Big news!

Paul & I are proud to announce that our daughter, Britt, and her fiance, Trevor (Tack), are expecting their first child around May 27, 2017. We are beyond excited and thrilled! The latest ultrasound showed the baby is a boy. They plan to name him Kane, which is an uncommon, but incredibly cool name.

We are going to be first-time grandparents in a matter of months. And we plan to ROCK those roles, too!  😍

Britt's spiderweb eyes

My daughter's keeping it creepy, which is what my family does all year long :-)

Guess who's gonna be a grandma? Yep, it would be me!

Guess who's gonna be a grandma?! Daughter is preggo!




Now you guys know me and Paul are going to be grandparents. Can you imagine?! We will be awesome grandparents, too!

Britt has Rh-negative blood, so she has to take the RhoGAM shot. I have NO idea where she got Rh-negative blood. I sure as heck don't have it!

We joke with her about being Reptilian, of course. We tell her that her home base -- where her people are -- is beneath Denver International Airport (DIA). Those of you from Colorado will totally get that reference ;-p.

More (birth) family mystery to unravel

Received a nice, long e-mail from my first cousin

More info came out about my birth father...but it's info I had an inkling of a long time ago.

My first cousin, Debra, doesn't know much about my birth father, but she did mention a few things: he was a lawyer, he was a jerk to my mom (this much I knew because it's why she left him), and he was a witness in a murder trial.

My cousin found it interesting that I have an interest in forensic psychology and said it does make sense given that my father was a lawyer. Like Debra, I do believe many things are encoded into one's DNA, and those things get passed down to future generations. In fact, there have been recent studies on that very subject.

I'm pretty sure I know which trial, because for a small town of fewer than 5,000 people, it was a BIG DEAL. If I'm correct, the trial had to do with a music teacher who was murdered back in the 1960s...mainly because she was a lesbian and that was the reason why she was murdered (how awful is that?!).

If I'm right, my birth father was a witness in that trial. I'll need to confirm that by researching, but I am betting that was the trial she was referring to.

When I first mentioned to my adopted mom, Shirley, that I wanted to find out more about who my birth mother and father were, she strongly advised against it, telling me there were things I might find out that I wouldn't want to know. She used the term 'bad blood,' matter of fact. Naturally, this only intrigued me more.

So, in 1999, it took me all of two weeks to locate my birth mother and birth brothers, and then I began asking questions, trying to piece together who my birth father was and everything about who I was and where I came from. It's been a long journey and it's not over yet, but I'm not giving up. There are more mysteries and unknowns to be solved.

[Genealogy] Clusters of maternal ancestors in Virginia and West Virginia

Up to 5 generations on the maternal side, the vast majority of my direct ancestors lived in Virginia and West Virginia. I was born about 25 miles from the West Virginia border, in fact. Out of this cluster, most of them lived in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

Remembering both my mothers on Mother's Day

Today I thought of my two mothers with fondness and love. My birth mother, Fay (Rider) Sizemore Seay, and my mom, Shirley (Schumaker) Walton Thayer, who raised me from the age of six days old.

My birth mother is 81 years old. Sadly, my mom passed away from Alzheimer's a couple years ago. I think of her daily and wish I could pick up the phone and call her again. But I know her energy is out there, somewhere. I carry her picture in my purse and have photos of her in our RV. When I crochet anything, I think of the times we spent crocheting together and talking. I miss her so much!

My birth name was Starlette (Star) Dawn Ferris. At the time of adoption, my legal name was Beverly Renay Walton. I love both names and write under both of them. They are both a part of who I am.

I have a birth family and an adopted family. This means I've been doubly gifted with an interesting life and an abundance of relatives/family members.

All of these interesting combinations and experiences have made me who I am today. I am full of love and gratitude!

Proud mama: meet my talented son, Jonathan T. Porter

For those who may not know, my son Jonathan is also a professional writer. He graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with honors) in Dramatic Writing. He lives in Chicago and is a Policy and Procedure Writer for Ceannate Corporation.

Jon can write CIRCLES around me on any day of the week. Not kidding. He's written many scripts, and I'd like to share a link to a preview of a feature script he wrote entitled "Smiling Hilt." While you're over there, check out his resume and portfolio. ;-)

https://jonathanporter.squarespace.com/smiling-hilt/

https://jonathanporter.squarespace.com/bio/

Three things to be grateful for

Our friend Quinnsettia's 13-year-old daughter, Lilly, was hit by a drunk driver while crossing a street in Pueblo, CO, last night. Driver was drunk, had no license, no insurance. Lilly has broken teeth and road rash, but NO broken bones. She's a lucky young woman. They caught the driver, thank goodness. Please send healing energy and/or thoughts to the family. This tragedy could've been much worse.

Second, Britt & Tack have a new Jeep! It's a 2015 and it's black and a sleek-looking ride. Nice, low payments and (as Tack said) it looks like Darth Vader. So I'm gonna call it Vader from here on. I'll upload a pic on the post after this one (taken tonight, but more coming).

Third, since Britt & Tack now have their vehicle, we get ours back (our nearly new Saturn ION w/only 50K'ish miles on it)! New tires and ready for us to use after not having a working car to use since November 2014. Tomorrow we will take it for a drive SOMEWHERE just to enjoy riding in it again!

MAJOR thanks to a several people for making this happen—Ron S., who helped with the VIN verification for Britt & Tack, Chandra & Mark for allowing us to use their comfy minivan OR giving us rides when we simply had to have one. Also, to Britt & Tack, who coordinated and made so much of this happen. Without them, it would NOT have happened! Love all of you guys. heart emoticon

Starting the new year with a car once again—woot! First time we've ever been without a car for over a year in our lives, and we do NOT want to go through that again.

The ways things were...

My dad, Leo C. Walton, Sr., my mom Shirley Walton,
brother Barry Walton, and brother Leo C. Walton, Jr.

So, my cousin Tracy posted this pic and I gotta tell you I'm pretty emo about it. Actually crying a bit. Lost my mom over a year ago from Alzheimer's and my dad when I was about seven years old. My dad, Leo C. Walton, Sr., will always be my hero. I wasn't very old when he died, but I remember it was the day before Halloween. He doted on me and often carried me in his arms.

Yes, I was a daddy's girl. I miss my dad. I use the hyphenated name, Walton-Porter, on a lot of things that I write. It's how I honor my dad. He read to me all the time. He instilled a love of words in me, so it only seems fitting to publish books using his name, Walton, as part of the author name.

The kindest, most sensitive and caring man I've met besides my dad is my husband Paul. I think that's why I feel so much in love with him. He dotes on me and loves me unconditionally. Just wish my dad could've met Paul and vice versa.

The left towhead is my brother Barry (he still loves guns!) and the smiling kid to the right is my oldest brother, Leo, Jr. I have two other brothers, but they are my birth brothers Jan and Van. I didn't know about them until 1999 when I found my birth family.

Anyway, this photo makes me happy AND sad. Brings a smile with thoughts of a long time ago. This pic was taken at my MawMaw & PawPaw's house (Hontas (Kelly) & Charles Schumaker). They always did things up right (as best I remember).

Love you and miss you, mom and dad.
Love and miss you, Barry and Leo.
Thanks for posting this, Cousin Tracy ;-)

[Paul's blog post] The RV calculation

So, my wife Bev and I want to do something that may sound crazy to a bunch of you, but it may actually be the best way for us to live.

As many of you are aware, because of financial difficulties thanks in large part to some health issues of mine, and extenuating circumstances that I won't go into right now, we are about to lose our home. This is a dire situation to be sure since we currently have no place to go, and because no matter what, we have to keep our dogs (they are all registered Emotional Support Animals [ESA], for the record). We will, however, not be sad to leave this house because part of the reason for our financial situation, and no doubt my health issues, is due to this property. It needs too much upkeep and repair which I cannot do thanks to my back and knees, and it costs too much money because it is old and was not built well.

This was my mother’s house and she left it to me when she died. The mortgage was never in our names, Bev just kept paying it because the house had been quitclaim deeded to me. Then the mortgage company accelerated the loan, which means that unless we come up with the entire loan balance by the end of December 2015, we have to move. Bev has worked herself into a crater trying to keep up with the mortgage payments, along with the endless repairs and code upgrades that cropped up due to the age of this property. We have dumped a lot of money into this property that we will never see again.

The utilities have also been a factor in making things rougher. Those utilities were the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, because there is a cottage on the property, and due to that we were charged commercial rates whether there was a renter in there or not. Most people do not have to pay three separate utility bills – plus a gargantuan commercial deposit – as part of their bills, but that’s another thing we’ve been saddled with over the years.

In addition, once both of the kids moved out of the house, Bev and I discovered that we barely ever saw most of the place. There are whole sections of this house that we just don't need. All those places do is collect junk. We use a small bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, a small office and a tiny corner of the front room. Occasionally we use the laundry area, obviously, but even most of that space is superfluous to our needs. Still, we have to pay to heat the whole thing, and this place is, as I have mentioned, very drafty. All of the windows are old and warped, which doesn’t help. Overall, the place isn't put together well.

I guess the question becomes, “Why move from one place with a lot of space that we are never going to use, just to move into another place with space that we are never going to use?” Even renting a house or apartment for an extended period of time (over a year or more) would lead to us paying money into something that we wouldn't use most of. Add to that the fact that most rental properties, whether house or apartment, are not going to look kindly on us having four dogs, or would charge a pet deposit for each one and then possibly higher rent on top of that. For us, it has become clear that we need to find another, more cost-efficient way.

So, why not an RV?

We've been doing some digging, and there is a lot of information out there on how to live and travel in an RV for reasonable amounts monthly, even if we had an RV payment each month. Our cars are all paid for, so we have no car payments and no monthly credit card payments to make. This would actually be the best time for us to hit the road in an RV and switch our lifestyle, in fact. Our monthly costs would be much less than they would be otherwise, even with a monthly RV payment.

Now, I'm not dumb enough to think that it will be all sunshine and roses by choosing this path. There are still a lot of considerations to take into account. We would need to have a state of residence and a place to get our mail. We would need to make sure that we could get our medicine. We would need insurance on the RV. What belongings we are going to keep, but not take on the road with us, will need to be kept in storage. We will need to make sure we have a method of staying online so that Bev can work and we can communicate with everyone. We need to afford fuel, food, propane, and maintenance on the RV. There will be times when we may need to pay for a camping spot (although there are a lot of workkamp opportunities out there, and we can boondock some times). We will need food for the dogs. Even then, if we watch our money, it would be cheaper than living in a house or apartment, and we could keep our dogs with us without paying a huge amount of deposits or extra monthly fees added to our rent.

On the upside, if we don't like someplace that we end up, we can just leave. Also, we can travel, which is something that Bev and I both love to do but could never afford to do much of over the past ten years. We could see some of the places Bev has never been and that I haven't been to since I was a child. We could visit friends who live in other states. We could see the ocean again. We could see the badlands of Utah, Yellowstone, Upstate New York, and Maine. So many places that we've always wanted to see and just weren't able to. Or, we could end up stuck some place until we could get enough money together to move on, but that could be exciting too. We are more flexible than most of our friends, so I think that’s a definite plus. We would have to come back to Colorado Springs fairly regularly to get our mail and the like, but that would give us a chance to hang out with friends here. No need to worry about never seeing us again.

As far as how we would make a living, right now Bev is the only one who brings in any income (although I'm in the process of lining up possible work for the next few weeks), But if she gets enough article writing and editing jobs she can cover the cost fairly easily. I could do a nicely edited video blog about interesting and spooky, out of the way places that I could put up on YouTube and monetize (that's not a guaranty for making money, but it might,) plus I'm currently learning to code in PHP and Java Script, so I might be able to score some freelance work doing that. In addition, Bev has been after me to put up an Etsy shop that would sell prints of some of my artwork. Yes, Bev is the big breadwinner around here, but I have ways of bringing in money to help out.

Bev can work from anywhere that she can get a Wi-Fi signal, and a lot of the stuff that I do could be done in the same way, so that would work in our favor. Plus, as I said, there are workkamps where you do some sort of work at the campsite in return for your pad, electricity, water, and sewer. A lot of the more physical jobs I couldn't do, but I bet there would be something, even if it's walking around all night making sure that no one is up to no good.

The point is that an RV lifestyle for us is doable. It could end up being cheaper to live than a stick and brick house or apartment, plus, you know, the dogs. I guess what I'm saying is that we are committed to doing this. It's only a mater of time before we do. The truth? If I could buy an RV today and drive it off the lot, I would. It would really put my mind at ease knowing that Bev, the dogs, and I would have a roof over our heads after the first of the year. We also wouldn't have all this wasted, expensive space. It’s not just a dream of ours. It’s become our goal.

I have a bread problem.

Sometimes I wonder about the weirdest things, like how many meals I've eaten in my life, how many times I've slept, and how many times I've pooped. Yes, I already know I'm strange. Sometimes I'll ask Paul, "Hey, you ever wonder if..?"
His answer is usually, "No."

In other news, I'm eating amazing zucchini bread from our friend Chandra. I want to dive into a pile of this bread I love it so much. Mmmmffff!

Oh, then there's the yummy ginger-carrot soup here as well. But I'm stuffed from last night's leftover chili. The autumn chill makes me feel so homey and content. When summer leaves, I feel more at peace and centered. Well, except when life's bullshit gets in the way. You know what I mean. Still, I'm glad summer is gone for long while. If it never came back, I wouldn't miss it.

LATER:

So, I'm a dumbass. It's pumpkin-apple bread.
To me, it's FUCKING* AMAZING BREAD!
Now you know why I'll never be a professional wine taster.
People are like, "Oh, can you taste/smell the hints of...blah, blah, blah?"
I'm like, "No. No, I can't. All I know is OH MY GOD IT'S WINE AND GET INTO MY MOUTH!"
Same situation here.
I just know delicious. That's what I know.

(*Yes, I use the F-word on occasion. If that bothers you, then you're probably going to be offended in the future, too.)

Guess who's coming to visit this weekend?!

Been offline for a couple of days, so it may take me a bit to catch up. Today started out crappy, but then I got the best surprising news in a while -- my son Jon, his awesome girlfriend Cait, and their dog Jack are coming to visit us for a few days! I'm so shocked and happy that for once I cried tears of joy! They will arrive late Friday night and will stay until Tuesday when they'll have to drive back to Chicago.

Jon was supposed to keep things secret and surprise me when they arrived, but he knew I was feeling down today and ended up telling me (much to the chagrin of Britt & Paul, who both already knew about the surprise). I'm glad Jon told me, though. I'm so freakin' HAPPY right now that Paul, me, the two kids, Cait, and Jack will all be in one place for a few days! ;-)

Photos will be forthcoming, of course.

 

Cast of characters in Meet the Sninchaks

Cast of Characters (as of 2015, so adjust accordingly)

Humans

Paul Sninchak, age 46 - husband
Bev Sninchak, age 50 - wife
Brittany, age 23 - Bev's daughter, Paul's stepdaughter
Jonathan, age 26 - Bev's son, Paul's stepson

Animals
Harley - Ring-necked dove
Isis - Black cat, 14 years old
Lucy - Orange cat, senior - *Updated: Lucy passed the end of 2015. Rest in peace :(*
Cosmo - Rottie/Staffy dog, 6 years old
Bandit - Britt's dog - Sheepdog mix (unsure if Aussie or Border Collie + something else), 4 years old
Loki - Sheepdog mix (Border Collie + English Setter), 2 years old)
Panda - daughter of Loki and Bandit, age 8 months
Freya - daughter of Loki and Bandit, age 8 months
Tidnab - Britt's puppy - son of Loki and Bandit, age 8 months

I think we've firmly established that we love animals in this family. Maybe too much, if that's even possible.