Blog Tour: Ruby Among Us

 

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

Ruby Among Us
(WaterBrook Press May 20, 2008)
by
Tina Ann Forkner


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:





Tina Ann Forkner writes contemporary fiction that challenges and inspires. Originally from Oklahoma, she graduated with honors in English from CSU Sacramento before ultimately settling in the wide-open spaces of Wyoming where she now resides with her husband and their three children. Tina serves on the Laramie County Library Foundation Board of Directors and enjoys gardening, spending time outdoors with her family, and works as a full-time writer.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Sometimes, the key that unlocks your future lies in someone else’s past...

In Ruby Among Us, Lucy DiCamillo is safely surrounded by her books, music, and art─but none of these reclusive comforts or even the protective efforts of her grandmother, Kitty can shield her from the memory of the mother she can no longer remember. Lucy senses her grandmother holds the key, but Kitty seems as eager to hide from the past as Lucy is eager to find it.

From the streets of San Francisco and Sacramento, to the lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley, Lucy follows the thread of memory in search for a heritage that seems long-buried with her mother, Ruby.

What she finds is enigmatic and stirring in this redemptive tale about the power of faith and mother-daughter love.

“What an incredible story. As both mothers and daughters, Ruby Among Us struck a special cord in each of the four of us. Tina writes in a way that makes us feel like we’re there; from the first line, we were captivated and drawn into an intricate weaving of the precious and fragile relationships that define us.”
~Point of Grace~

“Reading is a passion of mine, and when I find myself identifying with the characters, anxious to get to the next page to find answers to my questions, I know I’m into a good book! The daughter-mother-grandmother theme in Ruby Among Us pulled me in. Wonderful story-telling.”
~Jordin Sparks~, 2007 winner of American Idol

“Highly recommended. If you’re a mother or daughter, you’re going to love Ruby Among Us. Forkner does an extraordinary job…. I look forward to more from this author.”
~Ane Mulligan~, Novel Journey

“Don’t miss this one! Tina Ann Forkner is a strong new voice in fiction and Ruby Among Us is an amazing story of trials, regrets, and, ultimately, redemption. Lucy and her family history in the historic wine country of Sonoma bring to life the Scriptures about the Vine and His branches.”
~Kristin Billerbeck~, author of The Trophy Wives Club

If you would like to read the first chapter go HERE.

Ten On Tuesday ~ Favorite Time Wasters

This list should be easy. I'm not sure that I like the tag that these are "time wasters" but these are things I love to do in my free time.

1. Read a book ~ Any time I have a spare minute, I love to take advantage of some reading time.
2. Watching my favorite movies ~ I've watched Sabrina, Pride & Prejudice, While You Were Sleeping, and Facing the Giants countless times.
3. The internet ~ I've recently got into online coupons and I'm totally addicted! I surf for all types of things and this is probably my favorite "time waster."
4. Menu planning ~ I love to sit down on Saturday or Sunday evening and play my menu for the week.
5. Bargain shopping ~ Love, love, love doing this.
6. Cleaning house ~ It's a sickness really.
7. Kitty watching ~ Trust me, we have five so I spend A LOT of time doing this!
8. Music ~ I love getting on YouTube and watching/listening to my favorites from the late 80s and early 90s.
9. Cooking for a crowd ~ I love having guests and really enjoy cooking large meals to feel them.
10. Dieting/Grocery shopping ~ I combine these two and you'd understand if you shopped with me. I've been known to stand in the aisles and figure up Weight Watchers points on much of what I buy. This is also a sickness! LOL!

To read more Ten On Tuesday posts, visit the official site.

A Girl and Her Bulls

When I was in high school, I had lots of lofty dreams. I was going to be a professional athlete, move to Chicago, and meet Michael Jordan. You see, I was a huge fan of the Chicago Bulls and MJ. At that point in my life the ultimate experience was meeting him. My plans were short lived though because I graduated and realized that I had to make some serious life decisions. One detail I had failed to factor into my Chicago plans was cash :-o)

Since those days, many, many years ago, I've grown and matured. I realize now that I didn't have a clue back then! What I did do after high school graduation was get a job and move away from home. I moved about an hour away and started living in the real world, rent payments and all! Eventually I went to a small college for a few years and then got married. I never dreamed I'd be where I am today.

Sometimes I look back on those days and laugh myself silly. What was I thinking? I still want to travel but the next time I plan a trip to the "Windy City", I think I'll put together a Chicago travel itinerary. I no longer care about meeting MJ but part of me would still love to see the United Center. This time around, I'll have to be sure to factor in the financial aspect of the trip!

What's your story? Please tell me I'm not the only one who had crazy ideas like this!

Moms At Home

While I'm waiting to hear all of your responses about getting my digital photos organized (see the post below this one), I'm spending most of my online time looking for coupons. With gas and groceries going up the way they have been, I want to stockpile what I can as I find good sales. While searching for coupons and such, I came across a new group called Moms At Home. This is a great place for moms to talk about anything and everything. It's rather new so there are only a few members at present but I hope many sign up. I can see this being very helpful. We can share anything from struggles at home to coupon codes to favorites. If you think this may prove helpful to you, go on over and sign up. I'm hoping to learn many great tips from other moms!

I almost forgot, there's a contest connected to all of this. Go to Nessa's Place to get in on it!

Next On My List......

I finally got the garage purged, for the most part. We can actually walk through it without having to kick stuff out of the way and that's a great feeling. We still have some work to do but we have made huge progress. There are still tools and garden supplies that need to go to hubby's building and I've cleaned off some shelves for the stockpile of food and supplies I plan to start accumulating. I'll tell you more about that as things progress.

My next order of business is to get my desktop computer cleaned up. No, it's not dirty. However, it does have tons of "junk" on it that needs to be deleted. That comes from letting a nine year old play games on it. I want to get everything cleaned up and all the junk done away with so that I can use it for storage. For the past eight years or so, I've taken only digital photos. At first, I had them all in nice little folders. Then I started to blog and starting taking some pictures only for that. As you could probably guess, things are now a mess and I've got pictures all over the place. It's going to take hours, days, weeks even, to get the mess cleaned up but I will prevail. Once they are all cleaned up and in the proper folders, I plan to get one of those tiny usb flash drives to back up my pictures. That way, if the computer crashes, they will be ok. This will also be nice if I want to have a ton of photos printed. I can just run to the store with the flash drive, pop it in, and BAM! There are all the pictures.

Here's the dilemma I feel coming on. How in the world do I categorize the photos? Do I do it by year? Do I label them as kid, family, friends, etc.? This is exactly where things started to go wrong with me before. I got overwhelmed with all the pictures we were taking and I got sloppy with my file naming. I'm curious to know how you categorize your digital photos. We have a lot of photos of everything so I need some well thought out advice. I'd like to set up all the folders before I even start trying to move the pictures. I know y'all are going to have some great advice for me and I can't wait to hear suggestions so bring them on!

All We Need Is A Little Purge

Isn't it amazing how much stuff you find when you sort through things you have stashed away in your garage? This past week, I've been amazed at some of the stuff I had put away. Hubby got a building for our back yard that will house our lawnmowers and tools. As he was moving all of that stuff out to the building, we tried to sort through things we really don't need anymore. It went fairly quickly. A few days later, he was running wiring out to the building so that he could have electricity. Well, he had to start running the wiring from the garage so we had to clean out even more stuff. That's when the real fun began.

I have a particularly cool storage place out there. It's a nice little cubby hole that is under our stairs. It's perfect for putting Christmas decor and things away because you don't have to look at it every time you walk out there. When Jeff started wiring, all of that stuff had to come out of the cubby hole. Oh....My.....Goodness! Where in the world did it all come from? I blame it on my mother. She has a habit of giving or making me all sorts of Christmas stuff . I think I pulled out six or eight huge storage tubs of stuff. I wouldn't be surprised to find some rifle slings, used car parts, or a colony of little creatures living in that stuff! It is ridiculous!

Today I'm on a mission. Get rid of at least half that stuff. Yep, you heard me. At least half. I've been recently inspired by a friend to start working on our home again. There are plenty of things I need to do so I plan to start with a good purging. All the stuff from the cubby hole is smack dab in the middle of the garage so it's gotta go! If I'm not back in a day or two, call the national guard because it's likely I'm stuck under a pile of junk!

Chapman Family Prayer Request

I know many of you are Steven Curtis Chapman fans and I wanted to alert you to a tragic accident that struck his family yesterday. One of the Chapman's daughters passed away as a result of an accident in their driveway. You can read the full story here. Please remember this family in prayer. Such heartbreaking news.........

Have You Heard About Social Spark?

Last September I started doing paid posts, like this one, for PayPerPost. It has been a really neat experience for me and I very much enjoy writing for them. Recently, they launched a new site called SocialSpark. This is a social network that connects bloggers and advertisers. Now bloggers can search and find advertisers that have products they are excited to write about. Advertisers can find bloggers who are better suited to write reviews for their products. It's a win-win situation. I can't tell you how nice it is to write about a product or service you love and get paid for it! Besides being fun, it is also a helpful way for many people to work from home. It has really helped me earn the extra cash we need for dental bills :-o)

Something I really like about SocialSpark is how advertisers can see my public profile. They can read a little about me, see some of my interests, and what my blog is about. This allows them to be more selective in extending ad opportunities. Advertisers also create a public profile so that bloggers can read a little about their company and the products they offer. This gives us (bloggers) more control over the ads we write. We can sort through ad opportunities and pick the ones we like rather than taking opportunities we might be less passionate about. I am a mother and I would rather be writing about products that fall into the parenting category instead of writing about car parts or something I know little about. This is a wonderful way to voice our opinions and experiences with certain products. We are the ones purchasing most of these products. Who is better qualified to write about such things?

I know some of you have no desire to write about products and services but if you have the slightest interest in doing so, I recommend looking into SocialSpark. As I've said before, it has been a nice opportunity for me to express my opinions and earn a little extra cash at the same time.

Ten On Tuesday ~ Movies I'm Excited To See

1. Prince Caspian
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
3. You Don't Mess With the Zohan
4. Made of Honor
5. Iron Man ~ Ok, I saw this one while we were in Savannah and I liked it pretty well.
6. The Incredible Hulk ~ I really like Edward Norton so I have to at least try this movie.
7. The Happening
8. Hancock
9. Journey To the Center of the Earth
10. The Dark Knight

These are ten of the movies I want to see that come out between now and end of July. I'm sure there will be others. Check out what others want to see here.

What do you want to see?

I'm Almost There

I'm on the home stretch. I can see the finish line in front of me. I'm only steps away, or should I say, pounds away. I can smell it. Victory is about to be mine!

When I started this quest to lose twenty pounds, I didn't actually think I'd do it without the help of lipovox, hoodia, or some other fancy product. Honestly, I didn't really even believe I could lose the weight. I like to eat and it wasn't like my health was in danger. I just felt sluggish, out of shape, and just plain old fat. I was carrying baby weight from nine years earlier. I had stopped getting any real exercise. My clothes looked very sloppy. I had plenty of reasons to lose it.

When a friend introduced me to her secret (Weight Watchers), I thought hey, I can do that. Again, I didn't actually think I would lose it because I didn't think I had the wheel power to say no to all the foods I loved (that were unhealthy or really fatty). Imagine my delight when I learned that with WW, I could eat anything I wanted as long as I was willing to count the cost. I didn't have to give up mashed potatoes. I could still eat queso. Chocolate cake, come over here. I didn't even have to give up my beloved Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop Tarts! I could eat all of those things. The catch was that I had to evaluate what I put into my body and figure out how to eat those things in moderation so that I could still drop the weight. It was so much easier than I ever imagined it would be. I think I started near the end of February and I've lost 15 1/2 lbs. to date. It has come off more slowly than I had hoped for but that's because we've had several health issues with our family in these past months(my BIL passed away suddenly, MIL had a severe heart attack, and my grandmother's health has been declining rapidly). During a few of those times, I've returned to "emotional eating" status. All in all though, it has been easy, and fun. I should also mention that my hubby has been on the diet with me and has lost over 30 lbs.

So, what did we do differently? Well, we followed the WW Flex Plan guidelines (which included eating appropriate portion size), started using at least 90% lean meat, cut down egg and oil use (using mostly egg whites and healthy oils), cut down our sugar consumption (this was my BIG problem area), started drinking more water, and learned to recognize the signs of eating due to boredom, stress, or emotion. It really was that simple. I paid more for lean meats but I found that because we ate correct portions, it didn't really cost us any more in the end. Oh, and fast food, we just said no to most of it. We picked places that we knew had healthy food choices. The thing is, we could still eat at McDonald's and those places. We did simple things such as eating a side salad in place of fries. It's amazing how many calories and fat grams you cut by simply doing that.

I've decided to lose a little more than originally planned. I have about 7 lbs. more that I'd like to drop. I've always heard the last few pounds are the hardest to get off but I hope I can do it quickly. I know there are several of you who are trying to do this too and I just want to tell you to hang in there. Sometimes I know it feels like you'll never get there but you will. The coolest things will start to happen too.....like yesterday, I went to try on some pants and had to go 2 sizes smaller than I normal. That was a cool feeling! So stick with it and you'll feel so much better in the end. If I can do it, anyone can do it!

Blog Tour: Embrace Me by Lisa Samson

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Embrace Me

(Thomas Nelson March 4, 2008)

by

Lisa Samson

Lisa Samson is a Christy Award-winning author of 19 books, including the Women of the Faith Novel of the Year, Quaker Summer. Lisa has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a talented novelist who isn't afraid to take risks."

In Embrace Me, the latest novel by acclaimed author Lisa Samson, readers are privy to the realization that regardless of outward appearances…hideous, attractive, or even ordinary…persons are all looking for the same things: love, forgiveness, and redemption.

This story explores a world that is neither comfortable nor safe, a world that people like Valentine know all too well. Masterfully crafted by Samson and populated by her most compelling cast of characters yet. It is a tale of forgiveness that extends into all spheres of life: forgiving others, forgiving oneself, forgiving the past.

She lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and three kids.

Biting and gentle, hard-edged and hopeful...a beautiful fable of love and power, hiding and seeking, woundedness and redemption.

When a "lizard woman," a self-mutilating preacher, a tattooed monk, and a sleazy lobbyist find themselves in the same North Carolina town one winter, their lives are edging precariously close to disaster...and improbably close to grace.

Valentine, due to her own drastic self-disfigurement, has very few friends in this world and, it appears as if she may be destined to spend the rest of her life practically alone. But life gives her one good friend, Lella, whose own handicap puts her in the same freakish category as Valentine. As part of Roland's Wayfaring Marvel and Oddities Show, a traveling band of misfits, they seem to have found their niches in an often curiously cruel world.

Residing in a world where masks are mandatory, Valentine has a hard time removing hers, because of her disfigured face but more so because of her damaged soul. It is much easier for her to listen endlessly to different versions of a favorite song, Embraceable You, and escape reality. Yet, life has more in store for her when she meets Augustine, replete with the tattoos, dreadlocks, and his own secrets. With his arrival, Valentine's soul takes a turn.

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE.

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Mondavi Family Legacy

A few days ago, Robert Mondavi passed away. If you like wine, you might recognize his name. He helped put California wines on the map. After his father's death, Robert and his brother, Peter, took over the family wine business. The two of them could not get along and parted ways. Robert was so successful that he made the Mondavi name, and wine, famous. Peter continued to make wine but never with as much success as Robert.

I'm not an expert on wine, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I'm an amateur. I'm trying to develop a taste for red wine but currently, the only thing in my wine rack is Sutter Home White Zinfandel. Mondavi wine was one of the first ones I tried when I began the quest to find out what I liked so I'm feeling kind of sentimental.

The Mondavi story is both fascinating and sad. Like many family businesses, there were disagreements that led to the parting of ways. Before Robert and Peter fell out, they had one of the most successful labels in the Napa Valley. Robert's business did well until fighting between he and his sons, coupled with poor financial choices, destroyed the empire. The business was bought by the world's largest wine company in 2004.

I didn't know any of the family history until I learned that Robert passed away. I don't think I'll look at Mondavi wine the same again. I think I'll look at it, see the beauty of the bottle and label, but think back to the strife in their family. A sad ending to an amazing wine making career.......

Savannah: Lady & Sons

The best part of our vacation is always the food. It's all about the food. In fact, you could say that it has become our hobby. I had only one request while we were in Savannah and that was that I be able to eat at Lady & Sons. Being the Food Network junkie I am, I knew I wanted to eat there because no one does butter better than Paula Deen.

If you know anything about Lady & Sons, you know it's not the easiest place to get into. Because Paula has become so famous, her restaurant stays booked ALL....THE.....TIME. It's crazy. I wonder what the locals think of that? Since we arrived Thursday night, I planned to get us out early Friday morning to get in line at Paula's. Yep, you heard me right. Get in line. The restaurant starts taking reservations for lunch and supper at 9:30 each morning. Friday morning, we arrived near the restaurant around 9am and the line was already at least a hundred people deep. We decided to move on and try it another day.

This was what the line looked like at 9:30 on Saturday. Not sure if you can see but it extends well beyond the black car on the street.

Saturday, dh had a bagpipe competition and I knew I'd be on my own that day. I dropped him off around 8:30am and headed directly for Lady & Sons. When I got in line, it was 8:45 and there were about fifty people in front of me. People started to quickly fall in line after I got there. By 9:30, the line was really, really long. I met a nice teacher from KY while passing the time and she shared that she had already done this once before. She raved about the food and I started to feel like standing in line was going to be worth it. After standing in line from 8:45 to 10:00, it was finally my turn to make a reservation. I made it for lunch and then headed out to do some shopping. When my reservation time rolled around, I headed back to Congress Street and waited patiently to sink my teeth into some fine southern cooking. I guess I should note that by 11:00, the restaurant was completely booked for both lunch and supper. My tip for anyone who wants to go and get in to eat is be there at 8:30, bring a book, drink, and preferably, a friend.

It was good y'all. I had the pork barbeque with slaw and jelly roll fries. Before I ate that wonderful plate, they brought out the holy grail of breads....a garlic cheddar biscuit and a cornbread fritter. Oh...my...goodness! It was wonderful. I ate every crumb (remember I told you that I left my WW diet at home). It was worth every minute I stood in line. The restaurant itself was not really fancy. It was family style and the roar of conversation was nice. The wait staff was wonderful. I hate dh missed it. I do plan on taking my MIL and my mom to Savannah and when I do, we'll be standing in line to get some more of this good food.

The table setting, the holy grail of breads, and my awesome pork bbq plate

The restaurant has three floors and a basement floor, which technically makes it four floors. All floors were decorated the same except the main floor had more windows. It was loud, which I liked, and was a fun place to be. The restaurant is connected to Paula's store, The Paula Deen Store. In fact, to get to the waiting area of the restaurant, you have to go through the store (I'm guessing there's a strategy behind that). This area was small and modestly decorated. There was a tv on the wall and, of course, it was tuned to the Food Network.

I was seated on the third floor of the restaurant. I took this right after a bunch of people left so that's why it looks so empty.

The country style buffet, which most people ordered

I loved every second of it and I'll do it again in a heart beat! Is it time to go back?

Can Prices Get Any More Ridiculous?

I have to take a short break between Savannah posts to express my disgust at some things that are getting under my skin right now. First, gas is ridiculous. Seriously, I wish I could put together a nationwide boycott. Don't buy gas and don't drive for an entire day. Could you imagine if people across the US participated? How cool would that be! I never thought I'd see the day that gas would be as high as it is and is going to continue to climb. It makes me sick. It makes me want to start brewing my own biodiesel fuel in the garage. I'm sick to death of our government being more concerned with people in other countries than they are with people in this country. How in the world can we fix things in other countries if things in our country are so broken?

What really got me was my weekly grocery shopping trip today. You know, I've noticed dairy going up for awhile now. Eggs, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream; it's gone up quite a bit. I don't like it but I was learning to deal with it. I started buying good eggs from a family in our church and I just warned the kids to watch their milk and sour cream intake. I don't know about your house but around here, we could all drink milk like it's going out of style and sour cream is one of our favorite condiments. So anyway, I go to get my laundry detergent. I normally buy Gain because it smells good, cleans pretty well, and it's a good "middle of the road" price. I really want to buy Tide but refrain because I need to have some money in the bank. Well, when I find the Gain, I start to look for the big 120 loads box. Oh, I found it. And I found its price tag. Normally I pay $14 for this. Oh but no. Today it had a new price tag.....$20!!! Could someone please tell me how in the world laundry detergent goes up $6 in one month? Really, I need an explanation. I was livid, as were several other shoppers in the aisle.

Driving home, I told my husband that I finally understand just how bad our economy is getting. Can you say RECESSION? I know people might think I'm a nut but I'm telling you, it's getting hard to purchase the essentials now. I see lots of "green" options being researched and used in our house. If you've got any to share, send them my way. Something else I've been turned onto lately is The Grocery Game. If you're not familiar with this, research it or better yet, try it. It's a wonderful way to stockpile. A friend at church told me about it and I'm trying to use it to my advantage.

This is kind of wacky but I wonder if any of you have tried powdered milk? What do you think of it? How does it compare to regular milk? I'm thinking of using it in place of regular milk. You can buy a box of it and I think it'll last much longer than a gallon of milk. Just add water and viola!

While I'm sure we all find ways to adjust to price increases, it just seems like it's getting out of hand. Gas and groceries are things we need. I can't imagine what the price increase is doing to families who fall below poverty level. I've finally reached my breaking point so it's time to giddy up and find some alternative solutions. How about you? Do you have any helpful tips for me? How are you coping with these price increases?

Savannah: Part Two

One thing I forgot to do while we were on vacation was take a picture of our neat hotel room. We stayed at this cozy little place called Inn at Mulberry Grove. This hotel is about fifteen minutes from downtown Savannah. It really was a nice location. There's not much directly around it but within a few minutes drive, there are plenty of fast food places and stuff. The only complaint I have is that it is too far away from Tybee Island. If you plan to spend any time on Tybee, you have to be willing to drive the 40 minutes it takes to get there from this hotel or stay closer to Tybee. Anyway, this hotel is only two years old and is very well kept. The rooms looked just like they did online, including the cute decor, the LCD TV, and the nice landscaping. I was tickled pink! The bathroom was so clean that I couldn't believe my eyes. I really think housekeeping cleaned our bathtub every day. It sparkled! I was very impressed. Normally the bathroom and the bedding in a hotel makes my skin crawl. Something about being beneath a bedspread that isn't washed after every guest makes me want to sleep in a plastic bag.

The hotel staff was so nice. The lady at the front desk printed out directions for us, without us even asking. Every morning, we went into the lobby for a nice breakfast feast. They had everything a girl needs to get her morning started; waffles, yogurt, cereal, bagels, pastries, grits, BISCUITS, GRAVY, SAUSAGE, and EGGS. Guess what I ate? I guess I should tell you that my Weight Watchers diet was on hold during this trip. I'm happy to report that I only gained one pound while we were gone. Hooray!

Now, this hotel is not to be confused with another by a similar name. There is a hotel in the historic district called Mulberry Inn. I'm not sure if they are run by the same company or if their accommodations are the same. I know the one in the historic district was much more expensive. That makes sense but honestly, I'm glad we didn't stay downtown. It was nice to have a short drive back to the hotel each night so that we could spend that time talking about what we had seen and experienced that day. (When I go back and take my mom and MIL, we will probably stay downtown since they will enjoy the shopping and the mansion touring.)

We found some really fun places downtown. There were many little gift shops but there were also several art galleries and stores. City Market was a neat little place and there was even live music while we were there. It was a happening place at night. The carriage rides originate here so we were able to see the pretty horses several times on our trip.

It was fun and we saw some neat things but it sure was good to hit Asheville, NC and see those beautiful mountains. Once we hit Asheville, we knew we were only an hour from home and we couldn't drive fast enough to get here. I love going on short trips but I LOVE coming back home.

I'll be working on part three and have it posted soon. It will be all about the food we ate while on our trip. We were only there for a few days so we didn't get to hit all of the places we wanted but I'll tell you about the few we did hit. Stay tuned......

Savannah: Part One

DH and I had a great time in Savannah. It's the first time we'd ever stopped in Savannah to do anything. We have passed through there numerous times but we were always on our way somewhere else. When Jeff had the opportunity to compete in a bagpipe competition there, I knew I wanted to tag along and check it out. First, I have to tell you that I am fascinated by the trees in Savannah. They are huge and so lovely.

Then there were all of the beautiful homes with ivy covered steps. I didn't tour all of the homes because I want to make a return trip with my MIL and mom to do that. I didn't get a picture of the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" house. I really want to tour that when we take a gal's trip down to Savannah. There are so many Victorian mansions down there, you could plan a trip around just exploring those!

Of course there were beautiful little parks everywhere. Each had a name. My favorite was Oglethorpe Square but they were all beautiful. It was a nice place for us to rest our feet from all the walking we did. If I had brought along my book, I could have stayed here all day!

Trying to take a picture of ourselves proved a little more challenging than we thought. I figured out that you just have to hold your mouth right in order to get your faces into the picture :-o) We'll have to keep perfecting this!

We did plenty of other fun stuff that I'll be sharing soon. I can't wait to tell you about all of the yummy food we had while we were visiting!

Thirteen Things We Saw/Enjoyed in Savannah, GA

1. Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
2. Lady & Sons ~ And boy was the pork BBQ wonderful!
3. Paula Deen's Store
4. Colonial Park Cemetery ~ This was pretty amazing. Some of the head stones were so old that you could no longer read the engraving. That made me sad.
5. A lady who was posing as a statue. She was painted all in grayish-silver paint and stood as still as could be. I didn't even realize she was a real person at first. She was playing a drum but only played when passersby dropped money into her basket. I'll be sharing a picture of her in the next few days.
6. Armadillo road kill ~ Really, I was amazed. Around our parts, it's possum road kill. It was strange to see armadillo on the side of the interstate.
7. An old man playing saxophone in a shaded area on River Street. He was wonderful. We were having supper on the veranda of Dockside (a local seafood place) and it was nice to enjoy his playing as we ate.
8. The ocean ~ We took a day to go to Tybee Island
9. Cheaper gas prices than at home
10. Fried pickle chips at B&D Burgers ~ They were wonderful with ranch dip! They also had 33 different burgers you could order!
11. Horse drawn carriages on downtown streets
12. No rain and wonderfully pleasant weather
13. More shopping than my eyes could take note of

There were tons of other things we enjoyed and I'll be sharing those over the next few days as well as a few photos. I could write one list alone on the food we enjoyed!

For more TT's, visit the official site.

Wordless Wednesday....Breathtaking Cathedral

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, GA

See more WW posts at 5 Minutes For Mom.

We're Here Y'all!

I love to travel. We do it as often as we can afford to. Sometimes it's a ten hour drive to the beach. Other times it's an hour drive to Asheville, NC. One place that I've heard a lot about is Wilmington, NC. I've never been but I have been browsing the attractions there. There are plenty of things to see so I hope we'll be able to travel there in the near future. I love looking for places to stay during our visits. We usually stay in a hotel but one of these days, I want to get a condo and split it with friends. I think that would be so neat. When we are able to travel to Wilmington, I plan on browsing Wilmington real estate in hopes of finding the perfect accommodations.

My MIL goes to the beach every fall with several family members. They all split a big condo and have the best time. As soon as I can convince hubby that it really would be neat to vacation with friends, we're set. I'm not sure if he'll ever agree to it since he likes to be able to go wherever, whenever he wants. Hey, I can try though!

As for this weekend, we're in Savannah, GA and I'm on a mission to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant. The woman may get on your nerves but she's from the south, has a great accent, and loves butter and chocolate! How can you not like her! I just want to try her crab cakes and some sort of chocolate dessert and this trip will be all worth it! LOL! We just arrived so I'm off to throw our suitcases in the proper place and head to town.

Wish you were here!