Uncommon Valor

One of the highlights of our summer vacation to Virginia was the visit to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia. Opened in 2006, the Museum features many full size models of soldiers-so life-like that one could think we were at a reenactment instead of viewing a display. The main reason I wanted to go was to honor my Dad, one of the surviving Marines who fought during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Journaling: "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue. My Dad was one of those soldiers, and we captured some of the emotion at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. In a simulation, we received a briefing before boarding a Higgins Boat to land on the beach at Iwo Jima. The Corps most important icon is in this gallery: the flag raised on Mt. Suribachi."

4th of July

I was happy when Bob thought it was a good idea to travel to Ohiopyle, Pa. on Independence Day afternoon when a friend told us about a farmer's market there. We traveled to the "National Pike" via Rt. 26 from Bruceton Mills to Markleysburg. Bob photographed scenery along this route for one of his "Country Roads" pages and stopped first to show me a beautiful lily pond full of the gorgeous pink flowers. He did not notice the goats sunning along the right of the road and turned around to capture a shot of the ornery brood. The Old National Pike is Rt. 40 and is a 50s vacation land. I remember traveling that road with my Mom & Dad from their Maryland home to Uniontown, Pa. The "Lone Star" restaurant where they went out to eat is still in business! After our jaunt to Ohiopyle we went on west to Uniontown and stopped for a nice meal before heading back to Morgantown to rest a while before going out again for the annual fireworks. This time I tried my hand at slow exposure photography to capture some shots of the fireworks over the PRT station on Beechurst Avenue. We had so much fun.

Journaling: "Red running gears, blue bodies, and white canvas made up the Conestoga wagon that traveled US Rt. 40 in the 1800s. On the Independence Day, 2009, Bob and I drove our silver Honda up Rt. 26 to historic Rt. 40, stopping to photograph goats sunning and a peaceful pond full of water lilies. We journeyed off the National Pike to Ohiopyle Falls, then looped from Uniontown to Morgantown in time for fireworks."

Driving

Chris said we were bonding when I taught him to drive, but toward the end, we were fighting. He was a good driver, but he liked to talk and look at people on the street or in other cars and that made me nervous. Once he got a job, he got his license. That was a happy way to start the summer.

Drillmaster

"Bob heard the digging, a loud, systematic chiseling in the trees of Marilla Park. He stopped the car. . .and there she was. . .the spectacular Pileated Woodpecker with the flaming red crest. Lucky to see it; priceless to photograph it."

When Bob emailed me the picture, I printed it out as he sent it. Everything was perfect. I had the perfect paper ("enchanting" by Pink Paislee) and ("what a hoot" by Kaiser). I jokingly said, "let me see if I have any embellishments to go with it". I dug into my bins until I found the perfect decorative items: a Maya Road tree, 7 Gypsies decorative chipboard elements & gaffer tape. I even used a stitching template to add the floss borders. Just goes to show you.....the photograph is the centerpiece of any page.

Mother's Day

Greg was in between apartments and stored things in our garage while staying with us for a few days. What a nice Mother's Day weekend that made for me! Chris loves it when Greg is here. Bob and Greg converse and joke. Bob and I talk about the love and pride we have in our boys. Even on Sunday, while Bob was at work, the boys took me out to lunch. Wow--I was so happy!

Scrapbooking technique: I scanned the green T-shirt I wore in the photos. The flower "patches" in the layout are scans of actual patches on the shirt. Love that shirt! The journaling tag was created from a book mark on a card Bob gave me.

Lucky

I was honored to receive the 2009 Outstanding Dietitian award from the West Virginia Dietetic Association. For my layout I used digital paper and embellishments with a "Lucky" theme.

I'm lucky to have a supportive family. I'm lucky to be a member of an association with many hard working dietitians dedicated to improving the health of the people of our state. I'm lucky to eat at the Health Sciences Center Cafeteria everyday. I'm lucky to have a staff who make the healthy recipes I create look and taste good. I'm lucky to have customers who appreciate the healthy offerings and who insist on menu labeling at point of service.

The best part of receiving this award was that Bob was just as excited as I was. He came to the annual meeting, took pictures of all, and presented me with a bouquet of flowers.

Taking Flight

I'm always glad when I can get our grown boys to stop a minute for me to get a picture. Probably the reason Greg smiled in this photo is because he was on his way to visit Michelle.

Journaling: "Bob and I made several trips to the Pittsburgh airport this year for Greg to fly to and from visits with Michelle in Minneapolis. Last week he left for Vancouver to attend a 10 day software conference. On June 1st he leaves for Mountain View, California for an internship at NASA. Pretty soon I'll have to be the one who's flying to see him."

Note on scrapbook technique: I don't like the look of plain cardstock and I frequently add some paint splatters. This time I added 2 digital overlays from Cottage Arts "Scrap Edges" and colored them, thus creating the blue dot pattern and red dot frame. The airplane stamp was part of a 99 cent set from Target.