Catching up in 2013 - Part 1

Its 2013! I went to India (Pune primarily) on December 16th this time without my husband & kids.  It was a hard decision since I was never away from the kids for Christmas but this year wanted to spend some time with my parents, decompress & attend a conference in Chennai. Tickets were way to expensive for the time that the family could all go without taking the kids out of school for a longer period of time.
The trip started with a lot of sad news from my husband's family.  His young brother had an untimely & unfortunate end on Dec 10th after an illness. DH (dear husband) was able to spend some time with him in October which was a big relief for all of us.  Then 10 days later my sister-in-law (whose husband passed on) lost her mother to an illness.  So I got to see what grief was very closely.  It just seems impossible for my sister-in-law to surmount this tragedy, and I pray that she finds comfort and allows her recovery to begin.
I had a wonderful time with my parents - quiet & peaceful, visiting their doctors, walking around town with them, visiting other dear family & friends with them.

I got to meet friends & family whom I had not seen in 20+ years & then others whom I always meet but could not this time.
Every morning I experienced a taste of heaven when Lata, who makes breakfast & cleans for my parents would arrive at 8:30 and make us a hot breakfast at super speed.  Seeing how much I enjoyed my food she would make chapatis (whole wheat Indian bread/roti) and would not have it any other way but transferring it straight from the hot griddle to my plate!

On this plate you can chapatis, flaxseed chutney (dark one) and a coconut+green chilli chutney.
I enjoyed various seasonal fruits & vegetables - totally organic & by the way organic is cheap in India! Food is fresh & so flavorful!  I enjoyed going to fruit & vegetable shopping with my dad this time.

This is a "Bor" - its sweet with texture closest to an apple.

This is the most delicious - sweetest-ever pomegranate! It came cleaned & ready to eat in this container for 25 rupees, roughly half an US dollar!
And then there was the chikoo - shown below - a sweet & unique fruit!

And the most delicious guavas...

Had chana-bhatura (chickpeas & fried bread) at Mona Food, a restaurant that had many childhood memories of eating there with my parents.  We enjoyed this dish with my Dad's cousin & best friend  Viju Kaka & his wife Kusum Kaku. Talked a long time reminiscing about old times!!

This is going to be a long picture-filled blog and I promise will continue it soon...

Countries visited

visited 10 states (4.44%)
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States visited

visited 30 states (60%)
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Summer 2012 - Part 2

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Glad that my faith lies in a God who has always been faithful. When I connect the dots that is what I see!! 
A good feeling it is knowing where you stand in the scheme of things laid out by your Creator, no fear, your validation comes from Him and does not have to originate anywhere else.  Discovering the power of prayer & the need to pray for the needs of other's.
Making small progress on the baby blanket.  But trying to keep at it although its very tempting to switch to something else! 
Making some strides in achieving work-life balance too.  Keeping my health goals in sight. 

Summer 2012 - Part 1

This summer has been declared as the time to roll up my sleeves!
And to do the following 1) Live at peace knowing that God is in control 2) Learn to trust God in ALL things 3) Take action on health 4) Be there for my family i.e. be a 100% there when I am supposed to be there 5) Be generous with encouragement.


I have been trying to become active again - a slow start since April - but my health goal is to take preventive action and to not add any more medications to my regimen until next summer at the minimum and for the next 10 years at the maximum.  A wide range but trying to be as real as possible here!
Have been enjoying some good podcasts & videocasts & have been toying with the idea of creating my own one of these days so lets see!
Looking forward to a lot of fun times this summer - will keep ya'll posted.  Have been trying out some good recipes, working on a couple of knitting projects, cleaning & organizing stuff at home & trying to stay on top of email!
Actually read a good book called The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar. Watched a sad & lovely movie called A Song for Martin. Heard some good news that a dear friend's daughter was accepted to a very prestigious medical school in India.
Enjoying - really - as I am learning a lot - on our current church series on the Book of Lamentations.
It is a blessing to have my parents spend summer here with us. Looking forward to my cousin visiting us with his family.
More to come....