Santa Needs to Hold His Horses

While reading blogs this morning I came across a friends post about Rushing the Holidays and I decided to add my two cents here. I am loving all the cartoons this year that are going around about this subject.

Back in September, before the kids were even back in school.. I walked into Costco and was surrounded with Christmas. I remember just standing there sort of amazed. It was finally warm after a very mild summer and they were already pushing Christmas. Not cool in my book!

We do not do much for the holidays.. never have... doubt we ever will. I am not big on the present things... never did the Santa thing at our house.. not while growing up or while raising my kids. I am not a big religious person but I do believe that this holiday is so unrelated to what it should be representing... people getting trampled on black Friday in their search for saving a buck and yet buying the coolest presents... people stressed out and fighting about who is going where on Christmas eve and Christmas morning.

Stressed.... does anyone.. ANYONE... manage to make it from Halloween to Valentines without being stressed out? We do nothing for the holidays and yet they always come with stress. Growing up there was always a fight or bad attitude on Christmas day... added to that it was always too hot at grandmas house and someone ( yes most often me ) ate too much and ended up with a tummy ache. All in all I have wonderful holiday memories.. don't get me wrong.... but looking back... so much stress. Then as an adult... when my children were babies.. I did the same thing only worse to my kids.

Last year... my oven was not working for Thanksgiving so we bought a pre made dinner from the local grocery store... there was only a couple of us here... it was fine.. not home made and awesome by any means... but it was good and it was super easy.. and lot less stress.. ordered it and then picked it up. Then Christmas was pretty awesome... we did NOTHING!! We stayed in our jammies all day I think... got up late.. ate some cinnamon rolls... watched lots of movies... maybe worked in the shop a bit... but we were super lazy.... I had told my son he could stop by since he had no other plans.. and he was so sweet he called first.. well I was being too lazy and did not even get his message so he did not come over.. that part made me sad... I would have loved to have had him visit.

I do not want to ever put my kids in a situation where they have to schedule around us... they are growing up and having relationship that come with whole other families.. right now there are no grand kids but someday there will be.. and everyone wants to see the grand kids. Well my parents did something wonderful ( I think ) for Christmas with us.. when the kids were little they did the Christmas morning thing for us all.. but it started to get too stressful..with too many schedules... so they moved Christmas to a week or two later. This has so many advantages... one.. no stress... no schedule conflicts... awesome!! Two... after Christmas shopping sales... everyone knows what everyone got and did not get and we can go shopping and hit all the great sales.. I know they are rumored to be after Thanksgiving but after Christmas is really the time to go... the stores know you will be there returning stuff anyway so they put up the end of the year sales to entice you even more :)

Last year I had my kids over after the new year... it was so relaxed... I just picked a day and called them up.. told them they could stop by any time between noon and 5... everyone brought a snack and we all just spent the day visiting and catching up. I think I want to do something like that again this year... no stress.. no mess. I will just pick a day and invite everyone.. they can stop by and visit or not. Can bring a snack but no presents... until there are little kids... and just a nice relaxing fun day with family and friends. A great way to start our New Years

And back to topic... geesh I can ramble like no one else in the world! I think that if we start planning this now it might work so I am going to share with you all and see who is on board with me. One way to avoid all this holiday stress would be... to avoid this set of holidays... I am thinking we can put in a big custom order for Bunny hats I have also seen bunny ears in her shop... and as soon as the 4th of July is over we start wearing them while out shopping.. and we keep asking all the clerks for plastic eggs and Easter grass... Yeah I know it won't work... but it might be fun :) I know I just linked to her shop with the bunny hats.. but... seriously.. if you have little kids.. or grand kids... my friends shop is so much fun... Knees and Paws Kids love to use their imagination and they love to dress up and play.. and that is what her shop is all about! NO stress just fun!

Five and Dime Post

This post is going to be just a little bit of this and a little bit of that and some of not really anything :)

Had an awesome weekend.. as always.. with my honey... spent Friday in the jeep on the freeway stuck in traffic most of the day.. lots of time for just visiting and holding hands and being together :)

Made another load of stuff to goodwill.. the last of the loads from storage.. feels so good to have that cleaned out.. one more trip to the dump soon... almost have enough ready to go... the dump and goodwill are two of my favorite places to go.. I love getting rid of stuff!

Worked in the shop this weekend which is always good... a bit frustrating now since we are so much further behind than we wanted to be. Had planned on being done and making things by now.. but.. life happens. We are getting closer... have the dust collection ran from the sander and router table and from the miter saw up and across the ceiling to the dust collection.. now we need to add on the table saw, band saw, jointer, planer, and drill press and than it will be good to go. We did get the new (old) heater, from my dad up and running and it works great.. so much quieter than the one we were using. Will sand it down and give it a coat of paint this week and get it installed. Also planning on adding insulation into the rafters this week / weekend.. should be a lot cheaper to keep it warm this winter.

My plans this week include lots of house keeping stuff. I want to move the furniture around a bit.. into a better set up for laying on the couch and snuggling while watching movies. I love this time of year :) Also want to get the cupboards in the kitchen all emptied out and cleaned out.. lots of food in there we are not eating anymore.. and this is a great time of year to donate to the food banks. Noticed the fridge could use some cleaning up too.. shelves wiped down and what not. Will have to pace myself and see how my shoulder goes.. and will have to save some of it for Dave to help with... thankfully he enjoys this type of stuff too :)

Wanted to share a couple of things I saw this week and thought were fun. A friend blogged about 25 uses for coffee filters.. oh and you can use them to make coffee too :) I am going to be trying a couple of these.. love the microwave soup one! Also found a new blog this week that is local and interesting... Journey Beyond Average I love finding local blogs.. I keep a list on the right hand side of the blog of the ones I find and I enjoy!

Scale update.. it is still moving down... down... down... slowly but surely. Which works for me!

Points that Equal Money

I know there are a lot of different places out there... search bars you can add that give you points for searching.. like swagbucks.. which I use.. and I like.. I do get paid from them regularly.. about $5 every month or so.. would be more if I used it more... it is not much but I do not use it too much either. If I remembered to log in there more often I could easily make more... they have videos you can watch and earn points.. you can search and earn points and all types of things. If you are interested in signing up with swagbucks there is a link at the very bottom of the blog.. scroll all the way to the bottom there is a swagbucks box.. just click on the signup button on the bottom right.

There are survey sites, I do some of those too .. My favorite does not seem to have a link I can share... but if you email me ( Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com ) I can send you an invite to join... I like them because I get an email when there is a new survey to fill out... and biggest deal.. NO spam mail.. and if you fill out the info surveys first then almost ALL of the ones they send you are ones you qualify for.. I hate spending time answering stupid questions just to be told I do not qualify and it was all a waste of time. This one does not do that.. and it pays ok.. 1100 points = $10 in my paypal account.. took a couple of weeks is all.

Now I have found Superpoints... and I am in love. I have been doing this for just over a month.. I have cashed in $50 ... 500 points = $5. Yesterday I got over $2 .. today I only got about 65 cents. Totally works for a real nice dinner out every month.. or some other treat. The thing on superpoints is that they send points to your email.. all you have to do is click the link and you have points. If you want more points you can click on the super button and win points. Just for signing up you get like 3 or 5 spins a day... becoming a basic member you get 30 spins a day.... get people to sign up and become basic members under you and you collect some of the points they collect and you get 50 spins a day... get 5 people to sign up and become basic members under you and you are a hot shot plantinum member and you get 100 spins a day :) (Great big thanks to everyone who signed up under me )

The people who sign up under you only need to fill out enough profile to become basic members.. that is all.. they do not need to collect their points.. or play the super button or do anything. I mean if they do it is awesome because then you get more points too.. but they do not need to. I had over 5 people who were sweet enough to sign up and become basic members so that I could have the 100 spins.. a couple of them are collecting their points and some are not doing anything with it.. but I am just as thankful to each of them.

I am going to share some invites with you all... and I would love to have you join me. It isn't going to pay any bills for anyone but for ten quick minutes a day while I am sitting checking email and enjoying my coffee I am making some $$ for some of those little extras :)

Here are some invites. I will update these often ( as I remember to) All of the invites are single use.. if you miss out on the ones listed here just email me Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com with "Superpoints" in the subject line and I will email you your own private invite :) If you are on Superpoints and have an invite to share.. feel free to leave it comments and hopefully someone will grab it up :) I will try to go through and delete superpoint invites from comments as they expire... or if anyone uses one it would be great to let me know so I can delete it out of there :)

Please if you click on one and it does not work.. let me know.. then I can get it out of there and replace it with a new one... thank you :)

Updated on 12/25/11

Invite Here (worth 25 points)

Sign up under my friends here ( once you get enough friends.. help them out it will help you too )

Be sure to leave a comment with the invites so I can get them posted in here.. or people can copy and paste them right from the comments!

Invite (waiting for one)

Invite (waiting for one)

Any questions feel free to ask :)

~Michelle

Share Your Links

I want to share a great group with you that is on Facebook. I am still learning how the group things work but so far am loving this one. It is called Share Your Link and is a great fun way to do some easy and free promoting of your shop or site.

Right now there are about 200 people in the group, hoping to get a LOT more.. so please join and get your friends to join. The object of this group is to get as many people to see your items/shop/site as we can, and when we all help each other it can be so easy. Hardest part is not buying every cool thing that you see popping up in the group.

So here is how it works... you join the group... easy as can be... just click on the Join button.

Next I would suggest checking out the "docs" on the right hand side (and linked below) and reading through the "how to's and tips" and then adding your facebook and twitter links to the "docs" for them. Great idea to follow the list of people that have posted their links before you.

Next check out the posts that people have posted in the group.. find a couple (or a lot but at least two ) and share them.. either on your facebook or on your twitter ( be sure to add the hashtag #sylink on twitter so we can easily retweet it ) When you share something.. be sure to leave a comment letting the people know you shared it.

Now you pick something of yours that you would like to share... one a day.. you post it to the group... be sure, when posting that you click on "link" and then add your link there and attach then write in whatever else you would like to say before sharing... if you do not add your link this way then we do not get a "share" button so that we can share your item easily.

Now you sit and watch as the views come in. I can not believe how many more views I am getting on all of my items.. not just the shared ones... and emails and sales... this has been the easiest and most fun way to promote the shop that I have tried yet. This is with only 200 people in the group.. can you imagine what is going to happen after you join and get all your friends to join... we get a few thousand people in this group and it could be a whole new sale world we are walking in :)

If you have any questions then feel free to ask... there are a lot of helpful people in this group. There is group chat, where you can visit with other people in the group and/or ask questions.. you can ask on the wall itself... or you can even message me if you want or ask here on my blog.

Hope to see you there soon :)

~Michelle

The Beach House Barn

Today my daughter and I stopped by the Beach House Barn to check it out.. and we love it!! Right away outside I saw many things I would love to bring home and put in my yard. Bird houses and planters and lanterns and even milk boxes from the Smith Brothers Dairy. Had one just like this when I growing up, brings back a lot of wonderful memories. I am thinking I might go get one and put it in my garden by my front door. All of the prices on things in this shop are amazing, super deals for sure.

In we went and right away there are so many wonderful things to see. Jewelry and soaps and candles and fish things and beach things and bottles and lights and frames and bird houses and ornaments. This list could go on and on... every time you walk around it you see new stuff you would swear was not there a minute ago. They had some super cute rubber boots with lace around the top.. some fun cow boy boots and a leather vest. Daughter found a party dress she loved.. and it was only $24, she was super sad it was not the right size.

This is one of those fun stores that you could easily spend hours looking through. I loved that it had the whole beachy feel.. but it also has so much more. On their beautiful business card they say "antique treasures and retro riches" they are that and so much more. There is a little of everything for anyone in here. One of the best parts is that you can even bring your hubby. He may not want to go inside (it is a bit girly) but.. they have cool trucks outside and old tools and farm stuff. He would not be stuck totally sitting in the car. I wish I had taken more photos.. I only had my cell phone on me though.. I need to remember to always have the camera with me. I am hoping Snohomish County Blog Girl sees this post and heads out to check this place out. She does Awesome reviews on shops and takes wonderful photos. Be sure to check her blog out for some more awesome local places to explore.

Thank you Kelly for the wonderful visit while we were checking out your shop. We both loved it and I am sure we will be regular visitors :)

65 West North Camano Drive

Camano Island, Wa 98282

206-228-8159

Hours 10:30 ~ 5:30 Wed ~ Sun.

email Beachhousebarn@yahoo.com

Facebook.com/BeachHouseBarn

I Love Getting Mail

I was so happy to get the mail today, I had a package in there :) I knew it was coming and I couldn't wait to open it. Wrapped up so pretty!

Let me back up here... awhile ago there was a giveaway on a fun blog called Lavender Rabbit Hoppenings to win this beautiful necklace called Pearl. I found this blog because it was advertised on my blog in the project wonderful ads over there ----> on the right hand side. I have found some of the best blogs and shops because they advertise there. I signed up to win and spent some time exploring her blog and reading about her rabbits, they are so cute.

I am guessing you have figured out I won the necklace "Pearl" Turns out Dot picked my name *thank you Dot* I wonder if Dot knows how much I love the beach and all the time I spend down there... I have yet to see an octopus but now I can always have one with me!

Thank you! Necklace is on and I plan on wearing it a LOT!

Supporting each other Locally

The Crab Cracker is a local magazine that comes out every couple of weeks here on the island (and in Stanwood too) I am always in line waiting to get my copy, I love it. It covers all the things going on locally and has the typical classified stuff. Has an Artist of the week, local tide table ( love this ) stories from the community and so much more.

This last one.. has one of my stories in it! The post I wrote here a couple of weeks ago about the Gray Whales, they saw it and asked if they could put it in the Crab Cracker and I could not say yes fast enough. I know the little Crab Cracker is not like a big national magazine... but to me.. it is even better. It is local and about all the things that are important to those of us who live here. I feel so honored to be included. Thank you!

The Crab Cracker ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

There is another amazing local site that I have been on. They added one of my recipes from my other blog Coffee Tea and Recipes the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies. This site is Camano Community. They are very active on twitter and also have a FaceBook. They are all online and another wonderful resource for what is going on locally and who is who and they also have a lot of stuff from local people. I am really enjoying getting to read about and talk with local people and business that I am connecting with because of this site. The guy that runs it is super nice and friendly. Thank you!!

There is a new blog starting up that is a lot of fun Snohomish County Blog Girl ( she includes Camano ) She is out and about shopping and eating and enjoying the area and sharing her reviews of places.

There are so many more wonderful local sites and blogs. I have started a list on the right hand side of this blog of all the wonderful ones I find. I am looking forward to the list growing and growing! The Rely Local is a great site too, all about supporting local businesses. This one is in the Arlington Marysville area, but that is not too far for us on the island, since Dave works in that area I consider it very local for us.

Thank you to everyone who supports me in any way, in what I make and what I write and in who I am. I am grateful for all of it and hope to be able to share more than I receive. Support is a wonderful circle to be in.. the more you get the more you seem to have to share! Thanks!

Happy Happy Birthday

To Java Cupcakes Blog!! It is an awesome blog ran by a wonderful friend. She has the best recipes ( not just for cupcakes ) and is a wonderful fun person to get to know and visit with. I first ran across her on twitter.. someone did a rt of something of hers.. and I was off to check it out.. and right away I was in love. My parents were coming over for a visit and I wanted to make something fun for dessert.. I always am making new things when they come over.. they have the best attitude and are willing to try just about anything and give me an honest review. I went flipping through the recipes on java cupcakes blog.. I was so impressed that there were so many to pick from.. turns out I was not able to pick one.. I found two I just had to make.. and they were super easy and fun and so flavorful. Since then I have been back several times.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes and Rhubarb Cupcakes

Those I made when my parents came over.. and a few more times. That is now my favorite thing to do with rhubarb! I have also made the Peanut Butter Fudge and this one is super easy and to die for... seriously the best in the world. The Peanut Butter Brownies are the same thing... way out of the world good!

This is my version of her Peanut Butter Brownie..one thing I love about her recipes is that they are real and user friendly.

Please take a minute to go wish her blog happy birthday... she is having a giveaway too.. you can win a limited edition print from CakeSpy

~Michelle

Detours

If you read my blog you know we do a lot of road trips around here... jeep, motorcycle or motor home... for the day, the weekend or 3 weeks.. we love just heading out. A lot of times we will have a destination decided.. but not how we are going to get there... or we will have one point of the trip decided but then end up somewhere else all together. It is a lot different than planning every stop along the way.. which used to be how I would have done it. I like to have lists... and go down my lists checking things off as I go. Which in some things works great. I finally made a list of all the phone calls I needed to make.. what I had been putting off for two weeks ( hate phone calls ) I was able to get it done in ten minutes once I had a list and could check things off. For road trips.. it is an ok way to do it.. and when we were on vacation last summer we did have some things on a list, things we did not want to miss. For the most part though.. we went with the flow..a lot of times that means finding a Walmart to park/sleep in for the night.. at 3 am in the morning. More often than not it means driving around and around in a town you do not know.. into places that maybe a motor home should not go or does not fit and getting lost more than once. Well as lost as one can get with 6 gps units in the car. What it also means... is finding the most awesome adventures... the best small town restaurants and camp grounds and people and sights. Sometimes the best place to eat or the prettiest Mountain or park are not the ones that everyone is going to but the ones that are kept a secret on the road less traveled. I know our best adventures have been off the beaten path :) Might be why we love Geocaching so much.. it takes you to the places no one else seems to go.. or shows you new things about where everyone goes.

Was talking to a friend about this sort of stuff the other day... and then today I logged into another friends blog and saw a quote that touched on the same subject...

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us." ~ Helen Keller

Took that as a sign to write about it. Right now I have been trying to find as many roads/doors as I can to get my shop out there. We are adding new ideas to the shop and trying lots of new things... and a lot of them seem to be working.. I am getting about 100x more views... and the sales are picking up. They do not seem to be buying out of the shop too much... but they are window shopping in there and then coming to me with things they would like made custom.. which I am more than happy to do.. I love that artfire lets us work with our customers in so many ways. Right now I am feeling really good about what is happening... trying out lots of different roads and opening a lot of different doors... some of them I head down a bit and look around and see nothing is happening... no views.. just a big open space feeling... I want to feel like it is a waste of time... sort of reminds me of driving through Wyoming this summer... parts of it were rather boring.. nothing to see as fas you can see... then... it seemed like all of a sudden.. one of my favorite parts of the trip happened... we stopped for an easy grab and go cache.. and ended up spending an hour or so exploring some awesome HUGE rocks... and then headed on to the best camp ground of the whole vacation. ( here is the blog post for that part of the trip )

My point in all of this is remind myself to stay focused and balanced.. life hands us detours.. or shuts doors... but it is true that it opens other ones... we just need to look for the adventures and be open to finding new ways and seeing new things. Be willing to accept that sometimes what we want is not what we need. Life is a road trip for me.. as long as I am moving forward ( or sometimes a little sideways ) it is good.. it is when I try putting it in reverse or try driving through a "road end" ( just because the map shows it going through does not mean it does ) that I start having problems. If something is not working then turn... go around a block... pick a new direction... remember though that sometimes we have to drive through some boring to get some awesome!

~Michelle

Smile of the Day

Yesterday a friend blogged about The Power of Bright Spot Thinking and I think it is so important to be reminded of this once in awhile and to do our best to stay focused on the positive in our life. Sharing our "bright spots" of the day and our smiles of the day, the things that make us smile and help us to be focused and keep us on track... are just some of the things I want to share on my blog. I feel they are like love.. you can never love enough... it is something that the more you give the more you have.

My first Bright Spot and someone that always makes me smile is the above mentioned friend. I am not sure how we started sharing our blog posts, I know that in the several years of being a crafter and having an online store I have seen her here and there and always thought her stuff was so much fun. Her name is Jenny and her blog is Knees and Paws her shop is KneesandPaws on etsy and it is full of fun things to allow and encourage children ( and adults ) to use and enjoy their imagination which I believe helps us to grow.

I love reading her blog, she has an interesting life, she blogs about a lot of different things, homeschooling, her business, her community, her family and so much more. One of the best things about being friends with her is the support she gives. She takes the time to read my blog and leave comments, which I know is time consuming. I am thankful for every person who takes the time to read my blog.. I know a few people who do read it and don't leave comments here very often but take the time to comment to me elsewhere.. that is wonderful to. Even if you are not leaving comments anywhere or if all you do is scan through the post.. I am still thankful that you clicked on this page :) Leaving the comments/feedback on the post itself is nice as it keeps it all in one place and I can get an idea of what people enjoy reading about by the comments they leave or do not leave. Thank you Jenny for the feedback on my blog and for sharing your life with us on your blog.

My second bright spot that has had me smiling since it happened last night is from the artfire.com forums. Dave was working and I was online a bit later than most nights... and I was posting in a forum thread that was just for fun.. nothing serious.. but it wasn't working right for me... things that should have shown up on the right were showing up on the bottom.. not really a huge deal... but... annoying. I gave up and went elsewhere... then I saw an email in my artfire box. It was someone I had seen before in the forums and I had explored her shop but had never talked with her. She wrote me a very friendly note letting me know what my problem was and how I could fix it. One thing I was able to understand and fix right away but the other thing was causing me problems and when I tried to follow the directions I ended up making it worse. I knew I was tired and my eyes were not working right (dang getting older) so after a few emails back and forth she could tell I was getting frustrated and she was so patient and supportive that I took a deep breath and went back and tried it one more time... it worked! :) That in itself made me smile.. that someone who does not know me at all would take the time to not only offer help but to keep gently pushing me and believing in my ability to do it. She stayed with me until I got it. Then this morning I log in and go to the forums.. I see she has a thread about what she had been helping me with. I clicked on it and a few posts in I see my name... they are talking about me... a few of them... at first the panic button goes off.. I have seen other forums on other sites.. where people who are learning are cut to pieces... I took a deep breath and I kept reading... and my heart melted a little a bit.. no one was mean or hurtful or snide or anything but friendly and helpful and fun and it was one of those moments where you KNOW you are where you should be. Here is the thread it is these people that make artfire.com what it is.. a wonderful place to sell and a wonderful place to buy! You can check out their shop by clicking on their names.. or clicking on the items on the right hand side... they are all pretty wonderful... I would love to have you take a minute to explore AnitasPottery as she is the one who was so helpful to me and well.. her shop is awesome.. she makes very tiny little "Wheelthrown Pottery MINIATURES Ceramic Clay BUTTONS Tiny Clay TILES Unique Quirky ONE of a KIND" I love the tiny little teacup earrings I am amazed when people can do this type of work in regular sized items.. and these are so little.

Please take a minute to share my bright spots and smiles and give these people a moment of your time. You never know when it might be you or something you do that is someones bright spot or maybe their reason for smiling that day.

~Michelle

Titles ~ Todays Special ~ Smile of the Day

I know that the title of the blog post is so important.. it is what will pull people in.. and yet.. I struggle with that so much. Most of my blog posts are all mix and matched a bit of this and a bit of that and some of everything and sometimes nothing. So I tend to have very boring titles.. many times I have sat and stared at it and just not written anything because I can not come up with anything that even sounds interesting. I am wondering if I should do smaller posts that are more focused on one thing at a time.. or if I just need to get with it and be more creative.. or .. I have no clue.. would love any suggestions or ideas to try. Thank you!

Item of the day!!! Valentines Key Chain ~ frosted white sea glass and a heart charm ~ free shipping world wide today for this item!

I am going to start doing a few items of the day with either free shipping.. or a % off or something on a regular basis.. not daily... in fact might end up being an item of the week... not sure how it will work.. but I do not like to put the shop on sale.. or do those things since I never seem to get any orders when the shop is on sale.. and then a week later I get sales.. weird.

Today on a friends Facebook I saw something that touched me.. and reminded me... life is not about the money or the material things that we have and I wanted to share it. it is so easy to get caught up on the bills we have and the money we don't have but... in the long run.. money and having it or not really is not what is important... not that this helps any stress of having more bills than income.. but... it does remind me to keep things in perspective and it is my smile of the day.

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules. The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him.

The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward he dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!" But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?"

Today was a beautiful day on the beach.. cold at 32 degrees.. but sunny and beautiful... that water was still like glass and you could hear people on the island across the water (well maybe not but it felt like it ) Compared to Monday when it was storming and the waves were muddy (video here ) The picture at the top is from today :)

~Michelle

Weekend into Monday

I had the most wonderful weekend... so relaxing and yet we got so much done. We had been collecting things that needed to go to storage and had the back room totally full.. so we loaded that up and headed to storage.. which.. we happened to have a huge pile there that needed to go the goodwill and another pile that needed to go to the dump.. so we made a trip to goodwill and then loaded up for the dump and brought that home. That was Friday night.. it was late.. the dump was closed, which was ok because we had a few things at the house that needed to go... as always. I really have no clue where all this stuff keeps coming from. When we got home we decided, since the back room was clean, to sort some stuff around. We ended up staying up until about 3 am and moving the treadmill from the living room back there.. and the computer table from the dinning room back there. We also rearranged the living room and dinning room.... which we have decided we love.. makes the house look twice as big. It is nice having the wood floors... not only did everything move easily ( which was nice since I could not help ) Dave was able to just push things around, I also think that having the same floor throughout most of the house makes it all look a lot bigger too.

We finished that up on Saturday and ran to the dump... then later that night we had company over for dinner. They are some people that Dave has known for a long time and I am just starting to get to know, they are so much fun.. I laughed so hard my jaw hurt. They brought their daughters (teens) with them.. and they are totally sweet, fun girls and seem to have a really good relationship with their parents. They also brought some awesome chips and dip stuff.. ..I have gotten the recipe and will be adding it soon to Coffee Tea and Recipes. *hopefully tonight*

Sunday we did nothing.. and I mean nothing... we stayed in our jammies all day.. watched some tv... in fact I was chilling too much to even bother taking a nap. We did finally ( after dinner ) start working on some things.. me online and Dave had some work to do... so once again we did not get to bed until 3 am... we are much better swing shift people than morning people.

Today was horrible getting up...and it is the start of our walking everyday again.. so I set the alarm for 30 minutes early... starting off very slowly. I did walk for only about ten minutes.. did just over a half mile.. and then I got on the scale... arghhh. I was looking forward to heading to the beach today.. it had been over a week since I had been there.. it was a wonderful day to be there too... the water was so very calm.. the sun was shinning like it was a spring day.. and there were so many wonderful treasures... and then.. it started snowing.. with the sun shinning and a bright blue sky. It did not snow very much or for very long but it was beautiful!

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out the facebook fan page and the networked blogs and the signatures in artfire forums. I am trying to find as many new ways as possible to promote my shop and get some more sales going. Seems we sell a lot better in person than online.... so still going keep on working on building up stock and going to some shows this spring :)

~ Michelle

Coming Soon

Plan is to add some new items to my shop in the next couple of days. Dave and I have been working on some items that I am so very excited about. These will be non jewelry items... in fact a hint would be that we bought supplies at Rocklers and Home Depot :) I LOVE the new items.. and I Love that they are something that Dave and I are able to work on together. Hoping that this will open a whole new set of doors to our crafting and selling world.

Just a photo I love from the beach the other day :) *nothing to do with new items*

~Michelle

My First Collection

I guess I should start with what a collection is, and where and why. A collection is a group of items that have a theme that I have picked from artfire. It is a way to promote other sellers on artfire and a way to show off some things I have found that I like.

This is my first collection and I titled it ILY ASL which is I Love You! American Sign Language!

I found a lot of fun items on artfire that are in American sign language and are the ILY hand sign.

Having Gone through Seattle Central Community College and the interpreting program there and having spent a lot of time in the deaf community ASl has always been a big part of my life. All of my children signed long before they would talk and my daughter still signs very fluently.

I would love it if you would take a minute and visit the collection ( Click "View Collection" on the right hand side to see the full collection ) and check out these fun and awesome items. Clicking on the items themselves take you to that persons shop and you can explore more of their items. Leaving comments at the bottom of the collection is always welcomed.

ILY ASL

Curated By: MichelleBallard

ArtFire.com

Handmade Soap

Thank you,

~Michelle

Some Things

Just some random things I want to share.

Found this site in the Costco magazine and have been drooling over it ever since. As soon as I can pick which items I want added to my chocolate I plan on ordering one and giving them a try. You pick what type of chocolate.. dark, milk or white and then pick from things like different nuts.. or fruits.. or candies or hey.. even things like bacon bits. You can make it pretty.. weird.. or just about anything.... Chocomize .... Would love to hear what you would pick for your chocolate bar.

I spent some time this last weekend working on some new items for my shop... I love making them and they seem to be a hit :) Rustic Garden Stakes. Finding stakes is a fun thing to do with my kids on our walks... and then I just carve a bit of a point on one end and a flat space on the other... wood burn the word onto the stick then spray with a lacquer... add some beads and they are ready to go :) * check out my shop here *

Talked to my lawyers office today about my shoulder... it is all so frustrating... shoulder is still hurting and keeping me from doing most things I want to do... need to find out what I should do now... it is better than it was before the surgery and the physical therapy .. but not getting any better... just sort of at a standstill.. and now with spring here and gardening happening... it hurting more and more... because I am wanting to use it... it is hard... when I am walking I still have to hold it by my side.. if I get to swinging it too much then the next day I can hardly move it... learned that shoveling is out of the question all together.. and waxing the car... no way... I feel like a lazy bum most the time. Hard to remember that the day we had the accident we were on the way to gym... where we played racket-ball at least 3 times a week... I can not even imagine playing that now. Thing is... there are a lot of things I can do... one if I am very careful.. two.. if I plan on hurting... not sleeping that night.. or doing anything the next day. I am starting to be afraid that this is how it will end up being...no way is that going to be ok.

Speaking of the accident... the jeep we were in when we were hit has been all fixed up and it is back on the road. It needed both front end and back end work since we were hit in the back so hard that it slammed us into the car in front of us. We were one week over having it back on the street 2 years after the accident. It took us awhile to collect the parts needed. Everything still worked.. the hood and tailgate.. still opened and closed.. they were just dinged up.. and both bumpers were smashed up... the only thing we had to get brand new was the radiator. I can not believe it was totaled.. but I guess with all the little parts and stuff and how much things cost that it just added up ... if we had replaced everything with brand new parts it might not have been worth it... being able to take some time and collect them off craigslist was awesome. Now it has tabs and is insured and we have driven it and there are no problems. I am still a bit nervous being in it... hard when my shoulder still hurts.. but I know if it had not been for the jeep being such a good car.. it would have been worse. I will get more comfortable.. I do love this jeep. I love the commander too.. but there is just something about this one that is nice. I think it was the fact that I went from years of crappy cars and mini vans.. to a grown up car... it has a special place in my heart :) *yeah I know it is a car* lol

Day One of Adult Vacation

Our Caboose "room"
Originally uploaded by glass_identities

Last weekend was the best 4-day I have had in a long time. (It was a long weekend) We left Thursday night for a weekend getaway... no kids... no real plans. Just get in the jeep and head out. Well so I thought. Dave had other ideas.... He loves to surprise me and spoil me.. and I am in no way complaining. . I have so much to I want to share that I am going to post each day separately.

Thursday after lunch we drove north through the area where the Skagit tulips should be.... they are blooming a bit late this year so all we saw were a bunch of daffodils... still totally awesome...then we got on the ferry at Keystone going to Port Townsend. The weather was beautiful and while on the ferry there were sea lions swimming next to us. We got off and headed towards Sequim. I have to say... it felt as if Dave was a little rushed for this part of the trip. I know he had called ahead and reserved the ferry ride... that is suggested with this ferry.. it is smaller and runs less often and can fill up.. even after we were off the ferry though he seemed a bit in a hurry. We have this great book called Washington Curiosities. Quirky characters, roadside oddities and other offbeat stuff. Lots of fun stuff to check out in this book. One of the things I saw in this book earlier in the day was a fun looking bed and breakfast in Sequim where you get to stay in your own caboose. I told Dave about this and thought since we were going through Sequim we should stop by and just check it out in case we wanted to stay there next time. As we were coming into Sequim the Red Caboose Getaway was right there on the right side of the road. To be honest from the road it didn’t look like much… some train things in someones yard is pretty much it. The cabooses are rustic on the outside and someone went and put up a bunch of tract housing next them… but…the closer you get… the better this place looks. There is a big silver dinning car out front with one of the cabooses.. and then in a circle around a pond are the rest of the cabooses each on their own piece of track. Some of the cars are still a work in progress. Early in the day there had been a new (old ) caboose delivered. The plan is to have a total of 10 cabooses done up that people can stay in. I believe there are 6 finished ones at this time. Each caboose has its own theme and is done up inside. We stayed on track 2, orient express..( caboose in top photo) talk about romance. Wait I have to back up here…we pulled into the parking lot.. and I loved the place already.. wishing we had found it earlier so that we could have planned on staying here. Since we are here we want to get out and have a look around and see how much they are and how booked they are during the summer. We walked up to the “station house” and Olaf, the conductor comes out of the dining car to greet us. Dave reaches out to shake his hand.. introduce himself and says… to Olaf… “we have reservations for tonight” My mouth dropped and I smacked Dave upside his arm, thinking he is joking and being sort of rude….Olaf looks at Dave and says… track 2 is all ready to go. Into the office we go to get the key and are given a map with things to do and places to see and Olaf shares with us some of the locations for great food. All this time I am still not sure if it’s a joke or if we are really staying. With key in hand Olaf heads out and we follow. He opens the door to our caboose and oh wow… so beautiful. The colors the textures the smells… everything is perfect. When you open the door there is a big bed with lots of pillows and beautiful bedding. There is a gas fireplace in the corner burning low. The floors are a dark wood and in the back you can see a Big tub. I would have thought that the inside of a caboose would be rather crowded and dark. This is anything but that…. I could not believe how much room there was and how much light…. A lot of the light comes from the cupola in the center of the caboose. You can climb up there and look out over the whole “train station” It is a bit hard to take photos in the caboose that turn out great in there though… hard to show the feeling one gets in the caboose. It is rustic but it is elegant and romantic and beautiful. In the morning there is breakfast in the dining car. I don’t even know what to say here. It was the best breakfast!! Even Dave who does not eat some of what was served, baked apple, strawberries, He doesn’t like fruit, still said it was best breakfast he has ever had. They started us with the coffee, hot chocolate or tea… not just hot chocolate though; they have many flavors to pick from. Same with the juices, not just orange but a blend that was amazing. They then brought out the bread still warm and oh so wonderful. We then had baked apple with sausage/cornbread stuffing.. not something I would have picked.. but now that I have had it.. I will so go back for it. The dutch baby with strawberries and lavender cream… loved it!! It was all just amazing. I know I have gone on and on here…thank you for reading this. We will be going back to this place… in fact we were making plans to go again before we even left. If you ever are in the area it is a great place to stay. This is not a family/kid place… this is a place to getaway with your loved one and reconnect with each other or yourself, the kind of place you leave feeling spoiled and reenergized and ready to tackle the world. More photos on My flickr :) Please feel free to click around here and comment.

Thank you to Olaf and Charlotte for a wonderful stay.

Friday, Saturday and Sundays post to follow. Lots of animals, landscape and history coming.