Who wants ice cream? and a Beautiful Blogger Award!

This is a digital montage I have created from three separate photographs. They have each been altered to my liking and combined to form this print! The little child, who is actually taking a huge bite out of a birthday cake, is my mom!

I was visiting one of my favorite blogs..Kims Art by the Sea, and I discovered that I have been awarded a beautiful blogger award! My first ever. So absolutely thrilled about this, and many thanks to Kim, who btw, has an absolutely gorgeous blog herself! Kims link is under my places to wander, in the sidebar. This award is for creativity, originality and contribution to the blogging community. Whoever wins one of these must post the links to five other blogs and also a mention arte y pico, which is the blog that created this award. I also have to pay this award forward to five other blogs! The blog eye candy I have chosen for this:

1. The Downtown Boutique
2. Blaze Danielle

3. Anne Julie Art

4. Sew Nana Where are You

5. White Iris Designs

The found links to these blogs are under my places to wander list.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Don't you get sick of the high price of everything, the commerialism, the CHEMICALS! I decided awhile back that I would start making my own laundry detergent. There are many recipes online, with much fewer chemicals than store bought brands. I also decided I would start making my own spray house cleaners, for cost and chemical reasons! The ingredients have been sitting in my laundry room for a while now. I have been waiting to get near the end of my detergent supply. So the time came this morning! I got out my food processor and the ingredients. I now have a huge supply of detergent, of which only one to two teaspoons is needed for each load of laundry. The recipe I used is as follows...one bar of ivory soap, half a cup of generic oxyclean, half a cup of borax. I chopped the ivory soap in the food processer and then added oxyclean and the borax. You can also add about ten drops of essential oil if you look. There are many other similar recipes online if you google it!!!

A Rainy Shopping Day..

An Upside Down Tear Pendant

makes for a frizzy hair day! My stepdaugher Marissa arrived this week, it has been icky weather ever since. Poor Texan is freezing! Anyways, we decided to take the wet, icky weather in stride today and head out for a day of thrift and antique store shopping. It was a lot of fun. The best place we went to had a huge bin of this and that, fifty cents each item. We much have spent twenty minutes digging through it! We found a few reto finds...such as mini button pins of the Flintstones characters! Fred was missing though. Can't have it all!

Vintage Ice Necklace

I finally decided it was time to start listing some more jewelry in my shop. I have quite a bit of inventory to put in there. Plan to list a piece here and there. The thing is I have been having so much fun creating new prints and paintings that I have not paid attention to my poor sweet broken china! How terrible of me! Not to mention the fact that I have been very busy otherwise! I have continued to run...just not 15 miles at a time...one..due to lack of time lately and two..cutting back a little and giving my poor foot a little break...lol..that's actually is what it has, a little break..! It actually only hurts me when I run downhill, uphill is no problem. I know you guys are saying..what a freak, why is she even running now! Hey, the fact that I have cut back is a chore in itself! On another subject...my stepdaughter Marissa arrived from Texas last night! yeah! A girl, a person that is female! I am sadly out numbered ususally. She just turned 17 last Friday. We have some annual girly shopping trips planned..and I can't wait!

Not Run?

I am having an extremely difficult time today! Per orders from my husband..I should not run for a while! That is just not in my nature! I mean look at that sky out there! I took this picture this morning. I do seem to have something wrong with my foot. I am thinking possibly a small stress fracture. It has been bothering me for a while now, and I am not very happy about it. Regardless, if it is a stress fracture...it probably would not show up on an xray...and there isn't much you can do..except take it easy for a while. Yup, am an RN...who just doesn't like to follow her orders from hubby. I just feel lazy and yucky if I don't get a good sweaty run in! It hasn't helped that I have had to work extra at the hospital this week...lord knows how many miles I walk at work a day from one end of the hospital and back..and never using the elevator. I mean why would you? Half the time I get up to third floor faster that it does...and it's good for you too! Yes, I am a fitness freak. I believe in trying to make your body as healthy as possible and if that means doing things the longer or harder way, then I just do it. I had meant to pick up a hoola hoop during my running around yesterday...the latest fad workout...it sounds like fun too..and low impact!

Tell them to keep trying!

These are the words I heard over the cell phone while she talked to his parents. The patients' fiance said, as she sobbed.."They said to keep trying!." She handed me the phone. I explained to the patients' father..amongst sobs and screams in the background..that we had done everything possible for his son. Not two seconds after I uttered this sentence, he replied..You have to take his organs..something good has to come out of this. I continued my conversation with this patients father, all the while choking back my own tears, and amazed at his words. God bless them. I see people at their worst and I see people at their best and their saddest moments. This was one of them moments that will forever live on in my mind.

Organ donation saved a high school classmate of mine, twice. He rejected his first liver transplant. He is here today thanks to a selfless gift. It also saves hundreds of thousands of people every year. I think every donor, and every loved one of a donor..deserves to know that they have given one of the most precious gifts that can ever be given. I just want to say that you will never, ever be forgotten.

ABC's of Me..in other words..tagged!

This is the latest in Distressing Delilahs etsy shop...a Tangled Love Necklace. This is the first time ever that I have been tagged! The lovely lady behind it can be found here

http://www.aimalohi.typepad.com/ I in turn am to tag three others and they are found here..

http://sewnanawhereareyou.blogspot.com/ ..aka..mom

http://littlesunii.blogspot.com/ ....aka..Little Sun

http://hattierosebud.blogspot.com/ ....a wonderful and welcome visitor at my blog!

A- Attached or single: attached

B- Best Friend: I have lots of friends that I love dearly, my most adored are my dogs though!

C-Cake or Pie: Cake...with gobs of butter cream frosting

D-Day: Friday...as long as it is not a Friday before I have to work the weekend!

E- Essential Item: camera

F- Favorite Color: blue..numerous shades of it!

G-Gummi Bears or Worms: neither

H-Home town: Johnstown NY

I-Indulgences: expensive perfume..doesn't have to be expensive, just so happens what I like IS!

J- January or July?: July

K-Kids: I have two sons..one just turned 18 (born on my birthday!) the other will be 20 this month...also a 16, soon to be 17 year old sweetie of a stepdaugher. She lives in Texas but spends every other Christmas and part of every summer with us.

L-Life is incomplete without: feeling happy with who I am..I never felt complete until this came about.

M- Marriage Date: November 8th.

N- Number of Siblings: One sister, two half brothers.

O- Oranges or Apples: Apples..pink lady apples..with peanut butter..after a run.

P- Phobias or Fears: my husbands driving...hee, hee!

Q- Quote: Don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain...love this, it says so much.

R- Reason To Smile: I try to smile at strangers on the street and I have a real smile on when their face lights up with a smile in return.

S- Season: Fall...can anything smell or look any more beautiful?

T- Tag Three: Sew Nana Where Are You, Little Sun, Hattie Rosebud

U- Unknown fact about me: I would love to work in a library or book store...

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: vegetarian

W- Worst Habit: Rushing thru projects...I am learning to take my time!

Y-Your favorite food: The vanilla frosted half of half moon cookies.

Z: Zodiac Sign: Taurus