Carol's Life in Photos: Happy 2012! Welcome New Year!

Abee (my grandniece)and I

2012! Yah! I’m so happy to see the New Year come. Last year was very hard. I know that 2012 will be better. I lost Julian in 2011 and am still feeling a very large hole in my heart. However, things are getting better. It’s January and I made it through the holidays. I’m feeling much better after having my gallbladder removed just before Thanksgiving. I can eat almost normally now with out feeling sick and without pain, so that is very good. Food is actually starting to look good again. I actually had a peanut butter and bacon sandwich for dinner tonight!! It tasted delicious! Faye and Jules came over for lunch and I fixed cheese, chicken, rice, avocado, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, salsa burritos. They were good too. Melt butter in a pan after getting all the ingredients ready, plop the flour tortilla in the pan add all the ingredients cook till the cheese is melted and the flour tortilla is brown and crispy, turn over the 2 sides and slid onto a plate. UUMMMM Good.

Christmas had it's good points. I got to sing Vivaldi's Gloria with my church choir before Christmas. We have at least 60 members and were accompanied by 8 strings (4 violins, 2 violas, 1 cello, 1 harp), plus a few brass and woodwinds. It was very awesome! I have to say that singing in our beautiful church decorated for the season was what put me in the spirit and kept me there.

I finished grading all my papers for my GCU job Wednesday before Christmas and immediately got the stomach flu. It was lethal and came and went for 4-5 days. I thought I was better, but it came back on Christmas Day. I could sing many verses of the diarrhea song to lighten that thought up, "I was running down the hall and it splattered on the walls" " I was sitting on my tushie, it was feeling kinda squishy". I could go on but you probably don't want to hear that.

I sometimes feel like I have no life, but I really do and will try to share a few of the things that I did this past month. I missed seeing the boys open their presents. However, Faye and Javier came over on Boxing day with Jules. They had saved all their presents from me and opened them that day. It was wonderful. As Kirsten says there is 12 days of Christmas and it doesn't matter when you celebrate it. Kirsten, Rob and the kids celebrated on Thursday after Christmas because Rob was out of town flying over Christmas.

On December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, I walked in memory of Thomas Augusta Free who was lost his life when the USS Arizona was bombed and sank at the start of WWII. I researched him after the walk and found out that he and his son were both on the USS Arizona so were both killed. Very sad. Thomas also served in WWI and his son William joined the Navy and was sent to the USS Arizona in June of 1941. It was an honor to walk in his memory.

The 2 men facing me in the center were survivors of Pearl Harbor

I walked with these 2 Vets

This is the USS Arizona Memorial in Phoenix that we walked to


Bailey, Mom, Abree, and Airah

Sean Cude (Jacki’s oldest son) gave his girls a trip from Alaska to go to Disneyland and to see shows in Las Vegas. They had a layover coming and going in Phoenix, so Grandma and I went to the airport both days and got to spend several hours visiting with them. It was really great to see them. Sean as always is very busy with his various businesses in Alaska. However, he also spends a lot of time with his girls which is great. His newest business has to do with harvesting old equipment (lots and lots of metal) from abandoned sites in the outback of Alaska, shipping and selling it to be reused. He’s cleaning up Alaska and making money at it. Good for you Sean. We are all proud

My friend Elisa and I went to Desert Botanical Gardens today. They had an exhibit of large wooden bug sculptures on display at various places around the gardens. I made her scarf and she made mine. We were roommates in college and she is still one of my dearest friends!