California Living

This morning was the norm for a work week day.  Hubby was up getting ready for work, while I was laying out his clothes and making his breakfast and lunch.

It was a happy morning as usual and I told hubby as usual how handsome he was when he was all ready for work.  And his response as usual “thank you, my wife dresses me.”

It was the usual hugs, I love you’s and me hanging out while hubby made his way to the car with his lunch box.

It was then when hubby reached for his car door, he turned back and said “have a wonderful day in California.”

It was then when I realized we’ve been saying this for 2 years + 8 months.

It was then when I realized we have not taken this place for granted.

And as I stop to think about it, it was then that I was reminded that living on vacation is what this place means to us.  I really could get used to living here the rest of my life.  And I believe that every day spent here will be cherished.

And while these thoughts were passing thru my mind all at once.  Hubby closed the car door and pulled away.

I stood there with joy in my heart and waved like I do every day since our beginning.  And he waved to me as he pulled away, just like he has done since the beginning of time.

And I stood there and watched like I do every day ’til his car was out of sight.

And I walked back in, closed the garage door and thought to myself.  I feel so special and this truly is going to be another wonderful day in California.

These pictures were taken on my morning stroll in the garden.  I was searching for all things yellow as this cheerful color matched my feelings all the way around.

And I look forward to hubby getting home at the end of this wonderful day.  And rushing in to greet him.  And when he asks “how was your day”  I get to say “better”.

While we may not live in California forever, my desire is to make each day just like this.  Because at the end of the day, the special little things, are the things that matter most.

Blessings – Debbie

Birthday Weekend

My Birthday has spilled over into the weekend.  And what a wonderful weekend it has been.  There were sightings of cookies, a pumpkin muffin for me and a pecan braid for hubby.  Luckily all items were purchased at Panera Bread over the course of more than one day.

On Friday we completely chilled.  And when I say we chilled, that is all we did, all day long.  And it felt so good.

I took this shot of hubby with my iPad and it was played with in a few different apps.  Yep, Friday was not only a chill day, it was also a play day with that iPad, I couldn’t put it down for a second.

But welcome Saturday!  It was time to get up and get out.  These are the boots that carried me thru the day.

I wore these to the mall and out to lunch.

and we even went dancing for a couple of hours.  What a fun day.

Over the weekend, hubby also took me shopping for a new cover for the iPad, love the one I picked out.  I’ll have to share pix later.

It was also a time when I had the hankering to play (with my camera) in the evening sunlight, just before sunset.  I was in desperate need of a subject.

When I asked hubby if he minded giving me a few min, he was all mine.

And I encouraged him to do his thing as I just wanted to play with the light.  I like this natural shot of him.

He was busy sending out picnic invitations to friends.  I like this shot too.

On another note, I spied Stewart’s diet Root Beer in my grocery store.  What a delight!  I’ve enjoyed these guys all weekend too.

Happy Monday!  And Happy Memorial Day!

It sure doesn’t feel like a Monday.  Does it?

In keeping with All American, hubby and I hit Five Guys and Coldstone Ice Cream.  What a way to top off the day.

We have a few plans today but nothing earth shattering.

And with that, so long ’til next time.

Blessings – Debbie

I'll Have My Cake And Eat It too

In other words, happy birthday to me.  🙂

It was a happy day.  I played a bit more as I took more pix of this little flower.  Then played in Lightroom, what fun.  Here’s what I came up with this morning.

Hubby totally surprised me when he walked in the door extra early.

He totally surprised me with a gift I never asked for.  He’s good at knowing what he thinks I will like.  I Love This Little Toy AKA the iPad!

He treated me to dinner where I had bbq baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, a biscuit and the best carrot cake.

A birthday only comes around once a year.   And when that happens, we should all be able to have our cake and eat it too.  Amen.

While these shots were taken with the cell phone, they will have to make do for my 44th birthday pix.  It truly was a very happy day.

Blessings – Debbie

I'm Getting There

Wow, I really did impress myself.  I set a goal to get caught up on the blog and all of the vacation pix by today.  It happened!  I like how the blog allows us to change the date of the entry.  Note:  all vacation blog posts have the correct date assigned to each post.

This is the post where I get caught up from Saturday, May 12 thru Saturday morning, May 19th.

Saturday May 12 and Sunday May 13 – This is the picture of what things looked like for us back home.  We chilled, relaxed, rested and basically kicked back all weekend.  And the picture of where we spent hours recharging our batteries.

Monday – While Home Sweet Home was the place to restore our energy over the weekend, we did hit a bit of a rough patch Monday morning.  Why is that?  While we went thru the motions of making coffee and getting hubby off to work.  It was more like, welcome to the day that’s not quite right.  A day I wished hubby could just retire and call it a day.

Tuesday – Tuesday felt much like Monday but better.  Hubby invited me to meet him for lunch.  That seemed just the ticket to brighten my morning and afternoon.  After lunch, I was able to get some much-needed grocery shopping done and I did squeeze in an afternoon nap.

Wednesday – We were getting close to getting back to normal, but not 100%.

Thursday, what did I do on Thursday?  If my memory serves me right, I worked hard on getting those vacation pix in order.  And I blogged.  And enjoyed the garden.

I also discovered I Was Wrong – This fruit tree out back is not a fig tree like I thought the landlord told us months ago.  It’s a Nectarine!  Last Thursday, I walked out to inspect the fruit trees.  Sure enough, the fruit was finally nice and soft and ready to eat.  I had 5 of these guys on the spot with juice up to my elbows while constantly sopping juice off my hands such that I didn’t make a total mess.

Friday Favorites = Wind chimes – Windows open – Birds chirping – Sunshine – A walk in the garden – Fresh fruit from the garden – New shoes – Polish change – and the best part, A lunch date with hubby.  I Love Friday!

Friday Least Favorite Turned Favorites – by the evening = Clean house, laundry done, ironing 100% done, clean sheets and a fresh clean home for hubby to come home to.

Friday – Yes, I finally found my stride and everything seemed back to normal and all was right with the world.

Saturday morning – I enjoyed our beautiful morning and the hand I was dealt.  No alarm, another round of fresh fruit from the garden and it’s the weekend!  Truly a fun-filled weekend to look forward to with the hubs.

This brings us up to speed with Saturday morning May 19th.

Blessings – Debbie

So Long Yosemite

And so long, room with this view.

We enjoyed our last meal in the dining room.

We hope to come back one day.

We took one last stroll around the hotel after breakfast.

We took a shot of the sitting room from the mezzanine level on our way out.

Wish I could have saved my room key as a souvenir.

True story.  I had my souvenir all picked out in the downstairs gift shop.  It was a lovely onyx platter.  The stone liked to take my breath away.  There was good and bad news.  The good news, a sign said that the stone came from outside Yosemite.  The bad news, as I went to pay for the platter, I learned that the stone not only came from Pakistan, it made there too.  Apparently made outside Yosemite means anywhere in the world.  At that point the bad news did me in and I did not get the platter.

Guess what?  The guys we saw a couple of days ago (at Tunnel View) were at the hotel as we were checking out that morning!  Can you believe we ran into them again?  Well, I can’t.

Another true story.  We had all of our bags piled into the car and ready to go when I realized I left something behind.  So I ran up to the room while hubby waited.  While I was gone, hubby heard familiar voices carrying on across the way (about 20 or so feet away).  Hubby said.  “You guys guests here?  We don’t allow riff-raff around here.”  While hubby caught the boys off guard, they quickly remembered him and got chuckle out of it.

We exchanged info and plan to keep in touch.  Our friends, yes, that’s you Joe, Tom and Mike.  If you’re reading this, we trust all is well.  And if you’re ever in the San Diego area, please let us know.  We would love to see you again.  This was such a total unexpected treat to bump into them again.  Hey Mike, we missed you, wish we could have said hello to you too.  We hope you were getting some amazing shots of that tree…

Joe, me and Tom

We stopped at Tunnel View one last time before we pulled away from the park.  It just seemed the right thing to do.

Then we drove up the road to see the Sequoia’s at Mariposa Grove.

It was the first time for me to see these beautiful trees.

The “Grizzly Giant” behind me is the 25th largest giant sequoia living today. The circumference at the ground is 96.5 feet = It’s HUGE and pix don’t do justice.

Hubby and the Grizzly Giant.

After our little hike and visit with the Sequoia’s, it was time to hit the road.  It was time to go home and we were ready.

I can’t lie, I did reach for that pillow in the backseat and I did close my eyes and I did fall asleep on our way home.

We made it home safe and sound sometime around 9 o’clock in the evening.  The good news, we still had the weekend around home sweet home to rest up before the work week.  I love that we plan at least a day or two at the end of each trip to rest up before work.

This concludes Hubby’s 50th Birthday, an amazing week filled with lots of fun and great memories.

Blessings – Debbie

Happy Birthday Hubby

This 50th Birthday week for hubby has been amazing.  And I feel so blessed to get to spend it with him.  While I wished him Happy Birthday, morning, noon and night all week, this was the real day to celebrate.  The day he picked out just what he wanted to do.

He wanted to ride a mule thru the valley and that’s exactly what we did.

What a beautiful day.

Just hangin’ out waiting to get assigned to our ride.

Our first mule ride.

I was assigned to Shirley.

And hubby was assigned to Girtie.

While I had Shirley on auto pilot, I took my eyes off the road.

Since I didn’t have a rear view mirror, I had to turn around every now and then to check in with hubby and Girtie.

The view, what more can I say?

She’ll be comin’ ’round the mountain…

It’s a good thing Shirley knew what she was doing as I wasn’t paying close attention to the path up ahead.

And the views had to be documented one way or another, just for the record.

Hubby somehow got in front of me such that he could turn around now and then to check in.

There were quite a few of us enjoying the ride.

But after the ride, the Birthday Boy and I made our way back to our room for a much-needed nap.  This was the view with my head on the pillow.  We even slept with the curtains open at night as this was an amazing sight in the middle of the night as the moon and stars provided just enough light to show off the falls.

We then went down and found our own little table and chairs for afternoon tea.

 It was quite refreshing.

Dinner reservations were made in the Dining Room and we enjoyed the lovely dinner music.

Looking out from the dining room.

Hubby had the amazing Rotisserie Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

I had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Root Vegetable Pave, Veal Sweetbreads and Porcini Jus.  Yum!

And we shared this amazing Chocolate Pecan Pie A La Mode.

This was so yummy!

The dining room – pic taken after dark.

The Birthday Boy on his Birthday.

Just the two of us outside the hotel.

And one last Birthday pic before we called it a night.

It comes as no surprise that hubby had a Very Happy Birthday.

Blessings – Debbie

Glacier Point

Good morning from our window.  It was another exciting day in Yosemite.

After a yummy breakfast,

we made our way to Glacier Point.

A little hike…

Led us to the most amazing views.

We had a bird’s-eye view of the hotel.  Can you believe it took an hour to drive from the hotel to this very spot?  We were up there at an impressive 7,214′.

Can you spy our hotel now?  It’s down there, way down there.

A great big wow!  That’s what comes to mind.

The King and I – Glacier Point.

Taking it all in.

Half Dome – what a great view up here.

Here we are on our way back to the hotel making our way thru the tunnel at Tunnel View Yosemite.

We decided to return to Tunnel View that evening to get some shots.

Turns out, Tunnel View drew quite the professional photography group.  Joe, that’s Joe in the hat all set up to get some amazing shots.  He’s visiting with a couple who take shots for the Discovery Channel.

There’s Joe down there getting his shots.  And Roy is here in the blue shirt taking wow shots.  I know these things, I saw some of his work.  Allow me to say wow again.  WOW!

Thanks Joe, Tom and Mike and Roy for all the photography encouragement and advice.  And the laughs too!  It was such a delight to meet all of you!

Roy analyzing his shot.

I hope to one day be half as good as these guys.  Until then, I’ll keep snapping pix.

Blessings – Debbie

We Saved The Best For Last

It’s no secret, we had the best time in Big Sur.  But the time was up and time to move on to a new place.

The night before, we were sure to open the blinds, and prepare the camera for that sunrise, just like the day before.  Only this morning, we wanted to catch it right as it was coming up.

It didn’t work out as planned as the clouds rolled in and the sky was thick and overcast.  It was a sign that it was time to go.

As we made our way out, the hotel lobby seemed void of any moving creatures.

And just like that, we pulled away from the coast and all of the wonderful memories we made back in Big Sur.

As I sat in the passenger seat that morning, the clouds broke and the sky was the prettiest shade of blue.  But, doubt flooded over me.  Doubt that the high we were on in Big Sur would soon be squashed.  As we passed through the mountains, they were just not the same as looking at cliffs and rock and all the shades of the deep blue sea.

During that 4 hour drive, the camera was completely tucked away.  And somewhere in California those mountains turned to flat land and cattle, as far as the eye could see.  I recall piping up to hubby saying “I feel like we’re in Okeechobee, FL” Hubby to me “This feels like Arkansas to me.”  Yeah, I was a little worried that the high of beauty we were just on was totally g.o.n.e.

The question “will Yosemite live up to Big Sur?”  “Will excitement return?”

I took out the camera as we pulled into Yosemite National Park.

I think this Yosemite Valley Chapel was one of my first shots.  It’s not the best lighting but I loved this cute little Chapel!  Turns out, it’s been a place of worship and weddings for over 130 years.

At this point, excitement returned on this little one way road into the park.

On into the Valley we go.  Soon we are surrounded with granite all the way around.  And the falls, o the falls were amazing!

We were two very excited campers as we forged our way deep into the Valley.

Look, there’s Half Dome!

And the Ahwahnee Hotel!  The place we were to call home for the next few days.  We tried to come here last year but learned we needed to make reservations a year in advance, if we wanted to be sure to be here when we wanted.  So last May, we made our reservations to come this year for hubby’s 50th birthday.

We had plans to meet up with friends, so we chilled in the sitting room as we waited for them to arrive.

We meet again, old family friends.  I’ve known this amazing couple since I was 8 years old.  We were neighbors.  I played with their little girl when we were kids.  This amazing gentleman was the Minister in our wedding.  From the time I was a kid, I knew who would marry me one day.

What are the odds that we would be here in the same place vacationing at the same time?  WOW!  This was such a nice treat!

Love them!

The place we had lunch, dessert and coffee together.

It did our hearts good to see them again.

Soon hubby and I were back in our room admiring our view and figuring out how we wanted to spend the remains of our day.

Exploring, that’s all we wanted to do was explore the Valley floor.  And with that, I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking as I am completely out of words other than wow!

On that note, I was completely speechless at day’s end.  I will also say there is no way to compare Yosemite to Big Sur.  And I will say that we both agreed that “We saved the best for last.”

I’m thankful for the unexpected wow’s in life.  For the beauty in creation and nature at its best.  We still have much to see and explore.  I’ll be back!

Blessings – Debbie

Big Sur CA

Good morning from paradise!  Who knew the sun would poke me in the eye, in the morning, on the west coast?  Tis true, that big guy in the sky nudged me out of bed bright and early for this shot.  Taken from the balcony.

Since this leg of our trip was planned last min, we were not able to pillow our heads in Big Sur.  But we found a place (Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa) on up the road in Monterey Bay.  Although it was about an hours drive from Big Sur, the drive down was beautiful.

Shot from our balcony.

I was in love with the proximity of the hotel over the bay.  Shot from our balcony.

I caught this shot from our balcony as well.  We also watched fishing boats make a b-line out to sea.

As soon as we were ready to explore Big Sur, we hit the road.

Bixby Bridge, Big Sur CA

Panned the camera just away from the bridge to see the stunning cliffs and rocky coast.

We were here…

…having the time of our lives with nothing on the agenda other than to enjoy ourselves and take in the things we wanted to take in at our own pace.  It truly felt like vacation in every way.

I think this is yet another time when I was wishing hubby Happy Birthday.  I wished him Happy Birthday morning noon and night for 7 days straight.  He deserves the very best.

We were still at Bixby Bridge, but this is another shot of the coast on the other side.

After we had our fill at the bridge, we moseyed up the road.  This pic was taken from the passenger seat.

Another shot from the passenger seat.  That mountain running into the ocean is a Navy Facility of sorts.  We both agreed that was a nice strategic place.  If I were in the Navy, I would want to eat, sleep and work from there.

We stopped at Nepenthe for lunch.  It came highly recommended by friends and we can report that the food was amazing and so was the…

VIEW!

What a gorgeous day!

While there was a bit of haze, the weather was spot on.

A testament that this passenger could not sit still.

And the driver was delighted to pull off as we were on a mission to take it all in ’til our hearts were content to move on up/down the road.

Our next planned stop was a little hike in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

It was yet another beautiful place to get out and stretch our legs.

Something we continued to say about our trip “It is so easy on the eyes.”

A close up of the waterfall as seen in the above pic.

And another.

The little path, what fun!

The trail ended here.  Not a bad place to land.

It was another magical day filled with beauty at every twist and turn.

It’s a place we hope to return one day.  If not, these pictures will serve as a reminder of the joy we experienced while there.

Blessings – Debbie

From San Simeon to Big Sur, CA

Good day from San Simeon, CA!  It truly was a beautiful day.  A nice vacation day where we let the day unfold.

We fell asleep to the sounds of the crashing waves and woke to the same amazing sounds.  This was the morning view just outside our hotel sliding glass doors.

Many thanks to Yelp for helping us find this 5 star hole in the wall for lunch.  The food was fresh and amazing.

My tuna sandwich made with fresh ingredients.

So yummy and HUGE!  I could only eat half.

I particularly loved this old tractor they had parked out front.

Just outside the restaurant was this old schoolhouse that was built for the workers who were employed by William Randolph Hearst in the construction of his castle in San Simeon, CA.  If you look really close, you can see Hearst Castle to the left of the schoolhouse bell, up on the mountain top.

Speaking of Hearst Castle, it was our next stop.

What a grand place.

With amazing detail.

Hubby and I having a grand time.

A bit of detail

A little sneak peek of the side.

Just me, trying to take it all in.

And the views?  I do believe the views were my favorite part.

No doubt my absolute favorite part.

The 90,000 + sq foot Hearst Castle featured 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world’s largest private zoo.

One of the indoor fireplaces – From floor to ceiling.

The dining room set up as if they had dinner prepared for us.

Dining room detail from the other end of the room.

Billiards room

While I was fascinated with much of the artwork and rooms inside, I was more interested in the gardens, views and the great outdoors.

There was so much to see and many views to take in.

My heartbeat.

Yet another amazing view.  Currently there is 80,000 acres but Hearst used to own a whopping 250,000 acres which included all of the mountains you see in the far distance.

I was in awe of the whole feeling and area surrounding the castle.

Such beauty at each and every turn.

The indoor swimming pool.

We were able to walk the grounds alone (after our tour) and stay and enjoy the place until our hearts were content.

As we left, I was sure to capture a portion of the winding road that led us to and from the castle.

Once we were finished, we hit the road on up the coast to Big Sur.  Yes, we’re on this amazing road winding along the coast again!

Lucky for us, we were not on any deadlines to be anywhere at any certain time.  So in hubby and wifey fashion, we stopped along the way whenever we felt the urge to get out and enjoy the beauty.

Side Note: The stopping along the way part, was the plan.  Say we were on a regular road trip, neither of us would want to stop to smell the roses, unless we had to.

I took so many shots that I find it difficult to know which ones to post.  Thus, a lot of pix!

Another look at the same coastline, we’re just in a different spot.

While we were out there enjoying our surroundings, we heard the loudest noise down below.  We quickly looked down to see THIS!

Have you any idea how excited I was to see this whale?

Again, I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

This was the first time in my life to see a real whale, in the ocean!

Next thing, there were TWO!

I was such a happy lady.

It was hard to pull away from this amazing sight.

This is the rest area where we stopped.  Thank goodness we took the time to smell the roses.  We would have never seen the whales had we not taken the little hike out there to get a view of the ocean.

I was so excited on our way back to the car, that I was telling perfect strangers that if they hightail it to the ocean fast enough, that they too could see the whales.

We hit the road again, but we were no more than on the road and it called for another stop to take in beauty.

Another day on the road where there was no desire to grab for the pillow and take a little rest.  Why, I couldn’t put down my camera long enough to relax.

I did get a bit concerned that I would get carsick.  Last year, we took a similar winding road sort of drive and I got so carsick.  But this trip, I had no trouble.  I wonder if it had to do with the weight loss and the shape my body is in?  I have no idea, but I took these winding roads in stride.

On up the road and soon to pull over again.  That’s Bixby Bridge in Big Sur up ahead.  We stopped the next day on the other side of that bridge for more pix.

Another view

Same view panned out a bit.

Back on the road again.

Taken from the passenger seat.

Next stop, the hotel.  Pic taken from our room that evening.

While we had an ocean view room, we were located in the Bay and did not have sunset views from our room.  So we drove up the the road (approx 10 min) to enjoy the sunset.

I was so taken with our hotel on stilts.  The ground level was where we enjoyed dinner that evening.

And the moonrise from the balcony of our room, could not have been better.

What another amazing day filled with so many great memories.

If you made it to the end of this post, you are a trooper!  Sorry it was hard for me to post less pictures than this.

I need this post with all the details.  After all, this blog is for any who want to visit and for us during our rocking chair years as well.  🙂

Blessings – Debbie

Road Trip From San Diego to San Simeon, CA

Who doesn’t like a road trip?  I do believe I’ve enjoyed road trips ever since I was a little girl.  There’s always a certain element of excitement when the scenery is ever-changing.

In this case, we were just driving up the coast of CA.  Just driving up the coast?!  Well I had no idea all the excitement  and sites that were to come.  Although I did have a little idea of the beauty, I just wasn’t prepared to be blown away like I was, Every. Single. Day.  I had a pillow and blanket packed for passenger comfort but didn’t so much as think about using them.

The happy passenger.

And hubby, the best driver ever.  He never once let me in the driver seat.  And I must admit, there were times I felt guilty as he deserved to sit in the passenger seat to enjoy the beauty as much as me.

I was happy as a clam, bouncing off the walls taking way more pictures than a girl should be allowed.

Snapping away.

First stop = LA for lunch.

After lunch, we were right back on the road again.

We pulled over at the look out place to see what we could see.  There wasn’t much to see, until we climbed a little higher.

We took in this view and snapped a few pix.

Then we were right back on the road.

Although this shot is taken from the passenger seat, I like the feel of the motion and country side.  And I love that we could see the ocean on the other side of the road.

There was another look out place on up the road.  So we stopped in the Santa Barbara County Parks for this shot.  Have I mentioned what an amazing driver my hubby is?  Well he is, as he takes the time to stop along the way to smell the roses.  I love that!

Next stop – the place to pillow our heads for the night.  This is the view taken from just outside our room, on the coast of San Simeon, CA.

We made dinner reservations early such that we could get back to our room to watch this.

This is the spot where we sat on a bench, enjoying the view that evening.

What a treat!

A beautiful day and night we will never forget.

And right on cue, we were right back out to find the Super Moon.  I searched all around to find a place where I could frame it.  I like this spot, it was magical.

And this my friends, is a wrap of the first day of vacation.  I’ll be back with more vacation pix, as there are 6 more days of vacation to come.

Blessings – Debbie

Hello May

Well good day and happy May!  Can it really be May already?

Well May is here and there is so much to look forward to.  Summer is upon us and plans for fun seem to be discussed each and every weekend and evening in between.

Plans to travel, celebrate hubby’s birthday, see friends and family, attend a very special wedding, Visit the Grand Canyon, visit a castle, summer BBQ’s, visit the beach, travel to Las Vegas, celebrate my birthday, a planned trip to Yosemite, visit LA, baseball, celebrate our anniversary, have another wedding ceremony – just hubby and me (I’m in love that this was totally hubby’s idea), visit Disneyland and most importantly, time together.  While some of the things on this list may fall off, there’s no doubt that we’re going to have a total blast this summer.

With all of the planning and excitement that fills our home, we still continue to work hard on the good health front.  So much so that I’m ready to post an update before all of the summer fun comes rushing in.

I continue to be amazed that more weight continues to drop.  I’m now below where my Dr. originally wanted me.  That’s huge for me!  I’m encouraged daily and feel a sense that I finally hold the reins to health and the balance between good and evil foods.

It’s a time where I’m preparing for weight gains during the summer fun and celebrations as well as taking it right back off when the party’s over.  We’ve learned to live and celebrations are and will always be a part of living.  But we have learned that together, we can get right back up and take the weight right back off faster than we put it on.  The key is getting up when the party’s over.

I may bring this subject up again during the summer months when the “party’s over”.  I want to talk about how there is no shame with those gains.  We accept them for what they are and would do it all over again.  That’s part of the whole process.  To be an encouragement to each other is huge!  And together, there is no doubt in my mind that we will conquer whatever it is we set out to do.

I had the joy of shopping for new clothes again yesterday.  I really need new clothes as things are starting to sag and fall off of me.

The most bizarre thing happened.  No matter what I was trying on, I continued to grab for two different sizes.  But the smaller sizes continued to fit over and over.

And I continued to doubt that I really am here after working so hard this past year.  I wonder how long it will take for me to just grab one size, my size?

Lately I’ve been focusing on my arms and pumping that iron hubby bought for me.  He makes an amazing trainer!  My arms are a feel good sore daily.  Not too much, but just right.  He has the plan now lodged into my head and I’m working so hard on tone.  He said, just the other night how he can already see a (little) difference.  Makes me happy!  I keep thinking I need to take before pictures and share the before and after pictures in a few months.

Another subject regarding my health that seems to be on the front burner is my skin health.  I just had my very first visit with a dermatologist to have a full check for skin cancer.  Cheers to a clean slate to date!

But then, just two weeks ago, I did the craziest thing.  I went to the beach (it was pretty cloudy) and didn’t put on my sunscreen.  What was I thinking?  Right, I was thinking, I’m covered all except for my legs and it’s so cloudy, no need for sunscreen today.  Not good.

Two weeks later, my legs look like this.  It’s not pretty, but I’m just keeping things real.  And  I’m thinking “never go in the sun or clouds without my 30 SPF ever again.”

Next up, hubby got the most amazing report from his blood work.  His cholesterol could not be any better and his weight loss to date is somewhere around 67 pounds.  I could not be happier for him.

I’m so thankful we make a team and sticking right beside each other as we seek our ultimate good health goals.

Cheers to summer fun, celebrations, treats, good eats, weight gain (no, it is not a bad word), time together and returning to good healthy habits at the close of each and every party.

Blessings – Debbie

B-17 – The Flying Fortress

What a weekend for us to remember.  We were blessed to get to a chance to fly in this plane along the beautiful coast of So Cal on Saturday afternoon.

The forward fuselage and the # 3 engine.

We were really looking forward to taking flight in this Flying Fortress.

The “Nine O Nine”

Quite a crowd gathered to watch the planes.

Here she is racing down the runway for takeoff!

We arrived a couple of hours before our flight such that we could watch the mighty  take flight.

Here’s the P-51 Mustang AKA “Betty Jane” speeding for takeoff!

Hey Betty Jane!  Nice of you to flyby!

I had the privilege of visiting with this retired pilot of the B-24.  He was stationed in Africa, then England and flying the B-24 at the early age of 22.  His daughter brought him out to watch his baby fly.  This warmed my heart.

Note:  This is the only restored flying B-24 in the world.

The B-24

B – 24 – The “Big Guns”

B-24 – Heading for the runway!

Look OUT!  Incoming B – 17!

Here we are (hubby and his buddy from work) getting ready to board!  There were a total of 8 passengers on our flight.

Fasten those seat-belts!  We’re in for the ride of our lives!

All set.

I’m ready as ever.

Earplugs going in.  Thanks to hubby’s buddy for bringing some for us too.

The crew “up front” giving the hand-signal that it’s time to get up off the floor and explore!  Woo Hoo, let’s go!

The Port Waist Gun – My seat (on the floor) was just below this terminator.

Starboard Waist Gun

My hubby on “The Catwalk”

Our Pilot and Co-Pilot at the Controls

We crawled down below the pilots and into the Nose Turret!  That’s the Bombadier’s Seat.  This was the place to be!  I even got a kiss in here.  🙂

I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be in one of these planes fighting for freedom and our lives.

Nose Turret, Gun and Ammo

Nose Turret Ammo

The view was simply amazing up here!

Hubby sitting in the Bombadier’s Seat

Engines

Horizontal Bombs in vertical racks – I don’t want a piece of you!

Having the Best Bad Hair Day of my life!  In the Upper Turret.

Hubby has the Starboard Waist Gun under control!

His buddy gives hubby a rest.

Got Ammo?

Ammo, got ya covered!

Port Waist Gun – Heading back to the airport.

What a treat!

We truly had the time of our lives.

A silhouette of hubby taking a picture of the B-17 after we landed.

What an amazing day, a day we will never forget.

There aren’t enough words or pictures to express the high we were all on long after this flight.   Let’s just say, we hope to do this again one day.

Blessings – Debbie

My Very Own Personal Trainer

Top o the morning to you!  It’s such a pretty day and I’m looking forward to a lot of fun this weekend with the hubs.

Today is my day to do the finishing touches on the house, laundry and food shopping, as tomorrow is hubby’s Friday off.  I could go for these nice long weekends every week, but I gladly take these every other Friday off work weeks.

This gives a good idea of what we were up to last evening.  And many thanks to hubby for nailing this amazing set on Craigslist for a steal.

He was set on rubber ends and he didn’t stop until he found just what he was looking for.  I also love that the set came with this dandy double-decker 5′ long rack.  He’s looking to add heavier weights for himself in the future.

This set came from a gym that went under.  *sad*  But we’re happy to take over this commercial gym equipment.  🙂

The adjustable seated incline bench was a major bonus as we went to pick up the dumbbells and there was a bench too!

I’m happy as a clam following hubby’s instructions.  I don’t think this line-up was part of the instruction for today.  But who doesn’t like a line-up?

So last evening, he had me lifting in sets of 20 with the 3 pound weights.  He showed me several ways to lift for all the different arm and shoulder muscles.

He’s well aware of how my upper body could be out of commission for days if I were to hit it hard.  I love the way my baby rolls, always looking out for me.

So today I woke and didn’t so much as feel a teensy muscle ache.

He bumped it up for me today, but just a little.

I’m so in love my trainer!  He’s the BEST!

Blessings – Debbie

What I Consider a VIP

Good afternoon!  It’s that kind of afternoon when all feels right with the world.  Birds are chirping, it’s such a pretty day and after the pool man leaves, I may go soak in the sunshine (with my 30 sunblock) for a spell.

These pictures have nothing to do with this post, but they were taken during my stroll in the garden this morning.

It’s also an exciting day because hubby and I are looking to pick up a dumbbell set complete with a rack this evening.  I wonder how sore my arms will feel in the morning?

We’ve come such a long way in the last 9 months and it’s only getting better on the health front.

Although, Pinterest is killing me with all the things I find that need pinning.  Truth be told, most of the sweet/not so healthy things I pin, I think about using around the holidays or special parties/events.

Speaking of holidays, I’m happy to report that we haven’t baked anything since last Christmas.  I’m pretty impressed.

That’s not to say we haven’t had our sweet tooth taken care of every now and then.  And there is no shame allowed when we agree to a sweet treat/unhealthy meal fix.  In doing those things, we’ve found that our bodies are so forgiving after the splurge.  And we find that sometimes it’s just good for the soul to get it out of the system.

To celebrate every pound down as a (VIP) Very Important Pound, is huge.  Each pound down is a victory, worthy of celebration!

Blessings – Debbie