Colorful Arizona

On Monday after the wedding, G, S and I toured Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. He lived there before he died, and the school is still going. I am always amazed when I see his buildings, but it is not my style, so I don't come away with a lot of ideas. He designed the building to fit in with the desert surroundings.
G and I visited the Desert Botanical Garden, which was filled with giant cacti. G was impressed with the amount of water one large cactus can contain (thousands of gallons). I would have liked to see them in bloom. The plants and landscapes are so different than Ohio, so we really enjoyed it. I am sure it is old hat to those of you reading from NM.











We spent many hours driving in the mountains, going around tight switch backs, which G loved. He would have been happier in a sports car instead of the rented PT Cruiser, however.

Wedding in Phoenix

G and I have returned from our 10 days in Phoenix. This first blog will have pictures from the wedding for those who might be interested. Future blogs will show some of the scenery since we stayed several days after the wedding. Kyla looked great in her white dress, but needed assistance going down the isle. As you can see it was in an outdoor setting. Once the ceremony started, she did not want to sit quietly, so she and I spent time outside the gate enjoying the flowers. The bride is Stacey's sister.

Kyla has this thing about carrying things around. Here she is entertaining herself during the wedding.

There were about 75 people at the wedding, with only two from Arizona. G and I really got to know the people that came. We felt like we were part of the family.

Escape from cloudy, cold Ohio

Tomorrow G and I are flying to Phoenix to attend the wedding of (let's see, what is the relationship here?) our daughter-in-law's sister. The actual wedding is on the 20th, but G and I are staying longer to make a nice vacation of it. Since my wedding appropriate dresses are quite dated I have been shopping and managed to find one I really like. Of course it took another shopping trip to find jewelry to go with it. I am hoping we can 1) have a great time with family and friends, 2) be a tourist in the Phoenix area, and 3) have a relaxed time. So there won't be any new posts for a full week. I might add that everyone involved, especially d-i-l and family have been quite busy the last couple of weeks with a bachelorette party and shower. They will need the vacation too.

Recently, I took classes to learn how to buy and sell on eBay. The instructor asked us why we were taking the class. I was optimistic enough to explain that my DH had a lot of collections and I thought I might sell some things. Let me hasten to add that it would be with his permission. Otherwise, I think there would be trouble "in the sticks". We are now registered with eBay and Pay Pal, so money should be rolling in (not out, I hope). I will keep you posted on the progress.

Follow up on weekend

I was exhausted. Cleaned for a full day, cooked like crazy for a day (of course, I could have made something less labor intensive than 100 tiny meat balls, and a chicken breast roll up where you pound the life out of it to 1/4 inch, oh, I guess it was not still alive), then was a good hostess, and finally had a day of clean up. All in all the reports that came back were positive, even from the bikers. We have enough left overs and wine for three days, so all is not lost.

Today, in between laundry loads, my primary task has been to sort mail and bills, and clean out my email inbox which had well over 100 emails in it. Cleaning it out included unsubscribing to several.

Saturday, while G was hosting the biker's planning party, I attended the annual planning retreat for the board of directors for Faith in Action, the not for profit that I have been involved with for 8 years now. My primary focus for the last three years has been to build a strong, diversified and committed board. I think I succeeded as we now have eleven great people on the board. Our retreat was one of looking at our goals from last year and talking about which ones we met and if we did not meet them, why. One thing we learned was that we had goals that were too broad and too many of them. The new goals that we chose for 2008 are realistic, specific and measurable. We now have a better vision of where we are going and what each of us needs to do. Each board member chooses one committee to work on. I am on the one that recruits new volunteers. I won't go into any more details, so as to not bore you. Maybe on another post.

Entertaining again

Since moving "In the sticks", I have been making an attempt to invite people over. Admittedly, it has not been as often as both G and I would like, but I am working on it again. This evening a friend and her male friend, whom we have not met, are coming for dinner. I have been friends with B for many years. In fact we joked that we were "attached at the hip" for two years when we co-chaired the committee that started the not for profit, Faith in Action. Since I quit working, we see each other very seldom. So I am trying to remedy that. Since I had invited them weeks ago, I called yesterday to confirm, telling her if they were not coming, I was cleaning my house for nothing. Actually, I always say that I invite people over so my house gets cleaned and we get a good meal. Pretty pitiful, I will admit. So yesterday was house cleaning and today is cooking. Maybe my next blog will describe the menu as some of my foodie blogger friends do.

Added to this, G is hosting about 20 of his motorcycle riding friends tomorrow for their annual planning retreat. They plan the riding (both street rides and dirt bike rides) for the whole year. I have learned that I had better get any activities that I want to do on the calendar before this meeting. I am making spaghetti with meatballs and Italian sausage, a salad and bread. They are to bring snacks, drinks, and dessert. As fate would have it, I cannot be here. :) So I will put the sauce on to simmer and G will actually cook the spaghetti noodles.

Styling with RM, once reported that she was actually sitting on the couch waiting for her guests to arrive when she had a party. I have not arrived at the high level of organization and planning, but am striving for it. I am usually in the bath room putting on my make up.

Weather changes in one week

On January 1st we drove home from Illinois. The snow was beautiful to the eyes, but not as wonderful for the car driver. The pictures were taken through the car window as we drove through Indiana. It was snowy at our house, but the trees were not covered like they were in Indiana.

In comparison, the temperature has been 60 degrees for the last two days at our house. I walked in the woods both days. It made me feel like spring is here, although I know that is just wishful thinking. But days like this make me feel hopeful. I am already taking note of how we have an extra minute or two of sun light each day.

Two red tail hawks were circling above each day. They have a most eerie sound. Since it is still bow hunting season for deer, I wear a bright orange vest. No one has asked for permission to hunt on our property, but I don't want to take chances.

















I was happy to find little bits of color in the woods. We do not really have a creek, this is just an area of run off when it rains. I love the lichen. And the purple twigs give such a splash of color.

All the Christmas and New Years doings are over. I am breathing a sigh, both of relief and a bit of sadness. I am so blessed to have such a great family and wonderful friends. The MD duo were here several days. We went back and forth from our house to S and S and of course they were all here on the 25th. Then spending three days with friends in Illinois was special. I am feeling loved.

The gifts I received will give me pleasure all year (once I learn how to use them). From RM and A I received a scanner to scan old photos and slides. It can even scan three dimensional items. And part of the gift, from my view point, is that A set it up for me. From S,S, and K I received a digital picture frame, with extra memory, I might add, to allow me to have a slide show of up to 3,000 of my pictures. And from DH I received a program like Adobe Photoshop (my choice).

With all these items plus the photo printer I received from DH two years ago, my photos should be organized, improved, displayed and printed if I choose. My biggest problem comes in if I don't use one of these things for a long time. I forget how, and it becomes a bit overwhelming and so I do not use it. I hope to not let that happen this year. I am not as brave with computer or digital world as the next generation. But I am trying.

A tradition continues

Having lived in Illinois for seven years, we have made some great friends. One couple has hosted the New Years Eve party for as long as I can remember. Occasionally we travel back to attend, which we did this year. The three days were spent going back and forth between the homes of our friends and having many meals together. We either go to a restaurant or all bring food to one home. We also play games together. This post will show pictures of gifts that they received from one of the couples. So first is the cow gift. J likes to decorate with cows. These were found at a garage sale that we attended with H and D in the Summer. The cow is a serving dish for cookies and moos when you remove one. No sneaking cookies at her house anymore.

Next is the gift of beer, beer and more beer.
Actually the beer was left over from a party H and D had, but since RA loves beer it was a fun gift for her. I will add the she willingly shared with all of us.








C received nuts, nuts, and more nuts. He is the DH of RA so we feasted on beer and nuts. I will add that RA and C were are hosts for the time we were there. The have a house surrounded by trees and have hundreds (at least it looks like it) of birds that eat at their bird feeder. They did not let me get close enough for pictures.

I need to add the picture of the group to show H and D, the giver of cows, beer and nuts.



What a great way to start out 2008!

Happy New Year to All.