January 13th 2025~

It might look like I'm doing nothing,

 but in my mind I'm very busy...

 January is already halfway done almost.  The month

 is going by a very fast pace.  As they say, "time waits for no 

one."  Life goes on and just like that another week begins.

As the new week begins we will be busy as usual.  

As I always say, Arvid sure has mastered the art of busy, 

and somehow he likes to draw me into this busy circle 😂

I only allow it if/ when I have nothing better going on.

Wishing everyone a good week ahead.  And always 

remember to do something that makes your soul happy.

That's our motto and we try to keep up with it 🙌.

I'm holding a cup of coffee so yeah, I'm pretty busy...

~Nadiya~

Sunday January 12th~

Memories.  They allow us to carry the lessons 

and experiences of the past into the present... 

 As always we take it even more relaxing on Sundays.

  We asked mom and dad out lunch with us, but they 

said not this time.  My parents prefer their meals 

at home rather than eating out.  I keep trying.  

I did see them a little yesterday and as always I 

came back home with food for a week.  I keep trying to 

tell them no to cook extra for me, but they alyas do.  Arvid

 is always amazed at my mom and dad's generosity

 and the amount of food I bring back home.

It a chilly start of the day, but it sure is warming up fast.

Treasured memories are like soft melodies, echoing

 the beauty of the past in the silence of our hearts...

~Nadiya~

Saturday January 11th~

Love the life you live.  Live the life you love...

 January is flowing smoothly along.  Pretty soon the

 New Year will not be so new.  So far it has been good to us. 

 We have a lot of exciting things to look forward to and the 

best is that my parents are still here in Florida.  This 

winter they will have spent almost three months.

Arvid and I continue to do little things that make 

us happy.  Food makes me happy.  Combined with 

a nice evening out that's enough for me.  We've tried 

to get my parents to do a few more things with

 us, but they are happy to not do that much.  

Still waiting for them to come to us for

 dinner.  Arvid keeps asking me when will they 

come over or more like "they have to come before 

they leave."  Truth is we go to them very often 

so it's not like we don't see each other much.

As always the weekend has soccer games, best 

of all it's warming up nicely again. After all this is

 Florida and we do not need more "arctic"weather.

I follow a few pages in Branson, Mo plus I get some 

updates from previous tenants.  Yesterday it was winter 

wonderland there like so many other places.  Nice to see, 

but being there and dealing with it not as glamorous.

Arvid and I took a little trip downtown to our favorite 

Friday hang-out.  It's the perfect spot for people watching.  It 

was a bit cold, but judging by the way people were dressed 

you could not really tell unless you were there.

As always Arvid was bundled up more than anyone

 around us. He's from Norway and when I say to him, 

"you're a Viking," he says, "not anymore."  He's a Viking 

when it is convenient.  As in when he wants to brag a bit😂

Wishing everyone a good day.  Here it started out great. 

 Liverpool (Arvid's team) has already won their match for

 the day.  This game went by smoothly.  Not much cussing

 and directring from Arvid.  Yes a good day indeed.

Take in all the little moments that this

 season of your life has to offer. You'll never

 get this exact moment or season again...

~Nadiya~

Friday January 10th~

Native in one place, invasive in another...

 With the cold weather comes the freezing/falling of

 the iguanas.  Iguanas are cold blooded.  They slow down or

 become immobile when temperatures drop into the 40's F 

(4C)  They may fall from trees but they are not dead.

These green iguanas arrived in Florida from Central and

 South America in the 1960's and have become a huge 

"nuisance" doing lots of damage to South Florida.

Sniff has found another spot to call his bed.  Right

 on the dining chair next to me.  Now I also have to cover 

it with towels to make it more comfy and cozy for him. 

 Our place right now looks like we're camping out  There's,

 sheets, blankets and towels all over the furnitures.  Not 

only for Sniff, but for Arvid and myself as well.

Friday.  Not sure what the day holds as yet, it depends 

on how restless Arvid and I get; but if it's anything like the

 week we have had, then I know it's going to be a good one.  

To all a very good day.  If you see something that's not 

right do something to correct it, it you can't then say something. 

 Every little bit helps.  As Albert Einstein said, "The world 

will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by 

those who watch them without doing anything."

So, we can't save the world by playing by the rules, 

because the rules have to be changed. Everything 

needs to change and it has to start today...

~Nadiya~

Thursday January 9th~

Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue

 your goals. If you aren't grateful for what you already have, 

what makes you think you would be happy with more...

I keep saying it's cold, but then I look at Rima's weather

 in Virginia and realize how fortunate we are to live in the 

Sunshine State.  Especially during the winter months.

 Everyone is talking about the weather.  Here in 

Fort Myers, Florida it's no different.  We Floridians do 

not want this cold anymore.  In North Carolina Mala 

and family are also having an artic blast, but Rio 

is prepared.  No messing with this boy.

 Yesterday was cold.  We even turned on the heat. 

 Even so Arvid had on a sweater and then he had another 

sweater draped over him.  We're wimps if you ask me.  Sniff

 spent most of his day on and off his heating bed as well.

I'm tired today.  I'm tired of cooking cleaning and 

doing all the chores at home.  It will pass, but I wish Arvid 

could help me a little more with the household chores.

Sniff refuses to eat his grass.  He just sits by it and watches it.

To all a beautiful day.  Another cold day for us, after that comes

 the warm up.  There is always something to be grateful for.

I choose to be grateful - that gratitude allows me to be happy...

~Nadiya~

Wednesday January 8th~

 Every experience holds within it a blessing

 of some kind.  The goal is to find it...

I bought this fairly "high end" type of grass for Sniff 

hoping he would like it.  After all, most cats love to eat

 grass.  It's good for them and for their digestion.  Sniff is

 not your "typical" cat.  He approached the grass tried 

2-3 then walked away giving me the stinky eye.

I have not given up on it as yet.  Will buy another

 variety of it.  Hopefully Sniff will like it.  He's been acting 

up again for the last five days.  He refuses to eat his soft foodies. 

 Thank goodness he still nibbles every once in a while on the 

hard one.  He knows always when something is going on.

While Arvid groaned about how cold it was, I made

 myself a nice cup of hot chocolate.  He didn't have any,

 but said he will make some today for us.  Even with the chill, 

you can't stop a beautiful sunset.  Of course I was right there.

We went to the house yesterday.  While Arvid and my dad 

took care of business, mom and I went to a Cuban bakery.  

We had our café con leche and a pastry.  Plus we had 

some time together to just chat.  It was very nice.

A few things to do today, but overall it's a stay in kind of day.

  Maybe a little walk in the afternoon, but I doubt it because 

Arvid will not want to venture out in the cold.  I would because 

I am sure the sunset will be amazing as well.  To all a good day.  

Stay warm and stay in if possible.  It's too cold outside.

Look for something positive in each day, even

 if some days you have to look a little harder...

~Nadiya~

Tuesday January 7th~

 There will come a time when you believe 
everything is finished. That will be the beginning...

Yesterday I finally gave in and had a haircut.  I keep trying

 to grow my hair out, but each time it gets to a certain length

 I feel as if it just hangs limp.  Of course it's then time to chop.  

After the haircut I am usually mad at myself for taking off so 

much of the length, but it looks better.  Feels better, and for a 

while has more bounce until it doesn't.  Life as my sister says.

While our families are experiencing  very cold

 temperatures combines with heavy snow, we are also for 

Florida's state of mind having some cold days.  If you live in 

Florida you know when it hits below 70F (21C) it's cold.

It seems like mom and dad chose the right time to be in Florida.

  Right now North Carolina is holding at 27F (-2C)  Too cold

 if you ask me.  Arvid keeps reminding me that we should be 

in Puerto Rico right now, but not possible for now.

  We have a few other things coming up.  Plus Nirvana

 and Kimsy are in Paris so it won't be fun to go to PR 

and not see her.  Our niece Kmsy made the move 

to Paris for the next 2-3 years.  Career move.

We managed to do a little walk yesterday even though

 the skies were turning very dark, we felt the raindrops

 and the wind was really strong.  We beat the odds 😂

and never got rained on.  Was a really good day.

The holidays are over, but the experiences still

 linger on.   It was a beautiful time and I am grateful to

 have been able to enjoy them this year with my parents, 

Nina and David and Max and Kelsey.  Arvid and 

Sniff are a given.  With them life is the best.

A good day to all.  Sniff is asleep on his warming bed.  

Arvid of course is also asleep in our "warming" bed.  I have

 been awake now for two hours and it is not yet 6 am.

A few chores to do today.  A trip to the house to see mom 

and dad also.  Love having them so close and to be able 

to visit every so often.  Life is good and I am happy.  At the 

end of the day if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. 

Beginning makes the conditions perfect...

~Nadiya~

Monday January 6th~

You can get excited about the future.  The past won't mind...

 Exciting week coming up.  Arvid and I have been 

waiting now for almost a month to start something new

 again.  Seems like we may just be able to do so.  

One of the vendors at the Seafood Festival has signs.

  Of course I had to take a few pictures of them.  Signs always

interest me.  So fun to read.  I always have a good laugh.

Yesterday we had a good outing.  It never gets 

boring to take a walk downtown.  Enjoy a good meal 

and some.  As always people watching at its best.

Just keeping an eye on the temperatures around.  We are cold 

for Florida but if I compared it to Branson, MO we are doing great. 

 We have 78F (25C) high and 48F (9C) as our low today.  Branson

 has 28F (-2C) high and 19F (-7C) low today.  Big difference.

Your Monday morning thoughts

 set the tone for your whole week...

~Nadiya~

Sunday January 5th~

Every morning that I wake up and I'm breathing, I can

feel it and take a moment to say, you know, thank you..

 Looking at the different temperatures where our families 

live is scary.  It's really cold, and when I think that we here in

 Fort Myers have it cold I just have to check theirs and I have 

to remain quiet because we are nothing near to what they have.

Our winter is mild, theirs is harsh and keeps getting colder.

Arvid and I went out yesterday to a Music and 

Seafood festival.  It was just amazing and such a happy 

time to see thousands of people having a great time.

People were dressed every which way.  Some in shorts,

 some very bundled up.  You know Arvid and I had on a 

few layers of clothing, but the truth is, the temperature

 was just beautiful/perfect for an outdoor festival.

We really had a good time walking around the crowd, 

checking out the vendors and of course having a few 

nibbles.  Arvid of course never tries anything.

After the festival of course we took a little trip to our 

favorite spot.  Hideaway Bar and Grill.  It was starting to get 

colder, but was still good enough to be seated outdoors. The night

 would not have been complete without our slice of pizza.

I was awake very early.  Just like Sniff.  We got 

an early start of the day, but now I am already 

starting to be tired😂  What a life we live.

Yesterday I saw mom and dad again.  We're going there 

aging early in the week a little visit and a little taking care 

of business.  To all a good day.  Stay warm and be happy.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today...

~Nadiya~

Saturday January 4th~

 Every memory created is a chapter in the
 book of our lives, a story worth retelling...

One of the many things I love about the life I share with 

Arvid is that you never know what we will be doing next. 

 The good thing (sometimes) is that Arvid tends to get extremely

 restless, and before I know it we have something going on.

Right now he's focused on making a deal of some sort 

with a friend of ours.  This is all trading.  Arvid loves anything

 and everything that has to do with trades.  Sometimes I don't think

 it really matters what he trades for, as long as he can trade.

I have seen him do his magic, and I will never doubt him. 

 He once traded a stamp book collection with some cash for

 a condo in Montana.  Yes, we had a condo in Montana. We

 kept it for a while and when the time was right we traded 

sold/traded it back to the guy we originally traded for it.

The biggest trade he has done to this day was to trade 

for 2 hotels in Branson.  No cash was involved in this 

trade.  We traded two condos we had in Fort Lauderdale

at the time, and a ton of personal items.  We ended 

up with 2 hotels in Branson.  Best deal ever made.  

 

Had it not been for this trade we never would

 have "discovered" Branson.  This started out with 

Arvid going to one of his trade meetings.  We lived in 

Chicago at the time (summer) so going to Branson

 for the meeting was a short drive so a must do.

I was out checking out the sights in Branson when I met 

up with Arvid for lunch he said, "how would you like to own

 two hotels?"  I looked at him and said, "we've never done 

anything like this before.  Sounds good to me."  We became 

owners of two hotels in Branson.  The rest is history.

Arvid so wants to do a trade right now that he has even

volunteered to go and look at some vacant land for someone 

else.  We take pictures and I email it to the interested party.

  If that person likes what the see (just bush) then we may

 have a three way deal.   Arvid gets to get rid of something he

 does not want, he gets to have something he wants as do the

 other 2 parties involved.  Not as complicated as it sounds.

In the meantime we get to spend the day together driving 

around going places we have not been to.  Do I always find 

this ideal?  Not really, but yesterday I had nothing else 

to do so it sounded like a good time and it was.

What I don't miss about Branson is the cold.  When

 we got there in 2016t hat winter that was just about to 

begin was not mild.  It was also Sniff's first time seeing

 snow.  I always wondered what he thought about it?

Here in Fort Myers it's a cold start of the day,

 but this being the Sunshine State, you know it will warm

 during the day.  The sun is shining and the skies are blue. 

 Today there is a Music and Seafood Festival  by the 

park next to us.  Hopefully we make it there.

The most precious memories in my

 heart are the ones we created together...

~Nadiya~