Happy Christmas~

Happy Happy Christmas Friends and Family!!

My first Christmas in a long time without a tree and Christmas morning presents. We ended up opening them last night instead which was still fun! and STILL A WONDERFUL TIME WITH MY FAMILY.

Yesterday we spent with a lot of family at my Aunt Nancy's house. Where there was a Christmas Tree. In fact she used a bunch of my ornaments!

Here is the fam. Eric and Wen runied this photo by standing on their tippy toes!! WHATEVER! My one satisfaction is that my super skinny brother looks chubby in this photo! :)
(he said it!)
We do a White Elephant Gift Exchange which is always fun. I tell them every year, unisex gifts! So funny, they just don't listen. There was a giant Hello Kitty stuffed animal in the mix this year! Cute but not unisex!!!Uncle Mike got the gift that was $80 in lotto scratchers!! We helped him scratch for about 1/2 hour! So funny! But only won $18!!

Here is my brother and my nephew Alexander. What hams!


And here I am with Grandma. One of the most rewarding things that came from moving to Taiwan to learn mandarin was coming home and her saying how happy she was that she could talk to me now!

Leaving Taiwan. Hard decisions....

Well, its been a heck of a visit. I am leaving tomorrow afternoon. I have had a lot of time to think about things on this trip and have a lot more to think about now that I have been here. Before I met Jean-Claude my plan was to move to Taiwan and live here for a while. If I did not have Scrapbook Royalty, this is what I would do now. There is a lot of opportunity for me here. I can open a studio and teach scrapbooking, or open a store, or ... well, let's just say skies the limit. and I have resources here and it is where I really would love to be. It's hard. Before I met Jean-Claude I was free, had no commitments and could leave the US without any regrets. Not the same freedom now... For those of you that dont know, I moved to taiwan shortly after i met Jean-Claude and because we became serious I moved back after only 7 months. So, I went home and planted roots and now I have Scrapbook Royalty and it is like my baby. I have worked so hard to grow it and commit my life to it and it has given me purpose. But can it support me? I am just not sure... So right now, I am trying to find a way for me to keep SBR and live. Never in my life have i had to support myself. This is a truly new path for me. But it is one that I insist on walking and I know I will be a better person for it. What does the future hold for the Traveling Princess... who knows. but I know I will be a Happy People no matter what!

Now go read this post by my new wonderful friend Suzi Blu. She is an amazing artist and if you scroll down you will see what amazing thing she painted for me for my bday!!

http://suziblu.typepad.com/a_lovely_dream/2009/12/mermaids-hair-goin-on-the-road.html

Sally B-day, Castle in Taiwan and funny girls!

I found this photo on my camera so decided that this blog needs something handmade on it!! This is a bracelet I made for Sally for her bday. Its one of my new favorite things to do! Make Jewelry! Miss Vicky taught me how! Sally is a "pink" girl and I just love her to pieces!


Today Belle, brought me to Yi Lan yesterday. Her friend Therina came with us and I am so happy to meet her. Definitely a new friend!

this is where we are right now. Yep! a castle in Taiwan! its actually a bed and breakfast and as cool as it is, we have agreed its a one time experience and not one we really need to do again. Unlike some of the other amazing places we have stayed!


And this is our window and view. Yep, we are in the left turett! love it!

And this was day before yesterday in Taiwan at Belle's house.

Even while she has company (me) Shino still has to do homework!


this is Belle's house. Left to right...

yen yen, me, belle, doris, fong mei, shino, jen the wen.





Belle made Beef Noodle soup for dinner and it was so yummy! Then Doris and Jen took me shopping for gifties to take home.

My dad.

Belle took me to an art school to learn how to make fried noodles. Ha! everyone knows I can't cook. What a good friend for trying tho!


Its a lunch time yuppy thing. after the chef shows you how to make the dish you eat it!
Was yum!


got to see my dad again. was a nice afternoon of dragging him through a whole street full of DIY stores!

Santa in Taiwan!

a ha! funny skinny Taiwanese Santa. Seriously he was so skinny! and dragging around a bag with toys. i had a good giggle!
It was Shino's school's 10 year anniversary. and they have a birthday party. complete with carnival games. This game was to blog the ball across the cups full of water. She loved it and insisted on staying till she got it all the way across. even though she was pretty much soaked when she was done. amazing how little it takes to entertain kids! i guess it was entertaining for me too!
this is their dog "littel" she is sooooo cute!!! and tiny!! and soooo cute! Suzi I know you are in love with this little doggie aren't you!

this is our hotel last night. so amazing. all wood and just beautiful! Shino made herself a little bed on the tatami mats and had a party of her own!

this is where we had dinner. super super fancy cute!

Yesterday's lunch was at this beautiful place called the Green Ark. but first... another funny picture. can you tell which is the boy reindeer?


there was a christmas tree looking thing and they asked us to write out wish on an ornament and hang it. super cute!
this was dessert. yummy!

4 days of travel around the east side of the island

This is our room at Bali Bali, a beautiful Bed and Breakfast in Nantou. We drove a long way through some very windy roads to get here!
































and this is a theme park we went to . Yes, a theme park. Complete with a "Star Tours" knock off ride, and a fast pass window! I dont know how the fast pass worked. it was monday and practially empty!

Yes, that is a huge stone ______!!! yes, it is what you think it is! dont ask, i have no idea. The theme park is based on the 9 original aboriginal tribes that lived on the island before the Chinese settled here, Kind of like our American Indians except instead of casinos, they have a theme park...

the rest are pictures from an awesome reastaurant that we went to called JPing. It was very hard to find and there is no sign outside. I just looks like a wooden building. the door didnt even look like a door! the food was amazing tho!

and another restaurant (can you see the pattern?) that we went to with my dad which is all about art and sculptures. it was very cool. had afternoon tea there. Belle has basically made reservations at amazing hotels and restaurants all over the island and we are eating our way through Taiwan!! Yummy but fattening for sure!!

OK Blogger is pissing me off because it wont let me put words where I want to!! so that is all for now.

Another Birthday party!

Last night they had another birthday dinner for me with yummy cake, lots of aunts, grandma and kids. at a really really beautiful restaurant. There are alot of restaurants here that pay attention to the dining environment. feng shui etc... just different than the states.

Today...

Look how cute my little nieces are! Yao sheng and Shino are having some camera fun with me after some crazy B*^%$! chopped my hair off. Im ok. cried and yelled at the manager then he at least got it even but holy crap its not at all what I wanted!! but still a happy people :)

i tried to explain to her that that is winnie the pooh's butt. but she thought it was hilarious and wanted a picture anyway!

Yao Sheng is an artist. I will take some photos of her beautiful paintings and post them.

Disney Bday and now in Taiwan

I'm here in Taiwan. This is my beautiful friend Belle's home. She is so generous and bought me a plane ticket to visit for my birthday. My mom couldn't be outdone so she matched the plane ticket in spending money :) Im such a lucky Happy People!!

So I am here, buying Christmas presents, Pink Pineapple Scrapbook Club kit goodies, and of course anything that I can justify buying! I thought it was going to rain every day and be a bit cold. Boy was I wrong! warm and sunny! So my first purchase was a bathing suit since I totally didnt think to bring one! Belle has fun stuff planned for almost every day. We are going to travel around the island and stay at amazing hotels and eat yummy food. today we had afternoon tea at a Wedgewood Tea house. Loved it!












What a fun Disney Bday I had! As always, a parade in my honor :) And then dinner at House of Blues with family and friends. Whenever Eric and I get a chance, we take a "traditional pose" photo. It annoys the heck out of our mom and reminds us that we are loving brother and sister!