I wish

I am walking in the darkness of silence

Not knowing..

Am I living in my own imagination, am I only seeing things that I only wish to see

Are the signs have always there that I refuse to see?

Am I wrong ?

I am walking away now, confusing, hurting, and still wondering..

Have I been wrong all along that it has never been there, I only see what I wish to see...

I cannot read a mind....

But it is time to fly.

SMOKEY

One morning in September 2012, it was about 6:00 in the morning.
It was still dark outside and it was like any other regular work day. I opened my garage door, walked to my car in drive way, when suddenly I heard... something. I was not quite sure what it was, but I knew I heard something unusual.

I put up my listening ears and that's it, I heard... mewonnngg.
A cat. Was it really a cat, I thought. The hair on my arms stood up because I was worried it was some kind of wild danger animal.

I looked around, it was very quiet in the neighborhood.
Then when I heard the third time, I was convinced it was a cat.

So I looked around, searched, but did not see anything. So I started to meow back and the cat meow me back and I finally realized she was under my car, though I still could see the cat because my car sits low.

I had to get down to the ground to see the cat, when suddenly meowwwww the cat, well actually it was a kitten, 'jumped at me' ,  acted as if it's going to attack me. I almost fell over. Then I became a little anxious because I am not a cat person.
I saw many stray cats when I was kid, but I never had a cat in my house and pet one before.

I had always have an impression that a cat is mean.
I did not know what to do because I needed to move her from underneath the car because I did not want to run her over.

Then I went back into the house, got a piece of winnie, tried to 'fish' her out of the car........
threw the winnie....etc. That's the story of smokey with us began.

I am not not Cesar Melan the dog whisperer or a cat trainer expert, but today I want to share with you, what did I do to make my cat lives side by side peacefully with my two dogs:

1.  Introduced them. we put the kitten, later on my husband named her, Smokey (because she was so fast, comes and goes like a puff of smoke), in the cage, big cage for about 3 weeks, let the dogs see the her  everyday, smell her, accept her presence in daily basis.

2. Once they got started to get used to her, we took Smokey the kitten out, still under tight 'supervision' we watched them every move.


3. Then let them start to 'get along' naturally.
Smokey eat from the dog's bowl and vise versa.

As of today, 6 months later, we no longer have the problem. The dogs think the cat just another weird wild child that jump in front of them whenever they walk by, but they will keep the cat straight if the cat go to far by barking, warning her.

The cat will make sure the dog not overeating, keep them in line on their diet by sit in front of their bowls.

COLORADO SPRING

     My husband and I decided to set up a get together with all his brothers and their wives. Two brothers have health issues so we decided that Colorado would be the best place for us to meet.
We found a great place in Winter Park, Colorado; it is a small town, the home for skiing resorts in winter and located at about 9,000 feet above sea-level.
     The home that we rented to stay in is immaculate and the surrounding is breath-taking with running river in the back yard.

After travelling about  miles from Delaware Ohio to Salt Lake City to Winter Park Colorado in 3 days, we finally arrived at 4:00 PM Monday afternoon. We went to the closest grocery store in town, my husband and I cooked dinner for the rest of the family.
     The next day we prepared breakfast and lunch then we went for sight-seeing; coming home from tired trip, we prepared dinner, easy spaghetti. The next day, which was Wednesday, we got some delicious pastries from closest bakery for breakfast then headed up for train ride in Georgetown,  located about 45 minutes away.
Again, the sight-seeing was amazing and the history of Georgetown (the town of silver mining) told was great, particularly if you love history like us. When we got home, my brother in law grilled us delicious  chicken wings and hamburgers before we sat around watching tv shows.

HOME OFFICE

Once upon a time off..


     I have not had time to blog for some time now. It has been crazy at work for  five months now and the only thing I wanted to do when I got home was to lay down and watch TV before heading for bed.

That's why I was thrilled when my boss approved my short notice for taking  one and half days off today and tomorrow (I had to take training tomorrow for half day at work).
My main goal was to repaint my home office, filling all papers away ( I was behind for 4 months) and clean the rest of my house.

Time flies whenever you have fun, however, so I only got to clean my office without painting it.
Luckily, I got an idea how to organize all the cards I got over the years (from my husband, friends and family, from Christmas, birthday, thank you, graduation to good bye cards); chance is, if you ever gave me a card, it will be in there (:. I am so happy with the result and love to share it .
Here's some before and after pictures........

Before

Before

Before

Cards Collections

All organized

The ribbon is long, can add more years to come

After

After, not much I could do with wall

After, finally see the desk

After

Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan

     The first time I read about Tulips Festival in Holland, Michigan, was two years ago when my husband and I  attended the 'Vacation Expo' in Columbus, Ohio. Since then, I wanted to go to see what it's all about.
My curiosity triggered by three reasons, first, I love tulips, one of the most beautiful flowers on earth. Second , I read that there were so many unique things to see in the Festival, from Dutch Dance to other attractions that lasts for a week. Third, I think it's kind of cool to see 'Holland' in the US. Finally we planned the time to attended it today.
     The trip from Delaware, OH to Holland, MI took about 12 hours and some minutes both ways, with 4 stops for restroom and food, which about total to 1 hour. We left home at 4:36 AM and arrived at 9:32 AM. It was early and it was so easy to find the parking spot right in the middle of Downtown Holland. The coolest thing about it, we didn't even have to pay for the parking. 
     Then the journey began by walking around the town and looking for the Tulips Garden that located in 4 corners of the towns. There are food stands and rides and street vendors like any other festivals. However, we went for one mission and mission only, seeing the tulips and taking pictures, so we basically walked passing thru the vendors, food stands and rides and all of that.  Unfortunately, we missed the city tour that started at 8:00 AM and yet was too early for other attractions. The Dutch Dance that I really wanted to see was not on Saturday.
     Therefore, I suggest that if you want to see certain attractions, read the schedule and plan ahead of time, since certain attractions only take place on certain days and hours.  However, the overall journey is a very pleasant one. The town is set up very nice, clean, and neat. Hope College that located in the central of Holland Downtown itself is breath- taking for its building architecture; we took time to walk around it and took some pictures.
     We stop at different stops for the Tulips which are spread in every corner of the town with so many beautiful colors. Our walk takes about 2 hours and it is really worth it. 

This is one of the must visit festivals to put on your bucket. 

Beautiful Tulips

In front of Hope College

One of my favorite colors

Downtown Holland, MI

Menapak ke air terjun

Tanggal 4 Juli lalu adalah hari besar di Amerika, sama dengan 1 Agustusannya Indonesia. Jadi aku sekalian saja ambil satu hari cuti sebelumnya sehingga aku dan suami dan doggies bisa jalan2 keluar kota.

Kali ini kami kembali mengunjungi Kentucky untuk melihat keindahan air terjunnya, Yang menarik dari perjalanan kali ini adalah untuk mencapai ke air terjunya yang dinamakan Eage Fall (air terjun Elang), diperlukan pendakian.

Pendakian tidak hanya satu arah naik, tapi naik dan turun , naik dan turun, seterusnya. Kesulitan ditambah lagi karena jalan kesana sangatlah berbatu2 dan curam. Suasana pendakian dipersulit karena kami membawa dua anjing kami ditambah dengan tidak dipersiapkannya alat2 yang diperlukan seperti tongkat pendakian dan air minum.

Perjalanan ke sana kira2 satu setengah mil, ditambah dengan cuaca yang mencapai 100 degree farenheit keatas.

Tapi setelah sampai disana kami sangat senang karena melihat keindahan air terjun. Andaikan tidak ada pengunjung anak2 waktu itu, kami sudah langsung akan terjun dan berenang di dalamnya. Sayang sekali kondisi tidak memungkinkan.

 Waktu kami akhirnya memutuskan untuk pulang dan mendaki dan menurun lagi, kami rasanya tidak sanggup meneruskan perjalanan, apalagi suami tiba2 diserang sakit flu perut.

Puji Tuhan, kami akhirnya sampai di mobil kemudian pulang ke hotel menikmati dinginnya AC dengan minum air putih yang sebanyak2nya.

Ketika sampai di Ohio dimana kami tinggal, berdua2 an kami menimbang berat badan dan ajaib, satu perjalanan itu menurunkan beratku sebanyak 2 pounds dan suamiku 3 pounds.