Christmas Card Traditions

I've been up for a while today...way too early for a Sunday morning, but I guess that I'm awake early for a reason. Perhaps just so I could get this post in ;-) Anyway, it's been a pretty good weekend so far. Yesterday we went into town for a few things and to mail off some Christmas cards.

In the photo above: These are the airmail decals that I have to place on the letters along with the regular stamp. I didn't send this many cards...lol. I just have a bulk of these that I got for free at the post office a long time ago. Enough to last a lifetime probably ;-)

I love sending Christmas cards to people, especially in this age of e-cards and other techie ways to keep in touch. Don't get me wrong. I send e-cards and do all of the social networking things to keep in touch too, but I think that it's cool to at least try it the traditional way once a year. International postage isn't cheap, but I try to plan ahead to have the money available. And it isn't an amount that will break the bank anyway :-) I look at the postage as another Christmas gift on my list and it is chopped up and spread to several people instead of just one. This is the only time of the year when I get to send cards to my friends and family back home, so I truly relish it. It's a win win in my book!

My mom used to love to send Christmas cards and she did right up until her last Christmas. I would usually be drafted in to write quite a few of them out for her and I got hand cramps, but I knew it was important to her. It was a tradition. She didn't send a tremendous amount of them out, but she had a nice little list of core people that she had known for decades and she made sure to send a card every year. Interestingly, when I was helping her to write out her Christmas cards leading up to her last Christmas, I thought to myself that the list was dwindling so much in the last few years. I thought about how I had known some of those people for most of my life and how quickly life goes, so indeed we must relish every day. And I remember thinking how it wasn’t all sad because we were so lucky to have known those good people. Life is a joy despite everything, because of the people that we have the pleasure to know on this journey :-)

I know that I probably remember that Christmas very vividly because it was indeed my last Christmas with my mom. Otherwise those thoughts that I had while writing those cards probably would have evaporated from my memory. It is six years ago now and I’ll never forget that December and I’ll never forget the lesson about connection that my mom taught me by example.

I know that sending Christmas cards isn't everyone's thing and I'm not trying to convert anybody ;-) I just thought that I'd share a little piece of my memories and if nothing else, you get to see my airmail decal stash. Lol.

So even though I’m 4,000 miles away, I value the connections that I have and I know that making the effort is all worth it because I wouldn’t miss knowing these good people for anything in the world! :-)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Making Expat Life More Interesting

At the end of March, I will have been living here in England for four years. Sometimes it feels like I just arrived, and sometimes I wonder where the time has gone :-) I’m asked by friends from time to time what it’s like to live this expat life and they imagine that it's like being on vacation everyday. I give them what I call a 50/50 answer. I tell them that half of the time, it’s an adventure to make a life elsewhere and I relish it. I still get wide-eyed about new things I discover. And the other half of the time I’ll say honestly that it can get lonely and I have the uneasy feeling of being an outsider. However, I enjoy this in-between space that I inhabit :-) I get to be a part of two places and that is a blessing. But I think that in many ways this is how life is. Life is multi-layered and that’s the fascination in it all. Some days it's good, some days it's not so good. Frankly, I’m just living my life like anyone anywhere would do. I’m just enjoying wherever this journey is taking me in my life and I’m taking lots of pictures to share it with you all! :-)

The good news is that I’m getting rather settled in these days. From time to time I come across groups that help foster a sense of community for expats like myself and I enjoy looking at what they have to offer. I’m always interested in ways to more thoroughly enjoy my experiences here :-) So when I was invited to join the InterNations community, I was really intrigued.

Here's a link to the London group "InterNations Expat Community London" . I enjoy sharing interesting info like this :)



First of all, I love that its tag line reads “the network for expatriates and global minds”. This to me is great because it is so inclusive and does make for a feeling of belonging. I’m very excited about the possibilities! :-)

Here’s a bit of information about InterNations for my fellow expats out there or anyone who is interested in learning more about this community. InterNations is a social network, started in September 2007, for expatriates and has a varied membership of over 140,000 in over 230 cities worldwide. The membership includes people from many walks of life. The site is a German startup and was awarded the Land der Ideen award, which means "land of ideas", by the German government and the Federation of German Industries for their business concept in creating a web-based solution to the challenges of the expat life.

What I really love about InterNations is the opportunity for members to meet in real life at monthly events. This is so crucial I think, because as I said before, even though it’s really wonderful to have this experience, it can be lonely at times. So having a chance to meet with others who are in the similar situation would be ideal. Expatriates and their families can connect with others and receive advice on the expat life in various countries. Also there’s additional information and resources in the InterNations city guides.

Membership is by invitation only, so I was very flattered to be asked to join the community. If anyone is interested in joining, you can request your personal invitation at the site. It just sounds like a really cool site to me. I look forward to exploring what the network has to offer. Very soon my answer to the expat question may change from 50/50 to 75/25! Wish me luck! :-)

Beautiful Blogger Award

Hello all :-) Sorry that I’ve been away from my blog for several days, but I’ve been working on school work again and spare time has been fleeting. But I’m glad to be back here again. I missed you all. I want to do a bit of catching up here in this post.

Back on the 9th of this month, Lindsay at Confessions of a Bookworm, gave me a wonderful award and I’m truly grateful :-) Thanks Lindsay! Please stop by and visit her. She’s a book lover like I am and I love her blog. She gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award. Isn't it pretty?



As part of the rules, I’m supposed to tell seven interesting things about myself. Well, I’ m here scratching my head….lol. Uh, well I don’t know how interesting my list will be, but here goes. I love a challenge.

#1: I can play the flute, although I haven’t played in well over ten years, but I’m hoping to pick it up again in the near future.

#2: I love books and I often daydream about having built-in bookshelves in our house when we build it and I daydream about how they will look. I browse magazines a lot looking for just the right style. I'm excited to be able to give my books their own home, especially a couple of books that I’ve had since I was a little girl.

#3: I love watching scary movies and mysteries. I don’t like blood and gore movies, but I love a good scary movie on a Friday or Saturday night.

#4: I have a stamp collection that I haven’t organized. It’s still in a pouch and longs for a scrapbook home of its own.

#5: I am toying with the idea of coloring my hair. My hair in naturally jet black and I have played around with streaking it lighter in the past. But I don’t think I’ll do that again. I’m thinking of giving it a warm brown hue to waken up my winter look. It’s something to do…LOL. Of course, I may wait until spring or not do it all…decisions…decisions.

#6: I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m running out of things to list here…LOL. So I’ll say it again. I’ve been an extra in both a movie and a commercial when I was in my early twenties. It was easy money and it was fun.

#7: I love cheese wayyyy too much ;-)

Now, I’d like to pass this along to anyone who wants to take it. I love the community of readers and commenters here, and that’s beautiful to me! So to all of you beautiful bloggers, please take this award with you. Have a great weekend!