Originally, I wrote this post focusing on many of the things in my life that are, well… less than ideal lately. Not really to complain, but because I find it all rather amusing. And just as I was about to hit publish, I happened to hop over to Flickr and find some beautiful pics that Jenny took at my house in the very areas I was complaining about. It’s amazing how much beauty she was able to uncover by simply focusing on it.

It also made me think about our mom, who could walk across a dry field of grass and emerge at the other end holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Her ability to do that always amazed me.

So in the spirit of both full disclosure and unashamed optimism, here are seven things I am not proud of (and a few things that I am)…

Background Info- I’ve been preparing for a multi-family garage sale and getting ready has used up all spare time, space and energy.

1) I wrote most of this last Wednesday, and am just now editing and posting it.
2) I was just looking at a video from Sunday, and I can see that I was wearing the same t-shirt that I currently have on.
3) I have a patch of thistles in my backyard that is almost as tall as I am.
- Those thistles did create a lush green background for some of my favorite flowers, though.

4) When I woke up with a sore throat today, my first thought was, “Ah, I can postpone that damned garage sale.”
5) The state of my living room, dining room and laundry room. That picture shows the living room and part of the dining room. I know. It looks like a crazy person, no, a pack of crazy people lives here. (Feel free to click on over to Flickr for a fun Eye Spy game of crapulence.)
- Just out of frame of that picture, though, are my orchids, which I’ve managed to keep alive and blooming for many years.

6) I had removed a couple of containers full of old leftovers from the fridge and instead of immediately emptying and cleaning them, I forgot them on the counter. They’ve started to bulge menacingly and I’m worried they will soon explode. I’ve actually considered throwing all of it away, containers and all, because I feel that the situation is beyond my ability to deal with. And each hour that passes makes the situation that much more dire.
(But I think I may be over-reacting here.)
7) I walked around with peanut butter in my hair for several hours. Jenny insisted on taking a picture of me before she told me what she was laughing at. And I let her.

And the final thing that I’m happy with is the family of volunteer flowers (sweet peas, violas and snapdragons) that are growing out of the rocks in the back yard.

So, here’s hoping all of you can focus on the flowers and not the weeds.

And thank you, Jenny, for helping me to do just that.

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Let the beauty we love be what we do.
-Rumi

Thought you all might enjoy some pictures (ok, a ton of them- but it was next to impossible for me to narrow them down) from the wedding of our friend Chula, who you can’t seem to take a bad picture of.

Seriously, how gorgeous is she?

Jenny and Brad have been friends with her family for quite some time, long before they moved into the same neighborhood and she began babysitting Kam. He adores her and gets so excited whenever he gets to see “Chu-wa”. It’s no wonder, as she is one of the absolute sweetest people ever.

Her side of the family is Cambodian, so there were lots of traditions to follow. Although, as one relative explained to me, this was actually a shortened version. Back in Cambodia, it lasts 3 full days, instead of the one and a half days of near constant activity that this one entailed.

My favorite part was the blessing ceremony that took place the night before the wedding.

(Joey and Kam preferred the view from above since it was easier to see everything that was going on.)

The day of the wedding, we walked from their house to the reception hall, carrying plates of food and presents.

I had no idea how heavy a plate of mangoes and lychee fruits could get.

They had two wedding ceremonies that day and then fed us some of the tastiest food ever. We loved it and our kids loved it, but the three other Americans at our table passed on most everything that was served, even the jell-o that, I swear, tasted like chocolate.

How sad for them.

By the end of the night, the kids were on stage dancing in front of the strobe lights, the girls twirling and shaking their booties, the boys doing the robot.

(Joey never again gets to tell me that she’s shy if she can get on stage and do this.)

All in all, we had a blast.

More pictures can be found in Jenny’s Flickr photostream.
Cambodian Buddhist Blessing Ceremony
Wedding Day