Aura Fitness Studio

I love my NY friends.  They are a loud, crazy, mostly Italian bunch of guys and gals who are the funniest, sweetest people you'd ever want to have for friends.  We've been friends since the '90s, and it's been great!

I love coaching dance and cheer teams.  Cheer teams are awesome to work with as the girls get stronger together, and are able to physically lift each other up, but mentally support each other as well.  It's been a privilege to help girls become more empowered and cooperate in meaningful ways.

I love my family.  I have two sisters; one older, one younger.  I loved this night because I gifted my family chopsticks for Christmas this year, and took them all out to dinner to practice using them at a Japanese restaurant.  I'm still waiting for them to start traveling with me, but in the interim, I'll keep trying to bring the world to them.

I love the interesting, worldly people I meet here in Shanghai.  I've been so inspired by my friends here, as they are all so ambitious and driven.  I'm so grateful for all the laughs and fun times we've shared!

I love the flowers in Spain.  I also love the clothing company Desigual because the clothes are so colorful, wild and fun.  Like their slogan says, "la vida es chula" (in this photo I'm wearing a Desigual shirt).

I love modern art and modern dance.  I especially love artists like Picasso.  This photo is from the gallery of Joan Miró in Mallorca.

I love Spanish food, especially Manchego cheese and manzanilla olives. I could literally eat a jar of olives a day, and never tire of them!

I love the calas of Spain.  I love how you have to really fight the hot heat and rough terrain to discover them.

I love the sunsets in Spain.  I could watch them everyday.

Basically, I love pretty much everything about Spain.  When I am there, I feel like I'm home.

I love my dog.  I also love the color red, and red lipstick (another influence from Spain!).

I love driving.  Since I live in China, I don't drive a car, but instead ride my bike and scooter, and sometimes funny carts like this one.  I also love being silly and making kids laugh, which is what I was doing on this school trip to Beijing.

I love teaching PE because it's relevant for lifelong learning, and the most empowering thing students can learn how to do is to take care of their mind, body and spirit.  In my current school, I am privileged to teach kids who are so caring, intelligent and savvy.

Last but certainly not least, I love my best friend Michelle.  She is so thoughtful, funny and intuitive.  She is so honest and tells it like it is.  Sometimes the truth is hard to hear, but I love her insight, and I love that she is a loyal friend.  She has always been there for me in good times and bad, and even though I live in China, she has maintained contact with me since day one.  She's always interested in hearing about my travels, which I really appreciate.  She's also always helped me practice Spanish and helped me practice my faith.  Lastly, I am so inspired by her intelligence and her work ethic.  She's always progressing and growing, and I'm so proud of her.  I'm mostly really proud to call her my friend.

This post was for day one of a 30 day reflection exercise.  I really want to get back into writing my blog, since I didn't have my laptop with me over the summer, and it was next to impossible to update the blog from my iPad.  I hope to dedicate 30 minutes of writing time to my schedule everyday.  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!! Until then..