~ New year... new opportunities! ~

 Hello friends,
Can you believe how quickly the new year is approaching?
Never in all my years, can I remember a year that has gone by as quickly as this past year.
Maybe it's getting older..... I've often heard that as we age, time goes by faster.
Hmmmm.... it's something to consider ....
I have big plans for the coming year.

 In years past I've tentativly made 'New Years' plans, or resolutions, whatever term you want to use.
But, last year I put 8 strips of paper rolled up in a tiny little bottle.
Eight resolutions for the new year.
A few days ago, I took the cork out of that tiny little bottle and I read over my goals for this past year.
Happily, I accomplished each of my eight goals!
Maybe there was a little genie magic in that little bottle!
 What ever it was, having that little bottle filled with those slips of paper was just the reminder and just the motivation that I needed to work on my goals this last year.
Guess what? Tommorrow night, I'm going to write down some new goals for the coming year on little strips of paper and put those little written reminders in my teeny little bottle.
  Just a little reminder in the coming year of the things I want to work on.

 Also, I took a few minutes and downloaded some pictures off of my little camera:
* Deer in the meadow. They are still digging through the snow and munching on a few of the pumpkins left over from Halloween.

 *Pictures snapped on the way back home from Santa Fe.
In the Monument Valley area of Utah.
Gorgeous red rocks.

 * Near Moab Utah.
Love the turquoise color of these rocks.

*Hole in the rock.
Gosh... we should have stopped.
I saw a sign here advertising  ~ Camel Rides.
Oh well.... maybe next time.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!!
Hope that this one is the best New Year yet.

~Reasons to smile today...
~The days are getting longer now, and that means more sunshine each day!  Perfect for a girl like me that is 'solar powered'!
~ Having my sweet husband home for a few weeks. Nothing better than spending time with my best friend and sweetheart!
~Buying paint and trim... getting an office and the family room re~painted and decorated. Love the fresh clean feel of a newly painted space :)

* Merry Christmas*

  My Christmas wish : Peace, Happiness and Health for each of you.
       Enjoy this wonderful season filled with blessings.

  See you all in the new year!

  {{hugs}} ~ Kerin

* Santa Fe, New Mexico, & Snow *

 Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Have you ever been?
My daughter and I just returned from a trip to Santa Fe.
It was on our bucket list.
I joked that crossing off that item on our bucket list, almost caused me to "kick the bucket"!

 We left on a snowy morning, at 4:00 am, for what was supposed to be a 10 hour drive.
We spent about an hour and a half at a Denny's waiting for the snow to stop falling and for visibility to increase.
Finally, after talking with some truck drivers that were headed up this same canyon, we decided to get going again.
Bad decision.
We slid off the road and into the emergency lane, and gratefully, we did not slide off into the barrow pit!
Let me tell you, it was scary and tense!
That canyon drive, which was about 100 miles long took us hours and hours and hours to get through.
At one point, we were pushing the car up the mountain road, in the snow.
We didn't see a single plow, and as you can see by the picture above, even semis with chains on their tires were sliding off the road.
Frightening, to say the least.
Finally, we got up through the canyon, and on the other side of the canyon the roads were wet, but not snowy, and we got on our way.

 We finally got to Santa Fe 16 hours later. It was dark in Santa Fe when we finally made it there.
The next morning, we went sight seeing, and exploring.
In the snow.
It snowed in Santa Fe almost the entire time we were there.
It was beautiful though, and with the luminaries glowing at night, it looked magical.

 The two above pictures are from the old square.

 Our beautiful daughter, Brooke.
We had breakfast at a little place and watched it snow in Santa Fe.

 A snowy view.

 A snowy street, and a view of the cathedral.

 Another view of the cathedral.

 Shop windows decorated for Christmas, in silver and golds.

 We spent a morning at the Farmers Market.
That was so much fun, and definitely worth visiting.

 Decorated chili ristras.

 All kinds of treats and pastries.
Many pastries included green chilis

 More of the market...

 another view of the market....

 inside the market....
lots of wonderful venders and goods.

Handmade grass baskets.

I bought one of the grass baskets.
Truly beautiful craftsmanship!

~ Some of the market pictures are from Google images, as it was windy and snowy on the day that we went, and unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures..
Anyway, you can see how the market is set up and how many wonderful booths there are to shop at.

We ended up cutting our trip short, because of storms and road conditions. If we had stayed for our entire planned time, we would have gotten stuck for another week and that would have been a very bad thing. Our daughter has a kidney transplant and has to take anti rejection meds 2 x a day.
Of course, she packed extra, but not another weeks worth.
So, we ended up getting up at 3:30 am Sunday morning, and driving back home.
Gratefully, the roads were safe, even though they were snowy in places, and we made it back home in about 10 hours.

We loved visiting Santa Fe, and we are planning another trip there for next year.
We will not go in December, however..... **smile**!

If you've been to Santa Fe, then you know how beautiful it is, and if you've never been, I would add it to my bucket list if I were you.

One thing.. I wanted to buy chili ristras and never had a chance to, so I found a great company on line that sells chili ristras, dried chilis etc..
Just in case you want to buy your own chili ristra here is their link :http://www.newmexicochileandristra.com/


What ever plans you have, or where ever you may be traveling, I wish you safe travels and a very healthy and Merry Christmas!!
~ Attitude of gratitude:

* I am eternally grateful for answered prayers!! I know many prayers were said on our behalf as we traveled to Santa Fe, and I know that we were blessed beyond measure.
We arrived safely, and traveled home safely.
* I am grateful for our daughter!! She is an amazing, intelligent woman. I awarded her " Best driver in the Family" after she drove for a total of 27 hours on icy, snowy, slick roads and on a route that we have never ever been on before!! Amazing!!
* We are so grateful to be back home, with our family, and blessed to celebrate this wonderful time of year.
* Grateful for Christmas, and all that it means.