Its been 8 years since my family made a trip to US/IOA. But this winter we are returning to give the park a second chance. Should make for an interesting trip for such diehard Disney fans ( especially since we are not thrill ride seekers). I pulled out my pics from my scrapbook of that trip. I had just started scrapping at the time. Boy, has times changed! I even journal on my pages now. Something I hated back then. I'm thinking this week would be a good time to go back and fill in some blanks (lol). Of course it helps that my scraproom has finally been cleaned up a bit.


The whole family on the Men in Black ride ( a rare picture ).




My park map page.

Me as a participant in the Nickelodeon show! Quisha volunteered me for the show ( I still owe her a payback ).

Characters

Jurassic park, the one flume ride you will never find me on ( well that an Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom).

We are staying offsite this trip, originally we were going to stay at Disney. But with 7 of us going it just makes more sense to rent a timeshare. The Vistana Village seems like a pretty good choice.

The one good thing about this trip is that I get a chance to get better pictures of the park. We did not even own a digital camera at the time (shock smiley should be inserted here....lol).

That Front Porch

Remember that front porch I spoke about a few months back? Today I went to the garden center and rescued some ferns that were half price. I picked up four! Me , the one without the green thumb! The ride home was a hoot ( imagine Nicki and I in her small car with three plants on the backseat and one in my lap ). The fun part was taking out the dead leaves and watering in the hot sun (not). But I love seeing them hang up there. Of course now I realize how much work is needed on the porch itself . From a good powerwash, fresh paint, to additional seating pieces ( one day at a time ). When it cools off a bit more I plan to sit out front a while and rock in my rocking chair and just chill a bit. Then on to the next project.



Just noticed the loose rails from TJ's bike being parked up there all the time. Not to mention the fact that the concrete needs to be painted! Do I care? Not a bit, I have the beginnings of a great space.

I love looking out the front door and seeing the plants hanging. I don't have a clue where I will put them when winter comes. And I can't wait to go back to the garden center again and pick up a few more plants. My mom and my aunt got a kick out of how excited I was. Must be the heat because I haven't spent that much time outside ( except going to the car and back ) in a long time.

I love the sound of running water. And it seems to cool the space off just a bit.

Now to get TJ to cut back some of the branches on the hedges!

One last look before I go back inside (lol). It will be nice to look out the window from my scraproom and see the plants up ( just added that to make it a true scrap post ). Of course I have not had a chance to scrap in a month! Just can't seem to get my mojo going. Maybe the sound of water, a chime and plants swinging in the breeze from my window will aid in sparking some creativity.

Prayer

Today we got a call that my husbands brother in law had died. Please keep his wife and children in your prayers. He was in his early 50's. Once again we have been reminded how soon life can change and how little control we have over it. Please, if you have family members you are estranged from....stop the madness now and call them, write them or if they are close enough go see them. Life is to short for playing foolishness. ( My grandfathers saying which we kept referring back to throughout our family's reunion a few weeks back). I am blessed to belong to a very large close knit family. I thank God on a daily basis that we have tried to maintain these relationships over the years and that my children understand the importance of sticking together ( especially siblings ). Of course they would tell you I have drilled it into their brain from day one. I have even threatened to track them down if they dare leave my home and have the gall to not stay in touch. TJ's dream is to live and work in Japan, but I think even he knows that if he thinks that means he can avoid his family, ignore them or lose contact then I will be forced to track him down and believe me my mom would be out front leading the pack.

I talk to my mom at least once every other day ( sometimes more). And to my aunt and uncle at least 5 days a week. Now, I know that there are some relationships that need to be severed permanently (I'm am not talking about those). But if you have been holding a grudge against someone and you know deep in your heart that you should have gone to this person a longtime ago and made amends. Then don't wait. It would be so sad to have missed the opportunity only to find out its too late to rectify the situation.

And even with those we claim to have a close relationship with don't take for granted they will always be there. Make a point to tell that person you love them, as a matter of fact make sure that you kiss them goodbye when they leave and greet them when they come in....it may be the last time you ever have the chance to leave a good impression.

Did I happen to mention that Chicago really did turn out to be my kind of town?

Thought I would share a few pics with you. I posted a lot of them on my family blog. I am still amazed at the fact that I am actually looking forward to going back again! As I stated I am not a city girl by any stretch of the imagination. I will take the suburbs any old day ( its slightly better then living in the country ). Not that I haven't lived in the city during my lifetime. That is the problem...I know what city life is like. I was born a city girl and for many years my mom raised me in the city. Thankfully she had the foresight to get me out when I was young. I spent summers in the country with my grandparents and at least one week in the summer in the suburbs with my aunt and uncle. My husband will tell you that he thought he was marrying a country girl, but in fact he married a city slicker. And of course he goes on to say that country girls dream about pots and pans and city girls dream about plots and plans. The problem is I fall somewhere in between on most occasions. I love my country home and I love the fact that I live near the water, but every once in a while I get the urge to see tall buildings and fancy department stores, art galleries and museums. I guess that is the one advantage to having had a chance to live in both worlds. So even though I don't plot or plan or even dream about pots or pans...every once in a while I crave the city life, and then am just as content to go back to rocking on my country porch in the suburbs. I guess you can say I am blessed to be able to experience it all.

I felt sophisticated and really put together the night we went to the theatre (LOL).

Gotta love Macy's ( actually I loved the stores in the mall ).

Loved the hotel we stayed at.

I could eat at this place every morning. And also for lunch because the salads were really good.

We ate at TGIF the first night we were there, which is funny since we have several here and I had never been. I loved the quesadillas. I will have to check out the local TGIF here.

My Sister

Just wanted to share a picture of my sister and me. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for her. She is doing a lot better. This picture was taken the weekend of the Family Reunion.

I'm Back!

I had an awesome time in Chicago. The city is beautiful...way beyond my imagination. We saw so many sites but there just was not enough time to see everything we wanted to see ( especially a dinner cruise and a trip to the top of the Hancock Building ). So we plan to head back in about two years ( with the girls this time ) and really give it a good run. The Color Purple was a great show ( some surprises along the way ). I especially loved the music. Did a bit of shopping on Madison Ave ( just a bit...LOL). Had a great Italian meal at BICE ( I have to check the spelling on that ), but if you are ever in Chicago you have to try it. Most of our meals were at a place called The Corner Bakery ( great salads and breakfast meals for a low price ). I regret not getting a chance to try a Chicago style deep dish pizza though. We didn't make it to the Navy Pier or Millennium Park but its at the top of the list for the next trip. We did see Oprah's Studio and where she now lives. If I was a city girl I think I would choose Chicago over New York ( as a matter of fact I know I would ). The best part of the trip was hanging out with the family ( although I missed my girls...and the boys ). It's been a whirlwind month, so now its time to slow down and get back to organizing and scrapping. No planned trips until the winter...hopefully to Florida. I have been feeling homesick for my favorite place in the world. So stay tuned until the next time.

Happy 4th of July

We spent it with family at a beach house on the oceanfront. Ate a little, talked a lot and watched the fireworks down on the beach at nightfall. It was a great way to end the time together with our family after the reunion. The photo is courtesy of my shutterbug daughter Nicki. See you all in a few...I pull out for Chicago tomorrow.

Our family reunion is over....but we had a great time and we are already preparing for 2009! See you all in Georgia .


Family photos courtesy of my cousin.

My family
The C-Unit ( minus one ).
Nicki had her photo session this weekend for headshots for her portfolio. Well next stop for me is Chicago to see the Color Purple. Have a blessed 4th of July everyone.