A Blast From The Past!

This weekend my boys and I are headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX, were I will be getting caught up on a few projects and they will be splashing down water slides with a bazillion other people who DON'T have broken arms! LOL

As we drive down the Interstate I am taken back twenty, OK thirty something years to a time when we drove this same route several times a year. It isn't the scenery or the road construction that takes me back, although BOTH seem relatively unchanged. No, its the selection of music we have chosen.
As Journey's Great Hits pumps through the speakers I remember sitting in the back seat of my parent's Midnight Blue GMC Safari listening to this exact same... well, cassette tape. LOL My dad has always been pretty passionate about his music and no road trip was complete without a decent selection of Journey, Chicago, REO Speedwagon, CCR and Paul Simon!

I remember "holding it" until my eyeballs floated because my dad didn't like to stop. I can hear my mother's nervous voice instructing us to "put our seatbelts on", anytime we got into a congested area or one where construction had it down to two lanes with chain link and pylons separating the traffic. But mostly I remember the music! I knew the words to every single song and still do. Usually my mom and brother were asleep by the first hour of the trip, so it was just me and my daddy. Listening to HIS music, which later became MY music, watching the passing cars and landmarks that I had come to know. Many of those landmarks are no longer there, some have changed and grown more modern with time, My dad and I have certainly changed, but the one constant is the music. The music that I am now sharing with my little guy! The music that at times doesn't even make sense, speaks of love, loss and living. The music that ties together the days of my childhood with those of my son's.

Road trips with my daddy are few and far between these day, but I can honestly say they aren't much different. There's a little more talking... just a little, but the music is still there. The worse his hearing gets the louder the music is, but that's ok by me, at least we can still listen together!

I'm grateful for those trips and will be sad when they are completely a thing of the past!

Have YOU soared the skies with dinosaurs lately?

About a month ago we took a quick trip to Lubbock for the weekend to go to the Science Spectrum. This place is three floors of stimulation for ALL of your senses! They also have an IMAX theater that we were all excited to try. Okay, not all of us, I had to really twist Braydon's arm to get him to agree to it. Well, I should have left it alone and just stayed back with him while everyone else went to see it because I DID NOT have any idea what I was in for.
Braydon LOVED IT! He thought it was the coolest thing and wanted to go back to see the next one. I, on the other hand, could not tolerate it at all! I paid the Science Spectrum of Lubbock, Texas $6.00 to take a 45 minute nap!

WOW! While everyone else was flying through the sky with dinosaurs I was ducking my head in my hands hoping not to throw up! I did make it through without losing my lunch though, so I was thankful for that! LOL

We got a great deal on rooms at the Embassy Suites! The rooms were so nice and the inside of the hotel was WAY COOL! The pool was a little small and since it was a holiday weekend it was FULL of kids, but other than that it was great! The free breakfast was AMAZING!! We're talking amazing buffet, made to order pancakes, waffles, french toast and omelets; not your average continental breakfast, that's for sure!!  If you're traveling to Lubbock I highly recommend this place!!

We also ate at Applebee's while we were there too. This was my first experience with an Applebee's and by the looks of the clientele (not a single guest under 60) I did not have very high expectations! But much to my surprise it was TERRIFIC! Apparently, we just hit it right before most of the church goes got there for Sunday lunch and this was just the "Early Service" crowd. I had the Oriental Salad with crispy chicken and it was TO DIE FOR!! I have honestly been craving it since then!

So, if you're coming through Odessa and pass an Applebee's on your way I would love one! hint hint

All and all it was a really nice trip! I can't wait til I'm able to travel and really enjoy it! This arm is really cramping my style!!!

KBC Day ??? Immediate Journey HOME

Well the last few days have been a crazy blur.
Monday morning Cyndi and I headed to Rainbow Resources.  This was a very productive day that ended with a delightful dinner with several of the friendly staff at Rainbow.  That night we headed back to Peoria before we began our trip to meet up with the other members of the KBC team.

Tuesday morning started off with a trip to Arthur, Illinois to tour the Amish Communities.  We took lots of pictures and just enjoyed watching how these people with a simpler way of life lived side by side with people in a modern world.  This was a neat stop and very educational, but our trip was about to take a turn for the worst.
Before heading to St. Louis, Missouri we stop to get gas and I tripped and broke my arm.  We then drove a miserable 30 minutes to Decatur, Illinois.  It took us the next three days to get me back home.
Sadly, our trip was cut short and we were not able to meet with Pam and Kim.

I'm praying to be all better before our cruise in September.  But won't see The orthopedic surgeon until Friday.  Trying to schedule that appointment was a fiasco all on its own!  That's a long story so I'll just give you a little advice.  If you're going to break a bone don't do it out of state.

KBC Day Five Journey To...

Today was a nice relaxing day for the most part. We left Indiana around 10ish heading for Illinois. Once here we checked into our hotel and got a little lunch we spent the afternoon getting caught up on emails and such. We did have a run in with an army of ants but after a small room switching fiasco we were finally in our third room for the day and ready to get down to business! LOL

This evening we had a nice visit and dinner with Leah from CurrClick. Until tonight I had not had the pleasure of meeting Leah, and I am so glad I did!! I really enjoyed getting to know her a little bit. Hopefully next time we will be able to meet Staley as well.

Tomorrow we are heading to Rainbow to work on some more videos and then we will be having dinner with the Rainbow crew! I can't wait to meet everyone!

Hopefully while Cyndi is practicing to be a movie star I will have some time to work on the Respect Character Lapbook.


Until tomorrow,

KBC Day FOUR Journey To...

Today was the BIG day!! I finally got to get my books!! It was amazing! Here they are:

 

Right off the trimmer!

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I also got to watch several other procedures while I was waiting.

 Here are some of our CD's being shrink wrapped.

 Here's Ester hand collating our colored paper.

These are HUGE stacks of KBC books waiting to be bound!  

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Then I got to watch them go through each step of the printing process for my books and it was so neat!!

 Here's a stack of the inside pages to my books straight out of the hopper!

 

The covers printing...

  

laminating...

 and binding.

 

 It's hard to believe my name is now printed on an actual product!!

 Now for trimming.

This was such fun! I truly appreciate Eloise and Chad at Country Pines showing me around and letting me see all of the back end to the production of my books!

We finally left Shoals around 4pm and headed up to Terre Haute for the night. We had a nice dinner and then spent the rest of the evening bouncing ideas off of one another and talking through alot of things we want to do further down the road. So keep an eye out, there are great things in the making at Knowledge Box Central!

KBC Day THREE Journey To...

As we come to the end of the day we are exhausted and ready for bed, but we still have so much work to do. It looks like tonight may be a late one. We spent most of today at Country Pines Printing going over cover images, orders and printing options. Tonight we are working diligently on printing specs for EACH of our almost 200 products to be sure that every product shipped out is the best possible quality it can be.

Tomorrow we are hoping to spend a little more time with them and then begin making our way to Illinois. But before that is the best part... I get to see each of my books for the first time! I am so excited! I will definitely be posting pictures of them tomorrow night!  Not much site seeing for the next couple of days but alot of meeting with other people who help make Knowledge Box so great so that's a good exchange in my opinion!

We will be meeting the wonderful ladies from CurrClick Sunday night for dinner and then it's off to Rainbow Resources Monday morning.

We can't wait to see these folks and tell you all about it!

I do have to say that I am missing my boys a ton!! Braydon is having fun with his cousins so that it makes easier on me. :)  A big thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law for helping out while I'm away!!

Until tomorrow,

KBC Day TWO, Journey To...

Today started off much like yesterday went, "detour" after "detour". LOL We finally made it to Graceland a mere hour after we had planned to be there, and it was amazing. I got a TON of pics!! My mom if a HUGE Elvis fan and had gone to Graceland back in the 80's but the only camera she had only had a flash setting so she go very few pictures. All this time I thought she didn't get many because they wouldn't let you take them in certain places so this afternoon when I found out the real reason it was a bonus. Now my momma will have all new pictures to go with those memories from so many years ago. The pictures won't just be a treat for me, I know my mom will cherish them as well!

Front of Graceland

 15' Couch in the Formal Living Area

 Basement

We didn't make it back by The  Mississippi River but are planning to on the way back through next week. When I told Braydon we were going to go back down there to take some pics and I would grab him a rock or something he told me to get a jar with a lid and bring him back some Mississippi Mud! He said it in this guttural smoker's voice and I just died!  LOL I laughed so hard!! Even 1000 miles away he's funny!! 

After Graceland we downed a couple of sandwiches and proceeded on our journey only to get lost take "detours" time and time again... I can honestly say this trip will not be short of stories to tell and laughs to be had in the years to come! 

We traveled through Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana all in six hours today. I have traveled more than 1300 miles since Tuesday morning and after today have crossed 4 major rivers; The Tennessee River, The Ohio River, The Arkansas River and the The Mighty Mississippi! Each one was just as amazing as the last and I am in awe of God's glory!

We finally made it to this amazing little cabin called the Salt Box in the woods of Shoals, Indiana, and I may never leave!! This place is so cute and peaceful! Cyndi and I are hanging out, working on a few projects and just enjoying not being in the car for a few hours.

Until tomorrow,

KBC Day ONE Journey To...

So we're off! My cousin, Cyndi and I, are taking a business trip together that will cover multiple states. The next two weeks will be full of so many FIRSTS for me, as I have never been to this part of the country! I'm hoping to post a little bit every night to keep you up to speed with where we are and what we are doing.


We are coming in on the close of day one so here's a quick recap of what today entailed.
We have traveled through Louisiana, Arkansas and part of Tennessee. Since today and tomorrow are traveling days we are making the most of them and having a little fun along the way!! The car trip alone has been a blast! Did you know that the distance from to Memphis from Little Rock is only about an inch in Google Maps? LOL Like I said, it has definitely been a fun ride. I took many a detour today; NOT because I got lost, but because I wanted to be sure we saw everything there was to see in Memphis. Especially the shady parts of town. I seemed to end up in those areas more than not today. But it's important that you know I DID NOT get lost! :)

We stopped for a bit in Arkansas and after a small "detour" took advantage of some of a couple of July 4th sales. Then we were back on the road toward Memphis.

As I said before this is a part of the country I have never been to, so crossing the Mississippi River was a really neat experience for me.  It was huge! I can't wait to go back down there tomorrow and get some pictures. Here's a pic I took from inside the car while crossing the bridge.

***Disclaimer: I know it LOOKS like I'm taking it from behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, but I can assure you that is not the case... it is an optical allusion, I promise! hehehe

Once we got into Memphis we found our hotel, got cleaned up and headed for Beale Street. It was a blast! We did little shopping and then had dinner at a little Cajun joint called Johnny G's. After dinner we came back to the hotel and now we are both working silently side-by-side. This trip promises to be both productive and fun!

Until tomorrow,