Yesterday was a bittersweet day. It was another day of saying goodbye to my beloved twin sister and brother-in-law who were travelling back to London after nearly a month of holidays here in Melbourne. I've gone through the process of saying goodbye to my sister many times over in the last few years but yesterday was the very first time that I did not cry. Tiffy cried. See here how sad she was to leave me...
This face is not even close to my sister's very sad face. Imagine sitting on opposite sides of a glass wall in Singapore airport watching your sister waiting in the gate lounge with tears streaming down her face, and just sitting there until she boards. In those moments, the moments where you watch someone leave, the only way to express how much you love them is with tears and how much you support them is with prayers.
Yesterday, though, there were no tears on my end. Not one; sorry Tiffy! And I think this is the reason why: I no longer worry about how her life will unfold because I trust that she is in good hands - the hands of her husband and the hands of God her Father. That is one part. But the other part is this... life always moves forward. What I have discovered in the last few years is that my life will move forward too. And now I actively make decisions that move my life forward. Because I don't want to be stuck in the past. I want to live in the now, and what I know now, is that there is life for me to live even when my sister is half a world away... literally.
So, I look forward to pursuing my hobbies, deepening my friendships and seeing new things come to pass in my life because now there is more space for me to keep moving forward. I look forward to my trip to London at Christmas where I'll be able to spend precious time with my family. I look forward.
One bizarre thing that has happened in the last month during their visit is that I have eaten out more in a month than I have in the past year! Luckily for me the places we ate at were either all-veg restaurants or vegan-friendly. One place we went to they served a yummy raw pad thai with kelp noodles (which I have been looking for everywhere and finally found: http://shop.rawblend.com.au/kelp-noodles-340g/). I decided my mission today was to figure out how to make this dish. The recipe below is my version of a raw kelp pad thai. How do I know it's good? My dad ate a bowl! He is not a vegan, and he doesn't like chilli or avocado, which he didn't even realise were in there until I told him... after he finished it!
raw kelp pad thai
salad
1 package kelp noodles* (340g)
2 corn cobs, cut off the kernels
2 medium carrots, julienned
2 medium cucumbers, julienned
1 red capsicum, julienned
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 daikon, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped (substitute: pine nuts)
1/4 cup spring onion, chopped
1/4 cup mung bean sprouts, for garnish
1 tbsp sesame seeds, for garnish (substitute: pumpkin seeds)
dressing
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked 2 hours
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 2 hours
1/2 red chilli, deseeded
1 inch cube ginger root
2 tbsps unhulled tahini or raw almond butter
2 tbsps coconut vinegar (substitute: mirin*)
1 tbsp cold-pressed sesame oil
1 tbsp low-sodium tamari*
1 tsp coconut sugar
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan crystal salt
Juice of half a lime (substitute: lemon)
Rinse and drain the kelp noodles in a salad spinner. Add the base ingredients to the kelp noodles in the salad spinner bowl. Process the dressing ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth. Pour the dressing over the base ingredients and mix well with clean hands. Serve at room temperature with the garnishes as well as a wedge of lime or lemon.
*Kelp noodles are a low calorie alternative to cooked or grain-based noodles and are made with kelp (a sea vegetable), sodium salt from seaweed and water. Mirin is a fermented rice seasoning and tamari is a fermented soybean sauce, which is also gluten-free. Hooray!
Here are photos of my immediate family and also my extended family at my beautiful cousin Courtney's wedding last weekend. Shout out to my cousins Courtney, Skye and Luke, as well as my new cousin-in-law Blake; I love you all dearly and may you all look forward to the new things that are to come in life. My love always!
Tom Tiff Kathy Linsey Brooke
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