saying goodbye

 

Good bye 2011!

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing, specially if you are saying it to somebody you love and care for, but there's times when goodbyes are good and perhaps necessary for us to move forward.

All things in life have a beginning and an end, today is the end of 2011 and tomorrow we start a fresh brand new year, one that we can make the best out of with just the right attitude.

Here's the a wonderful year for all of us, our families, friends, our countries and the whole world. That 2012 be filled with the most wonderful blessings and that those blessings start in our heart and we pass them along the entire year!!!

Happy New Year!

Red dog, Yellow Dog

Once in a while comes a movie that is fun, interesting, unique and even inspirational but the best part being that it is based on a true story.

A movie like that (and that we watched recently) is Red Dog.

What a great story it is, full is very peculiar characters, all fun and extraordinary, and of course my favorite is Red.

Never heard of this movie? Well, here's the trailer so you can have an idea of what's all about...



I definitely recommend it to all of us dogs/animal lovers, for anybody or everybody that has or had a connection to a special animal; that teaches us about loyalty and love among other great qualities.

So, look it up and watch it and if you can't find it, let me know I will mail you a dvd copy!

In other news, it took our dog Sheba exactly 3 days to destroy her Christmas present...

Oh well, I guess she enjoyed it while it lasted, LOL!

Have a great Thursday! :)

come sing with me...

As I mentioned yesterday for Christmas my husband got me a beautiful and magical Tibetan Singing Bowl that I absolutely love to play.

It makes such an amazing sound that you can feel all the way inside your bones.

The other night I played it right on top of my solar plexus chakra and WOW, it was amazing how the vibrations and sound can be felt all around my body, very cool!

Even my dogs love it and they tend to lay down around me when I am playing it.

The video is not the best but you can get a pretty good idea of what they are all about, if you would like to see more amazing videos of these kind of bowl, check youtube.com.

And if you would like more information about them, their history and what they are all about, please check the Wikipedia page by clicking here.

I am going to try and make a video later in the afternoon so you can't really hear all the neighborhood rosters, LOL!

Have a wonderful day!

where are u christmas?

Christmas has come and gone and now most people are looking forward to the next celebration, New Years.

Hope everybody's Christmas was a fabulous time, filled with the most wonderful moments shared with special people; whether it was family time, friends time or even inner peace time.

For me Christmas was very nice, got to spend another one with my most wonderful blessing a.k.a my husband, also celebrating my brother's birthday on Christmas day and getting together with friends.


To me Christmas is not so much about the presents but about the fact that you show people love [ some via the little things you get them] and I know my husband really loves me as he got me a pool! woo-hoo....

It is only one of those blow up ones but the best part is that we can put it on our back deck upstairs, so I am very excited about that!

Our dogs both get Christmas presents and this year it was not exception.

Sheba got a Christmas Ball and Ditto a matching collar and leash with sharks!

Also from my husband a received an amazing Tibetan Singing Bowl and I love it, will try to make a video of it later and post it for those who don't know what they are.

Now, it's back to work for me, so the magic time of the season is over, lol!

Happy Tuesday, I am looking forward to my Kettlexpress class tomorrow, although I am still a bit congested and my sinus acting up at times... 

Christmas Wishes

Dear God,

Being that you are the one and only that always takes care of me. You take me by the hand and sends me blessings everyday, so this Christmas time [and any time] you are the one to make my Christmas list to. [Sorry Santa, nothing personal!]

But first, I can't possibly ask for anything unless I first thank you for all the blessings you bring to my life and the life of those around me.

If possible, there are still a few things I would like to ask you for in 2012.

1. To love and be loved everyday.

2. A daily hug.

3. A house... for those that are homeless.

4. Food, for those that are starving.

5. Faith for those that need it or that are lacking it completely.

6. Freedom for those that are innocent of any crime.

7. Health, strength, care and support for all our brothers and sisters suffering.

8. Peace of earth.

9. More beautiful sunsets and less natural catastrophes.

And last but definitely not least...

10. Blessings to all those reading this, their loved ones and friends, as well as my family and loved ones.

May this Holiday Season be absolutely wonderful and that the spirit of God will surround all your celebrations.

God Bless and Happy Christmas!!!

Pimp my [holiday] ride

If Santa had a car and suddenly he decided he wanted to "pimp" his ride, I am sure he will not even attempt to use those tacky Christmas decorations people are using in their cars nowadays.

What's up with that?

Reindeer antlers and a red nose!

C'mon people, if you are lacking that much of a Christmas spirit or have perhaps waaaay too much to decide on such a thing, perhaps you need a bit more eggnog, LOL!

Call me old fashion, but to me, Christmas decorations are for the house, or perhaps the place of business, but definitely NOT for your car.

And this year to top it up, I've seen some "Elves" cars around as well.

With examples like these ones it's when I confirm that the whooole purpose and real meaning of Christmas is long, long gone for most people... And I wish for them that they find it before it's too late.

Happy Thursday!

from my inner artist

Remember back in November when I wrote this post about drawing a picture for my friend Aidan?

Well, here it is... but again is not quite finish but I plan to finish it today so I can put it on a plane tomorrow.

Aaaaand... I took the picture with my phone so the colors are completely wrong!

But I think you can get the idea, right?

Also, here's a closer look at the Eagle.

Pretty cool, uh? well, at least I think so and I am hoping he will love it.

I still need to finish the coloring of the sky (which doesn't show at all on the photo), as well as adding more pine trees and some other minor details...

And then tomorrow is the day to send it to him!

On the health front, I have to say that I feel a bit better today, now I just hope that this throat thing doesn't go down to my bronchi because that is usually what happens to me after a cold, so I am stopping today at the drugstore to get something for my night cough.

Happy Wednesday... Christmas is almost here!

unda' da weatha'

Saying that today I feel "under the weather" is sort of a under statement.

It's been raining non stop from yesterday morning and although it's not raining right this minutes, still out there looks very cloudy and perhaps some chance of showers.

At times, out there looks like we are back in Sept. or October when it's actually rainy season here, it's cloudy and just yucky wet weather all around.

Definitely not a very good time to have this kind of weather and to have a cold, with sinus episodes included.

I must get better soon so I can fully enjoy this awful weather, yeah right!

The worst part about being sick [besides how bad I actually feel], is that I am going to miss my Kettlexpress class on Wednesday, with my sinus situation I think it would be short of a crime to do it, I could probably pass out from not breathing right, or perhaps it would help my cold?

Oh well, let's see how I feel tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off.

Happy Tuesday!

survived the weekend

Despite the fact that I was sick for the past two days and that our internet was down at home, making me completely and absolutely disconnected from the world... I have a nice weekend.

On Saturday I woke up feeling like crap, sore throat and my sinus acting up, but I toughen up and with the help of some good old drugs, got the house clean and ready for a "Girls Night" Christmas Style...

We had a fantastic time!

Lots of food, lots of laughs, pressies and just fun girly time!!!
 

Food, food, food, yummy!!!

Smile to the camera girls!

Santa Steal Gift Exchange... Toni got my lovely fossil bag!

In the Christmas Spirit- girl Style!

So, besides trying to get over this nasty cold I have, I also had time to work on my Christmas gifts for the girls at work.

This year I decided to make some potholes for everybody, so far I am done with 2 and have half of other two to go...

Potholders finished

Got the front of the other two done... now I just need to work on backing.

Dunno why blogger is uploading both potholders photos upside down?!?!? Oh well, you get the idea, right?

Hope everybody had a nice weekend, and for the lucky girls that participated on the giveaway I will make sure to post everybody's packages on the mail this week!

Have a wonderful week : )

what a treat!

First I have to say, thanks to Debbie, Heather and Colleen for participating in my "Christmas Treat Giveaway".

Second, I have to say congratulations to the winner, Colleen, who will be getting the book plus a  special surprise treat with it!

 

She came in last but got to be first in the end... I chose her via random generator!

And last but not least, since this gift is a gift that "keep on giving" to whoever receives it (as long as they use to cook) and to the animals at the shelter, I have decided to send a book to everybody that sign up, so both

Debbie and Heather

are also getting a "Bone Appetit" book for Christmas!!!

Thank you all for signing up, but most importantly for reading my blog and for your friendship via your comments, Happy Christmas to all of you and your loved ones!!!

PS. Please send me your mailing addresses to my email and I will get those books in the mail asap!

Happy weekend!!!

7 minutes video

If today you have about 7 minutes to spare, make sure you use those minutes by watching the following video that is not only beautiful but also shows the sad reality of the ocean's situation.

I don't think the issue of the health of our oceans is something we can to ignore, in fact, the more we learn about it, the more we can help built up awareness in other people and perhaps make a difference on our food choices and even our environmental practices.

So, watch the video until the end, buy the record if you like, but even if you don't buy the record, make sure to share the video with others so we can start changing our mentality and make a difference.

Have a great day!

'tis the season to bake

Another Wednesday and another kettlexpress class done and all I have to say is, it was hard stuff all over again, but I loved it!

Thanks to Debbie and Heather for signing up for my giveaway, hopefully more people will sign up, there's time until Friday, so go ahead, click here and leave me a comment.

I am pretty happy about the Christmas shopping situation this year, but I am kind of dreading all the baking that is coming my way, since I have offered a Chocolate Cake for my brother's birthday (which is Christmas day) and we also attend a Christmas party every year and I get to make the dessert, so I am thinking that this time on Christmas Eve I will be making 2 chocolate cakes!





Yesterday I tried a new Chocolate cake recipe from the amazing Ina Garten a.k.a. "The Barefoot Contessa" and I have to say that I am still to be disappointed by one of her recipes, she is fabulous and every single dish she makes is easy and incredibly tasty.

I definitely don't like following recipes that are long, with tons of ingredients and specially when half of them you need to go out and buy. In Ina's case, she is specially very good about using ingredients that you usually have at home and her recipes are very simple to follow and everything comes out so delicious.

If you've never tried any of her recipes please make and effort and either check her website or the food network website, I promise you won't be dissapointed.

And if you feel like trying some Caribbean cooking remember to sign up for my giveaway and win the "Bon Appetit" cookbook!!!

So, just click here!

Happy Hump Day to everybody!

Christmas Treat

On Saturday before I took Yanique to the movies, she wanted to stop by the Humane Society Shelter to show me a cat that her Mom wants to adopt for the house.

I am so glad we went, first because I love to visit those animals (although their situation makes me sad as well and I wish I could adopt them all), but also because I found something I've been looking for. Lately, I've been thinking about something to giveaway on my blog for Christmas, and although I am cutting it close this time, I still want to.

The deal is that this year I am making most of my Christmas presents [handmade] so I barely have any time to come up with something else and work on it, well, perhaps I could pull it off only if I was a octopus, LOL!

So then on Saturday at the shelter I found something special, being that I love to cook, I love animals and I am always up to help those lovely ones at the shelter.

This time my Christmas Giveaway is a:

"Bone Appetit" Human Society Cook Book 

with Caribbean and International Reciepes

[plus photos of the Shelter animals].... nice, isn't it?

Now, all you have to do to participate is:

1. Leave me a comment with your email address [so I can contact you]
2. For an extra chance, all you need to do is mention the giveaway on your blog and leave me a separate comment about it or just grab the button below and post it on your blog.

Easy enough, right?


Of course, I know I am a bit late to send this on the mail [specially from the Caribbean], so whoever wins it won't be receiving it until probably until after Christmas, sorry about that!


Time to join the giveaway is until Thursday December 15th at 12 midnight EST, and I will announce the winner on Friday the 16th. If you are the winner and I receive your postal address that same day, then it'll be on its way immediately.


So, go on, leave me a comments and tell your friends all about it for an extra chance to win it!!!


Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!

On the 12th day...

My weekend was fabulous, a busy one but very enjoyable.

Had time to do some crafts, work on some of my holiday gifts and still have time to catch a movie and a party with friends.

First I want to share a little Christmas Tree that I made over the weekend. It was a fun and easy craft that anybody can do, all you need is

1 empty bottle of wine
ribbon
fabric glue or a hot glue gun (whichever one you prefer)
scissors

Now all you have to do is cut the ribbons about 10 inches long and glue them together and the ends.

Once you have the ribbons ready, start to glue them on a straight line around and make as many lines until you reach the top of the bottle.

And for the final result... [insert drum roll here]... it should be something like this...

Taaa-daaah! Behold the "little Christmas Ribbon-Tree"

Pretty, uh?

So I made the little tree on Saturday morning, then in the afternoon I picked up Yanique and we went to watch Happy Feet Two, which was actually a pretty nice movie.

After the movie we walked around Camana Bay, which the area where the movie theater is, went up to their look out tower, walked around the marina and even check out some of their fountains with shells (but no water in them this time).

taking a stroll

walking palm

view from the tower

around the marina

Yanique with the shells

Saturday evening we had our first Christmas party, I made the kebabs and they were a success!

Hope everybody has a nice week!!!

I got a feeling

I can't even begin to describe the marvelous feeling I woke with today...

but I am going to try...

It's a feeling of joy and excitement, of knowing that today is FRIDAY, yippeee!

Oh what a wonderful feeling!!!

Christmas celebrations officially start tomorrow. We are attending our very first Holiday Party at our friends Jo & Chris's house. Last time I talked to Jo she said that this year they are having an "Italian" theme so that if I wanted to bring something, just think around those lines...

So, I am bringing some Antipasto Kebabs, hopefully those would be good.

Here's the recipe I'm trying.[ Please keep in mind that if you decide to make these, there are endless possibilities of what to put on them, like cherry tomatoes, small pickels, grapes, etc....]

I will use for my version:

1  9 oz package of Three Cheese Tortellini,(like Buitoni )cooked to package directions
1 can Medium or Large pitted Black Olives
1 5.75 oz jar Green Olives
2 12 oz containers of marinated mozzarella balls(usually found near the speciality cheeses)
30 slices of Salami, cut in half
60 pieces of pepperoni
1 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing ( my favorite is the Paul Newmans)
Skewers (as many as you'll like to make)

Place the cooked tortellini in a bowl or large gallon freeze bag. Pour the salad dressing over the top and marinade in the fridge for a few hours. Drain the pasta. Place one of each item onto the skewer using the pointy side.

Looks good in the pictures, we shall see if it tastes the same.

So, for me it's going to be a busy weekend. Tomorrow Sat. morning I will get those kebabs ready, then I'm off to pick up Yanique at 2pm to take her to the movies at 3 and we are going to watch "Happy Feet 2", I hope it's a nice movie.

Then at 7pm is off to the Christmas Party!

On Sunday I just plan to go to Church in the morning and then perhaps go visit my SIL in their new place.

And last but not least, I am hoping to get rid of my soreness from the Wed. class... so in between all I have plan, I need a much deserved rest.

'Till we meet again, have yourself a wonderful weekend!

Holiday spirit

What are the best feelings to describe the Holiday Season?

Love? Joy? Happiness? Hope? Charity?

I guess any as longs as it's a good feeling, right?

Well then, what's with Christmas music that [once again this year] DOES NOT put me in a holiday spirit?

It's been years that I've tried to figure this out, but can't come up with a reason.

But here's the thing, it's not the lyrics I mind so much, but maybe that some of the songs seem very depressing at times and in some cases even "whinny", so after a while of the same stuff, it gets on my nerves BIG TIME!

Perhaps I should write Santa a letter and ask him for some taste in this kind of music?

Maybe I should just buy some ear plugs and wear them every day or perhaps I need to increase my dosage of the other kind of Christmas "spirits", LOL!

So, how is your Christmas spirit these days? Are you feeling the Christmas music or like me just starting to get on your nerves? Any advice for me???

Have a great Thursday!

describe exhausted? me

Today at 6am I tried a new class at a new gym Rogue Gym (well, at least new for me!) and I have to say it was nothing by though and intense, but I loved it.


The name of the class is called KettleExpress and it's a very cool and unique concept, anything but a routine; from calisthenics to kettlebells, barbells and medicine balls, athletic training, agility and coordination drills, metabolic conditioning, yoga based dynamic flexibility drills, basic gymnastic skills and even Olympic lifting. 


But that's not all.


It also uses boot camp exercise and interactive team bulding drills, with hi impact movements.


Are you tired yet? I know I still am, even 3 hours after the class!!!

Here's a picture of part of the Gym... Oh also they have a boxing ring as they teach Boxing, Muay Thai fighting and other stuff (but I ain't signing for any of that!).

So, even as I type this I am still exhausted but somewhere deep inside I am also proud that I did so good today on my first class!!!


According to the instructor, you can burn an average of 900 calories each class!!! I am all up for that, let's see how it goes next week.


Happy Hump Day!

Pirates Caves

As mentioned on yesterday's post, on Saturday my new little sister and me visited the Pirates Caves, where they have a little petting zoo, we had a great time and I specially loved the goats!

Here are some of the highlights of that day.

love birds

little goat- I want it!

little goats- I want them!

adult mountain goat

And finally the beautiful peacock, who gave us an amazing display of beauty!

By the way, did I mentioned I loved the goats and that I want one? So if you have a spare goat you would like to send me for Christmas, please feel free to air freight it asap, thanks!

Happy Tuesday : )