I want to thank God for the means and ability to travel. It is amazing to be able to experience the beauty of this country on the open road. I am blessed. I just hope he forgives me for some of the debt that goes
along with traveling a little! Ha ha

Count down

So I am just about ready to leave on my trip to Florida. Marigold, Bogey and Me!  Just started packing the GMC. I am already way over packed!  Ha, but I am taking advantage of having a vehicle that I CAN take anything I want.  I just have to leave room for myself and the dogs.  The dogs are taking up quite a bit of space, and they will have plenty!  Spoiled brats!!

I am so looking forward to this trip.  I know it is going to be an adventure.  How could it not be?  I get to drive across the country (which I love to drive), hang out with my dogs and really find out if they will be able to travel.  I do have to admit this is a little bit of an aggressive trip to be their inaugural road trip!  But, it is what it is.  I think they will do great.

Aside from traveling with the dogs, the actual best part is the Rolex 24! I am so excited!! My sister, Judy is going with me this year and  I hope she loves these races as much as I do.  I was thinking about how my mom would have loved these! I was trying to think if I ever went to a race with her but I can't remember any.  Just seems like something she would have loved.  Maybe I would have got her interested and excited about them and it would have been something we did together.  Anyway, I can't wait to be there.

I can't wait to see the new Corvettes up close and personal.  That is the cool part about this race; you can get close to the cars and drivers.  Its amazing.    So I will be rooting for the 3 and 4 Corvettes in the GT-Le Mans series and the 55 and the 77 Mazda's in the Prototype class.Plus I will be sure to find a new car to watch this year.  There are so many to watch and root for!   I'm excited to camp, and check out the infield, watch the cars, just relax and have a good time!

Welcome Back

I can't believe it has been since 2013 that I updated this blog.  Does anyone even use this Blogspot anymore?  There is probably an updated method for a blog now.  I really don't know.

I wanted to reopen this blog, even though no one will ever see it, for when I take my trip to Florida.  I am taking my dogs, Marigold and Bogey, with me.  I think it will be quite the adventure.  And I want to document it.

So I will see if I can do it here and see what happens.

How could you not want to travel with these two!!  And they are even more lazy, bums than when this picture was taken.  I am sure they will just go along for the ride! I can't wait to travel with them!

Affirmations

Today’s Affirmation: I am fortunate because my life is what I make of it.







 

On No, I am a parent of a College Student!

Took my daughter, Sarah, to college on Saturday. Helped move her into the dorm and get her settled in. This step in life has been a mixture of emotions.


On one hand I am so happy for Sarah. She is starting an adventure that is just the beginning of so many more adventures. There are so many new ideas, challenges, friends, etc ahead of her! And I am not really sad, as far as that goes, because I know that Sarah is a strong, confident, beautiful (both inside and out) woman who will do well in everything she takes on. Now I may be sad because I have had to let my first born go take on the world. She won’t be here at the house like she has been, daily living and being a part of the family in the way she has always been. The house will feel different without her here. Plus, in a way I will probably never have the little girl that was. Now she is a woman who is discovering all she can be, but not with the help from me like when she was little. When I could kiss her boo boos and they would be all better. Or she would crawl into my lap letting me read a book to her. Even when she was older and would come to me for advice or to talk about a boy she liked or problems with a friend.

Now she is independent and trying to figure these things out on her own. Or she has friends that she turns to. All this is how I raised her, or at least wanted to. To be able to take care of herself but know she can turn to her friends and family for anything she may need. I would not want her to NOT be independent.

So we took her to school and it was hard to leave. I did cry. It is going to be hard to not be a part of her daily life. I have to let go and let her make the decisions she needs to make and then live with any of those decisions, both good and bad. Just the first part of being on her own. Later that night we were with some friends enjoying the evening, sitting outside. There was a full moon. It really was a perfect night. I just looked up at the moon and knew that everything was going to be alright. I did what I could as a mother and now with God’s help, she will make it as a independent woman.

Now I know I will always be in her life. I hope she will come to me when she has to make decisions. But now it will be more in a sit back and listen mode. She knows what she wants and all I can offer is what I have experienced. She will always be my beautiful daughter, my little girl, my love. That will Never change. And I am looking forward to watching her grow and learn and struggle and love.

It is just a different chapter in our lives. Because she will always be a part of our lives. Talking to other people, they make it sound like we will now not be in her life or that she is “gone”. I don’t think that. She is still here, in our hearts and on our minds. We just get to meet her at a different level. As an adult. Now that sounds exciting to me!!

Of course I just turned 50 and that has its own ramifications! I am at a different stage in my life also! Kinda funny. I turned 50, so that is my own crossroad. My oldest daughter is just starting college and that is her crossroad and my youngest daughter is starting high school and that is her crossroad, plus she gets to this crossroad almost like an only child (at home). So we all have new and exciting happenings in our lives. We just need to stick together and be here for each other and we will all make it!!

Life is good!!

It has been incredibly cold here recently! I do not like the cold!! Not when the high is in the teens. But i just read a study that says that people are happier when it is cold! Not sure how that is true - I love when it gets warmer out and I don't have to wear a big coat! I love being able to run outside with out a coat, no shoes and jump in the car and go. No bundling up, putting on socks and shoes, and spending several minutes warming up the car!

But, I guess we have winter so we appreciate the nice weather, huh?

I am currently in Northern California. Started out on Monday in Kingsburg, CA around all the fruit trees and grapes. Went on to Fresno and then to Chico, CA. Chico has a lot more open country and farm land. To the east is the Sierra Nevada mountains. It has been a little hazy so have not been able to see them as well as I would like. They still look beautiful. It has been a little cooler than I expected in in California, too. But it is still nice to see this part of the USA. It gets me thinking about how much beauty we have here in the states. Here in California where it takes about 16 hours to drive from one end to the other, there is so much diversity. Here on the west coast there is the ocean, the mountains, lakes, rivers, and open country. It is wonderful.

But I still love the beauty of my home state of Kansas. Lots of people don't think it is very pretty, but I love it. I love the openness, the rolling hills, the pastures and grasses. I love that I can see the sunrise from the moment (or before) it reaches the horizon and I can watch it set until I can not see any more than the many colors it leaves behind. I even love the wind most of the time. Standing outside and just feeling the wind on my face and against my body is a wonderful feeling.

We need to appreciate where we are at every moment. I love where I live and would not want to be anywhere else. Because it is home. But I love to be able to travel around and see all the other wonderful sites across this land. As I was driving yesterday from Willows, CA back to Chico, I was able to look over to my left (towards the east) and was overwhelmed with the beautify of the mountains and the foothills. But it is no different than when I drive home each night between Wichita and Lehigh and look across a wheat field and see how the wind is blowing the stalks around like water/waves in the ocean.

I thank God today for all this beauty and that I am able to enjoy it. And the freedom to drive around and experience it as I want.

Bainbridge Island, WA

Spent a wonderful weekend on Bainbridge Island, WA with 4 other amazing women! It is a time to talk, grow, learn, discuss and have fun. This is our third year getting together and have known each other for 4 years. It is amazing how we have each grown. 2010 has been an amazing year for all of us.

It is so important to have people around you that will let you be yourself. those that will listen to you and will let you listen to them. thats what these women are to me. Our ages run from 45 to 64 and I know for me I have learned so much from those older than me. they are women that I aspire to. they are role models have how I want to be in 10 years.

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote on this blog. Don't know why I wait so long before I write. I am going to try again to write here more often. Starting today.

I am working on trying to come up with something to lead a small study group during Lent. I don't really know how to lead a group such as this but I will try. We will be meeting on Wednesdays during Lent starting with a evening prayer worship. We are working on healing things at St. Matthew's. I hope whatever we do during Lent will help others to get back to where we need to be. To be working to get closer to God, to love Jesus, and to be a community of loving people that want to help others more than anything. I pray that whatever I can do to help will be received.

Monday, April 23

I'm going to try to keep up this blog. It will mostly be for me since no one really has the link. So maybe I'll try to write in it.

Tonight we had to go over to the trailer and clean up the branches. Eldon had his brother's dump truck so Kim and Allison filled it up (I had a meeting until 8:00 so I got there late). All the branches are from the last snow storm we had - in April! It was a very heavy snow and so lots of branches broke and fell. We will have to hit it again tomorrow or later in the week since it got dark on us.

Jim hasn't heard anything from the doctor today about his lat MRI. I'm sure he is getting anxious. We want them to say that this Cyberknife is something that will help him. But, I think he is feeling better. Each day, maybe a little more. Toby and Megan are busy making plans for Lennons baptism and then thier wedding/blessing. I think Jim is glad they are making the plans. But now they asked me (and Kim) to plan a party for that evening. Don't know where it will be or what we will do but, there will be a party!

Finding Peace?

Today was cold again. It has been a cold winter so far. It is now February and it snowed a little again today. I don't mind the cold or the snow. It's harder to get outside because you have to put so many more clothes on just to be able to stay out and work or walk outside. As long as the wind is not blowing real hard, it can be invigorating to bundle up and go outside and walk around and listen to the silence of winter. The snow muffles the sounds so you can experience the stillness. It can be described as peaceful.

I had the job today to go check on my brother-in-law's dogs since he is out of town. I enjoy doing it for him. It was strange in the house though. It is strange to say only Mike's name. I looked around the house and even though almost nothing has changed, I can feel the absence of Kay. I sat down and cried because I could not feel her, in the house, anymore. Moments like this it hits me so hard that she is gone, really gone. Not just at work or out of town. I can't imagine how hard it is for Mike. To come home each day and feel that absence. I wish I could do more for him. But finding the peace that must be found is such a personal, intimate journey. I wish peace for Mike. I also wish peace for me and Kim and all the rest of the family. I hope that Mike will always feel a part of our family and that he can turn to us and know that we understand his pain and I hope that we all slowly find peace together.