Back Home Again in Indiana

After a much needed & enjoyed vacation we arrived back home. What a jolt it was...from the sunny Carribean to wind & ice & snow in Indiana! BRRRRR!!! I'm ready to return. We cruised from Miami to Cozumel Mexico to Grand Cayman Island to Jamaica aboard the Carnival Freedom (newest ship in their fleet) for 7 wonderful days. It was beautiful & relaxing, just what we both needed. It's amazing how smoothly our plans unfolded, especially after all the worry about making connections. Old man winter tried very hard to stop us, but only managed a few delays. We tricked him though, we planned ahead & got down to Miami the day before embarkation. Lots of wonderful people were aboard the ship from all over the world. We met so many wonderful people, it was truly a wonderful experience. If you ever get a chance to go, jump at it. I know we are already planning our next adventure. One of our biggest fears was who we would be seated with at our evening meals. Since we didn't know another soul on the ship, we were kind of at their mercy. And they picked a couple from BC, Canada with whom we had much in common. I think the waiters wondered if we were ever going to leave so they could get ready for the next seating. There is so much to do on a cruise & since this was our second one, we knew a little more about how to pick & choose. We enjoyed the sun & warmth a lot. Then there were the shows (some of them much too late for us). Lots of talented people to entertain us though. Music from classical to disco to the cool sounds of the Caribean Breeze; piano music, country bands, dancing...you name it, you could find it somewhere on board! There were art auctions, a casino if you were so inclined, swimming, sunning and even a scrapbook time. If you visit my website at Scrapbook Flair (www.scrapbookflair/pigeonriver I will no doubt be making pages from some of my photos. Hopefully I'll be able to get some up before the week is over.

Trying New Things

Goodness, there is just way too much to learn in life! I've done this page for the "Believe" challenge at Scrapbook Flair (www.scrapbookflair.com/PigeonRiver) and also for the font challenge at RetroDiva Designs. (http://www.retrodiva.net/)

I have no problems posting to SBF, been doing that on a regular basis for several months. But when I posted to RDD my download didn't show up. So I figured I'd upload it here & send them over here to see it.

You have to get a little tricky & learn your way around the barn once in a while. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to get in the front door!

All Gone

Wow, here it is a week later & all that snow is gone. It hung onto the trees for an amazingly long time so we were able to enjoy the beauty of it all for many days. Now we're under flood watches & even had a tornado watch last night & thunderstorm warnings today. Needless to say, the snow is all gone...for the moment! But never fear, northern Indiana will not go without more snow this winter. Today's high is forecast for the 60s & tonight the low 30s.

It's begun!

The new year has it's start & boy did we get a big batch of snow! I know it will be dirty & messy before too long, but I'm enjoying the "Winter Wonderland" so much. In fact, I even braved the elements to go down to the river & take some neat shots with my trusty old camera. The snow was so heavy on the trees that they reached down & touched the ground in places where we walk under them in the summer.

It will be good to get back on a regular schedule next week. I've been so confused about what day it is for so long that I'm not sure the right days of the week will all come back to me! :-)

Time Flies Even Faster Than Before

Goodness, I thought time was flying in an earlier post. Now it's been nearly a month since my last post & it seems like yesterday.
The "significant snowfall" I reported was gone by Christmas. We did get enough to say that we had a White Christmas, but that really might be stretching it!
Christmas was a beautiful time to be with our family, all four generations. It brought tears to my eyes to see Dave's 95-year-old mother holding Jillian, our 7-week-old grandbaby.
Lots of remembering went on between Dave & I after everyone left for the day. And some speculating what the new year will bring.
I think this year my birthday might bring some trauma as I turn 60. Mind you, 30, 40 and even 50 had no effect whatsoever. But I'm already feeling like 60 is going to hit me hard! Oh well, I'll get over i t.
Hope your Chrsitmas was glorious and 2008 will be a bright shining star that brings glory to our Lord & Savior. Thanks be to God for all the good and merciful things He has done for our family in 2007...Praise Be To God!!!

Significant Snow

I think winter has arrived. As much as I get tired of the snow at the end of winter, the first snow falls are truly beautiful to me. But from a window view...give me a blazing fire, a cozy blanket & a good book, not a drive to Ft. Wayne or even the 6 miles to work. We woke up this morning to 4 or 5 inches. Just enough to cover everything, but not so much to make travel too treacherous
We've discovered a way to help end the winter blahs....take a cruise! Can hardly wait to go in a couple of months!!!

Winding Down or Gearing Up?

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm ready to wind down. But instead, I think it's more like gearing up for Christmas. Whatever, this weekend will be far busier than last.
What a neat thing happened this week. One of the many members at SBF left me a message. To my amazement she was from a town about 30 miles from where I live. But that's not the most amazing part...she recognized my son-in-law on one of my pages. It seems her husband was in my daughter's wedding! It truly is a small world.
Take it easy & enjoy this season of peace & joy.