Lately I am that girl...

One time back in Mexico, I played a game of futbol rapido (smaller soccer field with walls) for my friends' soccer team.  I participated in their practice only once and I had no idea what the heck I was supposed to do.  I stepped onto the court, the bright stadium light was glaring at me.  With the whistle, I ran as fast as I could in random directions.  Someone was shouting at me but it was only a distant background noise.  Suddenly, a ball came flying towards my direction.  What would a girl who'd never owned a soccer ball do with it?  I went blank - I didn't exhale and my body felt like a cold air.  In the next second, I took a big step and kicked the ball as hard as I could.  I am glad I did it because I still remember it clearly since it was hilarious.  I kicked the ball towards the opponent's goal and I nearly scored for the other team.  I got pulled out swiftly by my coach and never ever played a game again.

Why am I writing about it now?  It's because that silly me back then reminds me a lot about how I am now.  Now that the summer vacation is here, I feel like I am that girl in the stadium not knowing what to do with kids, the house and social life.  I have too many things in my head and cannot settle down!  I am running around everywhere and not much is getting accomplished.  Mike suggested making a list of to do's and I did.  That helped a bit.  I also read about the importance of meditation and I did it this morning.  That helped a lot.  It's not only kids that suffer from change of routines.  Us parents also sometimes have hard time dealing with the change. 

I am behind in posts but I wanted to share some pictures from June that I haven't had a chance to upload yet.  I still want to write about Japan and I already have it in draft, but I am going to wait publishing it since I have not edited the pictures yet.  Now that I am more serious about photography, I spend a lot of time studying about editing and camera.  I finally pulled out the manual of my camera and started to read it.  I was using only a half or less of functionalities available in my camera.  I am excited that I can actually do a lot to improve the quality of my pictures using the available settings instead of relying on editing software.  I bought a technique book for Photoshop Element and have been polishing my editing skills.  It's all fun. 

Since I am behind, I will add pictures that are not edited. 
I am hoping the daily meditation will make me a super woman and update my blog more frequently from now on!

We went on a father's day hiking to Bridal Trail in north of Bellevue.

We found some horses along the way.  He is peeking through the fence!

Saya touching the horse.  He is so soft!

Aly so wished she had a horn in her forehead and wings on her back.

This was our July 4th dinner.  We had Nana over and also our neighbor Jerry.  We had hamburger and lots of different sides.

The pictures are out of order, but this is from Father's Day.  I cooked salmon and various other dish.