Ellen Degeneres!

Ellen Degeneres is an awesome human being!

My daughter, Kylene, was watching an Ellen Degeneres show about 3 months ago when Ellen announced her Stimulus package giveway. She said if anyone needed money, to email her.

Kylene emailed Ellen. She didn't email her asking for money, instead she emailed her stating "In this economy everyone is in need of money and there are others who need it more than me. All I'd like is do is to be able to take my son to Disneyland. Being a single mother, working 40 hours a week and now getting ready to go to nursing school at night, I hardly have time with my 3 year old son. I've tried several times to save for a vacation with my son, but something always comes up and the trip gets

Plumeria In Bloom

I love orchids. I have 15 of them in my home. I started out with 4 in California and these traveled across the US with me, in a car. Over the years I've added 11 more. They're happy, healthy little characters. I'm always searching for new colors to add.

This past spring while I was out and about buying up all kinds of flowers to add to my courtyard, I discovered Plumeria. I've seen Plumeria in Hawaii and fell in love with them then but forgot all about the wonderful scent they give off until I was stopped in my tracks one afternoon at a Nursery with a cart full of flowers.

I picked up 4 of them and put a few other flowers I had in my cart back. Plumeria has

A Child At Play

I’ve been spending my days with my grandson, Jayden while my daughter works. Spending my days with a 3 year-old can be quite the challenge. It can be filled with so much fun and laughter and Jayden is quite the character.

Jayden, like any other 3-year-old, loves Thomas the Train. He has several, all having different names; Thomas, Percy, James, Gordon, Neville, the list goes on and on. I get scolded when I say the wrong name. “No Nana! That’s not James, that’s Percy!” Ok, Percy it is.

Last week while we were eating breakfast, Jayden says:

“Nana, I need to go to the fun store today!”

“You do? Why?”

“Because I need to play with Thomas.”

The fun store is Toys R Us. At Toys R Us they have a section with Thomas the Train set up on a play table for all 3-year-olds to fight over because there’s only 1 train to play with. I mean, if they’re going to have this table out, they need several

Day Fourteen – Anchorage - September 14, 2009

I wanted to get up and out at the crack of dawn to catch some sunrise shots. Of course, as usual, I’m a little late. That bed felt so good, especially spending 7 nights in a Cruise Ship’s bed! It’s ok, but not like home. When the alarm went off, I did look out the window and saw this.

And was hoping we will be able to see Denali one more time. That would make it 3 times during our trip. We loaded up our car and headed out. Anchorage is approximately 200 miles from Denali. A long, but beautiful drive. We had periods of thick fog then clear skies and it was crisp and fresh

Day Thirteen – A Drive to Fairbanks - September 13, 2009

Sunday morning we woke up around 9:00am, the latest since we left Houston on September 1! I wanted to just lie around all day and do absolutely nothing! I was tired, worn out, beat, and just exhausted! It was raining outside, none of the mountains were visible, so why not!

11:00am, Ray was getting hungry. We looked at the menu of the local Grill. Nothing exciting there, just your basic hamburger joint. We got dressed and headed out searching for something to eat. At the fork in the road, one way leads back to Denali NP, the other to Fairbanks. Knowing there wasn’t much towards Denali, we headed towards Fairbanks. Searched around the little town of

Day Twelve –Denali National Park – September 12, 2009

I have been to several National Parks: Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smokey Mountains, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen, Redwood National, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. Each one absolutely gorgeous in its own way. But Denali is the most beautiful by far because of its unspoiled beauty. To drive through a National Park with hundreds of other people enjoying its beauty is one thing, fun, exciting and can be disrupted by voices all around unless you hike deep into the backcountry. Going through a National Park and not seeing another soul, only the vast unspoiled tundra and wildlife, the strange stillness and peacefulness is another. It’s what a National Park should be like. No