Wednesday Snap Shot

Good morning! It feels good to get back into my normal routine again. Vacation was wonderful, but there's no place like home. :)

Our time away was a lot of fun. It was a total blessing to me. After the year I've had I wondered if I was going to be up to taking this trip. I still deal with some issues. At the end of March I turned down a birthday weekend getaway because I did not feel I was ready. So being able to do this trip was amazing in so many ways.

Most years we fly when we head south, but this year we decided to drive instead. Both my hubby and I love a good road trip. Our first stop was Sacramento, CA to see my daughter Emily, her hubby and our grandson. He's growing so fast and our one night stop there did not seem long enough. But we did soak up all the grandparent time we could.. 

 

We also spent one night with our daughter Leanne and her hubby Danny. They're such a fun couple to be with. I love seeing my children in happy marriages. They had just gotten a sweet new kitty to keep their other cat company.

The next morning we drove on down to Las Vegas. We enjoyed the beauty of California and Nevada as we made the drive. Saw hundreds of acres of orange trees, drove through the dessert and saw more windmills than I've ever seen in one area. We have them not far from us, but not anywhere near as many as we saw as we drove from Bakersfield into Nevada. 

 

And the scenery over the mountains and coming down out of the them and into Nevada was truly beautiful..

Hubby and I enjoy Las Vegas for the hot dry heat, time spent relaxing by the pool and soaking in the beautiful sunshine and endless buffets (this is definitely my hubby's favorite thing! :) and the sites of the city..

We also enjoy time spent with friends of ours. About 10 or 12 years ago we met a nice British couple who came to the same place we did each year. It so happened that we both planned our vacations at the same time. After a couple years we exchanged emails, phone numbers and addresses and began keeping in touch throughout the year. Now we make sure to plan our trips at the same time. Meeting up with them each year is a real highlight to our trip.

While we were there we did some exploring. We headed farther south to Laughlin Nevada and saw the Colorado River and looked around the town for a bit..

We also drove across the border into to Arizona, long enough to fill up on gas and then head back to our hotel.

When it came time for us to go we decided to do the trip back in one day. It was a very LONG day! We left the hotel at 1:00am and made it home to our house by 6:00pm.

When I started seeing the familiar sights of my own area such as the Columbia River and more green around me and fir trees I could not wait to get back to my little nest again. 

 

I spent the next couple days unpacking, doing laundry and catching up on missed sleep. It took me about 3 days to feel like myself again. But the trip was worth it.

Goals

The last couple of days I've been doing some spring cleaning.  My house really needed that fresh clean feel.  I've been slow to get back to this so it had been awhile.  It feels good to have the energy and enthusiasm to do this.  But, today I'm taking a break from the cleaning and my daughter Hannah and my grandchildren are coming for the afternoon.  So no other goals for today except to hug and love on some grandbabies! :)

Frugal Living
About a week before we left on vacation I started to notice little tiny sugar ants in my kitchen.  After a day or so there were many more and I could see where they were coming in.  I kind of panicked because there were a LOT of them.  I got online to see if I could find a remedy for them and I did.

Here is what I found:  Mix 3/4 part peanut butter and 1/4 part Borax (20 Mule Team Borax found in the laundry aisle of the store). I used 3T peanut butter and 1T Borax.  I ended up having more then I needed.  Next time I'll make a smaller batch. 

I took spoonfuls and put it on foil and set it where they were coming into the kitchen..

As I read online it said things may get worse before they get better and they were right.  In 24 hours I had a thick steady line of little ants going up and down the wall getting that peanut butter/borax mix.  I wondered if it was working.  In another 24 hours there were hardly any ants left.  

What I also read is that this mixture kills the whole colony when they take it back and that process can take a couple weeks as new ants hatch.  So patience is the key.  When I left for our trip there were still a few ants.  When I got home there were none.  They were all gone!  

It was an effective way to deal with my ant problem and it cost practically nothing.    

Steps, Steps, Steps

While on vacation I did get a lot of steps each day.  Not my 10,000 but more around 7000/8000 a day.  It seemed like a lot!  I felt sore muscles but I think that was also from the fact that I was swimming in the hotel pool each day and using muscles that had not been used for awhile. 

View from my Deck
The sun is just starting to light up the mountains across from me.  I love summer mornings and sunny days :)

Today's  High: 79     Low: 53

That is all for this week! Hope you are having a fantastic week!