WordPress Family Award

I am a major procrastinator at times and this is why, even though I received this award last month, I am just getting around to acknowledging it. Sorry Kathryn!

Thanks for the “WordPress Family Award”. I like being part of a global community where people can share their thoughts and ideas with others.

The rules for this award are simple. They are: 1) Display the award logo on your blog; 2) Link back to the person who nominated you; 3) Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family; 4) Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them; and 5) That is it. Just please pick 10 people who have taken you as a friend, and spread the love.

I have not been able to spend much time as I would like to finding new blogs, so my friend’s blogs might have been recognized by me before.

Alesia blogs – she is gone for the summer but when she returns she will have interesting, fun stories about family and life
Cosmic Chaos – she is a friend of mine that I met through the local writing group in my hometown. She is also an awesome poet and most recently a published author. Her book Blood Adversaries is now available on Amazon. BUY her book!!!
Love Life and Creative Things – she has not posted in several months, but I just go and look at her maple bacon cupcake picture. Mmmm bacon
Bruce Louis Dodson – he moved to Sweden and I am living vicariously through his experiences. I also like the cat tales. Hilarious.
Raani York – she has funny down-to-earth letters to celebs that make me laugh out loud.
August McLaughlin – she post very intellectual, thought provoking posts that have me thinking long after I am finished reading.

And because I am feeling lazy, I did not include 10 blogs like I am supposed to. There are a lot of great bloggers out there. I plan to get more connected in the future.

Maid in the USA

Jun15

MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) by Judy Angelo ♥♥♥

As the story begins, Celine is a maid who is content to clean a room of a luxury hotel. Her first view of Pierce was when he got out of the shower. If this were real life, she run screaming calling him a freak and probably mace him. But this is a romance novel so she was slightly shook up. Once she was over the shock of seeing all of his glory and he was dressed, he made her an interesting proposition: become a nanny for his cousin’s four-year-old daughter.

That seems really random.

He claims it has something to do with her eyes. Once again, if this were real life, she would turn down his offer assuming that he was some kinky freak. But in Romance Land, Celine has an open mind and goes to his house to meet his niece. When Celine meets Kylie she agrees to be the child’s nanny. From there it is the usual romance along with her helping Kylie deal with the grief of losing her mother.

There was not anything about this story that caused me to be annoyed (like some other books by Judy Angelo). Celine was a tenderhearted leading lady for this story. Pierce was conflicted as most men usually are when they are trying to come to terms with the fact that they are in love.

I do wonder what is it about romance novel plots where the uber-rich man falls for the maid/nanny and we assume they will live happily ever after. I guess that is what we wish would happen. In real life, we have Arnold Schwarzenegger who fell for his maid, had a “love child” with her, broke up his marriage, and I do not think he is still with the homewrecker. So maybe that was not true love. But then again, the demise of that relationship might have had something to do with the fact that he was still married at the time of the affair. But I have digressed way off topic.

Overall this was a good story. MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) was worth the money for relaxing feel-good romance.

Hilton Hawaiian Village

Jun9

Hubby and I went to Hawaii and stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

We flew into the Honolulu airport and the hotel is in the heart of Waikiki. Getting there was easy since we had our GPS. The street names are Hawaiian and all seem super long where the consonants "K" "L" and vowels "I" and "U" are used in great frequency in various combinations. Needless to say, we depended on the GPS to tell us where and when to turn.

This hotel is on the beach and in walking distance from a really nice mall. A hotel’s proximity to a mall or shopping center is always a positive in my book.

First of all, staying anywhere in Hawaii is very expensive. Since that is the case, we thought it would be better to go with a recognized hotel chain that is known for quality and good service. That is what we received at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Everyone was smiling and welcoming as we arrived.

The complex is so big that there are several check-in desks. We went to the first check-in location we saw, but our room was located on the opposite side of the village. I think they need better signage because it was all a little confusing for me. They were doing some construction, so I think that some of the obstructed roads usually would have been open for passage. This created additional congestion, but everyone seemed really patient considering the slow traffic. I think the island air has a calming effect on people.

Calling this a "village" is an understatement. The resort is huge with plenty of pools, restaurants, and shops. You do not have to leave for anything, if you do not want to. Everything in the village is very "touristy" priced, so if you step outside the complex, you might get a better deal across the street. I know we ended up eating at the food court at the mall instead in the Village. We walked instead of driving there. For souvenirs though, if you go to one of the many ABC stores, you can find little knick knacks for all those family and friends back home without spending a fortune.

Knowing this trip was going to "break the bank", we opted for a resort facing room in an effort to economize. The views of the mountains to our right were breathtaking. We had a great view of the resort and could spend some time people watching as we relaxed on our balcony. And our room was on a high enough floor that if we squinted our eyes just right, we could see a little bit of ocean. Considering that we were in a veritable paradise, we could not complain that there was an unpleasant view. There is no such thing as "unpleasant view" in Waikiki, Hawaii.

Since our hotel was on the beach, midnight walks on beach were mandatory. Feeling the soft, cool island breeze on my face convinced me that the 12-hour plane flight to get there was worth every minute for that moment.

If you decide to rent a car for your trip (I advise it so you can see more of the island), valet parking is around $30 per day. Self-parking is only a few dollars cheaper, so it is worth it to valet park. Since Hawaii is a very popular vacation destination, be prepared to wait when you request your car from the valet. Use that time to take in the pretty views of the ocean and the greenery. Listening to the sounds of the ocean can be so relaxing.

Overall, the Hilton Hawaiian Village is a great resort for your trip to Waikiki Hawaii especially if it is your first trip. It is in a good location and the service level of the everyone working there is top notch. They show that they want to make sure you have a wonderful vacation. You will hear "Mahalo!" a lot. That means "thank you".

Getting dirty: I did this on purpose

Jun3

This was the dirtiest I have ever been in my entire life. How did this happen?

It all started with a conversation between me and my friend:

My friend: You know what would be really cool? This Mud run 5k. It is 3.5 miles with obstacles through the mud.

Me: Ummm sounds dirty.

My friend: Check out their website. It looks like a lot of fun.

Me: Yea. I am not making any promises.

A little history about me: Even though I married Mr Outdoors, I am not an outdoorsy chick. Under normal circumstances, I do not like to get dirty or sticky. I am a germaphobe. Antibacterial gel is my best friend. I do not like to wet unless I am swimming or in the shower. And in stereotypical black girl fashion, I worried about my hair. Laugh at that if you will, but I do not want it looking jacked up.

***checked out the website***

Me: It does look like fun. I am concerned about how dirty we would get.

My friend: Dirty? That is what soap and water are for!

Me: I just don’t want mud to get in my mouth.

My friend: (laughter)

***about a week later***

Me: You know what? I’m going to do it.

My friend: Awesome!!! We need a 4th person for our team.

My hubby: How come you get to have all the fun playing in the mud?

Me: You’ll do it with us?

Hubby: Yea. Why not?

My friend: Yay!

***two months of cardio. I am too busy working on my abs to worry about my upper body strength. This mentality was my downfall as I would find out later.***

Day of mud run.

I am wearing sports shirt and tennis skirt (my usual active wear)
Remove all jewelry. Check
Shoes duck taped to feet. Check.
Put on gloves. Check
Get team number 796 put on arms and legs with Sharpie marker.
I am ready. Let’s do this!

One and a half hours and 35 obstacles later, it was over. Crawling on knees through mud, sliding down mud hills, walking through mud pits waist deep, climbing over rope walls, and scaling 6 and 8 feet walls were some of the many obstacles. Thankfully, I did not get any mud in my mouth. Yay! But it was in every other crick and crevice. In my hair, behind my ears, between my toes, my belly button, and underneath my fingernails.

Overall, it was a memorable experience. It was a lot of FUN but I was so sore. Muscles I did not know I had were sore. The whole event made me realize two things (1) mud is slippery but gritty and (2) I have NO upper body strength. I thought I was strong but when it came time to lift myself up over obstacles with my arms, I was weak as a baby.

Thank goodness Hubby was there to help us, especially getting over all those 6 and 8-foot walls. He is a real team player that knows how to help get a job done. He definitely gets the MVP for our team.

My friend said, “Let’s do this again next year!” As you can probably guess, an adrenaline rush is a powerful thing.

Fortunately for me, my body’s muscle groups were screaming louder than any hormone could in an attempt to cloud my judgment, so I replied that I was not ready to commit to that…yet.

Would I do it again? Maybe. Getting dirty did not bother me as much as I thought it would have. I could have done without so many obstacles. And I know that I need to strengthen my arms. I am going to suggest to Hubby that he builds us a chin up bar. So if I am prepared physically, I could do it again.

If you are looking for challenge, I encourage you to try a mud run or similar event in your area. It is an unforgettable experience. And getting dirty was not too bad either.

Forevermore is so cute

May30

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥♥

In this novella, Cameron sets his sights on Clarice when he met her while visiting for his cousin’s wedding. He was a man who knew what he wanted and was confident that he would succeed. Clarice was a widow who did not have good experiences with men. In short, even though she was attracted to Cameron, she did not think she was worthy of his intentions.

Cameron was a man with little time before he had to return home, so he had to make the most of every opportunity to show Clarice how he felt. It was love at first sight. All perceived barriers would not prevent him from having the woman with whom he fell in love.

I loved the story. Clarice was full of reasons why it would not work. Cameron shot holes through everyone. I particularly liked how it ended. Yes it is a given that it is a happy ever after ending, but Cameron’s finesse was top-notch. I loved his attitude. Even though this is a novella, I thought the characters had enough depth for the story.

It is rare that I rate a novella so highly, but I loved everything about this book. Buy this book!!!! You will not be disappointed.

You can buy Forevermore: A Jewel Trilogy Novella on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post