2017 - The Best Year Ever

No, the title is not sarcasm. Seventeen is & has been my favorite number for as long as I can remember. Therefore, I am quite excited to live through it for the first & only time in my life!

But first, the beginning! How did I ring in the new year? In style of course!

 

 

 

We had a masquerade ball in Itaewon, the foreigner hub of Seoul. We counted down, danced, & then snuck off for McDonald's ^^ And to top it off, we were back home & in our warm beds before 2:30 like the old souls that we are!

Besides the festive beginning to 2017, I have done very little so far in it. Instead I've been focusing on slowing down a bit, enjoying my last few months in Korea & getting back to some projects I neglected as the end to 2016 became more and more crazy.

These changes (I am NOT calling them resolutions) include;

•  Writing more often & taking extra joy in it, not just viewing it as an 'I gotta' thing, but as a relaxing hobby - this includes both my fiction & of course, the revival of this blog ><
• Heading black to church! My 'I'll go once I get settled in Korea' turned from a few months to almost two years! But that's over with now & I'm back & thoroughly enjoying it. I've been attending an English speaking church in Itaewon that has service at 1pm - so no early mornings on my sleeping-in days ^^
• More travels - I've decided to use my money for more memories & less stuff. And the end of January marks the first step towards this: CHINA! I am hoping to go to Thailand & Taiwan as well before I leave here. Maybe even a couple more hops between them...
• More saving - does this seem at odds with what's above? It shouldn't. I am trying to spend less on things that aren't necessary & spend that money instead on travels &&& savings! (For this summer's travels perhaps?)
• And finally, slowing down in general. If you know me you know this is a hard one for me, but I'm trying to carve out time to do more relaxing & rejuvenating things...like writing, church, travel (see what I did there?) Part of this is having 'home time' as I always feel better when my house is clean & Grim is getting the attention he deserves. Plus, home time helps me save, so it's really a win-win. AND I GET TO COOOOOK! Which, if you know me, might sound like a joke but I've actually found this to be one of my most relaxing & beloved hobbies in the past year ^^

Anyways, some weekends I have home time, many week nights I do, but sometimes, just sometimes, I travel on the weekends, especially if it's a short jaunt that still gets me somewhere new, especially especially if it's a cheap trip! Such as the below (:

And SUPER especially if it involves a hot spring heated water park & mountain hike in the winter!

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately I do not had any photos of the waterpark we went to after, as water + phone = definitely NOT saving money. But trust me, it was wonderful! And I had my first experience of a fish bath!

It is common in certain touristy areas (like myeongdong) to find little spas where you put your feet in warm baths & cute little fish nibble away at the dead skin. Kind of the definition of a symbiotic relationship. But here, at this spa, they did you one better! There was a hot tub full of these little hungry fish & you got to lay in it! It was the funniest sensation, almost like little shocks or vibrations, though after a couple minutes you got used to it & stopped laughing & shrieking.

Other than the fish tank, this spa also had geeen tea baths, blueberry baths, water jets & lazy rivers, sauna rooms of every scent, water slides & wave pools. All with water from an ancient hot spring (they said). 

Besides this incredible 36 hour trip, I've actually done quite little in 2017 - just like I wanted ^^ but here are some small highlights...

My friend from Hawaii (who used to live in Korea) visited Seoul again & me & brought Munchkins with him!! - Thanks Ish - so I had a coworker-game night & relived my college days. (We upped the nerd level & listened to a LotR playlist as we played ><)

 

Another former-Seoul-resident who is now back in the states (Rockford, no less) made the first week of January amazingly awesome by sending me a package of edible goodies (mashed potatoes, gravy, jerky, jalapeño chips & dark chocolate - he knows me SO well, clearly!) & a Jade dragon from China! Best gifts ever - Thank you, Colin!

 

 

I've had the huge pleasure of watching Taylor preform many times in many different settings in Korea (both covers & great originals) & watching him grow as an artist has been awesome! These particular photos are from the Hidden Cellar in HBC/Noksapyeong area, which is one of my favorite spots, not just because of the great live music but also because they carry both Founders & New Holland Brewery bottles, which make me feel quite at home ^^

 

Laura & I binged the entire first season of ASoUE in about 3 days ^^ to which we regret nothing...

 

And you didn't think I could actually get through a post without talking about a cat cafe, did you? Well, Laura & I went to our favorite last weekend - in Insadong! Where I visited the lovely Cleo, my favorite hairless ^^

Besides the above photos, the rest of 2017 thus far has just been a lot of writing in cafes in Bonghwasan, planning for China & the summer back in America & the fall in Spain & lots of food! Such as the epic brunch at Craftworks Laura & I went to Sunday after church down in Pangyo (an hour from home, yes, just for food).

But that's all for today! I'll post again next week once I have something interesting to share you with!

All my love,