FIFTY!!

So I am officially half a century old today!!  FIFTY!!! 

It seems crazy!  I don't feel fifty.  

It's been a great fifty years so far!  

In honor of my fiftieth, here's fifty things that have I've done, things about me, and things I have learned these last 50 years.

1. Been married 31 years to the same guy!!  haha! 

2. Most stuff doesn't matter, but the things that do matter-really matter.

3. Lived in lots of places. I think we've moved 15 (lost track!) times! 

4. Raised 3 kids and now have 4 grandkids!!

5. Dance (or hoop) like no one is watching.  It's so liberating.

6. It's never too old to learn new things.

7. I've been to 36 countries in the world!  That's 14.3% of the world!

8. I love going to places that aren't your typical "touristy" places.

9. I'm an accomplisher..but I'm learning to relax and chill.

10. Reading God's Word is life changing.  Especially reading the whole thing through quickly.  

11. Make a decision.  It's ok if you make another decision later.  Just move, go, do something.

12. Friendships only thrive if you water them. A text, card or call goes a long way.

13. Take the picture.  Be in the picture.

14. Enjoy the moment.  Even if you don't post it on social media, just enjoy the moment you are in, don't be in a rush to go to the "next thing".

15. You'll make mistakes.  Learn from them.  Be humble.  Accept correction.

16.  I've been keto now over 5 years.  It's a lifestyle that I love.  It's helped erase my heartburn, made me think clearer, and kept my weight down.

17. Love grows where you water it.

18. I love traveling.  I'll be glad when I can go overseas again. (dumb covid)

19. What you put into your body is important. Physically, spiriturally, mentally.

20. Who knows how many books I've read.  I wish I had a list! Sometimes I'll start a new book and think...this sounds familiar!  (because I've already read it!)

21. I've sold all our stuff so many times.  (because of all the moving) Stuff is stuff and you'll always have a lot of it.

22. I usually struggle with exercise but I love hiking and walking and really enjoy yoga and aerial yoga!

23. When someone asks you to do something new or go somewhere new.  Give it a chance.

24. I didn't think I could do aerial yoga at all, but my sister is a great encourager!  I actually surprise myself with the things I do!

25. I rarely wear makeup but I love jewelry.

26. The need to impress others wanes as you get older, and get more confident in who you are.

27. Give someone that compliment!  

28. I'm a natural blonde.  Never colored my hair.

29. My hair is fine and thin...makes it hard to curl, but super easy to get up and go.

30. Skirts are my thing.  Been wearing them now over 20 years.  I love how they make me feel feminine and they are good for twirling and dancing.

31. Being best friends with your spouse is awesome.

32. Looking forward to the next 50 years!  I wanna be that funky, hooping, crazy grandma.

33. I love hats!!!!!

34. Coffee, coffee, coffee...and tea.  Yes!

35. One of my favorite things to do is go listen to live music on the weekends with Larry.  Hoop and dancing!!  

36. When meeting someone new, ask them about themselves.  And listen.

37. I'm loving this stage of my life.  Being a grandma, retired, rv living.  ummmm yes.

38. Take the love language test.  It's how you show love to others and how you feel loved.  I'm service and gifts.

39. If I'm cleaning, I'm either showing service or really upset.  ha!

40. I like music of all kinds.  Bluegrass, classical, rock.. pretty much anything!  But I love the 50s music a lot!

41. It's ok to be in pajamas at 6pm.

42. I want to learn to embroidery.

43.  Love playing backgammon with Larry.  I'm so glad my dad taught me how.

44. It's so exciting to see your kids as adults!  To see them grow and learn and thrive!

45. When someone presents to you a new theory or idea.  Don't immediately dismiss it.  It's a great opportunity to research what your own beliefs are.

46. You become the thoughts you feed yourself.

47. You are never too old to change! 

48. I started learning the ukulele last year.  I've been practicing every day.  It's so hard to strum and sing at the same time!

49. I don't like to cook.  Larry's does all the meal making...thankfully!

50.  Turning fifty sounds old, but old is only a state of mind. :)

The Slim Christmas

 Another Christmas story....

Larry works contract a lot and it seems like in the past, right around Christmas, he'd get laid off.  So one Christmas, he lost his job and money was kinda tight.  I didn't know how I was going to get Christmas gifts for the kids.  They were big enough that they'd realize if I chinzed on Christmas... so what to do, what to do??

Well, I scoured the house for anything I could sell and had a huge garage sale!  I thought, whatever I made, I would use that for the kids' presents.

So after all the smoke cleared from the garage sale, I had a whopping $150.  

That was going to be tough to spread between 3 kids!

Somehow, I managed to find sales, bargains, and other such treasures and got things wrapped.

It seemed like a skimpy Christmas and I needed something to make it more fun.

So I made a Scavenger Hunt for Christmas Day!  

I hid the presents all around the house and made clues for each and every gift.

Christmas morning came and we had the most fun!  The kids loved finding all their presents (almost more than the actual presents!)

It was a wonderful Christmas after all!

Reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movies:

"He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!"

Dance Dance Dance

Having fun in a marriage is KEY!  It's so easy to get wrapped up in the honey do's, the kid raising, the chores etc.  But how often do you and your honey just go have a fun time?   Just enjoying the moment and each other's company.

Something we do almost every weekend is go out and listen to live music.  Talk about FUN!!  We know a lot of local bands from going around the metroplex every weekend. Just getting out and hearing live music (finally it's back!!)  and then dancing is just so much fun!!!  

Last nite was just such a nite.  As we sat outside, the moon rising over the lake, the band began to play all our favorite Fleetwood Mac songs and we just boogied and grooved.  I hooped, Larry danced, I danced, we danced together. 

Everyone else just sat on the grass in their social distanced circles but here were Larry and I just hooping it up and having a blast!  

There's an old saying, dance like no one's watching--and that's what we did last nite.  The band was playing just for us.  The moon was rising over the lake just for us.  

Life's too short to wait for the next song.

Life's too short to care what other people are going to think about us.

Have a blast together.  

Enjoy each other's company.

Get into the groove.

It'll bring out the kid in ya.  It's good exercise.  It'll relax ya.  It'll bring you both closer together.

It may even bring a smile to someone else's face and inspire them to get up and dance too. 😉

Homeschooling Adventures!

There's a whole bunch of  new people doing virtual school at home now.  I just want to encourage you all that you can do this!  We homeschooled all three of our kids for many many years.  Two of them all they way through and one all but about 2 years.  

We used every type of curriculum over the years.  From structured, to workbooks, to computer classes, to unit studies, to unschooling.

First of all, every kid is different.  That is the first thing that I learned homeschooling!  Everyone does not learn like me!  Some of my kids liked structure, some liked more freedom.  Some needed a desk, some needed to be outside. Some liked to do the pages in order, some liked to randomly open the book and do that page! 

Our homeschooling definitely evolved over the years. At first, all I knew to do was what I knew as "school" at home.  I tried to recreate it.  That didn't go over so well.  Then I realized we had the freedom to do so much more at home!  We could learn here or there!  We could learn everywhere!

We utilized the library, and games, and outside, and loads of free play.  Some of the best learning was random questions as we were flying kites at the park.

Now I know, you all doing the "virtual learning" at home won't have quite as much freedom.  But take this time to get to know your kids.  How do they learn?  Visual, auditory, tactile?  By rote, by memorizing? By singing?   Take this time to get to know yourself!  How's your patience?  How's your attitude? Take this time to listen to what they are learning.  Listen to what's going on in the classroom.

And really, it might be easier just to homeschool yourself! Ha!  I know it's not for everyone, but you'd be surprised what you are capable of!

My biggest thing is you don't have to make sure they know "everything"!  You don't have to stuff every fact into their head before they are 18.  But give them a love of learning.  Teach them how to learn.  How to find the answers.  Find what their passion is and hone in on that! 

Take this time to get to know yourself and build that relationship with your kids.  

It truly is a blessing!

The year was 1989!

The year was 1989!

The Berlin Wall came down,  the USSR got its freedom, Tiananmen Square protests were happening.

But the biggest news of all was Larry met Valerie. 💓💓💓

We dated and got engaged in a  whirlwind.  Our first date was in April, we got engaged in August, and married in November!

Our first date!

Thirty years ago!  THIRTY!!

What a huge milestone in today's world of broken relationships.

It hasn't always been easy.  We've had a lot of ups and downs. Mostly ups- thankfully.

We've moved 15 times, lived in everything from a small house behind a  house to a 3500 square foot 5 bedroom house, and we even lived in a hotel for a few months!

Lived in 4 states.

Can't even count how many cars, jobs we've had. Or houses we've bought and sold.

We raised 3 kids, and now have 3 grandkids!

We've been to almost every state in the US and lots of places around the world.

I can't imagine my life without you.  You've pushed me to be more than I ever thought I could be.  Challenged my comfort zones. Helped me grow in the Lord.  Shown me how to love the downtrodden.  Helped me come out of my introvert shell. Helped me to chill and see the positive side of things.

Marriage is a crazy adventure.  We've grown.  Even flipped personalities at times.  It's the learning to give and take.  When to give, when to take.

Thirty years ago, I was a young, naive girl who had to read the directions on the washing machine in order to know how to wash the clothes!  My how things have changed.

We've learned from each other so many things.  And now we are learning the art of the empty nest.  And the fun times of grandparenthood!

Who knows what the next 30 years will hold, or where we will be.

But I'm glad I'm with you on this crazy adventure.

Love ya.

Croatia & Slovenia 2019

We just got home from an amazing adventure!  Croatia & Slovenia!  Here is our route:
We started in the south of Croatia in Dubrovnik.  That's where a lot of Game of Thrones was filmed. And we ended in the Capital of Croatia, Zagreb!

First day all travel...  Flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, to Munich to Dubrovnik.  Dubrovnik was abolutely stunning!  The islands, the coast line, the old town!  Just wow! Our hotel was really close to the beach, so after our long walking tour of the town, we came back and hung out on the beach for the afternoon.  The water was crystal clear.  Beach was unexpected--pebbles!  

Next we headed up the coast to the town of Split.  I enjoyed it, but it was a bigger city and we didn't spend a lot of time there.  It was so hot there too!  

Driving up the coast, we stopped in an island town, Trogir.  Really cute place, walked and had coffee and enjoyed just watching the sea. 

Next up was the one place I really wanted to see!  Plitvice Lakes!  This place did not disappoint!  Sixteen Lakes connected by waterfalls!  With a cool boardwalk that you walk around and see everything.  So many people though!   But the beauty was just phenomenal!  We stayed the night at a hotel in the park.  It was an old hotel so no AC! ugh!  All our hotels were gorgeous.  This was the only one I wasn't too fond of. 

Next day, we made a quick stop in the town of Opatija.  Just enough to stretch our legs and have lunch.  We lunched by the sea and the waves were just ripping!  

Onward to Slovenia!  We stayed the night in the the amazing town of Bled!  Our hotel was right on the lake!  This was an unexpected treasure!  Such a fairy tale!  Beautiful lake with a castle on one side and a little island in the middle with a church on it.  We hiked, and went to the castle.  Got to hoop on top to the castle! Then we went down the summer toboggan!  Long lines but really fun!  This was definitely one of the highlights! 

Hated to leave this place, put then we went to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. Quaint little town on the rivers.  Walked a lot and had some great lunch there too-Steak!!  So good!

Last stop was the capital of Croatia-Zagreb.  We enjoyed the cultural dance and dinner that we had here!  Lots of good food and games! A full moon that night too! Walked a lot in Zagreb as well.  

My favorites:  

First of all, the tour.  We did Gate1 Tours (for the 3rd time) and we just love them.  They take care of you.  You have free time, lots of optional tours, great accommodations, the tour guide is awesome, local guides at the towns.  I just can't say enough good about them.

Another favorite, Bled, Slovenia!  Loved loved loved that town. Oh, I forgot to mention the caves!  We stopped at some caves in Slovenia and they were bigger than anything I've ever seen in the states!  Way bigger than Carlsbad!!

The coffee.  I just love European coffee.  Maybe it's the atmosphere, maybe it's the cafes, maybe it's the little cups and saucers, i don't know but I really really love the coffee in Europe.

Such a wonderful trip.  Enjoyed every minute of it.  Can't wait for the next trip!!

What's your favorite memory from a vacation??

A long weekend!

When my kids were little, I stayed home with them.  Three day weekends didn't mean anything to me.  We homeschooled and Larry worked a lot of holidays for the time and a half pay.  So a three day weekend just seemed like any other weekend to us.

Then when my kids got older, I got a job in retail.  Weekends really didn't mean anything then.  Just work.  I worked most Saturdays and rarely had 2 days off in a row.

But now....

For the last 5 years, I've been working in an office. Monday through Friday 8-5.  Weekends are awesome!  And three day weekends are just the topping on the cake!  I get it now!  I understand the beauty of it.  Three whole days.  You can chill, or it's even enough time to take a short trip.

I love the office life.  I have holidays, sick days, vacation days.

And the beloved three day weekend.

I think we need to have a three day weekend every month at least.

So if you have to work this weekend.  I'm sorry.  I've been there.

Hopefully you'll get a few days off in a row to enjoy.

As for me, we've got fun stuff planned this weekend.  And I can't wait.