Christmas in New York!

    We have been married for one month now!! We are having Christmas again! Our upstate NY vacation villa is in full holiday mode! We have been visiting and shopping and wrapping and cooking and snuggling!! What an awesome time! Brian is finalizing plans to retire. It has become very obvious that we cannot wait any longer to spend the rest of our days together. We will keep this apartment until we can get out of the lease easier/cheaper. I have changed my flight arrangements so that we can drive back to TN together.

Our tree with Mr & Mrs ornament

Me, Ellie, Debbie, and Clarisse



Wow! Lots of gifts!

Sadness :-(

   Today was the day that I had to take my sweet husband to the airport to fly back to NY. We have had a whirlwind of excitement and happiness since last Wednesday when he arrived. We toured Christmas lights, saw Opryland Hotel all lit up for the holidays, drove to Franklin, TN for "A Dickens of a Christmas", visited all the children and grandchildren, celebrated Christmas with the family, spent lots of quality time together in our home...He loves it here! You would think that it wouldn't be so sad for him to leave since I am flying up there on Friday afternoon. But it is heart-wrenching! We have spent 36 years apart and that is quite enough! We will spend the holidays together and then drive home to TN together!!! I can't wait!!

Christmas in Tennessee!

    We decided to have Brian visit Tennessee after I had to come back after our wedding. You can't imagine how difficult it was to leave him in NY after getting married! We knew I would be coming back to NY before Christmas but it was still agonizing to be apart. Soooo...the only solution was for him to visit TN! He was going to be living here and had never even seen the place!  We split the difference and he came halfway between when I would be going back to NY. I met him at the airport and we spent lovely days visiting, decorating, and meeting new family and friends. He even got to sing at Gallatin's Christmas parade and got his picture in the newspaper!

Waiting at the airport!

Singing for the parade!



Franklin, TN "Dickens of a Christmas"





Selfie at Opryland

Christmas Time Once Again...

   I spent today decorating the house for Christmas. I did not put the tree up because my husband is not here yet and we want to do that together. He will be flying in on Wednesday!! He has never been to Tennessee and so has never seen our house! I am VERY excited to welcome him home and to show him around town!! I will be traveling to NY to stay with him for the holidays and then we will travel back home to Tennessee together.  He is working on retirement and getting rid of the apartment.  This being apart is for the birds and we can barely stand it!   Thank goodness for cell phones and Skype! I will add pics when he gets here!

UPDATE:   Ok...here are some pictures!

At Opryland Hotel

Ready to wrap gifts!

At Home

What a Dream Come True!!

    This week has been a whirlwind of excitement! Traveling, Family, Wedding, Thanksgiving! So very much to be thankful for! I am adding a couple of pictures for now. These are snapshots someone took. We haven't seen the actual photographer's shots yet...can't wait!!

Apple Picking!

     Here are pictures of Brian and I in an apple orchard in New York. The Indian Ladder Orchard.  Look at all the apples on the ground! I went home to our upstate NY vacation villa and made an apple pie...yum! This was the day before I had to go back to TN. :-(

What a Difference a Vacation Makes!!!!

     I last wrote about heading home for Fall Break to try and leave some of the difficulties and sadness behind for a while. I cannot begin to recount all the wonderful ways my life has been changed by taking that leap of faith!! I read somewhere that "sometimes, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale." That is exactly what happened to me! I have a whole new outlook and a whole new life! My future is bright and happiness is my new normal!

Traveling Home

   Fall Break started for us yesterday. I decided that I needed a break from the upset and heartache at home. I talked to Mom and we decided to visit our birthplace. One thousand miles later we are in our hometown. The next few days will bring memories to life as we reconnect with friends and family from a lifetime ago. My soul needs replenishing. I hope I can find that here for a while. Reality will intrude soon enough.

     Update: On this night I met my first love again! I really and truly Came Home! My heart is made whole again! Brian came to see me at Ralph Wenzel's house where we are staying for our visit. It was instant re-attraction. It seemed that we had only been apart for a short time when in reality it had been over 30 years! We decided to see where that would take us...little did we know! Our lives have so completely changed. He kissed me and said, "My heart has found its home!" ...as has mine.

Crossroads

  Strange title. I wish I had the words to explain. I'm feeling like I need to make a huge change. I just don't seem to be brave enough. Plus, I probably don't have enough information to make the change. I keep hearing, "don't cut off your nose to spite your face". Another one is, "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know." Not sure about the devil part, but you get the picture! Maybe I need to make a list. Pros and cons...positives and negatives...dreams and realities...? Hmmmm.

Weekend Escape

  Labor Day is behind us and Fall is fast approaching. Mornings are cooler but evenings are still nice to sit out back on the deck and look at the stars...maybe dream a little. The long weekend was a perfect time to run away from home for a while and see some sights. Enjoy the pictures of the beautiful Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The views put me in mind of some other mountains that I enjoyed.

Beautiful view from the side of the road

Sweet little stream at a roadside pull off

Little Pigeon River at "The Chimney" picnic area....COLD water!!

This is why they are called "the Smoky Mountains"!

Simply beautiful

Sooooo.....

  In regards to the becoming a better batter...not working so well. Sometimes it seems that just coming out and saying things that have been on your mind for a long time is the best course of action! I just wish it felt better :-) That being said, I think I need to make some contacts and repair some hurt feelings. We'll see.

Back to School?!

  Really?! Already?! What happened to summer?! Oh well, ready or not here we go again!! I have missed crafting and blogging and hearing from friends as I tried to focus on other things.  Even with good intentions, life seems to throw curveball after curveball.  I will try to become a better batter!
  A new grandbaby is on the way! Maybe now is a good time to focus. :-)

All Over but the Cryin'!!!

   Another Holiday Season is behind us...kinda sad. I really enjoy the shopping and wrapping and cooking and baking! The wallet takes a hit with 3 kids and 8 grandkids!! Some come over on Christmas Eve and some come over on Christmas morning! A crazy fun time is had by all!
   Greta got a new baby for Christmas this year...Greta is my German Shepherd!! She got a new puppy that we named Glory. Greta and Glory...how cute! Glory is a black and tan German Shepherd Dog (GSD). Her father is liver colored like Greta so maybe we'll have puppies someday. Right now we are working on housebreaking and sleeping through the night!! The vet today says she's perfect...of course! She's up to 11 pounds from a little over 7 pounds when she arrived! Here are a couple of cute pictures!


Sleeping with Greta...notice who has the toy!!

How 'bout a little whack!!! LOL!