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And we want to  make sure that your craving for Sweet Mona's Chocolates is satisfied now and in the future. And like you, we are struggling to make sense of it all. I hope that this e-mail finds you healthy and safe. Read more...

The anatomy of a cacao pod. Credit: United States Department of Agriculture, Public Domain, with labels added by Julio Guevara

Deep in the Amazon, there is a magical tree that breaks forth from the ground, reaching toward the light shining above the umbrella of the rainforest. Within three to five years, from the trunk of the tree and its' thick branches, sprout tiny stems with five-petaled flowers. Small insects called midges pollinate the flowers....Read more.

Employee Retreat - The Suva - Monday, August 19, 2019

We are staying in Eitting, Germany tonight and will fly out of Munich tomorrow. I'm blessed to be able to have gone on this journey and am very thankful. I am ready to come home. I'm anxious to see my puppies and sleep in my own bed. The people have been awesome and the places have been amazing. In my mind, it was the...

We continued on to Christiane's home on the 17th and arrived there about 5:30 I think. Christiane had arranged dinner at the restaurant next door to her home. So their whole family, Christiane, Matthius, and Lorenz, and Mathew and his girlfriend, Annika, and myself and Tony had a meal together at Mediterraneo. I didn't...

On opening night at the Opera of Hansel and Gretel we sat next to a husband and wife who lived in Seattle Washington for a short time several years ago. He was a minister and was on Capital Hill to minister to the German people there. We were introduced to his daughter, her husband, and their grandson who was a part of...

One day in Frankfurt. Really, it's just one afternoon and that's ok. We walked around and I took several pictures. I'm pretty read to be heading home at this point. Vacations are not long enough for Tony and too long for me. We had a surprisingly good dinner at Alim Fish. I say surprisingly because it was really small...

What an adventure driving to Baiersbornn! I Think the satellites were messed up or something. Or there was so much construction, Google had no idea what was going on. Therefore, we didn't either. We ended up going down a closed road that was approximately 3km.

My disaster leaving our universal plug in San Martino Buon Albergo turned amazing. Our host at the Airbnb owns Matt Electronics and she had one for us. I guess if we were going to lose it, we lost it at the perfect place. Vaduz, Liechtenstein! Now this is the place for me.

We waited at the hotel in San Marino Buon Albergo for a little while after our bountiful breakfast buffet since we didn't need to check in at our destination until 5 pm. In our absence of haste I left the universal plug at the hotel. That's like leaving a chunk of gold behind in my opinion.

Hey there everybody! July 13th we spent in Venezia, Italy. Going into the city and seeing all the waterways and how everything was built up amazed me. I have to read about the history. The city is old, and there's people everywhere.

Another amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel and then we're off to Verona. I checked out this article about Verona for the top things to do--https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-verona-italy/. We hit them all. We parked at the train station near our hotel and took the train and then a bus into the city. The first thing I saw was the arena. They were preparing for an opera festival. Aida was playing that evening so they had all these large props in close proximity.

It's Laundry Day! On the way to San Marino Buona Albergo, a municipality in the province of Verona, located about 6 miles east of Verona, we stopped in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a lovely mountain resort town, and also where Matt first sang at the Catholic Church in Garmisch. However, first things first!

This is the day that we went to the three castles. These are the castles of King Ludwig of Bavaria. We ate at our hotel in the morning. They had a buffet that included all types of meats and cheeses, eggs, breads, yogurts, granolas, and fruit.

We left Arnstein and headed toward Oberammergau on the morning of the 9th. We stopped at this little cafe on our way out of town called Bakery Peter Schiff. First all they gave us a glass of water! This was the very first time in Germany that we got water that we did not have to pay for it. YOWZA!

We picked up Matt and we were off to Heidelburg! After a couple hours drive and at least one of us was starving. Let's not say which one. We stopped at an Italian Restaurant. There is an Italian Restaurant on every block I think. Anyway, Matt and I had the Penne Past and Tony had Lasagna. I thought to myself....