Come for a visit! Home for the Holidays swap from Happy Mom

I am so happy to welcome you to Richmond and to my little house in the suburbs!  I hope you enjoy the visit!  

The Richmond Airport is an asset to our area.  It's so easy to fly in and out, and so much closer than having to drive to DC or Norfolk.  It's about 30 minutes from my house.  On our way out to the suburbs, we'll make a few stops.  

Richmond is a pretty city.  It's the capital of Virginia and there's a lot of history here.  

One place I always take guests is to the historic Jefferson Hotel.  This picture was taken from the mezzanine, looking down into the the lower lobby, and as you can see - it's decorated for Christmas!

We'll head out to my house now... 

I live in a development called BRANDERMILL and as you can see, it's beautiful year-round:

We live in Deer Meadow Court, and here's a shot of my cul-de-sac:

And welcome to our humble abode!

Our front door - Come on in!

Our tree - 2018

And now that you're settled-in, we can talk about what you'd like to do while you're in town.  

If you've read my Swap-bot profile, you know that my house is a 2 hour drive inland from the Atlantic Ocean...2 hours south of Washington, DC and about 2 hours east of the Blue Ridge Mountains...plus, there's plenty to do right here in this area.  

One of my favorite things to do for the holidays is a "Tacky Limo Light Tour".  A few years ago, we made this our family fun time.  The limo picked us up at home, then picked up a few of the kids' friends, and we headed through several well-known neighborhoods to look at all the holiday decorations.  We covered a lot of ground in just a few hours - so festive!  Here are some photos from that night:

Inside the Limo

Just one of many of the houses we visited!

This family knows how to have fun!

Downtown Richmond - The James Center

Did you enjoy the tour?  There's lots more to do while you're here, but I don't want to wear you out!  On Christmas Eve, we can attend services at Clover Hill Church, if you'd like... or, just relax at home.  Our tradition is to wake up on Christmas morning and exchange gifts.  When our kids were little, I'd have the camcorder ready when my husband would carry them down the stairs into the living room to see what Santa brought them.  And he always brought too much!  These next two photos are from years gone by, but you get the idea!

Christmas is always a very festive and fun time for us, and I've sure enjoyed sharing my memories and photos.  Mostly, I enjoy sharing the Love of Jesus and the miracle of His birth at this special time.  It's easy to get caught up in the activities, shopping, baking and the like...but the real 'magic' is knowing that our world was changed forever by the birth of a baby in a manger.  

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season!

With love,

Michael, Ilyse, Callie & Jacob

My Favorite Photos - November - from Happy Mom 😀

November was a fun month - and I have some random photos to share!  Enjoy the visit!

Starting off with a pano photo of my street with a gorgeous sky:

Next are 3 snags from Instagram and Facebook. 

Left is my friend's daughter from her overseas wedding in Italy.  The bride was just a kid when our families became friends, and she has grown up to be an amazing woman.

Middle is a cute idea for holiday parties and potlucks.  I meant to make this for Thanksgiving, but totally forgot until I started this swap.

Right is the new "Women of Climbing" calendar featuring one of my son's good friends on the cover.  How cool is that?  Not only is she an accomplished climber, but she's also a top-rated tattoo artist.

 Sharing these next few outdoor shots because the clear skies are such a welcome change from the normal dreariness of November.  My dog loves going outside with me - even if I'm just walking out to the mailbox.  And I was on an ATC-making mission over our Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  

 Last, but not least, I thought you might enjoy seeing a video clip of my son's dog - determined to get that one last morsel that wound up under the wine rack in the kitchen.  

Don't worry - after the bottles fell, one actually knocked that morsel out from under the rack, and Pica got her due reward!

That's it for this month.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great December!

My Favorite Photo - October

Happy to share a few photos from our little family getaway to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!

This first one shows all of us when we went out to dinner. 

(L-R:  Me, my son Jacob, my husband Michael, Erin & Kevin (my nephew and his wife), Andrew & Jess (my niece and her fiancé), Matt & Callie (my daughter and her boyfriend), Dawn & Shelly (my brother and sister-in-law). 

Dinner at The Peddler - Gatlinburg, TN

Next are photos from our first day of hiking.  The "kids" did a strenuous 10-mile hike, while the "old folks" did an easy 2.6 mile hike.  Guess which group I was in?!

Laurel Falls

Ramsey Cascades

Here are a few more - The cabin we stayed in was so pretty with amazing views of the mountains!

We missed the peak of the fall foliage - it was late this year.  It was still beautiful!

It was great having the whole family together.  It was our first time meeting Jessica's fiancé, and their first time meeting Callie's boyfriend Matt.  Unfortunately, Jacob's girlfriend couldn't join us...maybe next time!

Here's a fun shot of my kids - Callie is 27 and Jacob is 25.  They are the loves of my life :)

Jacob & Callie

That's it for this month!  Hope you liked the photos I picked.  There's a whole album on my Facebook, if you care to check it out.  If we're partnered on Swap-bot, please post a rating so I know you received my swap.  Thanks for visiting - Swap again soon!

Spend the Day With Me - from Happy Mom ❤️

Hello Swappers and Friends!  I decided to take you with me yesterday, so I hope you enjoy the visit.

We start the day around 6:30, with coffee in the living room.  The dog is fed and she's chillin while I have my coffee.  That blue box contains fall decorations that my daughter plans on putting on the shelves you see against the wall.

It was quite foggy when I left the house around 8:45 to attend a Promotional Products trade show across town.  

 

The show happens twice a year, and it's a lot of fun.  There are hundreds of vendors who display all kinds of gifts and promotional items that companies can buy to have customized with their logos.  I was looking for client gifts and a family reunion item too.  Here's a shot inside the vendor hall:

I left the show and got home - The sun was out, and you'd never know that we're bracing for a major hurricane in 2 days.  Turns out, the storm has taken a more southernly path and we're not going to bear the brunt of it, as originally thought.  Still - they're expecting quite a bit of rain, some flooding, high winds and downed power lines, so I'm getting as much paperwork done as possible, in case we lose power!  

This is my office, which is in the room that's behind the two windows on the right as you're facing the house:

       






















Around 3:00, I made a quick run up to the grocery store to get something to cook for dinner, and you can see the empty shelves where everyone had purchased bottled water:

My daughter gets home from work around 5, and she always comes into my office to chat.  Today, she Face-timed my husband, because he's out of town.  

Dinner was good!  I made LOW CARB CHICKEN AND MUSHROOMS and then watched some TV and did some laundry.  

 

I took a hot bath and used one of my nice clean towels 😀and went to sleep at 11:30.  

Not a super-exciting day, but at least you got a glimpse of what goes on in my world on a normal day!  Please keep us and our neighbors in North and South Carolina in your thoughts and prayers as we weather Hurricane Florence!  She's one that won't be soon forgotten.  

Till next time,

Ilyse

Happy Mom on Swap-bot

My Favorite Photo - August - Swap from Happy Mom 😀

Hi everyone - time for sharing our favorite photos from August, and here are mine 😀
Hope you enjoy seeing them.  BTW - Follow me on INSTAGRAM  or send me a friend request on FACEBOOK to see more.

These first two photos are from my road trip to Virginia Beach.  I love how I can schedule my business trips and enjoy the entire region.  As a Regional Manager for MARLIN, I cover all of Virginia and West Virginia...so, I have the ocean to my east, mountains to my west and lots of gorgeous miles in between!

August at Virginia Beach

Nothing better than hot coffee at sunrise on the balcony at the oceanfront!

We celebrated my birthday on August 10th at Richmond's baseball park.  Our Flying Squirrels lost the game, but we had a good time, and went out to dinner after the game.  This picture is my husband and me.  Looking pretty good for two old folks!  We've been married 33 years and have always enjoyed going to baseball games.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Two more.... This month's doggy photo is a shot of both Leia (black & white) and Pica (black & tan) on my bed.  I rearranged the furniture a bit, and I think they like it.  My daughter cleaned up the kitchen, bought a new candle and some gorgeous sunflowers, so I attempted to be artsy about it, and I snapped this photo.

 

Flowers

Doggies

That's it for this month - hope you enjoyed the visit!  I'd love to see your photos too, so please send them my way, if you care to share, even if we're not partnered this month - Always enjoy seeing them!

Till next time......  Have a great September!

Scavenger Hunt - August - from Happy Mom

Hello Swappers & Friends!

Here are my photos for this month's Scavenger Hunt swap on Swap-bot.  Hope you enjoy seeing them, and please share your swap with me, if you'd like.  I always enjoy seeing everyone's photos - Thanks!

1 - Something cluttered:  I am happy to report that this is a "before" photo.  We had so much "stuff" piled in the backyard - under the deck - in the shed - leaned up against trees, etc...  Hubby finally pulled it all together, pitched some, stored some and got rid of most of it.  This is just one pile he sorted through.  Next step - New grass next Spring!

Why do we have all this????

2 - Something heart-shaped: I came across this chewed-up leaf and noticed that it was kind of in the shape of a heart.  I also received this cute heart-shaped trinket dish in a swap, and thought I'd share them both.

Trinket dish

chewed-up leaf

3 - Something I'm proud of:  These top 2 shelves on my bookcase display several things that I've proud of, so I took a picture of both shelves.  On the top shelf, you'll see 3 awards from the company I work for.  I've made the Presidents Club twice and received the Ian Mackenzie Award once.  These are based on being one of the top Regional Managers for the year.  You may have seen the photo in the back.  That's got my Mom and Dad at their wedding in 1954, and my Dad and me at my wedding in 1985.  I wore my mom's wedding gown, so it's the same dress in both photos, and the same man.  You also see the plaque that says SEEK GOD FIRST.  My faith is very important to me, and though I wouldn't say "proud" is a good description, I am very thankful for all the blessings in my life.  This is a great reminder to me, of one of my favorite scriptures: "Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

On the second shelf, you'll see some knick-knacks, along with another award from work (#1 New Business that year), and a drawing my son made me (in the black frame).  Very proud of everything!

Knick-knacks and awards

4 - Something older than me:  I passed this old church on a recent road trip to Harrisonburg, Virginia.  When I got home, I looked them up ONLINE and read that this building was built in 1918.

Otterbein United Methodist Church

5 - Beautiful or intriguing clouds:  I took this on a road trip to Virginia Beach.  My INSTAGRAM has lots of photos of clouds and skies, as I find them all fascinating!  

Virginia Beach Boardwalk 

So...there you have it!  Thanks for visiting and for posting a rating so I know you've received my swap.  Hope to swap again soon!