How to start up again?

You know it's been a while since the last blog when you get an email from your mom saying, your last blog was January 4th, is that true? :) I'm glad someone out there is taking an interest. :)

Reasons for the absence of new blogs:

1. I'm trying to do a really good job of my new year's mantra (the fat elephant on the tiny stool), so most nights that means shortening the to-do list and I'm taking time to relax.

2. Writing reports ate up a fair bit of my "free time" the first weeks of January.

3. I haven't been so good with taking pictures myself lately, which leaves me to wait for pictures from others, and when I've promised pictures on the blog, but can't deliver them, I have a hard time writing about anything else.

4. Once I've stopped writing for a while I feel like I need a really good story to get back in the game. No such stories have come up lately, but I figure I've gotta start writing again sometime, so here I go, sharing a list of 25 things about myself, as I have also published on Facebook after being "tagged".

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. This is my second attempt at writing this list. I stopped my first list because my first ten comments seemed more negative than I wanted them to be (though they probably really weren't). That's a pretty good indication of how hard I'm still working to keep a happy and optimistic outlook on life living in a place that can be pretty negative.

2. I love, love, love (am in love with?) Ben and Jerry's ice cream, still and forever. Sometimes I spend 5 Ls ($10) on a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream because it's the closest thing here in LV. I've had people smuggle it into the country for me.

3. I'm coming up on my three year anniversary of living in Latvia (February 13), and realize that any time you open a new door for yourself it just makes life more complicated. Interesting, too, but definitely complicated. Nothing is perfect, there are plusses and minuses to everything in life.

4. I have a phobia about belly buttons (something to the effect of that's the place where all your skin is attached and held together so belly buttons shouldn't be touched).

5. I'm finding that I am really enjoying teaching grade 2 after years of being a preschool teacher, though some days I wonder if it's not this particular group of kids that is making it so great. If anyone can do it, they will be the ones to save the world.

6. I try to exercise by doing Pilates at home at least five days a week, which means waking up at 5:30am. I have more energy and feel better on the days I stick with it!

7. I also try to start each day with a quote or idea, kind of like a positive mantra for the day.

8. I really like to read and wish my eyes didn't close up on me after just a couple of pages of reading at night.

9. If the "unique" personalities of my past and future pets is any indication on what kind of children I will raise, I'm a little worried about what might happen....

10. I own enough children's books that my dad once recommended I might take out insurance on them, much as people sometimes insure large CD collections.

11. I can't stand to watch Latvian TV (horrible, horrible voice overs), so I'm really glad that we can now download and watch shows through our computer. I'm hooked on Grey's Anatomy, 24, Lost, The Office and Gilmore Girls.

12. I'm officially addited to Scrabble and Pathwords on Facebook.

13. My spirituality and beliefs have changed immensely over the last few years, and while I can feel what it is that I now believe, it's somehow not something that I can easily articulate in a few words. I've come to appreciate the complexity and individuality of it all.

14. I can't really get my head around the fact that I'll be 30 in a few short weeks.

15. I appreciate the sun a lot more than I ever have in my life before.

16. I prefer having "campouts" and sleeping on the couch rather than in bed. I also usually put on my pajamas as soon as I get home at night. Being cozy is the best.

17. I really hope that KB and I wil be able to fulfill our big dreams of a house at Jaunvitagas some day. I don't like that the economy can make us so doubtful of our own dreams.

18. I feel most peaceful wandering the woods at Jaunvitagas. I love being able to pick wild berries in the summer and mushrooms in the fall and then cooking with them at home.

19. I wish it were easier to see my family more than once a year.

20. It is 113 steps up to our "treehouse" apartment, no lift.

21. I currently have several craft projects going: knitting a scarf, dying fabric and cross-stitching for a round robin quilt project with five other women in my family, and I've been trying to sew a skirt on my sewing maching since October.

22. I love having lots of plants in our apartment. There are currently 46 plants living in the treehouse.

23. I like to cook and bake and I especially like having people to cook and bake for.

24. I don't think I'll ever stop learning how to be a better teacher. I am now about to sit down with homework for an online course about teaching children with dyslexia.

25. If I could be doing anything right now, it would be to jump ahead some months and be relaxing on a beach here in LV with my husband. Warm sun, sand on bare feet, fresh breeze....