We spent January away from Minnesota. We rented a VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) home that gave us all-day views of Superstition Mountain’s Flat Iron in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The reprieve from snow and subzero temps was wonderful. I am all filled up with Vitamin Sunshine and gratitude. As we have done in previous years, we visited with friends while there, and then reconnected with friends from the early years of our marriage who now live half the year in Gold Canyon. I found it so much fun to see what people did and do with their lives from when…
Read MoreDucks and Daffodils Thank You Card
My newest Ducks and Daffodils greeting card at my JulieSaffrinsStuff Etsy store is a thank-you note. I wanted it to have the feel of springtime and happiness. These little ducks and daffodils lift my spirit. I hope yours is lifted too. We ventured to Florida and Denver in March and April and wow, did it feel good to vacation again and to finally see my son and his wife’s new home in Colorado. The weather was wonderful. Nothing like the crashing of waves and miles of wide sandy beaches to take dreary Minnesota out of a person. So, so wonderful.…
Read MoreA SWEET AU REVOIR TO 2019, HELLO TO 2020, AND MY WORD FOR THE YEAR: PRACTICING
Happy 2020 New Year, friends! 2019 had its tough moments, such as receiving middle-of-the-nights calls that my mom had fallen. She had a tough year, fracturing her right hip three times, but is doing much better and loving living near my brother, Steve, and his wife, Debbie, at her new home at Praha Village in New Prague. But, 2019 is a year I’ll store in my heart for always. It was a year where I learned (make that, practiced) bridge (“Relax,” my fellow bridge players constantly say, but the pressure is real! I love the game and the women I’ve…
Read MoreA DAYTRIP TO KEY WEST
What comes to mind when you think of Key West? Before I visited this beautiful place, I knew it was about ninety miles from Cuba and Ernest Hemingway used to live there. Both are true. But Key West has so much to see and do, it is definitely worth scheduling into your Florida Keys trip if you have a day to spare. That said, a woman came up to me from Miami just after arriving and parking there at 11 a.m. and she, along with her husband and two mid-teen boys, were just getting into their car parked in back…
Read MoreFLORIDA KEYS VACATION
As we snow birds seem to say quite a bit in the early months of the year and now mid-survival of the April blizzard 2018, “Why do we live in Minnesota?” Family. My English, Norwegian and German ancestors, yes, decided that this part of the United States was a place to set down new roots. I’ve wondered, er grumbled, many a time, what was so enticing about this area? No sea, no mountains – of significance, just two seasons: Mosquito and Freezing Snow. Why, why, why? Especially when the Florida Keys exist? My husband, Rick, and I have visited the…
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