ArtWork!!

Remember this dogwood painting that I painted in Sandy's class at Hobby Lobby in Georgia? I won second place in the district for the Greater Federation of Woman's Club, Weirton Council!

And guess what I did yesterday?! My neighbor Kay called me yesterday morning and said "If your not busy today, come over and I will teach you stained glass"...boy was I excited! I have always wanted to learn, but I knew if I got hooked that I wouldn't be able to afford all the supplies necessary to support my habit....well, guess what? I hope we win the lottery soon because I LOVE THIS ART!! My friend Ellen will be so happy that I finally learned to do it. I made this snowman and although he is far from perfect I just love him!



Cutting and grinding the glass was my favorite part. Soldering the pieces together is definitely going to take some practice to get right. Kay has invited me back this afternoon to learn some more and I can't wait!

Finally, time to blog!

I can't believe it has been so long since I updated my blog. I missed blogging about Thanksgiving, so forgive me while I "catch-up" on here. Don's Sister Darla, her husband Matt and their daughter Macy Kate visited us the week of Thanksgiving. We had so much fun and Macy Kate was a joy to be around. We did lots of cool things like shop, tour a C-130, make Christmas cookies, went to Little Switzerland in Ohio and saw the Christmas light display at Oglebay Park Resort. Here are some pictures of what we did:








Don got new office furniture during November, and boy am I glad.


This is much nice than what he started out with in his office! Now he is a little more comfortable and still is having a great time doing this job he loves so much.

Last Saturday was date night and Don took me high up on Mount Washington to a quaint little restaurant called the Georgetown Inn. We had a small corner table for two right in front of the plate glass window that overlooked the ENTIRE CITY OF PITTSBURGH at night! It was so beautiful, and of course my pictures didn't turn out to well:




After dinner we went to the O'Reilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburg and saw the play "This Wonderful Life". It was fantastic and put us both in the Christmas Spirit. We are so excited about our trip to Disney next week to celebrate Christmas with my parents. (not to mention getting back to 80 degree weather will be awesome - today the high is 37!!!) Brrrrr....

Speaking of weather, it snowed pretty good the Friday after Thanksgiving. Sitting in the sunroom on a snowy day is like being inside your own snowglobe! You have to click on the picture to make it bigger to really see the snow.



I took my final exam at H&R Block this past Tuesday and passed with a score of 96. Glad the class is over, and I will be ready to start working for H&R Block the week after I get back from Disney.

Have a great week!

Ohio State Buckeyes...and getting ready for Thanksgiving!

Don and I had a great time yesterday at the Ohio State v. Michigan Tailgate Party. We purchased a $50.00 ticket that included food/drinks for two and a draw down chance to win $2,500 cash. We sat with my friend Peggy from Anna Kay's Unique Fashions and her sisters Sue and JoAnn, her brother in law Bill and her great niece Jackie.




Me and Peggy








Don, Sue, Peggy and JoAnn

















Another one of Peggy and JoAnn

Anyway, a long story short, Don purchased some blocks on this game board (I forget what they are called, but you sign your name on any block(s) you want on this paper then they draw numbers that go down the side and top of the page. If the last number in the score of the game falls in your block you win the prize)we had 6 blocks out of 100 and of course...DON WINS...$150.00. It was so funny because the numbers we had were 4 and 3. In the third quarter with 22+ minutes left in this game the score is Ohio State 14, Michigan 3. Don and I were so excited because we had the numbers and we were just hoping the teams would volley the ball back and forth on the field with no more scoring. With only seconds left in the game Ohio State has the ball and we just know that like any GOOD SEC TEAM they will kick a field goal and the score will change, right? NOPE...good ole Ohio State doesn't want to rub it in so they take a knee and Don wins the money. Unbelievable! SO MUCH FUN WE HAD. We were happy to win the money and the room was happy that Ohio State beat Michigan. Well the Michigan fans weren't happy (there were two tables full of THEM), but they sure as heck were a lot quieter in the last half of the game! Then the draw down starts and although our ticket was in the last 50 drawn, Peggy's brother in law Bill was in the final 5. They pulled the five up on stage and they all agreed to split the pot $600 each. We were so excited that our table had won $750 Bucks!



Here is a picture of Bill and a young boy that sat by him last year at this event. I was so in awe over this child as he reminded me so much of Jacob!

Not much else to report from here...we have had snow flurries on and off all week. The Lowe's employees smiled when we bought a snow shovel yesterday and made the comment "I hope you don't need it". I do to, but I really don't think that is going to be the case. We decorated the O'Club on Wednesday night for Christmas along with the Wing Commander and his wife and the Key Spouse President and her family.

Don did a great job decorating the fireplace and putting a Santa hat on the flying eagle


















Col. Elwell in uniform, Jenna Johns the Key Spouse President, her hubby Chris and son Zachary.

Darla, Matt and Macy Kate are to arrive at any time today and we are so excited. Don is busy in the yard raking leaves, and I have corn chowder, mushroom brie soup, black eyed pea cornbread and brownies already made. A pot of warm boiled peanuts are simmering on the stove, and the snow flurries will probably start any minute.

One last but not least on this LONG post - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Sandy. She is 40 today and looks awesome. Most of you know that Sandy was my painting instructor. This picture was made of us at Donna Dewberry's Super Convention this past June.

Happy Birthday Sandy - I Miss You!

Modeling for Charity...sort of....

I few weeks ago the Weirton's Woman's Club ask me if I would model for the local retail shoppe "Anna Kay's Unique Fashions" at their annual Glitz & Glamour Fashion show. You know me...can't tell them no when they ask for me to volunteer. The show was this past Sunday and I really had a great time. I modeled four outfits, but only have pictures of a couple of them. I am certain someone else made pictures and I will try and get my hands on them and post them later. I modeled a chocolate turtleneck with brown boot pants and a shearling coat:

Great outfit and I already owned the boots. Just not sure where I would wear something like this so I didn't purchase it. (Models get to purchase outfits they wear at discounted prices) It would be great for a ski trip to one of the resorts, but since that is really not my thing I passed this one up. As I post this I wish I had bought the scarf and gloves though. He He He

I also modeled some brown panel pants and a purple snake skin shirt. Snake skin and animal prints are big in this part of the country. I keep saying they are stuck in the 80's in this town! LOL

The great thing about this outfit was it felt like I was wearing pajamas! Very comfortable, not practical really.

I loved this black and white animal print blouse and black mermaid skirt outfit...unfortunately this is a HORRIBLE PICTURE! One of my friends had just informed me that I had won one of the top raffle prizes (I won a huge basket filled with 6 bottles of wine with a retail value of over $100...all with $5.00 worth of raffle tickets!)

Not a flattering picture, but I did love this outfit and brought it home with me. I really appreciate the opportunity to model for Doreen and Peggy and they have become great friends! Don and I are spending the day with Peggy this upcoming Saturday at a tailgate party for the Ohio State v. Michigan game...can't wait to share those pictures on my blog! What fun we are having in this town!

Okay, so that was Sunday. Saturday we trimmed trees (don't laugh) and went and checked out the local kennel for Lilo and Stitch. Don grilled some awesome ribs and I know much Heidi and Jimmy both wish they had a plate of them. They have always loved Don's grilled ribs.

Yesterday Don and I hit the Strip in Pittsburgh again. I love the Strip and could go every week.


We had lunch at my favorite Greek restaurant "LaBads" and I got to introduce Don to my friend Lawrence who owns the restaurant and Greek grocery store. I met him in September with Don's mom when she and I found this great restaurant on a girl's day out trip. I took Don to the local chocolate store where you can buy candy from all over the world, including our kids favorite "Kinder Eggs". We also found a great Mexican grocery store and got to purchase the peppers and goya products that we are so used to in the South. They had a beautiful colorful store!



Then we went to Art of Steel and checked out all the great art - funny sign, huh?


Then we discovered a new store "Stamoolis" another Greek grocery store.



I loved this old grape crusher they used to make wine in this very building back in the early 1900's:

Don loved the selection of cheeses -




But - the greatest find of the day was this (and it explains how different life is in Pittsburgh compared to Alabama and Georgia)- in the South we buy Uncle Ben's Rice in a box on the shelf, not by the pound out of a dispenser! Such a different fun outlook on life they have here. We love Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Ohio! Come and visit us when you can so we can show you all the great things there are to do in and around "Wild & Wonderful" West Virginia!

Happy Anniversary to my parents!!

My parents are celebrating their 45th Anniversary today! Happy Anniversary you guys! I read somewhere that if you are an adult and your parents are still married to each other that you were in the minority. I have never questioned the blessing of great parents. You all know that Don and I would be so lost and unorganized without them. Can't wait to vacation with them next month! Hey...this picture of them was taken last year at Christmas when we went with them on a trip to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Dad took us all for a horse-drawn carriage ride to see the lights. This year we will all vacation together in Orlando at Disney World. I didnt' realize it, but I think we have started a tradition!! Hey Don - where you taking us all next year?? Ha Ha Ha

Tonight is date night, so Don and I have decided to go to the weekly fish fry at the Serbian Cultural Center in Weirton. I will be sure and update my blog this weekend and let you know how it was. We have LOTS of cool things going on in the next few days so check back in and see what the Richey's are up to this Veteran's Day Weekend. Have a good one!

Sad news....and Snow!

Last week while Don was in Puerto Rico, someone came on our property and cut down a very huge old Elm tree, and attempted to cut down some more trees but only damaged them to the point that they will definitely die and fall. Not sure why anyone would want to vandalize our land, but perhaps they were trying to open up "their" view of the Ohio River. Don and I are very saddened and it seems that nobody heard or saw anything. Not much the Weirton Police can do for us if we can't prove who did it. We have our suspicions and if the person that did this happens to be reading this blog I hope they know how heartbroken Don and I are over these events. The property is being monitored and no trespassing signs have been posted. If and when you are caught we intend to pursue the matter to the fullest extent of the law. Enough said.


Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow! Yesterday afternoon we had our first snow flurries of the year. It was so cold and windy, and the Ohio River looked like the ocean with all the white-caps from the wind. The wind chill was 29 degrees...brrrrr. Lilo was not at all thrilled about the snow flurries and when we came in she was covered with white snowflakes and was very cold. Stitch on the other hand loves the cooler weather and continued to ring the bell to go outside all afternoon. You aren't going to believe this...it is now snowing again...right this minute! Much harder than yesterday too!

Don and I are very excited that Matt, Darla and Macy Kate will be joining us this year for Thanksgiving..Yippee! Can't wait to show them around the area and spend some quality time with Macy Kate.


Isn't she cute in her Halloween "Cat" costume!