Annapolis, Maryland

Yes, I do remember that there’s a Bali post to be completed but I wanted to sort and post these photos from my past weekend in Annapolis while it is still fresh in my head, especially since there aren’t that many photos in this batch. It is obviously a desperate attempt to ensure my back log of photos does not continue to grow! Oh well….

We enjoyed gorgeous weather in Annapolis this past weekend and I was and still am super thankful that spring is finally making its grand entrance!  Besides our wonderful weather, I am having a hard time describing my thoughts from the weekend.  All I can say is that I learned some things about life this weekend and witnessed even greater things.  I was reminded of the importance of providing help as well as being able to receive help and most importantly, how small comforts and the simple company of friends really can go a long way. Most meaningful to me is that I witnessed a tremendously amount of friendship, love, strength, thankfulness, and hope.  And really, at the end of the day, I am pretty certain that that's how we keep going strong.  And for this, I find this quote extremely fitting:

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be "happy." I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all." - Leo C. Rosten

On a lighter note...I loved the beautiful and gorgeously lit home that we were invited to stay at.  At the thought of all the natural light that was pouring in through the entire house, I am seriously drooling.  The house was also within walking distance to a neat dock area.  With the beautiful weather, who could resist a walk!  Here are some photos:

On Saturday night, ICM and I played guest-chef for a group of 9 people at the house using recipes that I learned at the Thai Farm Cooking School in Chiang Mai!  I was actually really worried about how the food was going to turn out even though we tested the recipes beforehand (it was a fail for Pad Thai, but I shall not be conquered forever!).  At times, it also felt like we were on some sort of cooking challenge and adventure on the food network, haha.  Self-created pressure only though.  Anyhow, I felt super lucky to have such a wonderful cooking partner and I am happy to report that I think we passed the food challenge since no one got food poisoning…at least not that we know of!  For the dinner, we made yellow chicken curry, basil chicken, and papaya salad.  For dessert, we made one of our favorite desserts - frozen berries and cool whip!!!  YUM. 

BON APPETIT!!!

I must admit that I am still drooling over the light that poured in at sunrise and throughout the day.  What I would give to have that light come through my apartment!!!  Here are a couple of photos of the beautiful home that we were so lucky to have visited. 

I love that color!

Super Full Moon:  According to NASA, "On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years. "The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC.  Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram. Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit."

And yes, I saw it, along with many stars on that clear Saturday night.  My favorite part though is falling asleep with the Super Full Moon on the right side above my head, waking up at some point and seeing its made its way half way across , and then waking up early enough and seeing it on the opposite side of my head. Kind of neat. 

Random photo taken early in the morning.  Didn't I tell you I love trees?? LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

And I want to close this post with "The Art of Deflating an Air Mattress"
(Please don't kill me, I just love these photos too much not to post them!!!)

Wow, this is way past my bed time.