Whenever I hear Tyler, TX the first thing that comes into mind is Rose Garden. A friend’s post on Facebook left this impression on me, since it is always fun to visit places with flowers I got interested in that part of Texas. So when I got the chance to go to an area near Tyler with my boyfriend, I didn’t want to miss the chance to be able to visit the flower garden. 

It was always a long drive getting to Tyler and aware that driving was not easy, I always tried my best to be of use to the driver. I tried my best to be the navigator which I did okay and food commander which I did good feeding him while he drove us safely to our destination, and he always did a good job behind the wheels. 

I got to be in Tyler more than once and visited a few places, thanks to my generous and kind tour guide. Here’s the list of places we got to drop by from all our visits to Tyler:

Broadway Square Mall. It is an old mall in Tyler. You could see pictures of the old mall on the wall of the hallway going to the restroom which felt nostalgic. 

Boba Loompia. So good! Filipino food in Tyler, represent! It was so good and nostalgic. 

Rose Garden. I was so in love with all the flowers. They were gorgeous  and some of them were in full bloom.

Painted Tree. It was a boutique where you might find some of the curios things you would ever see. 

Crumble Cookie. Yum! Yum! Yum! I got no other words but delicioso! Bon appetit!

UT Tyler. His graduate university and my heart was full when he took me there. I love him for sharing that part of him to me.  

Bass Pro Shop. It is an outfitter store. It is still amazed me by their wide selection of outdoor clothes, equipments, vehicles, and a lot more. They got everything you need for a wild adventure.

We also got to try some restaurants and this list is not comprehensive since I forgot some of the places we ate at. I am going to update this list as I remember those places. Hopefully, fingercross.

Rotolo's Pizzeria. The Angry Pig was so good. Non-traditional pizza with spicy BBQ sauce, Italian sausage, bacon, jalapeños, and cheddar cheese.

Another Broken Egg. We had our Valentine's date here. The food was good and serving was big. I was so full and so happy to spend the day with him. 

The homemade food was the best part. I got to experience real and authentic American food. So good!

I miss Tyler, I miss Flint. I miss him so much. 

This step is the part of self-publishing where you decide to have a print copy of your book. I have come upon this company that helps in printing self-published books. I am glad to find IngramSpark. 

You just have to prepare two (2) documents: a formatted manuscript and a full book cover.

1. Formatted Manuscript

For most of the books I self-published, the size I use is 8 by 5. I use Microsoft Word for the interior of the book or the manuscript itself.  

2. Full Book Cover

The application I work with to make my book covers is Canva. The front, back cover, and spine are all created with Canva. Just make sure you use the template book covers for you have the right dimension. Since I use an 8 by 5 size for the interior, it is only right to have your book's front and back cover in the same size. On the other hand, the width of the spine depends on the number of pages of the book, and the height remains the same as the front and back covers.

To calculate the width of your book spine, you may use this tool from IngramSpark: Spine and Weight Calculator

Here’s a sample of the book I published on demand with IngramSpark. Behold! 😂

I hope this helps.

I don’t usually celebrate my birthday and maybe never post something about celebrating my birthday. It is hard to remember. But this year, my heart is just overflowing with gratitude to God for giving me this opportunity to live and to have a life. Even though life hasn’t always been easy, I thank You God for this gift of life. 

Well, now that I think about it. I never had a sort of celebration for my birthday. Usually, it is just eating together or going somewhere to explore, and I like that idea, that’s the kind of celebration I would prefer. Never had the cakes and balloons with lots of confetti, and it’s fine. I guess that’s kind of celebration is never in my radar. 

Thirty five is the age now. I am in the middle of my thirty’s. Right now as old as I am, I am in the phase of my life where I know exactly what to do but I do not know how to do it. Like I know what I want, I know my purpose, but I am scared because I just got out of one of the many things on earth that makes me feel secured which like everything else is temporary and will definitely perish. 

I just have this thought that I have surrendered everything to God. My trust and hope is in Him. I always pray for provisions, safety, protection, wisdom, endurance, and guidance for me, my family, and loved ones. My prayer also is to live a life that is content and glorifying to You, my LORD. 

I tried to release every year and during my birthday. The Restless Mind is the birthday book this year and it contains some of my confessions. Maybe, I wrote this book out of grumbling and complaining about life or a specific situation and circumstance I needed to deal with. 

I just hope and pray to inspire other people specifically women through this book. Another prayer of mine for this book is to earn a living out of my books. Please get a copy of this book. You may order a print copy of The Restless Mind through this pre-order form: https://forms.gle/B2MrroFvYJCY5fnm8

Please don’t forget to tag me on a post or send me a message if you want to get in touch. Have a blessed day y’all! 

Willkomen is a german word for welcome and it fascinates to learn the word when we visited Fredericksburg. So once again, willkomen guys!

It was a birthday trip for me. It was one of unmarked item in our checklist, and finally my boyfriend and I got to cross it out of our list. He asked me what I want for my birthday, at first, I playfully said "him" but it was going to Fredericksburg that got stuck on my mind. So we ended gracing the city with our presence. 

The way to our destination was long and awesome, since it was never boring. We got to see a lot of interesting places on the way: winery, orchards, burger stores, donut shops, Texan BBQ restaurants, fancy houses, ranches, and the green scenery of the country side. It was an amazing ride. Dripping Springs are Johnson City were the town and city we got to passed through to reach Fredericksburg, and yes, just like what I told you those placing are also interesting, worthy places to visit and explore.

We had to take an hour and half travel time to get to the city. It was a long, long ride. But it was definitely worth it. 

Information Visitor Center. From this place, we got a map of the whole downtown. The guy in the office gave us significant information on how to make the most out of our one-day trip. He gave us a map with some notes that might come in handy throughout our exploration. For my journal, I decided to get a copy of my own map and trail passport, cute. 

Old German Bakery & Restaurant. We didn't have breakfast, so our next  stop was this famous bakery and restaurant. When we got to the place, I could not believe that there was actually a line of people waiting to be called because all of the seats were occupied. Oh boy, my boyfriend was right, it is actually pretty famous. I discovered the reason once I got to taste one of their breakfast meal and baked goodies. Oooh...! They were really good. We ordered Holstein Schnitzel with toast and  scrambled eggs on the side, and hot coffee and tea as our drinks.

Fredericksburg Winery. From the name itself, it had everything related to wine. We didn't get a free taste, but the old man in the store was generous enough to have conversation with my boyfriend about wine and other stuff, and I just listened, hehe, I am a good listener. There was an old lady in the store, but I guess she was busy with the other customers that was why she didn't say anything to us, however she was kind and friendly to greet us on the sidewalk when my boyfriend and I was crossing the pedestrian lane. 

Hill Country Amish. This place got an amazing selection of furnitures and they were made of authentic wood, leather, and metal. They also had organic food like jam, jelly, marmalade, seasonings, snacks, and more. The guy at the store gave us a trivia about yeast, like once you made that kind of yeast you have to take care of it because it is a living microorganism. I thought he was joking about it, but turned out he was dead serious about it, and we really appreciate the new information we learned from him. 

Pioneer Museum. If you want to explore all the parts of the museum, there was an entrance fee of 12 per adult. We were pretty satistified in the museum shop and reception area that we decided not to exlpore that whole area. They got an interesting collection of old photos and quilted products, all from the time of German settlement in the city. 

Pioneer Memorial Library. We like going to the libraries, so we didn't miss this chance to check out the library at the downtown. They also had a store of used books. I got a copy of a book Murakami just by donating a dollar. That's such a steal! I am glad to finally try a book of his. But unfortunately, I forgot the map with all the notes on the table of the room with all the books for sale. My bad. We tried getting it back but it was already closed when we remember about the map.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church. After checking if we could get the maps with notes, which was a failed attempt, we came across a magnificent structure, it was an old church. My boyfriend was fascinated and we were able to see outside only although we tried or I tried opening the doors, unfortunately they were all closed. According to my research, it was one of the oldest churches in Fredericksburg. 

Marktplatz von Fredericksburg. This was a park where we sat down and ate the baked goodies I got from the Old German Bakery & Restaurant. The German Sausage Jalapeno bread had this German sausage and it was thick and hard but in a good way, and we really liked it. The Blueberry Cheese Danish was not too sweet which was a good thing and the blueberry jam and cheesee went perfectly tasty.  There was also an Art Sale at the park and I assumed they were all independent artist. 

Rustlin' Rob's Texas Gourmet Food. Oooh...! This food shop was just amazing. They were so generous with the free tasting of their products. They had jam, jelly, marmalade, butte, pickled fruits and veggies, meat, sauces, and seasonings. The experience was the best. We were already full that we didn’t have to eat lunch. Good marketing strategy Rustlin' Rob!

National Museum of the Pacific War. This building got my attention because it had words like Philippine Sea, Luzon, and Mindanao on its walls. It was not a surprise since my home country became part of the Pacific War, which was a sad part of our history. For us to fully explore all the parts of the museum, a 20 fee was required. We needed to decide whether if it was worth to pay that amount given that we only had thirty (30) minutes left. We got there late and we decided to forego the idea and maybe try it another time. According to the staff, it would require at least two (2) hours to enjoy and explore the place. The shop an reception area were the only part we got to explore and it was still fun. We discovered books at the shop about accounts of how the Philippines became part of the Pacific War. It was mind blowing that there were writers who dedicated their time to tell stories about the Philippines, and I am glad. There was also a coin machine at the museum and I didn’t want to miss this chance to get a engraved coin souvenir. It was always fun to get to try one of those in every place that I visit.

It was a fun and purposeful experience. Thank you for planning this for my birthday! There are still a lot to explore, a second trip to Fredericksburg may not be a bad idea.