45 Years...Holy Cow

I wish I was being amazed at being 45 years old, but I'm actually being amazed at being married for 45 years! And they thought it wouldn't last..ha! We showed them! (there might have been times when we didn't think it would either!)  But time has a way of moving quicker as the years go on.  We raised 4 boys,  worked (and are still working!), bought a home, sold a home, bought a home, took vacations across this fabulous land and trudged day to day through the mires of problems that many folks have. The ups have been fewer than the downs, thankfully. We love our family, church and church family and friends we've made over the years.  Jack and I met on a blind date and my advice to couples would be to keep a blind eye on the unimportant things and work together to correct, improve, or simply enjoy the very important things. Other than that I have no great advice on marriage longevity.  It's a crap shoot most times!  I like to laugh and find many things funny. Growing old does test my sense of humor, but frankly I rather smile than cry. (I wear mascara after all.)  So, Happy Anniversary Jack! Look on the bright side Babe..you won't have to go through 45 more, in this life anyway!  Glad we knocked it out of the park the first time! Love you!

Yes, it was a big fat semi Greek wedding!

Happy Birthday And Merry Christmas!

First, Happy Birthday Jack!  Today is his birthday and all the boys came over with family and Craig called from Oregon to throw his happy greetings into the group!

A Texas sheet cake was his request and we had a really nice afternoon with everyone.  I must say, the weather has been absolutely perfect this weekend. Perhaps another request from the birthday boy? It was cool and no humidity and sunny...great weather for a quick birthday/anniversary trip.  Next weekend is our 45th wedding anniversary but I'm on call for that weekend. So I begged and was able to get this past Friday off so we could take a trip to Michigan to celebrate this weekend instead.  We'd been talking about going up to Dundee to the original Cabela's store.  It's pretty impressive! But then we'd also been talking about going further north to Frankenmuth, Michigan to see the Christmas store, Bronner's,  So after some back and forth deciding, we went to Frankenmuth first, stayed overnight there and then stopped at Cabela's on the way back.

A Christmas wonderland it is!

16 sections of Christmas decorations. If they don't have it, you don't need it!

Isles and Isles of glitz and glimmer. Christmas music playing and so much to look at. I found a few treasures and enjoyed just been amazed at the selection.Besides going to this store, we also headed to downtown Frankenmuth.  It's a Bavarian setting with tons of stores and we were told to stop for dinner at Zehnder's.  Holy cow, that was amazingly delicious!  The food was so good and the service was excellent. But there was so much food served we couldn't possible eat it all.  Thankfully we had a fridge in our hotel room so we could grab a doggy bag. (Arnie stayed here in Ashland with Jordan so no leftovers for him...sorry Arnie!)

The river is so pretty there and we missed getting a boat ride since it was late when we were done eating. Maybe next time!

The town is super cute, a bit touristy, but lots to do so if you're up in "Pure" Michigan, give it a go! The next morning we headed back toward home but stopped at Cabela's.

A bear hug anyone?

The store has an aquarium you can walk through.

A waterfall exhibit.

A few bison anyone? My in-laws raised buffalo for a bit and when my kids were little they called them "buttalos"!  We shopped and found some Christmas gifts and also a few bday gifts for Jack. It was nice to get away even for just over 24hrs! It was fun and relaxing.  Before bidding ado, I want to go back in time for just a minute.  On Thursday we attended a retirement party for one of our anesthesiologists,  Dr. Reed.

The guy with the happy face is him! He decided he'd had enough of computers and corporate medicine, and since he's 60, he said bye, bye!  On the way to the party we stopped and picked up someone you may remember:

My BFF, Donna! See her leg? Yep, she fell a few months ago and broke her tibia/fibula in 5 places! Yikes! A rod was put in her tibia and it's getting better slowly. She's hoping to get back to work next month. She's a trooper for sure! Well, it's been a busy end of the week that's been full of celebrating and enjoying.  Hope this next week is a good one for all of us! Fall has been in the air around the Pines and I'm not complaining! Night all!

I Must Confess

So what do I need to confess? Well...I did leave work early today, before noon even.  No, I'm not confessing that I went home sick. It was just one of those days where, after a bit,  they really didn't need as much staff and I, out of the goodness of my heart, (Ha!) volunteered to head out! It was a rainy day today. A nice gentle rain that fell all day long. A dark, dreary, curl up in a chair and read a book kind of day. And that's what I did! I even rested my eyes a bit...hehe.  I did get up and can some more pickles and made dinner.

See how lovely the rain looked? It's actually been a bit dry the last few weeks and it felt nice to have a gentle soaker.

I made shrimp orzo..a recipe I found some time back and we really like. 

Elderberry pie anyone?  It's one of Jack's favs and no I didn't make it. I'm not much of a pie maker.  Ellen who works in Jack's office made it. I thought I should snap a pic quick since it was going fast! Thanks Ellen, it's delish!

 I'll confess to loving my new screen door Jack put in. It's not crooked, just my photography! So what am I confessing about? Well, I guess I should tell you that I'm a stalker.  NO, I don't stalk people or do weird things like that.  I guess you could say I stalk real estate. I love to look on Zillow or Realtor.com at properties here and there and sometimes anywhere! Am I looking to move us?  Not really although you never know if that perfect house on a lake would pop up and tempt me!  I like to know how the market is going and also the prices.  I've learned a few things along the way. If you're going to sell your home and post it for folks to see here's some tips. 1. Clean the house. Don't leave the dishes in the sink, a thousand shoes by the door, laundry on the floor, beds unmade. 2. Close the toilet lid...just sayin..and while we're at it..put away the plunger, the toilet bowl brush, and any other personal items you  don't want the public to see. 3. When you make the bed, really make it neatly with the bedspread, duvet, comforter, whatever, straightened. 4. Get rid of the dead animal heads on the wall.  Now guys may like that but a whole room of Bambi and antlers isn't appealing. 5. Creepy basements don't photograph well. 6. Hide the real animals in your life. Get kitty off the counter and fido off the couch...atleast for the pics. 7. Too much religious things hanging on the walls, doors, windows...like tons of crucifixes or something might make some people think you're trying to purge the house of evil spirits. Not that I would ever think that. 👻  So that's my real confession for today. Yep,  it's a slow blogging time! Ha! Enjoy the rest of this week! 

August? Really?

Yes, it's August really! July had us in a flurry of busyness with a little travel, a few projects, and family gatherings.  All good stuff but I feel like I blinked and it was over! So now the Summer is reaching it's peak...the dog days are a bit less humid but the skeeters are biting in full force. I think they were kind enough to wait until our kids went back home so we could have a few days of outside fun. Now we'll be paying more attention to the garden and reap what we planted and raiding the farmer's market for the things we didn't produce.  Our blueberries and raspberries looked so promising this year but the relentless rain and no sun did them no favors. It was a disappointing year so we'll put our hopes on next year and buy the jams I didn't get to put up.  Soon apples will begin to appear at the orchards and applesauce will fill our shelves.  For now it's tomato season and we've had a few of them grace the table:

Add some fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and olive oil to these beauties and it's LUNCH! YUM!

I managed to harvest some carrots and we have tons of cucumbers that are making delish pickles. So the next few weeks will find the canner cooking and the shelves getting filled.  Also family will benefit from some leftovers...always make enough to share! This month also brings some birthdays. Tomorrow Grandson Cameron will turn 12.  At the end of the month Jack will have a bday too along with our 45th wedding anniversary.  I know more on those events to follow. For now...hello August, let's have some fun!