NOTICE THE BANNER HANGING BEHIND US!  

50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

As my husband and I approach our golden anniversary, so many thoughts and memories from our 50 years together come through my mind like an endless movie reel.  We’ve spent almost an entire lifetime together.  I’m just completely amazed that that much time has gone by.

We started this journey together quite young, especially by today’s standards.  But things were different back then.  We were more mature and ready to start a life together.  We were also quite independent and determined to be self-sufficient.  

I think about this long road we’ve been traveling for 50 years and how very far we’ve come.  We’ve both changed during this time, growing together as a couple.  You can’t help but change and rub off on each other in all those years.  And hopefully we've picked up some of each other’s best traits and qualities.  I’m the yin to his yang and we seem to balance each other out.

It would be most unusual to get through this lifetime without experiencing some hardships and difficult times.  It’s the fact that we did get through them, walking out of the darkness back into the sunlight that helped strengthen us as a couple and make the good times taste even sweeter.  The truly wondrous things we’ve experienced together have brought us unbelievable happiness and joy in our lives.

When I sat next to my husband at our nephew’s wedding recently, I thought about what words and their meanings I think are so very important as you live your life together.  Love is above all number one.  The others are:  Trust, Integrity, Respect, Communication, Compromise, and Laughter.

And so, hand-in-hand, our journey continues together, still sharing great new adventures, facing whatever lies ahead.

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

Once again a natural disaster has struck one of the beautiful countries I have traveled to.  It saddens me to see such a tragedy and the devastation it has caused to the people and the region.  As soon as I heard the news I looked through my Guatemala photos on the computer and then I knew exactly which volcano it was and where it was located.

My husband and I have been to Antigua, Guatemala twice.  The first time was with Overseas Adventure Travel and we spent three days there.  The second visit was just for the day because we were on a cruise ship.  The city is quite picturesque with a large central park and many shops and cafes surrounding it.

One of the mornings we were there we got up before sunrise to go to the top of a nearby mountain to watch the sun rise and to take pictures.  The city was laid out below and on the far side of the city, directly across from where we stood, was Volcan de Fuego.  While we were watching the volcano it belched out several puffs of smoke.  It is located just 10 miles from Antigua.  These are a few of the pictures I took that morning.

Volcan de Fuego looming above Antigua

So far what I’ve read is that Antigua was covered in a lot of ash but beyond that I’m not sure.  Someday when Guatemala has recovered from the volcano I would like to go back again.  The country has so much natural beauty to offer a visitor.