Check this out (especially Kevin)

I'm researching places to stay and to visit on our vacation in July, near the border of California and Oregon. I was checking out the Mendocino area and came across some info about Boonville, California; one of the towns that we may be going thru on vacation.

Apparently it's known for its many wineries and breweries, but also their lingo...called Boontling. See more about it here. It's kinda sweet. Kinda makes you want to eavesdrop on an old local.

Anyway, off to do more research, so we can book a place to stay soon...

We're concentrating on the area around the Redwoods, so if anyone has any suggestions, we're definitely open to them.

Things I love about the Cottage:

The cottage is one of my favorite places. There's so much to know about it and so much to see that I'll have to do it in several installments. When we were back in Vermilion this time we made some new discoveries.

This watercolor below was painted by a neighbor in 1961 (when I was 3 years old). It depicts my grandmother's fruit and vegetable stand that was just down the road from the cottage. That's how their family made a living and probably why she had so many kids. She was an amazing gardener with a huge farm full of everything delicious...acres and acres of fresh sweet corn, watermelon, turnips, apples, peppers and dozens of other healthy treats. I used to stay with her and my cousin, Karen on the farm for a few weeks every summer. It was heaven! Even though this painting is far from professional, it brings back wonderful memories of her place.


But I digress...this is supposed to be about the cottage.

Here are just a few of the things that I love about the place:

LURES: My uncle has a boat and loves to fish on the lake. He used to take us out when we were kids. You can see that he has all of his lures hanging on the wall at the top of the stairs for anyone who comes to visit and wants to use them.

DOORKNOBS: The house is filled with working vintage doorknobs! This one is their front door. I have more pics of the knobs, but won't bore you with those. Once I get all my pics online, I'll link so you can see everything.

CHERRIES: My aunt & uncle's last name is Cherry, so the kitchen is filled with bunches of vintage cherry decor. This tray is just one example.


LOVE NOTES FROM OUR HOSTS: Over the years as my aunt & uncle having lovingly cared for and shared the cottage, they've discovered all the important do's and don'ts that keep it the special place that it's become. This bulletin board is a sampling of the loving notes from our hosts that ensure that we all have a grand time and keep the cottage in one piece.

LUCKY STONES: I showed you some of the beach glass collection in my last post and now you need to learn about lucky stones. The stones in the shot glass are called "Lucky Stones". They're not actually stones at all. (Click the link to find out more.) If you click on the photo you can see the "L" on each one. We spent many hours in our youth looking for these on the beach. The cottage guests have collected them over the years and we saw several cups full around the house. My aunt says that when you give them to someone else they are a gift of love and become "Lucky Love Stones". My sweet cousin, Elaine gave me a pair of earrings and a necklace that she made from these. Wow, did I feel loved!

Well, that's all for now...more to come.

Home again, home again jiggety jig...

Last night I arrived home after about 4 days in Ohio visiting my brother, Pat, with my two sisters. We realized that our last trip with our mom happened about the same time last year, so we're thinking that this needs to become an annual affair in early June. My mom didn't come along this time because this trip was kind of short notice and she wouldn't have had time to prepare. We'll plan another one with her in the coming months.

I'll post a few of my favorite pics tonight, then do more later. Look closer at the one with the "Gone to the Beach" sign. The lamp base is filled with beach glass! You can't really tell the size from the picture, but the globe is about the size of a basketball.

We stayed at my Aunt Eleanor's cottage just about 100 steps from Lake Erie and I took bunches of pics of the place trying to capture a bit of the feeling that I get when I'm there. Time seems to stand still in that little corner of the world and we all look forward to that. We enjoyed every minute including drives around town, thunderstorms every day, walks on the beach, finding shells and beach glass, visits from cousins and aunts, delicious strawberry shortcake, fresh Lake Erie Perch dinners, amazing beefsteak tomatoes sliced and eaten with just a little salt & pepper, running into old friends from high school, and helping our brother find a new place to live.

If you look closely at the picture of the beach stones that I took after one of the storms, you'll see dozens of tiny shells, a bit of beach glass, some sandstone (orange) and the black shale that we often used as natural blackboards for writing and drawing while lounging on the beach.

We also visited my nephew, Jason and his two adorable children Jaret & Justine.

On the road again...

So I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I guess I've been pre-occupied with various family happenings, some good and some very challenging. I don't have time to write about everything now, but I'll write more, hopefully next week.

I'll be leaving on Saturday to fly back to my hometown, Vermilion, Ohio for just a few days to try to help my brother find a new place to live...very long story. My sisters, Sharon and Diane are going too. I'm not expecting a really "fun" trip, (again - long story) but we'll make the best of it.

I am excited about the fact that we get to stay at our aunt and uncle's cottage in Mitiwanga. I'll post pics when I get back. It's an amazying old 2-story cottage with wood floors and a screened in front porch just a hundred yards or so from the beach at Lake Erie. I have wonderful memories of Easter egg hunts and summer days spent eating watermelon, playing and connecting with our huge extended family there.

And we'll have to be sure and have some Lake Erie Perch, breaded and deep fried...mmmm good!

This is a cool link that I just came across with some old postcards from around Vermilion. The photo above is from that site. It's the Vermilion-on-the-Lake Clubhouse right down the street from where I lived, where I learned to swim, and took ballet lessons, had holiday parties, and accepted Christ.

I'll post more when I can. Thanks for checking in on me once in a while. I know I've been very sporadic lately.

Light in the Piazza:

Linda, Miranda, Amy and I went to see the Light in the Piazza at Grady Gammage theater this past Wednesday. It was a fun night out as moms and daughters and a nice musical with some excellent acting, beautiful costumes and creative sets. We all love musicals and everyone in the group, except me, has done some acting and singing...well o.k., I was the narrator in a reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas in high school and in one church play as an adult many years ago because they couldn't find anyone else to do it and I sang in a folk band a long long time ago. Later on I decided I would leave the public singing and acting to those who do it best, but I live vicariously through them. I LOVE live theater and singing. When both of our kids were in plays, musicals and choir in high school, I went to every single performance because I just couldn't stand to miss them. Every night is unique and I just couldn't think about missing out on a special moment. It touches my heart! I'm so blessed to be able to enjoy times like this.

Don't they look just so cute waiting to go in? Miranda had a gorgeous vintage dress on that could have easily been used in the play, which was set in the 50's. When we went out to eat afterward, all eyes were on her as she walked through the restaurant. I wish I had gotten a picture of the full dress. Miranda, you'll have to have someone take a pic of you in it so you can post it.

I did learn something about myself that night. Next time if it's a week night and we decide to go out to eat, I think we should do it before the show, because I was exhausted the next day, trying to get up and go to work. I hope we get to do it again sometime soon.

Kids! What would we do without them?

Isn't this a great pic of Amy? I came across it yesterday when I was looking for photos to scrap. It shows so much of her personality...confident and happy. Not at all a girly girl, but looks absolutely gorgeous when she decides to get dressed up.

This next one is a photo that I scrapped of Amy & Kevin in 2003 on an Alaska cruise. That turned out to be the last vacation we went on before they left home, got married and Kevin joined the Air Force. We had an amazing unforgettable time! Excellent food, beautiful scenery, once-in-a-lifetime events, like seeing a bear saunter by our bus in Denali National Park, and so much family fun time.

I look forward to being able to vacation all together again some day, but this time with Andrew too, if he's brave enough to come with us.

CONGRATULATIONS AMY!!!

Be sure to go visit Amy's blog and say congratulations to her. She finished her thesis defense for her Master's degree yesterday and doesn't have to do any revisions, which is almost unheard of. All she has to do is get the formatting approved, and have it printed, then she's finished!!! No more school...unless she decides to go on for her Doctorate.

We're so proud of her! She's such a hard worker and very disciplined in accomplishing her goals. She has been going to school for quite a while and has always worked at least part time while she's attending. These last few months she's been working full time! She even planned a wedding while she was going to school! I'm sure she'll be glad to finally have some more free time to enjoy her photography and scrapping, reading for fun and her new husband, Andrew.

We went out to dinner last night to celebrate and she was so relieved to be done. We're still in discussions about a possible party. Since there's so much going on in May, it may not be until June. We'll keep everyone posted.

An Extra Special Week for a Mom :

It's been a great week! Last weekend I went on a trip with my mom (in blue in the center), and Terry's mom on the right. I picked up my mom in Glendale, drove to Prescott to pick up Carole, then we drove to Jerome for some window shopping and lunch, then on to Sedona for the night. This was the first time in our 30 years of marriage that the two moms have spent an extended amount of time together and it went very well. Of course, both ladies are very easy going and get along well with pretty much anyone so I'm not surprised.

This Saturday in celebration of Mother's Day, a few of us took my mom to see Forever Plaid at the Hale Theater in Gilbert, then to lunch. It's a fun musical with lots of 50's men's quartet songs. The cast did a great job. My mom loved it!

Saturday night we watched the Suns game and celebrated Terry's birthday with lots of dessert and dear friends.

Sunday morning Terry treated me with a steak and eggs breakfast (his Mother's day tradition) gorgeous hydrangeas (one of my very favorite flowers) and dark chocolate (also one of my favorite treats). Am I spoiled or what?


A little later, Amy & Andrew came over and gave me this beautifully framed photo (framed by Andrew) that was taken the morning before Amy's wedding on her last day as a single woman. I LOVE it! This year it was also Terry's birthday on Mother's Day, so we let him open his birthday presents too.

We drove up to Prescott and spent the day with Terry's mom. We went out to lunch at an Irish restaurant in town called the Celtic Crossing Pub. We were greeted by a nice man all decked out in this formal kilt. Then as we were sitting there eating, two other men came in with their kilts. One guy was really tall, had long crazy hair and looked like something out of Brave Heart and the other one reminded me of Martin Sheen...very Irish looking. Amy had Bangers & Mash, Andrew had Guinness Stew. Terry thought about ordering Neeps & Tatties, but was afraid to ask what they were. Turns out it's potatoes and rutagas. We had a great time. When we came home we enjoyed a rousing game of Apples to Apples.



Later in the day, Kevin called to wish me a happy Mother's Day and today I had a delivery at work of a really cool edible arrangement of fruit from him. Fresh fruit is another one of my favorite treats. Wow! None of these things are necessary, but all of them made me feel so exra special and thoroughly loved. I think the only thing that would have made it more perfect was if Kevin was able to be with us for the day. I miss having his off-the-wall humor and joking around. His name came up several times throughout the day. We all miss having him here.

I'm a blessed woman. God is so good to me!

More from Greer...

Check out the cowboy that rode with us when we went horseback riding. He was quite a story teller and reminded me of Paul Newman.

And this pic of Andy trying to maneuver two fishing poles.

Last, but not least, Sharon, Jay & Terry reading in bed. Don't ask. It was all very respectable.

VACATION:

It looks like we can expect 100+ degrees pretty much from here on out, so that means summer's here...and we still don't have our vacation scheduled. We're trying to trade our timeshare for some places, but can't seem to get what we want in the timeframe we want. We have quite a variety of locations that we're looking for...near Banff, near Yellowstone, Aspen or Estes Park Colorado, even Washington DC, but no luck yet.

I'm starting to get desperate, although I need to be patient. This time of year I tend to get restless if we don't have anything pinned down to get out of town for an extended break. Strange thing is that I was out of town the last two weekends, but there's just something about looking forward to a week or more to relax away from the desert. I don't even really need to be leaving right away. I just need to know that we have something booked so I can anticipate it's coming. It's like Christmas...half the fun is in the expectation of what's in store.

The thing is that I get all these travel newsletters with all kinds of deals to go to Scotland or Greece or New Zealand for amazing prices and it's driving me crazy. Of course, we can't afford to go to those places, at least not this year. We're hoping to do a Hawaii cruise with friends next year so we're trying to be somewhat conservative this year. Anyway, I'm starting to look for deals in case we don't get a timeshare week when/where we want.

I'll keep you posted on what I come up with...

This sign was hanging on a front porch in Hannigan's Meadow in the White Mountains of Arizona. I just thought it was cute.

Greer trip:

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted! The good news is that it's not work that's keeping me busy, it's fun stuff. The NBA playoffs are on every night and I'm watching all the Suns games and half-watching the other games. We also went to Greer, AZ last week for 4 days and had a great time with our friends. Here are a few pics to give you an idea. of the fun we had.

I have to get back to work after lunch, so I'll post more details and pics later.

The Playoffs Begin!!!!

It's official. The Suns start the playoffs on Sunday at noon against the L.A. Lakers.
We'll have to get busy and start making plans for our playoff get togethers.

Here's a few pics from Terry's birthday last year during the playoffs.
You'll notice on the TV that we were also playing the Lakers...and winning! We're expecting the same results this year, even tho Kobe is a superstar, he can't carry the team on his back for that many games. We had a purple and orange dinner in honor of the Suns!

Are we Missing Life's Most Precious Gifts?

The recent shootings at Virginia Tech and this article about a performance experiment with world renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, remind me that I need to take a breath and cherish every moment of life and each precious gift that God brings my way. I need to slow down and smell the roses, breathe them in, enjoy their beauty with all my senses and even capture the essence in a photograph to be enjoyed again and again and passed along to others.

How many of God's gifts do we walk by or put off till tomorrow when we think we'll have more time...?

Lord, give me eyes to see your hand and ears to hear your voice among the noises of life.

I am SO READY for a vacation!!!!

But alas, no luck yet on an exchange for our timeshare. We're looking for space in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana or in Canada near Banff. We're being picky about locations though and are a little bit limited on dates. Pray that we'll get news soon about where and when, so we can begin dreaming about it and planning. If we get a 2-bedroom place we may be able to invite friends to come too.

Good news though! We will be going on a mini-vacation at the end of the month for 4 days to Greer Lodge Cabins. We'll be staying in the cabin (above) for much of the time with 3 other couples and 2 kids. Awesome! It looks like we'll be expecting average high temps around 60 and lows around 30. The way things have been with the weather, and with our track record for road trips, we could even get snow! Brrrr!!!! Don't pack away the warm clothes yet! Oh man, I need to buy a jacket. I have no idea where I'll find one in Phoenix in April. hmmmm. I have a heavy one but nothing in the mid-weight range. I guess I'll just have to wear layers.

I'm really looking forward to relaxing, hiking, maybe some writing, reading, being with dear friends and just enjoying the great outdoors. And if the Suns Playoffs are on, we'll be sure to watch those as well.

Of course, I'll take lots of pics too. In fact, I was supposed to get a new tripod for Christmas but I haven't picked one out yet. Maybe I can find one before we go. That would be great.

Here are some pics from the last time we were up there in 2004. It's a gorgeous area. The last time we were there I was trying to figure out how we could have Amy & Andrew's wedding up there. Of course, it didn't work out, but would have been fun (except the drive).

The same group is going this time, but Randy & Linda are also joining us...wahoo!! It's amazing how God worked it out so Randy could have Sunday off!! Isn't He good? We've all been very busy these last few months, so this is a much-needed break from our schedules.

Click on this one of the bark and leaves and check out how the bark look like pieces of a puzzle. It was very interesting.