All-Occasion Card and Hawaiian Trip Update #3

Here I am...back again with Update #3 from my Close To My Heart Hawaiian vacation. Before I start that, I wanted to be sure and show another card I made with this month's Stamp of the Month ("Potential") and a quick reminder on how you can get it for $5 and how you can join CTMH this month for $99 (and get over $450 in product for that). 

1. Stamp of the Month: If you spend $50, this set is yours for only $5 (a $17.95 value). You also have the option to purchase it for $17.95. Either way, it's only available during the month of March.  You can order it through me (801.360.9896, pedermom@aol.com) or through my website. Once your spend $50, you will be prompted to add it, or if you are purchasing it for the $17.95 price, enter item #S1202.

2.  Over $450 for $99: If you sign up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant in March, you get the $99 Art Philosophy Close To My Heart/Cricut Collection FREE No kidding. Signing up as New Consultant with Close To My Heart is one of the smartest decisions I've ever made.  Our $99 New Consultant Kit is full of about $300 worth of product, add that to the FREE Art Philosophy Collection (valued at almost $150), and you get over $450 worth of outstanding product for only $99 when you sign up to be a Consultant during March.

"So," you're asking, "How do I do that?"

Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeasy:

1. Go to my website at www.ctmh.com/leavealegacy and click on "Your Opportunities" and go from there.
2. You will need to purchase the basic "New Consultant" kit for $99 (which is about a $300 value).  The website will walk you through this step-by-step
3. After you sign up, I'll contact you and help you get going.

Now onto update #3 (the last and final update will be in my next post)

Day #5 (Thursday, March 8, 2012): Kauai:
This was, by far, hands down, our favorite day of the cruise.  It had been raining in Kauai for days when we arrived and the island was experiencing a lot of flooding.  Because of this, not only were streets and homes flooded, but the rivers were very full and running swiftly. Things were also very muddy. Since our plans for the day included a big kayaking and hiking excursion with many of the Close To My Heart travelers, we were all in for quite an adventure.

We arrived at the kayak place to find the whole lot flooded. This should have been a clue!  We got some quick instruction on what to do and boarded our kayaks to head down the first part of our adventure...a 4 mile kayak trip down the Wailua River. It was absolutely gorgeous and it was almost perfect.  I say almost because we did have one little mishap.  Dawson and I tipped our kayak over and had to right it and climb back in.  It was ALL DAWSON'S FAULT! I swear. :)  It really wasn't too bad, other than the fact that our camera (don't worry, not my expensive Canon, just a little point-and-shoot that we had brought along) was ruined by the water. We had to rely on others' photos for memories of this adventure.

After our kayak, we put the kayaks on the shore as we began a 2 mile hike through the rain forest to reach Secret Falls, where we planned to have lunch.   The hike was CRAZY!  At some points we had mud past our ankles we were wading through. In my opinion, this made the day even more fun. We laughed and sloshed our way through the rain forest until we arrived at Secret Falls. It was GORGEOUS!  We ate our lunch and then a few of us decided to get in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The falls were out of control and spraying us like crazy just while we were sitting on the banks eating, but Dawson and I decided we needed to experience this adventure fully and that we would regret it if we didn't get it...so in we went. I mean really, what did we have to lose? We had already taken an 'unexpected' dip in the river, right?

Then it was the reverse hike, trudging several miles back through the mud and hills of the rain forest to return to our kayaks.  When we arrived, we hopped back in and paddled the reverse route back to the dock.  No tipping, no mishaps, just lots of paddlin' fun! We even raced a few other kayakers and won! Yes, of course I had to mention that. Dawson and I were pretty proud of our post-kayak-flipping skills.

We got back to the ship wet, filthy, and exhausted but we were both still talking about how much fun we had. This is an adventure that Dawson and I will be talking about for years.

Maybe this should have been a clue...

everyone is boarding their kayaks and getting ready to head out on the river

Dawson: just boarding our kayak

still "hanging loose" before we hit the river and our 'tip'

 

Eating lunch at the falls (yes, my mouth is VERY full...I had worked up quite an appetite)

Beautiful "Secret Falls"

coming back into the dock

Day #6: (Friday, March 9): Kauai:
Compared to the day before, this one was a walk in the park....literally. Dawson and I walked into town and did a little shopping and stopped by a beach front park (Nawiliwili Park).  You can see in the photos how terribly muddy the water was from all the rain and flooding.   We returned to the ship and spent the afternoon with all of the CTMH travelers in a fun business meeting. We got a sneak peek at things to come with the company, played some fun games, and took photos.  CTMH provided a 'good-bye' reception for us all that evening.

There are chickens EVERYWHERE in Hawaii, but I think we saw the most of them running around on Kauai

CTMH cruise earners.  Can you find me? Look up near the top on the left. I'm the first green shirt coming down from the top of the stairs.

Well, that about does it for Installment #3.  The last and final installment is coming up next post.  Have a wonderful day!

How-To Books Going FAST and Hawaiian Cruise Update #2

Black sand beach in Hilo, Hawaii

Before I give you this installment of our trip update (this is a very photo heavy post), I wanted to let you know that the Close To My Heart How-To Books that are available only while supplies last are going FAST!  The Reflections book is already sold out and Originals is available in VERY limited quantities. The rest are flying off the shelves as well.  Check out this post for more details on these wonderful books.

For Your Convenience, here are the order numbers (or click on the links to go straight to that item and add it to your shopping cart):
Scrapbooking How-To Books:
Magic (9034)
Imagine (9030)
Cherish (9029)
Reflections: No longer available

Card Making How-To Books:
Wishes (9033)
Originals (9032)

Now onto update #2 on Dawson and my Hawaiian Cruise (courtesy of Close To My Heart).  You can see update #1 here.

Day #3 (Tuesday, March 6, 2012): Hilo, Hawaii
We woke up on Tuesday to find ourselves docked at the beautiful island of Hawaii. We spent the day in Hilo doing a million things (okay, maybe not a million, but a lot!)

• visiting a black sand beach
• visiting some beautiful Japanese Gardens (Liliuokalani Gardens)
• visiting and taking a short hike up by some beautiful falls (Rainbow Falls)
• visiting the volcano (Mt. Kialuea) 
• visiting and walking through the lava tubes
• visiting "The Big Island Candies" (and of course buying lots of yummy treats

Dawson and I loved every minute of this day!

Here we are on the bus, headed out for our big day in Hilo, Hawaii:

Photos from the Japanese Gardens (Liliuokalani Gardens):

________________

Photos at the black sand beach:

_________________

 Photos from Rainbow Falls and our walk up:

Rainbow Falls

Dawson on the very nice paved path to the top of Rainbow Falls

River at the bottom of the falls

_______________

Photos from Volcano National Park (Mt. Kilauea):

 ________________

Photos from the Lava Tubes:

entering the tube

Inside the tube

Day #4 (Wednesday, March 7, 2012): Kona, Hawaii

While we slept during the night, our magical ship transported us to the other side of the island of Hawaii, to Kona.  It was beautiful there. Dawson and I spent the day lazing around by the pool and the beach.  It was a great day to recharge and get ready for the next day.  Stay tuned for that.  We were on Kauai and it was by far the most adventurous and most fun day of our trip. Dawson and I both agreed on that.

Beautiful beach on Kona:

It is so much fun for me to relive last week as I share it with you.  I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Hawaiian Cruise Update #1

Whale photo by my friend, Ginni Candelaria.  The whale watching on this trip was A-MAZ-ING!

As promised, I am going to spend the next few days sharing our Hawaiian cruise with you.  As you probably already know, I earned this cruise through my Close To My Heart business. It is actually the 9th trip I've earned. I am so fortunate to represent a company that is so generous in rewarding their consultants with great incentives for performance. I've been able to take Dan on several trips, each of my children on at least one one-on-one trip with me of their own, and once even took our entire family to Alaska.   If you'd like to join me on next year's trip, then NOW is the time to start.  There is an amazing sign-up special this month where you get about $450 in "loot" (including the "Art Philosophy" Cricut Collection) when you sign up for $99.

Okay, that said, back to the trip.  I decided to take Dawson this time because he is the only member of our family who has never been to Hawaii. He can't say that any more!

Day #1 (Saturday, March 3):  Dawson and I boarded a plane at the Salt Lake City airport and flew straight to Honolulu. We quickly gathered our luggage and boarded a bus to the cruise ship. We were some of the last to board the ship. We got on just in time for the mandatory muster drill and to hear them make the last boarding call. Whew!  We were exhausted (What is is about traveling that does that to you? It's not like there is any great physical exertion, but traveling always makes me sleepy.).  We went to dinner and the opening welcome reception given by Close To My Heart, went to the early show and headed to bed.

Day #2 and #3: (Sunday, March 4 and Monday, March 5): Our first stop was Maui.  Dawson and I had booked our day pretty solid with a great snorkel trip. I mentioned this a couple of days ago. We went to the Molokini Crater and saw so many beautiful fish, then headed to another area known as "Turtle Town" and swam and snorkeled with so many sea turtles. We also did some whale watching and saw so many whales, which was amazing.  We got back to the ship and both promptly fell asleep.  Having this much fun is exhausting! :)

 Have a great day!

How-To Books Available Only While Supplies Last and a LIttle Girl Layout

Did you know that Close To My Heart's "How-To" books are being retired and are only available while supplies last? They are only $21.95 each and at that price won't last long. You really don't want to miss them if you don't already have them.  I have them all and use them almost daily.

You can order them on my website here.

For Your Convenience, here are the order numbers (or click on the links to go straight to that item and add it to your shopping cart):
Scrapbooking How-To Books:
Magic (9034)
Imagine (9030)
Cherish (9029)
Reflections (9031)

Card Making How-To Books:
Wishes (9033)
Originals (9032)

I made this layout of my darling granddaughter, Daci using the pattern called "Magician's Choice" from the Magic book. As always, you can click on any photo in this post and see it larger and in more detail.

Almost every card and layout you see in the Close To My Heart Idea Books came from these how-to book patterns. They are always labeled so you can easily look up the pattern and book. Nifty!

One of the things I love the most about these books is that not only do they give you a pattern, they also give you cutting guides and step-by-step instructions on how to build that project.  In fact, here's a photo of one of the pages in the Magic scrapbooking how-to book (I shared the page that the pattern I used above, "Magician's Choice" is on) and one of the Wishes card making how-to book.  See what I mean? Wonderful stuff!

photo of one of the patterns in the "Magic" book

photo of two of the patterns in the "Wishes" book

To order one, two, or MORE of these books, head straight to my website and use the order numbers shared above, or just click on the links I created and add them to your cart.  Easy, peasy, lemon squeasy!

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos and fun from our CTMH Hawaiian Cruise. I love my life!