Hello again!  Back to the blog I am,  The furnace in my house decided to not work but it will be sorted out tomorrow- till then its space heaters.  Its still plenty cold outside hence the picture above. In this blog I would like to take you back in my life- to when I was 6-8 yrs old.   I lived in Germany for 3 yrs.  It was the first overseas assignment that my father had  ( that I was alive to be apart of)  My older brother Joe was born in Germany on a previous assignment in Augsburg

This is Garmisch and it is where my father worked at the Russian Institute, and my brothers and I went to school at the American school. There was and still is an American base there.  We did learn German but I can only remember a few words. I know much more Spanish.  It's a beautiful place, with green mountains in the summer and snowy ones in the winter.  Its the last place I skied at too ( when I was there)  The houses are very picturesque and  a lot are painted with various scenes.  We didn't live in Garmisch though. We lived in a small village not far from it though Farchant,

 This looks very much like the house I lived in when I was there. ( In fact I think it is)  We didn't live in the whole house. It was divided into apartments, We rented the bottom part of the house. While in Germany we did a lot of traveling when we had school holidays or weekends .   

Neuschwanstein Castle is easily one of my favorite castles and I remember going there as a kid. One of a few built  by "Mad" King Ludwig II.  Its a bit of hike to get up to it but worth it.  It can be debated  but I think Disney may of taken its likeness for inspiration for Cinderella's castle.( the one in the logo)   When I was seven, We went on about a month long trip one summer and went all the way from Austria to Spain.  One of the places we went to was this place- 

This is Carcassonne which was a medieval city and its located in France. This is the Château Comtal, a 12th-century castle which is apart of that city.  Right outside from the city is a huge aqueduct  which at night when its lit up is pretty spectacular. Another one of my favorite places on that trip was  The Alhambra. 

The Alhambra is a palace and also a fortress. It is located in Granda Spain.  It is one of the most famous examples of Islamic architecture. 

The property of the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada, stands on two adjacent hills, separated by the river Darro. Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albayzín form the medieval part of the City of Granada, which preserves remains of the ancient Arabic quarter. (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/314/)

Another favorite place of mine that we visited was: 

The Leaning Tower of Piza Tower of Pisa is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or campanile.

The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles.- (https://www.towerofpisa.org/ )   I still have the miniature Piza I got at the time,  We travelled to all these places in our VW van. Like this one: 

My parents and I my three brothers and also my grandma who was living with us at the the time travelled in this this bus. The seats in the back could fold down to a bed and most of the time we had it down like that. ( seatbelts were not that enforced it seemed in Europe in 1982-83)   It also had a small sink and a stove- its the only vehicle I have ever have been in since which had these features, it lasted us a good while till it finally couldn't go anymore. We went to the VW factory by train overnight shortly after and got ourselves a newer model.   

More adventures with that car in an upcoming blog..

Updates...

    It's been a bit since I have written anything on this blog.  It's amazing how fast time goes by. Since I have last written- progress has been made on the apartment which is apart of the house my parents live in. The rooms which needed carpet do have carpet now and are almost totally cleared of the previous stuff ( not mine and my spouses)   

The bathroom is almost totally functional, there are some things which are going to be worked on still to finish. 

The rooms are ready for furniture and some of them have some- just some of what belongs in them.  All the major stuff has been completed. Besides work being done on this apartment we have had lots and lots of snow.

 The picture above is the area I live in.  I am pretty sure its snowed just about every day for days. I am not a snow person. By saying that I mean I do not favor the wet, cold white stuff that makes your car hard to get free of.  I know some people really like it but when its over a foot deep I can't say that I have the same passion.  

I can say its great for introverts, which I am definitely one but at the same time it puts me to the point of almost getting agoraphobic Which is a bit too much time in the house. However I look outside and just think of all the ways I can stay in and how not to have to go outside in the cold and the fluffy white stuff.

I do like going outdoors, just in other seasons. Next week I will be going with my spouse to our previous apartment and gathering up all the remaining small things to be transported down here. 

I don't really look forward to that except I can sleep in my actual bed and not this futon bed I have been sleeping on for the past little while.  I dash upstairs when Simon goes to work if I wake up in time and don't sleep all through the night on the futon.  

It's 2 futons which fold out but even so- its not that great but yes better than a sleeping bag- we wanted to gravitate to being in the apartment for everything but still it doesn't even come close to our lovely Purple bed. Its a beast to move but it was worth the 1000 odd bucks we paid for it. Since buying it 3 other versions of it have come out which I bet are even spiffier. I have seen them in the stores.  

Overall- so far thats what has been going on really,  I have to say I enjoy social media quite a lot.  More than I used to. I have connected with people which I did not before- outside of people who know me in real life. 

Thats a big thing for me especially with how my personality is. Those people probably don't have any idea what it means to me to have them communicate with a person such as I.  

Why?  I am not famous, I don' have tons of subscribers etc.  So for me its not just commenting on a video, or a tweet. Something about them I connect with. I have interest in their life for what they choose to share that is. Some are a bit to a lot like myself and some are interesting to me for other reasons. It's also inspired me to do some short videos, and this blog.  

 Funny enough I married a extrovert ( how did that happen- well you know the story if you read the blog)  Still, Simon and I are very different but there are a lot of things we enjoy which are the same along with things which we individually only like.

Tune in next time when I have more updates for those who look at my blog. I apologize for how basic it is- but I don't have to pay for it and I don't need fancy right now. 

 

Note this site isn't very advanced so please excuse how basic it looks.

 

It's that time again, the end of the year.  2022 definitely has had its challenges.  Covid wasn't the big deal this year but inflation definitely was.  My husband I moved locations, and I decided to go back to doing things I really love doing.  Its been a struggle for sure but my husband is not in a hurry to have me return to the work field.  I am grateful he has said so, because I am not sure what I would wish to do.  

A bit about my spouse:- this post is about him. Simon Kirsten Phillips was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1974.  He is proud to be Welsh and will tell you the history of Wales and convince you that the Welsh invented many things   ( which I am sure they have but I am not sure of some things he says) 

He was once in politics, he did several campaigns in Wales and was a candidate for the Welsh Green Party.  He and his friend Paul Davies used know such people as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.  He didn't really talk with them but he can tell me what they were like and he also knows where and has been to the chess room is in Parliament. That's not on the usual tour which I have been on with my 5th yr. history class when I was there. 

My husband used to help his friend write official letters and papers for MP's.  His friend has dyslexia and that is where Simon's typing skills came in handy. When I was over there in 2003-2005 I met his friend Paul who as far as I know is in politics-  I am not sure he was in social work for a long time with the GMB I think its called, we have lost track of him.  

When I was in London I also met and got to know Hugo Charlton who used to be the Chair of he Green Party. He been a barrister also.  My husband met him though fixing his computer when Simon was doing his computer repair service,  Phillips PC Repair. Hugo was very helpful to us personally which sometime perhaps I may go into but not at this point. Simon and I actually went to the same British school.  Bishops Cleeve, which is in the Cotswolds, in Bishop Cleeve ( school emblem shown here)

He was in the 6th form and I was a 4th year so we did not interact then. He tells me he knew who I was then though and wanted to "go out" with me then. I have to honestly take his word for it because I don't remember him hardly at all, as he is a couple yrs older than me. I later returned to the US in 1994 and did not meet up with him again till 2001, over the internet. 

This is us in Washington DC in 2002 when he came to visit me and my family for a month. At the end of this visit, we had become engaged. We have been married 19 yrs and it will be 20 in 2023! Thats a milestone for us. Back to my into about Simon -In 2006 Simon  became a permanent resident. 

We were in Iowa which if you have read my last blog, you know I was there.  We had done lots of immigration paper work which yes each part did cost to do.  It's not cheap to do to it the legal way but worth it.  The time came and we and my folks went to Des Moines Iowa in the freezing cold winter for his interview.

It was really, really cold and we were both nervous, never having been to an  immigration interview before They have these buildings which interconnect which made it so we could get out of the cold easier. We had brought all our letters and pictures to show we had a real relationship ( we were already married but you know how some marry just for the green card).

 When it was our turn the immigration officer glanced at our correspondence but didn't really look at it.  He knew we were good to go and he granted Simon his permanent residency. Now several years down the line, he needs to make the next step in his journey in America- to become an American. 

Simon loves crafting, he has about every craft gadget you can think of from the Cricut machine to a laser engraver. His mam who is still in Wales sends him craft things constantly. Lots of envelopes from Britain which embossing folders and such. He also loves to cook and is pretty good at it.  He learned how to cook when he used to work in catering at Hy-vee  in Keokuk. 

So there's a bit about him- he's a smart, witty guy and I am glad he is my Welshman.

 A look at places I have been..

I have been fortunate to live a-lot of places in my life,  I have been on one side of the USA in Maryland to the other side in Hawaii. I have lived in Germany and also  Britain twice.  I have traveled from France to Spain and even Venice.   Where did I meet my spouse?  (No this is not an answer to a security question I have anywhere) I was in a town in Maryland called Union Mills. It does have a Civil war history in fact two brothers had a sort of inn and one catered to the North and one catered to the Southern troops. In the same house. Yes they did that. 

One brother took care of the Union troops and the other the Confederate ones.  Maryland was a border state so one could see how this could be.  It must of made for interesting living though.  I wonder what the brothers relationship was like after the war. 

  I was 25, and this was a small town smaller than near by Westminster and very much smaller than Baltimore. Its about 10-15 mins away from Gettysburg Pennsylvania though as we know is a historic Civil War museum. I have been to that, it is a real neat experience to go to. 

 It also has a big Civil War cemetery which oddly enough was a location my brothers and I and my husband went to on a stag/hen night. I know its an odd place to choose but it was close by. 

I can't tell you why we choose there other than we all like history.  Before that night ( 2 yrs before) , I decided to give this Internet dating thing a try.  This was back in 2001. I signed up for a trial.

It did not take long till I found my spouse. No kidding it was like a couple days after I had signed up.  However he wasn't a town or two nearby,  He was in Cheltenham England. 

Thats right - clear across the ocean to Britain.  Interestingly enough I was already familiar with Cheltenham and had been there many times as a teenager.   He even knew some of the same people I knew in Cheltenham.  That's when I had last been there, I was there because my father worked for the US government which also worked with Britain.  I lived there for three years and went to British school.  I can relate to Pink Floyd's song "The Wall,"  because I know the British school experience, school uniform and all.  British school was not a pleasant experience as many who have been and gone to one can relate to. 

Before finding my spouse I had been in Hawaii.  I really enjoyed it there.  I lived on the island of Oahu in the town of Laie. 

This picture shows exactly where I lived for 5 yrs, on the Point as we called it. I lived in 2 houses when there. I lived with parents and younger brother there, I went to college at BYUH University and really enjoyed it there. Not only is the weather really wonderful and there tons of beaches to go to, but I met a-lot of people there from all over the world. I know people from Fiji to South America,  I danced in  with them for Culture nights and sang at Song Fest. 

You learn to appreciate so many different cultures and I got to do this in one place.  I only got to go to one other island during my stay in Hawaii,  I wish now I could of seen more of the islands

The Big Island, even though I didn't spend a-lot of time there was a fascinating experience. My parents and my younger brother ( I have two older brothers as well).  went to the Big Island for Thanksgiving.

It was a wonderful experience. 

We stayed in a little cottage outside the Volcanoes National Park.  It was actually a little chilly. We explored the park, hiked through the caldera and ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Volcano House Hotel. I have seen lava flowing into the sea. Its a really a unique experience to see another island in the process of being formed.

The lava flows into the ocean, and eventually enough will make a solid surface appear. Don't expect that any time soon though, it takes a very long time.

After Hawaii, and after I was married I lived with my spouse in Balham, SW London.

My husband used to work for the General Trading Company and then he did his own business fixing computers for people.  He also volunteered his time to helping people with their resumes.  He did this at St Mary's church which is in Balham. You can still find the church there, but the General Trading Company which was in Sloan Square I don't think you can.  

I have no idea where that business went.It used to be a very posh store. It sold very expensive things and rich Arabs used to visit it amongst others. 

I lived in Balham with my spouse for about 2 1/2 yrs. Then we decided to move back to the United States.  I came first being a citizen and after doing a lot of immigration paper work  Simon joined me.  Immigration is expensive but worth it.  By that time I had moved with my folks to Iowa.  Keokuk Iowa.

This is the house I lived in for awhile with my spouse and also my parents.  It was a wonderful house with a grand tower and some other out buildings. Keokuk is full of grand houses which need TLC. If you are into DIY you can find a grand place to fix up and not pay and arm and a leg for them. 

Keokuk is 20 mins away from Nauvoo. As a town you could definitely say its a sleepy one. Its not busy in fact it never has gotten out of the last big recession.

We all lived in Keokuk till about 2008 when we moved to Utah to help my grandfather was ailing and then passed away in 2009. 

Woodland hills Utah- thats where I am now.  I was here for five years then went away to Salt Lake City  for seven.  I am happy to be back here. Its one of my favorite places to be.  ( this picture isn't the mountain with the homes on it),  1000 feet up from Salem which is the town below.   We get a lot of snow here in the winter. More than down below gets for sure.

Now you have seen part of my recent places, and a bit of the story of how I got from there to here,  I will have to go in to some of the places I went to when I was a teenager and before another time.. 

  

 

 Music I really like..

I am a person who enjoys a wide spectrum of music. 

I enjoy everything from New Age to classical music.... there is just a narrow band of things I really don't care for.   I am not so keen on rap, R&B or country, though some country I do like,- Willie Nelson is one I like some of his songs.  One artist I like a lot
of their songs of is the Kongos.  

They just put out an instrumental version of their songs and it is fantastic.  One of the few bands which can make the accordion like-able, yes Weird Al is another.  Hearing these songs instrumentally, is an enjoyable experience and I am glad this band who had already put our an album of these songs have done this version.   On the other end of the spectrum, I love really cool movie tracks.  One of my favorites is from Inception, particularly the track called Time.  

Another one I like is the soundtrack to Kama Sutra..  I know what you may think- and actually the movie isn't as racy as you may be thinking.  No I wouldn't of watched it if it was.  I have seen it with my mother, yep and I was about 22. The locations they used were really wonderful, it's set in India,   The soundtrack is really beautiful, rich Indian music that really draws you to in.   To another end of the wide rage of things I like to listen to,

I really like atmospheric New age music and that can have a very wide rage of artists. Anything from space music to Enya and I like a lot of all of that. I really like to listen to it when I am concentrating.  If I am busy making soaps or cleaning the house, then anything from Erasure to Hugh Laurie will be playing. Back to  New age,  My friend introduced me to the music of Ray Lynch. She had it on one of those CD players which could play multiple CDs.  

His was one of them, Perry Como was another ( she was from just outside of Las Vegas) and Van Halen. I like the first two to this day, never got into Van Halen.  I also really enjoy Carbon based Life forms.  Another  type of of genre I like is alternative music- one of my favorites is Depeche Mode. I was introduced to their music by my older brother and I have enjoyed their music ever since.  

I also like bands like Lord Huron- I am not sure what genre they fit in exactly they aren't exactly country but not exactly alternative and I would not describe them as pop music.  A more recent like of mine is the The Killers.  From Mr Brightside to Read my mind I have really enjoyed their music so far. 

Alright, there is a short snapshot of things I listen to- I listen to lots more not mentioned but here is a snapshot for you.

In the thick of winter...

Well, it's still December but already lots of snow has fallen. The forecast calls for guess what?  Snow and then more snow... and then you guessed it.. more snow. Its going to snow for days. Here is what it currently looks like from where I am.

According to the forecast, it is going to snow nearly every day from today to next Friday. Which makes the current things I like to do all the better because they are indoor pursuits and not in the cold. I enjoy going for walks, but not in this weather. Unlike some people in my state, Winter sports just aren't my jam. I haven't skied since I was 8 yrs old and I am totally fine with this. I was never into it as a kid. Probably because I was not superb at them, I was too scared thinking my skis would not stop and such and getting out of my snow boots was always a pain.  

Other members of my family love skiing and still go. They have passed that love on to their kids now.  This is fine and great, I am not anti-ski. It just isn't for me, nor is ice skating.  I have tried that a few times and never was great at that either. If you love these sports by all means, keep doing them. I just have tried them and found I rather didn't like them.  Get me near a swimming pool, then I am super eager to go in it. I prefer indoor swimming pools, but outdoor ones are fine as well. I love swimming, I always have loved being in the water. I don't know how good I am at it, but I enjoy it and can swim well- so I guess I am ok nothing Olympic medalist level, but good. 

Not being active in winter sports doesn't mean I just sit around and be lazy,  I keep busy with the hobbies I love doing and one of them will turn into a business ( once my apartment gets all finished,) I do things to keep myself busy as one should do. Winter can be a productive time of year.  You just have to go about it a bit differently. Stay warm and stay busy folks! Till next post.

 

Yes, it's been awhile..

 

Hello there! It's been awhile since I blogged here but I have taken it up again.  There have been changes since I was last blogging. For instance, we have moved locations. We are no longer living in Salt Lake City. We decided to  this for a few reasons,  One reason is the air quality is never good and is not good for your health. Also, for financial reasons, we moved as well as our rent was expensive and Simon is the one who works now as an Uber driver and so it was hard to keep up with expenses. We have moved to my parents' home in a separate apartment. 

I am very grateful they have let us do this. I was working for the Grand American Hotel until mid-July.   I had worked there for 9 months, but customer service just wasn't for me. I am an introvert and talking on the phone just isn't me. I tried to do it though.  But you can only go so long against what you really are and who you really wish to be,  So what do I do now?

I make candles and soaps and lip balms and those kinds of things.  I really enjoy creating these things and have found that I can do it rather well as well. I also have gotten back to my joy of writing, which I have always loved to do.. I like to write mysteries and I have am trying my hand at writing a fantasy novel as well.  I have basically have decided, at least for the time being, to go back to the things I have loved, but for years have put off. 

My husband and I still plan to travel and enjoy doing that- it just may be longer till we have another grand adventure like Canyonlands.  Stay tuned for more.  I can talk about my creations I make ( I made some really nice gingerbread soaps and snowflakes for my sister in laws for Christmas). I can tell you about my writing progress as well.  As was said in the movie The Greatest Showman, " This is me!" and if what I write about interests,you- then fell free to follow this blog,