Wordless Wednesday

Who is this rock twins with?

Charlie Brown at Halloween!

I have loved reading the responses to the reverse meme, and will declare the winner tomorrow-thanks!

Time Travel Tuesday-temporarily on hold

Annie posed a tough question today- How did your parents meet? I know of 2 dates, of they had but I have to double check and get my facts straight before answering. But even though I don't know this story yet, I for one am glad that they did meet :)

Picture of the 3 of us in 2002 at the Gamble House

So instead I decided to make you guys do the work, I saw this reverse meme(you fill in the answers) over at Nancy's and liked it so, now lets see how carefully you do read my blog and have fun seeing if YOU can fill in the blanks about ME! (Extra points for creativity!)

1. How did Hubby and I meet?

2. Take a stab at my middle name:

3. Do I have any siblings? How many?

4. What's one of my favorite things to do?

5. What's my favorite kind of music?

6. Am I shy or outgoing?

7. Am I a rebel or a rule follower?

8. Special talents?

9. If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is the one thing I would bring?

can't wait to hear the answers!

It's been awhile

In 2002 I did an Olympic Triathlon (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6 mile run). It was a big goal for me, and my hubby was very supportive. He made signs for me, and would flash them at me when I was biking and running. The picture of me is after I was done, holding one of the signs.

Once again Michael was very supportive of me while I was finishing my big accreditation project.

But I also want to thank everyone who stopped by to see how I was doing, even though I wasn't posting, or commenting! It was nice to know people were rooting me on :)

Staying Comfy

For all those brides to be out there this is the hot ticket item for the 2008 wedding ensamble.

What made me think of this picture, is that it is Kristen is that it is Kristen's birthday today- Happy Birthday!!

---

Sorry I have not been visiting, or blogging lately, I have a big report due (about 500 pages) that will be going to print this weekend- Can't wait to have that weight lifted- it is cutting into my walking and menu planning (not to mention blog time), which means I had pizza for dinner tonight- very yummy- however not good for my diet.

I've been tagged!

Michelle tagged me for a meme for 7 Weird Things about Me, even though I prefer to think about these as cute quirks, I agreed to play along.

1. Given a spoon I can eat a whole jar of peanut butter in one sitting.

2. If I am not a least 15 minutes early, I considered myself late.

3. When my husband is on a business trip, I usually booby trap the house, due to all the prowlers that are going to break in.

4. All my hangers need to be the same color.

5. My feet cannot be tucked in when I sleep.

6. I usually have no cash on me, and place everything (even $1) on my credit card.

7. I count waves instead of sheep to fall asleep at night.

I am going to tag Nancy, because I know she has at least 7 weird (oops I mean lovable quirks) about her.!

Wordless Wednesday

Why Michael Isn't Asked to Babysit Too Often

Eating Ice Cream 101

(to the more observant on-looker you might notice Michael let his nephew have Ice Cream before hardly any of the healthy applesauce was eaten!)

A Foreshadowing of Play it Forward

I was over visiting Small Town RN who in turn was blogging about Claudia, who is trying to have everyone try to do one act of random kindness a day.

This reminded me of a story of something that happened about 18 years ago long before the movie Play it Forward.

Michael and I were driving to Louisburg, North Carolina for a weekend skydiving trip. Most of the trip was on I-95 and the last hour and a half was on back roads. We had been off I-95 for about 20 minutes when we spotted an elderly black man dressed in a suit walking down the road. (It was very hot out)

We passed him, and then Michael and I both looked at each other, then looked at our packed to the gills Honda Civic. We made the decision to turn around and ask him if he needed a ride. He said he would gladly accept one. I climbed in the back with our stuff and gave him the passenger seat.

It turned out he was going to visit his daughter, who didn't have a phone. He had originally thought the bus went closer to her town. I was Miss Terri, and Michael was Mr. Mike. We had a nice conversation with him for the 20-25 minutes it took to get him to the town he needed-but nothing too memorable.

But as we dropped him off I will never forget what he said to us. "I don't have anything to give you- but I will surely do something nice for somebody else in your name."

The Wonder of it All

Driving home from Banalier Park in NM, we looked up and saw the most spectacular view, the sun shining on the montains, while the moon was making itself known. The picture does not do it justice (I really tried too!- I took about 25 shots.) We pulled over to marvel at the sight, can't believe we were the only ones.

Those tuning in expecting Menu Monday, it will return next week.

The Floating Staircase

On our walking tour of Santa Fe, we went into Loretto Chapel, it is famous for its floating staircase and the mystery of how it got built (see below it is a really good story). When it was first built their was no railing, that was put in later. But it still makes for an amazing staircase.

The picture to the left is of a model of the staircase, below is the staircase decorated for the Christmas season.

The following insert was taken from: http://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html

Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1898, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, who came in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.
The staircase has two 360 degree turns and has no visible means of support.

Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers compared to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

another neat website about the stairs can be found at: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/loretto.asp

and if this blog got you thinking about creative staircases check out this site:http://deputy-dog.com/2007/11/05/9-creative-staircases/7/11/05/9-creative-staircases/

Outside the chapel was a tree that had been cut down, and the following tribute was carved from the trunk of the tree to the person who built the stairway.

Photo Hunt: Delicious

I thought I would really have to hunt for a picture that I know I have from a Thanksgiving where we are all sitting in front of about 10 pies, for today's theme of DELICIOUS. But I got lucky, my mom who is staying with us decided to make one of the family favorites today- can you tell what they are?

They are perogies (before boiling), my grandmother used to make them for us all the time, and now I only have them about twice a year when either I am visiting my mother, or she is visiting me.

After they are done boiling, then a little butter, and very yummy!

I am just a technological guru!

...if I do say so myself
anyway my dear hubby who loves all his gadgets thought my blog should branch out more in 2008 with a video so without further ado this is the only band that got a standing ovation from the whole crowd at the New Year's Parade. ENJOY (since I don't think I will be doing many videos, since it took me about an hour to upload a 25 second video!)

Target Thursday & #45

Hi All,

Well it is that time of year where every one is making resolutions-I don't really like making the generic, eat better, lose weight, exercise more resolution, but I have to admit it is the one thing I want to continue to work on the whole year through.

When we went to Santa Fe, I actually lost 2 lbs, since we worked out every morning, and here we are on a hike. (Michael's favorite picture of the trip we were in Bandelier State Park)

Unfortunately when we came back, I got ready for my parents stay, which is an excuse to buy good stuff-- for them of course!-- but somehow I end up eating the goodies. So I regained those two pounds.

Hopefully I will be able to keep my resolution, since in all my years I have only been able to keep one- that was to go to the spa once a month (don't laugh that was tougher than it sounds, just to make time for yourself)

Net result for the past two weeks: even

---

And if you were wondering about #45 in the title, today I turned 45. So far I spent it going to the spa with my mom, and then out to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (I had a salad, and we split a slice of cheesecake.)

I came back to the cutest little message on my phone, a Happy Birthday song sung by my 3 year old nephew- now I am told that in practice he had all the words and NAME correct- but when it came time to say Happy Birthday dear______ well first the blank was filled in with grandma, then Aunt Suz - I just like to think he thinks of me as all the best people in his life rolled into one :)

One of my favorite picture of the soloist and the real Super Aunt Suz!

Wordless Wednesday (semi)

Just Hanging Out

My husband lent his fancy camera to our sil Linda for about a month- when it came back this picture was on the camera- Michael liked the shot since he thought the two clothes pins just looked like they were hanging out chatting with each other.

Happy New Years!!!!

Hi, Hope every one had a fun New Year's and had a good start to their 2008!

Since we moved to California ten years ago, 8 of our 10 New Year's Days have been spent at the Rose Bowl Parade. Two years we we have ridden our bikes to the parade, that is how close it comes to our house. This year my parents came to visit so we got seats in the stands. Here is a picture of my mom, dad, and myself at the 119th Rose Parade.

Here is Sierra Madre's float (the town I live in) It won the Princess Trophy. It is one of only eight floats that are made by community members, and not a float company. One of my goals is to work on the float someday.

TV really doesn't do the floats justice, they are pretty incredible knowing that they need to be be only covered with some kind of plant life.

After the parade we came home and had our traditional meal of Pork Chops & Sauerkraut.

May your 2008 be GREAT!!