Marvelous Monday....

Today was marvelous but went by way too quick. It was marvelous because...the hubby was well enough to return to work....my students were well behaved and productive....I was able to get a little workout in after school and I had a wonderfully relaxing evening with the family. Happy Monday, I hope yours was just as wonderful. ;-)

Weekend photoshoot

It's been a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend that has gone by WAY too quick. We had my parents visiting for Thanksgiving and had a great time with lots of food, fun and shopping. After I dropped them off at the airport today I headed over to my friend Stephenie's house for a quick baby photoshoot. We took a ton of pictures and I'm still editing but here's a sneak peak, enjoy!

Marvelous Monday....

Today was marvelous because there are now only TWO days until thanksgiving break. Oh how I'm looking forward to having my parents in town, sleeping the mornigs away, shopping with my mom and eating a huge homecooked meal. Hope your Monday was wonderful too ;-)

crafting, crafting, crafting.....

My weekend started with wine night with my favorite little family. I love going over to my friend Erin's house. It's crazy and choatic with her two little muchkins running around and I love, love, love it. There's nothing like good wine, great conversation and crazy boys running around to make your evening perfect. Saturday was FULL of CRAFTING. It's been a long time since I've sat down and crafted all evening but with winter setting in it's definitely time to get back in it. Here are a few of the projects I worked on this weekend.

A display case for my earrings. I'll be selling at the Red Dog during gallery walk so I needed something nice to hold all my earrings. I had a few extra cardboard book holders at school so I grabbed those, spray painted them, added a few cute stickers and whalllaaaaaa.....earring holders. Easy, cheap and cute.

My friend Melissa at Those Alaskan Girls is hosting a design challenge and I was honored to be invited to participate. She sent a small box of beads and metal to a few Alaskan jewelry artists and invited them to participate in a fun and creative challenge. Each box contains the same beads and all the artists will design something and send it back to her. She'll be posting the finished products on her blog so we can see how each artist used the supplies. I made a handstamped necklace and some matching earrings. I'll be sure to post the link when she gets all of the jewelry photographed. I can't wait to see what other people created.

Here's a little project I worked on awhile ago but haven't been able to post pictures because it was for my friend Danielle who I know reads my blog on occassion (Hi, D!!!). Two summers ago I performed Matt & Danielle's wedding seremony in Seldovia, Ak. It was one of the most wonderful weddings I've been to and I wanted to make Danielle a little something special. I asked her father-in-law (who is one of the sweetest dad's around-she is super lucky!!) to collect beach glass or small stones from their wedding site. I ordered this locket from a Thailand seller on etsy (I didn't realize it came from Thailand until I inquired with the seller after two months of not receiving my item!) then I handstamped their wedding date on a piece of metal. It was a fun little project and I hope Danielle loves it.

I also started crocheting a big cowl neck scarf while I watched Dexter with the family. I can't wait to wear it since it's been so chilly here lately.

That's about it for the crafting projects. I managed to sneak in a great workout, found some good deals at the thrift store and had a nice drive with the hubby on our sunny Saturday. What a perfect weekend!

Happy Sunday!

MeMoRiEs of aN AlaSKaN BoAt giRl **1st Edition

Welcome to my little snippet of childhood memories. Growing up on a 32 foot sailboat in a family of 4 created some weird and wacky memories. It wasn't always a fun experience, it wasn't always an adventure and some days it didn't even feel do-able but we managed to do it. As my dad always said, "it builds character". Well, THIS character thought it would be fun to share little pieces of boat memories on occassion. Welcome to the first edition of my (hopefully) monthly series.
Enjoy!

Kids need a place to play and when you don't have a backyard, or a front yard or even a sidewalk to play on you take what you can get. For my brother and I that happened to be the docks. On sunny afternoons we'd play on the dock next to our boat and when it was warm enough we'd put on our bathing suits, fill a bucket full of water and grab a few measuring cups for a good old fashion water fight.

One afternoon we were out playing with our water bucket and measuring cups (why measuring cups??? I have no idea...like I said, my childhood was a little wacky). It wasn't very warm out but my brother and I decided to start splashing and chasing each other with our water filled measuring cups. I backed away from him laughing until suddenly I fell into the cold icy ocean. I remember looking up at a barnacle filled boat bottom thinking that the owner really needed to scrape the bottom. As I found my way out from under the boat I clung for the dock and yelled for my mom.
I'm sure most parents would've found this event fairly traumatic but when you grow up on a boat it's just one of the daily hazards. I'm guessing my mom was scared and worried but it wasn't the first time one of us had fallen into the water and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

Marvelous Monday

Ahhh, what a Marvelous Monday today was! It was parent teacher conferences at school today so things were pretty relaxed without the kids around. I sat in on a few conferences and they went well. Much more positive than I was expecting so that was a good thing!

While the temperature in Juneau is dropping it ended up being a gorgeous sunny day. I wasn't able to get outside much today but I did enjoy the sunshine from my toasty warm office.

Basketball season is coming to an end this week but the girls still had a great practice today and worked so hard this afternoon. I can't wait till our last game on Wed and a pizza party on Thursday!

After a great turn-out at our open house on Saturday we had a showing this evening and it was a great excuse for us to go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, The Island Pub. Now it's time to relax with the family and watch a movie. Hope your Monday was just as great =-)

"You are the company you keep"

I was reminded of this quote the other day and couldn't stop thinking about how it applied to my life. I started thinking about the company I keep and wondered what it said about me. If it's true that "you are the company you keep" then I've decided I must be a pretty cool person ;-)

I must be a person who loves new adventures....

I must be a person who will try new things even when they scare me....

I must be a person who is silly and has a great sense of humor...

I must be a person who isn't afraid to look silly as long as we're all having fun....

I must be a person who cares about others.....

I must be a person who is delighted by the simple things in life.....

I must be a person who loves.....

I must be a person who thinks there's nothing better in life than sunny Alaskan summers and good friends....

I must be a person who knows the only way to have fun is to get a little dirty....

I must be a person who lives in the moment.....

I must be a person who doesn't stress the small stuff....

I must be a person people can laugh with.....

I must be a person who is strong and determined.....

I'm so fortunate to have such amazing people in my life and am truely blessed by the company I keep....

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day!

*Dad in Vietnam*

No matter what your feelings are on war I hope that you take the time today to thank a Veteran for protecting our country. Thank you to those who leave their families, travel abroad and put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and our country. Click here if you want to see more of Dad's Vietnam pictures.

It's been a quiet day at home for us. A quick workout at the gym this morning, a trip to the thrift store (took full advantage of the $5 bag sale!), watched some documentaries with the family, did a little grocery shopping and made some jewelry. I hope your Veteran's Day was just as relaxing!

Marvelous Monday...

Today was great...woke up early....got to work on time...worked out with my friend Molly....had dinner waiting for me when I came home...BUT, the best thing about today was getting a letter in the mail saying that a LARGE part of my student loan had been paid my my parents. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It made my Monday Marvelous....XOXOX

Rock On!

My brother sent me this picture of my nephew and I had just fell in love with it so I decided to use my photo program to alter it a bit and add some cool features. It makes me think of an alternative rocker who really doesn't give a care what his album cover looks like because he just wants to rock.

It's hard to believe another week is done....they seem to be flying by too quickly. This weekend is filled with craziness....a two day university class for me, an open house at the condo, time in the classroom for Adam, groceries, cleaning, laundry and (hopefully!) a couple workouts at the gym. I'm ready for Thanksgiving break!

Marvelous Monday....

Some Mondays are harder than others and today was definitely one of THOSE Mondays. Didn't sleep much last night, woke up with a tummy ache, the kids were crashing from their Halloween sugar high and it was cold and gray in Juneau.

So, when I was finally able to come home after work and basketball practice I put on the p.j.'s, enjoyed a dinner NOT prepared by me and watched The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with the family. This was Heath Ledger's last film and it made me sad that there won't be any others. Ahh, Marvelous Monday.