Saturday, November 24, 2018

Crown Princess Resources


If you want to know anything else about the Crown Princess or have any questions about cruising or Princess Cruises, just ask. 

Friday, November 23, 2018

Encouraging Words Money Pocket Project

Woman's Day Magazine, February 2019

What is the Encouraging Words Project?

Those who know me know I believe in the power of the Universe. I believe in The Secret. I believe in the power of positive thinking. That if you look for the good you will find the good. I believe life is flippin' amazing and each day will be amazingly awesome. And I know in my heart that putting positive and grateful thoughts out into the world comes back to me ten times over.

To encourage myself and others to recognize the power within each and every one of us, I've been delivering words of support and inspiration. For the last several years I’ve been giving away dollar bills with these notes of encouragement. I’ve left them in restrooms and airplane magazines and sugar containers. I’ve left them in windowsills and tip jars and hotel room drawers. I’ve left them on buses and taxis and trains. And in shopping carts, store shelves, and doctor offices. Sometimes I place one somewhere once a day and other days I drop them off multiple times.

While most of the time I never know who winds up finding them or how they feel about the words on them, occasionally I do get "caught". When I do, I am awe-inspired how much those few kinds words mean to people. The money going along with the words is just a bonus.

I'd love to have your help in putting kind and grateful vibes out into the world. Click here to learn how to make the pockets and here to find out what others are doing with it

Don't want to make the pockets? Try using a sticky note to leave your dollar behind. Not able to give away any money right now? Just leave the encouraging words. It is the positive thought that counts!

What Readers Are Saying About the Encouraging Words Project

One of the best parts of sharing the encouraging words project has been seeing the project multiply into something bigger. If you haven't yet joined us, it's not too late to start. Check out the post here to learn more about it. Need even more inspiration? Take a look at what some of our readers are saying about it:

I am going to hand out 70 of these in honor of my 70th birthday which is coming up Sept. 26th. I want to do it on that day! I think they are wonderful and we so need touches of kindness in our world today. I also think I will create a "Kindness" basket for an upcoming raffle and place the idea as a kit inside along with other items that reflect kindness in our world.
Thank you in advance for this treasure trove of ideas.
Linda M. 

Thanks for sharing so much with others it really does cause a ripple effect,
Kim B.

Like you, I have left dollar bills and words of encouragement  for others to find. Yet, sometimes the words fail me. I saw that you offer a template with phrases that you use, and I would appreciate a copy. I absolutely believe in spreading Love in many ways! Spreading Joy to others is a wave of healing I firmly believe in!
Judit

I read about your money pockets today and I’m so excited to do this!  As my granddaughter gets old enough I think this will be a fun thing to do together.  Mimi & Josie’s secret campaign to leave smiles wherever we go! Thank you for doing good in the world …… spreading kindness and love.
Michele

I saw your letter in Pam Grout's newsletter, and I love what you're doing. I'm already cutting out the money envelopes!  Please consider me a fan.  
Infinite Love & Gratitude,
Diana H

And a followup from Diana:
I have used your template and words to produce several hundred of the encouraging word pockets.  I find it easy to slip them in all sorts of fun places, and it includes the price of a cup of coffee at our local cafe.  I recently took them on a trip to Las Vegas.  I like to think there may have been a "jackpot" involved for someone.

I've also created stickers with my own words.  I've never been around to see someone find a pocket but I love to imagine how tickled I would be if I found one.  I love setting my intention for kindness as I carefully cut each pocket, glue it, apply the sticker, and add the dollar.  Your project resonates with me. I believe the world is a better place for any and all kindnesses--no matter how seemingly small.
With heartfelt Thanksgiving Infinite Love & Gratitude,
Diana H

If you decide to be part of the project, I'd love to hear from you! Click below to email me.
I look forward to hearing about how you are putting those positive vibes out into world!

Stories of the Finders

Did you find one? I'd love to hear from you! Click below to email me your story.
And read on to hear the stories of some of the other finders...

I've been doing my encouraging words with dollar bills for several years now. I've left them in just about any place you can imagine, from restroom stalls to airplane magazines to grocery shopping carts. Sometimes I place one somewhere once a day and other days I drop them off multiple times.

Most of the time I never get to see who picks up the encouraging note money pockets. That's the point, though - it's a project that's totally anonymous. But occasionally I might see someone's facial expressions or hear some comments. And sometimes I visit a place enough that someone figures out who is leaving them behind. Here are a few stories about them I've picked up along the way.
  • 5 O'Clock Charlie's was a place I had left them more than once. During one visit quite a while ago the bartender, figured out I was the one leaving them in the restroom because they only showed up there when I was there. So guess what she pulled out of her wallet to show me last time I saw her? One of those encouraging word money pockets she had found from long ago. All this time she's kept it in her wallet. It looks a little rough around the edges now, but how amazing is it that my dollar pocket with encouraging words meant so much to her that she keeps it with her all the time?
  • A crew member who found one a couple months back found another. The new one said You are amazing. Her name is Grace and she said she knew it was meant for her, like Amazing Grace. Yep, really amazing.
  • One of the girls that helped hubby in the morning found one in the sugar container when she was cleaning tables. Her cabin mate was also working at the time and we were all talking about the encouraging notes on them. I had a stack of others with me so I told the cabin mate to pick one out of my hand (she couldn't see the sayings so it was like a pick a card, any card kind of trick). When she turned it over it read Never Give Up. The two girls had a laugh and an oh my gosh and an I can't believe it. And why? Because in their cabin they have a poster. A poster that says Never Give Up. How awesome is that?
  • When I leave a tip in a restaurant I sometimes place it in a pocket. I look carefully through the sayings I have on me and choose one I think the waitress needs the most. Usually I can sneak out of the restaurant before the waitress sees it but on Thanksgiving night in Key West I didn't get out quick enough. The waitress stopped me and told me thank you. And said the saying really meant something to her. That it spoke to her. That it was the journey she was on. The encouraging words I chose for her? We’re all stories in the end. Make yours a good one. 
  • Many times when I leave them on a cruise ship I put them in the sugar container. Most of the time they never get touched until the crew member dumps all the sugar packets out and then reorganizes and refills them. That's how Sheila wound up with dollar after dollar after dollar. Only when another crew member spied me putting one into the container and told her did she realize it was me. Over the course of a couple years, as I've gone back to see Sheila again and again, she's picked up quite a few more. I do believe she's now found one pocket in every color. (It also helped that I gave her some outright. I now know her well enough that I was able to hand-pick messages of encouragement aimed right at her.) So what Sheila think about the notes? Here she is, in her own words:
I remember the first time I found the first one. I read it and the message was so touching and days after days I kept finding them with different messages, so from deep within the heart. I felt so emotional because I realized that someone on board cares for what we are doing and wants us to knows in some way. The money you put in the note was very helpful but the touching messages makes you feel good also.  Imagine after a hard day at work when you are about to finish your shift and you find one of the notes. It really makes your day. You are a blessing and special person that is trying to bless another person.

Encouraging Words Money Pocket Photos

Have you been leaving encouraging notes and documenting it? Email me the pics and I'll add them here. Let's keep putting those kind and grateful vibes out into the world!



Share Your Experiences

Do you have your own encouraging words project you'd like to share? Any interesting or fun things you've learned? I'd love to hear from you.

I look forward to hearing about how you are putting those positive vibes out into world!

Back to Fort Lauderdale

While we've had a few weeks of new, pushing-the-limit, getting-out-of-our-comfort zone adventures, today the newness ended. We made the drive from Key West to Fort Lauderdale today and quickly settled back into our normal routine. Stopped at Publix to buy our usual Kit Kats for crew members. Checked into a hotel we've stayed in before. And tomorrow we will be walking to a pier we've walked to before.

To board a ship we've been on before.
To sail to several ports we've visited before.
Where we'll eat at restaurants we've eaten at before.

Getting into a comforting, usual routine couldn't come at a better time. While I love road trips and new activities and adventures, hubby is about done with new discoveries. He's ready for an easy, predictable, relaxing, and comfortable routine.

That comfortable routine will begin tomorrow morning with the Royal Princess docked right behind this bridge.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Dry Tortugas National Park


Today was my day. While NASCAR Championship Weekend was hubby's activity of choice for the week, mine was a visit to Dry Tortugas National Park.

Dry Tortugas is located some 70 miles west of Key West. The only way you can get there is by boat or seaplane. Since the boat was cheaper (but still way too expensive), we went with that option. The ferry takes two and a half hours to get you there (and of course, another two and a half hours to get you back) so it made it an early morning and late evening for us. Check in at 7 am? Yikes. We don't do mornings, and hubby really doesn't do mornings, but he was a good sport about it. The ferry provides a continental breakfast, a lunch onboard, and snorkel equipment.

Snorkel equipment? Oh, yeah. That's why I went. (Well, that along with the fact we're working on getting to all the National Parks.) Unfortunately, so many things went not as planned today that I lost track. It was Thanksgiving and I wanted to make the day full of new, wonderful adventures. It didn't turn out that way. I even started making a list of everything that was not so fun about the day, but stopped myself. I'm about choosing joy. Looking for the good in each day. I believe life is flippin' awesome. So I had to change my attitude. It was Thanksgiving and despite the hard day all of a sudden realized I should be thankful.

Thankful we got to walk a bit of the fort.

Thankful we were able to each lunch on the dock while having this view.
 
That we were able to watch seaplanes load and unload passengers and land and take off.
That we wound up wandering Key West at night and came across a Thanksgiving meal in a restaurant at the marina. At sunset.
 That we were able to have yet one more piece of key lime pie.
 Thankful we saw the moon peeking through lit up palm trees.
Thankful and grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Florida Keys


Today felt like a road trip, and I love road trips. I love being able to stop whenever we want to see and do new things and try new foods. Our first stop this morning was in Islamorada to eat breakfast at Mangrove Mike's. Another place that was hard to find but worth the stop.
We shared an omelet called the Kitchen Sink. Chock full of ham, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onions, potatoes, and cheese.
Hubby was quite generous with the pepper.
And of course, we needed a slice of homemade key lime pie before noon. While it might not look pretty, it was darn tasty.
The shop next door was clear about the origin of their items.
We then made a stop in Marathon, Florida for gas and a beach stop. Two things to note:
  • Once I checked my email when we got to Key West I found an email from Shell. My gas card had been frozen because of potential fraudulent purchases. Uh, no. They must have problems in this particular area because I've used that card for years and years all over this country (and plenty of times in Florida) and it has never been flagged before. We quickly cleared it up and all is good now.
  • We planned on spending an hour or so at Sombrero Beach in Marathon. A beautiful but busy beach. (I do keep forgetting it's Thanksgiving week. It's like I'm on a different calendar for some reason!) The busyness itself wasn't the problem, but the lack of seating for hubby was. He can't stand for long, and with all the picnic tables being taken it left him without a place to sit we couldn't stay. Looked like everyone was having a grand time in the water, though.
Thankfully our hotel (surprise - a real hotel this time) allowed us to check in early. It's one of the nice benefits of being a Best Western Diamond member. We saw lots of folks sitting out in the sun at the pool with multiple pieces of luggage. I tried not to make eye contact - didn't want to rub it in. Although there are worse places to be waiting for a room than at the pool.

After a little rest, hubby was ready to go out. We walked a couple blocks down to the southernmost point in the continental United States. I remember seeing this spot on TV during last year's hurricane.

It was such a beautiful day. We decided to eat not far from that spot at the Southernmost Beach Cafe. We wound up there during happy hour. A $5 rum punch? Yep, I'll take a couple. Hubby went with sangria which was not on the happy hour menu.
All of our food came from the happy hour menu. And bonus - we have leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

$4 pizza rolls.
 $5 buffalo chicken wings.
The most unbelievable tasty combinations were in this $4 grilled cheese sandwich with fries. Pork, onion jam, and cheese. It could probably easily make it to the top of the best thing I ever ate list.
And just to prove to ourselves we really are in Key West, we had another slice of key lime pie. This one had an Oreo crust and strawberry topping. I don't know how it is possible that each one we've had these past few days has been different but amazingly delicious. 
 
As we were sitting there watching the sun go down, we noticed a cruise ship heading out of port.
 Then another one. We  had both a Royal Caribbean and an Azamara in Key West today.
 It was a good day. Tomorrow should be just as good as we have an adventure planned involving a ferry and a fort. Stay tuned.

Find out how we spent yesterday in the Florida Keys here.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Islamorada, Florida


I had never heard of Islamorada until we started searching for places to stay on our way to Key West. Up until today I didn't even know how to pronounce it. (It's eye la more ah dah.) Islamorada is a town hit hard by Hurricane Irma last year. You can see some drone footage shot by the Miami Herald here. Even now some businesses are still closed, homes are being repaired, and signs are everywhere about assistance.
Even real estate listings remind you a hurricane might be in your future with words like concrete, bunker, and fortitude.

We're also finding so many of these towns in the Keys have something else unique about them - you don't realize there is water like, right there. Trees and bushes hide the water on both sides of the road. These last couple days I've been following our GPS down narrow streets to find beaches and marinas. We always think the same thing when we turn off. This can't be right. But two minutes later and wouldn't you know it, there's the water. It happened at the place we stayed at over the weekend. A very nondescript looking place from the road had a great water view just a few feet away. 

And again, at the place we're staying now. It doesn't look like anything special from the main street. Probably doesn't look too impressive from the inside of our abode, either. 
But I knew exactly what I was booking here. Like I've mentioned before, we sometimes like getting out of our usual hotel lodging routine. I have fond childhood memories of camping each summer with my grandparents, hubby has fond childhood memories of heading every year in the camper to his family reunion, and we both have fond memories of our summer-long cross-country tent-camping road trip with our daughter. 

So this place - this trailer - in Islamorada was calling my name. It has electricity and water and even has a regular hotel-like toilet.
Who can say they are blessed enough to be able to camp on the sand in the Florida Keys? That would be us. But again today we again couldn't lollygag on the sand as we had some things to be done. First up, lunch. We wandered just a couple minutes down the road and found ourselves at the rough-looking Hog Heaven.
Go inside, walk through the bar, and plop yourself down outside to find a view like this. Order a drink like the Flying Pig. Vodka, peach schnapps, Red Bull, and cranberry. My first sip of alcohol in months and my first ever sip of Red Bull. Between the view and the warm day and the drink I was feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Or order today's special of the day, a Cuban sandwich. We're only 126 miles from Cuba so we knew it had to be tasty and it was. (Their fresh catch of the day wasn't dolphin like yesterday but was swordfish. We didn't order it.)
Look at those thick slices of meat.
Of course, homemade Key Lime pie for dessert. Very dense.
Then back to CVS to pick up hubby's prescription and onto a nice, clean laundromat to run a load.
Not as relaxing a day as I had hoped, but I'm not going to complain when I can sit in a trailer and type my blog and see this out the window.
The sunsets here aren't too shabby, either.
Even when the moon starts to make an appearance in the opposite side of the sky it is pretty darn nice.
We never ever forget what a wonderful life we live. Off to Key West tomorrow.