Anchors Aweigh!

Wanted to post one last time before we head to our Alaskan cruise. I won't be posting here during the cruise, but will try to post pics and status on Facebook when we are in ports. We have a few days before we head up, so trying to keep up on work and get to packing. We spend one night in Seattle and have reservations to eat atop the Space Needle in the SkyHigh restaurant there. The temps here have been over 100 for about a week now, and continuing until this weekend, so we are also looking forward to some cooler temps. Lots of rain up there in the forecast too, but we are prepared.

Had a craving for these last night, so Ally drove me to one of the two remaining Krispy Kreme stores still in San Diego.

Tigger is just so adorable I can't stand it.



I found an old photo of my kitchen... wow what a difference a year makes. Ha ha, it took at least that long to get all this done. Since I work for a general contractor, I really had to only pay for the appliances, counter, floor, sink, etc. Most of the labor was done for free. I spent about $4,000 on this remodel and usually it's two to three thousand just for the cabinet work. They practiced a new staining technique on my cabinets, so that was at no cost to me. I still plan to have my light box taken out and can lights put in. LOVE IT! It's a rather small kitchen, but the way I look at it is -- LESS TO CLEAN!




While Ally was away at camp I actually spent almost three whole days doing absolutely nothing. Slept in, read about four books, watched TV. WOW -- it was great, hadn't done that in a long time. See ya in a few weeks:)

Slip Slidin' Away...

Summer's slippin' away, and I haven't even made it to the beach once! Of course, it hasn't been that hot here, so I haven't been tempted to head west to cool off. Some schools have started already here, but Ally doesn't go back until after Labor Day.

Frank and Thel were in town for a week while Frank did his church plant thing. So we hung out with them off and on all week. A great time. We had brunch at the Brigantine, and I didn't notice for a week that I left my credit card there. Wasn't even for sure that's where it was. I don't use it often, so was happy to notice it missing before we needed it for our cruise. We have to give a credit card for "incidentals." Yeah, I know about those incidentals --they can add up fast! Thelma bought me my first pedicure when she was here... check it out! Oh, and Tigger liked it, too.

We watched their dog, Kiwi, while they were in town. Kiwi would bring over each peice of food to the couch and then eat it. Tigger just tolerates her... notice the laid back ears.

Chris and I headed east away from the city to watch the meteor shower last week. We watched from midnight to 2 a.m. Now he's usually up anyway during that timeframe. Yeah, me -- I was tired at work the next day. But saw lots of meteors, especially through his night vision goggles. I saw the biggest meteor I had ever seen! Lit up all around, and the tail stayed visible for about 15 seconds. Really cool!

Had my vision exam this week. It had been two years. My left eye got a little worse, so new prescriptions, and now I have to be careful which contact goes into which eye, because they don't match anymore. No bifocals or reading glasses necessary yet. Although I do wear reading glasses occasionally when reading my Bible, which has pretty small print.

I made homemade spaghetti sauce in my Vitamix blender. It was just okay. It called for 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Seemed to be tart to me, with too much vinegar. Added a stick of butter and zillion calories and it tasted much better. I have another recipe to try that has a lot more tomato and a lot less weird stuff. I'll try that next. I also found out that Starbucks uses Vitamix brand blenders. I am going to have to try to concoct a caffee vanilla light frap in my blender. Maybe I can find some starting recipes online.

Ally had a great time at camp. She went horseback riding, and they had a lot of God moments. She was sharing stories with me last night as we went through her photos and had me in tears laughing. Youth camp is so important to me. That's where I accepted Christ as a teenager, and I know God does wonderful things at these camps.

Had dinner with Amy at her cosmetology school last week. She keeps a head in a locker... ha ha. I am going to try to get over there for her break once a week and eat with her. I rarely see her these days.

Started a packing list for the upcoming cruise, and have read so much online, I should know everything there is to know about cruising to Alaska. Looking forward to eating some crab, shrimp, and salmon right out of the ocean. Well, okay not crab because crabbing season is in the winter, so the crab might be thawed from frozen... but who am I to complain, besides I'll be eating the shrimp!

Oh and one last post... love this pic of a painting one of my friends shared... can't believe it is a PAINTING!

A Step Back in Time

Here is a photo from 1913 of school students from my hometown of Wharton, Ohio -- Big Oak School. The interesting thing about this is pic is that I have a grandfather and great grandfather in this photo -- from different sides of my family. The man just to the left of the Z is my great grandfather, John Searfoss, on my mother's side. Just under the X is my grandfather Vernon Fulk (my dad's dad). Try to figure this out: John Searfoss's granddaughter Rose Maree Bell (who was my mom's sister) married Vernon Fulk's son Charlie (who was my dad's brother). HA HA -- basically my mom's sister married my dad's brother and somehow I got ripped off an extra aunt and uncle by that happening, and no that's not illegal... LOL! Anyway, I thought it was interesting to see two different ancestors unrelated in the same photo.

Summer's going great -- the comedian was great, we laughed and laughed. Last weekend I attended a Beth Moore retreat on Loving Well. Am I loving people better than I was five years ago? I think so! And I intend to keep at it. We learned in order to love others, we have to accept and refresh ourselves with God's love. We had pointers in loving four types of people... Joy, Testy, Foe, and Far (strangers). A great seminar.


I tried to make rhubarb strawberry jam in my Vitamix, but it turned out more like a spread. Still, it was tasty. Gave a jar to my neighbor, and he hasn't died yet.


My best friend, Thelma, is in town with her hubby, my former boss and pastor, Frank. He is in town on business. They attended church with me on Sunday and Pastor Frank and Pastor Steve (my current pastor) led the church in singing Victory in Jesus impromptu at the end of the service. A great time, a great service, a great day! We are hanging out off and on all week. They leave on Friday. Oh and the best quote I've heard in a long time came out of the sermon Sunday: "If you are a Christian, this earth is the closest you'll ever get to hell. If you are not a Christian, this earth is the closest you'll ever get to heaven." Love that saying.


I am still reading through the Bible this year for the second time, although I am about a week behind... maybe I'll catch up on the cruise. HA HA HA HA HA! Well, I can dream. I took this pic to prove to a friend that I was not just goofing off at Starbucks!


Took a couple of Ally's friends to Bob's Big Boy. I think this pic says it all.


Ally will head to camp for a few days on Thursday. Thelma and I plan to have lunch with Amy on her school break tomorrow evening. Amy will be "out on the floor" starting September 17, which means the book part of her cosmetology school will be over for the most part and the next year will be spent "hands-on." I am looking forward to getting some special treatment from her.

Forget Me Not

I just need a minute here to harp about trying to remember so many user names and passwords it's ridiculous. I understand the need for security, but is it really necessary to make so many restrictions? At first I tried to keep all my user names and passwords for the most part alike. While I understand that may not be in my best interest should some evil person gain my info, I have a hard time using at least one uppercase letter, one lower case letter, no two letters the same in a row, at least one number, at least one symbol... sometimes I can make up a user name, sometimes my email must be used. And to top that off, if I haven't used a password in six months, I have to make up a new one. IF THAT ISN'T BAD ENOUGH I am instructed not to write down my passwords, because that would be unsafe. HA HA HA HA... now THAT'S A GOOD ONE!

Okay, moving on... we are having a great summer. Right now we are gearing up and getting excited about cruising to Alaska at the end of August. That will be the end of our summer as school starts again right after Labor Day. Ally said she's looking forward to the cruise in one way, but not in another -- since school starts after we get back. Wow, only two more years and she'll be finished with high school.

We are going to see comedian Tim Hawkins tomorrow night with some friends. Good, clean comedy:) I bought Chris two tickets to see BB King and Buddy Guy on August 14. He is taking his friend Steve, which I totally encourage, since that is not my thing. I told him I'd come and bring my iPad. He really didn't think that was funny.

Now Chris is a great hubby and wonderful father, but I must post these pics for my friend. She posted a pic of a cupboard door that was left open, and this is what I wake up to about every morning... how can someone not see these? I know, I know... if that's the worst thing he does...