Cadbury World!

Cadbury World is a functioning chocolate factory. Pumping out tons of chocolate a day, Cadbury World supplies chocolate to New Zealand, Australia, and other lucky places. The factory gives regular tours that include lots of chocolate to take home, a taste of liquid chocolate, and a two-story chocolate waterfall.

feet

When you’re comfortable in your own skin, it’s THE best place to be. Because when you’re comfortable there, when you can wear your skin with ease and grace, it means you are also comfortable with yourself. With your self. It means you love who you are, without condition or reservation–warts and all.

Somebody once said, “The love affair you’re looking for is with yourself.”  True, that.

Fall in love with yourself, and being in your own skin will be the most awesome place you can imagine.

Views from New Zealand's Routeburn Track

The Track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks.  Parts of the Track include country where the land of Gondor from Lord of the Rings was filmed.  It is truly awesome.

dining table

Lives are hectic. It seems like we’re always rushing here or there, and there’s almost always something more to be done. All of which makes it harder to sit down together for a meal.

Together. At the same time.

This is one reason sitting around the table is such an awesome place to be. With friends or family and something to nibble on. It doesn’t really matter so much what it is you’re eating, as long as it’s together. Connecting with others, sharing some time, nourishing our souls as well as our bodies.

Pull up a chair.

The snow in the mountains transforms from frozen water into ribbons of spun sugar.

Snow candy

Beautiful.  And awesome.

The shower

One of my favorite places in the world to be is in the shower.

The shower is different than the bath–which is also an awesome place. But in the shower, with the warm water continually washing over me, I feel as though it’s rinsing away not just the usual dirt and grime; but also the worries, the fears, the nagging regrets that can cling more fiercely than grease. And standing there, head and shoulders under the steady stream, I imagine all those icky bits of baggage and doubt making their way down the drain, until they are far, far away from me.

Yes, it seems to me the shower cleans so much more than my body. And that’s a pretty awesome thing.

Stones at Runkuracay

The pass at Runkuracay is not the highest on the trail, at 12,705 ft, but it is the most dramatic.  Set just at the level of the clouds, a short climb on either side puts you above the shifting mist, gazing beyond to the great peaks, and around at the piles of rocks – offerings left to the mountain spirits.

White Sands

White Sands National Monument is truly a natural wonder. Covering 275 square miles, it is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.

With big, rolling hills of pure white sand there’s nothing quite like it. Nestled in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, White Sands is something you have to see to fully grasp.

Add it to your bucket list.  It’s awesome.

Lilly pond at Balboa Parkman

With special kid-friendly events, carousel and miniature railroad, the park is a great family venue, as well as a fantastic place for adults to explore and unwind.

Sliced Bread

Sliced bread is pretty awesome.  Hence the saying, “the best thing since sliced bread.”

Chillicothe, Missouri, is awesome because it’s the home of sliced bread.  The first commercial bread slicer was installed in the Chillicothe Baking Company and the first loaf of sliced bread was sold right there in 1928.

In 2007, Chillicothe officially became the “Home of Sliced Bread.”

Awesome.