Summer In Utah

I have certainly had one of the busiest Spring seasons ever!  Beginning with a trip to Florida to sell the Condo in Destin (sigh...yes, had to go since Utah is about 2,000 miles away and I couldn't find a reliable manager). I listed the condo on a Friday, flew down on Saturday had a cash offer on Wednesday and flew back the following Saturday! That certainly was a whirlwind trip.

I will miss this view, but plan to make a yearly trip down to enjoy the beach...probably in October when it is still warm and most of the tourists have left.

Just before I left for Florida, I had made an offer on a lovely three bedroom Townhome in Ogden.  As soon as I returned from selling the condo, we closed on the town home and closed on it shortly after.

But, before we could move, we made a lovely trip to Italy (see previous posts) with my son Charles.  It was fantastic.  So we were out of town from April 9-about the 16th.  We moved into the new town home on April 26th!  We are located at the mouth of Ogden Canyon with a beautiful view of the mountains, and we are within 15 minutes of great skiing and snowshoeing.  In the summer there are great activities all over Ogden and Snowbasin, so it is a great place to live.

I love sitting on the porch and looking at the mountains..The weather here is amazing and we are right next door to the Ogden Botanical Gardens and the River Walk.

The Ogden River is a lovely crystal river running over rocks and full of trout!

I am going to have to learn to fly fish soon.

The house is perfect for us with a huge master bedroom (which I kept beach themed)  a room for the girlies to spend the night, and a room for Kevin's Man Cave!

I have just enough room to plant some lovely flowers and plants out front and a nice patio out back where we can grill out with family.

After moving in the end of April, I took a flight back to Macon, Georgia to watch my Grandson Eric graduate from high school.  It is hard to believe 18 years have passed since he was born and we moved to Macon.  Time certainly does fly.  I spent five days in Macon before flying home on May 20th.

On May 28th, Melanie, Aaron and the girls and Kevin and I loaded up our cars and headed for Seattle, where we would depart for an Alaskan Cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas.  What a lovely and exciting time we had!

We spent one night in Seattle after returning from Alaska before heading home to Utah.

I have finally been home for longer than a week now, and am enjoying my new home here.  I plan to take up painting again (mountains and trees now rather than seascapes) and connecting with people in the community.

Summer means lots and lots of fresh veggies here in Utah and RASPBERRIES galore!  Stay tuned for some great recipes.

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda

Plotting The Next Great Adventure

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the WIDTH of as well." Diane Ackerman

It is time to start planning the next great adventure. Will we go at Thanksgiving, Christmas or after the first of the year. Undecided as yet. Where to go...hmmmmm.
To the warm and sunny tropics, to the frozen north? Somewhere in the middle?

I never tire of traveling, of meeting new people from different places all over the country and the world. It really has become a small world. We have talked about going to Ireland at some point, land of my husband's heritage. I have never traveled in Ireland, but did "land" there once for refueling, and flew over the beautiful and exceptionally green countryside with its rock walls and sheep. I think hubby is actually interested in the Pub Crawl however, and I am not really a drinker, or an eater since I began this diet!

I absolutely love anything to do with water, oceans, lakes, rivers...all call to me, but especially the ocean. I really don't care whether it is the warm Caribbean, or the Pacific and on to Alaska. Of course, the Alaska thing is limited by the time of year...usually May to September. I would love to see Hawaii, having never been there, and if Hawaii, I would love to go in Winter when the great whales are there for mating season. I've been to Sea World, but that would be nothing compared to seeing the whales in their natural habitat.

My son Charles has a job which affords him constant travel. He goes to Hong Kong, and Italy and England on business...what fun.

I have been fortunate enough to see England, France, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. Not saying I wouldn't go back again though. I remember so vividly the very first time I stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Tears ran down my cheeks, because as a little girl growing up in Marbury, Maryland I never dreamed I would see this place I had visited in books.

It was an incredible experience visiting the Mayan Ruins in Tulum and Labadee Mexico. To hear so much about the Mayan history and culture who were there thousands of years before us. They were such an incredibly advanced civilization.

But, now it is time for yet another adventure. I will start searching out sites and tours and dreaming of the places I have not yet seen. Do you have dreams of places you wish to go? Don't wait...start planning now. Sometimes we get so busy "saving" for the future that we forget to "live" in the present.

As one anonymous author said, "Life is too short to eat vanilla ice cream and dance with boring men!" LOL...life is short...smell the roses and travel when you can.

RECIPE OF THE DAY

Since we are talking about travel today, how about a recipe with a "foreign" twist.
Winter is coming...

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
2 TBSP bread crumbs
1 TBSP Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teasp Dried Basil
1/2 teasp Onion Powder

1. Combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil, onion powder, and shape into TINY meatballs.

2. Saute meatballs until lightly browned in large soup pan, add
5 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup finely chopped or grated carrots

Bring to boil...add

1 Cup Orzo pasta (or other tiny pasta)
and COOK until nearly done...add

2 cups thinly sliced escarole or spinach and cook just until tender.

This is a lovely, light and delicious soup. It is a great way to get the spinach into your children, as they are fascinated with the tiny meatballs and pasta.

Eat UP!