Family recipe. More on that later.

And then {WARNING FOOD PIC COMING} I met my sister and brother in law for dinner.
our favorite taqueria in town. You can see her house from where I'm sitting.
The super taco.
It ruins me.
It's the grilled onions.

Sunday AM I churched it up.

And the dreary morning turned sunny.

So I hit the streets.

I'm on my 3rd season of C25K. 

I don't talk about it much because I'm a quitter.

But on Sunday, I got farther than I ever have.

I ran 20 minutes straight. Not anything to write home about, but a record for me.

I'm not a runner.

I have two weeks left to complete.

Maybe I'll actually do it this time.

Then there was a nap.
A two hour. Guilt free. Glorious nap.

And then Monday, we got a bonus day.
So I arranged another little Cyclefest for my sister, dad and I.
But first we had to stop at the ATM.
And my sister was called in for back up.
Who knew ATM's were so complicated.

I was squished in the back seat with a lot of wheels.

,

When we got to our starting point, it was no sooner than a minute there, and my dad's friends were already flocking to us.
Can't take him anywhere.

We made a quick stop at the Pulgas Water Temple for a photo opp.

And dad told us a little bit about his glory days being a rebel kid.

And we cycled, and cycled, and cycled til my quads couldn't cycle any more.
We ate lunch. Turned around and cycled back.
In the rain.
Thankfully it let up a little bit.

And there were some beautiful views.

And then, we came home to some dogs who missed us very much.
Including this green faced monster.
Pictures don't do it justice. She has neon green stuff all over her face.
We're thinking she got into the unripe tomatoes again.
She seems to think they are toys that are growing on trees.

And my favorite part of the 3-day weekend?
The four day work week that follows! :)

Linking up somewhere a lil bit different today.

Here, There, and Everywhere: A Few Things

Alright, I didn't feel like doing a regular weekend update, but still feel like I have a few things I wanted to share and chronicle on here.

Let's begin, shall we?

I made a double batch of these cookies. Just because.

I'm really bad at spotting hearts in things. Even though its one of my goals in life.
The other night I noticed my heart shaped pita chip. But it took my brain a minute to compute.
So I literally took it out of my mouth to take this photo.

I saw The Great Gatsby.
The Gatz, if you will.
I loved the Gatz.
I love Leo. I love Leo in Baz Luhrman films.
What I especially loved about this one was it wasn't too over the top. Just enough over the top.
I kinda want to see it again.
It felt like I was in Hearst Castle all over again.

My friend Ellen and I did our second (and her third) Soul Stroll on Saturday.
It was SO fun.
It's a 5k walk/stroll along the bay trail (which we all know I love) - with an option to do a 1 mile, 5k, or 5 mile stroll. They even have "chair exercises" on the lawn for those with less mobility.
The warm up sesh is kind of my favorite part "everybody dance now" bum, bum-bum, bum, bum, bum-bum.

We earned our medals, and wore them proudly the rest of the day.
My sister and I took our parents to the Giants game Monday night.
It was another amazing Win for the men in Orange and Black.

My mom accidentally grabbed socks instead of mittens.
And so she was calling these her Panda Paws the whole time.
It was equal parts ridiculous and adorable.

Sometimes I have anxiety about things.
And want to do this:

And sometimes to cope I bake (see above), and sometimes pouring myself the tiniest little bowl of Lucky Charms does the trick too.

But in reality, the Lord is the answer to all things that make me anxious.
You see, me and the book of Philippians have a long history.
It is probably my favorite New Testament book, and it is quite a popular one.
Especially Chapter 4.
I heard an awesome sermon on the radio on this passage, probably 11 or 12 years ago.
I cling to the truth that the Lord hears our prayers, knows our worries, and supplies us with peace.

This week, he opened my eyes to this passage in new ways.
That little phrase, split between verses, I have overlooked it the hundreds of times I have read this passage.
"The Lord is at hand"
Those 5 words bring more peace to my heart than anything else.
He is at hand. He is right next to me. Every circumstance. Every person who is hurting. He is at hand.

And lastly, Oklahoma.

If you're looking for a way to help, I highly, and I mean HIGHLY suggest giving through Samaritan's Purse.
Their Emergency Response Team is incredible.
They took action immediately after the storm.
Their volunteers are true servants of the Lord, and they help hurting people in both practical and spiritual ways.
My experience with them in Sandy Relief in New Jersey was like nothing I have ever seen.
Go here for more info. 

Turkey Talk: Ephesus

After a day in Istanbul, our ship traveled back through the Aegean Sea and into the port of Izmir, which you may know by the name of Smyrna. Izmir is a more recent development, geologically, and a port city, as erosion led to the receding of the harbor of Ephesus. Now, an hour inland from the port.

Our tour took us into Ephesus, driving through what used to be submerged in water, but now is an almost Californian landscape. Brown rolling hills, dry and smattered with trees.

Once we arrived in Ancient Ephesus, we were greeted with a large area of excavated ruins.
Our tour guide took us along the main thoroughfare where Cleopatra and Mark Antony once paraded through town on their chariot.

Ephesus was my second ancient city, last year we toured Ancient Corinth.
There is something about seeing with your own eyes, and walking with your own feet, in towns you have only read about in the Word of God.

One of Ephesus' theaters, the Odeon, or small theater.

Among the ruins and rubble were so many marble pieces, and columns. Two that stood out to me because of their familiar carved symbols.

First, Nike, the winged goddess of victory.

The second was probably once a part of the hospital, the snake and staff medical symbol.
What I loved about Ephesus was that you could see how life played out thousands of years ago.
It seemed to come alive before my eyes. 

 And by far, my favorite part of ancient Ephesus was the library.
I mean look at this thing. Only the facade remains standing, but how incredible is it?
It might have been the fact also that it made the biggest shadow and was the only relief from the sun on this blazing hot day in Turkey.

You can see the fillers in the columns where they helped make them complete, but all in all, this structure is pretty intact.

I could absolutely imagine this place back in its golden day.

And finally, as we walked away from the ruins, and back to our buses we passed this shady path, the commercial agora.
I know the picture is blurry, and sadly its the only one I have, as this is likely where the Riots of Acts 19 occurred, due to the loss of business from silver idols the Ephesians were buying and selling, which Paul had reprimanded.
(Here is an awesome site with a lot of historical and biblical references for Ancient Ephesus)



As we drove out, we passed the Great Theater.
It was huge. Imagine the days long since past, and this theater full of Ephesians, the crowds and excitement bustling through the ancient city.

All of these sites combined are only 15% of what has been excavated to date. And the excavations continue.

Compared to what I had seen in Ancient Corinth the previous year, which was awesome, but not even close to what I saw here, this was unbelievable.

I may never return to Turkey, but if I do, I would love to see more of what has been uncovered.

The Insta's that Didn't Gram

Sometimes I post pics on the 'gram, change my mind, and then delete them real fast.
{I have issues.}

Sometimes I edit them, and get ready to post, and for whatever reason, change my mind.

Sometimes I have two or three that I want to post, but hold back from over posting.

A lot of times they are pictures of Mylie.
I mean, I already post a zillion. Imagine if I didn't restrain myself.

Downtown got Yarnbombed.
It's pretty awesome. And intentional.
A little promo for the city, and beautifying while they are at it.
A week ago, I was meeting some friends for dinner and saw a mailbox with monster feet.
A few days later I saw this article. Pretty awesome.

The San Francisco fog has a mind of it's own.
And a twitter of it's own.
It creeps like none other.
Here it is, literally rolling in over my head as I headed out for a run.
By the time I got back it was gray and dreary all around.

I mean, cutest. Right?

I like her.
In case you couldn't tell.

I heart The City.
I am pretty sure there is magic in every particle of the air.

Anyway, just a glimpse into a few recent things that didn't really make it on their own.

Side note, this is the post that almost didn't post.
Sometimes blogger kills me.

The Mamacita Weekendlies

Another beautiful weekend in the bay.
Foggy mornings, bright blue days, warm spring evenings.

After a lovely friday night dinner under these lights...

I woke up early to meet Cari and Jordan in the city for Brunch.

As I was driving around looking for parking I noticed a place with a line around the block.
Turns out, it was the place we were headed, Mama's.

We waited an hour and a half to get in.
And you know what, it was totally worth it.
Not just because the french toast was AWESOME, but because if you're going to wait an hour and a half in line, it may as well be with a friend you don't get to see that often.

I dropped Cari and Jordan at their hotel, and since I was right there, hopped over to the ferry building to pick up a few mother's day goodies. Fresh flowers from the Farmer's market, and a slice of cake for my mom from Miette Bakery. I may have gotten myself a strawberry and chocolate cupcake as well.

Headed home and spent a little time whipping up these for the moms in my life.
Headed to my grandma's to drop hers off, only to learn that she had left that morning for an Alaskan cruise.
Welp, I guess it truly will have to be the thought that counts on that one.

Spent an afternoon relaxing, watching the Giants win, and then picked up these two for our once a month outing.
McDonald's, every time.
Their request.
I was not comfortable allowing a cat to come along, but I guess I didn't really have a choice.
Also, we LOVE vanilla cones.

Mylie seems to have an affinity for cats these days.

It's making me very nervous. 

Also, after McDonald's we always hit up the dollar tree.
I may have not so subtly suggested these ribbon dancers.
Kept them busy, got the wiggles out,
and it was pure magic as the sun went down.

Sunday, I concluded the weekend celebrating my Mom.
She is crazy and quirky and will often surprise you with her humor.
We took her to Panera Bread - which she kept referring to as "Paner-o"
(Tomato, Tomahto, right?)

And then back into SF to the Asian Art Museum.

Where we saw the Terracotta Warriors exhibit.
Which, despite everyone and their mother being there (literally),
was really awesome.

We explored the rest of the museum a bit, before heading home.
Where I put new pillows on my bed, and took a magical nap.
Nothing better than new pillows and a Sunday nap.

Happy Monday, friends.
Here's to another fantastic weekend!