Oh the places I want to go...

I have a "bucket list"... My bucket list is a list of all the places I want to see in my lifetime.  And it keeps growing.  Because, wouldn't you just know it, there are so many fascinating places out there!  This world is a glorious mixture of untamed beauty, intriguing people groups, and fascinating cultures.  It makes it hard to not want to quit everything and travel the world for, oh, forever.  I know that it would take unfathomable riches to do just that so I guess I'll just have to wait to win the big lottery jackpot (fingers crossed)!  So, for your Thursday enrichment, pleasure, entertainment, and so forth, I am sharing my Traveling Bucket List with you dear friends... Well, the top ten places at least...

1. Ireland ~ Seriously, it is my dream to go to here.  If I could only choose one of the places on my list it would most definitely be Ireland.  My life will not be complete until I go there.
2. Italy ~ I dream of the day when I can gaze at the beauty of Florence, glide in a gondola through the canals in Venice, and meander through the historical sights of Rome...
3. Paris ~ I would love to visit and gaze at the Eiffel tower all aglow at night after having spent the day walking along the Champs de Elysee... preferably with someone I loved... it is the city of love after all...
4. London ~  Another of my biggest dreams is to visit this city and then tour through the surrounding countryside... Mostly where Jane Austen lived, worked, and breathed.  That's really the dream, to go to the places in her books, see where she grew up... Too nerdy?
5. Plitvice Lakes (Croatia) ~ Thanks to a Rick Steve's Europe episode that I saw one evening on PBS (Is that even more nerdy? Please don't answer that question...) I now long to visit this place and attempt to photograph the beauty that is this natural wonder. 
6. China ~ Ever since I took that year of Mandarin Chinese in high school I've wanted to head over to this ancient land and give them a loud Ni hao wo peng yous (that's "hello friends")!
7. Spain ~ Maybe Barcelona, maybe Madrid, who really knows.  All I do know is that I am not running with the bulls, nor do I want to see anyone else running with the bulls...
8. Holland ~ What can I say?  I'm a sucker for windmills, wooden shoes, and tulips.
9. Somewhere Scandinavian ~ I really have no preference of Sweden, Norway, or Finland... Oh wait, which one has all the fjords?  That's where I want to go... just so I can say the word fjord over and over...
10. Australia ~ I think this on the list only because, well, I want to see a Koala bear... and a kangaroo... And because it's a goal to visit every continent!

I could go on and on but I'll stop with just these 10.  I know. You're welcome! I'm always looking out for you dear reader...

One of these days I am going to pack up my bags and head on out to see all the wonders of this great Earth... Someday...

Photo courtesy of Mille Motts

p.s.  There's still time to enter my giveaway!  Do you like free stuff?  Do you like to read?  Then enter here!
p.p.s. Want to enter to win a free Kindle 3G (this giveaway is not being hosted by me obviously!) Go here...

What the what?!

Confession, I used to torture my cat.  In my defense, I had no clue that I was torturing her.  I just wanted to play with her as I played with my dolls.  Dress her up in doll clothes, push her in the stroller.  But she wasn't a doll... and she hated it.  Absolutely hated every moment of the torture.  Oh, it doesn't look like that in the picture, I know, but that's the way it was. I would chase her and she would hiss at me, and then I would chase her some more, only because I was mad she was running away and hissing at me.  It was a vicious, endless cycle... What can I say, I'm an only child.  We have to find amusement on our own and consequently tend to do the weirdest things. But enough about the cat (and apparently my hidden resentment over being an only child)...

Can we just talk about this picture for a minute... I mean, really!! Those jeans?!  And is my shirt actually tucked in in some nerdly fashion?  And don't even get me started about the hair... Oh, no... here I go... I don't even know where to begin!  The bangs?!  What?!  I think this may have been the short time where my mother (yes, I'm going to blame her for this) let me get my hair permed.  But we were cheap, so it was done from a box by a family friend that "did hair".  But if I recall correctly, the place she actually did my hair was in the back of the office at the church and school we attended.  Oh, the mixture of smells from the ink (for printing bulletins of course) and perm chemicals... excuse me while I go throw up...

Goodness gracious... who ever thought I could carry off a perm?!  Oh wait... that was me...  I'm still blaming my mother though, because after all, I was only like 8 or 9 at the time. She should have known to stop me. And isn't that what mothers are really for?  To blame all of our bad decisions on?  I think I heard that somewhere once...

P.S.  Go enter my giveaway here: Really fun giveaway... if you like to read that is...

Blast from the Past

I'm sitting here listening to some music while I just chill before bed.  Nothing spectacular in that, I know... but you see, this song came on.  And this song... well, it takes me back to my teenage days.  The days where my friends and I did nothing but talk on the phone, have sleepovers, and dream about the day we would be "grown up".  I have since learned that growing up is overrated.  But it's nice to every once in a while be transported back to those days through this musical time machine.  I love it when something reminds of nothing but the "good" times.  The times we drank Sprite and ate twizzlers and hadn't experienced most of the hardships of this thing we call life.  And it makes me miss my friends.  I want to call them up (3-way calling of course, that's how we did it back then) and tell them to grab a pillow and come over for another sleepover.  We'll watch movies, and talk about boys, and forget the stresses and worries around us.  Wouldn't that just be nice.  I think about one night, where three of us got together and wrote out predictions about ourselves and each other.  And we put them in a box and hid them in my room to be read at a later time.  I think I still have those somewhere.  None of the predictions came true, thank God for that.  But it's so funny to think about what we thought back then.  We were silly... I was silly... still am sometimes...

Pity Party, Table for One...

Pity Parties are miserable... and I threw myself a pity party this morning... and last night...  You see, I was extremely disappointed in myself last night.  The Christmas fair was, well, not what I had hoped and expected.  I was completely unprepared in so many ways.  Maybe I had too high of expectations and the let down was just too much.  Mind you, I didn't fail miserably, but pretty close to it.  And my perfectionistic self couldn't handle it... and so, I decided a pity party was a perfectly reasonable way to deal with the let down of no one buying my jewelry... OK, to be honest, I did sell a few pieces, which normal humans would probably equate with success... Me however, not so much... and I've been beating myself up far too long about it.  Talking with my good co-worker-friend B, I realized that I am not finding a happy medium between the "logical" and "emotional".  I'm afraid I am solely emotional and can not see the logical through my hazy mist of disappointment.  Just tell me to get over myself... that's all I really need to do.  Sigh... someday... maybe... I can see the good and the "logical".  But, sadly, that day was not today...





My first pity party for myself? This was after I fell into a creek while fishing with the 'rents in FL... they told me not to stand so close to the edge... I didn't listen.  Typical.

 

Join me in the story circle...

Once upon a time there was this girl named Bethy who fancied herself a world class jeweler.  And one day, her friend Hannah (see her fantastic blog here: "tripping with grace") emailed her to tell her about this amazing opportunity to showcase and sell the jewelry Bethy had been working so hard on.  And the funny thing is... Bethy decided to go for this opportunity! 

The End

But not really the end.  The truth is, yes, I'm planning to sell my jewelry at a craft fair (more details to come) in Dec.  Which means, I actually have to have pieces to sell!  Fancy that!!  I was on a roll for a while there, but now that the deadline is staring me down, I've lost a little steam.  I think I'm letting some fears get me down.  The fear that I'll never have enough pieces to sell, or that no one will want to buy my jewelry.  Sigh... but I just need to go for it... and push those fears aside.  Right now I have 4 pieces to sell... I think I need about 20... which means I better get going on this!  So what am I still doing blogging... I've got some jewelry to make!  Wish me luck!

Once Upon a Saturday

This weekend is the first weekend I've actually stayed in the city in a very long time.  It just so happens that my parents house is only a mere 40 miles out of the city... and a very dear friend is there... with a new born... so, you see, there's such a pull for me to go there as much as I can.   But not this weekend.  And so I found myself with plenty of free time on my hands this Saturday morning.  Ah... the joys of a carefree day... it's loverly (name that movie).  The morning started out well.  The rooms and I went for a walk through our cute neighborhood, crunching leaves as we went.  Our first stop was to that magical land of Starbucks where I got myself a tasty pumpkin spice latte... mmmm... And then, oh my, we went to, this is exciting, a cute, local bead store! What?!?  Yes, I love this store so, so much! I may or may not have gone a little crazy there.  When we got home from our autumnal trek, I was again inspired (it's so nice to be inspired so much lately) and so I sat down to hours of fun jewelry making!  And here are some of the finished products... But first, remember the other day when I mentioned a top secret piece I made... Well, the whole reason I'm in the city this weekend was for one fabulous friends birthday extravaganza!  And these earrings were made with love, by me, for her, as a birthday present!  So, I obviously couldn't put them up on my blog before giving them to her!  But now that they've been gifted to her, I'm going to show you what they look like.  Because honestly, I  love them and almost considered not giving them to her just so I could keep them for myself.... But no worries, I didn't do that... Here they are!

Don't you just love them?!  I really do!

 

These are some fun earrings I made to match my party outfit for the evening...

Just pretty...

This one I call "Twisted Wire"

And I actually didn't do this today. Those strands of beads took forever!! I could have never done all that in one day!

I found these beads at the bead store today. They were just too fun and funky and there was no way I could pass on them!

I'm calling them "The 80's Squared"

I also found these beads today and HAD to buy them... I'm calling this bracelet "Rosie" and will be giving it to a very special little girl for Christmas...

So, busy, busy day here... tons of crafting, tons of fun!  Fan... tastic.

A Revelation...

So, I don't know if I've never noticed this or if it's a new thing, but I noticed a stats bar while working on my blog today and I thought, "Huh, interesting". So I clicked on it. And guess what, it was fan-freakin-tastic! It was a complete breakdown of how many page views (there wasn't really many) there have been on the blog, from what area of the world (who knew anyone outside the US would be reading?!), and other such fun things. So many times I've been discouraged about this whole blogging thing. I think, "Shoot, this blogging stuff is so over...". Or, more often, I just think that no one wants to read about my boring little life. But today, the revelation that people do actually read this (besides my Mom... oh wait, she actually doesn't), warmed my heart and soul. It brought tears to my eyes (granted, I do cry easily, but that's beside the point!). My heart swelled with some weird sense of pride that my words and efforts aren't meaningless! So, for those of you who suffer through and read the piddly words I put out here in the world, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I love you all!

I got my face rocked

That's right... He's seen a million faces and rocked them all... That's just the type of guy he is, that Bon Jovi... Friday night I wore my "spectator?"... "concert-goer?"... "rocker chick?" hat at the Kid Rock/ Bon Jovi concert. And it... was... fantastic! I was starting to get a little sick, but I went anyway... probably not the wisest decision I've ever made, I'll grant you that... but it certainly was one of the funnest decisions! My friend and I had a good time rockin' out with that handsome, handsome Bon Jovi... I mean, whew!! Who knew a 70 year old man could still be so good looking?! Oh, he's not 70... sorry... my mistake...

Anyway, here's our view from Fri. night... we were so close...

or... maybe... not... OK, OK... we were in total nosebleed land... and let me tell you... those stairs walking up to the tippy top of the spaceship that has come to rest on Soldier Field are killer!!! I didn't want to go to the bathroom halfway through the evening because I was terrified to walk up the stairs again! Seriously... I was afraid I would die... but I went ahead and made my way down to the bathroom and then up the steep mountainous steps... again... and I almost did die... see... look...

This is my "I almost died from climbing 5,000 stairs" face... not pretty...

But like I said, we had a great time... Here are some snapshots from the event... Notice that I forgot my photographer's cap at home that night and got some really terrible pictures... oops! What can I say other than... I'm sorry, but enjoy!

There's Kid Rock... he was, um... interesting....

You know, I can't tell if this was Kid Rock or Bon Jovi... Can you figure it out for me please?

Oh... my... there he is... Those are some lucky concert goers way down there...

We just reveled from way up in the sky... and that was OK with us...

Things that are like crack to me right now

This video...

This blog....

The Pioneer Woman

And this show...

Seriously... like crack to my poor addicted little soul.... can't get enough!

Sundays are for relaxing... and blogging about your weekend...

Right now I'm wearing my night cap... so what if it's only 5... Sundays are just the perfect day for relaxing. I intend to enjoy this one to the fullest...

Yesterday was a good day. I wore my cowgirl/birthday party hat... yeah, try imagining that one... My Dad and I went out to our county fair Saturday late morning...

I've decided that county fairs are solely there to sell you farm equipment and to be a place to find anything you could ever imagine deep fried and/or on a stick.... and speaking of fried food... this is what my dad and I partook of while at the fair...

Elephant ear for the pops... and a much healthier and smarter (just give me this one, OK) choice of fried veggies for me... my tongue was numb for hours... burnt from all that fresh, hot oil.... Good thing I had some fresh squeezed lemonade handy....

We rode the Ferris wheel....

And check out this sign!!! Too funny! I laughed so hard!!!

Anyway... after that was a birthday party for my wonderful cousin...

I just love the time I spend with my family! We don't have to do anything but be in the same room with each other, and it's fun! Per my cousin's request, my Aunt made "Grandma's Famous Rice and Beans"...

Notice above the proper technique of eating the Spanish rice and beans... Step 1) Tear strip of tortilla. Step 2) Scoop bite of yummy rice and tasty beans into tortilla. Step 3) Enjoy!!

I'll spare you the details of the rest of the birthday party, but we had fun... just being together. Seriously, it was great... And then I had an impromptu photo shoot with this little thing...

She wasn't the most cooperative model... she just wanted to play... and then she just got snooty and stuck up... so I said, "That's it Sophie! We're through!" And she brought me her toy... and we made up... The end...


Ah!!! Who let these two crazy girls in?!?!?!?



P.S. I've decided to try my hand at making jewelry and as I was talking to my family about it this weekend, my aunt remembered something.... she had a whole tub full of old jewelry that used to belong to my Grandma... so she brought it up and let me go through it to take whatever I might want to use in this new adventure.... check out the stash I walked away with... exciting!!

Today I am just myself... I'm wearing the "me" hat... and that's OK with me... I do want to sing the praises of a form of technology that is not new, but new to me. You see, I have never had a DVR or Tivo or anything like it. But you know what, I do now. And guess what? I don't know how I ever lived without it! Seriously! I don't miss my favorite shows, I can pause the tv when I need to (who knew how handy and helpful that was), and the BEST part... I can skip commercials!! Oh my... that is heaven to me because I seriously, seriously hate commercials. I think I'm in love...