Thanks for the Memories

Today marks a huge change in my life. After three and a half years, my office location is changing. As expected, I have mixed emotions; some good, some bad. I will miss the wonderful ladies I have worked with, but also look forward to getting to know the new ones!

The neat part of being a Christian and having faith is that you KNOW God is in control and must be finished with me here. That said, I will embrace the change and be grateful for my many, many blessings.

As my co-worker always says - Ciao Bella! If you don't know what that means, I am including a definition from Yahoo Answers...."Ciao bella!" can mean either "Hi beautiful!" or "Bye beautiful!" It's like the Hawaiian word "aloha," it can mean either "hello" or "goodbye." The word "bella" is reserved for feminine things, so "Ciao bella!" can only be said to a girl. Note also that "ciao" is very informal, so it's either translated as "hi" or "bye," not as "hello" or "goodbye" (those are "buongiorno" and "arrivederci," respectively).

Have a fabulous weekend!

4-H Day at the State Capitol

I had the honor to take my children to Richmond, Virginia (the capitol of our fabulous state) on Tuesday, February 8th. It was 4-H day at the capitol and to say we learned a lot about the history of our great state would be a gross understatement! Not only did we learn a lot, it would not have been possible without 4-H.

Reservations were made in advance for us to tour the governor's mansion, the state capitol building and visit the state legislators in their offices! It was incredible! We even had the opportunity to sit in on the sessions! It is a day I will never forget!

Virginia State Seal

George Washington

The exact spot Robert E. Lee accepted the responsibility to Command the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War (on the Senate Floor).

The Battle of Yorktown

Capitol Complex

Govenor's Mansion

Govenor's Mansion

Stars Collide - Book Review

The first book-Stars Collide-in the new series from Janice Thompson, “Backstage Pass.” (I can't wait to read the next one! I'll have to see when it's scheduled to release-watch my blog for details!)

There were numerous reasons I wanted to read/write a review on Stars Collide; I will list some of them here:

*Hollywood (been there, love it!)
*Movie Stars (although I have no desire to be one, it IS fun to think about being rich and people thinking I’m ALL THAT!)
*LOVE (I love a great love story!)
*Television sitcom (I think it would be fun to be an actress on a television show! I can be a fabulous drama queen-ask my family!)
*Comedy (I love to laugh!)

What I thought would be a “fun book”, turned into an amazing personal adventure! I LOVED this book! I loved the entertainment it provided-and that I couldn’t put it down! When my long workday ended, I loved that I had a fabulous adventure to run home to read! Not to mention, as a parent, I loved that I had a great book to get excited about and read while encouraging my children to do the same!

I’m not sure if I ever posted the fact that I want to write a book and have for many years. My problem is that I can’t decide WHAT to write about. Initially, I wanted to write my life story, but then it dawned on me that no one would read it - they don’t know who I am!

When I finished Stars Collide, I went straight to the author’s web-site (http://janiceathompson.com/blog/) to see what other books she has written (and she’s written a LOT)! I have one of her books on order and can’t wait to read every one! I love the way she writes, her writing style, and how her book flows. I truly admire her as an author and want to grow up to be just like her! I was extremely excited to notice, while on her web-site, you can sign up for her freelance writing courses – and I have a feeling I will be signing up very soon! (http://www.freelancewritingcourses.com/) I would HIGHLY recommend this book if you’re anything like me! You will NOT be sorry, I promise!

Available January 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Amazing Weekend

I had the honor to attend my soon-to-be daughter's wedding shower this past Sunday. Her name is Chelsea and she and Peter will be wed on Friday evening, March 11th.

The shower was absolutely amazing! Her friends did an absolutely amazing job and I was completely impressed with every detail.

I am so happy for both Chelsea and Peter and know God played an active role in blessing this union. I will be posting photos very soon, but had to take a minute to write a post!

KTU Update

So, this past weekend (Friday, January 28th) my youngest daughter (Kristina) and I took off for Virginia Tech for the third season of Kids' Tech University! To say this event is life changing for children would be untrue. This event is life changing for EVERYONE! Me included!

The lecture/storytelling session was led by the most amazing professor, Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher, Professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and of the Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech, who was able to communicate a huge math concept to the children (and the adults!) This is a summary of the session:

Did you know that we are surrounded by patterns--everywhere? For example, farmers need to understand weather patterns to plan their harvests. Your parents need to understand traffic patterns to drive you to school safely. Music and dance excite us through patterns of sounds and movement. Some patterns are pretty easy to spot, like the pattern on seashell, or the pattern on a snowflake. However, other patterns around us aren’t so easy to see, like the patterns on a pine cone, or the patterns of ocean waves. I’ll bet you wouldn’t guess patterns exist in clouds! To discover some of these patterns, we need to be very, very observant. So join me and together we’ll hunt down some patterns in the world around us--and as we investigate how these patterns form and why they’re there, the answers may surprise you!

In the afternoon, the parents and children were able to attend 2 hands-on sessions (one at the math emporium - exploring fractals and the other at the dance studio). I know what you're thinking, are you kidding me? What on earth does dance have to do with math? Well, I thought the same thing...but, it does! There are PATTERNS in dance, and math calculations are used when creating choreography! What a blast!

While at the Math Emporium (University Mall), Kristina had to pose with the Hokie Bird! Don't they look GREAT!!!!!

Can't wait for February....“Why are glaciers in Antarctica important to people who live in Virginia?” A storytelling session led by Dr. Ellen Cowan, Professor of Geology, Appalachian State University.

Kids' Tech University - January 2011

So Friday morning, we get up nice and early to drive to Blacksburg! Did I check the weather forecast? No! Did I expect snow? No! Not only did I get snow, but I got 15 mph traffic to top it off! I just knew I would be late for teacher training! But, PRAISE GOD, I wasn't! The delay was due to a car in the ditch - and I was quickly returned to the speed limit (plus a little!).

More to follow.....

A Girl and her Dog....