Life Training

* I know I've already written a blog similar, but this is my cumalitive, reflective mushy feelings blog that came from the group site.

It took me 10 word documents and about 4 hours spread out over a week to write this  post.  I would come back to it and some things wouldn't be quite right, or how I would have wanted to convey them.   This isn't the end.  I'm still going to post a little bit more,  like 600 years of Cypriot history I haven't even covered yet.

"You have to fall in love with the process of training to become a better player"  

-Blake Griffin 

After eating one snail, purchasing only three converters, dancing on fifth century ruins, jumping off a 35-foot cliff, hundreds of pictures and countless memories, I will finally be leaving Cyprus in just a few short days.

Sea Cave exploring

If you’re wondering why quote Blake Griffin, I’ll get to that, keep reading.

I try to put a little bit of me into everything I write, but lately it’s been hard.  In some ways I’ve grown in leaps and bounds, but at the same time I know that wherever I go I’m still true to form.  I came to Cyprus thinking that I knew it all, and while I was here I realized that I had forgotten it all, adventure, simplicity, beauty, and most importantly love.  This truly is Aphrodite’s island.  <3

So, “falling in love with the process of training…?”

Obviously, I’ve learned many a life lesson here, and they all draw back to love.  Do what you love, and love what you do, it shows.

I'm still the same silly me

Here comes the catch.  Learn to love to stretch yourself too.  I will refer to that as “training.”  My comfort zone was tossed out somewhere in the Nashville airport on June 1.  I haven’t seen it since then.  The day I traded in my frills was the day I discovered I had a crazy sense of adventure inside of me.  Deliberate decisions start as baby steps too. First I ate a snail, and it wasn’t that bad, next thing you know I’m eating squid and octopus. Turns out I would probably order octopus again. Train to make the out-of-the-ordinary decision.  When I do my eyes open, and then I realize I’ve forgotten how beautiful the world is. <3

So Blake plays basketball, which is a team sport, and training would involve the rest of team as well.  On this trip I’ve been surrounded by 12 extraordinary people, each with a distinct personality.  These are people that I might not have even crossed paths with any other situation.  Spending time with them is how this became the fastest month ever. I learned a lot new things from them too.

Aren't we cute

I’m leaving Cyprus a better “player” (person). I’m braver and bolder than ever before. I have to acknowledge that some things like life take work, very few things happen in an instant.  The tour guides often talk about how every major civilization has conquered Cyprus and left an imprint on it, well Cyprus has left one of those imprints on me.

I am no NBA all-star, I’m a girly-girl, and I don’t mean to preach. I saw this quote pop up in my Facebook newsfeed last week, and it screamed use me for blogging purposes.  One of my last memories of being at home was playing a basketball video game with my brother.  Of course, I was Blake Griffin.

Little did I know the training process I was going to get thrown into <3

Then I Decided to Snoop Around...

Cyprus has been home to a lot of my firsts.  This would include my first trip to visit a butcher.  If you know me well enough I’m not a meat eater.  I hate hamburgers, but I learned that butcher and I had more in common then I thought.

I try to forget that the first thing I saw when we arrived was a man pulling a whole lamb from the meat locker.  I was also trying to avoid noticing the chunks of meat on the ground, and the huge knives just sitting around.

Yes, that's raw meat just sitting there. Gross!

At this point, I was thanking God I wasn’t responsible for this shoot, and I took on the daunting role of sitting with everyone’s stuff for a while.  I spent sometime hanging out at somebody’s desk, and I couldn’t help but snoop around.   The more I looked I realized this guy is a mess, just like me.

There were evil eye charms hanging around everywhere, so clearly he’s superstitious like me.  Pictures of saints that mad me think of Bible verses that I keep pinned up as a reminder to keep up the faith when times got tough.  There was a clock, radio, unsorted books, and calculator because I imagined he had trouble with math too.  Everything right down to this hat that resembled an orange one I have as a basketball game freebie, resembled my desk back in Knoxville.  Somehow for some odd reason I was able to muster up a level of connection.

Just chillin'

The more I sat there and looked around I soon became envious.  The butcher shop was simple.  Smiling customers came in and out like they had been here a million times before, and lively banter between co-workers.  This was the type of simplicity that people try so hard to attain in their lives, and here it was at a butcher shop.

Inspiration stems from weird places. Turns out one of my worst enemies (O.K. that’s exaggerating a bit), was a lot like me after all.  I’ve already established that I don’t intend to be a butcher, but I’m at a stage where I need to some thought into my future profession. I’ve got a wide variety of interests, and there are days I worry that I’ll be stuck somewhere unhappy.  Seeing that another mess like me could successfully find his place in the world gave me hope.

"The World is Pretty Amazing"

(Yes, it's been one week since a substantial blog post, and I'm pretty sure you might or might not have heard about my cliff jumping, just wait for the snails and octopus!!)

"I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma."  -Eartha Kitt

About five years ago, one of my favorite shirts had "the world is pretty amazing" written on it.  It took an incredible adventure in Ayia Napa last weekend to make me realize that I had forgotten that fact.  

I was presented with an opportunity to go explore the Sea Caves. The sad thing is I actually had to sit there and think if I really wanted to go or not.  I had woken up expecting the picture perfect summer day, which consisted of tanning and read a sappy Nicholas Sparks book. It's funny how things change is such a short matter of time.  

As if I haven't learned by now, Cyprus is an extraordinary place, and the Sea Cave just prove my point.  I had never seen water and waves so beautiful. I was running around taking all kinds of crazy pictures, including the dirt on ground, so I could remember every single detail.

My favorite part of the day was when Aaron got bored of taking pictures, and decided to go cliff jumping.  Somewhere along the way, I was convinced to jump off the cliff too.  Live life with no regrets, right?  It reminded me of a saying that my Mom would use to teach me how to think for myself, "if so-and-so jumped off the cliff would you follow?" Well, put into the correct context, that answer would be yes, and so would Chelsey and Emma.   

After we acquired our adrenaline rushes, Dr. Legg took us on the tour of the Sea Caves.  (Note: future advice to any interested party, if Dr. Legg offers any surprise Sea Cave excursions, the answer is always yes).  We stopped at many points, and the the seemed to get more gorgeous as we went around.  There was crystal clear water, and not a cloud in the sky.  I began to loose track of where the water me the sky. the beauty is indescribable, and even the best of camera still can't capture it quite right.  

Chelsey laughed at me a few days earlier for too frequently using the phrase "life changing." Truth be told, this day was life changing, and a much needed wake-up-call.  My mom often calls me "frilly," and I couldn't wait to surprise her with a text that read, "I just jumped off a 35-foot cliff!" I had never been so excited to see my friends jump off the cliff too.  I was pushing people out of the way for picture purposes. I saw Mediterranean blues so beautiful that I began to question why pink was my favorite color in the first place.  

I had to make the deliberate decision and do something out-of-the-ordinary, in order to learn more about the world. Trading "frilly" for "adventuresome," wasn't as hard as it seems either.  I actually enjoyed being "adventuresome" for the day.  It took leaving my comfort zone behind to discover that the world is pretty amazing, and I will always remember that 

Check these out:  

The group blog site.  We have to have all our entries in by today, which means there should be plenty of new stories every 30 minutes.  I still have two more to knock down.  

This guy did a back flip jump,  I just youtube searched Cavo Grecko cliff jumping.

Crunch Time

Bloggers Note: Every blog from now on was written if the last 48 hours of my journey.  I'll be writing all day long today, so I'll be spitting out blogs like they're nothing.   Maybe I'll run down to Zorba's too. (What is Zorba's? Oh yeah I haven't blogged about that).

I'm planning on blogging right up to the second I have to board the plane in the Charlotte airport.

I do worry about finding the right words, to shape my story. I can be kinda picky about what I put out.  I have enjoyed my online diary, and I'm thankful for all those who have taken interest.   I am planning on keeping up the habit.  My blog in Knoxville might not be as interesting though.  It would probably read like this:  Sitting in the library writing a history paper when Tyler Bray walked by. He's really tall.  Yep, life at UT can get a little crazy sometimes, but at least I've had a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to document.

 My only regret from the trip is that I didn't write more, and I'd taken more pictures.

Writer's Block

I've gotten the worst case of writer's block at the worst possible time.  I have so much to say and the trip is coming to an end.  I have seven word documents pulled up, and everything is half written.  Somethings are just so hard to find the right words for.  I'm kind of unhappy with everything I've got right now.  I might be pulling an all-nighter just from blogging.

In other news, here's a picture to brighten your day:

While I'm Away

I've been craving sweet tea all weekend long.  I've found all sorts of lemon tea, peach tea, green tea,  but it's not the same.   I've decided that I would make that a part of my first meal back home.  

Here's a couple of happenings that I miss back home. 

My poor kitty

I received an excited message from my brother about a week into this trip.  He just bought and is now reading Through My Eyes  co-written by Tim Tebow.  WHYYY?  I probably would not be the first to admit that I am so tired of Tebow, and now his book is at our house.    If I was at home this would have been prevented.    

Also my beautiful cat Callie now has an ugly shaved patch on her back.  She had to undergo surgery for an infection caused by a tick bite. I guess nobody love Callie as much as I do and doesn't check her as throughly as I do for bugs.   Now she sitting at the house with ugly bald spot.  Not cute.  Maybe I should find her a friend here. 

Goes to show, you take the girl out of Tennessee, but you can't take the Tennessee out of the girl. 

Crossfades, Chinese, and Children's Books

"You have to fall in love with the process of training to become a better player" 

Blake Griffin 

Yes, Mom I know that you hate it when I mention athletes, but this popped up at the top of my Facebook newsfeed on Thursday, and it just screamed use me for blogging purposes.  I think he has a point here that goes along well with my Cyprus trip. 

Wednesday could be considered as busy or not busy as you would like to call it.  It was overall productive, and maybe one of my favorite days here. 

 I spent the bulk of the day watching confectionary footage and editing the documentary.   We seemed to be fixated on the part where the baker puts together baklava, putting a layer of dough and a brush on butter on top, over, and over and over.  Seriously there is 23 minutes of baklava dough layering.  For editing's sake to make the process shorter, we put crossfades in to smooth the transitions where there is time-laspe, and there are lots of crossfades.   

As silly as it is, Wednesday the thought finally occurred to me that I was making a documentary in Cyprus. 

Me being cool 2007 style. 

I mean, how weird is that.  If you would have told me that four years ago,  I wouldn't believe you. I probably would have laughed in your face.

This month has certainly been a crossfade, an important transition period in my life.   I feel that I've grown in tremendous strides as a person from week-to-week as I've been here.  Seriously, go back and read some of the first blogs.  Cyprus is some life training, becoming a better player, so to speak.

Here's another example from Wednesday:  We all wanted Chinese food for dinner.  Little did we know the lengths that we would go through to get Chinese food.

 We found the delivery number of the restaurant.  Called the first time to check the prices, but had no menu.  So, we finally decided to drive to the restaurant to pick up menus,  and of course the first time we saw it we drove passed it, turned around to go to it, and drove past it again, and then turned around a second time, and finally made it.  We  got our menus went back.  It took us around another 30 minutes to decide what everybody wanted to eat, wrote it down and ordered.   The delivery man then called us 30 minutes later to say that he was lost, so then we had to give him directions,  and then after the 2-hour process was complete I was eating my much beloved sweet-and-sour chicken.

  My point here is it's all about the process.  Trying to figure out how to get the Chinese food is one of my favorite odd memories from the trip.  If the process wasn't so lengthy, well I might not remember it one month from now.

Me in Cyprus, still being cool. 

Finally children's book. If you know me well enough, I've been saying for the past three years I'm going to write a children's book.  I have some ideas and character names all picked out.  When I told some of my friends they thought it was  something like every other idea I have, kinda silly.  So then I decided to take the challenge and prove myself.

Then I did something really crazy, I actually started writing my book.  Yes, I spent three years saying I was going to write a book, but I never actually wrote anything.  It's kinda like another favorite thing of mine, tanning.  I adore my tan, but I spend hours in the sun to get this tan.  I can say I want to write a children's book, but I just can't sit around and wait for it to just happen.  You need to put some time into it, nothing is going to happen or change in an instant.

I am no NBA all-star, and I don't mean to preach.  Most days I get frustrated and mad that things don't go my way, but Blake's got it right.  This is just training, how are you supposed to grow into a better person ("player") if you don't enjoy life, have no goals, or don't do anything at all.  Life is the process and love it.

 I'm pretty sure you've been asking the question the whole time why base this whole blog off of a Blake Griffin quote?   Well, one of my memories of my last night in Nashville was playing a NBA2K on Xbox with my brother.  Of coarse I was Blake Griffin.

Check these out:

Blake Griffin talks about doing a reality TV show
The list of Chinese restaurants in Nicosia, the portal that started the infamous quest.
Where in the world did I pick out names for characters in my book?  I won't tell you which ones, but I'm using two from this list.

How to Avoid Difficulties: Another Cypriot Life Lesson

 "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare,  it is because we do not dare that things are difficult" - Seneca

Well friends, if you have been keeping up with my blog and the crew's blogs,  you've probably figured out the theme to this trip is learning about love and simplicity.  Once again, a single statement threw me for a spin. 

Monday, we went to film a confectionary, and afterward stopped by restaurant to interview the owner, Mattheous.  I had the privilege of drilling him with questions, my favorite past time.  He was talking about the measures he makes while preparing traditional Cypriot food, and I asked him a follow-up question,  what was the most difficult thing about preparing traditional food?  

The response went like this: Nothing is difficult.  I enjoy what I do, and therefore nothing is difficult. 

I've been reflecting on this "nothing is difficult" statement for a while now.   How many people would have answered that?  

One of my side projects is that I'm an amateur/struggling artist.  Hand me some colorful acrylic paint and a canvas, and I could paint all day long.   I'll easily answer as fast as a can,  the most difficult part,  I lack pure artistic talent. 

Ask my mom about my artistic escapades, they usually end in a frustrated mess.   I paint, and paint over, and paint over again usually until I ruin the canvas.  I didn't realize how many canvases I threw out, until I ventured into the garage to find my suitcase for this trip, sitting beside the suitcase was a garbage bag full of my frustrated artwork.   Believe me I've created more trash then masterpieces. 

I guess I just get caught up on creating the perfect masterpiece that I forget why I started painting in the first place, because I enjoy it.  Simple as that.  I'm pretty sure that applies to a lot of other things in life as well. 

Mattheos also revealed in his interview that his regulars nicknamed him "the smiling chef."  It goes to show that if you truly enjoy what you are doing, that it shows.   I came to Cyprus and now I'm relearning what I forgot, that love is the glue that sticks simplicity and life together.

Check these out:
These people have America's dream jobs.
Peyton Manning talks about the hardest part of being a QB
Mark Zuckerberg's advice "just do what you love"
and my favorite Lauren Conrad on pursuing her dreams.  

Cyprus 101: Ch. 1 Prehistorical Cyprus

I've been in Cyprus for quite some time now, and I was honestly just struck with the question. "What do I really know about Cyprus?" I decided to combine my interest in history and my remarkable Google skills, and bring to you the history of Cyprus.

While researching I discovered that condensing 90 centuries of Cypriot history into one blog post would be pretty overwhelming, so I putting it into 3 or 4 chapters.

Ch. 1 Prehistorical Cyprus

DISCLAIMER: I am no prehistorical expert.  I try my hardest, and some terms might just be butchered.  This is an amateur travel blog after all.  (All dates are in BC). 

The first know human civilization on Cyprus was a group of hunters and gathers believed to have come form Eurasia on rafts.  In prehistorical times Cyprus was famous for being inhabited by dwarf animals like pygmy hippos and dwarf elephants,  both of which are extinct today.  Archeologist have uncovered water wells in Cyprus that are believed to be some of the oldest in the world dating between 9,000-10,500 years ago.  They've also found the remains of a 8-month-old cat (go figure) dating back 9,500 years ago.  

8,500 to 7,000 is known as the Epipaleolithic Era.  Archeologist have found no evidence that would suggest human activity besides small communities settled near the coasts. 

The Stone Age lasts from 7,000 to 3,900. Like any typical Stone Age society, Cypriots hunted, made lots of pots and decorated ceramic art.  

After a giant earthquake hit Cyprus in 3,800 it transitioned into the Chalcolithic period.  During this time Cypriots discovered copper on the island.  

The Bronze Age (2,500-1,050) was when Cyprus became gained awareness on the map. During the Age Cypriots began trading copper to other civilizations across the Mediterranean.  Settlements begin to break away from the coasts, and steer inward, now covering the whole island.  Mycenaeans arrive as merchants and progressively Hellenize the island sharing the Greek language, religion and ways of life. 

In the Iron Age from 1,050 to 525 Cyprus gains a great wealth from increasing the copper trade routes. The Phoenicians invade, and the island is split into 10 kingdoms. Archeologists find writings with the first traces that show the first traces communities speaking Greek language on the island, and Cypriots introduce the safety pin into everyday fashion.

Next Up: Ancient Cyprus!  

Works Cited:  Cyprus Brief Historical Survey , The History of Cyprus in 90 Centuries 
and Prehistoric Cyprus

Love Stinks

Biologist claim that smells create the best memories.   If this statement is true, then I will never be able to forget our latest adventure.

Gross!! 

I can honestly say that I didn't really pay to much attention to the halloumi making process. I couldn't endure the sour milk smell.  I can also say that I will never look at cheese of milk the same way again.

So what did I learn?

While not paying attention to the halloumi process, I spent some time in the house's courtyard.  I couldn't help but notice how everyone in the surrounding houses made there way out to take a peek.  I lost track of who was coming from what house, how many people there were, who was related to who and who was our bus driver for even that matter.  My two favorite characters were the little girl so excited to play that she probably tripped and fell about 50 times, and the other little boy who later came out in his roller blades to show off.

Neighbors, extended family, whatever they were, I learned that a sense of community and love had no boundaries of a language barrier.

Of coarse they were the most hospitable people in the world too.  The second we walked in they were already gathering chairs outside to make sure everybody had one.  During the longer stages of the cheese making process, the brought us juice, two different types of bread and halloumi.  They didn't even mind if I munched on their freshly picked olives either.  The doors of their house were wide open, and I find it no coincidence that Aphrodite's statue was sitting outside a window.

I can't tell you how many times I remember being told in Sunday School, and have later in life even taught kids in Sunday school to love your neighbor as yourself.   I've learned that Cypriots have the biggest hearts in the world and truly understand what it means to love your neighbor.  So now when I smell sour milk,  I think love.

Add to water to make instant sour milk soup, a Cypriot speciality.

Check these out:   What in the world is halloumi, and halloumi recipes 

In UT news:  Tobais Harris  and Scotty Hopson are headed for the NBA draft Thursday. 

Pet Sitting Cyprus Style

I'm one of those people who always asks for a pet, cat/dog/guinea pig/bunny/ hamster/ etc. You name it I've wanted it.  I even have my names picked out for puppies that I don't even have yet.  

My soft heart for animals has lead me to meet a new friend Spike. 

Spike lives in the apartment building next to mine.  My first spotting of Spike was was about a week ago when I was a an orange cat hanging out of an open window. We was propped up on the ledge and it looked like he was about to jump.  I was concerned.    

Spike roams around into any apartment with an open door looking for some love.  After leaving the others apartment Spike came with me and he showed me his food bowl outside of the door of his home.   Apparently, his owners are on vacation. 

 Spike has run out of cans of tuna that sit outside the door, but he still has some dry food left.   The other day I brought him a few slices of turkey. 

Spike is a good cat.  He just wants some attention and loving.  He likes to play with key chains, like any other cat.  The only problem is that sometimes he leaves surprises in some places, but then again this is the apartments next to mine.  I wonder what my sweet kitty at home, Callie thinks. 

Last Weekend All in Detail

I was asked to write everything in detail, so here it goes. I have a whole week to catch up on.

Friday was a busy day. I woke up early and got on the bus and rode for a long time.  Our first stop was The Kolossi Castle.  The "Castle" is technically a fortress built in the 16th century under the Byzantine Empire.  It's claim to fame is that its where Richard the Lionheart married Princess Berengaria, and crowned her Queen of England in 1191. Queen Berengaria lived in Cyprus her whole life, and was still ruled as queen even though she never stepped foot in England.  

We were only given 20 minutes to fully explore the castle, but that was just enough time to run up what felt like 7 flights of tiny spiral staircases to make it to the top.

Stop two was the Kourion Baths and complex and Amphitheater. The baths and complex were once home to a rich family, and is known for the mosaics that decorate the floor.  

Keep in mind that these mosaics date back around late 4th century to early 5th century.   I like to relate back to my "what is gorgeous" question from before, and say for some things beauty really is timeless.   Honestly, there was more of a history lesson that went along with this, but  I got a little distracted.  This was my first glimpse of  the beach.  

If you look real close there is a teeny tiny horse ranch around center left 

Right beside the bath house/ complex was the amphitheater.  It kinda reminded me of UT's amphitheater except, much bigger.   This amphitheater was built in the 2nd century, and in the 3rd century the Romans gave it a face lift.  There's even a lion's den in it.

The amphitheater is still used today for traditional cultural events, and seats 2000 people.  This thing
is huge, and just to get a good idea of how big it is check it on Google Earth. 

To get to our next destination in Pafos we drove over some huge, curvy mountain sides, and got to Petra tou Romiou also known as Aphrodite's Rock.  It's famous for being the birthplace of Aphrodite.
There's really not much to do here, but take pictures, but this is my new favorite place on Earth.

See look how blue the water is!!  After a quick picture opt everybody got back on the bus and headed to Paphos for a two-hour lunch break.  (Tia the following part is for you,)  While in Paphos we ran into a group of party promoters, nether of them were Cypriot,  but one was British who had a copy of the David Beckham tattoo, and then one was Romanian.   We then quickly made a tour of the House of Dionysus,  the greek good of wine.  It was full of  more  mosaics, and over run by feral cats. By this time everybody was all sweaty and tired, so loaded up the bus one last time drove over more curvy roads and mountain sides, and made it back to our hotel in Limassol.  

Saturday was, to use an adjective invented by Jenelle "tantastic!"  In the morning we went to beach. The water was crystal blue and none of that gross seaweed stuff floating around in it.  That day it was unnaturally windy, so there was sand flying everywhere.  It was all up in everyone's faces, ears and eyes.  This wasn't pretty sand either it was clumpy and hard.   After lunch, I decided enough of the sand and headed to hang out by the pool with my one of my lovely roomies Lindsey, and we stayed for pretty much the rest of the day.   This is when I got the time zones confused and just wanted to call my Mom to say hey, but I didn't realize it was 5:30 in the morning there.

That night a group of us headed out to a place called Rio Bravo, which we were told by the hotel was the best Mexican food place around.  On the way the cab ride there I witnessed a kitten running out in the road and being run over,  it made me really sad.   After arriving at Rio Bravo we were the only people at the restaurant, but yet we were fussed at for not having a reservation.   This Cypriot "mexican" restaurant was decorated more like an old western saloon, and decorated with American license plates, mostly from New York, and one was from Rutherford County Tennessee.  They also played country music too.  The menu ideas was all the right mexican stuff though.

Sunday we left Limassol, and one the way back we made a quick stop to Lefkara, a village known for it's lace.  There were so many lace and silver shops I really regret not buying anything for myself.  I'm still waiting for my special souvenir to pop out and I'll be like ohhh, I need that.

This was the picture perfect village. I was so fascinated by it.  All of the houses were decorated with bright colors and adorned with flowers.   It reminded me a lot of my old Barbie doll house.  Most houses had doors wide open, and sometimes we would walk over to see a garden, and find that we wandered into somebody's backyard.  The school house didn't even really look like a school.  It wasn't made of brick and had about ten beautiful rose bushes growing out in the front lawn.  If there was no play ground beside I wouldn't have even been able to tell it was a school.

Monday was "Flood Day" a national holiday in Cyprus celebrating the 50 days after Easter, the descent of the Holy Spirit into the Apostles, and Noah's arc and the great flood.  Traditionally Cypriots head to the beaches, but considering it was Flood Day the sky was cloudy and it even rained!  It's not like I was heading anywhere anyways, everything, I mean everything was closed even the 24/7 kiosks.  I took this time to catch-up on my summer reading and finished Water For Elephants.   

"You Need To Stop Writing About Tom Brady"

Thanks Mom,  just trying to give it a little something everybody could relate back to.  I went back and changed Tom Brady to Sam Bradford in that one post,  just for you.   That's not all that different though.

<3 <3 <3

Summer Lovin'

I would have never thought that a traditional Cypriot bread baker who still uses a hot coal furnace in 100 degree weather who makes a 300 euro per week could have ever impacted my life.

In short: when asked if the assistant was a good assistant she replied, "to bake bread you must have love, and she doesn't have it yet."

That one statement reminded me of something I forgot.  Putting love into what I do.  I think everybody could benefit from that statement.

The more I think about it,  I believe there is a difference between loving what you do.  I do think people should love what they do, and that is important.  The thought of putting love into what I do has never even crossed my mind.  Yes I do love writing, learning and telling stories.  Now I'm challenged with that idea of how do I put my love into what I do.

We did go with the intention of filming part of the documentary we're working on, however the majority of our footage is unusable, and guess what I'm glad. Why?  Because now we can go in with the mentality of putting some love into it.

 After all Cyprus is the birthplace of Aphrodite the goddess of love.


Check these out:

More about the history of Cyprus including Aphrodite 
Good Food in Cyprus
Our group blog to read more about making bread with love

"What Does Gorgeous Mean?"

gor·geous [gawr-juhs] –adjective

1. splendid or sumptuous in appearance, coloring, etc. ; magnificent 

2.  informal. extremely good, enjoyable, or pleasant 

(In case anybody is wondering, this is my third draft. I've been fighting with Blogger all day to make sure this would get posted just right). 

This one question sent me on a tailspin making me rethink everything I've ever said was out-of-context.  I'm not going to lie, ask any of my friends.  They will tell you this is a top-100 word in my vocabulary. Now every time I say it, I'm consistently thinking did I say that right?  

On the second shopping spree in the Old City we discovered that the shopkeepers and store owners were extremely friendly. If we showed interest in anything they would start talking and began teaching us useful Greek phrases.  In return for my lesson in Greek the shopkeeper asked me, "What does gorgeous mean? Like people pick up things and say ohhh this is gorgeous." 

I told him it meant beautiful 

Now that I've been asked to explain it, I'm completely rethinking, how I define and use a that favorite term of mine.  Examples in of gorgeous in my context: "How gorgeous is that Tiffany's ring?" or "Sam Bradford is so gorgeous!" I realized that maybe I'm too flexible with gorgeous. I can't just let it fly like that anymore!  

I know one could look at this and be like this is just a word, and it someways it is just that. Let me state my case words can be powerful tools. 

It also got me thinking how the what is gorgeous question can very from culture to culture. I would never be caught with an "Evil Eye" charm that is a staple of Cypriot culture. I would refer to a Mercedes as gorgeous, and here they drive around Mercedes' like it's nothing special.  There are thousands of them, including buses, trucks and cabs. 

But then again, isn't that why I came to Cyprus. My eyes are opened, and I'm continuing to see more insight into the little things that I love so dearly. 

Check these out: 

Commonly used Greek phrases

Greek Evil Eye jewelry that is everywhere and what it symbolizes to culture. 

My sweet little crush on Sam Bradford, the St. Louis Rams QB. See how he's doing during the lockout.

In UT News: MIKE HAMILTON RESIGNS