Month: November 2011

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Today I am Thankful for …

Ali
Today I am thankful for the many blessings of life …
… a wonderful husband!  We have walked many different roads in 36 years.  We have shared joy & sorrow, laughter & tears, fears & triumphs.  We have moved 34 times in 36 years (not counting all the moves with the motor home:), owned way too many cars, and become the best friends that anyone could want.
… two wonderful sons, two great daughters-in-love, and four terrific grandchildren!!!
… friends, oh so many friends.  Having lived in Nevada and Washington and the Netherlands we have met so many different people who have blessed us over and over with their friendship.  I have Blog & RV’r friends who I have never met in person but I count as friends ~ and we have had the pleasure of meeting in person many of those blog and rv’r friends and our life is richer for that.
… a great church family at Northwood Alliance Church in Blaine, WA.  They have stood by us as we have traveled the into the valleys and up to the mountain tops.  They have prayed with us and for us too many times to count.
… I am blessed to have a great job where I get to work with and meet so many fun people and especially getting to work each day with my hubby.  
Yes, I am truly blessed and I thank the Lord for my life and where I am today. 
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Today I am Thankful for ,,,

Ali
New friends…yesterday Ron and I took a road trip to Austin, TX to meet up with some Families on the Road families.
We had a great time visiting, watching all the children play and of course share a meal.
And then we drove home.  It was a cold and clear night.  And we were without a top or sides on the Jeep.   And we took the long way home.  Ron has been saying since we have been here in Texas that he wanted to go to Luckenbach, TX and so we did.
While driving home we had a beautiful sky of a sliver of a moon and seeing Jupiter.  Here are the pictures I took while Ron was driving.
 And then he stopped and I got a great picture of the moon with Jupiter just below it.  
We are so thankful for God’s creation and beautiful show He gave us last night on our way home.
 
It was 46′ when we pulled into Hondo at 8:30 p.m. and we both had chattering teeth.   We left Austin around 3:00 p.m.  Took us almost six hours drive home and it only took us 2 1/2 hours to get to Austin.  We definitely know how to make a short trip take a long time.  After a stop at Walmart we made the final trek home…where it was nice and warm.
We laughed as we pulled into Lone Star Corral when Ron commented that we drove 319 miles between 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. ~ our normal travel days are usually not more than 250 miles!
All this to say I am thankful for new friends and a sweet hubby who loves to drive even though we were so crazy to not put the top or sides on the Jeep before going for our drive!!  And for the opportunity to see God’s beauty in so many different way.
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Today I am Thankful for

Ali

Today I am thankful for a fun day with my hubby.  First I balanced the checkbook (not so fun but it balanced the first time through 🙂 and then we cleaned the motor home together and then got out the Christmas decorations…the best part!!  We have lights up in the living room, on the tree, down the hall and into the bathroom – it is definitely a Christmas light festival in here oh and Snowflake lights in the living room.  The tree is up and Scooby Doo has sang his song a few times and the Christmas bear is sitting guard on the edge of the couch. 

We also got some little packages ready for our grands and adopted grands.  Will get those in the mail on Monday.

And all the while cleaning and decorating we watched Christmas movies…new ones and old ones…but all with the message of sharing love with others.  Exactly what the Christmas season is about.

I am thankful for a loving husband who knows how to help me have a fun even when there are little chores to be done!

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Where Have I Been???

Ali
Wow it’s been a month since I posted on here…I bet some of you are wondering where I have been.  Well let’s see….

…. we took 2 1/2 days off 11/9 – to 11 and went Garner State Park and Lost Maples State Park all about an hour or so from here.  What a peaceful time we had.  No internet, no cell phone service.  Just quiet.  We never even hooked up the television set.  We read, went for a couple of walks, took a drive to Leakey, TX and went to a few antique shops.

… and then we worked the weekend of 11/12 & 13.  That Saturday was the Annual Flea Market here in the park.  WOW what a lot of stuff people had to sell.  I bought  few cross-stitch kits and lots of earrings and a necklace handmade by Bonnie, the VP.  I just love her jewelry.  If you want some nice dangly type earrings they are $5 a pair…let me know what color and I will pick them up and send them onto you.  She uses the most beautiful stones and even has special holiday ones too.  The evening of the 12th we went to a fundraiser in D’Hanis where they had bands playing, a huge raffle and live auction.  The fundraiser was for a local man who is facing some major health issues.  Heard they had raised over $10,000 for him.  And the best part was I won two of the raffle items: a bottle of red wine in a basket and a $24 gift certificate for the Buckhorn Saloon Restaurant & Bar.  We will be going there sometime in December.

… and then on 11/14 we picked up Dee from the airport.  Dee came for a week’s visit as a gift to her and I for our birthday’s from Ron.  We had a ton of fun, ate way too much, gabbed a lot, and then played tourist for two days.  Saturday we went to Christmas in God’s Country in Hondo, then to a fiddler show and potluck here at the park and then back into Hondo for the lighted Christmas parade.  It was a fun, fun day.  On Sunday we went into San Antonio – went to the Golden Corral for breakfast then off to the Alamo and then to the Riverwalk where we road the boat for tour and then walked around for quite awhile and then we headed to the Buckhorn Saloon in San Antonio – what a beautiful museum.  They have a huge western museum with a room about Bonnie & Clyde, lots of exotic animals, a fun house and the Texas Rangers museum.   And then we returned to the motor home for light dinner of salad.  Oh and we had a Daily’s one evening…I got another friend hooked on them 🙂

And then before we knew it it was time to take her back to the airport and send her back to Blaine.  But first we had to stop at Heavy’s for BBQ for lunch together.  After lots of hugs and some tears I waved her through security so she could return to her family.  

And then back to work on Tuesday for us.  And that brings us to Thanksgiving Day.  We shared a meal in the clubhouse.  We hosted our table.  We were eleven people: Jack & Liz, Jane & Jerry, Kay & Bill, Mike & Elaine, Bill C and Ron & I.  We had so much food and great company.  After sharing the meal and visiting for a few hours we all headed back to our rigs for a good ole afternoon nap.  (That’s what Ron is doing right now).

Tomorrow I am venturing out at 5:45 a.m. w/Bonnie and Rose to go to Beall’s (kinda like JC Penney’s)  they have Sketchers on sale for $29.99 regularly $120 – hopefully they will have a pair in my size.  And after a whirlwind shopping trip we will go to McDonalds for a quick breakfast before I head to the office and Bonnie & Rose do what ever they do – they are the retired ones of the bunch 🙂

So that’s what I’ve been up to!!  Hope y’all have had a nice Thanksgiving Day with family or friends.  I know we did.
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Today I am Thankful for … Skype!

Ali

Got a text from Max right after work today – “Do you want to Skype?”  You betcha!!!!

It was so fun to see Treyson.  He now weighs 20 lbs 3 oz and is 27″ long.  The size of a one year old.  His hair is super blond and he giggles with his eyes.  So fun to see.

Christopher was his usual bouncy self.  He told me today was a “no school day” and then laughed out loud.  And then he showed us a turkey he made with his handprint – I remember when his Daddy and Uncle Jamie made those same kind of turkey’s.

Max was busy playing a Wii game and not much of a conversationalist tonight.  Maybe next time.

Danalyn and I were able to visit for awhile which was nice.  We don’t get to do that very often.  Brandon was busy working on dinner: broccoli – cheddar soup.  Sounds yummy.

Again, thankful for the technology of today that lets me spend time with my family even when we are hundreds of miles away.

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Today I am Thankful for a fun project.

Ali
Today I am thankful for a fun project.  I saw these cute little turkey’s on a blog (can’t remember which one) and thought they would make great name cards for our Thanksgiving table.
So I bought Oreos, fudge frosting, candy corn, colored writing frosting and gel and malt balls.  And set to work.  I made thirteen of these little guys.  Eleven for our Thanksgiving table and two for Bonnie as a treat. 
What do you think?  Kinda cute, definitely not perfect, but will definitely brighten up our Thanksgiving meal.
These two went to Ed & Bonnie tonight.
From a distance.
Eleven more are hiding in the freezer.  They will come out tomorrow and reside in the fridge till dinner on Thursday.  Will definitely keep these in mind the next time we are with the grandkids for a Thanksgiving in the future.
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Today I am Thankful for a funtabulous fun day!

Ali
Today I am thankful for a funtabulous fun day spent with my hubby and best friend, Dee.  We were up early this morning and headed out for San Antonio about 8:30 a.m.  First stop was the Golden Corral for breakfast buffet.  What a great breakfast ~ we had banana nut french toast, eggs, hash browns, baked ham, biscuits & gravy, omelet and banana pudding – well that is what we each had some of 🙂

And then we were off to The Alamo.  What a fun time walking around and reading all about the history of the Alamo and seeing some beautiful artwork.  After spending a couple of hours there we made our way to the Riverwalk.  First up was a ride on the barge – so fun and saw so many cool pieces of architecture and again so much history.  After the boat ride we then walked part of the way and then made our way to the Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger museum.  We enjoyed a margarita (me) and a beer (Ron), Dee passed, as we walked around the museum.  What a place to go…so would recommend it to anyone coming to San Antonio.  I think we spent about 3 hours there.  And then we walked back to the car and made our way back to the motor home.

What a beautiful day – it got to 94′ and was gorgeous to be with two very special in my life.

On the way home we drove through Castroville so we could show Dee the beautiful Catholic church.  Again we saw many old homes, so many of them made of rock and just amazing.

What a beautiful day – so thankful we had a day to play and just see some amazing things.
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Today I am Thankful for my hubby

Ali
Today I am thankful for my hubby who goes above and beyond for me.  Without going into a lot of details (they fall under Too Much Information) I am so thankful that Ron is right there when I have a little emergency and he doesn’t flinch or get frustrated when I need help with some yucky stuff.

Thank You Ron for being the BEST hubby any girl could ask for.  I love you ‘mensly.
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Today I am Thankful that I know how to KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT

Ali

Today I am thankful that I know how to keep my mouth shut!!!  Because otherwise I might have blown my top and been fired from my job here at the Lone Star Corral.

I would like to know what makes some people think they are so perfect that they cannot have the grace to allow others to make mistakes and then apologize for that mistake.  But no, they wine, mumble so people can’t understand their mumbling and then make snide comments about people not doing their job right.

So I copied something upside down – dang, it didn’t look upside down to me.  I apologized, offered to redo it, apologized two more times after some rude comments and then walked back to my desk.  And I am not apologizing again.  Three times is just plenty.

So yes, today I am thankful that I do know how to control my mouth even when my brain is running full steam ahead and would have liked to have said a huge mouthful. 

That’s all for today!

Oh yes, I am also thankful for a loving hubby and good friend who said I handled the situation with grace and dignity.

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Where is the time going?

Ali
Where is the time going?

I missed posting last night and here it is already Thursday night.  I continue to have much to be thankful for.  

I am thankful for a hubby who loves me even when I am grumpy at him for no reason.  Being tired and hungry is no excuse for grumping at him over something someone else said to me in an email.  I will try to do better tomorrow.

I am thankful for a best friend who does not mind that I don’t have all day to just sit and be with her.  She is understanding that I am working and that our conversations get interrupted without notice and that I sometimes forget what we were talking about 10 minutes before the interruption.  She also doesn’t mind that I am not the best hostess this week in preparing breakfast and lunch.  Thanks for being willing to eat a peanut butter sandwich while I ate my liverwurst sandwich (she doesn’t like liverwurst and the only other thing I had to offer was peanut butter).  Now dinner is a different story ~ tonight we went to Bill & Rosa’s and we all brought home enough leftovers to make a nice lunch tomorrow.  I am so glad she likes me just the way I am.

I am thankful for a quiet evening at home, where we can just sit and watch a couple of TV shows and visit during commercials.  And we can just be us here at home.


Yes I am blessed with a wonderful hubby and best friend.