It's time for the weekend, time of enjoy each and every minute of our day and night. Although we don't really need to wait for the weekend to do this. We just need to focus on the fact that every single thing that surround us was created by God in perfection, and if only we stop ourselves from focusing on what we don't have, or what we don't like, I am sure we can find beauty and enjoyment in all...
If don't believe what I am saying, just watch the following video and you'll know what I say is true...
So, whatever you do, take time to really enjoy it to the max. Perhaps this weekend there is an opportunity to meet somebody new, to do something that you've never done before or simply to enjoy being alive!
Yesterday was a pretty amazing day for 33 miners, but also for their families, friends, the country of Chile and even the rest of the world as we watched them being rescued.
I didn't really followed much of what was going on during the time they were trapped, I knew it was going on and I felt really bad for them and their situation and although I don't consider myself claustrophobic, I am sure I will have a hard dealing with something like this was to happen to me.
capsule in which the miners traveled about 15min back to the surface
On the other hand my husband was constantly keeping track of what was going on and even posting on his blog about it several times. Even the night before (Tuesday) when we were watching the local news he got irate because they said that the miners were already rescued when in fact the rescue wasn't even started yet...
when there still about 8 left to be rescued
I am just in general very happy with the outcome of their situation, that people have been making so much effort to take them out safe and sound, and I cannot even start to imagine the feelings of their family member to embrace them one more time...
rescued miner #25 hugging his wife
So in a time when you turn on the news and it's mostly all about violence, war, terrorism and many other human tragedies, I believe the rescue of those miner was a definitely flash of global joy.
With God taking care of them down there for about 70 days (the longest ever record of somebody survive trapped underground) and the perseverance of the rescue team as well as the government of Chile, this had the best outcome possible.
I can stop thinking about how much joy those miners feel today after seeing the light of day again, to hug a loved one and for something as basic as having a bed to sleep in, God Bless them and their families as well as all of the people that helped physically and with prayers!
What feelings do you get when you see these images?
tenderness?
happiness or freedom?
wonder?
love?
Well, how about the feelings of guilt, shame, sadness and regret?
Sounds like weird feeling to describe those beautiful bunnies, right? Well not really.
I believe these should be the feelings that us humans should have towards rabbits (as well as many other species of animals) nowadays. And all because we are still using and abusing many species (including rabbits) by performing lab testings on them, and all for the soul purpose of our own enjoyment of many products that are available in the market, like soaps, cleaners, fragrances and specially cosmetic products.
If you were to do a search for google images of animals testing, I am sure it would be like watching a scary movie, in fact probably worst, because in movies mostly is people who get killed or abuse and not so much animals.
Why are we still doing this?
click here for another very useful list of do and don't animal testing companies
If you would like a list of the current product on the market that still do animal testing please click here.
I know for a fact that only awareness about this sort of issues make a difference, I myself stopped buying shampoo, first because of the chemicals on it and also because most manufactures of such products do animal testing on them, now I make my own shampoo and I love it!
Although, I have to admit that it's so hard and frustrating when (like in my case), you live on a place where not many products are available, so basically you either buy the product from companies that abuse animals and test products on them or you don't.
But, there's always the option of becoming greener, it's all about choices. With the kind of information available to us through the internet I believe if you want, you can make a difference. Down the road it's also better to not have so many chemicals in your life; it's better for the environment, better for your health but also for the health of many animals out there... So, NO demand, NO market, that's why we should STOP and think to start making a difference.
Just some FFT (food for thought!)... Have a nice day!
Lately I've notice there are lots of Dragon flies around, I guess it's the season but don't know why there are so many.
The weekend we were in Cayman Brac I notice them there as well, I wonder what is it that brings them out this time of year, maybe it's their matting season?
But then, where do they disappear to afterward? To me, Dragon Flies are very mystical insects, unlike any other around.When I was a little girl I always loved to catch them but they I would always release them again without harming them. In Costa Rica most Dragon flies are very small and have different colors; green, brown, blue and yellow.
In Spanish we call them "Libelulas" and my favorites to catch were the blue ones!
I love them, they are very magical creatures. Do you have them where you live? I wonder how many different species there are and what do they eat, pollen from flowers like the bees? If you know more about them, I would love more info.
Even though I don't usually post on Saturday, today I am here because I decided to participate on a fabulous idea from another blog, so today I've join Amanda & Don's Blog Party! Saturday Around the world.
Don't really have much to post about, so I will just post some random pictures from the island that I think I have never posted before.
baby green turtle @ the Turtle Farm
Smith Cove Beach
Art @ Governors local show
Pirates Week Festival 2009
For those visiting for the very first time, I hope you liked with pictures and the same for my regular visitors. Have a great weekend!!!
Today I want to start this Friday and the weekend with something like this...
Isn't this nice? Of course it might all sound very simple but it is something that most of us have to work on every day of our lives... The good news is that we have our whole life ahead of us regardless of our age, as none of us know when our expiration date is due, all we need to do is LIVE for as long as God wants us to!
Have a wonderful weekend and remember This is your LIFE, live it well!!!!
Today I am at home, I've taken a sick day because I haven't been feeling so well lately, and with today's weather I am literally feeling under the weather!
My back is being giving me problems for a couple of months now and after some test the doctors say I have a "slip disc" on my lower back, so I have been going to physio again for a few week. But since I've now being feeling well (specially yesterday) that has trigger the back spams again.
Today I got up early to call into work and tell them I wasn't coming, then I ate some light breakfast and went back to bed again until now (midday) that I got out of bed and decided to write something on my blog.
Weather is terrible today, yesterday was too, last night the wind had about 50mph gusts (almost hurricane strength!), now the wind has stopped as well as the rain but is very cloudy still.
In other news, I have finished my latest "Amigurumi" project and I am very proud of this one. With permission from the owner (my husband Mark) here's my latest creation:
miniature horse
Well, I guess it's off to bed for me again and just taking it easy. Have a nice day!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and being that my life was directly affected by this disease already, I make a very important point to honor this attitude of complete awareness and very seriously want to approach this horrible disease with a very strong "B.I.T.C.H" attitude, and so should every woman (and even Men!).
When I first found out my Mom had a lump on her left breast, I felt as if my world was falling apart, because my Mom is such a HUGE part of my life.
When she told me at the time (more than 10 yrs ago) that statics show that 6 out of 10 women survive and recover from the disease if it's found in the early stages (like hers) so that's when it hit me... She was part of those 6 and not one of the not so lucky 4. And guess what? I was right!
But even if her recovery, this was a very tough test for her as well as my family and down the road I am happy to say in a very remote way it was a blessing in disguise. I have always being very close to my Mom, but after seeing that she was very close to not being around for very long, my bond with her was of total and absolute trust and love.
Breast cancer made us even closer. During that time, the 2 of us made a deal, I wanted to be 100% honest with her, tell her all my fears, doubts and concerns. But specially I wanted to her to do the same, to not bottle up anything at any point; to complain when needed, to be happy and smile if she felt like, to cry when in pain or when in sorrow... Of course this wasn't an easy thing to do, but I guess it help her realized that even though I wasn't feeling physically the same symptoms as her, in my heart and soul I was going through the same process as her...
I am happy to say we have a survivor in my family, I look up to her and even in her weakest moment, she was still the most amazing woman I have known and this process made her in my eyes just most beautiful, wonderful and never for a minute I wasn't proud to be the daughter of a "B.I.T.C.H.".... I love you mami!!!
So, my point here is, we all need to have a "B.I.T.C.Hy" attitude towards this horrible disease and act when needed, because if it's too late the process as well as the outcome might be very different from my Moms.
Let's think about it today, tomorrow and every day, we cannot put our guard down and we all need to remind each other to check ourselves and that could make a big difference in our lives.
A weekend away is not the same without proof of visit, meaning photographs.
During this visit I mainly took pictures on the flight there, the scenery and some wild life, I didn't take many pictures of us or our friends, but anyway, here are some...
aerial view of Owen Island in Little Cayman
Cayman Brac Ducks
Ducky love!
Freedom flight
hotel's pond (full of birds!)
ahhhh, finally relaxing @ the hammock!
lonely palm tree
As you can imagine by the pictures, there's a lot of wild life in Cayman Brac and almost 2 years since the devastating Hurricane Paloma the scenery as well as the wild life is finally back with full force...
I really enjoy the weekend and realized how much I miss being surrounded by so much nature!
We are back from our short trip to the sister island of Cayman Brac, it was so nice to see the "old place" again, see people and friends that I made while I lived there. In a way it felt like if I was back home visiting, seeing my old apartment, where I used to work and my Brac Family, it was short but great!
The hotel I used to work and live at is fully rebuilt after the devastation of Hurricane Paloma in 2008. We stayed at one of the new Junior Suites and it was very nice. In the room they had this lovely little poem...
Is it lovely? I really liked it, because I believe it to also be true. Islands change people's lives, there's just something about them that is very special, and it's one of the reason why I always wanted to live on one, and now I do!
I have pictures to share and I will get around to it this week... meanwhile have a wonderful Monday!!!
BTW, today is Mingle Monday @ Life of Meg, can't wait to visit some beautiful blogs and if you feel like joining the fun, just click here and come mingle!!!
I am so happy to share with everybody the progress I've made so far on my new hobby of creating crochet Amigurumis... so I present to you, Alex the Lion!!!!!
Isn't he a "cutie petutie"??? I think so myself and I am not only saying it cause it's made by my own 2 hands (well maybe in part I am) but because of the fact that it is true to say "he who perseveres conquers", right???
Can't wait to make more creations and eventually have some to give away, how fun!!!
In other news, weather is slowly improving and we are hoping by tomorrow there will be much better skies as we are traveling to Cayman Brac (one of the sister islands) and we are going on a propeller plane so we do not want much wind around....
Not sure when I will be posting again, but I'll keep u posted, hoping to share lots of pictures of our trip in the next few days!!!
Well, I have to admit that with Monday's post I have jinxed the weeks weather...
Yesterday was definitely a "wellies kind" of day, it started raining non stop from Monday evening and it's been pretty rainy and cloudy all day and all night, meaning we have Depression Sixteen right on top of us!
But don't get me wrong I am not complaining, because this is the worst we've had the entire hurricane season so it's definitely much better than having any real storms coming close to us.
So our season this year like I just said it's been pretty good, even on Sunday when it was cloudy and gloomy we managed to get to the beach, did some snorkeling and although the water was pretty stired up and visibility was bad, I did take some pictures, here are the top 3!
juvenile french angel fish
big crab
beautiful elk horn coral head
Also I took some pictures while on the beach after snorkeling.
hermit crab
lonely beach flower
sunset on a cloudy day
Hoping that TD 16 will not be sticking around for much longer as we have plans to go to Cayman Brac on Friday for the weekend... Here's to good weather and that TD 16 doesn't develop into anything much bigger and that it doesn't affect anybody else.
Isn't it nice when you have something to say or just want to vent and there's actually somebody on the other end of the conversation? Well, that's kind of how I feel when I blog...
When I post, I try to imagine that somebody, anybody out there is reading it. Maybe somebody will feel a connection or at least understand what I want say, maybe not...
Maybe some of the readers are just that, readers, people that do not like to comment, but they like to read...
Being that English is not my first language I constantly wonder if I make myself clear in my ideas...
Well, maybe I don't do so bad, as yesterday a fellow blogger with a lovely blog gave me a beautiful award with a wonderful name "A Blog with Substance", isn't it a great name?
And who doesn't want substance in life and in their blog? I know I do!!!
So, the award comes with some rules and are as follow:
1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award.. So, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Jessi!!!
2. Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation and experience using five words...."This is how I blog!"
Now it's my turn to pass along this wonderful award to some very substantial blogs (in no particular order):
Oh la la... it's a wonderful blog about design and decoration, mostly nowadays it's about Heidi's wonderful wedding, so if you feel like looking at some wedding bliss, hit here blog.
I just recently found Joey's Cafe and I have to say I am very happy to have found her, she lives very far from me in Malaysia, and I am sure to find more to discover about her and her culture... can't wait!
In the blog Days of Five Lives, Janelle share with us the life and wonders of a family, plenty of activities with 3 kids to look after, I love her adventures and the way she handles her family being that she is about my age...
And at last my favorite blogger, the one and only man of my dreams and my daily life, my husband at First Time... c'mon go check out his blog, it's awesome, love u babe!!!
So, once again, Thanks Jessi for this wonderful little token, it gives me substance to keep on living life to the fullest and telling about it on my blog!
On Sat. we took the dogs to walk at Barkers beach and they had a great time, specially Ditto, chasing crabs and getting his muzzle super sandy.
Yesterday afternoon we did some snorkeling but the water visibility cause of the rain and wind wasn't very good, I did took some pictures that I will share tomorrow.
actual photo taken on Sat. although it looks like a painting!
Now, Monday is here but it feels much better after having 2 days off. The weekend was pretty cloudy, with on a off showers and wind... I bet the week is going to be gorgeously sunny, all cause I am indoors working, Oh well, long live Murphy's Law!
The thing with our dog Sheba is that she is an "Endless Source of Joy"...
She is a happy ditsy blond, willing to give you love, kisses and attention at all times...
No matter what mood you are one, Sheba is there to remind you that happiness exist every single second and what matter is living in the now...
Another thing about her is that she is super playful, has so much energy and loves all of her toys...
the tennis ball
the plastic bone
her favorite, the bamboo stick
Although her official name is Sheba she has many others like "girlie girl", "gigi", "chunky kong", "shebaca", and even "the root of all evil" (named by my husband), she is still very lovable, silly and crazy at times, she can also be a very girlie "proper" dog...
and she can still wiggle like a "wiggly worm"... LOL!
A few months ago, I stumbled upon a blog about an amigurumi pattern of a lobster. At the time I had never heard of "amigurumi" at all, but as soon as I saw the picture of the adorable lobster I have to admit that it was love @ first sight.
Now let me explain a little; Amigurumiis the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features.
After doing some research and finding even more amazing patterns of Amigurumi all over the internet, there was only one little detail about this new possible hobby, I don't know how to crochet!
So, I started finding out about some local crochet lessons but being that I live in a very small island with less that 35,000 people it was super difficult to find somebody that will give lessons. I found a lady that give a basic lesson one day, but she is a full time teacher at a school so then she didn't have the time to meet me again, but oh well, at least I got the basics explained.
So private lessons were out, and that when I realized that now a days most of us have access to the most complete and endless resource of information in the world, the internet, and pretty much anything can be found there, right?
And right I was, so I made up my mind and decided to learn how to crochet on the internet. Thank God for YouTube and their user (which include some very good people that are willing to share their crochet expertise with me!)
Now I've being working somewhat hard for a few months and finally 2 weeks ago I ordered two books on Amigurumi subject and the books arrived early this week, you can imagine my excitement on getting those books, but specially to realized that in fact I did made enough progress through my "online studying" that yesterday I managed to finish my first Amigurumi.
I am proud to present Mr. Orange!!!
The pattern I used was from one of the book and the original one is for an apple, but I didn't have any red yarn so I had to change it and it became an orange, I think this is the beginning of a wonderful new hobby!
