3 Ups, Sydney Aaliyah, and Celebrate the Small Things

Randi at The Emotional Process of Writing a Novel, is hosting the awesome, encouraging 3 Up! Blog Hop! Each blogger visits another blogger and gives them 3 Ups, or writes a 3 Ups post in their honor, or writes an e-mail, or all three . . .

So, I just want to present to you:
Sydney Aaliyah! Now I admit, even though I follow Sydney, I realized I needed to get to know her better/stalk her blog to give her the best 3 Ups that I could. So here's what I've discovered anew about Sydney:

1. She sets goals, and gets them done. She's written novels, short stories, articles, and movie reviews. She's putting foundations under all her dreams, and it's pretty exciting to read her posts, and check out her Bucket Lists. Seriously, this lady has climbed the Wall of China and participated in a half-marathon! Wow! She rocks! She's also eaten some amazing food at world-renowned restaurants and traveled to amazing places.

2. She has great taste in movies! I loved her choices for the recent Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest. Total Recall rocks, and I love her reasons for choosing it - it made her want to write scifi and do world-building. She also is a great movie quoter. I love movie quotes, but I can never remember them "just right" in conversations or posts, so I have to say, wow! Great memory, great quotes! (And loved her post on Iron Man 3)

3. Her blog has a great theme: "Happiness, Passion, Love, & Faith." It's a fun place to hang out. I highly recommend you visit her!

Celebrate the Small Things is an awesome weekly hop hosted by Viklit!

My parents are healthy and well! (This is actually a huge celebration)
They embarked on an adventurous planned out two month road trip on Tuesday on a motorcycle with a sidecar. They planned to take a long slow drive on back roads to Arkansas to a "Sidecar Rally" but after just three days, they were in an accident. When they called last night, I seemed to just focus on that word - accident. I had to call them back later and talk to them again, because I really lost any sense of the conversation after that word. It was a word that I feared - knowing their ages (75 and 72) and some of their health issues - I had been nervous about them taking this trip - but at the same time glad that they were fiercely living life to the fullest.

The accident, thankfully, took place at fairly low speeds, and they both stayed on the bike (this is the benefit of the motorcycle with the sidecar - more stability), and the medics who arrived on the scene checked them over and decided that they didn't need to visit the hospital. My dad's wrist is sprained, but other than that and the bent up front wheel of the bike, they are ok. They will be coming home, in a rental car or Uhaul truck, early next week. They plan on selling their motorcycle, and their motor scooters. However, this last part is a bit bittersweet for me. I'm glad, and I'm sad at the same time. I don't want them to lose their adventurous spirit.

Here is a few pics of them from last Tuesday when they took off:

Yes, that's a fist pump from my mom as they drive away.

 

And today, I'm just celebrating that they are ok, and praising God for watching over them.