Cruising- Cross #19 off my yolo list (Feb 2014)

So cruising has been something I have wanted to do for a really long time. Last week God gave me the privilege of fulfilling that dream. This are the best pictures I took on that trip. The Carnival Triumph was that ship I was on and I was amazing. I loved it. The only bad thing that happened was that our 5 day trip was cut short to 4 days due to fog in Galveston. But then again I'm sure God had a reason. Since we only had 4 days we were only able to stop at one port which was in Cozumel, MX. I have to say it was really nice place. Over all I was really amazed at how affordable the trip was. If you are looking for a really nice but inexpensive vacation, I would most defiantly recommend a cruise. You only have to worry about the gratuity at the end and if you want soda and or alcohol. All in all an amazing value for the money. I am already looking up dates to see when I can go back, but this time to Jamaica on a 7 day cruise.

Chicago (September 2008)

I was able to go to Chicago a few days earlier than planned due to there being a hurricane in my home town of Houston, TX. I feel kinda bad that they were going through that and I was over here having fun with my mom. :(


TTYL,

Xiomara

My top Pix from Cabo San Lucas, MX ( April 2007)

Cabo San Lucas was amazing! I feel bad cause I didn't take as many pix as I should have of the surroundings because it's so pretty there. I hope you enjoy the pix I'm sharing. If you ever get a chance to go to Cabo, GO!!


TTYL,


Xiomara

My top Ten Pix from Rome, Italy ( March 2006)

 

 

My dream had always been to go to Italy and God granted me my wish in March of 2006. I took my sister with me and we has an amazing time together. I have a lot of other pix but these are my pick for the ones that we are not in. If you have any questions, let me know I will get back to you.

 

TTYL,

 

Xiomara

My Top ten pix from Maui, HI (April 2008)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day I will be able to go back there, If you don't have Hawaii on your bucket list...you should!

 

TTYL,

 

Xiomara

Strawberry Daiquiris Recipe

 

Having been on vacation this week, I have been trying new recipes from Pintrest. I had seen a few recipes that inspired me to make this. I had a bag of frozen strawberries that I though would be great to make a drink with...so this is what I put in it:

 

1 (16 oz) Bag of frozen strawberries

1/4 cup of Gin ( I used Bacardi)

1/4 of moscato wine ( I used the brand Sweet Moscato)

Honey to taste

1 cup of ice

 

optional: I used a slice of a small orange and a maraschino cherry as a garnish

 

Instructions: Blend, strawberries, gin, moscato, and ice. Taste and add honey to make sweeter if necessary. Enjoy.

 

I loved this drink because I found that the wine complemented the gin and the strawberries together. It also was not too strong but as you know if you like more alcohol, you can always adjust as necessary. But by far when you make the daiquiris yourself you know exactly what it in it. (no high fructose corn syrup.) So I hope you try this and Let me know if you do!

 

TTYL,

Xiomara

Review :***** out of 5 Enjoy every sandwich , Living each day as if it were your last By: Lee Lipsenthal

This book is amazing! For many reasons but for the most part because you don't have to be dying to still ask your self questions that Dr. Lipsenthal asks in this book. It's a pretty short book I read it in about two days but the impact it leaves if you go through it with an open heart is amazing. Though out the book you have this feeling you are not only being talked to like a friend of his but also like you are reading a page from this man's diary. At first he starts with telling you how he found out he had esophageal cancer (he was in his living room eating a sandwich). He goes on to talk about how he dreamt of his wife, Kathy before he ever meet her. He talks about the feelings he had when he found out he had cancer and how he didn't have all the " normal" reactions. You know: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. He went straight to acceptance. But for me personally a few things touched my heart, I will tell you about three as not make this review so so long. One that was touching right towards the beginning of this book  was when he talked about when he was around thirty years old. He said at that time he worked at this practice where he would have to say the same things to every patient he saw over and over again. The mundane was getting to him. He had a young marriage and new baby and it was all too much. He didn't know what to do with him self and so he started to seek for something bigger than him self to deal with all of it. Let's just say it resonated in me (not the part of the young marriage or the new baby but mostly the repetitiveness of life). He started to meditate and adapt an attitude of gratitude. He would at the end of everyday say three things he was grateful for and meditate 20-30 minutes everyday. He told how he gained a new perspective and more spiritual. Dr. Lipsenthal also mentioned that those things were one of the biggest helpers he had twenty years later while fighting cancer. The second things he talked about in this book were weird cause they are things that can't be explained with math or science they are just things that are and you either believe them or you don't. I'm not sure if they happened during the same trip to Hawaii or not that was not told in the book, either way it's not relevant. I guess I should preface this with that he didn't just believe in the science of things, he also believed in things that couldn't be explained. So one of those things that could not be explained was when his wife Kathy's mom because ill all of a sudden. His wife was in California and his mother in law was in Maryland at the time. His wife called him to tell him the news and she asked him to go to her, she was not asking him to jump on a plane to go see her she was asking him to go to her spiritually. Yes, I know that sounds crazy but I have heard of this before. From what I have learned it happened when people are in a meditative state, it can only be explained as your soul leaving your body and going to the place where you want to be. Ok so when he did he says in the book that he saw his mother in law in the foot of the hospital bed looking down at her body in the bed. He asked her why she had not gone yet and she told him she was worried about who was going to take care of her husband. He told he that they were and she giggled and then left. She died that night. In fact the next morning he called his wife Kathy who had not heard yet but did find out it was true, her mother had died the night before. Who can explain that? Can science? Can math? IDK. But it's very powerful stuff. The other things that he wrote about that stood out was when he told about one time when he was teaching a class about a special kind of meditation that some native American Indians practice. While with a group of students meditating he saw that one of them had this black gunk energy around his heart. So he went to him and with his hands tried to remove this black energy and found that he was too weak to remove it. In that moment he ask spirit to help him and he said that right above the student (Kevin) a white ring of light appeared and two hands came down from it. They grabbed and worked on his heart and removed the black energy from around Kevin's heart. When this happened he knew those were the hands of Jesus, who helped him. When the meditation was over the other people there also reported seeing a white light around Kevin as well.  All I can say is that I loved this book. It reaffirms what I already know. It makes me think that we are all connected in some way. You know I had to Google him to see if he had made it. I was saddened to find out Dr. Lipsenthal lost his life to cancer in Sep of 2011. But at least he left us a precious book we can listen to and find comfort in knowing that death doesn't always have to be a fight. It can be peaceful and beautiful and the begging of another journey. If you want to read this book things that you should know is that there are some parts in it that are a little medical gargany, ( is that a word?) but they are few and far between plus he also does do a good job explaining it. There are also parts about past lives in this book just saying you should know that. If you aren't an open minded person, I'm not sure you'll get past those parts. But for me all in all it's an interesting read. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask me.

TTYL,


Gladis Xiomara