Geocaching and Weight Loss

After eating and getting the kitchen back together we brought out the gps to show everybody what geocaching was all about. We had already loaded it with some caches and were happily surprised to see that there was one just down the street. It was a blustery cold day, but we are a hearty group and off we went.

Everybody searched like troopers with frozen fingers and in the end Brad came up the winner! Another cache conquered.

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Since this is more or less an exercise post it seems to be a good time to post about weight loss. Friday morning I went to a Weight Watchers meeting near MIL's house to weigh in. I shared with Keith on the drive over to the meeting that I wasn't excited about doing this, but really it is what it is and at least when I know what it is I can buckle down. Lo and behold I lost 1.4 pounds last week - Thanksgiving week even! Very surprised, but very happy of course.

Monday Musings

Sometimes there really just are not the words you need. Keith's Aunt Vonna has passed away. There are some people in life that are able to make you feel loved and welcome to their family and she definitely was one of those. She will be missed.

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I love this picture. We went out geocaching yesterday and had, as always, a really good time. This one happened to be out at the lake and it was a little exciting. We had to walk into what I consider a forest, though I say that with the disclaimer that I'm quite a city girl and most would probably call it a couple of trees. Anyway, we walked along making crunchy sounds walking on the dried, fallen leaves when something scurried in front of me. Always ready with my walking stick to do a little kung fu I went looking. It was a lizard and he was pretty good sized. OK, no longer scarey and we resumed our walking. Again, something scurried, but this time Joe saw it and really, really wanted to take out after it. Turns out it was a bunny with a cute little cottontail. He finally did some leaps and bounds and left and oh did that dog ever want to run after it. At this point Joe got returned to the truck, where he did a grand version of doggy pouting. When Keith and I were finished and walking to the truck I thought Joe looked cute and snapped a picture with my phone. What I didn't realize is that Keith and I were reflected in the side of the truck. Even better, because of the shape of the truck (I'm assuming) we came out looking like Munchkins! Really tickled me.

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I did get a chance to be creative a bit yesterday and worked on some cards. This was my desk when I got up to go to bed. I had to leave some things out so the Stickles could dry and I kind of liked the creative mess it all created.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

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The knitted pixie hat for Brooklyn? So sad. I got my needles mixed up during the kitchener stitch and when I did the first point I ended up having the little curly-q right in the middle of the hat! I tried to un-kitchener and ended up losing stitches left and right, so finally just frogged the whole thing. I have it re-knit up to the point of the kitchener again, so hopefully it will work out better this time around.

Talimena Drive

What an amazing day we had! Keith, Joe and I headed up to Talimena Drive (a 54 mile stretch between Oklahoma and Arkansas) for a day of sightseeing and geocaching. There were times that a person could almost forget exactly where they were when standing in the awe and splendor of the Ouachita Mountains. God must surely have smiled when making this area.

Sometimes there are words that become overused and for the most part "breathtaking" is one of them. I'm going to claim that word for this area of the country though.

Driving along we just loved looking around. The trees were so much different than what we have around here and that made it enjoyable to look around. And there was still enough color in all the leaves that it was so beautiful to look at.

Joe had a grand time as well. We didn't see a lot of people the entire day, but at one geocache site there was a secluded field. We let him off leash and the three of us ran around and laughed and just enjoyed each other.

The last picture will be one of those memories that will be retold time and time again. On the way to our very first geocache of the day the GPS told us to turn right at CR-54938 (or whatever the county road number was). We did and this picture shows the road we followed. Now, the funniest part is that we followed this dirt and rock road for seven miles.....seven miles along sometimes the edge of a mountain. I wish I would've taken more pictures to show the vertical road and even more impressive the vertical drop had Keith not been such a good driver. But instead of picture taking I was busy being

the passenger driver and I was holding my invisible brake pedal down for all I was worth! I know that we had a bevy of angels helping me to hold that brake pedal down, you know, just in case Keith wasn't able to brake on his own.

We were on the road long enough that we started to get a little bit of a nervous chuckle between us. Keith turned to me and asked if I had told anybody where we were going, just in case. No honey, not a soul knows where we are, but I'm trusting in those angels to keep us on this road and DON'T STOP PLEASE cause it's a little creepy up here!

When all was said and done and we made it back amongst the civilized world we checked to see where we might've messed up. And we discovered that had we stayed on the highway we had been on we would've just followed the winding road about 20 miles around and ended at the same spot. But our trusty GPS wanted to save us about 13 miles, so it sent us off into the wilderness. We had blind faith that all would be well and of course it was. Following the road less traveled can sometimes be a lonely thing, but it will usually provide you with some deep insights.

And does anybody see the parable here? Blind faith in our GPS brought fear to our hearts. Being reminded of our faith in our Father and the angels surrounding us brought comfort. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

"He changes times and seasons." - Daniel 2:21

Monday Musings

WHEW - we've just come off a very busy week and weekend. I got a call from mom Tuesday afternoon that they (my cousin and mom) were waiting with my grandmother for an ambulance to come! Grandma had been walking out to the car and fell and knew then that something had happened. It turned out that she broke her hip and her wrist in the fall. So Wednesday morning my cousin Michele and I headed up to OKC to be there for grandma's hip surgery. She did great and is now on the rehab floor - Praise Jesus!

It's funny too how much we enjoyed the trip. Just like when my cousin Danette and I headed to Ft. Smith (and kept calling ourselves Thelma and Louise!), it really is possible to find the joy even in an unpleasant situation. Michele and I never get to spend time alone and this trip gave us that opportunity. I don't think there was a quiet moment at any time during the trip! Good times.

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Saturday morning I planned my first brunch in this house....where I have lived for 12 years! I used to entertain so much when we lived in Oklahoma and it has just never happened here. Through God's Grace my health is MUCH improved now from when we first moved in, so maybe that's the reason. Regardless, I think I just didn't realize just how much I missed having friends over. I made a breakfast casserole, Snickerdoodle Muffins, fruit, and Peach Tea. The funny thing is that I wasn't nervous or anything. I really think there is something about having dear friends over that you just know it's all good.

After we ate off we went to a bead show at a nearby convention center. My word, I just couldn't believe it! Obviously I'd never been to one before and I can see how this could be a very dangerous hobby - financially! There were such beautiful things everywhere you look. I especially fell in love with lampwork beads, but the price was very high. Then I came upon a booth where a woman had some photos of herself making the beads and explained the process to me. At that point I realized that these beads really were worth the high price, though it was not something I could afford. My ever enabling friends were telling me that I could learn to make them myself, but since the process involved open flames I decided it would probably be best for me to just leave this hobby well enough alone - LOL!

One of my friends mentioned an area in Dallas where we could get some of the things we'd seen at a greatly reduced price, so off we went. That store wasn't open to us, so we walked to the end of the little strip mall and went in to a different store. Oh what a grand time we had! This store had a wall of sunglasses for only $3.99! This happens to be something I really enjoy, so I ended up with a couple of pairs. One pair is totally for fun, the next a little less "loud" and then one very normal pair. We stood and took pictures for a while, laughing the entire time. Who knew that sunglass shopping could be so much fun?

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Saturday afternoon Mom, Gary and Michele arrived in town from OKC and of course we went over to see Brooklyn. Well, after a stop at Boston Market for lunch since they don't have that restaurant in OKC! We were lucky enough to get over to their house just in time to visit with Brad (Keith's brother) and Rhonda for a bit before they had to leave to head back to their home.

I love this picture of Loni holding Brooklyn. James and Loni had gotten an above ground pool set up on Friday, so we all got to see Brooklyn's first dip in the pool! She has on a Nemo Little Swimmer and didn't really spend a long time swimming. But she did look quite darling.

And after little girls swim they need to have a bottle. And after a bottle little girls really seem to need a nap! I love this picture of my mom holding Brooklyn. Sweet baby girl just got so tired. Looking at that picture makes me want to kiss her neck again. :)


I think she just had had so much fun entertaining us all afternoon that she finally just passed out. She's gotten to the age where she likes to coo and goo and try to form words. It is so precious.

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Sunday we didn't do much at all, partly because of the picture. We've been doing quite a bit of geocaching in the evenings and at some point Keith got into some poison ivy again. He happens to be insanely allergic to it, so on Friday when his face and neck started swelling up we knew what it must be. We're not sure exactly when he was exposed, but the picture shows one of the many times we were deep into the flora and seeing this shows us that we really aren't too surprised that it happened.

So while Keith lay around dozing and watching sports, I sat watching the last few episodes of Heroes in preparation for tonight's season premiere! I was so excited when my daughter bought the Season One dvd set so that I could finish watching the series - LOL! It's rare that I sit and watch tv and for me to sit as many hours as I did yesterday was rather decadent. I sat and watched tv and worked on the candy corn sock I've been knitting. What an utterly relaxing day.

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One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human. - George Santayana

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. - Joyce Brothers

Geocaching Find

After dinner last night we headed out for more finds. The first one we thought was beyond easy, but when I went to log it online I noticed that others had some trouble with the clues. Let's just say, so as not to give too much away, that sometimes being a big fan of 80's music is a GOOD thing and will pay off later in life!

The second find brought us to a pretty area with one of the biggest trees I think I've ever seen. As we were wandering around with our gazes securely fastened on the gps a creature jumped out at us! He really about scared the beejeebers out of me....until I saw what it was - LOL! After that I had to go on a quick tangent and chase this toad around to get his picture. At that point I'm not sure which one of us ended up being more scared of the other! Mr. Toad did NOT see this as a Kodak moment. ;)

When I stood up after victoriously snapping this picture I see Keith standing there looking at me like I was a loon. Really though he must surely be used to this sort of thing from me. Course here we were out in front of absolutely everybody and I'm doing this bizarre scrunched over walking thing with a camera plastered to my forehead chasing after a toad. Surely that isn't so strange???

Chocolatey Goodness

On our way back home this weekend I somehow convinced Keith to stop by the Russell Stover Store in Corsicana. You can't see it in the picture, but behind and to the right of the store is the giant plant where they make the confectionary delights. During business hours they have tours and while I was disappointed to have missed that, perhaps it was from the best. Can you imagine their faces when one of the tour guests - that would be me - had to stop and embrace all that chocolatey goodness?

Lest anyone think that Keith stopped there just for me to visit the store, I'm going to tell the rest of the story. He actually would NOT have stopped and that actually IS for me. He knows that I'm doing really well on my losing weight and even though the saying is "like a kid in a candy store" he knows that an "Elizabeth in a chocolate store" is just asking for diet sabotage. And he would NOT have stopped for himself because even though he enjoys a slice of chocolate cake on occasion he's just not that excited about candy. What he WILL stop for is a geocache. I found one online called "My love for chocolate" or something like that and of course immediately loaded it into the gps. We searched for this cache for a little while before I gave up and said "Really, since we're here anyway we should go inside." What a dastardly plot indeed. ;)

So now today I'm quite popular at work. I bought a case (I kid you not!) of the cutest little tin boxes that have 4 of the Whitman's assorted chocolates inside. This morning I left a tin on the desk of everybody in my area and it was fun hearing their reactions.

I've learned that everybody here loves chocolate. And I've learned that even more than chocolate everybody here loves little tins - LOL! I've also learned that chocolate surprises make people smile a LOT!

Another popular saying is that "diamonds are a girl's best friend (bff?)", but I'm here to tell you that chocolate makes an awfully good second best friend (2bff?).

Geocaching

Welcome to our newest interest - geocaching! We got to looking at the things we enjoy doing and noticed that almost every single one of them included sitting - not good. I'd seen geocaching mentioned all around blogland and since it involves hiking and electronic gadgets we figured it might be right up our alley.

Our GPS was delivered last week and we played around with it so we'd know how to use it on the hunt. We pretty much geocached all the way home from Monaville, though not all of them were successful.

One thing I found ironic was that I had started out emphatically saying that I would not geocache in a cemetery and where did we have our first find? Um, yeah. We were in Huntsville and were led to Oakwood Cemetery where Sam Houston is buried, which appealed to our love of history as well. This cemetery is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. So very serene and such a feeling of peace. I do want to add that the hunting was NOT done around any of the gravesites, so there was no disrespect. We did spend some time walking around as part of this is a Civil War era cemetery and they have pamphlets at the entrance for guests to take a walking tour. So interesting.

We did encounter TONS of spiders there, which was rather creepy. August seems to be a banner month this year for spiders and I think quite a few of them made their homes here. We were looking at a headstone and reading about it when I quietly told Keith not to move. His head was just inches away from a large web! After this incident our new plan was to walk slowly and look out for webs. It almost started feeling like a scene from Mission Impossible or something - walk slow, tell the other person to slowly move right, duck, etc. I'm happy to report we didn't bring any hitchhikers home.

We went for more finds today and Lynne' joined us. Sometimes it's easier to show somebody instead of trying to explain it. Joe joined us as well and he had a grand time. I think Lynne' is a convert too and we decided she truly is our good luck charm.

I'm not able to post most of the pictures I took because it might give away hiding places or identifying marks to somebody. This is truly a game of stealth and we are having a blast with it.