Friday, September 28, 2012

Just a Quote for Friday



"The little reed, bending to the force of the wind,
soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over."

A line from Aesop's Fable: The Oak and the Reed

(My family will understand the significance of my quote this week.
And thanks to Rinda for the inspiration from her blog.)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A Walk in the Park for Team Teal

Hey friends! Today I'm sharing a few of the photos that Carrie took last Sunday when we walked in the ovarian cancer awareness walk sponsored by the NOCC.

 There were some sweet little girls doing face painting which seemed like a great idea at the time. I'm not sure what kind of paint they were using, but let me tell you, this stuff was hard to wash off later!


This balloon arch was really cool! See those little monsters just behind the right side? I had to use my "mom voice" on the way into the event. They were popping balloons pop-pop-pop and having such a fun time giggling and...well...being kids. {Where was their mother?} I was prepared for a lecture from Carrie but she was on my side - said I wasn't too hard on them. {My girl is growing up.}

 


I love that Carrie still holds hands with me from time to time. :o)


My work friend Ann lost her sister {Linda} to ovarian cancer a few years ago, and she's the one who told us about the benefit walk. I looked everywhere for her before, during, and after the walk and she looked for me, but we never found each other.

When Carrie sent me these photos, I couldn't believe it when I saw the last shot. There I am on the right (#476) just crossing the finish line, and THERE is my friend, ANN on the left (#400) with her group just leaving the event. So funny it appears that we are looking right at each other, but neither of us noticing the other.


Awesome that I still managed to score a photo of my friend,
Ann, and me for my Project Life! {Well done, Carrie!}

A beautiful morning for a walk,
a great cause to walk for,
a wonderful mom to walk in honor of,
and an amazing daughter to walk with.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Right now I am:


...preparing for another trip to California to visit my mom;

...writing a blog post about the serendipity of finding friends in unusual places;

...dreaming of Christmas and wondering how that will be for my family this year;

...praying for my sweet grandma who is having a really rough time knowing that my mom is losing her battle with ovarian cancer; {My grandma's name is Gertrude if you'd like to lift her name in love and prayer.}

...wishing political viewpoints in my country weren't laced with so much anger and hatred for the opposite side;

...and seriously considering unsubscribing from a few "friends" on Facebook until after our presidential election;

...looking forward to seeing Jason Mraz in concert next week with my girl C;

...waiting to hear back from the computer repair guy as our home computer is having issues;

...shopping for a dress for my nephew's wedding next month {wish me luck}; and

...looking for my sense of adventure that seems to have faded a bit. Maybe I'll find it while...

...planning a trip to England with Carrie next spring. {Eeeep!}

What are you up to right now?

Monday, September 24, 2012

First Autumn Weekend Recap

Greetings, friends.
We had a lovely and busy weekend, and I have a few photos to show for it...

Friday evening we had friends in town that we hadn't seen in about 6 years. They arrived for dinner and we talked and laughed and ate and drank until midnight. And took not one photo! The only photo I have is this one that I took before they arrived - part of a table centerpiece for the evening...

After our friends left and I realized I hadn't taken any photos I was pretty bummed, but then I realized - hey, we had so much fun and it was so good to see them that I didn't think about anything other than enjoying our time together. That's a good thing - and I don't need a photo to remind me of that. {But it sure would have been nice for my Project Life book...}

And speaking of Project Life, I actually created a few layouts for my book this weekend.

And this one with lots of 2"x2" photos from my nephew's birthday party {page protector is for coin collectors but worked out great for all these photos!}.

Yesterday morning Carrie and I participated in the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition's Walk/Run to Break the Silence event. It was a beautiful morning for a walk, and for a great cause too. We thought about my mom every step of the way!

After the walk we had breakfast together, and then a fresh teal pedicure {although in this photo they look blue so you'll have to trust me - they are teal!}. You can read more about teal toes here.

Don't you just love sweet surprises? Like the inside of this little watermelon with its natural heart shapes inside? :o)
And with that I'm off to conquer the last week in September. Can you hardly believe it? I've been seeing Christmas-y posts here and there and you just know that will be here before we know it. With all the stuff I have going on in my head these days, I'm not sure there's room in there for Christmas yet, so this should be an interesting Autumn. And winter.
Oh well, I'll deal with it.
And be blessed along the way.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Rinda's 2012 Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt Recap

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Today I'm linking up with my dear friend, Rinda, and giving a recap of the photos I found for her 2012 Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt. I'm posting these photos in the order that the items were listed on Rinda's blog...

Item #1 - a pier
Ok, right out of the gate, I'm using the option to substitute one item with a photo of a heart shaped rock. I wasn't able to find a pier this summer, so I give you heart rocks in my little garden:

Thing two: a clothesline
Oh dear. Wouldn't you think that living in a sunny place like Arizona there would be a plethora of clotheslines to be photographed? Nope. None in my neighborhood or anywhere I've looked, so I'm throwing in this photo that I snapped over my parent's backyard fence. Not an attractive shot, but a clothesline, nonetheless.

Item #3 - a border
Taken in Rexy's habitat...

Item #4 - A roadside stand selling something
One of my favorite photos from the scavenger hunt - my step-dad Rod purchasing goods from a roadside-stand-selling-something-guy who posed for the shot. :o)

Item #5 - a train
Our local light rail transportation. We took this train in July, going to downtown Phoenix for a Diamondback's game.

Item #6 - a historical landmark:

Item #7 - someone {my girl C} playing a musical instrument:

Item #8 - a statute of an angel

Item #9 - a fountain

Item #10 - a horse

Item #11 - a shadow

Item #12 - a trail

Item #13 - a library

Item #14 - someone playing with a ball
Ok, a bit of a stretch - Instagram of the Diamondback's game we attended in July...

Item #15 - someone dancingTotal bust on this one, and I suppose I could have asked someone I know to dance for me, but it just didn't happen.

Item #16 - a bride

Item #17 - a church

Item #18 - a movie poster - Not having a shot for this item is my own fault! I had a chance to take a photo this past week and blew it. ~sigh~

Item #19 - an outdoor stairway

Item #20 - a swing hanging from a tree

Item #21 - a photo of me with something that symbolizes my nation
My plans to create this shot with myself holding a small replica of the Statue of Liberty didn't happen (no statue available) so I give you a photo of me with one of my sunflowers from this year's crop. How fortunate am I to live in a county where I have the freedom {and a little piece of planet to call my own} to grow these happy flowers.
And speaking of fortunate - having a clever friend like Rinda who has sponsored this photography scavenger hunt two summers in a row now. It was so much fun to see what everyone has photographed this summer, and you can see a list of links to other's on Rinda's blog {click here}.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Community Farming


The land around my parent's neighborhood is rich with agriculture. Last weekend while I was visiting, I ventured out for a walk with my camera, and just a few blocks from where they live I came across a community farming plot.


I know, the photo above is of weeds, but I loved the way the light was shining on them. ~click~ 


I thought it was cool that this field was sectioned off with markers,
indicating the individual sections that families were farming. 


All in all, a lovely Sunday morning walk with my trusty camera.


What about your neighborhood?
Any community farming plots near you?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Cowboy Birthday ~ Yee Haw!!!

My sweet nephew turned four last week and my visit with my mom landed
on the same weekend as his birthday party. So I got to help! :o)
Wanna' see?


I made the bunting by cutting two bandannas in fourths and tying them together. The treat bags/party favors were bandannas filled with prizes and then tied with jute. My sister ordered the cute little straw cowboy hats from an online source, and the party was held in a "party barn" in my sister's town. The kids had so much fun!

I'm so happy I got to share this day with Stone.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Last night with Sparky, Doug, and Hobo Joe


These days, when I come home from a visit with my mom, I need something bring me back down to normal. {If there is a "normal."} I needed some garden therapy, so I hit the nursery section of our local home improvement store and bought flowers in dirt.


After work, Doug cleaned out his paint bucket while I procrastinated about making dinner...


~sigh~ Everything in the ground, Doug showered {and ready for dinner}, neighborhood stray cat enjoying the view...


This pretty flowering shrub is called "Sparky" after Arizona State University's mascot. It's engineered to match ASU's colors {burgundy and gold} and a portion of the proceeds go to the "Fund for Landscape Architecture Students" at ASU. Cool, huh?

What's in the dirt around your place these days?
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