U is for...USA to UK

Day 21. Dream Vacation 

In the past, when I thought of dream vacations I thought of beaches. Some fancy pants resort "right on the beach", "all-inclusive", with the ocean-side canopied beds or hammocks. But I've been to the beach...and it's nice...but not what I day dream about.

I dream about rolling hills of green and breath-taking cliffs that drop off into swirling waters. I dream about hairy coos and sheep. I dream about sky kissing Gothic churches and lonely castle ruins. I dream about cozy pubs and fishing villages. I dream about bustling cities that have old right next to the new, places that have more age on them than anywhere else I have ever been. I dream about history and legends, folk-lore and magic.

So, with all that being said, my dream vacation would be the UK. I want to see it all, from London to Edinburgh. I don't know how long something like that would take, but however long..that's what I want to do. I want to travel by car and train all over that island, to see and hear and taste it all!

I'm never going to get my dream vacation (not as its written here) but we are working towards possibly making some of it come true. We are saving for and tentatively planning a trip to London next year. Cross your fingers that we can make it happen!

G is for...Garden of the Gods

Day 7. Best/Worst Vacation

I honestly don't have a worst vacation (yet). If I had to pick a vacation at the bottom of my list it would be when I went to New York City. And only because I was sick the whole time and it was freakin' frackin' cold. Despite all that, we still had so much fun.

The best vacation we have had, so far, has to be Colorado. We drove up and let me tell you there is a whole lot of nothing between here and the Colorado state line (and New Mexico is just a weird little state). But as soon as you enter Colorado you are introduced to a sweeping landscape of beauty. It might be driving through sheered cliffs or across a prairie with the mountains on the horizon (and there are always mountains on the horizon in Colorado). The entire time we were in the state there was something breath taking to look at.

We stopped in Colorado Springs before continuing on to Grandby the next day. So we had the chance to stop by the Garden of the Gods for a hot second. I wish we would have planned to spend more time there. The Garden of Gods was amazing.

The rest of our time was spent in a rented condo outside of Grandby with some friends. The view of the Rocky Mountains from our condo picture window was spectacular. There were no hurried plans, nothing we had to do and no place we had to be. We watched TV and took hikes, we visited the hot springs and did some shopping. But overall, we just relaxed, laughed, and ate a lot of good food. *sigh* Man, it was such a great vacation.

Is anyone still here?

Hi.

I'm Jinny. You may remember me from back in the day when I actually posted regularly to this blog. Work totally and utterly devoured my life for about four months. Most everything outside of work came to a screeching halt. But that doesn't mean that nothing has been going on.

So, let me get you all caught up.

The hallway project we started in March has finally come to a (almost) finish. It's down to painting doors, so I'm calling it finished.

We've started on the bedroom but it's going at a snails pace. Which is fine, we aren't on any time schedule here.

We spruced up our outdoor space. The café table and chairs was actually a surprise birthday present from Jeremy. I went out of town for a weekend and when I got home this was waiting for me. I cried, I was so surprised.

I've been out of town a few times. I went to a wedding in Austin. So, Kenedi, the bride, met my sister when they were both in college. This is how I met Kenedi. Eventually Kenedi ended up in San Marcos and started going to the same church that my cousin and her husband work at. So now Kenedi is practically part of the family so when she got hitched this summer we all had to be there.

I went to Canyon, TX to see Texas, the musical, at Palo Duro Canyon. It was a charter bus trip and my Grandma invited me to go (who says no to their Grandma? Not this girl). It was a fun trip and I had a good time spending the weekend with the ladies of my family. I'm very thankful that my aunt Gail didn't laugh at me while I had a death grip on her hand when the charter bus drove us down into the canyon. It was pretty hair raising.

Aunt Bev, Grandma, Great Aunt Lynette

 My Mom and I went to Dallas to help my sister get her new apartment situated. She's lived in Dallas for many years now but this is the first time she has ever had an apartment by herself. After living with our cousin for years we have jokingly compared it to a divorce. I wasn't sure what she got to keep or what she needed to replace. So we went shopping and did manly things, like put together furniture.

We adopted a new family member! Ferguson, the fish. He's pretty low maintenance, doesn't make a peep, and doesn't need a lot of attention...no nail clippings or insulin shots, no grooming or heart guard meds, no walks or toys required. And he is pretty to look at.

We had to take Harley to get her teeth cleaned. I wouldn't even mention this but her recovery from the anesthesia and pain meds was unlike anything we've had to deal with before. If any of y'all have had to have a pet put under to have any type of work done, I'm sure you are familiar with the little speech the office people give you on the way out. "Keep them quiet", "They might not feel like eating", "They will probably be drowsy", etc. In the past, all of our pets have bounced back from being put under with ease, not even a hitch. But poor Harley girl, she's old and doesn't bounce like that. She couldn't walk, but she sure did try, and when she fell over she would just lay very still like 'I'm just going to stay right here'. She was the funniest little drunk kitty ever. But while it was funny, it was sad at the same time because we could tell her mouth was bothering her. They extracted 5 teeth and noted that there were others already missing. So now we call her Toothless.

So, you see, I haven't been a complete couch potato this summer (although there was plenty of couch wallowing). Overtime at work is easing off, for now, and I really hope to have more time to come back to this space. I've missed it.

 





Metal 'Til We Die

We went up to Dallas for a fast and furious trip, go one day and come home the next. Jeremy wanted to go see Iced Earth and they were playing a smaller venue in Downtown Dallas. My little sister, who were staying with, decided to tag along. And thank goodness..because she did all the driving..and driving in downtown Dallas was just stupid confusing.

This was my sisters first ever heavy metal concert. Before we headed out she asked me, "What should I wear?" She had pulled out a melon colored tank top with flowers on it. "Just wear something black", I told her. So she did...although it still had flowers on it. While we waited in line for the doors to open my sister was checking out the crowd and she says, "Good call on the black". Yeah, this isn't my first rodeo.

This was NOT at our concert.

When the first band started playing, the guitar player started whipping his hair around in a perfect headbangers circle. I yelled in my sisters ear, "We are going to teach you how to do that tonight!" Never mind that I have never headbanged in my life. It was fun to see her eyes get big.

Also NOT at our concert.

Overall, we all had a good time. Well, I mean, of course Jeremy had a good time. He was totally in his element.

Jeremy at the concert.

My sister and I managed to entertain ourselves. Concerts are always good for people watching, at the very least. By the end of the night, our ears were ringing. According to my husband that is very metal. I'm not sure that we completely won my sister over to the heavy metal side but she walked away with a very memorable experience.

Where am I? What day is it?

So...hey.


I think this is the longest I have ever gone without blogging something. To say that the last two months have been crazy hectic is a very sorry understatement. I honestly can't remember another time where our daily routine was so jacked up for such a long time. And it's STILL not back to normal.

First things first...

Precious has gone to another foster home. I am a foster failure. But not the good kind you hear about where they fall so in love with their foster that they adopt them. No, I'm the other kind. Precious was really coming out of her shell, but only as long as she was within the four walls of this house and with Jeremy and me. Take her outside the house, and she totally freaked out or shut down. Bring someone else into the house, total meltdown. And, she was feeling so very comfortable in the house that she started chasing our cats. Precious is a great dog, she was very attached to us and loved being with us. And by with us I mean glued to our side and in our face all of the time. We brought her as far as we could in her journey and I knew that she needed someone else to help her along for the next part. Someone who could work with her to socialize her better. Someone with no kitty cats. So, off she went on a new adventure. I can only hope that she is doing ok.

Second....

Jeremy had surgery. It was day surgery, but still surgery. We spent the first half of the day at the hospital. Thank goodness my Mother-in-law came to sit with me. It made the waiting go by so much faster. That was two weeks ago. Jeremy is doing great. All of his stiches were internal and dissolvable, only two butterfly bandages on the outside (which he was already able to remove). Once his incision heals completely, he and I will have matching belly button scars. Twinsies!

Third...

We are still working on the hallway. Jeremy has pretty much completed his part and so it was time for me to do my part. The words...the words on the wall.

We have Sparrows that come and try to make a nest under our patio every single year. The west Texas wind always blows it down, every single year. Not that it keeps them from trying. So we decided to help the birds out and put up two birdhouses under our patio. The sparrows are already building a nest in one.

And, just to wrap it up,...

We finally made it to Enchanted Rock for our 14th Anniversary this month. We tried going two years ago for our anniversary, but we made the fatal mistake of going on Saturday. The line to get into the park was down the road, so we bailed out. This time we played it safe and went on a Tuesday, our actual anniversary, and getting in was a breeze. No line! The weather was perfect, overcast but not cold. By the time we were leaving the park the clouds were gone and it warmed up, so we picked the perfect time to go. I was a little nervous climbing up that huge rock, it was pretty steep in some spots. But there were other people, some younger and some older than me, out there making the climb. So I kept telling myself if they could do it..I could do it too. Jeremy helped encourage me to keep going. And I'm glad I did. The view from the top was pretty amazing. I hope we get to go back some time to explore the park more.

I am hoping..and praying..that things get back to some type of normal very soon.

To sum up my weekend

Nothing like your toes in the sand

We are back from our first family vacation. This was the first time my mom, sister, husband, and I have gone to a destination without any other family there. Or for some family event. It was just us..going some place different...for fun.

 

And it was fun!

A lot of driving, but fun!

 

Mom singing oldies on the long, long drive.

 

My sisters flight was suppose to be in by 6:15 but it didn't end up taking off from Dallas under 6:50. We found a way to pass the time.

 

 

 

We visited Sea Turtle Inc. They rehabilitate injured sea turtles and return them to the ocean, if they are able. Turtles are really cute..even when they are huge.

 

 

 

And we spent a lot of time on the beach and at the hotel pool.

 

 

 

We went to a sand sculpture competition at Clayton's Bar. That place is a hub of activity. There was a DJ and tons of people and bouncy houses. We went early so we grabbed a table pretty easy.

 

 

 

 

It was such a great time. Exhausting (as only vacations can be) and relaxing. Good company, good laughs, and perfect weather. We are already planning next years trip.