Tag: family (page 4 of 13)

June 21, 2015 / 0 Comments

Happy Father’s Day

Over the last few years there has been a serious wave of superhero movies. Maybe it is because we are living in a time where we desire the need for a superhero to make us feel safe. Maybe there has always been this need to know that we have a guardian looking out for us and he/she takes their manifestation in the guise of a superhero figure. I think that superheroes do exist and walk amongst us. I think that for the most part they are the every man; but to someone or some people in particular there is nothing every day about them.

That is the case with my dad. He is my superhero. He is one of the hardest working men that I know. Yet, he still appreciates the little things. He stops to watch a sunset, a deer cross through a cornfield, the birds eating seeds from one of the feeders. He always compliments my mom and my sister and I (even though we are married ladies). He’s a wonderful chef. He makes the best cheeseburgers known to man and his lasagna and meatballs are to die for! He is a non-complainer; a gentlemen through and through. He has a tender heart, but a strong will.

Not everyone is blessed with a dad like mine, not everyone is blessed with a superhero. I’m lucky; I am.

Happy Father’s Day Dad! I love you.

May 10, 2015 / 1 Comment

Happy Mother’s Day

The kisser of boo-boos; the maker of pancakes; the whispered words that banish bad dreams; the cool fingers that ease a fever; the hands that hold, soothe and dry tears; the lips that kiss, that speak words of love and encouragement. The ears that hear what is being said and often what is left unsaid. The arms that offer hugs when no one else’s arms will do. The smile that let’s you know that everything will be okay. All these things and so much more only begin to scratch the surface of what it means to be a Mama.

My Mom holds all these qualities and so much more. Through the miracle of invention, I get to speak to her every day, even though we are thousands of miles away. I think so often of those brave pioneers who stepped up onto their wagons and set off down a road that would lead them so far away from their families, that they might never see them again. Occasionally we have the chance to Skype before I leave for work. After that I am set for my day. It doesn’t matter what else happens from that point forward, I have seen her face and all is right with the world. We laugh, we have our “little” secrets, we enjoy each other’s company.

I see the same thing between my gorgeous sister and my sweet pea of a niece. Even though she is still itty bitty, they laugh together, they have their own language, they share looks, they have their own little jokes and things they do to tease one another.

We are blessed to have Mothers, GREAT Mothers. Not everyone can say that. I’m very lucky, I can say that! I have a wonderful Mother and a sister who is a wonderful Mother too. Moms are often under appreciated. It is the hardest, at times least rewarding, non-paid job there is. But, it is an important job. Jacqueline Kennedy said once, that “if you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.” I think that is so true. You are shaping someone’s life in your hands. Being a parent is an important job and we should celebrate Mom’s, not just today, but everyday.

Happy Mother’s Day to two of the most important women in my life. Like all good Moms I have more than two women in my life who have guided me and celebrated my ups and downs, have been my cheerleaders and confidantes and I celebrate them as well. I love you all.

February 22, 2015 / 0 Comments

The Lion Dance

Chinatown is an area I criss-cross through often when I’m traveling here and there in London. Yesterday, while going to pick up a goat good luck charm for the Chinese New Year, we happened upon the lion dance.

This is one of my favourite things to see! Every year, usually by chance, we come across this tradition being performed. There are two performers inside of the costume (which is how you know it is a lion and not a dragon dance) and they go from door to door performing “cai qing” which translates to, “plucking the greens”. The lion dances around the doorway where the greens are hung, moving cat like backwards and forwards, or bending low as if hunting prey and slowly works his way up to pulling the greens down.

Occasionally we’ve seen a shop put out oranges on a small table to which the lion happily gobbles up. Yesterday one store on the second floor placed their greens, tied to a stick, out through the window. The acrobatic team worked with each other, standing on shoulders and stretching the lion’s neck, they plucked the greens from the second story window, to the delight of all of us below. There was a lot of cheering.

As we headed out through the gates, the Hippodrome Casino was handing out fortune cookies to advertise their business. Unfortunately, the fortune inside wasn’t a fortune, but was another form of advertisement for a big gaming event. But, Mr. Michie didn’t know that, he only saw the side written in Mandarin.

I told him it was I good thing that I could read Mandarin, to which he just stopped and looked at me with raised eyebrows. With a smile, he asked me what the fortune said, to which I replied that it said: “Help! Help! I’m trapped in a fortune cookie factory!” to which we both busted out laughing.

That is a very old joke, but it never gets old! When we were little and would go out for Chinese food with my grandparents and it came time for the fortune cookies to be passed out, we would go around the table and everyone would read their fortune. My Grandpa, would always say:, “Oh, No! You’ll never believe this, my fortune says: Help! Help! I’m trapped in a fortune cookie factory!” to which everyone around the table would bust out laughing and there would be a short pause while my sister and I puzzled this one out for a second! He was a great teaser!

Oh, to be little again! I’m happy that we had the good fortune to see the lion dance again this year, it is always magical to share in this experience.

November 30, 2014 / 0 Comments

The First Sunday of Advent

The house has been filled with the sounds of Christmas music today. The candles are lit, the pumpkin pie has been baked, fresh vanilla whipped cream is in the fridge and the turkey is in the oven along with carrots which are roasting in an orange juice and brown sugar glaze.

The mashed potatoes are being kept warm and the stuffing and other sides are in their final stages as well. We are celebrating Thanksgiving today. Work has kept us from celebrating it sooner as Mr. Michie had a late school night on Thursday and a school commitment yesterday as well. So today is our Thanksgiving with each other. We have had a quiet day, which is something that doesn’t happen often, I have loved it!

On this first Sunday of Advent we are celebrating love, family, a roof over our heads, food on our table and the blessings of the Season.

{Image Pinned HERE}

November 27, 2014 / 0 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, filled with love, laughter and many blessings. Jennifer x

{image found}

August 4, 2014 / 0 Comments

An Ice Cream Sandwich

I split a brown sugar cookie peach ice cream sandwich with my sister at the Farmer’s Market this weekend. It was delicious!

The ice cream was made at Native Spring Farm. If you visit the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market in Virginia, be sure to check them out!

January 30, 2014 / 2 Comments

Reading

I LOVE to read! Although my journey in the morning and home at night is a bit lengthy, reading keeps me busy. I go through at least one book a week! I finished a book yesterday morning (a truly delicious read that I will share with you in due course) and started a James Patterson book that I had stuck in my bag on my travels home last night. I finished it 5 minutes into my last train home tonight and just sat in my seat, silently watching the world go by in a blur of lights. This book touched my heart. It is called Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.

It is bittersweet, but filled with love and hope and kindness and wisdom and joy. For however brief the moments that we share with someone we are lucky to have shared them!

Suzanne writes in her diary the “lesson of the five balls”. While recuperating from a heart attack one of her doctor friends tells her this story and it goes like this:

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

Balance is something that I strive for. I am enjoying my new position, but work is not the be all and end all. Don’t work so hard to create a life that you can’t even stop to enjoy. Make sure you tell the one you love that you love them for time is precious and slips through our fingers like water.

January 15, 2014 / 0 Comments

Nothing More

Last night we started catching up with a few of our shows that we missed just before Christmas. One of them being NCIS. This song was used at the end of their Christmas episode and it just seemed fitting.

It is by a band called The Alternate Routes. And the song is simply titled “Nothing More”. For as the lyrics state: “We are how we treat each other and Nothing More”. For reasons of my own this week, this song just spoke to me.

Happy Wednesday!

January 8, 2014 / 0 Comments

The Immensity of the Universe

The universe is indeed immense, yet at the same time it is as small as a drop of morning dew. We are separated, yet we are all connected, like the evening stars, whether they are still burning bright or have left us in a blaze of sparks.

The nighttime sky forever dimmed where they once shone. No longer burning bright, but never forgotten. The little pocket where they once existed will never be the same again, but imagine how sad it would be if the star was never there to begin with, to never have illuminated the sky with all its glory? I would rather know it once shone so bright, than never glowed at all.

{image found via The Tiny Aviary}

October 26, 2013 / 0 Comments

Pie

I’ve been thinking a lot about pie at the moment. Part of that is down to a book I have been reading and part of that is a bit of me longing for another road trip.

I had possibly the greatest road trip of my life with my Mom this Summer. We travelled from Indiana to Virginia to see my sister and over the course of our two day road trip we went through the heart of Amish country. That was all down to my Mom and Dad’s insightful planning so we wouldn’t bypass anything and I would have ample opportunity to snap away. My parents are always more than helpful, often slowing down or even turning around the car for me to get a shot I’m after.

Our stop going was in SugarCreek, but coming home we stopped at Walnut Creek. it is set farther back from the highway and has much more of a town feel, as the hotel we stayed in, was within the heart of this quaint place.

We ate dinner at the restaurant that night and each got a slice of pie for dessert. I love pie! I am a pie girl, well I am really any kind of dessert girl. There is something so wholesome about an old-fashioned iced cake or a big slice of pie, stuffed high with filling or mountains of whipped cream on top.

This particular evening I was in a cream pie mood and so, I ate, what I think was the best slice of chocolate cream pie of my life. The crust was flaky and tender, the filling had set up perfectly and the chocolate was just the right amount of sweet and oh, the whipped cream, it was pillowed on so high I could imagine little Renaissance cherubs nestled in its folds.

The weather has changed, Fall is here, tonight we turn back our clocks and evening will creep in earlier. The leaves are turning red, orange and golden hues. I know the leaves are changing in Walnut Creek, I know that soon it will be time for pumpkin pie and steaming hot coffee.

I could be with my Mom today. I could see the leaves change in Ohio. I could ride those backroads with her, past the corn fields and pumpkin patches, past the white clapboard farmhouses with the tidy yards and the telltale black and deep blue clothes hanging from the porch line. Past the cows and pigs and sheep. Past the maple syrup farm and the little dirt road with the old wooden sign leading you to the “sugar camp”, over the hills, being careful of buggies and the Amish who are riding bikes or walking, to this restaurant.

This beacon of happiness that sells pretty much every pie imaginable and we would sit and we would chat and we would laugh and drink sweet tea and eat pie and just be happy to be in each other’s company, because that is what pie is all about!

Road Trip {part 1}
Road Trip {part 2}