December came with a little surprise, in the form of my daughter, her husband and my two sweet grandsons moving in with us for a couple of weeks. A little delay in the completion of their new home meant two weeks of fun for me. Some of my normal December activities were put on hold (such as blogging) and quality time with my grandkids was put at the top of the priority list. Although several of us caught a little flu bug, I wouldn't have changed a thing. We were blessed to have all of our immediate family in home for Christmas Eve and for a short time on Christmas day. Nothing means more to me than that. As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect Christmas. We would normally take off for the cabin the day after Christmas, but with the new home and a snow cat that needs a little repair work, we will welcome in the new year at home this year. May your 2014 be filled with joy and happiness.
Whew… life has been so busy for the past couple of weeks that my blogging has gone out the window. Pardon me while I play a little catch up. During November, I concentrated on all of the things I am thankful for. They included family and friends, hobbies, good food and travel. I spent the Thanksgiving holiday away from home this year and enjoyed seeing my extended family. I said goodbye to the last of my summer flowers and hello to gorgeous autumn leaves. I enjoyed the first snow run of the season and, of course, spent a great deal of time with my camera and my guitar. I also hosted our family book club and celebrated my mom's 79th b-day. It's a week into December already and there is no sign of slowing in my daily schedule. I'm hoping to squeeze in a few posts here and there throughout the month, but I'm making no promises. Until next time...
I spent all day Saturday raking up the leaves on my lawn in anticipation of colder weather this week. And, as expected, our first snow of the season came yesterday morning. Light flakes were falling when I woke up and there was a definite chill in the air. November is here. This is the time of year I like to bundle up and stay indoors working on crafts and projects. I made a couple of quilts that need binding, and I have a few recipes I've been wanting to try. Now seems like the perfect time for both. I talked to my sister the other day. I miss her. It was good to laugh with her again. She will be coming for Christmas this year and hopefully we will be able to spend some time together. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I'm really looking forward to spending time with extended family. . . .and looking even more forward to eating pie! Happy Wednesday.
I say this every month, but the month of October has truly flown by! Highlights included a trip to the pumpkin patch, the debut of my new road bike and a very fun night with the gals at the RSL game. I watched general conference, nursed a two-week cold and said a special prayer for the husband of a friend. I made lots of soup and used as many fresh apples as possible. Thanks Mike and Brandon for the apples!! I decked the house and yard out with autumn decor. and spent a little in-between time with my grandsons. I also managed to squeeze in a new video class, which I am loving. The autumn leaves are now falling rapidly off the trees and the weather is starting to get a little colder. Next week, we will turn our clocks back and the official start to the holiday shopping season will begin. Just thinking about it makes me a little tired, but even more excited.
This month was jam-packed with all kinds of fun. I spent a week in St. George with good friends hiking, biking, swimming, playing tennis and just generally enjoying the warm sunshine and some good laughs. Back at home, the weather turned a little cooler which meant a little baking and lots of homemade soup. We spent Labor Day with family and enjoyed plenty of rain throughout the month. I spent the last week of September 'under the weather' which made the month slip by even faster than usual. October brings yard clean-up and, hopefully, a return to full health.
As August is drawing to a close, I have realized just how little I have blogged this month. It's not that there hasn't been anything to blog about. Just the opposite, actually. My new grandson arrived this month, I attended a movie premier, a thousand bridal showers (okay, I might be exaggerating a bit), made a cute little baby quilt, baked for my book club and had my oldest grandson over for his first sleepover at grammie's house. I've been enjoying the bounteous harvest of my summer garden and started back up with guitar lessons after taking the month of July off for family time. This past week, I've been smelling a touch of fall in the air on my early morning runs and have noticed the geese are already flying south for the winter. I'm predicting an earlier winter this year, but I intend to enjoy the beautiful autumn season for as long as I can. September starts tomorrow, and with it comes the beautiful changing leaves, cooler temperatures and canning season. Farewell August 2013...
Last night, just before sunset, I walked outside and saw this beautiful red sun hovering in the sky. I bolted inside to grab my camera, in the hopes I could capture at least one good shot before it started dipping below the horizon. (Note: it really was this color... no Photoshop.)It was so beautiful, and so strange looking at the same time. For a minute, I actually thought it was the moon. My curiosity peaked, I decided to Google the meaning of a red sun at dusk. I found all kinds of different explanations. Some were scientific, some religious, and some, I'm fairly sure, were made up. I'm going with this one...
"It means that negative things in your life are about to change for the better..things are going to turn to positive. The weight on your shoulders will be lifted."
Yes, that one sounds good to me. I feel lighter already.
The month of July can be summed up with one word. HOT!! I can't remember a hotter July in recent years. With all of the heat, it was nice to get up to the cabin over the 4th. Tate had his 3rd birthday and Mike turned 29. We celebrated it by going out for Japanese food. The garden veggies are starting to come on. It was a good month for cucumbers, onions and fresh corn. Peaches have been out of this world this year. Our family book club chose 'Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt' this month and it was wonderful. I spent a great deal of time editing photos over the last few weeks, and did a little photo shoot for the Griffin family. As I look forward to August, I'm anticipating cooler temps, and even more exciting, the arrival of my new grandson! Stay tuned....
Better late than never.... right? Holy cow!! Where did June go?? I've been so busy that I didn't even get much time to instagram this past month (let alone blog about it). There were lots of RSL games, time at the horse track, annual checkups (blah!!) and a road trip to Idaho to check out the phenomenal fly fishing. I did a lot of gardening and took advantage of all of the fresh fruits and veggies available this time of year. And, as always, I spent a good deal of time with Tate.
I've been a bit of a slacker in the last few weeks with my blogging. I'm making no promises for the rest of July, as it seems to be busier that usual around here. However, I will try to pop in occasionally, when time permits. Hope you're having a fabulous summer.
This is my first official post this month. Why?? Let's just say my computer has been m.i.a. Well okay, not exactly MISSING.... more like absent, in the excused sense of the word. After 5 months, (yes, you heard me correctly) I finally took my fabulous-Christmas-present-2012 new Mac, pictured above, and my old-reliable-can't-live-without-it Mac to the Apple Store to have everything transferred over. Why have I been dragging my feet for so long? Mostly fear. Extreme fear. I just could not wrap my head around the idea of starting over. I know what you are thinking.... 'you don't have to start over, everything transfers' right?? Not exactly. True, my pictures and fonts are all safe and sound, but there are other system preferences that need to be reset. Settings that need to be changed and software programs that need to be re-registered and updated. Not to mention plug-ins and a whole slew of other small details to iron out. No, updating to a new computer is no small feat. And, for a person who is a creature of habit and hates change, it can be downright terrifying. On the upside, it does give you an opportunity to rearrange and reorganize things. Plus, look how beautiful this little big guy is. I'm so looking forward to editing photos on this bad boy! Now that the hard part is over, I'm not really sure why I waited so long to do it. I'm seriously considering a little office makeover next. Stay tuned....
May was packed with lots of activities and loads of instagram photos. We spent time at the cabin, two temples and Mike's new house (complete with horse property and dogs.) The weather was unpredictable at best. Mother's Day brought bocce ball and relaxation in my hammock. I planted my garden and flowers, played a ton with Tate and ventured to City Creek and Trader Joe's with Brittany. Zach got hitched and I hit my one-year mark playing the guitar. My photo club took a field trip to temple square and I decorated Dad A's grave. Bob was away for half of the month, but when he got home, he made up for it by working with Mike on his new home. I'm continuing some classes with Kim and Brittany just passed the 6-month mark with her pregnancy. It won't be long now before my new little grandson arrives!
There is a week, every spring, that I devote 100% to my yard. I prune, plant, dig, trim, and fertilize everything in sight. During this week, things like my blog, house cleaning, shopping, reading, socializing, etc. get put on hold. Needless to say, this has been that week. While I have managed to take a few pictures along the way, pretty much everything else in my life has been put on the back burner. Monday should bring a clean house, a re-stocked refrigerator and a week's worth of new blog posts. Until then.... I could sure use a hot, relaxing bubble bath:)
I'm in a bit of a mood today. You might even say I'm a bit extremely bugged. I don't usually let things get to me, but this is an exception. This time it's justified. At least in my mind it is. I really need to vent, and I'm choosing my blog as my venting platform.
First, a little background information. I like to keep a clean home. And, for the most part, I'm usually satisfied with the way things look around here. I have things reasonably organized and pretty darn clean. I don't really mind cleaning. In fact, there are just a few household jobs that I detest. Windows, screens, and blinds. I usually only do these jobs twice a year because I dread them so much. Often, Bob will help me out to help cut the time in half (and to reach the higher-up windows). Last Saturday, my dear husband cheerfully (okay, I'm exaggerating) consented to help me with these dreaded tasks so that I could enjoy looking out at the beautiful spring flowers and blossoming trees that surround my home. There's nothing like crystal clear windows on a gorgeous spring day. Plus, there's just something about clean windows that makes my home feel so fresh. Bob worked for hours on the outside getting the windows sparkly clean. I could not have been happier. I mean that. I had a smile on my face and a spring in my step the rest of the day. Oh sure, I knew it would eventually rain and mess my windows up a bit, but for now they looked perfect.
Fast forward to Wednesday. I get a phone call from the pest control company that services my home stating that they would be coming out between 2 and 4 pm that afternoon to spray my home inside and out. I won't mention the name of the company, because I don't want to tarnish their reputation, but it rhymes with Dorkin.... I immediately panicked! I wouldn't be home until 2:15 pm and I really, really needed to talk to the technician BEFORE he sprayed. You see, last time he sprayed I had bug spray dripping down my windows for days. You can probably see where I'm going with this.... What are the chances they would come in the first 15 minutes? Hmmmm.... It's a good thing I'm not a gambler. As I turned the corner onto my street that afternoon, at exactly 2:15 pm, I saw his truck. Surely he hadn't sprayed yet, I thought. I was wrong. The Dorkin man proudly proclaimed that he had just finished spraying the outside foundation and around my windows. AUGHHHHHH!!!!!! My insides filled with rage. I immediately scanned the front windows, and to my horror they were all saturated with bug spray. Dripping bug spray. Dripping-down-my-clean-windows bug spray. I was devastated. I went on to politely explain to "Mike" that my windows had just been washed and that I was disappointed to see bug spray dripping down them. Just a note, in the 13 years that this company has been servicing our home, we have never had a problem with this... until this year, with this technician. He proceeded to tell me that they have started applying their products in a "new way". I was nodding and smiling on the outside, but I was calling his bluff on the inside. Surely, this cannot be standard procedure.... can you even imagine how many people would complain if they had to deal with this every 4 weeks? I, for one, am not willing to. Needless to say, I spent all of last night rewashing my once-clean windows. I'm bitter. Very bitter. I'm going to do something about this. I'm just not sure what that something is going to be. Do I cancel my service and try another company? Do I ask for a different technician? Do I call headquarters and request that they do not spray my house the "new way"? Do I make friends with the spiders and stop service altogether? I'm puzzled, and I'm bugged! Advice?
Wow... I don't even know where April went. It flew by this year. We had lots of rain, but plenty of blue-sky-filled days also. We spent time with Tate at the lake, celebrated Skyler's b-day at the pool, and tried out a new Polynesian restaurant for Dallin's b-day. I 'tricked out' my cell phone for Spring, finished up my html and css courses and scheduled doctor and dentist appointments. I also did a little closet organizing and took my first trip to Trader Joe's. Yum!! Our photo club took a field trip to temple square (more on that later) and I tried out some new, healthy salad recipes. Most importantly, I finally finished HP5, and have started on #6. Those puppies take FOREVER!! What's on tap for May? I'll be planting my flowers and my vegetable garden and getting my yard all summer-ready.
In like a lion, and out like a lamb. That usually sums up the month of March for me. But this year, I was able to spend half of the month in a tropical paradise, which meant a lot more lamb than lion. The month started out with another birthday come and gone, my first homemade b-day card from a grandchild and indoor s'mores at book club. There was plenty of picture-taking, a bird named Roger and lots of time relaxing at the beach. I took a long walk to a lighthouse, enjoyed the beautiful snow-capped mountains of home and the beautiful tropical flowers of the Hawaiian Islands. I saw many beautiful sunsets and spent a great deal of time catching up on school work. And now, I'm looking forward to plenty of April showers and May flowers in the months to come.
I've been off celebrating my b-day for the past few days. As a result, my blogging and photography has taken a back seat to spending time with family and friends. It may take a couple of days to get back into the swing of things, but little breaks now and then are necessary and probably good for the creative soul. Happy Monday:)
Although January passed by in a blur, the shortest month of the year has been dragging. Cold weather and plenty of snow, a trip to the E.R., horse races and a new mug top the list. There was a birthday for Brooke, plenty of time spent with my grandson, Tate and some tasty food along the way. I'm getting anxious for the weather to start turning warmer in the next few weeks. And then, it's time for the tulips and daffodils. I can hardly wait!!
Oh, I had plans. Big plans. The menu consisted of all of the favorite Super Bowl appetizers.... hot wings, potato skins, hoagies, veggie platter, 7-layer dip, etc. There were even jello blocks made in the two team colors. The whole family was coming.... three hours early, giving us plenty of time to play board games and such. I was prepared. I didn't forget a single thing at the grocery store. I even had time to find a funny Super Bowl commercial bingo game on Pinterest. That was Saturday night at 6pm....
Fast forward to 7pm. Bob has returned from a
winter scout camp up at the cabin. He is limping as he gets out of the car. He is also holding his left shoulder at a weird angle. Oh, he's in good spirits, but I can see it in his eyes.... he's injured. He downplays it and wants to go to dinner. With a smile on his face, he takes a quick shower and then it becomes apparent to me that he cannot get dressed on his own. It turns out his left arm cannot be raised more than an inch without causing him a great deal of pain. Hmmmm.... now I'm concerned. He confides in me that he was "thrown" from his snowmobile.
After dinner, we retire for the evening. That's when the fun starts. What seems like every 5 minutes, I hear a moan from him as his shoulder moves about in the night. By 6:30 am, and after no sleep, it becomes obvious that we are going to spend some time in the E.R. today. No church, no food preparations, no cozy sweats.
After what seems like an eternity at the hospital, we do manage to make it home before the Super Bowl starts. The evening is somewhat salvaged. The food is prepared and enjoyed, one quick round of mexican dominos is played, and Brooke's b-day cake is devoured.... but, I have no documentation.
My post today was supposed to be filled with great pics from a fun night spent with the kids. Instead, I only have one photo, taken with my i-Phone, in the hospital. Not a great representation of the events of the day, but accurate nonetheless.
Believe it or not, it really was a fun evening. But, by the end of it, I was exhausted. So much for our Super Bowl Soiree. Maybe next year I will have beautiful photos of delicious foods and good times. This year, my memories are just in my head.
As for Bob's diagnosis?... a fractured scapula, torn rotator cuff and torn bicep tendon. Other than that, he's doing great. Looks like there might be a possible surgery in the future. Life really is unpredictable, isn't it?
January has passed by in a blur. A warm weather cruise, tons of snow, new resolutions, our 30th anniversary and lots of warm soup. We have managed to avoid the awful flu season, so far, in our home(knock on wood). The days have flown by so quickly. I can hardly believe the month is over. I'm looking forward to nicer weather and the sound of birds outside my window in the months to come. Here's a few instagram pics from January. I'm loving the camera on my new iPhone. Since I can't always carry around my big-girl camera, it's nice to have an alternative.
Tomorrow, she's walking out the door of her same-old life and walking through the door of a new exciting one. She will be moving clear across the country to a warm, sunny climate. But, it will feel like she's a world away to me. Being only 18 months apart, and always living within 10 minutes of each other, this is going to be a huge adjustment for me. It's not that we are together every day, but when we want to be, we can. Things will be different now and we will have to rely on technology to keep us up-to-date with each other's lives. Oh sis, I really am happy for you.... it's just so hard to say goodbye. So, as agreed, we won't. But, just so you know, tomorrow my heart will be breaking and you will be taking a little piece of it with you. You're the best big sister I could ever ask for and I love you. Good luck in Georgia!!
