Category Archives: Friends

Friday’s Feast ~ #12

Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased?

Mexican Train Dominoes ~ We have had many a roaring game around the kitchen table with this great game in Seattle, Orange County, and Dallas Texas. Fun times with friends and cousins and aunts and uncles.

Soup
Name something in which you don’t believe.

I have never believed in Santa Claus. There were years I wished there was a Santa Claus. We do incorporate a fun version of Santa in our festivities and always say that Santa filled the stockings wink wink…

Salad
If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick?

I would choose Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa to be my boss. Then maybe I could learn some great cooking skills from her and maybe even be at a meal she prepares for her employees…

Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?

That it’s not a good idea to get all worked up at your kids sporting events. I wish I could take back some of the things I said and some of the things I made a fool of myself over…

Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.

Oh it would be a room with bookcases filled with good books, overstuffed chairs with ottomans to sit in and a wonderful fireplace or gas stove with the stereo softly playing my favorite cd’s.

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December 6, 1974 ~ 33 Years later

Today is our 33rd Wedding Anniversary!

December – When December’s snows fall fast, marry and your love will last.

Here are 33 things about Dear and Myself since we’ve been married…

1. Dear was 21 and I was 23 when we got married.

2. My engagement ring was an opal ring. We had matching wedding bands. When I was pregnant with our third (Katie) Dear bought me my first diamond ring.

 

3. We honeymooned up the coast of California .

4. Our first home was a 1 bedroom apartment in West Los Angeles.

5. We bought our first house in Huntington Beach in 1975 for $45,000. We lived in Huntington Beach until 1984.

6. In 1977 we took a road-trip to visit extended family and to see some sights. We first stopped in Denver to see Dear’s mothers side of the family. Then we went to Peoria, Illinois to meet Dear’s fathers side of the family. We headed north to the Detroit area. We took a ferry to Canada and headed to Toronto where we found my china from England and added to my set so we would have 12 place settings. Then we headed to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Fun carefree times in a little yellow 1976 Honda Civic.

7. We have three children. Josh was born on Friday, January 19, 1979. Dan was born on Friday, January 16, 1981. Katie was born on Friday, December 27, 1985. (Katie came early she was due in January also!) “Friday’s child is loving and giving”

8. Dear’s professions while we’ve been married were, a Painting Contractor, a Conveyorman at Cal-Mat, A Loader/Operator at Cal-Mat, A hospital Pharmacist, Professional Services at a Biotech company, Medical Information at a Biotech Company.

9. My professions since we’ve been married were, a File Clerk, an Elementary School Teacher, a SAHM, a Playground Teacher, House Cleaning business, Substitute Teacher, SAHM, and now I’m a SAH wife…

10. Churches we attended the last 33 years earliest to present: Grace Community Church in Panorama City, Huntington Beach Evangelical Free Church, Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, Sunrise Christian Fellowship in Seattle, and Evangelical Free Church Conejo Valley.

11. We took our first 2 camping trips with our boys and some of their cousins before Katie was born. We camped at Refugio State Beach, north of Santa Barbara. Fun times in a tent in 1983 and 1984!

12. While living in Ventura we met our good buddies the Spiros who are like family to us.  Dr. Spiro delivered our daughter Katie in Ventura while he was doing his residency. Their 3 daughters and our 3 kids got along well and are still great friends. After the residency they moved to Washington where Dave joined a family practice. When we moved to Washington for Pharmacy school they adopted us into their family since we were so far from ours. We share many holidays together.

13. Dear’s Father Rex died in 1985 a couple months before our daughter Katie was born.

14. In 1986 we went on a bicycle touring trip in the Wine Country with our friends Dave and Jody and we met our dear friends Bob and Jan for the first time on this trip. (Geyserville to Mendocino, down the coast to Gualala and inland to Monte Rio then back to Geiserville) Oh the tales we can tell. We did not have a support vehicle.

15. We moved to the state of Washington in 1988 so that Dear could attend the University of Washington and then apply to Pharmacy School there.

16. While Dear attended the University of Washington the Husky football team had some glory years and we were able to get student season tickets along with tickets to a Rose Bowl game where the Huskies beat Michigan in 1992.

17. While in Washington Dear’s mother Verna lived with us for 9 years.

18. Our first home in Washington was a 4600 square foot home where we finished a 650 square foot self contained apartment in the daylight basement for Dear’s mother.

19. After moving to Washington in 1988 we made several road trips to California. I was tempted to write a book about driving I-5 from border to border.

20. I started a home cleaning business while Dear was in school full-time. I’ve cleaned a lot of toilets!

21. In 1994 we took the family to Los Angeles and San Jose to experience the World Cup. This was a wonderful experience especially for Josh and Dan (and ELLEN, too)

22. In 1996 we gave our home back to the bank when a serious landslide came right to our foundation and threatened the stability of the home. The costs for shoring up and saving the home ended up being more than we could ever afford. We lost all of our California equity and started over by first renting homes till we were able to purchase a home again. Moving yearly with all of our stuff and all of my MIL’s stuff was quite the challenge.

23. Dear’s Mother Verna died in 1997.

24. One of our memorable family trips was to Hawaii in 1997 after Josh graduated from high school.

25. We rented 3 different homes in 3 years after giving our house back to the bank. We bought our 3rd rental house when they tried to sell it out from under us after only being in the house for a month. We couldn’t face the trauma of moving all our stuff again in such a short time. We didn’t think a bank would give us a loan after we had given a house back to the bank. God intervened for us and the bank did not fault us in their records for defaulting on our loan.

26. Our son Josh was married to Laura on August 25, 2001. We had some wonderful days celebrating with family and friends.

27. Dear and I have had some great trips since our kids have become adults. Our favorites are our trips to London in 2003, Great Britain with our daughter in 2004 and a Walking tour of Great Britain with our best friends in 2006.

28. We took a few trips to Chicago area before and during our daughter Katie’s 3 semesters at Wheaton College.

29. Cars we’ve owned while married: ’71 Datsun, ’70 Volkswagon, ’75 Courier Pick up, ’76 Honda, Buick Station Wagon, ’81 Honda, ’84 Nissan Pick-up, ’86 Toyota van, ’92 Toyota Corolla Wagon, ’74 GMC pick-up, ’99 Camry, ’73 Chevy Pick-up. ’07 Camry.

30. I’m the sports fan in the family and Dear is gracious to put up with me since he is not a big fan of watching sports.

31. Dear is the handiest guy to have around. He has always tackled any hard job around the house and completed it well. He’s an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a mechanic, a painter. He’s helped other people out with their projects, too.

32. Dear is a learner and is blessed with lots of knowledge. He is a very wise man and he’s a great teacher.

33. We made a pact when we got married that whoever decided to make the stupid choice to leave, the other of us would shoot them in the back with our 357 Magnum as they walked out the door! We always said to each other and to others that death would be easier to deal with than divorce. Harsh, yes, but after 33 years neither of us has ever thought about walking away from this marriage.

Whew! That wasn’t easy. Thank you Lord for 33 years of mercy and grace in our marriage. And thank you for so many blessings we have received all from your hand. We are especially thankful for a family that loves you and loves us and for dear friends who do the same.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

WFMW ~ Last Minute Meal with What’s in the Pantry!

 

Here it is folks the easiest meal in the world that my kids have loved for years! They are adults now and they still like it. It’s pretty boring but you can spice it up a bit if you like by adding a little onion or garlic or more mushrooms. BUT we’re talking about what kids will eat (I think) and this is one they seem to eat without complaint.

Throw the noodles in salted water that is boiling. Cook them to al dente. In a bowl mix the tuna (I use one can of albacore and one can of the regular cheap tuna) and the cream of mushroom soup add garlic or onion powder if you want and add a little milk. When the noodles are ready drain the water then throw the tuna liquidy stuff in and heat through. That’s it. I don’t even throw it into the oven. When the kids were little we always had a can of Green Giant corn niblets with it!

 So this is such a beige meal you might want to add a nice green salad or green beans to make it look healthier! 🙂

You can also make a tuna melt with bread, tuna, and cheese. Serve it with a can of tomato soup!

Now here’s something for the adults to have after the kids finish the tuna noodle.

A PUMPKIN PIE MARTINI

3 oz. vanilla vodka, 1 oz. pumpkin puree, 1 oz. half and half, 1 T. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. McCormick pumpkin spice

Shake all ingredients until well combined. Strain into prepared glass.  (wet rim of martini glass and dip it in brown sugar) pour combined liquid into glass.

Ok we tried this and it’s one stiff drink. I’d switch out the Vanilla Vodka for a Vanilla brandy and only use 1-1/2 oz.  Tasty it is but very strong… A nice shot of whip cream would be great too….

To see more last minute meals head over to Shannon’s at Rocks in My Dryer.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

Washington Floods!

Oh my, oh my. I’ve been working all day with water problems. We do not have it as bad as our friends the Terreson’s. Here’s a picture of the water on their street today coming into their basement! We were there with you in 1996 filling sand bags and putting them at your garage doors. We’re hoping for the best for you dear Terreson’s!

 

I’ve been working on our basement too. After shop-vacuming up over 16 gallons of water I decided to just pull up the carpeting and padding because there was no way I’d be able to dry that carpet and padding without the tell tale mildew smell lingering forever. So here’s a photo of where carpeting used to be. You can still see the wet cement. Dan came home early from work to help me and Katie helped when she came home from school. I will not be driving anywhere for the next day or two as so many roads are flooded and closed. Dear is feeling bad being in California where it’s sunny and warm and not being here to help us…

 

The last time we had flooding this bad we were declared a disastor area. We lost our home because the damage from the flooding. A landslide behind our home compromised our foundation and the fix was going to be so costly that we’d never be able to afford it. (100’s of thousands of dollars) We gave our dream home back to the bank! We do not live on a slope this time around and we are happy about that. We will probably replace our carpeting in the basement with ceramic tile.

This is the slope in the back of the home we gave back to the bank in 1996!

This is from todays storms…

Keep us in your prayers bloggy friends. Counting it all joy….

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

Friday Feast #11 ~

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?

I really enjoy several rides at Disneyland. My favorites are Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Carribean…

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?

I generally try to ease the situation, change the subject. If I can leave the room I will. It depends on what kind of uncomfortable it is. If it too uncomfortable I would flee the situation…

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?

Oh probably a 5 and that depends on whether the discussion is heated or just an exchange of thoughts…

I do not like mean debates.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?

No I did not, never have, and I won’t be getting one this year. Maybe next year….

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?

I watch Survivor, Amazing Race, Bones, Numbers and Project Runway so ….5 hours. Oops then there’s Seahawks football and any Soccer game that’s televised at the right time so add 5 more hours. Up to 10 hours!

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Thanksgiving 2007

Some images from our Thanksgiving Day in Washington…

Laura, Katie and Dear

Our son Josh and Laura

 

Our lovely daughter in law Laura

My sister Lana G. (who took some great photos of our day here)  and Steve

 

Our daughter Katie

Jamie, Ben, and Katie

Our son Dan

The lovely Bridget

Finn who belongs to Bridget and Beau

Dear carving the turkey!

 

Our beautiful Thanksgiving setting overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington. 2nd row Jeremy L., The Mighty Finn, Josh and Beau (Finn’s daddy)

As of June 2017 Photobucket has blacked out all my photos that I had stored there and are holding them hostage. Hopefully I can update my photos on all the posts they have ruined, over 4000 of them.

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Over the River and
Through the Woods

 

Over the river and thru the wood,
To grandfather’s house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow, oh!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.

 

Over the river and thru the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bell ring,
“Ting-a-ling-ling!”
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

 

To all my blogging friends in the U.S.A. a very Happy Thanksgiving Day to you. For those of you outside the U.S. blessings on the rest of your week! We are headed over the freeways and through the streeted woods to our dear friends for a large gathering of family, food, fun, and fellowship. We’ll be rolling home stuffed to the gills later this evening.

 

What Christmas Ornament Are You ~ Meme

Ok I know we’re not suppose to pull out Christmas decorations till after Thanksgiving but it’s time for Saturday fun and this is all I’ve got.  Dear’s brother and SIL are coming to dinner so I’m off and running to buy the ingredients for the menu we decided on. Whatever you are doing today choose JOY and be BLESSED!!

You Are an Angel


A truly giving soul, you understand the spirit of Christmas.

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Thursday Thirteen #8 ~ Friends

Thankful for my Friends!

 

Thirteen Quotes About Friends/Friendship

1. Ah, how good it feels!  The hand of an old friend.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. The best rule of friendship is to keep your heart a little softer than your head.  ~Author Unknown

4. A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.  ~Author Unknown

5. I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.  ~Katherine Mansfield

6. Friendship is a sheltering tree.  ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

7. If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.  ~George MacDonald

8. Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.  ~Plautus

9. A friend loves at all times… ~ Proverbs 17:17 (ESV Bible)

10. A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked.  ~Author Unknown

11. Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer.  ~Author Unknown

12. You can always tell a real friend:  when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.  ~Laurence J. Peter

13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13 (ESV Bible)

To see more Thursday Thirteen click here.

Blessed With Good Friends

Monday Evening November 5th…

The Table is set ~

 

The Candles are lit ~

Our dear friends Dave and Jody arrive from Washington for the night ~

 

We are truly blessed ~

 

For an extra treat here’s a great recipe from the Barefoot Contessa for Mustard-Roasted Potatoes ~

 

2-1/2 lbs. small red potatoes (I used gold), 2 Yellow onions, 3 Tblsps. good olive oil, 2 Tblsps. whole-grain mustard, 2 tsps. kosher salt, 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 C. chopped fresh parsley ~

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the potatoes in halves or quarters, depending on their size, and place them on sheet pan. Remove the ends of the onions, peel them, and cut them in half. Slice them crosswise in 1/4 inch-thick slices to make half-rounds. Toss the onions and potatoes together on the sheet pan. Add the olive oil, mustard, 2tsp. salt, and the pepper and toss them together. (I mixed these ingredients all together before I tossed them with the potatoe/onion mix) Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the potatoes are lightly brown on the outside and tender on the inside. Toss the potatoes from time to time with metal spatula so they brown evenly.

Duhlicious (I spelled that wrong on purpose!)

Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped parsley and a little extra salt.

For dinner with Dave and Jody we had these Potatoes with Filet Mignon, Mushrooms and Onions sauteed with white wine and cream, and a Fiesta Salad.

For dessert we had Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut filled Brioche Bites.

And Dear mixed up a Kensington Dream for Jody and I.

Good Friends, good food, good conversation, good times….

And with all this fun I’m having you’ll understand why I’m a little slow in getting around blog world today to comment…

As of June 2017 Photobucket has blacked out all my photos that I had stored there and are holding them hostage. Hopefully I can update my photos on all the posts they have ruined, over 4000 of them.