what a mistake

Happy Monday Friends--

So on Friday I made an awful boo-boo, and after careful consideration and a follow up light bulb I realized that posting 20 things about myself is Etheline overload.

 

Sorry folks. I mean honestly, if my own mother doesn't read my blog religiously, what is going to make a complete and total stranger want to stop and take the time to read all these things. So again, sorry.

I forget sometimes that I am not a big cool blogger with loads of traffic like some of my other blogging role models. Its easy to get carried away I guess. So instead I was thinking of applying the ancient wisdom of slow and steady into my blogging life.

Instead of Etheline over load maybe 4 things at a time? Make it into a weekly thing?? Does this sound better? Sound off below if this sounds like a more practical idea. I need a blog guru..any volunteers??

xO- Etheline

Weekend wrap up + 20 things

Happy Friday darlings!! I hope that your week has been full of good things. This weekend we are planning on some major changes, so make sure you stay tuned early next week. I wanted to play a getting know you game. Will you play with me? Here are 20 uber interesting facts about yours truly. I love reading about others; from quirky things to heart warming things. The world is such a large place, but you just never know how you'll meet your next bff.

So without further ado::

1. I'm the kind of girl who hates the words flighty and indecisive. I prefer the idea of, depending on the mood I'm in, wandering around from passion to passion.

2. Yes I am the {more often than not} responsible mother of 3 children, but love listening to Nirvana and Raidiohead {especially Creep}. I love stumbling upon new music, but to be honest I love listening to the same old stuff. Tuesday Night at the Music Club by Sheryl Crow circa 1994 baby!

3. Reading was never my favorite thing growing up. In 2008 I read Twilight {i know, i know} and that all changed. I read 50 books that year.

4. Now with the boom of Nooks, Kindle, and Audiobooks I am afraid that words on paper will become obsolete. Because we are traveling now I have an Ipad and read books on my nook now and audiobook on iTunes. Tell me, what does "I read a book" mean to you. Does listening to an audiobook count as reading?

5. I love to write. I've been working on a book for sometime now. Did you know that? I would love some feedback. If I posted the 1st chapter would you be interested?? DO tell...

6. When I was younger I fronted a black and white uniform all the time. Dressy or casual, rain or shine. It didn't matter. My wardrobe was the generic version of White House/Black Market.

7.Now my favorite colors consist of bone, blush,mustard, grey, coral, and peach.

8. Earlier in the year I stumbled upon Wendy's scarf tutorial on youtube. Wendy, from Wendy's Lookbook runs this a m a z i n g fashion website. She documents what I can only assume to be 90% of her outfits and they are all elegant, sophisticated, and ladylike. But not in a French Vogue kind of way, no, her outfits are functional as well. In her You tube videos she explains why and how she pairs what with what so you can learn excellent dos and dont's.

9. Why my plug for Wendy? You see I have always been more comfortable in jeans and sneakers. Always. However, finding her site was like an internal clock ringing inside of me awakening the sophisticated woman that I'm {hope I'm} turning into. And 26 is okay to call yourself a women, right??? lol

10. I  currently live in Bogota, Colombia. What the what??

11. You can read about our story and how we ended up in Colombia here. If you want to know more leave me a comment.

12. Royal and I thought it would be fun to keep a Website with photos, videos, and blog posts of our travels. It's called Dissect the Planet. Check it out. It will rock your face off!! ;)

13. I love listening to audiobooks when the authors narrate them. Have you read Eat, Pray, Love? Find a way to listen to the audiobook. It is so much better to hear the story exactly how Liz Gilbert wanted you to hear it. It's like sitting with an old friend for tea as she tells you about her whimsical travels.

14. Speaking of Eat, Pray, Love, I have long wanted to go to Italy, but after reading this book Im dying to go even more as well as to Indo. I feel the way about Italy as most woman feel about France.

15. I love find strength in my red hair. I know-- weird. I admire iconic redheads. From them stems my strength. Katharine Hepburn, Maureen O'Hara, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone etc...

16. The Philadelphia Story is my all time favorite movie. It has it all; witty Katharine Hepburn, Hilarious and possessive Cary Grant, and swoon worthy Jimmy Stewart!

17. Jane Eyre is my favorite book. Rochester is fictional perfection! Darcy...who's that?

18. After 6 years of marriage and 7 years together I am still intensely in love with Royal! We love our kids, but the times when we slip away and just have us time makes me so utterly happy!! I love that even though they are a main focus for us, they do not define us as a reason to be together.

19. Having Margot in my life makes me happier than I ever thought I'd be.

20. Girlfriends who don't have children are left in a quandary as to how I could love my kids equally. My answer is simply this. Its as if each child were a dormant chamber in my heart. I didn't know that the love was there until they were born. That's were the phrase special place in my heart came from.

Well there you have it. A special little glimpse into Etheline's life. Thanks for stopping by. Please share a piece of you with me so we can become better friends:)

Have an excellent weekend-
xO- Etheline

A {big-time} blessing

My family and I are Mormon. Did you know that? I'm sure with all of the presidential publicity that has been all over the news networks you have heard of it by now. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about it and you can check out my beliefs page here.

{ no we do not believe we are pirates::yes we believe in quality family time;) }

Anyways, this past Sunday was our first Sunday at church here in Bogota. One thing I love about the church is that no matter where you go in the world its always constant. It's like a wonderful extension of your family; someone to welcome you, automatic friends, and we as humans thrive on consistency.

Over the past few weeks I had been preparing myself for attending church wherein the families all spoke Spanish. After all we are in Colombia. Well you can imagine my surprise when we arrived and where greeted by 3 American, English speaking guys. The words they spoke where precious morsels to my English starving ears. I was even more surprised as American after American came in with their families behind us. You see the ward{congregation} that we attend is the same one that the families assigned to work at the United States Embassy attend. The talks and announcements were given in Spanish, but that's okay, we do need to learn.

My sons age group {primary} is 95% American so they all speak English. I was so worried he'd have trouble adapting. What a blessing the Lord has given us. When I was in relief society {an all women's meeting} I knew they were talking about repentance, but beyond that I only caught every 27th word. But it didn't matter because I knew that the Lord was happy that I was were I was supposed to be and my heart was in the right place.

{via}

After church we spoke with some more families and a family invited us over for dinner the following night. They are an awesome family. They are from Hawaii and have 8 children. Her husband works for the secret service. Can I say that?? It is so neat...trust me. We are making the neatest friends here. {lol}

I am grateful to my savior for the tiny acts that are huge blessings in my life. I am thankful for new friends and old friends. I am most excited that when we trust in God and take a leap of faith he rewards us in a way that is just what we needed.

xO- Etheline

Word To Live By

This makes me laugh everytime I see it. As a mother of 3 small kiddos it rings true. But lets be honest, whether you 6 or 36...it's a good rule of thumb. {wink} Share with me your favorite "kids say the darnedest things" from your week.

xO-Etheline

Words To Live By

Over the weekend I was followed around by a metaphorical, as well as literal dark cloud, that taunted me with a torrential down poor at any possible moment. And therein was the excuse I needed to let the major chip on my shoulder loose on whomever or whatever I pleased. I knew I was being terribly irrational and cold to loved ones as well as perfect strangers, but I felt like I had hit my first wall since we had left home. It had been a little over two weeks since we arrived in Colombia and the romance of a new language had fizzled out for. Instead I found myself angry that I couldn't communicate beyond a "Hello, how are you?" I was tired of it being cold and rainy, and my never ending supply of patience with my kids was running low. Royal decided to come down with a gnarly cold and share it with Margot, and when she is sick...she flips her switch and becomes something similar to a raging little lamb! So we have been hulled up in our tiny apartment for what is turning into a long weekend and everyone is beginning to show symptoms of cabin fever.

During the minutes I was experiencing these hardships I wanted to cry to someone about how horrible life was, because at that moment I was so blinded by what I was feeling that I thought the sun would never reappear.

When I woke up this morning after being up with Margot for 3.5-4 hours last night I was expecting to be irritable and tired. To my most happy surprise though I felt well rested and chipper. I came down with the kids at 7am and made pancakes for everyone while Royal slept upstairs.

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While I was flipping pancakes I couldn't help but remember this quote I found a few weeks ago because you see I was acting ridiculous. Even though it wasn't the greatest of weekends of my entire life it forced me to stop and take a step back. I needed to look at the whole picture so that I could realize that I am truly blessed. My family is all healthy and we are traveling this great world. My husband and I had the means for him to quite his job and still be able to take care of all out other responsibilities. I get to spend every day for the next {at least 6 months} with my husband without anyone or anything getting in the way. How flippin' lucky am I??!?!

I'm so grateful for words like these that happily break into my thoughts when I'm in a rut of feeling sorry for myself. A real "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" kinda quote. So this week let's all try to shake off the negative we are thrown up against and focus on things we do have and are blessed with. Who's with me??

Happy Tuesday Friends--

xO- Etheline

A Few of My Favorite Things

While I am out on the road seeing this beautiful world I decided to think up some creative series to introduce that I can crack out fairly quickly since I need to focus mostly on Dissect the Planet. Although, seeing as how Dissect the Planet is a more professional platform I still am keeping Her Eclectic Life up and running so that I can have a place to laugh, cry, and share my emotions with old friends and new friends. Hope you will stick around for all the exciting things to come. Don't forget to check out the first new series post "Words To Live By" here, and tune in every Tuesday for new and uplifting words.

And without further ado:: Series 2:: A Few of My Favorite Things

Current style icon: Rooney Mara

Current go to for clothing:

Current favorite web addiction: Polyvore

Current favorite destination: Bogota, Colombia

Current favorite tunes:

Currently craving: Really amazing Mexican

Currently reading:

These are just some of the things that brighten my day, and after a long rainy weekend here in Bogota, I have been listening to loads of Dianna Ross and the Supremes. What are some of the things that bring happiness to your day?

x0- Etheline

What we're really up to--

As some of you may know we have turned our lives upside down in a pretty dramatic fashion in the last 6 months.If you are new to this news, please grab a drink, have a seat, and let me tell you all about it--

My husband, Tyson, and I have been married almost 6 years. We have been blessed with 3 beautiful children, two boys and a girl, ages 5,3, and 1. We have been residing in Atlanta, Georgia for the past 5 years and bought our house there 2 years ago. Life was moving pretty wonderfully. We had ups and downs like all, but over we had it good.

In the last year however, we had decided that as much fun as this was we wanted more from life. We didn't want to have to wait until we passed our prime to enjoy the fruits of our labors and travel the world, and weren't about to let the fact that we had small children stop us. I have been (and planning) to homeschool our kids and the two ideas seemed as two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together.

We made the opportunity to take our family and explore this beatiful world we live in. Life is to short to not grab every chance you get to meet new people and explore different cultures. We kept a few precious momentos that, in the end added up to about nine 18 gallon plastic totes, and sold everything else we owned. We purged over and over until it was gone, by way or garage sale, craigslist, and donations.

In the beginning of April our family grabbed our Osprey backpacks and passports and boarded a plane for our first destination; Bogota, Colombia.

We will be staying for 6 months and have created a website were we hope you will follow along and share with your friends. The idea is to share and inspire as many as we can. The world is a big place, but everyone knows someone:)

Please visit Dissect The Planet and follow our families adventures.

xO- Etheline

Words To Live By

I am a collector of sorts.

I am a lover of words.

What better way to celebrate each passion than a new weekly edition called, "Words to live by"

And what could be more appropriate for me than this::




A little background info:
When I was a junior in high school I had this amazing English teacher. He was younger which immediately broke the mold of the boring ladies in their 60's that made up the rest of the department. He was a chameleon of sorts; teacher by day, surfer by weekend. There was a little bit of him that related to every kind of kid that passed through his class, from loner to athlete.

We had this book we'd write in and at the end of every week he'd take it and gives us notes. I appreciated it, even then. My last day in his class I got my final feedback from him. It was a letter I still re-read from time to time that I am still learning from these 10 years later. After he closed he said, "remember not all who wander are lost."

Lately in my life, as you can imagine, this phrase has aided me in finding the courage to radically change my life.

What teacher in high school impacted your life?

xO- Etheline

You know that saying...

...Objects may be closer than appear?

>Well today I fell pray to a simlar misconception. I visited both dramatic ends of the spectrum we call good and bad. This morning Royal and I decided to go on the highly recommended Bogota Bike Tours. It was over cast out, as most days are here during this time of year, so we thought it a perfect day to see some highlights of Downtown Bogota. The part they don't divulge is that the tour is 4 hours! Yes I said 4, which was no where to be found on the flyer. Give me a second and I'll go into why this became a problem.

I had never used one of those child seats that strap on the back of the bike and while Chaz and Margot looked at me quite skeptically, Richie showed faith in his mama and climbed on back.

Royal was the picture of a Greek God having Chaz on the back of his bike and Margot in front in the baby bjorn. Did I mention he has a GOPRO camera strapped to his head?? Tourists were actually taking pictures of hime. I think he secretly liked it.

I really enjoyed biking around; it was a lot of fun. I've never been a huge biker. Not for a lack of trying it just wasn't something that fell into my scope of athletics. We stopped in a really populated square and the kids got to feed a llama, cause llamas roam around the busy streets here with mini saddles on there back. Its kinda cute and kinda sad if I'm being honest.


We got to see a lot of daily life happening through the eyes of Bogotonians. About an hour and a half of riding we arrived at the second largest market in Bogota. It was amazing. We sampled tons of new fruits that are only indigenous to South America and saw a man carving his way through a cow head like he was just working on his latest sculpture.

Favorite Photo of the Day

xO- Etheline

A "first day of the rest of my life" kind of day

To say its been a busy day, heck a busy couple of weeks, would be an massive understatement.

But I'm very happy to announce that after long months of saving and minimizing, selling and renting our house, and 2 flights totaling 6 hours...we are finally here.

Welcome to Bogota, Colombia my friends. I hope you enjoy the ride--


Xo-Etheline