Something to call my Own :D

Its FINALLY done!!!! After hours and hours of nonsense, I've FINALLY managed to make our very own header  : D  : )  : )

We had downloaded the previous header from an online site ( Very generous of them, we owe them loads for giving us something to start with) but somewhere at the back of my head was that nagging thought that somewhere around the globe, someone or 'someones' shared the same header under a different blog name   : o

So after much thought and surfing through the net on 'How to's', this is what I've come up with  : )  Its pretty simple, I know, but its our own and I'm proud of it   : )

Hope you guys like it  : )

My Signature

Ok, I FINALLY got my own signature thingie to add at the end of e-mails and stuff  :D  :D

I got it done at www.mylivesignature.com, its got instructions on how to add them to blogs, emails, etc.  :)

Come on! Give it a go!

xoxo

"You don't need to be on the same wavelength to succeed in marriage. You just need to be able to ride each other's waves." - Toni Sciarra Poynter

For my BFF N,

For always being there for me even though you are millions of miles away <3

I wanted to click a picture for you and your gorgeous fiance K ever since you told me about the wedding. Never really had a clear idea ie until i went to this beach (Candolim beach). Did a really quick job and not sooo happy with the pictures :( but i hope you'll love them anyway <3

Daily Bread

Coconut cake

Daily Bread had always been a place to visit on our list. So when we got the opportunity, Esther and I along with our cousins decided to go there!

Daily Bread is pretty close to the Panjim bus stand, just a 5 minute walk from it  :)   We entered the place and really didnt know what to choose  :P

There's a variety of stuff to choose from, from salads to cookies, gorgeous looking pastries and my absolute favorite- Gelato  : P   The Gelato comes in soooo many amazing flavors  x ) 

Just a bit of advice- The Triple Chocolate cake is NOT to be eaten alone  :D  :D  That is, if u happen to be a poor eater  :P

*****************************

Esther's take - as Elaine said, trying out different food places was definitely on our TO DO list this summer. We had heard A LOT about this place from people we knew so we decided to give it a try. So one saturday morning, we went over to try some breakfast.

One thing i found cool (and soo did the nice people we met there say) was that it was an amazing place to hang out (unlike the upper floor in Mongini's Borda :|).

We decided to have the all chocolate pastry - they melt the top layer of chocolate so it tastes like HEAVEN. Unfortunately even tho i have the biggest appetite EVER, i couldnt finish it. The pineapple fruit cake was good (nothing sooo special about it though).

I would wanna try out the sandwich bar next time i go

XO

'Mango of Goa' cake

Croissants  <3

Bread  :P

Oooohh!!! Totally LOVE these cookies  :D

YUMMYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Gelatoooooo!!!!

Inside Daily Bread

The chocolate cake we had! Chocolaty delight   :D

Amy's Pineapple cake which she totally loved!

We do love clicking pictures of ourselves, don't we?  :P

:)

So I was randomly checking out videos on YouTube and I chanced upon this particular one by the Plain White T's!! Its called Boomerang  :)  Its an adorable song ( in my opinion) n definitely deserves a listen  :)  Hope you guys like it!

Ooh!!! N you gotta LOVE Tom Higgenson's expressions here!!!  

♥  ♥  ♥

Shit filled packages of Love

So what connection do Banana's have with roses?

Nothing actually :P its the Banana peels that we are interested in :) And thats why in March - along with my friends Siraj and Ayesha, i started my *POTASSIUM* filled compost project.

 Everyone knows how delicate roses are. They need plently of sunshine, water, weed uprooting and airing of the soil. Add to that a lot of love and you get beautiful roses. I recently found out that roses also love Potassium a lot and what has more thrown away potassium than anything else? Banana peels :D

so thats when the 3 of us started the whole, Banana a day habit. I would dispose off the banana peels in an unoccupied pot in the garden so that nature would work its magic on it. a month later with 93 banana's, i stopped adding to my little pile of dried banana peels (I did add a shovelful of rose fertilizer to provide good bacteria to the mix).

It didnt take me long to forget about the pot of composting peels - my entire april was full of exams. Now with holidays in May, i finally remembered it. to my surprise the peels were completely dried. I just added water to it, smashed it a bit and put it in a plastic bag to transport :P

The Potassium compost :D

The transportation part was the scariest :P It didn't stink AT ALL on the first day. Sadly, the 2nd day when i was supposed to travel to Panjim to put it for my roses there, i opened the bag and smelled what could only be described as the public toilets (*with a hint of the soil after rain smell :) ). I put it in 2 bags just in case. The entire bus journey i kept wondering if the people on the bus would notice that i had SHIT in my bag. Thankfully no-one did :P (*if they did they would probably throw me off the bus thinking i was some sort of weird stinky kid who didn't have a shower for weeks or worse still - that i shat (is that a word?) in my pants :| )

We reached Panjim in one piece and rushed home to mix the compost in the soil my roses were already growing in :) (*if they could speak Im sure they would have yelped in joy ^_^)

NOTE - since my hands were full of mud, i decided to give the task of clicking the gardening pics to my younger brother Benjamin. Sadly, in most of the photo's (which didn't turn out blurry -.-) all you can see is my hand and some mud -.- He sucks at following my expert (*yea right) opinion :P

anyway, this brings me to the point. If you have plants - treat them like kids. Take a little trouble to help them grow.Cause who wouldn't wanna wake up to a garden full of beautiful plants? :)

The Beatification of Pope John Paul II

I still remember that day, the day Pope John Paul passed away. April 2nd, 2005 was a black day for the world. And yes, Im not just saying Catholics. Pope John Paul was a man who touched the hearts of everyone, regardless of religion.

I remember seeing my mother cry that day, and being 15 at the time, I didnt really understand why. We grew up in Kuwait and, like most children our age, cared more about attaining a social status than to read the newspaper daily..

My mother then sat us down and began to talk about him, the wonderful things he had done, the kind, gentle person he was. And then it all made sense.

Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyła On 18th May, 1920 in the Polish town of Wadowice.

He was the youngest of three children of Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died when he was 8 years old.

He was ordained a priest on November 1 ( All Saints Day ), 1946. Pope Pius XII appointed him auxillary Bishop of Kraków on July 4, 1958. On 26 June, 1967, he became an Archbishop.

In August, 1978, he was elected Pope after the demise of Pope John Paul I.

Wojtyła became the 264th Pope according to the chronological list of Popes and the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. At only 58 years of age, he was the youngest pope elected since Pope Pius IX in 1846, who was 54.

I remember watching documentary after documentary on how wonderful he was, how he tried to maintain world peace, the numerous trips to various nations and the good he did everywhere he went.

The Pope with Bill Clinton

Pope John Paul II with Princess Diana

The Pope with Mother Teresa

He even forgave the Turkish gunman who shot him and seriously injured him on May 13th, 1981 in St. Peter's square in Vatican City! In 2008, Mehmet Ali Agca applied for Polish citizenship and asked to continue the remainder of his sentence in a prison in Poland as he wanted to live in the country where the Pope was born!

"I shall be proud of becoming a member of the noble Polish nation, if my request to be granted Polish citizenship is accepted," Agca said in a petition addressed to the Polish president. The petition was submitted to the embassy and made available to The Associated Press.
"I am not a stranger to your country because the national hero of Poland, Pope Karol Wojtyla is my spiritual brother," Agca said, referring to John Paul by his other name.

Pope John Paul talks to Mehmet Ali Agca

On Saturday 2 April 2005, at about 15:30 p.m., Pope John Paul II spoke his final words, "pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca", ("Let me depart to the house of the Father"), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later.

He died at 21:37 p.m. from heart failure. He had no close family by his time of death.

After his death, he was succeeded by Pope Benedict XVI, who having worked in close association with the late Pope was inspired by his kindness and selflessness and believed him to be a man of miraculous powers.

Inspired by calls of "Santo Subito!" ("Saint Immediately!") from the crowds gathered during the funeral, he spent no time starting the process of Beatification, which would normally not start till 5 years had passed since the death of the person.

His Faith in the late Pope was not in vain. In 2006, Sister Marie Simon- Pierre was cured of Parkinson's Disease, which had left her crippled so she could hardly move. After she prayed to the late Pontiff in June 2005, she was cured overnight and her neurologists were baffled to discover that all indications of the disease had disappeared!

"I was sick and now I am cured," she told reporter Gerry Shaw. "I am cured, but it is up to the church to say whether it was a miracle or not."

It was confirmed a miracle and today, the 1st of May, 2011, the Benediction of Pope John Paul was held in Rome. His coffin was exhumed  on April 29th, 2011 and is left at the altar all day for devotees to pay their respects after which it will be moved to its final place of rest.

The Feast of the Divine Mercy falls today this year. It was instituted by the late Pope and it was after the first Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday that he passed away.

Pope John Paul II inspired the lives of many and his beatification is celebrated worldwide. He still lives on in the hearts of millions.