new beginnings

Isn't there there something so intoxicating about new beginnings?  Stocked with possibilities, lots of anticipation... and I'm totally going to leave you hanging as to what I'm dropping hints about.  

So until I share my news, November 4th actual signifies a new beginning in my life that I have always loved celebrating.  It's a special day in my family because it was the day I found my way into my very own slice of heaven on earth.

I have angels for parents and my very own super hero for a brother.  He made our family all the better by marrying Kwona, throwing an exotic sister into the mix, someone I've always looked up because of her heart of gold.  I love my two gorgeous nieces, and two seriously cool nephews. Awesome grandparents I consider dear friends, aunts and uncles I adore, and cousins I can laugh with, and I fit right in because it was meant to be.  There are no mistakes in life.  

I've been taking stock of the last thirty years and setting some new goals.
Maybe a second  go at piano lessons?  More watercolor classes?  Table Tennis League?
 My little list of some things that have filled my years:

15 countries

29 states

17 jobs
1 stint in the navy 

18 moves

3 colleges, 1 degree {finally}
3 mountains climbed
4 kitties, 2 pups, 2 hamsters, 4 snakes, gazillions of grasshoppers, crickets, fish, frogs...
6 weeks of ice skating when I wanted to be the next Nancy Kerrigan
1 summer of Tae Kwon Do 
2 winters of ski school 

100's of books read {re: 100's of imagined adventures}

7 School Plays - The Griffon in Alice in Wonderland was my all time fav because I had a solo and was supposed to be act like a terrible singer, it wasn't a stretch!

0 broken bones

10 {ish}stitches

1 seriously scary roll over car wreck with my very own guardian angel

 1 afternoon with the Icuza {Japanese Mob} when I learned to read Korean.  That experiences changed the rest of my adventures in that wildly fun country because of the millions of signs that are now so fun to try to read.

other lessons learned:

Learning to love is what this life is all about.

Enjoying the moment makes the memory all the more clear to be enjoyed again later.

Living without hesitation is the only way to go.  Not to say pausing to make an important decision isn't necessary, but once that's done, move forward.

My checklist for a life well lived wouldn't amount to much if I was only counting places I've seen or adventures I've had, it's all about my family and friends and the love we share.

My grey sous chef.  She sits in the windowsill and watches me while I cook.