Twisted Saguaros?

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards Cpaphil"

You know, after missing last week, I couldn't wait to grab some unusual postcards to share and see everyone's, but when life gets in the way, life gets in the way you know? ;-)

Anyway on way back here, I went to my favorite airport store inside the D gates in Phoenix, AZ and found several great postcards!

This one is about Saguaro Blooms, but look at that twisted one! That has to be at least 50 to 60 years old if it's blooming as it states on the back. (Hope you can see it) The blooms are beautiful!

State flower of Arizona: Saguaro Blossoms

"The extreme slow growing saguaro does not produce its first blossoms until it is seven to eight feet tall and fifty to sixty years old."

Photos by John Kamenchuk

Thank you Marie for hosting again!

Enjoy looking at all the postcards! I know I will!

Discovering America Winner

Hosted by "Vintage Postcard by Cpaphil"
I am still looking for unusual new postcards, when I came across this online. I'm sure many of you have heard of this contest, but this guy's picture won and became a postcard! How cool is that?

From Postcards.com
Marie, thank you for hosting again such a great meme!

Have a great FRIDAY everybody!

Happy May & Grand Canyon

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards CPAPHIL"
Happy 1st of May everybody!!!

When we moved from Arizona, my dh brought me a book of postcards of his work. Then, while unpacking, I found my small accordion of Arizona "must-see" places postcards. But now, of course I can't find them, so I'm sharing with you a book of postcards all about grand canyon. I only chose the cover as I really love it because of the purple coloring! Love purple!

Thank you for peeking at my chosen postcards today!

I Love Postcards!

Hosted by "Cpaphil Vintage Postcards"

This is my first weekly meme here on our family blog, but since I love postcards and I tend to send them to family members, I thought it more fitting here!

I don't have anything vintage, but I do love scoping out interesting and one of a kind type of postcards.

Like this one of a

SEADRAGON!

We recently enjoyed going to the Dallas World Aquarium and while we had to remind our children that they can only get T-shirts for a souvenir, I spotted this one at the entrance for only 50 cents !

This one is called the Leafy Seadragon or Phycodurus Eques

They are closely related to seahorses and pipefishes and live mainly in Southern Australian waters. On the tank they were in, the description stated that the mythical Chinese dragon features were gleaned from these species.

Isn't it unbelievable?

From afar, the tank looked like its full of floating seaweed leaves!

I like this meme, I hope to remember to keep joining in! I just sent off the other one of a great field of bluebonnets I found in a quaint hospital pharmacy to our niece in Utah. This one will go to my niece and nephew in California. I know they'll love it!

Mr. Man and Me

The Husband Meme

Leigh of Tales of Bloggeritaville, a fun, fun blogger I met through my tablescaping blog invited her friends to do this on their blogs.

She even gave it a cute twist... She answered the questions first then asked her hubby so I will do the same! You know just like in the gameshow "Newlywed Game".

After I answered each question, I asked Mr. Man the question. This should be a piece of cake right, we've had 12 married years and 3 dating years behind us.... My twist is that he got to see my answers then he answered the questions.

1. What is something your husband always says to you?

Love you, too!

Mr. Man's answer- "We'll see." (Ok, how could I have forgotten that? That is true!)

2. What makes your husband happy?

His "cheezburger" and tools. We call his IPod Touch "cheezburger" since he is easily entertained by the "I Can Has Cheezburger" program (LOL Cats).

Mr. Man's answer- "A good back rub" and my "cheezburger." (the man does love his massages)

3. What makes your husband sad?

Not having enough time to spend with us. He works graveyard and his schedule changes every 6 weeks.

Mr. Man's answer- "when my kiddos are sick." (Am I having an off day? He does get sad when the kids are sick)

4. What was your husband like as a teen?

His pictures looked great but he was shy though he was liked by one of the popular girls in his
highschool and she became his girlfriend for over a year.

Mr. Man's answer- "shy." (Ok, I feel better now that I got one right!)

5. How old is your husband ?

He is 38. We are 11 months apart so I should know this one.

Mr. Man's answer-"38" (I'm on a roll! Yeah! That would have been embarrassing if I missed this question, huh?)

6. What is his favorite thing to do?

Look up tools in the computer or refresh his music in his "cheezburger".

Mr. Man's answer- "Those are not my favorites. It might surprise you, but I really like to going to the movies with just you and I." (Gotta love a man who can pull that out of his hat, huh?) LOL

7. What does your hubby do when you're not around?

Catches up on sleep and waits for me to come back and wake him up. ;-) He works graveyard so my awake time is his sleep time.

Mr. Man's answer- "I rock out to my Eurodance music." (Whoa, how can I forget about that? "Brain", are you up there?)

8. If your husband becomes famous, what will it be for?

He will be known for his quiet generosity. Mr. Man doesn't like the pomp and circumstance of recognition for his kind deeds. I love that about him...

Mr. Man's answer- "Being friendly." (True that!)

9. What is your husband really good at?

Fixing things around the house. He has several and specialized tool bags to prove it! He even got me to buy into a rolling toolbox to house all of my scrapbooking doodads!

Mr. Man's answer- "Yeah, fixing things and figuring things out." (Sorry Leigh, he is great with a hammer. Now if I can only convince him to take his shirt off when he's fixing things...) ;-)

10. What is your husband not very good at?

Planning anything romantic. I don't mean he doesn't have any romantic bones in his body, he just doesn't like planning in advance for some quality cuddles. But ask him about hotels and restaurants and you've got his attention. How do you think I was able to hold on to him all this time?

Mr. Man's answer-"I'd have to agree with the romantic planning one and speaking in large groups of people." (Told ya! And who doesn't get scared speaking in public?)

11. What does your husband do for a job?

He fixes sick airplanes...

Mr. Man's answer- "I take things apart and put them back together everyday." (he loves planes so yes he enjoys his work. Like Leigh, I advised him to go for what he loves so he can find joy in it and not just endure it to pay the bills. He's done that too many times.)

12. What is your husbands favorite food?

Wow, I could honestly say I have no idea! He loves my cooking and never really complains, but if I have to choose, I'll have to go with creamed peas and potatoes and banana bread.

Mr. Man's answer- "Banana bread and mac-n-cheese. They can be in the same meal." (Is he hinting on something here, I just can't put my finger on it...) ;-)

13. What makes you proud of your husband?

That he is an incredibly patient, understanding and kind man. He may be shy but he can hold his head up high because of his great heart.

Mr. Man's answer- "I have a hard time holding a grudge." (True that, too!)

14. If your husband were a cartoon character, who would he be?

He's been called "Charlie Brown" because of his baby bald head when he was a baby, but I still see that in him. ;-)

Mr. Man's answer- "Homer Simpson; he may be incompetent but he keeps trying and likes to have fun." (I think Mr. Man is kidding... He better be! Not a fan of Homer one bit! But I guess I see that logic. LOL)

What do you think? Do you see the resemblance?

This character or this character?

This is a fun meme, thanks Leigh! If you join in make sure to let me know so I can come and see what your hubby is like. Of course, we can only perform such memes because our hubs are the greatest few in the world, right? Right!

My First Ever Thankful Thursday!

I found this at Jan's blog, so here goes nothing... I think it's so much fun!

• I'm THANKFUL for my internet back after 12 hours.
• I'm THANKFUL that my children are safe back home from school.
• I'm THANKFUL that I was kept safe walking to and from the store today.
• I'm THANKFUL that I have a great next door neighbor, Annette.
• I'm THANKFUL that I'm almost done with school.
• I'm THANKFUL that we have ice cream to pacify the kiddos.
• And lastly, I'm THANKFUL that I get to enjoy my dishes and add more with my uber clearance finds!

What are you THANKFUL for today?

A Meme for March

Ok, I know technically it is still February, but it's fun to do memes (Lara got me hooked!) so we will do another one, starting... Right now!

1. What do you do when you see a penny on the ground?

I pick it up. No penny is safe once they've been spotted. Unless of course it belongs to somebody, then I pick it up and give it back to the (careless, I mean poor) owner.

2. If you picked it up, where does it end up?

In a piggy bank or a jar for pennies. It depends really on who in our family found it first.

3. When you think of a penny, what's the first word you come up with?

"Penny!" (Don't you?)

4. Do you prefer shiny or patina'd pennies?

Patina'd; only because I know that there's a possibility that it may be an older penny. Those are cooler, especially the earlier ones- before the Lincoln Memorial

5. Do you collect them?

Yes, and save them and teach with them. My dh is the more avid fan of penny collecting. I go through them more for the older ones.

6. Do you clean them first?

No, not normally, but I did wash my dh's huge collection while I was bored one day waiting for my classes to start. I washed them all with bleach and proceeded to sort them by decades. Did I mention I was bored? (Yes, I did do some laundry, the dishes, made dinner and checked homeworks in between...)

7. What would you rather get for a lucky charm, a penny or a shamrock?

Honestly, a penny because I know its value and I feel lucky to have that extra ".01" spendable cash in my possession, lol!. A shamrock, what would that do but wilt on me. Who needs that?

Alright, it's your turn... Try it and see how many pennies you'll notice after this meme. What do you think inspired this meme, a penny of course!

A Romantic Meme

Another brilliant meme from Lara's blog.

1. Where did you and your husband (or boyfriend) meet?
San Jose, CA inside a Taco Bell. His friend and my friend flirted and next thing I know, we were sitting next to them at a booth and then talking at the nearby park!

2. How long before you kissed?
About after our third date; a stolen one. Then, after a month, we went up to Highway 9, and talked about where we're headed with all these dates, since I already have a kid and all, I wasn't comfortable acting like a highschool girl on a date (though I loved it, he was hot!) It turned out we liked each other a lot so we sealed it with a kiss.

3. Who kissed who first?
He stole one from me; I was adamant that we weren't dating and I guess it was his way of telling me otherwise. It was quite flattering. After a month, it was mutual.

4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged?
2 years + 9 months

5. How did he propose?
Actually, if we want to be technical, when we were dating for six months, he knew he wanted to marry me, but my "single mom" adventures kept getting in the way. No, I don't mean L-Infinity, it's the people around L and I that made our dating difficult.
On July 31, 1996, he calls and offered to take me to work, but we stopped at his house first. He had to look for something which took long enough to threaten my work schedule. Then he asked if he can show me something- we ended up at our favorite park in a nearby city. He parked somewhere that overlooked a beautiful garden setting. He then asked me to help him look for his commuter mug. I found it under my seat; he asked me to open it and the ring box was in it.
When I saw the ring, I was speechless! But I also didn't try to say anything because on our 2-year dating anniversary, he gave me a promise ring and I didn't want to be presumptious. He took out the ring and asked me to marry him by saying my full name (though he won't admit to it) and, of course, I said yes! On our way to work, he treated me to a quick dinner and I was almost an hour late!
I got reprimanded, and then my manager asked why: all I could do was show him the ring. He paused and said, "Do not be late again. Congratulations! Now let me see this ring."

6. Did he pick out the ring or did you?
He did; he designed it for me. I wasn't a "big ring" kind of girl, so he designed this 14K yellow gold solitaire setting for a 1/4 carat diamond with one small diamond each on opposite side, diagonal to each other and the wedding band thinned out at the top with a graceful twist to hug under the diamond. It was perfect!

7. Do you still like the ring?
I do, but I lost it back in Mesa, AZ when I had strepthroat and fainted outside the urgent care after my exam. Someone from the ambulance or hospital staff must have taken it out of my finger just in case, but we couldn't remember who or when. I hoped that it was somewhere in the house.
I still miss it.... I was distraught over it for a long time, but then when we were packing to move to Texas and it still didn't turn up, he said that he'd rather lose the ring than me.
Then, on our eleventh year, on Valentine's Day, he replaced it with this...

It was his Valentine's Day gift for me! A beautiful 1/2 carat solitaire diamond on white gold surrounded by over twenty smaller diamonds. It's just beautiful! HE WENT TO JARED! He took me there to see if I can spot a similar ring to replace the original someday. I went through the whole store but didn't find anything that compared. Given, most were beautiful pieces, but I kept seeing the original wedding ring in my head that I wanted to cry... Then he says, "I know I can't replace that specific one, but what about this one?" and pulls out this gorgeous diamond studded band setting and asked me to choose a diamond for it. I couldn't contain myself; I was so nervous picking out a diamond, it took us another hour just to decide on one. There was a couple who were also upgrading their ring, and she told me, "get the biggest diamond honey and just pay it off slowly." Yeah right, lady! First of all this ring is already twice as thick as my original one, can you imagine it with a 2 carat bauble like the one she chose? (Hers was gaudy by the way, because she chose a big band filled with diamonds, but chose a bigger diamond that covered most of the ring! Ugh!!!)
The lady who set and cleaned my ring, called me about a delay but ended the phonecall with "we are all in awe of how beautiful this ring is! It's one of the most beautiful I've set, and I've been doing this for over twenty years!" It made the ring that much more special...

8. Where was your wedding and reception?
We were married in the Oakland temple, an hour and a half than our appointment because Mr. Man slept in! His parents wouldn't even wake him up for me. His mom said, "He has an alarm, I'm sure he set it. He'll wake up." This was 15 minutes before we were supposed to be at the temple and we were coming from San Jose- 1 hour away from Oakland! We also wed during one of October 1996's windy days! Mr. Man wanted my hair down... (you get the picture)
The reception was at our then future church ward. The carpet was perfect for our colors.

9. How many bridesmaids did you have, and who was your maid of honor?
MOH- My BFF Sheila in highschool; two bridesmaids- my SIL and Sis who refused to wear purple then saw the colors and said, "why didn't you just buy me a dress?"

10. What color were your bridesmaids dresses?
Purple

11. What was your bouquet made of?
White stargazer lilies, purple irises, lisianthus and ivy

12. Who gave you away?
No one; temple weddings do not practice such things. But I did seek the approval of my dad in the Philippines and asked my eldest brother to be there at my reception to stand in for him.

13.Did you cry during your wedding?
During the ceremony, yes! The whole time! I barely acknowledged anybody in the room.

14. What style was your dress?
It was something that a tall wide person would look good in; I thought it looked good as an alternate to my dream dress, but even my MIL said, "That looks too big on you, C!" Let's just say I wouldn't ignore the possibility of offering it in FreeCycle.

15. Was your wedding kiss sweet or sexy?
Honestly, I don't remember if we kissed or not. But if we did, I'm sure it was sweet, Charlie's very appropriate.

16. Who caught your bouquet?
One of my highschool friends; though Lisa was knocked down during that.

17. What flavor was your cake?
German Chocolate with buttercream frosting. It was delish! I insisted on it.

18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?
Nicely; Mr. Man wouldn't have done that to me. I think I smeared some on his face though. LOL

19. What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding?
Last minute, I didn't want to use any of the songs we've exchanged with each other, so I started looking for something different. I heard Mariah Carey's "When I Saw You" and it was perfect!

20. What did you serve your guests to eat?
His mom and some RS ladies took care of the food. All I remember is how much grapes we were able to enjoy on our first night together because they packed a big picnic for us since I was starved at my own wedding reception!

21. What did your friends do to decorate your car?
They trashed it with soap, cookies, lotion and whatever else that we couldn't even see out the windows! We spent our route to the wedding night suite in the car wash three times!

22. What was your favorite wedding gift?
My mom's wedding dress fund for me- $1000! (Too bad, I didn't get to use it on my actual dream dress...) Mr. Man loved the toaster oven that my work crew from another building pooled money for. I was their favorite Engineering Assistant Tech.

23. What was the worst wedding gift you got?
I don't know, I thought all were so cute and generous at the time...

24. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Disneyland; we spent three nights at this Best Western that overlooked Anaheim from the Honeymoon suite. It was very romantic.

25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding? A lot! Read "Different Is Good". You'll know why... But despite all of the mishaps, once we realized we were married, things just became something to "laugh at".