Happy 2013 Everyone!

Posted by Suma

Monday December 31^st, 2012

The Whitley’s and I spent the last day of 2012 together at Takapuna beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We packed the best lunch ever (cheese and crackers) and were able to fill the day with swimming and tanning. My allergies have really been acting up lately so I chose not to wear my contacts to the beach. Unfortunately I left my eye drops at home and my eyes started to dry up so much that they started closing up. Luckily the shops were nearby for Emma and I to buy another bottle of drops. When we thought we couldn’t take the heat anymore we paid a visit to the Whippy van 🙂 The beach was FULL of other families but there was still plenty of room for us to spread out and enjoy the afternoon.

After a quick stop at the liquor store we all went home to shower and get ready for our evening. Emzie was wonderful at helping all the ladies with their hair and makeup. We had to run for the bus at the top of our bus — running in heels made for an impromptu workout and big laughs. The bus ride was around 40 minutes downtown. It was bumpin’ downtown and were lucky to get into The VGrill (Viaduct Grill) without any wait. O’malley and I split the stuffed duck meal and slice of cheesecake. We made incredible choices that night!! After dinner we struggled to find a place to settle down and share drinks before the midnight fireworks. Finding space that fit 5 people on New Year’s Eve was not the easiest of tasks! We went to a few places before walking across the bridge around 11pm to find seats to enjoy the fireworks. The fireworks were shot off of the Skytower. Knowing how often New Zealand has fireworks, we were a little underwhelmed by the evening’s fireworks. Not saying they were good but I was expecting amazing for the number of people that came out to share in the countdown and display. The show only lasted a handful a minutes before we were hailing a van-cab. O’malley snagged one super fast and we were back home really quickly..considering all the traffic

Tuesday January 1^st, 2013

My 2013 began impressively. I slept in and then headed off to the beach again. Takapuna is a close drive from the house so we headed back again. We settled down by some prime seating on a grassy area. We had planned on renting a couple of paddle boards but they were closed for the day. The waves weren’t impressive but we enjoyed our boogie board time together. Emzie treated us to some yummy Starb frapps…definitely a great way to start this year. We ended off the night by enjoying delicious cesar salads and prawns. Of course we had to end the night with a family bowling match!

Wednesday January 2^nd, 2013

It was the Whitley’s 2^nd last day in New Zealand so we spent a little time in the morning cleaning the house and packing their bags. Momma Whitley had made reservations for the five of us to dine at the Skytower ‘s restaurant at 2pm. We left the house early so we could do some last minute downtown shopping. The Skytower buffet is on the 3^rd floor of the tower so we weren’t given much of a view. I was pleasantly surprised at how much food there was. What shocked me the most was the dessert bar. There was a full cheese spread and CANDY table to create your own vanilla sundae. The only SHOCKING thing was the receptionist asking me if I was over FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. She asked everyone if they were over FOURTEEN. And then singled me out and said, “Really? You definitely don’t look it” I was completely shocking as I was dressed in a dress and had a full face of makeup!! DO I actually look fourteen?! I guess maybe I do….?

Thursday January 3^nd, 2013
Ana and Kristy arrived today!!
Emzie and I were both up and awake around 4:15am so we could scoop the lovely ladies from the airport. Their plane was supposed to arrive around 5:30 but arrived a little bit earlier. It has only been a day since their arrival but we have already spent lots of time planning our upcoming day trips.

Whitley’s leave today
Their flight was scheduled to take off at 8pm so Em and I drove them to the airport for around 5:30.

It rained on and off all day but the rain seemed to stop in the evening. We drove down to the viaducts downtown so the girls could get a feel for driving on “the wrong side of the road” and start warming up their cameras!

Looking forward to continue this fabulous vacation!!! Lots of beach days in our future. I will post more facebook photos when I get around to it. Thanks for staying in touch.

Buddha Blessings to everyone. Trying to make the most of my time here. The time keeps FLYING by!!!
xox Amanda

–> Happy 1 year anniversary since our beautiful blonde – lush lashed Socks came to Victoria. CFCS would not have been the same without you. Thank you for rocking those socks and being who you are. Gorgeous inside and out 🙂 Emzie, Ana and I promise to have an amazingly relaxing and fun filled beach day on your behalf today!!! Much love babe!

Season’s Greetings

Posted by Suma

I hope you all found time during the holidays to enjoy the spirit of the season!

Christmas 2012 was a fun day of celebrating. The boys let me sleep in until 6:36am before running into my room to let me know that Santa had come during the night. I had such a great time watching the boys eagerly open all their presents. Shortly after 7:30 we were all sitting down to enjoy a lovely breakfast. (It was a very early morning for me!) I drove to Emma’s place around 11 to meet up with all the Whitleys and enjoy a beach walk along Takapuna beach. The tide was in so we couldn’t climb the rocks — but we did have a great walk along the shore. I was able to assist in the capturing of the Santa hat family photo picture for the fam jam. Afterwards we ordered pizza and Indian and had an intense xbox bowling tournament. Lots of fun was had by all.

Boxing Day was a FULL on shopping day. I was not too excited about all the shopping but I did enjoy the company. The weather was pretty rainy causing us to run from store to store. We went to A LOT of the touristy stores. I finally got to buy my first hoodie here. They are sooo hard to find here. We had another night of playing xbox and then drove home later that evening.

I was working on Thursday and Friday and was fortunate enough to have gorgeous summer weather. We went to the beach 3x and swam and surfed lots. A few weeks of vacation officially started Friday evening. I packed all my clothes and headed back over to Emma’s house.

Originally we had planned to have a beach day Saturday and head to Waiheke Island on Sunday for scooting around. We had to switch our days around because all the mopeds were booked on Sunday. It was a blessing in disguise because Saturday’s weather was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! It was about 25-30 degrees and stayed that way for our day trip. We were so fortunate to have so much sunshine. We took our 40minute ferry to Waiheke Island at 9:30am. We had one brief stop at Devenport to pick up other passengers. We were able to pretty much cover the WHOLE Island while riding the mopeds. We didn’t do any swimming at the beaches but we stopped at a few to enjoy the view!! The water was a stunning shade of turquoise and the pictures don’t do it justice. We stopped for lunch at Stonyridge Vineyard. We had rented mopeds so we decided it would be best that we not sample the wines. Instead we had a meal and only one glass each. While we were dining a helicopter landed outside in the field. 4 people stopped in for a quick bite to eat. As we were leaving they were boarding their helicopter to leave. Just a quick little stop for them!

Oneroa Beach

Stonyridge Vineyard

Our first stop on Sunday was to Westhaven Marina so Father Bruce could chat with my Kiwi father and see their sailboat. He appreciated his little tour of the marina and chat with another male. I think he liked getting away from the 4 females for a little bit this trip. We then carried on seeing more sailboats at the harbour downtown. There were some big boats docked. We talked to one owner who had his boat on the market for 4.5 million euros…he told us his bigger boat was arriving in a few months and just needed the space to dock the new boat. We stopped off briefly at my home so the Whitleys could meet my family and wish them luck on their one week sailing trip. Ever summer my family goes away on their boat and the boys get to go fishing and swimming every day. We had planned on going to Long Bay Regional Park and walking the kilometre-long sandy beach but instead decided to go swimming.

I am trying to stay on TOP of my blogging… promise. Spending so much time out in the sun keeps me busy and EXHAUSTED in the evenings. I will try to get back to posting my photos on Facebook too. I was doing so well for a bit. I am hoping to get my New Year’s day/evening blog up today or tomorrow. The Whitleys are leaving today and Ana/Kristy arrived so the house is a bustling.

Buddha Blessings to all
xox Amanda

…remember any of these pictures can be enlarged if you click on them 🙂

Christmas Eve in New Zealand

Posted by Suma

The last week has been super busy here in New Zealand. Having the boys out of school has lengthened my work days considerably. Thankfully we successfully arranged a handful of play dates with classmates so the boys were able to get some distance between themselves. The less fighting for me to deal with the happier we all are.

The boys love swimming so it’s been incredible to be able to drive to the local beaches for a dip. I would say usually it’s only a quick dip as the 6 year old tends to get cold pretty quickly. Even with a wet-suit and a beaming sun he can’t last more than 15 minutes without coming down the with some serious shiver shakes. I can sympathize whole heartily!! I still remember being a kid and feeling like my body for sure would stop working because everyplace on my body seemed to be covered in goosebumps and my parts must be too cold to function!!

I took the boys over to visit with the Whitley Fam Jam before heading off for our North Shore Picnic. The visit was a great prelude to our upcoming Christmas celebration. It’s been a shame how rainy the weather was for the first few days of their visit. It’s been forecasted to rain and stay stormy for our Christmas day tomorrow. Hopefully the weather and traffic won’t dampen my Christmas commute.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me cards in the mail! The Christmas cards are proudly displayed by my baby tree in my room. The boys loved delivering the mail to me and were always so eager to watch me open it. I was just thrilled with all the cards and also appreciated the e-cards filled with holiday cheer.

I will be thinking about all of my family and friends around the world. Enjoy all the time and laughter shared with your loved ones this holiday season. Christmas time is so magical so try to capture as many happy memories in your heart and on film!!

~~ Buddha Blessings ~~
Amanda

Christmas Spirit from a 10 year

Tragedy and Rebirth

Posted by Suma

Yesterday I woke up to a text from my friend informing me of the Connecticut shooting. A 20 year old shot and killed his mother and then went to Sandy Hook Elementary school killing 20 children and countless adults. I immediately texted her back saying this world is too intense for me. It is becoming such a scary place! Neither of us are mothers but we could NOT imagine a world without our babies. My heart aches for the innocent angels that lost their lives. The pain those families and community must be going through… events like this really shake me. Throughout the day the New Zealand media kept the public informed. Feelings of such strong gratitude for all the heroes who helped protect the children and sacrificed their own lives. Faculty members lost their lives for the sake of their children. Through this devastation stories of strength and heroism are coming to light. I watched Barack Obama’s heartfelt speech and I, like him, feel my heart is broken! I posted on my Facebook wall that I have so much to be thankful for. I must continue to not lose faith in humanity.

With that said — I am so thrilled to welcome Charley Juilet Glass to the world. My best friend’s sister delivered her precious baby girl in Nanaimo, British Columbia today! Charley shares her birthday with my Daddy- o. December 15 is a great day to have been born!!! Happy Birthday xox

My New Zealand update this week isn’t too meaty. Emma and I got together during the week to buy the last of our Christmas presents. We are both officially done shopping! Feels good to have all my presents bought and wrapped before December 15^th. We also mailed all our Christmas cards back to Canada (weeks back) and know that most of them have already arrived!

family Xmas tree

bedroom tree!

We spent Saturday lounging in the sun on the porch enjoying spritzers. We had to put the umbrella up because the sun was becoming unbearably hot. We had our books and portable speakers and made a day of lounging. When we found ourselves to be way too hot and sticky we went inside and watched The Fast and The Furious….I know we lead a hard life!!!

Emma was able to successfully pick up the Whitley clan from the airport this morning. It will be nice to have more Whitleys here for the holidays!

My boys have school on Monday and then just a half day Tuesday before they are off on Summer Holidays until the second week of February. LOTS of summer activities planned and I am looking forward to lots of summer fun. The countdown for Ana and Kristy to arrive on January 3^rd is getting closer and closer too.

Life is good for me but my heart feels heavy for all those in Connecticut. What happened was ‘unimaginable’ and I will continue to be thankful and blessed for all that I have.

Buddha Blessings to all
xox

Amanda

Weekend of December 8th – 9th

Posted by Suma

I figured I better post this before I fall too far behind…

We had both had a pretty busy week and decided to treat ourselves to a relaxing afternoon inside an air-conditioned movie theater. It was the first time either of us had been in a Kiwi theater and we were thrilled by the experience. The theater was in fantastic condition with large comfy seats. They were so wide and deep we felt we were almost able to recline in them. The movie wasn’t my pick… Twilight the last one in the series. Besides seeing Dakota Fanning and Taylor Lautner it wasn’t amazing..but then again I haven’t read the books or seen any of the previous movies.

After the movie we decided to get our Christmas cheer on and attend Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park.
We packed a picnic dinner and went to the Auckland Domain to enjoy their annual outdoor concert. The turnout was impressive and they had a huge stage for the acts to perform. There were also lots of food vendors and some (sketchy looking) carnival rides. The concert was pretty decent but we didn’t really recognize many of the acts. Instead of staying for the whole concert we walked around downtown Auckland for awhile before heading home.

The next morning we decided to skip the Santa Clause parade and instead go for a walk. We tried the Le Roys Bush and Little Shoal Bay bush walk. It was a gorgeous walk! It is about 15 minutes away from Emma’s house and was a scenic walk. The paths are well maintained and still gave off a very naturalistic feel to them. It took us around an hour to complete and we were beyond ready to be done once we finished. The sun was so hot that day and we were still both exhausted from the night before. So glad we chose the walk instead of standing and watching all the floats go by.

I was excited that we finally made it to the night market! It is from 5:30-11pm every Sundayat Westfields Shopping Centre in Glenfield North Shore.We made a smart decision to not eat dinner before arriving as there were so many choices of fresh authentic food! We did not find many things we wanted to buy at the stands but they were fun to shop around and look at all the homemade stuff. We found that some of the stands felt like garage sales while others felt like serious businesses. It was a great experience and I will definitely go back again.

Sorry I fell behind. I will post this weekends blog now so I can be all caught up 🙂
Thanks for reading. Can’t believe Christmas is right around the corner!!!

Buddha Blessings
xox Amanda

Tornado hits West Auckland

Posted by Suma

Not having to update the blog everyday feels like I am on vacation!!! Wanted to do a quick update to let everyone know I am alive and safe. Emma’s family and my family are both safe and sound.

There was a tornado that hit West Auckland around 12:15pm causing 3 fatalities and about 7 in the hospital. I got a phone call (from the mom) in the afternoon to let me know there had been an tornado and the boys may be a bit frightened when I picked them up from school in the afternoon. I told her that we had planned on going to our doctor’s appointment and then we would either come home or walk around the mall looking for Christmas presents. (Best to stay inside and be safe!!) The morning had been cold and overcast and then it rained heavily all afternoon. Other than that Torbay didn’t get affected. Tornadoes are a regular thing so don’t get too worried about my safety. The last one that hit was about two years ago.

If anyone is interested in reading the local news article this is the website I read:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz.

Picture taken from Friday, Dec 7, 2012 New Zealand Herald newspaper.

Thanks for checking in on me xox
-Amanda

Thanks for all the BIRTHDAY Wishes

Posted by Suma

I was going to go to bed but I thought I should blog quickly first. Thank you to everyone who shared their birthday wishes with me. As always, it was a pretty awkward day with the kids shrieking how OLD 27 was. I encouraged them to stop saying the number but they felt the need to keep reminding me of my age 🙂 The family bought me pink roses and made me vanilla and red velvet cupcakes. We unwrapped gifts after the fireworks…well actually the kids unwrapped the presents and then showed me what I got. (I am pretty excited to see them on Christmas morning. They are going to be HYPER when it’s time for them to open their own gifts!)

Emma and I spent the whole day together. She really wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget it was my special day. She prepared me days before that I would not be allowed to sleep the day away because it was MY BIRTHDAY and a day to be celebrated. MY pleas to just sleep the day away fell on closed ears. It was a pretty great that my birthday landed on a gorgeous Saturday so I had the day off work. We went to a restaurant close to the beach to have breakfast then quickly headed off too the zoo. Burma (the Burmese elephant) was out walking around which was a huge treat. Quite often she is in her glass house chained up to a pole so it was nice that she was roaming around. She came quite close to the wall so we were able to get some great shots of her. She still looks like a baby elephant to me but I have been informed that she is fully grown.

Kiwi Tree

After we walked around the whole zoo we went and grabbed some caffeinated drinks. We needed energy to continue the celebrations. We went to the Christmas Wonderland. It is New Zealand’s biggest indoor Christmas forest. over 150 trees are uniquely decorated by different themes. It would have been nicer if the building was a little bigger because there were so many trees and people, strollers and kids all in one square building. Some of the trees were so cute. All the money from tickets was donated to charity!What is a day without a little shopping? We were both on the hunt for presents for our kids. My kids keep changing their minds on what they want for Christmas so I have yet to buy them anything but I am hoping to complete my shopping pretty soon. My homemade Christmas cards are finally done and I am hoping to get them all mailed off tomorrow. After shopping we drove to Brown’s Bay and got pizza to eat at the beach. How nice is it that I got to eat Birthday dinner at the beach in December! I can’t even complain that it was windy because the air was still warm.

We went home for a bit to swap photos and relax before the fireworks. I was able to send off a few birthday thank you emails and enjoy my flowers. It was the first time I had ever received flowers and I GOT two bouquets in one day 🙂 Emma dropped me off when it started to get dark out. I met up with my family on the grass and we (the parents) shared in some bubbly and strawberries. When we got home the kids were excited to eat my cupcakes and open the presents. It was a really late night for them but it was a great end to the day.

Sunday (my Canadian birthday) I got to celebrate in my own way! I slept in with NO ALARM CLOCK (even though I could hear the kids running around the house I could just smile and roll over)! I hung out in my room reading text messages and facebook posts and got to chat a little with some friends. I went upstairs and had lunch and shared cupcakes with the boys. Pretty much my whole day consisted of lounging, playing with the boys and finishing my Christmas cards. The 6 year old tried to help me with my cards at one point so there are a few that…aren’t up to my level of perfection. There wasn’t much he could do to assist me so I let him put some stickers on the cards. Unfortunately when they were going on crocked I patiently tried to explain I like them to be straight and not clustered together. Eventually I let him peel them and then give them to me…production slowed until he got bored and decided to make his own!

So that was my birthday weekend!

xox Buddha Blessings,
Amanda

Goodbye 26, Hello Rest Of My Life…

Posted by Suma

In honor of this being my last blog (at age 26), I thought I would make a detailed list of my 26 dreams and desires. In truth, it was easy to think of about 10 and then afterwards I began regretting the topic. Dreams and miracles seem to be similar words with vastly different meanings. Without my mind going too wild I tried to base my list in mostly “reality’’. Please do not take this list too seriously or you will hurt your head.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been sending their words of encouragement. I have known all along that 27 isn’t that big a deal and I still have 3 years until I reach the big 3-0! I do not have many friends my age, most are younger and many are older so it has been great to get advice from both perspectives. The overall message being:

Age is not something you can control. It is a daily reminder that you are ALIVE!!!

26 Dreams and Desires…

1. Become a midwife’s assistant or be a Doula. When I was a kid I wanted to be an obstetrician; until I found out how many years of schooling it entailed! Then I decided I would prefer to be a Pediatrician so I could work with the Mom’s and the babies. NOW I would love to be a doula. To be a part of the support system at such a significant time in a someone’s’ life WOULD BE INCREDIBLE.

2. I have grown up to believe that you choose your FAMILY. As we grow we shape our own definitions of what it means to us. I believe that family is not solely comprised of blood relations. That said I would like to meet (as many as possible) people from my birth family. Part of my personal identity remains undeveloped. I do worry though…did curiosity kill the cat?

3. Financial stability.

4. Feel loved unconditionally for who I am. Stop having to prove I am worthy of being loved. I don’t want to have to pretend or modify who I am depending on who I am with. I don’t want to seek out love I truly feel deserving of. I want to keep discovering who I am. I want to be me and be happy with that.

5. Find out the details involving my stomach scar. It is the width of my abdomen and I have had it since I was adopted. Just like I find it unnerving to have no birthday details, I find it unsettling to NOT know why and when I had surgery. All I know is that no organs were extracted and my stitches were cleanly done.

6. Find a cure for my insomnia. My mind just won’t shut off at night. A lot of the times when I am trying to sleep I lay awake thinking or having “daymares”. I am living through things that have never happened but it feels real.

7. Get my motorcycle license and own a bike!

8. I have always wanted to shave my head and start from scratch. When my parents found me in the orphanage I had thing scraggly hair with bald patches. To this day I have thin thin hair and I have always wondered how it would grow back? It has never seemed to be the right time to shave it off but it has always been an idea of mine. If there was an opportunity to do it for a charitable cause I would strongly consider.

9. Be in a spelling bee! Aha since I was a kid I wanted my class to have one but it never happened for me. Nothing intense like you see on television – just a simple fun one where two lines are formed and you sit down once you spell a word wrong. You advance every time you spell a word right and there is one winner! I think I am twenty years too late…

10. I don’t know if it will happen but I would LOVE to go back to Nepal. I met so many wonderful people who will remain dear to me. I want to go back and see them as well as travel around and volunteer my time as much as possible. I will never forget the warmth of the Nepalese.

11. Publish a book? I have always LOVED editing essays and reading over other peoples ‘work but I also like writing. My Mom was a teacher who chose to edit in red ink. To this day I love the feeling of reading over something and scribbling red ink all over the page with corrections and suggestions. Maybe one of these days I will become an author or an editor for a publishing firm?

12. Go to space? I think I am more interested in the spaceship ride than being in space but I bet the whole trip would be astounding.

13. I know it would be impossible to make the world perfect. Who am I to decide what “perfect is”? What I do know is that I want to live in a world that has eliminated child sex offenders, rapists and world hunger they would be top on the priority list. ANYONE who mistreats children or women does not deserve my sympathy. Mental illness or not – I do not believe I would be able to forgive a person. It is depressing to know there are still people who do not have access to food daily. I hate wasting or throwing out food. One day we will abolish world hunger.

14. Hire a personal chef (thanks for reminding me Bizzle). I am a horrible cook and I have always wanted someone to grocery shop and cook all my meals. I am a huge snacker and that is part of the reason why my health is not in order. I eat whatever is quick and accessible in the kitchen or grab for the nearest potato chips or cookies. Having a personal chef would take the thinking out of what to eat and how many calories I was consuming a day! I NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN one day!

15. Increased fitness. I would like to increase my stamina and lose my stomach fat (less cheese more exercising!!!) Workout with Bob Harper and/or Jillian Michaels would be a dream come true. I WANT to be on the American TV Show The Biggest Loser just so they can yell at me, “Last chance workout”. I know I would never make it on the show but a girl can dream right?!

16. Good bye economy class hello Business Class or First Class. I love flying so why not be as comfortable as possible while doing it?

17. I have always had this plan of what I would do if I won the lottery. If I had the option of yearly installments or cash out the lump sum I would take the one time payout. My reason behind the lump sum is that I would be too paranoid that the cheques would stop coming. Even if cashing out meant the total was substantially less I would have the mental security in knowing I had received it and would then begin to plan my future. If the day ever came that I won BIG I would go on 2 separate vacations. Family trip and friends trip!! For some reason I have put a lot of thought into this. I would then put more than a third into a savings account that I did not have access to for around 5 years.

18. A craft room with ample storage space that is stocked full of supplies. Anybody who crafts knows it is not a cheap hobby. It has taken me years to collect my supplies and I am nowhere near having the amount I desire. I would also like my own photo printer! Not a portable single one but a heavy duty machine! I love developing photos and giving them to people in my snail mail.

19. Learn more about different religions. I have passionately read about Buddhism but I would really like to dedicate more time to understanding the history and philosophies. I do not want to limit myself to just one and am very interested in Christianity, Hinduism and beyond. Learning more about faith and what it means to other seems inspiring.

20. I would like a Pinterest budget (merci ana!!). I would be more inclined to actually create things instead of just pinning everything to my boards and thinking that ‘someday I will make this’!

21. Un-chipable nail polish. The newest thing is getting your nails chillaxed. I would like to be able to buy it and not have to pay some technician the application fees. I would much prefer applying a type of nailpolish that didn’t need base and top coat and loads of nail polish remover when the nails start chipping a few days later. It is a lot of work to MAINTAIN chip free nails. I wouldn’t invest so much energy into it but it helps deter me from biting my nails.

22. This is a silly dream but I wish that Private Practice wasn’t ending! I love Charlotte and Cooper as a couple. If only the show could go on or they could have their own spin off. Kadee Strickland and Paul Adelstein have dynamite chemistry and feed off each other in their roles!

23. I don’t like how soap operas are slowly becoming extinct. Besides how entertaining they are it is going to leave so many people out of work. Not just the actors, writers, directors and crew will be unemployed; all the staff who work on the shows and magazine publications. Soaps have been on air for over seventy years and slowly fading away.

25. Another silly fantasy would be to have unlimited battery life on electronics I use regularly. It is super frustrating to have to charge my laptop, camera and phone regularly so they do not die “suddenly” on me. Not a really GOOD idea but I am running out of ideas to write about…

26. One of my favourite books is Pay It Forward. (The movie didn’t do the book justice.)It made me want the world to be a better place! I wanted to be that person who did favours for others but didn’t want anything back in world. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.

I kept my promise to everyone reading! I blogged for a week! Thank you so much to Ana, Bizzle and Cous Cous for their continued support over this past week. We realized just how big the number 26 was, and maybe I was too ambitious for wanting to include that many in each blog. That is behind us now because I am done 🙂

Sorry about the repetition for some of the answers.They say if you write your dreams and goals down they are more likely to come true. Here’s hoping!

Thank you thank you thank you
xox Amanda Sumalee

26 of My Favourite Things

Posted by Suma

Only ONE day left until I am 1 year closer to THIRTY!! It was hurting my brain to think of 26 things that were my “favourite” that I enlisted the help of my dear friend Ana! She was a lifesaver 🙂

1. Pink & purple used to be my favourite colours. Now turquoise, silver and (still) purple are my favourites.

2. Naps!! & mornings where I don’t need to set my alarm and letting my body sleep until it wakes up

3. An odd observation I began to make a few years back – Red seems to be my favourite food colour to eat. Examples:
gummy candies, popsicles, lollipops, lifesavers, skittles, jujubes, jellybeans

4. Making someone laugh OR laughing until I am crying or gasping for air

5. The feeling of my stomach flipping when I am upside down on a rollercoaster

6. Meal: Sweet and Sour Ribs (parent’s recipe) rice and corn
>>pasta with alfredo sauce as a close second
>>>o’henry bars as my favourite chocolate!

7. Roadtrips! My latest one to Tofino with Ana, Socks and Emzie was AMAZING and it made me realize I need to LIVE more

8. Receiving snail mail! Absolutely love it

9. Getting massages. As well, I rarely get my haircut but when I do -my favourite part is when they are washing your hair!

10. When I feel like a workout dvd Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels get results! They really know how to make a girl sweat!

11. Christmas used to be my favourite day, Birthdays have always made me feel awkward and anxious and Thanksgiving (my favourite day) makes me feel happy and loved

12. The smell of fresh/homemade food, babies and gasoline.
I also love burning incense and candles

13. Monkeys used to be my favourite animal but elephants (especially the babies) make my heart melt. And for many years I have tried to wear something “elephant” every day as my own token of good luck.

14. I used to be embarrassed to tell people Celine Dion was my favourite musician

15. Indoor rock climbing, skiing, tubing are sports of choice. My favourite one to watch is beach volleyball

16. I have a few drink choices: chocolate milk, pina coladas, egg nog, tequila or vodka cranberry

17. Comedies

18. Garage sales! Love bargains and antiques….and I am tight with my money so they make me realllly happy!

19. Being with friends (especially in sweats or pj gatherings)

20. Scattegories and boggle. I can not get ENOUGH of word games!

21. Beaches

22. Steeped tea double double (splenda and soymilk!)

23. Watching at TV show with somebody else OR texting them. I love sharing in the giggling and screaming during an episode! It is amazing how much more entertaining an episode is when shared with a friend. (Halfway across the world Ana & I still try to do it for Greys and Private Practice xox)

24. Collaging! When I do it I like to use a huge assortment of photographs, magazines, quotes and stickers (Ana worded it beautifully for me, “bringing artistic elements to everything”.) I believe I have a creative eye and am so often inspired to be crafty.

25. Watching dancing competition shows. Derek Hough and Julianne Hough are my favourite dancers/choreographers. I have always wanted to learn how to dance and am in such awe how people learn to move to the music.

26. Freshly cleaned teeth…a bit of an odd choice but I really like leaving the dentist’s office after they have cleaned and flossed my teeth

I know these lists are starting to get really repetitive. I will try to come up with more original answers for tomorrow. It is highly unlikely I will be blogging daily so I hope you liked the frequent updates this week! have some vacation time booked in December and January so there will be more day trips in the future! Hopefully they will allow for more “travel related” posts and pictures.

I feel exhausted tonight. Thank you so much for reading these. Feel free to send blog ideas my way!

xo Amanda

26 Things On My Bucket List

Posted by Suma

This list is in no particular order. It took me a LOOONG time to fill up all 26 slots. I guess the ONLY good thing about my birthday being on Saturday is that I can stop blogging these lists! I really didn’t realize it would be take so much energy to think of 26 things to list a day. (It doesn’t help that I have to think about whether all my content is appropriate for the public! I think my answers could vary a little if it was just for my diary…)

1. Own a high quality camera

2. Anything related to flying or that feeling of pure adrenaline : skydiving, parasailing, hang-gliding, heli-skiing, base jumping, being shot out of a canon?, aerial swing. Anything that makes my stomach flip flop!!

3. Become a mother (I envision at least 2 children)

4. Find someone to share my life with

5. To live in Thailand and learn more about my heritage

6. Swim with sharks. I would like to swim with dolphins TOO but sharks is the priority

7. Be a dog owner

8. To run a marathon

9. Own a dark blue Wrangler Jeep (since Texas I can’t see myself without one. ONE DAY long down the road)

10. Have a job that I am truly passionate about

11. Be debt free (goodbye student loans!)

12. Discover more about birth parents/family members

13. Go to Fiji “the happiest place on earth”

14. Travel and see as much of the world as possible

15. Attend more live concert!

16. Go to a live filming of Chelsea Lately. (It used to be Ellen or Saturday Night Live but I have kind of moved on from that)..doesn’t really need to be on my bucket list but I am watching an episode now and she always makes me laugh.

17. When I was a kid I dreamed about living in a townhouse and having my best friend live next door to me….I think my updated dream is to live in a great place near friends. If it happens to be a sweet townhouse I am all for it! Hopefully I will be a homeowner and not a renter for the rest of my life.

18. Get more serious with my RRSP…it’s never too early to start saving for retirement!!

19. To learn Thai. I would like to feel comfortable conversing with other Thais.

20. Create a scrapbook of my life (a couple of pages of each year of my life). I was inspired after seeing my friend’s scrapbook for her daughter. She had 1-2 pages for each birthday. It was the most amazing work of art ever!!!

21. Get my ear bumps removed. Since I was a kid I wanted to get my ears pierced so I could wear dangly earrings…clip on earrings hurt!!

22. Volunteer my time more. I always feel so great before-during and after!

23. Laser eye surgery! Oh ya contacts be gone.

24. Learn sign language…I learned about Helen Keller and Louis Braille in school and am still inspired by their perseverance.

25. Take a bigger interest in learning how to cook and bake. I need to branch out from just the basics.

26. STAY connected with FAMILY and FRIENDS. It takes effort and energy but it will continue to be important to me.

Only 2 more days of blogging to go! I hope I keep my promise and blog everyday until my 27 birthday! Thanks for reading these. Bizzle I have already begun our list 🙂

Always Thankful – Keep Smiling,
xox Amanda

brown eyed girl

See ya later Canada – I'm off to see more of this big world!!

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Season’s Greetings

Christmas Eve in New Zealand

Tragedy and Rebirth

Weekend of December 8th – 9th

Tornado hits West Auckland

Thanks for all the BIRTHDAY Wishes

Goodbye 26, Hello Rest Of My Life…

26 of My Favourite Things

26 Things On My Bucket List

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