I'm back!

Hello friends, family, and anyone else who is out there and actually reading this little blog. After a very long hiatus, I am (finally) back! I had planned to post something before the end of the school year to tell about my summer travel plans and why I would be disappearing, but life simply got in the way. After a very hectic end of the school year, I spent the summer traveling literally traveling all over the world. "Amazing" doesn't even begin to cover it... Hands down, this was the best summer of my life. It was a whirlwind experience, and I cannot wait to blog about all of my adventures. So stay tuned!

Four countries on three continents in seven weeks. Sixteen flights in all. Countless memories. Life-changing experiences. New friends. Love. And at the end of it all, this girl was thrilled to be home in Myanmar.

I came back from summer feeling happy, rejuvenated, and excited for the new school year. I'm sure it's not surprising that the beginning of this school year has been a roller coaster of emotions, but for the purposes of positivity, I will highlight some of the fantastic new things happening in my life as I start Year Two in Yangon: First, I have a new apartment and am back to living alone. While my roommates last year were absolutely lovely people, it was really difficult for this 30-something girl to learn how to share space again after years of being on my own. I read something recently that gave me a new insight to so-called introverts. I've always been very outgoing and considered myself to be an extrovert, but I read that there is this type of introvert that needs time to be alone in order to decompress and process feelings. That is totally me. I love being with people - especially the people that I love! - but I find that I need time to myself in order to feel centered. I guess the roommate chapter of my life has officially ended... or maybe it's simply that I'm finally growing up? Whatever you want to call it, I am very happy about my new home.  So here is a little tour of Apt. 4A:

My new home-sweet-home... and boy do i love all of these pillows!

My TV that I have yet to actually watch.

I'm planning to print a few more pictures and frame them too. As I said before, this place still needs some finishing touches. But it's all mine :-)

It's not quite finished yet, but it's a work in progress... my Asia art wall! (My other art wall is still majorly "in progress," but I will update when it's all finished.)

My owls came with me :-)

I've created a sort of reading area on the other half of my huge bedroom. This little corner is not 100% organized yet, but I absolutely love it.

Yes, I have TWO bathrooms! Considering I shared a bathroom with an entire floor of people at one point in my life (#dormlife), this is pretty amazing.

I have had a lot of people ask about my future plans. The best answer I can give is this: I have absolutely no idea. I have to make a decision on whether or not to renew my contract for another year by mid-November. There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin, and I have settled on a different decision pretty much every single day. Haha. I have a lot of soul-searching to do in the coming months. To be honest, it can sometimes be quite overwhelming. I have decided to focus my energy on being present, which is something I have never really been good at doing. Basically I'm doing a lot of yoga, talking to the people I love, and trying to live in the moment. I have no idea where my life will take me in the next year, but that is something that I have grown to love about my life.

This weekend I will travel to my favorite beach (so far!) in this part of the world for a much-needed long weekend. After that, I will be in Yangon for the foreseeable future, until my coaching responsibilities take me back to Hong Kong for a volleyball tournament. In the meantime, I look forward to updating my blog and reliving my summer adventures (is that really being "present"? Hmm... I'll make an exception because writing this blog makes me so happy!). I have to finish telling about how much I loved Vietnam way back in April, and then I have many many MANY updates about the best summer of my life. 

We'll "talk" soon, friends. In the meantime, take a moment (40 seconds, to be exact) to enjoy this video. It's a short clip from my performance in Ghana. I am not a dancer, and my performance was far from perfect, but somehow this was the best performance experience of my entire life.The joy and the glow on my face shows a little glimpse of the light that I now carry inside, and... well, let's just say one more time that it was one fabulous summer <3