guess what

the reasons i haven't been blogging much are:

1. i've been really sick
2. i've been really tired
3. i've been really pregnant

i know it's hard to tell, but if you look close, the little blob in the black area is a baby! we are so excited for our new addition and are eagerly awaiting the arrival around september 12. j is busy tying up school & i am happy that the sickness is fading. mochi has no idea and is just happy eating broccoli. this image was taken at 7 weeks, so mango (our name for him/her) just looks like a tiny little blob. i'm now 12 weeks (mango is as big as a lime) and we're praying everything continues to go well! i heard the heartbeat, and it's really the most amazing sound...

the attack of the wax

here is a recent conversation between my dad, myself, and my 2 brothers. (note the sister-in-laws sat this one out). my dad had a really bad earache and i guess it was due to some wax he put in there to sleep and some got stuck and caused an infection. a typical abelmann dialogue...

dad: All fixed. Got last big piece of earplug wax removed today. Should heal up soon
me: that's so gross. what happend to those foam earplugs? when did you start buying wax? glad to hear you are better. but quite strange...
r: awesome, save it and make it into a candle for julia's birthday.
me: what is wrong with you people?
dad: Mom did save it!
j: That’s disgusting. Please dispose.
me: please tell mom not to freeze it in water...like the goldfish
dad: We were going to put it under julia's pillow instead of money. ps it was all cleaned out by the doctor!

i left my heart..

sorry for the lack of posts as of late, i will explain later this week. in the meantime, i am headed home to SF tomorrow through sunday. i have some photoshoots scheduled & client meetings, and was hoping to plan something fun w/you sf friends, but it seems like we are subject to nonstop rain most of the weekend. if saturday cooperates, i'm free to hike around tiburon or marin saturday am. or meet in berkeley for ice cream at fentons. let me know! other than that, i'm excited to see my family and get spoiled w/good food.

pink balloon proposal

some guy proposed to his gf on the brooklyn bridge by having strangers hand her a pink balloon with a love note attached - the first was a friend of his that she wouldn't recognize. read the full story here. it is so adorable.

valentines day freebees

if you haven't sent a vday card yet because you haven't had time or money is tight, or even if you have, there are some free super cute ones on the kate spade site. i just sent jan this one...

happy birthday to my niece & nephew

it was the twins first birthday celebration last weekend. holls & eric threw them a great party and holly made a full spread of ethiopian food even down to the sponge bread - she is that good. here's my tribute pic to them from january - i love them and can't wait to see them soon! happy birthday a & c! ps. c's overalls are vintage from his great grandma.

peach dutch oven goodness

last night i went to mel's and made some peach dutch oven cobbler that turned out so good - perfect for these chilly la nights. and yes, i'm serious - it was in the 50's! i had to use caroline's photo because i forgot my camera - and i was worried that her recipe would be too big for my slightly smaller oval dutch oven, but it was just fine. i used 2 cans of peaches, next time i will use 3 and maybe sprinkle a hint of cinnamon on the peaches as well as the batter. I also cooked it for 10-15 more min's than she said. (all ovens are diff.) it's really easy and great alone or with a dab of vanilla ice cream. the best part is that it really tasted just like we were camping - without all the dirt! some may say that's half the fun, but i vote for this option.

recipe via care's blog:

Filling
4 c ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
2 T of sugar
1/4 t vanilla

Batter
6 T of butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 c buttermilk (our easy trick for this is to put some lemon juice in milk and sour it)
1 t of vanilla

1 T of brown sugar

**remember, i adapted this recipe for my dutch oven. so this original recipe was meant for an 8x8 pan. so, if you use a dutch oven, just substitute that for the 8x8 parts.**

Preheat oven to 350 (i did 325° to be safe with the dutch oven).

Combine the 3 ingredients in the filling and set aside. In an 8 inch baking dish place the butter pieces and place in the oven until the butter melts. While it is melting combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. In another bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until everything is moistened. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon the batter over thebutter spreading evenly but not stiring. Spoon the filling over the top and gently press in the peaches. Bake for 35-40 minutes and then sprinkle with brown sugar (i doubled the amount of sugar for good measure) and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the crust is golden.

dad's retirement party

a few months late but i'm just getting to posting some photos from the surprise party we threw over christmas for my dad. the theme was an old hollywood style and we added in mustaches since we've never known my dad to be without one. we set up a photobooth and decorated and black, white, grey and shades of green. we put famous 'dad' quotes on all the drinks, i cut out his silhouette from a piece of paper to sprinkle on tiny black nonparieles to create his image on the cake (you need patience for this but it's a great effect) and hung his silhouette around the house. we played a few games, sang him a song that my little brother wrote about his life, and read quotes from people in his past. i love the photo of my nephew up top staring at his mom wondering why she has a mustach. there are a lot more photos of the other guests, decor, etc. but most of this is my family.

sunday school in la

we were talking at church about how when we pray we hope to receive a comforting feeling of peace from heavenly father. and how we rarely get chastized, but it has occured in the scriptures. this one older asian gentleman raised his hand and suggested that when we chasitze our kids we should use the same, gentle approach intead of using our often 'satanic' voices. the teacher was a younger guy and was trying not to laugh at his choice of words. who uses a satanic voice when disciplining? do we even know what that voice sounds like? deep and loud and do you grab your red cape and horns? we were cracking up...

unexpected blessings

this week involved a lot of resumes, a lot of praying and a lot of BLAH, what in the world am i going to do?? and then out of nowhere, before my job is even done with (this fri was my last day), they have a big meeting and say we don't want you to go..completely. so i'm back part time, they raised my pay per hour and are having me do all their design work from now on. so every week, i will do that and photography.

anyways, here is a (bad) poem on how my week has been:

i had a job and then it was gone
no money for rent leads to begging at dawn
just mochi and me, eating veggies together
while i thought about me, broke, lounging in the warm la weather

i guess it's not so bad i thought, getting tan while i wait
until i thought about being evicted, j's stuff in the trash he might hate
so i turned in some resumes and talked to everyone i knew
and then my job resurfaced, my cube i could come back to

i'm still broke and poor but happy in spirit
i'll get to do more photography, now will you hire me?

(sorry, but really, what rhymes with spirit?)

did your morning involve 2 strangers + 2 cops + 2 mechanics?

mine did. j's car battery cables came loose apparantly, and while driving by costco and luckily being almost stopped at a light, the entire car decided to die. no power. no blinky hazards to warn cars not to hit me, nada. luckily something worked and the hazards came back on. nobody came to help for awhile. an old guy tried but said he couldn't do anything. then out of nowhere a stranger told me to put it in neutral and 2 guys started pushing to get it into a strip mall but it was too heavy to get it up the hill so it got stuck in the driveway, now halfway in the road. i saw a big cop suv and waved them over - two big guys got out and analyzed the situation and after trying to figure out how to take out the bike rack to PUSH the car w/their car up the driveway, they played w/the battery wires and got the car to work! they followed me to a fix it shop where some nice guys tightened stuff and added washers for $15. maybe i should start paying attention when j teaches me about cars....