Blogging Journey

This stack of 25 books is a record of my blog posts from June, 2010 to July 2024. I am behind on printing them because the company that I used to print these books went out of business in July of 2024. I found a new service to try, and I hope to be up to date soon.

According to Blogger Stats, I have 2,765 posts! 

When I first began blogging, I was much more prolific. Life has gotten busier in recent years, and I have gotten slower at keeping up with things. 

Once in a while, I will pick up one of these books and read through it. It makes me so glad I did this because the stories and photos in them are priceless. I just read one that had a photo of Daniel's bedroom door when he was in high school. He had taped all kinds of posters and pictures on the outside of his door. I sent him the post, and he said he can't believe we let him do that! He gets so mad at his boys when they tape things to the doors and walls. Ha Ha! 

The big question several people have asked me since we've gotten Cooper is, "Are you going to change the name of your blog to Life with Cooper?" I don't think I can! 

On the cover of each of these books is a different photo of Riley. Going forward, I can put a photo of Cooper on each book.

Even though Riley is no longer with us, I just can't change the name. In memory of Riley...the Life with Riley blog will go on.

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Thief in the Night

 

I was surprised to find one of our pumpkins tipped on its side this morning. It had a large hole carved into it, and pumpkin guts spilled out on the porch. A raccoon (I'm guessing) had a nice meal, but it did not clean up after itself! There are three other pumpkins on the porch. Will they survive the night? 

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Dean's Eye View

 

We had a nice sunny day last week when Heidi came over with the boys to swim. When we were cleaning up at the end of the day, Dean picked up Heidi's phone and started snapping pictures. It's always interesting to see things from a young child's perspective.

The pool skimmer leaning on the pool fence.

Gavin playing on the steps that go up to the hot tub.

Our house in the background.

The long view with Heidi and Gavin.

Looking out through the pool fence to the annuals planted around a tree.

Dean's feet on the hot tub steps by the well cover.

Sito being caught on Candid Camera.

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Through the Decades

 

Since I turned 66 this year I decided to go through the photo archives and pick out one random picture for each decade of my life beginning at six. Here I am with a neighbor girl - Cheryl - playing outside in the summer.

At 16, I was a cheerleader for the Highland Park Bantams. 

When I was 26, I worked at Arthur Andersen where I met Don. This photo was taken at Niagra Falls with my friend Lisa. We were at a company party called "The Prom."

When I was 36, Peter was one year old. We spent a lot of time in the summers at Chagrin Valley Athletic Club swimming and hanging out with neighbors.

When I was 46, all my kids were in school, and I got a part-time job as the librarian at Valley Christian Academy. But here I am, on a sister's trip with Carolyn to Amish Country.

This is a very random photo - a selfie, I believe - taken on the balcony at Beaver Creek Lodge when I was 56.

And here I am, at 66, with four of my precious grandchildren, celebrating my birthday at Daniel and Heidi's house.

 My real birthday was spent in bed with the flu in Naples. I am just now recovering.

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O-H-I-O

 

Buckeye Fans

Last night, the Ohio State Buckeye football team won the National Championship! This was exciting news for several family members, including Peter and Kendall, Daniel and Heidi, and Don. It was exciting for me too because I am one of those fans who comes out of the woodwork when a big game is on the line. I watched most of the game but could not stay up until the bitter end. After all, I had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to catch a flight to Florida.

The final score was 34 (Ohio State) to 23 (Notre Dame) giving OSU their first National Championship in 10 years!

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Double Take

 

You know you are in Middlefield when you see a horse and buggy pull up to the ATM.

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Where We Ride

 

Don and I started biking 12 years ago. That's when Pam & Dave invited us to join them on our first VBT trip to the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria. At that time, we hadn't ridden bikes much since we were kids. I was worried about the trip. We were leaving the second week of June and it was already May when we went on our first ride. We got on the Bike & Hike at Route 303 and rode four miles to the bend that now goes to Brandywine Falls. At that time, you had to ride in the road to get there and I could see that it was a steep downhill. I told Don we should turn back. So we rode four miles back to our car and called it a day.

Also at that time, I rode my bike like this: Pedal, pedal, rest. Pedal, pedal, rest. I couldn't maintain a proper cadence. On top of that, I did not know how to shift gears properly to make it up the hills we encountered. You can imagine how the first bike trip went. I cried and wanted to go home. I've come a long way since then.

When we ride I use my Fit Bit to track our rides. Don uses an app on his phone. To create this blog post I took pictures of the routes we bike from my Fit Bit app. Don says my mileage is a little low compared to his.

We begin this ride in the parking lot at 15440 Alexander Rd. in Bedford. The trail is part of the Bike & Hike. We ride from Alexander Road to the parking lot for Brandywine Falls. The round trip is approximately 14 miles. You can ride past this point to Route 303 and beyond if you want.

When we don't have much time to drive somewhere and back, we do our closest route. We drive to the  Parkside Church parking lot and begin from there. We ride through the Truth for Life parking lot and cross Pettibone Rd. to get on the bike path. We take that to Signature of Solon and loop around that development twice. Then we go back out to Pettibone Rd. and ride to Liberty Rd and head south to Liberty Park. We ride up the big hill to that parking lot and then come back. This ride is also about 15 miles round trip.

Another route we take begins at the parking lot off Rt. 303 just west of Route 8. This trail is part of the Bike & Hike. We take it to Steels Corners Rd. and back for a 15-mile ride.

This ride begins at the Yours Truly restaurant parking lot near Rockside Road. We ride from here to Steelyard Commons and back, sometimes having dinner on the patio of Yours Truly. We have taken this route farther to the Flats in downtown Cleveland a few times. This is part of the northern Towpath trail.

One of our go-to routes on a very hot day begins at Silver Springs Park on Stow Road. The trail is mostly shaded. We begin by riding east four miles and back then we ride west and back for a total of about 15 miles. This trail is part of the Bike & Hike.

One of my new favorite rides is the Maple Highlands Trail which runs from Middlefield to Chardon. We rode this for the first time last year with Greg and Merry. Pam has been riding this trail for years. 

We park at the Great Lakes Outdoor Supply parking lot, cross the street, and begin the trail just behind the Middlefield Fire Station. We turn around at about 8.5 miles for a round trip of 17 miles. Pam comes from the other direction toward Middlefield. The fun thing about this trail is that part of the Middlefield section allows Amish horse and buggies so you have to dodge the horse manure as you go.

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2022 Highlights

We started the year off with a trip to Beaver Creek. Everyone was there except Peter and Kendall, and everyone came down with COVID-19 except Don.

Don became a TV and radio celebrity by filming a Pella Windows commercial. Everyone seemed to see it/hear it except us.

Peter spent a weekend building these bookshelves for Katherine, and Katherine and I spent many hours painting them.

There were three weddings in the extended family: Megan & Nik in Las Vegas

Kendall's brother, Braden, and her new sister-in-law, Bri.

Will and Maddie got married at the Boston Public Library.

The biggest highlight of the year was the birth of Gavin James Richards on July 31!

Marina and Dean both turned two, graduated from sleeping in cribs, and started using the potty.

In June, I invited 45 women who live in our neighborhood to join me at my house for a weekly Bible study. We used a six-week study on the book of Ruth that I wrote. Three women came. In the fall, we did another study and four women came. We plan to start up again in February. It has been a real blessing to get to know these women.

A few of us got to visit Maroon Bells while enjoying summer trips to Colorado.

In early October, Peter, Kendall, Josh, Katherine, Marina, and Lucy went on their second annual camping trip together. 

Don and I were able to travel internationally again after a two-year hiatus. Our bike trip to Tuscany was wonderful.

Sadly, Category 4 Hurricane Ian swept across the southeast U.S. from September 23-September 30, killing 148 people and destroying much land and property. Thankfully our condo in Naples was spared.

Don had hip replacement surgery on September 27. Two weeks later, thanks to the help of Peter and Daniel, he was able to attend a Guardians playoff game.

Peter and Kendall enjoyed a Caribbean cruise in early November.

Josh went back to school online for a degree in 3-D Modeling and Game Art through Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Daniel started working on his MBA online at Ohio State University.

The most recent highlight is that Daniel and Heidi moved into a new house last week. I'm still waiting on a photo, so that will be a separate post.

I'm looking forward to what 2023 will bring. Happy New Year!

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