Hi Everyone,
Sorry I'm a bit late in joining this conversation. I've been sick and then busy with the holidays.

I'm afraid this is a bit long--but as I was typing it just flowed out. My priorities for the next five years will health, income, family, finding more time to feed my spirit, helping others, learning Czech, learning more about photography.

Health: I have severe allergies and asthma, and have a daily regime to follow to help me stay healthy. I have to mostly stay at home where the environment is controlled to avoid dust, chemicals, and more. My friends and family sometimes tease me and call me the "Bubble Girl" smile I'm OK with that as we need to have a sense of humor to help ourselves and our situations--at least it helps me. Anyway, I would like to lose some weight I've gained from living here, in the Czech Republic where heavy, fattening foods are the norm! Losing weight will also help my asthma and overall health.

Income: My husband and I rely mostly on his salary, but he is facing a reduction in salary this year (starting today) as a result of the austerity package passed by the Czech government. All state employees' salaries will be cut by 10%. I currently have almost four income streams: writing, research, proofreading, photography. I would like to further develop these to increase my income.

Family: Family is so important to me. I am caught between two continents--North America and Europe--with family responsibilities on both sides of the ocean. I'm online almost daily with my kids, my parents and even my 96 year-old grandmother! That helps so much. I would like to enhance the relationship between my husband and I. He works long hours and travels, so we need to make the most of the time we have when we are together.

Feeding my spirit: I would love to find more ways to fill my spiritual needs. Daily quiet time is hard to find, but I feel this is necessary for me. I would like to carve out time from a busy day for a daily quiet time to spend in prayer, reading and reflection.

Helping Others: Like many of you, I enjoy helping others. I'm very happy to be a new editor here--Bella has become one of the ways I am able to reach more people and possibly help them. Bella's helping me to fill this priority, but I would like to find more ways to help others. I'm just not sure how to go about finding those ways.

Learning Czech: This might sound like a strange priority, but I've been living in the Czech Republic for four years and have only minimal Czech language skills. I've learned two other languages, but find Czech to be very difficult. So, this is a priority for me as I'll be living here indefinitely. I have both Czech and English-speaking friends, but I would like to be able to talk with Czechs who don't speak English--like with my Czech family. My mother-in-law complains that I can't understand her. Well, this might actually be a saving grace! smile Anyway, I want to speak more Czech to make my living here more comfortable.

Learn more about photography: This is another priority. I've always loved to take beautiful photos, but especially feel this urge living overseas. I use the pictures I take to create items to sell online, and share photos with my family and friends back home. I'm looking to study photography (on my own as I can't afford classes) as it would help further develop one of my income streams.