It's a Lovely Life......: Yup, another sale!!

It's a Lovely Life......: Yup, another sale!!

A Day of Remembering

Today is officially Memorial Day. A day when we gather to enjoy friends and family. It is also a day that we should remember those who have served our country and especially those who lost their lives protecting ours. We must remember their families who have also sacrificed so much. I was an Air Force spouse for 27 years and although most of it was remarkably rewarding, there were those moments when sadness entered all of our lives. Those times when we lost a friend. Those times when a wife or husband lost their spouse, best friend, and lover. Those times when a child lost their parent, role model and hero.

For those of you who watched the Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC last night, it was all too clear the sacrifices that are being made on our behalf.

Take a moment each morning when your feet touch the ground to say thank you and offer a special prayer for those very special people - most of whom we don't even know but that shouldn't matter. Say a prayer for the spouse, child and parent in their lives. Say a prayer for their safe return to this wonderful country of ours that without their volunteering for duty we wouldn't be enjoying today.

Hugs to our heros and their families. God Bless them all and God Bless America.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Hi everyone. Wow, it's been a long dry spell since I last blogged. So much has happened. I had a wonderful visit with my 2 sons and their beautiful families in April. Sure wish I lived closer to them so I could enjoy my 3 grand daughters growing up - it all happens so fast. Anyway, I came back to Arizona and we had a trip scheduled to San Carlos, Mexico with friends the week before Mother's Day. WELL, the swine flu hit the fan and you probably know the rest of the story. After much discussion and calls from children worrying about us being exposed, we changed our plans and went to Sedona, AZ. We all had a wonderful time with perfect weather. Gads I love that place - so much art everywhere you look. Galleries galore to enjoy and if so inclined you can stimulate the economy at the same time. Following that trip, we came up to Pinetop, AZ which is located in the White Mountains. We have a summer home here and it is so nice to get out of the desert heat!! I just finished unpacking my studio and I think it is all organized and ready to roll. I haven't done any metalsmithing in 2 months and I am about to scream - I mean it. It seems like all I have done is pack, unpack and repack. I'm ready to settle down and get to work. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and by the way, wasn't that a great Indy today!!! What a race and what an emotional finish. I love him and am so happy he won.

As Rich Willis said, "Whenever ideas are shared, the result is always greater than the sum of the parts". - Thanks to Carolyn Miller of Autumn Leaves Jewelry for sharing her ideas on signing your work with all of us - it was a great vlog. I think it is so wonderful when other artists share their ideas with us and help us to improve ourselves and our work. None of us are re-creating the wheel but it is great when we can find an easier or more efficient way to do things. Thanks to all of you for sharing and helping me to become a better artist and I hope someday I can do the same for someone else. Have a great week.

The Easter Bunny's been here

Praise Jesus for this day. I had such a great morning with family, church and easter egg hunt:>} Here is a recipe for cookies my DIL made last night - they are wonderful and could not be any easier!!!
1 (18.25 oz) box cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Choose your favorite flavor - I like chocolate, and the lemon mix makes tasty lemon cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix only the above ingredients (although you can add 1/4 cup chopped nuts, raisens or choc chips) in a large bowl until blended. Drop the batter by spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 8 - 10 minutes, watching them carefully. They'll brown quickly, so stand by the oven for the first batch.
Enjoy - it couldn't be any easier than this.




When we arrived home from church, we discovered that the EB had visited - what fun. The adults enjoyed a lovely Mimosa as the girls hunted for the infamous eggs - discovering in the end that one of the local squirrels had taken one away for his/her very own.

A Wonderful Day with Family

We all had a great time today. I wish I lived closer to my family members so that I could enjoy them more often. Our oldest grand daughter came home from crew camp last night and has spent today catching up on sleep. Here's our day in a nutshell

Happy Easter to everyone and takecare of yourselves.

Great Wine and Chocolate

I had such a wonderful day today. I got together with Carolyn (Autumn Leaves Jewelry) and had a blast. My daughter in law, grand daughter and I drove over to Reston and met C at her home for lunch and what a lunch it was. She really put out a wonderful spread of fruit, cheese, crackers, dips and vino. We visited and discovered so much about our backgrounds is similar - military history on both sides. It was really a great time. As we were leaving, she forced us to take some chocolate with us and I figured that it would have been rude to refuse:>} I wish we lived closer because I am sure we could stir up some trouble with little effort. I loved seeing your studio and all of your cats. They are adorable. You have an open invite to Tucson anytime but the gem show would be a great time to visit as it is unbelieveably huge - like all over town for 2 weeks. Lots of good golfing too so DH wouldn't get bored:>}

Finally made it!!

What a trip. My leg from Phoenix to Philly went smoothly then everything fell apart. For whatever reason, after four hours of waiting my flight to Newburgh was cancelled and I was handed a hotel voucher for the night - mind you it is now 10:30 p.m. Anyway, I had a good nights sleep and was scheduled to go out on a flight at 2:05 p.m. the next day. I found out quite by accident that there was a flight going out at 9:00 a.m. but it was oversold already. I took my chances and was at the airport at 7:00 a.m. and signed up for a standby seat. At this point I was #7 on the list so I felt there was no chance. Being the positive thinker that I am however, I sat right there and waited. It was boarding time and I was getting anxious but figured what would be would be and that was all there was to it. Name after name was called and FINALLY - Sally Hoffman was called out. I jumped to my feet and the girl at the gate just said, "get in there and take whatever seat is left - hurry". I did just that and took the single seat next to the exit row. The flight attendant came down the aisle and asked those of us in the exit rows if we agreed to follow the directions on the door if need be......I looked him straight in the eye and said, "you've got the right girl here if you need me - I can remove that door and exit in a heartbeat!" He chuckled and went on his merry way. The flight was short, only 30 minutes, and my son David was waiting at the gate...what a wonderful sight indeed. I am having such a wonderful time with my 6 month old grand daughter. What a beautiful baby she is. She just smiles all of the time and is almost maintenance free. Grandma has fed, clothed, played patty cake and changed the ultimate heavy load since arrival and I am loving every minute of it. Wish I lived closer so I could enjoy her more often. Of course don't get me wrong, I am also enjoying her parents just as much and I am very proud of them and all of their accomplishments - especially their baby girl and the newest sibling in the tummy at this time. The newest addition is scheduled to arrive in September - one year apart. Wow, are Mom and Dad going to be busy.