Lisbon, Portugal

I wanted to share more photos of Lisbon, Portugal. I love taking photos of the details when we travel. Everywhere you go the details of the that place are unique and you won't find them anywhere else.

Ceiling of a church.

All the sidewalks in Lisbon are made from stones.

A lot of the light poles had ships on the top for decoration.

I could have taken a hundred photos of the this wall.

 

Weekend in Palm Springs

Larry, Yogi & I headed over to the Palm Springs area on last Friday afternoon to spend the weekend. We love going over their for the weekend. My parents live over there so it's nice to spend time with them and we don't have to pay for a hotel. We only live about 70 miles away so it's a quick drive over compared to when we lived in Orange County.

Weekend in photos

Ireland Photo Book

I have fallen in love with making photo books on Blurb. I have always scrapbooked our vacation and holiday photos but when we got married I wanted an actual book. I saw a few other bloggers using Blurb and I thought I would give them a try.

To start I made a book of our honeymoon photos first using Blurb. Once I received it in the mail I was hooked. After that book I made a larger sized book of our wedding photos. From now when we take vacations I am going to make a photo book and scrapbook all the other stuff I collect on the way.

I still love scrapbooking but I really like just having a book of photos to look at and remember. Also the books are easy to leave on our coffee table and guests can look at them when they come over. I tend to store our scrapbooks away. I think its because they are so much larger and a little bulky.

The first big vacation other than our honeymoon we have taken was our trip to Ireland last September. I am bit slow and getting around to make the books but once I sit down and get to work it, it's well worth it. Blurb has software you can download and use. They have prebuilt templates as well but I like to design as I go. They have a variety of sizes you can choose from as well as cover & paper choices. So far I have only used their standard paper and love it. I have gone with the wrapped hard cover (no dust jacket) each time and love it.

*This post is NOT sponsored by blurb.com but links throughout are affiliate because I have used their service and have had a great experience.

Honeymoon Bora Bora

Bora Bora was amazing. I wanted to share some more photos from the trip that didn't include the gnome. You know I love scrapbooking but I think these photos need a something different I guess you could say. That is why I am going to make a book using blurb. I want a coffee table book of our trip. I have already downloaded the software and started to import my photos. Once I get it done and it's delivered I will let you know how it came out. Have you used blurb? This will be first time. I saw Elise has used them so I thought I would give it a try.


Sand writing + feet

I am in love with this photo I took of our wedding rings.
The day we arrived our bungalow had these white flowers everywhere.

Our bungalow

Coffee table that opened up and we fed the fish below!

Gnome Adventures - Sioux City, IA - home

I went home to Sioux City, IA a couple weeks ago. I went back for a couple reasons - 1st my cousin Krissi graduated college (the same college I went to) and 2nd - to say goodbye to my childhood home. My dad has retired and they are moving out to California. Which means selling the home in Sioux City. I had a wonderful time back home. I know I will always go back, I just don't know how often. Of course to document my trip the gnome came with me to some of my favorite places.

When I come home my parents are always at the airport waiting with a balloon.
This was the 1st thing I saw walking up to meet them.



I mostly took the gnome with me while I ate my way through Sioux City. This is a local pizza place I love.



Pizza and bread sticks. They make their bread sticks with bacon bits on top - yummy :)



A different day we went to Tastee Inn ~ Out. Yes you did read the sign correctly - "Meat To Go"

 

Tastee is a loose meat sandwich. They don't make those out in California.

Krissi and I out on the town to celebrate her graduation.

My family threw a early birthday party for me.

We had Morningside Pizza - another fav pizza place. I guess I really love pizza.

My aunt Nancy, superman (dog) and the gnome.
Hi - Nancy's students :) She met the gnome.

My parents and I.

The homestead

The gnome came along with me while I took hundreds of photos of the house (Inside and out).

My playhouse my dad built me in the very early 80's. He let me pick the color.
Lime green was my fav color back then. I still love green.