Happy Birthday to my Future Husband

Happy Birthday to the man of my dreams, the man that I will marry this year.

I have never been so excited for a year like I am for 2013.  Vernon, I wish I could be with you today.  You work so hard and take such great care of those around you.  Enjoy your daughter today, as I'm sure she's going to spoil you like she does every year. I hope you have something special like a lager or root beer. 

Here are some recent pics of me since you are always saying how you want more pictures of me.  This is what I wore today for your birthday.  I love you so so much!   I can't wait to talk to you this afternoon/tonight. 

Yes, this one is cheezy... I'm actually on the phone with Heidi.

Happy Birthday Vernon!

Happy Birthday to the man whom I love.
The man who makes me feel like a princess each and every day.
The man who tells me I'm beautiful, sexy and wonderful every time he talks to me.
He adores the way I talk, the way I tell stories and the way I express myself.
I never feel like I have to make excuses, or that I have to prove myself to him.
It's been 12 years and he still gives me butterflies.

Happy Birthday to the man who loves my daughter.
The man who has been a father figure to her for many years.
The man who tells her he is proud of the woman she has become.
He admires her talent, creativity, and maturity.
She appreciates, loves and respects him.


Happy Birthday to a wonderful and loving dad and granddad.
The dad who has always put his kids first.
The dad who wants nothing more than his kids to be happy and healthy.
He is there when they need him and teaches by example.
They have always been able to depend on him.
He is loved and trusted by his granddaughter, and he simply glows when she is around him.


Although we have been apart these last 12 years, I feel so very close to you all of the time.
I can't imagine life without you, and I can't believe I managed to function before I met you.
I wish I could be there with you for your birthday and treat you the way you deserve;
Because you have done nothing but make me feel like the luckiest most special woman in the world.

I love you Honey. Happy Birthday.
I am yours forever.

Still Swooning Over the Royal Wedding

I don't know why... but this wedding was the most fun I had since I was actually IN England and I haven't even done a post on it yet. I was reading one of my favorite blogs and noticed an exciting post by Melissa of Smitten By Britain. The Royal Wedding DVD will be out soon! That inspired me to finally write about what I thought about the wedding. Prince William is so charming... (sorry for the pun); and Kate is so classy and down to earth. There is nothing "common" about Kate. Haters were getting sick

of all the hype about the wedding, the specials on every channel, the interviews with crazy royalty memorabilia collectors, look-a-likes making dance videos and the history of their relationship. I could never decide which channel to land on, but would stop if I saw Sharon Osbourne or Piers Morgan, two of my favorite Brits. While I was in England only 2 weeks before the wedding I could see all the tv ads for party supplies, bakeries, jewelers selling the similar famous engagement ring and retailers selling party dresses and fancy hats. Vern and I had been in Corfe and Swanage for the day and did some souvenir shopping. I saw magnets, keychains, spoons, bells, notebooks, jewelry boxes and this plate. I looked at these items, picked up other things for friends and family, came back to the Will and Kate stuff, looked at them again, picked them up, put them down, and told myself that I need to spend my money on postcards for my collection, Heidi and "the babies" (my niece and nephews). I knew I'd regret it but got over it.... well, we got home that night and everyone showed up to wish me a Happy Birthday and low and behold I got the same plate I saw earlier from Vernon's mother. I just started laughing out loud! It is so pretty and English and exactly what I wanted. And to think I nearly bought something like this myself.  I have it proudly displayed on my shelf above my desk at work next to my model trolley car from San Francisco and my model red double decker bus from London.

I loved everything about the hype, the procession, the cheering, the flags, the people, and the ceremony. The ceremony was wonderful. I especially loved Kate's dress. Wow! So simple and elegant. It was perfect. And her sister looked like a Hollywood movie star. It was fun finding the occasional famous person... well, lots of those people were famous, so I should say famous people that I actually knew. I loved the dresses and shoes and hats... all the hats! I'm not a hat person, but they are fun to look at. Some were just terrible too.... loved laughing at them! Like the two I call "the two ugly stepsisters". OMG! I had no idea who they were, but then later I found out they were the daughters of Sarah Ferguson who wasn't invited to the wedding, all of which I didn't understand until I read up on it later.... drama drama drama... now back on track to "the two ugly stepsisters". Those outfits!  That blue dress was, um.... yeah. And then that bow hat... what was that? Do they not own mirrors? If I were there I would have wanted to throw a bean bag through the hoop to win the prize. I guess when you are rich you can dress how you want no matter how hideous.

The moments after the ceremony were wonderful. The carriage ride was out of a fairytale, (YES! I said "fairytale"!) and the march of all the people to the gates of Buckingham Palace...I was amazed at how orderly the people were escorted, and the crowds went on forever. I couldn't believe how many people were there, especially the crazy Americans. Then the kiss... I nearly missed that because I had to get ready for work and they finally kissed... TWICE! So cute.

  

The best part of the wedding wasn't waking up at 4am,  finding the right channel to watch on TV, or logging onto the official Royal YouTube channel and keeping an eye on both screens so I don't miss a thing.  The best part was that little "beep" that led me to discover that..... VERN IS ONLINE!!!!!!! I tell him I'm going to call so we watched the wedding together. It was perfect. Watching the most perfect wedding on the phone with the most perfect man. It was great and I was in a happy giddy mood for the rest of the day at work.

A Castle, Shopping, and a Baby!

I have recently been to England to see Vernon. It was only for 2 weeks and I wanted lots of family time. Well, I got what I asked for as his sweet little granddaughter arrived in this world during my visit there. She is so very beautiful! I think he's going to love being a grandpa.

I told Vernon that I wanted to see a castle. He took me to Corfe Castle and it was breathtaking! It was extremely windy, but it was sunny and clear. There was lots of walking and hiking and now that I'm 35lbs lighter, I was able to enjoy all of that walking and hiking.  It was also my birthday the day we came out here. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my 40th birthday!

I am not only blessed to have Vernon in my life; I have a wonderful girlfriend named Victoria. She didn't have to be my friend, but from the first moment we met I think we hit it off. She is loving, caring, generous, supportive and understanding. She is a very good friend to me and it is so wonderful having a girlfriend to hang out with during my trips to England. Yes, I love spending every waking and non-waking moment with my Sweetheart, but a girl needs her girlfriends and I really love and appreciate her. I also have to mention our shopping trips. She knows where all the great stores are, especially the ones that carry clothes in my size. I've picked things up from Peacocks, Bonmarche, and Marks & Spencer. 

Yeovil, Somerset is my favorite place in the world, obviously because of Vernon, his family, and everyone else there that I love. Secondly, I love it for all the SHOPPING!

Vernon and I had such a wonderful time sight seeing, spending quiet time together as a family, welcoming a precious new life into the world, and spending quality time with good friends. I love the way I feel when I am with him, and I love knowing that he will be there for me forever. I really miss him.

 
  

21 DAYS!

This photo was taken during my last trip to England, December 2009. It seems like several years ago. Well, in 21 days Vernon will have his arms around me in Bristol airport and I can't wait. I'm sad that I have to leave the kid behind but she'll be studying for finals. Tonight I got a new camera, nothing fancy, and it was on sale. I have my flip camera for taking videos which I really love, and I've been picking up things like chocolate and Lucky Charms for the kids per their request. I plan on stocking up on Curly Wurlys as  they are mine and Heidi's favorite candy bar! But... I've been eating healthier for the past 2 months, down 25 pounds and I don't know if I'm smaller than I was when this photo was taken. I have all the same clothes but they are so worn and old it's hard to tell. I have a goal to lose 10 more before the trip but we'll see how that goes. I'm not worried about sticking to my new eating habits while I'm there. Europeans eat differently than Americans. We Americans are pigs and eat way too much. I love the smaller portions in the restaurants and even at the grocery store, the family sizes aren't really that big. I'll have to remind Vernon to fill the ice cube trays as I will be drinking lots of water and I like it COLD! COLD! COLD! Lukewarm water makes me gag. Yuk. Two weeks with Vernon isn't enough. It's overwhelming when I get there, then we get into a mode where it just feels so right when we are together. We can sit quietly in the car, in the living room, at the table, I fall asleep on him when we are watching movies, we are each other's missing half. I'll be turning 40 while I'm there. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday, especially such a special one. I'm going shopping for clothes with a very good friend so that will be exciting. We've gone shopping together before, and we had a blast. Leaving is horrible. Just thinking about it makes me cry. We feel it creeping up on us when there are 3 days left, then 2, then 1, then we're saying goodbye at security and I have to sit all by myself waiting to board the plane. I cry a lot on that day. It doesn't get easier. I've done this several times and it just doesn't get easier. It's almost easier not going at all, but that's just flipping crazy. I want us to do lots of relaxing, lots of talking, cooking, and I want to watch movies. I did recently whine to him about wanting to visit a castle so he sent me several choices and I'll be picking out where I want to go. I still have to pick up some dramamine so I don't have a repeat performance of the time Heidi and I had our faces in the barf bags as we were roughly coming in for a landing in North Carolina. That was terrible! It's going to be a long 21 days.