a first draft of my personal mission statement

I am reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. As a result I have been challenged to write a personal mission statement. Here it is, my first version.

I want to draw close to God and hear his voice.
I want to be a best friend to Anthony, and a support to help him grow.
I want to help students experience and explore mathematics with the end of understanding and appreciating it. I want to empower other teachers to do the same with their students.
I want to bless others with friendship and be mutually encouraged and loved.
I want to bless others with whom I interact by listening to them and valuing them.
I will do what I say I am going to do.
I will look ahead to tomorrow's work today.
I will solicit feedback, be reflective, and seek to grow.
I will seek to maintain my health and fitness.
I will be grateful.

Christmas decorating

We always travel to my family at Christmas. It's a commitment we made when Anthony "stole" me from them to live in another country after getting married. As a result, the Christmas decorating in our own flat is usually minimal. We had an artificial tree when Matt and April lived with us (it was theirs). One year I thought we were settling down since we had bought our own place. So I bought a living Christmas tree in a pot, planning to keep it alive and reuse it for many years. We moved to Hong Kong just three months later. Sigh.

But we still have a bit of Christmas stuff and I put it out today. There are decorations on our dining room mirror and balcony window. Also, we have a Christmas runner on the table in our entryway.

Ant bought me a poinsettia yesterday! That is an act of love because he knows how much I love them.

jewellery storage

I have two empty boxes of Ferrero Rochers that I use as jewellery storage. One is for necklaces and the other for earrings. I have had them for at least five years and they were getting chipped on the edges where the top and bottom touch. So Anthony and I just had to eat our way through two new boxes so that I could replace them!

Voila, my new box of earrings.

more things that made me happy

Things that go well need to be celebrated, since negative things take up so much of our mind-time. In contrast, I want to be a thankful person. One of the best habits I ever had was to write each night a prayer to God thanking him for (at least) six things that day. This made a great impact on me, and helped me see my blessings much more clearly.

Here are a few things, then, for which I'm thankful. Ant made me this delicious coffee the other day. It's tasty and beautiful, and it represents how grateful I am to have Ant in my life. He's a great support for me and always so encouraging.

I'm happy that I reconnected with all my amazing friends this summer. And I am blessed to be finding new friends in Hong Kong.

I'm grateful for the time I spent at the beach today with friends from church. It was relaxing and it was good to chat with them.


I have been taking my camera pretty much everywhere lately and this has led to some nice pictures. I am helped a lot by my new camera handbag, which I looooove. I am very grateful that Ant let me buy it!


I'm grateful for the authentic, informed, and open preaching at church. Our pastor talks a lot about how he has wrestled with the passages in the weeks leading up to each message. He often comes to tears or sniffles in the sermon as well. I am amazed by his openness and insights. He always has something to say that the Holy Spirit uses to impact me. For this I am very grateful.

I am thankful for the technology that helps me keep in touch with all of you. (Although I probably don't need all three of these laptops to do it!)


What are you grateful for today?

happy times

A few good things that have happened lately:

Ant and I are both happy at work--though very busy. Every night this fortnight we fell into bed. But a public holiday today has helped us recharge a bit.

We had lunch with dear friends from church last week. It's great to feel as though we are making friends more and more. And we got to try these beetroot brownies while there--exciting times for me (not so much for Ant)!


We went on a sail boat trip with some friends from volleyball. The weather was perfect, the trip was very relaxing. We sailed out past the main harbour to a more remote area and went for a swim. We had a boat-picnic and chatted away with new people. Very enjoyable.


We have booked flights for October half term to the UK and for Christmas for Canada. So we are thrilled that we will get to see lots of family and friends soon!

What has made you happy recently?

yacht trip

Since I last posted, I have gone back to work and it's going well so far. But instead of writing about work, I want to show you some pictures from the other weekend when Ant and I were invited with our care group from church on a yacht trip. We met up with the yacht and our friends--one of them is an employee for the company that owns the yacht. He had arranged to borrow it for the day and invited the group along. There was a crew provided, and our care group members provided lunch and snacks as well.


We sailed west from Causeway Bay, going around Hong Kong island to the south side. We dropped anchor in Repulse Bay and jumped in a for a swim.


The motor boat came along to pull the tubes behind it. Both Ant and I went out for a tube ride, which was really enjoyable. Just the right amount of thrill for me: not too scary but definitely exciting! We had some lunch and relaxed and chatted. After lunch the boat took us further round the island on a tour, and then back past Lamma Island. We saw this little row boat nearby.


Ant and I went up to the top deck and looked out on Stanley, while others were sitting on the front of the boat enjoying the ride.


Just before docking, we went by the floating restaurants in Aberdeen. I've been told that although they are all a bit cheesy, the Top Deck is worth visiting, so I hope we go there soon. You catch a little boat at Aberdeen that ferries you across to the restaurants.


After we went home, I was a bit "land sick". But that didn't detract from how great a day it was. We both had a fantastic time. It was really relaxing and enjoyable.

questions? and Ant's birthday!

Hello, a few of you have been urging me to blog more often. And I want to. But I have been finding that every time I sit down at the computer my mind goes blank. Sometimes I look through my pictures and try to think of something that way. But it doesn't seem to be working. Please tell me, what do you want me to write about? :-S


Here's one important happening: Ant's birthday last week! We held a little party last night. Our new table got good use. We bought it last weekend. It seats six in its normal state (below).


And here it is pulled out to its full size: for ten people. It has an in-between size as well (for eight, duh). Ant invited round a handful or his colleagues and we also had a few friends from church over. We don't have too many friends yet, but Ant was still celebrated by all in attendance!


(When the party starts I always forget to take pictures. I am the one pouring drinks, passing napkins, ferrying food, and so on. But let me assure you that a good time was had by all.)

Ant's new suits and shirts

Hong Kong--the place for tailor-made suits. Ant and I each had a suit made when we were here last summer, and I've encouraged him to use some of his first salary payments to get a couple more. He has been wearing only the one suit for the last few months and he's due some new ones. Aren't they smart? He had two white shirts made as well.


The suit he has made last year is navy with light pinstripes (not shown here) and his two new ones are charcoal (at the top of the post) and medium gray (above and below). Now he has three suits and I'm going to suggest that he gets a new one every year (or so?) from here on.

at the mall with Anthony

Ant and I went over to Kowloon to do a few errands. We walked around all afternoon and happened to end up at the Haagen-Dazs store! Ant ordered this impressive item. I had some raspberry and mango sorbet scoops with almond slices. Then we were walking around the mall and I went into the ladies toilets, which included this fantastical mirror. It was all velvety and colourful.

welcome to Hong Kong!

I was very sad to leave London on Sunday evening. But so excited to get to Hong Kong and see Ant and start our new adventure.

My Upper Class experience was quite wonderful! The massages in the Virgin lounge were fully booked, but I still managed to greatly enjoy the hotel-like check-in, the private security channel, and the free food and newspapers. I ate a bit, then sat in a suspended egg chair in the lounge until called for my flight.


The service on the plane was great as well, but it is hard to ignore the fact that it is still an airplane. The food was really good. The Upper Class passengers sit in little cubbies; I liked being tucked into my seat with small walls on each side.


I had an ottoman in front of me (with a seat belt so someone could visit me if I was not alone!) and underneath there was a little spot to stash my shoes, complete with red mood lighting.


I got changed into my Virgin pyjamas and then the stewardess changed my seat into a bed and I had a great sleep for about six hours. So I arrived quite well rested and happy. Ant was glad to see me and helped me get all my luggage home to the little apartment we are staying in.

On Tuesday we did some walking around (and Ant got a haircut), then we went over to Discovery Bay to see Matt and Bree. Matt had cooked a really nice meal and we also met two of their friends. We played a board game and chatted. Bree seemed very happy that in the Philippines this weekend she got to buy some maternity clothes she can wear to work. Matt was happy that he got to go diving in the Philippines--I think it is his new hobby.

We had dinner at the Discovery Bay plaza, and then Ant and I took the ferry back to HK Island to our place. Before bed, I checked on the addresses of the places I needed to go today, writing them down so I could ask the receptionist to write them in Chinese for the taxi drivers.

Ant and I went to the HK ID centre together and Ant picked up his ID card and I applied for mine. Then we took the train to his work and I got to see the building--which was the most expensive building in HK when it was built in 1985.

Just outside the building is Statue Square--here is the statue: Thomas Jackson, a former chairman of HSBC! The square has some lovely fountains as well.


This building, the Bank of China, which Ant calls the Skeleton, is near his work. It's very tall and distinctive so he has been using it as a guide to finding his way around.


I made it round to the other two places I needed to go and I think I have satisfied all the red tape I can for now. I still need to pay some fees, but other than that I think I will be ready to start work on Monday--praise God! I was dreading all the hassle, but I think lots of planning ahead has made it go smoothly. There is still time for the agencies to question my teacher registration application, so I am waiting with baited breath--for 15 to 25 days.


I had lunch in and walked through Hong Kong park on my way back home. I really love this plant with green and purple leaves. I saw something like it in the Flower Market when we visited Hong Kong last August.


The park is surrounded by skyscrapers on every side--here are the funny looking Lippo buildings.


Everything in Hong Kong is up or down a big hill. Leaving the park I was faced with this set of stairs up to our road. All day I have been walking up and down. I am one of those over enthusiastic people who also walks up and down the stairs instead of the escalators at stations--and now my legs are so sore. I don't plan to stop being enthusiastic, so I think I will soon have very strong (and still sore) legs.

party with friends

Ant and I hosted a little house party this weekend. We had such a great time visiting with all our friends. We had an open house from 3 pm to midnight, and loads of people came over! Above are Mandy and Thom--Mandy is a colleague of mine.

Below are Pari and Geary, friends from church. Geary's wife Helen snapped a lot of these photos while I was busy pouring drinks and trying to find seats for everyone!


Ant and Craig provided so much help and support. They both were my sous chefs. Craig made some delicious cheese balls--I hope to write about them over on my food blog soon.



Classic Ant move: part way through the evening he asked casually, "So where are the muffins?" This set me mixing while he chopped chocolate and we made these crystallised ginger and dark chocolate muffins.


Ant's colleague and best friend at work, Viviana, came with her husband Victor.


My colleagues Rachel and Amira had a good natter, and I got to meet Amira's boyfriend Jess.


Fellow Canadians Joe (a physics teacher) and Laurie came by (they are our Settlers buddies).


Georgeta, my Romanian friend, came over and was enjoying meeting some new people.


At the end of the night, we left all the empty glasses (but saved the extra food!) and sorted them out in the morning. What a great time we had with all our friends. We had loads more people than we anticipated and we also learned that our little living room holds more friends than we thought.

trip to Liverpool

Ant and I spent last weekend visiting his family and friends in Liverpool. One of the highlights was seeing Laura, a friend who used to live in London and has now returned to her roots in the North West. Ant, always the joker, pulled this face without Laura even noticing.

We also enjoyed seeing Ant's sisters. His sister Rachele has had a baby since we last saw her. We met our niece, Kaitlin, who is a gorgeous and placid baby. It was fantastic to try to make her laugh.

anniversary

Ant and I are thrilled to be celebrating our five year anniversary! Wow--it's flown by we don't even feel as though it's been hard work.


Ant's my hero--making me laugh every day and supporting me in everything I do. I also really appreciate all the little things he does for me, such as:

heavy lifting
hooking up electronics
researching big purchases and our recent move
financial planning
feeding me tea

Here's to many more happy years together!

visiting with Sonya (and a new camera)

Ant and Mum and Dad bought me a new camera for Christmas. I have been playing with it and both Ant and I have been getting tutorials from Paul. I took it with us on a visit to Sonya's home (away from home) where we had a wonderful lobster dinner. (More about the food over on my food blog.)


Sonya and Kevin's children didn't remember us, but who can blame them since it's been a year--and that's a large proportion of their lives so far! Claire was keen to help me make cookies, which turned out rather well considering the mistakes I made.


Max handed Ant a book and then climbed on his lap. Ant began to read about Thomas the Tank Engine and both Max and Claire were enraptured.


Later in the evening Kai slept in my arms while we four adults chatted.