myretroperspective

I think one of my favorite parts of a new year is looking back at the last one. This year has been no exception. I am amazed at just how much we accomplished, how many funny expat stores we've accumulated, how many trials we've gone through and grown stronger from, how much we've been blessed, and how much traveling we've been able to do. Here have been some of my favorite moments of 2012. Visited  Japan Found out I had kidney disease and then was miraculously cured the next week. Finished our first year of teaching Found the  best burgers  in Korea Went to the  Cherry Blossom Festival Joined the hipster movement and got  grandpa glasses Our little clown car celebrated it's one year birthday with us (mind you, we only expected it to last a few months) Went to the  Mud Festival Visited home and saw my niece for the first time Ate a  year old cake Went on a  Roadtrip  up the East coast of Korea. Saw North Korea Ran my first 5k Added  Zek...

I apologize for the slight silence around here this week. A massive but happily welcomed food coma ensued for the better half of three days (no complaints here) and I simply got lazy. And instead of doing anything productive, I spent massive amounts of time cuddling up with hubs watching movies and enjoying the fruits of my baking labor (again, no complaints here). To say we had a good Christmas would be a great understatement. We were able to spend the better part of the holiday with friends and of course massive amounts of delicious food. We have found such an amazing community here and it has made all the difference in the world when it comes to celebrating holidays overseas and away from family. It all started Christmas Eve when a huge  box from The Land of the Goods (aka my mom's house) arrived with 43 pounds of everything that expats dream about. Our little apartment is now fully stocked with all the ingredients needed for s'mores, fudge, and a giant cookie cake. Br...

Merry Christmas from Korea! We wish you and yours a very special holiday season with no shortage of love, laughter and joy. We'll be spending the day enjoying the company of friends and trying to recreate some family traditions from back home. One of my favorite traditions is waking up to my dad's homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Emphasis on dad's cinnamon rolls. I think I would enjoy them so much more if I could just roll out of bed, have the coffee already made and sit down to eat right away like I do when I'm home. The things we take for granted. But alas, I'll be in my kitchen (which is the size of my parent's kitchen pantry) slaving away and making everything from scratch. But if I can get them to taste even similar to the one's my dad makes, I'll be one happy girl. Here's a little flashback to hub's adorable kindi kids from last year. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Just a few photos from our tree excursion.  Us, our tree and our tiny little clown car. Merry Christmas Charlie Brown! I'm starting to actually like the Charlie Brown trees more. Guess it will save us money at the tree farms when we get back to the states and we don't mind taking the rejects.  Homemade ornaments. The first one you simply cut out several circles then fold them all in half. Glue them together and before completing the circle add a string in the middle to hang it from. The second you do the same process as the star garland . Cut a star shape, fold along each point then glue two of the stars together and string some twine though it.  We finally got a cute picture of Zeke with the lights! I love my little family. Merry Christmas Season everyone! Can't wait to see everyone's beautiful trees! 

Today marks two whole years since I said 'I do' and inevitably it changed my life forever. It’s the day I said ‘I do’ to a traveling lifestyle, syrup Saturdays, and a never-ending list of new things to try. To the marriage veterans, two years is nothing; they look back at when they’d been married for just two years and laugh at when they  thought  they had everything figured out. But as self-proclaimed life long honeymooners, every year is a landmark. It is another year that we proved the negative marriage stereotypes wrong. I am definitely not an expert on marriage nor do I ever want to come across as one. I know that each day is different, each day is a new and wonderful challenge, and each day has its lessons to be learned. Speaking of lessons, here are some that we've learned in our two years of marriage: -Starting a serious discussion late at night is never a good idea. Beds are for sleeping, couches are for talking. - Always make more food. I learned this the ...

this december has been surprisingly cold outside. when we first came to korea it was cold but we were told not to turn on the floor heat in the apartment because the cost of it was so high. (apartments here have heated floors instead of central heat) so we plugged in an electrical heater and thought nothing more of it. turns out, it was just as expensive if not more so. our bill was the highest in our building (something i'm slightly proud of) and a government official was sent to our house to find out why we were wasting so much electricity. i guess we know better for next year. we were debating whether or not to get a tree but the holiday season just doesn't seem the same without one. we went to homeplus (the local supermarket) to look for one. we saw a lot of decorations and decided to come back the next week to pick some out. by the time we got back to the store, around the 10th of december, everything was sold out. they had a sad looking fake tree and some bulb ornaments l...

it was our first thanksgiving in korea and thankfully there were no fires! i think that alone classifies it as a success. despite being away from our families during the holidays, we have so much to be thankful for this year. not only do i have an amazing mister to spend my time with (who cooks an amazing turkey by the way) but we have great friends in korea (who saved my butt by helping me with all the cooking!). we also have great jobs this year and jobs lined up for next that enable us to save money and travel a lot. AND we have signed the contract on our new apartment! we could not be more excited. after much searching and A LOT of help from our korean co-teachers (its a little difficult to negotiate with someone who speaks no english...go figure), we are happy to say that we will be moving in january to our new place. finding a place of our own in a foreign country definitely has its difficulties but we had a relatively easy time finding a place we love. with all the help we got a...

on may 5th korea nationally recognizes and celebrates children's day. school is let out, work is canceled, and parents agree to do whatever the kids want to do that day. on that day, our friends mike and alissa invited us to go hang out with the kids at the orphanage. we couldn't resist.   this is the place where over 50 kids from ages of 1 year to 20 years call home. most of the kids here are either handicapped, or given up because of death or financial circumstances. for reasons unknown, people are not allowed to adopt the kids.  the kids all prayed together before each meal. this little guy's dad actually stopped by during the celebrations to spend time with him. we were told that he comes by every few weeks to take him for the weekend then drops him back off again. the only reason we could think of as to why he was in the orphanage in the first place is because the mom is no longer present. traditionally, mothers in korea quit work and stay home when the children are bo...