Happy Halloween!

I never tire of this photo!  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Even though this photo was taken 5 or 6 years ago, I am sure my cat hasn’t forgiven me yet.  I giggle hysterically every time I look at this!

When Did This Happen?

 

What?  You mean my girls are supposed to grow up?  I didn’t get that memo!

This photo was taken just 2 years ago.  Aubrey was 2.5 years old and Lolo was 18 months.  Heck, Lolo’s hair was still too short to pull into a barrette or pig tails.

The only similarity between then and now is that JG is deployed…again!  Other than that I now have 2 little ladies now who are very excited about Halloween, they have been practicing “trick or treating” for the past year and had opinions about their costumes this time around. 

I love watching my babies grow into beautiful little girls but I swear it was just yesterday I was holding newborns.  Next year I will be sending Aubrey off to kindergarten.  I can vaguely remember what life was like before they were born but I don’t think I was as happy or fulfilled as I am now that I am their mommy. 

Zadar, Croatia

I was looking back at my blog posts and I cannot believe I didn’t finish blogging our trip to Croatia in June.  It was by far the best trip we have taken in the 3 years we have lived in Europe!  I loved everything! 
The third place we visited was Zadar, located on the northern end of the Dalmatian Coast.  We spent 3 nights here and stayed at the Villa Valentina.  The hostess, Anna, was so nice and helpful and the rooms were comfortable.  I would highly recommend anyone planning a trip to Zadar to look here first!
The city is very easy to walk around and the old town is on a peninsula with a wall around part of it.  I really enjoyed the relaxed feel of the city.  We wandered around and admired the simple beauty.

Kiwi growing at our hotel!  There were fruit trees all over.

Zadar has an amazing Sea Organ!  These rectangular holes are along the steps so you can sit and listen to the “sea play music”.  That was Aubrey’s favorite part of the city.

We climbed many stairs to the top of this tower and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city, Adriatic Sea and surrounding islands.

Enjoying the last bit of daylight while listening to the Sea Organ on the steps.   The waves were so beautiful as they rolled in.

This is Salutations to the Sun, designed by the same gentleman who created the Sea Organ.  During the day it is a giant solar panel and at night it lights up and changes colors according to the waves!  It was pretty amazing!

I know I mentioned before how excited I was for this trip and I was not disappointed!  I loved, loved, loved this country!  The food was delicious, the scenery was gorgeous and the people were so friendly.  I still have two more locations in Croatia to share. 

Thanks for stopping by and joining me in this virtual tour of Croatian vacation!

And the Winner is…..

Before I announce the random winner I want to thank everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment here.  A big thanks to Amanda for organizing the blog hop.  These are so much fun to participate in and I love seeing what all my CK Peeps have done with the challenge!

I went to Random.org and the lucky winner is commenter number 19!

That would be Tulip Scrapper!  Congrats Laurie!  I will contact you to get your snail mail address.

 

Thanks again to everyone!  I hope you have a fantastic Sunday.

“Leafing” Memories Behind Blog Hop

Good morning!  Thanks for swinging by my home in cyber space as you hop along to some of my peeps’ blogs for the Leafing Memories Behind Blog Hop.  You should have arrived here from Amanda’s blog Love Joy Paper.  The theme for this hop was leaves and I knew the photos I wanted to use right away. 

We took a trip up to Dresden, Germany last fall and we found this small but beautiful courtyard in front of an old church.  The trees were a fantastic yellow and there were huge leaves all over the ground.  The girls played with the leaves while JG went up into the church.  They had so much fun!
I just purchased some Bazzill Two Scoops Cardstock in various colors to include the “Moose Tracks” (rich brown color) recently and was excited to try it out.  I lightly sanded it to expose the vanilla color beneath the brown. I didn’t add a big title because I liked the title on the journaling card so I left it at that.

Here is a list of supplies that I used for this LO:
Bazzill Basics Cardstock in Apricot
Bazzill Basics Two Scoops Cardstock in Moose Tracks
Bella Blvd Finally Fall “At the Patch” and “Cute Cuts”
Cosmo Cricket 2” Glüber for the base of my ribbon flower
American Crafts ribbon – Brown
Maya Road ribbon – Pink
Stampin’ Up! Early Espresso Ink

Here is a photo of the church so you can see why we loved this little spot.  I loved the contrast between the colors of the leaves, the blue sky with wispy clouds and the gorgeous church steeple.  I love the fall and the opportunities for getting some stunning photos! 


Thanks for hopping over today!  If you want to win some yummy German cookies and chocolate become a follower and leave me a comment telling me your favorite fall drink and I will pick a winner Sunday at 12 PST.  I love apple cider but it is hard to come by here.  I cannot wait to be back in the USA next fall so I can get some fresh cider because I really miss it!

Next stop is Ashley’s blog, Ashley’s Paper Doll.  She is über talented and I bet she has an amazing project to share with you.  If you want to join in on the fun you can create your own leafy project and link it to Amanda’s blog to win a prize of your own.

Enjoy hopping along and I hope you have a great weekend!

It has been so long

I cannot believe I haven’t blog in a month!  I have been busy with so many things this past month that I have let the blogging slide even though I have missed it. 

 

In the past 4 weeks I have learned to make sandwich bread from scratch and have made it twice now.  Fresh bread is pretty amazing and as long as I have the time to make my own I will from now on.  The girls like it and it makes yummy sandwiches.  I have also made 2 batches of homemade applesauce.  When we move back to the States I want to learn how to can it so I can get the most bang for my buck.  I don’t have room in my freezer to freeze it so we eat applesauce at nearly every meal until it is finished.

 

Thanks to youtube.com I have learned how to crochet a shell stitch and managed to make a scarf.  I also made a blanket using a different stitch and well on my way to a second blanket.  Next up I want to make a blanket using the granny ripple pattern and some cute crochet hats.

 

I uploaded many, many prints to Shutterfly and ordered a free photo book, over 400 prints and 10 free photo cards.  Our internet is super duper slow so it really does take a long time to get everything uploaded.  I always intend on uploading after each trip but the task is so daunting that I never do. 

 

I have been spending too much time on Pinterest!  I am really addicted to that site and I love all the creative ideas that are shared.  Now when I am looking for a new craft idea or recipe I head there first to see what I have pinned to my boards. 

Of course I have been a busy “single” mom while JG is deployed.  These girls keep me extra busy!  For the most part they have adjusted to their daddy being away but Aubrey is ready for him to come home now.  She asks every day how much longer until he comes back and when I tell her she says that is such a long time.  Lolo misses him as well but she is really in her own little world most of the time that she doesn’t talk so much about it.  If JG calls on Skype and she doesn’t get to at least say “hi” that brings on a bunch of tears.  But overall we have gotten along just fine.  Just over 2 months in and the time has gone by fairly fast.  I am looking forward to the holidays since they tend to be a bit busier. 

 

I hope to get back into a better blogging routine soon.  I hope life has been treating you all well!