A Get Away

It's Thankful Thursday and once again I am reminded of all the blessings in my life. How about you, do you stop and reflect on all those wonderful blessings in your life? Today I am so excited because tomorrow we head out to one of our all time favorite places-Carmel Valley. I've always thought it was so beautiful, but the main reasons it is one of my all time favorite places is that my dearest friend, my bff who I went to high school with, and her hubby live in the mountains above Carmel Valley. This is similar to the view from their beautiful home.  I used to call it my mountain retreat-because you literally drive up this two lane road and you sit on top of an expanse with views that go on and on.  There is even a private, very exclusive and expensive golf course up on top of the mountain too; hubby has played there once and loved it.  The reason we are headed out is that Dave is having a birthday tomorrow and we are going to surprise him with a weekend visit.  My girlfriend, Aletha has know about this for about six months and we can't wait to spend time together.  These friends were the couple that came and stayed with us last summer.  We had a blast together!

This trip will help hubby hold on a little longer(not liking the cold winter here)-seeing the ocean always renews his spirit.  For me, while I love the ocean, it is the mountains that call to me-so we get a bit of both on this trip.  Unfortunately the weather hasn't been as mild as usual, so we may just end up staying in all weekend(other than a birthday dinner) playing cards and watching football. I'm sure Aletha and I will get into Carmel and walk around; this is something we always do.
The photos above are not mine, but they remind me so much of my FIL's oil paintings-he loved Carmel and while we have several seascapes of his, we don't have any with Cypress trees in them.
I will try to post if I'm able, but don't hold your breath-we will be having too much fun with them.

I'm going to walk today with Kam and Lexie in a bit and later drag hubby to Costco-I want to look at the carry on size suitcases; we have an old Eddie Bauer bag we use, it is good for road trips or camping but I want a studier suitcase that is the right size for carry on.  Hubby just doesn't know why we are going there later.  Today I have another sewing class with the grands; I ended up finding a pattern of a pot holder that I thought would be fun for the girls to make.  Yesterday the two grands decided to make book bags; they've made them before so it shouldn't be too hard. On Monday I got down to the sewing room to work on my squares.  Once we get back, I really need to focus and get more done as well as the block for the honor flight quilt.
That's about all that is going on here,  it is sunny but very windy today-ugh, I don't like walking in the wind.
I hope you have a day filled with laughter and smiles and a beautiful weekend.
Joy to you!
Noreen