2014 Resolutions - How did I do?

My 2014 New Year's Resolutions were simple and easy.  Let's see how I did.

1.  Better than expected.  It helps when I have a reason to practice, otherwise I don't bother.  If I'm hired for a gig then I definitely practice!  So far I've had a couple of opportunities to play this year, and it has been fun!

From my Instagram

2.  FAIL.  Who was I kidding?  This was a long-shot anyway...
No pictures because it didn't happen.
However, if you're looking for some quick routines to do at home, I suggest blogilates.com and http://www.hulu.com/yoga-with-a-view.  Maybe 2015 will be the year I finally exercise?!


3.  Somewhat successful.  I'm not sure about the "excited to wake up on a Monday morning" part of it, but Peter and I both found jobs that we like and that utilize our professional degrees and experience.

My coworker and I after our 5th and 6th grade Christmas concert

How did you do on your 2014 resolutions?

Come back soon to find out what my 2015 resolutions are!

XOXO,

Julie

Fresh Start

Everyone has grand ambitions for the New Year.  I will post my 2015 goals later this week, but for now I wanted to share a few things I am doing to bring in the new year with a fresh start.  These are simple things that make me feel 100 times better.

Clean the house
Just like I don't like returning from vacation to a dirty house, I don't like starting a new year with a dirty house.  It's time to dust and vacuum, sort and purge.  I also like to make sure I get all my laundry done and have clean bedsheets!

Clean my makeup brushes
Another task that often gets overlooked during the festive season is cleaning your makeup brushes!  Too many parties, too many outings, too many late nights... and the makeup keeps piling on.  Start the new year with clean makeup brushes and you will feel much better about life!

Drink some water
How many sweets, drinks, and very large meals have we consumed over the holidays?  Even though New Year's Eve is another excuse to party, make sure you drink lots of water!  For every glass of non-water that I drink, I try to balance it out with a glass of water.

Rest up
Sleep is the best.

Pamper
Use all the products you got for Christmas - bath soak, body lotion, face mask, etc.  Shave your legs.  Even if you're wearing pants every single day, you will feel better if you shave your legs!

What do you do to make the new year fresh?

XOXO,

Julie

Tree scenes

I haven't posted much recently because, to be honest, we sold our nice camera and I don't feel like my iPhone photos are good enough to share.  Maybe I need to take a course in "how to take better iPhone photos."  I'm sure there's something like that out there in the great, wide internet!  Anyway, we had a nice visit with my family for Christmas, and I'll post more on that later this week.

My mom has always had a large collection on nativities. She puts them all over the house. I think nativities are my favorite Christmas decoration. I always used to love to play with them, and I am still very particular about how they need to be arranged. OCD problems? Maybe...

This time I noticed that, in addition to being sprinkled around the house, my mom also had nativities on the tree! 

I'm sure each one has a particular story behind them, where they were made, who made them, etc, but I don't know all the details. I just had a fun time searching through the branches for any hidden nativities. Simple pleasures. Lol

What is your favorite Christmas decor? Are we even allowed to talk about Christmas anymore, now that we're approaching the new year? ;) 

Xoxo,

Julie

Parade of lights in San Diego

We flew in around 3:30pm, my parents picked us up, and we and were going to meet up with my aunt and uncle at 5pm. We had a bit of time to spare so we decided to head over to Seaport Village. It's one of my favorite places in San Diego. The line to park was sooo long so we asked the attendant what was going on. He said the Parade of Lights was happening that evening. None of us had ever seen it, so we promptly called my aunt and asked if she wouldn't mind meeting us there instead. She agreed! So we had an early dinner and then walked to the edge of the water to watch the boats go by. The weather was perrrrrrfect and the atmosphere was so fun! 

Upon arriving in San Diego I immediately felt relaxed and happy. It just has that effect on me. I felt home and happy. 

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas! 

XO,

Julie 

Drama

Today it really hit me that I'm a drama teacher. It's so weird because I've never really been involved in drama. But it's actually really fun!!!  We've been painting sets and collecting props and costumes. 

Here is what we're working on for next week's Christmas Madrigal. 

There's still so much more left to do. I hope we get it done in time!!!

One of those days

It's been one of those days weeks months years where I just can't seem to remember anything.

My memory used to be so sharp.  I memorized people's birthdays, phone numbers, class schedules, all without even trying.  I could hear something once and remember it forever.

Now it's just in one ear, out the other.  What happened?  Old age?

Take, for instance, tonight.  I had a great blog post idea... something I could sit down and type out in a few minutes... something that my readers would enjoy (I thought)...

But then I realized I needed to send an important text.  It took me a few minutes to write the text, proofread, edit, and send... and by then I had completely forgotten what I was going to blog about.

I tried and tried and tried to remember.

I retraced my steps.

I retraced my thoughts.

But, alas, it is forgotten.

So that is it.  The end of my story.

What I miss and don't miss about living in Brazil - Saudades para o Brasil

The other day I was thinking about how much I miss living in Brazil.  I was thinking about how I'm afraid I might forget Portuguese, how I miss certain people, and how I miss living near the beach.  But then I also started thinking about the crappy work situation we had, how we didn't have a lot of money, and how some people were not very nice to me.  So I decided to write about the things I miss and don't miss about living in Brazil.

(The pictures included in this post don't necessarily represent the text that they precede or follow.  I just wanted to include some of my favorite photos from our year of living in Brazil.  The year recap is posted here.)

I don't miss not having a car.

I do miss having everything I need within walking distance.

I don't miss the crappy living/work situation.

I do miss the 10 minute walk to the beach.

I don't miss not having a stable job.

I do miss my sweet violin and piano students.

I don't miss how expensive everything was.

I do miss the super nice malls and shopping centers.

I don't miss a few specific people.

I do miss a few other specific people who became good friends and surrogate family.

I don't miss having to take taxis everywhere.

I do miss the interesting conversations I had with the taxi drivers.

I don't miss the heat and humidity.

I do miss being able to wear sundresses and flip-flops every day of the year.



I don't miss being misunderstood because of my American accent.

I do miss being able to learn and speak Portuguese every day.

I don't miss being far away from family.

I do miss meeting interesting people from all over the world.

I don't miss the traffic and crazy drivers.

I do miss the unique and beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro.

What do you miss about living abroad?  Or if you are living abroad, what do you miss about home?

XO,

Julie