New finds

     Hello all. After a seemingly never ending week, it is finally the weekend. Today I spent the day shopping with hubs and bought a really cute pair of work shoes. He bought half the mall. Then we returned home, I finished my weekly paper, this week on Schizophrenia and then headed to the gym. I have decided to set small, achievable goals for myself.
     This week: Go to the gym 7 days in a row and do 30 minutes on the StairMaster...3 days down, 4 to go. I hope to keep this up until Christmas. By then I should literally have an ass made out of granite.
     Now I am sitting on the couch half watching one of the most terrible movies ever made, Swinging with the Finkels...it may very well only have been released in China. It has Mandy Moore in it and she proves again that she cannot for the life of her act AT ALL. Plus she is trying to look bohemian and relaxed in this and ends up looking like a crazy nutbag. Anyway, with this dribble on in the background I can focus on reading other peoples blogs and updating anyone that might care on my life.
     So, my new finds this week are 2 adorable new blogs and an AWESOME website.
Blogs:

1. Living Our Love Song This woman is the most gifted photographer. I am so jealous. Add to that the fact that she looks beautiful even when she's 39 weeks pregnant! I love blogs where I get to read about people's pregnancy. My goal in life is to be able to set up some sort of store/center that helps/treats/pampers pregnant women.
2. The Pavs This blog makes me miss home. I miss the South so much and she is so southern! She just had a baby and was also a beautiful pregnant lady! She has a great sense of humor and her blog is hilarious.

Website:
Travel Hacking Cartel which is a website that pretty much tells you how to earn frequent flyer miles by doing what you already do. They guarantee that if you follow their advise you can earn a fly flight every quarter and 100,000 miles a year. So, their first piece of advise is to set a goal.


Goal 1: Here it is: Have my trip to Australia in January paid for as much as possible by points instead of my own money :)
Goal 2: Fly to Hong Kong for free next year
Goal 3: Vacation to French Polynesia sometime in the next 2 years


     I will keep you updated on my progress and any outcomes, positive or negative. If you check it out and like it too, make sure to use my link...because I get 500 points if you sign up :)
     Anyway, I hope everyone had a great week and has a great weekend! Oh, and in the spirit of all the cute baby pictures I've seen lately here are some pictures of the two cutest babies ever born...yet. Obviously, a mixture of these two specimen might give them a ride for their money.

I thought I had an even cuter one (how is it possible?) but like so many things...its not in Beijing

Hubs...ADORABLE!

Next stop

Hi again, after yet another long break...I know. Over the last few week, with the exception of this past weekend, my life has been not so interesting. Monday through Friday I wake up at 7:15am, leave to catch a cab by 7:45am and am back home by 7pm. Then I cook dinner, work on school and watch some TV with hubs...then I go to sleep and repeat. Then comes the weekend when we relax after the long week by hanging out at home, going out to a meal or two and meeting up with friends. Not super interesting.

Will at 798

This weekend on the other hand was great. We made two new sets of friends. One was a girl, Liis from Estonia and her bf Oliver, I met via the Beijing Expat Facebook page and the other was a woman, Linda, who I met on the subway. Friday night, Will and I went out with Liis and her bf and had a great time. We met up at 798, the local art district, for dinner and drinks and then headed back to our apartment for more drinks before we headed out to a club called Juicy. We had the best time (which had a lot to do with the open bar after the $7.5 cover charge for me and $15 cover charge for Will), chatting about all sorts of things including where we might move next. Singapore is what we have been thinking, and it is probably our best and most attainable next stop. Singapore is beautiful and clean and modern and a great place to be in Asia-Pac. But Liis suggested Luxembourg...yes that Luxembourg that has the world's highest GDP per capita of anywhere on earth. Of course the next day I had to Google the hell out of Luxembourg and it looks amazing. Small, clean and beautiful. All that being said, I'm sure we are not the only people who think so and thus I'm sure getting a job there being from outside of the EU is pretty difficult. Nice to dream about though. Have you been to Luxembourg? If so, what did you think?

Singapore

Luxembourg

Luxembourg again...it is so pretty

Then Sunday we went out to lunch with Linda, her daughter Malaya and her husband who just happens to be a 6 foot 11 basketball player who is currently playing for the CBA. They have lived all over the place from the US, where they are both from, to Belgium, Austria, Romania (where their daughter was born), to Tunisia and now Beijing. Two days and now two new great couples to hang out with. I have time to write this on a Monday because I had a high fever last night and decided to take it easy today by staying home. Happy Monday!

Listography: Top 5 things I did this summer

Linking up to another one of Kate's Listographies. This week's is about the Top 5 Things I did this Summer. So here it is!

1: Had my one year wedding anniversary 

2. Finally visited the Great Wall

3. Finally visited the Summer Palace 

4. Living room redo!

5. Started accompanying my husband to the gym several times a week. Weight lifting is hard as hell in the beginning, but I love the results after only a few months. Hopefully on my list of things I did this Fall, I can say the same thing for my new cardio goal: Right now its two hours a week, but I want to work up to 1.5-2 hours a day!

September

     I can't believe it is September already! I have been such a bad blogger this whole summer. There has been more work at the office and 2 weeks ago I started my Masters degree! I am now officially a student again. In two years I will have a MA in Marriage and Family Therapy! I am really excited and I have really enjoyed my class so far. Both of those things pretty much take it out of me. All of that plus tons of crazy friend drama. Soon I will write a proper post, I hope there are still people hanging in there and checking on my blog! Still really enjoying Footprints in the Sand and Tales of a Tai Tai and countless others! Picture update for now...

Great Wall

Summer Palace