Where to go for New Year's Eve?

We were debating a lot about what to do for New Year's Eve this year.
Some of our friends gave us several suggestions and we got invited to different places...but in the end...we decided to go to downtown Raleigh for First Night

Why? Because that is one of the last few things we need to do before we leave Raleigh.
My husband has been living in Raleigh for 20 years and has never been downtown Raleigh for New Year's Eve before. I went only one time ten years ago, so I really want to check it out again :)

I will post some pictures later!!!

Happy New Year to all my dearest friends and family!!! May God bring peace, happiness and health to your you and home.

These past few months....

Lately, we've had quite a few busy months....
Like I said previously we are trying to do things we haven't done all this time living in North Carolina. Also we are trying to go to places we've never been. Here are some of them:

We went to the Outer Banks for my Birthday!!!
We stayed in this beautiful Bed and Breakfast and
we had an amazing time!!!
We definitely want to go back ;)

My honey got to learn how to fly a
helicopter for his Birthday!!!
The instructor said he did a very good job!
That was quite an experience for him.
He loved it!!!!

I got to go for some tea with several of my Latina friends at
the Carolina Inn.
The place was beautiful and we had a great time!!!
Our friend Norma is the pastry chef there and she
gave us some extra goodies to try ;) Delish!!!!

I got to go to the Old English Tea Room in
Wake Forest with my mom.
We tried some hats on... what do you
think? should I get one like this?

We went to two fire pit parties this winter!!!
Also at one of them we got to sing Karaoke with
very good friends of ours!
We had a blast ;)

Also, we got to go to Disney World
with my husband's family. We rode all the rides!!! and loved every one of them. My sweet little
niece Lydia was brave enough to go to all the big and

fast and scary rides with us....

While in Florida, I stopped and visited my mom in
Jacksonville.
We had a wonderful mother and daughter time.
I also got to see and play with the beautiful kids
my mom takes care of.....

For the third year we went to Washington D.C. and saw the Gypsy Kings in concert!! Woo hoo!! We couldn't miss it this year ;)

Next is to try to see the people we want to say good bye to... before we depart!!!

Regrets of the Dying

The kind of job that I have occasionally gives me the opportunity to interact with sick or injured people. 
Today, I got the chance to spend some time with a lady with breast cancer. She had no hair. She is getting chemo and will be starting to get Radiation Therapy. Her spirit was always very uplifting and she said she hasn't gotten depressed about having cancer because she has her family to fight for.
The truth is, she doesn't know how much longer she has.
It is hard to see these kinds of things in the flesh, but at the same time, it makes me think how vulnerable we are in God's eyes. Our life depends on Him and not on us. Life is truly "short".

Just last night, without knowing that I was going to meet a dying person the next day,  I came across an article that talks about the "Regrets of the Dying."* It is about a lady that worked for many years in  palliative care. Her patients were those who had gone home to die. She was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:


1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.
This came from every male patient that she nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men she nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice.  They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

 * Article by Bronnie Ware

I think that if I was dying right now, number 1 would be my first regret too. That article made me think about what we want to do and why we want to do it. Thankfully my husband and I are in the same path and want the same things, so we are going to work hard and try to get them with God's  help TODAY because we don't know if we are going to be here tomorrow.

We are living in the PRESENT by trying to fulfill some of our dreams today.

Eat Pray Love...

So, I went to see Eat Pray Love at the movies with a very nice group of girlfriends. I've been in Raleigh for 11 years and I think I just now finally found more than a handful of amazing friends to hung around with and share many things.
I remember my sister-in-law once told me that it took her a while to find good friends around the area. So finding GOOD friends it is not easy.

Now that we are making plans to go abroad, the part that makes me sad is that I'm going to have to leave those beautiful friends behind, now that I just found them!!!  How is that possible???
I guess our friendship will not be over, but I won't be the same....
For now, I'll enjoy every single moment we get to spend time together.
As I said in the beginning, we went to see Eat Pray Love and we really liked it.
This is a story of a woman that travels throughout Italy, India and Indonesia for a year!
Ahh! There is a scene in the movie when Julia Roberts (Liz Gilbert) and Javier Bardem (Felipe) are reading in a beautiful open house in Bali. Of course I wanted that to be us!
There are beautiful scenes in Rome as well, oh! how we want to be there too!!!
I wonder where should we go first? Where do you think is a good first choice?

One more week

The more we think about doing this, the more we want to do it and do it fast!
I wish it was easier. We are planning to sell our house in Raleigh, and for that to happen we need to fix some things here and there. Also, we need to start selling some of the things that we don't need or want anymore, so for that my lovely husband asked me to make a list which is up to 25 items including my wedding dress... I know, but I'll never wear it again! So, we were thinking about selling the stuff on Craigslist or ebay, but it seams to me like we are going to have our own garage sale!
The plan is to minimize as we are thinking to rent an apartment, probably in the heart of South Carolina: "Charleston".
We absolutely love that city!, we got engaged and got married there. Also, Scott's parents, grandmother and uncle live there. We thought it would be nice to be closer to family and my mom lives in Jacksonville, Fl which is about 3 hours from Charleston.
Another very important thing about living in Charleston is that if we want to do from time to time the "Home Exchange" thing, we can! or it would be easier to find someone to go and stay in Charleston that it is to find someone to stay in Raleigh, let's be honest, there is not much to Raleigh as a city:(.
I love Raleigh, but it is not a place people want to come and spend 1 or 2 months, unfortunately!

The Beginning...

It's been a while since our first post, almost a year!!! Amazing how time flies.

As I mentioned before we are a couple that wants to travel and enjoy different cultures, food, places!
The transition is not easy... we have been thinking, researching and praying to see what do we do first? What do we do next?  How do we do it? So many things to think about.

So, within the next several months I will take you to our process of how we are getting things done, hoping we can help people to do the same and take the next step without hesitation because it can be done!