It was an extra 6 hour drive – stressful in torrential rains, but well worth it to be able to spend time at Carmel by the Sea and experience the Asilomar coast. Sooo beautiful!
Don’t know what that white is…
Don’t know what that black spot is!
God is good! Now, a safe drive to Sacramento airport early tomorrow- and I’ll see you back in Montana.
Love, JanBeek
The end of 2025
Found us loving life
Spending it with family
Avoiding stress and strife
All should be so blessed
To have such happy love
We don’t take it for granted
Such love is from above!
Love, JanBeek
Love is an Open Door
I found this post in my “Drafts” folder. I thought I’d already posted it.
I guess WP was waiting for this 2nd day of Lent when we’re spending 40 days preparing our hearts for the greatest love ever told: Jesus’ death on the cross for our redemption.
Back when I started this post, we were being wined & dined – loving and being loved.
That’s during some of our travels last month in CA. Here we were in San Clemente … cool ocean air … warm family fun!
Bob & I loved being with friend Bob and our son’s father-in-law, Darrell.
There had been high tides that washed away sand. They were replacing it ingeniously!
Before coming to southern CA beaches, we spent glorious, loving time with dear friends, Jim & Terry in Paso Robles. Ah, feeling love all around!
The warmth of their love was matched by the warmth of their home and beautiful fireplace.
Church on Sunday in Paso Robles was filled with the love of people singing and praising God and seeking to return His love in tangible ways.
As we continued our road trip through California for another week, soaking in the love and hospitality of family & friends, I reached out in prayer for you, praying you, too, can FEEL love every day, every hour, every minute. You ARE loved!
I hope you are having a love-filled week!
Feel the love!
Hugs,
JanBeek
Today’s prompt on JetPack was:
“What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
Visiting family and friends is my obvious answer! Today we met our dear friends, Bill & Marcia, for brunch in Bozeman before Bob’s ENT appointment.
It’s such a joy to meet up with and stay in touch with loved ones.
Fun!
So dear!! But, oh my goodness, I need a haircut!! We’ve been gone 34 days – vacationing in California. I think I posted a couple times on our trip, didn’t I? That’s leisure time … nearly a dozen different beds in 34 days! Time with dear family/friends. God bless ‘em!!
What a blessing to be with these dear ones!
Another favorite spare time activity: touching bases with former students and wallowing in their successes!!
Four lovely days with that dear couple – can’t be beat! Went with them to dinner at Fisherman’s in San Clemente- and for scrumptious Italian in Pasadena. Deeeelicious! Such gracious hosts!
Prior to that stay, we were wined & dined in Paso Robles by my “soul sister” Terry & her wonderful hubby, Jim.
Time with my dear cousin, Adrian, and his wife, Laura, is hard to beat. Did I tell you earlier about them? They deserve a blog post of their own (coming soon).
We also got to spend time with my high school sweetheart, Jerry & his darling wife, Carolyn, and Bob’s former Sunday School buddy, Monica, and his former girlfriend, Sally ( my song girl classmate) and her terrific hubby, Bob Phillips.
The latter two were not able to join us for lunch, but we stayed a night at their house. Do you get back together again with those dear to you from 60 years ago??
Before that gathering in Turlock, CA, we were in Carmel/Pacific Grove/Pebble Beach with Bob’s two brothers and their wives – and with our long-time friends, the Tillions. Did I post earlier about that 85th birthday of Bob and that New Years Eve experience?
It’s been quite a memorable month!!!
Our “leisure time” activities included a lot of dining out in terrific places. This was Big Sur, CA. Such a pretty day! It was 47 degrees, sunshine & feeling warm while back in Montana there was an Arctic storm and the temp was -47! That’s 100 degrees difference!
Suppose we were happy to be spending our leisure time with family & friends? You bet!!
Our last evening in CA we took our son & his wife out to dinner. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And thank you for loaning us your Lexus so we could travel the state in style for a month!!! What a gift!
Time to unpack, do laundry, sort the mail, pay bills, and take down Christmas decorations! Happy 2024, my friends!
What’s YOUR favorite leisure time activity?
Love to you and yours,
JanBeek ❤️
While it snows in Montana, we bask in gorgeous CA sunshine with family & friends!Just right temps!
It’s a great way to welcome the new year!
God is good! Life is wonderful! After celebrating Bob’s 85th birthday with his two brothers and their wives, we are now with dear friends here in Pebble Beach for a few days.
Last week this part of the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel/Monterey was closed due to high tides. Open now, we are soaking up the beauty!
Yesterday we went wine tasting in Carmel with Alan & Ingrid. Such fun!
Today we’re headed for the Monterey Aquarium. Stay tuned! I’ll be back!
How has your 2024 begun?
Did you go to church to begin the year? Have you thanked God for your new day!? Please do!
Cherish family!
Shine the light of love and spread the gift of peace wherever you go! God bless you!
Love ❤️ JanBeek
Hey, are you ready
For this twenty twenty-three
New for you and me
At Cannery Row
In lovely Monterey Bay
We had a great lunch
In the house next door
To where we are staying now
A huge tree fell down
It went through the roof
Destroying the entire house
Feeling so sorry
Morning in Carmel
Was sunny and beautiful
A break in the storm.
What beautiful friends
We shared a couple days with
Life’s full of blessings
We’re with Bob’s brother
At his home in Pebble Beach
Grateful no trees fell
Thankful for family
More than grateful for our friends
Pray for safe travels
Tomorrow we will
Return to our son, Ty’s place
Weather permitting
Hey, are you ready
For this twenty twenty-three
New for you and me?
I am!!
Happy Cheers, my friends!
See ya tomorrow – hopefully.
Love,
JanBeek
The storms that ushered in the 2023 new year
along the Pacific coast in California were amazing!
These waves, called “King Tides” were between
45 and 50 feet tall!
The swells were increased by winds up to 50 mph on New Years eve
and they crashed into the shores, washing away the cliffs,
bringing houses down into the ocean.
The winds also brought down trees
all over the Carmel, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach area
where we are visiting family and friends.
Fortunately, our friends did not lose any trees,
but their neighbors had a tree land on their house.
Down the road a bit some houses were completely destroyed.
Large trees were totally uprooted.
Amazingly we have not heard of any deaths.
Can you imagine having this happening to your vehicle?
Driving in this area is dangerous at best right now.
Roads are washed out and trees have fallen across roadways.
My heart goes out to the people who have lost homes, businesses, vehicles, etc.
We are feeling so grateful that our friends have not lost any of those things.
Bob’s brother and sister-in-law have lost power and water service in their home,
and their neighbor’s house has a tree in the middle of the roof, but no one was hurt.
The ocean along this central Pacific coast is beautiful,
but given the rains and heavy winds of this last week,
it can be treacherous. Many of the homes and businesses
that built too close to the shore are regretting it today.
When we started our trip from Paso Robles to Pebble Beach,
God sent a rainbow. It was an amazing sign telling us
He would be with us – and our trip would be a safe one.
God is good!
I have some wonderful photos of us with family/friends here…
I will post some tomorrow.
Right now, I just want to enjoy their company.
Carpe’ Diem! Right? Bee present.
Are you Ready
for whatever 2023 brings your way?
See ya tomorrow.
Hugs,
JanBeek
What fun we had yesterday!
Bob & I went wine tasting with our son, Ty & daughter-in-law, Monika.
Winderotter Winery in Plymouth, Amador County, California has a wonderful selection of wines.
We tasted both reds and whites ended up taking some of each home with us.
Our visit to Runquist Winery, in that same area, was a delight, too.
Later, we returned to Placerville and had dinner at a delicious Thai Restaurant. Our grandson, Jordan, joined us.
If you’re ever fortunate enough to visit Amador County, I hope you will make it a point to visit those two wineries and enjoy a meal at the Tasty Thai. I know you’ll be as delighted as we were.
Now, I gotta get off my computer and join the fun. My family gives me a bad time when I am on the internet instead of interfacing with them!!
Enjoy the moment!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Love,
JanBeek
NanoPoblano2022 has invited us to reblog an old post each day during this month of November. I’m having fun going back through some of my first posts… Here is one from our vacation in southern California in 2014. The roadrunner picture in the original post was not available so I borrowed one from Pexels. Thanks!
There was a Time Magazine article by Lily Rothman in which the author quoted artist, Brendan O’Connell, “Nostalgia makes memory warm.” O’Connell stopped to say parenthetically, “That’s actually a significant thought,” and I paused. Hmm – memories, nostalgia, warmth. Yes, it’s true. Not all memories are warm, but all nostalgic memories are warm. Do you agree? When you think of warm memories, what comes to mind? Here’s mine:
Childhood
Climbing
Hillsides
Into
Lands
Dense with
Hidden
Occupants
Ordering Hot
Dogs.
Hah! That’s my whimsical acrostic for today – looking back on yesterdays.
But, how about Making Memories Today?
There’s no better place to make memories than where you are right now today! For me, whether it is in the warm desert on vacation in the southern California sun with roadrunners scampering by and sun casting spakles on cactus, or back home in the cold snows of Montana, each day is a memory in the making. The climate doesn’t determine the warmth of the memories. The people I am with, the events we choose, the lessons I learn, the visions I absorb: those are the nostalgia of tomorrow. I am making warm memories today – wherever I am!
Nov. 5, 2022 – our snow is almost all melted now. With today’s winds, the rest of it will blow off the roof of our house (peeking through the trees there).
That acrostic up there was mine back in 2014… but I have no idea how that could have been true. We lived in the flat central valley of California. No hillsides to climb! If I were looking back at my childhood and creating an acrostic today, it would say:
CHILDHOOD
C hasing
H ounds
I nto
L ittle
D ugouts
H aving
O odles
O f
D ead animals
Oh my! That one is reality! My dad owned a Tallow Works and one of his jobs was picking up dead animals from ranchers and farmers and bringing those animals back to the “plant” where we lived. We always had at least one dog as a pet… and they were always “hounds.” No money for pedigrees!! In our bare fields behind our house, my neighbors (cousins) and I would dig holes and create pretend worlds. That 2014 acrostic must have come out of that pretending. Sometimes our best memories are the imaginary ones, don’t you think?
If you were to write a childhood acrostic today, would yours be real? Or would you pretend?
I hope your real world is full of happy memories – warm nostalgia.
Have a great day today, my friends.
.
I had a warm, huggy, loving daddy. My memories of him are certainly warm nostalgia!!
Thanks for visiting
JanBeek
See ya tomorrow
“What’s a road trip I would like to take?”
Each day is a journey
As we travel life’s highway.
Sometimes it’s imaginary
And we wonder where we’d stay.
Each day is a road trip
Whether we leave our house or not.
Sometimes our imagination’s
The only road we’ve got.
But the road trip I imagine,
The one I would have done,
Is in a couple of binders:
“Maine or Bust” with lobster fun!
It may never become real –
So I search the internet
And travel vicariously –
The only trip I’ll get.
But, that’s OK, my friends,
If I never go for real,
Because each day is a journey.
The sights are the appeal!
So, off I’ll go a-shopping –
Lobster and oysters I will buy;
I’ll travel with my tastebuds
To Maine in my mind’s eye.
Where is it you’d like to go on a road trip?
Is this Bloganuary prompt one that triggered your tastebuds?
For New Years 2022,
we traveled from home in Montana
to vacation and enjoy wine tasting fun
in Napa, California with friends.
But, as soon as Bob (my husband)
gets out of the hospital
(we traveled there yesterday),
we’ll head back home.
Sometimes our roadtrips
don’t take us
to the destination
we envisioned!
But, my mind keeps travel interesting
and I find adventure
wherever I am.
I hope you do, too.
An active mind is such a blessing!!
Pray with me today, my friends:
“Lord, help me keep all my marbles,
And remind me that happiness
is not where I am,
but who I am in YOU!”
God bless you!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.
See ya tomorrow (God willing).
Hugs to You !!
Inspire to Love
Let the SonShine!
You inspire me to respond
Learning to Live; Living to Learn; Learning to Love; Living in Love
