New England Trip: Day One

Flying home to Florida from Manchester, NH at the end of September is one of the greatest things!

A very different feel than a plane full of families traveling to all points south.
No screaming babies or antsy toddlers; instead it was people headed home, from their home.

If you know anyone from New England than you know how much we love our neck of the woods.
Why wouldn't we.
We have the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.

Plus,
It's beautiful and chocked full of history.
It's why, on this pilgrimage home to Newport, NH, we hit a few of the many spots that make all Yankees love their land.

As with any trip my first piece of advice is to travel with someone you love to be with, for me it's this guy!
Friday was day 1 on our road trip. We headed toward the second longest covered bridge in the country, it held the record for the longest until last year when a new on was built in Ohio. The winding back roads and mountain views were certainly a sight for these Floridian eyes.

I love barns and dairy farms. They sprinkle the countryside adding sight and smell to the drive.

We made it! The Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge spans the Connecticut River between Cornish, NH and Windsor, VT. As a middle schooler we drove this bridge to church every Sunday.

If you visit, make sure you get out and walk into the bridge. The locals with grumble about you, calling you a "leaf peeper" or a "flat-lander", but never mind them! Stop and smell the roses.
So here I am taking my own advice:

But don't forget to walk your horses.

Here's the church I attended from 7-9th grade, I never knew it had the top steeple.

We headed north out of town in Windsor, VT and arrived at our next destination: Simon Pearce. Their studio has a viewing gallery. We stayed for hours watching these guys blow glass. From the floor view to a catwalk around the whole shop, it was amazing. I now have a desire to blow me some glass, and I have a seasonal friend who has the stuff to do it!

This was the finished piece. It took 2 guys 10-15 minutes and it sells for $118. Crazy huh?

Leaving Simon Pearce we continued our journey north on Route 5 to Lebanon, NH. We met our friend Justin at the Co-Op grocery for lunch at their cafe. A spot for locals and easy on the pocket.

We then drove into Hanover, NH, visited the Dartmouth Bookstore and took a spin around the Dartmouth College campus as well as a drive-by where Steve had his first job at a gas station.

The green at Dartmouth:

Leaving Hanover Steve napped while I drove to our hometown of Newport. Back roads open up to views like this:

We hiked on the property we'd love to build a little place on:

Stone walls amaze me. They come in different shapes and sizes but each wall holds a story of days gone by.

After hiking we visited my brother and saw my nephew off to work. Love his car!

That night we finished it off with family, food and this little guy: my nephew.

Actually the evening came and we hit the local pub with some old friends. Jenny has been my BFF since 7th grade gymnastics class, Trevor since back in high school when myself and all the cheerleaders would eat at his house, Vanessa a friend from later high school/early married years and John who not only was in HS with us but also is hanging out with Vanessa now!

So day one on our trip to NH was a very Chillaxing day. My heart aches for home when I am there, yet the flight home always breeds excitement, for as of today Florida is my home.

We did not go to NH for the scenery however, it was for a wedding.

That was day 2.

Those pics to come tomorrow.

Happy to be home and with my family.

Day two, go here.

Tight Lipped

Teenage boys don't like to tell their mom about the girl situation in their life.

Instead they ask for dad.

I told him, "All the books say you should be talking with me about this, afterall I am a girl and so I know the mind of one better than dad."

...to which I got a hug, a kiss and a laugh, "Mom you go too crazy over the girls stuff."

Note to all who read this: I do not go crazy over the girl stuff, I only plot to sabatoge all interaction he may have with a female; of course all the plotting goes on in my head- he knows nothing of it.

Although, according to his response he's on to me.

Darm those teenage girls.

Hands-On Engineering

Vaughan had a project to work on for his engineering class. From what I could tell he had to create something that was useful for something, that his project would be triggered by someone elses different project/invention. Don't you just love the description from teenage boys?
Vaughan decided he wanted to make a guillotine that would cut cheese.

It started as a 2 bladed guillotine but the final project only has one blade.

Such a sharp idea!

Time With Him

Red lights.
Some days my life is so fast paced I can't stand it.
Zoom over here and quick get back to fly over there.
Guitar.
Work.
School.
Erands.
Bank.
Grocery store.
the list never seems to end.

Then, sudenly,
I stop.
Not because I want to.
No, I stop because I have to.

Red lights are a nice time for me to stop and reflect on God, I've needed extra time for that recently.

I like to start by thanking God for stopping me at the light so I can notice Him around me.

It may be the tree blowing in the breeze
or
the brainpower it took man to create such tall city buildings.

So next time you stop at a red light, even if you're behind schedule take the time to look around and enjoy the stillness.

A red light is good for that.

More Sewing!

So not only did I sew most of Saturday but Sunday too! I modified this bag that I had made about 6 months ago for my nephew Nicolas, who I will also see at the end of this week! His dad is a firefighter so I thought this was perfect.
I made another crayon roll, they are super easy and tons of fun to make.

I found the fabric for this bag at a thrift store a few years ago. I didn't know what I would do with it but I loved the print. Not sure of the age of the fabric but it's vintage to me! This bag will be a great shopping bag!

I also made a small change purse for my friend Katie (no picture) and then made these two. The one on the right is a medium size pouch for make-up and girly things while the green flower pouch on the left is a perfect travel pouch for money and ids, I even made an inside pocket for my cell phone! I plan on using this on my upcoming trip.

So that's more of my latest creations. I also have spoils from my garden to talk about as well as a sharp project done by Vaughan and Stephan.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday - frozen pizza
Tuesday - chicken salad
Wednesday - sub sanwiches
Thursday - green chili
Friday - Mimi's treat
Saturday - yoyo night (your on your own)
Sunday - grilled bbq chicken

I Sewed Today!

These are for my nephew Terance, he's almost 2. I get to see him in 1 week!

Bag from Make Cute Stuff and crayon roll pattern over here.

Happy sewing!

Keepin' It Real

This is a picture from the turnaround point on my morning walk.
Beautiful!
Just to keep it real around here: I had a rough night last night.
Lost my temper with the family and was pretty much ready to pack it all in and be done with it.
I got over it.
Kind of.
OK, so I did, but part of me wants to not have gotten over it, ever felt that way?
Living with boys, teenagers, the testosterone gender, people can be tough. Various opinions, habits and lack of habits can drive me nuts.
So much so, that I have nights like last night.
Things are better today, I've spent time with Jesus in prayer although I am exhausted; being exhausted when home schooling can be tough.
I was reminded today that the Lord is with me while I am living with these other people.
He is all I need.
He is my strength.
Somedays that is all the peace I get, all the peace I need.

Psalm 29:11
the LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Plan B

I read this post and it made me think about Plan B.
You know the plan that wasn't suppose to be.
There are days when I look at my life and Plan B is stamped all over it.
Some days, that makes me frustrated, angry and fed up with life.
I have been known to throw my hands up and say, "I'm done!"
Other days, it makes me rejoice like no other day.

The picture of my adult life is not what I dreamed of as a child or planned on as a teenager.
It has seemed to take turns I was steering the other way from and somewhere along the way Plan A got lost in the glove box.

That's what I love about God.
How He has a plan and how His plan always works out for the best.
Hairpin turns and steep hills have built perseverance and given me hope as a new light appears around the bend.
Hindsight is 20/20 and Plan B has most often in my life turned out to be Plan Best.

So I wonder how you look at the disappointments and the things in life that "weren't suppose to be".

Are you ticked off, or are you looking for the bright side?
Are you still living with the Plan A map in front of you or are you taking a moment to enjoy Plan B and live Plan B like Plan A never could have allowed you to live?

It is my hope and prayer that you would love your Plan B life and that I would love mine every minute of every day!

Psalm 139:16b
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be

Night of Joy 2009

What a awesome weekend we had! Personally it was a nice respite from my day to day, Steve had been gone since early Wednesday of last week and between home school, running the boys around and making 4 trips to Orlando in 5 days, I was ready for a little time away from home.

My mom, Justin, Branden, Vaughan and I headed over to Orlando for Saturday night at Night of Joy!


We stayed at the Disney All-Star Movies Resort and were greeted in classic Disney Style.

We stayed in the Toy Story section and the decor didn't disappoint.

Here's the crew headed to the park!

Once in the park we connected with friends we've gone to Night of Joy or Rock the Universe with every time we've gone. Then, we split.
Justin went with his friend Jeremiah, Vaughan and Branden headed out together and my mom and I decided to see some attractions before the concerts started.

We rode the Great Movie Ride (always good if you have a good tour guide), One Man's Dream (the Walt Disney story, boy I'm old cause I loved this!), Prince Caspian (not good, as good as Disney does this wasn't very good) and Journey of the Little Mermaid (when black lights are involved how can it be bad?).
When it came time to eat we ran into Vaughan and Branden, what a nice treat to eat with them!

My mom and I got scolded after we took this next picture, apparently we cut a lady in line to see Pluto. However; there was no line, besides my mom and I and the other lady there we 3 people in the room, and Pluto walked over to us! That may be the most negative person I have personally encountered at the Happiest Place on Earth!

The concerts!

The line-ups were good this year. Skillet, Mercy Me, Jars of Clay, Flyleaf, Grits, Mandisa and more. It was tough deciding who we'd see.

We started off with Grits, then Mercy Me, Family Force Five and finished the night with Jars of Clay!

One reason I love staying on Disney property when attending a Disney event is the bus ride. Once we left the park we walked to our resort bus stop, hopped on the bus and were home in 10 minutes! No lines, no driving, no traffic.

We arrived back to our room at 2am, after a quick trip to McD's. Vaughan had met a kid who gave him a bunch of McDonald's dollars so this was a free visit!!

After eating we went swimming in the pool! Yep, Disney pools never close, you just have to be quiet, swimming at night with teenagers is fun!

Sunday we woke up, ate some breakfast stuff I had packed and made a Downtown Disney stop (Lego Store) before heading home.

Once home I made a quick turnaround and picked Steve up at the airport. He had been in NH for his sisters wedding. I'll have to post pics of that later.

So, tons of fun, a well-needed rest and the best time I have had in awhile!