Inspiration From Books

For the past year or so of my life I have been completely mesmerized by the author Paulo Coelho. When I was sixteen years old I read The Alchemist and it instantly became one of my ultimate favorite books. Today, I have read almost every other book he has written since. With each one I continue to feel blown away by the writing, not only because it is inspirational, but because it always seems to provide me with the wisdom I need to get through what I am going through at the time. I have certain morals, beliefs and life philosophies that I choose to live my life by and these always seem to come up in his books. One of my major life philosophies is to never lose our inner child. With this I always try to do something childlike each day I'm alive. I read something the other day in his book, "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept". It is simple, but really goes along with my life philosophy that I would like to share...

"Sometimes an uncontrollable feeling of sadness grips us. We recognize that the magic moment of the day has passed and that we've done nothing about it. Life begins to conceal its magic and its art.

We have to listen to the child we once were, the child who still exsist inside us. That child understands magic moments. We can stifle its cries, but we cannot silence its voice.

The child we once were is still there. Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If we are not reborn-if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood- it makes no sense to go on living...

We have to pay attention to what the child in our hearts tells us. We should not be embarrassed by this child. We must not allow this child to be scared because the child is alone and is almost never heard.

We must allows ourselves to take the rein of our lives. The child knows that each day is different from every other day.

We have to allow it to feel loved again. We must please the child- even if this means that we act in ways we are not used to, in ways that may seem foolish to others.

Remember that human wisdom is madness in the eyes of God. but if we listen to the child who lives in our soul, our eyes will grow bright. If we do not lose contact with that child, we will not lose contact with life."

PS Today, for my child activity, I ran and danced through a pile of leaves in the park. The Koreans thought I was crazy, but it was damn fun! :)

Rockin' Weekend!

I had a very good weekend catching up with the guys and the girls. We ate, drank hot chocolate and Baileys and then Nori Bunged (singing room) out hearts out on Saturday night. It was a blast. It was a cold weekend but we stayed bundled up and kept in each others warm company. Check out all the new, brillant pics. They rock!


Chris, Alex and myself in La Festa after purchasing new, cozy, warm hats


Some great pics of Tim and me. One at the Nori Bung and the other out drinking. What a cutie!


Alex and me with our loving eyes pic...haa ,haa...I couldn't stop laughing so we could take it. Priceless!


The Crew (Tim, Me, Alex, Kirsta, Dante, Nara) at the Nori Bung


The rockin, stripe twins singing thier hearts out and shaking their booties.


Kirsta and I doing our awesome version of Vogue, we truly are the Madonna sisters


Thanks for a great weekend to all involved. You are all truly great friends and a damn blast to be around!

Cool Night, Warm Conversation

Despite the fact that yesterday night was one of coldest nights so far in a while I had one of the warmest nights with the company of my great friend Jenny... After we devoured some yummy ribs, we decided we were in the mood to drink some wine in a warm environment. We decided to venture off to Three Queens Jazz Bar. We actually used to go quite often before it closed for renovations, so it was nice to be back in the dark, moody, luxurious atmosphere again. We sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of red wine. We had some more great conversations. We talked about life, friends, family, spirituality and how damn lucky we are to have each other and to be so close to obtaining our dreams. We were also nicely accompanied by a very cute Korea bartender. Ironically enough, as we were discussing our dreams of Africa we learned that Hans (cute bartender) had actually lived in Kenya for 2 years. So crazy! It was another great night bonding with Jenny.

Fun in Insadong

Yesterday I spent the day in Insadong (the artsy, funky, touristy area in Seoul). I went in alone to spent some real, quiet, quality time with myself. My good friend Myong had a photo exhibition there and I was excited to see his work. There was a bunch of different pictures there taken on a specific Leica camera. All of the pictures were really good. His picture was amazing and beautiful. I am so proud of him. I then went off with my newly purchased books to read at a roof top cafe with a tasty chai tea.


Before long, my friend Jenny called me to also see the exhibition. We looked at a bunch of other art shows and talked. We walked around and then shopped a bit. It was fun. We also ran into a bunch of our friends from Ilsan. The we went for a fabulous dinner at a tiny Italian Restaurant I adore. We fested and caught up once again. We even ran into our freind Myong there. Korea is so big and so small in so many ways!

We walked around Cheong Ga Chong and took some pics and had a wonderful evening. It was a great day and a wonderful night. I'm glad I decided to have a mellow weekend this week. I feel like my body needed it. Here's to good movies, great books, fabulous food, chai tea and amazing freinds.

Coffee with the Ex...

Doesn't that sound like fun. Yeah, it actually wasn't that bad, it was going really well. It got less awkward and we were catching up just fine. But when you both start talking about how you have been on dates, that is where it is gonna go downhill...Well, I nice attempt was made. I guess more time is needed. This is truly the first big "dump" of my life and it's gonna take a while to get over it. I was doing super well and I guess now, I feel a little bitter again. Oh well, here is to the attempt. I hope the next time is better and we can be on our way to friends again...

Damn, We're Just too Cute!

Hey, I am actually gonna post it. I just received these pictures of Nara and I from Halloween and I absolutely love them. I guess they capture both sides of us: our fun/sweet side and our naughty/sassy side. Anyway, I hope you all like them too. Did I say how much I dig this girl? Yeah, she is the bomb baby!