... you will be happy forever

"If you wait to be happy, you will wait forever.
If you are happy now, you will be happy forever."
- Sally Huss (c) 1990

Dear reader,

Suzette Anna (King) LaFleur, author of this blog and my loving wife, unexpectedly passed away on May 9th, 2011. Words cannot begin to describe my overwhelming sense of loss over the last three months. Instead, in this venue, I would write a few words about this blog and what it meant to her.

Suzee created this blog as a way to share our grand adventure of moving to Manhattan.  If you have read through the entries, you have had a taste of her passion for fine food, good music, and a love of life.  In the city, where every street held something to see or do - a new restaurant, shoe store, or street fair - she was truly in her element. Life was good and that is what she wrote about.

She was not immune to the hardships of the world around us, rather it was Suzee’s decision that this blog would be focused on the positive. It would be her affirmation to the world. There was just so much to be thankful for.

Suzee also found a new joy in describing for others those things that made her happy. People from around the world were reading her posts and cheering her on. It is true that a joy shared is a joy multiplied many times over.

I know that it would be Suzee's deepest wish that you would, in turn, celebrate your life and your love for each other. Take the time to find the magic in the day to day. When you find some joy, smile wide, laugh loud, and share it - be the messenger of joy that others can look to.

Wishing you well,

Rick LaFleur

p.s. Some links of interest for family and friends:

• Photos
• Facebook
• Obituary
• Eulogy
• Memorial

Romantic Days

Man of my dreams

Love shared, love created

A new chance

A family joined

Seven years ago

A realization

Thoughts and dreams

A life of possibilities

Preparations and travel

Lent is an issue?

Quick and dirty

Time to start a family

Friends come together

A party of joy

White dress and tux

Swish and dancing

Life shared, life anew

Grand happiness, deep sorrow

Shared emotion, and quiet comtemplation

What next?

 

Love alive.

 

 

 

Christmas Day at Jim & Jilly's

Christmas Eve At Michele and Dave's

Thanksgiving on Indian Lake

Sunrise Thanksgiving morning - lots to be thankful and grateful for...

Rick believes there is a Turkey Protection Program here in South Padre - these Turkeys are in costume.

Mushrooms - just out of the oven. Pretty gosh darn tasty!

This is a random Indian Lake bean bag game with variable rules. Tom and Aggie seem to like it though :D

Dinner with a whole lotta Indian Lakers. Some really amazing dishes at this pot luck!

Suzee's Peas and Onions with Champagne Cream Sauce

We went to the Indian Lake Potluck Thanksgiving this year, and Rick was hoping for some peas and onions. Usually we just buy them frozen, but here in South TX there was not even a package of frozen onions to be had.

I did find some raw pearl onions and figured, what the heck - lets try and make some from scratch.

I blanched the onions for 3 - 4 minutes to get the skins off (3 ten ounce packages). I figured out early on that if you leave the root end attached, and slice off the other end, you can pretty easily peel off the outter layer and slice it off the onion. I tried the "slip the skins off" method, but my onions were not cooperating.

In a stock pot I added about a 1/2 cup of flour and 3 or 4 T of butter. I stirred them together to make a roux and continued stirring as they cooked on medium for 2 - 3 minutes. I added a can of low sodium chicken broth, and whisked this together until smooth. Next I added 1/2 bottle of Asti Spumanti (Mom's fave for a holiday). Once it stopped bubbling from the carbination, I simmered it a bit to allow it to thicken. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes. I added some salt and freshly ground pepper, and I'll tell you the sauce tasted pretty gosh darn good at this point, so I added back the onions and also added 2 lbs of frozen peas. I let the the veggies simmer for about 10 minutes. After that I added about 1/2 - 3/4 cup half and half, and heated it through. I added more salt and pepper at this point as after the cream addition, it definitely needed some adjustments.

I consider this recipe a success - the 25 or so folks at the pot luck enjoyed them, as did Rick. Next time though I think I would make these adjustments.

Add the peas at the end, so they stay a nice bright green.
Consider going without the cream at all - the sauce was really nice even without it.
Add some tarragon to the mix - I think that would really make it special.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it goes! Enjoy!

A perfect day on the Island!

We had a belated birthday celebration for my father's 21st celebration of his 50th birthday. I thought he would like an apron for making his famous black bean soup!



I was able to finagle a trip to the Palm Street Pier for our celebraton - I'm sure glad my father likes it too!

Last night we also had a great swim in the pool and I got to see the sunset over at Coconuts. Every sunset on South Padre Island is a good one :D

Latest Family Shots

We got a family stop at Petey's. The softshell twins were down to $14.59! Everyone but Jill partook in these delicious crustacians. They were so sweet and delicious - don't miss them this season.

Jilly was excited and happy when I got to NH - she came with Grammy and Grampa to pick me up at the bus station. And that night we played, Jilly showed us her Tinkerbell pajamas and her favorite toys.

Jilly found some princess dresses in storage in the basement - always a good thing to shop in your own closet I say!

We went shopping at the mall to get a new winter coat - after a few days with no naps, it was a challenging trip, but I love this photo of Grammy and Jilly on their way to the store, hand in hand :)


One day it was rainy and not very nice out. Jilly and I went to Rumble Tumble, and she is big enough now that she can run around on her own. I was especially touched to see her helping a younger girl throught the big rumble tumble maze.

Water Country, hmmm hmmm have some fun!

After York Beach, we met my parents and Jillian at Water Country! Jillian was SO EXCITED to go! Jilly's Papa had to work, unfortunately, but we went all around the park :)

Jilly quickly understood the relationship of the park to the map we got at the front office, and pointed out the places she wanted to try, starting with the Pirate Ship!Rick and Pa mostly watched. I think my father was trying to prove me wrong because I had told him he would be sorry if he didn't have a swim suit. He borrowed my brothers, but he didn't put it on. He went into the Pirate ship area with Jilly, and didn't need to get wet. Rick went down the big slide with me - Wild Canyon - so much fun! Jilly and I went 4 or 5 times together :)

We stopped for lunch - Fresh Moe's Italian Subs!! Woo hoo!

By the way, I'm still using aloe for my sunburn...

Vacation - Michele and Dave's Party

We were too busy having fun, chatting, and catching up, and we realized at the end of the day we didn't take any photos! I stole these from Michele's facebook page :)

It's been one year since Deanna passed away, and we had a short memorial - a poem, a song and then we wrote wishes and prayers to Deanna on the beautiful mylar balloons. We cut off the string and watched them float up to heaven one by one. Laura got a great video of it with little Jayda in the background happily chatting as 2 year olds do. I'm glad we were able to take that time together.

After we ate, and swam, and went for boat rides, and enjoyed the day. It was beautful :)

Fabulous Trip To NH!