fall.....aaaahhhhh....

I have four very favorite places to go in the fall, Shenandoah National Park, Brookside Gardens (Mountgomery County Maryland Park), Harper's Ferry West Virginia and my house.

Last Wednesday Dale and I went to Brookside Garden's for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, which were at their peak. (no camera, so no pictures :(

Saturday the sun showed it's afternoon face and I went outside to enjoy the beautiful colors (I brought my camera with me this time:)

Today we drove out to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia to enjoy the fall colors. They were truely beautiful! (Again I forgot my camera, so so sorry:(

I have to admit, I am the biggest whiner when summer is over! and Every year about this time, when summer is a distant memory, and my routine is in full swing, and the beautiful fall colors are here, I feel calm and peaceful and can't remember ever being anxious about saying bye to summer!

Below are some of the shots I took around the house....

how fitting...

(Dear Daniel Snyder and Barack Obama)

D: When it stops being about Daniel Snyder, and starts being about the Redskins, we will get somewhere.

B: When it stops being about Barack Obama, and starts being about Americans, we will get somewhere.



D: Doesn't matter how much money you spend if you can't execute the play.

B: Doesn't matter how much money you spend if you can't execute the play.



D: In the end, a big think tank is just that, a THINK tank! If you don't have the right positions filled by the right people all your THINKING doesn't turn into DOING.

B: In the end, a big think tank is just that, a THINK tank! If you don't have the right positions filled by the right people all your THINKING doesn't turn into DOING.




D: Having your head in FANTASY football keeps your decisions in fantasy world.

B: Having your head in FANTASY world, keeps your decisions in fantasy world.




D: Doesn't matter how many play callers you bring in if the PLAYER isn't able to do his job!!!(Maybe we ought to assess WHY the players can't do their individual jobs, help them to work together and then worry about what plays need to be called!!)

B: Doesn't matter how many play callers you bring in if you are calling the wrong plays! (Maybe we ought to assess what TODAY"S issues are before we make the plays for tomorrow!)



How fitting that the Redskins are in Washington.

comedy, tragedy and renewed vows (kind of)

ok, so the title is a bit dramatic, but I do have to share this with you all...about 7 years ago, we rented a house with some friends on the outer banks of N.C. I will change the names of our friends to keep the story anonymous, we will just call them, "Mat" and "Karen".

One afternoon, "Karen", "Mat", Dale and I got in the hot tub. We smelled lots of chemicals, so I tested the water with the chemical tester thingy. Everything showed white, which is supposed to mean there were no chemicals in the water, but the smell was almost unbearable, we were sure the thingy wasn't working. We continued to sit in the hot tub for a while before "Karen" couldn't take the smell of chemicals anymore. She and I got out and went into the bathroom to rinse the chemicals off ourselves.

After a few minutes, "Mat" came in with a towel on. He said, "Look what happened!!" he opened his towel and we both looked. To this day I cannot speak about what I saw, but I will say that it was similar to a wet t-shirt contest, except he was wearing shorts. His previously solid colored, non see through, swim trunks were now skin colored and transparent! (yes, I said transparent! ) Then came Dale, and his swim trunks had also changed color from green to brown, not transparent, but a few minutes more and they would have been!...

It was then that "Karen" and I realized what happened, the hot tub had way TO MANY chemicals in it, the tub was so loaded with chemicals it was bleaching the tester thingy white! both Dale and "Mat's" bathing suits had been completely bleached, almost right off their bodies! (Thats the 'comedy' in my story) (I am laughing thinking about it!)

We ended up crying we were laughing so hard!

After noticing "Karen's" broken prong, we decided to take our jewelry that we wore in the hot tub to be looked at. The prong on "Karen's" ring had been completely eaten by chemicals and she had to have it fixed. The jeweler took a look at my wedding ring and said the gold in it had been seriously compromised and I would need to get a new setting or chance loosing the diamond one day. (there's the tragedy!)

Fast forward 7 years: I noticed my diamond was loose and shifting in it's setting several months ago. I stopped wearing my wedding ring. I have to admit, I missed my wedding ring when I couldn't wear it! I thought about my poor ring every single day! I needed to get it fixed, but school was letting out, and my days got busier and busier! Dale and I finally took my ring in a few weeks ago to be fixed, and I got it back today!! On the drive home I looked at my ring a hundred times! My poor ring had been through so much over the years. It had looked pretty sad, and had lost almost all it's sparkle. The prongs were always snagging on everything, it was scratched up and very dirty. When I saw the ring today I barely recognized it. It looked brand new. They buffed all the scratches, put the diamond in a brand new, sturdy setting and polished the whole thing! It feels like a brand new ring!

The most important thing my ring has done for me today was to remind me of why I am wearing it. I have thought of Dale each and everytime I have looked at it. My ring is such a beautiful reminder to me of my sweet husband and all the precious times we have had together. It has seen everything throughout our relationship, and I promise to take it off whenever I get into a hot tub so it will make the journey another 15 years! (then I will fix it again and help it go another 15 years!) (my "renewed vows" )

When will it be over?

Reader's digest polled it's readers with the following question: "When will you feel like the recession will be over?"

Various responses came in, and I wanted to blog my own answer and get yours....

I will feel the recession is over when paying bills on time becomes the norm and not the exception for everyone I talk to.

I will feel it is over when all the stay at home moms I know aren't scurrying to find jobs.

I will feel it is over when the small business owners I know can afford to hire people again. (you would not believe the number of jobs I have seen become extinct just from the people I know!)

I will feel it is over when stores, gas stations, and other businesses dare to raise prices again.

I will feel it is over when the number of divorces I am personally seeing begins to decline.

I will feel it is over when people once again feel comfortable enough to complain about their boss.

And what I feel is a true indicator of a recovering economy:

anyone that knows me well, knows that I am a recovering "housing market addict" ...for the sake of my housework getting done I stopped following housing market data closely a few years ago, but definately like to keep my eye on it from a distance..especially now.

If you look at National average of home prices since 1930, you can see some important info:

1930: $7145.00
1940: $3920.00
1950: $8450.00
1960: $12,700.00
1970: $$23,000.00
1980: $68,714.00
1990: $123,000.00
2000: $200,300.00
2007: $299,100.00
2009: $258,000.00 (2nd Q)

you see the depression from the 30's to 40's, then you see substantial growth all the way to the early 90's.(slow from 90-94, picks up from 95-2000)..then more growth all the way through 2007...then you see the decline. I am sure 3rd and 4th quarter data for 2009 will continue the decline in average home prices. My prediction: we will begin the next decade with limited growth, possibly the most limited growth since the 1930's 46% decline, but growth nonetheless. This is national data, and shows the pattern for the country as a whole. If you look at data from specific regions (I will spare you)you can see some areas experienced too much growth from 1995-2007 and will compensate (Florida, Las Vegas to name a few), and some areas experienced too little growth and will not be hit as hard, (some small towns in the midwest and places in the south to name a few) ....I am not an expert by any means, I have no education or background in macro economics, and I tend to see the financial world through real estate (in conjunction with the market index) because it is the most common form of investment in our society. I believe it to be a window to whats going on with common folk, and so my opinion on when the recession will be over is based on what I see in the real estate world.

I believe the recession will be over when we stop showing a national decline in average home prices.....meaning most regions of the country show growth, not just some areas.

All that being said, I do believe that our economy did need this adjustment period, but what we do not need is a full blown depression. I am praying that we can see some jobs created in the private sector. (thank you Mr. Pres. for the 30,000 you created)

Also, look at the recovery period between 1940 and 1950... we can take comfort in the fact that as bad as it gets, our nation recovered handsomely the following decade, and I know we will do that again....

So what are your feelings, when do you think the recession will be over??

Name that tune...

One friday night on our vacation we were serenaded by a cover band who happened to be performing a concert on the lake that we were staying on. This band was incredible and covered EVERYTHING! Country to Hard Rock, Oldies to modern. I recognized every song they did and was really enjoying the concert. Dale had fallen asleep and I was starting to fall asleep to the music, and THEN... a song came on that I had never heard before, and I LOVED it! The next morning the tune was rattling around in my head! Was that the band's original, and if not, where could I find the name to that song?!?!?! The tune played over and over in my head. I couldn't hear the words to it clearly that night, so all I had to go on was a tune. Since I can't carry a tune, trying to hum it for someone was out of the question!

I frantically searched the internet for the band's name, but to no avail. The tune continued in my head, at LEAST once a day! It had been driving me nuts!! Then one morning my alarm went off to a SPANISH version of the song! Thats right, my song was playing on a spanish station! I couldn't understand one word of it! and I also couldn't understand the DJ when he announced what the name of it was!! I was giving up on ever finding out the name of MY song!! THEN, a MIRACLE beyond MIRACLES!....

Dale took me out friday night on a dinner cruise to celebrate our 15 year anniversary (Believe it or not, we were the veteran married couple on the cruise!) Anyway, back to my miracle...The performance began, first a birthday song and then a few oldies, THEN, the music started for the next performance. I completely cut Dale off in mid sentence (sorry sweetie) and said "Thats it!! thats my song!!!" He looked at me very puzzled, "THIS is THE song!?!?!" (Over the years I have been the music officianado for our relationship) ..he was completely confused...He then told me not only the ARTIST, but the TITLE of the song! (He RARELY can pull that kind of knowledge out of thin air for any old song) He was baffled by the fact that I had never heard this song, and I was baffled by not only the fact that he knew it, but that such a GREAT song had gone unheard of by ME! so here it is..give it a listen and then let me know if you knew the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B6OVkLlyuA


I can say that this has NEVER happened to me before, a song that has been covered by everyone from Elvis, to the Jonas brothers to David Archuletta yet *I* didn't know it! I have to be honest, when I first heard the song, I was baffled that such a great song wasn't famous! I thought I had just heard the next greatest hit!

Thoughts

"...We share a desire to be better...."

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us, along the way towards becoming like him."

"The greatest Joys and the greatest Sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The Joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own, that is what love is. And the sorrows come primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."

-Henry B. Eyring

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God"-The Savior, Jesus Christ

With my knee healthy enough to exercise, I have continued my daily routine of 30 minutes on the treadmill to think, ponder, meditate and try to sort through all the information coming at me from the previous day. Coming out of conference weekend means that my brain is reeling with information that I am processing. (and I haven't even watched saturday's talks yet!)

Today my thoughts centered around Henry B. Eyring's thoughts. He started by expressing that all gathered had a "shared desire to be better". I love to remind myself of that, that most of the people we come into contact with are trying to be better. Some people try different methods of bettering themselves, but in the end we all share that goal of trying to better ourselves.

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us toward becoming like the Savior" When I was a kid, love seemed constant and unshakeable. It didn't matter what happened to me, I loved unceasingly, sometimes at my own peril. I loved everyone and everyone was "good". Dale's grandma shared a story about her kids: "A primary teacher commented to my son that his little brother had pretty blue eyes, the boy replied "I still have to hit him" ...as I have matured in love I have come to realize that the beauty of people is still inside them and I still love them no matter what, but that doesn't change the fact that I still have to protect myself and keep a safe distance.
I also love this quote by President Eyring because so often life always come back to love for me. I am too young to be a hippy, but I always think a little love is the answer to any ill. A pretty standard response in our house to a fight is that the offenders have to hug...after a long enough hug the anger subsides and we try to resolve their issues....

"The greatest Joys and the greatest Sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The Joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own, that is what love is. And the sorrows come primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."
What more can I add to this quote?

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God"-The Savior, Jesus Christ

Can you imagine being in a place where we all feel love freely as a child does? A place where we do not have to protect ourselves from hurt and pain and torment? Yesterday we were weeding with the kids and I kept trying to imagine how beautiful a garden would be without weeds or thorns.(or in this case, the weeds that had thorns!) I cannot imagine that garden and I surely cannot imagine the kingdom of God. I do know that glimpses of the Kingdom of God are found around little children, and in our teenagers.