Tag: life is a page turner

Coffee Break, travel

Travel Tuesday | Bali and Gratitude

India

If you follow me on social media and on my youtube channel then you know that I had the most amazing experience in Bali with my mother and Craftours. We did so many amazing things from being with the elephants to learning how to make a type of fabric called Batiks, but most importantly we learned about these offering baskets that they do every morning to express gratitude and other feelings.

The beginnings of our offering baskets

I think that it is so important to remember to be grateful for the things that we have. Whether it be having a job, having supportive family, being able to travel to amazing places, or just being grateful for waking up in the morning. Taking a few moments to reflect on all of the things that you do have instead of focusing on the things that you don’t have can be mind altering.

The finished project of the offering basket!

During this trip I felt more spiritual and awakened by all the amazing people in this country. They are all kind, genuine, and their happiness spreads into you. Also being with a group of creative people helps to bring happiness as well. I know every day I’m grateful for my mother and the amazing woman that she is and what a role model she is to me. Without her I would not have been able to partake in the journey. In the video, I don’t do a good job expressing all of the things that I’m grateful for, but I would love to hear about some of the things that you’re grateful for in the comments. How do you keep track of the things that you’re grateful for? If you’re grateful for someone have you told them recently? Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Book Reviews

Origin, Dan Brown

India

– Short Story – 

“Where do we come from, where are we going?” These are the questions that often times plague philosophers, people who practice religion, and people who often times spend time looking at the stars.  Origin follows our favorite professor, Robert Langston on a trip to Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim Museum at the request of a friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch. Kirsch promises to share something amazing with the world that could possibly change the thought of life as we know it. During Kirsch’s life he has created technology that has already changed the world, what else could he possibly do? As everyone anxiously awaits the announcement the unexpected happens, and it is up to Langdon and a new friend and museum director, Ambra Vidal to figure out what  has happened to their friend.

– My Thoughts –

I cannot say that I liked this one as much as I have enjoyed Angels and Demons, The Lost Symbol,  and The DaVinci Code. It could just be the theme of it that I did not like. It was too much “out there” for me personally. I wanted it to be even more tied in with the museum and the famous church, and it was really just a numbers crunched scenario and a really smart man who felt like he had figured everything out. I did enjoy the “villain” in it all and how he or she played a role in how things played out for our main characters. I think it touched on a some interesting ideas about population and what could happen in the future, but we had a hint of that in Inferno as well. Normally I’m a huge Dan Brown fan, but this one just missed the mark for me. Let me know what you thought about the book if you’ve read it. Do you have any Dan Brown favorites? I have a few more thoughts in youtube video, which you can click here, or play down below! Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Coffee Break, travel

Travel Tuesdays | Key West, Florida

India
I am so excited to be starting this on my channel and on my blog!! It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a while, and haven’t actually put into motion [ read I have a lot of video from previous trips that I haven’t done anything with, and I would like to do something with said videos ]. My idea behind doing this is to share some tips and tricks that I have learned through traveling. Now, I’m not a professional traveler by any means and we all know that this is not a travel blog, but it is something that I absolutely love to do when I’m not at my day job…or night job… depending on my schedule and my life.
I need one of these wrap around balcony porches in my life
The first video that I’m going to share is a throwback video to when Eric an I were on a cruise through the caribbean over the holidays. Our first stop on our vacation was to go to Key West, which is technically still in Florida, but it’s closer to Cuba than the continental US. You can click here to see my vlog or you can scroll down to see it below. I’m sorry that it’s a day late, I was good about scheduling it on Youtube and not on here! I also have almost the full tour of Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West and if you would like for me to post that on youtube down in the comments below.
Who wouldn’t dream of having a studio like this?
If there are any specific ideas that you would like for me to talk about? Any questions that you may have? Please let me know! This is going to be a lot of fun!! Until next time,
It’s good to have someone who puts up with your reading whims
Keep turning the pages
India
Book Reviews

Everless, Sara Holland

India

– Short Story –

Her whole life has been about time and how much people do not have left. For Jules time is the root of all her problems because time is used as currency for everything. You can sell an hour, a month, a year just to be able to survive. Jules once grew up in the Everless household with her father where they were servants for the Gerling’s family. When Jules witness a terrible event at Everless, her and her father are forced to leave the only home that they know and try to and hide. As her fathers time starts running out Jules has to make a decision to try and save her family, but it is the only thing her father has asked her not to do, and that is to return to Everless and work there. As she returns to Everless she starts to learn more about her past and information that was hidden from her. She decides to take the chance and to dig deeper into figuring out who she is, and why she was told to never come back to Everless.

– My Thoughts –

I enjoyed the concept of this book, but I did not love this book as much as I wanted to. I loved the thought of time as being currency and how that is used to sustain life. It literally invoked the idea of “time is money”. I loved how much of the history of their world was wound through the present. I did not like how it was executed. I did not like the main character and how she went about things. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves when the characters don’t listen and then find themselves getting into trouble. I did love the antagonist in this book and I was surprised on how well the character surprised me. The love interest was a typical YA trope of the boy you don’t think she should fall in love with is the one who ends up doing the saving. It’s a hyped book that I believe could be skipped in my opinion. Let me know what you think. Until next time,

Keep turning the pages

India

Book Reviews

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton

India

– Short Story –

What if you lived in a world where everyone looked the same. Grey in color, straw like hair, and red eyes. Now what if there were people who could change you to look just like you wanted to look. In however you wanted to look. That is exactly the point of The Belles. They control beauty. The Belles were a gift given to the world after a lovers quarrel from the Sky and from Beauty went wrong, and the people of the world were left ugly. Beauty granted the world The Belles in order to help change the appearances of people to create more beauty in the world, and to make people beautiful.
It is time for this generation of Belles to present themselves to the world, with all of that they have learned in their secluded schooling. It is time for them to present themselves to the royal family and for one of them to become the Favorite. Whomever is chosen as the Favorite will discover the dark side of court and what it’s like to be constantly trying to make someone beautiful who doesn’t believe they’re beautiful.

– My Thoughts – 

Keep reading the book!! I put this book down for a couple of months and then finally finished it when it started to gather such great reviews. I was like “Noooo this book can’t be any good, it’s supposed to be fantasy, but there’s all of this flowery and beauty stuff. Whhhhyyyy” Let me just say I was wrong, it definitely gets better. There are still some flowery parts in the book that get on my nerves, but that’s why I don’t like contemporary. I definitely think that you should give this book a whirl if you stopped reading it, or if you were hesitant to pick it up. Let me know what you think down in the comments! My review that I put on my Booktube channel is also embedded below. Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India