Pumpkin Time

On Saturday Martin, Grace & I headed out to the Pumpkin Patch. Last year I went along with the ladies of the MOM's club and we had a great time at Stoney Ridge Farm. Since it was closest to our house we decided to go there again this year. It was a first for Martin and he enjoyed it, judging from the wrestling match we had over the camera. So some of these photos were taken by me and some by my husband. Gracie just loved all the animals and Mom was into taking her picture at the growth chart, the second in hopefully a long row of scrapbook photos. After taking the haywagon to the pumpkin field Grace and Daddy polished off two freshly picked apples, with me getting some small bites in between. They had a photo op set up and Grace couldn't wait to get her face in the cut-out and ham it up for the camera. After some perusing of the pretty picked over pumpkin patch we settled on two pumpkins, a big one for Dad and a smaller one for Grace. We got to the patch right at 10 AM when it opened, and it was a good thing too, cause after noon it got jam packed with families and would have been no fun to stand in line. So by the time we got our pumpkins loaded into a wheelbarrow, Miss Grace was ready for a nap and decided to ride along. On the way home we stopped off in Everson to try out a new breakfast place before I had to head into work.

Martin even took time out on Sunday to carve Grace's pumpkin. At first she wasn't so sure about the whole thing but after a couple of minutes she got right into the mess, seeds, guts and all. I took some photos of the end result, but honestly, the one I carved for Grace a little later is a little more professional looking. LOL Grace picked out the pattern...I'll let you be the judge.

This month just seemed to fly by. I can't believe Wednesday is Halloween...Gracie will finally get to wear her awesome costume. I hope to take her trick or treating in Fairhaven this year. We'll see what the weather decides to do.

I'm Baaaaaaack...

It's been forever, (well since June!) that I've updated this sucker, so here I am. Tons of stuff has happened since we've moved into our (mostly!) completed new house right after July 4th weekend.

Where do I start? I flew out East to visit my BFF Megan in Maryland and attend CKC Valley Forge with her and some other gal pals, Martin went on his boys fishing trip in August, I started working at my favorite scrapbook store of all time Treasury of Memories in Bellingham, I went to Phoenix in September, we just returned from Thanksgiving in Canada at my folks and it's already the middle of October...where did time go?

Here is a photo of Megan and her wonderful Mom Darlene in Millville at the cutest little shopping spot. I found some great everyday items there that I can't live without now.

On the weekend we decided to brave the weather and got some awesome seats to "Sunday In The Country" a concert with many famous country stars of which we caught the following: Phil Vasser, Terri Clark, Sara Evans and Trace Adkins. We had loads of fun, even texted in to have our message displayed on the big screens up on stage. How kewl is that? ;)

Here is a shot of the famous cowgirl Gracie at the NW WA Fair on the 14th of August. Isn't she a cutie?

The day after the fair we got a very short notice invite from our cousin Mark down south in Olympia. So we hopped into the car and made the 4 hour drive to visit with him and the twins. Grace had a blast playing in the pool and didn't want to get out at all...

The next big adventure in our lives was the trip to Creative Escape 2007 in Phoenix. If you remember, last year I was the lucky winner of the FREE admission to this year's event, plus I got to take my new best friend Megan that I coincidentally met at CE 2006. Seems like the big guy upstairs meant well for us and we were destined to meet there. Thank you! We had a wonderful time and were so glad to meet up with old and new friends, learn lot's of fun new techniques (we've already managed to use three of the card folding techniques I learned a the store!), squeeze in some spa & pool time and even some shopping. We found a really great Halloween costume for Gracie in Phoenix of all places, but no photos of that till we get to wear it trick or treating. I also have to shout out a big, no HUGE Thank you to Megan's Mom Darlene. She spent a lot of her vacation time watching Grace so that Megan & I could attend the cool classes and events. We couldn't have done it without her.

When we got back we had already made plans for the weekend after our return home. Martin had arranged for us to borrow a friends boat to take a trip to the islands. This was only the second time for me on a boat and a first for Grace. She is such a natural, she just loves the water and the outdoors. Even though part of the weekend was beautiful and sunny we did ride out some weather and we had a tough time getting Grace to come inside. She was cold and wet but still having a blast. What a girl!

At the end of the month our cousin Mark visited baring gifts. He brought us a piano courtesy of Uncle Joe. At first I wasn't so sure, but seeing Grace have so much fun, it's a no-brainer. She'll be taking lessons sometime soon. Check it out:

So then just this past weekend we took the plunge and drove up to see my folks for CDN Thanksgiving. We has so much fun seeing the kids together, last time the cousins were there Grace was still pretty small and this time they really interacted. Check out Jayson reading to Gracie...

I think that brings us up to date, at least partially. LOL I promise to be better in the future but life just get's so busy sometimes...

House Update...again...

Getting closer....

We are getting carpet this week, upstairs today and our master bedroom on Friday. Yeah!
















Also pouring more concrete outside to finish part of the patio.

Got our appliances last week and have installed a few already, some are still in the boxes...just not enough hours in the day.

Our countertop for the kitchen is supposed to come on Friday also.

On Saturday we had soem parts of the reiling brought over to see if they fit. And to our amazement they were perfect. What's a 1/2 inch in a time of crisis... LOL

Tuesday last week I spent the day taping off and painting my daughter's room. It's now a vibrant shade of puprle called "Sassy Lilac", which I found super fitting.

The kid's bathroom upstairs is almost completed with tile too, just a few tiny touch ups and the vanity which is in the mail.

Update!

Don't really have time for a lot of writing so I'll post some photos and call it good.

After putting in most of the light bulbs downstairs and up, (we were still short about 50 or so after purchasing 74!), we stained our concrete floors on May 19th and they turned out wonderful. The rust color is all through the downstairs except for the master bedroom and my scrapbook studio. I picked a more neural grey/black which I love the way it turned out.

Then we have most of the trim work done, the doors installed and trimmed out and Martin, Adam, Grace & I screwed on almost all of the electrical outlets and light switches.

So here are some more... the fireplace, the front door.

Our kitchen being installed.

On the outside of the house we've put on black gutters and white downspouts which will be painted later.

We've also forked out a lot of $$$ for ordering the carpet we will install upstairs in all the rooms except for the bathroom. Here's a picture of what will go into the Master Bedroom downstairs.

I think we've also got the counter top choice narrowed down. So not what we had both pictured, but several people we asked for opinions were instantly drawn to this one, so it must look good.

We've also picked some tile for the master and are in discussion for the other two baths.
This weekend we are having the painters working on getting everything ready to paint the trim and doors so that come next week we can complete the clean-up in preparation for carpet and tile.

Exciting stuff. Tune back in for further updates in the near future.

This One's For Grandma...

Here's some photos of Grace with her favorite book,

NO David! by David Shannon.

Limping Along...

I've been trying to keep up with my online Heidi Swapp class on BIG Picture Scrapbooking, entitled "A Year To Remember" but it's been a challenge. I guess having a life, a demanding 2 year old, a crabby husband, and building a house kind of interfere with hobbies of any type. I finished the April layout today, giving up on March, as I was so far behind there was no hope of staying current. So here it is:

Another American IDOL Hopeful Bites the Dust...

kinda sad to see Phil Stacey leave the show. I was rooting for him since the beginning. Any guy who stands in line to audition instead of being at the hospital while his baby daughter is born has my vote. What a guy! I wish him all the best and hope that he does get a recording contract, cause I'll buy his record. ;)

The show was kind of strange for me this season since there are so many great singers and then there was the Sanjaya's of Season Six. I'll never forget the way my heart dropped when they booted Sundance instead of Sanjay. But I guess that's why "America Votes". It'll teach me to get so caught up in reality TV. LOL

More House Stuff...

here are the two new things we are trying since this weekend; a new color (surprise!) and the trim around the window. I am kind of on the fence about the color, altought it seem sot be the best so far. On the trim I think we need to go with the same width on the bottom as the sides, as opposed ot the top and bottom being wider. What do you think?

Still Struggling...

with decisions about our new house. As you can see here:

We had a visit from my aunt Verena, her daughter Sydney and her hubby Chris, from North Vancouver today. She took pity on us and helped us out with some great advice for our color choices on the paints. They also are going to help us finish the concrete floors with color and sealant. Hoping to do all this in the next couple of weeks. So things are moving along...

Here's a picture of the front of the house:

So it looks like we may have a decision on the house body & trim paint. I'll let you know...

Another Cool Internet Find...

don't you ever wonder what celebrity you really look like? Here's my Celebrity Look Alikes:



I guess it depends on what photo you use cause in this one I look like:



And in this one like some other entirely different women:



Who do you look like?

Just a Birthday Meaning Thing I found online...

thanks to an old friend Shelley from my school days in Germany.

Your Birthdate: September 30

You have the type of personality that people either love or hate. You're opinionated, dramatic, intense, and very outspoken. And some people can't get enough of you - they're totally addicted. Others, well, they wish you were a little more reserved. Your strength: Your flair Your weakness: If you think it, you say it Your power color: Scarlet red Your power symbol: Inverted triangle Your power month: March

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Spoiled ROTTEN!

As part of our group that will be going to Creative Escape 2007 in Phoenix, AZ this summer we are hosting a bunch of swapps on our yahoo board. This one was called the "Let's Escape" Swapp.

It's sort of like a secret sister thing were you fill out a questionnaire so someone can shop for you and then are assigned another gal to spoil. I had a blast shopping for my new friend Laurie and started way before I even had her name. I hope that she liked her loot because I went way over the top with the pink & green (CE colors) and later found out her favorite colros are greens & blues. Ooops!

Anyway, I received my package yesterday afternoon via UPS. I tore into it like a crazy woman and my daughter looked on in awe. My secret buddy spoiled me royally. I received some awesome stuff including...well, I'll just spell it out for you, letter by letter.

L is for Lips (lip gloss or lip treament)
E is for Express (item to help express herself on her pages, ie: title, journaling, etc.)
T is for Tasty (tasty treat)
S is for Sparkle (bling for scrapbook pages)

E is for Embellish (fun scrapbook embellishment)
S is for Spoil (something to pamper herself with)
C is for Circle (a fun scrapbook circle item)
A is for Awesome (an awesome Heidi Swapp item)
P is for Pink (something pink)
E is for Extraordinary (special handmade item from you)

Well I hit the jackpot!
L - I got Dolce Milano Creme Brulee Lip Gloss (it smells good enough to eat!)
E - Heidi Swapp Clear Shapes "Love" Stamps, these are journaling boxes, super cute.
T - A Starbucks Giftcard, this will come in handy this weekend at my all-night crop
S - Heidi Swapp bling, the new pink crowns

E - A wonderful kit of the Bohemia paper line by My Mind's Eye, including bling & titles.
S - Some SeaSpa Body Lotion that smells divine. I've never even heard of this brand. Cute box!
C - Heidi Swapp XL ghost shapes clocks, I haven't been able to find these anywhere.
A - Heidi Swapp masks, the tulip one and the bird branch, both brand-new.
P - Heidi Swapp XL pink photo corners, I've been looking all over for these.
E - An extraordinary, super awesome handmade clipboard. It is so fabulous, I love it!

So needless to say this made my week. It will be hard for my husband to top this for our anniversary this coming Monday. LOL

I am actually accomplishing something! WOW

I cleaned off my desk, (well, I had to cause I'm going to a crop and I need something to work on!), but I did get it done. I found some layouts that I started at the 27-Hour crop in March and took the time to finish them off. So I can put two notches in my belt for these:

Belated Easter Pictures

Guess it's high time I posted some photos of Grace's 2nd Easter. We actually all went to the big Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the grocery store Haggen. It was a huge field divided into areas by age. There was yellow tape around the area and signs showing what age group the square belonged to. I was kind of torn between taking Gracie to the "2 and under with parents" plot, whereas Martin was all about letting Grace fight it out own her own in the "2 and under without parents" one. The weather held and we actually had a slight window without rain as the kids, (there must've been several hundred kids with families) charged the field after the countdown. I had to give Grace a little encouraging nudge and she finally braved the masses. I guess all the other parents must've been training their toddlers vigorously for the past few months because the killer instinct took over and they started vaccuuming up the candy and eggs. It took Grace a while of staring at all the other kids in amazement until she started putting some eggs into her basket. After all was said and done, it didn't take more than two three minutes to clear the lawn, she had a booty of about a dozen eggs or so. I was a little disappointed in the contents of the eggs. Since the area was for 2 year olds and under I expected some toys, maybe chocolate eggs, similar soft candy. But what was in the eggs actually shocked me. Most of it was the kind of stuff they would label "Not suitable for 3 years and under", little plastic rings, fabric bracelets, little gobs of jelly like substance that I have no idea what they are, and absolutely no candy. What a rip-off. The bigger kids were leaving the field with whole bags of gummy lifesavers and such. AG Edwards even has some monetary items in the older kids eggs. Well, I guess better luck next year.

Just a quick e-mail forward...

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope, not to my knowledge
WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? This morning waking up from a nightmare
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, but I’ve been told it’s kinda hard to read
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT Roast Beef
IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Why Not?
DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I have a BLOG, does that count?
DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Definitely on my list of things to do before I die.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Banana Nut Crunch by Post
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes, but I don’t usually wear tie-up shoes.
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolate Almond Mocha
SHOE SIZE? 8 and 8 ½ on the right
RED OR PINK? Used to be red, but since Grace it’s been a lot of pink.
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU? Don’t like my belly, feet and hands.
WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Depends on where I am and what I’m doing. Usually my BFF Megan, cause she lives on the other side of the US.
WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Brown capris and no shoes.
LAST THING YOU ATE? Pot roast, veggies, sour cream & onion mashed potatoes and gravy.
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing, watching TV show “Raines”.
IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Teal
FAVORITE SMELL? Cucumber or melon lotion, fresh baked bread.
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom.
THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes
FAVORITE DRINK? Long Island Ice Tea or a Starbucks Latte
FAVORITE SPORT? Volleyball
EYE COLOR? Dark Brown
HAT SIZE? I have no idea?
DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, used to have green ones…
FAVORITE FOOD? Sushi
SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I love scary movies, but have no one to watch them with. I like happy endings but LOVE movies with a good twist at the end, good or bad.
WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Red
HUGS OR KISSES? Depends on whom they’re coming from?
FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
BOOK YOU'RE READING OR HAVE RECENTLY READ? Just finished “The Codex” by Douglas Preston and started the new Harlan Coben "Promise Me".
WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Faith Hill
WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Two movies, “Blood Diamond” and “Children of Men”
FAVORITE SOUNDS? The ocean
ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones
THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME Depends on which home, as I have lived in Europe, but Mexico or Hawaii?
WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I have a pretty good radar when it comes to meeting new people. My first impressions are usually dead on…
WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Krefeld, GERMANY
WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Stephanie from Volleyball

Miss Mischief

Guess what we caught Miss Cee-Cee (as Grace likes to call herself!) doing last night. We were just getting ready for bed and Martin was shutting down his computer, I was in the kitchen getting a bottle of milk for the mischief maker. It got real quiet in the bathroom were Grace was supposed to be waiting for me to brush her teeth...

When I finally stepped around the corner to the bathroom this is the sight that greeted me:








Well, at least I can blame it all on my mother. While she was staying with us last week she let Grace participate in her nightly beauty ritual. So of course now the little imp wants to put her lotions and potions on too.





The funniest thing was that I didn't even think of grabbing the camera...Martin was the one who ran for it right away. Guess the scrapbooker gene is rubbing off a little.... LOL

Guess I'm still Lucky...

today I won the bingo on our Creative Escape Yahoo Group. I thought for sure between being away at ARTistry in Vancouver (sorry I'd post about this but didn't really take any photos), coming home to no Internet and the time difference between the post (East to West Coast) I didn't stand a chance. Well, my horseshoe comes through again.

Over the weekend I won three free coffee's at Tim Horton's in their Roll up the Rim to Win contest. Not much, but still lucky. Last week we found out that we won three out of four volleyball champion titles. Not bad...I wonder what's next???

Today I spent most of the day re-arranging my furniture in the bedroom and guestroom. My mom suggested to move the bigger dresser from the guestroom upstairs since it was sitting there empty. Then I took Gracie's changing table (which converts into a shelve) downstairs for some guest storage if needed. Now I still need to finish putting our stuff away in the bedroom, but I had to quit. The original plan was to spend an hour doing this and after three I finally threw in the towel and stopped. I'm pooped.

So I thought I would do a quick update on my BLOG and then start working on my CE swap pages. (For all you non-scrappers who read my blog, a swap is when a group of people make a certain number of the same layout/embellishment/etc. and then each person swaps out with every other person. So in the end you end up with one of every item including your own. Quite genius really!) Hope I didn't confuse you too much...

Can't believe how time flies...

here it is the middle of March and what have I got to show for it?
A lot of 1/2 completed projects and many procrastinated ones too.
Our house is moving along at a snail's pace, it seems, eventhough Martin is putting in many, many long hours and coming home late most nights, including weekends.
Next Tuesday my BFF Megan is flying in from the East Coast and I am sooo not ready. I still need to pack my stuff, print out photos for the classes, get stuff ready for the Saturday night crop, work on my secret project, etc.

Ok, that's the second time I've lost my post today. So I'm just gonna quit. It's not supposed to happen...better luck next time.

Wow, it's been over two weeks again...

I can't believe how time flies when you're busy. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?
Martin's been working long, long days and is so stressed it's not even funny. I've been trying to keep my head down and ride out the storm.
Last night we finally settled down after he had worked all day plumbing the new house with Adam at a reasonable hour to watch a new movie I had picked up. If you haven't watched it yet, go out and rent "The Prestige", can't go wrong with Hugh Jackman. **sigh** Love those abs. A great suspenseful show. Also loved "The Illusionist" with Edward Norton we watched a few weeks ago, another show in the same genre.
Grace has been fighting this yucky cold where she wakes up in the morning with her eyes completely glued shut by mucus and gunk. Gross! She doesn't seem to mind, until you try to clean it off, but it sure looks painful. Needless to say her coughing all night and Martin tossing and turning has not made for restful nights these last few weeks.
I did go to the Spring 27-Hour crop here in Bellingham last weekend. Got a little bit done, but not as much as I would have liked. Isn't that always the case? Most of the problem lies in the fact that I don't know how to pack effectively for a crop. I always want to take all my supplies including the kitchen sink. But then I don't end up using half of them so that is a waste of time loading and unloading my junk. If I just take a couple of things to work on I usually forget a part of the project and halfway through get stuck. Then I get frustrated and put the whole thing away unfinished, which isn't' really the point of the whole thing.
I have another crop coming up in April. It's the Treasury of Memories sponsored "Mighty Max" crop. The fee is $100 and all monies go to the Mighty Maxwell Guild, to support Children's Hospital Uncompensated Care Fund so that EVERY child in the Pacific Northwest has access to quality medical care. So open your checkbooks and help me out here... Anything will be appreciated, we are trying to raise $10, 000 for the fund. It's a great cause and I can't wait to see all the wonderful ladies that participate in this fundraiser.

Coming Up For Air!

Finally feel like I'm digging myself out of this hole I've fallen into. What a life changing even this whole job thing has been for my family. First I'm away from home every day for three weeks, which sets my almost two-year old into fits of separation anxiety, then I have scheduling stress with the airline, then the company (that I thought I was working for, but really wasn't!?!?!?!)shuts down operations overnight without notifying any of us. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? After all that I was sent a schedule by my scheduling department that had me leaving tomorrow for a week long trip to Fort Lauderdale. Wait a minute!!!! That's a long way from Bellingham, WA and being home every night. Add to that the terrible twos, a house that is half finished, money that is running out and a husband that is stressed to MAX as well. Needless to say I've been stressing more than usual lately.
So with flight suspension since the beginning of the month, (my last flight was on the 5th), I've spent some time getting back into a weekly routine of housekeeping, going to the gym and cleaning up our home. My goal is to have our place de-cluttered by the time we move into our new home come July.
As part of my catch-up strategy I've been working on getting up to date on the BIG Picture Scrapbooking classes that I am taking online. One of them is the "Library of Memories" by Stacy Julian, my scrapbook Idol. It is supposed to help me sort through and organize all my mounds and heaps of photos. Yeah right. Well, I started sorting yesterday, (I'm only 6 weeks behind the class!), and I already feel the relief. Her class is all about keeping it simple so that you can enjoy your time scrapping. The other course is an all year round class with Heidi Swapp the organizer of the Creative Escape Scrapbook retreat I went to last September and will be at again this summer. Her class is "A Year To Remember" a weekly thing where each week you get a certain challenge to complete and each month you finish a page for the calendar provided with the class. Here is my January page, which I finally completed this past week. I really love how it turned out. Part of the challenge was to use a target, a goal and some patterned paper outside of your comfort zone.
So I went all out. What do you think?
On Friday I will be going to a local scrapbook event called the 27-Hour Crop. Some gals host it at their church and we have a bunch of us from the Bellingham Scrapbook Fanatics attending. It should be great to get some uninterrupted time for scrapping and spending it with my friend. Looking forward to that. Now I better get back to packing some stuff to take, or else I won't have anything to work on.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

I never thought that there would be this much to plan, buy, decide on a new house. WOW!!!
We now have our windows and are already installing them.
We purchased over $10,000 worth of rock to go around the outside of the house and it is also being installed, (is that what you do with rock? Install it?)
We ordered garage doors, both a 9 foot and a 16 foot one for the two openings at the back of the house.
Doors for the master bedroom, the kitchen and the front of the house are also on order. The kitchen is getting a french door, our bedroom a glass door with a up/down shade inside the glass, and the front door has sidelights. Of course I had to set my heart on a really expensive wood front door by Simpson called the Bellaire.
Now we are moving on to finalize our fireplace plans, the cabinets in bathrooms and kitchen, as well as my scraproom, tub and showers as well as the vanities. I like the styles they sell at Costco, like the Ove Decors Moon Vanity, the Ove Decors Mist Vanity, the Ove Decors Bali Double Vanity, and the DECOLAV 41" Antiqued Espresso Finish Vanity. Now I just need to get the correct measurements and I can go shopping. Yeah!

First Flight Behind Me...

On Friday I completed what's known in the industry as my "OE" or On-board Experience. There were seven of us on board, including the senior flight attendant, and two already OE'd gal's from our class. So the 5 of us who were "new" got to rotate through most of the stations to get some hands-on experience. It wasn't as smooth as everyone would have liked, but we got it done. On the way out, from Bellingham to Orange County Airport in California, we had 51 passengers on our airplane, which holds a full capacity of 150. For the return trip we only transported 23 people north, but we made them all feel pampered and taken care of. Some of the small issues we had to battle were frozen water trucks, (hence no potable H2O on the first leg of our flight!), a broken wing light (which caused us to have to delay take-off till first light!), so we were running a wee bit late. LOL All the meals, breakfasts on the outbound and lunch on the return flight, were catered by Haggen, a great grocery chain here in the area. All comments from the passengers regarding the meals were positive and everyone seemed to enjoy the flights.
I am on call tomorrow and will fly to Phoenix on Thursday afternoon.

Over the weekend Martin & I flew San Juan Airlines to Orcas Island for a Birthday Getaway weekend with some friends. We stayed at Rosario Resort on the island, a wonderful historic mansion, where we had a wonderful dinner and cocktails followed by a lively game of poker. The weather co-operated with us on Saturday and we had a wonderful view on the flight out, whereas coming home we experienced a bit of turbulence. We plan on doing this kind of thing more often, as we enjoyed our time away from cell phones and responsibilities. Grace stayed home with her Auntie Chelle, but we missed each other during the time we spent apart.