If you are a woman reading this, I am sure you have been window shopping before. If you are a man, I am sure you've been with a woman that was doing window shopping or at least wanted to go window shopping.
Well, living in an island that is about 22 miles long x 8 miles wide, you can image there is not much of a retail world around here.We have mostly souvenir shops, jewelry shops, cigar shops and the occasional clothing stores, but after living here for a while they all seem like the have the same stuff all the time.
So, what does somebody that likes window shopping can do about it? Well, nothing else but "cyber" window shopping on the internet, so today this is what I found on the window at Etsy (one of my favorite online -all thing hand made- place)... Just a few items I like.
Lots more to see so I will keep on sharing my window shopping Wednesdays.
Today is already Sept. 1st and so far so good with the Atlantic Hurricanes heading our way. My thoughts and prayers are with those that as I write this are being affected by bad weather or have a storm close by, stay safe and God Bless you all!
I am back after 3 days off, yesterday was my 3rd day and I didn't do much but baked my husband a "freedom cake".
Today is my husband's last day at work after working for the government for more than 13yrs. A huge step for him, but I am very confident that he's going to do so much better, now that he is "free" (hence the "freedom cake")... God is in charge and because of that I have no fear.
Here are some pictures of the "Freedom Cake" process. I used an old family recipe and it was very good, unfortunately I think I left on the oven a little too long so it was kind of dry. I am sure I will do better next time, still it's super tasty!
ready for the oven
ready for eating
Also on Saturday we had our "staff appreciation day" and it was awesome, the massage was good but the facial was probably the best I've had in a long time.
the picture to thank our boss for such a treat
Now it's Monday for me, so to make the best out of it, hope you out there reading this will do the same.
Have a wonderful week!
The weekend is almost here and for me it's going to be a long one.
I am off on Monday because my manager is going away for 2 weeks, so I will be working 6 days in a row during that time.
But besides a 3 day weekend to look forward to, I have another reason to be very happy and thankful for, something that would make anybody appreciated.
Our company requires that we have 2 staff appreciation activities during the year (every 6 months). Well, every year for the past 3 years we have been going out to dinner with everybody and our spouses, and that is always treat but kind of always the same thing.
Well, this year we have a new manager, a lady that is very nice, very proactive and has a lot of new fresh ideas, and besides for the first time ever our whole staff is all women (besides my big boss, the artist, that is a man). So she has put together an afternoon of pampering at Hibiscus Spa at the The Westin Hotel.
We are all getting an hour massage of our preference, a facial treatment and a pedicure. But besides those treatments they have a steam and sauna that we can all use for the afternoon. The whole heavenly experience starts at 2pm and ends around 6pm. Isn't that a wonderful treat? Makes you feel really appreciated.
Can't wait 'till tomorrow afternoon, will share my experiences in the next couple of days, meanwhile enjoy your weekend, otherwise I'll make sure to relax and enjoy it for y'all!!!
Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love.
One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all repaired their boats and left. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to persevere until the last possible moment.
When the island was almost sinking…Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?” Richness answered, “No, I can’t…there is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”
Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel, “Vanity, please help me!” “I can’t help you Love,you are all wet and might damage my boat,” Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked for help. “Sadness let me go with you.” “Oh…Love …I am so sad that I need to be by myself!”
Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her!
Suddenly, there was a voice “Come, Love, I will take you.”It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot to ask the elder his name.
When they arrived at dry land, the elder went his own way. Love, realizing how much he owed the elder, asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?” “It was Time,” Knowledge answered. “Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?” Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is.”
Isn't this a lovely story? I was able to share thanks to my cousin Mariam that send to me by email. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.
Have a wonderful day! <3
Yesterday after work I stopped at the post office to check my mail.
Oh what a great surprise, I got a beautiful package all the way from Greece.
It's such a wonderful feeling to get mail, I love it! The thought of something travel so far to find me, that somebody was thinking about me and that they even made the special effort in sending me something, makes me feel very appreciated, fortunate and blessed.
beautiful Geek Kitties and a lovely post card
Thank you Joan, your packages are always beautiful and very well appreciated. I feel sad that the one I sent you last is still not there, so there's another one coming soon as well...
I loved the kitties she sent me. Last year when I visited my mom she had one like those I received yesterday, (but that one has a longer tail to hold rings for when you are doing the dishes). Well, that one kitty is been pretty lonely, but not anymore, now he was company, only thing, he needs to learn to speak Greek or teach them some Spanish!!!
3 is company
How exciting was to receive this yesterday, it was like Christmas in August!!!
My weekend was very enjoyable, we got some good weather during the day but also some nice and heavy showers for the plants, so we are all happy!
Yesterday we went to see my brother and sister in law and did 2 boat dives on the North Side Wall with the company they work for, they took us to some amazing dive spots.
First one was Babylon (named after the hanging gardens of Babylon because of the coral formations that literary hang from this huge coral pinnacle), unfortunately my camera was not cooperating with me so the pictures came out quite blue, here is my favorite and possible best one of that site.
my husband cruisin' along
Now, on the second dive site, we visited a place called Dragon's Lair, and we had one of the most unbelievable underwater encounters, but this time it wasn't with a big fish, but many, many tiny ones.
Here's a video I took of the Silver Sides on that dive.
Isn't it amazing??? while you are going through them, at times it's a very thick "cloud" and you can barely see the person right in front of your, in fact during the whole video my brother was leading the dive but I can't see him most of the time... Here's a picture of what it looks like.
It was an amazing sight and a one of a kind experience, I really enjoyed the dives and spending time with my brothers, now I am fully energized and ready to take on another work week.
Hope your weekend was also nice, have a wonderful week!
It's pretty amazing to me, how somebody can find art in ways like Terry Border, how in his case he manages to tell "the secret life of everyday objects", gives them life in ways that we cannot imagine...
Here are some of his pieces (the captions on the pieces are by me, not by him!).
the Trojan Horse
mani pedi walking ready!
taking a dip into the color pool!
hot tea tub
Dragon
watch out for Zombies
don't be a jerk
the drama is mine!
Are those very unique an awesome? Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did... Have a wonderful weekend!
It's been a while since I've given an award and there are so many wonderful blogs that I have the pleasure to read (when I have the chance) that I feel right now it's the right time to come up with something extra special.
I hope you out there feel the same way too, because I mean it from the heart.
The people and blogs I want to honor today are:
1. Joan @ Gods Little People... I really don't remember when I found you and your blog, but I've been a faithful follower ever since, your words touch my heart and soul, and although we are so far away geographically speaking, I feel very close to you because of the love we share for all Gods Little People...
2. Wild Magnolia is a blog that I have been following for a while, Randi is going through some major changes in her life, but still her posts are very nice, nice images that make me realize that we are all going through something and having a little space to talk about it's a blessing, you have an awesome blog and even though I don't know you personally I know you are a great girl, keep up the good spirit and God Bless!
3. Kat @ Heart 2 Heart is being following my blog and leaving amazing comments for a while, I have been reading her blog for a while as well, although just very recently I am an official follower of hers. Thanks Kat for the bringing your insight and specially your love for God and your family into my life.
4. Sitka and his Mom Andrea are wonderful bloggers @ All Gods Creatures, I love their blog and I am grateful to her and all her comments on mine, thanks for coming every now and then.
5. Caroline @ Absolutely Unique has a wonderful blog, even though I am not much into fashion the pictures she posts are so glamorous and unique that just looking at them makes me feel pretty stylish, she obviously has great taste and I live that part of life's fashion through her blog!!!
6. The blog "50 iglesias en 50 semanas" (which translated to english means: "50 churches in 50 weeks") is a blog that belong to somebody very close to me from blood and life, she is my first cousin more like my sister. She started this blog as a woman that desires to be a mom, and in this little space she is being sharing her pilgrimage of visiting 50 churches in 50 weeks. As she explains herself in her own space: Being that the churches are the house of God, I made the purpose to visit 50 of his houses in 50 consecutive weeks (I hope!), pray to him and ask that he sends my husband and me the baby that we long for so much.
Today I want to give her this award because I love her and I pray with her that soon her wish to be a mother and have a bigger family with her husband comes true. (unfortunately the blog is in Spanish for those English speakers!)
7. Maggie @ *Moonstruck has such a great blog, she always has great and interesting topics. Sometimes when I don't get many comments in a couple of days and I get kind of down, she is there with a nice word, thanks for your friendship and your blog!
8. Last one but definitely not least, my favorite blogger, man, husband, friend and "my muse", Mark @ First Time (he is probably going to think this is such a girlie award with birdies and all, but oh well!). He is the reason why I ever started blogging in the first place and now I can't stop, but for him, I will go to the moon and back, and his blog will always be my #1. I love you babe!!!
Now, as far as the award goes, you can do whatever you want with it; post it on your blog, not post it, print it, frame it, delete it, pass it along or just smile when you read about it. All I want to accomplish with this is to tell people how much I enjoy their blogs and that they share their life and thoughts with me, we are all miles away but with this blessing that is the internet we are so close in this big blogger family.
On my post yesterday I talked about going forward, about changing for the best when change is required but also remembering what's really important in life (God and family to me is on top of the list).
But there's all sort of ways to move forward and one fine example is the remarkable story about the Crafton Family that sailed the world all together as a family, they sailed 30,000 miles in 83 months (that's 7 years), exploring life at sea and in so many wonderfully remote (and not so remote) places.
picture from The Washington Post
If you would like to read their story click here. My favorite part of the whole article is when they talked about Vanuatu;
"Vanuatu, where the people owned the least and smiled the most, was one of their favorite (destinations). They stayed three months. "They are the happiest people in the world," Tom says. "It reinforced everything we believed about putting time with the family over this blind pursuit of material things."
Vanuatu girl (image from www.lizasreef.com)
And that is probably one of the things I love the most about traveling, to see other people's realities of the world and realize that some times when we are completely immerse in our reality is just our own reality and what we make of it, when we feel our life is meaningless or too complicated, think about people living in the streets, in the middle of the jungle, or even trying to survive an abusive relationship...
So traveling, if you manage to open your soul to see others reality is a very good reality check- If you don't believe me, then you must really read the article about the Crafton family journey.
I've always being a firm believer that you could be totally alone in a deserted island as well as on the 3rd floor of an apartment building in the middle of NY city (or any big city in the world). Our reality is what we make of it and our spirit it not filled up by money, we don't need a bank account to be happy, and although we need it to survive in society, we really don't need it to make the best out of our lives (if you don't believe me, just ask anybody in Vanuatu!).
But anyway, this is not really a self help or wisdom blog, it's just a place to pen down some ideas and random thought about anything that catches my heart.
Hope any of this catches your heart of at least your interest. Have a wonderful day!!!
When facing obstacles in life, sometimes it is hard to find smooth ground again. We let our mind wonder about the worst possible scenarios which makes the jumping of those obstacles more exhausting...
Right now, me and my husband are going through some major changes and sacrifices might need to be done, and that's when I can't help but thinking about that specially moment on our wedding day when I said in front of him, my family and specially God something like this:
"I promise to love you through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together..."
And then I found this beautiful quote by one of my favorite writers Paulo Coelho.
"When there is no turning back, we should concern ourselves only with the best way of going forward"
Isn't this a nice way to put things into perspective? So, if we require to change, let's change in the best possible way, if something is over, let's start something much better and accept only the best possible scenarios.
My dad has a friend that always said "Don't take a single step back, even if it's to gain impulse". We need to always try to move forward without looking back, we are way too concerned with what was and what will be.
There's also the famous quote "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift, that's why it's called the present" and that present if given to us by God and he and only he can manage it or take it away when he feels it's the right time.
So, today more than ever, we need to be grateful for those obstacles that make us realize that we need the best attitude to move forward, to let the little voice in our head be our cheerleader instead of letting it drag us into depression, we need to be close to our loved ones and remind them that they have our support 100%, our commitment and love every day.
But mostly we need to let God work in his mysterious ways so our moving will always be forward...
My weekend was pretty smooth, no hard turns or sudden movements, just chilling, the weather was rainy but still super hot.
I forgot to mention that last Thursday we visited the new Cayman Motor Museum, a private museum with a very special and valuable car collection. The owner Mr. Andreas Ugland has this amazing collection and was kind enough to share it with the world, here are some of the most amazing cars he has.
nice spread of Ferrari
1954 Rolls-Royce
the original 1966 Batmovil
my favorite, Mustang
Bentley previously owned by Elton John
"tailor made" Rolls-Royce Limousine for the owner
Aren't those cars amazing? The whole place is very nice, very well set up and with very nice memorabilia and decoration! If you are every in Cayman, it's a no miss, a 100% worth the visit!
If you are into superstitions I guess today is a good day for you, but if you are into positive thinking and being thankful (like myself), than today is an even better day..
But there's many people out there thinking that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, so today I decided to write 13 reason why I think is the opposite and it's a lucky day.
1. TGIF!!! (do I need to say more? don't think so).
2. We are all seeing another day, we are alive.
3. You are reading this on a computer, iphone or anything else, so you are lucky to have any of those devices.
4. You are reading this so you are blessed with the knowledge of reading.
5. For us here in the Cayman Islands, it's already Friday the 13th, 2010 and so far so good with the Hurricanes this season.
6. I have a eye doctor appointment, I was lucky to get the only spot available today (when I called just yesterday).
7. You are lucky that last year I did another post about today's date, so if you would like more facts about this particular date, just click here.
8. Friday is lucky, because it introduces Sat. & Sunday.
9. For me it's just like that song "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend" because it applies to me, I have a wonderful husband who is also my best friend... and I am sure, for some reading this, this is also true and a huge blessing.
10. Today is the only Friday the 13th in 2010, last year we had one on the months of Feb. March & November, so makes the most out of it.
11. FACT: On a Friday 13th, 1939, Igor Secorsky invented the helicopter, 71 years later in 2010 we were lucky to celebrate our 1 year marriage anniversary with our first helicopter ride!
12. We are lucky that today we are having at least 2 meals, when there's some many people out there not having the same luck.
13. And the last but not least reason why today is a lucky day would be; Sunday is the 15th, so being that we get paid on the 15th & 30th of every month, we are getting paid today instead, woo-hoo!
Blessings of luck today, tomorrow and always for all!!!!
When I first saw you last Friday, it was destiny, I just knew I wanted you... You were the tallest of them all and very quiet, just what I was looking for.
Now you are here and I'm sleeping in so much better by your side during this summer hot months, even my husband seems to enjoy my "little crush" with you!
I love my new Lasko 52" pedestal oscillating tower fan, it's awesome and makes my summer nights, much more enjoyable, now this is a healthy one of a kind summer crush, don't you think?!? LOL
"Time is the best teacher, unfortunately it kills all its students".
I think I might never get used to death, but I'm not talking about my own death, but the death of a family member, a friend or even an acquaintance.
Yesterday I found out that somebody that I knew passed away, and although I haven't seen him in years I can't help but feel sadden by the news and specially to imagine what his family is going through in this difficult time. Because that is the part I dread the most, thinking when the time of loosing somebody close to me is going to come.
But, don't get me wrong I am not scared of death or myself dying, is more about spending life without the people I love so much, but I guess part of that love is to rejoice when they are finally passing to a better life close to God. It is still hard to accept it.
So, I wonder, what will happen to my blog when I am gone? If it stays here for years after I am gone, I wonder what people will think about my life, about what I liked, if they will have things in common with me? Sometimes when I browse around blogs that have not being updated in months, perhaps years, I wonder where the person is and if they are still alive, maybe if I leave a comment, it will never reach the author cause it's long gone...
So, what about my email account? My passwords? Should I write them down and keep them in a safe box with access only with a lawyer after I am gone? But what for? so people can see the remaining balance on my paypal account, which is probably less than a $100 us? Or so they can see all my past Amazon orders and what my wish list contained? Where do all these stuff ends up?
photo taken by me at a cemetery near Buffalo, NY
Anybody out there has any idea about any of this?
My grandfather always used to say, "The end of world is when you die", well, I am not sure, cause he died when I was 10 and the world is still around...
Anyway, just some food for thought... Have a wonderful alive Wednesday!!!
Ever heard the phrase: "Dogs have family, cats have staff"???
Well, it's probably a pretty accurate statement (most of the time), but lately I've feel like our dogs act more like felines in this aspect.
To me at times, it feels like we are here to pet them, love them, feed them and walk them on their own terms and schedule... I wonder if while we are at work, they have some sort of contact with a cat that has been given them tips on how to handle us?
And I wonder if this is the cat they have been hanging out with...
I hope not, cause he looks kinda' serious, uh?
So even though Ditto looks very innocent, I think deep down when he stares at us, he is secretly trying to mind control us...
see what I mean???
And Sheba acts all girlie and innocent as well, but deep inside we know she is just playing us with her charms so we do what she wants, when she wants it...
who can resist her???
As you can imagine it's hard to see that very thin line between family and staff, but at the end of the day it's all worth the walks, the food, the petting, the taking them to the vet because they also give us so much love and happiness that pays up like nothing else.
So, if you have a furry companion of any sort and you sometimes feel like I do, well, think of it as a blessing or just play dumb! LOL
It was a good weekend. Saturday was a very hot day, in the afternoon our outdoor thermometer measured about 110F at 4pm, so imagine how hot it was at noon. We stayed in most of the day and only went out to get some groceries and new snorkel gear.
When we came back from our vacation in Mexico almost 2 weeks ago, one of our bags never made it back, it contained our snorkel gear, some coffee, my husbands underwater camera with lots of pictures and a pair of flip flops. At this point we are trying to process full payment with American Airlines for all of our stuff and starting to look for new gear. Because we are such avid divers/snorkelers, both me and my husband, have gear for both, Saturday we went to Divers Supply, which is were we usually get our stuff, but they were very low on stock, so we decided to wait until the get more product in.
So yesterday when we went to the beach, I used a "backup" mask and snorkel (but no fins) to do some snorkeling, it was pretty hard work because the water was kind of choppy and it took a lot of me to actually manage to get down and stay down to try and take picture, so here's the best shot from all the ones I took.
Then my husband went out snorkeling for a longer time and find this beautiful treasure
Isn't it pretty? It's one of those conch shells that if you get close enough, you can hear the ocean... for real, just click below and you'll see (well, more like, you'll hear!).
See, it's just a matter of believing and it happens, for those who are far from the ocean I hope you enjoyed the little symphony and those who are close to it, remember to never take it for granted, as the ocean song is a very soothing and relaxing one.
