2009 Wish List

I am putting together my 2009 Wish List in hopes to complete at least 50% .... I will most likely add things throughout the year and hopefully remember to keep updated with my progress. These are things that I was also thinking of during my Restless Night .....

1) Find a chuch to attend
2) Get involved in a Ladies Bible Study to help grow spiritually
3) Rekindle FAMILY relationships - it is very sad that both sets of parents live in Redding and we only see them once or twice a year if we force ourselves to
4) Get the courage up to have a sit down with my Mother In Law and share some hurts that I have felt .... most likely will be a letter.
5) Encourage my daughter to get a life outside of her comfort zone .... ie: job, boyfriend
6) Spend more quality time with Alexis & Taylor

Restless Night

Last night I think I got a (small) glimpse into how Susie feels .... a sleepless night .... my brain just wouldn't shut down ... read a little .... listened to soft music .... tossed and turned .... checked the clock .... yep - still awake at 1:30 .... 2:30 .... 3:15 finally dozing off only to the alarm at 6:15. Didn't want to get out of bed. So what did I do during these fretful hours .... think about blogging and creating another blogg called "Keeping Up with the Godman's" ... hopefully this blogg will be helpful for our friends and family that live far away that want to know what we are up to ... do I really care if people read it .... No - but it would be nice. If nothing else it will be a spot to post fun stuff ..... maybe it will inspire others to do the same. I hope to keep this blogg site up with more personal stuff and a place just to write thoughts (will probably have to change the title!!) .... we will see .... maybe I will only need one site. After all if a working mother of 3 can maintain two sites I should be able to as well. I have so many things to blogg about that I have starting writing stuff down just so I don't forget them. My first one .... New Year's Resolutions!! Kim has inspired me with her November postings of things she is Thankful For .... didn't want to copy her so that will be coming up soon hopefully. Take care friends and here's to more happy blogging and reading.

Sugar Cookies and Grandbabies!

Flour flying .... eggs cracking .... giggles and laughter all around. Yesterday I had my first baking experience with the girls. It was an experience I won't soon forget. We made the dough from scratch. Each of the girls took turns dumping stuff into the bowl and stirring the ingredients together. The flour mixture was quite an experience. I think more flour ended up on the girls and the counter than in the bowl. Then the egg cracking .... let me tell you ... Alexis can crack one mean egg with one hand and not get the shells into the bowl ... she has learned well from her mommy. Next comes the rolling of the dough and the cutting of the cookies. What is it with young cookie makers when they think after the dough is rolled out they have to aim for the center of the circle with the cookie cutter? I just don't get it. Well, after all was said and done we ended up with two plates full of cookies - some resemble snowflakes and some resemble candy canes. We didn't tackle frosting and sprinkles this year .... we will venture into that experience next year!!

Birthday Fun

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA!!

Today is my friend Tara's birthday!! She turned 30! This morning she walked into her birthday surprise!! I wrapped her desk and office stuff in Tin Foil! The fun one can have with foil!! She likes it so much she isn't even going to work in there today. She wants everyone to enjoy her birthday surprise.

Hantie got a job!

Kids can say the funniest things!! Last week Stephanie was offered a job at Bath & Body Works. She was excited to get a job even though her first day of training didn't go so well ... she will be stuck in the back stocking shelves .... I told her at least it is a job! She needed black pants for the job so her and her sister along with the girls headed to the mall to go shopping (Lexi's favorite thing to do!). After I got off work I met them at the mall (someone had to pay for the new pants!) I received my evening phone call from William so of course Lexi had to talk .... Her conversation went like this .... "Hi Papaw ... Hantie (as she calls her) got a job!!" It was so funny how she just had to tell Papaw about Aunties new job.

Coupons .....

As we went shopping this weekend I was amazed at the savings that two young ladies in front of me in line racked up using coupons. Each lady walked out the door with a basket full of items and only paid a fraction of the cost. (One lady spent $54 and the other about $25) They saved by simply using COUPONS and lots of coupons. Now I don't know about you but when the weekend paper comes I just toss out the two bundles of coupons that come in the paper. In the past I figured one of three things would happen .... 1) I would clip the coupon and either leave it at home on the desk or let it roll around my wallet until it was expired and I had forgotten about it, 2) would find another brand on sale or cheaper or 3) figured that saving .35 cents here and there wasn't worth it. I mean come on .... you shop and have a basket full of goodies, the clerk gives you your total of $145.97 and you hand her a couple of coupons saving maybe a dollar or two. Is it really worth it I ask myself? Well .... now that I have been an eye witness to the savings that one can generate I might just have to reconsider the COUPON route. The two ladies that I spoke of earlier had Buy 1 get 1 Free and many of the coupons were for a dollar or more in some instances. As my turn came to be checked out the sales clerk and myself struck up a conversation about the coupons .... evidently most of these coupons came from on-line sites. Her and I also discussed whether people who use coupons would have normally purchased the item the coupon was for. As I checked out the items the ladies had purchased most of them were your daily items..... dish soap, yogurt, veggies etc. So maybe Coupons are the way to go during these economic times. Good luck having the time to search the internet for good deals!!

Happy Halloween

Had the cutest Trick or Treaters stop by my office today!!

Let the Cropping begin!!

Yeah .... today Susie dropped off my Creative Memories order so now I can begin working on my Alaska Trip album ..... and I really thought I would do some house cleaning this week .... ha ha ha .... will save that for the weekend!!

Speaking of our Alaska Trip ..... We are a cruising couple and we usually have our next adventure planned before we are done with the first one. We have wanted to take an Alaskan Cruise after hearing so many people talk about how beautiful Alaska is. After mentioning it to a few of our friends we were able to gather up 4 other couples and set sail to Alaska.

Along with another couple we drove from Redding to Seattle, WA, caught a Motorcoach into Vancouver, BC and set sail on the Coral Princess for 7 days of cruising and sight seeing.

Our first port of call was Ketichican, known for being the Fish Capital and that is exactly what was it was. While we were in port the Salmon were running and I have never seen so many fish in one spot at one time .... you could have walked across the creek beds on the backs of the Salmon.

We even took a walk around town and found the trail (Married Man's Trail) that heads to Miss Dollies home (the local hangout for the men back in the day!!)

Our second port of call was Juneau - we did some sight seeing around the town and took a tour of the State Capitol. Of course Sarah Palin was out on the campaign trail so was unable to meet her but was able to pick up a card with her Autograph on it and not a stamped signature but her actual signature. This was the second of three autographs I was able to obtain while on this cruise.

Our third and final port of call was Skagway. This was my favorite town. Very old fashioned with wooden walkways around town. We took a Streetcar tour of the town and was able to get lots of local history. Skagway is known for the White Pass Trail train which goes into the Yukon Territory and gives the history of the Gold Rush days of Alaska. One thing I found quite interesting is due to no hospital and lack of medical personel all pregant women must leave the area 3 weeks prior to their due date. Rosie (our guide) asked us where they went? We didn't know .... she didn't either as long as they were not in Skagway!! :-).

We journeyed on for another couple days at sea with sightseeing into Glacier Bay and College Fjord which had some marvelous Glaciers. Probably the best way to describe the beauty is they are the color of Windex.

Once we were done with our Cruiseing journey we hopped aboard the Alaskan Railroad for our 4 day stay in the Denali Park Wilderness area which was lots of sightseeing from Bears to Caribou and even the state Bird which looks like a chicken with furry white feet! We were lucky enough to go into the park on a day when it was clear enough for us to see Mt. McKinley which is not often done during early September. Wasn't as clear as seeing Mt. Shasta but it was clear enough to be able to get some nice photos.

The trip was well worth the 14 days we were gone and my suggestion for anyone who wants to take the cruise and train trip all together ..... do the train trip first! It was very enjoyable but not very relaxing - lots of go go going so you can see the sights.

As I said before we have our next trip planned before we are done with our first one .....next cruise ...... 2010 to the Panama Canal! Want to come?

Where have the years gone?

Yesterday we celebrated Stephanie turning 20 - I can't believe it .... my little girl enters a new decade. We had a pretty uneventful day .... made waffles for breakfast and then we had a family BBQ which included Heather, Lexi & Taylor, Jordan (the boyfriend) as well as his brother Jayme and his girlfriend Ashley. Made Steph's favorite .... BBQed Tri-Tip with "real" mashed potatoes, broccili and salad. Heather - our new cake decorator - made an AWESOME looking BATMAN cake ... for those of you who don't know Stephanie is obsessed with Batman and has been for a number of years .... she was very excited to open the gift of 2 New Tires for her car .... for a girl with no job that is worth celebating for her ..... one less thing she has to figure out how to pay for!! Maybe she will get her registration paid for Christmas LOL!!

Getting ready for the big day .......

..... No not a wedding or anything that big!!

As I anxiously await the arrival of my 1,014 Alaska Photos I have been trying to get things ready so when they do arrive I can begin Scrapbooking our trip. Last night I sat down with my bag full of treasures I picked up on our trip. You know the brochures you get in every port .... all the brochures they give you on the ship and train ..... and of course any other collectable/scrapbookable item I could find I put in a bag to bring home and I organized them. I just happened to have a plastic folder of sorts that I had picked up somewhere and probably used as a papersorter at one time for my scrapbooking paper and it happens to have 13 pockets. I went through all my treasures and put them in a pocket according to the day on our trip. We just happen to be gone for 13 days so it worked out well. So bascially anything I picked up in each port such as Skagway it is in day/pocket 5 so when I do my Skagway pictures I have all my Skagway treasures sorted and ready to go. Hoping this will spead up the process ..... only my fellow scrapbookers have any idea how helpful this will be!!! and have any idea how long it will take to put a 2 week trip together using a lot of photos.


Next item on the agenda ........ get some journaling boxes complete and ready with some of the local history for each port and other special facts I want include in my album!!!

Another End to the Season

Well another year of camping/RV'ing at the R-Ranch has come to a close. Last Friday we pulled our trailer home for the end of the season. We said our Good-Byes to our friends that we only see from May to Oct. This past summer was another fun season at the R-Ranch with lots of happy memories. Fishing - BBQing - and just socializing!!

In July I was voted by owners to become part of the Board of Directors of the R-Ranch .... WOW what an adventure in itself that is .... it's amazing the behind the scene stuff that most owners have no clue is going on and this past year has been a disturbing year, no less, due to a number of lawsuits by a select few .... the sad thing is the money it is costing us owners that could be better spent improving the ranch for more fun and enjoyment but enough about the boring stuff!!

Going to the R-Ranch has produced more friends than we could ever imagine - some we see year around and stay in touch with on a monthly basis and some we only see during the "season". Fishing this year was fun - yep - after 22 years of marriage William was able to talk me into fishing last year and now I look forward to going fishing with him whenever I can. It's been a great time for us to spend together and I am sure he is thrilled that I have taken up one of his favorite hobbies. He even bought me my own poles - even a pink one that lights up!! William and I both caught these salmon this year. He gets credit for the 3 ft - 15 lb one pictured here.

what now????......

Well - look what I have got myself into now .... a site where I can post thoughts, feelings, adventures, and stories of my family. Not only will all of you get to know me and my family and our great adventures, but I will also be able to get to know you better and read all about your families and great adventures. What a fun activity I am looking forward to ..... who knows maybe I will even be able to get my family and friends to join me!