Monthly Archives: November 2009

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

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So today my girlfriend picked me up at the doorstep of my hotel and whisked me off to another great adventure. First she had a piece of furniture to pick up and then, well, we basically flew by the seat of our britches.

After our little jaunt to the store was over we began discussing hunger and lunch. Granted it was only 10:00 in the morning but for some reason our bodies are still on Eastern Time. Twas at that very moment when my girlfriend exclaimed “I wanna go somewhere fun”. More along the lines of something beachy which was an easy fix since the beach is practically in our backyard.

Today was the first day of my life to set foot on the pacific coast. And what a glorious event it was for me.


And “Beautiful Beth”


Ok so my friend pinched me a time or two just to remind me that we were here together enjoying our day.

Since we both had Star Bucks coffee we were more than willing to hold off on our lunch. So we decided to walk along the beach for a while.


And on our little walk we came upon these tracks running right along the beach. I hope to one day have the opportunity to hop on a train and explore the area by train.


After a while we decided it was time to turn around and walk back to the restaurant.

We got there just before the doors opened and was one of the lucky guests to secure a window seat next to the beach.


After lunch we drove over to another spot where we could walk and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

My friend pauses to post on facebook


We walked and stopped to take pictures


And enjoyed the ever changing scenery


We paused to watch the wildlife sun themselves


And these seals completely stopped us right in our tracks. It’s as if they really had something to say.


Aw just look at them out here in the wild.


One more shot of them from a distance ~ I hope to see you next time I visit!


I think they were having engagement pictures taken. They were just too cute not to capture.


Another picture along our merry way


We stopped to just sit and enjoy the day ~ Love Beth’s pretty toes in this pic.


Later in the afternoon we pulled ourselves away from the beach and enjoyed a little shopping.


And that concludes another fabulous day discovering our new home.

A Visit To Seaport Village

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I’ve been blessed with friendships but am thankful that after 20 years I caught up with a very dear friend (Beth) of mine. We met at her lovely condo in San Diego and walked from there to Seaport Village.

Here’s the famous “war is over” statue of the sailor/nurse embrace in Seaport Village and me.


Again from a distance


We stopped for a spot of coffee and after two rounds we ordered lunch. This was such a nice place to visit and catch up with each other.


After lunch we hit the shops


A reminder that this is a shop I must go back to.


We kept reminding ourselves that we weren’t on vacation, in fact, this is home! Beth just moved out here just one month before me, from a totally different state than me. We enjoyed feasting our eyes on the trees and flowers here in paradise.

The White Bird of Paradise


Have no idea what this big leafy thing is called but we were intrigued.


Enjoyed the park like setting amongst the little shops where ducks played underneath the shade trees.


We walked along the marina


We climbed the steps at the Convention Center and found this statue at the top. It was named Flame Of Friendship – How profound for us as our friendship rekindled after 20 years.


Looking out from the top of the Convention Center there was a beautiful view of the Coronado Bridge and in the distance waving her hand was the mast of the BMW Racing sailboat.


And then made our way into the city


Didn’t have to wait long for the trolley to zoom by


Passed by Kansas City BBQ where a scene from Top Gun was filmed back in the day.


After we had our fill of walking in the city, we went back to my friends condo to polish off the remains of the afternoon.

I was delighted to be able to watch this gorgeous sunset from the balcony of Beth’s condo.


She and her hubby have floor to ceiling walls of windows that provide amazing views all the way around.

And that concludes my day with Beth as I had to get back to pick up my dearest from work so that we could go out to dinner.

May our friendships blossom and grow with the time spent together. I look forward to our next meeting. Right, that’s tomorrow as we have furniture shopping…to do together.

The Dust Has Settled

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I left San Diego one week ago today and flew back to our home. There were so many loose ends to wrap up before we could settle back here in CA.

The first evening back home seemed cold and lonely without hubby. There was a stark incomplete feel as I got out of the cab all alone on that cold dark night. The house was dark and cold as the thermostat had been turned down to a cool 60 degrees. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and dream that hubby was right there beside me. That night when hubby called he announced that it should be a law that we should never have to be separated again. But sometimes we have to do what we have to do and be thankful that we don’t have to be separated too much.

One of the big jobs was to have the builder’s crew back out to the house to repair the wood floor that was damaged by our movers. It was an ugly mess that I don’t even like to talk about. Electrical power saws were brought in to cut the wood out and the mess of dust all over the house was a nightmare. Just thinking about it is a nightmare.

I finished squaring away with our movers regarding the claim we turned in. The adjuster came out Tuesday for a meeting to go over everything with me. I was more than satisfied with they way they handled our claim.

Wednesday was a day of pampering as I was LONG overdue to have my hair done. I said goodbye to the ole gray mare and hello to my old brunet self.

Hubby flew into town Thursday evening (making my world complete in every way) to spend a couple days wrapping up the things he wanted done.

On Friday morning, my car was picked up by the towing company to ship her out to CA. It was hard to believe that the leaves that were here just two weeks ago were all gone by the time I got back.


Saturday we made it to the UPS store with 6 large boxes filled with stuff we wanted with us out here. I also made one last swoop through the house with my dust rag, vacuum and mop. That’s it, I’m done talking about that mess hence forth and forever more!

After the sun set that evening the sky lit up in the prettiest shades of pink and blue and as we said goodbye to our last little view out back.


Sunday we bounced out of bed at 3:45am so that we could be to the airport by 5:15am in order to catch our 6:15am flight. Our flight didn’t go as planned due to the dense fog but we managed to arrive home last evening safe and sound.

Now that we’ve landed, it feels so peaceful to have all that stuff behind us. We’re looking ahead with so much excitement and it’s going to take a while for it to really sink in that we are really home sweet home. It’s a place we’ve dreamed of living and we feel so blessed that dreams really do come true.

View From The Window Seat

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Twas the sound of the alarm at 3:45am yesterday that launched us into gear and out of bed. Hubby and I both had early morning flights within 5 min of each other. Hubby was off to Indy on business and I was flying into NY (back to our home).

My seatbelt was secured and all the little things I wanted from my bag (for the duration of the flight) were tucked into the magazine holder in front of my chair. And with that I was ready to sit back and enjoy the flight.

Up up and away – Looking down on San Diego


As we climb past the city


Good morning sunshine


Landscape changes


The voice over the loudspeaker had just announced that the aircraft had reached its cruising altitude and that the passengers were free to unfasten their seatbelts and move about the cabin.

But with this view, there was no sitting back and relaxing or moving about the cabin – I was completely mesmerized.


I quickly forgot about my book and toys that I had planned for my trip.


As I was captivated with the beautiful world God created.


In this photo you can see we are getting close to the desert, just over this greenish looking stretch of mountains.


The abrupt change looking at the desert floor


Seeing the changes for the first time in my life from the window of the aircraft was amazing, to put it mildly.


Wow

And then, just like that there was a distinct line drawn in the sand. And all of a sudden there’s life down below.


And the sandy desert floor quickly turned into a pretty quilt below.


Then just like that another distinct line was drawn in the sand.


This picture of the desert looked as if it were the beach with coral and white caps.


And how it looked down below as we crossed over.


It was amazing to see the ever changing landscape


When all of a sudden I spied these circles in the middle of the desert.


Zoomed in


One last shot. Does anyone know what the heck these are?


So this desert shot looked like a huge tree fossil to me.


Another shot directly above it


And that wraps up the first two hours of my flight

And for the remainder of the flight across the US the big fluffy clouds took over.


As much as I enjoyed the pretty view, I couldn’t help wonder what all I was missing down below.


Landing into Philly


Bye Philly


Hello NY!


And that concludes the end of the day, the last leg of my trip had come to a close.

What a beautiful day, experiencing some of God’s greatness!

Loving Our New Home

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I’ve certainly enjoyed my surroundings here at the hotel the last couple weeks. Here’s a little snippet of the area.

Out back


At 10 past 12 I was on my way to pick up my last load of laundry.


The little path along the way – I love to pile my sorted dirty laundry in a nice big suitcase to transport it to the laundry room. Sure made the load lighter.


A sweet little couple reading in the shade


Plenty of covered places to grill and visit on the grounds


This little spot in the shade enticed me


The bees at work


At a snail’s pace


And couldn’t help but stop and enjoy some flowers too


Tomorrow is my last full day here in beautiful CA as I’m making my way back to our home up north. Crazy thing is that I don’t want to leave this beautiful place.

Hubby and I discussed how we would love to return to our home for Thanksgiving. That discussion obviously took place before we settled in CA. Those plans to return have quickly changed and other plans have filled the slot.

There’s still work to be done on our home as we have the builder lined out to be there next week. I also need my car and we have made arrangements for the movers to pick up my car next week.

Since hubby has business in the east next week, he’ll be joining me for the weekend when we plan to finish up all our duties at our home and we will both return to CA next Sunday.

I haven’t even left and I can’t wait to get back. I’m so in love here and happy we have the privilege of calling this place home sweet home.

California Days

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So much is going on now that we’ve settled in to our new home sweet home out west. So I’ve decided to share some pictures from around here.

Found a little historic shopping area the other day.


The 10ish – 6ish struck me funny


Every time I see these bowls, I’m reminded of my mom and her nice set (just like the roosters) when I was a wee whipper snapper.


This antique Indian chest (marked sold) kinda intrigued me. Not that I wanted in it, rather curious about its history and all the places its been.


Some pictures of the beautiful landscape in these parts


I’m smitten here in this beautiful place


We used to have these “birds” in our yard (when we lived down south) and it’s a treat seeing them bloom here.


Such a pretty bird


Found a nice BBQ place to dine the other night and I’m thinkin’ we’ll be back.


We spent all of one day finding our next place to call home. True, it’s an apartment but tucked in a beautiful area where we both love so much. Just one look around the place and hubby and I asked “where can we sign”? So we signed the papers and we’re both ready as ever to move in. We still have about a month to wait to get the unit we want, ‘til then, we’re bunking in a “Hotel California”.