Animals or Mountains

I've never been on a hot air balloon ride!

I think it's time..............

Do I take a trip in Africa for $500 USD?????

OR..........book a trip in Calgary for $225.00 CAD???

Do I want to see little spots in the wild that are some sort of animal............or........the majestic rocky mountains???

Hmmmmmmmm.........

Lime Green IPOD's

I'm searching for a new IPOD. A lime green one.

The one I purchased when I got back from India for $190.00 was returned by me...as I was far too lazy to load songs on it.

I now need one for my next trip.

An 8GB IPOD is now down to $150.00.

It pays to wait.

Bella Trying to Meditate

I often think back to one evening in India....... when I was painting one of the rooms at this place I was volunteering at, and Oystein (one of the other volunteers) looked at me and said......'Bella, you've got to learn to meditate'.

Interesting............me???? Meditate???? I don't think that's possible.............but of course I'll give it a try!

I'm always taking courses- so I registered for 'Meditation- Level 1'.
8 classes. 1.5 hrs each session.

Tomorrow night will be my third session. So far I have not followed any of the instructions.

This week involved a 40 minute meditation that was taught last week. I was to practice every evening.

The instructor is a bit strange.

She actually has said that we are to also practice:

NOT Complaining
NOT Criticizing
NOT Analyzing

Is this even humanly possible?????????

I am a bad bad student.

Kriya Yoga is a meditation technique that quickly accelerates one's spiritual growth. It was first made widely known by Paramhansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi. According to Yogananda, Kriya is the most effective technique available to mankind today for reaching the goal of Yoga: union with the Divine.

Incredible Me

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves how beautiful we are.

Today is the day.

I am:

Intelligent

Innovative

Inspirational

Influential

Independent

Incredible

Ingenious Ideas

Ideal

I decided to just use 'I' words to describe my beauty!

The World and Me # 2

I first wrote on this in late October 2007.

This afternoon- I was once again wondering how many countries there are in the world...so of course I had to google this!

Mar 25 2009
Below is a complete listing of the 195 official independent countries of the world and their capital cities. Please see my article about the Number of Countries in the World for more information on the number 195.

This somehow is up by 1 from the last time I did a google search. I also note that I had been to 43 countries last count.

I did a new 'recount' and count 47 countries. Out of those 47- I have been to all the capitals- other than in Australia (Canberra), Belgium (Brussels), Brazil (Brasilia), Jamaica (Kingston), Mexico (Mexico City), Morocco (Rabat), New Zealand (Wellington), Spain (Madrid), Turkey (Ankara) and the USA (Washington, DC). Hmmmm...... I didn't count 3 countries in the above number that I only spent a day (no overnighter).

This means I'm only at 24% of visiting the world!

I need to get busy. With the 9 that I can add on for Africa in the next few months- that will take me to 56 countries....29%.

When I check this 'world list'..........I would like to put these on my 'wish list':

Afghanistan: Kabul
Bolivia: La Paz
Denmark: Copenhagen
Ecador: Quito
El Salvador: San salvador
Finland: Helsinki
Iceland: Reykjavik
Israel: Jerusalem
Korea: Seoul
Lebanon: Beirut
Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar
Norway: Oslo
Pakistan: Islamabad
Panama: Panama City
Paraquay: Asuncion
Peru: Lima
Phillipines: Manila
Poland: Warsaw
Russia: Moscow
Saudi Arabia: Riyadh
Suriname: Paramaribo
Sweden: Stockholm
Switzerlalnd: Bern
Taiwan: Taipei
Ukraine: Kyiv
United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhjabi
Uruguay: Montevideo
Uzbekistan: Tashkent

That's another 28 countries............say 30 max.....as I know I will find a few more I want to go to.

My new goal will be: 56 plus 30= 86 countries...which is 44% of the world.

I'm only at 54% of my goal so far!

With my Africa trip....I will be at 56 countries. That's 56 of 86 countries.....65% of my goal!

Only THIRTY countries left to go...................

I'm so excited!!!!

I Love You Zia Bella

My 3 year old niece just blurted this out last weekend when I was in Edmonton.

'I love you Zia Bella.'

I had to ask her if she knew what that means.

She doesn't...............but it still means a lot to me!

Decisions and Death

A few weeks ago I finished reading this fantastic book called 'Beijing Doll' .

The book was written by a young chinese girl and it was also banned in China.

Her writing was brilliant..............and this is one of the many words she wrote that really stops and makes you think:

"Making a decision that determines your fate, is a lot harder than simply closing your eyes and waiting for death to take you."

Pull My Hair

As seen on a car license plate:

"Bitch on Board. If you're going to ride my ass, at least pull my hair."