Vacation Vice

Son Chris worked over Spring Break this year and decided to wait until summer to vacation.  He joined with other friends, who also work with him at Belk department store, and rented a town home at Nag's Head, North Carolina.

They had a great time in a modern condominium, complete with a balcony hot tub and the beach nearby.  Before they left, the 3 girls and 2 boys had this old time photo made.  The guys hold tommy guns and beers and the girls are gulping bottles of Jack Daniels.  Gotta love it!

Bob aptly titled it "Vacation Vice".

Lean on, Learn from, Look up to

For my Dad. on Father's Day.  The sentiment is from the card I got him.
"You've been someone I could lean on, learn from, look up to. . . "

Dad will be 92 years old in July and I hope he knows how much those words hold true.  In this daughter's eyes, he can't do anything wrong.  I'm sure he's made some odd decisions, but his love for my Mom and his kids is unfailing. 

Picnic in the Park

Memorial Day weekend at the beginning of summer deserves a special picnic in the park.  We packed a cold meal and traveled to a nearby West Virginia Park at Tygart's Lake.  Here's my menu:

Salmon with Pineapple Mandarin Salsa
Sesame Quinoa Salad
Strawberry Cream Pie Parfaits
Grapes

The Salmon is one of the signature salads we serve in our Healthy Cafe.

Paper plates are not in my cupboards, so I packed the red, white & blue table settings to accent our fun meal.

My Australian scrapbook friend, Cheryl, sent me an envelope of beautiful papers, embellishments and a $2 Australian coin!  When I opened the surprise package, Bob pointed out that the die cut paper looked like a placemat.  I love pretty dishes and table settings to complement my home cooked meals.  A food page was eminent.  

I have been spending much of my creative time on preparing healthy meals and posting these and recipes on my new blog, cindyshealthymeals.blogspot.com.

Here's the link to our Red, White and Blue Picnic:
http://cindyshealthymeals.blogspot.com/2014/05/picnic-in-park.html  

Be sure and check out Sunday's "West Virginia Picnic" and my watermelon cut outs of our beloved state!

Thank you Chez! 

Second Chance

For fourteen years, Bob went to the Mon County Canine Adoption Center to take the "Pet of the Week" photo for the paper.  Hundreds of dogs and cats got a second chance for a home through these photos.

 

The month stamps represent every week, every month Bob went there, regardless of his work load, regardless of the weather.

The wood veneer cameras, along with the negative frames and paper, always fit the photographer theme.  The fence and wire represent the cages the animals live in prior to adoption.

The wire was a little hard to adhere to the page, so I used a combination of modeling paste, brads and glue.  

Bob resigned his job at the newspaper a few weeks ago.  He is a tremendously talented photo journalist and often times taken advantage of by editors and young sports writers who expected him to write the stories, take videos and edit videos.  He'd work late evening, both weekend days, split shifts. . . and missed his time with me.  I guess you could say he's given himself a "second chance" to be happy.  He's currently driving a traffic escort vehicle, leaving work when I do and returning home when I do.  We're happy and doing ok!

 

Sinder Will

My Mom ready a story in the paper a few weeks ago about the St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936.  That brought to mind memories of her younger brother John, climbing the flood wall by George's Creek by her home.  Mom asked me to make this page for her:

"A birdie with a yellow bill hopped upon my sinder will,
cocked his shiny head and said, Ain't you ashamed, you sleepy head."

Mom recalls sweet brother John reciting the words of the verse a little funny.  He was 4 years younger and busy enjoying life despite the hardships of the Great Depression.

John would climb the flood wall on Georgia's Creek.  He fell on the wall once and spluit his head.

Mom's Dad had raw oysters in the grocery store.  John would climb on a stool, hold his nose, and attempt to eat one.

One time when Grandma Marie's brother Christie was helping her paint, John painted the black dog white.

I'll give this to Mom tomorrow when we make a Mother's Day visit!

On the first Farmer's Market of the season, Registered Dietitians Allie and Cindy conduct the first culinary demo preparing Fresh Fruit Smoothies for a crowd of all ages.

May 2014

Main Street Morgantown printed recipe cards using 10 of my photos and recipes.  WVU Healthcare, along with Main Street and Morgantown Farmer's Market, sponsored the building of the Pavilion and Culinary Kitchen.

 

I now have a new blog, cindyshealthymeals.  As a registered dietitian and healthy food expert, I plan meals for 1-2000.  I manage a Healthy Cafe.  This blog features meals I make at home.  We all love to create, and this is my way of sharing another of my passions.

Enjoy your day, doing what you love to do!

Mountain Meadow

30 years ago we built our little house at 63 Mountain Meadow Drive 1 mile outside of Morgantown. We'd been married 8 years and lived in 3 different cities and 7 apartments. All our experiences and "homes" were good ones, all part of building Bob and Cindy and the bigger family to come.

The collage of 18 photos are the different stages of building, from picking out our lot by the woods, through digging the foundation, cement block, floor, walls, decks and brick. . . 

siding, paint, cabinets and the first blade of grass. The last picture was of Bob's 30th birthday, just before we moved in. 

The "list" Bob is holding has final "to dos" our contractors wrote on a block of wood in 1984. I still have the block of wood and the scan of it is under the first hinged piece of my layout. Some of the to dos are crossed off. Some our still visible, "Clean upstairs and down", "Landscape", "Scrape windows" are a few I can read.  

My list is complete yet ongoing. Dreams we've captured in our little home of 30 years:
Decorate in our personal style.
Make it comfortable.
Dine in.
Plant flowers.
Feed the birds.
Walk our country road and hill.
Raise a family.
Come home at the end of our shifts.
Make home sanctuary.

Think we've done ok.

1984-2014.