So It’s Time To Go

Yes, it is time for my oldest nephew to head off to his brothers before leaving back home to Portland, Oregon. Oh how I will miss him so much! For the past six days, my home has been filled with extra laughter and excitement; watching movies, playing volleyball in the pool with an inflatable dolphin (yes, I said dolphin) and beach balls, roaming the streets for the closest Starbucks, competing with the Wii Sports, and so much more! I even made some extra delicious meals which, due to REALLY high calories, I do not make that often such as: lasagna (homemade pasta and sauce!), cheese enchiladas, refried beans (yes, homemade), Spanish rice, and tons more yummy in your tummy stuff!

How can I forget the scare tactics? Oh, yes, my darling nephew scared the daylights out of me!! I was working away in the kitchen and the little brat snuck up on me and scared me! How, you ask? Well, he said, “Hello Laura”. I know, I know…I hear you all now, “That’s it????” Well, YES, that’s it! He said it in a very scary voice AND I was alone in the kitchen; total horror flick moment. But, one thing we love to do together is watch scary movies…and scare each other. Bwa ha ha!!

OK, now that he is no longer a brat, it is time to head down stairs and get ready. In one hour, Paul, Corbin, Cody, Jeremy, and myself will meet his mother (my awesome sister) and Mark for one last fabulous dinner together until he comes back to visit again. We will sit around the table and laugh as we share the moments of his visit; tears will fall but our hearts will be kept warm. These are the memories that keep us strong and motivated. They are the memories that make us smile day after day, month after month. Yes, we will keep in touch over the internet and cell phone, but we cannot wait for the grand reunion when he comes back home again!

I will leave you all with this quote: “We do not remember days; we remember moments.” -Cesare Pavese

Have a beautiful day,

Laura

It's finally....Monday?

Am I nuts?? Did I just say, “It’s finally Monday”? Yep, I sure did!

Mondays do not have to be so darn dreadful. As I see it, we dread Monday’s because it is the ‘back to work’ day and many people do not like their jobs; I was one of them until recently. I take that back, I loved my job but disliked the companies unethical decisions. With this said, I did not enjoy Mondays.

Even after my departure with the corporation, I didn’t always accept Mondays. I was in an ugly routine and Mondays were like a negative spirit haunting me, but then something hit me over this past weekend; I was having a wonderful time with my nephew who is visiting from Portland, I received a generous request from a fabulous Etsy shop owner (and best sister in the world) for another custom order, my oldest son only needs ½ credit to graduate this year but chose to complete the full year so he can walk with his class, and my youngest son is exceeding in his honors classes. WHY THE HECK WOULD I NOT EMBRACE MONDAY? It is just another day in our lives, right?

What if we worked the weekend and had Monday’s off? Would we dislike Tuesday? What if our week began on Wednesday? Who cares! You woke up, didn’t you? Yep, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this right now ;-) So, love your Mondays, love every day you wake up…because you can!

Happy Monday!
Laura

Oh my, I'm a winner! Thank you, Rocki, for thinking of me :-)

I was quite shocked when I read Rocki's blog to find she had nominated ME for a brillante weblog award; I'm so new to blogging! I kindly accept the award and will definitely share with others.

I have met some very talented people since I opened my Etsy shop and all of them have been nominated for this fabulous award. It made me realize there are so many other great individulas out there that I haven't had the chance to really get to know. I have chatted short words with them as I reply to someone else's blog, but never really got to know them. So...today I will send this award to some very special people whom I may have only crosses paths with a time or two but deserve this award.

* Grizzly Mountain Arts- I'm Rocki's crazy sister! And you are obviously a dear from of Rocki's!

* A Bond and a Torch- Absolutely fabulous! It is obviousl you love life!

* Enterprise Solutions- BRAND NEW BLOG! Still in construction but it's my hubby so he deserves the award for putting up with me ;-)

This may not be 7 people, but it's a start!

For the nominees here are the rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Congrats!!!

Laura

It's All About YOU...and YOU...and YOU!!

It's getting a little late here in dreadfully hot Hell (most people call it Sunny Arizona) and I have a studio to put back together...but before I do, I want to give a shout out to Sharon, Mana Moon Studios & Mana Moon Treasures; this weekend Sharon will be part of a huge art festival!

I also want to give a shout out to my seeeester Debi ;-) Every time I turn around, this woman has yet ANOTHER sale! HIP HIP HOOOOOORAAAAY! And why does she have sale after sale? Oh, probably because she makes AWESOME jewelry and supplies (doin' the happy dance) at her shops Rocki's Rock 'n Beads and Rocki's Supplies.

And one more shout out for the evening; this one goes to a very special person who holds the key to my heart...that would be the one and only- Laura's husband! OK, we'll call him 'Paul' to protect the innocent (which he SO is not!). Yup, yup...my hubby is now an Etsian! WOOO HOOOO! His shop is Enterprise Solutions and he will be selling his custom invoice and inventory software. I asked him to write a program for my Etsy shop (which he did because he didn't want me to pull out the broom!!) and I loved it so much that I told him he should sell it. It took me some time to convince him but once I received the reply from Etsy that they do consider this a handmade product, he took the leap. Look for his shop to open this Saturday, August 23rd!

Soooooo.....here we go- YAY Sharon! You will do great this weekend!! YAY Debi! You freakin' rock!! YAY Paul (a.k.a. Laura's Husband)! I want half ;-)

Tons of hugs,

Laura

Have I gone crazy???

What the hay? Have I gone crazy? It feels like yesterday was Sunday. I cannot belive we are just hours away from Wednesday. They say time flies when you're having fun but, since the past two days have been a blur, I wonder what I've been doing to have fun??

I do know I was busy creating some new holiday cards which I am hoping to list on Etsy this Thursday. I was so anxious to have them done by Wednesday but I was interrupted by my husband. Why that filthy, no good for nothing...LOL. Actually, I really was interrupted but for a good reason; he scheduled a company to come in and clean our carpets (what little we have) and my stamp studio just happens to be a carpeted area. BOY it needs a good cleaning. I guess I may have dropped an ink pad or two...and possbily have had a couple of blow-outs with some re-inkers! OOPS ;-) HHHmmm....maybe I should tear out the carpet and add tile? I do have extra tiles from our remodel (*wink wink to Sharon).

I had to move all of my stuff out of my studio and into my grand room upstairs where my husbands office is (forutnately my studio is upstairs, too). It was a tough job but I managed to get my things moved in just so I can turn around and move them back out when the carpet guys leave. HEY...maybe they's be cute! What are you doing tomorrow, Debi? They should be here between 11-1! LOL!!!

That's all for tonight. I wish everyone a wonderful Hump Day!

Hugs,

Laura

It's Sunday...and no purple hair for me!

Whew! I survived the hair salon....and braces! Yes, I said braces. I didn't want Debi to feel alone in this world with bits of steel glued to her teeth so I decided to get braces for myself. OK, so maybe it was a strip of tin-foil twisted up, it still did a great job serving as braces!

As you can see in the picture of the wonder twins (Debi's older!), the blond worked out and I did not end up with purple hair. I did ask to have some of my auburn weaved in so my head didn't look like the darn sun! My hair was just a wee bit too light ;-) But I am happy with it now. This is the first time I actually left the salon and really, REALLY liked the color. I had told myself that if it did not turn out they way I wanted this time then I will go back to my medium auburn. It came out great so I guess it was meant to be!

Well, my friends, I am off to save the world, one greeting card at a time! Have a wonderful week :-)

-Laura

It's Friday...

and hair day! I must say to all the blonde's out there, well, to all the chemically enhanced blonde's, it's not easy!! I decided to try being a blond and, so far, I only dread going to the salon. Every time I have gone in they have turned my hair purple...then I spend 4 hours in the chair as they try and fix it. I don't get upset with them...I get upset with myself because I'm the idiot that keeps going back!

I found a new stylist that I am hoping will be great. She is the one who managed to fix the purple due last time. We shall see. I just better not be in the chair for 4 hours because I have a ton of things to do today. I have a custom order to finish, need to make salsa (mmmmmm), take my oldest son for his senior grad pictures AND still find time for myself. Yes, I know, many of you are probably saying, "You have time for yourself at the salon.." Um, have you met the people who have worked on my hair?? Actually, they are all very nice...they just stress me out!

Now that I think of it, I don't think I have any pics of me as a blond on my blogs!! Huh! It's nothing impressive...it's still me just with different hair color. I think I changed the color because I was needing some sort of a change in my life. When I told him I was going to go blond, he crinkled his nose a little. When I explained I wanted a change and that I could either change my hair or change him, wouldn't you know he was quite supportive of the blond ;-) hee hee. The power of WIFE!

So, this are the plans for my Friday. I shall enjoy the moments, except for being purple headed. Have a wonderful day!

Laura

Look Out...

My sister beats me with jelly filled doghnuts!

OOOUUUUCCHHH!!

My sister got braces and now her mouth hurts :-(