I heart my Korean family!

I love my Korean family. They are really wonderful. On Saturday Sung Hyun and I took mom out for dinner. Here we are enjoying our feast.

Getting ready for winter!

My M.I.L. trying on every touque possible. Now I know why Sung Hyun is such a big goof!

It's what's for lunch.....

Crisp red peppers, toasted almonds, sprinkle of flax seed, crumbled feta with oil and herbs on a bed of romaine lettuce

My lunch Saturday November 14th

In the same day....

......in the same area, I saw this:

A weekend away!

Jon and Eve are back!

Last weekend a group of us ventured out to 산청 to visit our friends Jon and Eve who just returned from a year trip back home. It was great to be in the country side and BREATH IN THE FRESH AIR!!!

They were excellent hosts and cooked us a morning feast both nights we stayed
After our bellies were full we rallied up and went for a hike
Group shot before
Doing some ajuma stretching

The hike was a little difficult for me because a) I don't like hiking b) there were too many leaves on the path

Stopping for the one of many rests

Yeah! I made it to the top ;)

Chilling at the top

An awesome group of friends I'm so lucky to have

Photo of the day

The view was not so great because we didn't make it to the top (we only went 2.0 km on the way up and 3.6 km on the way down)

These guys were serious!

The much deserved Malkoli (rice wine) at the bottom of the mountain.

After our exhausting hike we showered up and went to the 'good restaurant'.

SILK WORMS BEFORE:

All smiles!!

SILK WORMS DURING:

Crunchy, crunchy, crunchy!

CHEERS!!!!!!

A whole lot of food ($15 per person btw)

THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL TIME JON AND EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A walk around the block

About once or twice a week, over my lunch break, I strike out with my co-worker on a little adventure around the neighbourhood. We always walk a different way and we always discover something new. It's wonderful to get out, away from a school of screaming kids. I always feel so refreshed and alive.The beautiful fall colours

Opppsssss dead endIt's hard to believe that a few minutes from my school is a field with trees

This would be awesome to see on a clear day

Some more beautiful sights

And directly behind you, a little patch of cabbage

And of course a park in Korea isn't complete unless it's equipped with some weights
I hope the weather holds out and we are able to get a few more walks in before winter hits us!

A month at random

Some things as of late:

Sung Hyun ordered some clothes on-line for a wedding we attended only to realize he put on a few pounds
I drank a $12 glass of juice and had a good chat with an even better friend over lunchSung Hyun surprised me one Saturday night with a home cooked meal, roses and some soju slushies
I kept the roses by my computer and smelled them every time I sat down

I learned to make 시금치 (spinach side dish)

I have been cooking at home a lot more since I'm trying to save money.

I'm on track with my finances and have been logging what I spend. Life is good!!

This pretty much sums up my halloween. I had a blast!

SETTING GOALS!!!

I've been watching a lot of YOUTUBE videos on weight loss and saving money. And I've noticed a common theme: if you want to achieve something you have to set small realistic goals (duh, I knew that). These goals must be measurable and have a time limit. You can't just say 'I want to loose weight' or 'I want to save money'. Also another important step when setting your goals is to WRITE THEM DOWN and rehearse them. It reminds me of a book (Think and Grow Rich) my dad slipped into my bag when I first journeyed to Korea. In the front cover he wrote, 'FIND THE SECRET, LOVE DAD'. It wasn't until I read it the second time that I found the secret.

I've been thinking about why I'm not able to achieve some of my goals as of late and I came to the realization that it's because I'm not setting realistic tangible goals. And I'm not writing them down and I'm not giving myself a deadline.

So that brings me to the purpose of this post. What better way to measure my success then to document it right here on my personal blog. And in turn, perhaps inspire a few of you to do the same.

The first goal I want to achieve is FINANCIAL.

* I would like to save 15 000 Canadian dollars by the end of February (about 16.6 million Korean Won given the current exchange rate).

Although this may seem far out of reach, I think it is feasible given that:

a) I've already paid for my winter vacation ticket and set aside all my spending money for my trip.
b) At the end of my contract (which marks the end of my job) in February I will be getting double pay plus about $700 for my air fare reimbursement
c) I've already got a start of $2200 Canadian (2.5 million Korean Won) in my bank now
d) I don't pay rent
e) My biggest expense is food. For the most part I don't buy beauty products, cosmetics or clothes in Korea

So now that I've written it down, it's time to set this plan into action. I've even got a cute little budget book* to help me along the way.

This is going to be an interesting next few months. I will be sure to keep everyone updated and I challenge you to set your own goals and then leave a comment on this post so I can encourage you along the way!

* cute little budget book!

HAPPY SAVING EVERYONE!!!!! (or weight losing or exercising or whatever goal you so desire)

It's about time......

.....I got a haircut. I think my last one was 2 weeks before my wedding in May (but who's counting?!!!!)

This is how I wear my hair everyday because I'm too lazy to do anything else
This is me BEFORE my hair cut, rockin the robe

And this is the AFTER shot. Forget the hair, check out the hunk that is my hairdresser

I love it. AND it's still long enough to put in a pony tail....hehe

Fun in Hongdae

A day of shopping with Annie and then a meet up with Becca in the evening = a perfect Saturday night!

He's blushing isn't he?!!!
I love these soju slushies.........

These girls love (or are in love with) the mussels

This boy can eat and eat and eat

A fun crew

Then we topped the evening off with a few hours in a singing room

Annie and Becca got really into it......WE ALL DID! Thanks for the fun evening gals ;)

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

I'm blessed to have this special man in my life!

I'm not dead, or sick.....

My school will be closed for 3 days (Monday to Wednesday) because several students are infected with H1N1. YAH! for having a few days off but yucky for all those who have to deal with the side effects of this nasty sickness.

I've been quite busy lately (THE STORY OF MY LIFE I KNOW). And I've been doing a lot of fun things, meeting a lot of fun people and just doing toooooo much.

I can't wait to finally sleep in tomorrow.