Final Blog

Final Blog

This is my final blog. After I give a 2-3 minute speech on my experience, I will complete the Presentation Mastery path, Level 4 elective to “Write a Compelling Blog.”

This last blog story is about magnetic picture frames. We had several of them from Las Vegas but didn't really have good pictures in them – or at least any good ones of us together. Our last trip to Gatlinburg in August, we were eating dinner at the Best Little Italian place on the main strip in the Elks Lodge Plaza. They had a photographer going around taking pictures of people.

One of the things that Troy and I rarely do is take pictures of ourselves, especially of the two of us together. I’ve seen challenges on Facebook where you should post seven days of pictures of you and your spouse, and it was always a struggle for me to find seven pictures of the two of us together because we just never really did that. But we are trying to make a better effort of taking pictures of the two of us.

So, when the photographer came around, I said yes, take our picture. He took several of them. At the end of the meal, he came back to our table. You get one free picture and it's not always the best one. And then he gives us another picture, which you need to pay for if you want it and I wanted it. It was a black and white photo. Troy is kissing me on my cheek, and then we have the “Forever and Always” and it included a Gatlinburg magnetic photo frame. I fell in love with a photo; it just this pure joy that I have on my face with Troy kissing my cheek because I knew that he was embarrassed, but I knew this will be a fantastic picture of the two of us.

This is one front and center on the refrigerator. And again, just like with the simple little cross, when I look at that picture in that frame, it brings joy to my entire being. I smile and think of the special bond that Troy and I have together. I think back to that last trip in Gatlinburg and how much fun we had and look forward to many more trips together with Troy as well as a lifetime together with him.

My magnetic memories. I hope you enjoyed reading through these. And maybe I’ve given you a few ideas to go and make some memories of your own and then showcase them on your refrigerator.

Cedar Point Amusement Park

Cedar Point Amusement Park

Not all the magnets on the refrigerator are mine. Some are ones that my hubby picked up – mainly from his vacations he took with his brother to Cedar Point.

And you’re asking yourself why my hubby is going on vacation without me? Simple. I don’t like amusement parks (except for Dollywood). I don’t care for the rides, and he loves them. He and his brother are roller coaster junkies and I want him to have some fun without me.

When he comes back, there are a ton of stories about the rides and food he experienced, and of course, at least one or two magnets.

I love that Cedar Point has the Peanuts gang as their “mascot.” Snoopy and the gang are scattered throughout the park. And the best one is “What a Day!”  

Vegas Baby!

Vegas Baby! 

I love going to Vegas, or at least I used to. It used to be our happy spot. We would go at least once a year. The last time I went to Vegas was just over 12 years ago; I went with my hubby and my Dad. We had a blast and I even got Dad to play the slot machines by the end of the trip. 

We spent four or five days over Christmas time – just to do something different for a change. Like I said, it took most of those five days to get Dad to put in a quarter into the slot machine and gamble, which was just fine. He was so content, walking around and standing behind me or my hubby watching us play. He was enthralled. 

And did you know that in Las Vegas, in addition to the gambling and the drinking, they have shows and gambling and drinking and food and gambling and drinking and shopping. Oh, and did I mention that there's some gambling and drinking in Las Vegas? 

They also have magnet stores; several of the malls have an actual store completely dedicated to magnets. And we made it our mission to make sure that we were able to get to the magnet store at least once every trip. It didn't matter if we would buy anything or not, although most times we bought at least one magnet, but it was enjoyable to look at everything that was available. Some were just beautiful. Some were just completely hideous. Oh, my goodness. Why would anyone buy some of these things? 

We picked up magnets to reflect the different hotels we stayed at through the years and to represent the different music shows that we saw, including Blue Man Group and Phantom of the Opera. It didn't matter. It was something that represented our memories and why we enjoyed going back repeatedly.

I don't remember what happened and why we stopped going to Las Vegas on a regular basis and instead transitioned to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I think as we've gotten older, Gatlinburg is a little bit more our pace.

But remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… unless of course it’s the magnets that come home to rest on my refrigerator and bring back memories.

Traveling Abroad!

Traveling Abroad!

January of my senior year of college, I had the opportunity to leave the country for the very first time. I took a class it was my graduation present to myself. I went with one professor and 11 other students. We went to Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany. At the time, I was not into collecting magnets so much as I was into boys, drinking, having fun, and looking at churches and castles, so I missed out a little bit at the time.

I’ve done quite a bit of catching up since then. I have some wonderful friends, family, coworkers, and supervisors that I trained a little bit that when they went traveling, especially overseas, they would bring me back a magnet.

I have two from Holland. My supervisor went and came back, brought me a package, dropped it off on my desk at work. And when I came in, he was there watching and he said, “Okay, that one you can open here, but the other one is for Troy and you have to wait till you get home to open it because otherwise it's considered sexual harassment here at work.” Yes, it was from the red district of the Netherlands. No picture of it here, but I’m sure you can imagine a magnet with a topless woman. The other one he got me that trip was a wooden shoes magnet. And since then, I’ve also received a windmill magnet.

I have magnets from Russia, Sri Lanka, China, Shanghai, Iceland, and more.

And every once in a while I will come home and there's a little package on my front porch; I open it up and it's a magnet from wherever. And sometimes he'll even get it when he goes down to Key West, Alaska, or wherever he may be and I know that it's from him when I open it up. 

And since joining Toastmaster, I have friends around the world. When we get together in person at the International Convention, I get more magnet gifts. 

I relish the opportunity to get memories from other people when they take their travels and bring me back a magnetic memory.

My College Roommate

My College Roommate - Still Friends After 28 Years! 

Who here still is friends with their college roommate? 28 years and Annie and I are still friends.

I graduated from Carroll College (now Carroll University) way back in January 1994. Annie was my roommate that first semester my senior year; we knew that she was only going to be there one semester then she was going to move out of state, and I only had one semester senior year because I was graduating early.

It was tough sometimes after college to stay in touch. This was before email and the Internet became so popular. Annie was in New York and I was in Wisconsin. She married a couple years later and she and her husband were stationed in Germany. She still has the letter I wrote to her there saying that I met a boy and was in love… that boy is now my hubby, Troy. 

 

Once Annie’s husband retired, they soon moved to a little city about 10 minutes from my house which it made it very easy to stop at their house or them to stop at mine.

I loved babysitting their children. These were the ones we would “rent” when a child was needed to watch a movie or go to Great America. My hubby, who usually doesn’t like children, actually enjoyed these kids. Of course, it helped that the two boys loved Nerf guns and Star Wars and Legos. And when their daughter was born, that little girl had my hubby wrapped around her little finger!! 

We always receive gifts of magnets from Annie and her family because they travel a lot. They recently went down to Florida for the SpaceX. They have gone to Iceland, Germany, Holland, South Dakota, Utah and many other places. We get magnets every single time. That's part of our relationship now.

I also have magnets of their children. Their middle child went through a ninja phase when he was probably about five years old; he would dress head to toe in black – black sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and a black scarf around his head. I have that ninja magnet on my refrigerator to this day. And he's so different now that he's older and 17 years old. We also have one of him playing peewee football. My hubby took pictures at one of his games and turned them into trading cards. It’s fun to look at the magnets and remember then when they were younger.

And then one day a few years ago, they moved away. Only about 45 minutes away, but to me, it seemed like the end of the world.  I know it's not that far away but them. I don’t see them as often as I would like anymore, but I’m lucky they still think of me and bring me gifts of magnets.

A Simple Cross

A Simple Cross

How can something so simple bring such joy? This wooden cross is one of the latest magnets I purchased at Dollywood back in August.

It was an unusual day at Dollywood. We pretty much had the entire park to ourselves. It was raining/misting in the morning. We had previously made our reservations for the park entrance. And I had a reservation for a little motor scooter because I have difficulty walking. Because of the rain, and even though it stopped by 11 a.m., many people apparently decided not come to the park. There were times throughout the day we would look around and not see a single person anywhere. We had heard that there were only about 400 guests who attended that day. And we honestly believe there were more employees in the park than guests.

Because of the limited number of people in the park that day, I actually felt comfortable going into the stores on the mobility scooter. One of the stores that I really enjoy is the wood crafters store with handmade wooden ornaments, wall hangings, and other carved items.  It is amazing to look at the talent of the craftsmen and their works of wonder.

As soon as we entered the store, I noticed a table straight in with various Christmas items. The nativity sets were all hand carved out of olive wood by artisans local to the Holy Land. I immediately fell in love and wished I were in financial position to buy it all—as well as have the room to showcase it at home. Due to those limitations, I only purchased a small nativity set, maybe about eight inches high. And when you turn the star on the top, it plays “Silent Night.” It was absolutely beautiful and I will probably keep it out all year long.

We ended up with a couple other items and made our way through the otherwise empty store to the cash register. Near the register was a roundabout magnet holder. I like to touch and look, and of course, I started turning it. This simple little cross caught my eye and I knew I had to have it. It somehow spoke to me – not just “buy me” but rather “ I need to be with you.”

This cross is now on my refrigerator. I see it every single time that I go to the bathroom. Which means several times a day. I look at it and it just brings me a moment of joy, of peace, of relaxation. Something that I never imagined would happen from just a simple little magnet.

I wonder what will speak to me next time I’m at Dollywood? 

Vacations in the Smokey Mountains

Vacations in the Smokey Mountains

It’s been a full week and I’ve been good. No more magnets on the refrigerator – YET!! They are all still in the box on the dining room table. I’m waiting for my hubby to bring up the file cabinet from the basement so I can put my favorites and the ones that mean the most to me on that where I can see them from my office chair. Then we’ll narrow them down for what will go on the kitchen refrigerator, the garage refrigerator, and the remaining ones on the duct work in the basement (thank you, Gina Glover, for that suggestion).

We have quite a few magnets from the Great Smokey Mountains (the national park and attractions around the area). In the Butter Y’all” blog, I mentioned that Gatlinburg, Tennessee is our happy place. We have been vacationing there at least once a year for at least five years now. We drive straight through, and with breaks and traffic, it takes us about 12 hours. This is also the one time that I willingly give all control of driving to Troy. This also makes it easier for him to drop me off and then park further away because he doesn’t mind the extra steps.

We rent a different cabin each time using Jackson Mountain Homes rental company and have never had an issue with them, although this last trip we tried Cabins For You rental company. We’ve gone a few times where it is just Troy and I. Went once with Troy’s parents, and another time with his parents and his brother and sister-in-law. The cabins are nice because you can pick and choose location, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, etc. And concerns for Troy’s mom and me are a limited number of steps into the cabin.

Every trip, we make it a point to go to Dollywood. Even though Troy is the only one that goes on the rides, I love the people watching! This is the cleanest amusement park and the layout and themes are wonderful. With the COVID situation last year (and precautions continuing this year), I felt safe. They did limit number of attendees inside the park. The buffets were replaced with family style dining. And they were extremely creative in using the outdoor space to bring in more musicians (all the indoor theaters were closed).

Each trip too, we go to the Log Cabin Pancake House. Bestest breakfast ever! I usually get the apple pancakes with sausage patties or the cherry crepes. Troy has to make a difficult decision between biscuits and gravy or French Toast Royale (topped with bananas and a secret sauce). Depending on how long we are in TN, then we may go there twice. They have a variety of college flags hanging from the ceiling (including our own Wisconsin Badgers flag) which is in contrast to the regular rustic cabin décor. Definitely worth the wait in line if you go. 

I hope you get the opportunity to visit the Smokey Mountains soon and enjoy it as much as I do. Watch out for the bears. Say "hey" to Norm when you see him walking around downtown Gatlinburg. 

Butter Y'All

 

After living in our house for 22 years, my husband and I had to purchase a new refrigerator. It should have been done a couple years ago because it was leaking inside, the icemaker broke about five years ago, and it was making “clunking” noises every couple of hours. My husband did the research and purchasing all on his own and even made the executive decision to get the three-year warranty. He done good!

Knowing the refrigerator would be delivered on a Tuesday, I spent the Sunday prior cleaning off the refrigerator – yes, cleaning off the outside of the refrigerator of the couple hundred magnets that decorated it. (And in hindsight, I should have taken a before and after picture of the old fridge). Found out the original color was ivory and it looked “naked” without all the magnets. As I was cleaning off each individual magnet and deciding to keep or purge it, I started thinking about the history behind the magnets. There is a story with the purchase or gift of each magnet. And because I’m a Toastmaster, I started thinking about how I could use this for a possible project.

Could I present a series of speeches about the different magnets? I knew that I would be starting a new Presentation Mastery path and I could focus each project in the path on a magnet. Then I remembered one of the elective projects in Level 4 in several paths was create a podcast or make a blog. After reviewing the requirements of each project, I decided on a making a blog. I can easily write a minimum of eight (8) blogs about the different magnets. I could probably write well over a hundred - but I promise I won't. 

The first magnet I would like to share with you is one we (my hubby and I) purchased from vacation in our happy place – Gatlinburg, Tennessee. And it’s the first one I put on the new refrigerator!

We had breakfast at Paula Deen's restaurnt at the Island in Pigeon Forge. All you can eat, family style breakfast. The fluffiest scrambled eggs ever! To get out of the restaurant, you have to walk through the store. And even though we probably don’t need anything more for our kitchen, we always look because you never know when something will just POP out at you.

Everywhere we go, we always check out the magnets. And if you know anything about Paula Deen, you know she’s all about the butter. You can never go wrong with butter. You can always use more butter! My hubby makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by first putting butter on the bread, then the peanut butter, then the jelly. I don’t go quite that far, but he likes what he likes, and that includes me, so that’s okay!

Anyway… as we were looking through the magnets, one practically jumped off the rack into my hands. A rectangle shaped piece of “butter” with “Butter Y’all” printed on it. It’s southern, it’s butter, and it’s a magnet. Which means that we had to purchase it and bring it home!

Continue following me for more Magnetic Memories.