A Dream Come True

I love those words rolling out of my mouth.  When something you've truly dreamed of actually comes to fruition.  It seems so surreal, and I love that feeling too.

So when I tell you 'I went to Indonesia' I say it with a a heart swelling breath of pure joy, that I sometimes still can't believe is true.  It has been a travel dream of mine for many years.

When my friend Krystal, here on Roatan, suggested a trip to visit our friends in SE Asia it didn't take long for the wheels to start turning.  Unfortunately, between the time Krystal bought her flight to Hong Kong and I had finagled a way to get the free time away, our friend's Visas were about to expire, and they quickly moved on to Australia to seek work in the diving world.  Before long, Krystal's trip morphed into a liveaboard dive boat in the Maldives while I was still himming and hawing over what to do.  When she explained to me she would be in the Gili Islands for part of the trip, I decided to head that direction and we began making plans to meet on a little tiny island called Gili Trawangan.

My itinerary morphed into this: LA - Taipei - Bali - Gili Trawangan - Nusa Lembongan - Bali; a total of 3 weeks in Asia!!!

But FIRST, I headed home for Mother's Day before traveling to Bali for the first leg of SE Asia.  I love surprising people with good surprises, and I knew my mom would be thrilled to see me, even if it was for only a few short days.  I went online and found a service that mails personalized greeting cards for you and sent one to mom telling her I was coming home for Mother's Day.

She and I tried hard not to make too many plans, which is very hard to do.  I want to do and see and drink and eat and shop and relax and chat with everyone and everything.  But knowing this was a quick visit and how easily time can disappear, I kept it low key and made time for my family first and friends next.  As always, it was an absolute pleasure to be home with all the beautiful familiarities that I love.

Mount Hood, Oregon's icon

Spring in the park

My Dad & His Grandpup

Oregon Countryside + Winery

Mothers Day Brunch

Spoiled views all around

Mother's Day in the park

Dad and I designed a custom leather wallet, for me!

My sweet & precious & loyal pup, Raylie

Willamette River, I grew up on this stretch of water

Morning hikes in the forest with 2 of my favorite ladies

Stay tuned for Part II of my dream come true!

Where OH Where

Has all the time gone??

I've become the blogger everyone despises.  Myself included.

The one that writes interesting stories, and gets its readers engaged.  Posts great first hand photos and begins to peak interests of those slightly curious of the writer's make believe, or in my case, real believe stories.  And then disappears.

No excuse, no explanation, just vanished.  Without warning, I let you all down.  Some of you know why, others may not be particularly interested in the details.  Regardless, I won't waste time apologizing, because frankly, I'm not all that sorry.  I took a hiatus from a lot of things in life, and it felt damn good!

A few months ago, I found myself drowning in freelance work up the wazoo!  I really enjoy networking, and even more the fact that often times the work and people find me.  It's a good feeling to have earned the reputation I've worked hard for.  But as the old saying goes, 'When it rains, it pours' and I found myself working 7 days a week just to try and keep up with all the projects I had taken on.  I was overwhelmed, over worked, tired, missing out on fun things with friends and becoming short tempered with people around me.  That part didn't feel so good.

So, as I often do when things no longer seem to be flowing quite right in my world, I sat back and identified the root of the problem that was leading to all of the things I just mentioned.  It was clearly too much work and not enough fun!  2 years ago I made the decision to leave the life of high stress and working myself to the bone, for a simpler life in a simpler place and I was letting it slip away.  I made a plan and figured out how to wrap up the projects I had going and narrowed down the ones I would continue with to a more manageable and logical load.

It was a good thing I did it when I did, because what happened next blew my mind...