Christmas time!

Well, another fabulous christmas at our house!

Charlie spoiled me rotten as usual..new boots, a wii, cashmere sweater, gloves and scarves, a new jim shore snowman for my collection....I was really good this year!!! hee-hee.

Travis and rebecca were here, she got travis a new tattoo for his birthday so we went christmas eve to watch him get it done...pictures to follow...

It was a nice quiet day with the kids flying home to see rebeccas family and I stayed here to cook dinner, joe and ethan stopped by and we had fun playing on my new wii. We got charlie's mom on skpe to talk to her daughter in new zealand face to face, boy, that was fun, she did not expect to be talking to margie face to face and it was a shocker for her, but it will be nice she can talk to her live all the time!! They are very close and it was a christmas to remember with them being together over the world wide web!! They even left skype up and on and watched us play on the wii and saw us eat dinner while they ate breakfast, did you know when it is 3:00 pm here it is the next day and 11:00 am there...amazing!!

So all in all it was a nice christmas, I loved having my son here, he announced that he and rebecca will be getting married Oct. 23 2010!! So exciting!!!

Hope everyone had a great christmas...see you all in 2010!!

Travis's birthday gift, a poker chip set and table layout!

The happy couple! His new tattoo!

Me in all my christmas morning glory!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happiness and health to us all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

Little Travis!




At the Beach!

Last year at Christmas!

My little monkey is 26 years old today! He is flying in at noon to spend his birthday with me, then he and rebecca will fly home christmas day to spend time with her family.

You have brightened all my days in the past 26 years with your love, compassion and laughter! You are a good man, just like I imagined all those 26 years ago when I held you in my arms for the first time!
I love you Travis Carl!!

Santa hat photo!

2004

2007

2009

Every Year I have taken a photo of Ethan in a santa hat...I don't have every year on my computer but here are 3 years worth...We watched him last night and I got this years photo, they grow up so fast!

Grandpa and Ethan 2009

The leaves outside are falling...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....only it is snowing leaves instead of the white stuff....Who is cleaning this mess up???

Gotta be my poor honey bunny, cause it is way too cold for me outside!!! We are in the 40's here!! BBBRRRRRR!!!

I can't survive if it is in the 30's so I better just stay in by my fake fireplace and snuggle up with a hot latte!!

I got the tree up!! I bought some teal colored stuff at joanns, 60% off, hey maybe I will wait until a week before christmas to decorate every year..cheap decorations are out!

I love the little birds!!

Christmas fun!

Yesterday I attended the annual jewelry girls christmas party...I drew Colleen Mylers name and made her a "sassy chica" bracelet, because that is our Myler a "sassy chica"!! Susan drew my name and made me a fabulous cat necklace, her beading is wonderful, and Susan made the glass pieces herself!!
The party was held at June's house, a beautiful home up in sun city summerlin!
Thank you June for letting us enjoy your home for the day, I hope we did not make too big a mess!
I hope we can do this all again next year, what a fun group of gals!!
Well, Here are some photos to enjoy...Most of the jewelry girls!

Junes view from her porch, she does not know this, but I am moving in!!

My fabulous cat necklace and earrings from Susan!

My gift to Myler, don't worry she loves orange and green together!!

Luncheon!

I went to my Desert Newcomers Luncheon yesterday, it was our christmas luncheon and we went to Lawry's Prime Rib. We had 140 women in attendence. It was a wonderful venue and the lunch was fabulous! Salad, prime rib, yorkshire pudding, mash potatoes and a wonderful strawberry dessert. The entertainment was a Neil Diamond impersonator, Rob Garrett, he was won numerous awards for his interpertation of Neil.
So in honor of that I would like to present my favorite Neil Diamond song, well one of them, I like many of his songs! Here he is on the johnny cash show so you get too see a little of the man in black too!

Cowboy Christmas!

Charlie and I went to cowboy christmas, it is at the las vegas convention center, it is a huge shopping extravaganza for all things western wear! No, we did not see these guys pictured below, but we did see a lot of other cowboys!! Charlie even bought some boots! Now, if I can just get him in a pair of chaps!! hahahaha!

Wow it's december!!

Dang, time is flying! I am busy working on my christmas card cd's so hang in there they will be in the mail by next week!! Everyone is anxiously awaiting them!! I can just tell!
This year will be a modern day christmas....Working on the cover for it now!

Well, I just have a few christmas gifts to pick up and my baby boy will be 26 on the 23rd of this month so he gets birthday and christmas!! Lucky!
He will be out with his girlfriend on the 23rd and then they will leave on christmas day to be with her family.
Ok off to get some work done! See you back here real soon!

Concert Time!!

I got tickets to see Dwight Yoakam saturday night in Primm.
Tanya and her son Louie went too, Louie drove, Thanks Louie the traffic was hell but you got us there!

Wow, I have been listening to Dwight's music for years and thought he would not be good in concert, wow, I was wrong! He came out singing and never stopped, all the good stuff too!!
Little Sister, Back Of your Hand, If there was a way!! I was bummed he did not sing Suspicous Minds, but he did start it and turned it into To Love Somebody......Real Nice! Oh and that little shaking and twisting and butt wiggling was worth every penny you can spend on a ticket to see him!!!

I wanted to share this video, I know you have to put up with the crowd noise but it is the best one I could find, this is just how it was for us last night, same clothes and band and we were sitting just a couple more rows back...Yeah we had great seats!! Thanks Tanya for being a Dwight Yoakam Fan and sharing the man with me!

Turkey!

I finally cooked a turkey that was delicious!!

All it took was: grease it up with oil and butter, stuff it, put it in a bag, place it upside down on a rack in a pan, cook it for 4 hours at 325. My husband may have flipped it upright in this photo but it was cooked upside down! On a v-rack.

There was tons of juice!! And the meat was tender and good!
Yep that's all it took!

Christmas was early?

Charlie and I have been saving up for a big flat screen tv, sunday we decided to take the plunge and buy it so we would have it in time to watch 3 football games on thanksgiving...last week Colleen backed me up in picking out the fireplace mantel that would house the new TV....I needed to know it was not too cheesy, she confirmed that is was a nice piece of furniture for 500.00.
Well, on sunday we got a 47 inch flat screen from costco..a vizio 1080p and 240hz, don't ask what that means we just know after researching flat screens that those are the numbers you want!
We got home and I made us a nice chorizo breakfast, then we got to work, putting the fireplace together...WOW, this fireplace thing is very substanial, heavy dark cherry wood, the hardware for the piece is heavy duty stuff. We finished and it looks beautiful, got the TV up and running after hours of cables and connections and etc..we have to have our stereo reciever set up to play music off the tv and out to the pool, then we have the dvd player and our dish network reciever...whew! We finished up and turned off the lights lit the fireplace (uh, pushed the on button) and put some christmas music on the TV..Charlie was impressed, the fireplace looks real! And it has a heater that heats up to 400 sq feet, just enought to make the living room nice and cozy! I now have to find two small bookcases too match it and then a coffee table and two endtables, I may just stain the ones we have?? Gotta think on that one! So Merry Christmas early everyone!

Girls Night Out!

How they look today!

Last night I got to see Loggins and Messina!! Wow, they are still going strong, this video is from 1981 but it is one of my favorite songs and last night I got to see them sing it Live! They had a great band with them, and the saxophone players really jammed during this song!

Gotta thank Tanya, Erin, and Colleen for hanging with me, and my wonderful husband for doing the driving to Primm!

Going to the Chapel!!

Saturday we attended Jim and Shell's wedding, they have been together for 10 years and decided it was time to get hitched! Jim is Joe and Mary Flores's son, we have been friends with the Flores family for about 13 years now and they are more fun then a barrel of monkeys!! It is always an adventure when we all get together! We had a funtime and wish we could get together with them more often! Happy Honeymoon Jim and Shell!!

The King!

Well, since I posted about the queen, I figured we needed a little bit of the King!
I have been listening to the Elvis station on my xmradio, yeah, a whole station of just Elvis music, I heard this song the other day and I really love his version! Enjoy!

The Queen!

I can't believe I made this stunning piece! I just love it! The first photo shows the silver heart and crown finished, the second photo shows how the silver starts out, I only had a couple peices of scrap left but you get the idea, I started with a flat piece of sterling silver sheet..Colleen gives us the shape of a heart and crown that we cut out, then we have to shape and pound and solder and glue and cut and lace..well you get the idea there too, lots of love and work went into this!! It was a blast to make! I am going to wear it with with pride!!

Giddy Up!!

Meet my new everyday boots!! Aren't they gorgeous and a girl has to be gorgeous to live in Las Vegas!
My old boots were falling apart and needed replacing before winter. I wear boots everyday in the fall and winter. I love wearing my boots! I feel like a big strong cowgirl - like I can do anything as long as I got my boots on!
Before you know it spring and summer will be here and I will be wearing flip flops all the time but for now you can find me in my new boots living and loving Las Vegas!

Retired!

Glass!

Wow, talk about a let down! Geez, it does not look like this when you are making it...and for spending 100.00 (30.00 on class and 60.00 on supplies) you would think the teacher would give some kind of instruction on what it will look like when it is fired!! I am really dissappointed, and a little upset about buying a class and getting no instruction except a 2 minute lesson on how to break glass and 1 minute on how to grind glass. Very unorginized place and they need to have samples of what the glass will look like once fired, I will not be back and I will not buy more glass without knowing what it will do once fired!
What a waste of a sunday!! I still have a dish that I need to pick up and I think when I go back I will take these pieces and ask for my money back for the class, 30.00!
I will look into finding a better glass place to learn, it is fun to do!

Cooking with glass???

Hi,
I put a new recipe on my cooking blog! It was yummy!

I also went with my friends to a glass fusing class near here, and I will post what I made tomorrow! We pick up the pieces thursday!
I am not sure it is something I can pursue, as it is a little expensive, I would need a kiln and more tools and glass but it sure was fun to play with!! I can't wait to see how my pieces came out!
Stay tuned!!

November already!!

Geez, time is flying!! Slow down world!!

I have lots to get accomplished by the end of the year!

Stay tuned more fun from Las Vegas arriving shortly!

Happy Halloweenie!

Have a fun and safe Halloween!!

Biker Babe!

Colleen decided to name this bracelet biker babe, so I decided to go to class dressed like a biker babe..hahaha...I got Tanya to join in on the fun but I did not get a photo of Tanya, she was cool looking too, her daughter (a tattoo artist) tattooed her knuckles (in pen) that said Love Hate on them and she had her hubbies biker helmet and a leather jacket, we rocked the house! I love the bracelet, very cool and I have some fun memories to go with it as it was our friend Jerry's birthday that day as well, we all had a great time!!

Wow, where did a week go??

Ok, I have been on the go for 7 days!!

Last week I had the Desert newcomer luncheon, we had a fashion show at the Treasure Island hotel, the food was fabulous! I had chicken over a bed of asparagus risotto with a nice cream sauce, it was heavenly. Last night Charlie had shrimp with aspargus risotto at the olive garden, he loved it, so I guess I will atempt some risotto in the near future on my cooking blog!

I also had a jewelry class but I can't show you what I made as it is a christmas gift for my sister!

Oh, and we got swamped with work only because two insurance companies are down employees right now, once they are back we will be slow again!

Oh, I have to share some party favors I made for a friends birthday party, I had to make 25 of them and I used my cricut machine to make the little heart bags, then decorated and put candy and hung a cat charm also:

Music Monday!

My sister turned me on to this band..Kings of Leon...and I love how he sings this song...He really puts some emotion in it and I love that....oh and I updated my cooking blog, check it out for some new recipes!

Scrappin away!

Hey sorry I have been slow to catch up, spent the weekend in Ontario at the scrapbook expo. It was a fabulous getaway! We stayed at the Ayers Hotel and suites, highly recommend Ayers anywhere, when we crop at the costa mesa expo we stay at the Ayers there, beautiful hotels and you get so pampered, the food in the hotel restaurants is always great too!

So Friday, Mary NR, and Mary F, and Christy (Jeff her hubby, was there too, but he only ate with us , he has not learned to scrap yet!) and I hit the Scrap Room to steak out a table, then we are off to the next buiding for non stop shopping, not much new stuff in the industry right now but it did not stop us from shopping! Then we settled in and scrapped until 11:00pm, got up saturday and did it all over and now Marlene joined us, we scrapped until 11:00pm again, we did stop to have dinner, we headed off to El Torito, Mary NR being the D-Driver so me and Mary F could have a Margarita, Thanks Mary NR!! Travis and Rebecca joined us for dinner and we laughed and giggled and had a fun time! Sunday found me back on a plane and home to hubby, the only problem...when I put in my camera card to show him the photos they did not import and I deleted them without knowing they did not import, so I have no photos, the girls will send me some of theirs so you can check them out later...I will show two layouts I did...Toby's "no paparazzi" shot Mary NR took of him, and our 20th anniversary pages, enjoy and get out and do something creative it is so much fun!!

Art and Soul

Hi,

If you love altered art or art or just plain making neat stuff...you must go here!

February of 2010, (that is coming up quick!!) It will be held here in Las Vegas, You can stay at the Paris hotel for 99.00 or Ballys for even less!! And take these all day, all inspiring classes, I am taking two classes and getting to stay at the Paris one night, Love that! So check out the website and join a class, it will be quite an adventure! Click here: Art and Soul Retreat Art Workshops and Art Festival

Copper Class!!

I love going to copper class, the cutting, hammering, the filing, it is all so thereputic! If you have never taken a metal class, especially copper work, run right out and join one, it is the most fun you can have with a hammer! We cut, pounded, colored a cuff bracelet, but while everyone was making their second piece, that was supposed to be a leaf pendant, I made a ring to match my cuff...I know, I know, I am such a rebel but wow is this a nice set or what?? I love it!! Goes great with my tan that will soon be fading due to tempatures in the dang 60's here...Oh my gosh, who turned off the heat!!! Well I have lots of jewelry classes to keep me happy and warm, so stay tuned! Oh coming up is a guitar bracelet that will go great with my guitar necklaces!
If you are in vegas and want to take jewelry classes go to www.beadmetaler.blogspot.com and contact Colleen...and if you want to buy any of my jewelry creations check out my etsy shop at www.peaceloveandartshop.com hey, that didn't sound too much like a commercial did it???

Jewelry Fun!

These Jewlery Girls celebrated their birthdays in september so at open bead day we had cake and watched them open some pretty amazing gifts, all the women in the group are so talented, birthdays are such a special treat!

Here's Tanya, that is an altered art shadow box I made her, she likes all things spooky and creepy!!

That's Miss Patty, she looks great in those glasses!! I made her a bracelet that says "sing sweet bird" as she is always belting out in songs!!

That's our fearless leader, Colleen, (tanya calls her "boss"), I made her a shadow box with the starfish story in it and a necklace to go with it, it has a beach looking bead and a starfish and a little silver art piece that says "it matters to that one"....I had such a fun time figuring out to what to make for my friends!! They are really special to me, each one unique and wonderful!!

Busy weekend!

Wow it feels like sunday, I have been on the go all weekend so far!

Friday I went to dinner with Tanya, Jerry and June at Hofbrauhouse, wow, that was one crazy place! Beer was everywhere and guys were getting shots and swats of jagermeister, yeah get a shot and the server swats you with a paddle!! Germans and beer are a weird combo! Food was not what I expected but I am glad I tried it, some suasages, potaotes and saurkraut.

Then we went to the Hardrock hotel across the street and saw Van Morrison, damn he is still rocking good!! Loved it!

Tanya was my DD so she dropped me at sunset station where I met up with my hubby who was coming back from being at the henderson car show all day, we slept in and had coffee together, then he left to finish the carshow and I met up with Pat K and Amanda for breakfast and bingo. I won 7.00, Pat won 34.00 and our lucky little Amanda won 225.00!!! Whhheeeee! I am back home and gotta get going on laundry and house work!

Oh the Agony!

Today is the first day of Autumn/Fall.
I hate today.
The air conditioner is off the windows and doors are open, and it is nippy in the air.
My pool is covered.
Leaves are all over the yard.

I am going back to bed.
Wake me when June 15th 2010 is here!

Finally!

Charlie and I finally went to see Blue Man Group after living here 8 years! It was a fun little show, we laughed quite a few times and rolled toilet paper over our heads.....don't ask just go see the show next time you are in town!!
Oh and be sure to eat at the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian, the food is fabulous, I had shaking beef and caramel chicken (it was a combo so I got to try a little bit of both) Charlie got a combo too, shrimp scampi and chicken parmagian, he said it was the most tender chicken parm he had ever ate!
Go out and have fun, enjoy your life now, tomorrow may be too late!!