Revisiting the blog

It has been a while since I have written on my blog. Since my last visit to this site, I have traveled to Louisana and Lake Tahoe and been on 3 cruises. I know what you're thinking, I must have money. Not true, just guts! My husband and I decided to do the one thing we like to do -TRAVEL. I don' t know how we expect to make a profit, because we are always going somewhere.

I know it is hard to believe that in this economic downturn, we are hitting the road. However, despite the economic challenge, we have had a grand old time. It has been an adventure. My most memorable experience was in Lake Tahoe. The natural beauty of Lake Tahoe is indescrible. As we drove up, around, and down the hot, dry, dusty mountain, the lake seems to appear out of nowhere. It truly is an oasis in the desert 6000 feet above sea level. We stayed at the Ridge Tahoe in Stateline NV. This resort was 7000 feet above sea level. But the most exciting part of this vacation was riding the gondola 9000 feet above sea level. I can't believe I did it. You know my family talked me into it. What an incredible view! Anyone who likes to travel, should go to Lake Tahoe.

Two of the 3 cruises were business related. The first cruise was the culminating event of the TPOC convention that was held in New Orleans in April. Besides the convention, we were about to get a comprehensive tour of the devasted areas that Hurricane Katrina flooded and attend one of the events at the New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival. The weekend we were there, Al Green was the featured performer. We decided to attend The Travel Professionals of Color Convention to expose our business, Brooks C Cruises and network with other travel professionals of color. After the convention, we took a cruise on the Carnival Fantasy and cruised to the Yucatan Penisula. On sailing days, we were attending business workshops.

On our second cruise, we sailed on the Carnival Victory out of NYC to St John Island, Newfoundland Canada, the last week in August - Labor Day weekend. Beautiful itinerary, friendly people, but too cold for me. However, the price was so reasonable, we could not resist going with our friends.

During the latter part of October and the beginning of November, we scheduled 3 events that is bound help our business, if we market correctly. Before we went on our third cruise, we attended the World Religious Travel Expo in Orlando, FL. This was an exciting and informative conference. We had the opportunity to network with companies that promoted religious travel to various religious sites throughout the world. We will begin to promote travel to the Holyland and Africa. Once we left that conference, we drove to Ft Lauderdale, to board Holland America's Westerdam. We were taking the 7-night Dave Koz Jazz Cruise. This trip was fabulous. We had the opportunity to meet and mingle with Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler, Najee, Richard Eliott, Denyce Williams, George Duke, Eric Benet, and many more musicians. These artist were so cordial and accessible to the guests throught out the cruise. It felt like a family reunion with high quality entertainment for 7 nights. What a way to spend a week! On the days that we were at sea, we had to attend travel agent workshops to help us promote the upcoming jazz cruises.

Finally, now that we are back in Fl, we are resting for a few days, before we drive down to Miami to attend the Travel Trade Show. This will be another learning experience to assists us in building and promoting our travel buisness. Even though we are tired, this is a great job!

I'm getting it!

I finally figured out how to put in the pictures. I am so excited! Be patient with me, your picture will be up shortly. This is fun!

Today was a good day!

Today was a beautiful day. I mean it was a bright, sunny, mild day. The weather was so gorgeous that I lunch with my mother and two cousins. As a result of our luncheon date, we decided to plan a White, Richardson, & Willis Family Reunion. It has been many years since we had one and being together today encouraged us to get together and begin planning for the reunion. We do have something in mind, however if you have suggestions, please share them.

I hope you read yesterday's blog entry. That affirmation made such a positive impact on me that I wanted to share it. I was so upset that I thought it went into cyberspace and was lost forever, but since I am still learning how to blog, I discovered it by accident in the draft file. So much to learn!

DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY!

I saw a plaque today that read Dance, Live, Love, Pray. Such a beautiful affirmation, and it should be a constant reminder of how we should live our lives. With that said, I would like for you to know that I am truly blessed and very grateful for all my blessings. When I think about how God has blessed me and my family, I am humbled. I wanted to complain today about things not working out the way that I wanted too, but I was reminded that I had to DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY! With that said, we are going to New Orleans to participate in the Travel Professionals of Color Conference and Trade Show. Part of the conference will be in the city of New Orleans, and the remaining portion will be held on the Carnival Fantasy as we cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. However, while we will are in the city of New Orleans, we will also have the opportunity to participate in a project that will be giving back to some of the families that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. I know this will be a very moving experience for me.



In the very near future, I will begin to share some of my travel experiences with you and if you know anyone who is interested in taking a cruise or any other vacation package, please let me know. I'll keep you posted on all my travels. Don't forget to DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY, and "rejoice in the Lord always!"

This is it, I'm stretching out!

I have finally joined the 21st century and started blogging. This format really gives one the opportunity to express oneself anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. I love the idea of it, and I haven't written much of anything. I'm so happy that I have the opportunity to write as I please. I like writing my thoughts on travel and the places that I have been or would like to go, so I will use this format to document my thoughts. I have already started my writing my travel journal and this is a good place to post it. I hope somebody will enjoy reading it.

I will probably also use this space when I want to escape from something that I should be doing, something like getting organized or getting rid of clutter. Each time I want to avoid doing the WORK, I will write about it. Writing about it may help me to focus on what I need do. Anyhow, I just have the opportunity to stretch out on faith and write. This is the time to fulfill a childhood dream and write. Now that I have started, I will try to be consistent and write something everyday. This will be a challenge, since I have difficulty sitting still in one place for any length of time. But I will give it a try!