2017 – Page 2 – Creative Meanderings

An Ethan Day

Mar 282017

Today was a day with my godson since J had to work. So, beforehand I gave him a task to organize something to do for us.

He had a good plan that we set into action. We headed to Roppongi to start our adventure at the Hedgehog Cafe.

Only in Japan would there be a place that they charge people to come in and pet hedgehogs with a time limit even…. It was an interesting experience and we were both glad we went though it was a little boring given that hedgehogs tend to sleep 80% of the day!

Afterwards E had found a ramen place nearby that has history going back to 1975. It was a large portion and though we could not share our usual gyoza plate, we both walked away with very full bellies.

We made our way back and are bonding over some TV/computer time. Overall I’d say it has been a successful Ethan day! <3

~T 😀

Staying Warm

Going Mental No Responses »

Mar 272017

The warmth of Abu Dhabi is starting to be a little missed, but for the past few days the desert has been full of thunderstorms, lightning and rain. The only difference is the temperature. 🙂

While I miss my big teddy bear warmer known as my hubby, I am staying warm with the company and spoiling of my BFF and family. <3

So, not too much to say at the moment as it has been a nice quiet few days. The weekend went quickly and I was not good at taking pictures, but it was lovely. A new week has started so will be updating on more activities soon enough.

For today – I am warm in heart and spirit if not physicall! 😛

~T 😀

Ikaho Onsen

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Mar 252017

Missed posting yesterday because J and I took a girls’ trip out to higher elevations, colder temps and warm hot springs in Gunma’s Ikaho Onsen area.

It was a short trip out of Tokyo (about 1.5hrs from Ueno Station to Shibukawa). We did the famous 365 steps up and down from the shrine to the bottom and back. It is a popular tourist location in the fall, but it was still a lovely trip – even more so because it was a free stay due to J’s hubby’s family. (ありがとうございました。)

Pictures probably say more than I can, so will let the pictures speak for themselves!

~T 😀

3-Month NYRs Check-In

Going Mental No Responses »

Mar 202017

Since we are already a quarter into the year, I thought it would be prudent to do a bit of a check-in on my New Year’s Resolutions made. After all, why make them if I do not intend to check in or follow through? So, here they are (linked to the original) with some updates on my progress so far. 🙂

Health:

Well, the six-pack is in progress, but not quite there yet. Or, perhaps I have regressed a bit. First, I had not yet anticipated the amount of yoga that I was going to have to do regularly; therefore, I cut back on my gym time. Still, the yoga is not getting me there either, so I will need to re-evaluate this.

Also, we were playing around with a different diet which I have discovered is not going to work for me at all. Therefore, this is being tweaked, but I am hopeful that it shall be coming soon! 😛

Work:

The waiting list is in the works, I hope. My client base is growing, which is definitely good. However, I have let my organization and momentum fade a bit. I am not sure why on this just yet, but think I’ll be refreshed in April after my upcoming holiday.

I am taking an online psychology course at the moment, so am happy with that progress. The option for wellness retreats is possibly in the works, but I need to speak to some more people about this option. Also, I am considering signing up for an online nutrition course as well, so these learning options are in the works.

I am also going to be adjusting the blog side of my business website to include more ‘lifestyle’ elements.

In the writing area I am writing periodically to get something together, so there is progress there as well!!

Finances:

Well, things are progressing a bit slower in this category. The good news is that the debt is getting paid slowly, but we are not quite caught up yet. Since we still have an exit plan for June, we are going to have to step up in this area a bit more.

Relationships:

As I write this, I am on my way to visiting my BFF and spending time with my godson, so that is definitely meeting my goals! 😀

I am also very selective about my time these days, choosing to spend it with those that I want to invest in and those who also give back to me.

Family:

I must admit that I am at a bit of a crossroads with my brother. I tried to reach out and then never heard back. I know that I have not tried hard enough and so I need to give it another go. So, I will soon. 😀

In the meantime I am doing what I can to at least focus on the other goals. Hubby and I are in phases with going electronics free times, but we are bonding and staying strong together. <3

So, overall, I am content with my progress at this quarterly check-in. I can see where I have not been as good or may need to balance out a bit more. It also keeps me motivated to keep going for these goals I set!!!

~T 😀

Gonna See My BFF!!

Going Mental No Responses »

Feb 062017

This weekend was really an excellent weekend all around. I got to relax and enjoy time with friends on top of working, etc.

However, the very best part of the weekend was booking my flight ✈️🔜🗾to Japan 🇯🇵in March to see my BFF for two weeks!!! 👏🏽 I am beyond excited and thrilled that I could get the ticket using miles; 👍🏽thus only having to pay about $100 for the ticket! 🙌🏽🙌🏽

We are already planning our visit to Kyoto 🏯 🚅 since it will be E’s spring break time as well. It’s gonna be so much fun!!!!

M has noted that I am noticeably in a better mood with more energy and it is true that having something to look forward to along with the prospect of leaving the country after 15 months thrills me!😄

Of course, we are hoping that he will be able to join as well so that both of us can have a holiday together. It would be his first time to see Japan; but if he cannot make it then there will always be another chance. 😜 I will definitely make sure I go to enjoy anyway!!😆

So, that is one of my 2017 NYRs coming to fruition as I had hoped. It is setting a good tone for everything in life to pick up and start to bring us some relief from our stresses the past year has brought to us….

Anyway, that is my good news for the moment!

~T 😀

End of January

Going Mental No Responses »

Jan 312017

Surprisingly, I am amazed that it is now the last day of the month.

Looking back it was definitely a full month and lots of ups and downs financially, emotionally and even physically.

As I reflect on how things have been, I have to say that at the moment I am fairly happy with the past month in terms of the NYRs.

*Health – I am going steady with the gym, though some weeks have been a bit more challenging given my schedule changes; however, I am happy with progress. Just need to get my abs a bit more in shape! 😉

*Work – As expected, work is picking up with lessons. I have three regular yoga clients with one just finishing, though he may continue. 😀 I will be starting some foundation classes where I live and the new 200hr YTTC course is giving me more work to do. I am currently taking a nutrition course through Coursera and have decided to start a side business that promotes healthy diet and life – more on that soon. I have not yet had enough time to sit down to do more writing, but am hoping that February will allow me to have a more settled routine in which I can carve out more writing time. Still, not bad for the first month.

*Finances – well, these are coming along. Little by little more money is coming in, but with the increase work, the money will come. M is also making some progress in this area, so….

*Relationships – my closest friends have been just that and the rest have been quiet as expected. I do have some plans in the works for travel and seeing those I love most. However, for the most part I am content with my relationships. <3

*Family – I have to admit that I have been a bit quiet and slow on this aspect of my life. I have spoken to my parents a few times, but now they are in warmer environments, so hopefully having too much fun! 😀 I did reach out to my bro, but need to try again or harder to connect better.

*Personal – Again, this month has seemed to have focused more on work and finances than anything else. I have started a blanket while I am watching TV, but have not yet been back to pottery this year. I will try to start again this next month. The rest is definitely in progress.

So, when reflecting I could stay in a dark space looking just at the negatives; however, the reality is that we still have a lovely roof over our heads and food to fill our bellies. We have loved ones near and far who are all fairly healthy and well. We have each other each day to help get through any struggles. Thus, on this last day of the month, I want to be positive and grateful for all that has been provided looking forward to what the next month promises to bring!

~T 😀

New Year’s Resolutions: 6. Personal

Going Mental No Responses »

Jan 132017

We have come to the last of the major areas of life that affect our happiness – personal. Although it could be said that most or all of my goals shared so far are personal, what I mean here are other areas such as entertainment, hobbies, achievements, etc. The things I want and plan to do in the next year solely for myself as an individual human, woman and person on this great earth.

At the moment, I have not yet put these into time-chunks because we are not yet quite settled as to how long we are staying in the country or where we are going. Therefore, I have to limit some of the goals to things I can do anywhere and maybe anytime. 😀

*Continue with my pottery. I know I have not shared for quite some time my pieces, but I want to return to some consistency in my attendance (money permitted) and improve my skills. I am not sure if I will be able to continue this hobby once we leave, so I want to have a good base when I do go so that I can pick up again easily once we are settled again.

*Write, write, write. So, I put my major writing goals under the work post because I now consider some writing as a job (one that I love, of course), but I do have some other writing projects in mind. These include starting a couple more blogs – I know, how many does one person need?!

*I would like to crochet at least four or five blankets with my yarn scraps this year to get rid of the yarn that I have and then donate them to orphanages or hospitals for premies or something like this. Along with this, I would like to keep knitting and crocheting hats for cancer patients or maybe even figure out how to knit/crochet the boobs for breast cancer patients. Again, I can use up my yarn and keep myself productive whilst watching TV since I feel as if I have been wasting away my life a bit these days by just sitting…. 😛

*Travel – sadly I have not traveled properly since our Christmas holiday 2015….:( I did do a quick trip to Egypt, but it was for work and I did not stay to see anything. Therefore, in 2017, I hope to have one trip per financial quarter. So, I really want to see my BFF in Japan – ideally in the spring. Then, I am hoping for a nice summer holiday with the BDs (British Daughters) and hubby. By then, we should be planned to move, moved or nearly moved to somewhere new which will count as a trip! Then, in the fall/winter I would like to do a yoga retreat somewhere. Fingers crossed that we can also spend the winter holidays with both or one set of our families. 😀

*200-hr Yoga certification – I know I just finished by 300-hr one, but I have already agreed to do a 200-hr course starting in a couple of weeks here in Abu Dhabi. I shall be helping to teach it too, which is going to be wonderful experience. So, with the 200 on top of the 300, I will be able to register as a 500-hr teacher and then train to register my own school doing teacher trainings of my own, hopefully in southern France. So, these are important steps to building my long-term business vision.

*Try at least one thing new this year – whether this is SkyDive Dubai or kitesurfing or dancing or painting or whatever it may be, I really want to stretch my mind to try something I have not yet done but contemplated doing. M seems to think I need to take up painting, so maybe that will be it. Or, we both want to try kitesurfing, so who knows, but stay tuned!!! 😉

So, that rounds out the week of looking deeply into my New Year’s Resolutions for this year. I hope it was not too boring or over the top. God only knows if I will be able to maintain this focus or for how long, but I really believe every one of these goals is achievable. I will try to check in throughout the year to see how I am progressing. 😀

Thanks for joining me on this part of the year’s journey.

~T 😀

New Year’s Resolutions: 5. Family

Going Mental No Responses »

Jan 122017

Some might find it strange to have goals about family, but the truth is that family is often who we take for granted the most. Yet, they play such a vital role in ensuring that we feel supported, loved, encouraged and safe every day. So, I believe it is important to also create goals around how to foster our family connections.

Therefore, here are my goals for my family – some I mentioned yesterday as they also overlap with Relationships.

*Make sure I get to see my parents at least once this year – hopefully twice with a mother-daughter trip in there as it is my mama’s year. (As a side, I try to alternate years with a mother-daughter or father-daughter trip or outing to spend that QT I love with my parents. 😀 )

*Make a stronger effort to keep in touch with my brother – we message now and then on FB or text, but I would like to focus more and work harder at having regular contact with him because I feel we have drifted a bit in the last few years.

*Continue to be there for my new step-daughters in whatever form they may need me to be – a listening ear, a presence and support for their father, whatever is needed. 😉

*Spoil my godson more somehow…. 😀 He’s already 11!!! WTF?! So, he’s at the age now where he’ll remember doing things together or finding value in shared activities. Being so far away makes this a challenge, but I am sure there is a way.

*Connect better/more with my step-niece. She joined our family when she was 8 and then 8/9 years later moved away when my brother and her mother divorced. We have kept in touch, but as time has passed I have kept to myself, so I would like to make more effort.

*Stay up with my cousins – Thank goodness for FB!! If it weren’t for that, I would hardly ever know what was going on with my cuzes. Now, I can keep up more.

*Last but not least – my husband – we have agreed to have fortnightly (every two weeks) date nights to stick to. We are focusing on eating our meals at the dinner table without electronics to catch up with one another at the end of the day. I will continue to do all I can to love and support him in all areas of our life together. 😀

So…I think I have hit everything here. Not much more to say – I love my family!!! 😀

~T 😀

New Year’s Resolutions: 4. Relationships

Going Mental No Responses »

Jan 112017

These goals are getting a bit easier in topics now – at least for me. Phew! 😅

2016 presented a number of challenges regarding friendships and tested my introverted nature regarding relationships.

One of the best ways to weed out your friends is to have an expensive wedding 👰🏽😜. All kidding aside, many of our “friends” were proven not to be so by not bothering to show up even when they RSVPd or never RSVPing at all. Some even shared that they couldn’t attend but for reasons that we felt were not good enough to warrant not making an effort to attend our special day when we were supposedly good friends. So that was one way of defining friendships.

I lost two friends this year to drama and overreactions. One is the spouse of the other so by default we are no longer friends. Both of these people I let into my heart and inner circle, which is a big deal for me. Losing them was a painful process and there are times when I still ache for their friendships. However, truth hurts and the truth is that we were probably never really friends. Or at least not friends as I define them.

Once someone described me as like a dog. In other words, I am loyal and committed to those I call friends because there are not many that I let in fully. When I do, it is for life and I will defend them with fierceness – which I did many times for these two. Yet, it was clearly not reciprocated nor valued; therefore, it is best that we are no longer in each other’s lives.

What it has done, unfortunately, is to cause a divide and another weeding out of those who were mutual friends. Much like in a divorce – some people take sides, others distance themselves and others continue on being friends as before.

This experience has also been a bit of a blessing because with the thinning out of friends, or so-called ones, I made room for new ones to enter in.

Also, with my change of work, I have been forced to branch out and make new friends through networking and activities.

Now I have golf friends, AWN friends, walking/running friends, etc. Although these friendships are newly forged, I am excited to build upon them.

As I posted a while ago, I am continuing to find my tribe. So, although in an ideal world I would have my BFF, close friends, new friends and family all in one place, the life of an expat is not conducive to this as a reality. Therefore, thanks to blogging, Facebooking, Skyping and any other form of messaging I can stay up with my friends near and far.

So on to the goals – hard to do quarterly goals so will just list.

*Making sure I see my BFF at least once this year somewhere – fingers crossed for in Japan

*Organizing regular meet ups with friends whom I want to maintain a strong relationship with while we are still here.

*Making sure I see my parents at least once or maybe twice this year.

*Trying again to connect better with my brother.

*Really being selective of my time and energy on people who add to my life and positivity without draining me nor taking advantage of me nor taking me for granted.

So these are my relationships goals as it relates to family and friends. I think I do fairly well with my family aside from my brother so I will try more there. 😍

Tomorrow is 5. Family, so may be a bit shorter. Until then!

~T 😀

New Year’s Resolutions: 3. Finances

Going Mental No Responses »

Jan 102017

Okay, so this is a BIG one for me/us as 2016 was a massive financial struggle once I gave up work and the benefit of paid housing. Little did I know what a huge challenge it was going to be to work out housing on our limited income. Now, I am not saying that we/I were not total idiots to move into a crazily priced apartment, but it is a lovely place to live…. 😐

Along with some other challenges with our money that were a ripple effect of M changing his job in February last year, we have hit the lowest point I have ever reached in my adult financial life. Even saying that I do appreciate and feel fortunate that my idea of “low” is still quite high for some in the world.

Still, my bank account was actually closed in the US due to insufficient funds and negative balance – this account I have had since I was 12…. My US credit cards are in back pay and my school loan payments are also due. We also owe my parents money since they helped us out to pay for my work visa…. :/ On top of this, we barely make our local payments each month sometimes missing them only to have to catch up the following month.

Since I only make enough each week to cover our daily expenses, which is still plenty – and we have learned to spend much less daily – it is hard to cover some of the bills unless M gets paid regularly. During some months it is a challenge to have this consistency; therefore we have struggled.

Therefore, our goal for this year is:

*3 months – pay off all current debt and be caught up with at least 2 months payments ahead

*6 months – have enough cash in the bank to leave the UAE and move elsewhere with enough to make a downpayment on property wherever we end up

*9 months – be generating enough income from our various sources to be able to do the 50:10:20:20 rule (50% for living expenses; 10% for fun; 20% for short-term savings 20% for investment/retirement)

*12 months – have at least one property paid for that brings in income to perhaps pay for another property somewhere along with our continued plan above

Now, I do not know yet how this is going to happen as we are basically dependent on M to bring in the money. We will definitely be moving from our current apartment either in the same building but to a much smaller space within our means OR we will move to a completely new space either within country or out of country. More on that to come as we know more.

So, this is my brutal honesty about our financial situation without going into number details. It has not been an easy road and I have come to some major realizations through it all. While there is no point in having regrets, I do see/understand all that financial wisdom my parents tried to impart upon me years ago about saving, etc. It hit me mostly when a few people shared that they were buying houses since they had saved up enough since being here and I am completely on the other side of that…. I do not regret the travel that I did or the fun that I had, but I do kind of wish someone had managed my money for me! 😉

I take full responsibility for my life choices and decisions. I know I am at least half to blame for our current situation and I did not come into our marriage with blind eyes regarding M’s situation. I may have been blinded to or denying reality out of love or whatever, but I have faith and hope that this year will be our year to work ourselves out. Also, it gives me some satisfaction to think that once we are out of the mud, it will be due to both of our efforts and something that we have achieved and overcome together – making us stronger and better. Optimism!!!

So, I am sure I will be writing more about this as the year goes on, but here ends our financial goals for this year. Tomorrow we move on to 4. Relationships.

~T 😀

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