Kathmandu

Mom has been after me all week to post some pictures from my trip to Kathmandu last weekend, and thanks to my decision to stay in the house today after the latest bombing in Delhi (we're all okay) today is a great time to catch up.


The trip was amazing! I fell in love with Kathmandu and cannot wait to go back, a weekend just wasn't enough time. Like Delhi, the city is full of color, sound and smells, but it has a much more relaxed vibe.


I found a great hotel, The Courtyard, and within a half a day I felt like I was staying with friends or family. The hotel is in the center of the tourist area, but thanks to a long driveway and a beautiful courtyard, you feel miles away from the hustle. The owners are a couple from Seattle, so we had some great conversations about the city we love. They gave great advice on where to find the best shopping and have a way of bringing their guest all together each evening for great conversation.


Each evening I found myself out to dinner with a different group of people staying at the hotel - one night we were out for a Nepali food and I looked around the table and realized we had a Canadian, 2 Australians, a Swede, an Irishman, a Nepali, 2 Americans and a Frenchman, our own mini-UN. The food was amazing and the company was perfect.


I went on the trip expecting to spend tons of time on my own, meditating and setting goals for the next five years. Instead I spent it surrounded by people and had a great time. It was a real lesson for me - sometimes I need to let go of control and just let things happen.


We didn't get to see any of the cultural sites on this trip - the local's were rioting around the cultural sites over some decisions made by the new government, so we decided to play it safe and stick to other areas of town - the shopping district which means I brought home some great finds and got to see these adorable little boys who found their own fun on the walk home from school.


With the city less than 90 minutes away from Delhi by air, I'm planning to return frequently. It was the perfect place for me to let go of the stress and worry of work and just relax and be. Donavon Frankenreiter's "Let It Go" was my theme song for the weekend:

Do you ever wake up and wonder how your world could change
'Cause feels so strange
Yeah you feel so strange
Do you ever feel like everything you're doing never gets done
Like you're on the run

Don't it feel so good to let it go
Forget about everything you know

Do you ever feel like all you do is try and try
But you never get by
I said you never get by
Do ever feel like what you're doing ain't what you want
It's just what you've been taught

It's gonna feel so good to let it go
Forget about everything you know
Grab a friend let's come togheter
Times like these should last forever

Laugh at me
And I'll laugh too
Cry At Me
And I'll cry with you
Just to help you through

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Milestones

This is my 100th post! When I started this blog back in February I didn’t tell anyone about if for a while because I didn’t know if I would stick with it, so I’m feeling a sense of accomplishment to have made it this far. I had no idea how much I would enjoy having a creative outlet and a place to share my daily journey.

Today is also my 35th birthday, an event I’ve been dreading. Now that it is here, it isn’t as bad as I’d thought, but that’s probably because of where I am - Kathmandu, Nepal.

A little over a month ago I was filling in a questionnaire and one of the questions asked me to think back to a peak time in my life. I really had to stretch to come up with an answers, many of the simple answers – getting married, having kids, are things I haven’t experienced yet, so I had to dig deep to realize one of the greatest weeks of my life was the week I turned 30 – another birthday I had been dreading.

I spent the a few days in Las Vegas with some girlfriends, and since what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas I won’t share any of the details here, it is sufficient to know that we had a great time and it was the perfect way to say goodbye to my twenties.

Once I got back to Seattle I got in the car and drove down the Washington/Oregon coasts to Cannon Beach - where part of “The Goonies” was filmed for those of you who are old enough to remember the classic film. It was my very first solo vacation and it was perfect. I spent time sitting on the beach with a book, strolling through the shops, going for long rides through the national forests and meditating about my life and where I wanted it to go in the future, a perfect way to say hello to my thirties.

After revisiting this experience I decided I wanted to do something similar to commemorate my birthday this year. I got out a map and decided that Kathmandu sounded exotic, relaxing and audacious enough to take the place of both Vegas and Cannon Beach. I booked my flight, tracked down a hotel and for the first time started looking forward to my birthday.

I plan to spend the weekend exploring the city, seeing mountains for the first time in months and meditating on my life today and what I want to do with the next five years.

Looking back on my 30th birthday there was no way I could imagine then I’d be spending my 35th birthday in Nepal, I can only hope the next 5 years will be as full of surprises as the last 5.

Instead of ending this post with a song, I’m going ask you to give me a song. Put your song in the comments – it could be your favorite song, a new one you just can’t get out of your head, one that reminds you of me or a memory we share, a song or artist I’ve posted about you love or one that defines the kind of day you’ve had. All you lurkers who’ve been reading but never commenting, now is the time to do so, how can you refuse – it’s my birthday. I can’t wait to see the birthday playlist you’ll create for me. Pin It

Fear

After Saturday's bombing, I spent Sunday in the house - I think I just wanted to be in a place where I felt safe. But as I read the news from around the world I realized just what a crazy, tragic weekend it was.

The devestation caused by Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana, the train crash in LA, the plane crash in Russia, the mudslide in China, the anniversary of Sept 11 and the bombing in Delhi. Not to mention the sad news from wall street. What a terrible weekend.

I got up today determined to treat it just like any other Monday (which means I wasn't particularly excited to go to work, but I did it anyway.) When lunch time came, I decided I wouldn't order in, but would go out, in my small way I was letting the terrorist know they weren't going to control my life. I'm sure it will take a while before I feel like visiting some of the markets here in Delhi, but I'm going to carefully resume my life, because really, what else can we do.

At times like this, I can't help but be thankful for the role faith plays in my life. I'm so grateful that I could kneel down and ask for comfort for myself and for those around the world who were impacted. I'm grateful to know that I am a child of God who hears and answers my prayers.

I've had this moody and appropriate song in my head since Saturday night:

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Ok in Delhi

If you read my blog you know I'm in Delhi. If you watch the news you know there were a series of bomb blasts here today.

I was home when it happened and am safe as are all of my team mates.

We are okay, but would welcome prayers for those impacted by the blasts. Pin It

Famous

M came into the apartment this morning laughing over something in the Times of India (this isn't unusual, the overly dramatic paper regularly makes us laugh.) Today he found a story about Utah and he couldn't wait to share the laugh with me.


Who knew I could pick up the local Delhi paper and ready a story from Garfield County? Wonder if Sheriff Perkins knows he's no longer just "Famous in a Small Town?" - his fame has spread to India.

I've always loved this song - mostly because I relate to it, anyone who grew up in a small town knows there is very little you can do that won't get talked about - and reported back to your parents. At times I miss knowing everyone I see when I go out to run errands on Saturday, but there are other times I'm grateful for the anonymity that comes from living in a city of 14 million.

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Stealth

I know I've told you about Tuk Tuk's before. The cute little yellow and green colored, three-wheeled vehicles we sometimes use in India. They are a cut above the rickshaws/pedi-cabs and step below taxis, best of all they are cheap and easy to find and you get the joy of negotiating a price

Many of them have bumper stickers on the back advertising something. I always assumed the Tuk Tuk drivers rented out the space on the back to make a little extra money - that's how it would be done back home. This morning I discovered the truth (or at least the truth in many cases.)

We were stopped at a light for a while and to the side of us there was a guy with a stack of bumper stickers. When the Tuk Tuk's would slow down or stop for the light, he'd run out and subtly apply the sticker to the back. In most cases, the drivers had no idea they'd been tagged. The true definition of Ambush Marketing.

I couldn't find today's song in a format I could embed, so you'll have to click here if you want to listen to Ryan Shupe's "Ambush." My personal shout out to a fellow Utahn and one of my sis's all time favorites. Pin It

Dealing

I learned a good lesson today. I came home from work exhausted and not particularly loving my job or life. After a good rant (thanks for listening Nic.) I was getting ready for bed. I realized that after tossing and turning last night, I needed to refocus my mind and get it away from work and into a happier mental place so I could get some sleep tonight. I instantly remembered something I saw on my way to work today.

Each morning we drive past a tent city set up on the side of the road. I watch the women cleaning up from breakfast and doing laundry and the children playing around the tents. The kids are always doing something different, whether it's building things with the firewood they've collected or playing on the dirt hill.
Today I happened to notice one of the women watering two potted plants in front of her tent. I thought that was amazing, it really doesn't matter what challenges life throws our way - what matters is how we chose to deal with them. She doesn't have a big house with lots of beautiful furniture that many of us (ok, I) feel are requirements for a happy life, instead she has a home made of a tarp and some "found" bricks, but she's doing all that she can to make it a beautiful, pleasant place. A lesson for me to sleep on.

I need to end this blog with a song that will give me another boost towards optimism, so from one of my favorite discoveries of the summer, Lady Antebellum's "One Day You Will."

You feel like you're falling backwards
Like you're slippin' through the cracks
Like no one would even notice
If you left this town and never came back
You walk outside and all you see is rain
You look inside and all you feel is pain
And you can't see it now

But down the road the sun is shining
In every cloud there's a silver lining
Just keep holding on (just keep holding on)
And every heartache makes you stronger
But it won't be much longer
You'll find love, you'll find peace
And the you you're meant to be
I know right now that's not the way you feel
But one day you will

You wake up every morning and ask yourself
What am I doing here anyway
With the weight of all those disappointments
Whispering in your ear
You're just barely hanging by a thread
You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath
And you don't know it yet

Find the strength to rise above
You will
Find just what you're made of, you're made of

One day you will
Oh one day you will



Sorry for the slightly cheesy video - it was the only decent version of the song I could find.

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