Wedding in Colorado!!

So once again I had good intentions to blog more this year & once again it did not happen. 😊. Someday....   

I went to my niece's wedding in Divide, Colorado in August, which provided a huge amount of photo opportunities.  It was my first time in the mountains of Colorado and I loved the beauty of it.  I did not love the vertigo that hit me while I was there because of the altitude.  I don't think I've ever been in that high of an altitude.  So that hindered being able to do a few things.  I didn't want to fall off a mountain because I was so dizzy. 😜. I hope to go back someday minus the vertigo.   

Here's a few pics of our time there.  It was a gorgeous simple wedding with a beautiful back drop.   Hope life is good for everyone!!  

Looking with fresh eyes......

It's that time of year again when everything is fresh and new.  After living on this planet for 50 plus years (:-)), I sometimes tend not to look at everyday things with the eyes of a child.  Savannah and I seen our first lightning bug last night.   I'm not sure if lightning bugs or fireflies as some people call them are in all parts of the country but to a two year old they are magical and watching her get so excited when she seen one was pure joy!  It's no secret this is my favorite time of year and I love seeing the night sky light up with these tiny little bugs and to see it through the eyes of a child is just plain fun!!!  I hope we never lose our sense of wonder at the beauty that God has put in this world but if you do, just hang around a two year old for a little while and you will see bugs, rocks, plants etc... with fresh eyes!! 

Happy Birthday to me!!

Today is my 58th birthday..OUCH!!  LOL  Sometimes I can hardly believe I have reached this age and more and more as the years go by, I don't want to waste a minute.  I have come to the point in my life where I am done comparing myself to others and tearing myself apart because I'm not thin enough(ok, I'll probably always be trying to lose 10 pounds ..:-) or pretty enough or witty enough or anything else that may rip my self esteem to shreds.   I'm just me..a bit silly sometimes, a bit of a romantic sometimes, a bit cynical sometimes but still trying to be the person God made me to be and failing at it lots of times..:-).   Either way I'm at peace with this 58 year old version of me and I have to tell you that's not a bad place to be.  

Road Tripping.....

Just a few pics from my road trip so far.....I've been having a wonderful time visiting family and taking photos on this trip.  I only have one more day before I have to head home to the frozen north but I have to say I am so grateful for this time off work with family and friends.  These first two photos have been featured on Visit Hilton Head's Facebook page.  I've never had any of my photos featured on any page before so I was so excited about that.  Here's the thing, every one of these photos have been taken with my iPhone camera..not one with my good camera.  It's just me and my little iPhone down at the beach at the crack of dawn.  I will miss that for sure...God has given me some beautiful sunrises while I'm here in Hilton Head.  I started my trip in Asheville and then went to Charlotte and ended up in Hilton Head.  I'll be back next week with more about the trip.  So I'm heading home but from the looks of the weather, Winter does not want to leave yet.....

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 89th birthday(and Valentine's Day) and I just can't let a milestone like that go without celebrating it!  Tonight all his kids, grandkids and great grand kids will get together and celebrate with him.  He moves a little slower now and lives in a assisted living place but to me he'll always be my big strong Daddy who would do anything for his family.  He was a very young Marine in WW2 who seen so many terrible things in the South Pacific fighting.  He never talked about that time while I was growing up, I knew he was in the war but I never knew about the details.  He only started talking about them in his later years.  It makes you realize the sacrifices our men and women in the armed forces make.  The other day he pulled a old photo out of his wallet with six young men in the photo, one was my Dad.  He said they were his best buddies in high school but three of them never made it back from the war. He is the last of the group.  He lost the love of his life in 2001 and he lost his only son five years after Mom died.  He still chokes up about the loss of a child.  He tells me it's not suppose to be that way.  He has good days now and some bad days.  But I am so grateful to still have him here with us and he still knows who we all are, so that it a huge blessing.  Somedays he remembers the past like it just happened and I'm talking like 1940's  past..he can tell you details.  And somedays he's very confused but either way we will all get together tonight and celebrate a man who loves his family and who showed me by example what family is and what integrity is.  I'm a blessed girl because my heavenly Father gave me the best earthly father a girl could have.  Love you Dad and though you'll probably never see this post I hope you know how much you are loved.

The Bucket List of Travel.......

I read once that we should find that one thing we are passionate about and do it.  As far back as I can remember I loved to travel.  As much as I love my home and family, I also have this love of seeing new places and meeting new people.  Once the travel bug bites you, it has you.  When my marriage fell apart a few years ago, I thought all my dreams of travel were finished.  Yea, I know that's silly now looking back, but at the time two things were going through my mind about traveling again.  One was the dream I had mapped out for my husband and I to see the world together in our later years was not going to happen.  I had to grieve the end of that dream and make room for new dreams but at the time all you can think of was the dream you had and wanted so bad.  The second thing was the thought of traveling alone....I knew single traveling was much more expensive than traveling as a double and it seemed so scary.   But God knows our dreams and He cares about them even if they seem small or insignificant to others and so little by little He showed me I could indeed enjoy my passion again.  People wanted to travel with me and also see new places.  I've gotten to see so many places in the past few years and meet so many wonderful people who probably wouldn't have been in my path if the circumstances were the same.  And I'm grateful and thankful that I serve a God who loves me so much that He cares about what I love to do.......

So that brings me to the bucket list of travel.  What's still on your bucket list of travel to do?  This year I do not have any big bucket list of travel plans.  I like to see at least one new place each year so I'm hoping to do that if even in a small way.  Next year, my sister and her travel group (my daughter and I went to Hawaii with them) are planning a European cruise so I'm hoping to tag along on that one.  And the following year I have a really big birthday and I so want to spend it traveling in New Zealand and Australia.  I also want to do a river boat cruise of Europe someday and check out more of Canada. There's so much I want to see and do but like everything I have to pick and choose and save money to do it..LOL
So what are your travel dreams of faraway or not so faraway places include? What are some of your favorite places you have ever seen?  I hope your dreams come true......:-)

I Don't Do Winter!!!

I think this may be one of the hardest Winter in a long time.  We have been hit with multiple snow storms and below zero weather this year and I know my blogging buddies in the South have been hit with cold weather too.   I am so over Winter!!  :-)  This little girl is actually a fountain with a pond full of goldfish.  I really don't think my fish are still living under all that snow and ice..:-(    The guy at the store said they would hibernate in the Winter but I have a feeling after all the below zero weather that's not going to happen, so I guess I'll be back at the pet store come Spring and warmer weather because I really did enjoy them!!

This is a lake right by my work.  See all those little black spots in the middle, those are geese and that's not even half of what is usually there.  I felt so sorry for them everyday I drove to work.  They sit in a huddle all around that ice hole in the -10 below weather which at times felt like -30..it was bitter and I don't know how they survive.   So how's everyone doing in this cold Winter of 2014?  Are you enjoying this time indoors or are you ready for Spring?  I heard today that we might be hit with a giant storm next week!!  NOOOOOOOOOOO...........LOL   If that happens you might see me like Jack Nicholson in The Shining!!  :-)   Stay warm and safe everyone!!!   And say a prayer Spring comes early!!

A few projects to share.............

So before I left for Hawaii, I had a couple of my rooms redone.  My office and my bedroom.  My bedroom was actually finished while I was away.  I'll start with my office..first off it's amazing how much junk one person collects after they lived in a place for long time and I have lived in this home for almost 30 years(yikes!!!)  LOL  The desk is actually really old and you see how worn the top of it is but it's a solid desk and I'm not sure they make them like this anymore.  :-)   The whole room was cleaned out and the closet door was taken off and made into an area where you see the little storage nit. The old fashion map canvas is now hanging up above the storage unit.  I got the storage unit from Target and also the map canvas and the pretty chair that sits by the window.  Love the chair!!  The room was painted a nice neutral color too.  And I don't know if you can see the big red clock really well on the wall but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!  ha!!  I waited for a few weeks for it to go on sale at Hobby Lobby.  Everything eventually goes on sale at Hobby Lobby so it was just a matter of time before I got it.  I didn't want to put too much back on walls or on window so I just have a bamboo shade and the clock and the map canvas and the beautiful giant canvas that sits behind my chair.  I got that on clearance at Kirklands and I also had a new light fixture(from Lowe's) put up since the last time a new light fixture was put in might have been 1988..haha!!  I have a small collection of globes because of my love of travel too.  The office is now clear of clutter and junk. This was my son's room and now it's my own very pretty office.  Isn't it pretty?  I did have someone help me with the work because my days of doing all that work are done.  I painted and painted for years and I'm just done doing it myself but I'm lucky to have someone who does good work and is totally trustworthy!!  I think it's weird that the color of the walls look totally different in each pic...oh well..trust me..it's a great color!!

And now for my bedroom!! I wanted this room to be a calm beautiful space to be in each night and I just love how it turned out.  The walls were painted and patched and fixed where there was once wallpaper, border etc.. and all old window treatments and curtains were taken down.  Once they were all down I knew I didn't want anything back up there that blocked the natural light so I looked around and decided these honeycomb pleated shades were just perfect.  They block light at night and give me privacy and let in the natural light.  The bed was moved to a new spot in the room and a new ceiling fan was put in.  Once again I decided not to put too much on the walls so I have a few metal type wall hangings on the wall.  There's actually another tree metal wall hanging to the left of the window which leads to the master bath,  The master bath was also painted the same color as the bedroom.  I had the lamps from years ago and I still love the Tiffany look of them.  I found one of the pillows on the bed at Target but just loved them so much I decided to get a few more but by the time I went back they were all gone, luckily they were online at Target!!  YAY!!!  The three birds above the bed were also a Target find and at first I wasn't sure if they were big enough for the area but when you see it in person it is fine.  I love that each bird is a different color.  So most of updating was either a Target or a Hobby Lobby find and some things are from Home Goods.  Anyway, just thought I would share with you guys.  It was alot of fun looking for stuff and fixing it up and hopefully this year I will get to the other two rooms upstairs.

Things change in life and I wanted the two rooms where I spend a lot of time in to show the changes in my life.  This is where I'm at right now and from where I look, it's not a bad place at all to be!  :-)

Singing the January Blues.....

This was my backyard last night..UGH...I'm so tired of Winter already!!  LOL  But it's ok, I have enough coffee in the house to keep me warm and toasty, so all is good.  I tried this pour over method today when I made my coffee and it's not bad.  The Casi Cielo brand of coffee at Starbucks is out in the stores right now and it is my very favorite one.  I'll have to stock up on it because I don't think they keep it all year round.  Try the pour over method sometime, it's just hot water poured over coffee and it drips right into your coffee cup.

Anyhoo...I've been trying (way before the first of the year) to get in shape.  I started right after I got back from Hawaii because I brought back a few extra pounds with me...LOL  I use my fitbit and go to weight watchers and also I go to spin class so you would think I would be a tiny thing by now.  NOPE, I decided I just love food too much.... I do love my fitbit..it is the one thing that goes everywhere with me (except the shower). It's an awesome tool to keep you motivated if you ever thought about getting one, go and do it.  I try really hard to get my 10,000 steps in a day but on the days I work it's hard so I'm thinking my boss should get us one of these fancy gizmos to do our work on....somehow I don't think that's going to happen.  :-)

And I'm doing some Summer dreaming.  I have no big travel plans for this year yet.  I am going back to Hilton Head..it's where I relax the best.  Anyone have any great travel plans for 2014?  Can't wait to be able to dip my toes in warm water again!!  :-)  In the meantime, stay warm and safe!!

Rico the Crazy Cat

Rico is now two years old and he is always funny!!   Hey, he even has his own hashtag on instagram, it's called #ricothecrazycat...LOL   He is also a lot of fun to take photos of because of his coloring and eyes.   Look he's sticking his tongue out at me and trying to take over my ipad.  :-)   

So it's already January 12th and I am so over Winter and can't wait for Spring and Summer.  The only good thing about Winter is that some of my favorite shows are on.  Watching Downton Abbey is where you will find me every Sunday night!  

Life is good and full and fun right now and I'm hopeful for 2014.  What are you hopeful for this year? 

Welcome 2014!!

The last sunset of 2013!

And the first sunrise of 2014!

Hope 2014 is good to everyone!  Happy New Year!!