Sometimes we get wrapped up in what others think we should be doing with our lives. We lose sight of what we really want to do. Through love and inspiration, you can do anything you put your mind to.
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
— Ella Fitzgerald
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
I learned a long time ago that life is too short. Let’s not settle for what life gives us which is sometimes loss, grief, and sadness. Let’s take what is given and turn it into something beautiful.
“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.”
— Ashton Kutcher
Photo by Mario Dobelmann on Unsplash
It’s hard to believe summer is almost over and our time out West is about to end. We have spent July and August in Park City, Utah, and it has been amazing! Three years ago, right before Sweet Gram passed away, my hubby and I decided that every summer when we wanted to get out of the heat of Florida we would try a new and different location. In 2021, we spent six weeks in Richmond, Virginia to be close to my mom and the kids. In the summer of 2022, we spent a month in Wilmington, North Carolina to be close to my best friend and her family. And this year we rented an Airbnb out in Park City for two months because my love has always wanted to check it out in the summer.
As you know, we rarely stay in one place for very long and are never home. We packed up our truck and motorcycle trailer the last week in June. We left Pennsylvania and stopped overnight in Chicago to see an amazing friend and her family. Then we spent the July 4th weekend in Green Bay Wisconsin with my hubby’s friends. That was a beautiful place to be. We spent one night in Lincoln, Nebraska which was a really cool city. One more night in Rocks Springs, Wyoming, and then made it to Park City on July 5th.
The weather was absolutely amazing! People said that all of the snow PC got this past winter plus all of the rain they got in the spring made the area greener than ever. The hikes have been amazing and even though July was hot, as it was around the whole country, it wasn’t humid. So to us, it felt pretty good! It barely rained, and the sun was out every day! It was the perfect getaway from the Florida heat. The condo we rented didn’t have air conditioning so we were very thankful for cool mornings and evenings. During the day we tried to be out of the house doing some type of activity.
My Prince was able to get a month’s vacation and use some other days to drop his trips so he could enjoy most of our time in PC. He flew a few days in July and had two days of training in August but that was it! We got to be on vacation the whole time we were out west! Our plan for each day was to sleep in, have coffee, do a little workout, and have some computer time then we were off to hike, ride the Harley, golf, or ride bicycles. We stuck to our plan almost every day and sometimes even completed two activities in one day!
We have literally been nonstop since we arrived. One of my very good girlfriends and her son came to visit me while my Prince worked that first week in PC. We had a great time exploring the few things I knew about Utah. I was so glad to have a friend with whom to explore this beautiful land.
A few weeks later my mom came to visit. We did a long four-mile hike to show her around Park City. We golfed with a new friend we met out at the Wasatch Mountain Course. I also found a golf tournament for ladies at the Park City Golf Course where the proceeds went to Breast Cancer Awareness. We had a great time golfing together. I think she is excited I actually like playing golf now 🙂 My goal is to get good enough to beat her at least a time or two!
We had a few weeks in Park City together with no company. We golfed, hiked, and rode the Harley. Every motorcycle ride we take is absolutely stunning. The mountain lakes are just beautiful and every mountain range is different. Some have pine trees, some have aspen, and some are bare rock. Because it has been so hot we have not seen a lot of wildlife except for deer but maybe a moose will be in our sights before we go. I am a little sad that we will miss the fall here because I believe the colors will be truly spectacular.
We left for about nine days in August and rode the bike over 600 miles in one day. We went from Park City to Sturgis, South Dakota for the annual motorcycle rally. It was absolutely one of our favorite trips. Sturgis was busy and there were so many bikes! But it was the cleanest place I have ever been and one of the most tame. No one was upset or in a bad mood. We did some beautiful rides around the area including the Needles Highway, which was awesome. We were not in a hurry so we spent three days coming back to Park City seeing sites through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was unbelievable. We put over 2400 miles on the bike in nine days! I thought my butt would be more sore but I loved it!
Just last week, my sister-in-law and her husband came to visit us as well. We enjoyed several beautiful hikes. We went to Sundance Mountain and hiked up to Stewart Falls. It was stunning. The next day we did the Clyde Lake Loop. That became our favorite out here so far. Every corner we turned there was another mountain lake and another beautiful view. It’s hard to believe so much beauty is within 30 minutes of Park City. I feel like we did a lot in our two months here, but I know we have so much more to explore. It seems with every hike we do we think it’s the most beautiful until we do the next one!
The summer weather in Utah was fantastic. There is so much to do and to see. We didn’t even get to South Utah which I hear is stunning. We made some new friends and had some great times with those we have known for a while. Park City seems to be a popular place for many of our friends we met through the ski weeks. It’s funny to see them here in summer clothes and not all bundled up for winter.
Overall, Park City was an amazing place to be and we will definitely be back!
I love this quote. Life is short. Don’t live by someone else’s expectations. Live your life the way you want to. There are no limits except the time we have here on Earth. Start Living!
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
– Steve Jobs
Last week I wrote a post wishing my sister a Happy Heavenly Birthday which also was Why I Launched on August 8 three years ago. Therefore, my blog is now three years old! Happy Birthday to me! We have made some changes over the years as I started with Daily Inspirations five times a week, Weekly Wednesday Workouts, and Friday Fixins. Those posts are still there and there are plenty of workouts to get you started on your fitness journey as well as recipes to help you eat better and feel better!
After about a year of blogging and after Gram passed away, our lives got a little busier. I wasn’t home taking care of her, and I was going on more adventures with my Prince. I continued to try to get posts out every week. I started doing posts on Tuesdays about Family, my Adventures with Gram, our Travels, and being a Pilot’s Wife. I also started doing Weekly Wednesday Words just once a week instead of daily.
This third year has been filled with even more adventures and the blog has been less consistent. I know I should be capturing our adventures but sometimes it’s so hard to find the time to write! Thank you for continuing to follow me.
As you know I had a meeting with the Medium. He told me I needed to start writing and working on a book. I hate to not do my blog because I love writing these posts for you. But I also would like to write a book, too. Therefore, the posts may be even more inconsistent. Thank you to those who already have but, I suggest subscribing to the blog by going to the main page here and scrolling down about halfway. Look at the right side and you will see where you can put in your name and email and Subscribe! That way you won’t miss the posts whenever they come out!
I wish you the best of the rest of your summer and those who have started school already, I wish you a happy, healthy school year!
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
Don’t let fear hold you back from living your life. Life is too short. Don’t be afraid. Take the chances and live life to the fullest!
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
– Babe Ruth
Photo by Eduardo Balderas on Unsplash
April 2023 will forever hold a special place in my heart. We had the pleasure of hosting my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, our niece, and nephew at our home in Fort Myers. I was so excited they were coming for spring break. I hadn’t seen the kids since Christmas, and I couldn’t wait.
We had so much fun with them. They got here on my Birthday, which is the best present that I could have wished for. They were tired of being in the car and ready to swim. They immediately jumped in the pool wasting no time sitting in the house. After a while, we decided to open my presents by the pool. We Facetimed with my mom who was enjoying a mini vacation of her own with her cousin out in Las Vegas. I got a new driver and two new hybrids for golfing and a bottle of tequila. Perfect presents and a wonderful start to Spring Break.
That evening we went to a country concert at an outdoor venue called “Alliance for the Arts“. It’s a great place for concerts and any outdoor event. Plus, it was right down the road so we took the golf cart and two bicycles. It was a fun ride there and home! The bands were really good. They had Hayden Coffman, Cody Cozz, Drew Parker, and Kayley Bishop. Great up-and-coming artists. We danced and laughed and talked.
When we got home the kids decided it was time for a night swim. We could hardly keep them out of the pool. Once they got out we had some birthday ice cream and a Bailey’s and chocolate vodka nightcap. Jeff’s specialty (next to his famous margaritas). The kids were exhausted and went to bed. The adults decided it was time to sing on the two karaoke microphones my friend Dani sent me for my birthday. We stayed up way too late but had so much fun!
I don’t think my niece was very happy with us (for keeping her up with our singing) but it was a great beginning to our week. The next day we loaded up the bicycles in the truck and went down to Fort Myers beach. We rode around and showed them some of the devastation of Hurricane Ian. We played at the beach and swam in the Gulf. The kids had a great time as did we. We rode the bikes back over the bridge and then of course had to stop at the Love Boat for ice cream!
The kids got back in the pool when we got home. It was an early night because we wanted to get up and get on the boat the next day. We packed sandwiches and snacks and got out on the boat. We went to Sanibel Island and anchored off shore. My brother-in-law found some sand dollars which are all over the Gulf floor. We tried to go to Lover’s Key but the tide was too strong and it was still closed from the Hurricane.
We rode around the backside of Fort Myers beach and saw a huge stingray jump straight up and out of the water! We saw dolphins and they even played in our wake for a few minutes. It was another beautiful day on the boat.
Overall, it was a great spring break. We played card games and Rumikub. The kids swam all hours in the pool. We had so much fun giggling, laughing and getting to know each other better. I hope to make this spring break an annual event. (just hoping my brother-in-law feels the same way!) Maybe one day we can have the kids down for Camp Aunt Stacy!
Most of our year is spent in flip flops since we are sunbirds and chase the sun. Many people love putting on their flip flops, going to the beach and putting their toes in the sand. So take the time this summer to put on your flip flops and make some amazing memories!
Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops.”
— Kellie Elmore
Photo by Ridwan Muhamad Iqbal on Unsplash
I am sure you have heard about Hurricane Ian and the devastation the storm caused all over the state of Florida on September 28, 2022. The eye went right over Cape Coral and Fort Myers was right in the path of destruction. I remember being in Richmond, Virginia when Hurricane Gaston came through. It was windy, and we lost power for 10 days. Of course, we bought a generator but never used it!
Gaston gave Richmond so much rain that our historic downtown was flooded. Downtown Richmond is called Shockhoe Bottom because it is at the bottom of two hills. The area had over six feet of water in restaurants, businesses, and houses. Cars were floating all over the place and then landed on top of each other. People needed to be rescued from their cars, apartments, and bridges. It was one of the saddest things I had seen.
Hurricane Ian started unfolding September 24th. I was in Virginia Beach for a wedding and I was going to fly to Florida on Monday. Jeff was going to meet me there Wednesday to check on the house and clean the boat. My mom had been watching the weather and suggested we not go because of the potential storm. We agreed, and I headed back to Pennsylvania after the wedding weekend.
At first, we were concerned about our friends and family in the Tampa area, but then the storm turned south, and we became very concerned about our friends, family, and our home in Fort Myers. My Valentine and I were in our summer home watching Hurricane Ian unfold on our TV.
My husband was pretty relaxed at first. He has been through a few hurricanes and said the news always talks about storm surges and wind. He said storm surge never happens. Even though we thought things would be okay we had our son take a few things inside and asked our friends to go over and help tie up the boat. Our son was going to Cape Coral with his buddies and our other son came to North Fort Myers to stay with his mom.
As we watched on the screen we were horrified at how huge this storm was building up to be. It was strong and slow and was heading right for us. I was nervous and wasn’t sure what was going to happen. We were able to talk with a few friends and family members until the power went out but then all we could do was watch. We still have a few cameras set up around the house from our caregiving days, and we watched as our new pool door kept swinging open and then slamming closed. Around 3 pm, our power went out. We stayed in touch with the neighbors for another couple of hours, but we didn’t want to drain their phone batteries. We just wanted to know what was going on but all we had was the storm coverage.
We received this picture of the street straight out from our house. The neighbors said the whole neighborhood was flooded with about four feet of water which meant our house house was surrounded by water. Then we lost touch with everyone and just had to start praying that everyone was going to be ok.
The next morning we were able to get in touch with our son and Jeff’s dad. They said the storm was crazy and the scariest thing they had been through. Our son went back to our house and called us. Water was still halfway up our driveway and in our backyard, our garage doors were pushed open, and the garage was in disarray. He said, “You guys need to get here NOW!” I was scared of what we were going to come home to.
We booked a flight out of Cleveland into Fort Myers but it was canceled. So we got one out of Pittsburgh into Fort Lauderdale. Our friend’s daughter picked us up along with her mom who was able to get a flight out of Cleveland. The normal two-hour ride from Lauderdale to Fort Myers seemed like it took forever. Traffic was heavy and everyone was stopping for gas and other supplies.
We got to our house and opened the garage door. Wow. We just kind of stood there in disbelief. My car and our son’s friend’s car were trashed. Paddle boards were lifted and landed in awkward positions. Trash cans were full of water. Trash was spilled from the bags. There was half an inch of soot and dirt and muck covering everything. There were still two inches of water in my car.
We didn’t know where to start. We couldn’t even clear a path to get into the house. So we just got straight to work. Thank goodness our friends and their daughter were with us. They had clear minds and weren’t emotionally attached to our stuff so they just started pulling things out of our garage one by one. We made piles of things to be saved and things to go in the trash. The things to save had to be power-washed and sanitized. But it was a start. We only did one-half of the garage that day. But what a long day it was.
Even though we were exhausted we felt blessed. Our neighbors down each of our side streets had 46 inches of water throughout their whole house. We had 46 inches of water in our garage and about 18 inches in our entryway. Our house and our pool happened to be on a 48-inch cement block. We were two inches away from destruction. I couldn’t even imagine where we would have started if our whole house looked like our garage did.
At the end of the day, we were covered in mud. We were exhausted physically and emotionally. Even though we considered ourselves blessed and lucky to only have the mess in the garage and our front entryway, we still couldn’t believe it.
On day two we continued cleaning. We finished up the garage and got the entryway clean. We felt we were in a decent spot. We worked on our yard then we started helping our neighbors. We power-washed driveways, pool decks, and inside of people’s homes. We cut and dragged out wet heavy carpet. We pulled people’s washers, dryers, refrigerators, bedroom sets, TVs, tables, chairs, and clothes to the curb. There was no saving of anything. it all needed to be removed and need to be taken to the curb.
The crazy thing was that people would come around and ask or just take it from the garbage pile. More power to them is they can fix it but these tools had been covered in water for at least 48 hours. It helped us get rid of the pile in our house so we said take it!
As we talked with more and more neighbors we realized how devastating this storm was. Three of our neighbors stayed. One was in a one-story, and he was wading in water for over 12 hours. He slept on top of his truck because he didn’t know where else to go. How horrifying. We heard of other stories of people swimming from one house to another. Or rescuing people who were floating by. It made me thankful that we were not in Fort Myers at the time of the storm.
What I did notice was how the whole neighborhood came together. Everyone got done what they could in their homes then they were all out on the street helping each other. Helping each other move or lift furniture, helping each other power wash the garage floor, pool deck, or driveway, and helping each other return items to their rightful owner after digging it out from the rubbish pile left behind. Then at the end of the day we all came together to sit on the back deck and have a beer. I guess in every storm there is a silver lining. People helping people was an inspiring sight to see.
Happy Birthday, America! Today, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Our forefathers fought for our freedoms and today we recognize our lucky we are to live in the United States of America.
Most of us will celebrate by having the day off of work. We will eat hamburgers and hot dogs because that’s the American way. We will probably have a beer or two to celebrate the day off and the freedom we have to have a beer anytime we want to.
For the past two years, my Prince and I celebrated July 4th with friends on Lake Anna in Virginia. They have a wonderful fireworks display every year, and we were blessed enough to be out on a boat looking up at these amazing lights.
This year we also spent the holiday weekend on the water. Our friends took us out on their boat Saturday and out on jet skies on Sunday. This time we were in the great state of Wisconsin. We got to experience the water of Green Bay and saw the vastness of Lake Michigan. It is amazing how big the Great Lakes are.
The shoreline around Green Bay was amazing. It was full of rocks, limestone, cliffs and beautiful houses. My Rock and I had a great time on the water. I had not been on water skies in over 30 years, but I was able to pop right up! It makes me appreciate our lifestyle. We try to eat well and stay in shape (make sure you check out my recipes and workouts) so that we can do these activities even if we only get the opportunity once every few years!
Overall, our time in Green Bay was pretty amazing. We saw some great sunsets, had some good laughs, and spent some quality time with friends. We saw Egg Harbor, Door County, Fish Creek, as well as other stops along the way. Thank you friends for the wonderful weekend!
If you haven’t heard, last Thursday we started our trek out west where we will spend some time in Park City, Utah. We spent Thursday night in Chicago and then the weekend in Green Bay. Yesterday, we drove to Lincoln, Nebraska where we saw fireworks going off all along the water. The displays went on forever. Today, we will continue our drive and celebrate our independence somewhere in Wyoming. Hopefully we can find a wonderful fireworks display tonight.
I wish you all a safe and happy holiday! Celebrate and appreciate the independence that we have.