Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad!

Wishing that this Christmas and every day of your life, you'll find these presents under your tree...

Let's us enjoy this season and focus on honoring God and the good feelings inside ourselves, because without that, all those other presents are shallow and empty.

Best Wishes this Christmas to you and your family!!!

Fruitcake

 Dear Santa;

I don't want much for Christmas....I just want the person reading this to be happy. 

Friends are the fruitcake of life. Some are nutty, some are sweet and some are even soaked in alcohol!. But mix them together and they add flavor to my life. 

*********************

To those reading this, all I can say is thanks letting me reach to you and share my random thoughts, comments, photos and anything that I can come up with everyday or just any day you come around...

In this era of technology I am so happy to say I feel like I have my own blogger family and my interaction with each and one of you is very important in my life.

So, for you and your loved ones I only wish that you enjoy this time with the best possible feeling in your heart; feelings of love, joy, peace, compassion and willingness to share with others that have less than us.

God is the most important part of the Holidays and every day of our lives, nowadays it's all about the presents, the parties, the drinks and we sometimes forget what's vital in all of this, so God Bless you today and everyday!!!

Merry Christmas!

Tree Thursday

The last tree I am featuring is not a tree on the island but one in my home country, Costa Rica.

The picture was sent to me by a friend that lives in California but was visiting CR for a few days, the girl in the picture is my friend's daughter Samantha.

 

Have a wonderful day!!!

double celebration

It's already Dec. 22nd, for me it's kind of hard to believe it, we are super close to Christmas.

This year my Christmas is an extra special one. For the first time since I've been on the islands, I get to spend Christmas Day with some family (besides my husband and dogs).

Now that my brother Mau and his wife Gaylene live here, we are getting together on Christmas day for a double celebration, as it's also my brother's birthday!!! We are doing a Christmas Brunch at my house, with a special dish from my home country (Gallo Pinto), French Toast, Fruit, Mimosas (OJ and Champagne) and  chocolate cake to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and Jesus!

Besides that, as I work at a gallery that also has a retail store, we have been pretty busy this past few days. Although getting closer to the holidays unfortunately doesn't mean people are in a nice Christmas Spirit. In fact, I am convinced that for some people, this time of year brings the worst out of them (sadly!).

Well, that's about all that's going on in my world today... Happy Hump Day and be good, naughty, or both!

it's the season to give

Our dogs (like many other pets) are very blessed animals. The have a nice house, people that love and care for them, food & water, medical care (if needed), they go on walks when needed and even get treats every now and then.

On the other hand there are many, many domesticated animals that do not have the same privileges as our dogs do. Some are born to live in the streets, having to constantly look for food and shelter to survive. Whenever I hear about terrible snow storms, hurricanes and any other bad weather situations, I think about those animals that have no place to be safe.

Now, there are others animals that thanks to the love and care of certain people and organizations, have the opportunity to be in a shelter area where they are safe and can get fed. Maybe they would even have the opportunity to one day be part of a family that will love and care for them the way it should be.

So this being the season to give, let's try to focus on not only getting things for people that  sometimes don't even need anything at all, let's not forget about others and specially those lovely animals in need of so much.

And that's why this year I decided to donate more than just money to the Cayman Islands Humane Society, because sometimes money can end up in the wrong hands or used for the wrong things.

This year I am buying a 52 lbs bag of food for the shelter dogs and a 30 lbs bag for the kitties, so they can have a few set meals to finish and start the year with a full belly.

As I can't adopt them all (even though I wish I could) I am also including a new resolution on my list for 2011 and it's to give them a bag every 3 months (if my budget allows it)... Have a wonderful day!!!

i heart visitors

We are starting the week in a great way, today we are expecting family that will be visiting the island on a cruise ship, so exciting!

My husband's cousins; John, Carol and their son Grant from New Vienna, Ohio are coming on a Carnival Cruise.

from left: Me, Mark, Jim, Janet (my mother in law), Grant (w/ New Vienna t-shirt), Carol, John and Laura (Jim's wife)

Last time we saw them (and the first time I met them) was back in Ohio in 2007.

Unfortunately this time they will only be here for a few hours, but hey, I love visitors and specially if it's family so I'll take a few hours over no visits at all.... I have the day off so we will bring them to the house and spend as much time with them as possible.

Oh, by the way, did I mention I heart visitors? [hint!, hint!]. So, why don't you add a New Year's resolution to start saving up for the flight down here and come visit??? We will take care of the accommodation for ya'...

Have a great week!