Year Five Photobook

Here is my latest adventure in scrapbooking....

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Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

a visit to spring

Seasonal changes in the valley are so subtle they go unnoticed (well, the sneezing is a good clue) so it was nice yesterday when we climbed out of the car after a two and a half hour drive up the mountain to experience those first buds of spring. 

I almost took my shoes off to experience the grass between my toes but thought better of the idea when I noticed how many dogs were also enjoy the green grass around the court house.

preview

 We spent the last four days in Mexico. Much of our time, it seemed, was spent driving back and forth between Rocky Point and Altar. In order to get my beach fix I suggested we drive part way to Altar on Tuesday afternoon, spend the night in the little fishing village of El Desemboque, and finish the drive the next morning. Following this plan I managed to spend both sunset and sunrise with the ocean teasing my toes and the light tickling my eyes. 

I have lots of reentry tasks to do today but here is a favorite sand dollar pic to get you in the mood.

road trip

Jay and I made a  last minute decision to take advantage of the three day weekend and road trip to the far side of New Mexico. As we drove east Tessa's family drove west from the gulf coast of Texas and we met up in Portales, New Mexico to walk and pray over the 55 acres that will be their new home.

chairs

 

Last Saturday night after we left Hopi and before we reached Show Low it became obvious that we would not reach our destination before our wakefulness hit E. So we stopped at a motel on route 66 that featured a two pancake and drink breakfast. The breakfast was humorous as we weren't even asked if we wanted anything extra (I was all for splurging on some eggs). Our pancakes and OJ delivered, we were on our own (don't even bother asking for honey rather than fake syrup). 

But the bright side of waking up in a cheap motel on route 66 on a sunny Sunday morning is the photo opportunities therein. I spotted this wonderful row of metal lawn chairs calling out to my camera. After a couple clicks of empty chairs Jay offered to sit in the picture for me. Remembering my new photo-tip that including a person in any photo adds interest-I couldn't turn him down. And just like Goldilocks he proceeded to sit in EACH of the chairs. Silly boy!

 So I snapped away.

This morning I had fun trying out different photo-effects.

 

potty art

I found this wonderful tile mural at the entrance to the women's restroom in the Minneapolis airport during my brief but pleasant visit to that, as of April 4th, still snow covered state. I have never had a plane change in the Twin Cities before and was delighted with what they have done with the place. I only wish I had thought to visit the entrance of the men's restroom as well.

t is for texas

Most of the week that I spent in Texas involved grading papers with little time or inspiration for photography.

I did sneak a short walk one afternoon around the historical-district neighborhood where Keith's apartment is located and enjoyed several nicely renovated homes through my viewfinder.

 

 Keith's apartment building, currently under weekend-paced renovations, still lags behind in eye appeal, but did offer this interesting closet door handle.

Each evening we left the school around 9 PM when the custodians finished their work. We were greeted in the parking lot by this colorful nighttime cityscape. 

I sat down in the driveway one evening to photograph the lights but jerked the camera when someone revved their motor and startled me out of my crouched position.

 

P.S. LMae you will be interested to know that the orange swirl near the center is a fancy hotel/billboard that continually changed designs. Several evenings they were advertising Circus De Soleil.

finally four

Thursday was our fourth wedding anniversary. I planned my return trip from Michigan so that I would arrive home at 8 PM for an official anniversary greeting and then Jay would take off Friday and we would do something special together. 


But my best laid plans went to the mice shortly after I arrived at the Flint airport on Thursday afternoon and found there were mechanical problems that would prevent me from getting to my connecting flight in Cleveland. The airport ticket agent quickly shuttled me, along with several other passengers, via a taxi, to the Lansing airport to catch a flight to Chicago. 

We arrived in Lansing only to find the flight coming to get us from Chicago was also delayed due to mechanical problems. The man behind the counter figured the schedule change would most likely cause me to miss the last Phoenix-bound flight out of The Windy City along with any hope of seeing my husband on our anniversary. He gave me the option of returning "home" (now a further distance than when Grace dropped me off at the Flint airport) and coming back to try again on Friday, or flying Chicago to spend the night.  He explained that because the problem was mechanical (the airline's fault) and not weather related (an act of God) I "should" be given overnight hotel accommodations in Chicago). Not having much of a choice at that point, I went for the Chicago option and spent a couple of hours and the majority of the battery change on my tablet waiting for the puddle jumper to Illinois. 

We chased the sunset over lake Michigan as we flew west to Chicago.

When we arrived in Chicago it was 9 PM local time. My 8 o'clock Phoenix connection was well on it's way without me. The food vendors were cleaning their grills and closing up shop as I waited my turn in line at the busy customer service counter. I was given the opportunity to take the scenic route home via San Francisco and arrive in Phoenix at 8 AM on Friday morning. I figured moving westward rather than marking time in a motel room sounded like a good strategy so I took my food vouchers, (that were now only redeemable at Starbucks and the snack food shop) my almost 15 pounds of fresh picked blueberries, (an idea that seemed good when I was in the berry patch on Wednesday but now became questionable as their weight appeared to increase as I lugged them through multiple airports) and trekked to concourse B to for my next airport adventure.

There was quite a crowd waiting for the 10:30 PM cross country flight along with a number of  grumblers as we waited more than three hours with nothing but the flight monitor indicating that the plane we were waiting for had not yet arrived in Chicago. Finally we were told the plane was delayed due to the weather in Pensacola and the aircraft would arrive soon and as quickly as possible we would be loaded up and on our way.

The four and a half hour flight to the west coast was quiet and uneventful. I was thankful for a window and an open seat next to me that allowed me to rearrange and find comfortable napping positions. Local time when we arrived in California was somewhere around 3:30 AM. 

Food vendors were now beginning to open shop and I used the last of my food vouchers to purchase an orange smoothie and chocolate croissant while I waited for the 6 AM departure time. I found it a bit disappointing that I was in San Francisco (a city I had enjoyed exploring when Mom, Dad and I visited in 1988 for Aunt Merla's graduation) but would only see it through sea-salted windows. 
I thought of my dad again as I lugged my bags and blue-
berries through yet another maze of hallways and discovered a sign that referred to the building of a sandwich, a expression that he used regularly. 



At 6 AM we took off (as scheduled) for the last portion of this 5 legged adventure home.

Nineteen hours after leaving Midland; Arizona greeted me with beautiful blue skies splashed with wispy white clouds and a joyful reunion with husband and Lily Girl. 

After a nap, some headache medicine and several loads of laundry; we headed out for a movie and Mexican dinner to celebrate the completion of our fourth year of a very blessed and happy marriage.

the answer