New Ink!!

Quick post to show my new tattoo - I added to my collection with more Hawaiiana. The entire piece is to commemorate our upcoming family vacation to Maui. The turtle signifies long life and positive energy in Hawaii - Ohana meaning family in Hawaiian!

What two cities should be closer together?

Funny that this Plinky question comes on the heels of my recents Seattle post, but what are your thoughts???

Obviously, I would vote for
Elk Grove, California and Seattle, Washington to be closer together!!!

I could have the best of both worlds; the sun of California and lovely greenery from all of the rain that encompasses Washington ~ OK, OK!! You got me... and yes, I could see my son more often :-)

Coming in a close third would be Maui, Hawaii ~

Pretty picture found here

Who Wants to Move to Seattle??? Anyone?!?!?!?!

This was simply amazing video I had to share...

Space Needle

Love is in the Air ~

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Erin & Chris!!

Two years have flown by and I'm sure will continue to do so ~

These two continue to fall more in love each day and I am so excited for their future together ~

In their honor I put together a few pictures from their very important day; although I tried like mad, I could not find the song embedded in the video alone, so please start the youtube video for background music and then you start theirs. Sorry for the awkwardeness...

Such an amazing song that brings a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat!

Shyrl Janeen

70 years ago today, the world was blessed with the arrival of Shyrl Janeen ~

Unfortunately, she left this blessed world prior to her 70th birthday, but I wanted you all to know what a special person she was and how lucky I was to have her for the time that I did.

High School

Thanks to Tracy we have a little fun for our week-end. Copy and paste it to YOUR blog or paste in comments.

SENIOR YEAR...

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yeppa!
2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Sure did! 2 months after I graduated
3. Did you car pool to school? No
4. What kind of car did you have? '68 Chevelle Malibu
5. What kind of car do you have now? 2000 Acura TL
6. Its Friday night...where are you now? At home with my hubby
7. It is Friday night...where were you then? Usually at the movies ;-)
8. What kind of job did you have in high school? Secretarial at Homes by Pacific
9. What kind of job do you have now? Acct. Tech for EGUSD
10. Were you a party animal? Nope
11. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think so...
12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No
13. Were you a nerd? Nah...
14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Never
15. Can you sing the fight song? Of course... Here's to our Elk Grove High...
16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? Gosh, Could not single one out
17. Where did you sit during lunch? We had open campus, usually went to Parkway Drive Inn or Taco Aqui.
18. What was your school's full name? Elk Grove High School
19. When did you graduate? 1978 (Yikes!!!)
20. What was your mascot? Thundering Herd (Elks)
21. If you could go back and do it again, what would you do? Nothing different... had a great time!
22. Did you have fun at Prom? Jr. Prom was more memorable than Sr. Ball
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Everyday!
24. How many people from high school are you still close with? Not many :-(
25. Who was your closes friends? Brenda, Steve, Leanne

Update on previous post...

I had to share this as I was completely floored!!!

In a previous post about "Where was your first kiss"?? I explained what I remembered as my first kiss and where.

I recently attended a function where the other half of my first kiss was present at also. I had not seen him in several years and after reminiscing about our childhoods growing up in Elk Grove and how somethings we never forget, he busts out with "Yeah, like you being the first girl I kissed"!!! I seriously laughed out loud...

Desperate times...

Spawn desperate acts!

A man driving a Honda at high speed in the Sodo area of Seattle shortly after 2 p.m. hit a pedestrian, tried to run over a state trooper and hit a Metro van before crashing his car into a semi-truck.

To read the full story click here

I worry that these are desperate times and people are doing crazy & desperate things. Hopefully, the innocent victims are not seriously injured and will heal soon! I have it on reliable resources that the driver of the Honda will not be causing any further trouble.

To all my blog readers - Be ALERT; Stay ALIVE!!

Mother's Day Fun!

Mother's Day BBQ was really great! Had a nice visit with my daughter & her hubby (have I mentioned how cute they are together?), we had a bunch of great food and the weather was awesome ~

The collage above is small, but you can click on it and see larger images. The majority of the photos are compliments of my daughter ~ She got ahold of my new camera and had a blast!! Actually, I think she did very well!!

Hope you all had an awesome week-end and wish you a great week!!!

Mother's Day - 2009

I'll start by wishing all my blog readers who are Mom's a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow! May you be surrounded by loving family and friends and enjoy a bunch of great food.

Mother's Day is an odd time for me - since my Mom passed. Our extended family usually gathered on Mother's Day Sunday and I always felt so special! My kids have always been super about celebrating their old Ma on this day and I loved having a special day that I could show my Mom how much I appreciated everything she did for me. After my Mom passed I recall the first Mother's Day as it approached and feeling very angry that I had no one to celebrate. That same year I turned the day into a special day about me & my Mom and my kids 2005. I will remember that day forever; although my kids may have been bored out of their minds it meant more to me than I can probably express to have them with me. Now on Mother's Day I rub her tattoo a bit longer and I celebrate that she gave me life and was a wonderful role model as a Mom.

One of the songs I suggested to be played during the video presentation at my Mom's Celebration of Life is below. To this day brings out such warm emotion each time I hear it. I originally heard this song and knew the artist was signing about me!! I chose the song since I'm sure Mom felt the same way about my Sister & I.

So, in your honor Mom on Mother's Day, here is our song ~ I hope that I continue to make you proud each and every day.

I Love You Mom ~

Our own Food Network... Love to Cook!

It was a rainy weekend here in the Central Valley of California and so after a trip to the annual anniversary sale at REI (WOW!!) the Fireguy and I prepared to hibernate.

While he put up his new tent in the front room I began my cooking marathon. First up were chocolate chip cookies; I think I have a really fantastic recipe and enjoy making them. Next I decided to try my hand at a BBQ sauce; this turned out better than I expected and was so impressed that I will make it again next week-end for the Mother's Day BBQ. We enjoyed the sauce Saturday night for dinner on leftover London Broil. YUMMY !

Sunday I used some of our sourdough starter to make bread bowls and had enough left for a 'baguette' (picture above). Although the bread bowls did not rise enough to make a true bowl, we enjoyed them just the same... I also made my very first batch of pesto! So simple and so good. All fresh ingredients certainly make a huge difference in cooking. We spread a bit of the pesto on the warm baguette... WHOA ~ I can't wait to try the pesto on pasta; oh and you can freeze it too!

We are really having a blast watching Food Network, gathering recipe ideas and daydreaming about the Bed & Breakfast or local diner will run one day ~

You will probably be reading a lot more about our cooking escapades since we do a lot of it!!

Hope you all have a great week!