2014…January 1 to Present

My last post recapped the end of 2013, and this post will be a recap of 2014 thus far.  Let's get to it!

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

After we sent our sweet visitors home in mid-January, we headed out for a long trip to Arkansas and Louisiana for work.  We expected to see our Bridge Club friends in Arkansas, celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary and ring in my dad's birthday with him.  What a fun and busy trip we planned.  THIS IS WHY I HATE PLANNING!  Planning is great when things go as planned, but when H1N1 swarms throughout the state…nothing goes as planned.

We got to Arkansas just fine and had a glorious time with our Bridge Club friends.  We headed to El Dorado for a day or two of work and then down to New Orleans for a couple days.  Our trip to New Orleans coincided with our anniversary…so I was especially excited.  On our way to NOLA, John's throat started hurting and he started coughing.  We 'celebrated' by calling it an early night on our anniversary and ended up in the ER the following night.  Poor John was struggling to breath and couldn't shake his fever.  Oh yeah…AND, New Orleans got a once every decade ice storm and EVERY ROAD/BRIDGE was closed for several days.  Thank the Lord, Touro Hospital was close to where we were staying, and we only had to go a few blocks.  A few quick tests later revealed that he did have H1N1, a very high temperature, and a substantially low oxygen level.  After some fluids, oxygen, antibiotics, and lots of ibuprofen later, we were released.  We managed to get out of the city eventually and get back to Arkansas where we were uninvited to Dad's birthday celebration in Shreveport.  I don't blame him.  Thankfully, I never got sick and while John was down for a good 10-12 days, it could have been worse.  We have never gotten flu shots before.  Let's just say we will be first in line next flu season for our shots.  Lesson learned.

The highlight of our trip in Jan/Feb--Anniversary flowers!

MARCH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FATHER TOM!

We were invited to CPAC in March, and I told John I would go but could not miss my friend's (Emily Story) wedding the day following our Dinner.  So, we were in DC 3/6-3/7 and AR 3/8-3/12.  While writing this post, I realize how negligent I was in my photography.  I must do better!!!  We saw so many friends in DC.  It was really fun.  The fun part is that we were invited to attend which was such a treat, but other than the friends, Matt/Mercy Schlapp, who invited us, we did not really tell anyone else we would be in town.  We figured we would only be there for a day or two and would not have a car etc.  Too little time to make plans, so we just decided to lay low.  Well, we 'bumped into' lots of our old friends.  I don't think we could have planned it any better.  We certainly did not see everyone, but it was still really fun.  In AR, we attended Emily's wedding.  Oh my…such a fun reunion seeing many of my college girlfriends.  Times have certainly changed because while we did dance a little, we mainly visited.  There was so much to catch up on with everyone.  It was a blast!  We even got to go to Second Sunday at 6 PM at Christ the King and then to Jason's Deli with our Terra Firma friends.  Oh, I love Jason's.  The salad bar…  Who needs meat?  Not me.  John does.  Oh well!  Down to El Do and back to CO later that week.  We were able to celebrate Father Tom's birthday on March 17.  He is the busiest retired priest I know.  Luckily, he squeezed us in.  What an Irish blessing he is!!  At the end of the month, Dad and Suzanne came to Colorado.  Dad had a Dermatology meeting, so we were able to visit with them and show them our home!  We had a warm snap towards the end of the month and I got all excited.  I figured that meant Spring was around the corner, so I bought patio furniture and plants/door hanger for the front.  What can I say…I'm a sucker for sunshine.

Welcome to our Home

E is for EDDY!

Outdoor dining anyone?

APRIL

April (SNOW) showers bring May flowers!  So, here we are in April.  I started the month out on a Women's Retreat in Estes Park.  My sweet friend, Sarah, invited me, so I was happy to have a little girl get away.  The retreat was not what either of us expected, but it did include adoration and confession, so how can you complain?  Anytime I can receive the sacrament of confession without going to church and standing in line, I'm happy.  Yep, confession came to me!  There were 12 priests who drove up the mountain on Saturday evening.  They all had to go back down for Sunday Mass, so it was a great sacrifice on their part.  I am grateful.  I met a lot of great women!  While I was on retreat, John went to CA for work.  So, I was in snow, and he was at Pebble Beach.  But…I went to confession…ha,ha!  I might have been a tad jealous of his location.  He kept sending me beautiful scenery photos and he was able to go to Mass at one of the Mission Churches founded by Blessed Junipero Serra.  John visited all of the Mission Churches with his grandparents and dad when he was young, except this one.  His dad became to ill to continue.  Let's just say this pilgrimage was a long time coming for John.  I wish I could have been with him.  He really enjoyed himself!

My small group @ Women's Journey Retreat

View from the plane--John made a day trip to Beverly Hills from Pebble Beach to discuss a movie investment!

View from inside the plane

Did I mention I was way up in the mountains with snow while John was in CA?

Mission Church founded by Blessed Junipero Serra

I'm getting jealous all over again!

Another view from John's trip!

Later in the month, we went to Arkansas where John played in a charity golf tournament.  We went to New Orleans for work, Shreveport for Good Friday/Holy Saturday, and Little Rock for Easter!  The first year John played in the St. Joseph's Helpers golf tournament, it was 106 degrees.  It was brutal, miserable, and a little dangerous!  The second year (which we missed), the organizers moved the event to April and it was PERFECT.  Or, so I'm told.  This year, it was rainy and cold.  The Eddys bring the extreme weather.  The day before, the weather was 70 and awesome.  It turned cloudy/rainy overnight and the temperature dropped from 60 at 6 AM to 49 by noon.  Brrr…glad I brought John shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  I'm awesome.  He bought out the golf pro shop in an effort to stay warm while golfing.  New Orleans was productive and Shreveport was so fun.  We had a good visit with Dad, Suzanne, Kerry and Clay.  We ate too much and lounged on the porch.  It was so nice!

John and his awesome foursome!

Goodie Bag

Some of the golfers--notice how bundled up they all are…John has on gloves!

Sadly, this is the only Easter photo.  Yep--our meal on Good Friday!  Whew, at least I'll remember 30 years from now :)

We spent Easter Sunday with Dad's family in Little Rock.  We had a delightful brunch with all of his siblings except Uncle Kas.  We also got to visit with cousins Kelley and Jack.  Why didn't I take ANY photos?  I will do better.  I will do better.  I will do better.  As I type this post, we are still in the Easter season, and I am so thankful and rejoice in our risen Jesus Christ.  We attended the Easter Vigil and watched the catechumens as they were received into the Catholic Church.  What a rich and beautiful celebration!  I know I am renewed by Lent and Easter and am looking forward to what God has in store for us this year!