Hey Lucy! You wanna go to Maine?

Now that I'm in the house.....it's not perfect and that means you still can't come over! Just kidding...you can if you don't mind me pointing out all the things that I haven't done!!!

I thought I would post about the trip I took with my Mom and my Aunt Linda. We went to Maine. The decision was random and we literally pulled it out of the hat! Mom was supposed to have gone to Alaska last year and she had airline tickets burning a hole in her pocket! I said I would go. I'm pretty sure the only reason they wouldn't go without me is because they would not get around as well! Especially since I drove EVERYWHERE! That was fine. I had the GPS on my phone and we saw a lot more than they would've without me! ahhh, the coast and lighthouses were the afternoon treat!

We had NO IDEA where we should go or what we would do. We flew out of Huntsville and my Aunt asked the night before if I had a list of places we were going. I had nothing. I think at that moment we all kinda thought we were in trouble! It was the BEST trip EVER! We flew into Portland and asked the concierge at the airport if she knew of any antique stores. She said north and south on Hwy. 1. We would pass several.......understatement of the year! 

We were starving and decided to start in downtown Portland for lunch and after we would hit the highway heading South. I had booked a hotel in Portsmouth, ME. When we picked up the car, the guy said Boston was 30 minutes from Portsmouth. What? Ok, we are going to Boston tomorrow! Our first stop was lunch at The Farmer's Table. Appropriate, yes? I had lobster salad and my picture made with  my Mom ;). Isn't she cute?

We decided to walk around in this little downtown (it's not that little). We saw cute shops, ships, boats, water, ice-cream (little did we know, ice cream is BIG in Maine) and a really cute shop with the best light fixtures EVER!

yes....this one....you've seen it before!

Oh, I wanted it....and there were 2....did I need 2? Where would I put them? Were they worth the price tag? It was the FIRST place we'd seen! We had 4 days of shopping ahead of us!! I didn't buy them. I walked away. I thought about them every day until we made it back......at the end of our trip! 

We got on the road. We had NO IDEA where we were going. We had a map and our phones. Everyone we asked said to go down HWY. 1. We did. We drove for 30 minutes or so and saw the first antique store. Stopped. Shopped. Got in the car and drove. Saw another. Stopped. Shopped. Then we found this one! Look at that shutter!! OH MY. I DIE. The colors are amazing. Problem...this will not fit in my suitcase. At this point, I'm planning my trip back to Maine in a U-Haul!

Doesn't this sign look like the Doors are 50 cents? haha The nail is placed just right!

These were at the same shop. It was a barn in the parking lot full of cool stuff like these advertising produce crates!

How cute are these books....why didn't I buy them?

We made a few purchases and hit the road. It was almost 5:00pm and all the shops close at 5:00pm. We are about 30 minutes from our hotel and 10 minutes from the coast. I vote for more lobster and sand and ocean! So, we pull out the phone, find the coast and head that way! 

See...my toes in the brown sand! It's so different from our Gulf Coast white powdery sand!

I had to take a picture of the bridge. It was gorgeous! Lots of fishermen and a carnival on the other side.  It was surreal. Just like what you see in the movies! I went to the water by myself....the ladies wanted to sit and get something to drink! I had to do a selfie, this is one of my favorites, though. I love the action I used on Instagram. It had been a perfect day!! 

Then I went and kissed a lobster!

Much more to share about this trip!

Write it down, Journal, a Diary, a calendar, life day to day

There are so many ways to look at it. You can make an effort to write down your life in a journal or on a blog. Some might just keep a calendar...mine was called a Diary the other day. I laughed out loud when he asked if it was my Diary. My first thought was, NO! Then it occurred to me....why, yes, this is  my diary. I do not write down all of my hopes and fears in it...only some of them! I do write down what we are doing on what day and make future plans inside this little zebra-striped book.

It's almost full and I can't wait to get another one! (The Spotted Zebra) So, I find that it's hard for me to record what actually happens. There are several things in this calendar that I wanted to do, but failed to make happen. Either because something else came up or my over achieving brain planned too many things in one day.

I do want to start writing things down that DO happen. I want to write down how I feel about something or someone...my kids and husband. This has been coming up a lot lately. My step-mom's Mother passed away a month ago and she kept a journal. Not an ongoing, everyday, but....toward the end. She wrote letters to people. No one knew she was doing this and after she passed away, they were found. Can you imagine? Losing someone that means so much to you and then finding a letter they had written you. It is one of the most treasured pieces of writing you will ever have the opportunity to read. Debbie, aka Nanny (my step-mom) and I were talking about all of this one night, in the rain, at John Connor's football game. Her pain and sadness is still so fresh for her and I know she wants to talk about it and at the same time, not ever talk about it. I was really glad she shared it with me. I'm a sentimental gal and love to remember things or find out things that happened to people that I love. History.

OH....that just slaps me in the face. I am doing a Bible Study at church and it's called His-story/your story. It's about how God's story fits into your story and that it's all history...your story, too. How your story and His story shaped your life. got it?

So, I'm doing so many things that involve story-telling right now. A potential client is all about the story, I compile stories with scrapbooking and now, Connor's grandmother, Momba, is not doing her best. We had a family get-together for her and Papa's anniversary on Saturday. We set up a TV in the garage, watched football, the kids played, we visited and stayed until late that night. It was a wonderful day and one that we will treasure. I overheard Momba say she wants to do it every 3 months......it used to be once a month. Never happened...too busy, too  many activities!! All day, Momba carried around a book and pen. She was writing whatever came to her mind about each person in the family. As she would see them, she would write. She wanted to hug us all extra long that day and tell us something she wanted us to remember....her story.

I want to encourage everyone to write it down. Blog, Facebook, calendar or just writing a note to each special person on their birthday is sufficient. I know those letters Debbie has from her Mom are dear to her, but wouldn't it have been great for her to have her own letters from each family member that told just what she meant to them? My Mom's birthday was Saturday..I better get on that! My brother's is this month and my Dad's. Three days after his is my Emma's. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be tears involved....it's hard for me not to shed one or two anyway!

I would love to know if you already do this....or if you have another way of telling your story. You may remember a little scrapbooking event I was involved in about telling your story.....THAT is a story all in itself with lots of lessons learned! ha

ETA: just found this on Pinterest and then to this blog......YES! What a fantastic idea!