California Girls!

I spent the day with my two lovely daughters.  It was HOT so we went to Stinson Beach... even though a great white was spotted there this week and we were only allowed in the water up to our waist.  That's about as far as I ever go into the water here.  It's too cold for me.

Jordy looked glamorous with her big sunglasses & her hair up.

Lauren strikes a glamorous pose, too.

My feet are now sunburned.

I searched for rocks and sea glass to use in jewelry.

A New Necklace

My photographer did some more work for me today.  Great work, Jo!

This necklace was inspired by Sunday's sermon.  Can you tell what it is?

This one will be at Room With a Past next week.

BTW, Jo also made the sculpture!

I Have a New Photographer

Jordy got a camera for Christmas so I had her take photos of my newest jewelry.  I think I found my new photographer!  I promise I'll blog more this week.  And a lot more if she keeps taking photos for me!  And here's what we did this afternoon... Superbowl party!  (The guys were all in the living room watching the game.  Lots of food & talking.  And our team won!  Notice the football bean dip on the table?

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Two

Since we still haven't had Halloween yet I'll give you a little spooky photo today.  This was on my kitchen table last year.  I haven't decorated any pumpkins this year although we have a lot sitting around the house.

I was thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for last night -- cooler weather, rain (finally!), my  dentist who got me in immediately when I was in pain last week, then got me an appointment to get a root canal later that day, my job that will help me pay off the dentists' bills!, and that I didn't get my hours cut after being told last month that I would.  And I'm especially thankful for Jordy & her friends.  Many of which can drive now so my prayer life is getting more active again.  :-)

I added a Mister Linky to the original 30 DoT post so you can add a link to your blog if you're sharing what you're thankful for.

July at Room With A Past

I think this is Jordy's favorite room at the shop... a small hallway with a big chandelier.  She & I went to the shop Saturday to set up for next week's sale.  It starts Thursday at 4:00 pm.  I'll be working again on Saturday from 10 to 2 -- so come visit me!  This month is a summer/beach theme in the shop so I pulled out all my 'beachy' stuff to display.  Here's the top section of the shelf:

Here's the bottom section:

We added a lace tablecloth to the back of the top shelves.  I think the bottom looks like it might need some, too.  I'm utilizing the side of my shelf this month, too.  Most of my earrings are displayed here.  We'll see how this works out.  There's Nancy's shelf behind mine.  She hasn't set up for next week yet.  But I love the aqua things she collects & sells.

Had fun making these:

One thing I was going to work on this month was how to display the jewelry.  Most of it last month was just laying on the shelves or in baskets.  We were in Goodwill looking at jewelry when we saw this fixture.  It was on sale!  My short necklaces fit on it.  Next month I'm going to try to make a taller one.

The longer ones are just laying on the shelf.  At least they have some pretty lace to lay on now.  :-)

In Which We Paint Every Room in Our House a Different Color

I don't think I got on the computer at all yesterday.  And not much today or the days before that.  One of the projects we decided to do this summer while we had help here is to paint the ceilings, hall, & Jordy's bedroom.  Of course, we decide to do all the rooms at one time.  Here Lauren shows off the lovely "before" photo.

Everything white... boring!  First, scraped paint off handrail.  It's going to be black again when we're done.

I didn't see this myself, so I'm glad Lauren took a picture of this.  Jordy's working!  This is what used to be Lauren's room, then Glenn took over it & painted it more manly colors.  This summer it's Mark & Lauren's room again.

And, AFTER...

Now every room in our house is really a different color.  The other colors didn't show up as well.  And I couldn't take a picture of the hall 'cause it's full of all the dirty clothes we couldn't wash the last four days since everything was covered in plastic!  Glenn is going to Orlando this week for a conference so we're going to work on the handrail again.

In Which Jordy Wins a Couch at a Birthday Party

Since so many people have asked me, "How do you win a couch at a party?"  I thought I'd write a blog post about it.  Really, it's something only Jordy could do!  

She went to a friend's birthday party Sunday.  One of the games they played was "Bigger & Better Scavenger Hunt."  I don't really recommend kids going from door to door, but Clayton is a pretty nice little town where everyone knows everyone.  Both teams started out with a penny.  At the first house, they traded their penny for a rubber band.  At the next house they traded the rubber band for some paper clips, then a larger clip, then a can of fruit.  The last house had this couch sitting out front.  Jordy got their team leader to ask if the couch was for sale or free.  The lady who opened the door said they were trying to sell it on Craigslist for $100 but no one had made an offer yet so it might be free soon.  So the girls asked if they could have it.  The lady went in to ask her husband.  He came back, looked them in the eye & pointed at them... "You can have it if you promise me you won't bring it back and leave it in my yard later and I won't see it sitting on the side of the street somewhere --- promise!"  Sounds like he was just ready to get rid of it!  So, the girls carried the couch down the street, back to Jordy's friends house, sat it in the backyard, and watched movies on a makeshift screen.

Jordy thought this would be nice to have since Mark & Lauren were coming (they came in last night btw!!!!!) but it was a little big for our house.  So Glenn didn't even bring it in.  It stayed in my van and I became responsible for finding it a new home.  Everywhere I went it was, "Hi, how are you?  Do you want a couch?"  Finally I took it to the Teen Challenge Thrift store.  I like giving things to them because they run a Christ-centered program to help young people get off alcohol & drugs.  So, we got a tax deduction out of it and I met a young man who was addicted to heroin, is almost through the program, and now wants to go to school to become a pastor.  So we had a nice little conversation, too.  Everything turned out just like it was supposed to.  :-)

We Love Color

Here's what Jordy & I were working on tonight. I think we're ready for Spring!

Jo Cooked Dinner & I've Been Featured In...

No. 1: Jo decided to cook dinner last night. She wanted to make tacos but we didn't have tortillas. So she decided to make tortillas from scratch. Wow, these were good! Even the salsa is homemade.

No. 2: I got an Etsy message saying that two items from my shop have been featured in the Creepy Queen Magazine. Funny, doesn't look like my style at all but my items do fit into their blend very well.

Jo's Halloween Tags

Look what Jo designed! I just listed them in my Etsy shop.

Chef Lauren Strikes Again

Each of the girls are in charge of dinner for one night a week this summer.  I thought Lauren should learn how to roast a chicken and they were on sale this week so she roasted a chicken last night.  Didn't it turn out pretty?  
She also made fresh squash (from the farmer's market), spinach salad, and served a loaf of bread from Trader Joe's.  Then we had fudgesicles for dessert!  For her night Jordann made a delicious pizza and salad.  We ate it all before I remembered to take a picture.  But I'm sure she'll make that again 'cause it was soooooo good!

Garden Update & What's Cookin'

I can't remember what started it last week, but Jordann decided she wanted meatloaf for dinner.  (Maybe something on the Food Network?)  I hadn't made meatloaf in a LONG time so I made some, along with my family's other favorite foods - mashed potatoes & green beans.  That's my plate above.  Here's Jordann's plate:

I've also had some questions about how my garden's doing.  My tomatoes are well on their way to becoming monster tomato plants again!  I think the one on the left is the yellow pear.  Mmmmmmmmm......

On the other side of the patio is my clematis.  Remember I didn't cut it back this year.  I wanted to see how different it would be.  I don't know if I like it.  Now I have lots of blooms on both ends & none in the middle.  :-(    
And one more photo to show how good Jordann is at multi-tasking.  I think the TV is also on in the background.  And often she's carrying on a conversation at the same time.  

Lauren's Engaged!

OK, we had a busy couple of weeks and I'm just now getting these photos edited and blogged.  Mark & Lauren were here during their spring break and while they were here he proposed.  Of course, she said yes!  We all took a day trip together on Saturday.  We stopped at the Cheese Factory in Petaluma.  Got a loaf of sourdough & some brie (Jo's favorite) for lunch.

Then we drove over to Drake's Beach, close to Point Reyes for a picnic.

Glenn took a nap while everyone else explored.  I think that's Lauren & Mark (very tiny) in the background.

I think Mark must have taken this next one... I don't remember taking it.

So now we have one more foot in our family foot foto!

Keepin' Up With Jordann

Jordann is in Tijuana for the week with the youth group (aka, Flock) from our church.  You can keep up with her here.  No, I haven't heard from her but I wasn't expecting to.  They allowed the kids to take their cell phones with them this year in case of emergency but she decided to leave hers at home since it's brand new.  She's doing VBS in the mornings at a new church so I don't know what it's like.  But I can show you photos of my trip in 2007.  The photo above is where Lauren & I went.   Here's the bus that took us from our dorm to the church every day.  Fun... especially with bus drivers that don't speak English.  (Don't worry, each team has at least one translator and most learned Spanish as a first language.)
Here's our team inside the bus... see Lauren?
Singing in Spanish:
This is the street in front of the church where we had recreation.  No yards or grass anywhere.  I'd never seen so much dirt & dust!
This is on the other side of the street looking over the neighborhood.
Then in the afternoons the kids all go to different ministries around town - elderly home, orphanage, distributing food, construction.  Here's the Refuge of the Elders.  Frank takes in homeless old people that have been abandoned by their families.  Our kids feed them, sing to them, talk to them, clean them & their building, and help with building projects there.


They stay at the base camp at night and have worship services & hopefully clean themselves.  :-)