Culinary Adventure

The girls and I went on a culinary adventure in the valley today. It had been quite awhile since we ventured out with hopes of treating our taste buds to new flavors, so we rallied up friends and googled Best Cheap Eats in Los Angeles. Our search led us to try banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) at a tiny little place in Alhambra.

Everything on the menu sounded delish, but all of the pork sandwiches had pâté, so ew. I went with the beef banh mi and it was the right choice!

What makes banh mi so yummy are all the layers of flavor. Mine was filled with marinated beef, sweet Asian slaw, jalapenos, peanut sauce, and house made mayo. So many flavors were represented between my baguette: sweet, salty, spicy, and cool. It was so tasty. The best part though? Every sandwich cost $3. So worth the trip out of town! 


There are so many great places to eat here in LA, there's no excuse for me not to try something new every week. My summer bucket list has several more culinary adventures planned. If you could dine anywhere in Los Angeles, what would you try?

Divine Protection

Since the girls were tiny little embryos growing inside my body, I have prayed for them. Specifically, I pray for their protection. I do this because I know how little and vulnerable they are and Almighty God is the only One who can fully protect them. Also, I know I can't keep them safe from everything. I'm human and accidents can happen.

Thankfully, my girls have had very few bad accidents, but that has never stopped me from praying for protection. More than protection though, Divine protection. Miraculous protection. Protection that only comes from God. I believe in prayer and there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect my girls. So I pray! And I am so glad Father God is faithful to protect my children.

The other night, Penelope was running to the bathroom to brush her teeth and tripped over her feet. She face-planted on the sharp corner of the door frame and after the sickening thud, she SCREAMED in pain. I scooped her up without looking at her injuries, just knowing that her face would be split open and covered in blood when I finally did look.

She was really red and bruised, but no blood. It kind of felt like a miracle because of the velocity at which she ran and fell into the door frame. I'm sad she fell and bruised her sweet little face, but I'm so thankful her injuries aren't any worse. Thank you, Jesus!

How do you pray for your children?

AZ Girls Week

We spent last week in Arizona at my aunt's house having our 2nd annual desert girls week. Just like last year, we had so much fun.

My niece, Ryan, was a great playmate for my girls. The 3 of them ran circles through Pam's house playing tag and pretending to be puppies. It hurts my heart that they only get to play once or twice a year, but they sure do make the most of their time together. It was wild and hilarious watching the 3 little girls play nonstop every day.

Beatrice learned how to swim in Pam's pool! She is always so confident in the water and has never shied away from jumping in, so it was time to take the floaties off and teach her how to swim properly. By the end of the week, she was swimming strong and never put the floaties back on.

Our week was pretty chill. We swam and shopped and cooked and ate. Most days started slowly with coffee and bagels before we eased our way into the pool until nap time. The little girls rested while the big girls tanned, shopped, and caught up on our reading. No one bathed until dinner time and we wore makeup maybe 2 times all week. It felt like a vacation.

It was hard to say goodbye. My girls cried the first 30 minutes into our drive home. We love this tradition and hope to continue it for a long time (and add to our girls - Jenni, Erin, get yo-selves to the desert next year!).