Costume Ball

If we had known that staying at RV resorts could be so much fun . . .

. . . We might have pushed a little harder to get on the road sooner!

Cherry Valley Lakes RV Resort is one of the best resorts we have found to date. Though we hear there are even better ones out there, I cannot see how!

Every weekend, Cherry Valley serves awesome meals, at prices seniors can afford, though not all who live this lifestyle are seniors, I’m finding. I am talking steak dinners for seven bucks or BBQ chicken for six! And that’s complete with salad, sides, and dessert. Breakfast is comparably satisfying and economical.

Plus, several weekends a month, Cherry Valley hires a band, and the party really gets going. It is an awesome social atmosphere, without all the creepy strangers, drunken brawls, and smoke-filled rooms. We know most everyone whom we are partying with, and it is like a big, happy family fun night. It’s great!

This past Saturday night was the Halloween costume party, and Suzy and the Cruisers was the band. Lots of great oldies songs.

Ken dressed up as a headhunter. I simply went all in orange, “The Great Pumpkin,” I proclaimed myself.  My daughter and her beau joined us for the evening, too. It was great fun.

A typical family photo, I caught my daughter, Nina, with her mouth full! Patrick doesn’t look pleased I’m snapping pics while he’s trying to eat, either. Oh, but that’s what moms do best. Smile, baby, love you bunches.

 

These “shrunken heads” are actually dried apples.

Blessings to you and yours,

Jenni and Ken

Blessings Abound

Have you ever stopped to consider how often the blessings of God grace your life? How everything, even the simplest of things, has been touched by His hand?

Have you stopped to study the intricacy of a single bloom?

Or stood silently in awe as a great egret took flight?

Or marveled at the glow of the approaching sunset? God can even take LA’s pollution and make it beautiful.

These are but a few outward examples of His love for us. For He also gave us friendship and love, laughter and tears, compassion and forgiveness.

The blessings in my own life are too numerous to count. All day long, I praise His Holy Name for giving me glimpses of heaven.

All of this, I witness and find joy in, not in spite of my pain and illness, but because of it. For through my struggles, He has taught me much, and I am ever grateful.

Where can you find blessings today?

Love,

Jenni and Ken

My Best Friend

Let me tell you about my best friend, my husband.

We met 17 years ago, and my life has never been the same.

He can sing like nobody’s business, but he’s shy and sensitive and sings only for me. He has a sharpness to his wit and is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, though he chides himself for never having finished college. He seems to have a map emblazoned in his brain. We only have to go somewhere once, and he has it locked in to his memory banks, even if we go years between visits. Sometimes I think he is insane, but he has it more together than I do most days. He’s kind and gentle, and he is ferociously protective of me.

And he loves me. For whatever reason, he chose me, and I am forever grateful for his love and his friendship.

All he has to do is look at me with those dreamy chocolate pools, and I still get as giddy as a schoolgirl.

We make a great team, and he never complains when he finds himself doing more than his share of the chores. He knows when I can, I do, and so he cheerfully does mine along with his, all the while giving me bits of his wisdom and laughter as he chatters away. He doesn’t even mind when I make a comment like, now who’s the schoolgirl, for all the chattering.

We are a pair, that’s for sure, and I don’t know what I would do without him.

As we soaked in the pool yesterday (me sitting on the steps, shoulder deep, and Ken leaning into me, with his feet up on the side of the pool), a young lady walked by with her baby. She stopped when my best friend said hello and inquired about her day. She answered, and then she stopped again, smiled broadly, and declared, “Wow, you two look happy.”

I could not help but smile in return, for we are happy, and I am glad that it shows.

May you find such gentle intensity and trust in your relationships.

Love,

Jenni

Come Walk With Me

Come walk with me and see what we shall see.

There are many joys waiting for you and me.

Come walk with me and discover something new.

My friend, come walk with me. Oh, how I miss you.

The most difficult part of leaving Portland, Oregon, was leaving all my friends behind and, of course, leaving my son. I spent years, growing in God’s presence, learning how to find and nurture appropriate friendships, and just when I find the most wonderful family of friends I could have ever hoped, God says, “It’s time to move on.”

Life seems to be that way, sometimes. We finally get “it” right (whatever it may be) and then life happens. Or, as in my case, God tells me he has a mission for me in the Southwest.

For the past several years, Ken and I have tried to start our travels, with only the intention of traveling, then eventually returning to Portland. For the past several years, God has put some pretty major roadblocks in our way. And He has also put a pretty major mission on my heart.

Over those years, I cried out, “I just want to leave. I cannot stand Portland anymore. Portland doesn’t want me.” With all the troubles I have because of the Northwest weather and other more personal issues, I no longer felt like Portland was my home. Yet, over those same few years, God planted the most awesome set of girlfriends in my life. Angie, Sandy, and Chrissie. He gave me these women to help me heal, and now that most of my healing from my past has taken place, He says, “It is time to go.”

My heart aches for my friends I left behind. And yet, I am full of eager anticipation for the new friendships I know God will plant in my life when He finally says, “Stop.”

I miss you, my sister, my friend.

So come walk with me, then sit a spell.

Let me rejoice in our friendship once more.

I appreciate all you have been for me.

More than you will ever know.

Love,

Jenni

Busy as a Bee

Life on the road is busy, busy, busy, despite my assumptions to the contrary. I thought I would have plenty of time to write, to paint, to do whatever my heart desired.

(Hey! We finally spotted another Firan Raven. This one’s a 1995. Ours is a 1996.)

Well, maybe life wouldn’t be so busy, if I hadn’t suddenly developed a gregarious attitude/outlook on life. There are so many interesting people out there, and I want to hear all of their stories. I crave the laughter and sharing that happens amongst family, friends, and new acquaintances alike. I cherish each touch, each word, each gesture given or spoken with compassion of heart and honesty of soul.

Among the full-timer set, I thought I might not fit in. I’m considerably younger than most. Though many are more spry than I, in body.

Even so, there’s a unity, a bond, a special cohesiveness, within this ever-changing body of elders with whom I spend my days—and they accept me as one of them. One leaves, another picks up right where they left off. Conversations and laughter ebb and flow with the comings and goings of old and new friends.

We have all chosen this life, though our reasons may be as varied as our personalities.

Ken and I have chosen this life, and I love it. I am grateful to my husband, for without him, I could not have all these new adventures.

Thank you, Lord, for placing Ken in my life and placing us on this path, this journey of a lifetime. Amen.

Love and blessings,

Jenni

Not So Out of Touch

The Internet has been down, here at Neskowin Creek RV Resort, but it really hasn’t been an issue. Not for me, anyway. I see some people acting like addicts in search of their next hit, as they ask in the office and then ask random people if they’ve gotten on lately.

For me, it has been so peaceful. I have wanted to log on and write a post or two. It just wasn’t in the cards.

In the time I’ve not been spending online, I've had many actual conversations with real flesh-and-bone people and I've learned so much about myself and others in the process. Plus I haven't laughed and smiled this much in a long time.

I’ve also had time to work on editing my book. In a few weeks’ time, I should have the final edit finished, and my manuscript will be ready for publishing. Yes, I realize I’ve been talking about this book off and on for the past several years. I thought I had it finished two years ago. I really did. I had Office Depot print copies, and I handed them out to a few friends, family, and trusted others. I really thought I was ready. But God said, “Not yet.” He was basically telling me the book wasn’t finished because I had one more Major, dare I say Super Major, test to go through. Having now finished that trial, I feel the peace that I believe means I can now finish and publish.

Plus, Ken and I have had time to just relax without stressing about anything other than not being organized full-timers yet.

This past week has been good, very good. Maybe God’s been using this time to reinforce the last trial He put me through.

Thank heaven for limited internet!

We should all go net-less once in a while.

Peace, love, and joy to you all!

I'll be checking out again!

Neskowin, Once Again

Well, here we are on leg two of our journey of a lifetime. We decided to make a side excursion westward to say goodbye to some travel buddies. They are regulars here at Neskowin Creek RV Resort, coming and going often during the year. We’ve been here a few days already, and we’ve hardly seen anyone we know. Well, there is Hank, but his wife had to stay home this trip. The staff seems to have changed, as well.

I could be a bit lonesome, if it weren’t for the community room, and as I hang around, writing, drawing, or working on a puzzle, people wander in, and conversations and laughter are always not far behind.

Today I was working on the preliminary drawings for a painting I have in mind, and a young girl, maybe 13 or 14, asked to watch. I asked if she wanted to draw, and so we shared wonderful chit chat as we sketched together.

There’s a peacefulness around this place. Sometimes I wish we could live here fulltime, but I know my body cannot handle this climate for much longer.

Besides, the Southwest is calling.

What a Month!

I really don’t know where the time has gotten to. It seemed like we were still in August just yesterday, and now here we are on the last day of September. What happened?

I shall tell you.

First, it has been harvest season, and the abundance has kept me busy. I’ve told you already about the pears our gracious neighbor down the street gave us. Well, we have also received tomatoes, onions, and beets from friends and neighbors.

The blessings continue, and I am so humbled and overwhelmed by the love, Jesus’s love, I feel coming through all these people in my life.

Friday was a very good day for me, emotionally and pain-wise. So I decided that my guys deserved an awesome supper. I made cioppino, which was amazing, as usual. I also canned salsa Friday.

Saturday, I still had too many tomatoes lying around, and so they went into the oven to be roasted for tomato soup. You can find the recipe in one of my other blog posts, here. There were so many tomatoes that once roasted and pureed, they had to go into the freezer for those cold winter nights we know are on their way. It will be wonderful, come November or December, to pull out a container of roasted tomato puree, add the chicken broth and evaporated milk, and viola! Dinner is served!

But that’s not all. No, that’s not all.

Our good friends and neighbors got married a week ago. –And it has taken me this long to recuperate. Ken and I prepared most of the wedding banquet—an amazing Mexican feast including the best Spanish rice Ken has ever made (about 6 gallons of it in total), carnitas (50 pounds before cooking), pork and nopales in red sauce (3 gallons worth), potato salad (3 gallons), salsa (3 gallons), refried beans (4 gallons), and enough fruit to fill our second refrigerator. No, we never did get rid of it, but in all honesty, it sat, unplugged, until just before the wedding. I am glad we still had it available. Frankly, I cannot remember what else was on the menu, except homemade tortilla chips. It took me two days to make those silly things, there were so many, and yet people gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow. That’s the only thing I would have been concerned about running out of, had more people shown up. As it was, there was a great crowd.

Thank you for allowing me a little break from writing. Thank you for blessing me with your readership. I am grateful for all.

And now, some pictures. Oh, I forgot to say that while I wasn’t refilling the buffet (since my teenaged helpers disappeared), I was also the wedding photographer. The ceremony took place in their back yard. Enjoy a little taste of Oregon, Mexico style!

This was after the melons were peeled and sliced and put in the restaurant tubs in the bottom. The pitchers on the top to the right are agua de fresca, another menu item I forgot to mention, 3 gallons, saved mostly for immediate family.

The pork and nopales (cactus).

There was a live band and dancing half the night.

Since the entire family was there, which as you know can be difficult to achieve with today’s busy lives, I took family portraits during the wedding as well. Not just the newlyweds and her  kids, but all the brothers and their families too, and then the next generation too, since my friend has grand-babies. I must admit, however, that by the end of the evening, as the band was getting packed up, I had to grab someone to get a pic of me and my guys, since we were all dressed up. Considering this picture was taken around ten at night, I think I look pretty darn good still.

Of all the pictures, this one has to win the award for the most touching moment, between uncle and niece, as he fixed her ribbons before the portraits were taken.

Blessings Abound

Okay, so this hasn’t been the best week for creating works of art. It is becoming more difficult. I am not lacking imagination, but I am definitely running short on supplies and money to replace them.

Darn medical bills. And other bills. I pray for my son to get a job so that things won’t be so tight, but so far no such luck. It is difficult, three adults living on one retirement income. I am thankful we are here to help my son now when he needs us most. And I am thankful he is here to help us, too. If only we didn’t need to eat so often . . .

Even so, I count my blessings daily. And they do come daily.

I prayed for less pain when doing my writing and artwork, and my best friend and her boss gave me an office chair so that I would not have to sit in an uncomfortable kitchen chair.

Our Jeep broke down. I prayed to God that I did not know what we were going to do. He answered my prayers by arranging for another good friend to lend us their second car.

I prayed more about how we would be able to afford to fix the Jeep. Yet another friend stepped in to offer his free labor and know-how. Still praying about the cost of parts, but I feel confident in the Lord’s workings.

Out of the blue, a neighbor a few houses down offered us a lug and a half of pears from his tree. He even picked them for us. I am very thankful for his generosity. Once canned, they will provide fruit for us through the winter. (That’s my son’s best friend William [another blessing] helping me sort the pears. There’s nothing wrong with our skin; it is dappled shadowing from the umbrella.)

Our neighbors in the other half of the duplex have also been a godsend. They are getting married in a few weeks, and knowing our talents, they have hired us to cook the wedding feast, design the invitations (below), and photograph the wedding. I will also be doing a family portrait for them. This could not come at a better time for us, financially.

There are so many blessings, large and small, in our lives right now. All this brings me to tears. The love we’ve been shown by friends and strangers alike, it overwhelms me.

Another blessing is that our apple tree produced its first abundant crop. From half the apples, I made three pies, and I still have the other half of the honey crisps to munch or to make more pies.

Being gluten intolerant, I made these pies with a sugar cookie crust and a crisp topping. They are amazingly tasty.

I have only managed a few finished pieces this past week, though I have been drawing and have come up with plenty of sketches to paint later, once I can replace some of my supplies.

The imagination is a wonderful thing. As I was painting yard sale signs for Ken, I asked if I could have a few of the smaller plywood boards. These, I will paint upon with acrylics. Below, Ken is adding a second coat of base paint for me. Of course I had the tough job of sanding them smooth, myself!

All the family gets in on the action.

After all the week’s work and prayers and praises, it’s no wonder Tink and I passed out last night.

Hood River Fruit Loop

Today we ventured east to Hood River, Oregon, to travel the famous Hood River Fruit Loop. We also went to a wonderful lavender farm, always a favorite stop when we go to hood river in the summer.

It was incredibly hot, absolutely sweltering, but we had a great time despite the heat—all four of us in my best friend’s car—my son, my grandson, my best friend, and me. All in all, a perfect day with some of my most favorite people.

Our first stop was the Hood River Lavender Farm.

 

After the lavender farm, we went to Draper Girls Country Farm to have lunch and buy some fruit. A few more stops after that, and we were beat and headed home.

Me and my boys

♥♥♥