why i haven't been

blogging as much, two words...

Ever since mastitis happened last week and I was forced to take bed rest, I took upon a little habit of watching Downton Abbey. Now, all of my free time has been spent with Lady Mary and the Downton Abbey crew. 

I have such a love hate relationship with watching drama series. I used to love watching Korean dramas, but it quickly ate up too much of my life and I got too compulsive and wanted to watch the whooooole thing in one sitting. So, I promised myself never to start that problem again :) But then, this happened...so I'll just have to finish it! 

I'll try my best to watch all the episodes as fast as I can, so I can get my life back together again ;) In the meantime, isn't it a little fun to indulge a little into the love life and drama series of others just for a bit? :)  

a part Irish {like mother, like daughters}

Did you all know I'm a part Irish? 

As Korean as I look, half of me is Irish and so are my kids. Explanations are to follow....

Well, I married a man who was adopted by parents who are of Irish blood. Although Mike is a 100% Korean by blood, he has been raised and nurtured almost like an Irish man :) By marrying him and changing my last name to Frank, half of me became European. Although all four of us in this family are ethnically Korean, it is something very special to us to recognize the roots of the parents who have nurtured the man of our household. 

So, we celebrated today like any good Catholic Irish family would by wearing our favorite mint green to mass. :) 

Linking up with FLAP again this Sunday! 

Francis & Mastitis

For the past couple of days, I have been battling with the most ugliest and meanest mastitis known to woman-kind. It came on with a vengeance and I'm still left feeling fatigued. I mean come on, who gives fevers that reach numbers up to 104.5? Well as husband said, "what didn't kill you will only make you stronger." Just call me the breastfeeding warrior after this weeks battle wounds. 



























But on a brighter note, we have a new Pope! Even in my delirium state with battle mastitis, I couldn't help but feel incredibly joyful for Pope Francis. A Pope who cooks his own meals and takes the subway to work everyday? Theres word on the street that when they told him that his limo was ready, he refused and took the bus with the other Cardinals instead. The humility is beautiful. I can clearly go on and on about how much I love him but I'll finish with St. Francis is the same saint I picked for my confirmation sacrament. Enough said. 

This is one of my favorite photos of Pope Francis at a newborn mass in Buenos Aires. Here he is blessing all the newborns and he doesn't even mind a breastfeeding mom. I don't know if I would have to courage to nurse like that in front of the Holy Father, but I guess its the American culture in me that tells me to cover up. 

Have a great weekend! 

my bright girls {like mother, like daughter}

I read an article once about how most people, when complimenting girls, seem to concentrate on their physical looks. "Look at how pretty you are, you have beautiful eyes...etc." But, when it comes to complimenting a little boy, it is about character building, "you are so strong, you are so athletic...etc." 

I notice how true this was when I actually started to listen to the compliments that were coming to my daughters each day. Many people were complimenting about how cute their outfit was and how pretty they were, but I didn't hear much other than the superficial. 

I want my daughters to grow up to be confident women that see themselves for more than just physical beauty. Mike is so good about complimenting our girls daily and making sure they know they are beautiful. But, I hope to continue to affirm them so they can grow up to understand that beauty is fleeting...and what is more important is to have love in the soul. I love this quote by St. Augustine, " Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul." I hope this quote continues to resonate within me and in my prayer as mother for my daughters. 

PS: Did you see that dirty stuffed animal in Sophia's hand? Meet Sheep. She is the most loved doll around the house. Sheep accompanies Sophia to all her naps and tea parties. You will see her in our pictures a lot. 

PSS: first time linking up with FLAP

a great great grandmother

This was a hard week for our family because my great grandmother passed away. She lived an incredibly blessed life of 95 years and yesterday we had her funeral on her 96th birthday. 

She has been such an inspiration for me as a strong woman in our family, widowed early and raised her 9 children alone! Btw, she gave birth to those 9 children at home! 

Halmeoni, we love you! 

*above is a picture I instagramed of Zaylee & halmeoni last month. Zaylee being the youngest member of the family and halmeoni being the oldest. Btw, there are 5 generations between them! 

the worst part

...of motherhood has to be hands down watching your child be sick.

This was my Saturday morning, nursing my child in the urgent care and trying to figure out what was making her so ill. I absolutely hate it when my children are sick. I panic, I get super sad and I always want it to be all over soon. I guess its the fact that I hate to see them suffer. 

My little birdie came on with a super high fever (104.5) the last few days with nothing else but that. After going through a process of elimination, we found out it was Roseola today. Sophia had it around this age too, so I knew what to expect. However, it doesn't make things easier. I'm such a wimpy mom. I wish I was brave and could just learn to embrace moments like this when I have to watch my children suffer, but I'm not very good at it. 

Because I'm not very good at handling moments like this, I discovered one of my biggest pet peeves. I cannot stand it when people who are sick or whose children are sick come around my children. I don't want to seem mean when I say this, but I genuinely think it is rude when people bring sick kids around healthy kids (not just my own). I've had personal experiences with this a couple times and have watched my children get sick the next day after a play date or a birthday party. If there was a parenting booklet, this should be one of the most important rules: Don't take your sick child around other healthy children. Sometimes I feel like I am the meanest person in the world for avoiding certain parents who take this rule of thumb so lightly. I obviously cannot control everything, but I'm just saying. This mama can vent a little right?? 

I'm glad I'm married to a man who stays much calmer than me on this issue, who always says, "let's just keep an eye on it," when I call him mid day at work panicked because something looks wrong in our child. Although, sometimes he thinks I can be a little extremist on this issue and (sometimes I wonder if I am too). But at least he's here to balance me out a little bit. 

Today as I was exhausted and continuing to nurse my child to health, a good friend emailed me this beautiful article. I felt ridiculous for the way I handled (more like fell apart) the last few days with my sick child and also so inspired all at the same time. Go check it out and get your inspiration on.  

7 quick takes #tgif

1. I hate this period of time when we don't have a Pope. But now there is something we can do while we wait for the white smoke to appear in the chimney. 

This is who I got:

Go and adopt yours :) 
Thank you Papa Benedict for serving us. We love you!

2. Our family business involves shipping containers around the world. But how much more glamorous would it be if they looked like these pop up hotels in Belgium. Would you consider staying here for the night?  

3. One man's trash is another man's treasure! I love going to thrift stores, vintage stores, flea markets and yard sales...you name it, I'm there :). This weekend, I'm going to Joy and Bri's yard sale and I already know its going to be the prettiest yard sale around! Can you imagine what these two color and pattern lovin' beauties will sell? I'll try to share my loot with you all on Sunday via instagram :) 

4. We had a mid-week spontaneous trip to the San Diego Zoo, which in my books is the best zoo around. This was my favorite animal of the day. He's called a Okapi, from Africa and is like a fushion breed between a zebra and a giraffe. So cool! 

Can you guess what Sophia's favorite animal was at the zoo?? Not the Panda bears, but the pink flamingos!! 

5. I fell in love with a new grocery store this week. It has better prices than Whole Foods and some better selections on certain things (they seem to specialize in more raw foods). They don't sell red meat or beer, which makes it the perfect place to get your groceries at during lent. Yesterday, they were giving away samples of their nut loaf and it was delicious! I'm planning on making a version of it at home soon. What are some of your lenten meals looking like? We've done bean and cheese burritos, shrimp stir fry, and I'm doing salmon tacos today.

6.  I'm joining Hilary and Anna on #encouragebeauty challenge and so should you! 

7. Have a great weekend!! 

You can go check out Jen and others on their 7 quick takes for the week here.