9-29-15

Me: A flyer for an upcoming race, Dawn to Dusk came out on-line the other day. Bob noticed that I'm on the flyer! :-) "Where's Waldo?"…I mean "Where's Jane?" game.

9-28-15

Me: Sneak Preview of my Halloween costume! I found this yesterday on our local FB yard sale page. $10 for a very nice 3 year old's lion costume. It's super cute! But I'm gonna use just the head piece (that happens to fit me) for the characters Bob & I will be this year. PS: I'm not the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of OZ. Any guesses?

9-27-15

Me: Catching up on my FALL shows; The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, Big Bang Theory & Modern Family while also catching up on FB, Instagram, e-mails & blogs. It's a lazy TV / media kind of day. Maybe I should see a movie tonight to top it off?

PS: Click on the photo to see the comic on my computer. It's kinda funny. :-)

PPS: I did see a movie this afternoon; The Intern. It was a cute story.

9-26-15

Me: My $1 garage sale purchase. It's a photo image on canvas; 18 x 23. I thought it was kinda cool having the license plates shaped into each state & US map. However, I have no place to put it.  But ONE dollar…how could I not get it. :-/

9-25-15

Me: At the movies 3D style. Nancy, Abbie & I went to see EVEREST this afternoon. It was a well done movie…just very intense and tragic as it follows the expeditions of 1996. Eight climbers including some famous guides were killed in a horrific storm on May 10. "Into Thin Air" is the book that came out a while back about this disaster.

9-24-15

Me: At the Pointe community hot tub soaking some sore muscles. PS: This hot tub was the closest pool to the 1st home Bob & I lived in (1999). We walked here a lot back then. It was great because like tonight we often had it to ourselves. It's not far from our house now either; we need to do this more!

9-23-15

Me: Started Phase 2 of our yard makeover. This week we're removing the pink rock.

Our landscaping guys will then level the dirt (it currently slopes & is lumpy).

Once level a new tan gravel will be spread.

 There will be more to do (in time) but like the pool patio we did in May this will improve the feel of the yard. I'm excited! I'll be sure to post "after" pics in a couple weeks.

9-22-15

Me: "And the thunder rolls..."

Storm clouds, thunder and a little rain this evening. After a really short walk, Harley has found her safe place in the bathroom. She doesn't like thunder…does any dog?

9-21-15

Me: My workouts with Howard last weekend included an 8 mile run!

Note photo evidence that I like to run in evening gowns & Howard limps a lot. LOL!

Howard also got in a 3600 meter swim while I ART-ified his workout pic poolside. :-)

Even Howard's boys were involved in some weekend fun. Bob & I took Greg (25) & Ryan (22) hiking. We did the mistake of starting at 11am for a 2 hour outing in 105 degrees. Ouch! It was still a (sweaty) fun time on Sunrise Peak. Great job, guys!!

9-20-15

Travel…To Find Where You Belong :-)

Was playing around with some recent photos, an editing app & one of my favorite sayings! Bob & I love to travel & enjoy different places & experiences. It opens your mind, educates and inspires. And I do believe travel helps to find where you belong! :-)

9-19-15

Me: It's A Small World After All

This is one of my fav photos from our trip; me jumping while holding up the world!  :-)
The more we travel the smaller the world feels and the more you talk with people the more small world stories you hear. Like this one...
Bob's parents were married in 1964 & part of their honeymoon was spent at the NYC World's Fair right here in front of the Unisphere! The other day I found out my wonderful friend from Ohio went on her high-school senior trip to the NYC World's Fair right here in front of the Unisphere! Could all parties please review your 1964 photographs? It's quite possible Karen was photo bombing my in-laws honeymoon pictures! :-)

9-18-15

Me: It's good to be back home but Harley hasn't given us much rest. She requests walks every morning & night (though we're happy to oblige) and she's a working dog around the house. Above Harley demonstrates her homemade laundry soap. We've been using this recipe from Pinterest for a few years now. Thanks for your help, Harley!

9-17-15

Me: A Snickers Bar named CRANKY.

So you've probably seen the Coke bottles that have names on them (that way you can share a Coke with Bob or Jane!) See below example :-). Well, have you seen the names on a Snickers bar yet? Apparently Snickers is jumping on the name game trend. When we were trying to get home from NYC on Sept 12 we were having travel challenges (flights were full & we were stand-by). We detoured to Greensboro & also Charlotte, NC in hopes of getting on a flight to AZ. Needless to say…the day was long! While waiting for a flight in Charlotte I went to the gift shop to get chocolate. How ironic that Snickers seemed to know exactly how I felt at that moment. I bought CRANKY!! And since my patience was already being tested I ate CRANKY in record time. :-) In the end we made it to Phoenix by midnight. Bob did a great job of juggling our flight schedule to get us home and I went from CRANKY to THANKFUL! 

9-16-15

Me: On our last night (9/11) in New York we were able to meet up with our niece, Dawn. Dawn is my oldest niece (5 yrs younger) & we grew up together in Elk Horn, Iowa. It was great to catch up as we don't see each other often. Dawn took us to some trendy spots in Soho. We had delicious food & such a fun time!

Dawn has lived & worked off & on in NYC since college. She and her husband, Thomas have two adorable little girls & just last year moved from Manhattan Island to Connecticut to raise their girls in the country. Thomas trains into the city to work & Dawn (who has been on sabbatical for a year) will do the same next month when she goes back to work at Deloitte & Touche in NYC. She's not too excited to leave the girls as she loves more time with them & fixing up their CT home. Thanks to Dawn & Thomas for letting us stay in their pretty NYC apartment our last two nights. What a wonderful upgrade from our hotel and a neat glimpse into NYC residency. PS: Thomas & Dawn are using their NYC apartment as a rental and there were a couple nights open between tenants for us. 

Thanks so much, Dawn! Awesome hanging out!!

9-15-15

Me: Chaotic traffic & me in the middle. :-/

Chaotic people and Bob in the middle! :-/

Bob & I had a fabulous time in NYC but there is no denying that NYC is full of chaos! The Big Apple is crowded, busy, loud, & dirty…it's also filled with culture, fashion, celebrities & sports. NYC has so much going on all the time that it makes your head spin!! Chaos?

9-14-15

Me: My SWEET post...

Sweet cupcakes at a sweet shop next to the Empire State Building!

Sweet Love! :-)

This famous LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana is located in NYC just south of Central Park. We checked it off our list of things to see. Sweet XOXO :-)

9-13-15

Me: The Unisphere

Built for the 1964 World's Fair as a symbol of world peace. It's the largest globe structure in the world at 140 ft high, 120 ft diameter & weighs 900,000 lbs. The globe is made of stainless steel & was engineered & constructed by the American Bridge Company (a division of US Steel).

The Unisphere is located in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, NY. It's a magnificent greeting as you walk up to the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

We arrived by 10am on September 11th excited to watch the women's semi-finals matches at the US Open.

A statue of Arthur Ashe is in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Before going into the stadium we watched ESPN Sports Center broadcasting about the upcoming matches. That's Pat McEnroe with Mary Joe Fernandez.

Pretty cool to enter the huge stadium (as seen on TV)! Our seats were actually quite good even though we look so far away in these photos. I guess we could have paid $1000 + to be in the 3rd row. :-) 

Waiting for the 1st match between Simona Halep (seeded #2) and Flavia Pennetta (seeded #26). Flavia Pennetta surprisingly beat Halep in just under an hour!

And then THEE match that everyone was excited to see; Serena Williams (seeded #1 and going for the GRAND SLAM if she was to win this match plus the finals match on Saturday) against Roberta Vinci (not seeded). FYI: The Grand Slam is winning all 4 majors within a calendar year. The last woman to do that was Steffi Graf.

The match started with Serena winning the 1st set. At that time we thought Serena may win the match in under an hour as well.

 We ultimately wanted Serena to win & go on to make history but after the 1st set we were rooting for  Vinci to win the 2nd set. We just wanted to watch more tennis!!

To everyone's surprise Roberta Vinci did win the 2nd set & the ultimately won the match. What a HUGE upset to beat Serena Williams (possibly the biggest women's upset in women's tennis). I feel badly that Serena wasn't able to make history but truly Vinci deserved to win this match by the way she played.  She just hustled and never gave up. Vinci stayed composed even with Serena causing some commotion with occasional outbursts. Serena looked sluggish and it appeared that her feet hurt. We could see both ankles were wrapped up. 

I'm sure Serena is accustomed to shorter matches, often winning many points on her fast serve alone. Maybe Vinci making Serena hit more balls wore her down. Roberta Vinci was a gracious & ecstatic winner and her interview was adorable. She even apologized to the American fans for beating their superstar. :-) I only wish that Vinci had won the US Open title the next day but she lost to fellow Italian, Flavia Pennetta. I'm sure Roberta was tired but congrats to Pennetta.

It sure was something to see such an epic women's match. Now add to that experience by seeing John McEnroe play!! As we were leaving Arthur Ashe stadium we realized that the masters men's doubles final was being played on court #11. The McEnroe brothers were in the finals so we hustled to court #11!

We walked right in and sat in the front row…what a thrill to see up close John McEnroe & Patrick McEnroe. Both Bob & I grew up watching John McEnroe & Jimmy Connors (and others of that time).  Photo above shows John McEnroe's distinctive serve.

No denying John was a "colorful" guy to watch then and he was really fun to watch now. John & Patrick were comical on the court, often interacting with the audience. In the end they lost to Cash & Philippoussis in 3 sets. 

We left Flushing Meadows with huge smiles! And now we're inspired to play more tennis at home. Congrats to Novak Djokovic who won the US Open men's title on Sunday, Sept 13th. He played a great match against Roger Federer.