Put A Ring On It

I know several people, myself included, that do not like traveling with their wedding rings. There are several reasons for this.

1. Being humble. When traveling to third world countries, where people may not know where their next meal is coming from or where mothers are sending their children out to beg; it may not be the best place to show off your diamond ring worth more than they may ever see.

2. Safety. Let's face it, there are some places where flashing a diamond ring just isn't the safest idea. You have the chance of becoming a target just by having it around your finger. And...

3. Well...you don't want to lose it. Which is probably one of the main reasons I don't want to travel with it. Because even though I've never misplaced it before, it would be just my luck that it would happen the one time I bring it on a trip.

It is a combination of these reasons that makes me leave my ring at home on trips. Many girls simply wear their wedding bands which is more low key but there are several women out there that either have had their two bands soldered together or have opted for just a one ring show, like me. 

Which ever your reason for not wearing your ring on getaways, you may feel a little 'naked' without anything on your hand at all. So I've come up with some beautiful but low key options for rings to wear while traveling.

1. Diamond Baguette Ring // 2. Simple Gold Chain Ring // 3. Circle Disk Letter Initial Ring // 4. Cushion Cut Aqua Blue Chalcedony Ring // 5. Sterling Silver Stacking Rings // 6. Rose Gold Knot Ring // 7. Platinum Custom Finger Print Ring

Which would you pick? Do you wear your wedding ring while traveling?

Linking up with Ashley, Jean, Lauren, Kerry, Chrissy, Kenzie
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I made it back home

Thanks to my son, Daniel, you know that I encountered some difficulties this past week.  Tonight I’m only going to cover two parts of my time in Rochester.  After an uneventful 300 miles drive down on Thursday, it looked like the weekend was going to turn out just as planned.  Little did I know!

I had made an appointment a couple of weeks ago to get my teeth cleaned and checked at the dentist I frequent when I’m in the area.  Piece of cake, right?  Well, it turns out that if you’ve had a total hip replacement, you have to take antibiotics before having anything done to your teeth.  My surgeon never mentioned this, but I vaguely remember it being mentioned in the booklet I was given about  hip replacements.  So, the dentist had me take four Amoxicillin capsules right there before the cleaning began.

That went along just fine until a big truck wiped out the electrical wires crossing the road in front of the office.  Luckily, the technician was done with the cleaning, but the dentist couldn’t check my teeth over since it was so dark.  They said they would call me when the power came back on so I could finish the check-up.  (I should have recognized this as a warning that things would continue to go wrong.)  In the meantime, I met Robyn and the grandgirls, and my long time friend, Susan at a local restaurant for lunch.  I ordered the quesadilla appetizer for my lunch.  It was so large, I shared some with Susan.

After returning to the dentist’s office to get the report that my teeth were just fine, I headed over to my son Andy’s house for visiting, and a cookout when Dan joined us after his work.  That never happened for me.  Along about 3:30, I became violently ill.  I won’t go into all the details, but suffice it to say I felt like Mount Vesuvius from one end, and Mount St. Helen’s from the other.  Daniel wolfed down his burger so he could take me home, where I spent almost the next 48 hours ensconced in the bathroom.  I thought I was going to die, but I was afraid I wouldn’t.

If things hadn’t quit by noon on Sunday, we were prepared to take me to the emergency room.  It was that bad.  All of the rest of the kids and grandkids came over on Saturday to Dan’s, but I barely got to see them.  I thought for sure that I had food poisoning from the quesadilla.  However, after checking with Susan on Monday, I found out that she didn’t get sick at all.  That left me to believe it was the dose of antibiotics that the dentist gave me that caused an adverse reaction.  I suppose I’ll never know the true cause, but I don’t think I want to try Amoxicillin again. 

I was supposed to head back to Tamarac on Monday, but I was in no condition to drive 300 miles.  A two mile drive to the local Hy-Vee grocery store did me in. 

Then, as Dan posted, my laptop fried itself.  There it is in pieces in the foreground of the left picture.  We ordered a new laptop from Amazon, and Dan spent last night getting it ready for me.  It’s a pain to start everything like Picasa and Live Writer over again, but he got things going for me in a few hours.  It would have taken me days, and this evening I’m still struggling to get things back in those two programs the way I like them.  I’m thinking I may be emailing our Guru, Rick, in the next couple of days if I become too frustrated. 

Through all of this, Emma was in heaven.  She spent the week living and playing with Buddy and Georgie; Dan’s two dogs.  Georgie, in the middle, is as hyper as she is.  They got along quite well most of the time, but having three of them blasting through the house was a bit much for me at times.  Thankfully, Dan has a fenced yard with the house he is renting.  Tonight’s pictures are the only ones I took all week, so you can imagine how under the weather I was.  I can’t remember the last time I only took four pictures in a week!

                                                                             THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

You Asked, I Answered Part II

People sent in questions from all around the world asking about our lives here in South Korea. So...you asked, I answered! Since I had so many awesome questions, and I would really like to answer them all, I have decided to split this up into a three part series, this being the second installment. For Part I click here. Let's get started!

photo courtesy of dots.i.am photography

Chantal from Scattered Seashells asked:
What was the scariest moment you've had while traveling? 
Oh goodness, I'm so glad you asked because I'm not sure I've ever told this story before. We were in Thailand at a night market. By the time we left, most of the cabs and tuk tuks had been taken and it was a good several mile walk back to where we were staying. Well, in Thailand, you have the option of renting a motorbike much like a cab. There is a driver, and you just hop on the back. This looked like a safe option...that is until we started driving. It was the driver, then my husband, then myself, all holding on for dear life as the the driver zig zagged through traffic, coming close enough to oncoming cars for me to stick my hand out and touch them. At one point my husband leaned forward and asked the driver if he could hold on to him. Needless to say, we were more than happy to get off of the death machine and we won't be doing that again!

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Casey from We Took the Road Less Traveled asked:
When can I come to Korea to visit? ;)
Anytime! We've got a spare blow up mattress and I'll make sure our fridge is fully stocked with kimchi ; )
Also, what are 5 things you miss from America that you can't get living in Korea? 
Over the years we actually (thankfully!) miss less and less from back home. But there are still a few that will never go away! Like oatmeal! Ok, we can get it but for $15 a carton! Every time my parents send a package, they make sure to pad it with packs of oatmeal for us. Next up is Mexican food, nothing compares to back in the states. Actually many times my parents will send us chips from our favorite Mexican spot back home. Needless to say, they don't last long in our house. Other things we miss include being able to find our sizes in any store we go into, cheap diner breakfast food (common breakfast here includes seaweed soup, kimchi and rice...it's just not the same), and TARGET! Or really any store that you can go for every.single.thing you could ever want including great clothes and housing supplies. I feel like I have to go to several different stores to find everything I need on my grocery list and clothes and housing items are more expensive than what you can find back in the states. 
There's probably so many things I'm forgetting to add to this list!

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Sam from The Married Couple asked: 
What is your favorite vacation you've been on, and what is your favorite activity, or thing you've visited on a vacation? 
Ooh that's a hard one. We've seen some pretty incredible stuff while traveling and it's hard to narrow it down to just one! I'd say our favorite destination so far has been Thailand. There's just so much to do and see and the country is beyond beautiful! Second up would be New Zealand for pretty much the same reasons. Our favorite activity was hands down, snorkeling with whale sharks this summer! It's been on my bucket list ever since moving to Korea and it was beyond explanation how amazing of an experience it was!

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Courtney from A Golden State of Mind asked:
Hi, I love you blog it is so well established and polished. I am new to the blogging scene and I just started my blog a few weeks ago, I am wondering if you have any personal experience tips on how you got such a huge following and what really helped your blog "take off" in the beginning?
It seems like it is really difficult to get much exposure even with social media links, ect. I only have 2 Bloglovin followers and 1 of them is myself .
Thank you so much! I mentioned in my last post about connection, content and presentation. But in the very beginning I did a lot of footwork to go around, find blogs I liked and focused on growing relationships. I asked a lot of questions to blogs I admired (some answered, some didn't), and I approached blogs my size to do ad swaps and swap guest posts. I would encourage all blogs starting out to do this along with focus on your blog brand. Kenzie from Chasing Happy has a great series all about this!

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Kailagh from Love Always, Freckles asked:
My wonderful question for you is.... What is your dream job, and where is your dream location to do it in?
I studied fashion marketing in university and would love to use my major again someday. I chose my degree because I wanted to work with a company that gave back, and that used fashion to do so. My dream job would be for a company like Warby Parker, 31 Bits, or Apolis. These are all great humanitarian-focused company that are extremely sustainable in their business plans. Instead of just giving things away for free and leaving, which can sometimes create dependency, they work in the communities they are helping to provide knowledge and jobs in order to create a brighter future. 

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Emily from Inhabit Your Moments asked:
How long were you and the hubby married before deciding you wanted to travel? 
We made the decision to move to Korea just a few months before getting married. So the timeline was September-I graduated from university in Chicago and moved to Oklahoma. October-got married. February-moved to Korea! It was all pretty quick but I wouldn't have had it any other way!


Thanks so much for sending in all of your questions! I love answering them all! You have made me realize what things I have neglected to answer in some of my posts so thank you! I have more coming up next Wednesday!

Also, click here for your chance to win a FREE ONA camera bag, camera strap and Starbucks gift card!

Linking up with Rolled Up Pretty and Shanna

ANOTHER Giveaway!

Postcards from Rachel: 1 month "Postcard" ad space

Lost in Travels: 1 month "Nomad Traveler" ad space

Curated by Kelly: $25 Curated by Kelly shop credit

Nectar Collective: $20 Bumble & Buzz Design credit

Life With A Side of Coffee: 2 months large ad space

Out My Front Door: Transcendence Designs necklace

Chasing Happy: 1 month "Happy Package" ad space

Aslan's Auspicious Albany Adventure: $10 Sephora card & "Upstate NY" ad

Rainstorms & Love Notes: 2 months large ad space

Hang On, Honey: 1 month "Glass of Chardonnay" ad space

A Fabulous Life in Jamaica: $35 Pacifica gift card Jade and Oak: $10 Target gift card & "Glitter Gold" ad space

a Rafflecopter giveawayAnd remember, there's still time to enter to win a FREE ONA CAMERA BAG!Linking up with  Carissa, Rachel, Logan, Leann, Molly

When it rains it pours!

  Welp my mom seems like she has made the turn, (golf reference, seeing as yesterday was the British Open) but put one in the bunker.  Her laptop broke down yesterday and we should receive her new one tomorrow.  After I get that all set up she will leave my place on Wednesday and maybe that night or Thursday you will get a post from the real Travels with Emma curator.  Hope everyone is having a nice day!

ONA Camera Bag Giveaway!

One thing I hate when traveling is sticking out as a tourist. Sometimes this can't be helped but other times, just the smallest adjustment can make all of the difference. Like using one of the beautifully made ONA camera bags. They're sleek, compact and durable and they make for the perfect bags to take with you on trips or just around town. Which brings me to:

The season of 'GO GO GO' is upon us, so why not GO in style? That's why I've teamed up with some very lovely ladies to give away one ONA Bowery Canvas camera bag, Little Miss Gee camera strap and a Starbucks gift card (because we all know coffee is needed when we go anywhere.) These are such great bags to carry all of your camera gear in without screaming 'tourist' wherever you go! Enter below for your chance to win and spread the word!

Lost in Travels // The Nectar Collective // Postcards from Rachel // Until Only Love Remains // Brachel Boulevard 
Perpetually Caroline // Lego House // Side Street Style // Daisy Bisley // Kimchi Sweet Tea
Mr. & Mrs. Foster // Found Love, Now What? // The Happy Type // Treasure Tromp // Home Sweet 'Homa
Oh the Places We Will Go

ONA Bowery Canvas Bag // Little Miss Gee Scarf Camera Strap // $10 Starbucks Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules

1. Open to all participants living within the United States.

2. Winner’s entry validity will be verified by me and if an entry proves to be invalid, you will be disqualified.

3. Giveaway ends on the 27^th of July at 12:00 AM EST. Winner will be chosen by Rafflcoptor and contacted by email no later than the 28^th of July. Winner has 48 hours to respond, if the winner does not respond, a new winner will be picked.

4. Lost in Travels is responsible for the payment and ordering of won items but not responsible for any packages lost in transit. 

Sick

Hi, My mom got some food poisoning from a restaurant she went to with my sister and her friend.  She is ok and I am giving her plenty of chicken noodle soup and water.  That is why she hasn't been posting.  Just and FYI.  Thanks for stopping by.