Interesting and Thought Provoking? Not today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is spring break for our school district here in Utah, so I'm taking this week off from blogging, and writing, and, well, from every day life, actually.

You'll probably notice that I do this every few months for a few days. I think it's because being creative (aka writing novels) while also running a household can be exhausting, and when my brain is too full and overwhelmed, the creativity just stops flowing. It severely hiders my ability to produce quality work--or any work at all sometimes.

So when I vacation, I leave my computer behind. (Or, more accurately, I leave it in my suitcase where I can get to it if I absolutely need it--let's be real, here.)

In lieu of an interesting / thought provoking post to read, please accept this as my contribution to livening your spirits.

Happy spring! 

*PS I'm participating in a blog tour on Monday where readers will have an opportunity to enter to win an Amazon gift card. Be sure to stop by!

Possibly Another List, Pics, and Great Deals on Books

Okay, so I think I'm changing my stance on the whole not-liking-lists thing I mentioned last week. That was a quick and easy way to breeze through lots of topics, and I pretty much covered everything I needed to in one fell swoop.

Maybe James Dashner has it right. (As long as I've known him, he is the KING of making lists.)

So yeah. I might make another one. Just because the last one was more fun than I anticipated. But this one won't be as long.

Okay, here we go. A new, shorter list of spring things.

1. In my last list, I forgot about the tulips. Tulips are some of my very favorite flowers, but I haven't seen any growing in south Texas. So I had to take a picture of these ones at Thanksgiving Pointe in Lehi, Utah. Aren't they gorgeous? They just make me all kinds of smiley.

2. It's possible I have neglected some of my favorite parts of Texas in the spring. So there's this.

And this.

And also this. (Why yes, that is a baby pineapple plant! Tell me that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen.)

3. Tomorrow, check back here and you will see some AWESOME deals on books that have dragons in them. If you've read DESCENDANT and/or BIRTHRIGHT, you know that my dragons are of an entirely different variety from most. But DESCENDANT is listed for a smokin deal for just ONE DAY. So be sure to come back.

4.  If you've read and loved BIRTHRIGHT, but haven't left a review yet, you might want to gather your thoughts about it. Anyone who posts a review between now and June 7th will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card. *Details to come soon.

5. Let's talk about summer vacations. I'm feeling a Disney vibe in my house these days. It's been years since we visited a Disney park, and I have a weakness for fairy tales and anything Disney-esque. But so far, no solid plans. What about you? What fun summer activities or trips are you planning?

Waving from Afar

Hello there!

Remember the spring break vacation I mentioned last week? Well, it's here, and I'm on it. By the time this posts, I'll be somewhere far in the Caribbean soaking up the sun and refilling my well of inspiration in order to write more books. And more books. And...you get it. Right?

Anyway, please accept this snapshot in place of a real blog post. I'll be back next Wednesday. Expect contests. And updates. And other fun posts.

Have a great week!

Things Everyone Should Experience

Dancing with a stranger

Kissing someone who needs it

Standing on a little ship in a big ocean

Playing in the rain

Tasting something you would never otherwise eat: (No pics but I tried alligator, frog legs, and shark. Also octopus, I think.)

Climbing a daunting obstacle

Seeing how other cultures live

Creating a masterpiece

Personally witnessing a fish that flies.

Watching the sun kiss the ocean

Digging your toes into the sand

Staying up all night to watch the sunrise

Coming face-to-face with a known predator and realizing it’s not as scary as you expected
(Yes, that is a crocodile, and he is in the wild)

Forgetting anger, stress, and heartache in order to close your eyes and feel absolutely at peace

Why? #YOLO!
(Translation: You only live once.)

While I'm Away...

That's right. I'm leaving. Not forever, mind you. But for a while.

See, here's what happened.

My oldest son graduated. From high school. (Never mind telling me I'm not old enough to have an adult son—I already know.

And right before that.

My husband got his Master’s Degree.

Also.

My oldest daughter got her license to drive.
My younger daughter graduated from 8th grade.
My baby boy graduated from elementary school (which is 6th grade in our school district).

And I…well, I guess I raised them (including my husband).

*sniffles* I'm so proud!

All this is cause to celebrate in our family, so we’re taking a vacation, during which I will have zero internet access. Because of this, I will not be blogging for the last two weeks in June. (June 17-30.)

Please forgive me for my lack of new content and come back to read again in July.

In the meantime, here is something to inspire your creativity. (And yes, I did take this picture.) Have a happy June!

The Story that Changed Commerce (Part II)

To read the first portion of this story, click here.

So where was I? Oh yes, the story of the dead guys hit the press.

Mazatlan isn’t necessarily any more dangerous than it was before, but because people heard the rumors, the bubbling arguments, and the debates, lots decided to vacation elsewhere, because on the surface, it appears that the city of Mazatlan isn't safe. (FYI, I'm not saying it is safe either, just that I didn't feel any more nervous than I would in New York or LA or Dallas or...oh yes, Houston, where we accidentally spent a night.)


Many of the people we met have been visiting Mazatlan for years, and either own time shares or private condos (which they rent out to people like me and my friends). Or they have favorite hotels. Whatever.


Point is, these people know the area and the culture well. They have friends, they feel a kinship with the locals, and they understand that members of a drug cartel or criminals of other types are not what defines the area or the people living there. They KNOW better. They understand that terrible things happen all over the world, and that's unavoidable. But my friends and I were told time and time again (by fellow Americans) that the place we were visiting was safe, and beautiful, and as good as it has always been. The only thing that has really changed is how the public sees it.


Why am I telling you this? I think sometimes we, as humans, see something on the surface and allow that vision to change our view, even when we know deep down that there's way more to it than what meets the eye.


This experience made me ask myself if I am the kind of person who will allow others to define my thoughts, or if I will make my own judgments based on what I know. It made me wonder if I am quick to conjecture, or if I am capable of taking a moment to find the information I need to make an informed choice.


I can't say I'm one way or another, because I don't believe there's anything in the world that's ever black and white. Rather, there are at least a thousand different shades of gray in between. I don't know the answer. But after spending a week there, if given another opportunity, I'd go back to Mazatlan in a heartbeat.


But you know. That’s just me. What do you think?

A Story that Changed Commerce

Okay, I’m totally not braggin. Seriously. I just have to share this story. And because it’s long, I’m going to do it in two parts. So please bear with me. I do actually have a point.


Part I


During my recent trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, some friends and I stayed in a remote condo complex sandwiched between a lush golf course and a private beach. The place was gorgeous, with tall palm trees, miles of light sand and blue water, and plenty of wildlife. (Hey, I'm talking animals here, what were you thinking? *winks*) (Yeah, it was posh, and no I'm not trying to rub it in, I promise.) (Also, none of us are golfers, but that's a whole other story.)



Given that it's now April, this should be a pretty busy season for them. But this year, other than resort employees, the place was practically a ghost town. We stayed in phase 2 of 3, and in our section, there were around 12 other people there, total, in a place which could realistically have held 300 or more.

This surprised my friends and I, but given that we arrived on a Monday at the end of March, we chalked it up to an off day of the week, or an off week of the season, and went about our merry way, endlessly entertaining the staff with our antics (of which there were many, I assure you). A few days into our trip, we took a shuttle (again, we were the only passengers) for the 40 minute drive into town to do a little shopping.


Because, let's face it. Five women in Mexico might very possibly explode without at least one shopping trip. Just sayin.


We had the driver drop us off in an area near the cruise port, because we knew there would be a lot of fun places to see there, and because we only had a few hours. Again, we took notice that there were very, very few tourists in this area that should have been bustling with cruise passengers, as well as vacationers. It's a popular place to visit, you know? So we asked one of the shop owners if it was an off day for the port area.

Got an interesting answer. Turned out, not long ago, a couple of stupid cruisers left the safe areas of town and headed for the not-so-safe hills, by themselves, with no map and no guide and apparently no clue. They happened upon members of a hidden drug cartel, and got themselves killed. (Yikes, right?) Sad, sad situation, for sure. But even sadder? Because of this incident, which isn't necessarily isolated, but also not a regular occurrence in the area, the press had a heyday with the story.


People were up in arms, arguments were had within governments and private contractors and cruise companies and resorts. In the end, the cruise companies canceled all scheduled ports in Mazatlan until 2012. Airlines cut flight options going to Mazatlan in half (meaning the prices skyrocketed, FYI). And now, a few months later, respectable, hard-working merchants whose livelihoods depended on tourist support, are in danger of sinking like the Titanic.


So sad. Cuz those little shops have great stuff. And it's such a fun city. But this is the cliff hanger point where I make you wait til Friday to read the rest. (Sorry! I warned you.)

Liberty, Old-World Style

Most likely, I won't have a post up on Monday, as I won't be home until very late Sunday night. So, just to hold you over, a few more pictures of my beautiful country for some thought-inspiring inspiration.

All pictures shared this week were taken by me or a member of my family. Just, FYI.

See you soon!

America The Beautiful

Yep, still gone. So how about a little more visual stimulation?

 The mighty Mississippi

Song of the day: America the Beautiful.

In the Name of Research

We are often willing to try things we wouldn’t otherwise do or try.

We pay closer attention to what’s going on around us.

We let go of our inhibitions in order to fully experience life.

We listen harder, talk less, think more, contemplate—and then relate to others with everything and in every way we can.

I know people who would scuba dive, para-sail, jump out of a plane, bungee jump, climb a mountain, visit another country, and shoot five different types of guns—all in the name of research.

But we don’t need research as an excuse to live life all the way, to give ourselves color and culture and depth. Regardless of if you have a reason, do it anyway.

Next week, I won’t be here to blog, because I’ll be out of the country doing some of the above mentioned things. For fun. And also in the name of research.

Come on, I’ll use it all somewhere.

Viva Mexico! Have a great week.

Meet Bill, The Cheeseburger in Paradise

Back in January, my family and I went on a trip. I came back and wrote a post about climbing a volcano. You can read it here if you’re interested.

What I didn’t talk about in that post was a highlight of our trip. It was a cheeseburger, and its name was Bill.

We’d just climbed a huge, freaking mountain with lots of stairs. Yes, stairs. It was totally worth it, and the view was spectacular and blah, blah, blah. And by the time we got to the bottom, we were both exhilarated and exhausted, even though it was only about eleven o’clock a.m.. So, we’re in the parking lot, and there’s this enormous yellow truck with a picture of a snow cone on it.

Who wouldn’t want a snow cone after a climb like that in 80 degree weather? But my daughter—you all know her as Happy—didn’t want a snow cone. She needed some protein, and begged for a cheeseburger instead. Which the yellow truck of deliciousness happened to serve.

So, while the rest of us ate ginormous balls of multi-colored snow drenched in sugar, Happy very carefully carried her little white box to the car, where she reverently opened the top and inhaled the heavenly aroma of a freshly grilled burger. “Don’t you just love that smell?” she said.

She then made me take a picture.

As soon as she bit into that thing, she made all kinds of noises that told everyone how absolutely she was enjoying this burger. “Here, mom, take a bite. You’ve got to try this,” she said. And then, “Everyone, I want you to meet my new best friend, Bill.”

I did, and she was right. It was a really great cheeseburger. And I’m not much of a burger eater. Still, as great as it was, I’d have forgotten it by dinner if not for her almost comical insistence that the whole family share in the glory that was…Bill.

We then spent the rest of our vacation looking for a cheeseburger that could measure up. We even paid astronomical amounts to eat at a famous restaurant that was featured on a food network program (I forget which one, probably DDD). But none of the burgers we bought her ever quite measured up.

Bill the cheeseburger will be remembered in our family forever. May he rest in peace.

Oh to be twelve again, with a metabolism that burns through everything!

Check back Monday, for more about Bill.

Family Fun Matters

By Nichole Giles

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted in over a week, I’ll put your worries to rest. (Yeah, I said worries. I just know you’ve been biting your nails about what terrible fate has befallen me—your most beloved author—and can I just say, eeew. Nail biting is a disgusting habit; you really ought to quit doing it.) I’ve been out of town visiting some family in Texas.

If you’ve never been to Texas, you might be wondering what there could possibly be to do there besides sing country music and say ya’ll a bunch of times. In fact, my neighbor asked me that very question (well, okay, minus the reference to music and language) when she heard we’d gone there. My first answer was, “My sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and new niece are there.” But my second answer was, “Oh my gosh, there’s so much to do we couldn’t possibly fit it all into one trip.”

This time, we chose to fly into San Antonio, where we stayed for a few days. First off, we met my sister and the kids and went straight to the Riverwalk—which is ripe with culture and ambiance and is just a downright cool place. We walked from one end to the other—detouring for a little while to visit the Alamo.

Also in the area, is Sea World—which as I discovered, is quite different from the California version, but equally as fun—and the world famous water park, Schliterbahn. My kids thought it was extremely cool that there are three separate sections to this park, which are each so large you have to get there by car or shuttle. And the slides and things are, in my daughter’s words, “coolio!” Just don’t lose someone in between like we did or you’ll end up searching fruitlessly for hours to find them.

There’s also a Six Flags in S.A., but we opted out of that one this time, and took a drive to Corpus Christi for a day and night at the beach. Granted, Gulf beaches aren’t the most gorgeous beaches, and the water is pretty murky, but it was the ocean, and to us, absolutely breathtaking. The sand was rough, and there were jellyfish everywhere, (perfect for “jellyfishing” as my nephew was apt to do) but the water was really warm, and the sight of the full moon over the sea that night was enough to steal a person’s focus for hours. Also in the area was a museum of a WWII battleship, the USS Lexington, complete with rows of real aircraft that was launched off the ship’s deck during the war. Very cool stuff.

Then it was another drive—this one a bit longer—through Austin into Temple, TX, to see my sister’s cute house, and her husband who wasn’t able to join us in our sightseeing earlier. It was so nice to spend some time there, and actually eat some home-cooked meals. We had an awesome time, and were so excited to be with family we don’t see nearly as often as we’d like.

The killer is, there is so much more we want to do and see while Jodi’s living in the Lone Star State. Six Flags in Fort Worth, the NASA museum near Houston, Galveston (which is crammed with beautiful architecture, nice beaches, and a cruise port) and bunches of other places we haven’t discovered yet.

So, in case you’re wondering, I was skipping out on work, blogs, writing, laundry, and everything else I could have been doing, in order to party with my family. It was a much needed, and yet exhausting, summer trip. And now I’m back. All is well, and I didn’t fall off the face of the earth, although thunderstorms and severe winds did their best to make our planes (four total) fall out of the sky. But we prevailed. Apparently, the powers that be upstairs have bigger things in mind for me.

Hi ho. Hi ho. It’s back to writing I go…

Five Random Things

By Nichole Giles

1. My eleven-year-old daughter is the candy-keeper in our house. We buy her bags of candy (to replace all the candy my husband and I eat while she’s at school) and she dumps it all in a basket, then doles it out to the family whenever she thinks we need it. (Which is all the time for some of us, and her timing is usually perfect. She must be psychic or something.)

2. Our youngest dog—who by all accounts is technically still a puppy—is going through a digging phase, right in time for garden planting season. Yipee! She’s spending a lot of time locked in the kennel lately, which breaks my heart—but not enough to let her destroy my veggies.

3. I decided the other day that my new vacation goal for the future is to visit Italy, or more specifically, Rome. Well, that’s not definite. I’d really love to see Venice as well. Both seem like such romantic places, filled with rich history and incredible art.

4. It’s impossible for me to fill out forms (including Facebook quizzes) that include the question: What is your favorite book. How in the heck am I supposed to choose just one? It would be easier for me to tell what I’m currently reading, or post a picture of my overflowing bookshelf or something. I love them all, and for different reasons. The ones I don’t love don’t stay in my mind long enough to matter, and the rest have their own special space on the bookshelf in my head.

5. I drove around town with my convertible top down yesterday, even though it rained a little bit. Seriously, you don’t even really get wet if you’re going faster than fifteen miles an hour. Not that I would’ve minded if I did. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. That car was way cheaper than therapy!

Bonus:
I finally got an iPhone last month, and can I just say, I love it! It’s like a pocket computer—minus the keyboard. I mean, it has a keyboard, but there’s no way I could type an entire book on it—or could I? Hm. I may have to try that…

The Importance of Small Details

By Nichole Giles

My husband and I recently took a trip. It was a wonderful and much needed vacation that we’d been planning, along with some friends of ours, for quite some time. We’ve taken lots of different types of trips as a couple, but never with other people who were not our family members.

This time, we chose to take a cruise. Gary and I have cruised twice before. The first time was just the two of us, on a five-day cruise to the Western Caribbean. Unfortunately, a hurricane came along the day our ship set sail and we were rerouted from Cozumel and Grand Cayman to Haiti and Jamaica. Still, we adjusted. It was our first cruise experience and even though we were staying in the cheap rooms, with just a little porthole looking out at sea from the bottom level of the ship, we felt like royalty.

Our room steward cleaned up twice a day—turning down our bed in the evening and leaving a mint on our pillows. Every day after breakfast, we’d rush to our room to find funny little animal folded from our hand towels. Our waiter, a jolly man from India named Dhabi, placed my napkin on my lap for me every night and then served me juice in a crystal goblet because he remembered that we don’t drink wine. On the nights when we had a hard time deciding between two delectable dinners, he brought us both. Same thing with deserts. Gary and I have never forgotten his name.

On one night, the head chef declared he was creating a midnight buffet of deserts and we were all invited to come see and taste his creations. This buffet was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Beautiful ice sculptures dotted the room, enhanced by sculptures made from melons and other foods. The presentation alone was incredible. I won’t even get into the scrumptious things I put on my plate and actually devoured at such a late hour.

It’s no wonder people come back from cruises having gained weight.

Anyway, that was in 2001. The second time we cruised, we took the kids. It was a three day Baja cruise, very inexpensive, but because there were six of us, again, the cheap rooms. This time a few levels up—on the eighth floor—so we had actual windows. This cruise was also fun. Our room steward even made a towel monkey and hung it from the top bunk in the kids’ room using a pair of sunglasses for eyes. Our kids will never forget that detail. And though the short time didn’t allow for the midnight buffet, there was a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop on board, so we were all happy, even though our waitress was obviously annoyed at the fact that she had to serve little children. Of all the things we remember about that trip, her grumpy demeanor sticks out.

That, and the three times a day when a man with a heavy English accent came on the overhead speakers crying, “Bingo, bingo, bingo!” to announce that a new game was about to start. Something we can’t forget due to the fact that our youngest son—who was five at the time—imitated that announcement for nearly a year. Even now, it comes out occasionally and is good for a laugh or two.

This time, since we were not the original trip planners, we ended up cruising with a different company. This company is one our friends swear by, but one we’ve never tried before. The price was a tad higher, but the ship was about three times the size of our last ship (which, ironically, we happened to cruise on for both of our previous cruises) and the length of the stay was seven days.

The first thing I noticed about this new company was that our room was lots bigger. But then, we’d paid for a balcony upgrade, and ended up on the top level only doors away from our friends. So our room was much nicer. The ship itself was bigger and more complicated, but the choices of pools and places to eat were spread out and numerous. The ship was beautiful, if confusing, and much more stable than our previous one—even on the first day at sea when yet another hurricane formed in the Caribbean and caused us to be rerouted—again.

And we easily adjusted again. It’s what you do when nothing else can be done. We had a good waiter, a good assistant waiter, and a good room steward. They were all friendly and served us well. So it took us a few days to realize that some of the little things we’d come to love and expect were missing. No towel elephants stared at us when we walked into the room, and there was no juice—none ever even available—at the dinner table. Most nights the dinner entrees were…interesting and unusual. But on the seafood nights, the requests for additional portions were met with reluctance. And every day, I found myself cheating off of nametags to remember the waiters’ names. I did remember them by the end, though. (Here's a shout out to Gorge` and his assistant, Gabriel. You guys rock!)

The one thing that sticks out most, though, is the absence of the midnight buffet. No chocolate covered strawberries or petit fours or interesting looking crackers with strange concoctions in the middle of the night. No ice sculptures, no towering cakes, and no key lime soufflé.
Even though our ship was bigger, nicer, more stable and far more beautiful, we missed certain little details we’d come to hope for in our cruise experience. The weather was gorgeous and warm, the company’s private island port—which was our first stop—was wonderful and fun, and the abundance of pools made it easy to take a dip whenever we had the urge. But I never stopped expecting to find my hand towels shaped like a giraffe, or to have our waiter bring me juice. And we watched for that darn buffet every day.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from complaining. Our trip was fabulous. Absolutely breathtaking. But I do find it interesting how important those little details are. I’m sure I’ll blog more about the details of the islands and the trip, because there are so many experiences which merit blogging. For now, though, my thoughts are centered on the little details. The small things which shouldn’t matter, which don’t affect the overall experience, but were missed just the same.

It makes me wonder about the little details in my life and which ones I take for granted every day. Which things I overlook, and what the people around me have come to expect and hope for from me. Will I be the person they can all depend on? Who folds their towels into animals and brings them juice in a goblet? Or will I be the grouchy waitress who doesn’t want to serve children?

Life is all about details. Who will remember my name and what will my expression be when I pop up in their memories? The choice is up to me.