"A Window Onto My World" soccergrrl's Profile

Here's how long I've been away . . . this is Carys "helping" frost the cake for her two-year-old birthday! I've been meaning to update, and I have some travel photos from an actual vacation we took last year. Maybe I'll get to it soon, although my garden is in need of a major overhaul and I think that will be taking all my free time for the next few weeks. Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience. For anyone keeping score at home, Carys is 26 months old, about that many pounds, and talking nonstop. She is frightfully smart and very difficult to fool!

On February 23rd, 2005, my husband & I welcomed the newest member of our family: a baby girl named Carys Elizabeth. She was 5 1/2 weeks early, but weighed in at a healthy 5lbs 8oz and measured 18 inches long. She spent eight days in the neonatal intensive care unit, but is now home with us. It is a big adjustment for all of us, but people tell us we'll survive. Eventually. :-) I will try to put together an album of pictures of her in the near future.

View from our hotel room, Oia, Santorini, Greece

JUST STEP RIGHT INTO PARADISE

I have this photo on my desktop at work, and boy does it send me daydreaming . . . work is piled higher than my head, my bus is always late, and it's the same ol' daily grind! I know many of you are in the same situation. Here's a toast to the next vacation!

drum roll, please . . . .
the next vacation is . . . .
to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in August. Our first trip as a family! We are going with my sister and her family (older "kids" of 14 & 18), stayjng in their timeshare condo.

13 February, 2005
Just a quick update on the babywatch. Hard to believe, but just eight more weeks to go! As some of you may know, I've been cooling my jets in the hospital, on bedrest, since 16 December, 2004 (eight weeks ago). Both the baby & I continue to grow and do well, and I'm still feeling fine. The bedrest has been doing its job, I guess, and we're almost out of the danger zone in terms of early delivery. However, I've not had any symptoms/signs of early delivery anyway! Being here is just a precaution, and they may let me go home soon. I am more than ready for that! Stay tuned . . .
HAHAHA . . . LEAVING THIS IN FOR POSTERITY!

Chunky Monkey & Chubby Hubby?!

. . . more days on vacation in Vermont! We spent five days there in August, 2004 -- visiting a college friend and reliving our days at the University of Vermont. Of course, many of you will know Vermont as the home of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Here we are at the factory in Waterbury.

Outside the Venetian

Back to VEGAS in May 2004! This time it was a comped room at the Venetian (yeah, Baby!), because my husband was participating in a conference. We packed a lot of activity (and spent a lot of money!) into just four days. I plan to put up some new tips and travelogues, so look for my Vegas pages to be updated.

Who's a happy boy?

On the 20th of September (2003) my husband and I were supposed to attend the baptism of this growing boy, Ernest Theodore Romanos Owen, our nephew, at an ancient Orthodox church in the shadow of the Acropolis! Hurricane Isabel paid a visit to the East Coast that day and we were grounded in Virginia until Saturday the 20th! We still got to meet him, and his Greek family, and experience Santorini and Naxos. You'll find some tips and many travelogues on my pages.

Ernest was born November 24, 2002 in Buenos Aires Argentina (my husband's brother is with the State Department there). This is their first baby and he's a cutie! He enters the world with a rich cultural heritage of American, Honduran, and Greek blood. He is named after his paternal grandfather, who died right around the time he was being conceived.

What a great excuse to travel and spend a week in the Greek islands!

USA Proud!

Here I am a couple of years ago doing one of my favorite things--attending a soccer (football) game! This picture was taken at the US v. Mexico World Cup Qualifier at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. If you are interested in soccer (football), you can see more of my adventures on my pages for: Columbus, OH; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; and Manchester, England.

I hope you'll enjoy my simple pages, and I hope to be able to add more as time goes by. A new (in September 2002) digital camera should make that easier).

I wish each of you health, joy, and adventure in your travels--I hope they are full of everything that makes you happy!

White double impatiens

Here is a white impatiens from my garden (last summer). I'm putting it here as a hope for greater peace in the world during these stressful and frightening times.

If you like flowers, I'd love to share mine with you. See my personal albums for some pictures of what was growing around my house in 2002.