Skiing trip to Chestnut Mountains -- Galena Illinois

As my guys winter break are coming to an end, we decided to take a little trip to Chestnut Mountains to go skiing and snowboarding. The night before I had a nightmare that I couldn't stop at the bottom of the slopes and crashed... well, it has been a while, but how hard could it be? they says that it is like riding a bike, you never forget .... well, as soon as I tried to go down the bunny hill I fell and could not get up. I needed a friend to push me up. Well,I thought maybe a little lesson will re-fresh me.... So, I took a beginners lesson with son #1 since this was his first time on skis.....he did great, never crashed.... me on the other hand...."get out of my way, get out of my way..." was loudly heard in front of me, oh yeah it was me screaming to get all the little kiddies to move so that I won't crash into them.. my nightmare did come true... never learned to stop... just crashed... fell off the lift and got run over. My son #2 did great, only second time on the snowboard and he took off with his friend down the vertical slopes... wow.... He just waved and disappeared.... mean time... I had to concentrate so not to crash and "hands in front... hands in front.." was my mantra for the day...

The year of the Tiger -- 2010

Happy New Years to all of you. I just love the first day of the new years. I feel as though everything is brand new and fresh.... Whatever I have accomplished, or not last year, I can either do better, or forget about it, start totally anew..I think everyone can use a new beginning once in a while, well in this case once a year... Though I don't follow astrology or fortune tellers and such on regular basis, I do occasionally dopple in them. Since today is the first day of the year, I thought I should go back to my roots, and review the Chinese Zodiac -- the year of the Tiger. For fun take a look at jasswin s blog site and find out what to expect this year for your sign. Mine says be proactive and make an effort and save money... well what's new....

2010 here we come.....

Sun finally came out today......everything sparkled

For one whole week, it snowed, rained, haled, freezing rained, but sun finally came out today... everything sparkled ...

Seasons Greetings.....

Seasons Greetings to you from my family to yours.....

Noriko

Fluffy snow

This year I did not clear out my garden, but rather I kept the outside plants as is. When it snowed yesterday, this fluffy snow quietly fell on my dried out plants.

Rainbow Bean Soup Mix

A neighbour stopped by and brought a thoughtful homemade Christmas present today, "soup in a jar". The jar was filled with beautiful colored beans and in a separate bag all the spices that need to make a hardy bean soup. I can't wait to make the soup especially on a cold snowy day like today.... it is almost like opening the present before Christmas..or is it....

Elis White Chocolate Peppermint cheesecake

Rejoice in Savings site has 50% off coupon when you order by Dec. 18th. Wouldn't this be perfect on your Christmas table or as a hostess gift?

x-mas trees

We always buy fresh tree at our local boy-scout x-mas tree stand, and this year we decided to get the white pine for our tree. It has a nice piny fragrance, but does not want to stand straight and we already had to fix it twice. I only used about half the ornaments as I do every year, but I think it turned out beautifully. Bottom photo of a beautiful x-mas tree was taken at Heritage Hall at USC with one of "a song girl" posing for her parents.

George Lopez and USC Trojan Marching Band

Last weekend was the last home game for the USC football team for the 2009 season. My hubby and I went out to LA to see our son perform with the Trojan Marching Band. At the half-time show George Lopez was the guest conductor and got the huge ovation from the crowd. Even though the football team lost, we had a great time watching, and listening to the marching band....

It has been a while......

While I enjoy blogging, I have been busy with other projects, soon I will be launching new web-site for my photo business. Group show at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology will be ending next week. My solo show is in the works for March to May. I am off to Southern California for a weekend and when I get back, I hope to get back to blogging, and share my passions with you.