Looking Forward

We have so much to be thankful for, and we are looking forward to so much in the coming days, weeks and months.  Below is a list of our top five things, events, seasons that we are looking forward to!

1.  The canonization of Blessed Pope John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II.  They will be canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday which is April 27.  There are millions of people who have flocked to Rome for this special time in the Catholic Church.  There is a group of pilgrims from St. Thomas More, our CO parish, who will be attending the canonizations.  I am a little jealous as we did consider attending.  Since we will be watching the canonizations from Colorado, I thought it would be really fun to have a little party to celebrate until I found out that the party would have to begin at 2:30 AM.  Well, we will have a celebration, but it will be be just us two…:).  You can watch on EWTN via live stream or find it on your television (if you get EWTN).  The website is www.ewtn.com

We did not win the Catholic Vote "Roman Getaway"…boo :(

2.  BIRTHDAY SEASON---for our family begins NOW!  Kerry and I have May birthdays; John and Pat have June birthdays; Clay and Suzanne have August birthdays.  We have a few more sprinkled in around these months, so it makes for a very fun Spring/Summer.  Lots of celebrating.  

Dad gets two for the price of one :)!

John loves to surprise me!

His traditional strawberry cake!  This was SIX years ago...

3.  SUMMER--We are so looking forward to this summer!  We are expecting very special house guests for two months.  We have the entire two months booked with swimming, biking, concerts, lots of ice cream eating, sidewalk chalk decorating, kite flying, and one big cross country road trip!  We are leaving Colorado and heading to Missouri, down to Arkansas, down to Louisiana and over to Florida.  Need I say more?  We may or may not be meeting some special princesses along the way :).  

4.  Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre Annual Meeting in October--Last year, we were invested into this Order.  It was a very special honor for us and just a neat time meeting people from AR, TX, OK and LA who share the same love and passion for our Church and want to protect the Church in the Holy Land.  We were definitely the youngest being invested, and we were definitely very nervous.  This year, we don't have to worry about processing in, going up two by two, John being Knighted and me receiving a blessing, etc, etc, etc.  This year, we will be enjoying ourselves!

Cardinal O'Brien-last year after Mass--women on one side and men on the other.

A very full Church with all eyes on me-makes for a very nervous Tracy!

Notice the sword--held by the priest--that was just used to knight John.  No pressure!

5.  Lots of Possible International Travel--There is a very good chance we will be traveling to Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe in the coming months.  As if monthly trips to Arkansas with scattered trips to California, Louisiana, New York, Dallas and Boston didn't keep us busy, we are going to add some international travel.  It is all good, and we are excited about the potential.  John's company has invested in a Hollywood movie that will be filming in Germany.  They have asked the producers to come for some of the filming, and there is a good chance we will go.  John's partners are considering a business retreat in Torino, Italy to coincide with the Salone del Gusto event.  This is an annual event for foodies through the region's "digestible fare."  All I can say to that is, yes please!  Our last potential travel date would take us to the Baltic region of Eastern Europe.  Since Dad is from Lithuania, and I am relatively familiar with the culture of Eastern Europe, I am especially excited for this trip.  This trip is very high on our priority list!  More on this later...

I hope I am better about blog updates in 2014!  We are so busy, and sometimes it is hard to stop and write, but I am always so happy when I do.  It is fun to go back and look at what we have been doing--especially as the years go by.

Peace!

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!

The end of 2013

My last posting was in September…of LAST YEAR!  This is bad, bad, bad.  I guess the recurring theme of my blog will be the lack thereof.  I am going to try and do a quick re-cap of what we have done from October through the end of 2013.  I'm also going to try and keep this short because let's be honest…long posts are boring.  And, a caveat of my awesome photos is that I lost my phone in early January.  John was able to salvage many of my old photos on my new phone but not all.  Don't ask me…I don't understand!  Oh yeah, so a goodly amount of photos will be screenshot photos from my instagram account.  Yep, I'm 'with it'...

OCTOBER
We left Colorado for Arkansas and made it to Conway to watch my Uncle Jerry Joe's installation into the University of Central Arkansas' Sports Hall of Fame.  It was really awesome!  We then went to El Dorado for a few days and then over to Dallas where John had some work meetings.  The following day, we headed to Fort Worth where we were invested into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.  We were nominated by our pastor in El Dorado and are members of the Southwest Lieutenancy.  The Order's entire goal is to pray for and financially support the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.  It is one of only two Orders (I think) protected by the Vatican and The Holy Father.  You can find history of the Order here…  www.holysepulchre.net
To say that we are incredibly honored by our nomination and investiture is an understatement.  It was incredibly moving for us.

Snapshot of the program

New UCA Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, Jerry Joe and his bride, Lib!

After our Investiture Mass

Cardinal O'Brien 

Our new friends, Dr. Jim Bob & Holly

NOVEMBER

We left Texas and headed back to Little Rock where we began a very long, tiring, frustrating, and almost comical move with National Van Lines.  We rented a house in Colorado and needed to transport our belongings from our five large storage units in Arkansas to our house in Colorado.  Leaving out the details which would make this post painfully long, let's just say it was a disaster from start to finish.  We survived…barely.  I don't have photos from this, but that is probably for the best.  During the month of November, John had a few trips and we were able to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving.  Tex got to visit Pat and Ted's labs.  Thankfully, everyone got along which made for a really nice Thanksgiving…and we had our picture made for our Christmas card…yay!

Pat knows how to do patio dining.

Dogs are banking on a messy chef and sous chef!

Christmas card success!

DECEMBER
After Thanksgiving, we headed back to Colorado and then to Arkansas in early December for John's office party.  While we were in town, I was able to help Dad with his office party.  Dad introduced us to the book, Grain Brain.  More on this later, but we began our gluten free journey around this time.  We came back to Colorado via private plane out of El Dorado due to an ice storm that hit Arkansas and pretty much the entire country.  Colorado got it a day or two before, and it was moving on down and across the country.  Let's just say that I am not an easy going traveler in extreme weather.  We landed, thankfully, and ended up being trapped in the plane because the extreme cold/wet weather had created a seal on the plane door.  My heart is racing just typing this…  We got out just fine but not before I hyperventilated and thought I would pass out.  Awesome.  We had some special visitors for Christmas. More on that later, but it was an unbelievably sweet time for us.  We went to Vail for a week and took advantage of EVERYTHING Vail had to offer…except skiing.  I know, LAME!  Kerry and Clay joined us along with Pat and Ted.  John's Aunt Julie and her family was also in Vail, so we were able to spend Christmas Eve with them.  Here are a few photos…they are not an accurate snapshot of how busy and how much fun we had during the Christmas holiday, but they will have to do for now :)!

Pat at the top of Vail Mountain tubing.

Dog Sledding

My viking/mountain man on the ice rink!  Hey, it kept his face warm :).

We ended 2013 in the comfort and warmth of our own home.  I'm pretty sure I was asleep in front of the TV long before midnight.  In typical John fashion, he made me get up and countdown with him!  Gotta love him!!  2013 was an incredibly busy and sweet year for us, and 2014 is proving to be the same.  We are hopeful and optimistic that 2014 will be the best year yet!

And, We've Moved...Again!

I have lost count the number of times we have moved since we've known each other.  Before we married, one of us was always moving out of one apartment or house.  Finally, we bought our first house in Alexandria, VA right before our wedding...then moved to Little Rock, AR...then to Hot Springs, AR...then to El Dorado, AR...and now to Denver, CO!  In the meantime, John's mom has bought and sold several homes and my dad has moved a time or two.  The good part about moving is that you are constantly purging.  I'm not saying that I toss things left and right, but I am pretty good at donating a goodly amount.  Hopefully, between the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Dress for Success and St. Agnes Guild Thrift Shop, somebody (or somebodies) have also been blessed as a result of our numerous moves.  We have been house hunting since February and still haven't found a home.  The market in Denver is on fire, and after buying high (more than once), we refuse to be caught up in the frenzy that is the upswing of a housing market.  We are taking our time and being very picky.  And, because of this, we finally gave in and decided to rent an apartment for a few months (which may turn into a few more).  The good news is that it is safe, clean, and new, and we are very comfortable there for now or as long as it takes to find the perfect home.  No rush...no pressure...I'm very happy about this!  We have six storage units in AR and one in CO.  John almost emptied out one in AR as a result of this mini-move and we cleaned out the CO one.  Progress, right?

John is the best mover in the world.  He packed the truck ALL BY HIMSELF!  How he did this is beyond me.  I was getting my hair highlighted.  A girl can't move to a new state with roots!

Our patio home/town house/apartment

Ah, my couch and living room rug--has been in storage for ONE YEAR.  Feels good to stretch out again!

Master Bedroom--nothing exciting, but I am happy to have my Heather Mainord strawberry field painting.

Typical apartment kitchen-simple and clean--all I care about!

This guy deserved a nice lunch on the patio.  As a southern girl and an Arizona boy, we are not used to eating outside in JULY.  I could get used to this!

Now that we are semi-settled, we are loving our new city.  We are exploring all of the different parks and walking trails.  John is a one-man GPS, and once he goes somewhere, he knows it.  He has the back roads mastered.  It blows my mind. I am the OPPOSITE of this.  I master one route, and please do not make me detour.  We have joined a church, St. Thomas Moore, and I have been able to go to daily Mass.  John has even been able to join me for daily Mass once too. We are eating our way through this journey.  We haven't had a bad meal yet.  Every time we go out to breakfast, lunch or dinner...I tell John, I can't wait to bring my Dad here.  Or, he'll say, my Mom would love this.  You get the picture.  We can't wait to have guests come, so we can share all of these delightful experiences.  Below are a few photos of the lovely CO landscape.  

This is totally worth waking up early for...

 Morning Walk

Evening Walk

 I'm becoming my grandmother...photos of flowers.  I couldn't help myself!

God loves CO.  This was the first rainbow I saw and a double rainbow at that.  I snapped a picture and from this day on, I've noticed rainbows almost every other day.  He is certainly reminding the good people of CO of His promise!

Independence Day

Happy Birthday America!  We had a splendid four day weekend at The Beehive.  Because I am part crazy woman, we did all of our shopping and setting up on Wednesday night.  On Thursday, we woke up early and hosed everything down and blew everything up (remember new favorite lake toy--it takes lots of air!).  By mid-morning, we were done and able to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

We had a constant flow of friends from Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon.  We had more food than we ever needed, four days of sunshine, and sensational temperatures!  The boat ran smoothly, and everyone who wanted a ride on the tube behind the boat was able to do so.  John and a friend did a back flip dismount on Saturday afternoon.  That was a little scary for this old lady, but they definitely got high marks for their synchronization!  I hope we are never too old to go for a a bumpy ride on Big Mable (or whatever they name the next tubing invention).  Also, we were able to spend a little time with our Conway family on July 4th.  We are so thankful for good friends and a close family.

God Bless the USA!

Sisters-ready for a boat ride!

Kerry

Captain John

Clay and his baby, Martha

Yours truly

Stuffed with BBQ-Bill, AJ, Uncle Jerry Joe & John

On a related note, I gained some independence on July 2 when my new pair of glasses came in.  After about 10 years since my last pair of "new glasses" and five years since my last eye exam, my vision was getting fuzzier and fuzzier.  My glasses were shrinking (in all seriousness, I don't know how...but they no longer fit my head), the lenses were scratched and, quite frankly, no longer effective.  I FINALLY went to the optometrist in El Dorado, had my eyes examined, and ordered some new lenses. I'm thrilled...and so should everyone else who meets me in traffic and/or who rides with me in the car!

I know--I LOOK as smart as I AM!!