New on Kindle

Now you can buy my book "Gem Tree Sculptures" on the Kindle. I went out today and purchased one... now isn't that sad that I have to purchase my own book. If you have a Kindle and have been wanting to get a copy of my book this is the perfect way and it is only $9.99 vs. $17.99 for the paper copy. The book's photos and graphics are in B&W so they look just as good on the Kindle as the book. Here is the link to the Kindle edition.

Okay enough blatant advertising. How about a few more pictures from our trip through the Panama Canal. We took a 19 day cruise on Holland America from Vancouver, BC to Fort Lauderdale. So the last pictures I shared were of our stop in San Diego and next we went to Puerto Vallarta. We did a city highlights tour and I think the highlight for my hubby was when he took this picture. I really just wanted to pet the iguana and next thing I knew it was on my shoulder and a gecko was on my head.

We did go to the city center and see Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. There were so many visitors but the church was definitely at the heart. The pictures we took of the church didn't turn out as well as we would have liked due to the sun being in the wrong position.

There was lots of shopping to be expected and I would say aggressive vendors but not as bad as other places. We just had to learn to walk away if it wasn't the price we were willing to pay.

Here is one of the vendor shops located right at the port.

Lots of colorful wares but we held back and didn't buy anything..... at least not at this port.

Stay tuned .... more vacation photos coming.

Back from Vacation

I'm sure most of you didn't even miss me but we went on a 19 day cruise through the Panama Canal. It was fantastic. If you ever get the chance you really don't want to miss it. Along with stopping in San Diego we stopped in several ports in Mexico then Guatemala and Columbia. We were not able to stop in Panama City to get off the boat but cruising the locks was the highlight of the trip.

I think we took almost 2,000 pictures and we are now just trying to process all of them, get them edited and then will be able to post a few to share with others.

I'm sure I will be referencing this trip here for quite awhile. We invited my mother along for the ride so she shared the room with us. We have done this for our other cruises and it works out great for her but she does have to sleep on the couch. We were able to upgrade to a Deluxe Suite which makes it easier to have more than 2 in a room and boy are we spoiled. Huge balcony, laundry done for us as well as our own lounge with espresso coffee, lunch with the captain and so many other perks. Here is what our room looked like before we messed it all up.

This is the large balcony that had a table with 4 chairs and 2 lounge chairs. They did come in handy for a little private sunning. If you can't tell, this is my mother and I.

Our our first stop on the cruise was in San Diego (we got on in Vancouver, B.C.). We took a tour of the city as I had never been to San Diego before and now I really want to go back. So many things to do and see. We went into the Old Town and I fell in love with the gourd art. Here is one picture of some ornaments made of gourds. We didn't have room to purchase a lot of stuff or I would have bought several. Really works of art.

One of the other highlights of San Diego was Balboa Park. This place is absolutely amazing. All kinds of attractions including museums and performing arts, parks, gardens and more. You could spend a week there and still not see it all. The park has 1200 acres and was started in 1892 with Kate Sessions donating and planting 100 trees a year. Can you imagine! The architecture alone is worth seeing.

Okay, enough for today. There is so much more to share. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm off to finish up putting away all the laundry I did today.

Happy Monday

Good day to everyone. I've missed you. I know I posted a few blogs out here the past week for my giveaway, but I actually was on a cruise for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great time and was sea sick one day out of 7 which for me was good as I get sick at the drop of a hat when motion is involved. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and started their holiday shopping. I'll be starting mine here real soon and I've made a vow to either make gifts myself or buy hand made this year. We will see how this turns out.

If you missed my posts this past week I did have a giveaway over at Alterity Button Jewelry and Gifts and she picked a winner bright and early this morning. Congrats and thanks to all who entered and are now following this blog, my facebook fan page or twitter. I appreciate it.

I'm making this post short and quick as I still have a lot to catch up on. Hugs to you all. It's good to be connected again.