Photo by Carrie Kellenberger

Summer is winding to an end. John’s mom, Moira, joined us a few weeks ago and we’ve been on vacation for the last week. Thanks to all of you who wrote or called to find out if we were OK after Typhoon Morakot touched down. We didn’t hear about most of the destruction and devastation left in its wake until we were on the road. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrible tragedy. Find out how you can help from The View from Taiwan.

Our travels this summer took us to Taiwan’s finest beaches in the Penghu Islands. We spent three glorious days scooting around the islands of Makung, Hsyu, Jibei, Chimei and Wangan before heading back to the mainland to spend some time in Khaohsiung. We laid our heads to rest in the second tallest building in Taiwan, the Tuxtex Tower, visited Lotus Pond, Dream Mall and the Dome of Lights and then headed to Chiayi for an evening at a traditional Chinese tea house that is suspended over a serene fish pond embracing hundreds of Japanese koi. Intrigued? Expect full updates with photos once I wade through the 700 photos I took on our trip!

My blogging has been a bit slack lately, but I owe it to having a very sweet, loving and highly entertaining four year old around all the time. Thanks to all my friends who were kind enough to give us the time and space we needed this summer to have our ‘family’ time. Opportunities like this don’t come along very often.

My creative outlet this summer was in the design and launch of the all-new Taiwan Photographers, and I have to admit, I’m thrilled with the amount of support I’ve received from the photography community. Traffic has skyrocketed in the past two weeks. Do stop by if you haven’t had a chance yet.

Last but not least, I’d like to say that I’ve really enjoyed taking the time off to just enjoy life this summer. I’ve reevaluated what’s important in my life and I’m standing firm on my priorities: my husband and my health come first. The decisions that I’ve made this summer have all been made with this in mind. I’m focused on setting positive goals for myself this fall, the first of which is to get back to a regular exercise schedule (All you exercising mothers out there, I firmly salute you!), and the second is to determine where I want to go from here. I’ve got several things coming down the pipeline in the next few months, so stay tuned for more adventures. I bid you well. Adios!