Pictures from the City!

This is me... dressed up and ready to go shopping downtown! 

View of Seattle at Sunset from the 32nd floor of the Crown Plaza!

Christmas at night in Down town Seattle

The glass roof by the 

Seattle Convention Center...It looked cool!

City Traffic... A view from our Hotel!

leaving for the City!

Seattle at Christmas is my absoulte favorite time to go to the city. It is magical, all the lights and hustle and bustle, christmas shoppers and locals alike fill the city sidewalks. We are traveling there Friday thru Tuesday.... Bill has a business meeting, but I have nothing planned but relaxing, shopping, coffee with a friend and dinner with my husband! It will be awesome!

So I may not write for a few days, but I will fill you in on the details when I get back.

Now new subject.....

We bought a new car this week. We turned in Bills truck and got a 2009 Black VW Jetta SE! It is one sweet looking car! All the perks inside, except for electric seats, but it even has a I-pod dock, and Sirus radio! So that was very fun!

Goodbye for now...

Christmas baking!

Today I made my first batch of "Sugar Cookie" dough of the season!  Next I will make gingerbread cookie dough and Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti! Yum!  So tis the season to listen to Christmas music, make cookies and be merry! 

That is how my day has been today. Eliana came over this morning while Jamie and Ethan went to the dentist. So we made Sugar Cookie dough, it is a bit more challenging with a 2 year old helping you. And we didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to, (thus no photo with this post) But we had a wonderful time!

I will keep you updates as to how the baking is going! It is so fun! 

But the other thing I wanted to share, is how God is working in my life lately. 

God is good, His Goodness is evident in all that is around me!  I am so blessed!

24 years and counting!

Today Bill and I have been married for 24 years! 

That sounds like a long time on paper....

But really is it?

No, not at all...

In those 24 years,

we have become parent to two beautiful children,

Phil (21) and Amanda (19,almost) and a in July we will add, Aimee our new daughter in law.

We have had so many friends come and go in our lives,

we have lived in 4 states, and moved 11 times!

We have had two pets, Parker (9) and Miss Kitty (12), of which we still have.

We have had to say good-Bye to beloved family members.

We have been able to travel to many places!

We have made alot of memories during this time!

so to all of this.... I say Thank you! 

Thank you Bill for choosing me,

Thank you family for loving us,

Thank you Friends for being like family to us!

Thank you kids for being our wonderful Children!

and Thank you God for making this all happen for me, for my life!

I am so blessed! 

learning something new!

I learned something new tonight, it is probably something many of you already know how to do, but for me it was new. I figured out on my own how to upload my pictures from the computer to 

Cost-Co so I could get them printed. I am sorry I am not sure how to upload them yet to my blog, that maybe tomorrow. But I was quite proud of my self after working on it for quite some time, I resorted to texting Amanda and asked her how to do it... she was in a wing meeting so couldn't call me, but in the next few minutes I figured it out. I is cool to learn new things, especially things that have to do with technology, as you that know me and my family, they are all pretty techno savvy!

So I need to catch up and figuring out how to edit, upload and print pictures without Amanda's help, I was quite proud of me! 

Now to a new subject...

Today was windy and rainy, not sure what the temperature was, but it was a blustery fall day!

One that you want to sleep late, curl up on your sofa and sit in front of the fire and watch a old movie or read a book.  I got to do none of those today, maybe another day.

Tomorrow I am teaching my young friend Ethan to play Backgammon. A game I like to play.  

Then I am wanting to read some books, It occored to me that I really don't read that much, only my bible and what books I need to do for research. But I was walking thru Barnes and Noble last week and spotted the Classic book section, and couldn't really remember ever reading any one of them. So I decided to start reading some of the classics. I am not sure what I will start with, but I will let you know. Right now I am reading a good book, that our ladies bible study will be doing in the spring. It is called " At The Feet of Ordinary Women", it is a mentoring book based on Titus 2:4-5.  Being a lady cluster leader for my high school girls and a small group leader for our ladies bible study, I do find my self mentoring. It will be good to study this and see how I can improve my servanthood.

So I will keep you updated on my reading list...and how I am doing with learning technology!

Stay tuned.....

blogging...or twittering, oh what to do?

Recently I set up a Twitter account, ccantillla is my user name. But I found out that my phone is too old to be able to Twitter. So the twittering won't happen to it's fullest availability until I update my phone. 

So then that opens up a completely new deal. If I up date my phone, what phone?  Too many choices, but really i believe the wireless company's really make it hard for you to choose, there are so many phones, and the plans are all pretty expensive, because all the new phones require you to "have" to get internet services. I don't do internet from my phone, there is no need for me to have this feature, when Bill has it on his I-phone. So I want to get just a basic, sturdy, phone that I can text and make calls with and it is really not that easy!

So I will let you know what i decided to do.... That is I will let my self know...as I think I am the only one reading my blogs and thus, I will keep you informed as to my important cell phone decision I decided to make for me!

new life times2

Well this last weekend we got some very exciting news! Phil and Aimee are getting married! 

He proposed to her on Saturday night, so romantic and beautiful! Amanda was there to take some wonderful polaroid pictures!  Phil wanted the "instant" picture! It was very special to have her there! 

So it looks like we have a busy  summer brewing! But this is all so very fun and exciting! We are so thrilled to have Aimee as our daughter and welcome her to our family! 

Then my very close friend Jamie had her baby the next day on Sunday at 1:57pm! Little Elyas was born weighing 6lb.5oz. So adorable!  Just went to see him today, he is so adorable!

 A new life x2! 

you know..... a new life with Phil and Aimee getting married,  and jamie bringing a new life into this world!  Both so very beautiful!

PHIL ANTILLA IS THINKING: The Tightrope

Recently I posted a link to my son Phil's blog. He wrote a thought provoking note about Faith. Thought you should read it!  I too have been thinking a lot about Faith. 

Recently I read Hebrew 11:1, " Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I'm sure this applies to my life in many areas, How about you?

PHIL ANTILLA IS THINKING: The Tightrope

Peppermint Ice-cream

Well, Tis the season for Dryers Peppermint Ice-Cream! It is wonderful!

It reminds me of my childhood.  My grandma used to buy it all the time, she loved it! I only buy it this time of year, and Dryers is the only one that makes it right now. 

Several years ago, I was recovering from knee surgery and had the biggest craving for this little pink dessert. So Phil and Amanda sent out to find some for me, they went to 4 grocery stores looking for it! But, sadly they were out of luck and had to settle to bring me something different.  For this speciality seasonal sweet only last about 2 months in the stores.  I have already purchased two half gallon containers and I have been savoring each bite I take and have been sharing it with Bill. (It's the right thing to do!)

So this is my thought today, and I hope if you find my blog and read this, you too will find this wonderful holiday favorite and try some too!

Enjoy!

to forgive or not to forgive....

To forgive or not forgive....

I remember when Phil and Amanda were in 8th grade they did a paper on "forgiveness", it was based on the book" the sunflower" by Simon Wisenthal.  Basically, when he was a boy he was in a concentration camp, and his job was to work in the hospital ward. It has been a long time since I have read this book, but as i recall, he has to clean up the mess on the floor, blood,ect. One day he was talking to one of Hitler's soldiers. He was on his death bed, he was talking to simon about how he had killed many innocent jews, and now at the time in his life he realize this was wrong, and asked Simon to forgive him for all the sins he committed against all the jews. So Simon had to forgive this man for the awful acts of injustice he has committed, or to choose to continue to not forgive.

So what the students had to do was to be simon, and decide if placed in that position would they forgive or not to forgive this man for all the jewish people!

Forgiveness has been on my mind alot....I was reading in my daily bread a few days ago and it was about forgiveness. It was the chain of unforgiveness...

Basically it was about the cycle that can come when we choose not to forgive someone, that choice can become a cycle that moves from event to event.

So it was saying that when we choose to forgive," it halts the cycle of blame and pain. Breaking the chain of ungrace. Without it we remain bound to the people we can't forgive, held in a vice grip of pain!" 

Secondly, " forgiveness loosens the stranglehold of guilt in the perpertrator. It allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party, and third, forgiveness creates a remarkable linkage, placing the forgiver on the same side as the party who did the wrong."

So in Matthew 6:14-15 it tells us that when we forgive those who sin against us, our God will forgive us or sins, but if we choose not to forgive others, then God will NOT forgive us!

That is pretty plain and simple!

But also one of the greatest commandments God gave to us in Galatians 5:14!

" The entire law is summed up in a single commandment: love your neighbor as yourself!"

So basically, if we don't love God and Don't love others, we can't forgive, it really is all about Love, God doesn't say, "Love if you feel like it that day, or sometimes." 

In 1Peter 4:8, it tells us" Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins."

So when you link Loving one another and forgiveness.... it is a perfect match!

Forgiveness is somethings Christians are to do, it is a command, but when people that have not made the committment of following christ need to forgive, they can place all kinds of other stipulations or conditions to their forgiveness.  some forgive on moral standards, some think it is just the "right" thing to do, some feel they will forgive but not today, but maybe someday they will forget. Some choose to hold tight to the injustice and will never forgive. But when we choose to hold onto the "never forgive or hold on it it period" it can become like a festering wound. At first it is just a small cut, but if ignored and as time goes on, it doesn't heal and germs continue to infect it, your thoughts change and the pain deepens and the wound gets bigger and and it continues to get bigger and you loose sight of what it was originally.  When we choose not to fix the things that cause us to have wounds of unforgiveness, we are choosing to have a oozing open infected wound, that other germs or conditions can enter in and cause the wound to get worse! 

I am beginning to ramble, but what is in my thoughts right now, is whether we are a christian or not, we must choose to forgive. If we don't we open our self up to wounds that will get bigger and maybe won't ever heal. But if we choose to forgive, we have the opportunity to have immediately healing and the pain begins to go away and you forget what the deal was that caused you pain in the first place.  

So as you read this.... and I hope you are not confused, but God Commands us to love him and love others, and to forgive others so God will forgive us! That is plain and simple!

So I close with a thought from my Daily Bread" 

"He who cannot forgive others burns the bridge over which he himself must pass." ~herbert

following or leading

Lately, in my devotions God has been pointing out some very important things to me.

When I was reading this week, it was in Matthew 7:7, that say's: "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." But God doesn't want us to seek in vain! He promises that he is a rewarder to those who seek him diligently (Heb 11:6)  So why do we feel sometimes God isn't near us, well I ask you, where have you been? If you have been in God's word, he has been there all along, if you have been in prayer, he is right beside you, if you have sought the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance, he is there.

 But if we have all sought this in Vain, self seeking, we may be following the wrong path.  Then I ask you, who is leading you? Where is your path going.... Do we seek God for every decision we make? Are we asking God to guide us in important decisions in our life, are we praying for God's wisdom and guidance in every situation we experience.  If not, Knock, Seek and find, because in Verse 8, it continues to tell us.... " For everyone who asks, receives, he who seeks will find, and to him who knocks,the door will be opened".   Who are you seeking today?

First Week at Home as Empty Nesters.

Well, this was the first week we were at home without Phil and Amanda living here.

Last Thursday we took Amanda to NNU to attend college, we met Phil in Nampa as he drove there from staying in Kansas for the summer. We had a pretty good weekend in Idaho, it was busy with getting the kids all settled in their new spaces. We made multiple trips to Target and Wal-mart for items we needed and or forgot to bring.  But overall, it was a good weekend, I was trying to not get too sad or stressed out, I was putting on the brave Mom face to help the kids not be too worried about how I was doing.  It was hard, I just wanted to hug them alot and just spend alot of time with them.  I didn't even see my brother or sister and their families, It was so important to me to get the kids situated  so they felt as they started school on Tuesday that they were ready to go.  They both have big schedules this semester and it will take alot of time to keep up on their classes.  I am so excited for them both to be their together.  As well as for Amanda to have Aimee to lean on when she needs to.  I know it is comforting to me for them to all be there together as well as for Phil and Aimee to be there to support Amanda.  

As for me.....I have been busy this week getting the house organized, working on High School cluster groups, my college gals and Joy Bible studies as well as getting together with my friend Jamie to do some sewing for her.  So I know things will be a challenge sometimes, I have battled a bit this week with feeling lonesome, but Bill knows I have may feel this way and has made a great effort to come home for lunch or meet me for lunch, and then tonight he made dinner and took me out to go get ice-cream.  We are planning to start walking again in the evenings, but it was windy tonight.  I want to start to go back to the club and start to work out again, getting into shape is a big priority for me....I really feel slumpy!  I know that is not really a word, but it is a mix of frumpy and sluggish=slumpy!  Then i would love to just take time to work on my scrapbooking, I have so many photos of the kids that need to be organized and put into albums.  

So really, I have lots to do, but when I am home alone, and Bill is at work and the pets are sleeping... I think to myself, I really miss hearing the kids, and talking to them face to face.  But for now I will settle with talking to them thru texting and facebook... I hope to be able to I-chat soon!

That would be great to see their lovely faces!

So here is a update....a positive update, and i am proud of me for not being so gloomy this week.

Amanda's going to College.....

Well, today we are packing.....lots of packing, fitting it all in and taking Amanda off to college.  This is a weird day for me....I am happy, but really sad at the same time.  Hard to process right now.  

But Amanda is excited and nervous at the same time, she is busy getting all her clothes together, her camera stuff, all her decorating items, and every essential she may need.  That is so hard, but she is doing a great job! I on the other hand am having a hard afternoon. Why?  Well, it is all seeming a bit overwhelming to me right now.  My media room is empty, because we gave the sofa to Phil to use in his apartment.  So now it will be a crafting room/exercise room/guest  room....and whatever else we want it to be, maybe a media room again but there isn't anything to sit on but a rocking chair, an exercise bike or floor pillows.  So that will be our new project. 

Anyway....i just needed to blog I guess, writing down my thoughts on all this is maybe the best thing to do. 

Phil left alot of his stuff here, and we are left to pack it up, and not really knowing what he REALLY wants and what he wanted to give away...like alot of clothes, So he will have to go thru that next weekend.  We have his essentials and that will be okay for now.

I will blog again when I get back from taking my baby to college, and seeing my son the "senior" in college after he has been away ALL summer long! I miss him greatly, and I pray he and Aimee will have a safe and uneventful drive back to Idaho. 

So long for now....

So much stuff!

WEll, we are trying to wade thru what to pack and what not to pack......really there is soooo much stuff!

As well as we have all Phil's stuff, of which it is all over the entire media room right now....washing  things that have packed in the garage, tying to figure out what he was to keep and what he didn't want anymore.....ugh! too much stuff!

Recently we went thru some boxes in the garage....and came across several boxes that had old clothes in them, good clothes just not needed any more.....and I thought to my self, " we have too much stuff!" 

So the answer is to give it away, sell it or throw it away....so that will be my task starting next week.  Weeding out the stuff and keep what is important, meaningful and valuable! 

That is.....after we take Amanda to college and take all the stuff.  We will see what Phil sends back with us and what he keeps.  It will be nice to get rid of some clutter, to tidy things up a bit!  But really it will be just a facade to keep me busy so I don't get to missing my kids so much!

So here's to cleaning closets, and cabnets and getting rid of some of the stuff so we can see the things that mean something to us!  

I will let you know how it goes......

updates....

Okay, I haven't written on my blog for over a month....why?  Well, actually I really have wanted to do it, but to sit down and write hasn't taken precedence.  But if you noticed, I did update my picture...so you can look at a lovely photograph taken by my favorite photographer.  a.cherie photography. {Amanda} If you are interested in seeing more of her wonderful and amazing pictures you can click on the following link.  

www.flickr.com/photos/hellocherie/

If you haven't seen her work, I highly encourage you to check it out.  She created her own business this summer and has sold several photographs as well as senior portrait sessions. She is an amazing natural light photographer as well as a artist.  I love her style! She has a eye for the unique, and the different.  

Well, I will write more later, but for now I leave this thought with you, " Creativity Never sleeps"

August is around the corner.....

WEll, it is  almost August.... Surprisingly enough this month comes bitter sweet to me. Why?  Well, the sweet is that in 21 days I get to see Phil again.  He has been away in Kansas working all summer.  And I have missed him greatly!  The other part of sweet is Amanda is finally going to college, of which she has been looking forward to for so long, finally moving forward to seeing her future more clearly.  For this I am so very excited for her.  The bitter is. in 21 days, Bill and I take her to college!  I can't even describe how much I will miss her being home.  For one, since Phil has been away to college, she has become my friend.  Since her best friend moved, I have become her friend.  So we have brought comfort to each other in many ways that one, we shop together, we watch shows on BravoTV together, we go take pictures together, we do scrapbooking together, we get our pedicures done and our hair done together.....there is so much.  And so much I will truely miss doing with her.  Her absence will be deeply missed around our house.  Her funny sense of humor, like tonight at dinner and she was just laughing about nothing.  I love that.  I will still go get coffee, but will miss her going too.  There is just new pathways starting in our family.  Some new ones, some redirecting, some are re-connecting.  But really it is a new phase for many of us in the antilla household.  So this is some of the sweet part, starting some things new, picking up and working on things I have put off doing for so long, and really re creating a new schedule for my life and the life I now have with my family.  So August in a way is a new August for me, one I have never had before.  But I will be brave, and keep my chin up, even though I feel like crying most every day when I think about how much I will miss my kids.  

I will write again soon, ( I need to remember my password more) anyway, not sure who reads this, or if Iam just writing my thoughts down for me.  oh-well, either way it is good therapy!  

it has been too long since I was here.......

Today I reading my son's blog (Phil Antilla is Thinking) and he reminded me of a summer time fun that i had forgotten.

  Fire Flys!

  They are amazing little flying flashlights. (As he refered to them)  I didn't have them in Idaho when I was growing up on our farm....( we had other fun things to keep us busy) 

but our kids had them growing up in Georgia.  I think they are mostly found from the middle to the South and eastern part of the United States.  I am thankful I have experienced these little flying delights, even some may think they are a bit pesky, they are really amazing.  So if you are reading this, and I am not sure how many actually do, and if you are ever on that part of the USA in the summer...look for them, but have a jar handy, they are pretty fun to catch and watch glow in the dark!

Now.... Back to blogging my thoughts. 

I think I will start blogging more often, but right now it seems difficult to make the time to blog.  

I am starting to read a new book, it is called "The Beautiful Fight" by Gary Thomas. Basically it is about how we need to surrender to the Transforming presence of God Daily in our lives.  So Iam very excited to read this and see what God has for me to learn.  I am also reading Strong Women, Soft Hearts by Paula Rinehart.  It is a amazing book.  Very helpful for me in many areas.   Then I will be starting a book that I have had for a while but haven't taken the time to read is Katie Brazelton's book Called "Pathway to Purpose for Women"

I think reading is important, and it keeps me thinking and wanting to grow and better my self.  I have changes coming up next month.  Changes I knew would be coming for some time but haven't really wanted to think about it.  But Bill and I will be come Empty Nesters.  Not officially we still have two un-married children, but they are both now in college.  So even though we don't have our children living at home 365 days of the year, they are still "at home"

So I will relish in the idea for the time I have left to enjoy their presence in our home!

Well, that is all for now....

Enjoy reading! 

I will try to be back a little sooner next time to share with you some Thoughts from ME!

Whirlwind Weekend!

Well, It truely has been a whirlwind weekend....Family in town, Graduation Parties, Graduation for Amanda and airports!  Oh- not to mention very little sleep.  But when I did sleep, I did sleep well. unlike Phil my son, who is having trouble sleeping.  (Save that for another post) 

Anyway...Amanda graduated on Friday, her party was that night, of which I was very involved with, didn't plan for that, matter in fact what I thought i signed up for was to send out a few 100 donation letters and be done with it.....but nooooooo, it also included the purchasing power of 280 gifts (at the cost of $13,725.00) to be given away every minute at the party!  So needless to say and for you to guess, I am soooo happy that is done with!  All we need yet to do is send some thank you notes, write come comments in a notebook and say "Good-Bye RHS!"  But that is kinda sad in a way, I just graduated our last child from Richland High School, I have just completed my 6th year of being on the Executive Board of the PTSA and will finish it all up with a few notebooks to let the others that take on the task in the years to come know my thoughts on how it went!

Whirlwind, kinda like a Tornado more like it!  So much went wrong, with all the planning we did to make it "right" it didn't turn out that way... For instance, our garage door opener decided to stop working two days before, that is not such a big deal, but Bill and Phillip went to do the "suggested" quick install to find out nothing is quick but reading the side of the box.  Then one of the paddles on the inside of the dryer broke off! ya, just broke off!  So need to call a Maytag repair man to fix it, our Dryer is only 5 years old, so this is a bummer!  Then the weather, the Day of our BBQ, it was a whopping 60degrees, windy and cloudy! I don't know how many BBQ's you have been to, but that is fireplace weather not for BBQ's!  So everyone of our guests were in the house eating their BBQ food that we had planned. But that is okay, it went well anyway! 

Well this is just a little bit of what we did for Amanda's graduation....I will write more late....The best thoughts for the Whirlwind weekend....WEll simply they were these....

Phil Came Home!

Amanda Graduated!

We saw Family and they all were kind to each other!

We laughed!

We cried a little!

We got little sleep, but survived!

WE Loved one another alot!

We have memories, we will always cherrish!

one day and holding! Graduation is around the corner...

Amanda's graduation is tomorrow....WOW! Already? wasn't it just yesterday that she was heading off to preschool, 12 years of schooling and a soon to be diploma to account for all this learning.  As a mom that prides her self in teaching her children and would loved to have home schooled them, is very proud of the accompolishments of her children. Phil has just successfully finished his Jr. year of college and now Amanda is successfully finishing her highs school years!  What a time to be proud! 

Now the best is really yet to come, the best but a new road as well.  In the fall Bill and I will be empty nesters, well kinda, the nest isn't quite empty as we still have very needy pets, and then of course the kids are still in college and thus college bills and such still exist.  But I am very thankful for that!  I have loved being a stay at home mom, it has been my career...but I feel I am graduation as well!  I am moving on to different things, not just a stay at home mom anymore.  I have now the opportunity to do things I have thought of doing but have never really thought more than that! 

So tomorrow is graduation for Amanda and me....She will go on to NNU and study art, and I may get a job, or go to college or finish all those photo albums I thought I would have time to do while the kids were in school, but have put off for 12 years! Whew!

anyway, that is the scoop...now i need to do some cleaning.  We have family coming tonight and a party tomorrow.

Catch ya later!

Graduation preparation!

So we have been working hard to get the house and everything ready for Amanda's graduation on June 6th.  Phil will be the first one to come into town on the 2nd and then Rick and leah (my bro and his family!) will be here on the 5th.  Then my parents and sister and fam will come on Friday just for the day.  

So this week is final prep....so I can take it easy next week and enjoy the occasion.  Today I am putting the 2nd coat of paint on the coffee table and side table.  It is now Black! Iam excited to see it in the living room.  It will add some lovely appearance to the space!  Then I want to do some organizing in the kitchen and then will do some major bathroom cleaning to get ready!  Cleaning the bathrooms very last is the easiest!

This weekend we purchased some fun new patio chairs for our new patio and fire pit area. They are comfortable and they stack when we are not using them! So fun!

We are about finished on the yard!  Finally! We have worked every weekend for 3 weeks to finish it all up!  But the yard is looking very nice!  VERY park like! It will be a joy to be out there!

well got errands to run and then Amanda and I are going to the Stones house to play with their new Wii Fit!  and have tea!  

It should be fun!

Kansas, Firepit patio and other things....

Well, if you have been checking my blog....you haven't seen anything new!  I know, you are just dying to know about the trip to Kansas and the scoop on what I have been up to lately.  Okay, here it is.....

I wanted to put up some pictures but since I am just learning how to do this post and picture thing, the pictures will come later.  So look for that to come soon.

Driving to Kansas.... We took of on Tuesday afternoon, as mentioned in the last post, and drove to Boise.  We dropped Aimee of at Ryan and Claire's apartment picked up some items in storage that we needed to take on to Kansas and then headed on to my parents house to spend the night and get up early to start driving.

Wednesday... We left around 6am, we made it to Burley (my Childhood home town, brought back lots of memories! )by around 8:30 or so....We couldn't find anyplace by the freeway to eat so we went to Wal*mart to get some breakfast like foods, snack foods and some drinks so we didn't have to purchase these items for twice as much at a gas station. 

So we took off towards Utah.  The speed limit was 75 all the way.....so we made great time! Utah had alot of Construction so we usually lost time by having to slow to 55 in those areas....then we made it to Wyoming.  We had lots of rainy stormy weather....When I up load my pictures you will see what I am talking about...we then proceeded to Wyoming, making it all the way to Cheyenne by about 7pm.  We had a hotel reservation so we easily found our hotel along the freeway and a place to eat and settled in for some much needed rest!

Thursday we planned to make it all the way to Kansas; we were trying to get there by 6 to eat dinner with Aimee and her family, but it took a little longer than we thought and didn't get to Kansas until around 8pm.  

"Nine states total, and two days, 

lots of talking, some silence, some tears,

 one ticket (from a goofy nebraska, newby cop) 

lots of rain, Wyoming winds, Black sky's & Sunshine

crazy directions thur Lincoln, and a zip thru Iowa and on to Kansas"

= Priceless Moments with My Son! 

So that is the drive to Kansas!  Now once we made it to Olathe, I was quite amazed.  It really reminded me of the back roads we used to drive on in Georgia.  The one to Zurchers house....to the Roswell and a trip to Harry's farmers market; good memories.  

I spent good times with Aimee's family in her lovely home, went to the mall for some shopping and Phil and Aimee picked up summer job apps.  Then we went downtown Kansas City to a very nice outdoor mall called the Plaza.  It was very cool!  They had a Apple store we needed to go to take Aimee macbook to be repaired.  I picked up a new pair of I-Phone headphones for Bill, as he had misplaced his.

We then went and did a little shopping at Urban Outfitters and Nordstroms.  

We finished our day at one of Aimees favorite neighboorhood chineese restaurants called the fortune wok. It was very good.  I also opened my Mothers Day present from Phil.  He got me some lotion and bubble bath from bath and body works. It was very nice!

Sunday.... Mother's Day....but going home day for me and a very long day of flying!  Phil was able to take me to the airport we headed there around 8:30 so he could still make it to his new church by 10:45!  KCI is about 40 minutes from Aimees house so we needed to leave in plenty of time.

I had two layovers, and made it home by 9pm, with no bags, as they didn't make the flight.  But came home to  lovely suprises waiting for me!  First of all, a welcome home Banner made by Amanda, YummY, Chocolate cake and a Happy Mother's Day banner all when I came in the door.  Red roses from Bill and Amanda and cards.  Then for the other suprise... they took me to the back yard, and showed me their hard work.  They created a new patio and firepit area.  it was wonderful!  Very suprised!  They Bill showed me how much he completed on the landscaping in the yard.  It all looked so wonderful!  Very,Very nice!

Lets see...Other things.  Amanda will graduate in just 19 days!  She has only 11 actual days of school left! Just amazing!  She and Jenny Bond got together to plan their Gradation party, worked on the invitations Friday and Saturday, they turned out great! 

We are on the making our list of "to-do" things for this weekend.  As it is our last one before Graduation. Bill will be gone for 4 days next week to Florida.  So we need to get alot done this week. 

Phil comes back home in just 14 days! yea! It will be so good to see him. He will be here for a week!

Well, need to get going. 

Have a great week!

~Calleen

Today we leave to go towards Kansas

WEll today is a fun day!  Phil, Aimee and I head out to Boise.  The first leg of our journey towards Kansas.  I can only really remember being in Kansas just brief drive thru's on the freeway, so to "actually" be there will be exciting!  Kansas is Aimee's home, it will be fun to see and meet her family, see the church Phil will be working at and go see NTS, the seminary where Phil will go in two years.  

So this is one of those days that we know come one day and yet you are never really sure how it will go or how you will feel.  Well on Sunday our Pastor played this song by Kenny Chesney, "There goes my Life"

The first part of the song is about regret and wanting to change things, this is not how I have ever felt, I loved the day the kids were born and have loved every minute since.  But as the child in the song grows up, his heart changes and the song becomes more about the child being his life, and that made tears run down my face, " when he put her in the car all packed with her stuff, she was excited for her new life, and he said; "there goes my life, he had realized how much he had grown to love her and how much she had become his life.  Well that part of the song hit me and I feel today that a new mile stone approaches me, as phil heads on to Kansas to work and to start a new phase of his life, as his mom, I feel" there goes my life" I have poured in a wonderful way into my kids lives, as I have chosen them over a career (best decision of my life!) and I am excited to see this new phase, not necessairly sad, but they have been my life and now it is changing to a new milestone with Phil working in Kansas this summer and then both Phil and Amanda at NNU in August.  So much will be different for me....but a good different, one I am working on being prepared for, but don't quite feel I am there yet.  I will be....I am working on it! I love our kids, they are amazing people!

I am completely excited for the plan God has placed before them and how their hearts have followed this!

It has been my prayer their whole life! So now they are no their way....I pray even more, just a bit different!

So Bill and I are heading towards a new path, and we are ready to see what it has to offer!

Sunshine Days and Lemon Zest Petunias

Well today I went to Home Depot and they had the most amazing little petunia plants.  They fit into our graduation "green and gold" theme and thus they came home with me.  They are called Lemon Zest Petunias.  Very  cute little yellow flowers, so excited to plant them and see them grow.  I had gone to Home Depot to buy some Organic planting soil so I can plant my sugar snap peas in a pot up off the ground.  Why you say? Well, we have a bunny, His name is Peter and he loves my sugar snap peas, so I need to put them in a raised pot so he will not eat them so I can have some of my very favorite sugar snap peas.  So we will see how it goes.  Then I purchases some Pole Bean seeds so we can make a "Bean Tee-pee"  I am so excited to do this.  I really want to see how cool it looks when all the beans are growing up the pole and Ethan and Eliana can crawl inside and sit.  Fun picture for Amanda to take. 

Then there's the sunshine.... finally! We have had the coldest weather lately, and now we have sunshine and warmth for the weekend. That is good because we are planting and working in the garden.

Phil and Aimee are officially finished with College, they have few papers yet to write and some finals to take but no more classes this year!  yea!  They are coming here in less than a week and i am so excited to see them.

Well that is all.... Have a wonderful sunny day.

Today is Earth Day

Well today is Earth Day... I have done my part, well actually more than I have ever done on any other Earth Day.  But I was in this shop last week and purchased a Beanpod 'soy' candle,  and the proceeds from purchasing this specially marked candle would go to support Earth Day, or something like that, anyway the tag on the candle was made from recycled paper and it had seads imbeded in it so I planted it to get some flowers.  This was fun!

That is about all I did for Earth day....Did you do anything? Post your comments.

Today is Phillip's 21st Birthday!

Today is Phillip's 21st birthday!  

I woke up this morning thinking of Phil, he is at NNU.  I was defiantly missing him today. I decided to send him a text and when he texted me back, I noticed the time... it kinda freaked me out, it was the exact time he was born 21 years ago.  That was pretty cool! 

Anyway, I have talked to him several times today, he called when he was opening his present, that made me very happy in many ways. 1. That his package made it to him on time! 2. Was he thought to call me as he was opening it and got to share that moment with me!

So it seems all the things we put in the box worked, he liked and all in all was just right.  So that makes a gift so much better knowing he liked it!

I have thought of him in so many ways today, to the moment he was born to the funny things he used to say when he was little and the way he loved these mini gummy bears (they were in the package!) I love remembering the way he used to run, always with one arm tight to his side pumping back and forth as to help him move swiftly right along.  I have remembered so many other days as he has been growing up to this milestone day.  But one thing I am so blessed by as a mother is the fact I don't feel like I have to worry about him going to a bar just because he is "21" and can drink till he is completely wiped out!  My thoughts on this remind me of a interview I saw a few weeks ago I was watching the today show.  A mother of a "21"year old son", was on the show telling her story about how her son went to a bar when he turned "21" and was pressed to do the "21-shots" of hard liquor! He was with friends, of sorts, I can't imagine what kind of friends would encourage someone to drink 21 shots in an hour, he went home, was very out of it, his mom knew what he had done and the so-called friends he was with still just thought what she needed to do was hold the bucket for when he threw up, well he passed out and they put him to bed, he never regained consciencness and with in a few hours he actually died from alcohol poisoning!  I think the Mom was on the today show to Help make parents aware of the "21 shots club" that goes on when young adults turn 21, but it was really sad, it made me sad, she didn't take him to the ER, she didn't give him caution before he went out "partying with friends" that night, so I think it is as much of the parents fault as her son's.  Parents are supposed to model what they teach their children and hopefully when they finally turn 21, they will have seen enough good examples that have been set before them and have enough sense to know what is right and what is not, to make wise choices and to realize what they do makes a difference and to encourage them to make mature decisions.  Then at that point, when they do turn 21, it won't be all about turning a "legal drinking age" ; it will be more about reaching a milestone in life that leads to a long full responsible life with many more important decisions to make, like career, marriage, children, family... health, happiness and the the full pursuit of all life has to offer.  

So this post is about voicing my opinion, also sharing a little of my thoughts.  So this has been my thoughts for the past week.  I am very proud of Phil, he is an amazing son, with many amazing paths yet to go down.  So here's to you Phil and the pathway to the rest of your life!  

I Love you Son!

 

Here a gardening picture!

So here is a picture of he two pots we made up last Saturday with our "yellow" theme flowers. The are so pretty! Hope you like them! We are making the garden up in Yellow and green, actually RHS bomber colors for Amanda's Graduation party on June 5th.  It will be fun!

Peter and the garden and other thoughts for the day!

Well, we have a bunny!  A real one living in our yard under our bushes.  I see him almost every day, he is brown with a cute little cotton tail and thus I have given him the name "Peter" aka peter rabbit.  This morning I came home to the most adorable sight. I will try to paint the picture for you... "Peter was in the front yard, nibbling on some grass, my yellow daffodils were waving in the breeze and the grass was so lovely and green in our front yard."  Yes, it made me smile and I had to say, I love this.  

So that is all on Peter, now about the garden. 

On Saturday Amanda and I planted some flowers in the pots on the patio and some in the flower beds.  We have alot of garden work to do to get ready for the graduation party on June 5th.  So we are starting now.  We shopped several stores for lovely yellow flowers that would still be pretty and blooming in June.  That is a challenge right now as it is spring and lots of them stop blooming in June.  So far we have some yellow daisys and we are planting some sunflowers.  We also decided to plant some sugar snap peas (which I love!) and some strawberry's.  We are also planning to plant some other items and get rid of some grass in the back part of the yard, but we haven't done that yet as we will need Bill's help to do that and he is in Chicago until Saturday.  

Well, this is a busy day for me.  This morning I had to drive Amanda to school because she had no gas in her car.  But that was okay.  Then I had a dentist appointment at 10 just for a cleaning, but it always makes me nervous, because I worry they will find something that needs fixing.  Which usually takes a lot of time and money. Well today they did find I have a cracked filling , but I have the most amazing dentist and he is going to replace the filling for free because he was the one that put it in only a year ago, that was a replacement for one he took out when I had to have my implant done 2 years ago.  (long story)  Anyway, I have to go back next week. Not looking forward to it!

Then I have been on the computer looking vigorously for airline tickets for Phil to use to fly home in June for Amanda's graduation.  As well as tickets for me to fly back from driving with him to Kansas in May.  I think I have it about figured out! 

 But now I have a headache.  I need to go get some advil!  Oh- and i have a PTA meeting at 7 tonight so I need to go and get some things ready for that.  

Well this all I have for today.  My thoughts blogged for you to read. I am not sure how you comment, I think you can click on the time?  anyway try to leave a comment if you like!  Have a great Monday!

~C

catch up time!

Well.....since we are back from out trip to the Rainy Oregon Coast....it is now "Catch-Up" time....you know catch up on e-mail, laundry, organizing, chores,housework, returning phone calls newspapers....blaugh, blaugh, blaugh!

So that is what i have been doing instead of thinking of writing on my blog....so sorry if you have checked it lately and saw only a very old post....I have been playing Catch up!

But I am almost there.....maybe tomorrow I will have all the laundry done, things put away, and some newspapers recycled....and then there's those chores, well I really never think you can get caught up on them, but just keeping the end in sight is good enough for me!

I will write more later and maybe post a picture or two of our trip.  

bye!

It's Friday....YEA!

Well Today is Friday!

I am so happy it is finally here....This is why!

Tomorrow we are going over to the Oregon coast for some much needed R & R! We will go to Ikea...one of the funnest stores on the planet to shop at!  We will start looking for college things for Amanda to take to NNU. Then we will buy some swedish fish, (we always do!) and then we may look for some other fun bargins to use at Amanda's Graduatin party, paper products are a great deal there! The new portland Ikea is two stories and very large so it will take a while to get thru it!  After we spend time there on Saturday we will head over to our hotel, it is closer to the road to Cannon Beach.  We decided not to stay "in" Cannon Beach because Bill has a bunch of hotel points so we can stay for free.  So our entire visit will be for "free" ya gotta love things for free!  Well having the hotel for free makes it so we can afford Gas for the car.... Gas prices are out of control; last week I filled up my suburban and it was almost $100!  That is crazy! It has NEVER cost that much!  So that was no fun! Anyway, back to our spring break get away.  Then we will head over to the beach on Sunday and hang out, go to all our favorite shops, go to the Salt water taffy store and the Roxy store!  Take some amazing pictures and maybe get some sweet "senior" pictures of Amanda with her new camera.  So hope the weather cooperates.  Then we will go back to Cannon Beach on Monday or we may go down to Lincoln City for the day or over to Long Beach/ Astoria area for the day.  We have never been to Lincoln City and have heard it is a fun place from lots of people, but Amanda would love to take come pictures of the bridge in Astoria and go see Long Beach.  We haven't been there since we went with our friends the Zurchers in 2002! So it would be fun and bring back some great memories. 

Well time to go.... and start the day!

I am planning to take my friend Machelle to lunch today to celebrate her birthday. So that will be fun!

Although I am a bit sad today....Phil and Aimee were suppose to be here this weekend....and they needed to stay and work on finishing homework at school (NNU).  So not sure when we will see them next.  Probably not until May.  I miss them very much! But completely understand, finishing up the semester strong is the best! But if you guys read this....know you are greatly missed.  It would have been great to see you, of course you know we would not have made plans to go over to the coast if you were going to be here.  So that was an afterthought when we realized you were not able to come home this weekend.  

Well this post is kinda all over the place with thoughts, but I guess that is what blogs are for, to just share your thoughts!

 So there ya go, for whoever reads this....these are Thoughts from Me, today! 

 Have a great Friday!

Today is sunshine.....

Today is Sunshine....so nice to see sunshine!  But my yard and all the new spring things coming up green need some attention.  i plan to work out there tomorrow...Supposed to have more sunshine!

Bulb forcing.....yes, there is such a thing.  Last week I wanted to try it.  I purchased some tulip bulbs, in the fall, forgot to plant them in the fall, now it is spring, where they should be coming up all pretty and green but they are still in the bag in my garage.  BUT... fortunately for me you can trick bulbs and put them in a shallow dish with something for drainage...rocks or marbles or glass beads....and they will put on roots and grow...so this is my new experiment to see if they actually bloom.  I will show you a picture if they do.  

So that is all.....

Monday.....was Donut Day, sort of!

Well today Jamie, Ethan and Eliana came over to make donuts from my new cookbook, "Deceptively Simple", they are healthy "good-for-you" recipes with some kind of secret ingredient that kids would not particularly figure out!  

So we decided to make the Donuts, (they had pumpkin and sweet potato in them)  But ours didn't quite turn out like the picture in the book, somehow that is always the case with cookbooks, the finished product never quite looks like the picture!  

Despite them not looking like a donut, or really tasting like a donut, they were quite yummy. More like a flat pumpkin muffin circle!  Funny!  I have a picture comparison below. 

Now, I think I am a pretty good cook, not always adventurous, but can follow a recipe pretty well.  Our biggest downfall, was we didn't have a "donut mold" well, not sure how many kitchens have on of these fancy pans, so we did "free-form" donuts.  They turned out like flat circles, but then we got creative and made Alphabet donuts!  They were pretty cool!

So that is what we did....pretty fun!

Blog improvement!

The old saying goes..." when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!"

so here goes with my blog....

Today Amanda helped me jazz up my blog....this is an amazing picture she took of the cutest little lemon tree ever that is in the sunroom at my parents house.

It will help bring a little sunshine to my world and hopefully to yours as well! 

Have  a great "SON-day!"

a blog for me

So recently I have read a few blogs.....and was encouraged by my kids to set up a blog.  So here it is...."Thoughts from Me!"

Not sure what I will compile on here, but basically it will be thougths from me that I want to convey to others and ideas that would make for good information to know and read.  

There ya go.....