Bye for now, Dad

A new book to honor the memory of my Dad.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

I haven't posted in a year?! Really?  I think it's because Facebook has taken over my free time. I can post things on FB that I normally used to post here on Blogger.  I don't want to get rid of Blogger though!  I wish I still had time to do Try it Tuesdays. I'm busy with 4 teenagers and a 5 year old. Not to mention all the other things that I do and also my Dad being quite sick lately. For the past month & a half I've been taking care of him and stressing over the health problems he has. Speaking of that, if you are reading this and you don't know the wishes of your elderly parent, ask them! Get any info you might need about their insurance, finances and Will. All of those questions will be asked of you if your parent goes into a hospital. I wish we hadn't waited so long to ask the awkward questions about my Dad's wishes. As tough as it might be, it's best to just be blunt and get those things in writing.

Anyway, I don't want to lose any of my past Blogger posts or photos, so somehow I'll have to figure out how to make a nice book out of them. My fear is that Blogger will shut my blog down before I can do those things since I haven't been active lately.

Please keep my blog up and running Blogger! Be nice! haha...

Something To Think About Saturday

I'm going to have to take this image that I made and mount it on an Arts Cow canvas to hang on my wall. We always seem to want more, more, more. I know I'm guilty of it occassionally. Time to gather that which we can actually take with us and hold fast.

Summer Sunset

I didn't Photoshop these or use any other type of manipulation. Just my little 'ol camera a week ago.

These photos are an example of the reason I have *BIG* dreams to own a place right on the shores of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior. I can just imagine lounging in a beach chair watching a gorgeous sunset like this.

Until it becomes a reality, I'll keep dreaming.
Ahhh...

Jillian Grad (TESTING)

Preppy Penmanship Pink Graduation Announcement

To view our top graduation card designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.

Just Because...

This quote is getting a bit over-used, but who cares. I still think it's funny. I'm currently reading the book, "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies".  The same Jane Austen story with a bit of brain munching mixed in. Zombie's are all the rage, and I'm sooo buying into it. I guess my 12 year old son and I finally have something in common!

Disney Trip!

Oh yeah. Ohhhhh yeah.  We had a fabulous trip to all the Disney World parks! 4 parks. 6 days. FUN.

ShutterFly Rocks!

Try it! It's free to just insert your photos and create a project. I guarantee that you will want to order when you see how gorgeous your project can be!

They have high quality cards, books, calendars etc. I made a photobook awhile back of my trip to France. It turned out beautifully, so I ordered a second one.  I love how I can design a photo card and see how it will look before printing. Plus, they have lots & lots of designs, colors, fonts etc.

You can even upload a digital scrapook layout if you roll that way. Make your own scrapbook that is bound and beautiful.

Go check it out!  And if you're lucky, you might just receive one of my own Christmas cards if you are on my list! If you don't get one...well....I guess I just don't like you that much.  KIDDING!!

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

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Another Opportunity To Help!

My friend Forrest has made it into the top 100 for his Pepsi Refresh project!  He now has another chance to make his project come to life! The top *10* ideas will win $25,000!

Please think about voting for his Liberty Swing project.  He wishes to buy and install this unique swing for people with disabilities in the West Michigan area. This swing would allow people with disabilities to join in the same fun that other children do at the park.  A swing that holds a wheelchair! What a fantastic concept!

And a *bonus* for you......
Vote for this project and win goodies from my friend Megan at Shabby Blogs!

Shabby Blogs Give A Way

You know her and love her blog backgrounds, so go vote! Then post on her blog that you have voted and you just may win some super shabby goodies to decorate your blog! Tweet or Facebook about it for more chances! Put the widget on your blog and get yet another chance!  Do it!  You know you want free stuff!  And along with winning free stuff, you are helping others to better their lives. Thank you!

You can vote once a day....

 This simple act of kindness could bring joy to so many young people with disabilities!

PLEASE VOTE!

Something To Think About Saturday

 I admit that I'm preoccupied with losing people since so many in my life have left this world lately. It scares me to think that someone I love and care about could be gone in a blink.  I never want my children to think that I haven't loved them. From the moment I knew they existed, I loved them with every fiber of my being.

 I promise to love each and every person that is in my personal world for as long as I exist and beyond.

Pinky promise. 

Le Mans

I promised that I would blog about my trip to France, so here goes!

I will have to do it in more than one post because truthfully, we took over 1,300 photos on this trip.  No, I won't bore you by posting all of them! ;)

My stomach was in knots before this trip because I would be 4,000 miles away from my children and I was soooo worried about Ava. I wouldn't be close enough to just come home if she needed me. It was killing me inside knowing I couldn't calm her or comfort her when she needed me.  But...everything went fine! Sure, there were times when she was a bit sad and the older girls had a hard time getting her to calm down and go to sleep at night. But all in all, she was fine.

And I can't let the post go by without *THANKING* my family and friends for taking over for me.  I appreciate their willingness to help and the love they showed my children in our absence.  My mind was actually more at ease knowing my children we being cared for to the full extent. You know who you are.....THANK YOU!

Ok, our trip to Le Mans was beautiful! I actually enjoyed being in this small town MORE than I enjoyed Paris. Le Mans is full of history and rich architecture. So beautiful. It made the nauseating plane trip well worth it (That's right, I felt sick during the whole 8 hour flight).

We were picked up at the airport in Paris by a nice man from the company Rick was doing a presentation for. Jean Luc was funny, helpful and a good driver ;)  And noooo...we didn't drink the wine pictured. Wine is served with pretty much every meal in France though.  A glass of wine is cheaper than a glass of soda.  No one was offended that we didn't drink alcohol. They just expected that we would drink the soda instead and were always prepared for us at meal time. How gracious of them!

The first night we were on our own for dinner. Instead of taking a taxi to a restaurant we decided to eat at the hotel.

There is no Diet Coke over there. It's Coca Cola Light.  I wish it were caffeine free, but it was not. They don't drink soda out of the bottle either. Glasses are always served. Even at the mall food court, we were given plastic cups to drink our soda.

Jillian told her high school french teacher that she would try pate'. It was poultry pate', but the menu didn't say which kind. Duck? Goose? Who knows. Needless to say, she didn't like it. We all tasted it and no one really liked it.  We did, however, have some the next night at a different restaurant and it tasted much better. Speaking of Jillian, having her along was a big bonus! She can understand french better than any of us, so she was able to decipher the menu's and also speak to people on our behalf. She isn't fluent, but it was a much easier trip having her along! Thanks Jillian!

Rick had duck filet and it was tender and tasty. He did complain that there wasn't enough food to fill him up though. He complained about this during the whole trip! No wonder french people are so skinny. There are no super-size meals over there!

I had filet de boeuf saisi au sautior with creme au bleu.  Basically, it's a beef filet with bleu cheese dressing.   The steak was chewy, but the rest was good. (blurry...sorry about the photo)

A close up of my bleu cheese dressing. There was some dark chocolate served with it under the little ceramic cup. Mixed together, it as pretty awesome!

This bread was delicious!

On the first full day in Le Mans, Rick left to do business, so Jillian and I here on our own. We had a taxi drop us off at the Saint Julien's Cathedral.  It was been built in sections starting in about the 1100's. It has such beauty. It is in the old town part of the village. 

Here are some of my favorite photos inside the cathedral.

This is the Menhir right outside the cathedral. Some called it the "bellybutton" of the city.  It's 5000-7000 years old!  Some say it is a rock of fertility.  Needless to say, I stayed far far away from it.

In the same square as the cathedral was a cute recycle shop with beautiful European clothing, handbags and goods that are made from old leathers etc.

Here is Jillian enjoying the cute shop. You can see the cathedral steps in the background.

I bought this cute little pouch made from an old belt and some soft leather. I couldn't speak french, so I didn't ask the lady what the leather was from.

Isn't it sweet? I love it. And only $7 euros.

The lady was nice and was sweet enough to even call us a taxi so we could head back to our hotel later. But before we went back, we walked around the cobblestone streets snapping shots. Between all the museums and stores were homes. I bet it would be super expensive to live in one.

Overlooking a river, you can barely see a wall. The Roman's built this wall by re purposing stone from Roman baths.  Lots of history in this town!  We didn't venture down to the water because we were a bit worried 

about getting lost since it was our first day.

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Also in the above photo are stone arches with beautiful flowers and grassy areas in them on both sides of the road.

Here is a closer look at a couple of the arches. At night they are lit up and so gorgeous. I'm sure there is some significance to them, but I'm not sure what the story is behind them.

Flowers growing right out of the stone wall. I didn't see any planter.  How cute!

Cutest flower shop EVER!

We found a museum garden. Too bad it's so early in spring that not much was going on. I bet it's fabulous in the late spring/summer. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be in here or not, but we did it anyway.

Later that night, we were picked up at our hotel and taken to a business dinner at this place. Earlier in the day, Jillian and I walked by it and I mentioned that it looked expensive and I wouldn't be taking her there for lunch!

We ate a business dinner with people from *6* different countries. We all spoke at least some English, so I was in awe to be smack in the middle of all kinds of interesting conversations!  There were people there from Spain, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark and of course France and the USA.  Earlier in the day, Rick did presentations for other countries that mostly spoke french. There were even more than 6 countries represented!  Awesome. All the people were there for the lawn care industry.

I really wanted to take photos during this dinner, but it didn't seem to be the right thing to do. We ate raw salmon, prawns, steak etc. We were treated like royalty throughout this whole trip by the company that invited Rick.

Well, that's it for the first 2 days in Le Mans! I'll post again, because there is SO much more including our visit to Paris and the Louvre!