Steve knows Best...

Day 3 of Blogtember: Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.

Advice: "You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for your work, as it is for your lovers." - Steve Jobs

{clip 8:07-8:39}

I love how he ended this piece with "don't settle." There are so many opportunities out there for everyone, so why do we feel the need to settle and then complain about it in the end? Most of the time, it's because we're afraid of taking the risk of not knowing what will happen. Don't you think it's better to at least try instead of wondering for the rest of your life? I do. I know it's easier said than done, but we only have one life to live and why waste it settling for second best? Sometimes finding what you love takes longer than you want but if you really want it, it wouldn't matter, would it? It's almost like satisfying a craving; you won't stop searching for something until you've found it {best feeling in the world}! So apply the same principles to work and your lover and you will be a happy camper. 

Lucky for me, I've found what I love in in my "lover" and now it's time to figure out what I love in work. I  know I love working with people, entertaining, and helping others so we will see what I can come up with. Running a B&B sits in the back of my mind a lot, but in the meantime, I will continue exploring and searching for that perfect job and I won't settle until I do so...

Current Life {Break}

Day 2 of Blogtember: if you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? {bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!}

Hmm...what to do? My life is sitting pretty nice right about now. On a typical day, I leisurely wake up {about 8 am}, have my morning breakfast and Nespresso, do some household chores, meet friends for lunch/daily activiites {like playing mahjongg}, cook and eat dinner {love cooking}, then sit on the couch with Gerald watching TV {currently PLL}, surfing the internet, or reading until it's time for bed! I'd like to say I work out some time in between there, but honestly, that comes about once a week in the form of a pilates DVD! I get most of my excercise from walking {shopping} around town, so I don't feel too guilty about not having a work out routine...haha. Come weekend, we are usually jet setting somewhere or driving around the beautiful country of Scotland {we have the travel bug}. Seriously, I don't think life could get any better than this {happy face}, but if I could take three months off from my life right now, I would...

1. {1 month} - fly to Houston and spend some time with Kylie. She is a little over a month and is changing by the minute. I feel like every time we FaceTime her, she looks different. What I would give to squeeze her chubby cheeks and hold her.

2. {2 weeks} - visit Patagonia - I've become such an outdoorsy girl after living in Scotland and love nature! Patagonia would be the perfect place to soak some of that in. Plus, I've never been to South America so that would be neat.

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3. {2 weeks} - visit Galapagos Island - I've also become such a wildlife lover, so I would love to spend some time with all the interesting animals here!

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4. {2 weeks} - foodie tour around the US! I found some interesting places while reading Gerald's GQ magazine during our Portugal trip. Here are some of my favorites from the list...

Hinoki & the Bird - Lobster Roll, LA

Photograph by Dylan + Jeni

Briskettown – Brisket Taco, Brooklyn

villagevoice.com

Cronut - Dominique Ansel Backery, NYC {need to see what this is all about}

Courtesy of Dominique Ansel Bakery

Clam Chowder - OX, Portland

Alan Richman

Chicken Pot Pie Fritters - Family Meal, Frederick, MD

Photograph by Rey Lopez

5. {2 weeks} - After all of the above, I think I'll want some relaxation on the beach somewhere in Panama.

realwanderlust.com

There goes my three months for you! Anyone want to join me?

Who Am I?

Day 1 of Blogtember: describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

It was always a struggle trying to tell people about my background, so don't worry if you can't follow along...

The story is, both of my parents were born and raised in Cambodia. My dad from a Chinese ancestral background and my mom from a Cambodian ancestral background, which is why I tell people, I'm half Cambodian and half Chinese. Of course my upbringing was predominantly Cambodian since that is where my parents lived, but we do keep up with some Chinese traditions. You're probably wondering,  Mandarin or Cantonese? Well, it's Teochew to be exact. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_people. For those of you that don't know, Cambodia is in Southeast Asia and borders Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Most people know where Thailand and Vietnam are located but no one really knows that Cambodia is it's next door neighbor. That's because you don't meet very many Cambodians, so we are sometimes forgotten. I mean, how many Cambodians do you know? Also, since my last name was Lao, most people thought that I was from Laos. And now that I'm married and have taken on the last name Pena {married to a Filipino}, people are really confused. That gives you a little idea of where I come from.

The Husband - Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia

What I come from is a true American dream. To make a long, sad story short, my parents were forced to leave their home country during the Khmer Rouge regime, where millions of innocent people lost their lives. They were merely teenagers when this happened and were brave enough to get through everything. For my brother and I to be here today is truly a miracle because lots of their family members never made it out. Because of their story, we were raised to be strong and humble and to never take anything for granted. They taught us how to work hard to get what we wanted and to always be kind and generous to others, no matter the situation. If it wasn't for the generosity of others, my parents probably wouldn't have ever made it to where they are today, and I probably wouldn't be who I am today.  My life has been a true blessing but don't think I've ever forgotten where it all came from: My Parents! 

The Dad - where I get my Chinese eyes and talkative-ness

The Mom - where I get my strength and easy-going-ness

Of course, they probably got those traits from their parents, but you can see how the story goes...They pushed us to work hard, strive for the best, enjoy life and most importantly LOVE, because at the end of the day, that's all you really have, isn't it? If you know me, you know I have a BIG heart and I am willing to share it with anyone that crosses my path, that's only if you want it!

The Brother {+ gf} - he gets super mushy when he drinks {heart}

Blogtember {A September Blog Challenge}

As if I didn't have enough to think about right now, with the move and all, I've decided to take this September blog challenge that my friend, Megan, sent me. Megan has found some fun things to do in the blog world and has shared a few with me; I'll get to the other ones when they come along. This will be the first time that I've ever participated in something like this, so we shall see how it goes. Stay tuned and join the fun if you wish!

Hello, California!

I guess I'll go ahead and make it official on the blogosphere! We're excited to head back to the States but will definitely miss our life here. Scotland has treated us well and for that we are thankful! We've made wonderful friends, traveled to places we never imagined, grew as individuals and as a couple, while never losing sight of all of our friends and family back home. We are truly blessed!  It's been a super fun journey and we're looking forward to doing the same in our future home: Bakersfield, California! We have lots to do and a few trips to enjoy before our October 17th move date, so I'm not getting sad just yet...

Gerald's Three Two {Sailing Stonehaven}

We started off Gerald's 32nd birthday with a 2 hour sail around Stonehaven. Peter and Taryn were nice enough to invite us along for this trip that they received from a coworker. I love nice people. We couldn't have picked a better day to go out;  however, we did underestimate the North Sea as it was freezing cold on board and with the water splashing in, we were lucky to be provided oilskins {for Gerald} and a waterproof jacket {for me} to stay dry. Yea, we weren't prepared. Did we forget that we're not in Greece?? haha. We went up towards Fowlsheugh, passing by Dunnottar Castle and then back to Stonehaven. It was nice to see Stonehaven from the waters, especially Dunnottar Castle. The castle looks so dramatic from the land, but I didn't get that effect from the sea. It was still pretty nonetheless. We enjoyed prosecco and some homemade mackerel pate, made by Richard, the captain. His daughter, who just completed her yacht master certification,  was helping him for the day, so it was neat to see how they knew exactly when a gust was coming and what they needed to do next to avoid us from tipping over. They were a funny pair and we enjoyed their stories. After the sail, we were treated to lunch at the Tolbooth by Peter and Taryn and then headed off to Aunty Betty's for ice cream. All in all, I'd say it was a great start to Gerald's three two birthday celebration.

Later that night, we headed in town for a night out with friends at a new Aberdeen bar, 6 degrees North, which serves hundreds of Belgium beer on tap and in bottles. I have determined that I love Belgium, hoppy beers =) We haven't been out in ages, so it was good fun, minus all the crazy, drunk people roaming Union Street at 3 am! That's Aberdeen for you =)

A 3am night {4am for the birthday boy} called for sleeping in until brunch time at Malmaison.

Also, as a bday treat, since there really wasn't a chance to blow out birthday candles, I decided to make Longhorn Birthday cookies to celebrate my favorite Longhorn, and gave them out as favors to our guests Saturday night. It was also our first game of the season, so very fitting \m/

We had a superb weekend! Thanks friends for all the good times.

Glamis Castle {Home of the Queen's Mother}

After driving pass it for the past three years, we finally stopped to visit Glamis Castle and it was a nice treat! If you've ever watched the "King's Speech," think of the King practicing his speeches in one of the rooms with Queen Elizabeth and her sister Margaret running around this place. They still had all the little chairs especially made for the princesses and I really wanted to take one home because they were so darn cute.  Anyhow, we did a tour of the castle and then went to hang out with my favorite animals in Scotland, the highland coos! There were tons roaming around the estate and we even saw a bull with crimped hair; I guess he wanted to be different and decided not to use the flat iron that morning =P It was a quick visit for us, but definitely worth it if you get the chance.

Afterwards, we ventured off towards Crail to check out the Crail Pottery shop. Again, after all the times of visiting St. Andrews, we never drove that 15 minutes further to visit the town of Crail, so we finally did so. I wasn't super impressed with the work, but ended buying a candle holder
anyways.



We were meeting a college friend, who was in town for work, in St. Andrews for the evening. I can never get sick of this town; love the atmosphere it gives off once you step foot in it. I always feel relaxed here. We did the usual with Ben and then called it a Friday night.





And yay, they put up Phil's name and picture, from this year's British Open on the championship board in the Old Course Hotel =)