To my freinds...

First off let me say that I feel blessed for having as many dear friends as I do. There is something to be said by having lived in so many different places over the years and with that comes having made so many terrific and diverse friends!
 Being so close to so many does tend to have an effect on me. I feel their pain and their joy. Currently, I have a great many friends that are going through big changes in their lives, those changes range ever so greatly. From the death of a child, a parent or even of a spouse to something as lovely as the beginning of a new life or even a lifetime of love with a new marriage. There are (I am sad to say) a large handful of friends who are dealing with the mixed feelings of pain and relief at the end of a long term relationship and those friends who are experiencing the roller coaster of emotions when their child child goes off to college (out of state) for the first time. I have friends that are in the process of moving- across the country and across an ocean (or two).
Of course there are all sorts of things going on around me as well...my daughter Hannah is now a senior in high school and this is our last year with her at home and all too soon we will be empty nesters. My dear friend Liz (of whom I am super proud of) had gastric bypass surgery a year ago. She is at her goal weight and looks amazing! I know that it was not an easy decision for her to make or easy to work through the emotional journey to her decision to get this weight loss surgery. But she's done it and seeing her before and after photo (they were taken 1 year apart) well frankly the pictures moved me to cry tears of joy! 
Now there's me, I'm onto something big here myself. I do listen to my sister-in-law when she talks about health and fitness- even if she doesn't think so. She's an amazing person who inspires me. Her determination to fight depression through exercise so many years ago now has her certified and teaching a variety of fitness classes at a handful of different gyms. The woman has a following! Trust me, everyone enjoys her classes. It's not that I want to be her when I grow up, I just want to be healthy like her. She's an all around good egg and well, she's fun to be around!

Now for my own journey- I want to be thin again. Not that I'm not happy with who I am as a person, I think that I'm great, LOL! But seriously, I'm out of shape and now I'm finally out of the public eye... I can't begin to tell you how I LOVE being able to go someplace and not have everyone in the building know who I am and who I am married to because of his job. There truly is something to be said about anonymity! I no longer feel self conscious about going to the gym, donning athletic wear, grunting while working out with weights or sweating my ass off on the elliptical machine. We all work at our own pace and have to set realistic goals for ourselves. I've been losing weight and best of all- it's be staying off! Now for me to kick things up a notch. I'm now exercising 5 days a week and I've joined a cycling group which meets up twice a week. I want to get out and be more active and see things at the same time- what better way to do that than cycling! 

I've decided that I want to meet and make friends with people that have things in common with me (you know, besides status of being "retired" my sex or age).  For example, I joined a woman's group earlier this year and lets just say that besides being a woman and having that "retired" status, I have nothing in common with these women what so ever! 

I'm still very much a creative crafty type person, and I look forward to getting back into paper crafting as soon as this scrapbook/quilt studio of mine is completed. For now I keep myself happy by creating small projects that I can work on  in my spare bedroom. Enjoy your day, I'm off to the gym and then a bike ride! 

It's the little things...

Have you ever had a friend who is simply for the lack of a better term- Having a Bad Day? I'm pretty sure that most everyone has experienced a bad or off day. Heck, I've experienced them from time to time.

But what do you do for a friend who is having a bad day? Me, I decide to do something about it, to take matters into my own hands! You can't take away what has happened BUT you can take a step to let them know that they are special, that they are loved. It could be something as little as bringing them a card to let them know that they are loved or baking them a special treat (brownies and cheesecakes are my speciality) or giving them something that you made with your own two hands. Whatever it is, never miss an opportunity to let your friends know that you care about them.

So with that said, I've already got my wheels in motion!

Making my own kind of Magic

Today is about my girlfriends- the ones that listen to me when I'm going off the wall about something that's just not right or when I'm bubbling full of excitement about my latest pottery purchase. They're the ones that love me for me...not who my husband is or who I can influence. They love me for who I am and how I make them feel. They are true Angels come to life. Indeed I am truly blessed!

My Christmas Prayer

I'm saying special prayers for everyone I know tonight. A little Angel told me that Jesus is listening and is sending answers...we only have to open our hearts and our minds to them. May you all be blessed with love and happiness and a fullness in your heart that is like nothing you've ever known. Amen.

Prayers needed

Please pray for my friend Laura. I woke up this morning to find out that her daughter Jennifer died yesterday. To suffer the loss of a child, I know of no greater pain a mother could suffer. Please hug your children a little tighter today and keep Laura in your prayers.

Hellos and Good Byes

Being a military spouse isn't an easy job. We're the ones that go through the constant heartache of losing friends to a PCS (military move) year after year. I used to let myself get upset about this thing that I couldn't control- those damn military moves taking my best buds away! I'd throw myself a little pity party as I hated "losing friends to a PCS" and the worst part was being the one that was left behind. I got tired of the constant heartache and that's when I decided one day to look at it from a different angle. God has given me a fantastic opportunity to show new people the wonderful places that I've discovered- the little places to have lunch with a girlfriend (or my kids), the places where to buy those hard to find items, a yummy place for a cup of coffee or tea, where you can get yourself a cool scarf, the places to take your family to set up a great back drop for a family photo, etc. Look at all of the wonderful things you've shared with your "old friends" that you can now show to "new friends". And when YOU leave, all of those wonderful things will continue to be passed on. It's like you're leaving behind a legacy. Look at it as never really saying good bye but as always saying" Hello".

The Art of making people happy

This is my friend Alisha and she's modeling the custom apron that I made just for her.




It's the little things we do for others that shows how much we truly care about them.

Happy Campers

What do you get when you mix... warm weather, a week long term break from British School, a big backyard and a bunch of teenage boys?


It's Camping out in the backyard in a tent!
We've been blessed with quite the backyard here and if our teen son wants to have a camp out what the heck- go for broke! Our camping equipment is (yes you guessed it) it's stateside in storage-ugh! Our son's friends came over with this large tent trust me when I say that they were quite "happy" with having a place to pitch this tent. If it's the normal crew of guys that our son usually hangs out with, then there's got to be at least 5 or 6 of them in there...now that's got to be crowded! They were up talking and laughing until wee hours but that's okay- they were having fun and that's what counts!

For the most part these teen boys stay in a tight-knit group, not letting others really into "the fold" so to speak. I consider myself to be blessed that they brought our son into this group. He was having such a rough go of it with this move here to the UK. It's not easy moving away from everyone and everything you know- especially the summer before your Senior year of High School. These kids have gone through quite a lot, probably even more so than their military and state department parents realize. They too go through that roller coaster of emotions but feel them more deeply. They quite often leave behind the best friends they've ever known, their first loves and quite frankly we pull this all away from them. This group of young men have helped my son to get over that "painful" part and have opened up a new world of adventures to him. Even at his worst they still came and made him go out- to the Lord I am forever thankful!


There are ways of "surviving it" with your teen and how to get them to love you again. It's not an easy path and there were many times when all I could do was to cry with him when he felt so lonely- but I want to say that they have passed. Our son has racked up the frequent flier miles that's for sure! He's now surpassed his mother in overseas flights! Letting go and trusting your child is the key. Let them vent, and buy them an airline ticket to visit their friends. If possible, arrange for your child's friends to come out for a visit. Between flying 2 of his friends out here to England and then flying him state side a handful of times...I should be able to get a free airline ticket soon, LOL! Andrew flies to SD again this month for his college orientation, he'll be there for 5 days and then it's back here to Bicester until Graduation day or as it's called here "Speech Day". Then he flies back to SD later on in the summer. We've not traveled as much as we would have liked but then again our boy's happiness means more to us than anything. With him back in the USA this Autumn being among his old friends at South Dakota State University, we ALL will embark on a new chapter in our lives.

Sandie's Fabulous Pottery Tour- the details

It's the little things that one does for ones friends that end up being the really big things. On this trip there were 4 women, 1 Honda Odyssey minivan and an ice chest full of treats! We were driving down the road by 7 am -yes, we really were!

♥ Our first stop was the Wedgwood factory Shop and we were there by 8:45 am! This time around we were able to take our dear sweet time shopping as the shelves were fully stocked and for the first 30 minutes were were the only customers! everyone found something that they liked, and we found some prizes for our bingo event for the spouses club.

♥Next stop was the Burleigh factory Shop Oh my word were we ever to find some great items in there! I found a few rare pieces done in retired colors. Oh I think we all found a little something something at Burleigh! I bought an entire place setting in the Dark Blue Felicity pattern now that makes 8 place settings and I'm done! Okay not done as in done buying any more Burleigh period, more like done with buying place settings.

♥Onward James to the next stop...Portmeirion! Holy Catfish did the others go wild in that shop! Granted I came with a list and an idea of what I was interested in buying. I have to say that I was VERY pleased with what I came home with :-) I was able to get the 50th anniversary Parrot Tulip Teapot , to be honest,that was the #1 thing on my list! I was able to pick up the Spode dinner plates for a friend (she's now on her way back from Texas after being stuck there for a little over a week). More Bingo Prizes from here too!

♥We were trying to get to Churchill pottery but after driving around in circles for 40 minutes we figured out that this outlet was no longer in business at this location so we decided to go to Aynsley China and along the way we stopped at yet another Portmeirion outlet shop. Every place carries different items and here was no different! I was able to find the ever elusive Portmeirion measuring cups (they're new) and a 2 cup measuring pitcher (another hard to find item) and this one had American measuring lines as well as metric!

♥Number 5 on our tour Aynsley China what a lovely shop! I read up a bit on Aynsley and knew that they were acquired by Belleek China (Irish bone china) back in 1997. We all found a little something here! I came out with a Belleek bread plate and a Belleek Templemore Vase at a price that I couldn't resist! Needless to say, I left there doing the happy dance!

♥Last but not least on our Fabulous Pottery tour we found Churchill China! We were not disappointed in this shop in any way shape or form! We all found more goodies to bring home. I'm in love with Churchill's Eden pattern and bought a few serving trays. Nothing like having serving trays to help you bring loads of clean or dirty dishes to and from the kitchen! And after months of searching, I was able to find a Brown Betty Teapot HERE for my Mom! I also bought one for our Bingo event and will pair it up with some PG Tips Tea (that would make a sweet prize).

For lunch- Well I packed a gourmet picnic basket. There was Flock of Geese Chicken salad, marinated Italian Pasta Salad, Caprese Salad, Babybel Cheeses, croissants, baguettes, yummy herbed olives, mini almond poppy seed muffins, Ghirardelli Chocolate brownies and mini New York Cheesecakes! Evian bottled water was the drink of choice! We never touched the bag of kettle chips- probably too full of the other stuff to worry about it, LOL!

I'm assured by my girlfriends that they've never had a picnic lunch like that before. I'm glad that I was able to give them a happy shopping and dining experience :-)

Sandie's Fabulous Pottery Tour (with lunch)

I like to think that I have a good sense of humor, I try to laugh daily and today is a day that I hope to be laughing nearly every minute of the hour!

In about an hour we're setting off to go to Stoke-on-Trent. Oh as it is, I'm the one driving. Distance wise it's not that far but the crazy road system here in England makes it a 2 hour adventure (one way). Off we go!

Heaven on Earth

I wrote this to my friend René and I thought to myself why not share this on my blog. Our friendship dates back to nearly 20 years ago from our first military assignment in Maine. René hails from the Mississippi/Louisiana border and me being from all over but I claim California as my home. We hit it off right from the start! We've been dear friends ever since! Enjoy the read...

Here I am putting everything together for my chick food chicken salad and am taste testing- talk about a little bit of heaven on earth! I decided to go with the salted cashews instead of the toasted pecans and I’m glad that I did! The cashews gives just the right amount of salt that this dish needs w/o having to add any salt…got to love that!

The Caprese salad is simple enough, basically it’s tomatoes, olive oil either mozzarella or feta cheese and some salt. And it’s so true, the better the quality of the ingredients the better the food! I’m so glad that I roasted those chickens myself, I put just the right herbs on them to bring out the flavor.

Now to whip up the little treats- that will go quickly enough. I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy cooking…especially when my husband and children aren't around to bug me-HA! I feel as if I get so much more accomplished. I do wish you were here though, you could keep me company and we could laugh and enjoy the sunshine and sit on the patio and have lunch. Today is going to be a perfect day to have lunch on that patio!

Count down to FUN!

I've got a busy day planned for myself...I've got gourmet cooking on the brain (that’s why I’m up so early). I’m making the following for our trip;

*Caprese Salad –tomato slices drizzled with olive, a little fresh ground gray sea salt (it’s a moist salt and it’s yummy), herbed feta cheese That’s it and it’s soooo yummy!!! I also make this with fresh sliced mozzarella but right now I'm on a Feta Cheese kick.

*Marinated Italian Pasta Salad- twisty pasta with marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red bell pepper, red onions, finely chopped black olives, some fresh parsley and some made from scratch Italian salad dressing.

*Chicken Salad- it’s got a dressing made from sour cream and mayonnaise with a dash of lemon juice, there’s roasted chicken (of which I did yesterday), seedless grapes (bought these huge dark purple ones), celery and topped with roasted cashews. I've had this several times made by others and it's to die for- yes it's a total chick food item!

*Marinated green olives- I get these at Tesco and they come in a pouch(bag) oh my gosh they are seriously addictive! I almost ate an entire bag the other day- good thing the bags are quite small, LOL!

*Baguettes (for the chicken salad- no I'm not making these I'm buying them)

*Almond poppy seed mini muffins- morning snack on the road (now I am making these)

*Brownies- afternoon snack on the road (and these too)

*New York Cheesecake- hey a girl has got to have dessert! (and yes I'm also making these).

*And of course Evian bottled water ♥

So do you think that my girlfriends will like their lunch? Two of them are PCSing (one to Turkey and the other back to the USA) and this trip is like a big final farewell to England. So I’m sure that they both will be loading up on china, crystal and pottery of all sorts!

Meanwhile in-between all of this cooking I've got to take the hubby to work, do some grocery shopping, gas up the shopping mobile, call a couple of Portmeirion stores to see what their in store specials are, get the exchange rate of the day, finish up my pottery quiz, get some more GPS coordinates for a few more pottery places in Stoke-on-Trent, clean the house, fold a mountain of laundry and squeeze in a nap ;-) Wish me luck!

Tea Anyone?

Today's adventure is...
Going out with group of friends for High Tea. I've tried on at least 6 different outfits and I THINK that I've stumbled upon THE outfit that I want to wear. Keep in mind that "think" is the key word here. I'm between 2 blouses and 2 different skirts- same shoes though (wink wink). To wear pantyhose or not...that is the other big question. I feel as if my legs are rather pale and I think that wearing hose lends to an overall more finished "look" per say than not wearing hose. Oh the choices I have- then we're on to the choice of handbags, I've got the accessories (aka jewelry) picked out, that's not a problem. Oh to wrangle a pair of pantyhose. Other things to contend with- full makeup or simply eyeliner and mascara? Hmmmm. I dare say I better get back upstairs and check out my magic mirror and see what it says to me ;-)

Trips and Tours

Have you ever wanted to do something nice for your friends? I mean truly nice and from the heart. Ever since a group of us went on that pottery buying trip to Stoke-on-Trent we've all talked about how we would love to go again. we looked into going again but the cost was going to increase by a third because it was considered a private chartered trip. I said no thanks to that, it was too much to pay just to go shopping. So I thought to myself...I have a Honda Odyssey minivan with split fold down rear seats, I have a deep trunk area too! I can take several of us up there, cater the trip and have it cost less than what we would have been charged for our "private" trip.

So here I am, I've got the trip all planned out, my girlfriends have RSVP'd yes to the trip, the date and time of departure and set, and the menu for my catering has been selected. I've even got a pottery trivia game planned with prizes! A couple of ladies in our party will be moving within the next couple of months and I would dearly love to give them pleasant memories of this shopping trip and time spent with good friends. If this indeed goes well, I could be doing this every other month!

The passing of a friend

Our friend Mike has passed away, here is his obituary.

What's your favorite color?

When was the last time someone asked you "What's your favorite color?" For me that answer could change daily. I love to pair colors, Red and Green, Fuchsia Pink and Lime Green, Ocean Blue and Bottle Green, Sunflower Yellow and Grass Green...have you seen a pattern yet? It's Green, always green and some other color. I love to pair green with everything!

In case you're wondering what I'm up to today...I'm wearing green, purple and denim blue. I feel spring time all around me, and purple crocus flowers are blooming in my muddy flower beds :-)

I'm trying to plan a farewell party for a dear friend and she's not making it easy for me that's for sure! She always wears black, dark brown or some shade of gray. I've never seen her wear bright colors-ever! I know that some people just prefer neutral tones and well to be honest this is making it very hard for me as I have ZERO quilting fabrics in shades of gray and I think I only have 2 pieces that are black and maybe a half dozen black and white pieces. SOooooo I will have to figure out something. Maybe I'll take a stab in the dark and use jewel tones.

God's Plan

God's plan isn't just about "us" it's about a community of people coming together, praying together and supporting one another. His plan is different for each and every one of us. It's to remind us that although we might not be here forever- it's the good things that we do while we are here and the love we share with one another that will live on long after we are gone.

I wrote those words to a friend whose husband is terminally ill with cancer. The cancer has now spread to his brain and it's simply breaking my heart.

In Gods Hands

Yesterday I learned that friends of ours from a past assignment have been going through some truly hard times. You see, Mike has cancer it's in it's last stage and it's just a matter of time until he leaves us and goes to be with our Heavenly Father. Here's their blog In His Hand and Holding On Tightly. we never really know what God's plan for us is, maybe it's to spread the word that we aren't alone, that there is love and compassion in strangers. We've lost a few Air Force friends to cancer over the years and it doesn't get any easier as the years go on. All have been in the prime of life and have fought valiantly but in the end the Lord called them home to be with him. Please say a prayer for our military families.

Girlfriends

There is nothing more fun than having lunch and catching up with your girlfriends. That's what's on my agenda...how about yours?

Our Boy

Several of my readers have e-mailed me in regards to how my son is doing in South Dakota. Apparently they got over 49 inches of snow out there in this last blizzard. My friend Mary is up to her eyeballs in teenage boys all playing video and/or computer games not to mention eating her out of house and home. To be honest, as much as I would complain about the boys staying with me for days on end and eating everything in the house- I miss them all ever so much! I'm sure that our son is having the time of his life having fun with his friends and enjoying a true white Christmas.