Faith, Family, Food and Dogs

I ended my 2014 Christmas trip by spending a night in Kissimmee with a very good friend and her husband. Then New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Jacksonville with Angie. Both ladies are great friends who let me bring my girls when I come to visit. On New Year's day Angie and I took a 6 mile hike with the girls through the Julington-Durbin Preserve. I didn't take any photos. I had hoped to post photos of the house and my outside lights but I must have accidentally deleted them all. Oops. Now, a few posts back I asked you to remember the Border Collie next to Micheal on the mantle. Before I left town for the holidays I found a Shar Pei to put on the other side of Micheal so 'the girls' could keep him company while I was gone. We have now completed our time travel and are back in 2015. I am stronger and have more up days than down days. I'm a struggling Pampered Chef consultant. I know exactly where I am moving to as soon as I am able. I have already...

While down in St. Petersburg, Nan had heard about this light display so we headed off to see it one night. They put up 1/2 million lights. The Tampa Bay Times says "It defies belief". The Tampa Tribune says its "the biggest" This display made HGTV's All Out Christmas and came in at #3. HSN rated it one of the best in the US. It has also been featured on The Today Show and in People magazine. It takes them 3 months to get it all set up. They ask for donations to help cover the $6,400 light bill they have to pay. Enjoy the show and remember you can double-click on any photo for a better view of it. Teddy bears. Lots of teddy bears. Looking up at the TV antennae on top of the building. Snoopy! Train display, rather 1/2 of the train display. Shivering snowman. The lower signs list all or at least most religions, and they point different directions. The sign running vertically reads "Jesus said I am The Way" and it points toward heaven...

Strength, I seem to play hide-and-seek with my strength some days. I have days where I feel like my old, invincible, bullet-proof, strong, German self. Then there are the other days when the tears flow and I want to crawl into a dark cave and never come out. Thankfully I have Liliuokalani. She knows or maybe senses from another room as soon as the tears start and she comes running up to me to lick my tears away and console me. Once the tears stop Lili goes back to what ever she was doing before. Kelekona is my shadow and is seldom more than a few feet away from me. When I sit on the sofa she just about lays on top of me. They both sleep with me at night. They give me strength. Nevertheless, I knew in the deepest part of my heart that for me to spend Christmas and New Year's alone in the house with the memory of all the love and laughter that is gone would not be a smart thing. So,,,I called Nan and told her that the girls and I would be coming down to spend several days for Hanuk...

The Town of Stokesdale has an annual holiday parade. Last year it got rescheduled due to inclement weather and then cancelled altogether. I was not planning on going this year but my 17-year old neighbor was pretty insistent that I attend. He even gave me preferred parking at the start of the parade route. How could I say no after that. An ROTC Color Guard started out the parade. The Guilford County Sheriff's Department brought the Grinch along with them. Maybe they busted him trying to ruin Christmas on their way to the parade, its a thought. I love looking at old cars and this vintage MG was in great shape. My neighbor Debbie and her daughter Addi got to ride in this Camaro with a local politician. What is a small town parade without a tractor, or several? Another old car in great shape. The Shriners had a band on a float. The Shriners also had a fleet of little cars. This guy is driving a 'Nascart'. And of course Santa ended the parade. It was a ni...

It is now December. The year is quickly coming to a close. I read about the lighting of the town Christmas tree and asked my neighbors if they were going. Yes, they are. Randy is giving the invocation at the ceremony. Stokesdale has a nice town hall. Hard to see at night. A group of third graders came and sang for the crowd. The town tree got lit. And to top it off Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived via fire truck due to the lack of snow. Back on the home front I got my Christmas tree up. Decorating the tree was not as hard as decorating the rest of the inside of the house. I have no idea why it was that way. While decorating I found our Santa hats. I put Micheal's on his urn. I saw no reason why he should not get dressed up for the holidays also. Thankfully everyone thought this was cute and did not try to have me committed. Notice the Border Collie next to Micheal, remember that. A new friend made this ornament for me. I love it. My sister in-law, Tetyana, hand painted ...

This post could be called 'Lions, and Tigers and Bears, Oh My' but its not. It is now Sunday, November 30th. Its my last day in Jacksonville before I head back home to NC. Patricia and I agreed to take Miss Savannah to the zoo. Look at my munchkin. She is the most adorable little girl in the world. But that is just my opinion. It was a cool morning but really sunny. The rhinos were out grazing. The elephants were moving around also. The lioness was napping in the warm sun. As was the lion. Over at the giraffe enclosure we saw two baby giraffes. This is the first one. Here is the second one. This is the big daddy giraffe. He is a lot bigger than all the females. After lunch I saw this peacock laying in the bushes along the walkway. We got to see tigers fighting. One of them got disturbed during his nap and that's how the fight started. What would a trip to Florida be without seeing gators? And I'm not talking about the college team. Lastly we fo...