Early Retirement & Fat Little Hippo

Early Retirement and and fat little hippo -what more can a girl ask for?!? Well, I got it!

I didn't really ASK for the early retirement, actually, I was a little shocked last Friday morning when I was "let go" from Bellingham Travel after almost 24 years of employment. However, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got, I was so excited I felt bad about it--really, who is excited about losing their job?!?

Today was my last day and it was great! I felt very loved and appreciated by my co-workers (love them!), my husband, friends and family. Jeff took me out for lunch at my favorite place - D'Annas, and brought me 2 dozen roses (24 years). The girls at work brought yummy food to munch on, flowers,special gifts, kind words, and Abby made an awesome chocolate cake. FOOD was the theme of the day. After all those years together they know me very well!

I always thought (to myself), "when I leave Bellingham Travel I'm taking the fat hippo with me", well, I did! Just a little reminder of my years at Bellingham Travel.

I don't think I'll give up travel consulting completely, my boss offered me an "outside sales" position. I guess that means having my favorite clients over to my home for a cup of coffee, planning their travel, and make money doing it - how cool is that? I'll keep you posted on that as my life settles into retirement. I'm going to take a few weeks off to clean closets, paint our ceilings, watch Wyatt's Lacrosse games, and take a trip to Napa with my honey for our 20th anniversary.

The Travel Industry has changed a lot in the last 30 years. I started out in the 1980's without a computer, phoning in reservations to the airlines and typing itineraries - now days anyone can be a "Travel Agent", booking their own travel on personal computers. It's a hard business to be in today. However, not everyone can be a "Travel Consultant", which I consider myself to be after 30 years of "Travel" experience. I hope you will still need me to "consult" you on your future travel plans from time to time.

Happy Valentine's Day

Monday evening our Sonlight GEMS and their Moms got together at church and made Valentines for people in our church who are going through difficult times. We have a great night together with the girls and their moms being very creative and crafty. LOVE my GEMS!
Have a great Valentine's Day!!

Auction Fun

Last weekend our good friends Janelle & Graham and Jeff & I went to a really fun auction for The Boy & Girls Club in Lynden. Our friend Karen did an amazing job helping plan, and catering the auction. They had the pre-Super Bowl theme so Jeff and I wore our sports attire (Wyatt's LC football jerseys). It was a great way to raise money for the kids and have fun doing it. Loved the 5th quarter -we danced to the music of my cousin's band "7 Second Window". They should have played for the half time show at the real Super Bowl game, they were much better entertainment!

Heavenly Weekend in Indianola

Last weekend our family headed south to new and exciting destination -- Indianola, WA, on the Kitsap Peninsula in Puget Sound! Jeff's brother Jordan and sister-in-law Jana invited us to stay with them at their "home away from home". It was a perfect weekend, complete with- ferry rides, walks on the beach, great conversation with family, yummy food, games, and absolutely beautiful view. Wyatt had a great time with cousins, playing X-box, air soft wars on the beach and helping Wil put together his "Star War" lego collection. It was a wonderful memory maker!

A Christmas Story in the the Big City

One of my favorite holiday movies is "A Christmas Story". It is great story of little Ralphie and his Christmas wish for a "Red Rider" beebee gun. In the end he receives it from his father along with some wonderful family moments that he will remember for a life time. For the first time, the movie was set into a musical and performed at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle--Excellent!
Jeff, Wyatt and I went to Seattle overnight, stayed at the "Hyatt Place Hotel", a great place to stay. It is right across the street from a Lacrosse sports store (instant Christmas shopping), a few blocks away from the best coffee in town - "Uptown Espresso", and they will shuttle you anywhere within a 1 mile radius- evening shopping, Dragon Fish Happy Hour, and the 5th Avenue theater--perfect!
The best part of going to the big ciy is we have family that lives there and were able to visit them. Jeff's sister Janice invited Jane, Tom and our family over for a feast of Christmas cheer and delicious food. She has a lovely apartment on Queen Anne Hill. It was a perfect way to end our stay in Seattle. We are so blessed with family!

Dance, Dance, Dance

We had a great day with the girls on Wednesday. We had pizza lunch with Jeff and Grandma V.H. at Milts and played the day away. Cassy wanted the Wii dance game for Christmas-great idea! Cassy and Lexxy won most the time, but I burned a lot of calories and had fun. Looking forward to another day of dancing next week.

Ohhhh...the LOVE!!!

I don't mean to make you jealous, but it's true...I married a romantic. He remembers our engagement anniversary every year and gives me flowers or sweets. This year, my favorite - 19 chocolate covered cherries and a chocolate bar with a message! Twenty years ago yesterday, December 17, 1990 my sweetheart asked me to marry him and it's been happily ever after.