Continuing progress in the backyard

Fred has built a pea trellis. We had one in Bremerton that he made out of wood. This one is PCV pipe. Well he painted it the same color as our block wall because it was WHITE!

We live in a very "manicured" neighborhood. Here we have sidewalks, the neighborhood is completely square and streets are Brigham Young style, every home is built by the same builder so somewhat uniform in shape, style etc....All the yards are fenced in with a brick wall like ours. The majority of the brick fences have a gate closure from the house to the side yard between homes. We don't. So from the street you can see straight into our back yard. Fred wanted the house built to the side of the lot so the end where the garden is at is the end that is most open to the street.

So from the street you look right on to this big edifice - well in Bremerton where it is somewhat rural I think the look is acceptable, but in our neighborhood it is somewhat kind of an eyesore. I wouldn't be surprised if we are in violation of a neighborhood ordinance.

None the less, it is constructed very well.

We will probably plant bush peas next year.

The area closest to the fence is where we plan to plant fruit trees.

Fred is retired so this is his new job. Doing stuff in the yard....so I've decided that it will always be in process. I mean what will he do all day if it is ever Done?

 Here are the little peas beginning to grow.

He is only planting in one of the garden boxes this year. I honestly don't know what we will do if we ever harvest veggies from both boxes. Holy Cow - that seems like a lot of vegetable growing area.

 Fred placed these stepping stones by hand. He doesn't use any measuring tools that I observed.

I don't know how he even comes up with the idea. It really looks amazing.

There is more pathway in the backyard, but it is not complete yet.



This weekend we sprayed all the dust off our patio picnic table and put a plastic table cloth on it with picnic table clips. Now we can eat out there before it gets too hot!

I am at peace about the back yard. I've actually been going outside when I get home from work when Fred is out there still puttering around. I can enjoy how beautiful the lawn is now and what is complete does look really nice. We will have bushes and trees one of these days.

Super cool hat.

Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary

 

This is one of our Engagement Pictures.

We didn't choose this one for the announcements

because the photographer said this particular pose was a little too intimate. 

You know, my hand on his lapel.

Interesting....considering what we see today in wedding announcements.

 

Looking at this picture I think how little I knew about Fred at this time.

 I had no idea what a good man I had found. 

But I did know I had found a man and not a boy.

I didn't know his strengths were to be steady and constant,

a consistent provider and a protector for me and our children.

We have never gone without.

We have lived within our means and that is a really good feeling.

If I would have been in charge of finances, it would have been a mess.

I had no idea how smart Fred was. I mean in everything.

Not just book smart, but in everything.

From the very beginning he knew how to fix and build everything.

Where did he learn that? How did he know how to do all of that?

Then when our babies came, he was there helping with everything.

Constant, steady and calm when I was losing it. Where did that come from?

 How did he know how to be such a good partner with our children?

 

In the midst of our life together, I know I have felt frustrated many times.

So impatient not being or having what I wanted when I wanted it.

It is always so easy to hold your partner responsible for our unmet expectations.

I am guilty of that. I know now that I was wrong.

Fred has been so good to me and for me.

I could not have found a more perfect partner to share my in life with.

 

I am so grateful that we never stop growing and learning

how to navigate in this world.

 That we can better understand ourselves and others as we experience  life's ups and downs. I am so thankful I have Fred by my side through all of this.

And that he puts up with me. I kind of wonder how he does it.

 

 

 

 

 

Kolob on Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day this year, I felt we had more than fulfilled our Valentine Quota with our Cruise. We also went to dinner to Red Lobster with two other couples on Thursday night.

Valentine's Day - check.

So I was surprised to see this on Friday after work.

Saturday we decided to take a little scenic trip.

It also happened to be National Park admission free day.

I packed some chips, store bought cookies, napkins, waters, cans of pop and we stopped at Port of Subs for sandwiches (because I hate making sandwiches). But then we had a coupon for Buy a Combo and get a sandwich free, so more chips and another soda. They also had yummy looking cookies. More cookies!



We got to the designated Picnic spot to find one picnic table occupied by someone so we ate in the car. 

We did find more picnic tables as we started out on the trail, of course.



This is what the trail looked like. 



I like taking pictures of Fred.

This picture is the rocky and steepest part of the trail. As I was slightly huffing and puffing through this part of the trail, I was actually marveling that I was only slightly huffing and puffing but going full steam ahead. A year ago that would not have been the case. I was so thankful that I had lost weight and could make my way up the trail and not be miserable on this little hike. 

Fred always comes prepared. Binoculars, maps....I can always count on him to take care of me. I think this time though I had the back pack, but carried my own junk.

This is the "baby" mountain. It reminded me way back to high school when I ate lunch with my boyfriend. He always brought an orange and there are those little sections at the top and I called them babies and he would always let me eat them. I know you really don't care about that, but I was reminiscing about all kinds of memories during the grandeur of the day.

It is amazing how the mountain formations change as you move along the pathway and roads. We took tons of pictures, but I selected the ones that I liked the best.

This was an interesting way to make a bridge. It's not a great picture, but it was basically a raised dirt path, with open sections.

The weather was perfect. I would say it was about 70 degrees and no wind. An especially warm week for February.

I'm sure our family is not much different than most others, but we try to read these informative markers. The ones at Kolob were pretty vibrant in color and not too long. I liked that. I did tell Fred that we needed to take lots of pictures. My feeling is if we have been there and seen it, then we don't need to go again. Especially because you can't go here in the winter because of the snow so it's not like it will look different in another season. It's not like in the Northwest where you have another season to see the changes. I 'd like to get a map and mark off the places we see as we go.  



 

For some reason (I think it was the coming down after a big event let down) I have been feeling blue, discouraged, depressed and "previous life" homesick. I have been doing a lot of that comparing my life to others which is a horrible thing to do. It really is the expectations I had that have not been met that I am dwelling on again. Like this outing for example. I was all excited to move to Southern Utah to become that outdoor enthusiast. Go bike riding, "hiking", and do all the things that people who live in Southern Utah do. So we go on this little "hike" and I'm like - "I think I'd rather be home watching a movie or going out to dinner or shopping". Not that I didn't enjoy our day, but it wasn't like Wow that was the best thing I have ever done and I can hardly wait to do it again. I think a lot of that was due to my melancholy state of being. Maybe I'm just not meant to be anything but who I am. Why am I always looking to be something else? What's with that? It's always that Greener somewhere or something else mentality.

 

Anyway - I just need to do some self therapy this morning. It's getting those thoughts out of my head and out in the universe and then I can let them go. Hmmm I feel better already!

Our Cruise

We left our house Monday morning about 6:45 AM and picked up Judy and Shan Hubsmith. They are in our ward. Judy is my VT partner and Shan is our HT. Judy is also a travel agent and is the one who got us hooked up for this trip. Plus we enjoy hanging out with Shan and Judy. They are a good match for us so it was a win win set up. We stopped in Vegas for breakfast.

Our port was in San Pedro California. I've never been there before and it is a beautiful area. Getting aboard was a little hectic as there was an extra cruise ship "berthed" there. Fred and Shan dropped us off and then had to go about a mile away to park and then take a shuttle back to our cruise ship. We didn't take any pictures until our drill. Lovely huh? Just sayin now, we didn't take as many pictures as we should have.

Our cabin was small, but the bed was big and very comfy. Next time we will definitely get a cabin with a balcony. No problem with getting sea sick. Being ferry passengers for 34 years we were perfectly fine for the deep seas......

 Our first morning we got off at Catalina Island. 

 Here is Shan and Judy. They were great hosts and very patient to take us places where they had already been. 

 We rented a golf cart to drive around the island. In the background is our cruise ship.

 A few pictures of the ship.

 Here we are.

 Here they are.

 Fred's idea. Shan cooperates.

 Another view at the same place.

 Another view of the bay at a different place on the island,

 Here is our ride. Shan did the driving. Guys in front, girls in the back.

 This is the Catalina Island Museum. Originally it was a casino and big dance hall.

 We took a self guided tour below and learned about Marilyn Monroe who lived on Catalina before she became Marilyn Monroe while she was married to her first husband. Learned about the Chicago Cubs. Lots of baseball history took place here which who would have known that. Very interesting Hollywood history here too. It was a big deal of a place back in the day, but by today's standards no one would be bothered. Too many other exciting places to go to nowadays. We enjoyed it though.

This is the restaurant in the background where we ate. It was a "pub". Good sandwich and fries.

 These three pictures are coming back from Ensenada. We didn't take pictures while in Ensenada. I would not choose to go back to any port like this. After walking about 1/2 block among the street shops, I wanted to leave. The shop and street people hound you and get in your face to buy their stuff. The poor little kids and mom's pretty much beg you to buy. It was so sad. I did want to at least say we had been in Mexico. Now I can say I have been. Never want to go again. I told Judy on any future cruises I only want to go to completely civilized and modern places. I can't handle poor and sad places like this again. I can't take it. I did buy all the grand kids a little something and something for our kids from Catalina and Ensenada, That was the goal. 

 Our last night we ate at one of the speciality restaurants. We ordered the sampler desserts. It was a photo moment.

 We met up with Shan and Judy after dinner. Played some Scrabble (we did poorly) until the show started. It was an Elton John tribute. 

Shame on us for not taking more pictures. I'm not sure why that was hard to do, The first night we went to see a comedian. He was good. The second night we were too late to see the Princess Singers/Dancers. Third night was a magician comedian - really good. This picture was to see an entertainer who sang Elton John music who thought he was "all that". You know the type. Flirting it up with the cute girls on the front row.  After this show, Fred and I went to the Princess Singers/Dancers that did a Disco Tribute. I LOVED IT and Fred enjoyed it too. It was the perfect last night on the cruise. Bling, music, costumes, dancing.
 

It was a long drive home - mostly for Fred. We stopped like four times. I guess we are getting old. 

We learned from this cruise the things we will do the next time.

Guess what? It's NOT ABOUT THE FOOD!