Disqus - Latest Comments for Jade_TastingGrace

Re: Adventurez in Child'Rearing': Bigger picture - Set your mind

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:46:40 -0000

I love this line "I'd just smile and wave goodbye to the ideals to which so many cling." Sounds like it really was the best choice for your family - glad it was so rewarding!

Re: And then I played doll house

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 05:10:38 -0000

Wow, brave of you to own up to that, and to confront it head on. Brava.

Re: Mom's Gom

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:50:04 -0000

I like your new design! And oh, fifty cents for a movie. How I wish that were still the case...

I really want to see Lincoln too, but I don't think it comes out here until February. ::sigh::

Re: Adventurez in Child'Rearing': Bigger picture- Wonder

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 03:52:03 -0000

Sounds lovely! The pictures capture it all so well too!

Re: A Plea For Help

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:16:02 -0000

thanks

Re: Gratitude for Happenstance

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:50:12 -0000

If you see this comment, please bear with me, I'm trying to work out a better commenting system. If you're having trouble, please feel free to email me your comment at jade.celene.keller@gmail.com. Sorry for the inconvenience and I hope this is resolved shortly!

Re: Gratitude for Happenstance

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:44:18 -0000

test

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/27521056642

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:12:17 -0000

Gah! I could have sworn I'd checked your blog more recently than three weeks ago! Anyway, I'm very glad to hear you're feeling better these days. That's really great that you've found a good community at church. I'm sure it must be such a comfort and a joy to have good people around you (your brother and his wife included). I'm also glad to hear you feel you've got a better handle on things at work, and that you've got some meds you've found helpful to you. What a lot of wonderful news! I'm happy I stopped by to hear it (however belatedly....). Sending love! xo

Re: 8 Miles from home, Wat Pha Lat, Buddhist Temple in Chiang Mai

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 05:38:36 -0000

Glad you guys got a chance to go up there! It's our favorite too. :)

Re: 8 Miles from home, How 8 Miles From Home came to be…

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:24:19 -0000

Hi Sacha and Jmayel!

Dot is a Thai street dog, one of three puppies we found in an abandoned house in our neighborhood here in Chiang Mai. Her mother wasn't doing a very good job of feeding them (bringing diapers instead of food) and there were snakes in the vicinity. So, without anything more than a passing attempt at responsible thought about what we would do if we were to leave Thailand, we took her in, and she became family. :) One of the neighborhood gardeners took her brother and I'm not sure what happened to her sister.
We've been living here over a year and a half now (it'll be two years in Nov.) and we absolutely love it and really have no plans to leave. I think around the 6-9 month mark, I found myself just getting exhausted of having to struggle to figure things out again and again (language barrier, obscure bureaucracy, etc.), but never to the point of wanting to leave. And of course, learning to speak and read the language has been huge.

If you ever need advice about anything or want some recommendations for anything, please don't hesitate to ask! It looks like you've already navigated a lot on your own (great photos too, btw!), but please do feel free to ask me and if I've come across anything useful at all, I'll be happy to share. At the very least, I can definitely tell you about some of our favorite restaurants and sights!

Cheers,
Jade
P.S. You can see Dot story (& puppy photos) here: http://jadekeller.com/2010/... and here: http://jadekeller.com/2011/...

Re: 8 Miles from home, How 8 Miles From Home came to be…

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:24:27 -0000

I came across your blog and was pleasantly surprised to see how much your story reminds me of mine & my husband's. We were on a drive (after being pushed outside our comfort zone) when we decided to leave our too comfortable, predictable life in California for adventure in Asia. Thus, we came to live in Chiang Mai. The adventure continues, with our dog, Dot, in tow. :) I like the header of your blog and am looking forward to reading more!

If you care to stop by my blog-space, I'm at: http://jadekeller.com. Cheers!

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/23780871884

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 05:40:43 -0000

I think I might have been to shy to say this when I first met you, but I've always loved your ability to turn a house into a home. When I first came to visit, I just loved your home. It was so comfy and inviting, with couches that just begged to be lounged in and rooms and decor that gave off such a lovely Christmas feeling. It felt lived in, in the best way, with memories in the air.

It's the same with your current place. When you walk in for the first time, you feel like you can just skip the formal guest step and go right ahead and be one of the family. It's beautiful and airy, neat and tidy - without any of that pretentiousness or fragility that makes a person feel unwelcome for fear of smashing or sullying something just by breathing the wrong way. I love homes that make you feel like you're welcome to live in them - and yours does just that.

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/22844308509

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 05:29:40 -0000

I read this a while ago, but just haven't had an opportunity to really reply until now. (And even now, I'm not sure my reply will be coherent - bear with me, I'm jetlagged...) Anyway, I very much understand this feeling of never really being at home. It can be an empty feeling. And for me, I've also often felt wrong-footed and displaced. It's a feeling I've been familiar with for half my life. I suppose, in that sense, I envy you those years where you had a very real sense of home and no idea of other places and no reason to question your identity or where you fit. As much as I love where we are now, part of my impetus in coming here was that there was a part of my identity that never fit in the States and spending some time here was meant to resolve that. It did, but never in a way where I can call one place or another HOME in an all-encompassing way. (Perhaps there was a place where we lived in Westminster, CA from the time I was 4 until I was 14, when I felt at home...but it was a city full of immigrants, a place where I was more like *them* than the Americans around us...and I can't quite claim identity with it because I feel I was too young to have really had a sense of identity at the time. I think that really began around the age of 16 for me, and by then we had moved to Mission Viejo.) There are bits and pieces of me every where, it feels like, and I'm just coming to learn to be okay with that. But it's taken me a long time to realize it would always be that way, and to let go of the desire to feel fully and uncomplicatedly at HOME in any one place.

On another note, just before we left Berlin, Toby and I went out to dinner with his cousin Anna. She told us that her parents, Thomas and Maria, were very fond of you and have missed you. They have many cherished memories (some involving drunkenness on subways...?) of the time spent with you. I thought you might like to know that.

Re: The Fragile X Files: My Little Royal

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:12:16 -0000

Hehehe...good luck finding a dress that works! (found you through Claire LaZebnik's link up and just wanted to pop by and say hi!)

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/22230342027

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:13:30 -0000

I'm sure anyone coming to visit you is there to see YOU, not the state of your drapes. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never noticed the state of anyone else's drapes. I think the only time I've ever felt uncomfortable in another's home was visiting various places in college, where one is well-advised to look before sitting lest one sits in a puddle of week-old bong water. I'm also a tad bit itchy in homes that smell TOO strongly like a litter box without the litter. But I'm quite sure you'd never let your home reach that kind of state while YOU set foot in it, let alone any house guests.

Having said that, I do totally understand how uncomfortable it feels when guests stop by and your home isn't as presentable as you'd like it to be . As witty and riveting as the conversation might be, you won't be able to focus because you'll be too busy chewing your cheek over the pile of schmukus taunting you from *just.over.there.*

Enjoy your guests!! And I promise we'll give you notice when we come. :) Jesting aside, I'm hoping T and I can settle out some of the details in June (during the two week period of relative calm post-Europe trip and before more relatives descend upon us).

Re: Bigger Picture Moment / Five for Five: Age

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 06:39:09 -0000

You are superwoman indeed. I love that you see this and I wish more mothers did too. Supermom is not an unattainable, perfect ideal. This part where it gets real? That's supermom right there. When your sons think of you, they won't remember that they cried. They'll remember that you were there to dry their tears.

Re: Moomser: Sooner or later all good things must end. The Goodbye post.

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:55:22 -0000

I'm sorry to see you go, but I completely understand. We all walk a fine line and when such delicate (and huge) things happen in our lives that involve the privacy of others as well...it's hard. It really does get hard. Anyway, I'm wishing you all the best. I do hope you'll stay in touch. And if you do decide to come back, in whatever form seems best for you, I'll be happy to see you again. Take care of yourself, and trust that all will work out for the best in the end.

Re: Bigger Picture Moments: Rocks of Remembrance

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:51:21 -0000

I'm so so glad you're feeling better! I hope you continue to heal and continue to celebrate! Many blessings to you, my friend.

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/21294844132

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:06:20 -0000

I have recurring dreams too. One nightmare in particular, that I remember having ever since I was really young. It involves my whole family being on a cruise ship and a gigantic shark coming and biting off the whole front end of the ship and eating my family along with it and me just floating off in the water, horrified and devastated. The others are more like recurring themes involving my teeth falling out or the sensation of flying. I like the flying dreams.

That dream about that huge house sounds lovely. I got the feeling of enormous satisfaction before you even mentioned it. I hope you dream it again real soon.

Re: Living Healthfully: A Mirage in the Desert

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:14:00 -0000

I'm glad you're feeling so much better! That was some seriously intense stuff. I hope you're able to keep with foods that nourish your body and that you continue to feel better!

Re: I'm just not that into this

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:12:48 -0000

Hmm... right now I'm totally into the idea of taking some chill days. I just want to hang out at home, read some books and watch some movies and not really have to talk to anyone. I'm totally NOT into: emails & social networking (see that whole not wanting to talk to anyone bit) and clothes. I'm really annoyed/bored with my wardrobe right now but I don't feel like going shopping either. If I could get away with wearing a huge, long t-shirt, that would pretty much be my ideal. Let's go be virtual hermits together, eh? :)

Re: Bigger Picture Moments: For the Worse

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:19:42 -0000

On the contrary, I believe it is the height of romance to see deep roots grown in firm soil. It is a beautiful metaphor you have here, and a beautiful marriage. The old knotted and gnarled trees are more captivating and awe-inspiring than spring saplings; their beauty lies in their flaws and age, testaments to the time they've weathered. I think the phrase at the end, about after the storm, the branches are budding green with new life is the part that matters most. It touches me that, after the storm, you still see the green.

Re: Bigger Picture Moments:In a galaxy far away and right here

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:40:12 -0000

Confession: I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars either - and still sit and smile and nod through conversations about it with my hubby when he gets in that mood. :) Oh, boys.

All jokes aside, that's really sweet that you have that time together and that he comes to share with you all his most serious passions. I hope it always stays that way! This actually reminds me a lot of Toby and his mom. She did a lot of the same with him, I'm sure many time wading through territory she probably cared not a whit about, except for that it excited him. I hope it encourages you to know that, because of that, he still calls his mom from time to time to share his passions and wild ideas with her. :)

Re: http://momsgom.tumblr.com/post/20092359231

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:54:28 -0000

I love what you say here: "The whole process of making lists is a way of lining things up - arranging them sequentially - in time." I have entire journals of lists. I was never any good at keeping an actual journal or diary (unless...does a blog count?). But I started writing my to-do lists and shopping lists, wish lists and book lists, quote lists and don't-forget lists all in a journal. And then I keep the journals, long after they're filled up because it turns out they are kind of like a diary in a way. A catalogue of scattered bits documenting the small things as well as big things in life. There are times when I have literally referred back to a journal to estimate, based on my lists, when something actually occurred. And that sounds like an interesting point you might make about how this all helps distinguish between the earthly and the eternal. If you want to talk about the finite and the infinite, I am, as they say, all ears.

Re: Moomser: Virtual Coffee {36}

Jade @ Tasting Grace — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:52:27 -0000

Glad you got some good down time! And if it helps, I cried my way through most of the first book too (though I don't remember getting too emotional over the 2nd & 3rd books). I think you'll be okay with the first book, but I feel I should warn you they're called dystopian novels for a reason, which becomes clear by the end of the 3rd. I hope I haven't given too much away! Just wanted to give you a heads up, since you mentioned your emotional state in reading them. :)