Just Melanie

Saturday 9: It Must Be Him

Hey, y'all. Welcome back. My youngest, Sophia, and I drove 5 hours down to Salt Lake City from Boise yesterday (and back at night), for an appointment with my ME/CFS specialist, and on the way back we were treated with... Read more →

Saturday 9: Boat Drink

Hey, guys! It's 7:30 PM here, which means it's still Saturday, and I'm not late. For once. Link up here if you're playing along today! ~*~*~*~*~ Saturday 9: Boat Drinks (1979) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 1)... Read more →

Sunday Stealing: Happy New Year

Hey, y'all! Welcome back. I'm thrilled to be back after missing the last few weeks due to illness. Glue me down, because hopefully I'll be sticking around for a while. Link up here if you want to play along this... Read more →

Young Living Fall Festival & Draft Horse Show 2017

Hey, folks! So, being that I am all about the Young Living Essential Oils (and related products) these days, I was super gung-ho about traveling to Mona, Utah, for the second time in as many seasons in order to attend... Read more →

Fall Fun At Linder Farms

[click photos to embiggerate] So on Tuesday of this week, Team Odette headed out to Linder Farms in Meridian, Idaho, for their fall funness. That's a word, right? We went on Tuesday, because admission was half-priced, and I am all... Read more →

Field Trip: Lucky Peak Beach @ Barclay Bay

On July 7th, Team Odette headed out to a new locale, set up as a playdate for Sophia with one of her new friends from a local homeschoolers' group. We visited Lucky Peak Reservoir, also known as Barclay Bay. This... Read more →

Field Trip: Fort Running Bear Park

On Thursday, Team Odette had the pleasure of heading out eastward in Idaho, past Mountain Home where a there is a heavier military presence, to Fort Running Bear RV Park. It seemed like a cool place to visit, so I... Read more →

Lavender Fields Forever

Last month, during the Young Living 2017 International Grand Convention last month, one of my very best friends, Shana, and I had the pleasure of touring the YL lavender fields. When I say it was amazing and inspiring day, consider... Read more →

Family Field Trip: Art Lesson at Young Art in Boise, Idaho

On Monday, Team Odette was invited into Young Art for a 60-minute drawing lesson, complimentary of Young Art in Boise, Idaho, and the fun and amazing manager, Shayla Putnam. [Full Disclosure: Our five-member family received the lesson for no charge,... Read more →

Sundays In My City: Field Trip To Babby Farms

Welcome back, those of you here from By Claudya's weekly carnival, Sundays in my City. I haven't been posting in a while, and now we've moved from Miami, Florida, to Boise, Idaho. Big leap of faith and huge culture shock,... Read more →

Field Trip: The Peregrine Fund At The World Center For Birds Of Prey

Way back on March 20th, before Jack's 14th birthday, Team Odette was invited to visit The World Center for Birds of Prey in order to learn about the important work being done by The Peregrine Fund. I feel absolutely awful... Read more →

Sunday Stealing: The Sassiest Questions

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing! Link up here if you want to play along today! The first five questions are stolen from blogger Emily Rosenbaum at Wheels on a Bus. She explains she grabbed it from Lola's blog, and since... Read more →

Boise: Scenes From A Family Drive About Town

Today, Moday the First Day of SPRING! all five of us had reason to get in the car and drive around together. I'll get to the reason in a moment. I figured, since we were going to take a leisurely... Read more →

Our 4-Day Sprint Across The Country #MiamiToIdaho

So this journey started with Rob being busy selling off all our furniture that wouldn't fit in the U-Haul U-Boxes that we had rented and filled to the brim with all our household belongings... while I was stuck in the... Read more →

Trips Afield: Bradenton & Sarasota Visit To See Stephanie, Lucas & Vinnie!

This past Friday was a day we were looking forward to all week! Remember our good friends Stephanie and Tim, and their two boys Luke and Vinnie, from Virginia? Well, Steph and the kids came down to Florida to visit... Read more →

Jungle Island 2016

Last year, I took the kids to Miami's Jungle Island near Miami Beach. Rob wasn't able to go, having had appointments at the VA all day. We bought annual passes for the five of us at the time, but due... Read more →

Wordless Wednesday: Heritage Horse Show

Day One This past weekend, Sophia entered her first equestrian show in Plantation, Florida. We arrived around 0745 on Saturday for her first five classes in the Hunters division for Beginning Crossrails. [Yeah, yeah, this entry is supposed to be... Read more →

January '16 Wrap-Up

Black-and-white portrait of the man I love, Robert Allen Odette So, I haven't blogged as much this infant year as I had planned, because I became even sicker than I had been all throughout the latter half-plus of 2015. That... Read more →

Wordless Wednesday: Our 15th Anniversary Celebration at WonderWorks Orlando

On January 2, 2016, Rob and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary! To celebrate, we took the kids and headed up north to Orlando, Florida. We spent hours at WonderWorks, a really cool hands-on, science-y museum. We had a great... Read more →

Road Trippin': Miami To Missouri

Earlier this month, we spent about ten days on the road to Missouri and back. From here in Homestead, Florida, it's a two-day drive. Since I have been really unwell lately, I allotted 2½ days on either end, and it... Read more →