Journeys Unexpected

Originally published on 10/16/2018   My wonderful readers! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything and for that I am truly sorry. Life tends to get in the way when we least expect it to, don’t you agree?   As you may recall, my teaching job ended as of June 1st of this year. It’s been a wild and crazy summer and things don’t show any signs of slowing down for the fall. We went to Disneyland (you can read up on that trip  here ), Larry and I were on staff at Wood Badge, did Webelos Wow with one Webelos Scout, went to our nephew’s missionary homecoming, started a new job (more on that later in this post), and my most recent journey was being inducted into the Boy Scout Honor Society, Order of the Arrow. That was quite a neat opportunity that I will share about later. As for my new job, I am now selling mortgage protection insurance. If someone would have told me two months ago that I’d be selling insurance I’d probably have laughed at them. Howev...

Originally published on 07/13/2018 I was given the opportunity to review some other books recently, and having grown up in Colorado, I was eager to take a peek! Larry (my hubby) and I love being outdoors, and we are hoping to be able to travel full time in the semi-near future. Larry is finishing up his Bachelor's Degree in Communications next spring, and is attending Colorado State University Global Campus to do so. I have wanted to take him to Colorado and down a trip down my  memory lane  for some time now, and since he will finish next year, this will be a perfect time so he can walk for his graduation! I'm hoping these guides will help us to make some awesome memories while we're there! "Best Easy Day Hikes: Colorado Springs" let's you know right in the beginning that hiking should be for fun, but that you really need to make sure you're prepared. Drink lots of water, wear good shoes, be prepared (like the Scouts!) for the weather (I remember havi...

Originally published on 07/13/2018 I was asked to read and review a wonderful book titled “ PRESCHOOL CLUES : Raising Smart, Inspired, and Engaged Kids in a Screen-Filled World”. Having been a preschool teacher and lover of small kids, I was happy to receive a copy for this purpose. I was intrigued by the simple fact that the author, Angela C. Santomero, M.A., was the creator of many children’s shows, including the preschool show on Nickelodeon  Blue’s Clues . I enjoyed watching this show with my nieces and nephews. Angela is also the creator of  Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood , which is based off of  Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood . Both of these shows help children interact with their environment and the television, which was the first of it’s kind. Research shows that children also learn from repeated learning, so when  Blue’s Clues  first aired, they showed the same episode all week. The Nickelodeon Heads didn’t know if that would be a good thing, but decided to...

Originally published on 06/21/2018 You may remember a few months ago when I  posted  about things you should know about Disneyland before you go... That was in part a preparation for myself to remember what I needed to do so we could do Disneyland ourselves. Larry (my husband) has loved Mickey Mouse all of his life. He's never been to a Disney Park before, so I have been waiting ever-so-(not)-patiently to get the money together for us. We were finally able to go last week, and it was totally EPIC! I was so excited and I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences, too! Our first place we had to visit was Toon Town, so we could see Mickey Mouse! We managed to get on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride before heading into Toon Town, because there wasn't much of a wait time. I also wanted to ride that because it's the only one available now, since they took it out of Walt Disney World. Anyway, Larry was SO excited to get in and meet Mickey Mouse! I will be posting more pictur...

Originally published on 06/17/2018 This image taken from hotels.com from our hotel we stayed at. Have you ever had one of those days that it seemed like, everything that  could  go wrong,  did  go wrong?? So, we're in Hemet, California visiting my mom. I had devised a plan to surprise her, using my Uncle Dave to help pin down a time when she wasn't super crazy with her schedule! We've been planning this trip for a month or longer, and I'm so glad it worked out! I had called her when we were a few blocks away from her house so I could find out where she was (she has been helping out with a friend's wedding and needed to get her nails done, decorate the clubhouse and the church, and about a zillion other things...). Anyway, she said she was waiting for her friend to pick her up and take her to get their nails done. She asked what I was doing and said we were "running errands". It was really cool! We pulled up and got ready outside her door. I was s...

Originally published on 06/03/2018 Larry and I went to Jackson Hole, WY at the end of March 2018. It was so much fun! I needed to get away from life for a little while, and Jackson Hole was the ticket. It was only a couple of hours away from where we live, so it made for a nice day trip. At some point, we will definitely need to make a few days of it, because there was so much to see and do! The first thing I had to do was see the four Antler Arches in the town square. Each of these arches, has 2,000 sets of antlers and are wrapped in Christmas lights year-round. At night, they light those antlers up. I've only seen pictures of them as such, so the next time we go, that's one thing I want to see. After taking our Antler Selfie we decided to start wandering the streets and window shopping. There are so many fun shops to see and look through! Eventually we need to bring Larry's boots in to have them resoled and get a pair for me while we're at it. I love looki...

Originally published on 05/27/2018 Wood Badge Day 4 gave us more fun by inducting us into the Venturing Program. I had never heard about Venturing, so this was very exciting for me. Venturing is for youth (both boys and girls) ages 14-21, and allows them to go on high adventures like rock climbing, white water rafting trips, and more. We also got to witness a fun "award" be given to one of the Eagle Patrol members... He had seen that someone had placed a tin can into the port-potty, and went in after it. Items like that are not good to place there, as it needs to remain human waste, not trash waste. So the guys at Tall Timber decided that this participant needed a "special" award for going above and beyond (or should that be down and in?!) the call of duty for keeping the port-a-potty clean! The Dingy Flitchit had become completely "famous" through camp, and other people began using them to decorate their own items. I also bega...