Journey & Adventure

Yes, it’s ALMOST that time of year again. Time for me rejuvenate and store up on some sunshine and vitamin D before the long winter ahead. It’s time for me to pack my bags and scuba gear and head off to a place where memories are made, good times are had and the ocean is explored. For some, Disney is the happiest place on earth, but for me it’s Bonaire. You may recall this is one of my contenders for places to retire, so J and I plan on using this opportunity to do some more research into the actual cost of living, average cost of vehicles, neighborhoods, etc. Five years is still a long way off, but at least we’ll be getting an idea of how expensive things actually are. I can hardly wait to get there and park myself at the beach bar for a beverage or two - for a live webcam view of it, take a look here .  Maybe you'll see me there (in a week and a bit)... Here are a few photos of the island from vacations past… By the way - all of the above photos are cour

Is there a place you can go to escape the man-made noises that we are overwhelmed by each day? Whether it be the sounds of traffic, office noise, television, radio, the hum of a florescent light fixture or your neighbor cutting the grass, noise is everywhere. I watched a program on Discovery Channel the other night and it got me thinking about the noise we are surrounded by every day. Most times we aren’t even aware of how loud things have become because we’ve either grown accustomed to it or don’t know what we are missing in the first place. The segment focused on a gentleman who is endeavoring to capture the sounds of species that are on the brink of extinction. His plan is to preserve natural sounds before it’s too late. He had a great quote that went something like “we won’t even know what we’ve missed out on or that it was even there in the first place thanks to urban sprawl and the number of people that are now on the planet”. It’s a sad but true statement. Wouldn’t

In our quest for reaching the 5 Year Plan and as a means of maintaining our early retirement, J and I have been tossing about ideas on how to make some extra money. As you know, I already have my back-up plan – Flamingo Tongue Designs , although I don’t suspect this to be as successful in a third world country as it currently is here in Canada, but I guess only time will tell. As you also know, J is the resident photographer in our family. He takes 100’s of photographs when we travel – both on land and underwater, so it seemed only natural that he use his God given talent for good and tries to sell some of them. This is also a hobby/business that would be ongoing and self-sustaining no matter where we end up. If you ask me it’s a win, win. So with that said, J’s been spending hours, upon hours, sifting through his photos, organizing and submitting them for approval to various micro stock photography sites. It’s been a tedious and sometimes frustrating process - the submi

I don’t even know where to begin other than to say – WTH! I hadn’t planned on posting this, but the more I think about it, the more worked up I’m getting and I think the world needs to know that there are selfish trolls amongst us. This past weekend, we (J’s entire family) had the pleasure of attending the most chaotic wedding EVER. I don’t know what people are thinking or in most cases – not thinking. I’m trying to understand where bad behavior comes from. Is it a learned response or is the under 30 generation to blame for their self-entitlement attitude and inconsideration for others? I’d like to believe it is a learned response and that the entire generation is not made up of “self-absorbed, whiney, the world owes me so much and I don’t want to work for it morons”. Let’s start by saying that J’s niece got married. If we could overlook the fact that the groom is “a piece of work”, it should have been a wonderful family moment. Unfortunately, it turned into mayhem, tear

I wish I could tell you I won the lottery and skipped town, but such is not the case.  This has been a busy month - there's been weddings, Canadian Thanksgiving, family commitments, busy work schedules, blah, blah, blah.  No spectacular excuses, just life. Oh yeah, I've also been crazy busy getting my jewelry inventory built up for the big show in December.  Yes, I realize December seems far off, but in reality - not really because yet to come is another wedding, our pre-winter scuba getaway to Bonaire and then voila...the show! So, there you have it.  Just thought I stop in to say hello.  Miss you lots. Well, since I'm here, here is a sea glass piece I just finished - 13 pieces of Puerto Rican sea glass and fresh water pears.  

After a couple of years of wandering aimlessly through a couple of different college programs, The Boy has decided to take a year off from his search of post-secondary knowledge. In hindsight, J and I should have encouraged him to do this sooner, as it would have save a lot of time, money and frustration by everyone involved, but as parents, you want your children to succeed, have more and do more than you personally. During my generation, we finished high school knowing we were lucky to be heading off for college because many of our parents didn’t have that ability. They simply finished high school and entered the work force, got married, started a family, etc. A post-secondary education wasn’t expected from them, or in some cases it wasn’t even an option. In this day and age, we expect our children to be destined for greatness and when greatness doesn’t come exactly how and when we expect it – on our terms and schedule, we become overly concerned that there is something fu