Our Weekend and What We Came Home To!

This is how the trees looked when we left town on Friday afternoon. We got about nine inches of wet snow Thursday night into Friday morning. When I took Drew to work on Friday morning some of the roads were alright but then some roads were really bad. While Drew was at work I finished packing everything and I packed the car. When I picked Drew up in the afternoon the roads were really good and I was glad because that was when we left town to go up north.

Driving up north was so relaxing for me and I was really enjoying the time with Drew in the car. Drew was watching for the birds and other animals while I was driving. He kept saying there this kind of bird there is this kind of hawk. We didn't stop until we got to Appleton to have dinner and met my older daughter she had my little great-niece with her. Drew didn't know we were going to have dinner with my daughter until I told him when we were in the middle of Milwaukee on the bypass. That is because I just talked to my daughter that morning to see if she had to work. It was so nice to see her again, we haven't seen her since Christmas. Then from there we went to Drew's parents  house which is where we stayed for the weekend.

Saturday morning we got up at 7am so we could get out early to go to Door County. The weather was alright a little foggy and misty.  On the way we saw some Ravens, Crows, Bald Eagles, Morning Doves and Red Tailed Hawks. The reason for the trip to Door County is in the town of Ephrain there is a Northern Hawk Owl on the corner of Hwy 57 & Cty Hwy Q. Below is a picture of the Northern Hawk Owl.

He was really hard to find we are so thankful to a lady stopping and letting us know were he was sitting. If it was not for her we probably would have never found him. I think he is a beautiful owl. This was a seven in a half hour round trip to find him. Then when we got back to the house Drew's dad said that the deer were out by the driveway. There was six deer right by the driveway eating and we stood by the kitchen window watching them. That day I was so relaxed and just enjoying myself so much.

Sunday morning we got up at 7am again and packed the car up said goodbye to Drew's parents. I was so thankful that they let us come up and stay at there house and  for everything and we do miss them very much. That morning we met my son and grandkids in Shawano for breakfast. The grandkids are getting so big. Here are some pictures of them.

This is our seventeen month old Granddaughter. She is a very happy little girl and Grandma shared her breakfast with her that morning. She is looking more and more like her mom.

This is our four month old Grandson. Grandpa was holding him so I could get a picture of him. He is a very happy little boy. He is looking more and more like his dad.

It was funny Drew was showing my son some pictures and our Grandson was looking at the camera like Grandpa show me the pictures too and our Granddaughter was looking at the pictures smiling and pointing at the pictures. Even though it was a short visit at a restaurant I really enjoyed it. We miss them all so much. My son is on medical leave from work because last month he had knee surgery done. It was great to see him up and walking around already. The kids were great while we were in the restaurant. You can say we are very proud Grandparents.

Then on the way home I get a text message from Drew's son asking if I can do him a big favor Monday. I asked him what and he said to take his girlfriends dad to the school and pick up his IPhone that was taken away by a teacher. I told him that I would have to talk to his dad about it and would let him know later. So when we got home and put everything away I called Drew's ex-wife and talked her about it and to see if she knew about it. So her and I came to a agreement that the IPhone would stay here by our house. His son text me that night saying don't take the IPhone away my girlfriend has notes on the there. I told him he has to come over tomorrow and talk to his dad about it.

Monday morning I took the girlfriends dad to get the IPhone and come to find out that she lied to her dad. She told him it was her mom's cell phone that was taken away. So when we got to the school I asked the lady in the office if she had something stating about the electronics and she gave me a handbook and showed me what page it was on. Her dad and I looked at the phone and found out it was the IPhone and it has been sitting in the office for six days. Him and I were so mad because of the lying by the kids. When I went to see Drew for lunch I told him about this and he said wait until his son came over. So when the kids came over they did not get the IPhone back. I talked to her day and we made her write all her notes down on paper. When the kids left I told them to be honest with us because I am never going to lie to her dad for them. All I can say it is going to be a very long time before I believe anything they say to us. I am very upset with both of them and my stomach all day yesterday was very upset. After enjoying my weekend this is not what I wanted to come home too.

Let's just say four days of getting up early and doing a lot of driving. I was so worn out last night from the last four days and my body was hurting. Last night sitting watching t.v. I felt like I was still in the car driving. I asked Drew if we could go back up north and stay there because this is not what I want to come home to again. I hope everyone enjoyed there weekend.

The Big Chill 2013

Last weekend was The Big Chill in Racine Wi.. This is when the people make carvings out of the snow in downtown Racine. I didn't get down there over the weekend to watch them do make the statue's.

We had a lot going on here at the house my daughter was getting everything ready to go back to school. Drew and I did go downtown on Wednesday and we have gotten some really good pictures to share with everyone. I hope all of you will enjoy the pictures we froze taken the pictures.

That is all of the pictures that we have from The Big Chill in downtown Racine Wi. 2013. I hope everyone enjoys our pictures we a sharing.

The Truth!

Yes this is the sign in the window of Sentry Foods on Washington Ave in Racine Wi. It is a really sad time for all of the employee's right now.

What I want to let everyone know is the true reason why Sentry closed it's door. We had a store meeting back in November about the store closing and the owner was there letting us know what was happening. He is the one that told us the true reason of the store closing. That reason is the owner was losing five percent every year the store was open. This owner was in town for five years and every year he has lost money instead of making money. All the employee's had sixty days notice that the store was closing which I thought was really great. Some of the people had found new jobs before the store closed.

The reason why I am letting you know the truth is because I am so tired of hearing everyone blaming it on Wal-Mart moving across the street from there. That is not the reason because Wal-Mart has not even broke ground yet. That is all I heard for the last two months at work and I could not say the true reason to the customers they also kept saying that they would not shop at Wal-Mart anymore.

I worked until the last day on Friday and I can say that when I was saying good bye to everyone it was really sad. As I walked out the door to go and pick up Drew from work I started to cry because I am going to miss everyone I have gotten to know over the last year and a half.

I hope this helps everyone understand the true reason of the store closing. I was not allowed to say anything while the store was still open so I figured now it is closed and I will let you know.

My Revue on Led Zeppelin Celebration Day Album!

Yes I am doing my revue on Led Zeppelin's album Celebration Day. I bought this album for one of Drew's Christmas presents this year. I had to go the day it came out to pick it up and I was glad I did. Because the one I bought only had three left after I bought mine. The set I bought Drew has two cd's, the concert on dvd and rehearsal session on dvd that means a total of four cd's. If you like Led Zeppelin at all this is one that you need in your collection.  Drew takes it all over with him to listen to the cd's.

The thing for me I would rather listen to the concerts than the studio versions. Some of the studio versions are alright but you get the whole picture of how the band really is unless you listen to them in concert. We listened to this album on the way up north for Christmas and I really like this one. I really didn't like Led Zeppelin until I met Drew and he will tell you that too.

Yes the band is up there in age but I will tell you one thing they did not miss a beat. Robert Plant his voice sounds just as great as back in the day, Jimmy Page on the guitar never missed a note it was great, John Paul Jones on bass he never missed a note and he also came out from the shadow and you seen him more on the dvd, Yes John Bonham was not there but  his son Jason Bonham was on the drums for the concert and I will tell you one thing he never missed a beat on the drums and I know his dad is watching him and is so proud of him right now. Jason also did background vocals on Good Times Bad Times. We watched the dvd on New Years Eve and I felt like I was there at the concert.

The concert was December 10, 2007 at Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert London's O2 Arena. The album was released November 19, 2012.

I am going to leave you with a picture of the band on stage. Please feel free to leave any comments!

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I pray that 2013 will be a better year for everyone. If anyone is going out tonight please be safe and have a designated driver that will make it safe and fun for everyone.

For me I am staying home with the most wonderful man tonight. Yes Drew and I will be home by ourselves tonight. I have two bottles of wine from his mom and dad, a bottle of champagne and we have a bunch of snack food for us tonight. We also went and rented some movies to sit and watch tonight. That will be are night so we are not out in the cold and we don't have to worry about drunk drivers. I do have to work this morning but then I am off the next three days.

Happy New Year to everyone and have a great 2013!

The Best Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to my sons house to open gifts with my two older kids, my sons girlfriend and the grandchildren. It was great and I had so much fun watching my granddaughter rip open her presents. The best part when when my sons girlfriend opened a blanket for my grandson then my granddaughter thought it was hers. Then she opened her blanket and she put her head on the blanket. Her is my granddaughter with the blanket I made for her.

She was so happy to get her own blanket. She is getting so big now and I just can't wait for her to be able to say Grandma and Grandpa.

After the presents were done being open Drew brought out a ring and let the kids know we are engaged. Yes Drew and I are engaged as of Christmas Eve. I knew about it because I was able to pick out my engagement ring.  We are not pushing it to get married right away because I would like to wait for our Grandchildren to be old enough to understand this and be able to walk down the aisle to be flower girl and ring bearer.

When we left my sons house we went to my younger sisters house because my younger daughter was staying there the night. My mom was there and you should have seen the look on my moms face she was so happy. My younger sister was so jealous about it all. Then from there we went to Drew's parents house to spend Christmas Eve with his family. His mom was the first one to know about us being engaged and she was so happy for us. Then the rest of the family was told and it was so nice to know that they are happy for us. Then Christmas Day morning we went back to my sisters house to open presents with my younger sister and my mom then we went to my older sisters house for Christmas Day with the rest of my family. That is when her family was told about Drew and I being engaged and they are happy for us.

This is a picture of my engagement ring. I have the best man I love more than anything else in the world and he is the sweetest man I have ever met. This Christmas was the happiest one for me because I was able to go and be with both families that I love very much and I was with the one and only man I love so much.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and please if you have any travel plans be careful. I am writing this early because tomorrow morning Drew, the kids and I are going to be traveling up north to our families.

I just can't wait to see all the family on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. I think some of my sadness is because I really miss the family. I know some of it is because my dad is not with us for Christmas anymore but I know he is looking down and watching all of us. 

Tomorrow we get to see my older daughter, my son and his girlfriend and the grandkids after we open gifts with the kids we go to Drew's family have dinner and spend the night at their house. Then Christmas Day morning we go and exchange gifts with my mom and younger sister then we go to my older sister's house. After that we come home. Drew has to go to work on Wednesday. Yes the next two days is a lot of traveling for us. But the best part of it is to see the family and I am with the one and only man that means everything to me yes that is Drew that I love with all my heart. 

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I will have pictures on when we get home.

Christmas Lights Pt 2 Candy Cane Lane

This is the first sign you will see when you go to Candy Cane Lane in West Allis Wi.. It was Drew, his son, his son's girlfriend and myself that had gone to see the lights. This was on a Friday night that we had gone and it was a last minute decision to go. It has been about three weeks ago that we had gone. Yes I know why did I wait so long to write about it. I have been really busy with work, Christmas shopping and baking cookies.

I just want to say if you want to go and see some really awesome Christmas lights this is the place to go. They are also doing a donation for the M.A.C.C. Fund this is Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer. It is your choice to give a donation or not we gave a donation. I seen a lot of people just drive past the people standing out there by the stand not donating.

So on to the Christmas lights that we had taken on this night. We had an awesome time taking the pictures to share. I hope you all enjoy some of the pictures I put on here.

I do have a lot more pictures from Candy Cane Lane. It is just way to many to put on here to post. I just might have to do a Candy Cane Lane Part two for more Christmas lights. Other than that I will have them all on my Facebook account.

I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures and you are all welcome to leave any comment!

Christmas Lights Part 1

Yes it is the time of the year to go out and see all the Christmas lights. This was my Dad's favorite time of the year. I remember when I was younger my Dad and Mom would take us girls out to drive around to look at the Christmas lights. So now Drew and I are driving around and taking pictures of the different Christmas lights. The picture above was taken on the road by the Lighthouse in Racine Wi..

This was taken on Aberdeem Drive Racine Wi.. The really nice thing about this is you turn your radio to a Christmas station in your car and the lights go along with the music. The next two pictures will be by this house also.

This was taken by Case Harmon Park Racine Wi.. I just could not resist taking this picture.  

 

This was taken on Independence Drive Racine Wi.. Drew seen this in between some houses and pointed it out to me.

This was taken on Independence Drive Racine Wi. also. I seen this on the side of the house and I just had to have a picture of this.

This was taken on Main St. Racine Wi.. I was looking for the Nativity set up but was not there. If I have a picture of it from last year I will post it on my next post.

I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas light pictures I am posting. To see more I will have all of them on my facebook. I am just enjoying going out taking these pictures for everyone to enjoy just as much as I am enjoying going out looking at the lights. I am hoping to get out to Candy Cane Lane to get some pictures from there.

Feel free to leave any comments!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope everyone has a great day with family and friends.

I am very thankful for all the people in my life. I have a great boyfriend Drew and he makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world having him in my life. I love him with all my heart he makes me so happy. Then our kids are doing real good and I am happy for them and I love all four of them. Then we have two grandchildren that I love. My mom I love her and with everything she has gone through this year she is doing real good. Drew's parent are doing real good and I love them just like they are my own parents.

I am just thankful that all the people in my life are healthy, happy and doing very good. I love all of you very much!

Sentry Food Store Closing In Racine, Wi!

On Wednesday morning I had gotten a phone call from my supervisor at work. She told me that there was a mandatory store meeting at 7pm and I had to be there. I told her I would be there not to worry and I asked her if she knew what the meeting was about. She told me no she did not know anything. A mandatory store meeting means all the employees have to be there. In the year I have been there we never had a mandatory store meeting at all.

When Drew called me on his lunch break from his work I told him about the phone call. We both tried to figure out what this was all about. But we both had a feeling this was not good at all. I thought it might have been about the Holidays coming up, the store closing, new store policies and being sold. This was on my mind all day Wednesday.

When I went to work for the meeting everyone was standing around waiting to clock in for the meeting. Then the meeting started and the owner and all the managers came in to the room. That is when we got the news that the store is going to be closing January 11, 2013. We received a letter at the meeting telling use about the closing and one of the managers read it to use. The owner felt really bad about having to close the store. The store has been in Racine, Wi for five years and has not really made any kind of a profit. Then we have Wal-Mart coming across the street from us and that is really going to hurt the store even more. After the meeting a lot of the employees were so upset, yes I do understand why but there is nothing we can do about the decision the owner has made.

I started there August 1, 2011 and I can say from my own experience working there that it is a really nice store to work for. Yes like any job you have your ups and downs. But when I have asked for time off I was always able to get it. A lot of the other employees I get along with really good. I am going to miss working there and seeing the friends I have made while working there.

Yesterday it was in the paper about the store closing. While at work yesterday I was also let known that the store will only be open from 8am to 8pm. Yes that means less hours for me now.  That is when I finally realized the store is really going to close and I will be out of a job for sure. So now I am going to have to start to look for a new job and that is not going to be easy around here. It took me almost a year before I found this one when I moved her with Drew and now I have to go through it again. Next week I am going to start looking on the computer for a job and if I get one before the store closes then I get one and I pray I can find a good job with insurance.

Today when I went into to work the customers complained about the store closing and asked me why the store was closing. So I told them the reason was because of Wal-Mart coming across the street and the owner sad that we could not compete with that. So many customers said this was the main store that they would shop at and would never shop at Wal-Mart. 

Halloween Pictures 2012

Yes it is that time of the year. The reason I like this time of the year is to see what kind of costumes the little kids are going to wear also to see how crazy people decorate their houses. We just happened to stop and get some pictures this year. We didn't plan on going out and getting Halloween pictures when we seen these houses. The one above was on the north side of Racine.

 This picture is also on the north side of Racine at the same house.

This picture is on Main St in Racine.  I had to stop and take this picture from across the street.

This picture was taken on the north side of Racine across the street from the first picture.

This picture was taken the weekend my grandson was born up in the Menominee Reservation. Yes I stop on the side of the road to get this picture. The next two are going to be from the same house.

I hope everyone enjoys the Halloween pictures that we have taken this year. Please feel free to leave any comments. Happy Halloween to everyone!

The Final Fall Pictures!

Yes my final fall pictures are here. I just can not believe the end of the beautiful colors has come to an end. While we were up north Drew's parents had let me know about a different pine tree. In this picture above is a Tamarack Tree on Hwy DD in Pickeral Wi.. The needles are very short and very soft. This tree is green in the spring and summer and turns yellow in the fall. I am so thankful for mom and dad for letting me know about the Tamarack Tree they seen another picture of this tree on another post to let me know.

This picture is on Hwy W in the town of Doty by were my mom use to live. Yes it was raining up north all weekend. I just could not believe the fall colors were still up there but some trees are bare up there too.

This picture was taken on Hwy 55 in the Menominee Reservation. Yes I stopped in on the road to take this picture because it looks like a tunnel of fall colors you are going under. It was so pretty when we went back and forth to town I knew this was one picture I had to get.

Drew told me to add this picture because it does show the fall color of the tree in the back and no leaves on the tree with the Bald Eagle. This picture was taken on Hwy 55 by Lily Wi.. To get this picture I made a u-turn in the middle of the road. Drew asked me what I was doing and I told him I think I seen an Eagle in the tree. Sure enough that is what I seen and we had gotten some beautiful pictures of him. He started to get skiddish so I went and turned around to get back to the house. The next day when we went to the hospital to say goodbye to my son and his girlfriend my son told me an Eagle swooped down and went past him. I believe to this day that was my dad telling my son congratulations for his son. My son believes the same thing.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the fall colors as much as I have taking the pictures to share with you. Please feel free to leave your comments!