I'm an expert at...

Eating. I'm really good at it guys.

Singing "figgaro, fiaggaro, fiiiiigaaarrrooooooOOOOO" in our parking garage, because it echos & sounds even more expert-tess.

Candy Crush, Crazy Kitchen, Hamburger Joint, Temple Run, Blocks, basically most puzzle (?) phone type games, I master. It's actually quite lame because I finish the game and then there is nothing left for me to do. Or I reach the last level they have created and stare at the little grey wrench, meaning they're working on more levels, that never goes away, because actually they're not working on more levels. Sigh.

Flipping my phone in the air, letting it do a few 360's and catching it exactly as I threw it, like a boom-a-rang. I think it's impressive.

Picking my split ends. Didn't think you could be an expert in this, huh? Oh, you can. You can.

Quoting or referencing to The Office.

Making piles of un-hung clothes on my closet shelf.

Not hanging clothes. 

Sleeping. This is probably my best skill. 

Googling.

Diagnosing my own illnesses. What's that? You call that a hypochondriac? Interesting.

Not emailing/messaging/text messaging/calling people back. It's a real problem guys, but what can I say, I'm an expert at it.

Drinking coffee.

Spending money on drinking coffee.
 
I'd continue but I don't want to sound too boastful, gotta stay humble, you know?

Please, oh please, tell me. What are you an expert at? 

Link up with Helene & Taylor for #Blogtober14

Favorite Childhood Memories

Linking up again with Taylor and Helene for #Blogtober14.

In  East Texas there is a town by the name of, Hemphill. Hemphill is a VERY small town with a population a little over 1,000, in East Texas. Sometimes, in my childhood, it seemed that I was  related to all 1, 000 in one way or another. "This is _insert name of the cousin you never knew you had here__, your cousin!" was a common phrase  growing up. It doesn't matter if they're your 1st, second, or 22nd cousin, they're family. It also doesn't matter if you've never seen them before until now, you should remember them!  Hemphill has a Dairy Queen & a Brookshire Brothers grocery, the rest of the town is all mom & pop stores, like the good ole' days. Some of my favorite childhood memories took place in this little town at my Papa Ted's house & just down the street in Pineland.

As kids, we loved going to Papa Ted's! When we went to Papa's house we were wild & free. We could make mud pies, ride goats & horses, play house in all of Papa's extra bedrooms, and ride the four wheeler exploring the huge pine forests. We could pick black berries & mulberries, go fishing in the pond & shoot the BB gun.
When we were feeling extra brave we'd explore the Indian graveyard next door, and try not to sink down into the graves or go out on the porch at night, which was extra scary because of the black panther that's rumored to roam the woods at night.
We'd catch daddy long legs and bright, green lizards to sell for a buck at the pet shop at home, in the city,  and we'd  devour the candy from the candy bowl my Papa always had filled.

We always left Papa's with a huge bag of change filled with his pocket change & a few extra spider bites.
I love and cherish those memories we had growing up at Papa Ted's house & still feel like a kid when we go back there today. As soon as I get on that four wheeler, I feel that wild & free feeling all over again! 

Thanks Papa for always loving us so much & giving us such great memories!

My Best & Worst Halloween

Man there were so many. I was pretty blessed with good Halloweens. Can I just fill you in on a little secret?! I trick-or-treated 'till my Senior year of high school. A few of my friends and I trick or treated in the "We're super cool..so cool, we don't care that we're too old to trick-or-treat." It's like we were hipsters before hipsters ever were, you know. We even got smart about it and drove to the rich neighborhoods. Ya, we drove.  We were awesome, I told ya.

Then, my freshman year of University I was really bummed out that we were all just studying, and there was absolutely 0.0 people dressed up. Geesh, how boring is University?! But then, oh then, there was a little costume shin ding, not on Halloween.  So, I pulled together the greatest things I had in my wardrobe & created the best of best costumes with them.

That was probably my worst Halloween. The Halloween I grew up enough that everyone around me was too lame to go trick-a-treatin'. That's the gangster way to say "trick or treating."

See those shimmery boots above. Oh ya. I bought those babies from Hot Topic in 6th grade. They were like $70 but "Mom, oh mom!" I had to have them. My mom agreed so that was cool. So, I got those bad boys and dressed as Disco barbie that Halloween. Shimmery boots & a super sexy silver dress. I think this was the first year that I realized girls were "supposed" to dress 'sexy' for Halloween. (Really girls...why?! Why dress like that?! ) A tradition, I never continued. Except this one year, I wore a terrible "sexy kitty" costume and looked atrocious, in the 'not-sexy but trying to be way'. But that's another story. Anyways back to the picture. 

I think there's a few things to note.
1. Those shimmery boots are knee highs. But I think the over the boot capri pants look amazing, too.
2. Please observe that pink, furry fleese purse sitting on the floor. Amazing.
3. Check out all my "Jesus" posters. While I still love Jesus with everything in me, I ditched the posters.
4. Check out that tilted bulletin board. I was into things being uneven and not straight. Straight pictures were for losers.
5. Check out that hecka awesome Harry Potter poster.
6. Also, my love of world maps. Still love them. But now that I'm an adult & trying to make our living space non-dorm like, I'd love to get a HUGE framed one.
7. Can we also observe that this is a shiny scarf belt tied around my head. Oh man. Remember scarf belts?! I had SO many. And I swore that I'd never stop wearing them, even if fashions changed.
8. It's amazing that I'm throwing the Asain deuce in this picture. This was before I had been to Asia, where the deuce in every picture is acceptable. It's like it was meant to be.
9. Also, why, really why, did I have that wig and those shimmery boots in my dorm at University? That means I had to have packed those & brought them to University.
And, really, can we just pause to appreciate those shimmery boots. I wanted so desperately to make them work in every day life but this night was only the second time I ever got to wear them. So sad.

But my all time favorite Halloween was the Halloween where Zachary and I dressed as Cat and the Hat in Korea. The whole day was awesome. We worked at a school in Korea that was super into Halloween. The whole week led up to it. There was a different theme day every day, and our kids dressed for every theme. On Halloween day, they went trick or treating around the classrooms, and the teachers decorated the school amazingly. We even transformed the whole play gym into a Haunted House. It was awesome! I especially loved our costumes. I just love couple costumes. I'm really digging these below. 

 

Spoon & Fork  //  Bacon & Eggs  //  Plug & Socket  //  Adam & Eve

What was your best or worst Halloween?

Write yours & link up with Taylor & Helene for #Blogtober14.

10 Things I'd Tell Myself When I first Started Blogging

I've been blogging seriously for awhile now, almost 3 years. That's a long time in the blog world, it seems. I've seen such small growth in that time, compared to other blogs. But that's okay. It's not the reason I blog, though it can always be a nice motivation & encouragement to the reason. You know? The reason I blog if for me. I love it. I love capturing our life here on the inter webs to look back on and enjoy. I love writing. I love the whole process of creating a blog post. I love this little creative outlet I have here. But there's, of course, TONS I'd love to tell & teach my  3 years ago self about blogging but I'll start with 10.
Hello there, 20 pound lighter, 3 years younger, blogging Heather, I'd love to share some things with you that your future wise self has learned! Listen up girl!

1. Be consistent. 
You have a problem with self discipline and consistency. This blog is a way for you to practice & grow in these areas. Be consistent with blogging. Your family will appreciate it, it makes you feel good, and it's good for the business of blogging.

2. Respond to peoples comments.
Again, you're really quite terrible with the whole consistency thing, especially, when it comes to calling, emailing, messaging or commenting people back. Again, this blog is a place for you to train your "response" muscles.

3. Comment on other blogs.
You read & love so many! Comment on those posts you are reading. It doesn't take long. Don't think to hard about what to write, just write a comment! People appreciate it.

4. Blog Post 'Look'
Learn, quickly, dear one, how to size pictures and how to make you blog posts look more appealing. Your 3 years older self is quite appalled by some of your random picture spacing and general messiness. Did you even preview it before you pushed publish? Also, I know this will blow your mind, but there's an X-Large size choice for the photos you insert on Blogger. Ya, I know that seems so huge, but trust your future self, they look much better than your 'medium sized' oddly spaced photos.

5. Sponsor other blogs!
Don't just go for the free swaps, though those are awesome, too! And don't just look at prices of buttons, cheaper doesn't always mean better. I know that's true in the Ross and Target world, but in blogging there's often a reason you're paying more, those blogs have more experience, a more invested audience and can help you learn and grow. That doesn't mean forget about the smaller blogs, all blogs were there at one time, it just means, use your money wisely. Look at page views, not just followers, too.

6. Buy your own domain name & invest in a blog design.
It's good to just start out on the right foot. It will help you feel better and save you many of hours on Pic monkey & googling 'how to's' for HTML. You will learn alot from all those hours just 'doing it yourself' but in the end, it wastes a lot of your time and takes away from what you love about blogging.

7. Write whatever you want. 
Just write whatever the heck you want. Don't think about other people. It's your blog. Be yourself. That doesn't mean to be offensive or rude, it just means, let the writing flow from you sometimes. If you want to write about Jesus 6 out of 7 days a week, do it. Its okay. You don't have to try to keep up with some blogging trend. Write what makes you feel good, for real, not just feel good about having a good sock bun photo, you know?

8. Label your posts. 
Trust me 3 years younger self, you will save me tons of time now. I am just now going through your 500 label-less posts and adding labels. It would just be easier if you'd do that now..or then. It's so confusing chatting to your past self as your future self. 

9. Don't add 'linked' photos through the 'From a URL' tab.
What they don't tell you when you push that tab is that the picture you are inserting via a link will be removed or moved in about a month, leaving your blog posts full (really full, as you are really into 'from a URL' pictures then) of gray boxes with a camera with a big slash through it. It's really not nice, and there are entire posts that you worked hard at, that now make no sense without the pictures. Here's a tip: Save those images to your computer. Upload them from your computer and then link through a small 'via' or 'source' below the picture to the site you found it. Your future future self may tell you that there's something illegal or something about that, but for now, your 3 years in the future self says do that!

10. A Few More Things
These have nothing to do with blogging but are just helpful to you 3 years younger self. Keep working out, it will help you keep anxiety away. Also, to help you in the midst of all your future and current anxiety attacks, 3 years later you are still alive. You don't have heart problems. So go ahead, work out, enjoy life, don't be afraid. Also, you've gone on several flights and are still alive, so keep flying. Don't fear. Google search 'Endomorph' body types, it will be really helpful to you. Save money! Stop spending. Go home in a year. Who cares if it costs a lot of money. Just go. Take trips. Again, save for them, stop spending so much, and just travel. Spend lots of time with Jesus. He's just always, always worth the time. Pray. Pray alot. Enjoy life! And of course, keep blogging you little bliggity blogger. Love ya, girl.

*Sadly, many of these tips above could be tips to my current self! Get with it 3 years older Heather!* 

Linking up again with Taylor and Helene for #Blogtober14, because in October, that's THE thing to do and I like this bandwagon.

The Mosby Fall Bucket List

-Bake these treats & cook these soups!
I've already checked a few off the list and can't wait to share them with you!

-Go apple picking.
We have so many places to pick apples here in Qingdao! We must do this before we leave! Apple orchards are not common in Texas.

-Bake an apple pie.
With all those apples from the orchard we're gonna need to make a few pies, for sure. 

-Carve a pumpkin.
I want to help our close students carve pumpkins again this year, too. They did SUCH a great job carving their first pumpkins last year!

-Cook a turkey.
I really, really want to cook a turkey here. I don't know why really. Probably because it's a novelty here.  It will fill our entire oven and cost us 60 bucks, but dang it I want to cook a turkey!

-Host a Halloween and/or Fall party.
I loved hosting the Harry Potter Murder Mystery party last year. We have all those fun decorations still, it just makes sense we'd have another Halloween party!

-Lots of scarves, leggings, beanies & boots
Nothing to say about that really. If you're a lady, you know what I'm talking about!

-Run a 10k
The weather is so nice in fall! I want to get out there and run!

-Take Fall family photos.
 This will probably consist mostly of Chara rolling around in leaves, because we don't look nearly as cute doing that, but I'd love to have a few good ones of the whole family.

-Make a Fall Beverage
Whether it's apple cider, mulled wine, or a delicious pumpkin spice latte, I want to have fun in the kitchen with a new beverage!



Linking up again for #Blogtober14!!

Also, please check out this amazing Spring Bucket List, I love, love, love it and want to some of this stuff, now!!!

What I Can't Live Without

#Blogtober14 Question: What can't you live without? 

I'm gonna go with "things" instead of people. Because, obviously, before any thing, there are people, and one certain dog, I never want to live without. 

But I'm gonna with the superficial, less serious "what I can't live without" stuff. Also, can we be clear, that I use "can't" very loosely. As I could go without my phone, but really don't want to. :) 

Also, let's just omit all the obvious "things" like conditioner, toothpaste, toilet paper, a bed, etc.

Geesh, why am I taking this so seriously? Surely, no one would read this and think, "Really, you'd choose mascara over toilet paper?!" Trust me, I'd choose toilet paper. Can you believe they used to use corn cobs and shells and other equally uncomfortable stuff before toilet paper came around?!

 10 Things I Can't Live Without

1. Mascara

Because without it I look like a sleeping, zombie. Thank the Lord for mascara. 

2. My el phono. That's my cell phone, to be clear.

It connects me to the world (sort of, since in China, technically I am blocked from connecting alot of the world), it has tons of books that I'm reading on it via Amazon Kindle, it has the Bible I read on it, it has my new game obsession, a Candy Crush knock off, Crazy Kitchen, and it's my link to We Chat, where I get to connect with people from home and Qingdao.

3. Workout clothes. 

I know that's like several items, but we'll put them in one group for these purposes. Work out clothes, including my running shoes. :) I love work out clothes. I would like to live in them all the time. Also, they motivate me! 

4. Walnut bread, with coconut oil, peanut butter, 1/2 a banana and honey. 

Every. single. morning. Obsessed. 

5. Our Mac. 

It's my number one tool for blogging. I've tried blogging on my PC but it's just not the same. The Mac is so easy to use for me, it's fabulous and fast. And just wonderful. Once you go Mac you don't turn back.

6. Our Camera.

Either of our cameras really, our Nikon or our Sony Cyber shot. I just love taking photos.

7. Black Leggings.

It's ridiculous how obsessed I am with wearing black leggings under everything.

8. Our Scooter.

And helmet of course. It's just so fun and easy for us to get around now. I wish we would have bought a scooter years ago. 

9. The Office.

I know that's not a "thing" per say, but I'm gonna list it anyways. I watch The Office basically every day. It's a happy place for me.

10. Apples. Coffee.

I love apples. I try to eat one every day, and not just to keep the doctor away, but because I love them.

I not only LOVE coffee, but actually, I really 'can't' live without it. It's a must, every day. #addicted

Also, please read below, because it seems I need to qualify everything in this post, and make sure everyone doesn't get confused with the things I can't, "can't" and "don't want to" live without.

**Truly, if everything was stripped from me, like it was from Job, I hope and pray that I could respond as Job did, recorded in the Bible.  Job had everything, a big family, tons of wives, tons of children, loved servants,  money and houses and it was all taken away from him. He was stripped of everything he had in this world, but yet, after tearing his clothes and hair in anguish, he fell down to worship, the God 'who gives and takes away.' He worshiped. If everything is stripped from me, I'll be okay. It would be painful, anguishing & heart wrenching, but I'd always, always have my God. I could live without anything but Jesus. **

 

What 'can't' you live with out??  

This post is for Day 3 of #Blogtober14.

My Favorite Instagram Pic

 Linking up a few days late with day 4 of #Blogtober14 :) (better late than never, yes?) I'm gonna go with the trend, and pick a few of my favorite Instagram pics. Because how can you choose just one of anything, right? Also, please notice Reader that I left little tidbits of my Instagram profile on the sides of these pictures. That's to show you these pics are in fact screen shots from Instagram. Yes, Reader, I purposely cropped in little slivers of profile on my control, shift, +4 'copy a part of your screen shot' shot. I know, I'm profesh.

Oh, husband, you're so cute. I mean, look at him up there, in all his Santa Claus cuteness last year. And oh look, look at that little reindeer next to him. Just precious. ;) 

I love this picture because it's just fun and shows how we have fun together. I also love it because it was taken at school, where Z was Santa Claus and I passed out fun stockings to the kids (along with my boo, Catherine). I like that it's from work, where we have fun, and work together. So thankful for that. Days may be long and tiring, but I love that I get to go there each day with this man. :)

 Also, more husband, because this picture just cracks me up. And it's underwater with our underwater camera, which I think is pretty darn cool.

Also, Chara. Because her face is one of my most favorite faces in the whole entire world. Also, please observe those super cute crooked baby front bottom teeth. Ahhh, Chara. I love this girl-dog!!

And that concludes Day 4 of #Blogtober14. Thank you Taylor and Helene for all your #Blogtober14 hard work.