Time Flies.....reflections and Observations on 2010

"When you're learning to face the path at your pace, every choice is worth your while...and there's always retrospect to light a clearer path.." Indigo Girls (Watershed)

2010 was quite the year. I look back and think on all the people met, the places traveled, the lessons learned, things accepted, things discarded and the life LIVED in that year. When I use the term "LIVED" I use it in every sense of the word, every layer of it! I truly LIVED this past year. For the first time, I truly felt I was living MY life by my rules and for myself. It is completely freeing, imitimidating and a little scary all at once. You live for yourself and by your own rules, you have have the sole responsiblity in the choices and decisions you make....you cannot put those decisions off on another person, on misguided beliefs, on a religion...on anything really...it is you and your decisions. HOWEVER, once I got past all that bullshit fear, the absolute freedom of those choices were felt and off I went to experience my life. What an amazing gift to not feel guilty about choices but to embrace them and revel in each and every experience brought to me by my choices. A person also can't help but look back a bit and reflect on all that has transpired, be thankful for those experiences and look forward to all the wonderful choices and experiences yet to come. So if you will indulge me..just a few reflections on 2010....

You just never know the instant the universe is going to gift you with a wonderful set of friends who completely enrich your life and make a city I had moved to feel like home. I have lived loads of places, worked loads of places and have always made freinds rather easily and quickly. One of the most difficult aspects of moving to Galway was not having a group of good friends. In fact, I didn't know a soul when I moved here. I understood that it would take some time to establish ties to people and places, but I didn't think it would take as long as it did. Then one day, my wonderful Gillian invited me to her birthday brunch and in that instant, life here changed. I didn't know that by going to a simple brunch I would gain a wonderful group of friends and a wealth of new experiences with them since then. Thank you Gillian, Mary, Kate and Anne for letting me be "The Fifth" and for making Galway home for me. So I say never miss the opportunity to celebrate milestones, joys and sorrows with someone...you just never know all that could be gained. Hell, I am still learning all the ways these wonderful friends are enriching my life.

No matter how many books I have read, magazine articles poured over, audio recordings listened to, etc it has finally hit me that a laugh line, extra cushioning around my middle, rained on frizzy hair, no make up etc DO NOT matter in the long run or even in the short run for that matter. Everyone has insecurities about something..EVERYONE..so why worry about it. So my weight goes up and down, so I might have a spot or two sometimes, so I play too hard sometimes, so so so so so SO WHAT?!?! Really...just let it go..a smile, a happy heart with laughter and self confidence go waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy past the superficial bullshit...and that is all it is...superficial bullshit! Now, why did it take me 35 years to learn that?! ;-)

Family and old friends will always be there. This past year marked the longest I had ever been away from home without visiting. A comforting fact is home is always home....always! Some aspects may change or my perspective on somethings may change, but home is always home. There is a peace in knowing that your mom and dad still get choked up when they see you arriving home, that your sisters and brother will still laugh with you and still give you enough shite to keep you in your place, that your nieces and nephews have an endless supply of hugs, kisses and snuggles and that your friends understand that even though a a passing hug may be all that there is time for, that hug is filled with all the love there could possibly be and that you are grateful for that 5 minutes. So, because of these facts, I am strong and able to leave again, knowing all that will be there upon my next visit. This doesn't mean the leaving part is easy, but knowing these things makes it possible to leave and look forward to the next time.......

Life continually moves on. We can get mired in the muck and murky waters of the past or worry too much about what the future has in store....but none of those actions ever got anyone very far or made them very happy. I am not saying anything earth shattering there, but it is true. So for 2011, I will continue to LIVE and LIVE in the present moment...experiencing every nano second of this amazing life I have been blessed and all the wonderful, amazing people in it!!! Thank you all for being a part of my path and journey!

"And the people whol love me still ask me, when are you coming back to town? And I answer quite frankly, when they stop building roads and all God needs is gravity to hold me down." Allison Krauss

Where are we Going? In Circles..We are really good at these

So, a couple of weeks removed from my 48 hour getaway to Lisbon/Sintra Portugal, that still makes me laugh! We really did wander in a lot of circles....but in the end, we always ended up just where we needed to be. Kinda like my life sometimes..I feel like I am going in complete circles and then, seemingly, all of the sudden I am right where I need to be...so I wonder if our "circles" really aren't circles, but rather another path with endless possibilities to get us to one of our stops along life's journey. (Because if you think about it...circles don't end and neither does the journey of our life;-) ) I have to say, it makes me excited to see what other circles I can find, travel in, and experience. So, here are my observations from the circles of Portugal....

When I travel to a new place, I always spend time looking up the place, figuring out what there is to see and trying to develope a loose itinerary as to how I am going to spend my time. Well, there is just too much to see in 48 hours in a place like Lisbon. (Or Madrid, or Salamanca or Skein, or Edinburgh for that matter) You can start to feel guilty that you aren't seeing every single thing, every single minute of the trip. I admit I do have an insatiable appetite to experience new things and this can lead me to utter exhaustion at times. I made the command decision to NOT do this with Lisbon. Frankly, I wanted to get out of town, get some place warm, eat, drink and soak up some sun....Lisbon and Sintra seemed perfect for this endeavor. I am here to tell you..that is EXACTLY what happened! Sure, I saw some AMAZING things but I ate wonderful Pasties in Belem, drank REALLY good and cheap Portuguese wine and took a train, then taxi out to a wonderful place called Praia Das Macas (Appl Beach) near Sintra and just vegged out...with some more wine of course! I realized that sometimes just relaxing in a beautiful place you have never experienced is all you need to see and do. I have made a vow to travel like this from now on... relax, enjoy and see some stuff but not stress too much about seeing everything there is to see...I think that is real gratification comes in!

I was also struck by the truth in the statement that communication is 90% HOW you say something as opposed to WHAT you say. I learned this our first night in Lisbon. We went for dinner and ordered a meal, joked around, and laughed with our waiter...ALL without really speaking the same language to eachother. I was truly amazed at this whole situation as it unfolded! Through pointing, nodding and gestures, full communication was achieved..what we wanted to eat arrived with no problems, the bill was paid and a wonderfully enjoyable evening was had. Again...another shift in perception on people. the more I travel and the more places I see with all the different people, the world just seems smaller rather than bigger. Our similarities seem much more evident than differences we have. It is truly amazing to start to see the world through those eyes instead of always looking for differences between people and cultures. It was quite incredible to share laughs and jokes with someone you weren't even speaking the same language to...what an experience.

I read a quote that said "Only the curious have something to find" and I truly believe this to bbe true. You can ask my mom and dad or anyone else that has watched me grow up, I have always been a curious girl...wanting to know as much as I can about all sorts of things. Well, I am finding loads over here. But I am also learning to not put expectations on anything and that leaves the door open to EVERYTHING... all sorts of possibilities lie ahead and again, I am so excited to experience what is coming down the road or whatever circle I fling myself into next. I have at least another year over here as my visa has just been extended and so I say...bring on the curiosity and circles... I am ready!


PS....for those of you who asked..I had a wine baby and it was a red....lol!!!

ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
— Howard Thurman

(Pics... Inish Maan, Innish Maan, St. Patty's Day on Shop St, Me and a cannon in Edinburgh castle, Mysister and I at a wedding)




ALIVE..now there is a word! How many of us actually get to live our lives feeling truly ALIVE?! As of today, I have lived in Ireland a full year and this past year has been the one in which I felt the most alive. Where does a person begin trying to explain the weight and weightlessness of that?! In retrospect I believe that it is better to not have known the absolute level of insanity you are operating on when you do something like this with your life. What a crazy, sometimes scary, sometimes lonely but always exciting level of living. I really moved to another country, not knowing anyone here, never even having visited it and just decided to leap! Well, a year later, I am here to say that one hell of a net has appeared for me here in Galway. In the broad and cliche sense, I followed my dreams and heart over here. I didn't realize the level of courage that takes, I just thought that I had the opportunity to live out my wildest dreams and had to do it so that I wouldn't wake up at 80 and wonder what it would've been like to have taken this chance. As I sit here and look back at my first year here, so many wonderful people, places and things have come into my life. I can't help but think that I have changed in many ways but yet I know at the end of the day, I am still the same Sally that left in many ways. It makes me wonder if we really ever "change" or are we just continually evolving and developing the truest and best possible version of ourselves? I would like to think the latter... So on that note..here are some thank yous, observations and reflections from the past year....


THANK YOU'S

Thanks to my Mom and Dad: You always let me be Little Miss Independent and look where it has taken me. Mom, I will always be grateful that you were one of the first people to experience this amazing place with me and for ALL of your support in my decision to do this. Dad, I am indebted to you for the experience in your office, but I am even more grateful for the support you have given me in letting me find my own way and letting me find that I can do this outside of your wonderful and loving shadow. I wouldn't have had the confidence in myself or my ability to pursue this dream with out the two of you.

Thank you to my sisters and brother for keeping in touch with me, keeping me up to date with my nieces and nephews and giving me just enough crap to keep me grounded:) I love you guys!

Thank you to my extended family for all the facebook posts, letters, packages..etc... I love you all and love the support!

I have been blessed with wonderful friends back where I come from and to list what each friendship has meant to me, well, we would be here well into next year. Tracy, Jenny Jen, Scott V., Steve, Trish, Robin, Chuck, Jason, Kelly, Mellisa, Matt, Jess, Jenny W. and many others I am sure I have missed...thanks for keeping in touch and welcoming me back on my visits with open arms and cold drinks ;-)

My Iowa family: (Jo Jo, Mikee, Herman, Scotty, Josh, Brad, Caitlin, Tracy) Not moving nearer to you was more difficult than it may appear. You guys were there all through Palmer and these years following and I was quite excited at the opportunity to be so close to all of you but.... I am full of gratitude for your unconditional love, your efforts to bridge the geographic distance and keep in touch with phone calls, visits, emails, facebook and all that..I can't wait to see you all in August!

Tomas and Laura Hemgren: I know I have said it numerous times, but thank you for the opportunity to practice here in Galway. I truly love the patients, this profession and the opportunity here to serve the people of Galway. Thank you for all you do for us!

Nick and cacee: thanks for being such wonderful and patient roommates!! Thanks for Coffe and Banoffee, Cacee and for the great craic at work, Nick!

Annie Johnson...I can't thank you enough for your friendship over the past year and for all the help in getting settled here! Thanks for all the "tips" on Irish life and helping me feel more comfortable as I settled in!

For my "new" Gals, Gillian, Mary and Kate...thank you for letting me be the 5th! I have had so many laughs, late nights and good times in the last couple months and I am truly thankful for your friendships. I look forward to many more laughs, bubbles and the like!


OBSERVATIONS And REFLECTIONS

The glaringly obvious one is that I am one hell of a lucky gal to be doing something I LOVE with my life, in a place I love, surrounded by wonderful people here and in the States. I firmly believe that we create our own happiness and we have to actively seek and follow our heart to make that happiness manifest in our lives. I decided a year ago not to live my life in fear of the what if's, but rather pursue a life of why not's! The why not's have proven to be more fun anyways:) Travel all around Europe..WHY NOT?! (So far Norway, Madrid and Salamanca Spain, Edinburgh, various places in Ireland and next up LISBON PORTUGAL) Tell people how I actually feel about them, a situation, etc (with tact in some cases of course..lol) WHY NOT? Not let some else's ideas of what I should be doing dictate what I am actually doing....WHY NOT? Follow my instincts and listen to my heart..WHY NOT?? So many more why nots are encountered on a regular basis....I just like looking at life this way much better than cowering in fear in a corner and watching that life pass me by.

I have always believed in not settling for less than what you want. But now I realize it is also about not settling less than for what you deserve in this life. Who are we NOT to deserve the best, seek the best and be the best version of ourselves we can be?! I think when we acknowledge that we DO deserve all the good that can possibly come our way, our happiness comes and we come alive. So, Mr. Thurman....I HAVE found what makes me come alive and I am doing it! I wish that for all of you! Until next time......


Full of gratitude and grace...
Sally

Comfort Zones, Lessons Learned and Committments

"The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. Seek therefore, not to find out who you are, but seek to determine who you want to be." Neale Donald Walsch

Wow.....if that didn't hit me right between the eyes!! I have felt the depth of that...especially over the last several months...i GET TO CREATE MYSELF and WHO I WANT TO BE! To that end, I have challenged my comfort zones, learned many lessons and decided on new committments for myself for the upcoming year. This may be a long blog, but there has been so much going on, I just feel like I am beyond Glass Full!!

Comfort zones..where do I begin?!?! I blogged about my conquering the mountain and such in the last one..then there was Spain. I was in a country where English was not the first language and while enough was spoken to communicate at points, it was still an adventure. There was lots of pointing and head nodding and gussing at times. But what and AMAZING country. Salamanca was one of the most beautiful places I have been to and speaking of comfort zones...I stepped out of many. Although it may seem little, I let go of alot of fear on my tapas tour. So here is how tapas works,,,,you go into bar and there is glass casing covering many different types of food. So you order a drink and get to pick one tapas to eat. The beautiful thing about the Spanish (or maybe it was just the people I was with) is that you all share...drinks, food..etc..you just share and it is such a simple, lovely thing to do that we don't do enough of. There is such beauty in the sharing of food and drink..I just loved it! So the tapas..there is all sorts of stuff...food I would have no problem eating and food that I normally would wrinkle my nose up at and say "No Way!" to..but I figured when in Rome... So I tried Jamones on bread. Jamone is pork that has been cured for years, has not been cooked and the leg literally hangs from the ceiling by the hoof until it is ready to be served. It was good. I figured I like bacon and prok chops, this should be an easy leap and it was. Then we went on to the next bar. Here i tried octopus on potato and it wasn't bad! I actually had two pieces of it. I then tried the bluest blue cheese on bread I have ever had. Very strong nad pungent, but very good. I also triend the potato, fried egg and fried pig fat dish that was pretty good as well. There is a certain freedom and a definite courage that comes with letting yourself experience new things. One of the great realizations for me was that I don't have to like everything, but in trying things, I leave the element to be surpirsed there. I love that I have this whole new aspect to my life..I get to be surprised when I let myself try new things...how cool is that?!?! I think too many times, we don't let ourselves be truly surprised and it has been eye opening to let myself not try and control my comfort, but just go with "it". It was also wonderful to catch up with old fiends, Marie Eve and Roger..what great hosts! A million thanks to them!

So..as the year draws to a close..I have had the chance to reflect on lessons learned over the last year. I am humbled to realize that at 34 years old there is still so much to see, do and LEARN. So here a few of the lessons that have really struck me this year and some of these are also committments I am making to myself...not resolutions, but committments:

DON'T LIMIT THE POSSIBILITIES: What a huge one for me! So many of us live in the can'ts, shouldn'ts and wouldn'ts that we miss out on the potential we have for our lives. I almost let the can'ts get in the way of taking the leap to move here to Ireland..I then would've been living in the should'ves! I look back at the way I used to see the world and how limiting that was for me. The only limits I have are the ones I place on myself and I refuse to draw conclusions and put limitis on the possibilities..whether that is on myself, friends, patients or whatever...NO LIMITS. This coincidentally opens the door up to be surprised which I am coming to love more and more every day!!

JUST TRY IT: This goes along with not limiting the possibilities. There is soooo much to learn in trying. So what if I don't like it, fall flat on my face or "fail"..it is all part of the experience. I have no idea what I may have missed out on not trying various things because of fear...but I am committing myself to not living in that fear anymore. I will leap, jump and push past that fear and take in every opportunity I can.

CONVENTION: I tried for so many years to stuff myself into the "right role". School/Marriage/Kids. All along, there was this wanderlust in me and I am so grateful that i get to do all the things I want to right now. "It Must be nice" is a comment I hear alot and all I can say and WITHOUT one ounce of guilt is "YES IT IS". This is the life I have chose and I won't feel guilty for doing exactly what I want to do. Obviously the path of convention was not working for me. Does that mean I don't want those things..NO! I absolutely want marriage and kids someday, but for this moment, I am enjoying the freedom to experience and do whatever it is that I decide...to create my own exisitence!

JUDGEMENT: I am through being my harshest critic. I have put so much wasted time into self judgement, self doubt and self loathing that I won't do it anymore. If the past 7 months have taught me anything, it has taught me that I am stronger, wiser, more balanced and prettier than I give myself credit for. I laugh loud, I smile alot, I am happy, I get really excited and text alot, write alot, call alot and all the other stuff...that is me and I am done with worrying if it is too much for others!!! Done with trying to be an "ideal"! What if the "ideal" is EXACTLY who I am at this moment??? How great is that?!!

LIVING IN THE MOMENT: I have also learned to be present in the moment...not to let what happened in the past color my thoughts about the present moment nor let worry about the future interrupt what may be the perfect present moment. I really want to live in the moments that take my breath away and not worry about what is coming next...moments like seeing something beautiful, a wonderful moment with a patient, a first kiss, surprise reunions..whatever it is, I want to savor each second of the now!

TRAVEL: I want to continue to take advantage of the opportunity to travel. Whether that be travelling around Ireland or elsewhere..the experience and life I am leading at the moment is amazing and rarely done. I know how blessed I am to do all this and I can't wait to see what else is out there, push my comfort zones and check out the possibilities!

This is but a small list of things. I could go on all night..overall I just have an OVERWHELMING sense of gratitude about where I am at in life and all that I get to do. However, most of my gratitude is felt and directed to family and friends who are always in my corner, cheering me on, loving me and giving me the suppport to go chase my dreams and CREATE myself!

Love you All!!

Sally

I Left All I Knew and Found The Better Part of Me

"Tis Better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly" Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Pray Love

So here it is.....the eve of my 34th birthday and I have to say that it really feels like I am just starting my life in so many ways. The last seven months have been amazing...so many moments of sheer joy, overwhelming gratitude, giddiness tempered with the occasional moments of self doubt, maybe a little twinge of homesickness now and then but mostly just an overwhelming sense of awe at the experience I am living in the midst of! I have accepted that I am a bit crazy to move to a country that I had never even visited, not know anyone and carve out a life...even people who are well travelled and such find it a bit crazy or "daring" that I would do something like that. But...forsaking convention and comfort zones has opened more doors in the external universe as well as my internal one. I struggled with convention...school/marriage/kids because that is the order things are supposed to go typically and the box I tried to stuff myself in. (maybe that is why it never worked!) So I have decided to form my own brand of "convention" and not wait for life to come to me..rather I am just going to go out, start my own traditions, learn by experiencing things and getting out of my comfort zone and follow my bliss!

Breaking out of my comfort zones....big ones were broken through last week in Norway. I climbed a mountain! My very first one! It was a huge accomplishment for me! I thank my wonderful friends Catherine and Michael for the encouragement and patience and further encouragement to get there because it was freakin amazing at the top and the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming for me. I have to say it was amazing to feel like that 10 year old girl playing in the woods behind her house or her grandma's house that day! It also occurred to me that I underestimate myself and abilities...often to my detriment. To break through that barrier and really feel and know the only limitations I have are the ones I place on myself was an amazing experience as well. I have heard that said in various ways, but it took this experience to realize it. I am forever grateful to my friends for pushing me past that comfort zone and getting me up on that mountain!

This past year has been so incredible....how many people actually go live their wildest dreams? And here I am doing it. I can't wait to see what year 34 brings. I am going to have to get some new dreams because the wildest ones I had, have come true. I get to live in Ireland, I get to work in a wonderful practice and take care of wonderful people, I get to travel all around and I still have so many people that I love back home. It is an amazing amount of blessings and riches that the Universe has laid at my feet and I am so happy to receive these gifts...because that is what I feel like all this is...A GIFT! My heart is full of thanks and truly happy.....what a blessed place to be at 34!

Love and Light!

Sally

What a Difference Two Years Makes!

"The moment I let go of it was the moment I got more than I could ever know. The moment I jumped off of it was the moment I touched down." Lyrics from Thank You by Alanis Morresette.

I have spent alot of time in the air in the last two/three weeks, so there has been alot of time for me to think, sort through and digest all that has happened in the last couple months and two years for that matter. WOW! seems to be all I can come up with. Trite and overused, but it is the only word "big" enough to try and convey my feelings on what has transpired in my life since I decided to start jumping! Jumping towards better health, jumping towards confidence in my abilities as a doctor of chiropractic, jumping towards living out my wildest dreams and jumping towards the best version of myself I could possibly be. I had no idea where that would take me!

Two years ago I was in the town I grew up in, practicing with my dad. I was 93 pounds heavier, very insecure and lacking confidence in my abilities as a new chiropractor. Flash forward two years to a much healthier version of me, a more confident version of me and the me that is living in the middle of her craziest dreams. I guess I need to stop calling them "dreams" because it is my reality now. My reality is that I get to live in a wonderful country I want to be adopted into...lol. I also get to travel around this beautiful country and the continent of Europe and who knows where else. I spent the past weekend in London where I went to an amazing seminar and had one of the best nights ever! We got, what I think was the deal of the century, and for 30 pounds a person had our own personal driver take us all around London for four hours...it was amazing and beautiful. London seems pretty magical all llit up at night. I actually got all choked up because I realized that I was doing the things I always thought I could but never knew how to get to do them..and bam! Here I am..doing it! I am filled with so much gratitude everyday for what I get to do as a profession and what I get to do in my life!

Galway continues to be a fantastic town to live in! It is a bigger city with a small town feel and I love that. So many places to eat, drink and be merry! I am starting to feel settled and am looking forward to establishing a social cirlce...you all know me;) It has definetly cooled down here and my patients keep telling me I haven't seen anything yet until I make it through the winter...but I don't think they have experienced a MI winter..lol!

The practice is great! I am truly blessed to be where I am at and who I work with. I love my patients and serving them everyday is a wonderful blessing. Watching people enjoy better health just by letting the body heal itself is pretty amazing. It is a very humbling process to be a part of. The owners have moved back to the states are missed greatly. It is an amazing trust they have put in us and I do believe we are doing them proud!:)

All I can really end this with is the thought I am truly happy. I mean TRULY happy. I have not had so many moments of pure joy and gratitude....it gets overwhelming sometimes. Yes there are challenges and obstacles that I go through and around, but my heart is truly happy and that is worth the risk of any other jump or leap I will be taking. I am so excited to see what the next jump is........

Settling In

"

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." Anias Nin

Over the course of the last two and a half months, I have found this to be true. So many new worlds have opened up to me in the new friendships I am forming. Worlds where I am a little more brave, a little more comfortable in my surroundings and worlds where I am accepted and loved in this new country where I reside. My new world is beginning to be sprinkled with new friends who are opening up other new adventures for and with me.

The last several weeks here in Galway have been busy with the Arts Fetival and then the Galway Races. Lots of people from all over in town to catch these very fun events. I was lucky enough to go and see one of my favorite singer/songwriters named David Gray. He played at the Galway Arts festival and it was an amazing evening. As many of you know, my love for music runs deep and it was so great to be able to see one of my favorites live. He put on an incredible show and we were quite close to the stage. One interesting fact was that the only beer you could get was Coors Light. I found that a bit ironic beeing at a concert in Ireland, that the beer of choice was an American Beer. In a related note, it is strange to see Budweiser and Miller Gebuine Draft listed as imports. They are quite popular over here. I am enjoying that perspective on the stateside brews!

As for Race Week...it was just a tad nuts around town. Apparently it was a bit more tame than in past years, but still crazy none the less. The Galway Races are quite well known. Think Kentucky Derby, but then imagine that it lasts for a whole week. There are races every day and celebrations every night. Thurrsday is always a highlight as it is Ladies Day. That is quite a big deal. All the ladies attending get dressed to the nines...elegant dresses, shoes, purses. Ladies get all tanned up, hair done...the works. There is even a contest for the best dressed and the winner gets something like 10,ooo Euro in cash and several other prizes. Then everyone just gets completely off their face the rest of the night and it gets quite messy that way in town. I stayed away from all of that. However, I did hit town on saturday of the races and had a FANTASTIC time. We were able to snag a table in a pub and had many laughs that night. I enjoyed solidifying new friendships and re-establishing old ties with a classmate from Palmer. It is a truly blessed life I am leading.

There are many adventures I am looking forward to in the coming months. A good friend of mine will be coming to visit at the end of September and then I will be visiting my home in the states for a week. Shortly after that, more family and friends will be coming over for Thanksgiving. I am planning a trip to Madrid at the beginning of December for my birthday and then will hopefully be in Edinburgh for Christmas. Christmas will be tough as I will be on my own completely for the first time in my life....but who knows..maybe another new world will have opened up by then!

I have been asked many times what/who I miss from back in the states, so here is a small list!:) The most obvious would be family and friends and the hugs that I would get. I also miss silly things like People Magazine, my radio stations, and ranch dressing. I am sure that once college football season starts, I will be missing that, as well as tailgating and such.

Although there are things that I miss, I am still amazed and overwhelmed at the opportunities and experiences here. Trying to live in the moment is something I continue to work on and I am finding that relishing each moment is extremely more enjoyable than worrying about what is coming next or worrying about what someone else is thinking. After all, it is up to us to explore the new worlds presented to us and to be open to the possibilites; the doors just open when I do that!:)

Until Next Time!

Cheers!

Sal