OK, so I have not blogged in over a week which I know is a long time. But, I came to sit down on the internet for awhile, upload pictures and blog, but I forgot my camera, and power is expected to turn off in 20 mins. so... i am keeping this one short, and will write again very soon.
things are going well with the shop. we are not open yet. :( I think it is going ot be another 2 days before we open for service, and probably another week before we have all our furniture, and are serving our full menu. but, we decided we just need to open our doors, and start advertising ourself ASAP, so we are going to open even though we arent done. I am anxious to get done, but its been raining, and we have encountered many problems, so we are just trying to take one day at a time, and continue to make progress towards being completely finished by the end of the month.
I have some really fun pictures to post of the building, and I will post those next blog.
Also, the baby is good. No matter what time I wake up, I am totally exhausted by 8pm. I just curl up in a ball and sleep. OHH, I also adopted a little baby kitty a couple days ago. She is adorable! Her name is Bonnie. I found her abandoned and locked inside a temple. She is only a couple months old, and already follows me around. I also give her to our to our friends (tourist who sit around all day enjoying their free time) to babysit her while SUnil and I are working. She is super spoiled because we feed her fresh fish everyday as well. Its much cheaper to just buy her a fried fish then the processed cat food we get here. Anyway, she is adorable, we love her and so do all our friends. I will post pic next blog as well.
Life is amazing right now! Its exciting and full of new adventures and challenges everyday! And even with all the obstacles we face everyday, things still seem to be going well for us. We cant really complain!!
OK, its time to go, and I know this blog is kinda boring cuz I dont have any pictures. I promise I will be back to post soon with lots more exciting things to see!! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, its something I miss the most!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Life in GOA
I arrived on Thursday morning, to find Arambol, Goa exactly how I left it. Sunil was waiting at the bus stop with a Jeep to receive my luggage and me. While driving through beautiful Goa all I could think of was the extremely long journey that I embarked on to come back to this beautiful place, and how blessed I am to be here.
We arrived in the early A.M., Sunil had some friends unload the truck, and we began to catch up on life over the past 4 months. I began to unpack my bags, not something I wanted to do at that moment, but something Sunil insisted I do so that he could see what was inside these extremely heavy bags of mine. We had fun going through every item. I showed him all the coffee equipment, the new baby gear, and the few presents I brought for him as well. Then, after unloading my bags we went out for a walk on the beach and met up with many of our friends from last season. Everyone seemed to know that I was coming, and told me that Sunil was anxiously awaiting my arrival. Everything seemed so unreal!
After lunch, we proceeded to meet up with our landlord, and discuss signing our lease. We then started drawing up plans of what we want our coffee shop to look like, and began making appointments with carpenters to get quotes for building our little hut.
Now, we are one day into construction, and things are moving along nicely. I am working with a friend of mine to design the menu, and Sunil and I are doing research about prices. If everything continues to go as planned, we will have the shop up and running by Nov. 15th, our Grand Opening!
These past couple of days have flown by. Sunil and I moved (of course after I unpacked all my bags), to a small hut behind where we are building the coffee shop. The landlord and his wife have been very helpful with instructing us how and where to find the best price for building materials, as well as getting the correct permits to run the business. Construction is scheduled to be finished on Monday, and then we have to start painting and decorating. That’s the part I’m excited about!
Also, Erez, my Israeli friend that I worked on the website business with last year is here already and working full power. He has done an enormous amount of work to make the website 150 times better, and we have already laid down our plan of action for work this season. He has already promised Sunil and I an ad for the coffee shop on the front page of the website, which should be very helpful in promoting our little place of business! We also have a lot of work in store for us to get people using the website and advertising, but honestly, the website has massive potential. If you all want to check it out, its www.lonely-goa.com. Its still under construction, and might load a little slow right now, but it gives you a sneak peak into what we are working on, and what Goa is like.
June is doing fine, except she isn’t making it very easy for me to sleep at night. The beds are much harder, everything is much louder (that’s what you get when you sleep in a hut), and I am still adjusting to the time change. I have woken up before 6 AM every morning since I arrived, however, I am going to sleep before 9pm, so it is going to take me some time to adjust. I am planning to make an appointment to see highly recommended doctor within the next couple of weeks, and I am looking for a Thai Chi instructor to start evening lessons as well.
Honestly, it feels amazing to be here. Of course I feel extremely overwhelmed by it all sometimes, but I think its because it all seems unreal. Sunil and I spend lots of time talking about June’s arrival, and making plans for the next year with her. Ohh, and we also decided on a name for our coffee shop. We are going to name it after June, Junu’s Coffee Bar & Bakery. Erez is working on a graphic for us, and I will post it when its done to get everyone’s opinion.
I miss everyone so dearly, and spend my wake less mornings thinking about my family and friends. I know you all would love it here so much! Life is so drastically different. I wish I did a better job at describing the beauty and serenity that you feel when you are here. But, you will all just have to experience it for yourselves someday. The door to my hut is always open for any and all visitors, so hurry and come!
We arrived in the early A.M., Sunil had some friends unload the truck, and we began to catch up on life over the past 4 months. I began to unpack my bags, not something I wanted to do at that moment, but something Sunil insisted I do so that he could see what was inside these extremely heavy bags of mine. We had fun going through every item. I showed him all the coffee equipment, the new baby gear, and the few presents I brought for him as well. Then, after unloading my bags we went out for a walk on the beach and met up with many of our friends from last season. Everyone seemed to know that I was coming, and told me that Sunil was anxiously awaiting my arrival. Everything seemed so unreal!
After lunch, we proceeded to meet up with our landlord, and discuss signing our lease. We then started drawing up plans of what we want our coffee shop to look like, and began making appointments with carpenters to get quotes for building our little hut.
Now, we are one day into construction, and things are moving along nicely. I am working with a friend of mine to design the menu, and Sunil and I are doing research about prices. If everything continues to go as planned, we will have the shop up and running by Nov. 15th, our Grand Opening!
These past couple of days have flown by. Sunil and I moved (of course after I unpacked all my bags), to a small hut behind where we are building the coffee shop. The landlord and his wife have been very helpful with instructing us how and where to find the best price for building materials, as well as getting the correct permits to run the business. Construction is scheduled to be finished on Monday, and then we have to start painting and decorating. That’s the part I’m excited about!
Also, Erez, my Israeli friend that I worked on the website business with last year is here already and working full power. He has done an enormous amount of work to make the website 150 times better, and we have already laid down our plan of action for work this season. He has already promised Sunil and I an ad for the coffee shop on the front page of the website, which should be very helpful in promoting our little place of business! We also have a lot of work in store for us to get people using the website and advertising, but honestly, the website has massive potential. If you all want to check it out, its www.lonely-goa.com. Its still under construction, and might load a little slow right now, but it gives you a sneak peak into what we are working on, and what Goa is like.
June is doing fine, except she isn’t making it very easy for me to sleep at night. The beds are much harder, everything is much louder (that’s what you get when you sleep in a hut), and I am still adjusting to the time change. I have woken up before 6 AM every morning since I arrived, however, I am going to sleep before 9pm, so it is going to take me some time to adjust. I am planning to make an appointment to see highly recommended doctor within the next couple of weeks, and I am looking for a Thai Chi instructor to start evening lessons as well.
Honestly, it feels amazing to be here. Of course I feel extremely overwhelmed by it all sometimes, but I think its because it all seems unreal. Sunil and I spend lots of time talking about June’s arrival, and making plans for the next year with her. Ohh, and we also decided on a name for our coffee shop. We are going to name it after June, Junu’s Coffee Bar & Bakery. Erez is working on a graphic for us, and I will post it when its done to get everyone’s opinion.
I miss everyone so dearly, and spend my wake less mornings thinking about my family and friends. I know you all would love it here so much! Life is so drastically different. I wish I did a better job at describing the beauty and serenity that you feel when you are here. But, you will all just have to experience it for yourselves someday. The door to my hut is always open for any and all visitors, so hurry and come!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
June's Baby Shower!!
Its a beautiful full moon outside on my last night here in California. I am taking a break from packing, which is coming along, but is making me depressed. My bags are too heavy, I have too much stuff, and while I pack all of this junk, I feel like I am actually having to pack up my life, and leave so much behind. The symbolism of packing is what kills me; deciding what to take and what not to take, trying to cram so much stuff into 3 little bags, and constantly weighing them as you pack to see if the airline will charge you a ridiculous fee for your extra weight... it all equals the painful goodbyes I had to say these past couple of weeks. I just dont have enough room in these begs to take the people I love and everything I am attached to. So, I am taking a break from packing to come blog and think of happier things. :D
On Saturday we had a fun filled day! My beautiful sisters, Melody, Jeanine and Lee threw me a baby shower!! It was so fun! We decorated onesies, played this fun memory game that involved matching baby things to candy bars, and we had delicious yummy cupcakes!! Here are some pictures of the fun for everyone who came as well as those who could not be here on Saturday. We missed you, and thanks for sending your love and wonderful gifts!
We had sooo much fun decorating Onesies! A family tradition we now have thanks to cousin Kim!
Melody made this wonderful game!
And Lee brought these delicious Cup Cakes!
And here is me with some of my wonderful gifts!
Thats me with the gorgeous baby blanket Maggie made for me!
Here is the baby carrier Lee got me for Sunil and I to carry baby June around in.
And me with the tiny little shoes that Melody got me to dress my little princess in!
This is the beautiful purple baby blanket that my cousin Kate is making me!
Thank you to everyone that came and gave me gifts, but an extra thank you to everyone that contributed to the June fund! It will help me buy all the other necessary things I need for June once I finally arrive in India. Plus, it was SUPER easy to pack your gifts!! She is going to be a one spoiled little baby thanks to the family that already has so much love for her. And, thank you to my friends who took time to come say hello and give June a gift. It was so special to me to see everyone before I leave!
OK, now while I was uploading the pictures to this blog, I was able to finish my packing!! Im done! It only took me 4 hours! I wish I hadnt already packed my camera so I could take a picture of my luggage to show everyone. It is going to be a huge accomplishment just getting this stuff to the final destination! But, as of 11:50pm on Sunday night, with this beautiful Full Moon shinning in the window, I am officially done packing!! Yay!! Hope you enjoyed the baby shower pics! I had a great time and so did June!
On Saturday we had a fun filled day! My beautiful sisters, Melody, Jeanine and Lee threw me a baby shower!! It was so fun! We decorated onesies, played this fun memory game that involved matching baby things to candy bars, and we had delicious yummy cupcakes!! Here are some pictures of the fun for everyone who came as well as those who could not be here on Saturday. We missed you, and thanks for sending your love and wonderful gifts!
We had sooo much fun decorating Onesies! A family tradition we now have thanks to cousin Kim!
Melody made this wonderful game!
And Lee brought these delicious Cup Cakes!
And here is me with some of my wonderful gifts!
Thats me with the gorgeous baby blanket Maggie made for me!
Here is the baby carrier Lee got me for Sunil and I to carry baby June around in.
And me with the tiny little shoes that Melody got me to dress my little princess in!
This is the beautiful purple baby blanket that my cousin Kate is making me!
Thank you to everyone that came and gave me gifts, but an extra thank you to everyone that contributed to the June fund! It will help me buy all the other necessary things I need for June once I finally arrive in India. Plus, it was SUPER easy to pack your gifts!! She is going to be a one spoiled little baby thanks to the family that already has so much love for her. And, thank you to my friends who took time to come say hello and give June a gift. It was so special to me to see everyone before I leave!
OK, now while I was uploading the pictures to this blog, I was able to finish my packing!! Im done! It only took me 4 hours! I wish I hadnt already packed my camera so I could take a picture of my luggage to show everyone. It is going to be a huge accomplishment just getting this stuff to the final destination! But, as of 11:50pm on Sunday night, with this beautiful Full Moon shinning in the window, I am officially done packing!! Yay!! Hope you enjoyed the baby shower pics! I had a great time and so did June!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)