Guest Post-Katie Did What

Well my friends, today I have another treat for you. Meet Katie from Katie Did What. Her blog is the one I turn to when I need a good laugh or an idea for an outfit (this girl is good! Now if only I could take a walk through her closet). Today, she's here to talk about some of her favorite travel memories and if this doesn't make you want to go book a ticket, I'm not sure what will. Be sure to stop by her blog and show her some love! 

Hi there!  I’m Katie and I blog at Katie Did What.  It’s pretty much my little compilation of pictures and words about things that I like and my life in general.  When Chelsea asked me to write a guest post about traveling, I was like, um, yes, duh.  I suffer from a little thing called wanderlust.  Ask me my favorite things in life, and traveling is always wayyyy up there on the list.  So while she’s gallivanting about, I thought it’d be fun to talk about my favorite places I’ve ever traveled to.  Because I’m such an expert, and all. (I’m not.)

Paris.  Now this one takes the cake, every single time for me.  I actually have been to Paris twice, the first time on a whirlwind European vacation in high school, complete with my French teacher, a bunch of rowdy teenagers and my mom, and it was amazeballs.  The second time I was actually living there, while studying abroad my Junior year of college. Best. Decision. Ever. Paris will always have my heart, and I often dream of going back. Like, regularly.  Now that I’m married I cannot wait to go with my hubby, because I mean, come on. How romantic is that?!

Barcelona. While living in Paris, my roomies and I took a little side trip to Spain and OMG you guys. Barcelona is one of the prettiest places ever. And the night life was amazing. Seriously so much fun. Plus, the best Sangria and tapas ever. Really, the Sangria is delicious (too delicious perhaps).  I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Rome. This city is just too incredible for words. So much history and culture, and so many “designer” purses at dirt cheap prices. You just have to catch the street vendors before they pack up and scatter when the cops show up. You think I’m kidding, but really. The black market is a big thing, and it’s where I got my “Prada” and “Louis Vuitton” for 20 euro each. ;) While in Rome, you must sit on the Spanish Steps and pretend to be Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, and also the Vatican is a must-visit. Go ahead and sneak some shots of the Sistine Chapel while you’re at it. Just be quick about it.

Santa Barbara, California. Now, I live in California, so I’m kind of biased when I say that it’s the best, but really. Santa Barbara is just absolutely gorgeous. Plus, it’s where we Zack and I went on our honeymoon, so I guess it holds a special place in my heart, too. Beach life, delicious seafood, walking along the piers, perfect weather. This is the place.

Oh dear, now I’ve got the traveler’s itch again. It’s in my blood, I think. It’s a part of me. Where to next?

xo

I’m pooped!

It was my first day back to work today, and even though it was just a half day it wore me out.  Most of the volunteers were gone today on a field trip to a big camellia garden quite a drive away.  I opted out of that outing because of all of the hours sitting in the van to get there and back.  They all left at 7:00 this morning and still aren’t home.

Instead, since I was about the only one left around, I agreed to lead bird tours for an Audubon group from Venice, FL.  There were about 48 people in the group so we divided them into two groups.  While one group was taking the boat tour, I led the other group down Swamp Island Drive to try to see the red-cockaded woodpecker.  This included a couple of short hikes, but alas the birds were all in hiding today. 

I’ve never seen so few birds when I’ve been out on the drive.  We had a good time for both tours, though, and I filled in the time with the natural history of the woodpecker and tales about the refuge in general.  When I lead tours like this, I can’t bring my camera along so no pictures tonight. 

Each tour was an hour and a half long, and I was about done in by the end of the day.  It did feel good to get back into the swing of things though, and I’m glad I only have to work half days this week and next.  The hip held up well to the hiking, so I sure got my exercise for the day.

Tomorrow, is my last meeting with the physical therapist so I’ll be ‘graduating’ from that particular experience before I head off to work the VC.  Short post tonight, but it is what it is.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Guest Post-Harley and Jane

I am beyond thrilled to have Jane from Harley and Jane posting for me today! I'm such a fan of these two girl's crafts, diy, and outfit posts on their blog. And now recently they have started doing the Happiness Project instead of the usual New Years Resolutions. The idea is to add new goals each month to develop better habits and keep them for a lifetime. Check them out at Harley and Jane!

My boy and I are doing long distance and have been for a really long time. I wish there was another way, but life happens and you go with the flow. Since we only have weekends together, my days are full from top to bottom of fun (and not-so-fun) things to do. Here's what this week looks like:

Find time to do the long econ assignment.

Complete one lesson from one of Elsie's e-courses. (I own almost all of them and haven't managed to finish any.)

Clean out my inbox.

Interview sources for article for journalism class.

Make a good dinner for my cute cousins.

Buy white fur at Joann's.

Decide on something awesome for my little brother's birthday.

Do an abs workout every morning (I'm teaching a 30 minute abs class in a few weeks and need to be able to do the workout while talking into a microphone and not sounding winded!).

Choreograph at least 3 Zumba routines.

Read the news.

Put twinkle lights up in my room.

Thrift.

How do your weekdays fill up? Make sure to make time for play!

xo

Jane

Travel Tuesdays-Thailand

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week.

Krabi, Thailand

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. – St. Augustine

I’m at the head of the class! ;)

Twelve days ago, I had an appointment to get the 21 staples taken out of my incision.  As I hobbled along with my walker on that day, the vital signs nurse remarked that I was doing pretty good.  She said most patients are still using a wheel chair for this appointment.

Today it was an appointment with Dr. Brodersen to check on my progress.  I drove myself to Waycross after my PT nurse, Buffy, put me through my paces early this morning.  She thought the doctor might be impressed with my progress.  I wasn’t so sure. 

The same vital signs nurse took note of my use of a cane and remarked, “You’re sure picking up speed!”  You betcha!  I’m on a mission.

My BP was fine, so she took me to a room to await the doctor.  Remarkably, in about 30 seconds he appeared and told me I had to perform… a walk across the room and back for him.  I guess he was impressed as he happily said, “That was wonderful, and deserves a kiss.”  He shook my hand and gave me a peck on the cheek.   First time I’ve ever had a doctor do that.  He also told me that most patients use the walker for six weeks before thinking about using only a cane, so I was at the head of the class.  I told him waiting six weeks was not on my agenda. 

He then answered any questions I had about restrictions, and wrote me a note to return to four days a week of volunteering after two weeks of half days.  I’ll see him one more time in two months, and then I’m free to move on.  Yippee!  I do have some bending restrictions until July, but I can live with those.  I’m so pleased to be walking without all of that pain.  Things continue to noticeably improve each day.

In celebration, Emma and I took Swamp Island Drive this afternoon to see what we could see.  Not much was out and about at that time of the day, and the skies had become overcast.

I was surprised to find even one ‘gator near the side of the road.  Most of them were in hiding because of the cool temperatures.  I stopped at the VC to make a copy of a medical record, and ran into Gracie, the volunteer coordinator.  As we chatted, she told me to remind her a week before Robyn and family comes to visit so she can arrange a swamp boat trip for us. 

That means we’ll all get an extraordinary trip into the swamp similar to the two trips I’ve made for the Christmas Bird Count and the trail maintenance trip.  I’m excited about that for all of us.   By March, there should be plenty of alligators for the grandgirls to see!

                                                                           Near ‘THE END’!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

The New Norm Part I

Sometimes living in a different country you forget that some of the very odd and different things around you are in fact...odd and different. I remember when my parents came to visit last November, they kept asking me why I never told them about some of the interesting things they were experiencing. I told them that after living here for even a short amount of time, everything around you seems 'normal'. So here are a few things that when I first came to Korea seemed odd but now are overlooked.

.clusters of large buildings that seem like city centers but are in fact large apartment complexes equipped with amenities such as movie theaters, playgrounds, spas and workout centers.

.water heaters-this is a picture of our water heater control. There is no central heat here so most apartments have heated water that runs under their floor to heat the place. Also if we want hot water to wash dishes (dish washers are also rare) or to take a shower, we have to turn this on and set it to what temperature we want.

.the massive phone covers. This phone was actually almost half the size as the cover.

.animal sounds playing in the meat section of the grocery store. One word, disturbing. I would really rather not hear the animal I am about to eat.

.little boys with perms. This picture is actually a very mild perm on a little five year old but when he first got it done I didn't even know it was the same student. It's very common to see kindergarten students with dyed and permed hair.

.the letter replacements in the language. R and L are the same, Z becomes a J sound which is especially confusing when your student says they want to see a jew instead of zoo...it eventually got straightened out. Also, there is no F sound so it turns to a P sound. So when I say I'm going to go make a copy and all the students think I'm going to get a cup of coffee. Or when the word 'duck' sounds a whole lot like 'dog'. My student spent five minutes explaining that her favorite festival was the Duck Festival where they see duck fights (weird either way) and ate all different types of duck dishes. I looked horrified as I thought she was going on about a Dog Festival. You can understand my confusion when I live in a country where some actually do eat dog.

.the things they put on their pizza. Like corn and stuffing sweet potato paste in the crust, oddly enough, I now love both of these things.

.putting bathrooms outside. This isn't the case with all buildings but has been so for our church and our previous school. This is difficult in the summer or the winter since in the summer you're swatting away hordes of mosquitos and in winter...well who wants to partially undress outdoors in winter and sit on a toilet where the water inside has already turned to ice.

.it's considered a compliment to be told you have a small face.

Have you ever stepped back and realized some of the very 'bizarre' things about the culture you live in? For example, trying to explain the use of tanning beds in the states to kids who live in a country where most of their cosmetics have skin whitening ingredients. Poor kids were so confused.

Moved back home today

The physical therapist was knocking on my door at 8:30 this morning.  This past week, she’s added a weight to my leg for the exercises and upped the number of repetitions for each challenge.  Some are a little uncomfortable, but I muscled my way through all of them.  Of course, my legs feel like wet noodles by the time she leaves. 

There was no time to relax for a while as today was the day I was to move back to the Okefenokee NWR.  Barry and Dick, fellow volunteers, arrived to help me out with the outside packing chores, and we headed out of Okefenokee Pastimes Campground before noon.  By 1:30, everything including the DISH and internet antenna were all set up.  I know I couldn’t have done it without their help.  It was quite a treat for me to have the outside unhooking and hooking up chores only requiring my supervision.  I felt spoiled…

I think I had more exercise with the move and the PT stuff this morning than I’ve had in a long time.  I’m pooped!  It’s great to have 50 amps again, and enough water pressure to actually be able to take a shower.  If there is one complaint I have about Okefenokee Pastimes, it would be the lack of water pressure.  I’ll be taking my first shower in almost a month tomorrow.  I just don’t have the oomph to do it tonight. 

The lack of water pressure while I was there brought me memories of my early childhood.  A tub bath was limited to Saturday nights where I shared the tub water with my brother Kurt.  I always felt lucky when I got to use the water first.  I never experienced a shower until I went away for college.  It’s been a month kind of like some boot camps where you bathe out of your helmet. 

I’m happy to be home.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy