The Memory Bee

Packing Tips for Happy Trips

LOL - how do you like that title?! I thought I'd do a post about what I packed for my trip to Italy and Germany like I did when I returned from Paris in April. You can read that post HERE if you missed it. I was in Italy and Germany for twenty-six days (compared to 29 days in Paris and London.)

This is the comparison picture of the clothes that I packed for this trip...

The pile on the left is the things that I wore during the trip and the pile on the right are the things that I took that I didn't wear. I'd say I did much better this time! The worn pile is not that much for that length of time, but I knew I'd be hauling my suitcase around myself, so I tried to pack light. I wasn't prepared for the terribly hot weather that we had for some of the trip - I wished that I had more clothes for that. The three pairs of shorts, two pairs of capris, and one pair of jeans that I packed aren't in this picture. In less that a month I'll be packing again - this time for my trip to South Africa - we'll see how I do packing for THAT trip! :)

As I packed for my trip to Salt Lake City and Oklahoma City last week I took pictures of the things that are always in my bags. Maybe it will help you as you pack for a trip! Because I travel so much, I keep these things in my bags, ready to go.

I emptied out the front pocket of my carry-on rolling suitcase...

A pair of sunglasses in a non-crushable case, an umbrella, an eyemask, an extra pair of socks, a protein bar, and some extra kleenex.

In my carry-on I always have a wool wrap that I can use as a blanket on the plane and a travel pillow.

Also inside my carry-on are these things:

- my camera in its case, battery charger and extra batteries for my camera, noise-canceling headphones (and an extra battery), and a tin with a coffee mug, instant coffee (Starbucks VIA or Nescafe), creamer, and sweetener. I started carrying my own coffee supplies after getting sick of weak hotel coffee and paper cups. On the day of travel I'll also add my computer cord and iPad/iPhone cord to this suitcase. By the way, make sure your rolling carry-on suitcase has four wheels instead of two. It makes it sooo much easier to maneuver through the airport!

If you ever see a picture of me at the airport, leaving for a long trip, you'll see my favorite carry-on tote bag...

I love my Cath Kidston Business Bag - it is just the right size for all my things and the handles are just the right length to hook over the handles of my carry-on suitcase. A lot of my travel accesories are from Cath Kidston. The picture above is the contents of the front pocket of the bag...

- a computer screen cleaner wipe, a glasses-cleaning cloth, earplugs, hand cream, an extra set of headphones, lip balm, pencil and pen, bandaids, and sweetener.

Inside the tote bag you'll find these things...

- my ipad mini and keyboard, a folder with all my printed travel tickets and itineraries, a travel wallet with my airline member cards and where I'll keep my boarding passes and my passport (if I'm traveling overseas), and what I call my "bulkhead bag". I am often sitting in the bulkhead seat on a plane where you have to put your bags in the overhead compartment, so there are a few things that I want to have handy in case I can't get my bag for a while - lipgloss, kleenex, earplugs, cough drop, pencil, and I'll add my glasses and my phone once I'm getting on the plane to this soft bag that I can tuck beside me in my seat.

I use a purse organizer thing that I got in Paris that I put in my bag too and then pack the actual purse in my carry-on suitcase. I love it because I can change purses easily and try to stay organized. I often use a Longchamp Le Pilage bag when traveling because they are so lightweight and hold a ton of stuff, and the organizer helps everything not get lost in the bottom of the bag.

If I'm traveling overseas, I add a copy of my passport and any coins and travel cards that I might have leftover from other trips. I also take the plug adapters for the countries I'll be visiting and a voltage converter. I've started to travel with a travel power strip - it comes in really handy, especially in other countries, because you only need one adapter for the power strip.

I hope this helps you next time you're off on an adventure! Speaking of adventures... I have a couple upcoming trips that I want to let you all know about! For the sixth year I am doing a trip to New York City the weekend before Thanksgiving to see the city decorated for the holidays and kick off the Christmas season. All the information about the trip and to sign up is on the trip blog that you can find by clicking HERE.

The second upcoming trip is next April to the fabulous city of London, England! I take only small groups overseas with me so we can shop and sightsee and explore together. For our trip in 2015 I only have one spot open! I have a roommate for you, so you don't have to worry about that - if you'd like more information, you can read about the trip on the trip blog HERE and email me if you have any questions. We have an amazing time and make life-long friends - would you like to fill that one last spot? We have a great group going!!

A weekend at Paper Crown

After a couple days at the SPC trade show in Salt Lake City, I headed from Utah to Oklahoma to teach at Paper Crown, a delightful store in Oklahoma City. The sky was amazing as the sun rose on the early morning flight over Utah...

Paper Crown is more than just a scrapbook store - it is a feast for the eyes and full of inspiration. Cindy, the owner, has a super knack for display and making you want to buy everything!

They have an amazing education program - just look at these class samples!

We had three full classes - I loved seeing the gals that I met last time and meeting many new ones. I can't wait to see you all again next year!

A BIG thank you to Cindy or "Vinter Cindy" as our tour guide in Italy called her for all you did to make it a perfect weekend!

We went to the coolest store on Sunday - Vertigris - in downtown OKC. Their displays are very inspirational and cool!

Thank you again to all the ladies that came out from all over Oklahoma and from Texas to take the classes - you have blessed me with your friendships!

Come see some new products!

Wednesday I flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend a small trade show for the craft and scrapbook industry that was put on by a distributor group from the Pacific Northwest. For as long as I've been in the scrapbook business there has been a summer trade show - usually in Chicago - but the attendance at that show had gotten smaller and smaller over the years, so this year it was cancelled (or you could say moved to Atlanta and renamed a paper show but almost no one and hardly any of the companies are attending.) Since I'm teaching in Oklahoma City this weekend, I decided to come here on the way there and have a chance to see the new products that are debuting now and in the next couple months. I have a couple new classes I need to plan and saw some things I really liked. I'm inspired!!

I haven't been to Salt Lake City since the last CKU in Provo in 2009! I've always loved coming here - the landscape is so different and beautiful.

I checked into the hotel and went straight to the show. I took pictures of some of the new things - I thought there were a lot of really good Christmas collections this year. I could work with any one of them but there are two that I love the most (I'm not sharing them yet - you'll have to wait and see what I use for my Christmas album class this year! :)

Here's collections from Echo Park (or Carta Bella, I can't tell them apart and they were displayed in the same booth.)

How cute are these post-it notes from My Mind's Eye...

I thought these enamel-looking flower parts were cool from Prima...

and I like the size (to fit on a book page) of these stencils and the canvas sheets in their booth...

I loved this metal bird house...

Graphic 45 always has the most amazing sample projects...

and here's my new class project - NOT! It is amazing though! How cool is that dog!

I LOVE these colorful doilies and tiny paper clips and clothespins from Doodlebug...

The biggest surprise of the show for me was how much I liked the Bo Bunny collections! They are usually not quite my style but this time they were outstanding.

I love this pastel,girly collection...

I loved their travel collection...

They have new reusable stencils that were cool...

I liked the Authentique Christmas and Faith collections...

I think my favorite paper of all is this cloud paper from the new Brighton Pier collections from Studio Calico...

Of course, I love the new Crate Paper and Maggie Holmes collections...

Cute American Crafts Christmas...

I got to catch up with Layle - we'll be in South Africa together soon!

And hang out a little bit with my favorite girls from Idaho!

I'm glad I was able to be here and connect with the companies that support my classes and get excited about what's to come!

Did you see anything here that you liked? Any classes you'd like to see me do? I'm always open to ideas! Thanks!!

My wake up call is at 3:30 this morning - see y'all soon in OKC! :)

Italy 2014 - Tuesday, June 10 A trip to Burano

In the Venice lagoon is the colorful little island of Burano and that was our destination today.

We took a vaporetto around through the Grand Canal and saw lots of interesting sights - remember, with no cars or trucks, everything comes and goes by boat here.

Soon we were at the dock to catch the boat for the 45 minute ride to Burano.

Our first stop was for lunch for the island specialty - a spectacular fish risotto. It was dreamy!

I love the curtains that hang at each doorway to keep the homes cool. Can I take off my front door and hang a curtain instead? :)

Yes, this tower really does lean this much!

We explored all around the island and then went on to another tiny island in the lagoon, Torcello. It was just too hot to really enjoy it - we took a look around at the church and peered at the pretty gardens and then made our way back to Venice.

We decided to walk back home and not use a map - we finally found the Accademia Bridge sign!

Another leaning tower...

(That's my new "Louis Vuitton" bag that I bought from a guy's blanket in Florence. :)

We got cleaned up and went back out for the evening - to wander the streets again and to take our first gondola ride. Now I can say that I did it but I wish we'd chosen a better gondelier. My clue that he wouldn't be so great was that he went into a bar to get a Bloody Mary just before we left. Hmmm...

It was beautiful - I like some black and white photos for a change...

(He was pretty much of a jerk.)

After the sun set we went to one of the ourdoor cafes in Piazza San Marcos to listen to the band we liked best. It was worth every penny for the coffee and french fries that we had! It was magical - the band played until 12:30am - and in Italy, once you have a table, you have it for the night! It was one of the most memorable evenings ever. I LOVED it!

The next day we took the train from Venice to Munich - you can read about that here, if you haven't already.

Thanks for reading and following along as I relived this adventure! I'll have one more post about packing - just like I did after my trip to Paris and London in April, I took a picture of what I packed and what I actually wore and will tell a little more about the essentials that I take on every trip.

I'm off to Salt Lake City to go to the SPC Mixed Media trade show there on my way to Oklahoma City on Friday to teach at Paper Crown this weekend. The fun doesn't end!! :)

 

Italy 2014 - Monday, June 9 Let's go to Venice today!

Our final destination on this Italian adventure was the gorgeous city of Venice. We had a little complication on the way there though! I had gotten train tickets online before we left for a pretty good price - about 75 euros for two first class tickets from Florence to Venice. We got on the train and got settled into our comfy, good seats, all our luggage safely stowed away, when another couple came along and said that we were in their seats. We compared our tickets and they both had the same seats on them, but since we were already there, they sat in the next two seats which were good ones, too.

A few minutes later, Dave asked to see our ticket. He examined it again, handed it back to me, and said to look at the date. I couldn't believe it, but I bought the ticket for the wrong day!! We really were in the wrong seats because we weren't even supposed to be on that train. When the conductor came around to check the tickets, we told him about the problem, and he said that we either had to get off the train at the next stop (Bologna) or purchase new undiscounted tickets from him that were more than I will admit. He gave us time to think about it, and we weighed our options and how much our time and trouble was worth, and since we had allowed such a short time for Venice anyway, we decided to buy the new ticket and stay on the train. I even tried the "but I'm BLONDE" excuse with him but there was no way around it. At least he let us stay in our seats. I always check and double check my ticket purchases but calendars for European travel often start on Monday instead of Sunday - maybe that's what happened here - an expensive lesson, for sure!!

There is nothing like arriving in Venice on the train. You exit the station and there's the water!

You probably already know that there are no cars in Venice, so we had to get a boat to the stop for our B&B with all our stuff! The boats or vaporettos are the public "buses" here and the bellman (Dave) handled the bigger bags...

And we were off down the Grand Canal...

Our stop was the Accademia stop where we then had to walk up steps and over three bridges - it was grueling in the heat. (Did I mention that it was in the mid-90's with about 100% humidity?) Luckily I had been here before and stayed at the same place with Brandon years ago, so I knew where we were going. It can be very confusing because the direction are things like "turn left at the bank or turn at the pizza shop." Here's our little street...

After dropping off our bags and recovering a little from the heat (did I mention that it was hot and very humid?) we set off to explore, starting with the area around our place.

Venice is a photographer's heaven and nightmare because there are an unlimited amount of things to take pictures of, but especially on a day like this day when the sun is glaringly bright, the bright light and the dark shadows between the buildings make it really hard to capture it accurately. I hope you enjoy my little photo journal...

Then we crossed over the Accademia Bridge on our way to Piazza San Marco, the central square of Venice.

BUT first - how cute is this gondolier to my right?? :) I offered to bring him home as a souvenir...

See the area in the picture above between the yellow building and the trees? That is a sculpture made of stacked bicycle frames. Look at how cool it looks at night...

Anyway... Venice is a maze of streets and alleys and canals and bridges - getting lost is part of the fun!

and then finally the grandest square of all...

It wasn't crowded there - I think the heat was keeping people away. I had only been here during Carnevale, so it seemed really empty to me.

The cafes that line the square were empty - no one is sitting there in the heat (did I mention it was hot??)

The arcades that ring the square were a refuge...

The beautiful front fascade of St. Mark's Basilica is undergoing renovation. Bummer! But the Doges Palace next door is still gorgeous.

I love the pink glass in the street lights...

The famous Bridge of Sighs...

The light was terrible for this next picture but I loved the pink buildings and the lady in pink - it seemed like a moment out of a movie... she looks like she could be Audry Hepburn waiting for her next shot...

You can kind of see how narrow the streets are in this picture of this corner building... see how close those walls are?

That evening we met up with girls from the retreat - Terri and her husband, Tiffany, and Missy and her husband - at the legendary Harry's Bar - just to say that we'd been there.

We had dinner and lots of laughs and amazing gelato - I loved seeing them here! Tiffany took our picture...

Once the sun was setting it became more bearable to be in the square and one of the most delightful things EVER are the bands that play at the cafes each night. They each play a set in turn - you can follow the music around the square or sit and eat at one of the cafes - we did that the next night and it was worth every penny!

I thought I'd be able to share all of Venice in one post (LOL) but I took over 800 photos in two days, so I'll have to do one more post about our trip to the colorful little island of Burano.

Thank you for reading and stay cool today! :) 

Italy 2014 - Sunday, June 8 Biking in Lucca

My husband and I were only spending two days in Florence, but when the temperature soars to 95 degrees, it's time to get out of town and find a way to stay cooler. One of our favorite places from a previous trip to Italy was the city of Lucca, just about an hour train ride west, so we hopped aboard on Sunday morning and set off for another adventure. We didn't know that we would be the "chaperones" for hundreds (maybe thousands) of teens also heading west to the beach for the day!! We were in a sea of Italian teenagers - luckily we had seats but they sat on the floor and everywhere! It wouldn't have been so bad but it was hot and the train kept stopping and sitting - such is Italian train travel!

This was the stairs and door area when we were getting ready to get off in Lucca... good luck getting through there! I told Dave to just say "scusi, scusi" and push through or he would be stuck on there forever!

LOL - we made it and were relieved to be out in the fresh air again! Of course, if you know me, you know that the first thing I do is find the restroom, so at the Lucca train station I found the ladies' room...

Nice, huh?! At least it was free.....

Lucca is a walled city that became a Roman colony in 150 BC - once the walls were no longer needed to protect the city, the top of the wall became a promenade for walking and biking - it's just gorgeous and peaceful and shady!

Here's the outside of the old city and the wall...

We rented bikes for the day and headed straight for the shade!

As you ride around the top of the wall, there are places to go down and ride up and down and all the around the town. I love the freedom that you have on a bike - the only drawback is all the cobblestone streets - they are a killer on the tailbone!

We went to the little cafe on the right in the picture below three times during the day for something to eat or drink... love the shade of the umbrellas!

As we were biking along we passed this little parade... we have no idea what it was about but it was interesting!

Love the plane trees!

If you click on this next picture and enlarge it, you'll see the four young men who just happen to have medieval clothing on. It seemed very fitting!

I love this "Niagara" laundry - a little reminder of home!

How about this window box!!

I want to know how you get your bike out if it's the one in the back!

The cafes surround the ring of buildings that preserve the shape of the Roman amphitheater. It was built during the 1st and 2nd centuries and could accommodate over 10,000 spectators.

Here's a picture I found online...

We saw lots of interesting door knockers...

As we were turning in our bikes, we were greeted by another parade - this time in medieval dress.

I highly recommend biking in Lucca! It's a great way to see the town! Thankfully we were able to get a train before all the kids left the beach and have a nice ride back to Florence!

Of course, we had to end our day with another gelato from Grom...

and take in the beauty of the Duomo...

The Baptistry is being restored so it's completely shrouded in a fascade - it would be a bummer if you were visiting and never got to see it before!

The next day we boarded another train for Venice - one of my very favorite places!

Thanks for reading!! Have a good weekend!

Italy 2014 - Saturday, June 7 Walking Florence

Only three more posts left of my Italy "tour" and I'll be all caught up! Thank you for following along with me - I know some of you are enjoying the armchair tour and others might be thinking, "Get on with it already!" Almost done... Then to get the pictures printed and into my book - that always seems to be the hardest part!

After the retreat ended several of us went back to Florence to either continue on home or to meet family here and continue the adventure - my husband flew over and met me there. We checked into our hotel which was very conveniently located right around the corner from the Duomo...

and right above the Disney store!

Our first stop was a new favorite gelato shop (thank you for the recommendation, Carolyn!) - Grom. It is a chain gelato shop in Italy but so good.

And then we started walking and walking and walking...

This postcard display amused me with its very strategic placement of the price tag - modesty next to the Pope, of course!

Aren't we a cute couple!

The Ponte Vecchio bridge (built in 1345!) across the Arno River (it was the only bridge in Florence not bombed during the WWII by the Nazis.)

and looking the other direction...

We stopped for lunch at this restaurant - mainly because they not only had fans but misters that felt sooo good on the 95 degree day! This little friend joined us for lunch - a step up from having a pigeon on our table, but a little annoying after a while!

No fear here!

We walked along the river and crossed over closer to our destination... I liked this statue built out over the water... don't fall!!!

We walked up and up...

Love this graffiti on the crosswalk sign - perfect for Italy!

On our way up we stopped in a garden and found this statue of the frame of a suitcase - I love the way it frames the city back across the river!

Our first destination was Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. It is one of my favorite places in Florence. I love the views and the statues at the cemetery that surrounds it.

I think this is my favorite statue that I've ever seen - it tugs at my heart every time.

There had been a wedding at the church just before we arrived and this little girl was peering into one of the crypts - I don't blame her - the statues are fascinating - I always wonder about the stories of those memorialized here.

The church is beautiful inside too.

I'm intrigued that in many places that I've seen in Italy and in France, that many times a work of art or a building might be started, and if they run out of money or due to some other circumstance the work isn't finished, they just leave it, rather than having someone come back and finish it at a later date. I think in the US, we would make sure it was done - have a fund-raiser or something - but I love that it is left as it was. This wall wasn't finished and the drawings remain...

The cemeteries are so different than what we're used to...

As we were leaving the basilica and crossing over to Piazzale Michelangelo - my other favorite place in Florence - we saw this guy running with his stash of fake designer bags. It means the police were't far behind!

I had to laugh at the line-up of the guys waiting for the police to leave - they must have good hiding places for their wares!

The people begin to gather to watch the sunset and the gorgeous views of the city. The guy entertaining the crowd was a Paul Simon sound-alike and pretty good!

I have very happy memories of getting hot cocoa with Brandon the two times we were here at the Playbar since it was winter time then.

After the sun set, we walked all the way back and across the Ponte Vecchio - I always feel like I'm on a movie set in Florence!

Putting "love locks" on the bridges in Paris has become a tradition but I think it's ridiculous how it's spilling out to other cities - come on - random locks on the side of a wall???

As we wandered and explored, we saw this sight - it looked like a man up on the side of a building...

but it was just a super-cool statue!

On the corner of just about every street you find a Madonna up on the wall - they are like mini works of art around every turn.

The Uffizi art gallery...

We ended the day at one of our favorite places right across the street from our hotel for a little late night gelato - yum!

Next up - biking in Lucca. I hope your day is GREAT! :)

What's up, Buttercup?

I thought I'd take a break in my travel journal to catch up on what's going on in real time around here and do a little "catch you up!" Many of you have seen the picture on Facebook of my husband pushing me on a chair on a cart last Saturday after nine hours of standing and teaching at Buffalo Stamps.

It was a joke (sort of) - I needed to go from the store in the plaza where we had the classes (so we had more room) back to the store and I was so tired that he talked me into getting on the chair and he'd push me. I hadn't mentioned on here or Facebook that I'd been to the podiatrist and had an x-ray and then an MRI that showed that I have a stress fracture in the top of my foot. I know when it happened - on the climb up to Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany in the rain - or maybe on the way down. It was grueling and I've been limping ever since. The podiatrist told me that I just have to let it heal but it's feeling all tingly and stuff, so I have an appointment to go back to him later today. I need this to get better fast or I'll be limping across the country again soon!

We had a great time at Buffalo Stamps! I travel all over but haven't taught here at home for years! We decided that needs to change. It was wonderful to see everyone and to make new friends too. Thank you to Sharon and her staff for all you did to make everyone feel so welcome.

Over the 4th of July weekend Brandon came to visit from Washington DC! It was so good to see him, especially since I hadn't seen him since March. He brought his sweet girlfriend Michelle to see Buffalo for the first time and where he grew up. He and we loved showing her around - our favorite spots to eat and all.

The first morning I woke up to find her making muffins in the kitchen! I think she's a keeper! :)

We had a little picnic on the 4th and then the boys had some fun with some bottle rockets.

Then it got more serious... (still shooting bottle rockets but with blow torch!)

Or a bunch of them with a blow torch...

We loved getting to know her better and seeing him so happy.

I was super sad to see them go - as always - not knowing when the next time will be!

The weekend before that I taught at CraftFancy outside Chicago and had a really good weekend there too! I've taught in the area many times over the last several years, so it's always so nice to see friends again and make new ones! I am so blessed - I never take it for granted for one second. Thank you to Carol for her support and welcoming me and the students to the store!

Look at the banner one of Carol's employees made me - so personal and so thoughtful!

I'm home for a week or so now but looking forward to going to Oklahoma City the last weekend in July for classes at Paper Crown. It definitely worth a trip just to see this beautiful store! Can't wait to see everyone there! Come join us, if you can!

Italy 2014 - Friday, June 6 Photography Day

Our last day at the estate was our free day - some girls took another cooking class, some worked on their projects - I decided to take some time to work on my photography and getting to know my camera better. Most of the pictures that I've posted of Italy were taken on my Fuji X-E2 with a fixed 18mm 2.0 lens on it (just a few are iPhone photos.) I challenged myself to only shoot on the manual setting the whole time, but I hadn't had much time to experiment with different settings in the manual mode to get different effects - different apertures and shutter speeds and focus points. My boys have tried to teach me, but I needed just to practice and practice, and the estate presented a ton of things to photograph and experiment with. I tried getting different perspectives, putting the focus on different things, noticing the patterns in the light - I had a blast and could have spent hours more wandering and trying to see things in a different way through the camera lens. (if you click on a picture you can make it larger and see the details. :)

I hope you enjoy this look through my lens...

You know I LOVE roses - these pictures just make me happy!

That night we had our last special dinner together - we came as mostly as strangers and left with a very special group of new friends!

Our last morning we said a teary goodbye to the gals who were staying on and headed back to Florence where we all went our separate ways...

My husband met me there, so our Italian adventure continued! I'll share a little bit of our Florence and Venice next week...

Italy 2014 - Thursday, June 5 Making jewelry and special gifts

I have never made any jewelry or done any soldering, so I was kind of nervous about Terri Brush's class on the retreat. She is such a good teacher and so patient! I can't believe I was able to do it!

We started by making the bezels - I don't remember the names of anything other than the flow - I made the shapes of the bezels out of metal strips (I don't even know now what kind of metal) - duh!

As we melted the solder around the edges, the bezel attached itself to the backing...

I love it! I love the rustic, imperfect look of them. I also made an oval bezel that was supposed to hang from the necklace that I made but the Ice Resin in it never hardened, so I popped that out and will have to do something different.

This is the necklace I made...

Terri made the silver hook clasp for us but I soldered the silver rings and made the heart and wrapped the wire and all. I was pretty pleased with it for my first time ever!

I followed Terri's examples and added the velvet ribbon and lace and vintage button - so sweet! Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to hang from the front and I can wear it - I'm thinking maybe the heart bezel that I made?

The night of our first welcoming dinner, we each had a custom bag hanging on our chairs - they are so cool and so functional! Not your usual retreat tote - that's for sure!! Each one was a little different because they are made from vintage grain bags. I love the soft leather straps.

Mr. Kitty likes it too!

Every night when we went back to our rooms, we found a little present on our pillows. Sometimes it was something useful like lotion or tea and some other gifts were just amazing! One night we each had a clutch to carry in our big bags...

I love that each gift also came with a 4x6" print with a saying on it to include in our travel journals. What a nice touch! Other nights we got these pieces of jewelry - the heart pendant, the earrings, and the bracelet - all handmade by Terri! I treasure each one of these special things!

My favorite thing was the bangle bracelet because they were so personal and had our names on them. I just love it and will always treasure it as a reminder of this amazing week.

Another special gift of the week was the food. We ate in town on our days away but most of our meals were at the estate. The fresh ingredients and the simplest dishes were just amazing! Here's one of our lunches to show how delicious it looked (and tasted!)

My mouth is watering, thinking of it!

Another special memory was the time I got to spend at the pool - just hanging out in the hammock - a little bit of heaven on earth!

What a blessing!! I wish you were right there with me!!