China 2015

instagram: #elsiemeetschina



















So many feelings about China. Some deeply personal. Some cliché. It's a wondrous, amazing, staggeringly complex place. I felt fortunate to have gone and even more fortunate to have traveled there with my mom. Also, I ended up giving my mom my shoes on this trip.

There is a wishing tree that sits on the grounds of the temple my uncle built for his village. My mother told me a story about how construction workers saved and moved the tree to where it now stands. It seems to be flourishing and now also houses a flock of doves. Or maybe they are pigeons. I can't remember. Red ribbons of villager's wishes fluttered with the breeze, surrounded by the birds and so much bird poop. Such was my experience in China. So much beauty and hope, intermingled with so much, well, the opposite.


I took 1000+ photos. I managed to edit it down to 552 and uploaded to an album on my Flickr account.

#elauinc365

On January 1, 2014, I challenged myself to post one photo a day on Instagram for one year. I posted my final photo for this project yesterday.

Rules
1) The photo had to have been taken that same day.
2) The photo had to be posted before midnight of that same day.

What I learned
1) I learned new photo editing techniques and how to take better iPhone photos in general.
2) Mustering up the discipline to take one photo a day is actually really hard!
3) I learned to recognize the beauty in ordinary moments.
4) I am on Instagram way too often. I'm aiming for quality as opposed to quantity in 2015.

I'm thankful for what the project has brought and it was the perfect way for me to keep journaling despite not having the time to blog. My daily presence on IG has led to new real life connections and additional areas of growth that I would never have experienced otherwise (like joining L.A. Cake Club!) I miss blogging though so I'll do my best to come back here more often.

You can locate my project within Instagram by searching for #elauinc365. I've embedded the gallery below as well. Hover over the bottom edge of the gallery to unhide navigation to the next page.

36 Weeks

Month nine has commenced. I can hardly believe it. But here we are, on the cusp of becoming parents. We're about to be charged with the life of another human being and making sure he is nurtured and nourished into a good person. I think maybe we're ready but then, who ever really is?

Here I am from last Sunday, day two of week 36. I donned the green baby shower dress again for my maternity portrait session.



I hadn't planned on having maternity portraits done but when I booked a newborn session for our little man to be, I thought, why not? It's my first pregnancy and (I know I've said it before,) this journey has been pure magic. Why not capture some of that magic with some nice portraits? We hired Maggie Keegan Gross, who I met through Betsy. We get to see the images this weekend and I'm so excited!

Here's a preview from Maggie's instagram feed.



Sergio snapped an in-action shot with his phone. The bed isn't really crooked. I think it's just the phone camera distortion.




It's also my final week at work before I go maternity leave. I've worked hard to ready my team for my absence and today, I managed to clear my inbox! Can I get a whoop, whoop!?



I'm looking forward to focus on nesting and getting ready. I'm also just so tired now. I feel really good overall but the sheer size of my belly is taking a physical toll. Not being able to stay comfortable in any one position and therefore sleep is, well, yawn. Hopefully I'll learn how to nap properly in the next three weeks.

Flashback

Unearthed some old treasures last weekend in the room my sister and I used to share.



Clockwise from top left: 1) my sister's tooth stash. we found one that actually said "thooth". so cute. 2) I think her name is Lemon Meringue from the Strawberry Shortcake gang. I loved that doll so much. I don't know why she's topless though. 3) Mostly Jr. High school IDs. I was a giant nerd. 4) My first English language concert. My very first concert was Andy Lau.

Four Years

Happy Anniversary caro!

xoxo

♥ Instagram ♥

I've joined Instagram. It's an app for the iPhone only and since I don't have an iPhone, I basically hijack Sergio's phone whenever we're together. It's sorta replaced my need to carry a camera and certain aspects of blogging in general. We'll see how it shakes out. I'm thinking it will just augment. This is the first app that has truly made me want an iPhone. I'm cool with my Blackberry for now though. For now.

You can find my feed on Ink361, here.