Happy 27th Birthday Prince Harry!

Today marks the 27th Birthday of His Royal Hotness Prince Harry!

27 years ago today Prince Charles and Princess Diana welcomed a son!

He was born at 4.20pm on 15th September, 1984 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London. He weighed 6lb 14oz.

On 21st December 1984, Prince Henry Charles Albert David was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

 After attending Mrs Mynors School, Prince Harry became a pupil at Wetherby School in London, from September 1987. .

 

  In September 1992, Harry joined his older brother William at Ludgrove School in Berkshire where he stayed for five years

 The Prince of Wales to South Africa, where he was able to go on safari before joining his father at a concert featuring the Spice Girls and meeting President Nelson Mandela

 Prince Harry walked behind the cortege of his mother,at her funeral in Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997, accompanied by his brother, father, grandfather and uncle, a really horrible time for one so young

Back to Happier times.. 

In September 1998 Prince Harry started at Eton College, Windsor. 

In 2003 Prince Harry left school at Eton College with A Levels in Art and Geography. 

 Prince Harry then left Britain to spend the first part of his gap year in Australia, followed by a stay in Africa, where he worked in an orphanage in Lesotho.--HOT!

 You have to love a Prince who loves and is so good with children.. swoon...

In May 2005 Prince Harry entered Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to begin his training as an officer in the Army- A royal in a uniform..getting hotter!

Then you stand up for your brother at his wedding, and make cheekey comments while waiting at the altar.. super hot!

I could go on and on.. but I don't have that many blog pages.. we all know Harry is the supreme catch now of the British Royal Family

 Lady Louise Windsor has the best royal carriage!

Happy Birthday to Prince Harry may His Royal Hotness  Rule Britannia Forever!

Enjoy this link from MSN Powerwall

10 Reasons why Prince Harry is Hotter than is brother!

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/business/10-reasons-why-prince-harry-is-the-cooler-than-his-bro-9729.gallery?photoId=39123&ocid=twtr-utweet

Remembering 9/11

September 11th is another one of those days that will live in infamy..


We will never forget where we were, who we were with, and what we were doing on that horrific day!

I was living in Alexandria, VA it was a odd morning, I had the day off from my job as a Customer Service Specialist at Nordstrom Pentagon City. It was a clear beautiful day. I went to go get in our cool red jeep for a drive and found the whole stereo system had been ripped out. I went in to call the police, and my husband and turned on the TV and saw this monstrous event. I could not believe my eyes.

And then boom another tower hit, I was shocked! Then my husband called me saying The Pentagon has been hit..shock and alarm, his brother worked at the Pentagon!

Not even believable-panic struck, everyone started to evacuate Washington! No one had heard from my brother in law, I just started to pray, and pray, he had 3 boys and a wife who needed him it would be o.k.
I jumped in my jeep and drove 30 minutes to go be with my sister in law and try to comfort her. As I drove i just could not even fathom what was happening, I thought so this is war, and what it is like, I had always felt so fortunate not to ever have been alive during wartime, or seen any of the horrible images that I had seen about war on TV and movies.

 As soon as I got to my sister in laws house the towers then collapsed, horror, shock and tears. I so felt for the people of NYC trying to get out of that building, trying to get away, trying to make sense out of what was going on in their city. All while trying to deal with what was going on in our fair city, and the shock someone had hit the Pentagon-you can't blow up the Pentagon?

We eventually heard from my brother in law who was alive and o.k. he had the hard task of going from room to room to make sure people were o.k. My sister in law had went and pulled her children out of school. It was that kind of a day when you needed to know where your children are, and you wanted to hug and hug them forever. I just prayed and tried to do what I could to comfort her, not understanding any of it at all.

All day we were glued to the television, not leaving it, crying, gasping at what we saw, it was all too horrible. My husband was safe and downtown in Washington DC in a federal government building. I begged him to come home and just be with me. It was impossible to get anywhere in DC traffic was horrific, it took some people over 4 hours to get home.We never called the police about our stolen stereo system, it the whole picture of things happening that day, it just seemed unimportant.

The next day I had to return to work at Pentagon City, Pentagon city is right across from the Pentagon

You could still see and smell the smoke, it just kept burning, there wasn't anything they could do all. I went to the top of the parking garage went and looked across 395 to see the Pentagon and said to myself you will never forget this day, the day you saw the Pentagon burn, like the big hole in the side of the building, it just left a huge hole in your heart...

The most sickening thing were the people in Nordstrom who would try to come and return things saying they had lost their brother, sister, or friend in the Pentagon put on all sorts of dramatic acts, and say they needed to return these clothes (which were never purchased at Nordstrom) to get some money. It was so UN-real to me how some people could take advantage of a tragedy so..

However, in the weeks and months after 9/11  we did have legitimate family members having to clean out the closets of their loved ones they had lost at the Pentagon, and help them. I remember having to close several accounts for people because they were not alive anymore. Just heartbreaking.

I will say, I have never been more proud to be an American as I was those weeks and months after 9/11 the unity everyone showed. The respect for our policemen, firefighters and emergency personnel was immense and honorable.

We as a nation really came together and held on to what makes America great.. The most popular and honorable costume to be that Halloween was a policeman or a firefighter, and that Christmas everyone decorated their homes and trees in red, white & blue as a tribute.


 Will anyone who was alive that day ever forget? No I don't think so ...

We will never forget! This is a video of the events and the speech from President Bush on the evening of 9/11
 the song is "Only Time" from Enya, that song played on radio stations for months to try to comfort a suffering America

The Day Diana Died

August 31st is one of the days of the year I never look forward to, and today on the 14th anniversary of the death of Diana Princess of Wales it isn't any easier.

When I was born I was unwanted

When I married Charles I was unwanted

When I joined the Royal Family I was unwanted

I just want to be wanted

Diana Princess of Wales

 We all remember where we were that day, who we were with, what we were doing when we heard the dreadful news. Here in America no one believed it, we first had heard via CNN that Diana was in a car accident, that Dodi Fayed was dead, but that she was still alive, she may have a broken arm and she was being rushed to the hospital. Everyone who knew her and loved her prayed she would make it through, she had to, those boys needed her.

Then nothing new.. hours and hours passed until late that evening the glass slipper shattered and we got the news Princess Diana is Dead!

NO! it can't be true-I said not now... it was horribly true. I mourned for days and days, cried my eyes out, and screamed in a pillow..not my princess Diana

Like many girls in America watched her arrive in that glass carriage in July 1981 on her wedding day, I saw her step out of her carriage big dress, tremendous train, and glittering tiara and said, dreams really do come true, a princess really does live, and it is the "Stuff in which fairy tales are made"

 From then on I could not get enough, Di-mania as they called it hit me big time. I delivered newspapers, I babysat, I cleaned, I did whatever I could to get money, so I could buy books and magazines, dying for more knowledge about Diana, Charles, the Queen all things regal and wonderfully royal. I wall papered my room with clippings about Diana, images of what she wore, where she went, who she was with. I had to know.

For 16 years I collected all these things trying to know Diana better, trying to figure out if she was happy, I loved her, I loved her boys and I even loved Charles at times until I knew how he betrayed her, and hurt her. We soon learned how they kept hurting each other, and their marriage was a shambled mess.

Diana had what the English call the 3 B's - Breeding, Brains & Beauty, she would never say she was smart but she was quite clever in getting the press to give her sympathy and telling her side of the story. We knew she had immaculate breeding, and was referred to as one of the most beautiful women in the world.  I gobbled it all up until after while there was not anything more I could learn about Diana.  I was tired of spending a fortune on some magazine that told me nothing new. I knew it all and eventually there were things I no longer cared to know because in the end it would never bring her back.

What has the death of Princess Diana taught me/us ?

I learned that all fairy tales don't have a happy ending..do they...

I learned that just because you idolize someone and look up to them it does not mean they are perfect, you just think they are.

I learned that sadly my insatiable thirst for knowledge about her in the end had a indirect hand in killing her.

Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be. -Princess Diana

I learned that Princesses are people too and don't always want to be a princess, sometimes they just want to be a mom, a nurse, a helper or a doer of good deeds, or maybe they just want to stay home, watch East Enders and iron...

I learned that you should hug children and people suffering as much as you can- they need it.

I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them- Princess Diana

I learned that all the royal jewels in the world cannot make you happy if you have no shine from within...

I learned that- Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who -- who transcended nationality, someone with a natural nobility who was classless, and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.-Earl Spencer

I learned it is OK to cry when you lose someone who was an important role model in your life,. When you think someone has it all you will learn all about what they don't have in some way or another, and you will be grateful for your own life.

I am thankful for all these lessons I have learned through her life and her sad death, but most of all I am thankful for William and Harry and how her memory will live on through them forever

I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, 

people's distress, and their hopes and dreams -Princess Diana

Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart

 The unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, 
whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished 
from our minds.- Earl Spencer

America has no Castles...Oh yes they do!

Last weekend I went to visit my in-laws who live near Watertown, NY whenever I am there I absolutely demand that we go to Alexandria Bay, NY  for a picnic and view the spectacular views of Bolt's Castle ...

Set in the heart of NY's Thousand Islands-this scenic castle is much loved by Americans and Canadian's alike..

Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River stands as a remembrance of the magnificence of a bygone era… a monument of love on Heart Island of George C. Boldt for his wife Louise.

At the turn-of-the-century, George C. Boldt, millionaire proprietor of the world famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full size Rhineland castle in Alexandria Bay, on picturesque Heart Island. 

The grandiose structure was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise. 

They were married on June 14, 1877, and had two children. 

George Charles Jr, on February 4, 1879, 

and Louise Clover on October 31, 1883.

 Beginning in 1900, Boldt’s family shared four glorious summers on the island in the Alster Tower while 300 workers including stonemasons, carpenters, and artists fashioned the six story, 120 room castle, complete with tunnels, a powerhouse, Italian gardens, a drawbridge, and a dove cote. Not a single detail or expense was spared.

In 1904, tragedy struck. Boldt telegraphed the island and commanded the workers to immediately “stop all construction.” Louise had died suddenly. A broken hear-ted Boldt could not imagine his dream castle without his beloved. Boldt never returned to the island, leaving behind the structure as a monument of his love. 

For 73 years, the castle and various stone structures were left to the mercy of the wind, rain, ice, snow and vandals.

When the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property in 1977, it was decided that through the use of all net revenues from the castle operation it would be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. Since 1977, several million dollars have been applied to rehabilitating, restoring and improving the Heart Island structures

Now this beautiful castle is a favorite for weddings and tourists.. You see Americans had wealth and privilege too, but not many of them could ever complete the castle of their dreams, due to death, or simply they went broke.

For a full virtual tour inside the castle please visit:

http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/index.php/virtual-tour/the-castle-interior/

It is one of my favorite places to visit!