These are a few of my favorite things @sloanebcollins #PlottingPrincesses #Kittylove #Maine

In this everyday hectic, fast-paced, not-so-nice world, I  need to remind myself to stop and smell the roses.  Not always literally, although I did do it on the way out of work one late night last week.  But find something that gives me happiness and pleasure.  

For instance, every night when I am on the way home from work, I can’t wait to get to the house and open the door to find all four kitties waiting for me.  Of course, I recognize they want their dinner, but I like to think they want to see me, too. J

There’s nothing like kitty snuggles, no matter what time of day it is.  This past Sunday it rained all day long.  I’d planned to spend the day writing, and had just gotten things ready to go, sat down in my recliner, and Moms jumped up on my lap.  She pretty much stayed there all day, snuggled into the blanket.  So I decided to spend quality time with her since we don’t always get it.  Oliver even spent some time on my lap, laying next to his Mummy. 

Something else that just makes my day is when my husband texts me out of the blue.  He’s not a texter by nature, so when he does, I treasure them.  He’ll usually send pictures of the cats, but it still means the world to me.

@sloanebcollins Nature to Soothe My Soul #backtonature #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #MFRWorg

About twice a year, I start getting itchy, twitchy, and b…er, witchy, and I know it’s time to get away from the city of concrete and back into nature.  I’m a country girl at heart, and I need the trees, mountains, lakes, oceans, and wildlife to keep me going.  There is such beauty on God’s earth, and so much that we still haven’t explored.  I once wrote a book for the Scrapbooking industry, and it’s all about reflecting on God’s wonders.  Alas, the publisher folded before it was published, but I pull it out every so often to reread it and remember how important it is to me to be in nature.

Last week my husband and I packed up the car, left notes for the kitty-sitters, and headed to Colorado for a week.  We drove straight through and reached Colorado Springs about six a.m.  We started our vacation with a lovely breakfast with my author friend Jennie Marts <waving at Jennie> and her husband.  We had a great time, and I’m so glad we had the time with them.

After stuffing ourselves with toffee pancakes (!!), we headed toward Mount Evans.  We followed the winding curves, stopping along the way to snap pictures of bighorn sheep, small lakes, and anything

that caught our eye.  If you’ve never been there, but plan to go, be warned of scary-narrow, winding roads that drop off into nothing except grass and rocks.  I think my heart was in my throat most of the way up…and back down.  We reached the top, but it was socked in with clouds and fog, snowing, very crowded, and I was dizzy from the altitude, so we stayed long enough to snap a picture to prove we had reached the top at 14,130 feet.

Vacation - All I Ever Wanted

So it’s June. School is out or very nearly out for many kids, and it’s time to start thinking about getting away. We leave very soon for Colorado where we will visit family and go up to our property and talk to the builder we’ve chosen. While we’re there, we’ll do some hiking, fishing and resting. I’m emphasizing that last point because frankly I’m needing the resting part.

To me there are two types of vacations. The whirlwind where you’re trying to see and visit everything and the one where you’re just resting. I have to say that the one we’re about to embark on will be a combination of both. There will be some downtime, but there is also the whirlwind where we will visit three different family members in three different cities. There would have been a fourth, but I nixed that one and said sorry. No time.

My favorite vacations are the ones where you rent a house on the beach, and all you do is go down the steps to the ocean get wet and then go back in the house or sit on the veranda and stare at the ocean. You can do this with the mountains as well, but most of the time we’re out hiking or doing something in the mountains.