The Story of Christmas 2015

 The story of Christmas 2015 started out like this...

With a happy pose by the fireplace. 

Little did we know that a dark cloud was on the way...

 Emergency room 3 days later at 11pm. 

Our stay lasted until approximately 4am.

Flu. The big bad flu.

 So it was Merry time and we were in the house. 

GHW in the bed, down for the count. 

Poor guy. We missed Christmas. 

And for a person who works at a church, you have to be really sick to miss Christmas. 

 GHW was down for approximately 6 days and after that..

We experienced a few outings by car in the neighborhood.

AND....

Found our favorite house in the neighborhood, with the exception of ours, naturally. 

 

 Then something else really awful happened. 

Somebody tried to poison our neighborhood Brown Dog. 

Other dogs ate the poison instead. Just awful. 

The neighbors are out in full force trying to find the perp. 

 Rest easy. Handsome survived the whole thing with minimal disruption.

Food on time. Pets on time. Head scrathes, snacks, all on time. 

A few days later, GHW decided he was well enough for us to make the trek to Kansas. 

The little neighborhood car trips determined he wouldn't get car sick or something of that nature. 

So we loaded up in the big ol' car and went west. 

I hadn't been home for a little over a year so time it was to go. 

 Driving through Arkansas is really something.

I think the state gets a bad wrap but it really is lovely.

Very beautiful while passing through. 

 And oh yes.  Handsome came too. 

Cat in the car.

 Santa (and the powers that be) brought us cheap(er) gas for the trip. 

Always an added bonus. 

And at last, after the 9+ hour drive, we are at home. 

The home team. 

Patrick, Dad, Mom

Our usual trip that begins on Boxing Day, turned into a trip that was more of a New Year's trip. 

This year started out with a bit of an edge, hopefully good things to come. 

2014 brought many good things of note...

1. the second, third, and fourth semesters of doctoral work

2. another successful year at WKNO

3. a graduate assistant-ship at U of M

4. lots of music making at #dwh2 from my 40+ little students

5. progress on updating #dwh2

6. we actually closed on #dwh2 - lease purchase complete

7. july in New York City (LOVED THAT)

8. a trip to O Canada for Andy and Julie's wedding

9. trip to Destin, FL to our very favorite spot

10. GHW as an adjunct at Memphis Theological Seminary and U of M

11. new friends/old friends

Lots more, the list should never have an end.

Here's to 2015. Hopefully the best yet.

Christmas Holiday 2013

Handsome made his annual trip to Kansas. 

He is reporting excellent conditions. 

I always worry he won't want to come back home with us.

 

 

 

It's nice to have a little time for R&R and to celebrate the holiday season.

Happy and Merry to all! 

Here comes 2014.

A photo worth sharing.

I saw this photo on Bo & Dot today and it is simply to good not to share.

This photo is from Dubai.  While it is unlikely I will ever have the opportunity to travel there...

Can you believe this? It stopped my little browsing finger and I paused to marvel and say WOW. 

That is all. 

Happy Thursday. 

This is my favorite day of the week because it means tomorrow is Friday. 

Then it's the weekend.

Le Beach.

Just before school in-service week began on August 6, we popped down to the Emerald Coast for some time on the beach. This is our third year to go and we are thankful with every grain of our being that it's been possible. I swear, time on the beach is the BEST rest and relaxation there is!
Since this is our third time going, I wasn't as camera happy. I only took my phone down 1 afternoon. I had it in a zip lock bag, seemed like the thing to do.  Here are a few photos from the voyage.

 Somewhere between Mobile and Destin

 What a view!

 The Oceania has been our destination the past 4 summers. 

What a fabulous place to stay!

 My drink of choice...

Now in a small single serving, plastic bottle. 

 A view of the beach from inside a zip lock bag.

(My phone that is).

 We had a good hearty laugh.

The view from Marina Cafe. 

One of our "go-tos" for dinner.

After 7 full days on the beach, we returned to Memphis relaxed and ready to face the new school year. What a terrific way to end the summer.  Together, happy, healthy, and ready to go!

Spring Break

Geoffrey and I have returned home from a delightful trip out west. The delight rests in many facets of the experiences we had, some more humorous and enjoyable than others.

If you follow my Instagram feed, with link-age over on the top of the right bar, you have seen what the trip was like. My IG account gets heavily used for many reasons, the primary being as a way to archive and subsequently print photos.  I've used a #hashtag for the whole trip as did G so that we could keep the photos together between our two accounts. Our #hashtag was #ghsf2013. Between the two of us we collected many good photos. The goal in this obsecene number of posts through IG is to print a collage through Printstagram. For the past approximately 2 years, this has been the best way to print photos. And then, display them. I've printed many through Printstagram and have really enjoyed having them as a landscape in our "art" collection.

Good experiences in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Sonoma, Napa, and Yountville, California. Thankfully, we did have a car. Which was one of the highest recommendations we received when planning the trip. And as we found, the BART isn't all that and a bag of chips.

We are glad to be home this evening after a full week of travel, and nobody is happier to have us home than our little kitty, Handsome (rather BIG kitty).

Over the river and through the woods...

 As I was about to write a post this evening I noticed that I had put this post together and never hit "publish". It's from Thanksgiving. My heavens. So...back to Thanksgiving holiday before I talk about Christmas!

Here are a few photos to commemorate the holiday's travels.

Over the (Mississippi) River and through the woods (of Arkansas and Oklahoma) to my Mother and Father's house we went....

Hello.

Mom and Dad's house...

Tasty beverages....

Handsome, maxing and relaxing.

The dresser in my room at Mom and Dad's house.

...one of the many things that looks different since I lived there.

I can remember begging my parents for this bed. 

It is from Restoration Hardware. 

When I was younger, it was the be all and end all! 

My....how my style has changed. 

Now that I'm about to hit "publish" I'm thinking that the reason I hadn't done it before was largely due to the fact that I wasn't finished writing it.  But...because we are now many weeks past said holiday and have moved into a whole other year. I will leave it at this. 

Thanksgiving 2012, the end.

Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house.

It's always a happy place to see upon arrival.

Everything meticulously placed, and decorated.

Beverages chilled and served.

Hello, again.

Grandmother Dow's bread recipe. 

...oh geez, I'll NEVER be able to make these!

Brussel sprouts, upon request from our Canadian.

At the table...

and NO...we did not eat all of that butter.

With full tummies, it's time for a Turkey Day Nap.