Shaken, but not Stirred in Albania

Edited 26 November, 2019, to update:
I originally published this post two months ago, shortly after my family and I returned to Albania. We’d been spending the summer exploring Greece and North Macedonia, and it felt good to be “home” again. At approximately 4 o’clock this morning, we woke up to an even stronger earthquake, which clocked in at 6.4.
For the last few hours, I’ve been fielding urgent e-mails and messages on social media inquiring as to my family’s status.

? YES, WE ARE OK!
? YES, we’re still planning to remain here in Albania!
? YES, we are still enthusiastic about continuing our global culinary adventures as Worldschooling digital nomads.

? AND, YES, we want to continue to educate & inspire even MORE people to savor every single blessed moment of their best lives right now!!!

Life is a blessing. We choose to celebrate that blessing every single day.
This holds true now, even MORE than ever before.

If you’ve been waiting for the clock to strike midnight on the new year, on the new decade to make changes and begin living your best life, I want to urge you to stop waiting and #celebratelifeNOW!!! To join us, apply here.

***
We just experienced the strongest earthquake Albania has seen in over 30 years yesterday! The tremor registered about 5.8 on the Richter scale, and we’ve still been feeling a few aftershocks throughout the day today, too.

I’ve spoken with a number of very scared individuals here in Tirana in the last couple of days: children who feared for their lives, adults who questioned how they’re spending their days, even their very purpose in life!

Having grown up in Southern California, I’m no stranger to earthquakes. We did duck-and-cover drills just as often as fire drills in my younger school days. And after living through the massively destructive earthquake and tsunami in Japan back in 2011, yesterday’s shimmying felt mild in comparison. This is not to minimize the impact of what happened in any way. There has been some serious damage to a few local properties AND dozens of people were injured.

Rather, this is to reaffirm that I have not been the least bit swayed in my personal mission. In fact, I am even MORE resolute in my desire to help bring fun AND delicious learning back into home kitchens around the world!

You see, not once was I in fear for my life or the lives of my family. I never questioned whether or not I should be making changes in the way I spend my time because I am truly living life without regrets right now!

I credit this surety to God on High, and I count my blessings each and every single day.

I also know that the work that I do helps to bring more parents, teachers and child carers greater satisfaction in their life and work, because they tell me these things all the time. My cooking workshops have helped adults all over the world gain confidence in their skills in the kitchen AND strengthened their relationships with their children in the process.

fountain hug skopje edited.jpeg
Close as can be, with Our Little Sous, in Skopje, North Macedonia
I absolutely ?LOVE?the time I get to spend working side-by-side with Our Little Sous. I have no doubt that our bond is stronger than ever in the kitchen AND out. He’s learning and growing in the most marvelous ways, and I feel privileged to witness his daily epiphanies and revelations!

If you’re ready to realize the same in your children, I want to invite you to register now for Our Kitchen Classroom’s next Cooking Workshop.

Sign up today and let’s get cooking!!!

We start in January, 2020.