New Etsy adventure

I don't know if I've really mentioned this on here yet, but I have started a sort of new adventure in Etsy land....

A month or so ago, I decided to take a little hiatus from my gift basket business. It has had its high points and its low points, but I just felt that it was time for a break. This way I can re-evaluate and come back with something even better. If you'd like to read more about that, then go here.

In the meantime, I have really been thinking about art and creating things. This is something I used to do a lot of when I was younger, but often have very little time to do as an adult. Sure, I get to write and create stories each day, but there is something more tangible and exciting about something you can hold and look at, something a little better than just words on a page (or screen for that matter).

I love getting my hands dirty with paint, stain, wood chips, anything at all in the name of making something cool. As my husband will tell you, the apple does not fall far from the tree - I am my father's daughter and I have to have a project to do.

So with all of this in mind, I have a new Etsy shop and a new blog to go along with it. All of you should check it out, it is called noon apple dreams. Ten points goes to the person who can name the author and poem who penned that phrase - GO!

Jumping on the healthy bandwagon

So of course, everyone in the world is jumping on the healthy bandwagon. I myself have been trying to do this for many years, and I have had moderate periods of success and failure, so I am not about to lie to everyone and say I have found some new reason to go full throttle and do this thing.

But I will say this. The only real way to lose weight (in my case) and be healthy is just to do the work. No pills, fad diets, or surgeries will ever conquer your own eating habits.

If I had to say that there are reasons I am thinking about right now, I guess it could be because I have been following the success of others. For one, a friend from high school has been documenting his weight loss journey in another blog, (he's a journalist, so there is some real thought put into this one, a good read), and also there is a new season of two of my guilty-pleasure shows on the Style Network: Ruby and Too Fat For 15. There is also a new show on A&E called Heavy, but the thing about the other shows is that I have come to really follow the characters, and that is what keeps me coming back.

At any rate, all three of these people (or groups of people) have lost weight by looking their problem right in the eye and facing it. I sincerely hope that I have the courage to do that. For now, I am taking baby steps. For example, I am still active in karate. Perhaps a little additional workout would put me in better shape for it.

Also, today I brought myself a very healthy lunch to work today: salad, tuna, and fruit. But somehow, there are always demons lurking in the side lines:


Someone brought the leftover cupcakes from Honor's Day into the office kitchen. Drat! Or as my favorite comic strip character heroine Cathie would say - AACK!

But I resisted. All in the name of baby steps.

Missing him today

Another free digital slideshow by Smilebox

Getting through any way I can

Things that are helping me get through today:

• Listening to my Ray LeMontagne Pandora station
• Understanding and kind folks at the obit desks of the Mobile/Baldwin area newspapers
• Having an understanding and supportive work/school environment
• My husband, who cracks jokes when I need a laugh
• A best friend who has selflessly offered her support in her own time of need.

I'd say that is a pretty good start.

Miss you Pee-Paw.

Dealing with the inevitable

I've been putting off writing about something personal in here because I guess I just don't know how to express certain things anymore in such a wide open way. Suffice to say that once upon a time I was willing to tell just about anything to a blank computer screen and send it out into the abyss for all (or none) to read. But now, as I am getting older, I know the value of talking with people close to you about the things that really matter. Human contact and interaction are highly-underrated these days.

So anyways, the news is that my grandpa is nearing the end here on earth. He has walked it for 84 years, and had - by all accounts- a blessed and charmed life. I don't think he would ever disagree. But the hardest part of it all for me is that whether I like it or not, his life will end sometime in the future. It certainly has come sooner than I had expected.

The other bad news in this post is that one of my best friends is also dealing with loss in her life. We all feel it differently, some more deeply than others, but there is no mistaking how it changes you when you are the one left behind.

So before I leave on this most utterly depressing note, here is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding, can you spot my Pee Paw?

Me and The Beach

...are like peas and carrots.
Or we used to be, when I was younger, thinner, and had fewer cares in the world. Naturally, being from the Eastern Shore, the beach was just a part of life. My "beach" was really Mobile Bay and the "big beach" was Gulf Shores, which was always just a short car ride away.

Since I went to college in Birmingham and now live in Tuscaloosa, I find myself missing the beach quite a lot. Being just stroll away from the water is something I always took for granted when I lived there. It has been a solid 8 years since I was really living at home, and I am hoping one day we will reunite. But for now, short trips will have to suffice.

Which brings me to my next thing - a short trip to the "real beach"! Jennings and I will be taking the first part of my spring break to hang out in Fort Morgan in a cute little nautical-themed condo that we found.

So on this rainy day I will be imagining the beach, and not all that yucky work stuff I should be doing.

Anyone else still get a spring break? What are your plans?

Goldie needs a nap

I know it is Tuesday, but it sure feels like Monday all over again. This weekend, I got to help with the College of Arts & Sciences biggest fundraiser event, the Arty Party, and I hate to say it but I am still recovering. I even resorted to drinking black coffee this morning. If you know me at all, you know that coffee is not even my thing. I'll have the occasional espresso drink, but I hardly ever have coffee.

At any rate, the event was a pretty big success, preliminary estimates show we raised about $40 k for the department of Art and Art History. One of my tasks was to photograph all the auction items so they could be advertised on our website. Here is one of my personal faves:


In Woods Quad on the UA campus, there is a giant iron statue of a sleepy robot name Goldie. For the Arty Party, the artist made a miniature Goldie to auction off and I thought it would be neat to photograph them together. =)

Also, laying down and taking a nap is definitely something I would like to do right now....