4.27.2012

hello oregon!

this is the way to road trip! taking a 9 hour drive and breaking it up over two days is restful and fun! we left the bay area a little after noon yesterday and drove up to weed, ca. yep weed. 
we stayed in this super exciting &  classy comfort inn. 

i dubbed this the blogging chair. it was the least sketchy chair in the room.
on the way up we stopped in dunsmuir and ate dinner at the dunsmuir brewery works. what a great find! good food and great beer (says hubby- my two sips were tasty!) 
after dinner we  the crazy little Curiosity Shop where i bought vintage jewelry and buttons. it was the strangest collection of stuff i've seen in one store in a long time and more than a little sketchy but i got lots of buttons & bead & vintage earrings for $6!

Dunsmuir Brewery Works. Beer for him, root beer for me!

we finished up the drive today with a quick four hours up to sisters. we got to catch up with old friends over great coffee and meet new friends over great beer (and fish & chips!)
Three Creeks Brewing, Sisters, OR

i am so excited to be here this weekend for robyn and tex's wedding. robyn is such a blessing in my life and has been since the moment we met. to see her with tex makes my heart smile; God has blessed her with a wonderful man and i am so honored to be a part of the ceremony that will join them as husband and wife! i'll be back after the weekend with pictures from alcatraz, more snap recap and fun stories of this beautiful wedding weekend & our last little getaway before the summer of chaos begins. 
did i mention the hotel upgraded us to a jacuzzi/fireplace suite?! the perfect little surprise to end our time away just the two of us!
love these girls. LOVE!

4.26.2012

just be you!

SNAP! has come and gone.
i'm not quite back to real life since we've continued our trip out west.
we've had some time with b's family, i've gotten to squeeze our adorable nephew, 
we visited alcatraz (picture heavy post coming soon)
and now we're headed north for a dear friend's wedding. 
through all of this excitement i've been processing what i learned at SNAP. 

i'll do a few detailed posts later this week or next week when i get home but
i just want to share a few of the things swirling in my head. 
the theme of the conference was 
Just Be You
necklace generously given to all the attendees by the wonderful amy cornwell
i have had to just stop there and think.
just be you is wonderful. 
we are all unique.
gifted & talented in different ways. 
no matter how many craft bloggers and shop owners are out there
we are each
different.
beautiful.
unique.
there is no need to compare ourselves to other, bigger shops or bloggers.
there's no need to try to be something we're not.
just be you.

here's the thing.
i've had a hard time lately figuring out how to be me.
there was a time, 
before the depression 
that i knew exactly who i was and it was easy.
easy to live as i was created to live.
i spent a time living in a thick darkness
where i hardly knew who i was or what i was doing.  
the depression has lifted {most days} but a fog lingers.
a fog that keeps me from seeing exactly just who i am
and getting back to who i was. 

so the thing swirling around in my head right now is
just be you! 
but how? 

wow, so that got heavier than expected. 
let's end on a happy note!
SNAP! was a wonderful time,
a refreshing weekend away from a life that is draining,
full of people who understand me.
i ate delicious food.
i collected all the bacon from the people who didn't like it. more for me!

i was inspired to grow. 

i stayed up late and laughed til i cried with these beautiful ladies. 

how's that for a quick little post? 
more later about all i learned and the beautiful ladies i spent time with!
also...i took about 4 pictures with my real camera so 
if you were at SNAP! pleaaaase go upload your pictures
to the flickr group! sharing is caring! 

4.18.2012

and we're off!

vacation! it couldn't have come at a better time. with hubby set to student teach in the fall {full time hours. zero dollars.} we are both planning on working a 2nd job this summer. the impending financial situation and long hours apart have us a little stressed out so we are so excited to get away. our trip actually starts with a few days apart. i'm on a plane right now headed for SNAP! Creativity At Your Fingertips, a handmade blogging & biz conference in salt lake city.  {sitting next to the world's worst airplane sleeper. i've been knocked into 6+ times and he's floppin all over the place!} i'm so excited to hug these girls and meet new friends! i was going to link to my post about meeting wonderful people at creative estates last year but i was a super deadbeat and didn't write one. that will NOT happen this year. 
while i head to utah, hubby is flying home to the bay area where i will join him on sunday. he'll be going to giants games, riding his bike all over the bay area and catching up with some friends. after the conference i fly to california and we spend a few days there in which i will be hanging out with this guy as much as possible. 
dear ezekiel, please stop growing when aunt jacqui & uncle b aren't around to see it. thanks!

also eating a lot of frozen yogurt. 

also we're going to alcatraz! hooray!! that's the one touristy thing i've always wanted to do when we visit b's family but it hasn't worked out until now. we're doing the night tour which is supposed to be extra fabulous and probably kinda scary. and awesome. 
{source}

then b & i are driving up to sisters oregon for the wedding of this dear friend.
yeah we're weirdos. and that's why we love each other.

b & i are so excited to have some time by ourselves and to take a day or two to drive up to oregon. hooray random road trip adventures & hotels paid for by the inlaws. i'm also so grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this wedding, and cannot wait to stand up and read the Word of God at this blessed ceremony. plus the bachelorette party, pedicures, rehearsal dinner & getting to hug these two are all reasons to be very excited! 

i'll be tweeting and facebooking up a storm while i'm gone. and probably filling your instagram feed with pictures of the fun. follow along here, here and here

4.14.2012

insta-friday: down & back again

soo this is actually a little over a week. from the weekend of palm sunday until now. i've been down to chicagoland twice in the past week. two weeks ago i went down for a baby shower for one of my oldest friends. 
friends since elementary school. congratulations crystal jean! we missed you heather!
whenever i'm home i make sure to eat all the food we don't have up here in the woods. lets be honest, that's anything besides mcdonalds or subway so my options are endless. 
from the top: enchiladas, frozen yogurt, midnight run to spunky dunkers,
 tj's amazing almonds, pad thai, and breakfast for dinner (that one was local)
in between trips to civilization i got a lot done in the studio this week- from organizing to new projects to some unrestricted creative fun (hooray!)

Someone recently passed along a big box of vintage costume jewelry and I've spent much of the week clipping and sorting and playing around giving all these pieces new life. i love that each piece is unique and one of a kind. yep...those mean the same thing. 
Another one of these is in progress. I'll blog about it when it's all done!



New skirt & scarf! Second attempt at the maxi. Should have used this fabric the first time. Instead I was silly & used my nice stuff from my Mood Fabrics groupon...and it doesn't quite fit. Boo.
Changing up some of the hoops on the wall. The "create" and the stitched doodle are being carried over from the old grouping because I love them and they were a lot of work, but everything else is fresh & new!
Finally getting the pegboard up and functional. When we moved into this house we weren't sure how long we'd be here so I never really organized. After a year & a half I decided my sanity was worth it even if I have to pack things up in a month!

also in the last week- baseball returned! hooray! baseball is really my first love. long before i met my own baseball player i loved the game. i was ryne sandberg for halloween when i was 4. my dad taught me to keep score and took me to cubs games. they break my heart every year but i can't live without them. stupid cubs. also there are the magic pants. right hannah

I don't need to be at the game to keep score! This was at my desk while listening to the radio!
We did get to go to a game while we were in Chicago. It's been a really long time since my whole family went to a game and it was wonderful. Sure they lost (the bullpen melted down, surprise, surprise) but a day at Wrigley with my love & my family really is perfect- especially when it's 60 & sunny! I've been to games at Wrigley in April in the snow. Or horrible freezing rain.
We love baseball!

we went to the easter service at willow. it feels huge to me now for the first time in a long time. since i grew up at this church as was in a small group with the same people for almost 10 years it never felt big. now that i've moved away and work at a church of 120 people and they've built a new auditorium, this just feels huge! it is always a blessing to be back though, the easter service was a beautiful mix of music, spoken word and artistic moments that conveyed the message of the Gospel so clearly!
Easter Sunday at my home church. Yep, it's big!
after church we had our usual april birthday celebration with my family. my nana's birthday is the 18th, my dad's is the 17th and papa's was the 6th so every year we do all the april birthdays plus easter as one big celebration!
Happy Birthday Dad Man! I found him that vintage Quaker Whiskey bottle to use when he teaches Quaker University at work (he's a chemical engineer for Quaker Oats!)
again i'll leave you with the weekly picture of the pup. 
since we don't have kids she gets her picture taken a lot. a lot, a lot. 

found a happy spot in the sun!

as usual, i'm linking up over here with jeannett!
life rearranged