So, I decided to write this blog to encourage me to lose weight and to reminisce of my fabulous travelling days....

I have always wanted to write a book or something but never had the guts to do it.
Don't know if it is just a lack of confidence, lack of commitment or whether I know deep down that i have no idea how to write a book! I am sure many bloggers say they want to write a book so this won't be something new!!!

Anyway, let the games begin!

My name is Shell and I am 34years old... god, how that hurts to say it out loud!
I am married to a wonderful guy called Ryan, who is the love of my life (well, so far haha!!)
We have been together for what seems like forever but is in fact only 10.5 years. We have been married for the grand ole total of 6 years. We don't have any children but hopefully in a year or so that will change. Before that can happen, I have shed loads of weight that i need to lose.
To accomplish this, I joined weight-watchers 7 weeks ago and so far have lost 24lbs but have a long weigh to go, pardon the pun. I find humour helps with this. I have never openly admitted to wanting a baby either to family or friends so this is a BIG admission for me to make. Can you keep my secret?

It was this weight lose challenge that prompted me to start a blog, figuring that if I wrote about it, it would keep me motivated to continue (or embarrass me so much that I couldn't afford not to do it!)

Until recently, I travelled for my job, visiting many countries across the world. I have been to China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, many US States, Mexico, Brazil, Northern & Southern Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Sweden and Finland. I made many friends whilst travelling. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all fun and games travelling, there were many gruelling schedules, missed flights and bad weather not to mention the fact i missed my husband, family and friends!

I really enjoyed visiting all these places and sampling the diverse cultures, food & drink and not to mention some of the sights. You know that phrase "the sights you see when you don't have a gun"? It has never applied so much!
It was a delight to visit many of these places and most people were very charming and friendly, however.... some of Asia was a challenge!
Being of a larger than life disposition (you get my drift eh!!!!) it was at times very uncomfortable when visiting China. They are all tiny in stature and weight and in the areas I was visiting, were not in the habit of seeing any westerners never mind heavy westerners! They would often walk past and stare and whisper amongst themselves. It kinda hurt but obviously not enough seeing as it didnt prompt me to do anything about it at the time! I am happy to report though that it wasn't just me that suffered embarrassment at the hand of the Chinese. One of my colleagues was travelling with me at one time and she told me the funniest story. She had left the hotel to go for a walk and found a luscious green park where she decided to have a wee rest and maybe read a few pages of her book. As she is sitting there, watching the world go by, this middle aged female approached her and when about 25yards away, stopped and stared. This continued for about 5 mins with this wee wifey studiously watching her. My colleague, getting a bit unsettled, smiled nervously at her. This prompted the wee wifey to smile back, fidget in her pocket and bring out a business card of all things. Now, life obviously had not been kind to this little woman and it showed on her well worn face, which incidentally was exteremly over-made up. Not wanting to be rude, my friend accepted the proffered card. Glancing at it, she noticed it was either Cantonese or Mandarin. She explained in "foreigners english" (you know that stupid way native english speakers do to poor non-english speaking people) that she was American and "no-understandeee Chinese".
The woman indicated she should turn the business card over and lo and behold, there was the company name and her details in English. She worked for Mary Kay Cosmetics! My friend, who truly believes she is gorgeous, looked at this wee woman questioningly, admitting she did not understand. The chinese woman, in very broken English replied "I help you look beautiful like me... change you life and make you look good" (or words to that effect!) My friend had no idea how to respond to that and subsequently, was looking for reassurance of her dazzling good looks for the remainder of the trip... oh well, at least I never had that happen to me lol!

Anyway, i am done for the night... I thought it would be a struggle to write any thing but it has just flowed... maybe a little too much so I am VERY sorry that i appear to just go on and on and on and on....
being totally boring. Isn't it amazing things sound funny when you are being told them but when you write it down, it loses a lot if not all its humour... hmmmm, guess i need to keep practising!!!

Nite Nite.....

Shell