Another "special" day!

Today is my BFF's birthday! Hooray Mendie! I hope you have a wonderful day and I'm very honored to have spent the last ummmm 20 with you?! Wow!


And then there is this....


That's right....20 years ago today I made a pretty big decision. One that turned out to be a pretty stable, valuable and pleasant decision. September 30, 1991 was the start of my career with a wonderful company! I have seen many changes through the years and feel very blessed every day. I can honestly say that I love my job and am looking forward to many more years.

I'm not spending my anniversary at work today though, we would be heading across the bay to hit the "Chesapeake Wine Trail" Yippee!!

Happy weekend to you all =)

Fall Reads...

Fall is when I generally read more. I picked up "The Help" in the airport the other day and was hooked. I had contemplated but never purchased. Then when I saw "Read and Return", there wasn't any second guessing. I'm only 1/4 in but it is definitely a good read.



These are on my list for next 'purchases'...







Anyone read these or have any words of advice before I purchase the bottom three?

The right place...

at the right time -


Of course, I believe everything happens for a reason which is why I loved the sermon on Sunday. So, here's the scoop. We have not been to church very much at all this Summer. That doesn't mean we are any less of a Christian. Trust me. I still read the bible, my daily devotions, thank God each morning for another day and pray.

Sunday Cierra was Litigurist which meant we would attend church. We are proud of her and she always does such a nice job. As the sermon started, it was around dog obedience school. Then cats. Then the 'meat' of sermon. I'm very glad we were there. I truly believe God put us in the pew for a reason and as I listened, I felt better because to be honest, while I have NEVER questioned whether there is a GOD, I do sometimes wish I could tattle.

Pastor Joanna talked about those people that come to church; dress like a Christian; look like a Christian; talk like a Christian and 'act' like a Christian yet in some ways, are FAR from a true Christian. I know people like that. People that dress, look, talk, and act in all the right, Christian like ways on the surface but behind the scenes (backs) are far from Christians.

We work hard, and earn (truly earn) an 'honest' living, facing our own turmoils yet we believe where there's a will, there's a way. We are not by any means perfect but do try to treat others the way we want to be treated (within reason). I believe that judgement should be left for "Judgement Day". And, like I said, sometimes I get stuck in wanting to 'tattle' to God when we know people are deceitful and untruthful. Sunday's sermon was very clear: you can't run and you can't hide. God knows and for that I give thanks and believe.

I called it!

Yep, that's what I'm gonna say when this group


takes "Friday Night" all the way to the top because I know it's going to happen =)

Whenever a new album comes out and I download or purchase, I listen over and over. It honestly drives Ronnie nuts but...over the years I have done a really good job figuring out which song or songs would be released next.

And, since for the past few years Friday Night has been our night out, I fell in love with their song. Very fitting. I don't think I'm the only one that's going to like it though...

Here's a few of the lines that caught me:

I want to be your Friday night sweet ride

Summertime sunshine, barefoot in the moon light

and....money in your pocket cause you just got paid babe, ha!

so if you get a chance, check this out.

Back in Business!

First of all, I want to thank those of you that have been on this ride with me. Back and forth between Blogger and Wordpress. After a few weeks, I am happy to announce that I am BACK! There were several things that I really like about Wordpress but the things that I didn't, unfortunately pushed me right over the edge of blog world, back into Blogger.

I'm not completely satisfied with how it looks just yet but didn't want to wait any longer to share the news of my decision. So, stay tuned. There's a lot going on right here on our little corner of the world and I promise to keep you as up to date as possible =)

Happy Sunday!

We've moved....not sure if it's temporary or permanent yet but for now, click HERE

I hope you'll hop on over!

change IS good!

I promise =)

Bare with me.....soon everything will be ok again, lol!

I do apologize for any inconvenience but I'm remodeling.....check back soon!

Next Chapter -

The lifts are empty -

and the deck is bare -

The sun is starting to set but tonight we won't get to see it from our favorite place, we'll more than likely see if while heading over the bay bridge. But, we had an awesome weekend! We packed just about as much in three days as possible and Ronnie and I agree that this is the first time we have been to the boardwalk every night we were here =) We found a new hideout. Away from the crowd but still within view of this -


Our own little space near the end of the beach - Just big enough for two but high above the sea, haha!

Yep, every night we were able to climb up and just chill out while the kids strolled the boardwalk!


We did sneak off one night and grab some fries =)

a little bit of salt and a LOT of vinegar...yum!

And speaking of YUM -
FINALLY! We haven't made it to The Fractured Prune all summer but did today!

Then of course we headed for one last bike ride on the boards and later found out that starting today there is no time limit....you can ride all day. Geez and of course Chase wanted to keep riding =)



The jet skis came home with us which meant a nice little ride to the beach/ramp -

And then just a few hours more on the beach - and the ocean was still wicked today with a very visible rip current. These two were determined once again though...

Which definitely made me nervous again especially when I thought Chase looked stressed when he couldn't get in on a wave BUT then I saw this -

And was certain he was heading out....he had his eye right on them but luckily they were able to get in without his help. Shew...

Finally they opted to stay in close to the shore even though I know it's boring, ha!

Check this out - just to give you an example....

See the 'pool' of pretty deep water then the drop off where the waves are actually crashing?! This lady is standing below the drop off, in water which is only up to her knees but because of the 'break', it looks like it's a lot deeper. The 'pool' was flowing pretty fast right down the shore and into the ocean like a river which was causing the rip tide. It was very obvious as to the power this water had.
And check out where the lifeguard stand is -

They are typically back in the dry sand but this weekend he wanted to be 'up close and personal' with the swimmers...these storms are playing havoc with the sea, that's for sure.

I like these little birds - sand pipers. We don't usually see them.


We cleaned up, packed up and headed out....gonna be a long drive home, already hearing about a 9 mile back-up but it's all worth it. It was a good weekend in OC!

So we're closing this chapter and moving right into Fall. Luckily Fall does hold a trip to the beach in just 4 weeks - Yay!

Happy Labor Day!

Enjoy!

Just gotta show ya!

Ok, this is a picture of the beach before Irene hit -


And this is today (post Irene, with people) BUT! see how much beach we lost?! =(

so while OC was spared for the most part, we lost a lot of beach area. And, we heard today that 'dredging' won't occur for 6 years because it is SO expensive. Wow!

Irene may be gone but the sea still seems a little bit 'grumpy' to me.

Needless to say, this guy was really busy -

and honestly I was pretty nervous. Chase and Damian were determined to conquer the huge waves and rip current but not without one of us having our eye right on them.

But eventually a meeting was necessary -

and I think this just might be a look of respect for the sea....

So what to do when the sea is too grumpy?

dig in the sand and watch for some 'treasures' to wash up -

Or just head back and chill til it's time to head down to the boardwalk =) (hmm notice anything wrong with this pic?! haha)


Happy times at the beach today, just sayin'!

Saying goodbye -

Even before Irene, we had plans to come back to the beach for Labor Day. It was to be a family affair, with no 'extra' friends; just a relaxing weekend just to send Summer out and start talking about Fall.

Well.....the 'no friends' rule didn't work out. Cierra (and Chase) asked to bring along Damian and we agreed that it would be fun for us all =)

With everyone picked up from school, we headed toward the Eastern Shore. Remember, it IS Labor Day and we're not the only ones that wanted to hit the beach -

It honestly wasn't too bad. This back up ended up being an accident then we hit another right at the Severn bridge BUT we breezed across the Bay Bridge...so fast that it was hard to get this picture -

our timing was perfect! In all our years traveling across the bridge, we have never seen one of these freighter ships going under while we're crossing. Yep, seen tons of them on the horizon but never one up close and personal.

This caught my eye, too - someone actually hoping to have Irene help demolish their building, lol!

After our traditional stop at Lombardi's, we arrived at our destination. It was dark but here's what greeted us -

Gotta love it!

The guys got to work -

and within an hour, we were unpacked, unboarded and all settled in for a GREAT weekend....bring it on!