Welcome 2026!

 

2025 -  What a year!  God has been very good to us.  We spent more time in Tennessee last year than we have in almost 35 years of marriage, but it's the right decision.  We have been here since before Thanksgiving and my family cup is overflowing.  We have seen both of Les' siblings, their spouses and all six adult children and one son-in-law.  We've eaten and laughed and eaten and laughed some more.  All of this surrounded Les' dad with so much love.

 

As any long time readers know, I'm not big on New Years resolutions.  I finished reading my Bible through yesterday and started a new plan today.  While I was looking for a plan to follow (here's the one I'm doing this year https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/19038-bible-in-a-year-365-day-reading-plan)  I found a short one that also looked interesting - "8 Resolutions Jesus Would Be Happy With."  Part of the description says this, "In this 8-day journey through the Beatitudes, you’ll discover how humility, mercy, and peacemaking (and more) reshape your priorities around God’s kingdom. Forget the pressure of keeping perfect resolutions — this study helps you start the year grounded in grace."  This was maybe a five minute read, but it was really good.  Doing what makes Jesus happy will make for the best year ever!

 

Happy New Year!  Do you have any resolutions or big plans?  We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary in May and are still deciding where we want to be when we celebrate. 

2022 in Review

Here we are at the end of another year!  I will say that 2022 felt more normal than the previous two years with one exception - we only took one trip to Hawaii.  We definitely miss our Hawaiian church family and friends.  I thought I'd take a look back at 2022, the year goes quickly, but January still seems like a long time ago.

 

January

I didn't blog until January 21st!  We started revival at church, then Les and I (along with a large majority of our church) got sick with the flu (or COVID for some.)  I started the year almost 35 pounds lighter than I started 2021.  I also kicked off another year of reading my Bible through and am on track to finish tomorrow.  I made my first trip of the year to Fresno for my niece Lauren's baby shower (which I did not blog about.)

 

February

Two very fun things happened in February.  First, we went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with Lance and Monica.  We had such a great time and really enjoyed a cruise ship that was only at 30% capacity.  The day we got home from Mexico, our family welcomed Robert Michael!  Little Bo has captured all our hearts.

March

Our dear family friend, Irene Wilkinson, passed away.  I was able to attend her funeral in Fresno and finally got to meet Bo.

April

My pictures from April are a mix of trail running and Bo!  I am so thankful for digital photos.  Multiple texts each week has helped me stay connected and watch our baby grow.  I did celebrate my birthday with breakfast at Black Bear Diner.  We also had a short visit from Pastor and Sis. McGriffin who were on their way to a cruise.  We enjoyed a day at the Ronald Reagan Library and didn't take a single picture!

 

May

Les and I traveled to Tennessee for Mother's Day.  It was a short visit but we enjoyed it very much (and again didn't take any pictures!)  We also had visitors here at home - Lance, Monica and Hannah came for a week of cycling and shopping.  I'm sure you can figure out who did what.

June

We stayed home and didn't have any company in the month of June.  This would be the calm before the storm - July kicked off traveling and more traveling that took us through the end of the year.  I started running a new trail and have turned into a bit of trail junkie.  I love the quiet of the trails and the only traffic I have to look for is other adventurers.

July

We took our long anticipated cruise to Alaska with our dear friends, Doug and Lori Long, and had a fantastic time!  The week before our cruise Les had a crazy business trip - he flew in to Boston and was in 5 states in 5 days.

August

We celebrated Les' birthday.  Les had another trip - this time to Philadelphia at the end of the month.

September

We spent 10 days in Hawaii to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Decision Research (Les' employer.)  

 

 

 

Les had another trip - this time to Las Vegas for a conference. I made another trip to Fresno and Les flew from Las Vegas to Fresno so he got to meet Bo for the first time.

 

October

October took a stressful turn when Les' mom had a fall at the end of September and was in the hospital.  Les decided to make a trip to Tennessee before continuing on to Orlando, FL for a work conference.  We then returned to Tennessee at the end of October to celebrate Pop's 90th birthday.

 

 

November

Our visit to Tennessee continued and we celebrated Dolly's 85th birthday.  We got home on Sunday, November 6th, and Les went to San Diego on Tuesday, November 8th.  We were home the rest of the month and enjoyed a Thanksgiving for Two.

December

Les had one more trip - another work meeting in Las Vegas.  We repeated our September routine, with me driving to Fresno on Thursday, Les flying to Fresno from Las Vegas on Friday, and the two of us driving home together.  That was my fourth trip to Fresno this year - what a difference a baby makes!  Our little guy is crawling everywhere and we expect he'll be walking before too much longer.  He reached out for me to hold him several times and melted my heart!

 

We had our Christmas recital at church on December 18th.  Christmas morning found us at church.  Shouldn't that be the case?  If we're truly celebrating the birth of Christ, being at His house is the place to be! Les and I enjoyed another quiet holiday at home.  We spoiled each other with a variety of gifts.  We both got new trail shoes and coffee mugs among other things!

St. Patrick's Day

 

As a child going to school on St. Patrick's day always had one goal - wear green!  Anyone not wearing green was an open target for getting pinched.  As with most holidays, there is much more background than what we commonly know.  According to Wikipedia:

Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.

According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelizing in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands. Patrick's efforts against the druids were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove "snakes" out of Ireland, despite the fact that snakes were not known to inhabit the region.

Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland's foremost saint.

Also, historically the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.  Perhaps because of this, drinking alcohol – particularly Irish whiskey, beer, or cider – has become an integral part of the celebrations. I'm confident that if Saint Patrick could see the celebrations of today he would be disappointed that his name is associated with this behavior.

 

History lesson aside, through the years I've posted a variety of Irish blessings and humor that I'd thought I'd re-share today: 

Remember to Forget

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

 

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

 

May the roof above us never fall in.
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.

There are good ships, and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships are friendships,
And may they always be.

May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.

 

And my favorite Irish blessing!

May those that love us, love us;
And those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts:
If He can't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

Monday Math Class ~ The Speed of Life

Besides "I love you," one of the last things I said to Les last Monday night was "Christmas is five months from today."  He just kinda chuckled as he drifted off to dreamland.   Did you read that and start to feel the stress of the holidays?  Welcome to August!

The calendar is relentless.  I always feel like the second half of the year goes even faster than the first - I think it's because of all the holidays.  From Memorial Day to New Years there seems to be something every few weeks. Way back in 2009, when this blog was less than a year old, I wrote about how time flies.  I shared Les' theory, which still makes sense to me...

When you are 2 years old, one year seems like a long time because it is one half of your life, one half of your experiences.

When you are 4 years old, one year still seems long because it is one fourth of your life.

When you are 16 years old, a year can move a little faster seeing how it is only one sixteenth of your life.

By the time you're 50, well time really does fly! A year is a small portion of your life - so in light of your life experiences, it really is shorter! (I'm speaking from experience here!) 

James 4:14 puts it this way "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."  I want to make every slice of life count, no matter how quickly it comes.

I think I'll have a piece of pie, too. Remember: We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Hang On To Your Hats and Glasses!

One of the events Hannah and I came up with in our "Olympics" was "Float Bucking."  Jump on a float while it is being thrashed around by the other person and see how long you can stay on.  This was one of the funner events!  As Hannah was trying to stay on, I did my best impersonation of an amusement park ride operator.  "Hang on to your hats and glasses, folks, this ride's about to get crazy!"

Well, I just looked at the calendar and realized it's almost that time of the year called the holidays.  For me, I feel like they start in September ~ our annual Youth Alive seems to kick off a season that is busier than any other.  2012 is no exception:

September 6-7 - Youth Alive in Burbank
September 21 - Wedding of Craig Gwin and Danielle Long in Nashville
October 6 - Ladies Day in Fresno/Grizzly Century Ride in Northfork
October 20 - Mens Day in  Fresno/Susan G. Komen for the Cure 5K in Fresno
November 7-9 - West Coast Conference in Fresno
November 10 - Santa Barbara Marathon
November 11 - Pastoral Anniversary Service in Burbank
November 22 - Thanksgiving
December - I don't know the exact dates but we have the following events:
End of Year Banquet
Toys for Tots
Music Recital
December 25 - Christmas

Whew!  Hang onto your hats and glasses, folks!

What about you?  When is your busiest season?

Candy Guide

I received this detailed Candy Guide from Hungry Girl yesterday. It's very helpful whether you celebrate Halloween or not. Tuesday, November 1st, is All Saints Day, but should probably be renamed "Bring Leftover Candy to Work Day." That doesn't mean you can't have any, just be aware of what you're having! And if you don't like chocolate... what's wrong with you?? Just kidding! There are non-chocolate treats listed as well.

Check out our TREMENDOUS guide to Halloween goodies, 2011 edition! (Click here to download a printable PDF!)

LOW-CALORIE CHOCOLATE TREATS These tiny treats can't be beat. Each one has 20 - 35 calories and 0.5 - 1.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*). 3 Musketeers Minis Hershey's Kisses Sixlets 8-piece tubes Tootsie Roll Midgees Whoppers Malted Milk Balls 3-piece tubes CHOCOLATE MINIS Minis are the small, typically square morsels. The kinds below have 35 - 55 calories and 1.5 - 3g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) per piece. Baby Ruth Butterfinger Hershey's Special Dark, Krackel, Milk Chocolate, and Mr. Goodbar Kit Kat Milky Way Nestlé Crunch Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Snickers Twix SNACK-SIZE/FUN-SIZE CHOCOLATE Snack-size and fun-size candies are usually about 2 inches long and weigh in at around half an ounce. The ones listed here have 60 - 85 calories and 1 - 4g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*) per piece, pack, bag, or box. 3 Musketeers Baby Ruth Butterfinger Hershey's Milk Chocolate Junior Mints Kit Kat (one 2-piece bar) M&M's Milk Chocolate Milky Way Nestlé Crunch Raisinets Snickers York Peppermint Patties SNACK-SIZE/FUN-SIZE CHOCOLATE PART II Same specifics as the last list of snack-size/fun-size treats (about 2 inches long and half an ounce in weight), but these are a little higher in stats. Each bar or pack has 90 - 95 calories and 4 - 6g fat (PointsPlus® value 3*). 100 Grand M&M's Peanut Mr. Goodbar PayDay LOW-CALORIE CONFECTIONS These goodies are impressive in the stats department: 30 - 50 calories and 0 - 1g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) each. AirHeads mini bars Laffy Taffy mini bars Now and Later (2 pieces) SpongeBob SquarePants Gummy Krabby Patties Starburst (2 pieces) SweeTarts Chews Twizzlers Cherry Pull 'n' Peel snack-sized pieces Twizzlers Strawberry Twists snack-sized pieces CALORIE-BARGAIN TREAT-SIZE/SNACK-SIZE BAGS Pouches, packs, bags, and packages! Each of these small sacks has 50 - 55 calories and 0g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*). Brach’s Candy Corn Hot Tamales Mike and Ike Sour Patch Kids Swedish Fish MORE MINI BOXES 'N BAGS While not quite as pint-sized in the calorie department as the last list, each petite pack has a reasonable 60 - 75 calories and 0 - 1g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*). Dots Mini Chewy SweeTarts Skittles Fun Size LOW-CALORIE SWEETS & SUCKERS All-star stats here! Just around 20 - 25 calories and 0g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) each. Dum Dums Everlasting Gobstopper mini pouches Pixy Stix (3 straws) Smarties rolls MID-CALORIE CLASSICS With 50 - 60 calories and 0 - 0.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*) per pop, these long-lasting goodies are some of our favorites. Blow Pop Ring Pop Halloween Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops Tootsie Pops FUN PICKS WITH 50 OR FEWER CALORIES Each treat, roll, package, or pouch has 35 - 50 calories and 0 - 1g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*). Fruit by the Foot Mini Feet Fruit Roll-Ups Mini Rolls Jet-Puffed BooMallows Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps Fun Size pouches Rice Krispies Treats Mini Squares Snyder's of Hanover 1/2-oz. bags UNIQUE TREATS, STELLAR STATS Unexpected and guilt-free! Each one has 60 - 70 calories and 2 - 3.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*). Angie's Artisan Treats Authentic Kettle Corn Halloween Snack Packs Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar 1/2-oz. bags Quaker Chewy Fright Night Chocolate Chip mini granola bars Sun-Maid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins Mini-Snacks NEAT SWEETS, NICE NUTRITIONALS Chomp into one of these for 100 - 120 calories and 3 - 3.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 3*). Herr’s Chocolate Mini Pretzels Halloween Treat Size bags Keebler Scooby-Doo! Baked Graham Cracker Sticks packages Peeps Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkin Prepare to spend 180 - 200 calories and 9 - 10.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 5*) if you indulge in one of these tricky treats. Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers packages Keebler Mini Fudge Stripes packages Reese's Peanut Butter King Size Pumpkins (1 pumpkin, half of package)

Holiday Planning

The holiday countdown is on! The next ten weeks can be the most challenging for any dieter. Even if you don't celebrate Halloween, chances are there will be bowls of candy in the office ~ fun size Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Ways and more. Then there is Thanksgiving ~ pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and apple pie just to name a few of the temptations. Seasonal favorites like Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Peppermint ice cream are everywhere. Traditional Christmas dinners. Weeks of baking and exchanging goodies. What's a person to do?


The latest Weight Watchers magazine was full of tips and recipes. There was also one question that probably hits home for many of us:

I look forward to hosting Thanksgiving, and every year my grandmother's amazing sausage stuffing and honey-glazed ham steal the show. This will be my first holiday on WW, and I hate to disappoint my family by cutting out these traditions. Should I just put my weight-loss plans on hold until after the new year?

The expert advice on this was good, but did not address the "weight loss on hold until the new year" issue. Why would anyone give up six months of diligent work for a single meal? That is the choice we have to make at this time of the year ~ will we give up months of work or treat the holidays as days not holiweeks or holimonths. One big meal on Thanksgiving won't destroy weight loss success. It's the nibbling in the days and weeks before and after.


I joined Weight Watchers for the first time in September 1997 and lost about 20 pounds by the end of the year. My second WW go round started in October 2005 and I lost about 15 pounds by the end of that year. I don't remember feeling deprived during the holidays, but I also didn't put my weight loss plans on hold for the duration. I balanced my feasting days with a little extra exercise.

So if you've been on a healthy plan, don't despair! Make a plan, but don't say, "I'm not eating any pie this year." It's probably not realistic and just might backfire. There are about 70 days left in this year ~ make 65 of them great eating days and enjoy a few of your favorites on the other five. 2012 will be here before you know it ~ start it without regrets.

It's Labor Day ~ Trying to Take it Easy!

I started my holiday with a 15 mile ride that included a bear sighting and eating the dust of a horse trailer! Really! I saw tracks, then thought I saw the bear on my way up the trail. On my way down, one of my friends said she definitely saw it. Apparently there is a mama bear who the ranchers call "Big Mama" and she had four cubs last year. We think we're seeing one of those as he appears young.

I followed a horse trailer for about a mile down the trail. Shew! I have never been so dusty in all my life. The trailer was going so slow I had to ride my breaks the entire time. I gave up on that and turned around to go back up the trail for a while. If I'm going to do the work of going up, I want to enjoy the fun of going down.

I've already been to the grocery store ~ think I'll take it easy for the rest of the day.

What are YOU doing today?

Whoa, Nelly!!

Can you believe it is August 1st? There are now only 5 months left in 2011. Kids will be going back to school soon, which means Christmas decorations will be in stores before we know it!

18 days until Les' birthday...

38 days until Youth Alive...

93 days until West Coast Conference...

115 days until Thanksgiving...

146 days until Christmas!!

No need to start stressing yet...

Remember to Forget

Top o' the morning to you, lads and lassies! It's St. Patrick's Day. I could give you a history lesson on Saint Patrick, but instead I'll give you this Irish blessing... because some things are worth forgetting!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.



Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.
A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
- Bill Vaughn

Les and I will probably be in bed by 10:00... what does that make us??

The Holidays Are HERE!

The holidays are many things to many people. The changing of the leaves, cooler temps, pulling out sweaters and coats...


A horn of plenty...


The first piece of pumpkin pie...


Wrapping gifts for loved ones...

But for me, the holidays arrive with that first taste of Peppermint ice cream! It's one of my favorites that is not available year-round...


I had some Friday night, so the holidays are officially here!!

What makes you feel like the holidays have arrived??