Friday, January 15, 2010

Things of beauty ...to me

These are the objects of beauty ...to me

Queen of the screen ...The Dame Judi Dench


Queen Elizabeth I


Queen of the skies ...Amelia Earhart


Dresses







Did I say dresses??


Home Decor. The beauty of home decor came from big influences from my Uncle Bill. He lived in San Francisco for all of MY life. He traveled the world more time then people go to the grocery store. With those trips he brought the world home with him. Hence, grew my love for the finer things in life.






But wait... there is more to come!

Have you heard?

I ment to post this blog a couple of months ago, but there is a new show that I just adore. Have you heard of it? It's called...



The show is about a Glee club in a high school that has lost it's luster, a long time ago (1993 to be exact). A spanish teacher, who once in the award winning Glee club, decides to resurrect this long gone club. They hold try outs, and with most try outs come the interesting characters. There is some recruiting of the football team and the cheerleading team, called the Cheerios. However, there is some dark plot to crush the Glee club, by the Cheerios coach named Sue. You see, the Glee club is taking up some of their budget, for important Cheerios activities like ...tanning beds, first class flights to competitions, and Sue's rockin' uniforms.

All that being said, in between all of this high school drama is the most amazing music and dancing. The music you are listening to now is from Glee (well the first two songs). Of course, there are no new episodes till Spring (boo, hoo), however, you can watch past episodes on . If you are already a fan tell me what you think. Who's your favorite? What's your favorite episode? Mine is episode number 4. Where Kurt joins the football team, because his dad catches him dancing to the song "Single Ladies" in his room. He joins the football team to please his dad, but teaches the WHOLE football team the same dance to bring them together as a team and to get them to focus. Check it out on Hulu.com, or see the two vids below. The first is Kurt dancing in his room, the second ...well you can guess.



Here is the second AWESOME video!!

2010 Passions

I have noticed over the years there is always certain subjects that I focus on all year. They always stem from my passions.

The passion that is always in first place is "Everything Austen". If you were to put a phrase to who I am that would be it ..."Everything Austen". It defines who I am, who I want to be, and where I want to be. The clothes, the people, the society, the country, the homes, the language, the romance, the lifestyle, and on, and on, and on. Enjoy this great montage of Jane Austen couples from the recent adaptations of Mansfield Park 2007, Persuasion 2007, Northanger Abbey 2007 and Sense and Sensibility 2008 included in "The Complete Jane Austen" on Masterpiece Classic in 2008.




My newest passion, thanks to Laurin and Robyn, is ZUMBA. I have a 13year background in dance. I did tap, jazz, ballet, and point. I loved, and still love, dancing. This was a passion that I stored away deep inside me years ago. Until, I was introduced to this workout class that our local gym called The Rush. The first time I went I didn't know what to think of it, but when I went back again and again it had a different meaning. It brought memories back to my dance classes. The three things you focused on ...what your instructor is saying and the direction she is giving you, focus on your body (from your posture, the expression on your face, the tip of your fingers to the tips of your toes, and everything else in between), and focus on the music and it's rhythm. Love the moves, love the fun, love that it makes me sweat (and loose a pound or two), and love that it makes me move like I did back in the day. Sheila, the instructor, is just a ton of fun and gets you to just let go. The Zumba video that I am posting is my most favorite. Robyn, Laurin, and I go crazy over it too. It's one of those songs and routines that you just can't sit still when you listen/watch. Sheila put's the routine in the middle of the class to get us all energized again. Just watch and listen, and TRY not to move!!



There is a new magazine that has inspired me to no ends. It is called "Where Women Create". I love it because they highlight women who artistically create, where they create, what inspires them, advise, and favorite quotes. It only comes out every three months, but it's like Christmas every time I open a new addition. You should take a peek!






A passion that comes in a quick second is my love of flight, and aircraft. My goal this year, in my spare time - he, he, is to start a women's club for the love of flight. It will not matter how young or old, a new admirer or a seasoned pilot. All women are welcome to come. I do have a name picked out, plans that are sketched out, and a couple of people who are already interested. However, these things will remain under wraps till certain ends are "tightened". Here is the person who has inspired me for many years...




If you choose to know more about her, and I suggest you should ...just to be inspired, there is a great blog posting that sums her up in a nice little package. Here is the link...

www.bluetramontana.blogspot.com/2009/12/amelia-earhart-first-lady-of-air.html

I'm sure that is enough to undertake for now. Do you have the same interest and passions? What are your passions?

And then ...there still was snow!

So today marks a month today since the blizzard dropped 18inches at our house. Yesterday was a bikini wearing heatwave, it was a whopping 48 degrees, right now it is 52 degrees. There is also quite a bit of snow left too. Here is a look around our house of the "snow islands" that are left.








Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Great Visit!

This year was a great Christmas. Brint's cousin Jennifer, plus her husband and three kids, came down to visit from Canada. They are of the Jewish faith, but wanted to celebrate Christmas with Nana, who is 92 and Christian. Well, we just had a blast while they were here. I went with Jen, and her mom (aunt Dionne), to Target to do some Christmas shopping. They quickly scoured the shelves like the rest of us do every Christmas. Bought everyone stockings, and a ton of little gifts to stuff them with. Brint and I bought the kids each a Christmas book (The Polar Express for Yale, Mary Englebreit-Twas the Night Before Christmas for Fleur, and Fancy Nancy Christmas for Blythe), to help them remember their first Christmas with us. We too, had a ton of fun buying them things for Christmas.

The best part, was teaching them about Santa. About how you have to leave cookies and milk out for him, and carrots and celery for the reindeer. As we told them their eyes got real big. So the next morning when we came over, as soon as we walked in they all jumped up and said "He came, he came!!!". Brint and I just basked in the spirit of Christmas that children bring. THEY made it the best Christmas we've had.

Here are some pics from the other fun activities we did...

Uncle Gil and his traditional turkey carving. Do you like the apron I put on him... he was at my mercy. He, he!

Dayna and Fleur

Brint and Blythe


A little hoe-down at the Fiddling' Pig




Jen and Wayne doing the broom dance.


Doing our own little dance!


For New Years Eve we celebrated Brint's birthday 12/30 and Jen's Birthday 12/31. We ALL (Jen, Wayne, Fleur, Blythe, Yale, Nana, Uncle Gil, Aunt Dionne, Brint and myself) ate at a yummy mexican restaurant. Afterwards, the kids went to bed, the grownups played Apples to Apples, then rang in the new year together. Sadly I was having way to much fun to take a bunch of pics, but here are the couple I did take.

Dayna & Fleur

Ole ..Jen the birthday girl!!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

And then ...there was SNOW!

So every year since we have moved here Brint has wished for a white Christmas, especially since his birthday is Dec 30th. Well I think he got 4 years of wishing in one storm. Many of you locals lived through it and know the story, but for those who aren't ...well, here is the story.

This was to be another "Winter Weather Advisory" that some of us just brushed off. Of course having no idea what was in store for us. Brint and I was at work at the hospital. In my department we have wall to wall windows, so we were able to see it coming. When it started we thought "Oh it's really snowing, but it will die down soon", but it just kept coming down. Here are some pics from one of many windows at work.






As the day wound on, the snow just kept at it. The snow flakes were more like snow clumps. The EMS (ambulance) workers that were bringing some of our patients in were saying they were slipping all over the roads, even in their big rigs. Well there goes my stomach, nervous as can be. I knew we would get home ok, seeing how we JUST bought a 4x4 car three days earlier. I was more worried that I would be stuck at work and have to stay there. They can call a "Code Disaster" and you are required to stay there. In the blizzard of '93, employees were there for three days. Sleeping, and working ...ugh.

With time, the storm only got worse. My fantastic co-workers told me to go home at 5pm, because Brint was off and he was my ride. BLESS THEM. So me, my nervous stomach, and Brint went home. We hopped into our new (to us) Land Rover, and proceeded slowly. It was just chaos on the roads. Mostly people who were not being smart about driving. What normally took us 15 minutes to get home, took us an hour. Brint said our neighbor called him, and they wanted us to meet them at Applebee's for dinner. Uh, hello people ...we are in a middle of a blizzard here!! I was in no condition to eat anything, we barely got into the parking lot since there was so much snow already, but there was a ton of people there. I just thought "this is crazy!". We just sat down, my nerves were settling when I looked out the window when all of a sudden an electrical transformer, the size of a semi-truck, across the street blew up not once, but five times. Out goes the power to Applebee's.

The next thing I know Brint and our neighbors are talking about what other restaurant they can go to. What ...are you kidding me. Take me home! So we are on the way home, can I just say that was the most dangerous car ride I have ever been in. By the time we got to our street, the road was SO covered with snow, Brint couldn't make it into our driveway, and was stuck in a ditch. I got out of the car, and the snow was just below my knees. Before I got out of the car, the most frightening thing happened. The transformer on the pole by the driveway blew. Blue green flashes, and sparks everywhere. We sat in the car and watched the power flicker off in our house. It was like watching the Titanic movie, when the boat is about to go down and the survivors are watching the power flicker out on the boat.

Anyway, Brint and our neighbor Mark were able to get our car out of the ditch, but had to park it a couple of driveways down. I went inside, lit candles, checked on my cat (she was upstairs asleep), and brought in our dog. Again, the crazy people (aka: Brint, Mark, and Amy) still wanted to go out and eat. I pated them on the head, told them they were crazy, and off to Waffle House they went. I laid on the couch, threw on a blanket, timber laid beside me on the floor. And I curled up with my Mission windup flashlight, and my Twilight book. While i was reading by candle/flashlight there were blue green explosions of the transformers all over Candler. I just thought "this will take weeks for the power to come back on".

By the time Brint and our neighbors got home, it was two and a half hours later. They waited for an hour for a table, and then when they got a table there was only one waitress, and two cooks. No one was getting any service, so Mark got behind the counter, in his snow bib-overalls. We have video of it, it's priceless!! Maybe that will be another blog post.

When we went to bed it was 60 degrees in the house, not bad considering it was WAY colder outside, and threw on three extra blankets. Misty, our cat, slept under them all night. When we woke up in the morning we woke up to the most amazing winter wonderland we had ever seen. My butterfly bush, which is normally 6-7 feet tall, was squashed down to just two feet tall. But sprung back to life a week later. We finally got our power back on. It was only out for a day and a half, which compared to others, not bad at all. BIG thanks to Progress Energy, they came out in full force like an army. In our area of Candler we got 18 inches. Now it was time to just enjoy the snow.



Introducing ...our Land Rover!!

Our chicken coop. We had JUST put on a clear roof, so their "yard" was free of snow. Brilliant!







Love these pics of the car, especially the one with Brint and Timber in the car thawing out.





The bird feeder was empty, and there was a ton of birds on the railing as if to say "We are hungry". So I put on my snow boots and filled their feeder. The next thing I knew there were even more birds, some we had never seen before. What a treat!


Here is a pic of my cactus poking out of the snow. This is the little cactus that could!


Troy and Robyn had to spend the night at our house, since they still didn't have power or heat. The next morning Troy helped Brint get the Land Rover out of the snow and off our neighbors driveway. Leave it to a Marine to save the day!!



Brint and I became the master shovelers after this storm. We helped Brint's Aunt and Uncle down the road shovel,sand and de-ice their mountain drive. With some great help from his cousin who flew in from Canada, which she thought she left the snow behind. We used our whirly-bird from our driving lawn mower, attached it to the tow hitch of our Land Rover and covered their drive. If we ever need a back up job, I think Brint and I found one!

Well that's our story. The good, the bad, the scary, and the beautiful.