Thanksgiving; the girl effect.

Thanksgiving translates in Turkish to şükür, praise, thanks, hallelujah...

Çok Şükür...

I am alive.

I have a patient husband who adores me and who has an amazing ability to live in the now while having incredible acuity towards the future.

Our daughter, there are not words. I had her later in life with the husband I chose. She was made from love in a safe and nurturing home.

I come from strong women and have met so many along the road; these are my role models, my counselors, my support groups...

"Good women- may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them"

I have really been pondering this as I was reintroduced to an organization, the girl effect.



Powerful huh?

At 12 I was in 6th grade feeling completely awkward; embarrassed when people told me I looked like DJ Tanner but religiously watching Full House, of course. I would bead on my bed. In the safety of my mother and father's little house. Surrounded by siblings and love.

Just trying to make it into the big junior high...

But what if I was born into something different?

What if I wasn't allowed the time to grow up myself before I had a baby?
Babies having babies...

What if born with a mental or physical handicap in a culture that doesn't know how to treat or nuture it. What if I was thrown on the street and no one had saw the NEED TO HELP?

Although I have been struggling with my life abroad I have the choice.

Help these girls know that they even have a choice...

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. The simplicity in thier message makes it seem like a plausible future...The girl effect blogging campaign...tag you are it...pass it on...

Be grateful and generous...Emily remember

Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough,and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

Purple findings...

Since I was young I have loved findings; gorgeous examples of nature noticed surrounding me.

At our house initially you look out and see three colors- that beautiful blue water reflecting whatever hue the weather is that day, green from the shrubs and bushes struggling to grow from the beige rock beneath it.

Of course if you look closer there is much more to behold. Today I found purple.
Not lilacs and violets from my youth but sea urchin shells, olives, greens with hints of purple stems, shells, broken lighter (plastic seems to find it's way in wherever you are), heather flowers, thistles(it got me...ouch!), and daisies.

Fall here is like a spring again. I have to be honest...I did go swimming yesterday. It was a freak hot day and my hubby talked me into it after he went fishing. Chilly but great.

The winds have found there way back though. They will blow the rain in soon. Following all the rain and a week of hot weather life is popping up everywhere. Seeds dormant during the long, HOT, dry summer.

Inspiration for this shot from resurrection fern, Andy Goldsworthy, mother nature herself:)

Gözleme and Didim on the TV

Gözleme is usually translated as a Turkish-style pancake but from my world view I would compare it to a stuffed thin tortilla or crepe. The actual "bread" part is called a yufka and of course most delicious fresh made! We were lucky our neighbor was making some last Sunday...yum!




She rolls the dough out with a thin rolling pin until translucent on that little table made just for this. Then adds delicious things like spinach, cheese and herbs. She also made spicy ones with peppers added. Lots of good olive oil!



Spooning sweet tahini (sesame paste mixed with sugar and water) with olive oil...

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The final product cooked on a heated metal dome. Texture and taste are wonderful!

Also just as yesterday I was complaining that after 3 yrs the goverment has not lifted the ban on youtube- guess what today it is open! Finally!

So I happily watched House Hunters International's program on Didim...who knew...

You can watch parts 1,2,3 here (even if you live in Turkey now!)

Also I can find you a house:)!

Also here is Istanbul on the Bachelorette TV show...I'm just saying people I live in a cool place...come visit please...also the cistern is magical...

morning yearning...

Waking up with the sun and my two favorite people...sassiness and silliness...



Listen to Ben Harper's Morning Yearning

p.s. seriously why is youtube still banned in this country?

Home sweet Turkey?

Home sweet home!

Home sweet where?

Whenever I go back to the States I have several conversation of this nature...

"You live where?"

"Turkey?"

"Wow, that is far..."

"Wow, how is that?"

(Note:this response varies with different voice fluctuations insinuating

A: positive one like 'oh cool you live in another country'

B: a negative like 'where the heck is that and why would you ever flipping go there?'

C: a scared one like 'aren't they different over there')

Also my response lately is simply, "good just far...with a little sigh at the end...that I try to hide."

Every time I go back to the States it still does feel like home to go back to my childhood house. I feel on one hand fortunate to have had such stability through my life and another like hey maybe there is something wrong with this and maybe that is why I just can't feel happy in this country of Turkey lately? HOME SWEET TURKEY???

But I felt like I had a home outside of my childhood one when I lived in San Diego. I loved our little dove street nest although knowing it wasn't forever we nurtured it; we cooked for each other and people would come in and out eating my food, drinking wine and laughing, lots of laughing and fabulous conversations that friends have with one and other(I miss you people:).

But by the time I had left that house I was ready to;over so.cal. Ready to go forth with all the love and growing I had done during those fabulously fun twenties in southern California to go "see the world".

That will be 4 yrs ago in February...wow!

I came to Eskisehir and have been bouncing from house to city to house to country to house to city to country to house to state to house to house to city to country to language to culture to customs to house to home? where is the HOME though? etc etc ever since (yeah makes you a little dizzy huh? me too!)

We might be moving again or maybe not and this news makes me tired and sad. Just continues this unsettled feeling.

Always in the back of my head though that when I settle down it will be in MN.

I believe most of this urgency stems from having a child and loosing my father, two biggest events in my life within 9 days of each other.

Lately have been blinded by my longing to be in MN...

must sleep now...

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Patient and persistent like the my father's National Geographics

Fall

pomegranates coming into season...