This is a picture of Violet's completed winter season to season block that I did for her.  This is for a swap on the CQForNewbies group.

May's Bead Journal Project Page

Paradise

Kimball Hill

Whitefield, NH

July-October 2005

In July of 2005, Tommy got the job as Chief Engineer at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa in Whitefield, NH.  It is a beautiful old resort that was built in 1865 by the Dodge Family.  It is in New Hampshire's White Mountains.While we were there, we lived in a two room cabin ontop of Kimball Hill.  The cabin was part of an old B and B.  It was wonderful.  There was a large meadow in front where all manner of wild animals grazed.  An old stone wall split the meadow in two.  From our front porch, Tommy could see all the way across the valley to the hotel.  He enjoyed having his morning coffee out there while talking to whoever was already at work.

We had no television.  Cable stopped about a mile from the road we lived on.  We did have high speed internet installed.   The cabin came furnished, so all we added were computer desks and a recliner.  There was no air conditioning, but just put a fan in the window and it was quite cool.  Compared to the other two rooms, the bathroom was so small, you had to come out of it just to change your mind.  We spent most of time in the bedroom, which was where the computers and my sewing area was.   

The town was so small and quaint.  It only had a blinking red light and a stop sign.  I had never been that far north or lived in a town that small.  It was wonderful and so peaceful.  Tommy had a little store that he stopped at to get cigarettes and gas.  By the time he walked in the door, they had a pack of smokes on the counter for him.  The little deli in the store made the best fried mushrooms and chicken strips.  Once they got to know you, they were so nice and friendly.

We had planned on retiring there.  Maybe not on Kimball Hill but in Whitefield.
We were there only three months.  The company that Tommy worked for owned another hotel in New Orleans.  After Katrina hit, they sent him to that property to restore it and make it able to withstand another storm of that size.  We were told it would only be 5, maybe 6 months and then we could return to Whitefield.  Unfortunately during that time, the company's CFO, who was running Mtn. View was arrested for bribery, frauding, skimming from the books and a couple of other things.  He is still in prison.  The company had to send in another general manager to take over.  He took his own staff with him, so Tommy's job was no longer available.  We were both devastated.  We still have a full storage unit up there that we have not been able to get back to.  I will one of these days soon.

Two Into One

This is my April bead journal page.  Tommy and I got married on Saturday April 19, 2003 at 3 pm in the chapel of Messiah Lutheran Church in Monroe, LA.  Reverend Dale Farley performed the ceremony.  My colors were royal blue and silver with touches of white.  My mother made my wedding dress and my very dear friend, Dorothy Windham, loaned me her gorgeous 30" string of pearls.  My brother Jeremy gave me away.  My best friend Allison was my matron of honor.  My cousin Jenie Tauber and good friend Cherry Thorne were bridesmaids.  Tommy's nephew Jeremy was his best man and my brother Jeremy was his groomsman.  We spent our wedding night at The Atrium in Monroe and our honeymoon in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

We spent the first night of our honeymoon at the historic Park Hotel.  It's behind the Arlington Hotel on the road leading to the lookout tower.  It is a beautiful old hotel.  It has no air conditioning.  There was a huge ceiling fan over the bed.  It was set to turbo speed.  Tommy turned it off at one point just to cut down on the noise a little.  We found out then why it was set so fast.  Without the sound of the fan going, you could everything in all the rooms around you as if you were actually in the room with them.  Needless to say we kept the fan going.

The bed was a matter unto itself.  The bed and the pillows were like laying on stone.  When you put your head on the pillow you kind of expected it to leave an impression.  Not on these pillows.  We joked that a pillow fight would be deadly.  Needless to say, beautiful hotel that it was, we only spent one night there.

We spent the next three nights at the Downtowner. My mom, brother and I spent Thanksgiving week there in 1997 after my dad died.  I knew we would have comfortable rooms.  They have a spa on the top floor with the mineral baths in the basement.  It was really nice and the pillows were not deadly.

Next month will be our 7th anniversary.  I am not sure that I will be able to survive it.