Wordless Wednesday--Something Jim would say!!!

Calico Ghost Town

On Saturday a few of my classmates and our families went on a field trip out passed Barstow. We went to this old mining town called Calico. We had a great time looking at all the old buildings and reading about the history of Calico. It was fun to see the old signs that people wrote to find work or to find their spouses.

Calico was a booming mining town in 1881. They mined silver and borax there up untill 1907 when the town suddenly was abandoned. It inherited the name Calico Ghost Town. During the 1880's the population was 1,200. During the boom there was as many as 5,000 people. Today there are less than 12 people that live there.

As we investigated the town we took train rides and tunnel tours. It is said that the mining tunnels are 30 miles long. That would be able the distance back home to Apple Valley. The town even had a small area known as China Town. Amazing....

We had a great time visiting and my children enjoyed it. There was alot more to do there than just walk around. I was pretty impressed with what it had to offer. Calico also has special events throughout the year, two of which are the most popular; Civil War Days in February and a Halloween event. It is said that ghosts do walk around there and that people have actually seen them. YIKES!!! I will definitely not be visiting during Halloween.

Crazy Busy

Whoaaa!! Where did these days go? I swear I lost 3 days here. It's been a busy week, like most others, but for some reason I'm wiped out today. Tuesday we headed down to Pasadena and spent the night in a fancy Marriot hotel. All of us, including Val and the baby. We had to be in Glendale at 6 a.m. for Val to take her State Board of Cosmotology Exam. She was super nervous and even cried the night before. She was ready to give up. I was her model....YIKES!!! I'll tell you, what a stressful test. First she had her practical for 5 hours. I had to sit there and let her chop my hair off (so much for my cute haircut!), then she did a serious of other stuff. I ended up leaving with my hair plastered down with 2 bottles of gel! Ugh!! After the practical, she had a two hour written exam. When she was done she called me and said it was hard. She didn't think she did well. By 3 p.m. she had her results...she PASSED!!!!! She is officially a licensed hairdresser. She was so excited and in tears. Jim and I were in tears too! LOL She really needed this and we did too. Last year was a long year for us so we needed this year to start on a better note.

Val drove up that night, late. The pass was a mess, it had been snowing for a few hours. She was freaking out and had to call Jim to talk her through it. Little did we know that just after she came up, they closed the pass down for the night...too dangerous the news said. Thank God she arrived safe.

The rest of the week has been busy with homework and sewing classes. I keep telling myself I'm going to do some creating out in my scrapbook room, but I just can't find the time. This weekend is even a busy weekend. Saturday I have a field trip for APU. A group of us will be going to Calico Ghost Town out passed Barstow. We are making it a family thing since there is much for the children to do. Then I have a company party to attend with Jim. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can make it down the pass safely and then back home. My friend, Ali, is coming into town and I don't even think I'll get to see her. The sad part is, she'll be very close by. I'm not happy about that one bit. Hopefully I'll get to see her soon.

We are pretty water logged here in Apple Valley. We've had some wet cold days and they are suppose to continue over the weekend. No snow though, which I'm not happy about. I need a snow day!

Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer and I can actually get some fun work done. I need to make some Valentine cards for my family and students.

toodles for now!

Wordless Wednesday---- "I think I'm gonna barf!"

The POWER of FRIENDSHIP

As I was sitting here on this very lazy Sunday, I was browsing the many blogs that I visit daily and I noticed that many of them have touched my life in some way or another.

Back in March of 2000, a Yahoo group, The Cropping Cactus was formed. Many of us had been friends through a scrapbooking website, called Jangle. Sandy had decided to start her own group and sent invites out to several of us. Shauna, I call her UCLA, was member #1 and I was member #2. The group quickly grew to outrageous numbers and by September a few of us drove or flew out to Arizona to meet Sandy in person. It was a crazy adventure for me as I was a back seat driver with two gals I had never met!! For all I knew, they could have been ax murders!! LOL Lucky for me, they weren't. Angie, from Indiana, flew out to meet us. Her poor husband was besides himself because his wife was flying across the country to hang out with crazy California girls. Arizona we never the same once we left. Even Arizona's finest police officers were affected by TCC. From there our friendship grew.

Over the 8 years we have meet in different states and enjoyed CKU's, expos, conventions and other events together. Our friendships are of a different caliber. We have members from all over the United States, as well as Canada and New Zealand. The amazing thing is that we all have stayed connected in some way or another. Although we don't get to see eachother often, some I've only met once, we still have this amazing friendship. We have all been through many personal hurdles together, such as; deaths, divorce, unwed pregnancy, illnesses, job changes, financial struggles, new babies and grand babies, childhood illnesses, cancer, weddings, man, the list can go on. The awesome thing is that we all encourage eachother and pray for one another. It is this wonderful group of ladies that has made some of my hurdles seem like little anthills.

This year we have promised ourselves to meet up again. It's been a while since we've actually had a "big" weekend togther. Many of us are feeling the impact and desperately need a TCC fix.

When I think of true friendship, my TCC gals are first on the list. Some of them have blogs, while many others do not. If you have a little time, check their blogs out. You'll soon find out why they are so dear to my heart.

Shanna, http://shananator.blogspot.com/

Shanna is our group cheerleader. She's always cheering you on and encouraging you to press on. Even when she's down and out, she will always be there to lift you up.

Shauna (UCLA), http://shaunaimmel.blogspot.com/

Shauna is a designer with HOTP. As long as I've known her, 8+yrs, she has worked there. You can find many of her wonderful layouts throughout HOTP idea books. Shauna is a fighter and never backs down to a challenge. Today she is fighting for her life...she is going head to head with cancer. This year is her year to overcome.

Ali, http://www.alimoll.typepad.com/

Ali is our crazy Utah girl. She is sassy and spunky and just so full of life. She embraces life, family and friends with such passion. She is very active in her church, children's schools and in her children's lives.

Angie, http://angieeverton.blogspot.com/

Angie is my friend from Indiana. My family loves her and her family. We have had some fun times visiting them. She is a full time mom that is forever on the go. She loves to wakeboard and boy is she impressive. I would love to one day be her neighbor!

Nic, http://nichoward.blogspot.com/

Nicola is our little New Zealand friend. She started out with not having any access to scrapping supplies or stores. We used to ship stuff to her just so she can get a fix. Now Nic is a big time scrapper that can be found in many magazines, on many design teams and contests. She even has her own book called, That's Life. She has made scrapbooking a career and a good one at that.

There are many others to name; Karyn, Linda, Jean, Lisa, Heather, Michelle, Heidi, Laura, Missy....the list goes on........They will never really know just how much they mean to me.

TCC has truly been a Godsend to my life. Without my TCC buddies my life wouldn't be so rich.

Cheers to all who have been touched by true friendship.

Wordless Wednesday--Proud Uncle

Happy Monday....

Whewww!! Today we finally went back to work and school from our way too long winter break. Two weeks is fine, but 3 just kills me. It was nice to be back at work and to see my students. They seem to have grown some over break.

We had a nice weekend with great weather. Tiffani wanted to go camping and riding for her birthday...that girl kills me. What little girl wouldn't want a party?! The weather was perfect for riding, even baby Nathaniel enjoyed being in papa's arms basking in the sunshine.













Val and Daniel had fun riding the go kart. Ummm, we laughed a bit because the wheels were screaming for help...I think there was just a little too much weight on them. LOL

SteveO went up a steep hill on the quad and got stuck on a rock. Jim had to go rescue him. At the same time, Daniel took the go kart up another steep hill and the go kart starting smoking. LOL We stood back and watched the comedy show. It was fun to watch all the guys get stuck...

It was a fun weekend. Tiffani had a great time as well as all the guys. We'll be doing this again in a few weeks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!!

Today is Tiffani's 10th birthday. Wow, I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She always amazes us with her drama queen personality. Tiffani is probably one of the most outgoing little girls that I know...that's what makes her so special. We wouldn't have it any other way. We are so proud of the girl that she has become.

We love you baby girl!! Happy 10th Birthday!!!

Love Mommy & Daddy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL!!!

Today is Daniel's 22nd birthday.

He is Val's boyfriend.

Val is so blessed to have such a nice young man.

We are blessed to know that she found a great guy.

Nathaniel is blessed to be so loved by him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL!!!

May your day be as special as you are!

Wordless Wednesday- Who's Grandma's Favorite Boy??

Been busy.....

Man, I'm so ready to go back to work. I can't believe I still have another week off. It stinks! It's much

more work being home...plus, I'm sick of my children.

They are sick of me also. I don't blame them though.

So, I've been busy doing some scrapbooking. I did this really cute acrylic 8x8 book for Valerie. It's simple, but it's what she likes. The book is a brag book about baby Nathaniel. I have all the pics glued in, I just need to add some journalling and some embellishments now.

I made a Marvel Superhero acrylic book for my great-nephew's 1st birthday. It was super cute but like a dork, I forgot to snap

some pics. Ugh!!

Besides scrapping I've been making some prototypes of my purses. I have several done, along with the labels that I want. I'll hit the printers this week to get my labels made up. Now I just need to get a website up. I stink at graphic designing so I desperately need to find someone that has a clue what to do. I stink!!

Jim has also been working on his prototype. We got all the info for the patent. Kinda scarey yet exciting at the same time. We have people interested in Jim's thingy and have several on order, we just can't sell them till the patent application is processed. Jim is so stinkin' smart...I can't wait for this to take off for him. He always amazes me with his brilliant ideas...guess that's why I love him so much.

So, we are beginning the first steps into FULFILLing our goals for this year. I read a quote in the January Creating Keepsake mag that said: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!" David Thoreau

I love this quote...I'm going to print it out and put it in my scrapbook room, on my computer, in Jim's office and other places that will remind to follow my dreams with confidence.

Have a blessed day...XOXOXO

2008 Goals

I visit many blogs each day, one is Ali Edward's. Her blog is always so encouraging and uplifting. She always gives you something to think about. For 2008, she was asking her readers to come up with one word to describe their goal for this new year. I chose, "FULFILL." I want to fulfill some of my long term life goals.

The first is to graduate from APU. This is something I should have done 15 years ago, but life and family were far more important. If all goes well, I should finish APU on 12/17/08 with an estimated graduation date of 12/20/08, just days after I turn 40.

I also need to pass the CSET test for teachers. I will be taking it in March and I'm totally freaking already. I have a great group of classmates that will be with me on this journey. We will start having study sessions so that we can do well on this test.

In the beginning of last year Jim and I were messing around with some ideas. We love to dirt bike ride, go to races and rock climbing events. We live in an area that caters to that sport. Our joking around lead to some fantastic ideas and we have compiled them up. We want so badly to act upon our ideas and open up this business. We just have no clue where to start. We have people saying, "We know this guy that can do this, and we know someone who can do that." But...still no emails or calls from any of them. 2008 is going to be the year we do this. I don't care what I have to do, we are doing this. I know nothing about graphic design or where to start, but I'm going to find a way. Even if it means going door to door to get the answers. So...stay tuned, you will see our business get off it's feet.

Another thing I need to get going is my scrapbooking. I've not done much of that lately. I seem to do alot of cards and altered stuff lately. I'm totally missing my scrapping. Plus, I have this cute little guy to scrap about.

Last on my "must do" list is visit with my TCC friends. These are true friends that have been a part of my life for almost 8 years. We've all been through alot with eachother's lives. Even though we all live so far apart, we still manage to have this great connection with each other. It's been a while since we've had a TCC event and we all miss them. So, hopefully this year we can all be together again like old times. There is nothing as awesome as our time together.

Now to get my bum in gear and get started on FULFILLING my dreams/goals. Toodles for now. I will leave you with a pic of Nathan and me. This was the day we were leaving the hospital. I was on zero sleep and had major bags. Isn't he just the cutest little thing.?

Happy 2008!! Good Riddens 2007!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2008!!!Wow, I can't believe it's already 2008. I'm actually looking forward to a new year. 2007 was a bit overwhelming for me. It was definitly a year of trials and disappointments. I sometimes thought I was not going to get through it, but in the end we made it. Val graduated from beauty school in March. She was so excited and we were so proud. Not to mention that we were glad that she was done with that horrible school. In April Val dropped a bomb on us by telling us that she was pregnant. We were quite disappointed...but in the end, we had a wonderful little blessing, Nathaniel. Val moved back home and life changed for us. [Photo]It's amazing how much I missed her when she was gone. In June, I finally graduated with my A.A. I actually had it done a long, long, long time ago, but I never did the whole ceremony thing. I finally did it and I was glad I did. My dream to attend Azusa Pacific University had finally come true. In July we started working on wedding stuff for Nat and Steve's wedding. Lots of sweat and hard work was spent on this wedding. I was counting down. We spent the summer enjoying the river with friends and family. We had some great times with old friends and with new friends. Life on the water was great. In August I went back to work in a new school. I love working there and being in the same school as the kids. November finally arrived and we were on the last days of preparing for the wedding. YEAH! November was very busy with baby showers, bachlorette parties, and the wedding. I even forgot my own husband's birthday, how sad is that! I will never live that one down. I was finally glad when December rolled around. Count down to Nathaniel's arrival. Poor Val was tired of being pregnant and I was tired of seeing her pregnant. Nathaniel finally arrived on 12/21. His arrival came with alot of drama and distress. In the end though, God was with us and I was able to walk out of the hospital with my daughter and grandson. Nathaniel James Knox, my grandson, has brought so much joy into our home already. He was our precious Christmas gift. We spent the last days of the year chillin' with Nat, Steve and Daniel. Valerie is recouping nicely after a few little scares here and there. I'm so glad 2007 is finally over.