more happy news!!

After I got home from work and shoveled dinner down my throat, Greg asked what my plans were for the evening. "Nothing." "Well, I want to take you somewhere." Sometimes Greg just likes to surprise me, and I knew this was one of those times - no use asking where or why. So we ended up at a kitty shelter.

I'M GETTING 2 KITTENS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I have missed Cat so much... he was only 8 when he died this spring, and it was so unexpected, I wasn't prepared for that. And even now, sometimes I think I see a cat movement and I look for Cat. Cat was always nearby, underfoot more like LOL, a constant companion. Sometimes he'd tell me all about his day, and other times he was quiet. Sometimes he'd rub all over me, sometimes he'd want to play, and sometimes he just wanted to be nearby but NOT touched. But he always loved being around people, always wanted to know what was going on!

Greg had made many comments making me think that there was no way I could convince him to get another kitty. Apparently today he decided that it was the thing to do. Don't know why, probably will never know. Definitely NOT gonna argue!!! Another thing I've learned about Greg - if he makes a decision that I like, I gotta jump on it then and there, before he changes his mind. So I made sure that I filled out all the paperwork before we left the shelter just so he won't change his mind on this one!

The kitty shelter is one that doesn't euthanize, so some of their cats have been there a long time. It was kind of sad, but the cats didn't seem upset or sad. Most were very sociable. I walked in expecting Greg to only be interested in youngsters, but he walked around and petted just about every cat and kitten there. There was an adult he really seemed to like, but it still had its claws. Ok... don't throw the anti-declaw posts at me - Greg insists on declawed cats. And I would never even contemplate declawing an adult cat.

So after meeting all of the cats there, Greg and I ended up back at the little kitten cage. There were 4 kittens in it. This particular shelter requires that kittens be in a home with at least one other cat. Plus a lot of the siblings are required to go in pairs. So we were down to a big decision: two orange brothers or a black/white and tabby brother/sister combo. I think neither one of us really wanted another tabby again so soon - the little girl looked so much like Cat - even tho they were super friendly and energetic. So we opted for the orange kitties!! They're pretty laidback, very sweet, little purring motors.

Another shelter requirement - after you file for adoption, there is a "cool-off" period of at least 3 days. Some folks make a spur of the moment decision and then regret it quickly. And the shelter is only open certain days. So Greg and I won't get new kitties until next week. But on our way home, we bought the stuff we need so we'll be all ready for them when they get here.

I can't wait!! My little babies are so cute!

more blog world fun

JANUARY
1. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? No
2. Who kissed you at midnight? Greg. We were in North Carolina - we attended a cool outdoor party in downtown Charlotte.
3. Did it snow where you live? Not sure if it snowed on NY day, but I'm sure it snowed sometime in January - it would be very unusual to not get snow in Wisconsin in the winter.
4. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? No
5. Big January Events: We visited North Carolina to see if it was a feasible location to move to. We had a couple realtors check out our current home. And I went to a couple weekend crops (scrapbooking).
FEBRUARY
1. Who was your valentine? Greg, of course.
2. What did your valentine get you? A card... ??? We generally don't celebrate days like that.
3. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class? Oh, yes. Those little tiny cards, and I think I put the little heart candies in each envelope.
4. Big February Events: Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Pride!! And a weekend skiing in the U.P.
MARCH
1. Are you Irish? not that I know of.
2. Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day? I usually do, just for fun, but I don't think I remembered this year!
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day? nada
4. Big March Events: A weekend in the Dells for our bike club's winter getaway, and a weekend in Madison for a scrapbook convention.
APRIL
1. Do you like the rain? As my close friends know, I hate getting my face wet. So I'm not fond of being out in the rain, but I don't mind when I'm snuggled in the house. I actually love to watch a big storm roll in!
2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year? no
3. Big April Events: two more weekend crops (yahoo!) and a friend's wedding
MAY
1. What's your favorite kind of flower? Love the smell of lilacs!
2. Do you like the spring? YES - summer is on the way!! And I like the smell of spring, and the warm breeze, and sunshine on my face.
3. What would you think of as a spring color? yellow, pretty much any pastel
4. Big May Events: I started playing volleyball weekly again, after a hiatus to improve my back. We also got the bike (motorcycle) out more often for longer rides, including a long weekend in northern Wisconsin. And I registered for CKU - I got all the classes I wanted!!!
JUNE
1. What year did you graduate from school? H.S. - 1985, Undergrad - 1989, Masters - 1994
2. Did you go on a vacation last June? no - we don't have to take vacations around school, since we are child free!
3. Big June Events: My CKU yahoo board logo was chosen as the winning entry! - the crazy scrappin' gals bought all sorts of things with my logo on them: shirts, mousepads, clocks, pins, magnets, mugs, bracelet charms, etc. Also - I started at a new client - a change of pace.
JULY
1. What did you do on the 4th of July? We took another weekend bike trip to northern Wis and to Door County.
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month? see #1
3. Big July Events: Summerfest and getting ready to attend CKU.
AUGUST
1. Did you do anything special to end your summer? just the usual ;-)
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '05? CKU Provo - OMG what a phenomenal time, great memories!!! Absolute best? - our CKU dorm was one of 3 chosen to perform in front of the entire student/teacher body - and based on audience applause we won hands down - we rocked the place!
3. Did you go swimming a lot in the summer? no
4. Big August Events: Obviously - CKU. Also a weekend bike club trip to Munising U.P. Michigan. Oh, yeah, and state fair and Renaissance Faire.
SEPTEMBER
1. Did you attend school/college in '05? no
2. Who is/was your favorite teacher? probably my 2nd grade teacher.
3. Did you like fall better than summer? NO - it means winter's back on its way
4. Big September Events: Our big 2 week bike trip out west: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, etc. We celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 24th.
OCTOBER
1. What was your favorite halloween costume ever? Boy George - I looked AWESOME!!
2. What's your favorite candy? I love chocolate in general, but I really love Skor bars.
3. What did you dress up like this year? I didn't.
4. Big October Events: Another weekend crop. Seeing cousin Tom Wopat perform in Madison - added bonus: it was Halloween weekend, and State St, Madison is absolutely crazy, fun to watch!
NOVEMBER
1. Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving? My sister Bonnie's.
2. Do you like stuffing? yes, if it's moist. Sometimes it's dry - yuck.
3. What are you thankful for? Husband, family, friends, relatively good health, financial stability, ability to do what I/we enjoy.
4. Big November Events: Our bike club's annual fundraiser - this year we tried something new - a murder mystery lunch - Greg and I both had parts, and I had a BLAST!!
DECEMBER
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? yes, but not so much the religious aspects. It's more of a celebration of family and friends, and of course giving and receiving!
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe? yes
3. Do you like cold weather? NO NO NO
4. How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10? 9.5
5. Big December Events: holiday party at our house, another weekend crop, family get-togethers. Lucky Greg went to Vail skiing!

Emily - you've been tagged!

layouts of our 2005

Mexican Riviera cruise. We spent one night on the Hotel Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA and then we left for a 7 night cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The ports provided nice variety, but the weather was too chilly for sunning onboard. Bummer!

see??? I do scrap

once in a while... Actually, these are some of the pages I have done the last couple of months. I haven't figured out how to take good photos of my layouts yet, so I procrastinate on posting pictures. These are miscellaneous pages: the intro to the 2004 album and a volleyball team page.

The 2004 intro page was mostly done electronically. I found a monopoly board jpg online that didn't have the text in the play squares. I added text and pictures so that if you start at GO and go around, it follows the highlights of 2004 in chronological order. I think my favorite play square is the one that is supposed to be jail - I labeled it "work work work work." LOL After printing the board on a large format printer (thanks Annie!) I just adhered it to black cardstock, added the stickers at the top, and adhered multiple orange and yellow cards stacked up to give depth.

The volleyball page is from a few years ago - I'm trying to finish up that last one or two pages in each album that I hadn't done yet. This is a 12 x 12 page, yet I printed directly on the background with my normal size printer. heeheehee No, ain't gonna tell ya how - if you can't figure it out, well... my secret! I've never been into circles before, but I thought it fit the theme of the page. And I think it looks kewl!

love my picture

that I currently have here on my blog. It makes me think of summer, warm(er) days, sunshine.... I'm already tired of winter and it's not even the middle of December yet!!!!!

happy marcia

I keep thinking... "I gotta get back to my blog." "I should take pictures of some of my latest scrap projects and post them." Etc., etc. But it just doesn't seem to happen.

But tonight I'm bursting with happy news. Ok, it's great happiness for me. I'm all registered for CKU-Albums Chicago. WOOHOO!!!! Now.... I can see y'all asking "what's that?" and "what's the big deal?" Well... let me tell ya.

CKU = Creating Keepsakes University. In basic terms, it's scrapbook school. Three solid days and nights of classes and working on projects. You ask, "And this is fun?" Oh, yeah, baby. This is WAY fun!! Learning new techniques, working with new product, being with 700 people who are as crazy about scrapbooking as I am, meeting some of the celebs of the scrapbook world. Yes - we have celebs that we "know" by first name or by initials. That's how you can tell a serious scrapper from a beginner - talk about BH or Lisa or CZ - if they know who you're talking about, they're definitely seriously into scrapping! {oops - got a little sidetracked there....}

Why the big deal?? Registration opened at 7pm CST tonight. 18 minutes later, registration closed. Finis. The end. No more. Within 18 minutes, approximately 700 crazy scrappers registered for CKU Chicago. Yowza - that's the quickest sellout yet for CKU. We get to choose classes - I managed to get into every class I want at the time I wanted it. That's pretty amazing. However, I was done registering by 7:02 - I was speedy gonzalez! The more popular classes started closing after about 4 minutes because they were already full. It's completely overwhelming when I think about more than 700 people, all sitting at their computers, hitting the F5 key over and over and over until the registration button shows up, then typing like mad to get paid and get their classes asap. I know I was very very anxious, nervous. And now I'm in. Yahoo!!!

This will be my second CKU - I went to Provo this past August and had an absolute blast! I originally thought that I'd just goto one, and that would be enough. But it's coming to Chicago! - how can I not go when it's so close?!

One of the most fun parts of CKU is the social life. And I was VERY into the social life at Provo. I was part of a dorm, a group of 10 women who participated in the dorm contests: cheer/song, costume, name badge and table centerpiece. Dorms are totally voluntary and arranged on your own - not thru CKU. We were the Scrappin' Biker Babes - and quite awesome SBBs we were! Only three dorms are chosen ahead of time to perform at CKU, and we were one of the three! and even better, we easily won the cheer/song contest! We rocked the room that night. It was great because people recognized us for the remainder of CKU - "hey, you're one of the biker babes, aren't you". Yeah, baby. I'm a scrappin' biker babe. The only sad part for me is that I wasn't really in a costume - I was pretty much in my normal biking gear! LOL

So anyway, 5 of our 10 SBBs are going to Chicago, and we'll be doing a dorm again. It'll be fun to see what theme we come up with, and how we work the theme into all of our contest entries. And I just can't wait to see my dormies again!

oh so busy

We (ok, I) decided rather last minute to have a holiday party this weekend. Invites went out with less than 2 week notice. I've been a bit rushed this week - had to decorate, plan the menu and shopping list, and shop. Now I still need to clean and cook. Not that bad, I guess. Of course my tendency to procrastinate isn't helping! But I'm looking forward to tomorrow, to see some good friends. We don't have people over nearly as much as I would like.

Hmmmm... am I seeing a "New Years Intention"? btw - a nicer term for NYs resolution is NYs intention. Doesn't it sound better? Less like "I have to" and more like "I want to" - the difference between resolve and intend. Anyway, perhaps my NYs Intention should be to invite people over more often...

well... enough time spent at the computer. Off for party prep!

meme challenge #17

One of my favorite online boards, twopeasinabucket.com, has a weekly meme challenge: a meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, like a question posted in one blog and answered in many other blogs.

This week [Nov 28th] we are taking a cue from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way exercise for recovering a sense of identity. Our exercise this week is to list 20 things you enjoy doing [rock climbing, roller skating, baking pies, making soup, bike riding, horse riding, shooting baskets, running, reading poetry, etc.]

So let's see, what would be on my list???

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:
reading
traveling
surfing the internet
hanging with friends
playing volleyball
scrapbooking
new activities/experiences
watching tv (multiple channels at once!)
getting manicure/pedicure
getting massage
motorcycling
being with my honey
dancing
visiting with relatives
sleeping late
photography
cruising
driving my vette (silly boys try to race me!)
downhill skiing
seeing/hearing live entertainment (theater, concerts, etc)
watching xtreme motocross
holding/playing with kittens
being creative
singing along with fave songs
drinking a good latte
cooking a nice meal for guests
smelling lilacs
seeing ancient ruins
learning about other cultures
goofing off

Hmmmm.... well.... my list is well over 20, and I could probably keep on going, but I'll just stop it right there.

So what would you have on your list???

the beginning of a new season

Well, today was the day. The "real" end of autumn, the beginning of winter. Yes, we had snow today. Not just the kind that melts right away. When I woke up and opened the curtains, there was measurable snow on the ground. They were plowing and salting the roads.

I always have mixed feelings about winter. This is the fun part, the exciting part. The beginning of winter. A little snow here and there. High temps still mostly in the 30s. The holiday season on its way. Oooohhh - I LOVE Christmas time!!!

But after that hard core winter sets in. Yuck. Weather so cold it hurts to breathe. Blizzards making it darn near impossible to get anywhere, yet we still have to get to work. And no holiday time off seemingly forever.

But even then, there's fun to be had: a cruise or other warm-weather vacation, the annual U.P. ski trip, the bike club's winter get-a-way, a Madscrappin' Diva weekend crop, the annual scrapbook convention....

I guess it's a love/hate relationship! ;-)

bad, bad, bad

I, along with many other crazy scrappin' gals, have been eagerly awaiting the class schedule for CKU-Albums Chicago. And today the list was finally made official. That doesn't mean it's complete and correct ;-) but it is close.

And of course, I already had most of my classes picked out. By following the naming convention CKU uses for its webpages, many of us have been checking daily (or several times each day!) for updates - meaning, we cheated the system. We've watched as the webmaster updated the webpage, so we could see new classes being added, descriptions being changed, photos being deleted and added. And as the webmaster worked, so did I. When I saw new classes added, I researched the sponsoring company and the instructor to check out the typical product of the company, the scrapping style of the instructor and reviews on any classes they have taught before.

Oh, yes. That's me. Overresearch, overanalyze, overprepare. Anticipation is the name of my game.

holiday folk fair

Mom Miller called up recently and asked if I would be interested in going to the Holiday Folk Fair with her. I'm usually game for something fun like that - my schedule was free, so we went yesterday. We watched a few groups do their ethnic dances, some played music. We walked through all the neat shopping booths - lotsa kewl stuff. Then we thought we'd see if we could find the "main stage." Come to find out there were actually 3 different stages for dancing and music. Yowza! We saw some really awesome acts!! The best was the drum group from Japan - they kicked butt - three rows of different drums, perfectly choreographed with exaggerated, stylistic movements - WOW! They got a standing ovation, not once, but TWICE!! But wouldn't ya know, we were trying to enjoy some of the wonderful ethnic cuisine during that act, so altho we tried to get a couple pics of them, they just didn't turn out. It's really hard to juggle a purse, two plates of food, purchases and camera all at once. ;-) Bummer!

In any case, pictures wouldn't do them justice anyway - pictures didn't do justice to ANY of the really great dances or outfits we saw. But here are a few pics anyway... maybe they give just a little glimpse into how neat the event was. I would DEFINITELY go back!!!

whodunit

Our bike club had its annual fundraiser this past weekend. This year, however, we tried something new - a murder mystery. And WOW!!! I had an absolute blast! Greg and I both had roles - we had told the organizer that we would be in it "if they needed somebody." Guess they did... :-) Greg was a bit typecast - the bad biker dude. I was a cocktail waitress, aka the town tramp.

The participants each had a little booklet that described their role and gave the info necessary for that person. We had our booklets a couple weeks in advance, so we could try to learn our parts and get a feel for the role. We didn't practice or anything ahead of time, so it was really interesting during the event to hear all the other info that we weren't given in our own booklet.

OMG, it was just SO much fun. I guess I got pretty much into it. As you can see, I had a bit of cleavage and leg showing - nothing embarrassing - I had a swimsuit top under my shirt. We were supposed to be in Cactus, Texas, so I had a pretty good southern drawl going. And because southern folk are supposedly so much more polite than us northerners, I said ma'am and sir alot. But the best part was my stroll/strut/whatever you wanna call it... LOLOL. I sure wish someone had been videoing the event - I would LOVE to see myself! Anyway, I only broke character twice - both times were for very specific purposes, and only for a couple people. The majority of the people saw me slowly strolling along, swinging my hips, throwing my hair back off my face, etc., at all times. Apparently I played my role TOO well - someone said something like "the girl who's playing the slut is really good - or is she actually like that?!" LOL - the best part - Greg was standing right behind the person at the time!!!! ROFLMAO Someone else came up to me and said VERY tentatively "Our table was talking, and, well, please don't be offended, we think you play a slut really well." bwaaahaaahaaahaaa

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. I think I enjoyed it so much because I was able to act outside of socially accepted behaviors, and it was ok, because I was just "playing a role." Most of us mold ourselves into "correct" humans who behave "correctly." "Correctly" for a married female in her mid-30's, particularly in the good ol' Midwest, is pretty conservative. And I was far from conservative as Crystalline Daniels!! Having a southern drawl seemed to provide me the split I needed to "be" Crystalline vs myself. Both times I broke character to talk to someone as ME, I felt almost naked, overexposed, because I was showing a little cleavage. But as soon as I "became" Crystalline again, I didn't feel that way. Sounds kinda weird, I know. But really, I don't have a split personality. LOL

Anyway, I feel that portraying someone else was really liberating for me, as it allowed me to "safely" and appropriately exhibit some characteristics and traits that would be frowned upon in the real world. I can see why actors seem to get lost in their own little worlds when filming - the more you get into character, the more realistic the role seems, and the less realistic the outside world seems.

my latest scrappin' obsession

Ahhhh..... yes..... ribbon. Ever since the Scrapbook Convention this past spring, I've been into ribbon. Just a bit at first, I kind of dipped my toes into the water gradually, buying one or two, only those that matched a specific layout. Then I got into a ribbon swap at CKU where I ended up with 80, yes EIGHTY, different ribbons. And now I can't seem to get enough. More colors, more combinations, more textures, more designs. When I hear those two words uttered in the same sentence: sale and ribbon - OMG!! it's like I can't control myself. LOLOL



I just expanded my ribbon space to full capacity. Well... ok, I have no more space to hang ribbon rings. So now I am limited to the space I have on the current rings. And this is a good thing..... right??!!

cousin Tom & Madtown fun

Cousin Tom Wopat was in Madison performing in "Chicago" so some of the family decided to go see the show. We enjoy seeing Tom perform, and always hope to see him either pre- or post-performance. Well "Chicago" was definitely not a letdown; the show was great, and we did get to see Tom afterwards, if only for a few moments. Tom signed autographs and chatted, not just with us family, but with anybody who stopped by. How many actors/singers do that nowadays??!! Altho I've never talked with him about this, I'm guessing that Tom is one of the few stars who realizes that it's the public, the fans, that have enabled him to earn money doing what he enjoys.



It was an interesting night in Madison for another reason: the big Halloween bash on State Street. Because the show was at Overture Hall, which is right on State, we were able to see a bit of the madhouse. Greg and I stuck around after the show to people watch, until I got too cold. There was pretty much a constant parade of costumed people up and down State; it was fun to watch. There were a lot of "typical" costumes, and a lot that obviously didn't take much time, but there were a few pretty kewl ones too. Even tho I knew ahead of time that 400 police officers would be patrolling State St and surrounding area, it still blew me away seeing them EVERYwhere, always in groups. Altho I'm sure the police presence prevented a lot of the harmless hijinks, it was comforting to me to see so many officers, considering the problems with rioting in the past.

the fun never ends

This past weekend was Madscrappin' Diva crop weekend. A couple of the girls put together a fantastic crop 2 - 3 times a year. They put a lot of effort into it, making sure that everyone has a really great time. And a great time we have!! We always have a costume contest, usually there's a theme of sorts (ie 70s, western, etc). This time there was no theme, so there was quite the variety of costumes.

I rewore my Provo Scrappin' Biker Babe outfit, with the story being that at a "big event in Provo" I was crowned Scrappin' Biker Babe. I sang a small clip from our cheer/song, but without the music and the other Babes, I pretty much sucked. LOL But apparently it was identifiable, as the rest of the Divas started singing along.

Anyway, I finished 13 pages at the crop. For anyone who knows how SLLLOOOOWWWW I am at scrapping, how much of a perfectionist I am - you know that that's purty darn good for me! I was quite happy. And even more important, I had lots of fun!!!

Arguably the funniest moments - after the three nuns led a heart-wrenching version of the Lord's Prayer (ok, fun scrap version), while the judges were deciding who would win the costume contest, the three nuns were out front smoking, and then were drinking alcohol as the winners were announced!!! ROFLMAO

my kewl studio

I emailed Emily today, a fellow scrappin' biker babe from our great dorm at CKU Provo and someone I consider to be a good friend, because I was all excited about my studio being almost done. yes, that's what I call my scrap/hobby room. After all, I am an artist of sorts! ;-) Anyway, Emily said she wanted to see pictures. So here they are. Now... I am going to hang some of the photos I've taken over the years on that big blank wall... and I'm not completely done organizing yet... so it will look better. But I really LOVE my new setup!!!


The main area is only 10 x 10.5 feet but with the little extra nook and my open closet, the room is big enough. I have a 5 foot table in front of the window where I currently do most of my scrapping. Greg and I built the shelves along the long wall. The long shelves are 8 foot; the top one is at the perfect height for me to stand and work at, and the bottom matches up to my table height, which in effect extends my table and provides a great place for some scrappin' supplies. We put two 3 foot shelves above for more space - got my pretty things up there! And underneath the shelves are sterilite containers for more "stuff." This layout is SO GREAT because pretty much everything I want/need while I scrap is right there, within arms reach!


This shot is to the right of my table. My pretty ribbon hangs below my tv and my CKU Provo clock. :-) My photo albums, cardstock and patterned paper, CDs and projects-in-progress are in the closet, which I took the doors off of. (The door you're seeing a little bit is the door to the room itself.) I figured the closet looks pretty and organized enough I don't need to hide it. Plus everything's within view; I don't have to slide the doors one way, then the other...

And this space is to the left of my shelves. I have a little nook area that has a bookshelf in it. You can also see my "big boy" (the black thing in front of the bookshelf), which is my kewl Menards rolling toolbox that I use for crops - it is AWESOME!! And then I have another matching bookshelf that you can see part of - it is directly on the left when entering the room. That needs to be organized and prettied up yet.

So this is my studio. This is where I spend hours upon hours. Whether I'm working or watching tv, it just doesn't matter. I'm in my own little haven.

cute projects

Had time to scrap this weekend!!! Actually, I MADE time to scrap this weekend. I'm going to a crop this coming weekend, and I needed to do a recipe page (11 of them!). My recipe needed to have chocolate in it. I had a few ideas, then inspiration struck - I have this cute Bo-Bunny paper/sticker set that has a cherry theme. What would be better than using that with a Black Forest recipe?? mmmm.... I used a dark brown paper as the background and a reddish chalk ink to complete the chocolate/cherry combo.



I also worked on finishing some of my cute CKU projects. One that is adorable, but I have absolutely NO idea what to do with it, is the matchbox mini album. Yes, what you are seeing below is a regular-sized matchbox, covered with paper and inked. And yes, that is a tiny little accordion album inside. The accordion mini album has 5 "pages" on each side, all decorated with coordinating papers and inked.

fun fun

Greg's uncle Ned and aunt Chris and cousin Blair were in the area for a brief visit this weekend, so we joined them and Greg's folks at the Milwaukee Art Museum, along with other fun activites. WOW - I had never been to the Art Museum yet - believe that!! A lot of folks call it the Calatrava, because that's the name of the architect - it is a most amazing building. It's right on the lakefront, and it's a fragile-looking building with "wings" that open and shut. We were fortunate to still be there when the museum closed, so we were able to see the wings shut. VERY kewl! And the inside has lots of angles and curves. We saw a short movie clip about the creation of the building, quite interesting. And the artwork was very intriguing too, of course. We all had our favorite parts. And there were some that we just looked at and didn't "get."

this fall weather

has been so absolutely fab! Altho there are many reminders that yes, this IS Wisconsin! Yesterday we reached a record high - 85 degrees! Tomorrow is supposed to be 81, and then Thursday's high is expected to be 54 - yowza, that's a big, quick drop. But that's Wisconsin for ya. Since I just love warm/hot weather, the past couple days have been SO great.

woohoo

I finally finished my A-Z Personal Treasury album from my album track at CKU. OMG - it rawks!! It is such a great "snapshot" of the things that are important to me at this point in my life - both serious and fun. I put a lot of thought into this album, mostly prior to going to CKU, and spent some good quality creative time on it both at CKU and here at home.

I'm also midstream on rearranging and reorganizing my studio. Greg and I are building a counter for me to stand and work at, as well as some shelves. I've been mulling this over for weeks, and I sure hope it works as well as I'm visualizing! Now I can't wait to put those shelves/counter up, so I can finish reorg'ing and CLEAN my studio! It's still a zoo from working on my precious album - altho it's way better than it was a week ago!!! LOL

Yes, right now, scrapping is taking over my life again... I seem to go in phases: motorcycle, scrap, trip, motorcycle, scrap, trip, motorcycle, scrap ... hahahahaha Oh yeah, once in a while I fit other activities in! ;-)

greg

I just gotta say - I have such a great husband! And no, he didn't do anything particularly spectacular today. He was just being himself, taking care of the house, the finances and us. Even though in some ways he grounds me and keeps me in the "real world," he also allows me the time I need to dream and be creative, which keeps me balanced. What a guy! For the many times I neglect to tell you - Thanks, Greg!

one of my biggest pet peeves

On our way to dinner tonight, we passed a big billboard, entirely in Spanish. Everytime I see something like that I get po'ed. The last I knew, English is still the official language in the good ol' United States. When immigrants moved to the States in years gone by, they learned English. That's just the way it was. There weren't ads or signs in Polish or German or whatever other language. But so many things now are written in both English and Spanish. Why? Because people who move to our great country think they shouldn't have to learn the official language? They want to keep their own customs? Ok, that's fine and dandy - keep your customs at home. Or if you don't want to be an American in ALL ways, stay in your own durn country. Americans speak ENGLISH!!

need more consistency

Tonight was volleyball night. Love it! But tonight just wasn't a good night for me, and I don't know why. Drives me crazy!!! You would think that after playing for so many years, I would be at least somewhat consistent, but NO. I'm thinking that maybe I'll try to pull together a co-ed quad team to start in January... now THAT's fun!

sometimes I forget

how much time can be spent planning a cruise. You'd think - sure, easy enough, just pick your itinerary. Well, that is the easy part. The hard part is trying to get a good price on air, hotels pre and post, figuring out what to do for insurance and for transfers and stuff. If we had unlimited funds, well, then it would be easy - but since we don't, we try to get the most bang for our buck. And that's still just the beginning. Since we prefer using local tour guides rather than being herded around with 100 other people on a ship excursion, I do lots of research on various cruise message boards to find out which companies are best, and which places to tour at each stop. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but yikes,it really does take a lot of time!

please excuse my negligence

Krista & Dave - please forgive me! I had separate little posts thanking both of our other hosts, and only a little byline thanking you two. How incredibly rude of me!!! It was so wonderful seeing both of you again - it seems like we've known you guys for such a long time... :-) And you made us feel so much at home. THANK YOU!!

B&Bs

We've stayed at B&Bs a bit throughout the years. Some definitely seem like you're staying in some stranger's home. Others are more like you're staying in a period show home - like a museum. And some are more like small inns. Some places have only one guest room, and some may have many. I always try to choose carefully by researching online, comparing them, looking at pictures, etc., to kinda read between the lines. KWIM?? (know what I mean??) And sometimes we're still surprised!!

We only stayed at two B&Bs this trip, and both were very enjoyable - neither one had the "staying in a stranger's home" feeling. Both had great hosts, wonderful breakfasts, etc.

The place in Sundance, Wyoming, Sundance Mt. HideAway, (http://www.sundancemountainhideaway.com/) has three cabins of varying sizes, and they are probably going to convert the Antiques store cabin into another guest cabin. We were in the smallest one, which was very spacious. We got to Sundance too late to really enjoy the property, but we had a nice chat with our host - that B&B seemed geared more towards people who aren't into socializing with strangers, because each group has their own individual cabin. However, breakfast is usually in the family home, but you could probably request to take it to the cabin if you wish!

The place in Interior, South Dakota (at the edge of the Badlands) is on a ranch, and was designed specifically as a B&B: http://www.bbonline.com/sd/circleview/ http://www.circleviewranch.com/guestrooms.htm. It's more like a small inn, with guest rooms on two levels. The ranch has a guest living room, kitchen and game room! We reached Interior pretty early, and had lots of time to socialize, play games (ping pong and foozball), hit the internet (they have a PC setup with high speed internet for guests), look at picture books, and walk down to the creek. We also enjoyed a pretty sunset from the deck.

Because Greg and I are both pretty social and sociable creatures, we really have no problem with most of the B&Bs we've stayed at. I usually pick them for unique qualities. A couple examples: In Newport, Rhode Island, we stayed at a big ol' historic home http://www.agincourtinn.com/. It was built in 1853 as a summer home, and is furnished with period pieces - it was kewl, like staying in a museum home. Near the Quad Cities, we stayed in a caboose: http://www.bbonline.com/ia/caboose/. That was pretty neat too.

how many photos???

Such a great question! I have no idea at this point how many pics I'm actually going to print. I can tell you I took over 650 on our trip!!! OMG LOLOL I just kept snapping away! (I probably would have had over 700 if Idaho hadn't been so blasted cold!) And with digital, that's ok. Now I just have to figure out which ones are worth the cost to print! Of course, I already have some of the best picked out, because they're the ones I put on this blog!

It was really great having the laptop on this trip, because I took my pics at 4 meg, and downloaded to the laptop pretty much every day or every other. When I started getting low on memory chip space, I burned the pictures to CD, JUST IN CASE something happened to the laptop hard drive, and then, and ONLY then, did I delete them from the memory chip!! I'm pretty obsessive about that - I've heard too many horror stories of people losing years of pictures when a hard drive crashed.

scrappin' lady

I've been ignoring most of the stuff I "should" be doing to scrapbook. As soon as I got back from Provo, I was spending every spare moment planning our bike trip. So I never had the chance to finish all those really kewl projects I started at CKU. I've accomplished quite a bit this week on what will be the best ever album - from my main album track, A-Z Personal Treasury! It is turning out oh so awesome. I can't wait to finish it so I can share it with those I love. (Of course I've been showing Greg pages as I complete them - as I told him, sometimes I need an ego stroke!) Once I finish my Personal Treasury, I can pull out the smaller albums and items and work on them. I have a weekend crop coming up in a few weeks; hopefully that will help me get caught up!

My challenge to myself: I'm taking the photo a day challenge. I thought it would be convenient to start it on our trip, since I was already taking pictures. But now at home, I'm not doing so well. I think it'll be fun to put together a "Year in the Life" album with my photos from each day - it'll be more of an everyday kind of album, versus the highlights I do now in my normal chronological albums. We'll see how that goes!

barely finish one trip...

gotta start planning the next. It looks like we're booking a Mediterranean cruise for next year - woohoo!! 12 days on Holland America's Rotterdam. The Rotterdam is supposed to be HAL's flagship - supposedly that means better service and stuff - we'll see! ;-)

I'm a little leery of HAL, not because of the ship itself, or the food, or the service. I'm leery because of our experience on Princess, where the ship basically shut down at 10pm. Now granted, we're not exactly the party couple, but we do like to have activities going on, like maybe a deck party, or whatever. And demographically speaking, HAL will probably be pretty similar to Princess. But maybe it won't be such a big deal on this cruise, because with 8 long port days, and only 3 days at sea, we may not be up to lots of activities ourselves! I'm definitely guessing the sea day activities will be very different from those on Carnival - I can't imagine HAL cruisers having the hair chest contest!! LOL

The itinerary is SO awesome - Venice (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Corfu (Greece), Cairo/Giza/Alexandria (Egypt), Ephesus/Kusadasi (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), Constanta (Romania), Odessa (Ukraine), Varna (Bulgaria) and Athens (Greece). It'll be way expensive, but I think it'll be so very worth it! We've been pricing the cruise, airfare, hotels prior/post, etc. YIKES!! But Greg is ever the trooper, trusting my judgment on travel matters - apparently I haven't steered us wrong yet!

someone asked me today...

what was my favorite part of our trip? what was my least favorite? what met or didn't meet my expectations? any surprises? hmmmmm.... I really didn't know what to say. It was a great trip. And due to the variety of stuff we saw, it's really hard to compare. But I pulled together a quick set of lists (perhaps not complete) - I LOVE lists!! ;-) However, the items are not listed in any particular order!

things that exceeded my expectations:
1) the Badlands
2) the Sawtooth Mtns
3) certain "scenic roads" - denoted in our atlas with little green dots!
4) the weather - we usually managed to dodge the rain pretty well; yeah, there were a couple days that were kinda cold, a little snowy, and yeah, South Dakota was windy as all get out, but overall GOOD weather
5) the Navajo fry bread at Twin Rocks Cafe in Bluff, Utah - NUMMY
6) Custer State Park, S.D.
7) the Lehman Caves in Great Basin Nat'l Park - very kewl to see and walk thru, very educational - wish our timing would have been right for the 90 minute tour instead of just the 60
8) the teepee in Idaho - very unexpectedly nice
9) wildlife sightings - lots of bison, and several elk herds in Yellowstone, many many antelope in central to western Wyoming, some white-tailed deer, and TWO bighorn sheep herd sightings!!!

things that confirmed my expectations:
1) S.D. east of the Badlands is BORING!! Hot, dry, windy, flat, yuck.
2) Wall Drug is huge - bigger than I remember from many many years ago - very tacky, packed with tourists - they were expecting 21 buses on a Friday!
3) the U.S. has a fabulous park system!
4) 5,000 miles on a motorcycle, mostly in 14 days, is pushing my limits. (Greg did 6,000 in 17 days - thanx, honey, for suggesting I fly to Denver and meet you there!)

biggest disappointments:
1) After driving on a soft gravel road, we were not allowed by park staff to continue driving to see the Medicine Wheel (a Native American circle of boulders that represents many aspects of life to them, and is an important part of their life). We didn't have time to hike the 3 miles round trip, so we didn't get to see it. :-(
2) it was so cold on our beautiful ride in Idaho - I didn't get any pictures, and it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been
3) we didn't see the Sawtooth Mtns until almost dusk - too late!!
4) it was too cloudy and snowy to see and enjoy the Tetons
5) the corn palace in Mitchell, S.D. - my childhood memories are WAY better than current reality; the palace is in the middle of redecorating (?), and there wasn't much done
6) the "scenic road" in Nevada - yuck, boring
7) we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with friends and relatives:
Tim & Michelle
Krista & Dave
Maria, Dave, Katie & Shannon
8) the part of Minnesota that we drove across was quite boring - of course, that would have nothing to do with the great scenery we had been seeing for days previously!!

it's a small world

This is a little weird, a little freaky... now, to start from the beginning...

Saturday the 10th - When we stayed in the teepee in Idaho, it was at a lodge in the Sawtooth Mtns, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The closest town, over 30 miles away, is Ketchum, population 3800. That particular night, Ketchum hosted a concert by Willie Nelson (wow), which we didn't know about. The next morning, we were chatting with someone who stayed in the cabin right next to our teepee, and she told us all about the concert - that was the only reason she was staying there - it was the closest accommodations she could find available.

Fast forward to Thursday the 15th - we stayed at a B&B ranch on the edge of the Badlands, near a really teeny town called Interior, population 67 (no joke). The owners had gone to town that night to meet up with her sister and her sister's DH (dear husband), so we didn't see them until the next day. That next morning, after all of us had breakfast together, Greg and I were talking with the female owner and her sis and sis' DH about some of the things we did, the weather we encountered. We mentioned spending the night in a teepee in Idaho. The owner's sister blurted out the name of the lodge. We looked at her a little odd. She recalled the conversation we had with HER in Idaho. She was the person who went to Willie Nelson and stayed in the cabin next to our teepee!!!

OMG (oh my gosh/goodness) Unbelievable!! Here we were in a B&B pretty much in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, talking with a girl we had already met at a lodge in the middle of nowhere in Idaho!!!

south dakota, part II, aka the badlands

I really liked the Badlands. To me, there was a lot of variety that some of the other Nat'l Parks didn't have. The first picture is what I expected to see. The second reminds me of Canyonlands in Utah. And the third shows some pretty kewl coloring: green, yellow, pink, purple and grey.

south dakota, part I

The Black Hills area and particularly Custer State Park were fun for driving on motorcycle, lots of twisty roads, and interesting scenery: trees, rock, cliffs, vistas...

What a monumental undertaking! (ok, yes, pun intended) Wow. It's kewl to look at, but to really get the impact, ya gotta see the movie and/or read up on the creation. The museum was pretty neat, too. It's interesting to think about the four choices - why each was chosen - not just because they were the most popular presidents - each one represents a specific strength.

Crazy Horse, hmmmm... in some ways, even more impressive. Way bigger, and "in the round" - meaning that it will be carved and viewable on three sides. It's been over 50 years in the making so far, and will probably be another 50 before its done. The most interesting thing to me is that the creator (now deceased) and his family who took over the management refused federal funding, not once, but TWICE! They feel it would detract from the meaning of the Crazy Horse Monument. They also feel it would be less likely to ever be completed if the feds took it over. There is also a very interesting plan for creating an entire complex of a school, medical facilities and more here.

quick quiz

Name the movie, based on the photo:

I think I'll always remember the scene where the father makes a model of Devils Tower, I think the first time it's with food??, while his wife and kids watch like he's possessed!! I guess I don't remember the details so much as the expressions on everyone's faces. ;-)

btw - the movie title is "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

the bighorns

Bighorn Canyon Nat'l Recreation Area

Bighorn Mountains and Nat'l Forest

BIGHORN SHEEP!!! what a great sighting! Again, going back to my younger days, I had quite a "thing" for bighorn sheep. If I remember correctly, for a while, my favorite t-shirt had a bighorn sheep on it - I bet mom remembers! This bunch must be young'uns, because the horns aren't distinctly "bighorn" - I had to verify online. LOVE the internet!

wyoming

As I posted before, it was cloudy and cold, and rainy/snowy while we were in the Tetons and Yellowstone. bummer. But we still enjoyed ourselves immensely, as you can tell by the photos. Lots of kewl things to see and do.

We spent the night of the 13th in Cody, Wyoming. Per the recommendation of our hotel staff, we ate at Bubba's. Popular barbecue place. The best part - I asked the waitress if they do anything for birthdays, she asked who it was for, and I replied Greg. The next thing we know, she brings a piece of pie over, stands up on the bench next to Greg and shouts for the entire restaurant to joining in singing happy birthday to RAY. hahahahaha I kept laughing thruout the entire song, as yes, pretty much everyone in the restaurant sang!!! Greg was the trooper, and thanked me for the piece of birthday pie!!!

Anyway, in Cody, the next morning, we went to the "old town" - whatever they call it - that is really a collection of old buildings and wagons set up as if a small frontier town. Most of the buildings were built around 1880-1910. Pretty interesting.

Bighorn - the Canyon Rec Area is neat - reminded us of Dead Horse Point State Park. The Bighorn Mtns are taller than I expected - and COLD, COLD, COLD!!

well... gonna go now. Greg's gettin' bored. Guess I should help entertain the guy!

headin' home

Well, we're headin' home. Our B&B in Interior, South Dakota has internet access, quite a surprise to me, so I thought I'd check in quick. I'm feeling pretty sad, I guess, that our journey is almost over. Ok... this particular journey. Life is full of journeys, some physical, some mental, some spiritual, etc. So this particular journey is coming to an end. It's been incredible; I'll have some great memories to last a lifetime. If we didn't have to go back to work (ugh, the four letter word!), I could just keep on biking.

Anyway, since I really only had time to post pictures a couple nights ago, and didn't have much time for comments, I guess I'll fill in some blanks now.

wildlife

We saw several herds of elk. These two fellas were in Mammoth. I'm guessing the "old guy" was showing the "young guy" who's boss. But it looked like an awesome choreographed dance!

Bison were everywhere!!! We saw some by themselves, and others in herds of more than 50. Quite a few times, we had to wait while they crossed the road, or meandered right down the middle. It gets a little weird on the bike, with nothing between us and them. When they're too close, we just hurried by.

more yellowstone

Anyone recognize Morning Glory Pool? :-)

Mountains in the distance - beautiful!

Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

yellowstone - ENJOY!!!!!

Yes, you got it - Old Faithful

Mammoth Hot Springs

???

needin' a warmup

Again, the last two days have been oh, so cold. Yesterday when we left Jackson it was cloudy and cold. We couldn't see the Tetons at all, the clouds were so low. Then it started to rain. Yahoo. Then as we went further up the mountains in Yellowstone, the rain became tiny little hail pellets. Then it became small snowflakes, then BIG snowflakes. It wasn't really sticking on the road at all, thank goodness, but the top half of the bike windshield was ice. Good thing we can lower the windshield, so that Greg looks over it!!

There was a little snow here and there throughout Yellowstone, but when we left out the east entrance today, the ground was mostly covered with snow on that pass. So Greg just couldn't resist taking this photo!!!!

the path, part II

Post "the path so far" goes thru Sept 8th, so here goes from there:

Sept 9 - rainy day, overnight at Maria and family's home in Layton, Utah - thanks again for the great time!!

Sept 10 - Oregon trail in Idaho, Boise, Sawtooth Mtn Rec Area, overnight in a teepee at Sawtooth City, Idaho. brrrrr

Sept 11 - more Sawtooth Mtns, Craters of the Lake Nat'l Monument, overnight in Jackson, Wyoming.


Upcoming, contingent upon weather, etc.:

Sept 12 - Teton Nat'l Park, Yellowstone N.P., overnight in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Sept 13 - Yellowstone N.P., overnight in Cody, Wyoming.

Sept 14 - Bighorn Mtns, Devils Tower N.M., overnight in Sundance, Wyoming

just for carrie ;-)

This is something I already wrote about in the post "what I've learned so far" - #3. We drove up that very stiff cliffside via switchbacks on a 3 mile gravel/dirt road.

That part of the road was created by the Mormons! They were moving from Salt Lake City to the southeast part of Utah (well, at least, that's as far as they made it!) to start a farming community. They couldn't find a way down from this plateau; it goes on and on and on.... So they made their own way down. They chipped away and did whatever it took, so that they could get down. Their 6 week journey turned into a 6 month journey.

So... Greg and I have traveled on a very small portion of the Mormon trail!

btw (by the way)

If you asked a question in a comment, I answer in a comment to that same post. So don't think I'm ignoring you guys!! I love reading comments!!!

more sights

Craters of the Moon National Monument - interesting place. Definitely worth a stop. And yes, that is Greg blending into the lava rock.

Jackson, Wyoming town square. Being the tourist geek!!

idaho

thoughts on Idaho...

1) Some parts are kinda boring, some parts are beautiful. I need to come back to explore some more!

2) The ride from Boise northeast then south east into the Sawtooths was amazing. Greg's putting this as the 2nd best drive we've been on yet. If it hadn't been so durn cold, I could have taken pics, but it was way cold, and I had my ski gloves on!

3) The Sawtooth Mtns - ok, this is corny, and I don't do corny - when I saw the mountains I almost got tears in my ears. They are overwhelming and gorgeous and awe-inspiring. If you haven't visited that area yet - GO!! I WILL go back.

4) WHEN you visit the Sawtooths, you need to stop for lunch or dinner in a town called Arco, famous for being the first town powered by nuclear. There is a very tiny little restaurant there, called something liked Grandpa's Southern Bar-B-Q, that had the best barbecue chicken sandwich I ever had. Now... take this with a grain of salt, with the knowledge that I'm not a big fan of shredded meat with barbecue sauce slathered on - it's ok, but nothing great. Now this place makes barbecue the good way - slow cooked, smoked, rubbed, seasoned... mmmmm.

oops

Gotta back up here for a minute. Wanted to let Maria's family know we enjoyed meeting them all, and thanks for having us over. That was Friday night, Sept 9th. It was great seeing some of Maria's scrapbooks (fellow addicted soul!) and seeing her hubby's amazing computerized miniature train setup (4 trains going simultaneously!).

brrrrrrrr

The first visible warning, in Boise - many trees had started changing to fall colors. This was Saturday the 10th. Hmmmm...

That night we spent the night in a teepee in the Sawtooth Mtns. And YES, that is snow on the ground. It snowed the night before we arrived - thank goodness the snow had all melted off the roads already!!!

AND.... get ready for this.... Saturday night while we were sleeping in the unheated teepee, the temps got down to 15!!!! Yahoo for electric blankets! Our bodies were toasty warm from the neck down, but it sure was hard to crawl outta bed to walk to the showers. Ack!!

historical interests

When I was younger, I had a "thing" about the pioneers and the Oregon Trail. I tried to imagine walking across the entire continent, and the hardships they endured - couldn't do it. So I made poor Greg drive us to a rec area where the Oregon Trail went through. Still can't imagine "walking in their shoes."

changes

Egads. Things can change quickly out here. Yes, I know altitude has a major impact on temps, but storms do too. Friday, all the way from Delta to Layton, Utah, we were chased, surrounded and captured in rainstorms. We had planned to goto Park City, and do some of the fun rides: the bobsled (on a metal track just like the snow/ice one used in winter) and an Xtreme Zipline (down the mountain!). But considering the nasty weather, we decided to skip the fun and try to get the necessary parts and fix the speedometer cable on the bike (nothing major, mom!). Thanks Maria and family for your patience and for letting us use your garage. The speedometer works again, and SO DOES THE CRUISE CONTROL!!

Anyway, Saturday we drove thru a big storm in northern Utah, southern Idaho. Ever since then, temps have dropped out here. And now that we're back in higher altitudes, brrrrrr cold.

So, long story NOT short, I haven't been taking too many pics on route. My hands are encased in very thick gloves that just can't work the little camera buttons. It's too bad, because we've seen more great scenery!

what I've learned so far

1) Utah has the most amazing diversity of landscape – as soon as I start thinking “oh, yeah, seen this…”, the topography changes dramatically. I anticipate cresting every hill, and rounding every twist in the road, wondering what’s coming up.

2) People love our bike (ok, already knew that one!) – people are always staring, smiling, asking questions. Fun, fun.

3) Greg and I actually agreed on this one – out of what we have seen and done so far in Utah, we think that driving on Hwy 95 from Mexican Hat to Hanksville is the must do. Even more than the national parks. However, there is a small 3 mile section of the road that is still gravel, very steep, all switchbacks – a tad bit scary, but very kewl nonetheless.

4) It is nearly impossible to capture the magnificence of canyons, cliffs, plateaus, mesas, mountains, etc. with a camera.

5) Plants are very tenacious and hardy out here. If there’s a tiny little crack in the face of a cliff, there’ll be a plant hanging on for dear life.

6) Nevada just isn’t a pretty state. We were on a “scenic road” today – egads, boring!! Dry, hot, blowing sand, gusting winds. Ugh.

7) Ok. Hot is hot. I don’t care if it’s a “dry heat” – it’s still hot, durn it!!

Great Basin N.P.

We drove most of the scenic drive at Great Basin, but weren't all that impressed. Perhaps it's because we're a tad bit tired. Perhaps it's because we've already seen such spectacular scenery. Who knows?! So anyway, we decided to tour the Lehman Caves - now that was kewl. I remembered the basics "stalactites hang tight" and "stalagmites are mighty," but sure didn't remember all the other neat stuff. Great tour.