Weekend in Pennsylvania

  

I love the little buggy for the kids!

Silos & rolling farmland all around

Who doesn't need bologna & brown eggs?!

Lititz, PA

learning to make pretzels

Wilbur Chocolate Company

Longwood Gardens

Philadelphia

  

 

Independence Hall

21 Suggestions for Success

21 Suggestions for Success

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery. 

2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent. 

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 

4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. 

5. Be forgiving of yourself and others. 

6. Be generous. 

7. Have a grateful heart. 

8. Persistence, persistence, persistence. 

9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary. 

10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated. 

11. Commit yourself to constant improvement. 

12. Commit yourself to quality. 

13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect. 

14. Be loyal. 

15. Be honest. 

16. Be a self-starter. 

17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong. 

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life. 

19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did. 

20. Take good care of those you love. 

21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

Birthday Surprise

Since I was in Nairobi for my actual birthday, dear, dear friends planned a surprise birthday celebration for me the following Saturday.  I was told to bring a swimsuit & that was all the details I got.  I was put on a train in Penn Station and left to guess where we could be going.  

The surprise was that they had rented a boat for us in Long Island!  It was the best surprise ever because the weather was perfect & the best New York people were with me. 

View of the City from the boat

Unplanned, everyone's towels were from recent travels (Bolivia & Turkey in this photo)!

Karolina & I were the two brave ones to jump in first!

Everyone had their own individual "birthday cake parfait"

Once in...we didn't want to get out.

Carlos preparing the dancing music.

It was THE most perfect day to be out on the water.

Karolina made a basil sangria that was amazing!

And the one who orchestrated my birthday being so special - Thank you James!

 Oscar almost killed us driving the boat, but we survived and it has left us with belly-aching, laughable moments to remember.  

Karolina made enough amazing food and drinks to feed an army of swimmers.  As we sat in the air-conditioned car on the ride back to the city, a little red from the sun, salty from the water, completely wind-blown and happy, we continued eating chicken legs, corn on the cob and fruit kebabs the entire way...until we exhaled, exhausted and smiling on the subway home.

How I spent my birthday & the weeks leading up to it.

 

 

 

 

NYC Saturday

So, these are just a tiny fraction of the photos I took on Saturday as I tried to learn to work with my camera.  It may not be obvious which of the photos go with the items from my last entry, but see if you can try...oh...the food photo is just because it was so darn beautiful...not one of the items on my list.

             

Photo Scavenger Hunt

As encouragement to get out & start learning my camera better, I requested two of my favorite people to send me a list of things that they wanted me to photograph today as I get out & explore with my camera.

This is the list they have assigned to me:

• Something small that would fit in our mailbox
• The essence of new York
• New York sports
• Broadway
• People in love
• Family
• Poverty
• Fashion
• Central park
• A tie to Indiana or Louisville
• From the bottom of a building looking up
• Big body of water
• Small body of water
• Something musical
• Some thing from a movie
• Graffiti
• Something Orange
• A bridge
• A taxi cab
• The letter m

I'm excited to share what I find.  I will post them soon, but for now, I'm off to go enjoy this gorgeous day!