weekly review:

Picnic and pool night! And as an added bonus, grandma took the girls to their house so J and I could have a date night at the pool...he napped (came straight from work:) and then swam laps and I floated and then hit the hot tub 🤓

And, I bumped into a fellow clarinetist in the pool!

Grateful for another beautiful night in Paradise


 
our beloved hummingbird and fairy garden, midsummer: 


 
Beautiful night at Shelter Cove Park...picnic dinner on the marsh, and great music by The Headliners! 
 Sunday tea with grandma...third generation sipping tea from this set gifted from my mom's Aunt and Uncle, from Japan. Some of the original pieces still survive!
 
pancakes and shoe shopping with grandma and grandpa!
 
sweet backyard visitors!
 
 
Another fabulous Lowcountry night: brought a picnic to Palmetto Bluff to see The Blue Dogs....a fundraising benefit for Family Promise, an organization that helps get families on their feet with jobs and housing and education. My parents do some volunteer work for this through their church.

We started out sitting amidst the crowd, until I suggested (ahem told them 🤓) that we'd like it better by the river, behind the band: much quieter, more breezy, and a great atmosphere... There were big camp fires going too! Great night! 
 
16 years ago today:







 

TBT

little girls and sweet, precious moments....seems like yesterday ... we were here...and then we had a major geographical relocation...spent the next few years busy getting settled in our amazing new lives....and somewhere along the way, my sweet babies morphed into beautiful preteens 🌺🌼🌻🌸🌷🌹 

TBT Bonus, from 2012:

TBT:

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TBT: Ye Olde Madgrigal Feaste circa 1985-1986

 




 

TBT: friday edition, our first date, 18 years ago today

Today's TBT: still celebrating meeting J 18 years ago on his birthday two days ago....and the boatload (pun intended, there's been a lot of boating over the years;) of adventure that has ensued 😎⛵
Our first date was Sept 4th at Villa de Carlo's in Kenosha, WI. That was a very foretelling night of our future on the coast and all the time we spent on water during our dating adventures, as the Tall Ships were there. (For those not familiar, Kenosha is right on Lake MI).

tbt Bonus: 15 years ago...our honeymoon

our honeymoon 15 years ago ... In which we take a train from Chicago to Portland, OR ... Visit The Rose Gardens; stay at various lodges and B&B's along the coast of Oregon and Washington; stop in the Hoe National Forest; catch a ferry to Vancouver Island; and hit the Alaskan Inside Passage Cruise from Vancouver...where we spend a week amongst quaint Alaskan towns, whales, harbor seals, salmon, glaciers, and absolute majestic beauty!

Celebrate!

Thinking about my hubby and his family... Wishing his brother Peter, bottom left in the photo (whom we lost just over a year ago) a very happy birthday in heaven 💚🙏🏻
J and his two brothers celebrate birthdays within the same week. (Add into the Aug/Sept bday mix, two nephews, my fairy girl, and his dad who is about to turn 93!)

TBT: with grandparents, aunt and uncle, my mom and brother, and cousins

FB memories, on this day in 2012:

Fair Girl is suddenly, hopping/skipping/limping: (K, what's wrong?) "A broken leg, I woke up with it:("

TBT: from "the Polaroids"

circa 1976.....my 7th birthday party.  Isn't my red, white, and blue banana seat bike the coolest thing ever!!!!

TBT: see, I've always been an angel

you know, in case there was any doubt 😇
(Me, with my Grandma Marcie, circa: 1969)

TBT, five years ago:

 our first three weeks in SC, landed us in three different houses on Lady's Island.


Our first house was a little green 500 sq. ft cottage in the backyard of someone's property, in the heart of Beaufort:). It's a good thing we're camping people:)
 
The second house was a very large and beautiful home with amazing views overlooking the marsh, and surrounded by lots of trees. This was in Pleasant Point on Lady's Island. Unfortunately for us and the homeowners, this house had been very heavily damaged with cigarette smoke by the previous tenants. This wasn't clear to us at first because they had it heavily "perfumed" with a citrus carpet cleaner. I was sad we had to leave this house, but it was so badly damaged, the property managers walked in and were overwhelmed with the fumes, and not only released us of our lease, but reimbursed us 100% (just so grateful our household "stuff" was still somewhere in Atlanta). It's too bad, we would have loved living in Pleasant Point!
 
We then went back to the rental cottage to keep searching.
On July 4th, 2010, we managed to find the house we wound up renting for 8 months. It was a larger than the cottage, but much smaller than the first house in Pleasant Point, had a large fenced in back yard (which was perfect for Piper and for storing our boat and camper), lots of trees and a little pool.

TBT: in honor of my dad!

The black and white photo is of my grandpa and their four boys. My dad is the baby (he was supposed to be a girl, according to my grandma, haha;)

TBT:

TBT: a gorgeous local restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. One of my dad's Snapon friends raved about this secret local gem. What we didn't know is that it would be a one hour and $100 taxi ride from our resort


my dad looks REALLY tall here, making John look REALLY short, haha

throwback thursday.....boating edition

Wednesday...a look back, in honor of the upcoming annual sandcastle contest!

We participated in this contest on Hunting Island, five years ago, when we first moved down to SC.  At the time we were living on Lady's Island, which is very close to Hunting Island.  The girls won second place in their age group!  Look how little they were!  Just 4 and 6 years old...where DID all the time go????!!!!!

TBT---I apologize for the VERY lengthy post, edition....a trip down my musical memory lane

TBT: shout out to all of my band directors, past and present:
Thinking about all of my wonderful band directors over the years...they wouldn't do what they do if they didn't have a true passion for music and people. I'm so very grateful to each and every one of them who have helped to musically and literally shape me into the musician and person I am today. As a student (and adult), you form a bond with your band director, that is unlike any other. They are there for you both musically and personally....and it becomes one of those life time relationships...even the childhood directors (in my case I was fortunate to be able to play in the adult community bands with a couple of my directors or at least stay in touch;)
It's also interesting to note (for me at least) what their main instruments are (to the non musicians, most band directors can play more than one instrument, sometimes all, fairly proficiently). So here's a shout out to all of my band directors, past and present, in order of my playing years! Also grateful to grow up in an area with SO many incredible playing opportunities!
I want to thank each and every band director for giving so selflessly of themselves and for believing in me (especially when I didn't always believe in me) heart emoticon
Mr. Dan Caballero-(oboe?)-my very first clarinet teacher for fifth grade beginner bands
John Whyte-trumpet: 6th grade Continental Marching Band
Joe Bolyard-baritone, Lincoln Junior High
Louis Covelli-oboe- Tremper High Symphonic Band and Blackwatch
Jim Firchow-clarinet- Tremper High Wind Ensemble (and private clarinet teacher) and Blackwatch
Randy Skowronski (I'm sure I butchered the spelling - trumpet and Paul Taylor - baritone-Band of the Black Watch
John Buenic (clarinet) and Frank Germinaro (clarinet)-Kenosha Pops Concert Band - 1987-2001 (summer band, weekly outdoor concerts on the lake front bandshell, which had not been built yet my first year....this band and Racine gave me some decent sight reading skills...I sight read many a concert if I missed rehearsals;)
Dr. Glenn Hayes (oboe) University of Wisconsin Whitewater (college) and although she wasn't directly my band director, his amazing wife, Christine C. Hayes - clarinet (without these two, I very possibly would have let my clarinet go at the end of college)
Dr. Roger Coppenbarger- my college clarinet professor (from what I heard, he retired in SC). I did not major in music, so my lessons were more light-hearted and fun:)
Del Eisch-trombone--Racine Concert Band (1991-2001)
Mark Eichner - trumpet- Parkside Community Band- 1990's
Alex Sabo - trumpet? Wisconsin Ambassadors of Music (aka WAM)...the Europe Tour!
Robert Awe - trumpet? Lakeshore Wind Symphony 2001-2002
Karl Mueller-tuba-Brookfield Civic Band-2001-2010
Jay Huenink-trombone/baritone-New Berlin Community Band (winter) and East Troy Community Band (summer) 2004-2010
Two years off from playing due to lack of community band in my new SC community....I struggled being band less:)
Don Jemella-clarinet LCCB
2012-2014)
Michelle Bennett-sax-LCCB
DK Bennett honestly, not quite sure what he doesn't play grin emoticon -LCCB
Don Jemella Lowcountry Wind Symphony and
Steve Giove (also the Officer in Charge of the Parris Island Marine Band)-percussion - Lowcountry Wind Symphony