I'm back

Hello to the few people...if any that have kept checking my blog in my several month absence. Whoever you are, I appreciate it. Anyway...

My parent's back porch

I am back in Beijing after my month back in the US. My "vacation" was wonderful and I got so much out of it. Fresh air every day, time around my friends and family and I got to sleep in my old bed. I went bike riding with my mom, shopping with my mom (and managed not to spend all of our money) and had long political talks with my dad.

My parents back yard

I "shot the Hooch" aka went tubing down the Chattahoochee River my some friends and despite the 2-3rd degree burns I had after that trip I had a great time. Turns out that 7 hours in the sun with pale skin after living in a place with very little UV exposure can be the recipe for a sunburn...who knew. In my defense I did put on sunscreen 2 times and the water was freezing thus I didn't feel the burn until I was dry. I am still burned a little and that was 6+ weeks ago...oops. I also drove up to Charlotte, NC to visit my best friend and had a wonderful time visiting her!

On the way back from my trip to see Mel (above, to the right) I got to see my baby niece for the first time! Isn't she adorable!

Despite my hectic schedule: working from 8pm to 4am and then sleeping until 11am or 1pm...depending on the work night that preceded, I still managed to have a very relaxing time. I did some more research on cutting down on the amount of products I use that contain toxic chemicals in them (awesome/terrifying website that tells you what's in your specific brand of lotion, shampoo, cosmetics etc: EWG Skindeep Database) and although I have been getting my hair colored to bring out the blonde which will no longer peak through in the summer (again...lack of sun) I decided I would be stopping that habit. Instead, I opted for an all natural product with Henna and although I was going for dark brown, my hair's tendency to veer towards red one out and I ended up with a really pretty Auburn color instead. I have cut down/ eliminated a lot of other things too...but that's another post altogether.

New hair color

I got back mid August and brought back with me a better attitude about living here. There are downsides indeed but I have a good job, hubs has a good job, we live in a nice apartment, we have money to do fun things AND pay of bills, we've made great friends and we've gotten to travel to fun places. Another thing I brought back with me...an ill-timed overwhelming desire to start a family. We have decided for a variety of reasons: aforementioned bills, the air here, accessibility to great healthcare and an the lack of an environment that embraces natural births and midwives that this is NOT the place to start a family, but nevertheless...it's all I think about. Only one year and change to go :)

Thanks for sticking with me. I promise not to take such a long break before my next post.