Soooo excited!

Tomorrow morning is the day that we finally leave for our first winter in the south! We are packed and ready!

It is freezing cold here, blowing winds (30-40mph) and temp is around 35! It is supposed to get even colder the rest of this week?!?! We are outta here! It seems so weird to be able to say that! Finished up all our last minute packing, even decided at the last minute to bring my sewing machine and all that that  entails: desk, material, feet, thread, etc., etc.

Yesterday we celebrated Lily's 5th birthday with a wonderful day of  'Frozen' treats and family. Jamie, her new boyfriend, Clint, and kids were able to make it for the afternoon....It was wonderful being all together! Lily had an absolute ball and was such a princess!

I am so going to miss my kids and grandkids, but will be wonderful to facetime and visit with them.

Tomorrow a.m. Jer has a Dr. appt to get prescriptions renewed and Bailey has a post-op check....as soon as those are done we will fuel up and hit I-80 west to York, NE and then turn south through Kansas. Don't know how far we will get, but will just pull off when we get tired, :) Our trip to and from North Carolina was nice, we drove about 5 hours each day and then stopped, no hurry, no schedule, just perfect.

Sometimes its hard getting older.....

We have spent the past week in Des Moines, IA babysitting our 3 grandchildren while their mother was in Philadelphia finishing a certification that she began 2 years ago. We have had fun getting to know our babies. Our Lexi, 12, is becoming such a beautiful young lady.  Kolby, 8, is busy, busy, busy and Austin, 4, is so active. We have had a wonderful week with them. Last night, we had to drop them off in Council Bluffs to spend the weekend with their dad.

We then rushed to a wake for a friend..

Yesterday morning, we received the saddest message from Jer's sister. She told us that a good friend of our's had died and that the wake was Fri. evening. Denise M O'Toole was the wife of Jer's best friend from high school. She died after a short 3 month battle with cancer. She was only 60, 4 months older than me.

I can't express the shock and sorrow that I am feeling right now. Dennis and Denise were such an integral part of our lives when we first met, dated, got married and began to have our families.  There were 3 guys from St. Alberts, Jer, Dennis and Ken. The 3 of them were very close during their years in school and in the years following. 'Us' girls that came on as girlfriends became part of their extended family and the 'six' of us were very close. Dennis and Jer were best men at each other's weddings. As our families grew and kid's activities became varied, we didn't spend as much day to day time together, although we all stayed in the same town. Chance meetings and Christmas activities kept us in the know about each other's lives. Time moved on.... Jer and Ken developed a 'golf' obsession together (that's putting it mildly) and his wife and I have become close friends over the years, traveling and crafting together. Denise and I would meet over the years, infrequently, and 'catch' up on interests, kids and grandchildren :).

I think what I am trying to express is my sadness that life moves on and the finality that is death. My regrets in not keeping in touch better and my thoughts, that are reality, that we are all going to pass. We are both watching our parents getting older and declining in health. Its hard and I understand that everyone experiences this but some things just hit home more than others and this was one of those times for me. I go along, still feeling and thinking I am 21..my body ages (and surprises me constantly) but my mind trots right along and then wham, whoa I get a blow of reality like this and am brought up short!

Jer and I started our fulltime journey in September, we leave in a couple of days for the 'next' leg to Arizona for the winter. Denise' death has made our time together, for me, so much more important. I have always been grateful for our relationship but this has made me realize, once again, that anything can happen, anytime, anywhere and I don't want to be caught regretting a moment! I want to experience the beauty that nature has to offer, the closeness that our relationship is, the power of our friendship to each other and our friends and family.....I don't want to miss a moment!

Stupid cold!

We woke up this morning to stupid cold weather! 26 degrees! Ugh! Luckily our furnace works great and our artic pac 'seems' to be keeping everything unfrozen!

We began packing for our week in Des Moines around 9am and pulled out to dump and head over to jer's sister's house about 10am. Really sad to see our 'home' all tucked in for a week! I am sure getting used to our Big F!

Had a good visit with Jer's sister and husband, tasted some of the sweets she was making <g> and then headed back to Michele's and Terry's house, where Chef Terry made us the most incredible Chicken Piccata meal..... So yummy and filling on this stupid cold day! 

Our 2 1/2 hour trip over to Des Moines to see daughter, Jamie and her 3 wonderful children was uneventful. We arrived about 5:30pm and promptly settled in to wonderful chaos. Following a meal of  tacos and fun conversation and lots of ipad activities, we all headed off to lala land!

Busy....

Friday started with hot coffee and cold cold winds! 30 degrees, sunny! Ha, can't wait to get on the road south this year!

Our Bailey had a rough night but is doing great this morning..yay!

Jer decided to try a new 'do', what do you think? <g>

This evening we went to visit mom-in-law at university hospital. She has a severe infection in her left foot that was finally diagnosed after a month of suffering! She  has been on a couple of antibiotics for 24 hours now and is feeling a lot better! It was heartbreaking to see her so miserable!

Our visit also included a stop at my favorite restaurant! BRONCOS! Yay! Anyone who knows me knows that i am a happy camper tonight!!

Tomorrow we put the rig in storage for a week and head to Des Moines to babysit 3 grandchildren while mom heads to Philadelphia for a class!

Long day

Jer and i took our little Bailey to the vet this morning for laser eyelid surgery. The vet had determined that her eyelids were turning/rolling in on themselves and causing her irritation that we have been dealing with the last few months.

After we dropped her off we took the truck in to have engine light checked out and found out it was because of an emissions area that had basically fallen apart with hoses disintegrated. :( they gave us a ride back to our rig and we patiently waited for the call that it was finished.

Our winds in Nebraska have been horrible, 30-40 mph!

Late this afternoon, we picked up the truck and yay engine light is out! Hopefully it stays out now! Following that we went to the vet to pick up our totally spaced out baby... She is so out of it tonight, i feel so bad.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

Back in Papillion....

Saturday found us heading north in I-29. 

The Iowa bluffs that I-29 follows were beautiful in their fall colors. This time of the year all farmers are in their fields completing their harvests! It always makes me smile to watch such huge operations underway!

We decided to give jerry's mom a call and stop and visit.  His sister Phyllis and her hubby Gary were on the way down too! When we got there we helped them clean the house for her, had a light lunch and a wonderful visit.

Later Saturday afternoon we headed on to Papillion and found a spot at Walnut Creek campground. The last couple of days have been spent vegging around and visiting with our daughter and family!

For our anniversary, the kids took us to Red Lobster for dinner! It was sooo good, we had the most delightful waiter and the 'all' you can eat shrimp was Delicious!

St. Joe, MO and a SWEET reunion

Arrived in St. Joe around 4:00pm and found the local Walmart. We have been looking for propane all day today! Across the highway from where we are parked was a TSC store.. So decided to call them and lo and behold they were able to fill us up! Going to have to do some asking around about how to find propane on the road???

Contacted my sister Linda to see if they were available for dinner and of course they were!

She and husband Albert arrived at our door within minutes!! They whisked us off for a tour of their home and introduced us to their 2 kitties!

We decided we wanted mexican fare for dinner so headed off for the yummiest dinner in their local downtown! Best spicy bean dip and homemade chips ever!  Jer had their mixed plate and I had a taco salad! Yummo!! After lots of catching up they dropped us back at the Big F and we finished catching up!

It was wonderful guys and we will see you soon!

This morning we woke to cool temps and lots of fog....

Heading to Papillion today... Will get settled at Walnut Creek and begin to get a few things done this week before our babysitting gig starts next weekend!

Mountainview Missouri

We stayed in a passport america park last expecting to get half off but noooo, had to stay 2 nights to get discount! Grrrr! Nowhere in their ad was that mentioned! I hate when that happens! People were nice and camground was full of beautiful trees but entire place was gravel!

Stopped at a Waffle House in TN and totally stuffed ourselves! It was so good!

Woke up this morning to a wool socks and warm slippers kinda day!

Had a beautiful drive through central Missouri! Fall colors are spectacular!

Heading to St. Joe, Mo....

It was a Walmart night

After 280 miles yesterday, we decided to call it a night and stopped at the Walmart in Lebanon, TN around 5pm. 

Dinner was easy tonight, delicious chicken fried steak sandwiches that my sister Suzi made for us before we left and my mom's super yummy brownies! We lazed around for awhile and then walked through Walmart for a few groceries .

A highlight this evening was a FaceTime visit with granddaughter Lily! We are sure looking forward to seeing all 4 of our little ones in the next two weeks.

After coffee and a short walk this morning, we headed next door and fueled the Big F and hit the road around 8:30am.... Headed for Paduca, KY.

Leaving Brevard :(

This morning we packed up and battoned down the Big F (our RV). We are beginning our next leg of our journey and leaving Brevard, NC.

These last 3 weeks have been packed with activities, cooking, laughing and magnificent fall scenery!

Jer and I have had fun getting to know the Big F better and are starting to even develope some routines...

It was a very emotional time for me telling my folks, aunt sue and sister suzi, good bye. We are so looking forward to our next leg of our journey, but I so disliked telling them goodbye!

I love the Brevard area and the Smokey mtns and it was so fun watching the color happen this year!

Brevard color

I have been waiting for the beautiful colors to show!

They are finally coming on!

A test for my dad :)

I am trying to get a post to show up in my dad's 'bloglovin' app on his verizon pad????

We are parked in Brevard, NC at their house....our plans are to head back to Nebraska/Iowa tomorrow. We have to babysit grandkids in Des Moines Nov. 1-6? and then head to Papillion for a few days to celebrate a b-day party for DG #4 and THEN head for Arizona! Yay!

Back in Papillion

We arrived back in Papillion, Sunday afternoon, Sept 14. We decided to stay at the Walnut Creek campground, run by the city of Papillion. It is a pretty nice little place. Only electric, but cement, fairly level pads. And oh so quiet (most of the time)...Ha! I was awakened Monday morning by a marching band practicing at 6:30 and horses clopping through on the cement. It was quite a surprise, but nice once I got coffee made! We will stay here through Sun. now.

Originally planned on leaving on Thurs....but we have to change our verizon pkg and have decided to upgrade phones....and of course new ones are not available until Fri. and since it is soooo close to Saturday and my awesome 'Outlander' series....(the wedding is this week!) we have to stay!

Jer has spent the week making sure tires are aired properly and getting a tire stem fixed. Also our title arrived on Sunday, so we got the rv licensed properly now (nearly stroked out on that one!) And last night we were awakened to our propane leak alarm going off! Gaaaahhhh! So now are awaiting a call from Camping Word to see when we get in.

So not a lot and yet lots going on, all in the learning curve! :)

Maiden Voyage

We are finally, mostly loaded up and left for our maiden voyage to camp with Jerry's sister and her husband for a long weekend. The campground was a KOA about 50 miles north of us in Onawa, IA. We were able to get electricity and water, but no sewer :(.

The weather was cold, rainy, and super windy....a perfect way to stay inside and become familiar with all the workings of our 'new' home. I spent a lot of the time, sorting, storing, and rearranging 'stuff'. Ha! I still have much to do and have made a 'list' of things we need, forgot or want!

We went to dinner Friday night with 2 of the couples from the campground, Jer's sister and her husband, to a little restaurant across the Iowa line in Decatur, NE. I had the fried shrimp :) and Jer had the chicken fried steak! It was good.

Saturday was spent enduring severe winds and rain. Bailey and I walked around the campground about 2pm (game time!) and no one was outside. We had been told about all the 'football watching parties' outside, but the place was silent. I giggled at how quiet it was. I made our 'first' dinner in the rv, spaghetti, fruit salad and yummy garlic bread! All cooked on the rv stove!

Sunday morning we had breakfast with Jer's sister at their place...wonderful omelets, fruit and cinnamon toast and lots of good conversation. Afterwards we closed up the rv and Jer 'practiced his first dump'!  We just might be getting the hang of this!

Retirement

Retirement! The word evokes many emotions in me. Sadness, nostalgia, nervousness, fear, hope, excitement, uncertainty....

Hubby and I will be closing our coffee shop on Monday. We have sold it to Petit's Bakery who will be reopening the day after labor day. I have agreed to train them for a couple of weeks until they feel comfortable with our recipes and ways of making our drinks. I think it will be a good thing. But and it is a big BUT it is bittersweet to us to leave a business that has been our lives for the last 10 years :).

We have decided to hit the open road and travel to visit family and friends. Our new home will be our new to us Class C Forest River RV.

When our girls were young we were avid campers in a little pop up trailer and had many wonderful trips with them and good friends! So we have decided to spend the next few months visiting family (North Carolina) and friends (Arizona) and try out this 'fulltime' rv lifestyle we have dreamed about.

We pick up our new to us rig next week and can't wait. Our plan is to finish training the new owners at the shop and become familiar with all the ins and outs of a big rig! I have been making lists and checking them twice. Our biggest concern is figuring out our connectivity, we still have many questions about internet, phones, wifi, etc....but I am positive we will figure it all out.

Our little Bailey will be excited when she figures out that we will be 'in the car' all the time...she loves to travel with us!

Until next time......

Don't you just love......

Don't you just love when you start a new project? I love when inspiration hits and the decision is made to start a new project....I love deciding and finding or buying the pattern and choosing the linen. Next on my list is going through my thread stash and finding the threads I already have and then (oh no, hehehe) having to go to the LNS and getting the rest of them that I absolutely have to have. Next up I get a new large baggie and fill with all the necessities I will need to do this project.

I have been watching Vonna at the Twisted Stitcher starting her '6 Fat Snowmen' by Lizzie Kate and fell in love with the threads and color of her linen. The combination just sucked me in, lol (I know she said she used an Amber linen, but on my monitor it looked grayish blue and that is what I liked about it) so I just had to do it. My local LNS had a good variety of linens to choose from and I chose a 32 ct Confederate Gray and I love it with the threads.

BUT I am usually a 1 project at a time girl and so I promised myself I would finish this first. I just have a few more stitches to put in and am going to do them this morning when I am done with this post and then the 'new' fun can start....

Lizzie Kate's Sampling Thanksgiving

Started Nov. 1

This will be my first Thanksgiving piece, hehe.....so I really wanted to get it done this year...

Have a great day today....I am just going to snuggle in with my hot coffee and stitch! Hope your day is just as good to you :D

38 years ago.....

38 years ago today,

I married the man of my dreams, my best friend and lover

The vows we said were: 

"to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better, 

for worse, 

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness and in health, 

to love, and cherish,

(we made them leave out 'and to obey':D),

till death us do part."

Every word of those vows have been woven throughout our marriage. 

We have held strong through everything life has shown us 

and in the process have become one.

He makes me whole.

Happy Anniversary to the man of my dreams, my best friend and lover...

I love you.

I have been stitching like crazy, and have decided that this week....I 'will' get some finishing done! hah! but that is my goal! Its good to have goals right? 

Homespun Elegance Snow (I am going to finish into an ornie) This was my first Homespun Elegance piece and I am totally enthralled with her designs......uhoh!!

Found this one in my finish drawer (not a clue what design this is??? anyone recognize it?....anyway going to finish as a flat fold....Have not done one before so thought I would try it :D.

This is the beautiful freebie from Brenda  and will be my second crow to add to my beginning 'murder'....I am on the lookout now for more crow patterns :D....will give me a 'reason' to add to my stash, hehehe.

I am working on a halloween ornie and christmas ornie right now and will hopefully show you those next time.

I wanted to show you a picture of a fall tree in our backyard, the day I took it (last week) the sun was shining on it and it was just glowing.......

.

Today it (1 week later) looks like this:

Big Sigh.........

Best stitches to all of you and hope your week is wonderful

Cindy

My goto "I just wanna stitch" meal :D

Someone told me about this recipe a few years ago and it has turned into my quickie fix for when I just want to have some 'me' time or am in a super hurry, hehehe....Hope you enjoy it!

You use 3 ingredients:

1 bottle of 64oz V8 juice
1 package frozen cheese tortellini
1 package of your favorite breakfast sausage ( I usually use the spicy hot)
Brown the sausage to your liking, pour in frozen tortellini and V8 juice and bring to a boil....Done! :D
You don't need any seasonings and the longer it sits the thicker it gets....

I hope you enjoy. Now I am off to stitch :D  Hope your Sunday is lovely,