slice of life: in video

We got a new toy, which is the Zumi 2.0, which takes stills and video. The wonderful thing is the video mimics super 8 film, so it is oh lovely! Not as lovely as the real deal of super 8, but lovely enough (it really feels so close).

Ben and I are always talking about how bad we are at filming the girls and their milestones (though we are really good at taking pictures of them), but now with this handy dandy thing, we vow to be better. You better get used to seeing videos here because this is my challenge to myself (and ben's self) to video tape more and just like my sisters do, share it in this space.

Without further ado, here is a slice of our life this past week...

If you want to join me in happy video capturing, buy the Zumi here cause this store is totally rad (or just use what you have), but I gotta say that the Zumi is real cool (and teeny tiny)!

Have a good weekend cherishing moments, be it through stills, video, or just living it. Remember, always have fun (and love God through it)! So tonight I have a date with my hottie husband, tomorrow I will have fun at this gal's wedding shower, and on Sunday, I will have fun at our church hosted community picnic (you are invited, so if you want to come, email me).

What kind of fun will you be having this weekend?

a six-nniversary homecation

Not only did we do a staycation to celebrate our Six-nniversary, but we did a homecation! We dropped the girls off at my parents' Friday night, went a quick little dinner date, did some grocery (had to do extra on Saturday morning too) then headed home.

It was super duper nice to have peace and quiet in the house, wake up late (9am is late for us), go to the grocery together, cook together (okay, Ben cooked and I watched and chatted), have romantic dinners by the candlelight, watch movies, not change any diapers, and just do a lot of loungin' and lovin' all weekend long. We weren't in the mood to be out and about. We spend so much time making our house a home, working to pay for our house and getting caught up in the busyness of life that we never just get to really enjoy our home and relax in it. The weekend was exactly what we wanted and needed. I think I am about ready for another homecation!

On Saturday night, the menu included Brown Rice Paella (substituted soyrizo for chorizo) and rice pudding for dessert. The paella was amazing, but my rice pudding... um, not so much. We even got a paella pan and Ben got fancy cooking it outside on the grill (thanks to a crash course from Alton Brown). We set up a little romantic spot outside for us and enjoyed the food, each other, and being under a canopy of twinkle lights.

Sunday night's menu was Chicken Tikka Masala (substituted greek yogurt for whole milk yogurt and heavy cream) on basmati rice accompanied with some fresh Mango Lassi. My dessert this night turned out much better than the rice pudding! The recipe was pretty good, but it did have a bit of a "canned tomatoey taste". We will be trying another recipe in the future.

We totally loved being able to enjoy our home, kitchen, and our backyard. The best part was just being together. We are able to have 6 years under our belt only by God's amazing grace. There is nothing special about us that we are able to sustain a happy marriage, the only reason we are able is because of Christ. When we celebrate our marriage, we are celebrating Christ and the covenant we are in with Him and with each other.

The girls came home late Sunday night and we continued our celebrating with them by taking them to the beach the next day and we ended the night grabbing some yogurt at our favorite place around the corner.

It was an utterly perfect and completely chill weekend. We definitely need to have more of these!

And in case you missed our slice of life videos, I made a couple for our homecation. I couldn't find my Zumi so these were made using Ben's iphone and the iSupr8 app. It is pretty cool, but the developing is kind of a pain. I will be definitely looking for a much more quick filming friendly app.

Every time we go on a trip, we normally have a special playlist to help us mark that time, even though we didn't go anywhere, we still had one, so all weekend long we listened to Me & Mr. Cassidy. Love them! Hope you enjoy our videos...

{song is Seven Seas by Me & Mr. Cassidy}

{song is All I Need by Me & Mr. Cassidy}

And in case you are wondering, the workshop went fantastic! There is so much to blog about it and that will be coming some time this week. And now that the workshop is over, I promise our love story will continue too...

here are your answers in one super duper long post

Answers to some of your questions. Here it goes:

Q: Are your daughters' names really True, Brave, and Soul?
A: Yes, they are indeed. No joke. The first two actually didn't have a name until after they were born. Brave was home 4 days before she was actually given a name. Here is a quick story on their names...

True is because she is our true miracle. Medically speaking, Ben has a condition that isn't supposed to allow us to have children. He even had surgery to try and get it fixed, but I was sitting in the doctor's office with him when we were both told that it didn't work and that the chances of having children naturally didn't look good. I cried, but I loved him and a year later we got married. Thus, when we did, we didn't worry about any birth control, cause well we had the most natural form (or so we thought), but God does miracles today and we were pregnant one month later. Now, we a total of three miracles! Or maybe, Ben was just testing me to see how much I really loved him! Hmm...

Brave's full name is Brave Noëlle. Brave cause our prayer for her is that she is Brave for the gospel and Noëlle means Christmas, which is Christ. Christ is the gospel. There you have it. Brave choice I know, but we love it. There is also a children's book called Ruby Lu, Brave and True, so it couldn't have been more perfect!

Soul, well you know that story already. And yes, the grandparents were highly opposed to both names True and Brave at first, but when Soul came around, they were already used to our naming habits!

Q: How do you take good family pictures or pictures of just the two of you?

A: We use a gorilla pod, which is just about the best thing ever. We are a bit particular in our picture taking, so we don't really ask strangers to do it (no offense strangers), so the gorilla pod is the best thing ever! I think we bought ours from amazon here. We put it on, get the camera in place, set the timer and I run in!

I don't have any professional photography skills as I just like to take pictures, but I wrote an article once for online magazine Sekund and I give some tips on how to capture some good pictures here.

Q: What type of camera do you use?

A: I use a Nikon d40, which is really old school now compared to some of the models out there, but I love it. I really would like to upgrade to this, but gotta save more pennies! If you look on the right side bar of my blog (right under followers), you will see the list of all the camera (and sewing) equipment that I use.

Q: What lens do you use the most?

A: I use my 18-200mm VR lens pretty much all the time.

Q: What program do you use to make your "slice of life" videos?

A: I use imovie on a Mac. I love mac and imovie is so so easy to use. When I was a teacher, my class learned how to make videos, so I learned the basics then and kinda just guess my way along the way now. It really takes me no more than 30 minutes to make a video, the hard part (and longest part) is finding a song.

Q: Where do you store all your craft stuff and all the things you make?

A: I am pretty lucky that I have my own studio area in our house, but it is such a mess and not organized. That is why you don't see pictures of it often. Once it is, I will share. I need more shelves, which is on my to-do list!

Q: What highchair do you use as I see Soul is sitting right up to your dining table?

A: We use a Stokke high chair, which is just about the best thing ever! It does cost a bit more, but it isn't a pain to clean and she is involved right at the dinner table. I am so glad we tossed the traditional one out and decided to get the Stokke instead.

Q: What is Ben's profession?

A: Ben is a registered dietitian and he works as a health educator for a local hospital. Healthy eating is very important to our family. You have to practice what you preach, right? Rest assured though, I am so normal and have a really bad sweet tooth. It is just all about moderation. I keep telling him he must start a blog.

Q: What does a typical day for you look like?

A: I wrote down my day for Design for Mankind's dallies several months back. See it here.

Q: When do you find time to craft?

A: All the girls take naps between 1-4pm daily. Well, most times at least 2 out of 3 are napping, so this is my time to get things done.

Q: Where are your sneakers from (this picture)?

A: They are really old, but I rarely wear sneaker type shoes, so they are in the best condition ever. I got these shoes 8 years ago when I was studying in London and they are a brand called Shelly's. I love Shelly's, so wish I could get them here!

Hope this answered most of your questions that you have sent me on either comments or via email. If you have anymore, leave them here. I know there are a few others like what types of gifts do I give for Christmas or favorite blog reads, I will answer those questions in a post of its own.

Also, thank you for your encouragement and thoughts regarding a fourth. It is really nice to read the wisdom from those who have gone before me (and even those who haven't) in this arena. That's why it is nice to have friends here in this space, we all learn and teach each other. We need to pray diligently about God's will for us, but I must say I am very encouraged by all of you!

The weekend is upon us and after being cooped up at home for a week, I can't wait to get out! Anyone got any fun plans? Please do share!

Thanks friends!!! xoxo

slice of life: in video

{song is aukalagid by lay low}

Winners have been announced on each giveaway post. Thank you for all your lovely comments for the giveaways. Y'all are fantastic!!! Seriously.

Hope you like this week's video. Have I told you how much I love the Zumi?!! I think Ben did such a good job capturing the butterflies! And in case you are wondering about that pot of food. Ah! Well, I cooked for our church potluck the night before and Ben was supposed to put all the meat in fridge (I even reminded him), but come Sunday morning, it was still sitting out (and of course after 4 hours and not in the right temperature, food is more susceptible to food borne illness). I was a bit miffed, but he apologized right away, ran to grocery store, and we had to cook all over again. So it is kind of a funny thing to remember, but maybe now that there is video, he won't ever forget again (as this wasn't the first time this happened)!

The weekend is finally upon us and my wish is to go out for Saturday morning breakfast. What is your wish for the weekend?

Have a grand time folks!

blog-versary giveaway day

Hello!

I have been blogging for three years now and just wanted to say thanks for coming along for the ride! I am so normal and though this space records mostly the happy moments, rest assured I have my down in the dump moments too. I just don't think you want to read about that all the time, but I ain't ashamed to admit it. And just in case you don't believe me because our most recent slice of life video seems so giddy, I really do yell at my kids (though, I am not proud of it and often ask for forgiveness) and Ben and I do fight (really!). I am so human and it just makes me realize how much more I need God. All that to say... thanks and I hope you keep following along! Now, go enter all the fun giveaways going on right now.

lots of love,

Ruby

p.s. Just in case you were wondering about that furry little head under mine in the picture, it is my little Soulie riding in the sling!

slice of life: in video

{song is mercy by duffy}

It was just another normal week of doing normal things. This coming week will be a wee bit busier because at the week's end we get to celebrate this gal's wedding. Hope your weekend is good thus far and keep the suggestions coming for our possible road trip!

slice of life: in video

{song is Let Go by Frou Frou}

Yeah... so Soul turns 9 months today and as you can see she is walking (kinda). I don't think that is normal compared to my other girls, so maybe this whole delay in eating thing was good and my breast milk gave her some super power. Just maybe.

Besides celebrating her walking, we are happy cause Friday is here and we got a long weekend up ahead for folks here in the U.S. (though Ben just reminded me everyday is the weekend for me), so we are gonna get our happy weekend started with some friends over for dinner tonight. The girls and are I gonna be busy baking fresh bread and desserts, and Ben will cook the main course because cooking is mostly his job.

Have a lovely friday friends! There may be a giveaway this weekend (or I might just wait until Monday).

p.s. Ms. Tips is having a one day only sale. Buy one get 20% off another purchase. I would check this, this and this out. There are great vintage goods with great prices!!!

slice of life: in video

{song is Look and Yes by Isan}