Unexpected delights in life

I had rearranged my schedule so I had the whole weekend free. Then Kay called and said they would be here! What fun! Kay was my former pastor's wife, both of my son's godmother, my best friend.....and then she moved to Kansas City and I moved to San Diego.

She's one of those friends that when we sit down together, it's like the last time we were together was just a week ago....even though it's been at least 6 years.



I've had company every night this week, 3 craft play days and a rock and gem show. Whew! What a week - what unexpected delights - it's all been wonderful!

And seriously....I have absolutely nothing on my calendar for tomorrow. So I can hardly wait to see what surprises are in store as it seems like we've just had one after another after another this week!

Life is good!

Good food, good friends, good fun!!!

Wednesday was a blast! Started out with my childhood chum Nola stopping by all the way from Indiana. Now, I know Nola appreciates art as her mom was my 4-H craft teacher. How cool is that? But I'm sure Nola also thought my house was just a little insane as Linda, Jodi and I were creating up a storm!

Then it was off to the Melting Pot where my "old friends" as in Susan & Kathy....
Met my "newest friends"  Tina and Peg.....
And Jodi became an "instant friend" with Linda.....
and we all enjoyed a flaming turtle chocolate fondue.  I mean, can life get any better than this?

Well, maybe if we all lived in an artist colony where we could be together all day long every day....and then eat chocolate all the time. I have to tell you, Linda said she lost 1 1/2 pounds while she was here. Perhaps one needs huge amounts of chocolate in order to sustain this much activity! LOL!!!

Thirty Years Later....

In 1977, I transferred to work at the Social Security office in Greeley. Colorado. And that's where I met Janis, Judy and a year later, Joyce. We soon became known as the "Four Js" and were quite the fun-makers in the office! Well, we also caused a little ruckus as well! LOL!



That's Joyce on the left, then Judy and I'm on the right. Oh my goodness! Just look at that mess of hair! oversized rose-colored glasses and shoulder pads! Perfect 1978 photo!!! I think all 3 of us were going for the Farah Fawcett look!

And here we are yesterday, Judy, Joyce and me. Oh my....I almost think we look better now!



It's so hard to imagine that 30 years have flown by. Of course, I couldn't find one of Janis back then, but here she is on the left with the rest of us:



We sat there for 3 hours (or was it 4?) just laughing so hard I could barely talk. I told them a friend of mine had said the key to a good photo is to tilt your head:



Of course, they all tilted to their right.....



and then to their left......such nuts!



I loved this one of Janis and Judy...no tilting necessary!



Since 1980, Judy and I have moved to California and back to Colorado and Joyce has moved to Hawaii and back and now she is moving to Florida in 2 weeks. There is an 11 year span in our ages, but we have remained friends all these years. All 3 of them are Grandmas now. We raised our kids together in the 70s and 80s. Janis and Joyce are breast cancer survivors. All 3 of them are my inspiration, my rock, part of my soul, part of who I am today. They continue to inspire me in so many ways. Most of all, they "know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day". 2 Tim 1:12

How wonderful to have lifetime friends who have had such faith - with me for so much of my life. Without these 3, I would not be me.

So, of course, Judy, Janis and I will continue to meet for lunch and Joyce will join us by phone. I'm going to do my best to be in Florida next May as Kerry will be there on business.

It is 3347 miles from Denver to Hawaii and only 1834 miles from here to Florida. I just don't think distance is ever going to change this 30 year friendship!

less than 6 degrees

First, I want to let you know that I live 30 minutes southwest of where the tornados hit in Colorado yesterday. Yes, it was pretty windy here....but no damage. My friend, Liz, called and said, "I'm geographically challenged but I heard 'Denver' are you OK???" And I just had to laugh!

Geographically challenged! Well, that's one thing I am not. Dad taught me early on how to read and navigate maps and I always got an A+ on every geography test my entire life. So you can only imagine how much I enjoy the maps that show where people who click on my blog are from.

You know they say that we all know everyone else..and we are only separated by 6 degrees....I know you, you know someone who knows someone else who knows someone else.....who knows me.



So my friend, Jody, from Kingman emailed me that her friend in Prescott saw Jody's photo on my blog and had no idea that Jody and I were friends!

And it got me to thinking....I wonder how many of you who read my blog know someone who knows someone that knows me!

Or maybe we have met and just don't know it!

If you live in Indiana...you could very well be a cousin of mine! LOL!

I often see a location where someone clicks on from and wish we could sit and have a chat. One week it was Terre Haute IN. And I have to wonder if that was someone I know or am related to. At the very least, I'll bet we could share memories about Turkey Run State Park where my family has had their annual reunion every summer for 55 years now!

And I have driven through Wickenburg AZ a zillion times. There is NOTHING there! Yet I see someone clicks on my blog from that location on a pretty regular basis! WHO lives in Wickenburg? LOLOL!!! I want to meet you just because I need to ask....WHY do you live there? :o)




And then there are spots that I click on that have instant memories. Calgary Canada. The summer of 1981 as we were driving to Anchorage in a Jeep with 3 little kids and the axel broke and we camped in a park for a week! What a wonderful place!

Oak Harbor, WA. Mom used to be a nurse practitioner in Darrington....and I just want to sit and chat with you about the ferns that grow wild in the forest up there!

Yesterday, there were 26 hits from France! Isn't it wonderful how google will translate my blog so you can read it? I would love to know where you all are from! Are you close to Diersheim, Germany, where my ancestors came from? I've been to Paris, and Strassburg and taken the high speed train from Paris to Geneva. I would just love to travel that path again in a slow moving car so I could really enjoy the scenery! Actually, I've been to Paris twice! What an amazingly gorgeous city. I love the opulence of the architecture. I could spend a year just walking the streets looking at the buildings! (OK...I'm way too old to spend a year walking anywhere! But I can dream!!!)

Warsaw, Indiana....Hi! Aunt Jean!!!

Greenville SC - I attended a year at Bob Jones University!

Boulder CO - oh just call me! Let's play!!!

Schaumburg, IL - hi Margie!

Leicester, England - I've been there!!! Love the fish & mushy peas!!!



And oh, the places I want to travel to. Edinburgh, Scotland, where Kerry's ancestors are from. My beloved Israel where I hope to return one day. Neuwied, Germany....where I have actually already been! I just love looking at the maps and imagining the conversations that we would have if we took the time to get to know one another better.

Seems like a lot of you are looking at my tutorials...which is why I do them! I hope they help! If you have suggestions for improvements, feel free to let me know.

I do believe in the art world...it's way less than 6 degrees of separation. We are all connected by this kindred spirit to create and design, to ooh! and aah! at one another's work, and to share what we learn with each other.

What a perfectly wonderful, connected world of art we have!



P.S. I made these flowers today using the new blossoms and snowflakes by Creative Impressions. Aren't they simply gorgeous?? I brought them home to design something for the show tomorrow. If you live in Denver, the show is 9 am - 6 pm at the Merchandise Mart...come say "hi"!

The people I meet when I go "home"!

I have 3 homes. Indiana. Where I was born and lived until I was 22 years old. Colorado, where I moved at the age of 22 and where I now live. And San Diego, where I lived from 1989 - 1997. I LOVE going "home". Indiana is filled with relatives and grade school chums. But I never fail to meet someone new on a trip there. And San Diego..perhaps the place I love the most. And I meet so many new friends when I travel "home" there.

I have forever friends, like Lucky, that I stayed with for 3 weeks and never once took her picture! I think she is just embedded into my soul....but I really should take pictures of us together next time I'm at that home.

Then there are the new friends I gather along the way. Melissa taught a class that I attended, then she took a few classes from me. I think this photo will tell you exactly why she and I will be great friends. She's joined my yahoo group, calls me, emails me...and I tell you...she is going to storm the art world in just a few more weeks/months. Her work is brilliant. But she struggled with me as I forced her over into the altered world! She did fantastic!



And then there was Fern. I just fell in love with Fern. She had bought a Revolution a long time ago and it was hiding in the closet. So she brought it "out of the closet" and down to the store and she truly learned how to use it. I just don't think it will ever go back into the closet again!



So with all her diecuts, Fern put this little card together. But this was her first. She went on to do 2 complete 2-page layouts that she claims were her best ever. I wish I had photographed them....but I was just too busy with class!



And then, there are those who come to take a class and just blend in. Scores this past 3 weeks. I truly wish I had had the time to sit next to each one of you, chat for a spell, share more chocolate and get to know them a little. This gal picked out some truly wonderful papers to do her little acrylic book with.



So to each of you that I have met in passing, in a class, at a workshop, or while I demo'd at a convention, I just want to say thanks! It's really been so much fun!!! And if you would like to join my little yahoo group, just send me a note. It's the easiest way to keep up with what I'm doing and where I'm going. Today, I'm off to mom's to teach her friends how to make cards!

Half way to goal!

No! I'm not on a diet! But I sure should be!!!



The day I started this blog, I decided to challenge myself and see if I could post for 365 days in a row. I'm half way there today!!! 183 blogs in a row!!!

I had no idea where this was going to take me, nor how much fun it was going to be. It has forced me to take time on a near daily basis to write, to create, to play. I have met some wonderful new friends through this blog and I have found that I actually like doing tutorials! (I've written 18 of them so far!) I've even been asked to teach blogging to one of my art groups!

This blog has spurred me to start a separate blog for my genealogy and to start sharing the stories of my ancestors that I have collected for nearly 40 years. So yes, not only do I write here....I write there! I've gotten mom to start her own blog and tell her stories. And my sis, Colleen, is now blogging. It's like a family epidemic!!!

So, a few statistics. 10,386 people have clicked onto my blog and not everyone just clicks and leaves because 15,079 pages have been looked at. Isn't that just amazing? The average time a person spends here is 2 minutes and 15 seconds, but I've seen some who have stayed over an hour. There was one day alone when over 500 people looked at my blog. 58 people subscribe to my blog. That just amazes me! And I've had viewers from these countries: Australia, UK, Italy, Canada, Greece, Thailand, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Poland, India, Egypt, France, India, Poland, Israel, New Zealand, Japan, and Mexico in just the past month.

Blogging has taught me so much about html, about writing and fixing code, and I even learned how to make a drop down menu for my labels because there were getting to be so many. I'm thinking about trying drop down menus on a few other topics along the side of my home page.

It's also taught me how to digital scrapbook. My banner has been re-done in a digital format. Sort of fun...all this learning at my age!

So, 182 more blogs to go to meet my goal of one full year of writing every single day. Hmmm.....maybe I should start that diet, too. OK. Tomorrow. Maybe.......

LOLOL!!!