Google Image Meme

Here's how it works - Google Image your answers to the following topics and post a photo from the first page that comes up. Here goes:

Age on my next birthday -

A place I would like to visit:

One of my favorite places:

My favorite object:My favorite food:My favorite color: My favorite animal: Name of a past pet:Where I live: First grade teacher's last name:

My middle name:

A bad habit of mine:

My college major:

My favorite holiday:

A Year of Savings

My friend Penny has challenged everyone to post each day something they've done to save $$. We'll see how I can do...

January 1 - Hung wet laundry on the drying rack - not only saves running the dryer, it adds moisture to the air in the house.

January 2 - Cleaned and organized the frig and food cupboard, then made this week's menu from what we already have so I can use up a few things and don't have to buy groceries.

Holiday touches

I spent the week before Christmas working a lot and just got photos taken of some of my Christmas decorations. Some new things this year after being inspired by things I saw here. I'll be packing things away during the week, but there will still be a tree. I'll show you when I'm done.

This is a little birdcage from Goodwill that I filled with vintage glass balls. A small apothecary jar loaded with gumdrops.

My collection of Mr. & Mrs. Santa S&P shakers in the kitchen window.

Ornament I made using a photo from 1967, alongside a vintage glass teardrop ornament that was one of Mom's favorites.

Glass topper from my childhood.

Vase filled with nuts and a votive with figurines by Bert Anderson.

Collage frame with photos of the kids when they were little.

This last photo is of the library table and my CHL tree. The ornaments were made by my internet friends for swaps the past three years. The window is from our old house.
On the shelf below I placed a couple of nativities that are child-friendly and a basket of children's Christmas books.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite holiday decorations! I'll be back in a few days with photos of our celebrations.

Waiting for Santa?

Max is ready and waiting...

Nick is asleep in his old room, and the bed in Jessi's old room is made up and waiting for her to arrive when she gets off work. Gifts are wrapped (finally) and stockings are stuffed. There will be fresh poppyseed bread for breakfast in the morning.

Happy Christmas everyone - this Santa is heading for bed!

He's coming to town...

Santa, that is!!

In 1969 my mother made Santa mugs for each of us, and it became a tradition to drink hot chocolate from those mugs on Christmas morning. Each mug has our name and "1969" on the bottom.

We each have our mugs now and I think they are on display at each of our homes during the holiday season. I also have Mom's and Arlan's mugs.

You know what they say about when you have 3 of something, that is a collection? Well, these three mugs sparked a definite collection for me. Over the past several years, every time I found a Santa mug at a garage sale or at the thrift store, I'd pick it up.

Then along came ebay and, well, we all know what ebay does to a person. I now have many Santa mugs, most vintage, some newer. I like to display the smaller ones on the glass shelves I have for vintage family photos. The larger ones are on a small dresser near the kitchen.

Along with the smaller cups, I have some Santa candleholders and salt & peppper shakers, and a small boot. More things to turn into a collection? I think so.

More "vintage" Christmas

This is Christmas 1971 - Randy got his Big Wheels bike and Alan got his electric football game. I think Arlan got his Erector set that year. In looking closely at the photo, I think Tonita and I got dolls that we put on our beds for decoration. Mine was named Stacy, and I think I still have her somewhere... I know Tonita still has hers.

I love these photos since they show what a free-for-all it was when we opened our gifts. This must have been the first year that Santa wrapped our gifts. In previous years, they were arranged unwrapped under the tree (which always stayed lit all night from Christmas Eve til Christmas morning). I don't know why Mom decided to wrap them, but I remember her telling us that was going to happen (could it be the couple of years before when we kids got up at like, 3 a.m. and played Hot Wheels with the racing track that was set up?).

I remember that Randy rode that Big Wheel to death - we were all so excited that he got one since they were just new to the toy market at that time.

Alan's electric football game was fun for the whole family. We'd set up our guys in whatever formation Alan told us to, then turn on the "field". The box would vibrate and our guys would move in whatever direction it shook them.

If you take a look at the tree, you'll see the ornaments made from gluing circles of wrapping paper together to form a sphere. I always enjoyed making those.

I see the tree in these photos and the ones from 1970 is the artificial one that Mom bought at Hested's. She paid $15 for it and was so worried that Dad would be mad about how much it was, but was convinced it would save them money since they wouldn't have to purchase a tree every year. Dad wasn't mad, and that tree was used for a few decades. Mom gave it to me when Greg and I first got married, and we used it until the kids were old enough to enjoy going out and picking a fresh one to cut down, so I suppose that artificial one was close to 25 years old by the time I donated it to the resale shop.
You can also see Dad is fresh out of bed. Christmas was the one day of the year that no matter how early we got up and woke up our parents, they got right up and joined us in the living room. No fussing, no sending us back to bed. And Christmas day started early in the Regier household! :o)

Wedding Bells

Mr. & Mrs. Caleb Stovall

It's official. Caleb and Bethany got married this afternoon. He was a little giddy when I talked to him - said he can't stop smiling.

Tonita, Daniel, Abbie, and Bethany's parents and brother were all in attendance. They got married in an historic courthouse in Washington Historic State Park in Washington, AR. Bethany's father officiated.

Please join me in wishing them the happiest, longest life together by posting a comment. I'll pass them on to the happy couple.

Christmas morning, 1970

Here it is - the famous (infamous) mini-bike we got from "Santa". (Pay no attention to the high-water plaid pants [OMG!] or the plaid ponchos - more about those in a minute...) The mini-bike that launched the boys' racing careers. The mini-bike that taught me how to drive a clutch before I knew how to drive. (To this day, I prefer a manual transmission.)

I learned to ride that mini-bike in about a minute, and LOVED it. We used to load it up on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and take it out to Hurbut's where they had a dirt track right next to the highway. I remember loving the speed and the control I had over the bike - then Dad jumped in front of me and yelled to "SLOW DOWN!!". Years later I found out he only did this because Mom was having a panic attack about how fast I was going. Turns out, he wanted me to race, but Mom said NO.

For all you safety buffs out there, yes, we wore a helmet. A very good quality helmet. As far as I remember, none of us got hurt on that motorcycle. (Later Dad traded it in for a little 4-wheeler go-cart type of thing, and Tonita ran over Arlan with that. And Alan and Randy would have their share of injuries from racing. And surgeries. Alan would have surgeries. But no one got hurt on the mini-bike.)

Anyway, back to Christmas morning. Us kids (is that even grammatically correct?) would always get up about 4 a.m. to see what Santa left us since our big gifts were never wrapped. I think I'd just fallen asleep when the boys were in our room to wake up Tonita and me. We all went out to the living room and were stunned. Then Randy went in to Mom and Dad's room and said, "Daddy! Santa brought you a new motorcycle!". :o) I'm sure to him, that bike looked huge.

Now for those plaid pixie-hat ponchos. I don't know why. Yes, we wore them to school. No, they were not warm. Were they the fashion for 1970? Again, I don't know. Obviously, plaid was "in" (those pants, ugh). I'd love to hear if you had plaid. Please share my pain.


More vintage Christmas next week!

Some vintage Christmas

This photo is from Christmas 1970. I would have been 9, Tonita, 8, Alan, 6, Arlan, 5, and Randy, 4. This was taken on Christmas Eve after church. See how sleepy Randy looks? I remember I had a hard time getting to sleep that night, and heard "Santa" putting our gift under the tree. I was so excited I was sick!

I love looking at the tree with all of our handmade ornaments from school. I don't have any of those, but I do have all the old glass balls. Mom was pretty serious about applying the tinsel, too. She always wanted us to help, but wanted us to do it one strand at a time. We always started that way, but soon tired of the tedium...

The plaques on the wall behind the tree were painted by Mom in her ceramics class. I don't know where they are now - I don't remember having them when she passed away, but I had her sisters come in and take things they wanted, and those may have been among those things. I think they had flowers in the center. I don't know whose handprints are on the other wall, but I'll guess they were Randy's from preschool.

That wallpaper was supposed to look like wood panelling. I remember when Mom put that up. Didn't Phyllis help? Or maybe Jane, our neighbor. Anyway, Mom was always decorating, making our house a cozy home. That room had real wood floors that Mom would strip and wax every now and then. They covered those floors with carpet when they remodeled a few years later.

Tomorrow I'll show you what "Santa" brought us that year. It was probably the best gift we ever got. :o)

Elfen sweetness

A few of my favorite Christmas elves:

Ice and snow, snow and ice

Just a few more photos from the ice last weekend, and the snow yesterday. It was a winter wonderland yesterday morning...

Iceland, anyone?

Our first "winter storm" of the year turned out to be more rain and ice than anything else (though it is snowing lightly as I type this...).

The cherry tree in the back yard at 7:00 yesterday morning:

The magnolia tree in front at 8:00 this morning:

If you click on the photos they will enlarge - hopefully you can see the thickness of the ice. It really is pretty.

Happy Thanksgiving! (and birthday wishes and anniversary wishes)

I do not reserve my "giving Thanks" for just this one day a year. I am part of an online group of women who list our gratitudes each week. We are able to remind ourselves that whatever is going on in our lives, we always have something to be thankful for. This week I'll list mine here, today:


little arms around my neck and a whisper of "I wuv you" in my ear
toothless baby grins
the noise and chaos of family surrounding me
the quiet after everyone leaves
a quick visit with a friend
the beauty of Autumn and Winter, all within 48 hours

There is much more, as my life is full of love, laughter, and blessings I cannot begin to count. I wish all that and more for you.

I need to post Happy Birthday wishes to Daniel today, and Happy Anniversary to Alan and Angela!

I have no life.

It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
() Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far:14

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
() American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(x) Harry Potter 1
() Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 22 …out of 43

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
() The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
(x) King Kong
Total so far: 34 …out of 66.

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
() The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(x) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
() Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
() Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 40 … out of 90

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x ) Ice Age
( x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x ) Curious George
Total so far: 55 …out of 121

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) E.T.
() Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She’s All That
(x) Calendar Girls
( x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far: 73

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
( x) X3
(x ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
( x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( x) Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
() Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far:83

( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
(x ) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
(x) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 94 out of 181

( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 100 out of 200

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
(x) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(x) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 106 out of 220

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix: Reloaded
(x) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal

116 movies on this list that I've seen. There are myriads of movies that I've seen that arent' even listed. I officially have no life, and that's okay. How'd you do?

Autumn in Seattle

Last week we took a few days to visit Seattle. Neither of us had ever been there, but knowing how much we both loved Alaska, this trip to the Pacific Northwest was sure to be enjoyed.

We flew in on Monday afternoon. The sun was shining, which we understand is a rarity, so we took that opportunity to go to the top of the Space Needle first thing.

This is Greg taking video of the landscape. We could see for miles.

This is Mt. Rainier... Then we took the monorail into the heart of downtown Seattle. The monorail only has two stops, one near the Space Needle and one four blocks from the Public Market. Easy on and easy off.
We checked out just a little of the Market. It was only 4:00-ish, but the sun was going down.

We walked past the Market to the Piers in hopes of finding a good seafood place to eat supper. Here I am with Ellery Bay in the background. Puget Sound is beyond the bay. We ate at Fisherman's Cafe. Greg had stuffed cod and I tried Ahi for the first time ever. (Ahi is tuna, supposed to be served "rare" - I got "raw".) The clam chowder was good, though. I had clam chowder each day we were there and it was different each time, but always VERY GOOD. Greg had fish chowder a couple of times (I know, surprised me, too!) and really liked it, too.

While we were eating supper, the sun set over the bay and we walked back to the monorail stop in the dark. Our hotel was just a short walk from the space needle so we rode back there and this is what we found. Isn't it beautiful?

On Tuesday we went back downtown and walked from the Market to Pioneer Square, the area where the original city began. We took the Underground Tour and learned quite a bit about the founders and hisory of the city. Several weeks ago "Ghost Hunters" visited these same places, trying to find evidence of the paranormal or haunting, but found nothing. We didn't see anything, either, though our guide did mention that some people have seen a man dressed as a banker and a little boy.

Back to the waterfront for lunch at Ivar's, a place recommended to Greg by a coworker who used to live near Seattle. This particular store was like a fast-food seafood place where you took your food from the window and either sat at tables outside on the pier, or inside a separate glass-walled building. It was too hot inside the building, so we braved the giant seagulls and ate out on the pier. Now these seagulls were beggars. It is custom to feed them your leftover French Fries, and they won't even consider anything else. I tossed a piece of my flour tortilla (I had fish tacos for lunch), and crushed up a tortilla chip, but they left those for the pigeons. These monsters only wanted fries. So we fed them Greg's fries. They were very convincing.

The pigeons were very friendly - they'd hop up on the seat beside me and ate cracker pieces from my hand. They weren't picky and appreciated our generosity.

After lunch we started walking along the waterfront again, planning to head to Pike Place Market and find the fish-throwers. We happened upon a harbor boat tour that was leaving in less than 10 minutes and still had room, so we hopped on board. We cruised along the shore, getting another history lesson about the buildings we could see. That was interesting enough, but the highlight was coming up on these California sea lions lounging around. They perked up when we came along.

After disembarking the tour boat, we continued on to the Market. I guess we were too busy looking and not photographing, because I don't have any photos of Pike Place Fish Company where they throw the fish. We only saw them throw one fish, but the guys were pretty entertaining otherwise, so it was fun to just stand there and watch them. We went back on Thursday morning and made a purchase and had some nice conversations with some of the guys and Greg chatted with who we think is the owner.

Anyway, on Tuesday afternoon we found the original Starbucks. One tour guide told us there are 107 Starbucks in a 33 square-block area in downtown Seattle.

On Wednesday we rented a car and left the city for a drive out in the wilderness. We went to Woodinville and visited a couple of wineries. We did the wine tastings at both places and brought home a couple of bottles of our favorites from each. Greg is standing under the arbor at Chateau Ste. Michelle where we met some very nice ladies who recommended we go to Redhook Ale Brewery for lunch. After the equivalent of at least a couple full glasses of wine before lunch, we needed to eat. :o)

After lunch we took a back highway to Snoqualmie Falls. The trees were ablaze with autumn colors and the air smelled SO good. After we left the Falls, Greg thought we needed to just take a random road and drive. I'm not so keen on not knowing where I'm going, but away we went. It didn't take long to get to the Interstate and I felt better, but we did see some pretty country.

We drove around in the city a bit and found another Ivar's to eat at. This one was a sit-down restaurant decorated like a lodge with lots of Native American artifacts. Our window faced the water of Washington Lake where we watched the college rowing team practice.

On Thursday we went back to the Market, then had enough time to visit the Science Fiction Museum when we were done. If you're not into scifi, you probably don't care about seeing parts of the set and costumes from the original Star Trek series, and the prop blasters from Star Wars, but we enjoyed them. Unfortunately they didn't allow any photography so I have none.

The rest of the day was spent in airports and on airplanes and then driving home from Omaha.

That's it for a quick recap of our vacation. I hope you enjoyed it!

Anniversary

Bob & Jan -