The two people in the picture are my grandparents. The beautiful “Mrs. Claus” is Betty, my maternal grandma, and “Santa” (yes, that’s his real beard!) is Leo, my maternal grandpa. This picture was taken shortly after they retired to warm, and sunny Florida!

Sadly, my other grandparents passed away before I was born, or when I was much younger. Even though Leo and I weren’t blood relatives, (he was my grandma’s 2nd husband) he is the only grandpa I had a relationship with. He treated me, my sister, and my cousins as his own.

For that I’m thankful!

I am fortunate enough God allowed these two wonderful people to live long enough that I was able to know them as an adult. While I have awesome memories with them as a child, and adolescent, some of my favorite memories are after I was married, and become a so-called “adult.”

For that I’m thankful too!

One thing I’ve occasionally struggled with since I moving 2800 miles from my family, is not seeing them often enough. When finances were tight it was almost impossible to afford a plane ticket home. Thankfully, we’ve become more financially stable, and I can afford to visit family more often. Continue reading →

Currently, we are in the midst of a “winter storm.”

I put that word in quotes because here in my little section of California, nothing really feels like a winter storm to me. Especially when I think of the snowy, icy, bitter cold, winter storms I experienced growing up in Michigan!

Nevertheless, I did make sure we had fresh batteries in our flashlights, and my husband filled our firewood rack, just in case we lost electricity!

In my opinion, the worst thing about winter storms in my area, is driving Highway 17. Continue reading →