myretroperspective

Can I just say how much I adore blogs out there that scream positivity and encourage others to do the same? And can we agree that we can all use a little pick me up...oh I don't know, just about every day? One of my favorites is written by Kenzie of Chasing Happy . This girls screams positivity, and you can't help but feel instantly brighter when reading her sweet words of encouragement, looking at what she has created next or when she gives great, relatable advice on how to pretty much live your life better; or some of my favorites, how to blog better . That's why I'm so excited about the piece that she's written for you all today. I know you're going to love her as much as I do! -------------------- Hello there, beautiful people! I'm Kenzie from Chasing Happy , a blog about creativity, happiness, and real life. I'm so glad that Chelsea is having me on her blog today--I love meeting new people in blogland! Hi, hi, hi! The thing I love about Chelsea...

Early yesterday morning Emma and I headed out for my a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,MN, for my sometimes annual physical check up.  After several frustrating moments the night before trying to upload the latest maps on my GPS, I was successful and it took me on a slightly different route this time to Rochester.  I guess the upload was worth it as it scooted me around all the construction that is going on in the Twin Cities. By about 3:00 I arrived at my oldest son Dan’s home, and was surprised to find his wife, Crystal, home.  She has been touring the country most of the summer as a sort of expeditor for a famous singing group.  I wish I could remember their name, but it’s The ‘something’ Brothers.  I hate it when I draw a blank like that.  I’m not familiar with them, but that’s not surprising.  It just came to me that it might be the Jonas Brothers? Anyway, she is often gone from home pursuing her career.  She is quite a good cook, so...

I've been told by legitimate sources that the phrase in the title is still cool to say...so I'm sticking with it. Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, you've heard all about Passionfruit , the website that actually makes sponsoring fun . I started using Passionfruit back in November and I haven't looked back since. So what first drew me to start using it? Guys, I've tried the whole coding thing. It's not as fun as it looks. Now I understand that $9 can seem like a lot. Especially when you're first starting out and it feels like all you do is shell out money for this and that to just get your blog up and running. But if you sign up now, you can get a whole year for just $50. That's only $4 a month. That's just a cup of coffee guys! Or, to be fair, in the States, that's actually two cups of coffee (dang you Korean coffee prices). Regardless, I am more than willing to skimp on my coffee intake in order to let someone else handle my nig...

Our time in Chengdu was great. It's a city that is decidedly Chinese and yet with all the development that's happened there in the last 5-10 years, I believe it's finding its own place amongst the international cities of the world. Chengdu folks enjoying a morning cup of tea Some of the hard things about China (for Westerners) are actually more pronounced there when compared with our home in northeast China. There are more people and each of those people seem louder and more boisterous. They're known to have "spicy" tempers. The taxi drivers are CRAZY. They drive much faster than in Shenyang and have less adherence to the rules of the road. I honestly believe that the car horns in Chengdu are audibly louder than in the northeast. The pollution in Chengdu is consistently not good. In Shenyang we will have 2 days with off the chart terrible pollution followed by a couple days of mediocre and then it clears for a day or two. In Chengdu, the pollution level doesn...

SOLD OUT I can't tell you how excited I am for this! When I saw these elephant wallets for sale in a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I just knew that I had to bring some back. I bought some for gifts, one for myself and I gave one away last week. If anyone searched my bag at the airport they probably thought I was crazy for having so many wallets tucked away in my bag. But then ask me if I care and you'll get a big fat nope . Well here's the great news guys, if you entered the giveaway last week but didn't win, you can still get your hands on one! I have six of these bad boys to sell, in two different designs and you can buy them through my sponsor page . These wallets are well made from recycled concrete bags in Cambodia (how cool is that?!). So if you want your own souvenir from Cambodia, be sure to head over to my sponsor page and snag one up for yourself!

A couple of days ago, my blogger virtual friend Merikay wrote about Re-Learning to See .  It got me thinking.  I always try to see the little details around me during my days, but a reminder to stop, and look, and wonder, is always welcome.  So as I headed out to paint my 19 posts for the day, I kept that in mind.  I hope you enjoy what I found today. There was a pretty heavy fog around this morning as a result of the rain last night, and the abnormally high temps and humidity.  I just had to stop the truck and admire these delicate spider webs that were made so visible by the foggy dew.  Each of us creatures on earth make our own way through this world, but what beauty and symmetry I observed in the high branches.  Yep, it was one of those times to stop, and look, and wonder…  Of course, the guy in the Speedy Delivery van gave me on odd look, and probably didn’t appreciate me stopping in the middle of the road with my door open.  ...

This has to be my favorite videos that Jeremy has made (well besides our wedding video obviously). Swimming with whale sharks was one of the most unique and exciting travel experiences I have ever had and the fact that we have it all on video makes it even better (even if I do make weird expressions when I'm under water). If you want to read more about it, click here . Swimming with GIANTS from Lost.in.Travels on Vimeo . Oh and I've received several questions through comments and emails about what equipment we use for our underwater shots and what was used for our rappelling video . We use a Go Pro Hero 2 (which has now been replaced by the Go Pro Hero 3  on their website) which is a great addition to any travel equipment and we have loved using it on our trips. We mostly use it for video but it has great photo capabilities as well. We also have a few add ons to it which enhance our capabilities even further. We use a dive housing which allows us to take it under water to...

That's right, and you thought I was just making an awful attempt at being a full-time blogger, didn't you? No as it turns out I've been waiting for the perfect job at the consulate and for all of the wheels to turn, turn, turn... I am now the Human Resources Assistant at the US Consulate in Shenyang! It only took 8 months after arriving at post to start my job but that's considerably less time than it took R to join the foreign service so I can't say I'm at all surprised. If you haven't noticed, I like context and details so I'll share a little bit about the step by step process assuming that at some point some EFM (eligible family member- technical term for spouses/kids in the state department) will be keeping warm in a high rise apartment listlessly wondering if or when he/she might get a job and trolling the internet in search of hope! When we were assigned to Shenyang in October we started getting emails from the CLO (community liaison office) about ...

Yep, it was post painting time for me once again this morning after the staff meeting that lasted better than an hour.  The temps are up, the humidity is up, but I’m on a mission to paint all of these posts before I leave here next month.  When I can leave first thing in the morning, I generally get 20 various posts painted before I fizzle out.  By the time I got out of the meeting, gathered my supplies, and gassed up the refuge truck, it was 10:00 o’clock today.  That didn’t bode well for reaching a 20 post average. Of course I always bring my cameras along, and that meant I had a nice view of this young bald eagle today near the Chippewa picnic area.  A couple of weeks ago, this youngster’s constant screeching for food about drove me nuts for three hours as I painted all of the posts around the picnic area.  I was happy to see today that it has finally fledged off of the nearby nest, and wasn’t quite so vocal....

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week. via “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux -------------------- And now onto some of my lovely sponsors this month. Be sure to check them out and say hi! About  Lindsey :   A Broad's World frolics around my life abroad and on the go! From spending 2 years in Thailand, to preparing to move to Australia to all of the wonderful and easily accessible adventures in between. I write about anything else that comes up in my daily life which usually has to do with embarking in a new adventure, savoring the culture of where I am/have been, or providing "travel inspired" food fixes and recipes.  What she can't travel without:  My running shoes for fun and random adventures. Plus I always seem to think I'm going to workout on vacation and will say to myself "this trip is different!" but exercising never ends up happening. Bloglovin' Abo...