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Showing posts from 2009

The Best of 2009

2009 was a very memorable year. Fast and Furious. Something going on nearly every month and not little things either.... BIG things. We started off the year with my son, his wife and their dog moving into our guest room "for a couple of months." Thankfully, we had a room for them to move into and our dogs get along with theirs because the couple of months turned into 11. That does NOT mean it was a bad 11 months. We had a bunch of fun, great dinners, rides on the beach and plenty of laughs. It was almost bittersweet when they moved out.... almost. I think my neighbors were relieved that Wilhelm the weiner found "new digs." He was a bit of a barker. But they bought a really nice home in Atascadero and are now busy decorating and fixing it up in their spare time. Willy loves his new home and has lots of property to run around on. January was also the month our daughter, Tiffany, decided to get married.... in two weeks. Yes, you heard that right, we had two weeks notic

Christmas.... My Way

When I was little, I would look forward to Christmas for weeks!! All the visits to Santa, Christmas parades, and church events just added to the excitement. Then having children and watching that excitement in them was exhilarating! We had "fat" Christmas' and lean ones but we always had Christmas. Even the year we planned to go to Bass Lake to a cabin in the snow that wound up on the side of the road with a broken transmission and no presents. That Christmas day we instituted going to the movies for entertainment and bright and early on the 26th, we took the kids to Toys R Us and let them shop for about $200 of toys each. Lately though, my interest in Christmas has taken a blow. When my mom, dad and sister passed away, it was hard to celebrate "family" gatherings without our beloved ones. Also, Christmas has become so commercialized and all about the gifts rather than the gathering. Stores bring out the goods before October and the day or so before Christmas, I

Sharing the Light

"This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Think first of someone else. Be kind and gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once again." ~ Anonymous As this year comes to a close, I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, leaving encouraging comments and sharing my life's journey and to wish each and every one of you a Season of Joy & Peace. I Love You! Yes, I do! Yes, YOU!!

Affirmations - Getting My Mind Ready For The New Year

Play Affirmations I Love to socialize and celebrate Life. I always know how to have a good time. I AM a social butterfly. My social calendar is always completely filled. I AM silly at heart and it shows! I attract fun and amusing experiences. My social life is youthful and adventurous. I Love to laugh for the silliest reasons. My childish sense of humor is attractive and contagious. I make new friends easily, right now!

And The Word For The Year Is....

Recreate or re-create. 2009 was a very busy year, too busy for my taste and I'm ready to slow down and savor all that 2010 has to bring. I want to bring more recreation into my life; camping, taking trips on the scooters, beach days, matinee movies, time for crafts. In addition, I want to begin to re-create the life I had before the "pause". A few years back, I took classes in the daytime, walked, fixed up my house, could make Dr. appts. for any day of the week at nearly any time. No, I won't be doing all those things, but I'll re-try some and dream up some new things too! I'm excited to see all that 2010 will bring!

Being Thankful

December 1, 2008, I found a post by Christine Kane about choosing a word to be a touchstone for the year...I chose the word Gratitude . At the end of each day, I would make a mental review of all the things, small and large that had happened in that 24 hour period, and offer my solemn thanks. Here we are, arriving once again at a Global recognition of gratitude, Thanksgiving. As we gather around the table to feast with friends and family, I will be thinking of all the bounty this year has brought to me. Maybe when you choose your word, the Universe lines up to make sure there will be plenty of opportunities to use it. Or perhaps just by adopting a touchstone word, you become more aware of the times it shows up in a day. Either way, I've NEVER had a year so full and overflowing with fun, excitement, events, and growth in my personal life! There was seldom a dull moment! It makes me excited to be thinking of my "Word of the Year." How about you? What word defines you or wo

It All Started at Cool Cat Cafe

A few weeks back my husband and I had some shopping to do in San Luis Obispo. It was evening and we were hungry so he suggested Cool Cat Cafe. They have really good sandwiches and burgers so I agreed. That's where I had my first taste of their vegetarian burger called the Jack La Lanne. Oh my gosh!! It was so good I had to ask the waitress what type of burger it was. I wanted to go home and recreate the same thing at my house. It was a Veggie Burger from Don Lee Farms and unfortunately, I can't lay my hands on any in my area.... yet! I'm bound and determined to locate them. That's when I started thinking about the easy, everyday choices that could be made to better my diet with fresh, wholesome food. I went to Borders bookstore and found a really cool vegetarian book. There are seriously good, easy to make recipes in this book. The focus is at your "typical" college student living on campus with limited area for supplies, cooking appliances and time. I lo

Back In Time

Do you ever wish you could go back in time... or maybe even forward. For me it would have to be back. That's probably why I like the Outlander series of books. I don't know if I want to go THAT far back, but I absolutely LOVED my childhood. Even though my parents were from Dysfunction Junction, removing myself from home and playing for HOURS with my friends was my therapy. So today, I'm going to let you see a little picture of a piece of my 4th grade class. You aren't going to BELIEVE who is in it.... Bill Engvall. Yes, THE Bill Engvall! I went to school with him and he was as funny then as he is now. When we were in 3rd Grade at Bonnie Brennan Elementary School he played Clementine in the class play. Our teacher, Mrs. Thiel, must have had a little psychologist in her and was able to "lift up" every student in class and make them feel good. That isn't easy but she did it!! Love you Mrs. Thiel. Where, oh where are you today????? Get in touch with me will

Autumn Thoughts

(If you click on the picture, you can read what I've written better)

A Year of D'jembe

One of the things on my New Years resolution list was taking djembe lessons. About 2 years ago I bought my drum and seldom played it even though it beckoned daily. When the year began I was trying to weed through the things in my life I wanted to do and begin clearing out those things that no longer interested me. There was that drum. So I got on the phone, called Drum School 101, and had Steve Smith set me up with weekly 1/2 hour lessons. It was one of the best things I ever did. My instructor, Wyatt Lund, is patient, challenging and thoroughly educated in everything drum. I have learned so much and had such fun. I tease my husband telling him I get to take off my wedding ring for a 1/2 hour every week, sit in a very small room with another man and "beat it"..... the drum that is. When I'm done with the lesson, I have a BIG smile on my face! It's my plan to evaluate at the end of the year and see if it's still something I want to continue. I'm sure it w

The New Times 14th Annual Photo Contest

Everyday I feel so thankful I have good eyesight. Now that I'm aging a bit, I can tell my eyes are changing too, but so far, no real need for glasses. Throughout my day, I see things, things I want to record for others to see. I love to take pictures of the everyday as well as the special events and things in my life. So when my good friend, Janine told me I should enter some of my pictures in the New Times 14th Annual Photo Contest, I figured, WHY NOT?? For me, you don't have to win a contest to prove you have talent. Hey, I'm a hit and miss kind of gal... PROBABLY ALOT LIKE YOU!! That makes me an ordinary person trying my best to make the extraordinary. Lucky for me, I have the opportunity to share my pictures with this blog and my strictly photography blog, Capturing Light & Life. I also share on Flickr and have actually had requests for some of my photos to be put in their groups. So my good friends, here are the pictures I chose to put into the contest along w

Brownie Swirl Cheesecake

Yesterday, I shared on Facebook that I was making Brownie Swirl Cheesecake and found several people who wanted a piece so today, I'm going to share the recipe and the pictures with you. It's not hard to make and the results are to DIE for!! Recipe: 1 Pkg. (8oz.) Brownie Mix (make according to the package directions for chewy fudge brownies) 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened 1/2 C. Sugar 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 2 Eggs 1 C. melted milk chocolate chips Whipped cream and miniature chocolate kisses, optional Step 1: Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Mine called for an egg, 1/2 c. water and 1/3 c. Vegetable oil. Oh, and we CAN'T forget that package of fudge included in the box. Remember, its whatever brownie mix you choose to use. Mix according to box directions, mine said, "stir about 40 times". It ends up looking pretty put together, I was surprised! And here it is in the 9" Springform pan after cooking for 15 min. at 350 degrees. (The