Good morning!

I returned home from Honduras in the early hours of Saturday morning this past weekend.  A few things I have noted over the past several days that have taken place while I was away….

1.  My Chocolate Caramel Creamer.

Yes, I will admit it is not good for me but oh…. have you tried it?  On Saturday evening I was craving a large cup of coffee and thought…. ooh, the creamer would be good.  But – I could not find it in the refrigerator.  Al (Hubby) does not usually drink coffee at home…. he leaves for work around 5 am and catches it at a coffee shop and he only drinks coffee in the morning… unlike me…. 😛

When I inquired about the missing creamer he responded, “Oh, that was really good.”  When I mentioned he never drinks coffee at home, he responded, “Oh, I didnt drink coffee.  It was like chocolate milk, I drank a little glass full of the creamer each night.

😯

2.  My office.

Oh ha ha co-workers and evil minded boss!  😛  They cobwebbed my desk…. 

3.  This morning…. I wake up to this:

 

So…. no creamer, cobwebby desk, and snow.  Really?

GAH.

😛

Good morning.

*YAWN*

*STRETCH*

A very tired group of people landed in Minneapolis last night around 10:30 pm… worked our way through baggage claim, shuttled back to our hotel by 11:30 and started the drive home… arriving in Brainerd around 1:30 am….

I was one of them.

In typical me fashion, I should be sleeping, but no… woke up at 8 am and now I am UP, showered, laundry started and sitting in my chair with a cup of Honduras coffee at my side.

Its good to be home.

I doubt if I will do much today… I may do a little reading to relax my mind, I may take a nap… I more than likely will have Chinese for lunch as there is something odd that happens every year… I return home craving Chinese food.

I thought I would post a few pics this morning of some of the beauty that is Honduras as this is Saturday and Alyce is busy over At Home With Books with her Saturday Snapshots.

I of course, also brought back a bag of Honduras Coffee for one lucky commenter today.  Leave a comment here and you will be added automatically into the giveaway.

Good morning.  😀

I am here at the guest house in Tegucigalpa Honduras, a little groggy, but good.  Yesterday was a fine day to travel and see areas we have worked in the past.  We stopped at AFE (the dump school) and I was saddened to see that my little buddy Samir (who I see every year) was not there.  I was told he had not been feeling good so was at his home. 

 

After AFE we went out to Manuelito where we used to work with the street kids.  That was like a family reunion  I love seeing those kids and how they have grown and matured…

Both stops were good and I know we will not do that every year, but it was good to see them. 

 

We then went to the Valle de Angelas, which is the Valley Of The Angels.  This is our shopping stop for the trip.  Pretty much a Honduras tourist trap.  I usually pick up a few bracelets or necklaces, the prices are good and the items are unique.  Of course I always get coffee too to bring back 🙂

We returned to the guest house last night for dinner and had time to all talk together afterwards about our thoughts on the day.  I am really enjoying my time with this group.  Al, Julie, and Mark I have done this with many times – but Eric, Jay, Boris, and Dima have been wonderful new additions to the group and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them better.

Today we start flying back.  Our flight leaves Tegucigalpa at 1:59 pm.  We will land in Atlanta around 6:30 pm…. in Minneapolis about 10:30 pm, and then out drive home will put us in around 1:30 am. 

Good morning.  It is 6:00 am  here in La Esperanza Honduras.  For some reason I constantly wake up early here.  It may be the sounds of the trucks outside or maybe the rooster….

Yesterday was a good day.  We went back to the church and painted class rooms and classroom doors.  We only had until noon so we did what we could but it was fun and they looked nice. 

In the afternoon after lunch, we drove up into a rehab center up in the mountains.  This is a rare thing for Honduras and functions almost like an AA or a Celebrate Recovery program.  It was amazing to see what was being done in this area.

After that we returned to Rosi’s house to try some traditional Honduras food,a drink made out of corn that we drink out of fruit shells.  She served us big bowls and at first it is pretty good.  It is made out of mashed boiled corn, cinnamon, sugar, and I think milk.  It is good, but quickly thickens and as it cools has a stronger corn taste that I could not finish.

The team was pretty hilarious drinking it, some loved some did not.  Dima (from Ukraine) couldn’t drink his at all but once Mark finished it for him he wanted his picture taken of him “finishing: it.

Dinner was pretty phenomenal and not at all what you would expect to eat in this area.  We ate at a pretty nice restaurant and the meat was so delicious.  This was our last evening in La Esperanza.

Today we will travel back towards Tegucigalpa and stay in the Mission House tonight and tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will travel to see past areas we have worked in which is the opposite direction of where we are now.

It has been a good trip so far. 

Good morning from La Esperanza Honduras.  It was a long travel day from the 2:30 am start to the 6:00 pm landing in our hotel.  As tired as I was, it was great to see Terry and Colleen again ( our guides and friends). 

I am currently in my hotel room trying to decide if my laptop is right at 5:55 am, or if my phone is right at 6:55 am.  My room is nice and I am surrounded by the sounds of Honduras…. dogs barking, fireworks going off, trucks moving.  Lets just say I am thankful for Ambien.  

Just in case it is almost 7 am I have to get a movie on it and get ready to go.  We are meeting downstairs at 8 for breakfast and then doing a little exploring.  At 3 pm we will go to the church we are working with and be there for a few hours.

I will catch up as I can and lan to be back later with the Monday What Are You Reading.

On the plane, I finally finished Monsters Of Men.  🙂

Brief entry…. no coffee (yet!) it is 3:00 am and no one (NO ONE) should have to get up at this hour.  First of all…. its really dark.  Second of all… did I sleep?  Really?

😛

Anyhoo…. we grab a shuttle to the airport in 30 minutes and I am typing on borrowed time.  I will check in when I can… but hang out anyway as the bloggers who will be gracing these pages over the week… are AWESOME!

Good morning.  This morning… I have been up since five.  Probably a little insane for the first day of my travels but that is what happened… I woke up when Al got up, he told me good-bye, and then there I was.

AWAKE.

😯

Then my friend text me at 5:30 and I responded which surprised her so she called and we talked until 7:40 am.  😛

So I sit here now with COFFEE CUP and ASUS (laptop) looking at my 1/4 packed suitcase on the couch.  My traveling towards Honduras starts today  and I have barely begun to pack.  No worries though, I have my list and it will probably take me about 15 minutes to get organized and packed.  I am only gone a week and need probably 4 changes of regular clothes and one nice outfit. 

My carry on however has in it the books I will be reading for the INSPY awards, Snookie (my Nook), my IPOD, and snacks.  Really… the carry on is more important.  😀

My plan is as follows:

 

3:00 pm today – meet up with the two guys I am riding to the Cities with – Jay and Eric. 

6:00 pm today – check into our hotel and meet up for dinner.

4:00 am Saturday – be at the airport and meet up with Al and Julie.

5:30 am – board the plane to Atlanta Georgia and meet up with the rest of our team flying from Florida:  Mark, Boris, and Dima.

10:00 am – fly from Georgia to Tegucigalpa Honduras

12:10 land and head to La Esperanza (about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive)

Stay is La Esperanza from Saturday to Wednesday afternoon helping in that area.

Wednesday afternoon – back to Tegucigalpa (main city of Honduras) stay overnight at the mission house

Thursday morning – head the opposite direction and stop and see where we have worked before:  AFE (the dump and the kids who live in it), Manuelito (street kids), circle around do a little shopping, have dinner then back to the mission house for our overnight.

Friday – pack, airport by 11:00 – fly at 1:00, back in Minneapolis around 10:10 pm, drive home.

 

So what is happening here at Book Journey while I am away?  Awesome things.  I will check in when I can in the mornings to tell you what is happening and add pics as I can.  My afternoon posts are going to some wonderful book blogger friends who will be here to talk books and maybe even movies with you – so please pop in and show them some love.  They are all awesome to do this!  And honestly, I have not even peaked at what their posts are yet so it will be fun to see what they are chatting about. 

Oh one more thing – Monday What Are You Reading will be here will go one as usual going up on Sunday evening…. (at least I am prepping it and scheduling it to go live then…. I BELIEVE it will work)  😛