36 Upcoming Wishes

What shall I do to celebrate #36?

For several years, I have tried to set up adventures to celebrate each passing year.  Whether it has been rock climbing.... hiking to a waterfall... going swimming with turtles...or exploring the world's largest open air shopping mall... I have tried to live intentionally with friends!

This year I have to work on my birthday and the weekend that follows so an idea hit me that sounded like fun...

Starting June 1st  (that is today) until the end of July (the 24th is the actual big day! )  the goal is to have at least 36 amazingly awesome adventures!  Now honestly I have been to some incredible places as of late but the goal is to be intentional... use my time wisely... have some fun... try something new... and spend some time with the people in my life.

Here is the birthday bucket list... may slightly change!

1.  Polar ocean world
2. Spend time outside the classroom with some of my learners and their families
3. Visit wide and narrow pedestrian street
4. Buy a white pair of shoes and doodle on them (original bucket list item)
5. Star Wars Movie marathon
6. Learn 5 more new Mandarin words
7. Try a new tea
8. Explore a new street market
9. Visit the Magical Forest
10. Play at the water park
11. Go ice skating
12. Try a new food
13. Sunbathe on the tropical beaches of Hainan
14. Sanya
15.HK Disneyland
16. Walk the Ave of the Stars
17. View the skyline of HK
18. Lantau Island
19. Hong Kong
20. Get my nails done
21. Have a massage
22. Random act of kindness
23. Walk through Bamboo path
24. Eat dumplings at Old Town Shanghai Dumplings
25. Shop at the worlds largest Disney store (Shanghai)
26. Eat a dragon fruit
27. Volunteer at an orphanage
28. Play twister
29. Aqua lake (Victoria Harbor)
30. Read a new book
31. Qingcheng mountain
32. Celebrate Dragon boat festival
33. Learn to order water in Chinese
34. See Avengers
35. Try a new drink
36.  go to KTV

Additional ideas... visit Lindsay in Nanjing... while there see the Youth olympic center...swim with dolphins...do something kind for my coworkers... bake a sweet treat to share...post 3 new blogs... complete 2 chapters in the book I am writing... bungy jump off Macau Tower? Ok maybe not!

Stay tuned as the adventure begins and feel free to join me on the adventure if you are able or suggest more ideas!  Here is to 35 going our with a bang and bring 36 in with a myriad of great adventures!

A wrinkle in time

And I am not referring to the book by the same title!

A day or two ago one of our learning partners (LP) stopped by my classroom to get some assistance on grammar.  Not sure what she was working on but the two sentences/questions were...

Are you Swedish? Or Are you a Swedish?

After having a two minute grammar lesson and correcting the second sentence to Are you a Swede?... the LP walked out and left me with the realization that a year ago... almost to the day... I was in Sweden visiting some pretty awesome Swedes!

This realization snowballed with the fact that ... that was ONLY a year ago!  So much has happened in my life in the past year that it boggles my mind.  Then when I take a step back and think that this year is only a mere wrinkle in my life already spent on this earth ... I am blown away at how much I have been allowed to experience in my time thus far on this planet called earth.

In the past year I have lived on three different continents in 3 different countries.... I have been to numerous other countries... states... cities... and provinces.  I have picked up bits and bobs of more languages that I never really know what is going to come out of my mouth when I speak. I have shared my story and built relationships with many ethnic and people groups in the midst of my journey.  I have been blessed by friends and family that have stayed by my side and supported my decisions and endeavors even when there were a lot of unknowns... they have been there to rejoice when I completed my master's... they have been there to comfort when I spent another Christmas by myself... they have been there to call me out when I needed to be put back in line.  

Friends are what makes this journey through life enjoyable.  People are the only things that have eternal value.  How are you investing your time, talent, and treasure in those around you today? Relationships matter and even though sometimes they are painful ... people are worth your investment!

If tomorrow starts without me...

I once heard a poem by this title and it recently came back to me and made me ponder...

Am I doing the best I can with the time allotted?

We don't know our time here... for some the time on this planet is just hours while others get 100+ years...

If tomorrow starts without me, would this world be any different for me having lived in it? Would people realize I was no longer here? Would there be things left unsaid? Would there be things left undone? Would people in my life wonder where I stood? Or what they meant to me?

Did I say "I love you" enough?
Did I show my appreciation for those that came alongside and assisted in this journey?
Have I done all I could with what resources I had?
Could I have given more of my time... my energy... my heart... or my finances?
Would there be a list of should've... would've... could've's...or things on my bucket list undone?

Have I listened enough?
Have I given enough hugs?
Have I trusted enough?
Have I told others how I truly feel?
Have I said 'I love you!' Enough?

If tomorrow started without me... would I be missed?

Letting it go!

It is a few days before valentine's day... a holiday I have loved since I was a little girl due to what it stands for.  I guess a year or so ago I thought this would be the day I would be getting my dream come true... the chance to be a wife with the hopes of becoming a mother.  I always thought it would be ideal to get married on the 14th of February and since in the year 2015 it fell on Saturday.... I thought it was destined to happen.

Then choices were made... I chose to move to the other side of the world... he chose to not stay in contact...I chose to hold out hope and make excuses... he chose to find another girl closer to home... so I moved again. 

In the process of moving on... two worlds collided... setting me on a course to find a man who loves me for me.  Unfortunately old habits die hard... walls are put up...trust issues from the past are put on non-suspecting innocent by standers...  and any one who wants a commitment is pushed away. 

Will I ever find someone that loves me for me... even with all my insecurities... even with all my flaws and faults... even with just being me? I know we are all imperfect people just trying to make relationships work.  Relationships... whether friends... family... or more... all take work.  It takes both parties laying down their issues and fears and saying I love you inspite of our differences.  

The list of ideal qualities in my ideal husband was tossed into the wind a long time ago and I am realizing that I have a lot of things to work on personally before I can expect anything from anyone else.  The more I learn about myself the more I realize how far I have to go.  So I am letting go of the ideal... concentrating on today... and trusting that my divine creator has a perfect purpose and plan for me.

Travel tips

Several people have commented in recent months that I am so lucky/blessed to be able to travel and I realized I guess I am... however this is my life.... this is my normal. 

I have made choices on this journey through life and because of those choices... I have had some awesome opportunites to explore this world... but I would like to say... IT HAS BEEN MY CHOICE.  And I have given up some things to travel this not so normal road.

You too can set up a life of adventure by following a few simple steps...

1.  Follow your passion.  I made a commitment a long time ago to follow my Creator wherever He led.  Being the gentleman that He is... I have had the choice to listen to that small quiet voice or listen to the clatter of the world telling me... use your time, talent, and treasure for yourself.  My time, talent, and treasure have been multiplied because I am not doing it for my gain.

2.  Be intentional.  What do you want to do? Make a list... nothing is off limits or too far out of reach.  Some might be harder to achieve but that is where the next item comes into place.  Make this an ongoing growing list... it can be things you want to see... places you want to travel... experiences you desire... (see my 100 things to do... and 100 more things to do lists on this blog)

3.  Kick in the creativity.  We are all given 24 hours as a gift each day.  How do we spend our time? Do we spend our days slaving away to earn extra money to buy the kiddos more stuff? How about using a day or two and spend some time creating experiences with those you love? Now I know you are pobably thinking ... but I can't just take off a day or two to go see the pyramids... or the eiffel tower... or the great wall.... oh but could you see what fun adventures lie within a hour or two drive or flight from your house? Have you gone to the sites like the battlefields... or Yosemite... or Nigara falls? Granted I know these trips are easier as a single person but I do have responsibilites.  Maybe instead of a once a month weekend trip... for a family plan a weekend trip hiking in the mountains... or boating at the lake... or camping at the beach.  Life is full of adventures and it is the memories that will last a lifetime.

4.  Make friends.  Most of my connections worldwide are friends or friends of friends that have quickly become friends.  I don't do the whole tourist thing well... when I travel I like to look at it as a time to fellowship with and encourage friends.  This has increased my international friend group which just allows for more opportunities.

A day with the pandas

Chengdu is known for being the home of China's national treasure... the pandas.  There are two types of pandas... the Giant Pandas which are big black and white and then there are the red pandas which look like a mix between a fox and a raccoon.

A coworker and his family invited a few of us from work to go to the panda sanctuary.  It was about a 2 hour ride on the bus system and then a fun filled day.  We left Hongpailou at 8am aswe wanted to get to the pandas before they ate and went to sleep.  Rubens children were so excited for the excursion that they were literally bouncing the entire bus ride.    Seeing the excitement from the eyes of the children brought a new excitement to the entire outing andit reminded me how muchI enjoy travelling with children.

An added perk of the day was when one of the red pandas came out of its enclosed area and came walking right up to us allowing us the opportunity to pet it.

Heading to Harbin

After my last post on being so frozen... I am headed to a place today where the temperatures are well below zero... I am talking -29 degrees cold.  Ayeyayah!

Before I moved to China a friend said that I must go see the ice and snow sculptures in Harbin in January.  With trying to live intententionally and not put off things... a friend and I at work were talking about this and we decided to use one of our weekends and head to Harbin on an adventure.

So the weekend has arrived.  With the current job my weekend schedule is Tuesday and Wednesday which makes travel and almost anything else easier with being the middle of the week and not having to fight with 14 million other people on the typical weekend to get anything done. 

Met up with Helen at 5:30am outside of our apartments and caught a taxi to the airport.  At this time of the morning there were few people on the road but quite a few at the airport.  Currently I am sitting in the holding area catching up on my blog and clearing pictures from my camera.

Stay tuned on more adventures from Harbin...