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For the past few years, a family vacation during winter break has been a tradition for me and my parents. This year our destination was Costa Rica.

I had to do many things to get ready for Costa Rica. I shopped for clothes and searched for activities to do in Costa Rica. We booked ourselves for jet skiing, hiking, and tours. 

On December 21, we woke up at 3 am and headed to the airport since our flight was at 6 am. We were rushing to the airport thinking we would be a little late, but we were actually one of the first ones there. My parents and I just sat there waiting for the baggage drop to open. After it opened, we dropped our bags and headed to security. Security was swift and before we knew it we were at our gate. We met up with some of our friends who were going with us and we all got breakfast and snacks for the plane ride. Our first ride was only two hours so it went by quickly. We landed in Atlanta, Georgia and went to get some lunch while heading to our gate. We still had an hour until we had to board, so I just ate my lunch and waited for boarding to start. The plane ride was quite short as well. I slept through most of it and before I knew it, we were in Costa Rica. We finished our immigration check, collected our luggage, and headed to the hotel. Costa Rica was beautiful at first sight. There’s a lot of scenery and many thriving plants. The drive to the hotel was so long, the roads were a bit uneven and it was hot inside the bus as well. We reached our hotel and were greeted with a complimentary drink. After we checked in, we headed to an Italian restaurant for lunch. The room we got was super nice, and unpacking was a breeze. When our friends finally joined us, we hit the pool and refused to leave, making our parents drag us out. After a quick shower, we all gathered at the buffet, Arenal, for a delicious dinner. Lounge 24 became our hangout spot, where we enjoyed popcorn and card games until exhaustion kicked in. 

On our second day, we headed to Arenal for breakfast. After finishing our meal, my friends and I wasted no time and rushed to the pool. We changed into our swimsuits, and we made our way to the poolside bar, grabbing some drinks before plunging into the water. The pool at our hotel was great, but we also wanted to explore the neighboring hotel Riu Guanacaste. Sneaking in with some friends, we enjoyed more drinks at the bar and tried delicious barbecue chicken. After lunch, we played an intense game of pool volleyball, losing track of time until we realized it was already 4 pm. After spending a total of seven hours in the pool that day, we reluctantly left and went back to our hotel. After we all finished showering, we gathered in the lobby near the coffee shop. I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a year. We shared stories and laughter. After we finished catching up, we went to get our faces painted for the neon party that was post dinner. Dinner tonight was at Krystal, but the food didn’t meet our expectations so we went to the Arenal to get better food. The neon party at Riu Guanacaste was a blast, with robots, balloons, and an overall amazing atmosphere. The party lasted for three hours, and as everyone started to get tired, the crowd gradually started heading to their rooms. After the seven hours spent at the pool and the neon party, we were all exhausted by the time we returned to our hotel at midnight.

On the third day, I had a pretty similar morning. We ate breakfast and then went to the pool. Instead of staying in the pool we went to the beach and took a bunch of pictures and we also booked horse riding at the activities hut. We had horseback riding booked for 3 pm. We quickly dried off and had lunch before going. We got to the hut and they led us to the horses. It wasn’t my first time horseback riding, however it was quite different from my previous experience. The first couple of minutes were scary since the horses were tall and moved quite fast. The view was so beautiful and it was worth it. After horseback riding, we all went to our hotel room to shower and take group and family pictures. This vacation was something we wanted to cherish forever. Afterward, we all went to the Arenal to eat. Dinner finished pretty quickly so the parents went to the nearest nightclub and all the kids stayed in one hotel room and we played cards and listened to music. Our parents returned at 1 am, and the children were tired, so we parted ways.

Fourth day was a volcano hike and we had to wake up super early because the drive was 3 hours. We were at breakfast at 7 am and on the bus at 7:30 am. Halfway through the bus ride, we stopped at a grocery store so we could all use the restroom and get snacks. I got two flavors of takis that I hadn’t tried before. They were super spicy and it burned my mouth badly. We got to the boat and took a tour of the water and we got to see an active volcano named “Arenal”. The last time it erupted was 2010 and we got to see smoke coming out of the crater. It was beautiful since it merged with the cloudy sky. The tour came to an end so we headed back to the bus that took us to lunch at the top of a mountain which was a vantage point for a beautiful scenic area. There was a mini buffet planned by our tour guide and we ate a super quick lunch. After everyone was finished with lunch we went to check out the gift shop for a while. I bought a hat that said “Pura Vida” on it which means pure life and this is the nicest thing someone can say to you in Costa Rica. Next, we went on a hike through the rainforest. We got to see many different animals such as bats as well as walk over hanging bridges. The leaves were huge and the trees were delicate. Though it was not raining the day we had come it had rained for the past three days. Normally as per the tour guide it rains 8-10 months a year in the rainforest. The whole group recollected and headed to the hot springs. We had to put all our belongings in lockers as soon as we got there. This was my first time going to a hot spring so I didn’t know what to expect. We all started walking to the hot spring and when we got there we slowly got in since it was quite hot. There were multiple pools and the water temperature increased in each pool. The hottest one was 106 degrees Fahrenheit. After we were finished relaxing we all went to the showers to wash off but we were not allowed to completely shower for the next 24 hours because we had to let all the minerals soak into our bodies. After everybody was all dried off and ready to go we headed back to the hotel. It was so late and everyone was extremely tired so most of the kids just fell asleep on the bus. After an extremely long 3-hour bus ride we were finally at the hotel. Most of the parents went out to celebrate until 12 am since it was Christmas Eve but all the kids were so tired we each went to our rooms to sleep. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! On the fifth day we completed the same morning routine as always but we had something exciting planned for the afternoon. After eating breakfast we all went to our rooms to put on sneakers and comfortable clothes because we were going zip lining. The drive was only five minutes away and when we got there we had to put our stuff in cubbies and we had to put harnesses on. We took group pictures then we paired up to go zip line. The first line was super easy and fun but the second one was scary looking since you would be on your stomach like Superman. They had to put you in a very heavy bag and then add more weight to you with sand bags. When they push you down it is not that scary and the view was totally worth it because you could see the ocean and the sky and it was beautiful. It was extremely exhilarating and the breeze felt so nice. The next couple of zip lines were super easy and after we were finished with all seven ziplines there was a death drop which was super fun and then we went on one last zipline which took us to the zoo. We took the harnesses off and got to explore around. We got to see monkeys, sloths, jaguars, birds and butterflies. This was my first time seeing most of these animals. The creature that intrigued me the most was sloths since they moved so slow due to their low metabolism. They were all so adorable and fun to look at. When we were done looking at all the animals we got back on the bus which took us to the hotel. We ate at the Italian restaurant L’Anfora. The kids finished eating quickly so we went to change into swimsuits but instead of going to the pool this time we went to the beach to take sunset pictures. After we were done taking pictures we had to rush upstairs to our rooms to shower and change into nice clothes since we were going to be taking Christmas pictures. After we were done with pictures we went to eat dinner at the Arenal since they were having a Christmas special. When everyone was done eating we took more pictures. The kids were hanging out in the lounge while the parents were hanging out in the lobby. After a while all the kids got sleepy so we all parted ways since we wanted to be rested for our last full day at the hotel.

Our sixth day was pretty chill. We didn’t do much in the morning. We hung out by the beach until all our parents came because we were going jet skiing. We put our life jackets on and started. My dad and I were partners and he drove for the first half and it was super nice. The salt water was splashing in my face and the breeze felt super cooling. I really wanted to drive so my dad and I switched to being in the middle of the ocean. Driving was super fun and since the waves weren’t as big it was easy to control the jet ski. We had a 30 minute session but we went 50 minutes over. After that we went back into the ocean and no matter how hard we tried we just couldn’t get out but an hour later we went to the pool. We stayed in the pool for another 3-4 hours. By the time we got out it was 6:15 pm and we had dinner reservations at 7pm so we had to rush and shower. By the time we all met up at the restaurant it was 6:58 and we all headed into the Japanese restaurant “Tokio.” The restaurant was very fancy and well kept. For appetizers I ordered veggie ramen and it was so flavorful. For the main course I ordered vegetarian Yakisoba noodles which were kinda spicy but also really good. Finally for dessert I ordered mochi and it was so chewy and sticky it wasn’t my favorite. After we were done eating we went to go check on my friend who got super sick from being in the pool and in the sun for too long. Another long day in the water ended and we all parted separate ways because we had to wake up early since we were all leaving tomorrow. 

On our last day we woke up extra early so we could start packing and cleaning up before going to breakfast. We were super sad since we had so much fun in the bright weather of Costa Rica and now we would have to go back to cold and freezing Virginia. After breakfast we took a bunch of pictures and we all said our goodbyes. My family was the first to leave. We took a shuttle to the airport. When we got there we went through the baggage drop and then security which was super quick and easy. We had about 3 hours to spare so we went upstairs, ate lunch and then we went shopping in all the stores looking for gifts I could give to my friends. I bought a bunch of bracelets for my friends and then we had to start boarding. Me and my friend sat together and watched the movie “It.” The movie was super sad and scary. I also watched “Bring it On.” It was super funny and it was the complete opposite of “It.” The flight wasn’t that long, it was three hours and the movies took up most of that time. When we landed in Atlanta we had to go through immigration and the line was ginormous. But we were able to cut through the line using the MPC (Mobile Passport Control) app. The MPC app basically sends the system all your information making the immigration process shorter. We got through, headed to baggage claim, picked up our bags, took them to the next baggage drop and headed to security. After security we still had 2 hours till boarding started so we went to PF Changs to eat dinner. We got lettuce wraps, soup and noodles. We also stopped by a book store but didn’t buy anything. We went to the gate and my dad and I read a book while my mom was trying to explain to my friend’s parents how to use the MPC app. We started boarding and my friends finally made it. I got to sit with them on the plane. I finished the show My Life with the Walter Boys since I had downloaded it. After I finished, I watched Titanic with my friend and before we knew it we had landed. We went to baggage claim but our bags took a really long time to come and I was practically falling asleep. Twenty minutes later, our bags arrived, but we called an Uber to get home. But that meant our winter break vacation was officially over.

Bringing it all together:

This vacation was quite a different experience from last year, which was in Los Cabos. In Costa Rica there was more greenery and it was a more scenic place. There were more unique and first-time experiences. I did many more activities I hadn’t done before on this trip. Our next trip will cover more adventures and see more tropical places. The vacation was replenishing and it was an exhilarating experience. Pura Vida!

At the end of the school year, we all look forward to a break — enjoying a vacation. For the past few years, a family vacation has been a tradition for me as my parents have been able to take time off from work.  

This time, we were not sure about the place to visit. Our family friends, Ramesh uncle and Nive aunty planned for a visit to Colorado and insisted us to join them. It was a great idea since we had never been to Colorado or any of mountain location in USA, so we wanted to explore.

Since we didn’t know much about Colorado and didn’t know many people in our circle who had visited Colorado, we did some web research for tourist attractions. Among the top places to visit were the Colorado spring and the Rocky Mountain. 

Since we were flying straight to Denver our flight was short. Me and my dad sat next to a couple who lived in Colorado, so they gave us suggestions on places to visit. Once we landed in Colorado we were excited to get off the plane and see the view. On our way to the hotel, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a quick grab. By the time we reached our hotel it was 11 pm.

On the second day we got ready, had our breakfast and and went to visit the Garden of the Gods. It was a 15 minute drive from our hotel. Once we had gotten to the visitor center we booked tickets to ride the electric bikes. Alan, our tour guide took us to the bikes. He gave us water and sunscreen and went on to demonstrate how to use the bikes. There were seven stops to be made and take pictures at. We took a bunch of photos near all the rocks and mountains. We also got to see a rock that was balancing on other rocks and it was so cool. On the last stop there was a gift shop. We bought some souvenirs and snacks and headed back to the visitor center. Since it was my first time riding electric bikes, it was sort of scary but quite exhilarating. Later on, we stopped at the Olympic training center. Unfortunately, we had come in late, so we missed the tour. We still checked out the souvenir store. I tried to find something related to gymnastics but couldn’t. When we didn’t have anything else to do we decided to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. Post dinner we decided to take a drive up to the Garden of the Gods once again to see the super moon. We couldn’t see it for some time but as we kept driving higher and higher we finally spotted it. We took a lot of pictures of the moon and after a few minutes of viewing, we headed back.

On the third day, we went on the Royal Gorge train ride. The drive to the train station was an hour away. By the time we reached the station there was a long line to get in. The lady at the ticket booth gave us our seat and meal tickets. We got into the train, sat at our table and ordered our drinks and food. When we got our meals, the train had started moving. It was moving slowly and we could see different mountains and rocks. After a little while we started seeing RV camping grounds that were set up so cutely. Thereafter the train started heading backwards to the station. Me and my parents went to a little balcony that showed the outside view. We took pictures and spotted the royal gorge bridge. We then got back inside the train and before we knew it we were back at the station. Once we got off the train, we took our car and drove to the Royal Gorge bridge. It was only a 15-minute drive from the station. We bought our tickets to go on the bridge. When we got to the bridge, it was a little windy. We took photos with the state flags. After we crossed the bridge we went to see a video in their cinema about the Royal Gorge and how it was built. It had many interesting facts like how the whole park was on fire but the bridge did not burn down. After the video was over we started walking back but it was so windy and the bridge was extremely wobbly. We made it over and decided to take one last trip. We chose to go to Pikes Peak which is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We drove an hour to get to the entrance and then we paid to get passes to go to the summit. We drove about halfway the it started hailing. There was a huge hail storm happening so we had to wait in a parking lot until the storm was over. Once the storm was over they closed off the rest of the way to got to the summit because it was too icy. We drove back to our hotel to go eat at the same Indian restaurant and since it was the fourth of July we went to the garden of the gods to go see the fireworks. once the firework show was over we went back to our hotel to go to sleep.

On the fourth day we had to go to our next hotel in the Rocky Mountains. We still had to go to pikes peak and the olympic training center so we had to pack our bags quickly and then check out and head to pikes peak. We went to the entrance of pikes peak and got a pass to drive up to the 16th stop and the get driven by a shuttle to the summit. By the time we were at the 16th stop it was getting a little harder to breath because we were so high in elevation. We got on the shuttle and went to the summit. We stopped at the visitor center and we started taking pictures, it was very high up and we were above the clouds. The view was gorgeous, after we took pictures and videos we got some donuts and we headed back down on the shuttle. We got back in our car and continued driving down so we can then go to the olympic training center. We made it just in time to get tickets for the tour. The tour guide Bob took all of us to the different training grounds. We saw the weightlifting room, an olympic size swimming pool, an olympic wresting mat and even a boys gymnastics floor and training equipment. Sadly the girls gymnastics training ground wasn’t there but we got to see so many cool things. After the tour was over we started to drive to the Rocky Mountains. The drive to our hotel was around three hours. By the time we got to our hotel it was 9:30 pm, the hotel was named the Ridgeline hotel and it was so fancy and pretty. They gave out free taffy and when you check in to the hotel they give you a card that you trade in for a s’mores kit. We went to our room to freshen up and unpack. After all of that we went downstairs to eat dinner, we ordered nachos for starters and then we ordered a pizza for dinner. After everyone was done we ordered desserts and we got churros and a warm cookie with ice cream. After we all ate we went back to our room to change into our pajamas and get ready to go to sleep. Me and my mom decided not to sleep and wait for our friends that would be coming around 12 am. Once they reached me and my mom ran downstairs to give the hugs. The kids were asleep so I would have to wait until the next morning to see them. We helped them check in but their room was is the east building to we had to wait until the next morning for them to move rooms to be closer to us. Me and my mom went back up to our room while they went to theirs. We finally got to sleep after a long day.

On the fifth day we woke up and got ready to eat breakfast. I got to see my friends which i was happy about. I got to eat my breakfast then I went to my friends room so we could hang out. We had to babysit her little brother while the parents went on a hike. After the parents were back we all went outside to see a parade that was happening outside the hotel. Once the parade was over me and my friend went to our rooms to get ready to go to the pool. We went to the pool and we stayed there for about an hour. My friend had to go get ready to go to a lake called bear lake. They had reservations at 2 o’clock but we had the reservations at 4 o’clock. I stayed in the pool for a little longer while my friend left to get ready to go to bear lake. My dad came to get me from the pool because I had to go take a shower and get ready to go. After my parents and I were ready we drove to subway to get lunch. Once we ate we started driving to bear lake. Once we got there we went on a hike to a lake called Dream Lake. We took some pictures there then it started raining a little so we went back down to bear lake. When we got to bear lake we started to hike around the lake. We took a bunch of pictures. When we were done with the hike we went back to our car and we called our friends and asked them where they wanted to go for dinner. We went to a Nepalese restaurant called Himalayan Oak. We ordered our drinks then we ordered our entrees. I ordered Soup momos. Once everyone was done eating we cut a cake for my moms birth days that was two weeks away but since our friends wouldn’t be there for it we cut it today. After everyone was done we all went for a walk around the plaza that the restaurant was in. We went to two stores and we bought some souvenirs. Once we were finished with our walk we head back to our cars. We had reached the hotel and me and my friend went to the pool again. We stayed in the pool for and extremely long time. After our mothers dragged us out we took showers and went to the lobby to get our s’mores kits. The fire pits were closing soon so we had to make them quickly. Afterwards me and my friend went to her room to put her brother to sleep while we were watching a movie. Once her parents came back I went to my room to go to bed.

On our last day we wanted to go back to bear lake, but we had to have tickets and since we didn’t we decided to go on a walk near the rocky mountain national park. While we were walking a guard told us the we weren’t allowed to be walking at the path we were so we went back to our cars and tried to find a place to eat lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant, once we were done we went on a little walk around the restaurant. After a couple minutes all of us headed our separate ways. My family and I headed to the airport and our friends headed to Denver for their last part of their trip. Once we go to the airpot we headed to security after dropping our check in bag off. The line for security was so long, we were there for 20 minutes. After security we went to our gate but our flight was a little delayed so my mom and I bought some snacks for the flight. Once we boarded the flight we got in our seats and headed straight back to Virginia. The flight was pretty smooth and there was very less turbulence. The flight was three hours and by the time we got to Virginia it was 11:30, we grabbed our bags and waited for our Uber to come. It took 20 minutes for our Uber to come. Once we got home I went straight to bed because I was so tired. And that was when my vacation ended.

For our year end vacation, we went to Cabo, Mexico. Here’s my diary entry for it.

Day 1: My parents and I left at 3 am to get to the airport. We also had some of my friends going to Cabo with us. We got to the airport, finished our security check and waited at our boarding gate. While we waited, I bought some breakfast. I got hot chocolate and an egg and cheese sandwich. Our flight took off at 6 in the morning. During the flight, I sat with my friend. We watched the show, Wednesday and then listening to the music band Stray Kids. The flight was two hour long and we had a one hour and a half layover in Minneapolis. Finally, we reached Cabo around lunchtime. When we got out from the airport, the weather felt extremely different. It was hotter and much more tropical from where I live. We got an RV to take us to the hotel. We were staying at Barcelo Grand Faro. Our rooms weren’t ready yet, so we went to eat lunch at the buffet. The food looked really good, but didn’t taste as good. Post lunch we headed to our rooms and unpacked. After unpacking we just roamed around the hotel. For dinner there was a separate buffet post which there was a karaoke night. I came back to my room with my friend and we watched a movie until 10 pm and then she went to her room and I went to bed.

Day 2: I woke up at around 9 am, got ready and went to the breakfast buffet. I had bread, eggs, fried potatoes, a croissant and a pina colada yoplait smoothie. After breakfast, I went to the pool with my friends. Thereafter, we went to the hot tub. Post lunch and shower, I slept for an hour. In the evening, I got ready for dinner at a Mexican restaurant with all of my friends who had just reached today. For appetizers, I got a tostada with marlin on top and for the main course I had chicken fajitas. Dessert was churros with caramel sauce and for my drink I had a lemonade which was extremely sour. After dinner, my friends and I played pool and basket ball before we all went to one room to play games, watch movies and hang out. After a while our parents picked us up and we all went to our own rooms to sleep.

Day 3: Today it was my uncle Satish’s birthday. I had a crepe, eggs, bread and fruit for breakfast. After that I went to the pool and was in it for a really long time. I did water aerobics with my friends. we also played a bunch of water games and chilled in the hot tub. For lunch, I had Alfredo pasta, bread and jello. After lunch I went back in the pool with my friends. I was in the pool for another hour until I got tired. I went back to my room to take a shower. In the evening, we went to a Taco place. I had shrimp tacos and pesto chicken tacos. A little later, my mom took me and my friend to get ready for an Italian Restaurant. I wore a floral dress and straightened my hair. There was some mix up at the Italian restaurant, so we had to come back to eat at the Mexican restaurant again. I had pasta, mashed potatoes and some pizza. After we ate, the older kids went to the Sky Bar and the kids went to the lobby. A couple games of knock out later, my friends and I went to watch a movie. We watched Minions: The Rise of Gru and then went back to our rooms.

Day 4: It was Lin didi’s birthday. We finished breakfast and went to the pool for a short while because we had to go on a sunset cruise. Me and my friend wore matching dresses. We went to the buffet to eat some lunch. I had chicken tacos and apple pie. After lunch, we got on a bus where we played a bunch of Indian songs and parents were dancing on them. The bus took us took us to the dock. We walked around a little, bought souvenirs, ate food and then stood in line to board the boat. Once we got on the boat there was live music playing so everybody got to dance. There was also a bar to order snacks and drinks. There were a bunch of adults doing a Vodka challenge, so we got to watch them do that. There was also a dance challenge and music playing. We got to see dolphins and the North Star. We got back to the dock at around 9:30 pm. Once we got back on the bus, everyone was so tired. Back to the hotel, we quickly grabbed some dinner and then everyone went to bed.

Day 5: There were no birthdays today and we had to get ready to go ATVing which is a biking experience. We had our breakfast and lunch in the hotel and went on to wait for the bus that would take us to the place we were ATVing. Once we got there we had to sign some papers and get our helmets. There was an instructor who explained us the rules. Once we were done fitting our helmets we went to the ATVs. We got in, buckled up and the next thing you know we were riding on the extremely bumpy roads. We got to see the ocean and the sunset while ATVing. Once we were done we returned our helmets and went back into the building. There was a free tequila shot for the adults after they came back from the ride. I was really hungry after that, so I bought some Pringles. We returned to our bus and pn our drive back we had connected the screen to bluetooth and played Hindi film music. When we got back to the hotel, we all went to get ready for a Christmas eve photo shoot. There was also a special dinner at the buffet. After that, me and my friends went to one of our rooms to play games and watch some television.

Day 6: It’s Christmas! Today everybody was in the pool for the entire day. After breakfast, I changed immediately and plopped into the pool. Everyone was in the pool till 3 pm and then we went to the beach. The waves were way to big for anyone to go in. In the evening we were going to take pictures so I wore a pink and red dress with a cute Santa hat. Once everyone was ready, we took family photos and then some group photos. Some of the grown-up kids went to a taco place while the rest of us stayed for the Christmas dinner at the buffet. I ate mashed potatoes chicken with gravy and a flan with caramel sauce for dessert. Once we were done with dinner, me and my friends hung out by the lobby and then went back to our rooms.

Day 7: It was the last day of the trip, so we took a lot of group and family photos. We all wore white for teh photographs. We finished breakfast and headed for Melano Beach to do a bunch of fun activities like banana boating and jet skiing. We got on a bus and started playing music during our drive to the beach. At the beach, we first went banana boating; we were the second batch after the college kids. Almost all of teh older kids fell off, but only one person from our batch fell off. We then had some tacos and soft drinks and hung out by the beach. After a little while, we all went jet skiing. I went with my dad, and we got splashed with so much salt water. Once everyone was done jet skiing, we returned to our hotel. My friends and I went to play volleyball in the pool. After that, I went to take a shower and headed down for the dinner buffet. After dinner I went to play pool with some of my friends. Later on, the parents went to a club while I just went to my room because I was really tired from all the activities from the day.

Day 8: Today we were flying back. We had to leave around 1pm because our flight was at three in the afternoon. We got ready, grabbed breakfast and then just hung out by the lobby. Around 1 o’clock, a bus came to pick us all up. At the airport, we checked out duty-free and then went to eat. I had chicken tenders and some noodles from Panda Express. After that e waited by our gate to board the flight. Once we were on the plane, I fell asleep listening to music. Before I knew it, we were in Atlanta. We had to go through immigration, get our bags checked in and go through security again then in order to board our second flight. Luckily, this was only a two-hour long flight. I spent that time watching The Minions. By the time our flight landed it was pas midnight and with that my vacation came to an end.

Cabo San Lucas Beaches

                    What Exactly Is Gratitude?

Gratitude is a way of expressing gratefulness for everything that we have in life. Gratitude can be beneficial in a variety of ways. It has the potential to make people feel more cheerful, improve their health, and strengthen their relationships. When someone expresses gratitude to me, I feel delighted and at ease. For instance, when I make breakfast for my family and they tell me how much they enjoy it or that I am talented, I feel like they appreciate what I do. Then I feel sad and unappreciated if they don’t say anything and just eat. Gratitude has the power to either lift or lower people. Therefore, we must do our best to be grateful for who we are and what we have.

                               Gratitude’s Importance

Physical, social, and emotional are the three main types of gratitude. Here’s how each of them is defined.

Physical effects on thankful people include helping them sleep more and better, being sick less frequently, having better heart health, exercising more frequently, and being less troubled by aches and pains.

People who are appreciative have more kind, helpful, and compassionate social interactions, feel less lonely and isolated, and are more forgiving and outgoing.

People who are appreciative are more optimistic and happy, experience more delight and pleasure, more pleasant emotions, and recover from stress faster.

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                      How to show Gratitude

There are numerous ways to express gratitude; here are some examples. 

Keep a gratitude journal and write with it every day. Show kindness to everyone and value the small and large things in life. Spend time with those you care about. Encourage everyone and by following these basic recommendations, many more people will be grateful for everything and everyone.

                           Conclusion

Gratitude can change your life as it makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you don’t have. It can change your life because it is the single most powerful source of inspiration that any individual can tap into if they simply stop and pay attention to the simplistic beauty and miracle of life.

Bolt is a Golden Labrador. He is six and a half months old. He lives with my cousin and his family in New Jersey. I met Bolt when I visited my cousin for his birthday and Thanksgiving.

I was surprised when I first met Bolt, he did not bark at me. I felt like he knew we were coming over and was expecting us. I had only seen photos of him and he looked a lot tinier in them than in real life.

Since I was meeting him for the first time, I tried to make Bolt comfortable by giving him his time and space to familiarize and not be pressured.

Bolt likes to go on walks, play fetch, and he is good at soccer. I took Bolt out for walks with my cousin in the morning and evening.

The day we left Bolt was being exceedingly hyper and jittery. He was running around the house, jumping on the sofa, and climbing on the clothes. I felt he was acting like this because he was getting to know we were leaving.

I always talk to my friends about how cute and funny Bolt is and I hope to see him again soon.

My Nanu (grandpa) passed away on March 15, 2021. After he left I was feeling sad, mad, and tired. In this blog post I will be telling you what you might feel after you lose a loved one. When I lost my grandpa my guidance counselor said I will be going through five stages of grief. So here’s what I have learnt.

1. The first stage of grief is denial. You will not except that your loved one is gone immediately. You will not remember anything, but the day they passed away. You may not be able to sleep either. You will feel like what you heard is untrue. I felt very lonely. When you are in the denial stage you will have many mixed feelings. I cried a lot and it okay to cry when you lose someone close to you. I also could not sleep for a couple of days and you will not want to sleep, you will want to talk to your loved one. I wanted to talk to my Nanu so badly. I didn’t want to eat either. I would only eat little pieces, but slowly I would start eating.
2. The second stage is anger. In this stage, you might feel like someone else is putting you in a lot of pressure, but nobody is. You will be in this stage for a long time but slowly you will move to the third stage. One thing that helped me with anger is smelling some lavender oil. Lavender soothes the body and mind. I also like to write my feelings in a diary or a journal. You could draw, do yoga, or whatever calms you down.
3. The third stage of grief is bargaining. You will be expecting a lot of “WHAT IFS”. A way I solved my “what ifs” is I would go to my room and just talk to myself. When you are in this stage you are going to start understanding that your loved one is gone. You will want to argue with people ,but the best thing you can do do is stay calm and hydrated. Water can keep you cool and calm.
4. The fourth stage is depression. In this stage you will feel lonely and sad. You don’t have to worry because this is not depression the mental illness. You should not go through this stage alone. Make sure you have a supporting friend or family member by you through this stage. I had my Mom with me through the whole way. You will be very anti-social in this stage.
5. The last stage is acceptance. You will be emotionally stable. You will start to move on. Of course you won’t be happy and jumpy. You will start to let go. In this stage you will still be upset and may even cry even though you are starting to accept. I don’t exactly know what you will experience because I have not reached that stage yet.

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Thanksgiving is a special time of  the year, we sit together with those we hold dear.

 A feast of turkey, ham, and cranberries for tummies so full and hearts grateful.

Sitting by the fire in our thanksgiving attire, always be happy for what you get  – whether a pet or a net.

Even if we meet in person or online, we will always have a great time. 

One person, or two, three or four, we will always be free to open the door.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton