Day 23 of 30 Day Blog Challenge

Favorite Vacation

Growing up I took a lot of family vacations. We were always driving cross country to go see whatever we could. We went everywhere it seems like. I always remember all the different places and sights that we saw. My favorite place that we went either South Dakota or North Carolina.

I remember going to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. 

I remember going to Devils Tower in Wyoming.

I remember going to Mount Rushmore.

I remember going to see Crazy Horse monument even before the face was started.

I even remember going to pet the prairie dogs, standing up, and kicking one because it scratched me. 

We went panning for gold, and we even got to go down in the mine and see where they used to pull rock from underground. My mom and dad got to go WAY down in the mine. It was over a mile down underground and it was really humid I remember them saying.

When we went to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina I remember all the great memories of the Highland Games. I loved that place. It was so different from anything we have here. There were men wearing kilts, Scottish dancing, bagpipes, AWESOME food, and lots of highland games. There was sheep herding by the sheep dogs, there was log throwing, there was marbles, there was dance competitions, the was even wrestling! I remember the music being what I loved best about it thought. There is something about the sound of 10-15 bagpipes all playing at once that just gives you goosebumps. Not to mention we met two of our favorite Celtic musicians while we went there. Alex Beaton and Clann an Drumma.

Clann an Dumma is amazing to see in person. The music just pulses through your body as the beat on the drums. You can't help but want to get up and dance with them. It's like one big party.

Fast forward 15 years.

Derek and I haven't been able to really take any family vacations together. We have either not had enough vacation time to take one or we haven't had the money to take one. The first "vacation" we ever took was really our honeymoon to Knoxville, TN to see Uncle Jimmy and Shana. Which happened to turn out being a disaster. I had the flu all weekend and only got to get out of bed once. We didn't get to go to the Kentucky vs Tennessee basketball game because I was so sick and we really didn't get to do anything outside of the me laying in bed. The day we drove back to Jackson was the only day I could get out of bed without feeling like I was going to throw up all over my shoes. 

The first place all three of us ever went was Chicago to go see Derek's mom and step dad. That was probably our first real family (including Stratton) vacation. We got to go to the Milwaukee zoo and we got to go shopping. It was fun but way too short. 

My goal for next summer is that all three of us do a family vacation somewhere nice and somewhere we can all three enjoy it.  Maybe somewhere like South Dakota. ;)  

Dat 22 of 30 Day Blog Challenge

My Favorite City

Two of my favorites cities to live in will always be Jackson and Cape.

My favorite city to visit (or live really) would have to be

 Champéry, Switzerland 

The pictures should explain why. 

I took these pictures while I was in Europe in 2004.

 This was looking down off of the gondola that took us to the top of one of the mountain peeks.

 Another beautiful view.

 When you walked down the main road you could hear the sheep in the mountains with their Swiss bells on.

This was in June and there was still snow on the ground.

 The landscape was BEAUTIFUL

Standing in the snow in June.

The ride back down from the top.

 

You're literally like 20 feet away from the other gondola when you go up and down. 

It's kind of freaky.

This was a waterfall that ran down the side of the mountain. It was beautiful.

 These are looking out the back of our hotel room in the Suisse Hotel

Please click the above picture to get the full experience. This is three pictures I took and photoshopped together to make one big panoramic. 

I love Champery and I love Switzerland but Cape and Jackson will always be home.

Day 21 of 30 Day Blog Challenge

A picture of Myself

I never put any pictures of myself up here except for when I go geocaching with Stratton so here are a few from the last few years of me. 

 

Just breathe...

1. I'm seriously having one of THOSE days. I woke up to Stratton soaking wet because he peed through his diaper, a massive headache, and all of this happened before my alarm went off.

2. I couldn't sleep last night because I added up all the medical bills I got in the mail plus all of our regular monthly bills and it's more than we make in one month not to mention they are all due this month.

3. I'm still trying to get over this stupid stomach virus that has been going around and I feel like I can't eat anything without feeling like I'm going to turn around and throw it back up.

4. I got to class today and my professor handed me back our last paper and said it was late (which it wasn't) and docked my grade 10% giving me a 73%

5. I have been e-mailing my online professor about not being about to take the quizzes online and after a WEEK of getting no responses he finally e-mail me back to tell me they are available now. I go online take the two quizzes that I missed and don't pass either one of them.
6. My house is a mess because I have felt like crap for the last 4 days and can't muster up the energy to get it clean. Not to mention the fact that I STILL have 3 loads of laundry folded and waiting on my floor that need to be put away.

7. My heart is STILL bothering me because I'm stressing out all the time and if I get back on the stupid medication I feel like I'm going to die.

8. I just feel like I'm being tugged in all directions all at once.

 9. I seriously feel like putting my hands up in the air and giving up on my dream of having a college degree.

Going along with the new book I'm reading I'm going to try to look past all these problems and make light of these situations.

1. At least I got to see my son this morning and got to wake up to another beautiful day. My headache will eventually go away along with Stratton's weird sleep schedule.

2. We are going to try to pay these bills one bill at a time and do budget billing to we don't get too far behind. I'm going to try not to freak out about it because it has to be done. I don't have any other choice. Instead of stressing over it I just need to get them paid and keep moving forward.

3. This too will pass.

4. I talked to the professor after class and explained to her that I didn't turn the paper in late and she gave my 10% back to me.

5. If I fail my online class I will be put on financial probation. If I drop the class I will be put on financial probation. So I'm going to keep trying and keep working hard to try to pass this class and if I don't, the worst that can happen is that I will be put on financial probation. I put a post on facebook looking for anyone who is willing to help me out with this class so hopefully someone can help me out.

6. I just need to take it one room at a time. I need to ask for help from Derek and I need to stay on top of the messes that have been made. Take it one day at a time.

7. If I would just quit stressing out the problem it would fix itself.

8. I need to give these things that are bothering me to God and quit stressing about them.

9. I have worked way too hard to give up half way through these classes. I need to just stick with it and do it one step at a time. I can do this.

 There...I did it. I feel better already. 

Day 20 of 30 Day Blog Challenge

So I didn't really get to blog yesterday because I was REALLY sick.

I had that stupid stomach virus that has been going around. I had it right when I woke up until this afternoon.

Today was definitely better than yesterday. I woke up with a headache but my stomach felt a lot better today.

Day 20: Nick Names

Some of my nick names include but are not limited to:

Emi Ann

Emi

Em

Emmi Lou

Sweety

Babe

Mommy

Sis

Bean (high school)

Emmer Lou

Day 19 of 30 Day Blog Challenge

Something I Miss

Something that I really truly miss is my Grandpa B.

He was my best friend growing up and he taught me SO much about so many different things.

He taught me that there is no such thing as a stranger. 

He taught me how to hammer a nail.

He taught me how to get paint out of your nice clothes so mom and dad don't yell at you.

He taught me how to unconditionally love everyone.

He taught me how to be a good person and not judge.

He taught me how to walk on stilts. 

He taught me how to be nice to everyone.

He taught me how to draw Pop Eye.

He taught me how to catch fish with a dipping net.

He taught me how to skip rocks at Sam A. Baker state park. 

He taught me how to burn ants with a magnifying glass.

He taught me how to sneak bits of cookie dough from the blender.

He taught me how to give insulin shots.

He also taught me the one biggest lesson of all...

You never know how much you appreciate and love someone until they're gone.

Geocaching Some More :)

Stratton and I once again set out on a mission to go find some geocache today. I had 10 planned for today but we had a detour. We set out around 11:00 this morning. It was a  pretty long drive (20 min there). On the drive there, there was an accident that made all the electricity along the northern side of 61. There was gas leaking as well. I look my time heading back because I didn't want to go back through there while the gas was still leaking. We found the cache pretty easy. Here are some pictures from the trip.

11/6/2010 525 New Bethel GC19P9G

 COWS! 

I thought this house was really neat looking on the way home so I had to take a picture.

Day 18 of 30 Day Blog

Regrets

I have been learning how to live without regrets. I've been reading this book called Loving What Is by a lady named Byron Santo. She teaches you to just accept what has happened in your past because there is no changing it. 

So no, I don't have any regrets. I live with what has happened and I don't look back. 

Here is a little excerpt from her book.

Staying in Your Own Business
I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours, and God‟s. (For me, the word God means “reality.” Reality is God, because it rules. Anything that‟s out of my control, your control, and everyone else‟s control, I call that God‟s business.)
Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our own business. When I think, “You need to get a job, I want you to be happy, you should be on time, you need to take better care of yourself,” I am in your business. When I‟m worried about earthquakes, floods, war, or when I will die, I am in God‟s business. If I am mentally in your business or in God‟s business, the effect is separation. I noticed this early in 1986. When I mentally went into my mother‟s business, for example, with a thought like “My mother should understand me,” I immediately experienced a feeling of loneliness. And I realized that every time in my life that I had felt hurt or lonely, I had been in someone else‟s business.
If you are living your life and I am mentally living your life, who is here living mine? We‟re both over there. Being mentally in your business keeps me from being present in my own. I am separate from myself, wondering why my life doesn‟t work.
To think that I know what‟s best for anyone else is to be out of my business. Even in the name of love, it is pure arrogance, and the result is tension, anxiety, and fear. Do I know what‟s right for me? That is my only business. Let me work with that before I try to solve your problems for you.
If you understand the three kinds of business enough to stay in your own business, it could free your life in a way that you can‟t even imagine. The next time you‟re feeling stress or discomfort, ask yourself whose business you‟re in mentally, and you may burst out laughing! That question can bring you back to yourself. And you may come to see that you‟ve never really been present, that you‟ve been mentally living in other people‟s business all your life. Just to notice that you‟re in someone else‟s business can bring you back to your own wonderful self. And if you practice it for a while, you may come to see that you don‟t have any business either and that your life runs perfectly well on its own.

Geocaching with Stratton

11/4/2010 Old Mckendree Cemetary Travel bug hotel GC11KDA

We dropped off the travel bug we picked up. It's name was Vader's Lost Stormtrooper

When I picked the bug up out of the Capaha view from the cache 

The paper was a little ratty so I made it a new one.

Here is what the old paper and the new paper look like along with the Stormtrooper bug.

Our second Stop was right across the street from the Cemetary

11/4/2010 Old Mckendree Chapel GC10NCF

This building was so neat. They have made a structure to go over it so it would last longer.