This morning I put on my big, furry white robe and went on the back patio to sip a cup of my favorite hot chocolate, Caotina. I've been a total hot chocolate snob since I discovered it in Switzerland a few years ago. I love to mix it with a little peppermint-flavored cream. Yum!
Welcome October.
This charming house with the bright red door in upstate New York 
With this backyard
Am I asking too much?
Canada and upstate New York was the chosen location for the inaugural soul trip. I went to Niagara Falls, explored Ontario, visited all the church history sites and toured some beautiful estate homes and gardens – it was heavenly. The leaves were starting to change color, it was cool enough to wear a sweater, the air was crisp and I got to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. It was so delightfully selfish!
This is the first vacation I’ve taken by myself but it definitely won’t be the last. I LOVED it! After 30 years, I’m still learning new things about me, such as:
1. Sometimes I like not knowing where I’m going. Roaming is a lost art, especially in my crazy structured world. On my trip, I found myself crossing every bridge I saw – it didn’t matter that I had no idea where it would take me. Some of my favorite moments were driving along picturesque tree-lined country roads that I just happened to stumble across.
2. Miles of open space, tall trees, flower gardens, quaint Main Streets and other characteristics of small town country living resonate well with this city girl. Very well. I frequently think a change of residency may be in my future.
3. I love being alone. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be the single lady everyone wonders about forever. But I do find solitude liberating and truth be told, I really like myself. I highly recommend everyone take a vacation alone once in a while. I know it’s a little more expensive, but it’s worth every penny in my opinion.
Speaking of pennies, my sister claims to have a variety of sneaky discount codes guaranteed to get the cheapest hotel rates so she was charged with finding my hotels for this little trip. While she did manage to save me some money, she also put me up in some very questionable venues. My hotel in Canada was neighborhood by a Haunted House. A Dracula looking character in front said “Waaa, Waaa, Waaa” every time someone walked by. It was funny the first few times. On the other side of the hotel was an adult store. Thanks Kim. I guess I’ll have to increase your budget for the 2010 soul trip.
So, where should I go? Any suggestions?
Here’s a few photos of Canada and New York. It’s so beautiful. You should all be jealous of my trip.
Every summer for the past five years, Kristen and I head to Laguna Beach for our annual Pageant of the Masters trip. It's one of my favorite traditions. Here's the quick rundown of our 2009 trip.
Friday – shopping at South Coast Plaza. We have to visit all the stores we don't have in Vegas: Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Paper Source, etc. We ate soup in bread bowls for dinner – it was only 67 degrees so we were chilly. But not too chilly to try Pinkberry, a high recommended frozen yogurt store. It was the perfect dessert.
Saturday – breakfast on the patio at our traditional venue, The Cottage, a vintage, home-style restaurant built in 1917. It's right on PCH so we can smell the ocean air and feel the coastal breeze while inhaling absurd amounts of food. It’s heavenly. After breakfast, we went straight to the beach so I could show off my food baby (i.e. the pregnant look I get after inhaling absurd amounts of food) in a swim suit – my favorite! I lounged on the beach for a few hours reading Real Simple. Then Kristen and I decided to go for a swim. We jumped over the waves, dived into the waves and got thrown around by the waves. It hurt. We’re too old for that craziness. After several hours, we left the beach and headed to Pinkberry for sampling #2. After eating our treats (in our sand-filled swimsuits), we headed to the hotel to get cleaned up for our big night out. We grabbed a quick dinner and went to our fabulous show. After the show, we made a midnight run to CVS for aloe vera. Yep, we were sunburned. It wasn’t pretty.
Sunday – more shopping (IKEA, Fashion Island, Rogers Gardens, etc) and a stroll around charming Balboa Island. Before leaving town, we stopped at Pinkberry for sampling #3. We’ve decided that a daily trip to Pinkberry adds to our happiness.
Kristen drove home while I watched episodes of Gilmore Girls from season one on my portable DVD player. How did I miss Gilmore Girls when it was on TV? The witty dialog is truly delightful.
Anyway that sums up the trip. I want to go back.
Here’s a few photos from our trip.
Kristen playing in the waves
My sunburn line. Yes, that’s my skin. Aren’t you glad I cropped that image?
Balboa Island lifestyle shots 
The first weekend of August, all the family headed to “Hughesville” for the annual family reunion. This year was a true fiesta complete with popular Mexican dishes, sombreros, games, candy-filled piñatas and an impromptu performance of the Macarena. Always a big crowd pleaser.
More than 200 people attended – 36 from our immediate family. With Kristy and most of her family there, the Rathje’s almost surpassed Dillard population. We were just two people shy. Drat!
Dust covered kids, smores, seeing my Dad in a sombrero, sleeping on the couch bed with the kids and Wes pouring water down my shirt at the family dinner are just a few of the highlights. Our family really knows how to fiesta.
Seven years ago today, Tate was born.
Tye didn't know what to think about his new little brother. He just wanted to wear his straw cowboy hat and run around on his stick pony, which he did everywhere including the halls of the hospital. We made him stop to take this picture but he wouldn't smile. 
I love those two rascally boys.
Happy birthday Tate!
I saw these chairs and immediately fell in love with them. Two of them are now sitting on our cabin’s deck. Last weekend I sat in one of the chairs and rocked back and forth enjoying the crisp 60-degree weather, scenic mountain views and a good book – "The Noticer," a quick read about the importance of perspective. All of us ought to pause once in a while and just stop and think. … We are prone to talk too much and do too little. I think it is a wonderful thing to just indulge once in a while in moments of introspection and see what we are doing with our lives and what contribution we are making and where we could do a little better than we are now doing. I feel we would all benefit from that. ("Inspirational Thoughts,” Ensign, April 2002).
Nine years ago today, I wrote in my journal that Kim and Wes had a “tiny, perfect baby boy.” I can’t believe it has been nine years.
Happy birthday Tye! We all love you so much.
18 eggs
6 boxes of cookies
4 rolls of toilet paper
3 boxes of cereal
3 deodorants
2 tubes of toothpaste
2 containers of Mac-n-Cheese
1 bottle of pasta sauce
1 gallon of milk
All this for only $18.06. I love Grocery Smarts! A great big thank you to my dear friend and Grocery Smarts coupon connoisseur, Kristen.
Does anyone want to come over for some cookies?
Every year I like to visit somewhere I’ve never been before. This year it was Chicago. I love architecture, scenic landscapes and history – Illinois has all that, and more!
We did an architecture tour, walked around Millennium Park, meandered through the gallery at The Art Institute, discovered Fannie May (my new favorite chocolate store) and went to see Mary Poppins, which featured the original Mary and Burt from the Broadway cast. It was fabulous.
We drove south to visit the various Abraham Lincoln memorials in Springfield. We visited his tomb, toured his home and went to the Abraham Lincoln Museum.
While touring the museum, I learned that Abraham Lincoln was highly persecuted for signing the Emancipation Proclamation and was repeatedly advised to recall the proclamation. His simple response, “I am a slow walker, but I never walk backward.”
This proclamation became a milestone in the abolition of slavery and is now considered one of the great documents of human freedom.
My sister and her family came down from Wisconsin to entertain me the last few days of my trip. We went to Navy Pier to ride the Ferris wheel, play in the silly mirrors and enjoy a high speed boat ride on Lake Michigan. We also played a round of miniature golf. Watch this video of Taylor playing golf. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear her say she’s going to win. Tate’s response: “how are you going to win if you can’t even hit the ball?”
Kim’s kids love to swim so of course we went swimming – twice. Following tradition, Kim and Wes sat in the hot tub while I swam around in the big pool with the three kids.
On my last day there, we went to Arlington Park to watch the horse races. The venue was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The races were exciting. The kids were happy (until Taylor spilt Tate’s popcorn).
It was a wonderful trip. I enjoyed Chicago and would happily return another time.
