The Beginning of Our Incredible Journey...

It all started over 20 years ago when I met a young girl in Kenya, Africa...

It's been awhile since I've written on my blog, the months have flown by, our lives have been full and exciting, I just took a break from blogging. Now, there is something on my heart and I want to share. In couple months the Suitcase Survivor Girl, and Family are going on the ultimate suitcase survivor test - 8-10 suitcases to Kenya, Africa. More then anything, we need your prayers that the suitcases survive to their destination-Betty's school in Africa. After years of talking about going to Kenya we finally confirmed the trip and are busy preparing for our June trip. A lot of you know the background of the trip - if you do not know the story check out my book at(copy and paste following):

http://www.mypublisher.com/?e=OHm3Q8zJl3S-oeSm3edM_1jFvQE6iJqX&_mp=RaBOQuWeLEKer1yGLBuIpaeWJvQO4y80%0A">

It is the story of our sponsored child Selinah (later changed her name to "Betty") and our over 20 year relationship.
Jeff, Derek, Wyatt, our cousin Annie, and myself are taking the adventure of a lifetime-- going to seeing our family, and Betty's school in Kenya. There have been so many "WOW - God is good!" moments already in the preparations I just needed to share. So I am back, at least for awhile, and hopefully you will stay tuned to hear about God's goodness in our lives...

20 years Together

Yesterday was our 20th Anniversary. I received that best gift of all - a day with my husband! We took Wyatt for coffee at Starbucks before his last exam and then headed to Bellingham. First, golfing at Lake Padden Golf Course, we played with a nice couple from Anacortes. Someday Jeff and I want to be just like them, retired - 6 months golfing in Palm Desert, 6 month golfing in PNW, their golf game was amazing! Then on to Fairhaven, we stopped at the Sweet Shop for a Chocolate ruffle, purchased "basil boxwood" and "Berry Mint" herbs for our garden. Then we found a new store -- see pictures. I think a field trip with our "dinner group" is in order. We drove past our "honeymoon" apartment on Bellingham Bay, and on to Anthony's Hearthfire for sunset dinner. We talked about the last 20 years and dreams for the next 20 years, I am so thankful for our years together!

REFLECTIONS OF MAY - MY FAVORITE MONTH

May is my favorite month, there is Mother's Day, my birthday, spring flowers & warmer weather (normally) and Memorial Day. This year is was very eventful for me - here are some of the highlights:


LACROSSE PLAY-OFFS
It all started with Wyatt's Lacrosse team making the play-offs, serveral games, different locations. They made it to the semi-finals (top 8 teams in the state for their division) and lost to Woodinville, the team who won in the finals. Way to go NORTH COUNTY LACROSSE!!!




MOTHER'S DAY -STEPPING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE
On Mother's Day I did something I thought I would "NEVER" do (never say never) - I spoke in front of a large group of people - my church. I'm not a writer, and certainly not a speaker, but I stepped out of my comfort zone, writing a story and speaking about it. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. My high school speech teacher, Mr. Vander Pol was there and said I did a good job! The story is about my 20 year relationship with our family's "sponsored child" in Africa. My daughter Betty in Africa has truly inspired me, I love her dearly and can't wait to see her and the family (including my grandchild, "Kathi") someday soon. If you would like to read the story let me know and I can email it to you.





TURNING 50
I turned 50 surrounded by family and friends and it was awesome! I felt very spoiled and loved by many. It all started with a semi-surprise party. I knew I was having dinner with friends, I just did not know how many. Thanks to my husband, and my dear friends Janice & Randy, Marla & Dan and Stacy, they worked together to create a beautiful dinner party for me with family and friends.








WHISTLER WITH CLASSMATES "79
The next day it was on to Whistler with classmates all celebrating "50th" birthdays this year. We had a wonderful time getting caught up with our lives and looking back at memories together. It was a special time I will cherish forever.







GETAWAY TO OREGON
The next weekend was my 50th birthday getaway with the "dinner group". There was a lot of great surprises - our friends Brian and Judy from Idaho surprised me by joining the fun,we had a wonderful "Italy themed" dinner party, 18 holes of golf with friends, and a day at the Oregon coast. Our hosts for the weekend were Sue and Dave Brim, they have a lovely house on the golf course (in Corvalis). It was ironic that we stopped at Burgerville for lunch on the way down and they were celebrating "50" years of business, and then on the way back we stopped at "Cabelas" and they were also celebrating their "50th" anniversary -- 1961 was a very good year!







SHRIMPING IN THE PACIFIC NW
Memorial Day weekend/last day of shrimping season was the was the perfect opportunity to spend the day with friends, Janice and Randy on the "Hospitality"
boating in the San Juan islands. We caught the limit - over 300 VERY LARGE shrimp! We took the "teenagers" with us. They would never admit to having a good day with their parents, but I think they will look back on these special times and appreciate it later. Below is a picture of Wyatt boating with us at age 6 - they grow up too fast!











MEMORIAL DAY HIGHLIGHT
It was a privilege for our family to attend the "Greenwood Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremonies". It was very touching to hear Sara Bernardy, Sergeant, US Army (Iraq War veteran) speak, also hear David Stitt play "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes, the Gun Salute by the Lynden Honor Guard, and Taps by Bill Carlson. That a blessing to live in a country where we can celebrate our freedom and remember the soldiers who gave there lives for that freedom. There was a soldier who fought in the "Civil War" buried at Greenwood Cemetery!
My nephew Sam is currently serving in the U.S. Army as a medic. I am so proud of him -- isn't he handsome in his uniform!

Band Tour in the Big City

Lynden Christian Band Tour group picture

The Fearless Leaders & students enjoying downtown Chicago

Performing on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building

There are small steps in letting go of your children and giving them independence, this was one of those leaps. Wyatt went on his first trip without his parents to the "Big City" of Chicago on the L.C. School band tour in March. I packed him up, prayed, and sent hin on his way. They flew out of Seattle to Chicago and spent five days touring the city, visiting colleges, and performing at different schools around the area. My final instructions were -- take pictures with people in them. So much for listening to mom, he took some great photos at the Museum of Science and Industry and the John Hancock building, but where are the people? Fortunately, mom chaperone Val, shared her "people photos" with me.

Thanks to all who organized the trip and took care of our kids on tour - Wyatt had a great time!

Sonoma & Napa Valley Review - Wining and Dining

Jeff and I headed to CA on Sunday for a QUICK getaway. It is our 20th wedding anniversary in June and we went to Napa on our honeymoon so decided it was time to return. We flew into Santa Rosa and drove to Sonoma, stayed at the Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa for a couple of nights.




The whirlwind tour included -
Ledson Winery - beautiful castle and my favorite wine of the trip


Kunde Winery - great tour of caves built into the hillside for wine barrel storage
(warning - to much wine tasting can make you light headed--I'm just saying)




The Girl & the Fig Restaurant - great French restaurant, pleasant atmostphere, good food.
Garden Court - small cafe with awesome breakfast menu (yummy honey bun french toast)
Figone's Olive Oil Co. - serveral olive oils to taste, we purchased an orange and lemon flavor- it is sooo good!
Chateau St. Jean Winery - Beautiful gardens - we did not wine taste here.


Kendall-Jackson Wine Center - very large, impressive wine center. They just introduced "Avani Chardonnay", it is a light crisp wine, great for summer.


Rodney Strong Winery - we fell in love with this wine at a
wine maker's dinner at Whistler during Cornucopia so had to stop here, we but did not taste, just a looked around at the tasting room and toured the different wine storage areas.


Castello di Amorosa - a castle winery in Napa valley - very impressive!!!














Wine Spector Greystone Restaurant at the Napa Culinary Institute - interesting to watch food prep and had a great lunch here.
















Black Stallion Winery - the newest winery in Napa, it was beauiful and the wine tasting was good.



















Back to the hotel for afternoon wine tasting courtesey of VJB Vineyard - again one of my favorite wines of the trip

Lasalete Restaurant - highly recommend by our friends, the food was delicious, I would return to this gem. Loved the "Trio of Chocolate" dessert.






YES, we did all this in less than 48 hours, a lot of driving, tasting, eating and even relaxing in the evening - a great getaway!

Special Gift

Happy St. Patrick's Day. My good friend Robin from Bellingham Travel gave me a special gift my last day working in the office. She made this awesome present by drilling a hole in the glass block, putting in a LED light string,and then added the bow, wishing me "Good Luck" with my new ventures in life. What a great idea--it can be a great Christmas gift too! Her "love langauge" is "giving gifts", she is the best! I will miss working with her and the other girls in the office. I was at the office yesterday setting up an "outside sales" position with Bellingham Travel. I am looking forward to planning trips outside the office.

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.