Relay for Life 2010 - Sangamon County

Our family participated in the Relay for Life in Sangamon County again this year.  Our final fundraising total was $8,198.05, $8,563.05 if you include the revenue raised from our Luminary sales.  We came in 3rd this year for total fundraising following a church and a business--not too shabby for a team of 14 women! :)

My Aunt Sandy forwarded some photos-I forgot my camera this year!  Hear is a photo of our team in action - setting up our site at the fairgrounds in Springfield.

It's hot, but we still have energy!

Later that night the hot air balloons go up - they're fun to watch and they light up the sky.

Nanci and I donated a craft weekend for two at Lake View Lodge to the silent auction.  Aunt Jennie and Aunt Sandy paired up to get the winning bid.  We also made some really cute note card holder for the balloon  "pop" fundraiser.

They were just adorable!  The purses held 6 note cards with envelopes and the larger folder had 4 original cards with envelopes.

I'll be posting my fundraising project for the 2011 Relay for Life shortly.  Please contact me if you are interested in donating to next year's event.

Blast From the Past

I promised that I would scan the picture of myself standing in front of Laura Ingalls Wilder's farm house at Rocky Ridge Farm in 1972 as soon as I located it.  I found two pictures from that day. 

I love the lilac colored bell bottom pantsuit--very 70's! I hope you enjoy the photos! :)

Salute To Another Pioneer . . . Martin Luther King

I cannot let this day pass without recognizing this man's effort to bring us closer to the promise of America.  This speech, Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream, always brings me to tears.   The link will open a window to YouTube.com where you can watch the full version of the speech. Thank you, Mr. King, for your bravery and sacrifice.

Happy New Year! :)

I hope your holidays were merry! :)  Mine have been like a whirl wind of visits, projects, and movies!

Since my last blog,  I've been to Lake View Lodge in Michigan three times, High Ridge and De Soto, MO, Springfield twice, Bloomington, and Bolingbrook.  We've spent time with my sister's family, my niece, Alexandria, my Aunt Jennie, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Sandy, my friend, Robin, and my nephew, Dominique.

As most of you know we have been busy painting and cleaning at Lake View Lodge.  Sunday, we made a run up for the wet linens from the New Year's weekend rental.  We had lake effect snow most of the way which made for exciting driving conditions.  We managed to sneak in a stop at the local Joann and Walmart for scrapbooking deals or course!

As usual I was completeing a few handmade gifts at the last moment.  I did not make any jams, jellies, candy's, or cakes this year.  I wanted to do it, but never got it done.  I have high hopes of crossing a few of these items off my list this month--I'll keep you posted. 

Along with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we've been watching Julie and Julia.  I bought the DVD for Mom and she bought it for me.  While visiting Alexandria we took in another viewing of New Moon in the theater.  Love those vampires and werewolves!

Here's a sneak peek of the newly arranged bedrooms at Lake View Lodge.

The Start of a New Trail

Tomorrow, I head for the Sisters Lake Region in Michigan to help my friends, Verne and Nanci, clean and paint Lake View Lodge on Dewey Lake.  They already have 10 inches of snow on the ground and are getting more today!  The lodge has two fire places, so I'm sure it will be toasty! I'm bringing cocoa, warm clothes, and I just bought new tires this afternoon, so I think all my needs are covered.  I will be neglecting my blogging responsibilities over the weekend, so this is my last post until Monday.   :(

Earlier this year, Nanci and I started a new business called Craft Haven Retreats.  We will be hosting "all-inclusive" crafting retreats for women at Lake View Lodge.  We hope to start these weekend retreats in January of 2010.  Our website and blog are both works in progress, please follow the links to receive e-mails, updates, and postings as we head east on our new adventure! We hope you will follow our blogs, website, and eventually join us for a crafting retreat! 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie Released Today!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie was released today! I'm looking forward to an evening of watching the movie again and viewing all the special features and extra footage they include with the 2 disc set.  Of course, I'm a Harry Potter fan too! My Mother and I went faithfully to the bookstore at midnight with all the other fans to stand in line and wait to purchase our copy of each book!  We couldn't possibly wait until daylight to purchase it! 

What a shame the series has ended, but we have a couple of movies still to be released.  We go to the midnight showing of the films as well--it's more fun--even if you have to go to work the next day!  All the fans are eagerly discussing the plot and what they think will make it into the movie from the book and if it will be faithful to the book!  Just in case you are debating between the 2 disc set and the standard version, the 2 disc set has footage from The Deathly Hollows on it--that alone was worth the $10 extra dollars!  I called my Mom from the store and she agreed that was the best option for us! :)  They also had the standard release sold in combination with a copy of the Maurauder's Map, but since I'm sure they are not selling the one with the magical features, I decided against it.  You can make your own judgement about that.

My Mom and I backpacked Europe in 2004 and 2006. Most of the photos in Stops Along the Road (in my sidebar) are from those trips.  We went to several Harry Potter film sites while we were there.  I'm including a couple of photos from those sites.  I hope you recognize the sorting steps from Hogwarts (Christ College in Oxford) and Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross in London.

The quality of the photos is poor, but I think you can tell my Mom was thrilled to be there anyway! :)

 In 2006, we were killing time in the airport bookstore in Amsterdam waiting for our plane to London to be announced,  I noticed a table filled with Harry Potter books.  At first I thought a new book had been released and we had somehow missed it, but it turned out to be the Harry Potter books in Dutch!  It reminded me of the first time I saw a Little House book published in another language.  The drawings were the same, but I couldn't read the words.  I remember thinking at the time that someone else had thought that these books were so good, they had to be published in other languages so children all over the world could read about Laura's childhood.  Before the internet and the global press, Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were published in many different languages--quite an accomplishment for a woman from rural Missouri!

Keeping in Touch with Old Friends

I spent several hours on the phone with my friend, Robin, yesterday.  We've known each other for 28 years now.   Robin and I used to work at the telephone company in the 80's.   I moved out of her area about 24 years ago.  We used to talk on the phone all the time!  In the early 90's Robin used to beg me to get an e-mail account, but I just couldn't understand the need for it, we could talk on the phone!  In 1996, when I finally did get an e-mail account, I just couldn't believe that I didn't didn't sign up sooner.  Robin has been patiently asking me to join Facebook which I am still resisting.  I suppose with the blog I'm half way there.  Robin's home is about halfway between my home and most of my relatives, so I see Robin two or three times a year. I usually call when I get on the road and see if she can meet me for lunch, dinner, or if I can just stop and visit. She never complains to me about my impromptu visits or lack of courtesy for arriving without warning--the mark of a true friend! 

We decided yesterday that we have been able to keep in touch through out the years because we write.    It's not the number of contacts or the length of them, it's the details.  It's the difference between LMAO and I laughed so much I cried!  I have many friends who forward jokes, cute stories, interesting facts, and cool videos and I appreciate that they want to share them with me, but I'd rather hear about the events and happenings in their own lives.  It's more interesting to me and helps me stay in touch with who they are and what is going on in their lives.   Thank you Robin for your friendship and the details! :) 

Laura Fact:  Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, won The O'Henry Prize in 1922 for her short story, Innocence.   I read it once.  I came away with the impression that it was based loosely on the time her parents spent in Florida.  There are several familliar characters (names) in the story.  Parents, it's not for young children.