My Lifetime Journey
by Dotti

May 2008 ~ August 2008

The greatest thing you have is the 24 hours in front of you.
The past is gone; the future is distant.
Today you CAN succeed.
Set a goal you can achieve in the next 24 hours.

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	DWLZ Cookbooks Since the DWLZ Cookbooks Recipes for a Lifetime, Volumes One and Two, went out of print, we have had many requests to make them available once more. So, by your request, we have put them together into one PDF file, viewable in your free Acrobat Reader. Click Here to get your copy today!

I do want to address the issue of my Before/After rollover photo on my main page. I have received a couple of emails stating that those photos should NOT be there since I've gained some weight back. I disagree. I have never hid the fact I've gained some weight back - NEVER! I may not have addressed it but pictures have been posted on the Message Board and on my page (hiking pages, etc) that indeed show my extra weight. I've earned the right to have those photos there. I DID that Journey and WILL do it again. Those photos are MY motivation to get back to GOAL, to where I was for 3 1/2 years. I hope that those photos are also good motivation for all of you to reach your goals too. It can be done! I've proven it as has many of you. We can never have enough motivation to keep on keeping on.

Jump onboard everyone! You can do it too!

I'm rooting for you!

August 23 - 31, 2008 - Happy Birthday Al!  Vikki (aka purplenorsemen on our message board) arrived on today and we had a blast for the next 8 days. My little brother Rip, Vikki, Al and I went hiking the Eagle Creek Trail to celebrate Als birthday.  We came back to the house and Vikki and I made Al's favorite dinner, Instant Tacos and a great strawberry dessert.  He loved it.  We spent the day on the Oregon Coast at Seaside and Astoria, visiting museums and shops.  We spent another day at The Dalles, OR visiting a cool Fort there and huge museum.  While I was at the gym Vikki got all the addresses of the local thrift stores and put them in my magellan.  We spent the rest of the day visiting them and looking for all sorts of bargains. The highlight of the visit was a wonderful night out to see the play, "Phantom of the Opera".  What a wonderful show it was!

Welcoming Vikki to Portland, OR at the airport.                                                      Vikki & I at the Oregon Zoo

July 22 - August 8, 2008 - On July 22nd, Al and I headed to the airport to pick up our oldest son, Glenn and our grandson, Kai. The last time we saw them was in 2006.  They live in Japan.  Glenn is a Chief in the U.S. Navy.  We were so happy to hear they would be spending their vacation with us this year.  We had a blast spending some quality time with them, wild water rafting, miniature golf, science museum, zoo, basketball and much more.  While they were here we took the opportunity to have our family pictures taken at Sears. Our other son LeRoy, flew down from Spokane to spend a couple of days with us too so it was the perfect time to get the photos taken.  Al has almost finished a beautiful photo page of all of our adventures while they were here with us.

July 17, 2008 - Al and I had the pleasure of finally meeting Karen (aka KCalla on our message boards) and her family. We met for a wonderful OP dinner at Newport Bay.  She has an awesome husband, Rick and beautiful daughter, Katie, who was down here looking at colleges.  What a great time we had getting to know each other and collected real hugs.

July 11, 2008 - We have a new addition to our family thanks to my looking into a cardboard box held by a nice lady and her two little girls.  Yep, they were standing in front of Walmart with this beautiful little kitten that needed a home.  The lady brought the kitty home from work (gotten him from a co-worker) and he just did not work out well with their two dogs.  So, she was trying to find him a home.  I couldn't resist.  Al was sitting in the car waiting for me so I gave him a call to come see and he did.  The rest is history!   He has been such a joy to have around and I do believe our stress level is a lot less with him here with us.  Meet Frostbyte.

	Frostbyte loves to help me check in with all of you on our Message boards.  He's been known to type a word or two! On the left is Frostbyte at the time we brought him home; about 6 weeks old.
I turned around to get some bananas for the bowl and look who made himself all comfy. Frostbyte on 9/8/08 - posing so cute next to my drink.

June 27  - July 7, 2008 - We spent July 4th vacation up in Spokane, WA with our son, LeRoy and our bestest friends, Jim & Tammy.  It was one of the hottest times we have ever spent there.  I couldn't believe how hot it was.  I handle the heat well, being from New York but Al has a horrible time when it's extremely hot.  Our little Hunter had a blast in his pool outside so he stayed cool!  It is always nice spending time with our son, LeRoy (who unfortunately had to work most of the time) and our bestest friends, Jim and Tammy and their families.  Here are a few pics of our precious Hunter James, who will be 3 in November!

June 13 - 16, 2008 - Sharon (aka harmony), Dave (aka Frenzy) and their son Brian came outfor a visit.  Dave and Brian climbed Mt. Hood (amazing)and Sharon and I got to getin some 'girl time'.  We had so much fun catching up.  After the men climbed Mt. Hood (in Oregon), we all met for a very nice dinner at Newport Bay. It was so awesome getting to know their son, Brian, and reconnecting with both Dave & Sharon.

Dave and Brianare CELEBRITIES! They climbed Mt. Hood!

	May 31 - June 3, 2008 - Joan (aka Joan on our Message Boards) came out for a short but fun visit.  We stayed up late, laughed a lot and caught up with each other.   We spent a wonderful day at the Oregon Zoo, taking pictures and just enjoying the day.

May 16 - 23, 2008 - Al and headed out on a cruise to Alaska. This was a rest and relax, easy-going cruise. We hit the small towns and saw a great lumberjack show! We had awesome, bright, clear blue skies for Sitka and the Glacier, which was unreal!

I cannot relive yesterday and tomorrow isn't here yet,
so I will just deal with today.

ø¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤º°Wishing You Success°º¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸ø

Success is...achieved and maintained
by those who try - and keep trying.