Do You Know Where You Were 32 Years Ago Today?

I know exactly where I was. I was here, in this very house, getting married! Some days it seems like it was yesterday and then some days it seems as if it was eons ago. I find it amazing that we are still here in this same house. Looking back, I’m not sure what or where I thought we’d be after three decades. But, I’m pretty happy living life with my very best friend.

Happy Anniversary Tommy!

End of an Era

I am no longer a soccer mom.

Yesterday Tommy and I bought me a new auto. The van’s driver’s side window was being held up with duct tape, the transmission was about to go and there were two chips in the windshield that were getting ready to make a big crack. It was time for me to get something new. The only thing I was adamant about was I wanted something that sits up higher than a normal car. I guess that was due to having driven two mini-vans and being a passenger in Tommy’s truck. I didn’t necessarily want another van and we didn’t need a lot of passenger space (other than for Bubba). So I started looking at smaller trucks. I looked at the Chevrolet Colorado, the Toyota Tacoma and the Nissan Frontier. While I was at the Chevrolet dealer (I made Anne go with me to look) I also looked at the Traverse and would have looked at the Equinox but they didn’t have one. Anne and I really liked the Traverse, but it was more money than I wanted to pay. I tried to find a dealership in our area that had an Equinox but came up empty. Evidently they are pretty popular.

Tommy and I wound up going to the Nissan and the Toyota dealerships to test drive their trucks. For the same amount of money I thought that the Colorado’s were pretty cheap. We really had no qualms about buying a Toyota but after all was said and done, we really liked the Nissan Frontier the best. So without further ado, here’s my new truck:

 
  
I love it! It’s very comfortable in the front which is where I’ll be 99.8% of the time. And it’s got some fancy bells and whistles.
It was a bit sad getting rid of the van. There’s lots of memories that go along with it. Many, many rides to soccer matches and visits to Darlington. It’s also the auto that took Amanda to Wyoming the very first time. Hall and I think he learned how to drive in the van. Many good memories. :)
But, no more soccer mom–I’m now an ole gray haired lady in a pickup truck.

Smooshy Face!

In an attempt to clean up my hard drive, I am backing up my photos (of which I have a gazillion) and I’m deleting a lot. This means that I am going through them all. I found this one that just makes me chuckle. This is Moose taking a nap on the purple chair at Amanda’s and Evan’s. He was actually sitting up, leaning against the back of the chair.

Let it Snow!

I love getting snow. That’s probably because we don’t get it very often and we don’t have to get out in it. Our snow began today at about 1:30 and has snowed steadily till now (6:15). While it is still snowing some, it has slowed down somewhat. The forecast calls for maybe another inch or so.

From the front yard:
 
  
From the back yard:

The front yard at dusk:
 

Hawks and Falcons

Tommy, Marc and I went to the family farm today to see the falcon and hawk hunters. We were to meet them there at 1:00, but unfortunately they weren’t able to get there until 3:00 or so. While we were waiting for them to arrive with the birds, we walked down to the lake. This is the old cabin that Tommy and his brothers used to sleep in when they would spend time at the farm when they were young. So sad to see it falling down.

We had to leave before the birds and the hunters got there. But we heard it was quite a sight to see. Hopefully they’ll be coming back out soon.

Honorable Mention

The photography club that I belong to has a monthly competition. Each month there is a different topic and this month’s was Earth, Wind, Fire. There are no guidelines and we are supposed to use our own imagination and creativity in shooting for the competition. Since I couldn’t think of a single thing around here to shoot I decided to use a picture that I took as we drove home from Wyoming in August. This picture was taken in northwest Nebraska. We, once again, had gotten off of the interstate so we could see some of rural America.

We drove by this field of windmills which was really cool. I had to get Tommy to turn around and go back.

I got an Honorable Mention for this shot!