 Sakura is the national flower of Japan, the cherry blossom – translated into Sakura, represents a time of renewal and optimism. The proud pink blossoms mark the end of winter and signify the beginning of spring. Due to their quick blooming season, cherry blossoms also symbolize the transience of life, which is a major theme in Buddhism.  I believe mine are ornamental plum but they are still a very pretty way to welcome Spring!  We had snow last week and you can see the blooms are not as intense or colorful as normal, but still, nature finds a way.  Quick video! Enjoy your weekend!
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Happy Weekend! When I'm not chasing tumbleweeds I'm busy looking for my next read or some yummy vegan recipe to try.
It's really a beautiful weekend in the Southwest! I've been spending as much time as possible outside, but when it's time to come in these are the things I'm obsessing over.
Here is a quick weekend round-up of what I'm reading, watching, and eating! 
What I'm Reading: Reaper Man (Discworld, 11)by Terry Pratchett
I'm more or less a fan of Terry Pratchett - but I need small doses at a time of his British wit. My goal is to read all the 41 Discworld books, I think I've read about 4-5 so far. (I better get with it, no?) Currently, I'm about 110 of 352 pages in this novel and enjoying the book more than I expected. I will do a full review once I'm finished. In the meantime, you can read my review of Good Omens here. 
What I'm Watching: Resident Alien
Looking for something new to watch? Anything that isn't depressing? I highly recommend this quirky comedy from the Syfy channel. This alien romp is based on a Darkhorse comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. (Which now I believe I MUST read.) It stars Alan Tudyk and a talented cast of misfits. The comic series has been published by Dark Horse Comics in installments of four-issue miniseries since 2012. Five miniseries have been completed, and a concluding sixth miniseries is forthcoming. The tv series premise: After crash-landing on Earth, an alien takes on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor and wrestles with the moral dilemma of his secret mission, while also dealing with a 9-year-old boy who is the only person who can recognize he is an alien. (Wiki) And speaking of aliens... 
But on to the food..
What I'm Cooking: Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough (So much better than it sounds!)
Truth - I'm not a fan of cookie dough. I know some people would rather eat raw cookie dough than bake the damn cookies. (I'm not one of them.) But then I found this vegan, raw cookie dough recipe, and all that changed. This healthy alternative makes a nice dip or can be eaten alone as a snack. The simple recipe is here: Cookie Dough but be warned, you will be making this regularly. Have a great weekend! This post contains links to buy the book on Amazon, I receive a few pennies if you purchase (the price doesn't change for you) and it helps to offset the cost of the website.  October was another strange month of limited travel (thank you Covid-19) and random, half hearted events. I think most people are really feeling the strain of the pandemic. Now just about everyone I speak with has either lost someone or knows of person who was very ill. Halloween was all but canceled this year. Trick or treating was frowned on and parties were illegal, well depending on where you lived. This was the first year we didn't hand out candy, dress up or do anything.  A little bit of Halloween fun spotted around town.  Book Reviews: I've actually been reading every night and have about 30 books I need to write up. In October I did manage to review a trilogy of quick, reads by Erin Kellison. (Read about it here)  I had plans to write up all my September adventures, but just didn't have the time. So I put all the pictures in a quick video. It's less than 4:00 minutes, but it covers the kooky and upbeat vibe of Roswell. Watch it here: I spent most of the month working to make up for taking September off. I did find time to bake and write a bit. And to makes things more bizarre right before Halloween we had a freak blizzard!  Right before the storm blew in....  It was like this for 3 days.  Which called for Vegan Pumpkin bread!  A cold weather veggie suppers. See you with more book reviews and updates soon!
 (Texas, USA) Hi Travel family! I hope you are well and safe as we end September. I have just returned, (still have to unpack) but wanted to write this while its still fresh in my mind. For my family travel has been almost nonexistent this year, for oblivious reasons, of course, but my work obligations + the need to clean up my mothers estate have pushed me to venture out in to the world again. I was both excited (A TRIP! YESSS!) and also rather hesitant to commit to a 29 day adventure.  (New Mexico, USA) So September was a huge change from the pervious months of staying at home and working via Zoom. These last few weeks I have either been in work meetings, dealing with family issues, driving, or working with clients. But we were able to go for a picnic, a couple of hikes and visit a few of our favorite places while traveling in Texas and New Mexico. Life is defo different with almost empty hotels, less traffic and social distancing in cafes. But even so, I feel very blessed that we were able to do these things and still stay safe. Besides the pandemic there was also an unexpected hurricane, complete with Texas floods, as well as smoke from the Cali fires to content with. Read a bit about the Hurricane here.  But in-between all this we did sneak away for some fun. Let me just quickly share some trip highlights and I will blog about the adventures in greater detail after I tackle the laundry, lol.  We were in Roswell about 4 days... and it's always good fun.   Empty hotels..I must say this is a BIG change.  It was also difficult to find places serving, except fast food. We did a small bit of shopping too.  We were looking for Halloween decoration but instead we seem to be skipping right into Christmas.  Picnic on the creek in Boerne, Texas  Complete with ducks, swans and geese!  An afternoon spent in Palmetto State Park.   And from the lushness of the coastal plains of Texas to the High desert of New Mexico.  And everything in between, lol!  I have sooo many picts to sort through! But in the meantime I hope you have a great evening and enjoy the end of September.
I will be back soon with more of our adventures :D  I’ve started dreaming about travel. If you follow me on twitter then you know what I mean. I’m continuously posting iconic, as well as off the beaten path locations. I’m dreaming about sunny, tropical beaches, old growth forests and everything in between.  Every morning, I wake from a dream that I’ve been hiking in Italy or running through old castles in eastern Europe or swimming in crystal clear waters in some Pacific paradise. It’s getting really weird.  I miss being able to jump on a plane, train or boat and sail off. And I bet you miss it too. How are you holding up? We haven't really left the house in weeks. But I have appointments and a few things I can't put off anymore. I’m currently on a road trip now…doing a bit of exploring and well, mostly work. We are being overly careful and staying away from crowds. We have seen very few people out and about and most things are still closed in or at least limited in New Mexico.  It's overcast and the smoke from Colorado and Cali fires are blowing this way..  Everything is hazy and smokey and feels surreal. We are headed in the opposite direction and hopefully they will be put out soon, Are you dreaming about traveling too?
Or just hoping life would return to normal?  Hi gang, Can you believe it's already Thursday? This week seems to have just flown by! Today's my birthday so it's going to be a busy one. I had company this week and we stayed up late watching the annual meteor shower, eating and laughing! I haven't posted much this month because well, we were too busy enjoying life. Here are a few highlights of Augusts adventures (so far) and some of my birthday goodies:  So much Vegan goodness! We feasted!  Crappy Iphone Moon Picture...from one late night meteor watching.  Early gift to myself! You can never has too much storage and for TWO TB this was a STEAL! Read more about it here:   Even the desert greened up nicely!   Was surprised with these lovely birthday flowers :D   Love them!  And any excuse to make vegan cookies...  And more... (These are oatmeal chocolate chip) I have about a 100 more pictures (a lot of food, lol) but it's time to go do the next "thing" - I promise to post again really soon. The External hard drive is an affiliate link, but I really wanted to share that good price with you. My Mac Book Pro is FULL and that was a life saver...
Okay I'm off to brunch, speak soon!  Hello and welcome to July! It's going to be a good month, I think. The parks are finally open here, so I went out early today for a run. It was AMAZING to be out and moving again. I have been running/walking around the neighborhood, but its great to be back on the park trails. The days are longer as we head deeper into Summer and I'm so ready! It's also warmer now, but we have the air con on and plenty of fruit, so bring on July adventures!  The weather has been great overall. June was warm with scattered showers blowing in to cool things off and I think July is predicted to be more of the same. In America July is a month of pool parties, BBQ's and road trips. I have done most of that already in June, but am looking forward to more downtime to visit and catch up with friends. (We still wear masks and social distance, but its great to be able to move around some and not be trapped inside.) - I have a couple of small road trips planned and hopefully time to just explore around here, weather permitting.  I can't wait to see what July brings...  This is Part 3 of the Roswell Trip  Hi Travel Family, My last day in Roswell was tempered with cooler weather and a bit of shopping. We visited the Alien Invasion and ate impossible burgers from Burger King. Read part 1 and 2 and also overview of Roswell here from an older post. Most of the shops are on Main Street and easy to find. Call before you visit though, as not everything is open. Also most people have masks on and are social distancing. New Mexico is taking things seriously, so be prepared before you visit.  Even these guys are staying 6 feet apart.  We did a bit of shopping at the Alien Invasion. Its is a funky T-shirt shop. It has well made T-shirts (not your 2 for $20 set) and alien giftware. You can get something for everyone on your list here and spend as much or as little as you like (See pictures below). They also encourage pictures, so if you want some instagram snaps stop inside.     It's across the street from the UFO Museum.   Inside the shop...                From there we walked around a bit...    Love the street lamps...   We didn't go into the soap shop, I couldn't handle the smell.  See ya next time!  US and New Mexico flags. Happy Monday! I hope you are well and your week is off to a good start. I'm so late in posting today...Monday mornings are always busy for me because I have all the normal reports to run, plus certain other tasks that have to be done, even if we are traveling. By the time all that stuff is done it's time for online meetings with staff. Sooo long story, short- we had a very late start today, but we did a bit of exploring. If you want to read more about Roswell look here and visit here too to learn about the town.    In our quest to read the historical markers and learn more about the area we stopped at this little park. It is a very cute, and well maintained just outside of Roswell.   We were going to the International UFO Museum And Research Center downtown today, but were told that it was closed due to the pandemic. (If you are planning a visit call EVERYTHING first, there seems to be no rhythm or reason as to what is open or closed.) This museum is focused on the 1947 Roswell Crash and later UFO incidents from all over the world. It was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit educational organization and is located in a former movie theater from the 1930s. The museum is said to contain an extensive library and exhibits focused on the history of UFO encounters. The Museum was opened in September 1991 and for some reason I always seem to skip going to this one... It also has a gift store with UFO-inspired souvenirs. Maybe #NextTime  We drove around some and also changed hotels.  Last nights hotel was nice enough...but the people next door were really loud. So we only spent one night there. We changed to another place that was much more mellow.     And finished the night off with a gluten free, cheese free, loaded veggie pizza. I haven't had pizza (of any kind) this year! So this was a special treat. It was AMAZINGLY good!  I'm sunburned from walking around today. :( I have work the rest of the week, so it could be a few days till the next post...but I will see you soon!
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Author Welcome to my (I'm excited to travel again) blog, my healthy Vegan lifestyle blog and my life! It's a lot, but it's my passions and I just love to write about it. Here I share tips, stories and photos from my adventures and life. This is the place where people can find daily inspiration to travel and motivation to live healthier lives and laugh a bit too! 
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