Memories of my Spanish Adventure . . .

I promised blogging friend Maria that I would write a post when I finished uploading my Spain photos to Slow Travel! Kim was so nice to suggest that I put them into an album. I'm so glad that I did, because it allowed me to put them in the order that I traveled, which is pretty cool. There are some repeat photos from my live blog entries, but there are several new photos as well.

Slow Travel Spain 2008 Photo Album

And I just had to do it. A YouTube Slideshow video of my photos set to the music of one of my favorite YouTube videos that I found during my trip planning. The video and song reminded me a love story and it seemed like an appropriate selection seeing that I totally loved my visit to Spain!



And now on to trip 2009! :)

Five Fabulous Things: And My FAB-U-LOUS Blog Award goes to . . .

Recently, I recieved a very generous FAB-U-LOUS blog award by fellow blogging pal, Candi from her FAB-U-LOUS blog, Candi's Corner: Wanderlust and Passions. Thank you so much Candi for saying that my blog is FAB-U-LOUS and for the Award! And based upon the company you put me in I feel very honored! So now, I am to share 5 things that I think are Fabulous and then pick 5 blogs that I want to give a FAB-U-LOUS Blog Award to. First, here are 5 things that I think are FAB-U-LOUS!

1. Fabulous No. 1: My Family, Friends, Co-Workers, Blogging Friends and SlowTravel, because they bring me:

(Borrowed from my Why I Love to Slow Travel: One Word, One Image post!)

2. Fabulous No. 2: Travel (I just love it)



3. Fabulous No. 3: Pizza (My most favorite food item-and I'm throwing in a nice glass of prosecco too!)



4. Fabulous No. 4: Italy & Spain



5. Fabulous No. 5: Living near the ocean!



I thought long and hard about the 5 blogs that I would give a FAB-U-LOUS blog award to and here's what I decided. My FAB-U-LOUS Blog Award goes to . . . all of my Favorite Blogs. And why, because I think they're Fabulous!

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with...Too Much Luggage
A Wine Lover's Wanderings
As The Seasons Change
Baked Alaska
Best Trip Ever
Candi's Corner: Wanderlust and Passions
Casey, Italy and Other Good Stuff
Churches in Venice
Destination Anywhere
Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
Follow My Bliss
Happy Trails For Us: My Reluctant Blog
HappySlip
Home is where my bed is
In and Out of the Garden: A Blog
Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
Kaleidoscope
Keep your Feet in the Street
Let us go then, you and I...
My Place in the Sun
Old Shoes - New Trip
Palmabella's Passions
Papillon
Poptarticus
Postcards from the Trail
Reflections & Ruminations
Reflections on My 40 Years in Umbria
shave ice & gelato
soultravelers3
synchronicity
That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
The Many Walks of Maya
The Trail's Our Thing
Vagabond Artist
Views from the Slow Lane
Webs of Significance
What I Really Think
Whistlestop Cafe Cooking

PhotoHunt: Hands

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~ unknown author


The hands of time is the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this week's theme. And then I immediately thought about the photos I took of the famous Astronomical Clock which is located in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. This incredible clock dates back to 1410 and is a remarkable piece of machinery.


For more PhotoHunters go: HERE

AI Recap: Down to 9 . . . .

The shock of the night has to be Matt in the bottom three and Megan not in the bottom three! Everything else was pretty much expected! In the end, the Idol eliminated last night was Michael. From day one, Michael hasn’t been one of my favorites, but honestly I thought Megan’s performance was much weaker than his and she should’ve been the one to leave tonight. She's very lucky that her fans kept her in the competition!

I’m still not a big fan of making the eliminated Idol “sing” for their life in order to get the judge’s save. It just seems wrong to me. Nevertheless, Michael did his best and it sadly wasn't enough to get their save. At least this time the judges looked like they were actually doing some deliberating. I have a feeling they would’ve used it on Matt though.

And what can I say about Smokey and Stevie. They were awesome tonight! Motown at it’s best!

And that’s my Recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . . .

AI Recap: Motown Night . . .

I have been looking forward to Motown night since last week! The Motown sound is as Founder Barry Gordy stated, music that is everlasting! It made superstars of such artists as the Supremes, Temptations, Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson! And it could make a superstar out of one of the remaining 10 American Idol contestants. And here’s how it went . . .

Matt sings Let’s Get it On! I loved the start of his song while playing the piano and sort of wished he continued with just he and the piano. All the judges liked him a lot and even called him a front runner in the competition. I have to agree.

Kris sings How Sweet it is! I thought it was good, but wasn’t really wow’d by it! I liked his performance better last week.

Scott, sang You Can’t hurry love by Diana Ross! I really like Scott from the very beginning and I think he plays the piano beautifully, but I don’t think he has the strongest vocals and it showed in his performance. I agreed with Simon that he picked the wrong song but I don’t agree that he played a hokey piano!

Megan sings For Once in My Life. I’ve been a big fan of hers from the beginning, but I did not like her performance at all! It was the wrong song and a terrible performance! I hope her fans keep her in because if she has the lowest vote, I know the save won’t be used on her.

Anoop sings Ooo Baby, Baby by the Miracles! What can I say but Ooo Baby, Baby! I totally loved it and was surprised that the judges weren’t exactly wow’d by it! I think Anoop totally did Smokey’s song justice! Great song choice and great performance! Yay for Annie's fellow Tar Heel! Go Heels!

Michael sings Too Proud to Beg! It’s not that he didn’t sing it well because I think that he did a good job. It just seemed ordinary for this stage of the competition.

Lil sings Heatwave! I love Lil, but there’s a part of me that wanted her to sing a slow song. I totally agree with Simon, that if she had sang something like I Heard it through the Grapevine, she could have totally blown us out of the Motown waters. I’m hoping the voters will keep Lil in the competition.

Adam sings Tracks of My Tears! His unplugged performance was totally awesome! I loved how he dressed in a suit, slicked back his hair and took his performance way down to show case his vocals and Smokey’s beautiful song. Tonight, Adam really demonstrated his creativeness, his range and his strength as an artist. Kind of reminds me of the Cool One!

Danny sings Get Ready! It’s not that easy to follow Adam, but I thought Danny did a great job with his performance. Although he had a so so review by the judges, I think he did enough to stay in the competition.

Alison sang Papa Was a Rolling Stone! The girl can sing! She has this rock, soul, blues kind of style and I thought her performance was totally awesome.

My standout performances of the night goes to Adam’s Tracks of My Tears, Alison’s Papa Was a Rolling Stone and Anoop’s Ooo Baby, Baby!

And that’s my Recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . .

PhotoHunt: Yellow

Having just visited this amazing Country last November, this week's photohunt selection was pretty easy for me! I took this photo of the Flag of Spain (Bandera de España) while visiting the Gibralfaro Castle in Malaga. The castle is located above the Alcazaba high up on a hill where the winds blew strong allowing the flag to fly proudly!



For more PhotoHunters go HERE.

AI Recap: And then there were 10 . . . .

Last night, the 11th Idol was eliminated from the competition! And this elimination was huge because that meant that you don't get to go on the American Idol Tour. Last year, I'm still stinging from the early boot that Rocker Nurse Amanda got when she was eliminated in 11th place.

Since I dozed off in the first elimination show last week, I was determined to stay awake last night and I did. The set up is the same, Ryan drags the results to it's climactic final two, with a few performances in between. It was really nice to see Carrie Underwood again and to see her performance with Randy Travis. But let's move on!

Danny, Lil, Kris, Megan, Anoop, Scott and Matt all in. Then Ryan has Alison and Michael stand and he announces that they are in the bottom three. I'm not surprised with Michael but I was very surprised with Alison being in the bottom. We are now down to Alexis and Adam. Well, I had no doubt that it would not be Adam, even with the less than flattering review from Simon. It was clear that Alexis would fill that third seat and she did.

Immediately, Ryan announces that Alison was safe! And now there is Alexis and Michael. After reading all the recaps from everyone, I was convinced the 11th to go would be Alexis since Country was Michael's strength and Alexis had poor reviews from her performance the night before.

Ryan announces that Alexis did in fact have the lowest number of votes and was asked to sing her song while the judges deliberate whether or not to use their one and only precious "save" on her. This sucks! I think the format has to be hard on the Idols to have to perform and watch the judges deliberate right in front of you. After finishing her song and Alexis did sing it a lot better than she did last night, Simon announces that it was the end of the line for Alexis. They will not be using their one save on her.

Alexis was one of my earlier favorites and she has an awesome voice! I think she will have a bright future given the exposure she got on the show. Did you know that Rocker Nurse Amanda already has a record out. They may not be in the superstar status because they didn't stay very long on the show but being on AI is still a very good career booster.

And that's my Recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . .

AI Recap: The Grand Ole Opry comes to Idol . . .

The theme is the Grand Ole Opry! An always interesting week for AI contestants!

First up is Michael. I actually have to agree with Simon! I could not understand a word he said! And I found the harmonica player distracting!

Alison, rocked her country song out! I just really love her. She has so much energy and she has a great voice!

For the first time I really enjoyed Kris’ performance. I thought his song choice was very good and he sang it very well. And as Simon mentioned, I think this is the first time that I thought that he actually did deserve to be in the original top 13!

Lil performs a Martina McBride song and the judges didn’t really approve of her performance. But I thought it was pretty good.

Adam singing country! That thought is a show headliner alone. He picked a song by Johnny Cash and did his own Adam Lambert spin on it. Kara was speechless, Paula (I think) liked it, Simon hated it and Randy thought it was great. I agreed with everyone but Simon. I thought it was a country song that was interpreted to his own style. Nothing wrong with that! Other artists and musicians do it all the time.

Scott sang a pretty good song by Martina McBride. And yet again, Paula & Simon get into another disagreement. I happen to agree with Simon on this one. I think Scott performs really well with his piano and I don’t see why he should change. Can I say Brooke White!

Alexis did okay, but it didn’t really have that wow factor for me. Not sure but I seem to be losing my enthusiasm over her performances.

Danny did a good job as usual. Was it his best performance, not really but it was good. I did do a double take on his jacket too! Just didn’t seem to go with the genre of music or with him.

Anoop is Back! Yay! He picked a great song and his performance was outstanding! And I agree, it was the best performance of the night! Yes, even better than Adam and Danny and Alison. Of course, everyone but Simon knew all along that Anoop deserves to be in the top 13. He just kept picking the wrong song!

You gotta love Megan for her uniqueness! I continue to be a fan of hers. Even more so now after learning that even while suffering from a bad flu she is able to perform the way that she did. Kudos to her!

Matt sings a Carrie Underwood song and did it very well. I really enjoyed his performance a lot. I noticed that they didn’t bring up the piano discussion with him?

So there you have it! Who will be moving on to the top 10! All my favorites did very well with the exception of maybe Alexis and I was very surprised with a great performance by Kris.

My top performance of the night without a doubt was Anoop! I think he did NC proud and I’m sure there are a lot of happy Tar Heels right now! Whoo hoo!

And that’s my recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . . .

Some things just can't stay in Vegas . . .

Wikipedia defines Teamwork as a group of individuals working harmoniously together towards a common goal. Here are a few snapshots of my weekend:

Heading out to the beautiful Mojave desert . . .



Exchange point during the day . . .


Exchange point at night . . .

A runner catches a nap . . .


Night crew . . .

Hospitality (aka party suite) . . .

Only (after) the race . . .

Post celebration moved on to other stages . . .

Got the funk on with Purple Reign (Prince Tribute Band). . . .

There were many exciting moments that happened over the weekend, but I'll share one that I thought was really funny. Around 2:30 in the morning, our shuttle van got stuck in some soft gravel. The more we gunned the engine the deeper we sunk. Finally, we all leaped out to lighten the van then had to kick the gravel to fill up the hole. After a few more trys our van finally gets out and we all had to quickly pile back into the van before we received a penalty for blocking the roadway. It was like this comedy. I can't believe that I didn't snap a photo!

Although our team wasn't fast enough to receive an award we did better our time from last year. And more importantly, we finished and had a fun time!



I'm glad to be home again and am looking so forward to catching up with all my favorite bloggers!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Organized caos. . .

You gotta love it! Team meetings are done and the first runner took off! Whoo hoo! 120 miles, 20 legs, 55 team members, and many parties planned for Sunday when it All concludes! Organized caos! Oh and I spotted Aaron Neville this morning!

Placed my $20 bet for your Heels to win Annie! Double Whho Hoo!

Ciao from Vegas!

PhotoHunt: Four

The Fab Four changed the course of music forever! I'm referring of course to Ringo, George, John and Paul, better known as the "Beatles"! I took this photo while visiting the Rock Museum at the Olympic Park in Munich Germany!


I consider music as the Universal language. It is so much a part of our culture and can often define an important time in our history! And really great music and musicians can transcend all generations. Here's a young and talented musician singing a Fab Four classic!





For more PhotoHunters go: HERE

The First and Second to Go . . .

I'm embarrassed to admit that I actually fell asleep right after Ryan announced the new rule change on American Idol's results show last night. I know, I can't even believe it myself.

I was worried that the new twist was going to drastically change the whole concept of the show by allowing the judges to have the final decision after America voted. The new rule is this: It is a one time only "save" that the judges can exercise on an eliminated Idol if they disagree with the voting results. Past surprise eliminated idols such as Daughtery, Tamara Gray and Michael Johns inspired this new rule. When the judges agree to use the save, no one will be eliminated that night and everyone moves on. As it turns out, the rule isn't so bad and I actually like it. Whew!

The hardest part of watching AI, is seeing each contestant leave the show especially after you get to know them by all the clips showing their family, listening to their hopes and dreams and then watching them perform their hearts out on stage. Last night (although I missed it), fans wastched two great singers and individuals leave the show, Jorge and Jasmine. But they are young and very talented and I think they will continue to grow and hopefully become successful as artists.

I was also very glad to read that Anoop made it, especially because I think he was really at risk. I'm sure that everyone in NC are thrilled! I read that they had Anoop and Jorge as the final two, when announcing the 2nd contestant to be eliminated and that must have been very intense to watch....Annie how was it? I think that would have been tough for me to watch since I like them both, sometimes I guess it pays to doze off! :)

So I'm not writing this as an AI Recap, because I was in snooze mode! Next time I'll remember to record the show and watch it so I can do a legitimate recap!

AI Recap: The 13 Compete . . .

So this is it! The 13 compete for their American Idol lives. Simon breaks the news that 2 contestants will be sent home in this first round! I knew it!

The theme is Michael Jackson songs and Lil Rounds starts off with a good performance. I'm not sure why, but I sort of had higher expectations for her and I agree a bit with Simon. Still she was awesome. Scott did really well and it was great to see him play the piano. Danny was also great as usual and I liked his high energy. Very soulful. Michael sang pretty good and I liked that he really put his heart into his performance.

I thought Jasmine sang I'll Be There fairly well, but I do feel like she's still a little nervous and is so much better than what we're seeing in her performances so far. Kris played his guitar which was cool, but I'm still not as high on him as maybe let's say rambling Paula! :) Dang Alison totally rocks! She has a combination of soul AND rock! And for only being 16 years old, she has great stage presence. She kind of reminds me of Rocker Nurse Amanda from last season!

Anoop Dawg...I really love him but wow did he pick the wrong song to sing. He's so good with R&B soulful songs, I'm so surprised he picked Beat It. Anoop is very talented and so I hope all the Tar Heel fans in North Carolina got on their speed dials to keep Anoop in the competition!

I thought Jorge sang Never Can Say Goodbye well and was surprised that he received some bad reviews from the judges. So I'm hoping the fans vote and keep him in the competition. Megan sang Rocking Robin and the judges didn't like it. In fact, Simon hated it! But it's so funny because I actually liked it! She has her own style and is unique. And I think it is so cool how she expresses how much she loves her little boy. Being a young single mom can't be easy. I really like her.

Piano playing Matt sings Human Nature and was very good! He seems so comfortable (just like Scott) behind the piano. And he does remind me of Justin Timberlake! Alexis sings Dirty Diana and although she has a really cute daughter, sings very well and is one of my favorites, it wasn't my favorite performance from her.

And saving the best for last! Adam explodes on stage with his performance of Jackson's song, Black & White. I actually think his version could be a hit single if he recorded it right now! As far as I'm concerned Adam upstaged everyone and after tonight's performance I think he is clearly in the lead! Right song, great performance and outstanding stage presence! I'm definitely downloading this on i-Tunes! :)

My two most standout performances: Adam and Alison! There were more but these are my number one standouts!

And that's my recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . .

So where to next . . .

Italy or . . . . !

I was just looking at my Future Travel short list this morning and my eyes became not only fixed on my Italy places to see but also surprisingly on Ireland and Scotland! Go figure!

Just thinking . . .

Boa's & the Cool One . . .

Well, I wish I could say that I was going to post something meaningful today, but I'm not! :)

Got home very late from last night's party and yet I had to wake up early today. I have a suspecion I'll have to excerise my Madrid "nap" technique again today if I'm going to last in the afternoon.

It started out pretty mellow with the dimmed lighting, great food and awesome themed decorations . . . .



And then the "Boa" makes it's first appearance and the party heats up . . .



Did I say yet that each table had a couple bottles of wine . . .



Well, they did! :)



At the urging of my friends, the DJ finally decided to play "Kiss" by the Cool One (aka Prince) to get me to dance! And it worked! Time to put my camera down beccause it was Party time!

. . . on second thought, my meaningful thought for today is sometimes you just gotta let your hair down and have some fun!

PhotoHunt: Space

"Sometimes in life, you really don't know what you are capable of accomplishing until you give it a try. At the lowest point of my race, I had to search deep within myself for some inspiration to keep going! And what did I learn? I realized that the greatest achievements in life are found not necessarily in the final outcome itself, but in the journey." ~ Trekcapri




A lone runner looks ahead to the wide open space of the beautiful Mojave Dessert!


For more PhotoHunters go: Here

AI Recap: Lucky number 13 . . .

Wow, last night's Wild Card lived up to the AI fan hype. It was the second and last chance to move on. And this time, it was up to the judges and not the voting fans to decide their fate.

I thought all the contestants stepped it up gave great performances. Jesse came out strong with what I thought was her best performance in the competition and Anoop did what everyone was expecting from Anoop! He sang My Prerogative with his great soulful and enthusiastic style that we have grown to expect from him. So why when it came to the final two was I worried. Well, because he was paired with piano playing Matt who I thought nailed his performance last night and did slightly better than Anoop did. Could it be that Anoop (the bright shining star in the making) didn't make the finals! Simon delivers the news that Matt was in! Yikes, but wait there's another AI twist. Simon goes on to tell Anoop to wait as they just came to a "last minute" decision and for the first time on AI there will be a top final 13 and Anoop was IN! Whoo hoo! Annie commented that last night's show was pretty wild and she was right, it was.

So who made it: Matt and Anoop (yay), Jasmine (yay), Megan (yay).

Who didn't make it: Von (expected), Jesse (I thought she had a chance with the performance she did), Ricky (he should've made it rather than Cris), and Tatiana (I still think that she has a good voice and as you can tell from last night is quite the entertainer). I thought it was cute how Megan consoled Tatiana and you just knew that was coming because Megan did really well and impressed the judges more than Tatiana did. But wait, Paula, Kara and Randy with Simon looking on also took some time to console Tatiana and the comment of the night from Paula, "but you're going to be an actress." Huh! Did I miss something! Actually I think she would be great in the entertainment business. Will any of us ever forget Tatiana in Season 8. We might forget who some of the other contestants are, but we will always remember Tatiana and the thing is she can sing. Last night wasn't her best performance but she can sing.

And the winning awkward moment of the evening had to be that moment with Tatiana and Ryan Secrest. :) If you missed it, I'm sure it will pop up somewhere on YouTube.

So there you have it, top 13 in AI! Let the competition begin. And I'm ready for it!



For more on the top 13 contestants you can visit the American Idol Website: HERE

And that's my recap! Keep on rocking AI . . .

AI Recap: 6 Plus 3 equals 9 and the final 3 is Wild . . .

Tonight's show was awesome! Lil was the first to enter the top 12, next was Scott and the last and final spot in Group 3 went to Jorge. But before Jorge sang his song, the judges start to announce their picks for the Wild Card show. And here they are:

Jasimine (Yay), Piano Playing Matt (Yay), Von Smith (I did like him), Megan Corkrey, Ricky Braddy (Yay, a North Carolina Native), Jesse Langseth (I liked her, but I was surprised she got in), Anoop (Whoo hoo, Annie's Tar Heel is in and I'm not so surprised with his selection), and finally, drumroll please....Tatiana del Toro. Dubbed the Drama Queen in the competition, I'm sure her pick was a surprise. I actually think she has a very good voice and I'm sort of glad that she got a second chance.

So we have contestants (Anoop & Ricky) from Annie's North Carolina, two contestants (Jorge & Tatiana) from Maria's Puerto Rico and two contestants (Alison & Adam) from LA.

I think the Wild Card Show will be Wild! And I can't wait for the top 12 competition to start.

And that's my Recap! Keep on Rocking AI . . . .

AI Recap: Group Number 3 . . . .

I wasn't feeling it and didn't have high expectations before last night's show. I think it is because most of my favorites with the exception of maybe three people were in Groups 1 & 2. But here goes:

Von Smith opens up the show and was pretty descent. Simon came down on him hard during Hollywood week but liked his performance. I didn't get the Clay Aiken comparison though.

Taylor Vaifanua was good, but if I were to compare her to Alison from Group 2, there is just no comparison. She's really nice and I do like her though.

Alex - I wasn't really that fond of his song and performance. I think for sure that he is out of the competition after tonight. Funny guy though.

Ariana- As they said, she's cute as a button but picked the wrong song! I'm hoping she makes wild card but that round is going to be even harder than Group 3.

Ju'not - I really liked him, but I'm not sure it was strong enough to make top three, but hopefully he'll make wild card.

Kristen - I like her. She almost reminds me of Goldie Hawn for some reason but was it a stand out performance?

Nathaniel - You might remember him for all the drama he went through (even by his own admission) in the earlier rounds. But I think he has his own style and I really like him, but I'm just not so sure he will make it in to the top 12.

Felicia was very good and I thought both her performance was good and her song choice too. I'm not sure she'll make top three, but I really hope she gets a shot at wildcard.

Scott was very good as usual. I'm really hoping he gets in to the top 12 so we can hear him sing and play his keyboards which is when I think he'll do even better. I think he will either make top three or even top male.

Country singer Kendell was good, but the competition for top spot is pretty high in this round and I'm not sure she pulled it off.

Joreg Nunez from Puerto Rico was excellent and he is definitely one of the standouts from last night and I think a top choice for male singer.

And finally, Lil Rounds was as Simon said, "brilliant" last night. She is definitely my choice for top female and my top choice for Group 3.

So what started out for me as low expectations turned out pretty good. Or maybe I'm just anxious to get to the top 12 compeition. :)

My top picks: Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez and Scot Macintyre.

And that's my recap. Keep on rocking AI . . . .

Where everybody knows my name . . .

On my trips I always start with great intentions to seek out recommended places to eat and drink, but with the exception of my stay in Venice (where I used my Chow Venice book), I usually have a tendency of walking around asking locals for their advice or just stumbling onto places. This haphazard method doesn't always result in much success (which is why I'm trying to improve in this department), but every once in a while the hunt can sometimes be fun!

Here's a familiar bar (look-a-like) that I stumbled upon on my early morning walks through the city during my stay in Malaga, Spain. . .



Here's a closer look at the familiar name . . .



But after a long day of sightseeing I dropped off my camera and stumbled on to this lively bar to hang out for some tapas and sangria . . .



It's not lively now, because I took this photo earlier in the morning. I think what drew me away from Cheers is the lively promotional game they were having where the more you drink the more chances you had to win a prize. Being the light drinker that I am, I didn't have a chance at winning, but it was pretty fun watching the other contestants. :)

February Blog Everyday Challenge: We Did It!

Yesterday was the last day of Slow Travel's amazing February Blog Everyday Challenge! I must confess that at first I was not so sure that I would have enough to say for an entire month. But blogging pal AnnieNC, told me that it was a lot of fun and so I joined in. And here's what happened . . .

- To my surprise I found out that I actually had enough to say for the entire month. In fact, I have a couple of unused stockpiled posts still to use! :)

- It made me organize my Spain photos (something I have been putting off since I returned last December). Now all I have to do is upload them to ST.

- It inspired me to create new YouTube videos (one of my favorite things to do) for travel topics that I have wanted to do for a long time. I created a total of 4.

- It nudged me to join Photo Hunt which is something I had been procrastinating about for months.

- It allowed me to remember so many wonderful memories of past trips that I hadn’t thought about for a long time.

- It allowed me to discover more fellow American Idol fans. He, he! :)

- It inpsired me to think about creative ways to express myself about things that mean a lot to me, namely my passion for travel and the new “Slow Way” way I like to travel, thanks to Slow Travel Founder, Pauline, the Slow Travel Website and the Slow Travel Community.

- But I think the most important thing that this challenge has done for me is it really allowed me to discover new and really cool things about my blogging friends and also learn more about a few bloggers who I didn’t really know before.

I had such a great time during this challenge that I really want to try to blog more often than I have in the past. I also want to continue to visit everyone's blogs as much as I can. Although I may not comment everytime I always enjoy reading what people have to say and I will often find inspiration in them.

This blog challenge has been a really fun experience for me and I want to thank all my fellow bloggers (including my favorite bloggers like Kaleidoscope and Casey, Italy and Other Good Stuff, Syncronicity . . . ) and most especially I want to thank AnnieNC for encouraging me to participate.



Photo of the Month: This month's photo of the month is a view of the Alhambra from the General Life Gardens in Granada, Spain.