This Timely Adventure

Our girls took some books out of the library a couple of weeks back and a handful of them were the Berenstein Bears. The one was about Mama and Papa Bear going on a second honeymoon and Brother and Sister Bear staying with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls quickly adopted that as the name for our 10 year anniversary getaway: The Second Honeymoon. Shiley even told her teacher that we were away on honeymoon and apparently some explaining was required when people looked a little awkward and blank in response :/   We had always dreamed of something exotic for our 10th anniversary. That was before we knew we'd be living on the other side of the world. Even though we live a little closer to some of those great destinations now, getting away together for just two nights, and a one hour ferry ride away, was all the treat we needed! Having said that, it was daunting leaving our girls for the first time in Hong Kong, but nothing a super granny, lots of hand written notes ...

This time last year, Kev and I were in Hong Kong taking in all the new sights, smells and sounds of a foreign place that was possibly going to be our future home. I remember people regularly asking me,  ‘So, what do you think of Hong Kong?’  And I kept finding myself answering the same three words,  ‘It is wild!'.  I think that answer was confusing. People weren’t exactly sure what I meant. I am not sure I knew either, but it most accurately described how everything felt so wildly different.  After moving here, it didn’t take long for us to see another side of the picture and be able to appreciate so much that makes Hong Kong a very unique and vibrant city.  Here are seven of the things I love most about Hong Kong: 1/  I love the opportunity we have to live in a global city and gain a bigger perspective of life and the world we live in. My eyes have been opened and my perspective has been broadened in so many ways. The wa...

1/ The more time that passes here in Hong Kong, the more I have to take moments to STOP. And let reality sink in. This is our new home! 2/ And with that passing time, also slowly comes a greater clarity around the realities of the changes in our lives. Yes, the practical changes are daily evident if you're looking for them. As I reflect on those changes,  in many ways I can see how we actually adapt so easily, we fit in to a new way of doing things, we make some adjustments in order to make things work for us...and off we go. 3/ As we start to catch up with our daily life adjustments, I find there is actually another kind of change taking place. A change that is happening in tandem, but internal. 4/ I am sitting in this sweet space of starting to see something of a story unfolding before me. Presently, I am acutely aware of the shaking up that is taking place internally. Taking me out of my life that was familiar and in many ways, comfortable, is exposing me to a p...

I have spent a good amount of in-between time thinking about what to write next and very little time feeling motivated to do anything about it. I have realised that the longer I leave it, the more there is to say and the more difficult it is to get started. The other evening, kids were down to sleep, I was procrastinating dishing up dinner and Kev sat across from me at the table, sketching another amazing masterpiece (yes - you read right! I always knew he had amazing talent, thanks to our tense games of Pictionary over the years). I decided to jot down some thoughts and those thoughts rolled into my next post.  Murphy's law, just as I was about to finish, I lost it all. That sinking feeling when you open up drafts and its empty.  Nothing. I opened it up again this morning, hoping it would miraculously reappear, but still nothing. So, this post may lack some enthusiasm and life, because it is just not the same second time round. Sorry about that. Truth is, if I don't get...