Topeka, KS Capitol | 101 in 1001

kansas capitol

Topeka, KS Capitol | 101 in 1001

Hi, I had the fun experience while running an errand for my son. This errand took me to Topeka, KS. This city holds a special spot in my heart. First and foremost this is where my daughter and her family call home. Topeka is a city of history as well. #15 of my 101 in 1001 can be checked off!

While in Topeka I decided to visit the state capitol. The dome was my interest on this trip. For many years the dome was a lime green color. After the restoration, the dome is a dark brown. I wanted to get up close and see the changes.

This is how I remember it looking.

green dome

This is how it looks now.

copper dome

Notable Kansans

Charles Curtis
Charles curtis

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight d Eisenhower

Walter chrysler
Walter Chrysler

The images of Notable Kansans and of First Peoples were hanging on stone walls.

stone walls

Briella, Brynlee and I were successful in climbing all 296 steps to the top of the dome!

To see images of us while climbing the steps to the dome and other pictures, click Kansas Capitol Gallery
We discovered after this climb, Brynlee is afraid of heights. Regardless, she was a trooper!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

Calves 3

baby calves

Calves 3 | My Sunday Snapshot #7

Hi, welcome to My Sunday Snapshot 7!

Erika had called and asked to meet for breakfast last weekend. We are always pleased to met with them! Once finished the grand girls wanted to come out to the farm and see the baby calves.

twin calves
Twins!

Briella wanted to get out of the truck. She thought she was a cow whisperer!

calf whisperer
cow whisperer

family

Peace be with you on this special day and always!
Happy Easter.

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -27.4lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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my Sunday snapshot Pictures can produce so many different emotions and feelings. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! Share your fun and interesting image from the past week.

My Sunday Snapshot 7

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Practicing Gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

practicing gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, it’s my Day 15 in 31. Today I am grateful for a girls day out! Linda and I went to Powell Gardens.

This is an absolutely beautiful place. The collage above features the chapel that is part of Powell Gardens. The day we were there, the chapel was going to close to the public at 3pm for a wedding. And what a lovely, perfect day for the wedding and wedding pictures. Not too hot for the bride and groom/wedding party for outdoor pictures. And certainly warm enough for the guests to mingle outside for the reception. If I were not with Linda, I would truly have been a wedding crasher that evening! 🙂

Once we arrived, parked and bought our admission tickets, we headed to the chapel first. This was a good walk. Beautiful things to see the whole way. We came upon a young lady having her senior pictures taken. Unlike the bride and groom who more than likely would have many layers on, this high school senior had on a short summer dress. A cold day for that dress!

powell gardens senior picture
High School Senior Pictures

As we were walking, a maintenance worker was driving a golf course coming towards us. Well, I stuck my thumb out like a hitch hiker. He stopped. We asked for a ride back to the visitor building. He did better than that. He gave us a guided tour of the 45 acre botanical gardens!

Powell Gardens
Our tour guide!

To see more pictures taken click the link. More Images.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review:


Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

fun weekend with the grand-girls

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

Hi, what a fun weekend I experienced with my grand-girls. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town with friends for a float trip. Which translates to me getting to spend the entire weekend with the girls, YES!!

I took the day Friday away from my work to do my weekend errands in the morning so I could drive to Topeka and get the girls picked up from summer camp by 4pm. That evening we went back to their house to take care of the pups, get dinner ready and then movie time. Grandma let the girls stay up later than their bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin came out to sat with the girls while I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. While I was away, Kevin took the girls to the Farmer’s Market. Upon my return the girls were excited to tell me, they got some honey sticks and already ate them. After Kevin left, we ate our lunch and decided to go to the Topeka Zoo.

fun weekend with grand-girls

After the zoo we stopped by the girls choice restaurant, McDonald’s. Brynlee likes the playground. We ate and then I watched the girls play for a bit. Then back to their house. Once back to the house we let the doggies out and fed them. By this time the weather had cooled down some. We went outside for some fun activities, hula hoop and jump rope. Here is a fun video of the girls trying to teach me how to hula hoop!


MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google.
The video will then appear.

The best part of the day for me was when the girls were getting ready for bed. Briella told me she had a fun day. This warmed my heart. My husband always asks me what memories did we make after I am with the grand girls. This is certainly a memory I will treasure.

Sunday was my last day to spend with the girls. The plan was to meet Shaune’s parents for them to take the girls to Branson. Our hand off was a success!

handoff successful

This weekend the grand girls and I completed two of my 101 in 1001. #13 Go to the Topeka Zoo and #89 Learn How to Hula Hoop. At least I tried! 🙂

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -8.8lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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Friendly Selfies!

Friendly Selfies!

Hi, I just had a rough day at work. Are you familiar with tough work days? Now I need to have some fun. I am now on a mission to find a way to create slideshow video’s. My selfie folder makes me smile when I look at these images. Needing a pick me up, I have decided to create a slideshow for my week’s post.

It has taken me a bit of time to figure out which software program would be best. Then I had to conquer how to use said software! The software I have chosen is Movavi. It is available for either Windows or Mac.

There are several different programs available for making slideshows. Some are free, with limits and options to upgrade to a paid version without limits. I selected the personal license for Movavi which comes with plenty of basic elements, transitions and such. Comment if you have any questions about my selected slideshow maker.

The pictures were taken by not only myself, but family and friends have shared with me some they took. Please enjoy the show!!



MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google.
The video will then appear.

In my prior post, ‘Selfies, Take Part in Pictures, I had mentioned we are our own self critics. Practicing taking our own pictures give us the opportunity to see what angle our head needs to be at, where to look when taking the photo and just getting used to seeing ourself in pictures. The more you see yourself, the more comfortable you will be each time seeing yourself in your selfies!

friendly selfies
Briella took this selfie!

Slideshows are wonderful for special occasion celebrations- graduation, weddings, birthday, anniversaries and even end of life services. Slideshows add life to photo’s! My goal is to provide different formats when I share my photo’s.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo.

Chicago the Windy City

Chicago the Windy City.

Hi, I decided to take a trip on a whim! Wanted to eat the famous Chicago deep dish pizza.

Chicago the Windy City
Chicago’s deep dish pizza

Once upon a time I worked for our family business. I met Linda, a valued customer who would come into the store with her family. Over time I became friends with her. We since sold the store and we lost contact. One day I was in Walmart and she approached me. We exchanged phone numbers. I reached out to her and we began to make dates to meet for brunch to visit.

#95, Meet up with an old friend and catch up.

During one of our brunches I mentioned to her I would like to eat Chicago deep dish pizza and asked if she would be interested in going with me. Our adventure was going to happen.

Back in March we decided to go the first Tuesday in May. We spent one evening in the Windy City. When we went to check into the Congress Hotel, the desk clerk, Jasmine upgraded our room. She did a wonderful kindness for us. The view was absolutely beautiful, night lights and the sunrise were gorgeous.

chicago congress hotel
The Congress Hotel

We walked a lot, 23,298 steps Tuesday! Walked to Millennium Park, Navy Pier and took the bus back to the hotel. Next we went to Lou Malnatis for our pizza. Then off to Wallis Tower, formally known as Sears Tower. The tallest building in Chicago.

Wednesday we reserved our Wendella Lake & River Architecture Tour. We enjoyed this. After walking down the streets it was neat to see the buildings by boat. Here are just a few of the images taken. Too many to share all of them.

Chicago the windy city
Millenium Park, Navy Pier, Lake & River Architecture Tour
On the left side of the collage there is a picture that has a green circle on it. That was the floor our room was on.

train travel
#28 on 101 in 1001 list- Travel in a train
K9 dog statues
Click this image for more K9 statue information.

Once back home and reflecting on the trip, never did I notice trash or litter on the streets and in the alley ways. Even while looking thru all of the images I had taken, no evidence of trash/litter. Secondly, both of us returned safe and unharmed. Now keep in mind we stayed in the downtown area and was back in our hotel room by 10 pm. We had a good time!

Have you been to Chicago? What was your favorite experience while there?

I have already asked Linda if she would like to go again next year. Gotta have me that Chicago deep dish pizza again!

To see more images from this trip, click here!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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