I Need Your Help...

Dear Readers!

I need your help for a couple of my 'new adventures'!! I am collecting blankets, 60 or MORE!, for Fresno homeless, to be given out this winter when the weather turns cold. If you have any used, but warm blankets, that you would like to contribute to this 'adventure', please let me know and I will be happy to make arrangements to get them from you! I HATE BEING COLD, and I am sure that there are many people in our community that hate it too, that we can help.

Also, I would love to round up 60, or MORE, baby blankets for the Fresno Pregnancy Care Center! After having 5 children of my own, I do have quite a few baby blankets stored away that we will never use again, but I definitely don't have 60!! The PCC is a wonderful ministry in Fresno and they can always use baby blankets to share with the women who are in their care.

Thank you...thank you...THANK YOU...for considering partnering with me on these 2 'adventures'! We can be Jesus' hands as we reach out to those around us!!

Blessings...Colleen

PS...A HUGE 'Thanks' to my sweet Mom for being the first to contribute to my blanket collection! While helping her clean out her linen closet, we found several great blankets that she no longer needed...they were the 'seed' for this adventure!

Gift Card WINNERS!!!

I'm soooo excited to announce that my 'followers' list is growing and that the first TWO winners...yes, TWO winners, are sisters, Julie and Miriam!! The first 'winning number', known only to my hubby and me, was #26! Julie and Miriam became 'followers' #25 and #26, and since I'm not sure which joined my blog first, I am going to send them each a $5 gift card!!

The decision to send them BOTH a card was easy! Julie is a newly expectant mommy...of twins, and Miriam is a first-year nursing student!!! Now, wouldn't you think that they both could use a grande caramel macchiato one of these days?

THANKS Julie and Miriam for 'following' my blog...and for being such a special part of my life for over 25 years, Julie, and for your ENTIRE life, Miriam! I love you both immensely... am proud of you both...and pray for you often!

So, girls, send me gift card choice...Starbucks was just an idea...and I will get them in to the mail to you!!

WANTED: 60+ FOLLOWERS!!!

Hey friends and "followers"!

One of my goals with this blog is to get MORE "followers"....at least 60 (of course!), to be exact! So if you are a reader, I would LOVE IT if you would become a "follower"! Number 60 (and 2 other secret numbers, known only to my hubby!) will be 'rewarded' with a $5 gift card (you can call this a bribe if you want, because I guess that it kind of is! A FUN bribe!) So, sign on today and maybe a gift card will be headed your way!!

Blessings...Colleen

Adventure #7...New Hair Color!!!

On my list of '60 new adventures', I write down everything that I think of, plus all of the suggestions that my family, friends and readers give me. Most are great, 'doable' ideas, but there are the occasional "nope...not ever gonna happen" ideas that get 'red-lined' quickly! One of my own ideas that stayed on the list as a 'possible, but not very probable' idea was shaving my head!! Needless to say, I didn't share this idea with very many people, but it did stay in the back of my mind as something I've always thought would be kind of fun and wacky to do!

As I began seriously thinking about it...summer would be the best time, right??...I decided to see how I might look with a shaved head. So, behind closed bathroom doors, I pulled all of my hair back as tight as I could behind my head and I tried to imagine myself with no hair! It didn't take long for me to figure out that the shaved head wasn't going to be the problem...it was the EARS!!! My DAD'S EARS!!! I couldn't find my red pencil fast enough! And so, the 'shaved head' idea was a thing of the past!

I will say that I was disappointed in myself for being so vain about my ears...but if you had been in my bathroom with me while I pulled my hair back, you most certainly would have been very quick to agree with me on my decision!

Soooo...on Tuesday morning, I grabbed my phone and quickly sent a text to my darling hairdresser, Aimee, "Don't mix my color before I get there...I have an idea!" There would be no shaving (Aimee would be disappointed as I shared my idea with her and she thought it would be awesome!), but there would be NEW COLOR!!!

The 'blond' me before adventure #7...becoming a brunette!!!

My entire life I have been blond...not always the 'real thing' blond, but blond, none the less! So I was ready for a new 'adventure'..."brunette, here I come!" When I arrived at Aimee's little salon, I asked her to show me her 'hair' samples and we had so much fun trying to figure out just how dark I could go without having totally black hair! She was so excited to be a part of this 'new adventure' and after the color decision was made, she quickly went to work mixing up a batch of '5N'!!!

The color was applied, a darling little 'shower cap' was placed on my head, the timer was set, and we waited! And as we waited, we talked and talked and talked!! There is never a shortage for something to talk about when I am in Aimee's salon, as I have known her since she was 13-14, and now she is a beautiful young lady of 27! As we talked, she kept glancing at my head...the color was taking...I was becoming a brunette for the first time in my life!! And I was loving it!

During the transformation!

The timer went off... we headed to the sink... and the rest is history! I am now a 'life-time blondie turned brunette'!! I must admit, it was a bit shocking at first, but Aimee assured me that I would be used to it in about a week! And, she also assured me that if I just really hate it, she can make me a blond again in a matter of an hour or two!! Hair is a weird thing!!

BRUNETTE and loving it!!!

After leaving her salon, I headed to Target, bought 2 pairs of huge, really cute earrings...and a large pair of aviator sunglasses!! Not really sure why, but they seemed to help when I felt like people were staring at my hair! But the true test would come when I saw my family! Daughter-in-love, Coll, was the first to see me when I delivered some bananas to her! She opened the door, and with her beautiful green eyes bigger than I have ever seen them before, she said, "Well...what is this?" She said that she liked it, and I believed her, so I felt like I got over the first, big hurdle. Grand daughter Spencie, age 3, had no idea who I was until I started talking to her! She asked me when I was getting my other hair back! Kids!!! Honest to the core!

I headed home and saw no one else until Gary got home around 9PM from a meeting. He called as he headed home, and I thought I had better give him a little 'heads up', so I told him to be prepared for a bit of a shock when he saw me! His reaction was darling..."Phew...I thought you had shaved your head!!" He was VERY surprised at the color, but as always, very sweet and accepting! After 38 years of marriage, he is pretty used to my 'surprises'...and there have been MANY!!!

Many of my family members will see my new look, here, on my blog, for the first time! And I'm sure that my phone will start ringing...."Mom, what were you thinking???" I was thinking, "Brunettes can have just as much fun as blonds!!!"

And the journey continues....

Adventure #4...Homemade Peach Jam

Bec's son, Jacob....4 years ago, enjoying one of his Grandpa's peaches!
Couldn't resist sharing this darling picture!

Adventure #4 is one of those things that I have wanted to do for several years, but just never got around to doing it...making homemade peach jam out of the peaches that Gary grows in our little family orchard! We always have lots of wonderful, juicy peaches, but we seem to just eat them and eat them, until they are all gone...and NO peach jam! So I was determined that this year would be different!

Daughter-in-love, Rebecca, heard about my plans and since we had made pomegranate jelly and strawberry jam together, earlier in the year, she wanted to be in on this adventure with me! I was thrilled! It is ALWAYS was more fun with another cook in the kitchen, especially a cook like our sweet Bec!

So the supplies were purchased...jars, pectin, lemon juice and sugar... a date was set aside, July 20, and son, Drew, was recruited to watch the kids so we could have a 'kid-free' kitchen for a couple of hours!

The picking began! This was the easy part...there was lots of fruit!

It was a beautiful summer evening when Bec arrived and we headed right out to the orchard and started picking peaches. They weren't huge this year, but they very juicy and so sweet! We picked what we thought we would need, headed to the kitchen, started peeling, chopping, and whirling up the peaches, and got the jars and lids all ready to go. And then we started making jam!!!

I started peeling while Bec got the rest of the equipment ready to go!

Bec did most of the stirring...and she was quite good at it...while I got the pectin ready.

Since this was a first for both of us, we just kept 'hoping' that we were doing it correctly, and we constantly reassured each other that all was well! Bec is always so full of optimism...one of her most endearing traits...we could have been doing it all wrong, and she still would have been encouraging and upbeat! Love that gal!

We made 3 batches that evening...21 smallish jars...of the most beautiful homemade peach jam you have ever seen! That jam will be enjoyed all winter...and my sweet memories of making it with one of my darling daughters, will last a lifetime!

And the finished product!!!

Adventures #5 and #6!!! Kidnapped in a Limo!!!

Okay... so I learned that some of my new 'adventures' will not be planned by me, (but will be fun, fun, fun!!!)...and they will happen when I least expect it!!

So new 'adventures #5 & #6' started out with my daughter-in-love, Colleen, asking me if I could watch Spencie and Ryder for her so she could surprise Ross with a fun afternoon date after church on Sunday, Aug. 7. I love watching our grand children so I agreed and was looking forward to our afternoon together.

Sunday had arrived, and Gary and I ran into Amy and Darrick at church. They asked if they could come out for a swim after lunch and just to hang out for awhile. The day was shaping up just like I love...kids...grand kids...swimming...and just being together! (Little did I know that it was all a ruse to make sure that I stayed home!)

After getting home, I changed into one of my oldest, most comfortable summer dresses, made a lunch and headed out to the pool to eat and to work on my Sunday crossword puzzle (which I NEVER can complete!!). I was getting pretty sweaty, but had decided to wait for the gang to arrive at 1PM before jumping into the pool. Just at 1PM the dogs started barking so I knew that someone had arrived. I headed to the front door and was surprised to see a HUGE black limousine pulling into the drive. My first thought was that it was lost and needed directions, which happens occasionally, (not the limo part, just the lost part!). But then a little head popped out of the sunroof with a camera pointed right at me...Gary told me that I had better get on some shoes, and quickly, people started pouring out of the limo yelling "SURPRISE" and "Happy Birthday!!!"....it was my gals group from church, "Sisters/Servants", and I was SHOCKED!!! I was being KIDNAPPED in a LIMOUSINE in my oldest dress (and without a bra on!!)!!! After the initial shock wore off, I started crying, and they loaded me into the limo and the party was on!

This is one bunch of truly sweet and hilarious gals!
They bring so much laughter and many blessings into my life!!

There were 15 of my dearest friends all stuffed into this limo, with balloons everywhere, cold sodas, and lots of cameras clicking away! No babysitting or swimming for me today...just lots of laughter and fun! The gals took me on a 4-hour limo ride down "memory lane" as we drove by several places that we had served over the past 10 years, stopping at a few! The funniest was a stop at Shaw and Blackstone were they dressed me up in the ugliest blue dress, wig, glasses, and whatever ugly accessory they could find...they handed me a large sign that read, "Honk If You Think 60 is Sexy!", and they put me right on the corner and told me to get to work! It took just a few minutes before the honking and laughter began! They were hoping for 60 honks, but we stopped counting after about 10-15 and called it good!

On our ride home, the gals were surprised that I had never been in a limo before, so it was decided that this could be counted as one of my 60 new adventures! And they were REALLY excited when I told them that they would all be in my blog! So...Kerri, Kathi, Cindy, Jan, Anna, Jo, Diane, Mer, Susie, Debbie, Linda, Connie, Kathryn, Karen and Donna...I love you all soooo much, and thanks for the 'ride of a lifetime'!!!

As we pulled into our drive way, it became strangely quiet in the limo and all eyes were on Kerri, who then looked at me, and said, "The party ain't over! Go pack a bag!" The KIDNAPPING wasn't over!!! Thus, 'New Adventure #6' was in the works!

The limo headed back to Mer's house, we all (minus 2, who couldn't join us) piled into several cars and we headed out to a secret destination! It wasn't long before I found out that we were headed to a beautiful cabin at Shaver Lake for a night filled with great food, more laughter, funny games and precious time spent with my dear buddies!! And all for me, because I had turned 60!!

Once again, I realized that turning 60 could be tons of fun...as long as you're with the right people!!! And I definitely was with the RIGHT people!!

Thank you dear sisters, for blessing me with an amazing 24 hours...you got me good!!!

LOVE YOU!!!

During the evening my sister-in-love, Linda, showed me how to make a 'Cuddle Buddy'...something she learned on a recent cruise!

Adventure #3...BLOGGING!!!

Okay, so I really thought that this would be one of my easiest new adventures, but in reality, I stink at this 'blogging' thing!!

I have always wanted to write 'something' (to be completely honest, for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to write a book!), but after trying my hand at writing a 'blog', I'm not so sure that a real book is in my future! I have determined that I will need a ton more discipline if I am ever going to write anything more than a thank you note...which are difficult enough, at times!

After seeing the movie, "Julie and Julia", writing a blog seemed like such a fun idea! I had the desire, and the tools (my wonderful MacBook!), but now I just needed something to write about! When the plans to do 60 new things in my 60th year started to form, it was suggested by one of my kids to blog about my adventures...and so here we are! So now I have the desire, the tools, AND the topic, but I am struggling with making it happen on a regular basis!

I truly think that one of my stumbling blocks is fear! It's a little scary, and crazy, to share with the world, well maybe not the WHOLE world, but a little part of the world, not only the fact that I am now 60 years old, but that there are a ton of things that I have never done, but that I want to do, and what those things actually are! I am a bit afraid that many of my upcoming adventures will seem trivial to some of my readers, and may seem silly and not even worthy of writing about. But even as I write this, I am remembering that the Lord gave me the idea to do 60 new things in my 60th year, and because of that fact alone, I am going to keep at it and know that at the end of my 60th year I am going to look back and be really glad that I pursued my 60 new adventures...including writing this blog!!!

Thank you, faithful readers, (ahead of time), for sharing this experience with me! I am truly grateful for each of you and I look forward to hearing from you as I continue my journey!

And keep your suggestions for new adventures coming! I am writing all of them down and I will let you know as I use my 'reader ideas'!! (Sorry, Mer, not so sure your 3 days of silence will happen...I guess time will tell! Love you!)

Adventure #2...Geo-Caching!

(Sorry #3 got posted before #2!! Figuring out this 'blog' has turned into more of an adventure than I thought it would!! Bear with me!!)

My second new adventure happened on the last night of our Hume Lake family camping trip! While sitting around camp after dinner, our oldest son, David, produced an odd looking little device and asked, "Do you want to go 'treasure hunting'?"

The little 'machine' in his hand was a GPS devise that is used for a new (VERY new to me!) hobby called 'geo-caching' The idea is to enter some coordinates that you get off of a website and away you go, hunting for a little 'treasure' that another 'geo-cacher' has previously hidden. Before we headed up to Hume Lake, David had checked to see if there were any geo-caches in the Hume Lake area, and sure enough there were! There were 2 geo-caches near the dam, not far from our campground, and those were the ones we were going to hunt for!

Our little devise kept giving us directions and distances and soon we were very near the first 'treasure'...within feet of it! And so the hunt was on!! We all begin searching under rocks, in trees, in crevices...anywhere a treasure could be hidden. Our youngest daughter, Anna, was the first to spot the treasure, but she kept it a secret, hoping I would find it since this was one of my '60 new adventures'. After just a few more minutes, and a few clues from Anna, the treasure was found, some screaming was heard, and the fun continued as we opened the treasure and checked out it's contents!

One of the coolest contents of this first treasure was a 'travel bug', a small metal tag attached to a cute little Matchbox National Parks SUV. We soon learned from David, that 'travel bugs' are fairly rare and to find one in our first geo-cache was VERY lucky!! This travel bug started it's journey on June 30, 2007 somewhere in California (I haven't been able to figure that out yet!), and we will soon be putting it in another geo-cache that we find to send it on it's journey. I have ordered a 'travel bug' for us to stow away in a 'treasure' that we are hoping to hide for some other lucky geo-cachers to find.

After finding our first geo-cache, we put in the coordinates for the second 'treasure' and we were off on another hunt. It didn't take long to find our next cache, and again, Anna was the 'treasure hunter' to spot it first! Our grandson, Micah, loved checking out what was in each 'treasure' and was a very good 'hunter'!!

After our first experience with geo-caching, Gary and I were hooked! We recently purchased our own GPS device and are planning on taking it with us to Morro Bay this week to hunt for more "treasures"!!!

Struggling With Posts!!!!!

Okay...so I'm getting lots of flak for the lack of new adventure postings on my blog!! I truly had no idea how hard it was going to be to actually sit down and write!! Writing this blog is adventure #3, something I have NEVER done before, and now I know why!! It takes work to get this thing up and running!! But I am making a vow to work a little harder and be a little more diligent at posting my 60 new adventures!! Thanks for your patience...and pray for me that I can get the 'lead out' and get going!!

My faithful readers...I love you...please hang in there with me!!

Hugs....