Smiling all the Way From A to Z -- O

Today's smiles are brought to you by something that truly brightens my spirits. The letter O stands for...

OUTDOORS

I was raised by a dad that enjoyed the outdoors more than anything. We went hiking and biking a bunch during the summer as well as road trips to see the beauties of Western United States. He taught me the importance of enjoying my surroundings to the full. It was not that difficult to do that since I grew up a mile away from the opening of a gorgeous canyon in Utah. His favorite mountain range, Mt. Timpanogos, just a 20 minute drive away from us. The Dadio is a photographer, too so nature is his canvas. He loves snapping photos of all things beautiful!

I've been backpacking many times. It's not easy and ya get rather stinky, but it's well worth the amazing scenery and calm from the sounds of rushing rivers, birds chirping, and each crunch of footsteps in the dirt. I've backpacked Zions National Park, Grand Canyon, and the Tetons, Yet, I've been able to do countless day hikes in Utah's mountains.

Here are some pics from my outdoor adventures:

Cinque Terre - Italy day hike

Grand Canyon

Great Wall of China - I'm in the pink shirt

 Dirty Dash - I can't say I smiled a lot cuz it was way cold.

I got really sweaty on my hike out of Zions. Odd that being sweaty makes me smile.

Zions East Rim

 Snowshoeing - Utah

Do you enjoy the outdoors? Have you been backpacking or hiking or snowshoeing? If so, where? Or are you more of a road trip kind of person to see the beauties of the world? Last but not least, starting with the letter O, what makes you smile?

Writing Jewels

PS: Refer to the blurb on the very top of my blogs sidebar to know why I am posting about what makes me smile. Go forward and smile!



Smiling all the Way From A to Z -- K

On to the letter K, I smile because of...

KINGS

If you haven't noticed already, my last name is King. I really, really, really (with double fudge frosting and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups on top) love my last name. It is wicked cool. But more than loving my last name, I love my family.

I have a fantastic mom and dad who support me so much. My dad has probably read my books more times than anyone. Bless his heart for reading the rough versions. My mom is a sweet angel, one of the best people ever.

My siblings are truly the best--an older sister and an older brother. All three of us have names that start with J. Of course, my parents say they didn't do that on purpose. I beg to differ, though. Why? Well, my dad is an identical twin. His twins  two sons' names start with J. Go figure...

My siblings married fantastic spouses. And my brother and his wife have three hyper rugrat boys, a princess little girl, and a baby boy on the way next month. Life would be extremely dull without those little ones in my life.

I rather enjoyed living in London years ago, therefore, I love Kings--real Kings. And ya know what? According to some of the genealogy research my dad has undertaken, my family is related to an Italian King way back when. Pretty nifty! I want some gelato now. Nums

Are you a fan of royalty? Do you like your last name? Starting with the letter K, what makes you smile?

Writing Jewels

PS: Refer to the blurb on the very top of my blogs sidebar to know why I am posting about what makes me smile. Go forward and smile!

And the Race with Words Begins


I can attribute my writing journey to one thing...

Le Tour de France

My dad is an avid cyclist. He introduced me to Le Tour de France years ago. He taught me the ins and outs of the tour. I guess I can say he has a major role in my love for writing, too. Bless the man's heart. Willingly, he reads everything that I write, be it during the first draft, editing, or revising stages. He catches typos and things that don't make sense. I think he's read my books more times than he probably would ever desire to. I love him for it, though.

All this does have a point, I assure you. LOL

So, Le Tour de France commences tomorrow. Of course, for the full three weeks of racing, I'll be watching it from the comforts of my room on Versus  (a sports tv station).

Three years ago, for my graduation-from-university-present-to-myself, I went to Paris, France. I saw the tours traditional last day as they rode onto Champs-Élysées (a main road in the gorgeous city). Yes, I saw the cyclists fly past me at least six or so times, and (*giggles*) witnessed one of my famous crushes, Lance Armstrong, as he zoomed past me, too. *Swoon*
Anyway, this trip, of which included an excursion down to Italy, brought about the idea for my first book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND. I know it's totally cliché, but I fell in love with Paris so much that when I came home I dreamed about it all the time. One of those dreams turned into an idea for a book. 

I feel so grateful and blessed that over a period of eleven years (+/-), I was led to Paris through my love of Le Tour de France and traveling. These experiences were the catalyst to commence my own race with words. Otherwise, I really don't think I'd be writing. 

Over the next three weeks, you'll know what's keeping me busy--watching some wicked awesome cyclists and maybe, just maybe, their ripped legs. *blushes* Oh, and beta'ing some books, too.

So, how did you start writing? What initially inspired your writing journey?

Writing. Jewels.

To Do List: Make it Funny

A little something to giggle over:

I think I've been a little bit too serious lately. I've been trying my darndest to work hard and to be productive that I've forgotten to find joy in life. My personal life has definitely been put on the back burner, but for good reason: writing. Somehow I need to find balance, though. Currently, I don't have writing deadlines, so why am I putting so much pressure on myself? Well, because I want to be published. The thing is I know deep down inside I will... eventually. Why sweat the small stuff, then? 

There's a point when you have to take inventory of your life. You know yourself better than anyone else. You know how much you can handle. You know when taking a break is the best option, be it from the small stuff or the big stuff in your life.

For me, I get stressed way easily. I call myself a "stress bucket". It sort of runs in my family. If I don't step back and take it easy for a bit, I definitely will be so burned out, it'll take me weeks to get back into the game. I need a full 8 hours of sleep. I must eat. I must have my down time by reading, watching a favorite tv show, or going on a hike. I need to work as well, be it my full time job or writing. I have yet to figure out how to balance out these things with including spirituality, exercise, and family/socializing. But, I'm a work in progress. And so are you.

Let's be kind to ourselves during the journey.

So, just for the heck of it, here are some things on my funny to-do list:

• I've always wanted to go to a semi-nice restaurant with a group of friends, order our food, and then whip out a game of Monopoly. I want to see how long it takes for us to get kicked out.
• I want to go into a department store, find some handsome, young bloke, kiss him right on the lips, and then walk away. (I most likely will never do this one, but it sure is fun to think about). *smacks lips*
• Go to a vineyard in, say California or better yet Italy, and ask for a drink of grape juice. Yes, plain, un-fermented grape juice. I don't drink, therefore grape juice is the only option.

Well, what I'm getting at is don't take life too seriously. Have fun. Relax if you need to. Work when you need to. And make sure you laugh along the way.

Do you sometimes take yourself too seriously? How do you find balance in your life? And, what are your funny to-do list items?

Writing. Jewels.

Vacation Time

So, I haven't been on a real vacation for a very long time. The last one was in 2009. I went to France and Italy for my graduation from university present to myself. A good thing too. It was the catalyst for my inspiration to write my first book. Since then the most I've done is backpacking trips, but that's sleeping on the ground in middle of nowhere. Not necessarily the go-sit-on-the-beach-and-relax type of thing, if ya know what I mean? Backpacking takes lots of stamina. Don't get me wrong, I love being in the outdoors with a pack on my back, fighting off bears and snakes... Ok, not that part, but the nature aspect and spending some quality time with my pops and whatever other old guys (his friends) want to join in. Yes, my backpacking buddies are all nearing their 70's.

*shakes head*

Well, I'm going to Wenatchee, Washington for its city festival called Apple Blossom. My brother and his wife go to it every year and have raved about it. Well, my lovely sister-in-law invited me this time around.

Yes, I get to experience the fun of the festival for the first time. Well, part of it won't be that fun; I've been wrangled into running a 5K--my first ever. I'm an active person, but not a runner due to not so great knees and ankles. Blast them. But, alas, I'm going to go for it even if I'm the last runner to cross the finish line. Of which, I'm pretty sure I will be. Shoot!

Well, I hope to spend some quality time with my nephews and niece--the cute-alicious little rugrats.

And I'm not going to do anything dealing with writing other than checking my blog every once in a while. But, because of the fact that we are road-tripping it from Utah to Washington, I'll have plenty of time to get some reading done (The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter).

So do you have any fun trips coming up? What do you like to do when vacationing? Or would you rather just tuck yourself in bed with a good book?

Writing. Jewels.

Traveling - Oh the Joy!

Just a little tidbit about Julia King: I LOVE to travel. As you very well know, “Felicite Comes” came into existence because of a little, well BIG, trip that I took to Paris. It was the catalyst that made my brain’s inspiration muscles start running. Anyway, a huge part of my life has been traveling. It all started on a dark and rainy night… Just kidding! No seriously, as a small child, my dad and mom would take us on road trips throughout the western states. We would also venture in nature to hike. These trips or hikes helped me to see the value in exploring the world. I also have this silly idea that places in the world do not exist until I see them. 
You know what? Seeing the world in all its glory is priceless!
I think of the various oceans I have seen, the sweet smell of incense burning as I walked through Buddhist temples, the sounds of the big cities that have rushed in my ears, the taste of the food as I savor it, and the feel of the wind embrace my face. All of these feelings will forever be etched in my mind because I partook of the various beauties that the earth has to offer.
Traveling is rewarding on so many different levels. One of the rewards is to be able to gloat about your trips. This is ever so humble of me!  I can say that I have trekked the Great Wall of China and peered at the tremendous amount of water cascading over Niagara Falls. I have seen Jennifer Lopez in Rome, Italy (yes, it is true). I can say that I have eaten pig kidney in Taiwan. I can say that I have hiked the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera? I can even say that I have done some of my international traveling ALONE! I can hear the “ewws” and “ahhs” in my head. All bow down to my glory! Just kidding!
But no really and seriously, traveling is one of the ways in which we can open our minds to other people, other cultures, and other ways of life. A lot less troubles would occur if people had the opportunity to experience different ways of life and seeing the new culture through the eyes of the natives.
Traveling is also liberating. You learn a lot about yourself in the process. I have learned through traveling that I can do something bigger than myself. I can get myself from point A to point B and back again in an unfamiliar place. I can be precautious. I can use different currency. I can survive in a country where I do not speak the language. Through traveling, I learned that I can do anything that I put my mind to!
What are your favorite traveling moments? I would love to hear about them. Just perhaps, I will want to go there because you have inspired me by your stories!