Catching Up

I've been a bit lagging lately on blog posts because I have just had so much going on- work, studying, yoga, "The Veg Initiative", work, friends, husband... Some days it feels like I don't have time to take a breath.   But great things are happening- I'm so happy to be busy and productive!


For starters.. remember that post when I talked about having a morning ritual and how I am really terrible at waking up early. Well... since then, my husband and I have been taking turns cooking a real hot breakfast (opposed to making a smoothie to go) and sitting down together to eat it! It feels so nice to be able to connect with him before we both go out into the world.

A thing of beauty. Steel cut oats, almond milk and berries! YUM!

I also gave a talk at Kaizen Wellness Workroom here in Busan as part of their monthly clean cooking class. I talked about Carbohydrates and why they are IMPORTANT and NECESSARY for a healthy life! Check out a previous one HERE. It seems so surreal to actually be SPEAKING on what I love, instead of just writing or studying. I'm not perfect at it, but I really relish and enjoy these first steps in my career. I'm already busy preparing for the next talk coming up this Saturday, May 16th.

I bet you can't guess what I'm talking about in my lovely diagram above. If you have a guess, let me know in a comment below. Hint: That thing in the upper left hand corner is a donut.

We celebrated Valentine's Day at my pre-school. Korea does not celebrate the same way we do in the US, so I had to teach them how to make mailboxes at home and they had to make cards for everyone in their class. No going to RITE AID and buying the pre-made ones. They don't exist in Korea.

Pretty good for first-timers. Mine is the sky blue princess monster right in the middle! Cards go in the mouth, thank you very much!

I also made them vegan chocolate molasses cupcakes.... I tried making powdered sugar from Xylitol. *Shew* I'll share the recipe if when it's perfected. Molasses cupcakes for kids.... what was I thinking? :)
To make matters worse, my measuring cup and measuring spoons were left at school... all the ingredients that I measured for this recipe were measured by eye. Some batches turned out great.... others.... not so much.

They look really good! Some of the batches were. Some kids even liked them! ;)

Thank you William and Shirley and all the others that liked or pretended they liked them!! :)

The Korean school year ends in February. So, I had to say "goodbye" to that group of students. I miss them so much already! They were so smart and funny and cool. They made my life at work SUCH fun, and so rewarding! I now have a new group of 4 year old kids that I have to start all over again with. These first few months will be hard... they speak no English and have very limited experience in a classroom setting... Good thing I have 2 really good Korean co-teachers to help me!
Here are a few of the new stars...

Aurora! Yes- named after Sleeping Beauty.

Edward! Named after the best father-in-law ever... not really. But I like to pretend that's why.

Every Sunday since the beginning of January, I've been meeting up with a group of gorgeous and inspiring ladies! We are going through the book "The Artist's Way". It's about taking a spiritual path to regain your creativity- but there are also so many other beautiful lessons to be learned as well. I am constantly being challenged and enlightened by their presence in my life. I don't know what I will do when the book ends at the end of this month!



The names of the women in our group: Meg, Meghan, Meagan (pronounced Mee-gan), Mel..... and Corrine. How awesome is that! We can never seem to get a group picture!

I had to say "goodbye" to some pretty awesome people. Living as an ex-pat, you always have friends coming and going. It's sad- but it's just the way of life. The good thing is, you always meet so many awesome people and make connections all over the world.

I first said "see you soon" to my incredible friend and Reiki teacher, Katrina. She left Korea to travel in Thailand, and live in a palace in India... you know... no big deal.



We had our second Veggie Night as part of "The Veg Initiative"! It was quite the success! Look at all these vegans/vegetarians/veg-curious/people that like healthy food that came out to support the initiative! We more than doubled the number of plates sold at the first one! Now we're busy planning the next one for April! Great things are happening with The Veg Initiative, but more on that later! I can't wait to share it with you!

Not bad for a bar on a Sunday at 4pm!

The event menu. Pretty good for bar food, huh?

I did my very first interview assignment for a Korean magazine Haps! I was lucky enough to get the assignment on something that I'm very passionate about... Can you guess what it is?


The article will be coming out soon. Be sure to check Haps website and Facebook page for the update!


Early one Saturday morning, I successfully completed 108 Sun Salutations in a row. This was a special way to celebrate a special lady/outstanding yoga teacher's BIG birthday. It took 3 hours, but we did it! If you are unfamiliar with the significance of number 108 in the East, you can read more here. Mindy- you are awesome, I can't think of a better way to celebrate YOU!

It appears we may be praying for strength.

And last but not least I've been spending time with great friends. Doesn't it feel so great to have REAL girlfriends? It's taken me about 28 years, but I can now honestly say that I have women in my life that love, support and encourage me. I never have to doubt their intentions or always be watching my back. That is something priceless, I will miss them so much when we leave Korea!!

Awesome rustic vegan dinner made by a great friend that is NOT a vegan, but is just supportive and cool like that!

Great friends making Vegan Smores on chopsticks at Meghan's Surprise Party!

As I mentioned above, we planned a surprise birthday party for our good friend Meghan. Or "The Professor" as she will now be referred to. She just got her first job teaching at a university! This is such an exciting time for her! She is on her life's "path"! We rented a pension in the country and gave her a good shock.. she thought she was headed for a romantic weekend with her husband.... then SURPRISE!!!! We were all there!!! WE GOT YOU, PROFESSOR D!!!

Opening the door and seeing all of our lovely faces in the loft.

AND.... I got this... "Teacher of the Year" award at my school. I debated on sharing this or not, but I am very proud of it since I take teaching very seriously. I whole-heartedly love my students, and I am so appreciative of the job that I have. I am extremely lucky in that sense. I love my job 99.5% of the time. Working with children is truly a gift! I can't wait to work with kids that speak my own language. I miss so much of what they say even though I can understand Korean pretty well.

Pretty nice sized gift card accompanied the award too ;)

Sometimes I feel like life passes too quickly. But I can honestly say that I am never bored- and I like that.  It seems when I am busiest is when I am happiest. But being more naturally introverted, I seem to lose myself when I have too many outward things going on. I need time to "exhale" to feel complete. But do I ever so love the "inhale" that comes with being full of life.

That being said, I feel like it is very hard to balance a full life. I feel a little guilty that I have let some areas of my life "slide". Mostly my housework and friendships. I haven't been very present in conversations as of late. I apologize for this to those that have been affected, I need to learn how to stay present and connected when I have 293472983469 other things going on in my head.

How do you manage all the things you have to do? I see so many women out there in "Blog Land" and in "real" life that seem to do it all. How do you manage to do it all AND find the invaluable time for yourself? I'd really like to know. Share your wisdom in the comment section below... I need it.


Breathing in and out one day at a time-

Meg

I needed to hear this... FACEBOOK IS NOT A PRIORITY! GET OFF OF FACEBOOK, MEG!