Sorry I've been gone for awhile, but I had lasik eye surgery last week and haven't been on the computer much. My focus is in and out a bit at times so that's my excuse for being awol!

I'll be busy over the weekend out of town for Father's Day. I hope you all have Fathers to be grateful for whether here to celebrate with or waiting for you in Heaven. I have very fond memories of my childhood and I am so grateful to my Father (and Mother waiting for me in Heaven) for bringing up six Irish Catholic children so well. The greatest gift that they ever gave us was the Gift of Love.

Thank you and Happy Father's Day Dad and all of the other father's out there.

Mt. McKinley or Mt. Denali as the natives call it

This is what everyone was there to see - The North Face of Mt. McKinley inside Denali National Park. Because it's so high at 20,320 feet, there's usually cloud cover & you might never get to see her like this. We were lucky & she was "out" on one of the 3 days that we were there. What looks like clouds/snow is actually McKinley. This picture can't come close to giving you a good idea of how big it is!

Glacier Bay

Ok, I'm adding a few more pictures today - just a few at a time as to not be too overwhelming! This one was taken at the heart of Glacier Bay. You can see the beautiful aqua blue tones that the ice has taken on. Glacier Bay was absolutely gorgeous and we spent quite a few hours here. One of the favorite parts of the trip. We went out on our balcony at around 5:30 am, but DH was out there much earlier as he couldn't sleep. Sunrise was 4:12 am! Anyway, we stayed out on our balcony for about 11 hours that day. We went for breakfast and a quick lunch and didn't go to dinner until about 7:00 pm. It was just spectacular!

Bald Eagle

The Top left photo shows a few eagles in a tree that seemed to be their favorite perch in the area. At times there were 8 or 9 eagles in the tree.

These two landed in the water at the same time for the same piece of fish & they did end up colliding!

Moose at Denali Nat'l Park

Here's another one...a juvenile Moose at Denali National Park. He just stood by the side of the road while we sat on a bus taking pictures of him. He was just so darn cute!

This is what Vancouver looks like at 5:00 am on Monday, May 24, 2009

This was taken early the morning we embarked on the ship. About 20 minutes after I took this, I threw my back out (lifting the toilet seat!) and was in severe pain. I couldn't believe that I had hurt my back. We hadn't even gotten on the ship yet! I had to take a muscle relaxer (they always travel with me) some Tylenol, and something for anxiety and went back to bed for an hour. I also had my sticky back things that act as a heating pad stuck to your body and of course put one of those on. I was doped up and drowsy, but the pain was finally manageable. 

The Island Princess - Home for 8 days...

Our mini-suite w/balcony...DH in mirror!

We're Back....From our trip of a lifetime to Alaska!

This is just a quickie for now... it's 5:12 am on Monday morning. Our jet lag to/from Alaska has our sleeping a bit confused and I've been awake for a couple of hours now. I figured I might as well post a few pictures (of the 1200+ we took) of our fantastic trip to Alaska. I'll continue this for awhile since there was so much to see and do...

Alaska Here We Come!

This might be my last post for a couple of weeks as we leave shortly for Vancouver and then on our cruise to Alaska. We're on the ship for 7 nights and then in Alaska for 4 nights so we won't be back for a couple of weeks. So, I'll write lots when we get back, as well as post lots of pictures.

Keep on junkin!

Sue

A Little Road Trip on Thursday

I went to visit my youngest son Andrew yesterday in Mid Michigan so I got to take a little road trip. He lives about an hour and 40 minutes from me via the express-ways, but I just love to take back roads to see him. So, that's what I did yesterday. I didn't have my camera with me or I would have lots of pictures of barns and farmhouses. That's one of the main reasons I love to take the back roads - that and the fact that I can drive slower and really enjoy the drive. The back roads to his house is usually about an hour longer but it suites me just fine.

We went to lunch at a nice Irish joint near the Capitol Building in Lansing because we were in the mood for some slow time to just visit before my trip to Alaska with my DH. It was great to spend the afternoon with Andrew because we still have catching up to do after his 5 week trip to South Africa for Wild Life Film Academy. Jeremy, my oldest, was hoping to meet us too, but scheduling conflicts (taking out his new wake board boat was a little more fun!) kept him busy. So, it was great to spend time with Andrew yesterday.

I woke this morning at 3:30 am and could not get back to sleep. So, I got up and watched tv...and to check the weather in Alaska for the 10-day forecast on my laptop. I'm praying that the weather-person will do some switching around because I don't like the rainy 50 degreeish weather they are forecasting right now! We have an excursion planned right now for May 27 that entails going out on a crab fishing boat (from the Deadliest Catch - first season) and rainy and 51 seems a bit chilly for such an event. Then, on June 3 we are planning to take a helicopter ride over glaciers near Mt. McKinley and then landing on one of the glaciers for a 15 minute walk. PLEASE, LORD, if you see fit, can you just re-arrange the weather forecast a bit for us? Thank you so much...

So, anyway, I was awake until 6:30 am, then went back to bed for a nap. I've decided that the funny feeling in my stomach (that Tums wouldn't help) could be anxiety. Could I be anxious for this vacation-of-a-lifetime?!?!?! Are you kidding? Of course I'm anxious, but I don't want a tummy ache.  : ) I'll have plenty to keep me busy today getting things done before we fly on Sunday. I'd better get off the couch and get moving on my to-do list for today which includes mowing the lawn. So, 'nuff for now!

I just received a Major Award!

My junkin friend Midge  Having fun with Junk (and Life in general) gave me a Major Award (for you Christmas Story followers!) I can't say that I've received any awards since I was a flight attendant 13 years ago so I accept this one graciously. Midge received her award from her friend Kathy from the blog --Sylvia's Vintage Daughter. I hope that I do Midge well and promised to continue being Kreative while growing my blog here.

The receiver of this award must do 4 things:

1.) List 7 things that you love

2.) Link back to the blog that awarded this to you

3.) Choose 7 blogs to pass the award on to 

4.) Comment at each of those blogs to let them know you've given them an award



And now, for the seven things I love ...

1.) First and foremost, I love God and the life He has provided for me.

2.) My family is a close second - my DH Gary and my two sons who have made me proud. Jeremy, my oldest, is an Air Traffic Controller at Detroit Metro Airport. Andrew is my aspiring Film Student and just completed a course at Willdlife Film Academy in South Africa.

3.) My parents and 5 siblings and all of my very large Irish Catholic family! 

4.) Crisp Autumn sweatshirt days and exciting green-filled spring days. Also, all of the other wonderful days that God has given us.

5.) Nature - all of it. My DH calls me a tree-hugger but I haven't prevented any trees from being cut down anywhere. I am just one of those gals that loves being outdoors in any season. I've hiked in 18 inches of snow. I've camped in a tent with 4 feet of snow and windchills -27. I've tented in the woods for several days by myself in my younger days. I just LOVE nature.

6.) House-wife - I am very blessed and thankful that I am a HOUSE-WIFE. After being divorced for 19 years and raising 2 boys (with equal help from their father and step-mother) I remarried, relocated, lost my job due to downsizing, and I now love being a house-wife. Can you see that I've used the word house-wife several times...

7.) Creativity. Because I've been blessed to have some free time, I LOVE to go junkin! I try to put a creative spin on things I buy and make them much more appealing then their previous life. My girlfriend calls me and asks if I'd like to go "treasure hunting" with her. I love the term, but I call her and ask her if she wants to go "junkin"! Creativity and Junkin go hand in hand!

And now to pass the award on to 7 other blogs. The 7 blogs I'm passing this award on to are:

1.)  G.I.Junker 

2.) Margo's Junkin' Journal

3.) A day in the life of a hillbilly

4.) magpie cottage

5.) Beyond The Picket Fence

6.) It's an Evolution

7.) Junk-Fest

Getting Giddy for our Cruise!

Well, what a nice finish to the weekend. Weather is beautiful, sunny and about 55 degrees. I'm getting giddy for our cruise a week from today. I just finished putting all of our travel documents together and re-reading our itinerary. We will have lots to do while we are gone, but hope that when we are at sea we get plenty of rest and relaxation. We are taking a few books and magazines and of course, our i-pods to listen to some good Christian Contemporary music. 

That's all for today, I just wanted to check in...

Sue

Hello & welcome to my blog page. I've decided to join the 21 Century and try my hand at blogging. I'm not really sure what I'll do with this blog, but I thought it might be a good place to record my Junking stuff, talk trash, and just have a little fun while journaling. I know, it takes about three weeks of repetition to turn something into a habit, so I hope that I can make this blogging stuff a habit and not just an unfinished project. I have PLENTY of unfinished projects in my basement thank you very much!

Today is Friday and a very welcome one at that. Last Saturday was my first Outdoor Spring Arts & Craft Show and I'm still recuperating from almost 5 solid weeks of painting and redesigning lots of junk preparing for the show. I rose early each morning for the last three weeks and stayed up WAY past my bedtime trying to get things done. It was fun and well worth it for sure. I sold double what I have sold at fall and winter shows so I'm quite pleased. I just spent the week cleaning out the garage and taking items to two different resale shops.  Now I get to redirect my attention to final preparations for our two-week cruise to Alaska. 

We leave for Vancouver on Sunday, May 24 and then Monday, May 25 we embark on our two week vacation that includes a 7 night cruise. We stop in the ports of Ketichan, Juneau, and Skagway. Then we hit land in Whittier, board a train, and travel to Denali National Park for three nights. Our last night is in Anchorage before we fly back to Michigan. My husband and I are really looking forward to two weeks away from reality. We are celebrating our anniversary while onboard which makes this trip even more special to us.

I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back home. Alaska has been on the top of my list of "to-do" before I'm too old to enjoy it so it is really exciting to finally see this dream become reality. 

Anyway, hopefully I'll stick to this blog and have some neat memories later down the road. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your visit.