song of my soul

We've Moved!!!

2009-06-20T16:18:00.003-05:00

My shiny new blog is all set up! Please visit me at http://www.songofhersoul.com and if you're one of the best people in the world (aka people who give me blog link love) be sure to change your links to the new space!

http://songofhersoul.com

Song of Her Soul

2009-06-19T03:17:00.003-05:00

That will be my new blog name, on my very own domain.

Just as soon as I figure out all the hosting/moving/fixing/pulling my hair out. Which means it might be a few years.

But for now, the domain is mine. Sorry to all my bloggy buds who helped me pick a name way back in September. I went with my own suggestion! Boooo, Crystal. Baaaad, Crystal! You'll forgive me, right? *grin*

Of course, I haven't been blogging all that much, so it may be a waste of money. But maybe actually paying for it will help me get my butt in gear. I guess we'll see!

On Dr Seuss

2009-06-18T00:33:00.003-05:00

I'd like to start collecting children's books. I love Dr Seuss and loved reading them when I was little.

What were your favorites? What are your children's favorites?

Meet Horton

2009-06-14T23:22:00.004-05:00

Meet Horton.

She's an elephant.

See?

Yes, this Horton is a she. (Notice all the purple.)

I don't think our Horton has heard a Who. Or a What. Or a Why, for that matter. But she has a Where, and that Where is at our house. In our nursery. On the new dresser - that took me months and months to pick - and will belong to our future-adopted-child-to-be. (No, we do not have any news.)

See?

(Dustin named her, by the way.)

Horton joined our little family a long time ago. She came to us from a cute little Etsy shop. I'm sure I bought her for a baby gift, but for some reason or other did not give her away. I ended up buying something else for the gift, and I don't remember What it was, or for Whom it was even bought. So Horton still resides in our little home, on her very own little Where, just waiting to make a friend.

Hopefully our future little Who will love her.

On Open Adoption

2009-06-12T03:58:00.003-05:00

Here is an excellent blog post on open adoption.

And another one by the same person on what it is not.

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding open adoption. I know I had several myself going into the process. In fact, I was uncomfortable with it at the beginning of our journey, but just a little ways in I totally had a change of heart and desire it 100%.

Good posts. Read 'em!

Dear Baby...

2009-06-01T01:10:00.004-05:00

A year or two ago, I found this pretty little journal at Target. I don't really journal, and I had no idea what I would do with it, but for some reason, it caught my eye. It was calling out to me, so despite the fact that I nearly choked at spending almost ten dollars on a blank book, I bought it. It sat on my bookshelf, looking all pretty, this whole time. Still blank. Without a purpose.

Tonight, laying in bed with the hubby, I decided to write a letter to our baby. Then my mind flashed over to the pretty little journal, and I knew what I had to do. The journal has now been turned into a Dear Baby book, and in it I will write letters to our child from now, pre-parenthood, until it is filled. I'd love for our child to see how much he or she has been wanted, how often we think of him or her, and how much love we have always had.

I wrote the first letter tonight. I thought I'd share it with you. It's special to me, and hopefully someday it will also be special to Baby.

Dear Baby,

It's hard to imagine the possibility of missing someone you haven't even met. But I do. Hi, it's me. Your mama. We haven't met yet, but we will. I crave that day like a root thirsts for water to nurture its very soul. To hold you, cuddle you to my chest and feel the rise and fall of your breath, counting and kissing every tiny finger and every tiny toe again and again. I can't wait to sing to you a lullaby and rock your gray skies away. I love you already. Find me quickly, little baby. I miss you so much.

I think about you often... about your future. What you will look like. Who you will become. Will you grow to be tall? Will you share your daddy's and my love of the arts? Will you excel in sports? Will you want to be a doctor? A preacher? A teacher? A husband or wife... mommy or daddy? I dream so big for you. I have high hopes for you. Whatever it is that you want out of life, I promise to do everything within my power to help you attain it. But right now, my dream is you. So find me quickly, little baby. I miss you so much.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, and whatever you grow up to become, your daddy and I cherish every breath of you. You have us wrapped around your little finger without even having to try. We've been waiting for you and ready for you for a very long time. We've loved you even longer. So find us quickly, little baby. We miss you so much.

Love,
Mama

Weekend Promo

2009-05-29T14:08:00.002-05:00

2 Belles & a Bead is a member of the most fabulous group on Etsy - SATeam! Our team has a fabulous blog, and we're having a fabulous secret sale this weekend.

Check it out!

Random Fact of the Day #11

2009-05-27T19:43:00.002-05:00

Last night, staring at myself in the mirror, I found about 10 white hairs. I plucked them all.

After the deed was done, I noticed that one was white only on the bottom half. The top half that once was closest to my scalp was red.

My hair is as indecisive as I am.

That is all.

Flower Obsession

2009-05-15T23:30:00.003-05:00

My obsession with little glass flowers continues...

Random Fact of the Day #10

2009-04-09T15:15:00.001-05:00

I have filed the taxes and am almost caught up on business orders.

Yay!

That is all.

No macro here, sorry...

2009-03-26T00:54:00.002-06:00

Sorry, bloggy buds. I'm exhausted and not doing too great right now, so I haven't been much up to blogging lately. I think I need to put off Macro Monday at least until sometime in April, after taxes are done and paperwork is caught up.

Last week was of water droplets on a marigold.

Thanks for being patient.

Lessons From a Not-Quite-Two-Year Old

2009-03-20T12:36:00.002-06:00

1.) Oatmeal is very exciting, but yogurt meltaway drop thingies are downright blissful.

2.) Ceiling fan remotes provide hours of fun. Off, on, giggle... off, on, giggle... repeat.

3.) When a camera is pointed at you, grin as big as you can. You're cute and you know it.

4.) When a big person grins at you, grin back. Big person will inevitably grin even bigger. (See last part of #3.)

Valuable lessons we all should learn, I do believe!

Did You Know?

2009-03-19T00:44:00.000-06:00

No, I did not. But... wow.

Bobbing Through the Basil

2009-03-18T00:14:00.000-06:00

I found this critter in the garden the other day.

Yes, we have a garden already. A raised bed square foot garden.

Yes, I have pictures.

No, you can't see them.

Ok, I guess you can. Later. When I remember to upload them.

But for now, you must be satisfied with only the little creepy crawly. You know how I love photographing my creepy crawlies!!

Macro UnMonday #18

2009-03-17T01:38:00.004-06:00

Sorry we're late. My mind is in a thousand different directions these days.

Last week's photo was of a bee. I'll have you know that no, it was not a dead bee. It was a dying bee. There is a difference, people! I felt sorry for li'l bee. Poor, poor li'l bee, all dying of unknown causes on my back porch. We like bees. They give us honey. And pollinate our plants so we can eat the fruit. We've had lots of bees in our neighborhood lately. I don't mind really, so long as they don't swarm and/or sting me. This dying little honeybee reminded me of the masses of honeybees that are dying all around the world... a fact that is a little frightening and a lot sad.

Anyway, on to this week's photo.

Do ya know it? Happy guessing!

Macro Monday #17

2009-03-09T00:07:00.003-06:00

We have a winner! Just one this week. Brandy guessed that last week's photo is of zip ties. My husband is a little obsessed with them. He's a zip-tyin' fool.

On to this week...

Is it easy? Do you know it? Good luck!

Random Fact of the Day #9

2009-03-05T20:56:00.002-06:00

While showering today, I counted seven bars of soap in our shower. Yes, seven.

Four are mine, two are Dustin's, and one is a facial soap bar that we're currently sharing.

Excessive? Nah. A girl needs options. Who wants to smell the same every day?

That is all.

Macro Monday #16

2009-03-02T20:20:00.005-06:00

As you saw, last week was way too easy as well. Sorry, guys. I'm a little off my game lately! I'm sorta running out of ideas too.

Anyway, it was the inside of a bubble mailer. I believe Sandra P. and Nicole guessed it exactly.

Here is the photo for this week. A little harder maybe? Perhaps!

Figured it out yet? Go ahead, outsmart that macro!

Good luck!

Orange you glad?

2009-02-27T01:03:00.010-06:00

Finally, a post not titled "Macro Monday..." and not about jewelry. Shocker. I know. I really don't have anything to say these days. Yes, I always say that and then end up writing a novel... but for reals, yo. Most of my time on the computer is spent building and growing our business. It's a full time job, just with no "perks" (yet). I guess that's not entirely true. It has paid for some pretty cool toys. Toys are definitely perks.

Today I spent all afternoon working on taxes. The sad part is, I'm not to the actual tax part yet. It took me all afternoon to enter my end of year inventory into my spreadsheet and add up the totals. People, I have too much stuff. Really, does a girl need so many gemstones?

Well, yes. Yes, she does. A girl just doesn't want to be bothered with counting them every year for uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is not the nicest of uncles. All he does is take our hard earned money and spend it on crap. He's not very fiscally responsible. And yet I have to be accountable to him. That's all kinds of crazy.

Speaking of all kinds of crazy... it's been all kinds of crazy windy here. I mean, knock you over windy. Well, knock you over if you're tiny like me. Ok, I have not actually been knocked over, but "knock you over windy" just sounds so much more ominous than plain old "windy". Shoot, everywhere has plain old "windy". How boring is "windy"? But we don't get plain old "windy" here. We get 50 MPH winds on a weekend for no good reason. That's all kinds of crazy.

Bloggy buds, please take a short break while I drag the recycling bin to the curb. At 1am. Several hours after my husband reminded me to do it (he is out of town, by the way... not a jerk).

And we're back.

It will be all kinds of miraculous if I awaken to the lack of recyclables strewn all across the neighborhood and threatening stares from our neighbors.

Speaking of all kinds of miraculous... the fact that the following photos came out even halfway decent in this all kinds of crazy knock you down wind must indeed be a sign from the heavens. A sign of what, I am not sure.

These are, as I'm sure you guessed, little baby oranges on my little baby mandarin orange tree.

*Pauses to relish in the collective aaaawww*

Not so awww? The fact that I picked and threw away probably twenty little baby oranges. It was so sad. So very, very sad. I did it only because apparently it's recommended the first few years, so the little baby fruits don't take so much energy from the growing tree.

If only I knew this fact when we planted the dang thing two years ago. No wonder it hasn't grown. But it is prolific!

Did you know that little baby mandarin oranges, even when teeny tiny pea sized and still green, smell just like edible full sized mandarin oranges? Oh, so sad having to pick 'n toss them.

Did you also know that I can throw little baby mandarin oranges all teeny tiny pea sized and still green over the fence really really far? I probably made some birdies really happy. Well, if they didn't get hit over the head that is.

Now orange you glad I blogged?

Macro Monday #15

2009-02-23T19:57:00.002-06:00

Okay, okay, okay... so last week was a little too easy. I think everyone guessed correctly!

Red onion, indeed. I was making a big pot of black beans the night I photographed the pepper and onion. I bought a red onion specifically with Macro Monday in mind. Maybe I should have stuck with yellow! *wink*

I'm afraid that this week is going to be a little too easy too, as I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't get quite close enough. But I guess we shall see!

Well there you go... can you outsmart my macro?

My Newest Obsession...

2009-02-18T00:48:00.004-06:00

... little bitty glass flowers. Every-freaking-where.

What can I say? I guess I'm ready for spring.

Tiny Terrace Collection - Pocket Full of Pansies in Blue

Tiny Terrace Collection - Little Poppy Pendant in Copper and White

Tiny Terrace Collection - Little Poppy Pendant in Silver and White

I am the Vine... - Sterling Silver Necklace

I am the Vine... - Sterling Silver Earrings

Maybe I like them cause I can't kill them.

Oh wait. I guess that's not true. I did kill a few... apparently glass flowers do not like the 1400+ degree heat of a torch. They sort of explode. I don't recommend trying that.

I do recommend wearing them, however, as they are just darling. Dontcha think?

Macro Monday #14

2009-02-16T06:49:00.003-06:00

A few of you got kiiiinda sorta close, but not really.

Sorry, peeps. No alien skin. How about another macro of the item? I took two and had to choose:

Does that help?

Here is the rest of the original photo:

Got it yet?

It's the inside of a bell pepper! Oh, the nastiness! I really, really hate bell peppers. I always have. They have always made me want to gag. Their flavor is quite offensive to my palate for some reason or other. I feel the same way about celery. All other veggies, I'm fine with.

Up this week:

Let's see how you do this time. Can you outsmart my macro? Good luck!

Random Fact of the Day #8

2009-02-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

Signs that you are a chocolate addict:

You are walking out the door, on your way to Lowe's, Circuit City, and any other store your husband decides to drag you to... but before you get out the door, you find yourself running back to the kitchen and stuffing a bag of Hershey kisses into your purse.

You find yourself holding it up, proudly, and declaring it your "snack".

Cause heaven forbid you go a few hours without chocolate bliss.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #7

2009-02-12T17:19:00.002-06:00

To my fellow inhabitants of planet earth, and beyond:

I love babies and I used to love the idea of carrying and birthing one. That ship has long sailed. I no longer desire to be pregnant. Whether that disappearing desire is my own doing or God's, I don't know, but the fact remains that it is gone and I am glad.

I want a baby, not a pregnancy.

I need lots of support and encouragement as we seek to get that baby through adoption.

I've moved on... why can't you?

That is all.

Macro Monday #13

2009-02-09T23:34:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's so late this week!

Several of you were right last week. The photo was of a rubber texture sheet used for metal clay. Pretty much a stamp, just large and without a wooden backing. Or any backing, really. This particular one leaves a bamboo texture. It's really cool... I should use it sometime.

This week's photo is a little tricky. A little noisy too. Sorry.

Can you outsmart my macro? Go on, give it your best shot!

Random Fact of the Day #6

2009-02-08T01:50:00.004-06:00

I'm a firm believer in forgiveness and grace. You know this already. I don't like to hold a grudge, nor do I like one held against me.

So what happens when someone offends you deeply (a rare occurrence) and you just cannot let it go? You try. You ask God for help. But you can't. The bitter roots run deep.

What does that mean?

Try as I may, the very sight of certain people turns my stomach and makes my blood run cold. Even after pleading with God to change my heart about it. This bothers me almost as deeply as the bitter roots go... but obviously not quite there yet. I hate this about me.

That is all.

The Dreamer - A Front Pager!

2009-02-06T21:26:00.002-06:00

I happened to catch Mama Belle's gorgeous copper heart earrings on the front page of Etsy a few minutes ago.

Go Belles... go Belles... go! Go! Go Belles!

*giggle* Sorry, we're like a couple little school girls sometimes.

*grin*

Random Fact of the Day #5

2009-02-06T00:30:00.001-06:00

Deciding to try new things, we recently bought a jar of sunflower seed butter. What do you know, sunflower seed butter tastes frighteningly similar to sunflower seeds. What's even more frightening is the fact that this somewhat took me by surprise.

I hear "______ butter" and expect to taste peanut butter. I don't know. Don't ask.

Almond butter? Tastes surprisingly like almonds. It's my favorite.

Chocolate licorice, however, tastes nothing like chocolate or licorice. What kind of world do we live in anyway?

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #4

2009-02-05T00:07:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I was out of hand soap. I thought I was not out, but when I went to refill the pump in my bathroom, I could not find the refill bottle. I'm not entirely convinced that it isn't hiding from me, in hopes to spare what little soapy life it has left.

So I swiped the bottle from hubby's bathroom and later on went to the dollar store down the way. You must understand that I can't go to the dollar store and buy only one thing, so I found a little door rug and a few other needed items.

What I can't figure out is why the cashier gave me a funny look when I handed her a couple crunchy hippie all natural laundry products... and a can of Pringles.

Surely she gets hungry after doing the laundry.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #3

2009-02-04T10:27:00.000-06:00

I keep trying to figure out why, if some soda crackers are sold with unsalted tops, they are still called Saltines.

Shouldn't they instead be just Ines?

That is all.

Macro Monday #12

2009-02-02T04:19:00.002-06:00

Well, well, well... Erin & Mrs. Smith were right with #11. The photo was indeed part of a picture frame. Seeeee?

I thought that one was kinda fun!

This week's photo is fun too. I was trying to figure out what to photograph and saw something that reminded me of this, so I pulled it out and gave it a go.

What do you think? Can you figure it out?

Good luck!

Random Fact of the Day #2

2009-01-31T14:37:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I walked down the hall and saw something peculiar out of the corner of my eye. I peered into the laundry room to see just what it was.

This is what I found:

The question isn't why, but rather who?

Because bwue fuzzy wuzzy beaws obviously like to swim.

That is all.

Out with the old...

2009-01-30T12:48:00.004-06:00

I've been dreading this day for a while. The day I go and decide to completely change up the style of our product photography. See, I'm more comfortable with my neutral gray, doing the same old thing every time. But that's not what catches the eye of lots of people, at least not on Etsy. And since one of my marketing strategies this year is to tap better into Etsy, well, it was time to step out of my comfort zone.

I see lots of gorgeous artsy fartsy photos on Etsy and wonder to myself "hmm, could I do that?". I wasn't sure I could handle it. I mean, wow, SO much color... no gray? What? NO GRAY? A color theorist I am not. I mean, shoot... my couches have beige slip covers, my rug is beige, our chair and the accent walls are chocolate brown. (At least nothing is gray.)

A couple weeks ago Dustin and I ran around town, finding little things to use as props. We went to the used book store with the sole purpose of buying some hard cover books in pretty colors. I found the coolest old, old, OLD Winnie the Pooh book in a nice shade of red. I had to have it. I'll actually read that one to our kids. Then I saw The Yearling in a lovely teal. A couple others that I'm not sure of the titles... but their covers were pretty in their chocolate brown and purple-ish. Score!

Next I found some white vases, perfect for displaying hanging earrings. Finally I raided my mom's stash of scrapbook paper. People. The woman has a stash big enough to scrap for the entire state of Texas. Score!

I went home and got to work. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do a good job. I'm not sure why, because I have a fabulous camera and an even fabulous-er macro lens... but I was afraid they would suck.

They don't. In fact, I pretty much love them and am wondering why I was so afraid of color before. Hopefully you'll love them too, and they'll catch some spending eyes over at Etsy.

We're also planning some pretty big website changes this year, so stay tuned to see how that all pans out. I'm excited!

Here are a few new things.. photographed with no gray! Yay!

Random Fact of the Day

2009-01-29T15:21:00.001-06:00

While in the shower, I shaved my leg. Yes, singular. The other was forgotten.

I didn't realize this until I was already getting dressed.

Poor lone, hairy leg.

That is all.

Sober

2009-01-27T13:43:00.003-06:00

I've never been a huge Kelly Clarkson fan. Don't get me wrong... I think her voice is pretty amazing and I enjoyed seeing her win American Idol. I'm not a huge fan of the type of music she did at first, but like a few of her later songs. I have a tremendous amount of respect for someone who goes against the grain and does their own music. Anyone can sound decent after time in the recording studio (hence the onslaught of recording artists that suck live - though I don't think Kelly is one of them), but not everyone can write good music.

I hadn't heard "Sober" until fairly recently. For some reason, I can't get it out of my head. It's about addiction... not necessarily to alcohol, just addiction to something, anything. To paraphrase a clip I read from her about the song, everyone has something. The only things I've been addicted to are chocolate and sugar. *giggle* But when I hear "Sober", it speaks to me not about addiction as much as about survival and beating the odds, which I feel like I'm still in the middle of trying to do myself.

I'm sure I'm one of the last people on the planet to hear it, but just in case you haven't or have but would like to hear it again, here is a video of her performing it live. You can read the lyrics here.

I don't know about you, but I'm still trying to pick those weeds.

Macro Monday #11

2009-01-26T10:48:00.001-06:00

A few of you came really close to guessing last week's photo. So close, in fact, that I will call them wins.

Last week, Macro Monday was a close up of a large Scotch Brite pad from one of the jewelry supply companies I frequent. They can be used to clean metal and give it a matte or brushed finish... but I still prefer the results that messy old 0000 steel wool gives me.

Now for this week:

Got a guess? Let me know! Can you outsmart that swanky macro?

It's a Dog's Life

2009-01-23T02:27:00.018-06:00

I get magazines from Jeffer's Pet Supply once in a while. I even order from them once in a while. Stuff is cheaper from them than from the various big chain pet stores in town and I've been very pleased with their service. In fact, except for food, I get most of our pet supplies online. Jeffer's has some super cheap stuffed dog toys that I stock up on a couple times a year. They're cheap enough that I didn't care that our dogs used to go through one every couple of weeks. They last quite a bit longer now as the stinkies have learned the fine art of being lazy. I have taught them well.

I received a new Jeffer's magazine this week and decided to sit down with it the other night and think about what I need to order soon. The dogs are down to their last fuzzy toy and their hard Nylabone chew toys are old enough that they should probably be taken to some kind of facility that is equipped to deal with hazardous waste.

I flipped through the pages and paused on the ones showing doggy beds because their doggy beds are also a couple years old and though I wash them regularly, they're starting to look less than appealing. I found a couple of possibilities and then as I turned to the last doggy bed page, I about fainted at what I saw.

Ridiculous Doggy Bed

And by "ridiculous", I mean what the yahoo is wrong with people?!

A pillow top coil spring bed? A pillow top bed??!? For a dog? And it weighs 70 lbs?! Are you kidding me? Not that I don't want the best for my pups, but for pete's sake, that mattress looks nicer than the one on our bed and it costs more than the crib mattress we'll be buying for our human child.

But heaven forbid the canines don't get their beauty sleep. Else they'll look mangey when they go out for a stroll. Doggies take walks in style these days, you know:

Lazy Dog Walker

Or for the more crunchy AP minded doggy parents:

Crazy Mutt Wearer

Just when I thought that dog wearing "for maximum bonding and safety" was the craziest of the crazy (and all my friends know I'm totally a future AP mama - in fact, I'm about to purchase my third... yes third human baby carrier to stock up for our own future human baby wearing experience... emphasis on human - so don't getcher panties in a wad over that) (and if you think three is a lot, you should talk to my friend Shannon. *giggle*), I found this:

Words Fail Me

...
...
...
...

Sorry. I just lost a few brain cells thinking about this product. So much so that I actually googled "bottled water for dogs" because, hey, I have nothing productive I should be doing at the moment (and by "nothing" I mean tons) and found this.

...
...
...
...
...

Ok, so my dogs are spoiled a little. They usually get Christmas presents. I buy them the foofoo dog treats that look like real cookies from Petco. I also buy them carob doggy candy so they aren't deprived of the chocolate experience. They get one of the best pet food brands I can find, in a low allergen formula made only from high quality venison and sweet potatoes. I give them filtered water from our fridge thingamabop... but chicken flavored bottled water? I just don't even really know what to say. Actually, I do. I love my dogs enough that if I were made of money, I would probably spoil them with such frivolous things as pink froufrou strollers and pillow top coil spring mattresses.

But bottled chicken water? Chicken water? I totally draw the line at chicken water. My oldest dog can stare me down with her big, sad eyes and get almost anything she wants, and she drinks plain old water flavored water. With that in mind, I'm secretly convinced that these canine butt lickers all hyped up on chicken water, showered with such insane levels of attention, are just one diamond studded collar away from world domination.

Then we'd all be drinking chicken water and playing fetch.

And that, bloggy friends, is a very scary thing indeed.

Though looking at my mutts all sprawled out on their backs with their feet up in the air and without a care in the world, sleeping like nobody's business... perhaps a dog's life wouldn't be so bad afterall. I mean, they know they're cute. And some of them are quite talented. Like this one:

How on earth, with such cute things, can there be wars and hate? Maybe if all the meanies in the world were whistled at by this canine cutie, they'd stop being so cold. Can't you just see the headline?

CUTE WHISTLING PUP HIGH ON CLUCK WATER BRINGS WORLD PEACE

These are the things I think about when I should be asleep. See, this blogging thing can be dangerous. I shall go to bed now before I have guinea pigs saving us from an extra-terrestrial invasion.

Don't laugh. You never know. Those squeals? They could quite possibly be the exact ear-splitting frequency needed to shatter alien brains.

Macro Monday #10

2009-01-19T20:08:00.003-06:00

Let's see if we can get back on track with Macro Monday, shall we? And by "we", I mean me... your very own favorite lazy bloggy bud. And by "lazy", I mean working my little butt off.

But I have a photo for you today! Let's see if we can guess it, shall we? And by "we", I mean YOU.

Do ya know it? Do ya, do ya?! Good luck!

The Pachelbel Rant

2009-01-11T01:46:00.003-06:00

You may have already seen this, but I had not seen it before tonight. A friend sent it to me, and I laughed and laughed!

Pachelbel is the person who composed Canon in D. I'm sure you've heard it... it's pretty common at weddings. This stand up act just goes to show that there truly is nothing new under the sun!

Disclaimer: do not watch if you are offended by a couple of mild cuss words or if you happen to be in the same room as littles who like to mimic things they hear.

What's really funny to me is that I LOVE Canon in D. Good thing I'm not a cellist. *grin*

And yes. His first name was Johann. *giggle*

Wait. Who's the geek?!

Organizing Madness

2009-01-10T00:58:00.011-06:00

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7....

and so on and so forth. This is my life right now. Counting. Little bitty beads. And weighing. Lots and LOTS of metal. And hoping my little scale is pretty accurate. Gotta tell you, I'm not in love with this time of the year. I don't expect to like 2009 until well after April 15th.

Going through my ginormous and ever growing stash of jewelry supplies has given me lots of (hopefully) neat ideas for pieces, only I'm not allowing myself to make ANYthing new that is not requested by a customer until I finish counting inventory. For someone who hasn't had her muse around in quite some time, this is quite the frustrating experience!

But this too shall pass, and then I shall have some pretty new things to show you. I've also found an awesome new supplier that has some components I've been wanting for a very long time. I plan to snag some of those goodies pretty quickly and see what I can do with them. I have a few ideas!

I think in 2009, one of my biggest goals is to simplify things. I'm *extremely* unorganized, which is one reason why this inventory/tax thing takes me so dadgum long. Well, that, and I haven't shut down shop, so I'm juggling working on filling orders during the afternoon and doing the paperwork into the wee hours of the night. However, If I had been entering invoices into the computer all year, I would be done by now. But noooo. I wait until the last minute. I *need* to organize my business paperwork - both incoming and outgoing - in a major way this year because I simply do not have enough time to waste on being unorganized anymore and that will not be helped at all with a baby whenever that happens (though I'm thinking it might never happen anyway!). I think the solution here is two-fold. One, get the inventory program that my dad is writing for me finished and two, schedule one day a month where I require myself to sit down and play catch up for all the not-yet-done paperwork for the month. Every month, without fail, no excuses.

People, I need accountability. Bug me at the end of every month. Call me. Text me. Email me. Show up at my door with chocolate and sit down with me and help me. Whatever you do, make me do this! Hello. Me. Desperate!! I also plan to roll out a more simple jewelry line. Not so much simple as in "oh, wow, boring" but more like can be made and reproduced easily. I won't completely get rid of my cool-as-heck-metalsmithing-skillz-yo labor intensive work, but I need to have a line that does not take hours upon hours upon hours to replenish. I don't want to raise all my prices higher, so I need to do this if I don't want to go crazy in '09. And I'm already halfway there as you well know, so... yeah.

I'm also in semi freak out mode with our house. Our flooring project is all but complete. Really all that's lacking is quarter-round on the baseboards, a couple threshholds, and some painting on the trim. Yay! We bought a ton more flooring than we needed. We also wasted a lot of flooring making mistakes! *grin* But even still, we saved so much money buying from an overstock warehouse (bought a really good name brand of really thick flooring too - SO cheap!) and doing the work ourselves. Sure, it took half a year, but hey, that freed up money to buy the finer, more important things in life - like chocolate. And iPhones.

Even though the flooring is all but complete, there is still so much to do to make our house acceptable-to-Crystal-baby-ready. Oh.My.Might.Die.NOW. We spent a couple of days gutting the garage room of all the junk that had accumulated in there. People. We're talking BAGS of stuff to be recycled, thrown away, and donated. Major purging going on here. I even finally got rid of my pregnancy and birth books. I had quite a few. I bought all the good ones that all the crunchy people recommended. I even read a couple. They were hard to let go. I'm not sure why. I guess because it was like the last thing we had laying around that offered any kind of hope for carrying a child. I mean, they all talk about pregnancy and childbirth like it's a given... but it's not. I'm finally okay with that, but getting rid of the books took me this long. An entire year and a half since we learned we would never conceive. That's quite a long time. Unfortunately, we took them to a second hand book store and got pennies for them when I probably could have sold them online for a much better deal (I paid pretty pennies for them used - they're not super cheap books - in demand I guess) but I just wanted them goneNOWitsTIME-kthx. So gone they are. Now I just have a lone pregnancy test remaining in my bathroom cabinet. I actually completely forgot about it until right now. Maybe I'll do some kind of ceremonial burning of it. Or maybe I'll bury it, water it, and watch to see if it grows us a baby. Do babies grow on trees?

Back to the house. Now that the garage is mostly cleaned and purged, it seriously needs to be organized. SERIOUSLY. Things are now in boxes on the floor. I want everything OFF of the floor that is not a piece of furniture. I'm through with clutter. I don't like stepping over things to get to my freezer, nor do I like risking my life just to get to my massive supply of bubble mailers and jewelry boxes. So our next "project" will be to get some kind of shelving system(s) in there, move some stuff around (my bench will be scooted over and the freezer will be moved closer to the door) and get stuff organized. I can't wait for this to happen. It's been a long time coming.

Last month we put two desks in the office. It took me half of the year to pick them out (and if you think I'm joking, just ask Dustin. They should have been bought in July.) Actually, I had picked some out from Wal-Mart sooner and an hour after I put them into my cart to purchase them (free site-to-store shipping), they decided they weren't carrying them anymore. NOT.HAPPY.CAMPER. I gave them a week or two to change their minds because, well, that was just rude!

*tick, tock, tick, tock*

But they did not. So I "pulled up my big girl panties" (though to be honest, I'm not quite sure why they were down to begin with... I mean, I don't usually shop sans panties. That's kinda sick. Shame on you for coming up with that one.) and shopped at my arch nemesis, Target. Oh yes. Target. We do not like The Targets anymore. Ooooh no. But that's another story for another day.

We bought the desks from Target cause they were cheap and they are beautiful. For months I had been trying to run a business on a tiny little printer table. Oh my. My skinny monitor hardly fit, much less all the other stuff I needed to be functional. Not fun. Not fun at all. But that's all in the past and now I run my busines from one of our two cheap but beautiful desks. They're a deep dark espresso color with a hint of red tones. I can't believe they were selling solid wood desks for so cheap. Maybe Target is not so bad afterall. Now we're in the second phase of the office project.

Do you see a problem here - multiple projects all at once? Flooring? Office? Garage? Nursery? Eating? Keeping sane? Breathing? Running business? Staying alive? Pulling up panties?

NO WONDER I'm exhausted!

The second phase is putting together bookcases. Or watching my dad put together bookcases while chatting his ear off, really. He's so good to me. Love my daddy! SO excited about organizing the office. Soooo excited.

Next is finishing the garage and the nursery. Then my life might be semi back to normal... well, if it's after April 15th that is. Or maybe I'll never be normal. I have my doubts. But if not normal, then at least hopefully organized and safe for a little one who may or may not ever find his or her way into our home.

Happy weekend, bloggy buds.

Whoops

2009-01-08T00:34:00.003-06:00

Here it is Thursday and me with no Macro Monday for this week.

Hello! Me? Lame. Oops.

Last week's photo was definitely a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. MMmmmm. Tasty. I should know since I ate it immediately following its 15 seconds of fame.

Here are some more to make you droooooool. Food porn. (Oooh can I say that??! No, I'm thinking not. Oops. Oh well. Too late now. What's done is done. Though I'm now going to be forever afraid to check my Google Analytics.)

I'm going to have to skip this week's macro because, well, hello it's Thursday! Sorry! I've been swamped with business stuff the entire week. Hopefully I'll get back on track soon. Not that I have anything to say, really. Of course, I spent an hour talking my dad's ear off this evening, concluding the discussion with how lame a blogger I am these days because I "have nothing to say".

At least I can laugh at myself.

Have a good whatever-it-is-until-I-meet-you-again, people!

So long, 2008

2009-01-01T23:07:00.006-06:00

So 2008 is finally over. I can't say that I'm sad to see it go. Like its buddies prior, it wasn't the best of years for me personally. Business-wise, it was borderline fantastic. But other than that, I'd like to send it off quietly into the night and forget it ever existed.

But because that's just not possible, I thought I'd try to come up with a list of things I learned in 2008. So here we go.

In 2008, I learned...

* ... that the laughs never end when you lock yourself in the bathroom naked. Just when you think the story has been forgotten, someone brings it up yet again. (And sometimes that person is you.)

* ... that God can give me a deep love for people I never before thought possible and make me an advocate for a cause I never thought I'd be interested in.

* ... that cloth diapers are super cute.

* ... that music makes me feel better.

* ... that a housing project you expect to only take a few weeks will, in reality, take about six months.

* ... that acupuncture needles hurt. I don't care who you are or what you say, acupuncture needles in my feet hurt!

* ... that my husband was in a bell choir and knows entirely too much about Riverdance.

* ... that when the adoption world says "a couple weeks", they really mean a few months at least.

* ... that I'm much more of a crunchy person than I ever thought possible and that as the years go by, the more I lean towards grace based discipline for our future kids.

* ... that God's grace is, in a word, awesome.

* ... that I'm a klutz in the kitchen, and really need flashing labels on my baking items and a zap collar to warn me when I'm about to use the baking powder instead of baking soda.

* ... that laughing at myself keeps me sane.

* ... that jewelry making is pretty cool, but photography has my heart.

* ... that I looove driving our baby SUV. Though I don't love parking it. The angels break out into song when I get it right.

* ... that I am very relieved I will never be pregnant. Like singing hallelujah relieved.

* ... that if voting really made a real difference, it would be illegal. (Thank you, dear friend, for that line. I still need my bumper sticker.)

* ... that it's hard to blog when I'm not doing very well.

* ... that I am stronger than I think, but weaker than I'd like.

* ... that somehow, even when life throws you one crappy suck year after another, it still goes on. And on. And somehow you know it just might all end up okay.

Macro Monday #9

2008-12-29T23:57:00.001-06:00

I stumped ya! I stumped ya all! Okay, actually, a couple of people did correctly guess it, but no one that actually posted the answer as a comment. So, I'm calling it a win for the macro. *grin*

Last week's photo is actually of the speaker (or is it the microphone?) on my iPhone's butt. Yes, iPhones have butts.

See? And yes, I got an iPhone. Blame my husband. Or Santa maybe. But whoever has the blame is, in fact, awesome since I am now addicted to the silly little thing.

How the heck did I ever live without an iPod? The iPhone is supposedly like an iPod Touch with a phone combined. And other stuff. Or something. It's the best thing ever if you're lazy and like to check your email while still in bed and not wanting to move yet. Yes. Yes, I am that lazy. It's a black one with a white case thingy on it. I bought myself a black case, but Dustin swiped it. I'm a little ashamed to admit that it's an attention grabber. We were out shopping last weekend and every time I answered it, people stared and one even asked questions. That was odd. I don't like drawing attention to myself, but being a redhead, well, I'm usually out of luck. Now I'm a redhead with an iPhone. I'm doomed.

Anyway, on to this week's photo! I'm quite certain that this one is much easier than last week's. It's quite possibly the easiest one yet, even.

Go on. Outsmart my macro. I know you can do it!

Boy's Best Friend

2008-12-27T21:25:00.004-06:00

Did you have a merry Christmas? Ours was pretty sweet. We spent the day at my parents' house where we exchanged gifts and then I helped my mom cook dinner. We had dinner with Uncle Cracker (chiropractor, you remember) and his family. The cutie pie up there is my Boy Cousin hugging Trixie.

We brought the dogs with us, as they had not been to my parents' new house yet (packing up two dogs isn't all that fun!) and we didn't want to leave them home alone all day on Christmas! Yep, they are spoiled. Though not that spoiled, since this year they did not get any Christmas presents. We usually get them one. Trixie loves tearing up wrapping paper. She still got to tear up paper, so I'm not quite sure she missed the gift.

Trixie and Boy Cousin made fast friends. They had lots of fun playing tug of war. That dog NEEDS a kid to play with! Hopefully she'll still be playful when our kid is here and old enough to play. Baby Girl Cousin (the cute one that has a future in photography, you remember) didn't quite know what to make of the dogs. She seemed like she wanted to pet them, but then she'd touch them with just one finger, and only for a brief second. It was funny. Then she got really mad when Trixie licked her face. Can you blame her? I'd be mad too! Trixie is such a little nurturer. It's a shame she can't be a dog mommy... she'd be an excellent one.

I've got some gorgeous family, don't I? I'm glad we spent the evening with them. They're lots of fun!

From me to you

2008-12-25T00:11:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a blessed day.

Macro Whatever #8

2008-12-23T23:10:00.005-06:00

Once again I am late! I'm sorry. Yesterday was one of THOSE days. After an entire week of feeling more mentally stable than I have in months, yesterday and today I've felt awful. Oh well.

Anyway, last week's photo was as just about everyone guessed, broccoli. Organic broccoli, even. I am sooo proud of you all for knowing broccoli! Yay you for eating your veggies! (You do eat them, right? Not just recognize them? Hmm? Do I need to call your mothers?!)

Here is a photo for this week.

Ooooh. Aaaaah. It's an attention grabber for sure. Can you figure it out? Can you outsmart my macro? Have fun!

Front Pager

2008-12-18T12:11:00.003-06:00

I was doing some Etsy shop work and logged out of one shop so I could sign into the other, and when the front page loaded, tadaaaa! Our little sterling silver bloom ring was -BAM- right there on the front page! This is a big deal, people! Our first time on the front page of Etsy.

Congrats to us! *grin*

Macro...

2008-12-17T01:58:00.004-06:00

... ~~Monday~~... ~~Tuesday~~... Wednesday #7. Yes, Wednesday.

I'm so very sorry that this is two whole days late! You see, the past week has been crazy busy and I haven't had much time to think, much less take a macro photo and blog about it. I didn't even get a photo taken until late Monday night and fully intended to write up the post after, but got sidetracked. I worked all day Tuesday and, well, here we are. So there.

I may or may not have a Macro Monday up for the next two weeks, since it's the holidays and all. At the very least, I will try to tell you what this week's photo is. Who knows, maybe I'll put new ones up both weeks. Just don't hold me to it, mmmmkay?

Alrighty then, with that out of the way, let's get on to the good stuff.

No one really guessed last week's photos. The three closest were Heidi with "some underwater creature", Jeanie with "underwater adventures with Jacques Cousteau's son", and Mrs. Smith with "shell for a hermit crab".

It's not a crab, but it's an underwater creature for sure, and I imagine Jacques Cousteau saw his fair share of them, though I'm not sure about his son. Did he have a son? Did the son go scuba diving? Did he happen to see...

... a starfish?

Because if he did, then he might have just been able to correctly guess the photos. Though probably not, because dang, they DO kind of look like dog toys don't they?!

I forgot to get a shot of the whole thing, so you'll just have to take my word for it. The first one is the top of the starfish, and the last two are of the side and bottom. Interesting creatures, those starfish.

Here is this week's photo:

What is it? I don't know! Oh wait, yes I do. I took it. But do you know? Can you outsmart my macro? Good luck!

P.S... we finally got a new, more-than-$15-piece-of-turd-tripod. It's awesome. Buh-bye, camera shake. See ya!

Font Problems

2008-12-13T22:30:00.002-06:00

I need help picking a font for metal alphabet stamps. They will be for stamping jewelry pieces.

These are my top two choices. What do you think?

Freehand 591
Murray Hill Bold

I really like Freehand, but some of the letters are a little different in size than others. Like compare the capitol "H" and "F". If it weren't for that, the decision would be made! I like Murray Hill Bold, but I think it might be a little fancy pants for me.

Unfortunately they don't make one titled "Crystal's Most Bestest Font EvAR".

Macro Monday #6

2008-12-08T16:32:00.006-06:00

Good afternoon! Macro Monday is getting busier and busier... last week our participation was great! Let's keep it up! *grin*

No one guessed correctly though. I thought it was a little easier than it was. But my husband didn't even realize what it was, and he knew I took that photo. Oops. Sorry!

Anyway, last week's photo was of a tortilla chip:

And a not so close up shot:

Ahhh, it all makes sense now, doesn't it? The greasy mole was my favorite guess. That's exactly what it looked like to me. *giggle*

I'm afraid that this week's photo may be even harder! But who knows, maybe someone will figure it out. To give you a better chance, I'll give you three photos. Same thing, different part/angle.

Can you outsmart my macro? Have fun and good luck!

Raffle with a cause

2008-12-06T16:52:00.003-06:00

MckMama over at my charming kids is holding a mega raffle. She's giving away a sweet Canon XSi DSLR package. The raffle proceeds go to benefit three wonderful organizations. Go check it out here.

If you decide to participate, God bless you and good luck. :)

Randomosity

2008-12-06T00:37:00.001-06:00

I guess I haven't rambled in a while. Truth is, I haven't had a lot to say. I'm definitely in a funk these days. Call it depression, call it the blues, call it a funk, dreary, the blahs, whatever you want to call it I have it. All I want to do is sleep. I cry at the drop of a hat. Or the whack of a hammer...

*I hit the heck out of my finger yesterday. I was cutting some discs for an order, and the big, heavy duty mallet landed on my finger instead of the punch. Hardened steel + big, heavy duty mallet + lots of force = OUUUUCHHH!!! Although what I said was far less polite than ouch.

*I tried to take a photo of my poor finger, as it is quite bruised, but for some reason the bruises really don't come out on the photo. It's weird. It looks ugly. And it still hurts.

*Arnica cream does not help when you whack your finger that hard.

*Crying for ten minutes straight while calling your finger very ugly names does not help either.

*Icing it while crying and calling it ugly names does very little in the way of comfort too.

*Typing hurts. Though yesterday I could not use it at all, so I guess hurt is somewhat of an improvement.

*Our flooring project is almost complete.

*Well, kinda. All of the flooring is down, and now we're trying to put the baseboards back on.

*Well, "we" meaning my dad. And sometimes I watch. Nail guns scare me. Hello, I can't even use a mallet without killing a finger.

*Dustin and I are shopping around for a camcorder. I'm thinking about video blogging. I don't know about that though. I mean, your expectations of me are so high... I'm not sure how many times I can say "yo" and "fart in your general direction" on camera. Either way, we need a camcorder to catch those precious moments that are sure to come... such as baby's first booger bubble.

*There will be no baby booger bubbles if I never finish revising and mailing the four extra copies of our scrapbook. It should have been done a month ago. Yet, it's not.

*I'm rethinking this whole parenting thing. I'm thinking I'm not cut out to be a mom. I don't want to do it anymore. I'm going to be a horrible mom. Please don't tell me how great I'll be because I won't believe it. This is why the revised scrapbook is not sent. Mental block. I may never finish it.

*I bought a Beco Butterfly and I'm not sure I like it. It says it fits from 4'11", but I'm 5' and it does not fit right. Too bad. I was excited about it.

*I am now sold out of cuff bracelets at the moment. This is a good thing.

*I'm tired of my house being a torn up mess. I have a Sam's size package of toilet paper in my living room. There's just something not right about that.

*I was supposed to get a new tripod today, but UPS sucks and is running behind so it won't be here until Monday. The macro is too much for my $15 Amazon.com tripod and me no likey the camera shake. Me also no likey the small amount of noise I get from shooting at 800 ISO. So, I ordered a Manfrotto tripod with a ball head. It's supposedly rock solid and can support enough weight to last me through any camera upgrade I might want to throw at it.

*I'm so thankful that my second Etsy shop (jewelry supplies) is paying for my newfound photography addiction. Because it does.not.end. and it's a 'spensive addiction, yo. My shugah daddy can't buy me everything.

*Speaking of shugah daddy (gosh, I hope you all know that's a silly joke), he just got an iPhone (merry Christmas, hon) and now thinks I need one.

*It's his fault (love you, hon) that I'm now addicted to YouTube. It all started with watching phone reviews, trying to decide which cellphone to buy. I do need a new cellphone, I just do not need an iPhone. Who needs GPS when you're never far from home?

"iPhone... where is mom & dad's house?"
"Right down the road, idiot."
"Oh. Ok... where is the health food store?"
"Just a little further down the road, gosh!"

See? Who needs that? Sassy, those iPhones.

*I think he's winning, because despite the fact that I don't need GPS or an iPhone, he has somehow brainwashed me into wanting one.

*I now feel strange talking about all the expensive electronics in our lives. We've never before bought expensive electronics. This is new. In fact, before the past couple years, we've never bought expensive ANYthing. We're blessed with hubby man earning a really good salary and my business endeavors paying for my silly little hobbies right now. I know it will all end with the introduction of children (formula's 'spensive, yo). (That's the second "yo" that you would not have gotten were I video blogging.)

*I do not want to be a mom that yells. Last week I yelled at my parents' little diva dog. Does that mean I will yell at my little diva kids? I can't do this.

*I still hate the monstrous crib of hideousness, but I think I'm too tired to care.

*That's all.

Only in Texas

2008-12-05T11:20:00.000-06:00

Good to know, people. Good to know.

I don't think I want to know.

Vanity

2008-12-04T01:10:00.004-06:00

"Do these feathers make my butt look big?"

Macro Monday #5

2008-12-01T22:32:00.000-06:00

I'm running a little late on this tonight. Sorry about that. Being sick set me behind for work and I'm scrambling to play catch up and get orders ready for the mail tomorrow.

Wowee, y'all done good on last week's photos. Bethany, Sandy, Karen, Sandra P., Erin, Nicole, Mrs. Smith, The Rock Chick, and Jen all guessed wood of some sort.

You would all be right! They are photos of pieces of driftwood we found at the bay.

Now, on to this week's photo!

What is it? Do you think you know? Can you outsmart my macro?

If you'd like to participate on your own blog with a close-up photo, let me know! I'd love to play along. *grin*

Good luck and have fun!

Chuck Norris in a Blender

2008-11-30T23:48:00.000-06:00

I've become a YouTube addict. It's a little sad.

But you know, if I hadn't become one, I wouldn't have found "Will it Blend?".

This one is my favorite.

This one just about made me laugh and cry all at once.

And this one... well, this one speaks for itself.

This is what happens when Crystal gets the flu, people. It's not pretty.

All I Really Want for Christmas...

2008-11-29T20:32:00.002-06:00

A friend sent this to me earlier and asked if I had seen it. I had not. I'm glad I have now.

All I can say is wow and I'm sure glad I had a box of Kleenex sitting right next to me (still pretty buggy, you see).

I wish we could welcome them all home.

Buggy Again

2008-11-28T11:11:00.000-06:00

Still feeling buggy. Blah! I hate the flu. Or whatever this is.

It's mean. And it bites.

Like these guys.

Have you ever been bitten by a huge friggin' ant like that one? I stepped on one when I was a teen and it hurt for days. Its body was so strong that I squashed and squashed and it would. not. die.

I've not ever been bitten by a spider that I know of though. The one there is supposedly a spiny orb weaver. We found it while walking a trail at a local wildlife reserve last weekend. She was pretty small... 1/2" or less. But magnified she sure does look fierce. Apparently spiny orb weavers are good garden spiders since they eat pests. I think I prefer her right where she is. Though maybe if she came to visit my gardening would go better considering part of the problem was pests.

Ooor maybe not. I think I'll take my chances.

A Little Buggy

2008-11-27T08:12:00.000-06:00

That's how I feel right now. Or a lot buggy, really.

*sneezes*

I caught my hubby's cold. Achoo. My throat hurts. Can I cry now?

I'm not feeling very thankful today. I'll be thankful when the crud goes away. I am thankful for my man. And my macro lens. Both of which help me photograph cool bugs. (Though only one of which helps me catch bugs. Don't worry. I love him anyway.)

What are you thankful for today?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can stand on my own...

2008-11-26T11:04:00.002-06:00

... ~~two~~ one feet.

Rooted and Grounded

2008-11-25T12:45:00.004-06:00

This weekend we took the camera and went to a park that is nearby. There are lots of geese and ducks that live there. There are also these lanky old trees that are the coolest things. Their trunks run along the ground really low so you can sit on them. They're curvy and cool and would make a great photo location. I took a photo of my hubby sitting there, but he'd die if I posted it. Sorry.

The cool old trees also have cool old roots. They come out of the ground and follow it, sloping down into the pond. I wish I could have captured it on camera better, but I don't have a good wide angle lens... yet.

Macro Monday #4

2008-11-24T13:33:00.005-06:00

Week #3 must have proven to be a little easier, because we have several winners! However, one was pretty much right on the money. Mrs. Smith said:

"Ok, after much thought and deliberation, I think it is a photo taken just under the ridge of a cherry flavored Dum Dum sucker. : )"

It was strawberry flavored (my favorite!), but yes, it is indeed a red Dum Dum lollipop. And no, I did not eat it after taking the shot. I threw it away.

Germaphobe here, sorry.

This week, you get a twofer! A two for one special. Two photos, one guess. *grin*

I think these are pretty easy, so I'm sure someone will get it fast. Will it be you? Can you outsmart my macro?

Good luck!

Adventures in Soap Making

2008-11-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

People, I made soap!

Okay, well, I sorta made soap. I guess what I really did is turn some lovely handmade cold process soap base into scented stuff. But I made soap... that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Of course I had to photo log my journey. What kind of blogger would I be if I did not?

First I had to measure off one pound of the goat milk soap base and cut it into chunks. For a really dry soap, grating is best, but this soap was still pretty fresh and soft, so I took my chances and cut it into chunks.

Then I dumped it into a pot. Now, melting the base on direct heat like this was not one of the recommended methods of rebatching it. However, I don't have a double boiler, did not want to use the microwave, or take hours melting it in the oven. So, I decided to take my chances. Because me taking my chances in the kitchen?

That always works out well.

Next I measured and added 1/4 cup milk, added it to the pot and turned the heat on low. While it got to cookin', I decided to measure out my essential oils to try to get a good combo of scents going. I decided to try a mixture of cedarwood and sage based on a soap I bought off of Etsy for Dustin. He loved it. Any handmade soap that excites my husband is a good soap in my book because then he looks at me just a liiiittle less strangely when I go and spend our entire life savings on it.

I decided to throw in just a tiny hint of lime because I'm obsessed with citrus. Just a tiny bit though. You have to be careful wth citrus oils. Actually you have to be careful with all of the oils.

Let me take the time to add a healthy warning here. Essential oils can be good and wonderful and they can be dangerous. Don't go adding them all willy nilly to things. In fact, don't play around with them at all unless you know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing, so I really should not be within 100 meters of them. However, I did look them up on my supplier's website to get the safe and recommended 1-lb soap amounts for each of the oils. Hopefully our skin will remain on our bodies and we will not melt when we step out into the sunlight.

Let me also throw in another warning here. Don't use your food stuffs for your soap stuffs. Once essential oils, fragrance oils, or colorants touch any of your food stuffs they can no longer be food stuffs. I bought a cheap set of pans, spoons, and measuring items to be used only for soap.

Ok, enough of the scary stuffs.

By this time I saw that it was not melting very fast.

See?

So I turned up the heat to medium low.

That worked.

See?

That is what I called the rice krispie phase. Because a couple weeks ago we made rice krispie treats and the melting soap looked a lot like melting marshmellows.

Another warning: melting soap is not melting marshmellows. Don't eat it. Even though it's goat's milk and oil.

Then it hit the tapioca pudding phase, which I failed to capture. Sorry. I was too afraid you'd eat it.

Next comes the vanilla puddin' phase. Ahhh, vanilla puddin'.

See? Aint she purdy?

This is where you stir in the extra stuffs. Essential oils, fragrance oils, colorants, seeds, herbs, small critters...

I just chose the cedarwood, sage, and lime essential oils. I decided to keep it all natural. No pretty colors needed. It was a nice creamy vanilla puddin' already. Who needs, like, purple? I wanted to add some kind of exfoliant but I didn't know if what I had on hand would work so I skipped that.

It was time to pour it into the mold. Now, I must have misunderstood the mold description when I bought it because I thought it made a 16 oz bar in each of the cavities. However, I quickly found that there was no way the entire 16 oz was going to fit into one cavity. Apparently it makes two 8 oz bars of soap. Oookay.

I had to let it cool off, then popped it into the freezer to harden it long enough to get it out of the mold. Once it softened up again, I cut it into weird sized bars.

See?

Now we have 8 2oz bars of cedarwood sage soap with a twist. It smells delightfully spicy with just a little refreshing zing! in the background. Love it.

We're supposed to wait a few to several weeks for it to fully harden and be ready to use. However, I confess that I took the tiniest bit of it and used it on my hands. It lathers like a dream.

I have four more pounds of soap base left and several scents from which to choose. Next time I'm doing something girly. Once I use all the base, I want to buy my own oils and lye and make some completely from scratch.

You know me. I'm clumsy. Doesn't seem like such a wise idea?

Pray for me.

And don't eat my soap. It just looks like white fudge.

Do you Etsy?

2008-11-19T15:28:00.005-06:00

No?! Well, you should!

Etsy is awesome. I Etsy. All my friends Etsy. You should Etsy too.

If you do, would you like to visit my treasury?

Rockin' Robin

An Etsy treasury is where an Etsian shows a collection of some of their favorite items... usually going with a theme or color or both. The cool thing about treasuries is several times a day, one is picked to be shown on the front page. This brings lots of exposure to the artists who both make the treasuries and are featured in them.

2 Belles & a Bead is also currently featured in a treasury made by one of my good jewelry buddies, Laurel!

Sultry Sexy SILVER

At the time of this writing, both Rockin' Robin & Sultry Sexy SILVER are on page three for hotness. I'd love for one or both to make it to page one! They both expire tomorrow afternoon, so there's not much time left.

So how can you help? If you Etsy, I'd love for you to sign into your Etsy account (buyer or seller, it does not matter) and visit both treasuries. While being signed in, if you will click on each individual item featured it will help boost the treasuries further to the top. If you leave a comment on the bottom, that helps too. If you're not comfortable leaving a comment but still want to help, the clicks alone would be great!

No pressure, no pressure. ;oP

But at the very least, you really should Etsy.

Macro Monday #3

2008-11-17T11:48:00.007-06:00

*Ding ding ding*

We have a week #2 winner! Woooo! None other than my very own mama. Yes, she won fair and square. She was not in on it nor was she present at the time the photo was taken. I guess living on the coast helps though, since...

"It looks like it may be seaweed or algae with some broken sea shells."

... is exactly right. I believe it is some kind of algae or moss growing on a rock that Dustin and I found down at the bay. The little white things are indeed broken pieces of shell.

You're all winners in my book though just for playing, and some of you had quite the entertaining answers. *grin* Please, keep them coming.

Here is this week's photo. Something a little red to get you into the holiday mood...

Oooh. The intrigue! Can you outsmart my macro?

Let me know if you participate with your own close up shot on your blog!

Have fun and good luck. *grin*

Cuffed

2008-11-16T00:40:00.000-06:00

I have a thing for bracelets lately. I don't mean wearing them, I mean making them. I don't think I could personally pull off a cuff, but for some reason I'm obsessed with them. I made two in the past couple months and I like them both and wish I could wear them both.

I also have a thing for bangles but haven't made any yet. Soon though, soon.

Black birch sterling silver cuff:

Rippled copper cuff:

<------ Oh, and do you see the little sponsor section over there to the left and down a bit? If you see Zaja Natural there, go click and buy. For real. Do it. Best soap ever. In case Zaja Natural is no longer there, click here and buy. Try the charcoal facial soap. I'm so not kidding. Ask my husband, he uses it too. In fact, I think I need to order some more soon. And the dead sea mud scrub? Divine. Oh and look! Now she has deodorant!

Someone buy a cuff. I need to go shopping.

Eight years - anyone have a time machine?

2008-11-15T02:15:00.008-06:00

The man and I celebrated our eighth anniversary this week. Can you believe that? I can't. Not only that, but we've been together for just one year shy of an entire decade. It's pretty hard for me to wrap my mind around that one.

If I could go back in time eight years and change things, I would. Oh, pick your jaw up off the ground. I wouldn't change my marriage or my groom. Just the wedding. I've been thinking about that this week. I didn't really want a huge church wedding. I wanted to get married on the beach with just a very few close family and friends. Barefoot in the sand with the gorgeous ocean in the backdrop. With the best photographer in town. Instead we did a church wedding with an amateur hobby photographer. I loved his work, but I absolutely hate our wedding photos. I'm not knocking amateurs, of course (I guess I kinda am one?) but this one screwed up and I'm not sure I'll ever get over it.

Nor will I get over the lack of ocean in the backdrop of said photos!

Anyone have a time machine? I'd like to go back 8.5 years, get married in the spring right when my man returned home from Korea, instead of the following November... and on the beach. With a pro. Barefoot. Then I'd fast forward again, only a little further into the future than the present, to whatever point in time it is that we become parents. Cause I'm tired of waiting, people.

Hopefully this will be the last anniversary we'll be sans babysitter.

But either way, I lurve you hun. Even though our wedding photos suck, you're my world. We didn't get married barefoot, but hey I guess shoes aren't so bad.

Eight years down, forever more to go. *grin*

The perfect little model

2008-11-12T16:47:00.008-06:00

A few weeks ago my mom kept my little baby cousin for a couple of days while my uncle & aunt worked at a health fair (my uncle's a chiropractor, you see... in fact, my hubby who has been seeing him for a while now calls him "Uncle Cracker". Cause he's a back cracker. And the uncle. Uncle Cracker. Get it? Oh, never mind.).

I went over and visited them for one of the afternoons because Little Baby Cousin is the cutest thing ever and I hadn't gotten to see her in a while.

Of course I took my camera. Of course I took well over 100 photos of the child in a span of 30 minutes. And then of course I took some more. She's such a ham and is incredibly photogenic. She thought it was a lot of fun, especially when I let her push the shutter button and take a couple photos herself (I held the camera). She got a nice shot of my mama's legs and a nice shot of the room. I think the kid has a bright future as a photog. The one of mama's legs was super sharp. And framed nicely too, like all tilted and artsy-like.

Cute AND talented. Kid's got a good life ahead of her.

I spent the next several days going through them picking out the good ones and doing a little photoshop magic. I have received permission from Aunt to share a few of them here on my blog because a cuteness so great needs to be shared with the world.

So there she is, the perfect little model... my Little Baby Cousin (who is having surgery tomorrow, by the way, so your prayers would be appreciated).

I wish I could show them all to you, but alas, the cuteness is far too much. I fear you would go into cute overload. Which is quite dangerous, I hear.

See, I can handle it because I've worked my way up, bit by bit. But Little Baby Cousin is new to you, and you must get used to such cuteness a little at a time... step by step.

Aunt & Uncle were pleased with my not-so-mad photo skillz. I think I am now the official family photographer. I think such a title deserves a new lens.

I think the super cute Little Baby Cousin agrees. There are many more legs in the world to photograph, you know.

Macro Monday #2

2008-11-10T17:31:00.007-06:00

I know you're all waiting with bated breath to find out about last week's photo. We had lots of great guesses, but no winners! To be quite honest, I don't think I could have guessed it either. It was a hard one. Like some of you, when I see it, I think "coffee grounds" too. But nope, no coffee. No stains. No carpet. No poppy seeds and no baked goods. Though what comes inside it can be associated with baked goods.

Confused?

Does this photo help?

It's a piece of a broken pecan shell sitting on my blue jeans. Isn't it weird how the black spots on the shell look 3-D? That does make them look like coffee or poppy seeds.

Thanks for playing along! I hope you had fun. *grin*

Now for this week's photo... hopefully a tad bit easier, but maybe not! (Click to enlarge.)

So, do you think you know it? Can you outsmart my macro? If you have a fun macro or close up shot to share, let me know! Or if you have any ideas for some close up shots, feel free to make a suggestion. Maybe someday you'll see it. *grin*

Crystal, Meet AI Focus

2008-11-04T00:18:00.000-06:00

And bloggy buds, meet Mr. Seagull. (Please make sure you click to enlarge!)

Photo courtesy of Mr. Honking Macro Lens.

Two things.

1.) I love this lens.
2.) AI Focus + continuous shooting mode = woooooo!

That bird was not very close. The lens just really rocks. And if I had a steady hand and more experience, it would rock even more!

Macro Monday

2008-11-03T00:03:00.001-06:00

So it's Monday and I've got this sweet, new macro lens and I thought to myself, "hmmm, Macro Monday!" would be a fun thing I can do to help me learn to use this monster.

Here's the deal. I'll post a macro shot of something I found during the previous week and you get to guess what it is. If you guess it right, you win! What do you win? The satisfaction of knowing that you're smart and get to help me refine my photo taking skillz. Cause they aren't quite mad yet, yo. *giggle* Sorry, I guess I can't do better than that right now.

I'll post the answer (and winner if there is one!) as well as a small non-cropped version of the photo so you can see for yourself what it is on the following Monday when we start all over again. The photos will not be heavily edited. I might adjust the lighting levels if they're too dark, or correct the color if it's off and perhaps sharpen it just a tad if it needs it, but that's it. They will be at the magnification that the camera takes them... no digital zooming!

If you have a macro or even a point and shoot that takes really great close-ups, feel free to participate on your own blog! Just make sure you leave me a comment to let me know so I can check it out.

Here's our first Macro Monday photo (click to enlarge):

What do ya think? Do you think you know it? Tell me! Outsmart my macro. *grin*

Dear Myspace

2008-10-31T14:04:00.008-06:00

Dear Myspace,

I'm sorry to say that I think it's over. I've left you for another social network. Stop crying; it's okay. Your heart will go on. And on. You see, lately I've forgotten to come and visit you. I just don't even think about you anymore. My other social network has fulfilled me in ways you never could. It's a network where the cool kids hang. You know, the ones that like the fact that they are no longer in junior high?

I just couldn't take your large graphics, constant surveys on who I "have a crush on", gaudy sparklies, and, well, your Tom anymore. It's just not my bag, baby. What? You think this is sudden? Oh, honey, it's been a long time coming. You're just dense, Myspace. Dense or deaf. My maniacal screams through the monitor were not getting through that thick skull of yours. Or was it the awful, automatically playing music keeping my pleas from reaching your ears? I know how to push a play button, Myspace. Don't patronize me.

I just don't find you mentally stimulating anymore. Actually, I never did. I faked it. Pretending to enjoy my time with you, I tried leaving comments and picking mildly classy layouts. But I was never really into it. The entire time I was daydreaming about a day when I could enjoy social networking again. Well, my time has come.

Sorry, Myspace. I'm leaving you for Facebook. Yes, Facebook. You read that right. Where grownups go to interact with their weird international friends who add extra vowels where vowels are not needed. Where we create secret groups and spend entirely too much time debating the fine nuances of items such as knitted baby hats. Where we are free to post strange status updates voicing our random mindless drivel and comment on them, endlessly chatting about the intricacies of the finer things in life such as toe hair, wall hangy thingies from Michaels, and chocolate. But not together. Because that doesn't even make sense. But I digress. Stop distracting me; that's not helping your case.

My point, Myspace: it's over. We're through. Kaput. I am no longer one of your peeps. I've grown up and branched out and have no more use for you. So please stop sending me emails from people I do not know who think I'm hot and want to be my friend. I'm really not that cool. They just think I am. But hey, I kind of think I am too, which is why I must call us quits.

Goodbye, Myspace. Goodbye.

(Or: "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!")

(But no, I'm much too classy for that kind of talk.)

(See what kind of bad influence you are? Shame on you, Myspace. Shame.)

Sincerely,
Crystal

Macro Mayhem

2008-10-29T05:03:00.004-06:00

After surpassing even more goals, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and order my beloved Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. I ordered it quite a while ago, but the camera shop was closed for Sukkot, so it didn't ship for a week or so.

It came in yesterday.

I was afraid to open the box.

Then I opened the box and inside that box was another box.

I finally got up the nerve to open that box and take off the top piece of styrofoam.

Then I saw the big, honking manual.

I started to read the big, honking manual, then realized I cannot read Japanese.

Then I realized that I cannot read French.

Then I found the English portion and started reading.

I became very confused. This is a serious lens. I barely know bokeh. My brain can process "bokeh" but "magnification priority" and "infinity compensation mark", not so much.

I carefully put it on the camera body. I think it might actually be heavier than the body itself. Or at least even.

Then I played. I need some macro practice. And maybe a monopod or something, cause boy there's nothing like watching camera shake in action through that type of magnification! I'm glad I'm not a surgeon. *wink*

But it was fun playing around. I need lots more practice.

The nose agrees.

I'm thinking about posting an extreme macro close-up every week or two and seeing who can guess what it is. That would be fun. What do you think?

Dear Birth Parent

2008-10-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

As a part of our adoption profile (aka "scrapbook") we had to write letters to the birth parents. We wrote one as a couple then each wrote one individually. I had been dreading it for months and I'm so glad it's complete. See, our home study was approved this week and now we're legally able to adopt.

We mailed off our scrapbook to the agency's main office yesterday. Now it's just a matter of someone picking us. In most cases, we won't be told when our profile is viewed. We prayed over it before sending it, that God would bless each person who reads it and that the right one would choose us. I'm not sure what I feel right now. Not much, really. Defense mechanism, I'm sure. I don't think I'll be excited until that baby is in my arms.

Of course, right after it was sent, I was told that writing "dear birth parent" is offensive and not a good way to start the letters. However, this is what our agency recommended and they've been doing this for longer than I've been alive, so hopefully they did not steer us wrong. The case workers are going to review it when it arrives and offer suggestions for changes if any are needed. I be scared, y'all.

All in all, we ended up with 15 pages of pictures (the joint letter was integrated into two of the photo pages), our two letters (which are each about three pages long!) and a couple of pages that were pieces I wrote during this journey. I thought you might enjoy reading my letter. I took out the names of family members that may or may not like having their names out on the internet.

Anyway, here it is.

Dear Birth Parent,

First let me thank you again for allowing Dustin and I to open up our lives to you, and for considering our home for your child. I can't begin to know what you're feeling, nor can I guess at what brought you to the place you are now. I only wish I had some magical words to share that would bring you comfort, but what I do have are prayers for you and the little one you are carrying. I hope this book we've put together shows you who we are and the loving, supportive home we have to offer a child.

I've had a heart for adopting for almost as long as I can remember. I have a vivid memory of sitting on my high school best friend's bed one weekend, playing the board game "Life", daydreaming about what our futures would be like. How our husbands would look, how many children we'd have, what their names would be. She was raised by her mother and step father, and that had sparked a discussion about adoption. Of course, back then I was pretty clueless about the entire process, but it put a bug in my ear and a thought in my head that from that day on has been cultivated into a desire of my heart. When Dustin and I learned that we could not conceive a child, as devastating as that information was to me, after going through a period of grieving it also sort of clicked deep down. This is the road we're meant to travel. My desire to birth children melted away and in its place was the knowledge and peace that our family would grow purely by love rather than by blood.

Texas born and raised, I grew up in a stable and loving home with Christ as the foundation. I am an only child to Chris and Karen, who today remain two of my best friends and greatest inspirations. Married for well over thirty years now, they instilled in me many values that have helped to shape who I am. From a young age, I've had a deep love for God. My parents tell me that when I was a very small child, I would gaze through the car window at the sky and blow kisses to Him. I started singing to the Lord when I was little and have never stopped.

I had a happy childhood and many friends. I met one friend in particular when I was about three, and we remain friends today. We loved playing Barbies and My Little Pony. We used to get into all sorts of trouble, from putting on her mom's makeup to sitting under the table in a restaurant, crumbling up little packets of crackers onto the floor and quietly laughing to ourselves while the other restaurant patrons shot looks of horror at our unsuspecting parents. A few years later, we took ballet lessons together while we secretly crushed on church boys. Many years later, we cried tears of joy at each others' weddings.

I was home schooled from first through eighth grade and attended a Christian high school where I graduated Valedictorian with honors. My parents somehow managed to maintain a balance between pushing me to do my best and letting me have fun being the child I was. They expected me to work hard in school, but the drive that pushed me to the top was really all mine. That drive followed me to college, where I attended for two years with a major in computer science. It took that experience and two crazy but cool professors for me to realize that my true love lies in the arts. Writing, music, photography, designing -- these are things that have been a part of me my entire life, yet I failed to give them the attention they deserved for so long. Today I am a singer/song writer, blogger, jewelry designer, business owner, and aspire to someday be a published writer. My love of the arts has been fulfilled in my life, but an even deeper longing is still calling out -- the desire to be a mom. My hope for our future children is that they push themselves to be the best people they can be while still listening to their hearts and following their dreams. We will always do everything we can to help them set and achieve their goals, both in education and otherwise.

In high school, I spent a lot of time with a few very close friends. I have never been very athletic, but I've always loved bike riding and rollerblading. I was involved in a few singing groups and loved writing poetry. Volunteering as an assistant in our church's nursery and babysitting a neighbor's granddaughter were things I enjoyed often.

I met the love of my life while in college. Dustin was a world away, stationed in South Korea, but we somehow managed an unlikely meeting on the internet and later went on to meet in person. The day he flew to Texas to meet me, we decided to do dinner with my family and then catch a late movie as our first date. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We went to a little locally owned Chinese restaurant that has since shut down and planned to see The Bone Collector at the big theater. Interesting first date movie, I know. But no matter, to this day I'm still not sure what the movie is about. Dustin had my undivided attention and my mind was too busy reeling from the excitement of meeting him to pay attention. I drove to the theater, my dad's little red Toyota puttering along... until it died, that is. We sat there on the road, unsure of what to do, until a car full of strangers came by and offered to help Dustin push start the car. And so he did. My tall, handsome Army man push started my little red clunker on our first date and didn't even complain. What a catch! It was undoubtedly the best first date ever.

That began the start of our wonderful life together. Dustin is truly my best friend and my rock. That man constantly amazes me with his wisdom and intellect, yet keeps me in stitches with his crazy sense of humor. He is a great balance of strength and gentleness. I've not met a child that didn't almost instantly adore him. It's really no wonder, since he's like a big kid himself. He's such a good man and excellent husband... I can't wait to see him grow into a great dad. We consider our marriage to be strong and full of love and respect. Respect is important to both of us, and we plan to be a good example of a healthy marriage to our children. Dustin has always supported me in my good days and bad. Last year when I tragically lost my beloved granny, he was the perfect picture of tender strength for me. Granny was one of my favorite people on the planet. We used to sit and talk for hours. She possessed the kind of wisdom that only comes with age and her simple faith in God. Dustin was completely there for me and my family during that difficult time. He's such a treasure.

As you can see, family is very important to me. Growing up, we spent summers and the Christmas holidays traveling up north to visit relatives and that was always a lot of fun to me. I've always been pretty close to one of my younger cousins (I am the oldest on both sides), *name*, who is about to get married! Another cousin and his wife just had a little baby girl, *name*, named after our late granny and I cannot wait to meet her. My mom and I are very close and my mother-in-law is someone I call a dear friend as well. Just recently my dad's brother *name*, his wife and three kids moved to our town. My aunt *name* and I love to sit and chitchat, and our families enjoy getting together for holidays and BBQs and such. My baby cousin *name* is just the sweetest thing, and I'm very much looking forward to giving her a little buddy to play with!

I'm having a bit of a hard time finishing this letter. I feel like I still have so much more to say to you, yet I'm finding myself with so little words (which is a rarity!). I want you to know that even though I don't know you or your story, I have already been praying for you and your child for quite some time. The enormous decisions you're faced with in this season of your life must be such a scary thing and my prayer for you is that the Lord gently guides you through each one. If He happens to guide you in our direction, we would be honored to be the family that loves and raises your little one. If he guides you in another way, rest assured that you still have our prayers. We truly believe with all our hearts that every child is a blessing... now we're just waiting to be a blessing to one in return.

Sincerely,
Crystal

What does your name say about you?

2008-10-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

On a forum I'm on, someone posted a link to this site where you type in your name and it analyzes your personality based on it. Now, please note, I do not believe in or agree with the Kabala religion or whatever it is, but the link thingy was kind of fun.

And so right. Well, almost.

This is what my name says about me, in case you're interested.

The name Crystal creates a very independent, practical, analytical nature with skillful business abilities.
You desire freedom from restrictions and authority in order that you can pursue your own ambitions.
This name gives you leadership qualities and you are seldom happy in positions where you must direction from others.
Material and financial success are the focus of your interests, but sacrificing much for material ambition will result in a lack of harmony and balance in your personal life, particularly a lack of appreciation for social courtesies and things of a more inspirational nature.

I'm not quite independent due to my current limitations, but the desire is there in my nature and I fully believe I could be if I didn't have anxiety disorder. And a shugah daddy (I kid, Dustin, I kid...).

I don't think I sacrifice much for material ambition, but I think I could if I didn't have a good head on my shoulders regarding financial stuff. In fact, before I got old and wise (stop laughing) I could spend with the best of them. I still like pretty things, but I like even more a reasonable amount of financial security (AKA, our savings account). I don't know about that social courtesies and inspirational nature thing. I'm inspired by a lot of things and hate when people aren't courteous... but I don't see how materialism has anything to do with that.

So what does your name say about you?

"Nursery Inspiration" - a page from our adoption scrapbook

2008-10-23T00:43:00.001-05:00

Or: "How Crystal's baby's nursery SHOULD look but never will because while she is quite possibly a veritable genius when it comes to jewelry/blogging/being Dustin's wife/being a phobic/ruining baked goods/eating chocolate, she is not nor will ever be a good interior designer."

I am so attractive...

2008-10-22T07:01:00.000-05:00

... to the weirdos.

I don't know how or why, but my blog attracts the strangest traffic. Each week brings me new laughs when I check my Google Analytics stats. It never gets old! Here's what has brought hits to my blog in the past couple weeks. I promise, these stats are for real. No words have been changed to protect the non-innocent.

"how to get my husband to adore me" - I'm so glad you asked. First, you must demand chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Men like to be bossed around, you know, buying tons of chocolate for their damsels in PMS distress. Next, you feed him lots of healthy stuff that he hates, like spinach and lentils and fish oil that's supposed to taste like pudding. Finally, make sure to leave many annoying comments on his blog. Husbands LOVE this. Wait, what? That will never work, you say? Mwahahahaha! Oh, but it does. Right, hon?

"how big is a mol" - perhaps a better question might be WHAT is a mol?

"find your soul song" - Hurry up soul, find it already!

"breast cancer awareness wah pedal" - Ok, now I don't think I've ever blogged about a wah-wah pedal. I totally should though. Wah-wah pedals are awesome. I don't have one, but it sure would be fun. Show of hands: who knew Crystal owns an electric guitar? Oh yes, I do! A gorgeous shiny one. I should take a picture. It sure would look even prettier with a wah-wah pedal, though I think a pink one might clash.

"do you want fries with that song" - I generally prefer my songs to be trans-fat free, thanks. Oh, what the heck? Sure, I'll take a small fry. Extra ketchup, please.

"crystal+blogspot" - I am the Crystal on blogspot?! I'm so glad you found me. *Whew!*

"making a meal out of a mole hole" - Thank you so much for ruining what little appetite I had left... never mind on those fries. You are so disturbing.

"a soul would have one mol" - Again with the mol?

"how to pronounce humuhumukununukuapua'a" - I wish I knew, but alas, I do not. I shall defer you to my father, expert in all things Hawaiian pig-nosed fish.

"why athletic shorts smell when i go outside" - Ummmm... perhaps a better question would be why did they invent showers?

"orange rotting fruit" - I have some rotting potatoes. Will that suffice?

"my life with this finger that song my soul" - The soul of mol that is be with toe.

"whats that song that goes butt naked sitting on the bathroom floor" - The song loves the American people. It did not go butt naked sitting on that bathroom floor.

I feel so dirty now. And very not hungry.

Cranbery Baked Oatmeal

2008-10-21T03:08:00.000-05:00

With the fall season here, don't you get the hankerin' for some cranberries? All red and juicy and plump, these gorgeous little gems are a staple in the American diet, especially in the colder months. It's easy to see (and taste!) why.

I don't cook breakfast very often these days. I'm not much of a breakfast person at all myself, and Dustin usually drinks a high impact breakfast smoothie each morning. I say high impact because it has everything but the kitchen sink. Organic yogurt, milk, at least one kind of protein powder, raw oats, a mixture of fruit (usually banana, peaches, strawberries, or blueberries) and a couple handfuls of baby spinach (nope, you can't taste it). It gets him through til lunch and is packed with nutrients.

This weekend though, I wanted to do something different, so I decided to make some baked oatmeal. I've made this before with mixed results. See, Dustin doesn't like mushy oatmeal. He'll eat raw quaker-type oats or cooked steel cut oats, but that's it. He does not like regular cooked oatmeal. The first baked oatmeal recipe I tried, he liked. The next one or two were too mushy and he was not a fan.

This one is non-mushy and tastes great. I made it with cranberries this time, but next time I might go for blueberries. Yum.

Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

2 cups quick or old fashioned oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
A few dashes of cinnamon if desired
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sucanat (sucanat is unrefined evaporated cane juice... you can use regular brown sugar if you don't do natural stuff.)
Dried cranberries or other fruit of choice, optional (I just dump some in until it "looks right")

In a large bowl, mix together oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sucanat. Stir in milk, eggs, applesauce and fruit and pour mixture into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until well set.

I refrigerate the leftovers. It's good both hot or cold.

Enjoy!

The Monstrous Crib of Hideousness

2008-10-20T14:45:00.004-05:00

Please don't think I'm awful for hating this crib. The crib looks better in the photos than in real life. The walls, on the other hand, look even more rosey in the photos!

Repainting them is not an option. See, remember, I painted the rest of our entire house over the course of the past two years. I.Hate.Painting. Plus, I really really really suck at it. Big time. Hence hiring the painter guy. He did 100% better job than me; the paint is just so light, we didn't see the touchups that needed to be done in the lighting we had when it was finished. Dustin and I even looked. Dustin still can't see them, but he's just blind (he loves me, love is blind, right? Something like that, anyway.). In the early daylight though, they show.

The only thing I like about this room is the fact that we decided to paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. I love that and will probably do that elsewhere too. But I hate the color, and want to seriously harm this crib. I've never liked light toned wood, at least wood with too many yellowish hints in it like that. A true natural like pine or something can look nice for some things, but this crib has an odd tone that makes me want to puke. Cherry is ok (our floors are fake "natural cherry") and walnut is nice. I like espresso colored furniture the best (hence my dining table and living room armoire) and those black cribs are pretty sweet too. Espresso is my favorite though and what I would get if I bought everything new.

So here it is, the monstrous crib of hideousness against its backdrop of too-light-and-rosey walls. Ignore the trim. And the orange chair that is, for some reason, still in existence. I placed the trim on the floor to make sure we still had it all, but it is not yet attached or re-painted. The trim and door will be lighter, like almost white. Or I might take the almost-white back and get pure white since the walls ended up being so light.

*sigh* I hate being so picky, but this is really bugging me and I'm not entirely sure why.

A recipe for disaster

2008-10-19T23:24:00.004-05:00

I love recipes, but just the ones that make food. The ones that only make disaster? Not so much.

The paint in the nursery dried and I discovered I liked it on the paint card a lot more than on the walls. It has too much of a rosey hue in the background and is too light. I pretty much hate it, but now I'm stuck with it.

We put the crib together today, and the crib looks awful with the floor. Actually, I don't even like this crib without the floor. It's huge and, well, kind of ugly (to me). I don't like the color and never did, but I was being frugal and frugality doesn't always breed gorgeousness, you know? I thought I'd be okay with it, but I'm not.

After putting it together and seeing spots that need to be touched up on the too-light-and-rosey walls (actually, I'll probably be calling the painter back to do a second coat), and seeing the monstrous crib of hideousness, I totally lost it. Cried for an hour, letting it all out at my poor, confused husband. I cried about things from 15 years ago that I didn't even know were an issue. Who knew the monstrous crib of hideousness could be therapy?

I feel like the nursery and making material preparations for this baby is the one and only thing I can control throughout the whole process... and I can't even get that part right. I just want our baby to come home to a room that's pretty. The baby won't care, but I do. I bought a crib I hate and picked a paint color that's not that great. I should have just gone with green for the walls and not looked at Craigslist. Now I'm stuck with too-light-and-rosey walls and left wondering whether or not I want to waste money for a new crib in the colors I like. So, I guess I'm materialistic. I want a nursery that looks like it's out of a magazine, not one that looks like someone threw up all over it. Blame it on society. Materialistic beasts!

I feel like a failure of a mother already.

I'm not cut out for home decorating. I'm just not. I have nice pictures in my head that I can't translate into reality. I have a nice picture of being a mom in my head as well... will I continue to fail at that too?

Don't mind me. I just hate this crib.

LA-to-the-Z

2008-10-18T15:36:00.005-05:00

Two people are painting my nursery, my dad is mowing my lawn, the groomers are cleaning and trimming my dogs' hair, and what am I doing?

Just sitting here on my booty blogging for you, telling you all about my laziness.

Aaah, this is the life.

Now, where are my chocolate bonbons?

Baby Wee for the Handy Soul

2008-10-17T00:42:00.003-05:00

If you use Gmail, you're probably all too familiar with those "web clip" advertisement links that appear in that little line above your emails. Now usually they seem to pick up keywords from the emails themselves. Targeted advertisements? I don't know.

The other night though, I saw this headline:

"Boxer soothes fists with son's wet diapers"

I quickly became confused. Very confused. And disturbed. Bewildered, even. I must have read the line eight times before finally succumbing to the pressure and clicking on the link. I could not wrap my mind around what this could possibly mean. My first thought (now this was at 3am, mind you, and after a week of little sleep at that) was something like:

"Boxers? Why would a kid in diapers wear boxers?"

My next thought was along the lines of:

"Boxers? Why would a dog have a fist and wrap it in a diaper?"

I've never claimed to have rational thoughts, you know, and certainly not at three in the morning. So I read it. Let me be the first to tell you that it's all kinds of wrong. Never in a million years would the idea of a Ukrainian boxer using his son's bodily fluids to promote healing have crossed my mind.

What's even more wrong, however, is why Google decided to flash it in my Gmail. It's not like I spend my days writing emails on baby wee and soaked diapers. Or boxers. Or dogs, even. I'm thinking that the whole targeted marketing thing is failing a bit.

Or is it? I mean, I did click. The concept of soaking my hands in urine no matter how sore they may be, however, does not.

I think I'm finally proud to be an American again. Land of the no-hand-soaking-in-pee; home of the brave. Just not that brave.

Holy giant moth, Batman!

2008-10-16T02:05:00.005-05:00

Batman is right because during our first encounter with Giant Moth, we were unsure whether or not it was of the blood-sucking-yet-crime-fighting species. Slightly disappointed, upon closer look we discovered that it sadly was not.

I've seen some big moths in my day, but this one was huge. I'm estimating that his wingspan was about five inches across.

Apparently Giant Moth has a certain fondness for our red door because he made more than one visit. Unfortunately, he decided to leave and discover brave new worlds before I was able to get a better photo of him.

Now you know how often I don't wash my windows.

Notice Giant Moth's torn wing. It kinda makes me wonder what kind of eeeevil villains he overcame that day.

What a hero, that Giant Moth.

Well Helloooo, Mr. Random

2008-10-15T02:11:00.001-05:00

It's 4am on a week night. My husband is already gone to work for the day. I'm having one of my normal bouts of insomnia and am putting together an order online for some jewelry supplies.

My cellphone rings. I pick it up, slightly panicking, thinking it's the man and something bad happened. The caller ID says "private". I answer anyway, thinking there's a possibility it could be the man calling from some other line to tell me something bad happened.

"Hello?"
"Are you awake?"

*confused silence*

"I'm sorry?"
"Did I wake you up?"
"I think you have the wrong number."

*confused silence*

"Is this (fill in last 4 numbers here)?"
"Yes."

*confused silence*

"So, yeah, I think you have the wrong number."
"Is this a (fill in city name here) number?"
"Yes."

*confused silence followed by my impatient silence*

"You've really... you really confused me just now."
"I'm sorry."
"So did I wake you up?"

*annoyed blood pressure rising*

"No."
"You were awake already?"
"Yes."
"Huh. So, you wanna chat for a while? I'm bored outta my mind."
"Well, I'm kind of busy, so..."
"Huh?"

*louder and more firmly* "I'm kind of busy, so..."

*confused silence*

"Yeah, well, I hope you find who you are looking for. Have a good night."
"Oh."

*click*

I call my husband to tell him about this bizarre call, slightly freaked since I'm home alone. I double check all the locks on the doors and turn up the volume on my ears to make sure I hear anything out of place. Hubby reassures me it was nothing to worry about and gets back to work.

Ten minutes later, my cellphone rings. I jump out of my skin and right before having a heart attack, I see that it is only hubby calling.

Apparently Mr. Random has not found who he is looking for, because someone J-Diddy works with has just received the same phone call. Her number just so happens to be one digit different than mine.

People, please don't do drugs. Please.

And please don't chat with Mr. Random when he calls you at 4am. Bored as he may be, I don't think he needs that type of encouragement.

It's the neverending saga...

2008-10-14T04:30:00.003-05:00

... of the certain home goods store that shall forever and a day remain nameless.

Oh yes, bloggy buds. The story lives on. And on. And on. It never dies. It never sleeps, though it haunts me in mine.

This latest chapter in our little story does not include a package, however. Oh no. This time it includes a random online banking check-in (which I try to do often to keep up on the finances and such) and a credit to my card. A credit for the exact amount of my original purchase, for which I was charged but once.

So now the story reads:

One order
Of six items
Sent twelve times
With zero dollars out of my pocket

People, you cannot make this stuff up.

I'm not quite sure what to do at this point other than curl into a fetal position, crying and questioning my very existence on this insane planet. With the economy being in the toilet and all, is it really wise to both waste product and give away free cash? I'm thinking that's a no.

I owe all of my jewelry customers a big apology. Never have I sent multiple products over and over again for free. I didn't realize this was how retail worked. They don't teach you these fine points of business sense in college, you know. If only all businesses operated backwards this way. Can you imagine?

One mortgage note
Twelve houses
Zero monthly mortgage payment

One full time job
Plus twelve hours overtime
Zero income

One Crystal
Twelve blogs
Zero sanity

I always liked math in school, but this has been a wee bit ridiculous, don't you think? My brain hurts.

It's a Dirty Job

2008-10-06T00:12:00.000-05:00

But someone's gotta do it.

That someone is me and my mama. Those fingers in the photo belong to yours truly. Surprisingly, they are actually pretty clean for an afternoon at the bench. Those fingers usually walk away much dirtier than that, but it was a relatively small job and I had already washed them a few times in between.

That green stuff, if you're wondering, is a safety tape that helps protect my tender little digits from burns while polishing metal. You'd be surprised at how quickly metal heats up to incredible ouchiness while being polished by a rotary tool at 22,000 RPM.

My poor little fingers. I abuse them so. You see the bandaid under the safety tape? That was from jamming the tip of an X-Acto knife into it while cleaning my bench. Cleaning is bad, bloggy buds, and trying to put a cover on an X-Acto knife when the cover belongs to your OTHER X-Acto knife, so it does not fit this one properly is even more bad. I jammed it in pretty good. Shhhh, don't tell my doctor... I'm not exactly up to date on my tetanus shot.

Ah well. All the dirt, shmudge, cuts, bruises and burns are worth it cause those dirty and abused fingers make such pretty things.

Like this pair of tassel earrings:

Or this textured pendant made from metal clay:

How about some gorgeous pink coral stones from Hawaii?

Or another PMC pendant, this time with a Celtic knot:

Aren't you glad we aren't afraid of getting our hands a little (or a lot!) dirty?

I'm guessing we won't qualify for a visit from Mike Rowe.

This Dude Rocks

2008-10-05T03:31:00.000-05:00

I think he's my new hero.

Excerpt from YouTube:

"Jay Whaley, a goldsmith and university instructor from San Diego, demonstrates the process of making a silver bezel from rough-poured ingot through smooth-finished bezel."

Dude does this in a mere 2 minutes, 35 seconds. Is that cool, or is that cool?! The big tool he uses to draw the wire is called a rolling mill, one of the three biggies on my wish list. Only his rolling mill is probably one of the ones that costs more than I make in a year.

The stuff heroes are made of. If you're a metal head like yours truly, I mean. *wink*

Free Bag?

2008-10-03T23:47:00.002-05:00

I'm there, yo.

I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to accessories, except for jewelry of course. I generally do not pay more than $20 for a purse, and that's on the high end. I buy cheap and somehow they still last longer than I care for them to. My latest purse came from Target. If I ever spend big bucks on a bag, it will be a handmade one, a one-of, not a mass produced "designer" thing. But since I don't pay more than $20 for a purse, that will likely not ever happen.

So as you see, I'm very frugal when it comes to accessories (except for jewelry, of course!), so winning a free bag is just my style.

Wish me luck! (And enter yourself here: http://www.handbagplanet.com/)

They've got me pegged

2008-10-03T12:40:00.001-05:00

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary.
If it happens, you blog it. And you make it as entertaining as possible.
You may be guilty of over-sharing a bit on your blog, but you can't help it.
Your life is truly an open book. Or in this case, an open blog!

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Thanks to Jessica the Rock Chick (who will always be an A-List Blogger in my book!) for the post idea.

Indeed, I'm pretty much an open book... and like it says, perhaps sometimes a little too open. But you know, I've gained a lot in my transparency and I think some of you have too, so it's all worth it.

Because, I mean, who wouldn't learn a valuable life lesson while reading the locked-in-bathroom incident or the tale of the mole hole? These are quality reads, people! And I know that blogging about the infertility has played a part in my healing. Really, this blog and a couple of people who shall remain nameless (you know who you are) have been instrumental in my survival these past couple of years. I hope that this particular chapter of our book somehow helps out someone else as well.

When I started blogging, all of my posts were serious. You can go back and read, if you want. I had a problem at first wanting to say something if it wasn't something meaningful. Boy how things change. *grin* I think they started changing with my participation in Thursday Thirteen. It helped me let loose a little, and somehow my blog morphed (ooh that's a fun word!) into what it is today. Sometimes I go back and read old posts... to get a laugh or just to see how things have changed. Whether it makes me laugh or cry, I always find it interesting. I can't help it, yo. I like reading my blog. (Is that weird?!)

Hopefully you do too. Cause if you don't, I will surely hunt you down. I have scary dogs, you know. Just don't feed them cookies. If you feed them cookies, they'll love you forever. Heck, if you just come visit them, they'll love you forever. Okay, so maybe they're not so scary. Come to think of it, what good are they anyway? One has never met a stranger, and the other one only hates the bug guy. So if you are the bug guy and you hate my blog, I'll hunt you down with my scary dog. If you're anyone else and you hate my blog... well... I blow my nose at you!

Ding-dong

2008-10-02T13:20:00.003-05:00

That's the sound I heard early yesterday afternoon. Someone was at my door. Who could it be?

FedEx guy, of course. What was he delivering this time?

A box from a certain home goods store which shall, yet again, remain nameless.

And what was in that box from the certain home goods store which shall yet again remain nameless?

Five of the six original items that I ordered but once yet arrived eleven times already. What else could it be? I mean, these things are obviously drawn to me as if I'm emitting bamboo/wood-like photo prop item vibes. It's only natural that this set arrive at the mother ship too. Heaven forbid they get left out.

Why five instead of six?

The tissue box cover is on back order.

What ever could have caused that? Surely not the fact that they sent their entire fleet of bamboo/wood-like photo prop tissue box covers to me already! Oh no. That can't be it.

FedEx guy must think I'm insane. Just wait until he returns later, as I'm certain he will, with the back order.

Bamboo/wood-like tissue box cover, anyone? I'm not quite sure I'm calling them again. I'm not quite sure it will even matter. I fear that for every time I contact this company, they will send me even more random items from their inventory. Maybe they're trying to unload before the end of the year for tax purposes. Maybe they want to have pieces "conveniently" go missing so they can have a big insurance claim. Maybe they think I'm cute. Maybe they read my blog and wanted some press.

Maybe I'll start randomly mailing them things. A toothbrush, perhaps. A candy wrapper. A dog. My bills. Do you think that will stop the madness? Or am I forever stuck in a groundhog-day-esque nightmare of repeat tissue box cover shipments?!

Come quickly, Lord. The world has gone mad, the home goods store that shall yet again remain nameless is composed entirely of ding-dongs, and my house simply is not that big.

Nothin' quite like...

2008-10-01T05:09:00.002-05:00

... a man and his gee-tar (yes, "geeee-tar" is how you properly pronounce "guitar". Texan 101.).

And ooooh, the bokeh. Canon 50mm 1.8. *love*

*sigh*

*another sigh*

*daydreams about her future macro, for which she still has commitment issues*

*one more sigh*

What's in a name?

2008-09-30T15:55:00.008-05:00

I need your help, bloggy buds. I'd really like to move away from blogger and get my own domain name. However, I can't figure out one I like that also sticks with the name of my blog. I don't really want to change its name; I like its name.

Heyulp!

I'll make it worth your while. If you help me pick a winner, and I actually purchase the name, I'll throw in a little reward for you. What kind of reward? Well, I'm sure you can figure that out. I mean, what do I spend my days doing? Hmm? *grin*

Help me, help you. (Did I just quote Tom Cruise? Are the aliens going to come eat me now?) I'd really like to stick with a .com, and it can't be incredibly long (as if 2bellesandabead.com isn't long... but hey, it STICKS with ya, you know?).

So what do you say? Ideas?

You can check to see if your domain name ideas are available at GoDaddy.

Operation: Randomness

2008-09-29T14:42:00.006-05:00

~~The Tagaholic,~~ Errrrr, Sandy tagged me for the random things meme. The rules are to post the rules on your blog, write six random things about yourself, and then tag six people.

But you see, I'm not much for rule following. I think rules were made to be broken, or at least tested (and I can hear my parents singing the Ballad of the Parent of the Strong-Willed Child right now...). SO, will she follow the rules? Will she or won't she?

I guess we'll find out.

I like writing random posts. I've been meaning to do one for a while, but you know how that goes. I'm a bad blogger lately. Shame, shame. Someone throw chocolate at me as punishment already. Oh well. Here we go! Wait!! Before we do, I should also thank all of you who nominated my blog for the "I Love Your Blog" award. You know who you are (and I know who you are too, but I'm paranoid that if I start listing you all, I'll leave one out on accident and that would just be bad.) So thank you. All of you. I adore you all. Will that work? *grin*

Here we go for real...

* I hate scrapbooking. I've now spent over forty hours on a digital scrapbook (aka "adoption profile"). I've secretly enjoyed it. But I hate scrapbooking. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Kristin, are you still my friend?)

* I need a good kick in the rear. Well, what's left of it anyway. You see, I've been working it off for the past few weeks. Figuratively, I mean, in my jewelry business. Not actually, you know, like with exercise. Who exercises anyway? I think that died with the invention of the internet. At least it did for me.

* This bullet point is a continuation of the last one just cause I feel like it. Gosh! So, the kick I need in what's left of my rear is because of my goal setting and reaching. I don't need help setting them and reaching them. I need help rewarding myself for setting and reaching them. I set one sales goal for myself and decided that when I hit it, I'd reward myself with a nice, new toy (a rolling mill, new camera lens, or kiln). I reached that goal and bumped up the reward to the next goal. I met that goal and put it off even more. And so on and so forth and now I'm one tiny sale away from doubling my original goal and I can't make myself do it. I decided I'd go for the lens (and oh what a sweet lens it is!) but even though I want it so much I daydream about it daily, I just can't write that check. What's wrong with me?! I'm a shopaholic - this should not be a problem. Commitment issues. I have commitment issues.

* I secretly wish I were a photographer instead of a jeweler.

* I still love designing jewelry, but the volume of repetitious items I've made lately has made me want a vacation. I'll have to slow down once we get a baby. I won't be able to keep up this pace and be a mom at the same time. Please note that I'm not complaining. Not at all. I'm thrilled! But I'm also tired. I need a nap. Or thirty.

* Our home study might be submitted for approval this week. Finally. Maybe. Don't hold your breath.

* This is random point #7. See? It's the whole rule thing.

* I'm really pushing it now, aren't I?

* Sandy, are you still my friend?

* I took this photo over the weekend, at my parents' new house. They just bought a new house. Yay, new ho-boaters! (If you're scratching your head in confusion right now, "ho-boaters" is "home owners" when you have the flu... which is what I had when we closed on our house a few years ago. Ho-boaters just stuck. Got it? Cool.) I took it in their new bathroom, which has a window. I wish my bathroom had a window. I wish my house had their house. It's a nice house. It's not so easy to photograph yourself photographing yourself in a mirror. Although it is easier than photographing your own ear. Ladies and gentlemen (man?), this is me without makeup (but also without zits - Photoshop is my friend).

* The photo is in our scrapbook/profile. Want to see the page it's on? Here you go. Sneak peek. Maybe I'll be nice and show you the rest someday.

* You see the necklace I'm wearing? It's an "oops!". It was an order for this cherry blossom pendant. However, I drilled the hole just a little off-center, so it hung quite crooked. Oops. I won't sell something like that, but I will keep it and wear it. You really can't tell when it's on, I found out this weekend, so oooooops! Yay me. I like my cherry blossom pendants, and now I have one! (If you were wondering, I did re-make it, though much better, and it is happily on its way to its new owner as we speak. Err, type. Or whatever we're doing right now. I guess I'm typing and you're reading. Or bathing in a vat of chocolate. I don't know you. I can't pretend to know what you're doing, you sick freak.)

* That's all!

* WAIT. Not quite. I can't end on #13. I just can't.

* So I guess I'll say something else.

* I'm supposed to tag 6 people, but I'll just leave that choice up to you. Who has time to do a meme anyway these days when there is chocolate to be eaten (or bathed in)?

* That's all.

* For real this time. I think. Who can tell though, really? Those pesky commitment issues again...

Fun with Numbers

2008-09-28T02:19:00.008-05:00

A little over a week ago, I purchased some items from a certain home goods store that shall remain nameless. I wanted some bamboo/wood-like objects to use as jewelry photo props and I found some online for a good price and with free shipping.

This sounds like it's going to be a normal story, right?

Wrong.

Because nothing in our lives is normal right now. It's the curse of the license plate. I know it is. No, no. Just like everything else at the moment, this story has a bizarre twist.

Are you on the edges of your seat yet? No? Well, ok, then. I'll wait.

*twiddles thumbs impatiently* (What the yahoo does "twiddle" even mean?! And what the sam friggin' hill does it have to do with thumbs and the lack of patience?)

You there yet? Cool. Now we can begin. Slow poke.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the doorbell rang. I thought, "Ooooh, my bamboo/wood-like jewelry photo props from a certain home goods store that shall remain nameless are heeeeere!" (Yes, I thought it exactly like that. And then I did a happy dance.) Indeed, it was the FedEx guy with my home goods stuff all boxed up.

He gave me four or five boxes and I look at him a little funny, but thank him and go back inside as he went back out to his truck to leave. Or so I thought. I was in the middle of something, so I did not open my bamboo/wood-like things right away. About a minute later, the doorbell rang again. I thought, "Now what?!"

FedEx guy again. With five or six more boxes. I said, "Wow, I don't remember ordering this much stuff!" and he gave me The Look. You know the one. The "u-huh, sure lady, whatever you say" look. I thanked him again and went back inside, bewildered at this mass of boxes now stacked in my living room.

I counted. Eleven boxes. Eleven.

I still was not finished with what I was doing, but I thought I should maybe open up my bamboo/wood-like things and tear up the boxes before they begin multiplying again and sprouting extra limbs or something. I had a lovely discussion in my head about how un-eco-friendly this certain home goods store was being, sending each item in its own huge shipping box. The nerve! The un-green-ness! The anti-environmental-ocity! Idgits.

I opened up the first box and peeked inside. I found the invoice and blinked. Six items on the invoice. Six. Eleven boxes. Six items.

Whut?

I dig a little deeper into the box and pull out... six items. Six items in one box. With ten more to go.

By this time I'm reallly confused and grab the next box and rip it open. Inside I find one invoice and six items. The same six items.

Holy yahoo, they do multiply! One order, six items, one box - eleven times. The certain home goods store sent my six items that I ordered once eleven times.

I suddenly realized that I should check my credit card to make sure it was charged only once. It was. I called the certain home goods store and began to tell the lady the story. She mumbled something about "being charged as many times as you push that little submit button". I stopped her and informed her of my credit card being charged but once and my paranoia of pushing the submit button more than once. Yes, people, it's a true paranoia. Pushing that submit button, you must understand, sends a jolt of panic up and down my spine and I click it as quickly and as lightly as I possibly can so as to not awake the multiple-click-submit-button-dragon, angering him and causing him to charge my credit card multiple times. So you see, dear certain home goods store that shall remain nameless lady, that scenario is virtually impossible.

She believed me. I think.

"Eleven boxes?"
"Eleven boxes."
"Eleven?!"
"Yes."
"Of the same stuff?"
"U-huh."
"Wow."
"Yeah."

Then she laughed. Me? Not so much because she then told me that she'd be calling me two days later and setting a time for FedEx to return to collect the ten extra boxes. Oh joy. Three days of eleven boxes full of over $500 worth of merchandise that does not belong to me in my one small living room.

Thursday she called and said FedEx would be coming Friday.

Friday morning the doorbell rang. FedEx guy. The same FedEx guy. He gave me a confused smile as I pushed the ten boxes of six items each towards him. He gave me The Look. Not the first look, mind you, a new The Look. This look was more like, "Women!!!" (complete with the so-exasperated-can-almost-see-the-nonexistent-eyeroll-for-you-
crazy-hormonal-indecisive-creatures-expression). Oh, FedEx guy. If only you knew.

I was so tempted to rifle through all eleven boxes and pick out the best of each six items. But I didn't. Mostly out of exhaustion. A certain home goods store that shall remain nameless better be dang glad that I'm an honest person.

Cause one of those six items? Nice cloth-lined basket. I really could have found a use for eleven cloth-lined baskets.

Meet Google Analytics

2008-09-23T21:47:00.004-05:00

Since more than one of you lovely readers have asked where I find my keyword stats, I thought I should just write a whole post about it.

There are many options out there, but I've been using Google Analytics. It's not the most user friendly, but it's smart and has lots of valuable information for any kind of site you're wanting to track. I use it on 2 Belles & a Bead as well.

http://www.google.com/analytics/

It gives you a simple code (invisible) that you plug into your html, and soon enough you'll have lots of fun stats... where your visitors live, how long they stay at your site, what sites referred them to yours, and of course, the coveted keyword stats.

There you go! Now you can see how many moles have souls and just happen to read your blog. Have fun. *grin*

How big is a mole hole?

2008-09-22T05:05:00.011-05:00

I couldn't tell ya, but apparently someone thinks my blog is the mole guru. Oh yes. It's another crazy Google keywords post. I mean, what else should I blog about? I've been trying to think of a topic for a week now. I've been a horrible blogger.

Sure, I could bore you with adoption stuff or jewelry stuff or how we were five minutes away from calling the police on Saturday and reporting a stolen truck, but isn't Google so much more entertaining? Ok maybe not, but Dustin stole my blog topic. So here we are, and here are a few of the many crazy keywords that have brought people to my blog in the past few weeks. Enjoy!

"shagadelic song" - Yeah, baby!

"how do i find a song if i know some words" - Well you certainly wouldn't type the words into Google... nope, that would be a total waste of time!

"all dreams have died" - Word.

"chain maille jokes" - You all know I love chain maille. But is it funny? Is it? Do you laugh at the chain maille? "Why did the Jens Pind cross the road?" That really is not working for me. Sorry.

"humuhumukununukuapua'a song" - humuhuha-huh? I think that's the Hawaiian pig nosed fish or something. Can Hawaiian pig nosed fish sing? Do they mount them on the wall and sell them online to people who enjoy tacky decor? *gasp* Are pig nosed fish really rednecks in disguise?!

"can i paint over shiny brass trim" - Oh, no. No no no! It's better if you end the relationship right here and now with a clean break and just rip out the fake, shiny fake brass stuff and replace it with nice brushed nickel. Just do it. DO IT. You'll thank me later. I promise.

"again and again before for me you metal" - Uuhhhhhh... riiiiiiight.

"the cutest earrings ever" - Can be found here.

"i have got soul but i am not solder" - Oh thank goodness! If my solder started talking to the Google, about its soul and stuff, I might get all scared. And then send it to the eternal firey pit of my torch flame.

"soul eat" - Eat, soul, eat. Eat now! Chicken soup, anyone?

"my mole is hanging off" - Dagnabit people, didn't we cover this last time?! What is it with you googlers trying to rip off your moles?!

"my soul is like a mole" - Is it hanging off? How big is its hole? Is it solder? Can I melt it? Is it hungry?

"i want to know how to spend the song in my decument" - Decument? Spend the song? In your decument? Crazy googler say whut? That is just so many levels of wrong. I'm speechless. Well, almost, anyway. Or not at all, really. But stating you're speechless implies - like no other phrase can - that a deep level of stunning stupidity has been unfortunately thrust upon your day. And that, dear bloggy friends, is exactly what has happened here. So you'll pardon my speechless-lessness, I'm sure. It's been a long week.

I Love Fall Giveaway - Winner!

2008-09-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

First of all, thank you all so much for playing along. Your sweet comments on our work warmed my heart. *grin*

Now, for the winner!

By random computer generation, comment #33 - Cheryl from Hope for Each Day said:

"All of your jewelry is great!

Count me in."

You got it, Cheryl. You're in! I will be contacting you regarding redeeming your prize. *grin*

Thanks to everyone, again, who played along. If you didn't win these earrings, then stay tuned and keep an eye out for the 2 Belles monthly newsletter. You'll have a chance to win earrings every month. You can't beat that!

I Love Fall Giveaway, Part 2 - A 2 Belles Giveaway!

2008-09-04T02:00:00.003-05:00

Guess what! It's Thursday, and that means it's time for me to play along with Laurel Wreath's I Love Fall Giveaway! Laurel has asked me to host a giveaway for 2 Belles & a Bead jewelry, and I couldn't say no. Laurel has been a great friend to me for years, and somehow she continues to put up with my craziness. *grin*

To enter my giveaway, all you need to do is visit 2 Belles & a Bead and sign up for our monthly email newsletter (click here or on "Newsletter" from the 2 Belles home page and fill out the form) then leave me a comment after. I promise you'll love our newsletter because it's short, sweet, and has a contest every month for free jewelry!

Wait! I know many of you are wondering what to do since you're already newsletter subscribers. If you already subscribe, then just leave me a comment stating what your favorite 2 Belles piece is.

The contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. You can enter through September 9th, and the winner will be drawn and announced on September 10th.

Now... onto the fabulous prize you're waiting for!

Well, when I think of fall, I think of mixed metals. Okay, when I think of anything I think of mixed metals because as my friends know, I'm juuust a little bit addicted. But really, these earrings I'm giving away today just scream fall with their warm tones.

One of my more popular designs, they are completely handmade from sterling silver, solid copper, and solid brass. Each disc is given a unique texture and an antique patina to bring out the details. If you are the winner, you will receive a pair of these triple metal earrings in your choice of sterling silver hoops (as shown) or on plain sterling silver ear wires.

So go on and enter, and don't forget to visit Laurel today to see what she's giving away.

Good luck! *grin*

I Love Fall Giveaway, Part 1

2008-09-03T01:13:00.004-05:00

My dear friend Laurel is hosting a fabulous fall giveaway on her blog this week. I promise you won't want to miss it! She's giving away some great goodies, and so are some wonderful bloggers she is featuring (including yours truly *grin*). Be sure to check in all week to enter everything!

Have fun and good luck!

You raise me up

2008-08-31T00:58:00.007-05:00

Nope, not Josh Grobin. The D-man!

Isn't he crazy?!

Crazy and sweet. Lookie what he did.

Almost 8 years down babe, with only 4-ever left to go.