A Snowy Sunday

Hello and Belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Today is the last day of November - Sunday the 30th. It is snowing ever so lightly here in Evergreen in the second day of the first snow of the season (enough to cover the ground a bit).
Barn and I are loving the abundant open space, hiking trails, and wildlife and go exploring on foot and by car regularly since we arrived here a couple of weeks ago.

It is still quite strange and challenging to get my mind around not only being in one spot after so long, but considering another place so different from what I've always known as "home".

But I spent a truly lovely and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with the Morrison Family and four other friends, here in Evergreen, Colorado. Dan and Vicki are host and hostess supreme and there was lots of fabulous food and easy laughter. Here is Lynn and Kevin -
Although I felt pangs of missing my family and the traditions I grew up with, I was comforted by speaking to most of them and also was aware of an exceptionally long list of things and people I have to be grateful for, including this awesome family who has taken me in and who I love so much! Another thing I am excited about and grateful for is knowing I am going home for Christmas two weeks from tomorrow! Yeah!
Eight months ago I left on my grand adventure in my moter home. EIGHT MONTHS! I am so looking forward to seeing and being in the company of missed loved ones! :-D

Sending you all big blessings of positive connections to others and gratitude for the simple things,
Stef

PS - I had to add one more pic of my adorable pooch. Here he is playing with his new toy (a stuffed honking Canadian goose), a real dream come true for him since he's been chasing and barking at them since Pop and I were in Wisconsin and Iowa! Please stay tuned for another blog soon on that awesome ending of my trip! AND check out the wild (ponies) time in the blog entry below!

Living Childhood Dreams with my Childhood Friend. (Or – “Ponies!!!”)

Can you remember a very special something or somewhere from your childhood that enticed your imagination? Can you recall that one story or book or movie that carried you into another world in your dreams, and you longed to actually go there and see and do the things you fantasized about? I hope so. And I hope you will give yourself the immeasurable gift of making it real in some way if you can.
Because I did that; I went to a place of my childhood dreams. And to make it all the more miraculously perfect, I did so with my life-long BF (best friend), the very one I shared those childhood fantasies with since we were five years old – April Ann!

If you know me at all you can probably easily guess the subject of my childhood daydreams. Its animals of course – horses mainly. And the story I longed to live into was famous and well known among millions of little girls like April and I. “Misty of Chincoteague” was a book about wild ponies living on two islands off the Virginia and Maryland coast. They are still there today.
And just like so many other countless gifts of synchronicity and timing on this trip, she and I fulfilled a very special lifelong dream on the anniversary of the birth of the North Man. On October 4th, North’s 53rd birthday, April and I camped on Chincoteague Island and took a boat ride to see the wild ponies.

That evening we shared a bottle of wine that North and I were saving for a special occasion. If there ever was one, that was it. Of course my best bud and I would be on an island on the opposite side of the country, seeing wild horses, laughing and crying (often simultaneously) and toasting to North on his birthday!
April has been a constant loving presence in my life for 36 years. She stepped up in countless incredible, selfless and courageous ways during North’s final days and his transition, and the most difficult days of my life. It was beyond perfect and beautiful to be on Chincoteage Island, with her, on his birthday. We both felt the tangible presence of my sweet husband that day and night and I will treasure those precious moments as long as I am alive. And getting up close to untamed wild horses (even if they didn't ACT particularly wild) was awesome and unforgettable too!

After the ponies we left the coast to head towards Pittsburgh and on our way we went through Amish country. Fall colors weremstarting and we enjoyed witnessing and learning about a fascinationg culture and way of life.

And also on our way was a stop I am certain niether one of us will ever forget. The flight 93 memorial is in field where the crash took place in Pennsylvania. To say it was surreal and moving would be an understatement. I left little pieces of me and of my personal heroe, North, on the make-shift memorial (an angel and crystal) to honor all those who died there that fateful September 11th. It poingnantly reminded me of the fragility of life and the astounding level of heroism and selfless courage that the human spirit is capable of. God Bless Us All!

So signing off now from Colorado. A few more trip blogs are due so stay with me!

PS Love you April Ann! Oh, and say/squeel it with me now… “PONIEEEEES!!!”