Girls Night Out *spoilers for 10,000 BC*

On Friday my friend Kendra and I had the ultimate girls night out. We met up with Stephenie and some of her other friends at PF Changs for a really good dinner. We all shared family style, there was a few orders of the lettuce wraps, and then about 6 other dishes... My absolute favorite was the Mongolian Beef, and then there was some kind of spicy pork thing that was delicious as well. ALL of it was good though.

We all had a really great time over dinner. Steph and her friends were all SO very sweet and nice. I knew one of her friends from TwilightMOMS, but the others I had never met or talked to. We all sat around the table, talking about EVERYTHING. We talked about our families, epidurals (they all were amazed I had my babies at home without one LOL), cars, what it was like when Stephenie met the cast for the Twilight movie, her new book coming out, The Host... And pretty much anything there was to talk about.

At the end of dinner, Steph scooped up the check before anyone else could touch it and she paid for us all. THANK YOU Stephenie! I was not expecting that, and then I was silently cursing myself for not carrying any cash so I could pay some of the tip or something. Note to self: Carry around more than 1 dollar in cash... You might want to pitch in towards something at some point that you need cash for...

After dinner, we left the restaurant and walked over to the mall, and then through the mall to the movie theatre, where we saw one of the STUPIDEST movies ever made... luckily it was not surprise that the movie was going to suck... we had all prepared ourselves mentally for the hotness of Steven to be overshadowed by the stupidness of the movie.

Okay... 10,000 BC. WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?! First off, aside from the obvious idiocy of having Mammoths and Pyramids on the earth at the same time, there were just SO many things wrong with this movie.

I will start with something that is at least good-ish... Steven. He is very nice to look at. He has a nice chest, and nice abs... and holy moses his arms... the man has splendid arms... Oh, and his brilliant smile that makes me melt into a puddle of goo... yeah, Steven is pretty much delicious in every way imaginable. I have been known to make my kids watch Sky High, just so I can catch a glimpse of his beauty.

However... In this movie, he has a big head of messy hair that often gets in the way of his beautiful angel face. He also has a bunch of facial hair that really does nothing for him. At one point in the movie he had food stuck in his goatee... I wanted to reach through the screen and wipe it off for him.

Also good in this movie, Camilla Belle. She is undeniably beautiful. There is a scene where she is wearing this beautiful flowing blue dress that perfectly matches her eyes... gorgeous. But... even her beauty can not make up for the crappy story line of the movie.

The movie just does not flow well... one minute D'Leh and Tic Tic (yes, one of the warriors is named Tic Tic) are trekking through the frozen mountains... half frozen to death. Snow as far as the eye can see. And in the next instant they are walking through a jungle, and one of them says "It is hot here". Ummm... okay? Oh! And we all had a good laugh at the man eating chickens, as Steph dubbed them. And that is exactly what they were... they looked like giant hatchling chickens, running around in the jungle, eating the humans, and all the while making strange yodeling sounds.

After they make it out of the jungle they are suddenly transported into a desert, that looks just like Arizona! Steph leaned over and said "Hey, when did they come to Arizona?" and we laughed again. In this desert, D'leh (Steven) falls into a big pit that begins filling with rain water in a way very reminiscent of Apocalypto... As the pit fills, D'leh realizes he is not alone in that pit... oh no he is NOT! There is also a very large, admittedly cool looking, saber tooth tiger! The tiger is stuck under some fallen lumber and the water is getting deeper and deeper... the tiger will DROWN! D'leh stands up, and at first he is going to kill the animal... but he then decides to free it. "You will NOT eat me, if I free you!" He says this in a strange english accent... So he free's the tiger, and the tiger leans in real close to his face... slobber dropping from the beasts great fangs. Then the tiger scampers away out of the pit.

Apparently D'leh gets out of the pit, because shortly thereafter he and Tic Tic arrive in a small village. All the villagers run out with spears and threaten them... But, the big tiger jumps into the scene from out of nowhere and keeps the villagers from attacking! Then as the tiger turns to leave, D'leh and the tiger exchange meaningful glances and it was then that we decided his special talent must be that he is a "Cat Whisperer".

Anyhow... the movie goes on, and other things happen that just don't make sense... like when instead of following the river to where the "demons" took all the people in their village and his true love... they walk through the middle of the desert. Whatever. Basically the whole movie sucked and was unintentionally funny :) We giggled through the entire thing, so really it was a good time.

Anyways, after the movie, we all decided we needed dessert... so we walked all the way back over to PF Changs and got the most amazing dessert... The Great Wall of Chocolate.


These pictures do not do this masterpiece justice. It is a HUUUUGE piece of the most delicious, decadent, chocolate cake EVER. The raspberry sauce was to die for! We got 2 of them and between 7 of us could not eat it all. It was great, picture if you can, 7 women attacking 2 giant desserts with their forks... no need for plates, we were too eager to eat it. SO GOOD! We stayed there until they closed and kicked us out the door. :)

We left PFC's with the intention of all going to our cars and going home... somehow that didn't exactly happen. We made a quick stop at the book store that was closing so someone could use the rest room, It was in the book store where I finally pulled out my camera and asked to take a picture or 2.

In the first picture is Kendra, Me, and Steph. The second one, also has Jen in it, She is Steph's friend that I know through TM's.




I absolutely love how my shirt balloons out in that second picture especially and makes me look pregnant... cool... *sarcasm* But, really I don't care too much. It was a great night!

Well, we left the bookstore and walked over to the corner where we would all go separate directions to our cars... and somehow we ended up standing there, talking for another 2 hours! Again, we talked about everything... we discussed books, and movies, and church, and anything you can think about we probably discussed. SUCH A GOOD NIGHT! Finally though, we decided we all needed to go. Poor Kendra had an almost 4 hour drive ahead of her to get home, and it was already 1:00 in the morning... She would have stayed at my house but she and her family were leaving to drive to Mexico early that morning... So, we all said good byes, gave hugs, thanked each other for a great time, and headed back to our homes.

All in all, a perfect night. I could not have imagined the evening to turn out better. Steph and all her friends were so wonderful, and I never felt nervous even once. I guess it helps that I have been she and I have messaged back and forth for a while, but really it was just like meeting up with a bunch of people I already knew. If I ever get a chance to meet up with any of them again, I would be so happy. But I am just thrilled I even had the chance once. One of the best girls nights EVER!!!!!

My new project with readergirlz, and other stuff :)

Wow! It has been so long since I have posted... I feel so out of touch with blog land lately. I just wanted to post quickly and let all my bloggie friends know that YES, I am still alive (thank you very much for asking). I have just been incredibly busy with so many different things... I have not had the chance to do any blogging, I have fallen so far behind on reading blogs its not even funny.

I do have to say that even though I have been incredibly busy, it has been a very good thing! I mentioned in my last post (I think?) about some Twilight related pedants I had been making... well HOLY CROW! I believe I started selling them in the beginning of February and since then I have made and sold somewhere around 50 of them... I could count, but I really don't want to right now :) A couple of you asked to see them, so here they are.




Also, I have now been made assistant administrator and MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE on TwilightMOMS. So, basically I am just in charge of a few more things, and help Lisa and Kathy make things run smoothly... I have also spent a good deal of time contacting the actors from the movie and setting up interviews! So far we have had Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, and Justin Chon on for Q&A's with a few of us. They are all amazing!!! We have QUITE a few things up our sleeves right now... but I can't say anything yet until we make it public... but OH MY EDWARD if you are at all into these books you will seriously have a heart attack... I am helping arrange it all and I am almost freaking out :) Oh, and have I mentioned yet just how amazingly cool all the actors have been? Peter is seriously one of my favorite people ever.

And now, on a slightly different note... but not really... Tomorrow Kendra and I are meeting up with Steph (yes, that is correct) and a few of her other friends for dinner and a movie. I hope not to make a complete fool of myself... But I am beside myself with excitement. The woman is so fun and down to earth. So... If I decide its not too nerdy I am going to take lots of pictures! OK, even if its nerdy I am taking pictures... so check back!

And Finally, and actually the REAL REASON I came to blog today, is this:


That, is the Limited Edition readergirlz Pendant I have been working on this month! I have written before about just how much I love readergirlz. March is their one year anniversary, and to commemorate they asked if I would make a Limited Edition pendant for them. How could I NOT?!?! I absolutely adore these ladies, they have been SOOOO good to me.

The front of this pendant has the new readergirlz logo, and the back says "read, reflect, reach out". Each pendant comes on an 18 inch chain with a 3 inch extender so there is some leeway in how long you can wear it. You can see pictures of the back in the listing.

I am donating part of the proceeds to readergirlz, and it will help underwrite all the fun FREE readergirlz programming to celebrate teen reading. I love that!

So, that is where I have been lately :) I promise I have not forgotten all of you!!! I will be back soon, hopefully to share pictures of my dinner!!! Go check out readergirlz for me :) Also, if you are a fan of the Twilight series, go check out TwightMOMS :)

xoxoxo

Love love love

We had a very low key Valentines Day today. Chad had to get a root canal this morning, so he pretty much felt like crap all day. But, we got to spend time together and that was really nice.

I took Kael and Jett to McDonalds this morning while we were waiting for Chad to get out of the Dentist and they had a lot of fun making new friends. I enjoyed sitting back sipping a cold Dr. Cullen (Pepper for those not in the know).

As of today I have officially sent out 17 of the 30 something Twilight pendants that have been ordered... I was not really expecting so many people to buy them so quickly... I had 20 orders within less than 24 hours, and the rest have been trickling in. I need to get them done before my next big project that starts March 1st. As Steph would say "Silly Georgia"... I should have known better! Twilight fans are rabid, I should know, I am one!!!

Tonight my kids were being goofballs... so I took this video for you all to enjoy.

Kayden, doing a monologue from Ratatouille (its hard to hear what he says in some parts, because my other kids were being loud, and when he gets really excited he runs his words together)




I hope you all had a great day!

Yes We CAN!

Because I finally feel inspired...

Because I could not stop the tears when hope touched my heart...

Because we NEED change...

And maybe, because I know my hubby is going to choke when he sees it... ;) Sorry babe... I love you, but I really don't agree... And since I can't actually VOTE for Alice Cullen... Well...

Celebrating new friends, Forks, and Fun.

Warning: This is a long-ish post with lots of pictures... If you are only interested in the picture for Self Portrait Challenge, and do not want to read my ramblings, it is the second one down:)
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Lately there is a portion of every day where I would look exactly like this if you were to look at me from where my iMac sits.



That is immediately followed by something similar to this:



It is all thanks to a lovely group of friends I began getting acquainted with back in September-ish. I know I mentioned the Twilight Mom's before, but I feel I have to mention them again. These ladies are SO much fun! Who knew that a group of random strangers could meet up in a message board and become such fast friends? I certainly didn't.

When I was in Utah over Christmas, I was lucky enough to meet up with some of them for breakfast.

My breakfast... It was yummy, it deserves a moment in the spotlight.



The whole group (we are so incredibly fabulous you have NO idea)


This is Jen (Twila) and Amy (Yogagurl)... Amy was demonstrating Yoga poses for us on the floor of Village Inn at one point during our breakfast, which sadly I did not get a picture of.


This is me, Meg (Megatha), and Lisa. Meg and I actually went to High School together and re-connected again on Twilightmoms.com. Small world :) And Lisa is our "Coven Mother", she started the website and brought all of us crazy fans together.


We were all in an especially good mood this morning because Stephenie Meyer herself had spent several hours the previous evening online chatting with us all... Good mood is actually quite the understatement. Steph (I am cool, I can call her that now) told ME that she LOVES the pendant I gave her at the book signing I went to last summer, and she thinks it is INGENIOUS! Yes... I nearly died.

Well, my Twilight Mom's and I are planning a HUGE trip to Forks this September. We have already rented 2 cabins, and made reservations at Bella Italia in Port Angeles (The restaurant where Edward and Bella went...) for 24 people... We are planning a MASSIVE slumber party, complete with Rock Band, karaoke, AND a Ya-Ya-esque campfire (headdresses and Twilight name required) We are all working on gifts to exchange, and we are also exchanging scrap book pages so we can have a page from each person in our Forks scrapbooks. My friend Kendra and I will be flying out to Seattle together, and meeting up with all 24 of the ladies there to start our super huge Twilight weekend:)

Yes... I am a nerd. And I don't care one lick. I am celebrating this year. Celebrating all my wonderful new friends, with whom I have so much more in common than just these books... I think it was Stephenie that said it was a "kindred spirits thing"... Or maybe it was Rhonda... I will be having a GINORMOUS celebration come September with all these ladies, and I can hardly contain my excitement :)

To see what other people are celebrating go here.

Support your local Indie Bookstore :)

I am sure most of you are aware at this point... but if you are not, I am a total book lover. I absolutely adore reading. When I was a child I used to beg my mother to lie to my friends and tell them I could not play... Just so I could go read my books. I love getting lost inside of books. I really cannot think of very many things that are better than reading a good book. Chocolate? Good. But, better with a book. Dr. Pepper? Oh so yummy... But even better with a book... You see what I mean?

My new friend Justina, Readergirlz Diva and author of Girl Overboard, posted this list over at her blog. I wanted to share it here, because I agree with it. I feel that its important to support our local indie businesses, and because I love to read I feel it is very important to support our indie bookstores.

So, without further adieu, I give you Justina's Fab Five Ways to Support Your Local Bookstore:

1. Attend an in-store author event. Actually, don't just attend one event. Attend a bunch of them. The sad thing is that so many author events aren't attended by many people. Oh gosh, at readergirlz, Ann Brashares (she of Sisterhood book, movie, and fame) told us about a recent signing where NO ONE showed up. SAD for the author, but GOOD for you. This just means that you might have a super intimate conversation with one of your favorite authors of all time.

2. Bring your friends. Make a pact to bring a group of friends with you to these author events: the more, the merrier. It could be a standing date with all your favorite readergirlz buddies: author comes to town; you all head out to hang out with the writer.

3. Buy first edition books…from your local indie bookseller. Soooo…about 7 years ago, my hubby trotted home with an auction catalog from Sotheby's where they were selling off a book from the very first UK printing of Harry Potter 1. He said, "We should go for it!" I said, "What? That's the dumbest investment idea I've ever heard of. We should invest in…HomeGrocer.com." (I know, I know.) Well…guess what that first edition copy is worth now. And it's not just Jo's books that become valuable. But forget collectability…go to 4!

4. Give books as gifts. (And books autographed to your BFF are even better…) Over at readergirlz, we created our gift giving guide for the holidays: Best Books for Your BFF. Those bookmarks, filled with fun and fabulous book lists from our beloved postergirlz advisory committee (the smartest and kindest and most expert children's lit bloggers on the planet), are actually perfect year-round. Books are a gift from the heart. Your heart.

5. Negotiate a Package Deal with Your Bookseller. I thought this was such a good idea from University Bookstore here in Seattle. They're offering a bundle of autographed books from visiting authors for a set (read: discounted) price. Why not pitch this idea to your local bookseller? Eoin Colfer, Jon Scieska (new Children's Lit ambassador for the U.S.), Libba Bray, Shannon Hale and so many other fantastic authors are TOURING the country right now. As in: RIGHT NOW. If they're heading your way, talk to your bookseller. That way, even if you can't attend the booksigning, you can still get a book personalized for yourself and / or your BFF.

Justina ends her post with this:

Long live (and love) our independent booksellers. Feel free to REPOST these ideas everywhere. And finally, what else do you think we can do to support our booksellers?


I also wanted to make mention of the Go Overboard Challenge Grant again, because I think it is such a good thing. If you know anyone between the ages of 12 and 20 you should tell them about it. We can all make a difference in this world.

Readergirlz and Girl Overboard

A few months ago my love (read: obsession) of all things Stephenie Meyer lead me to a wonderful group called Readergirlz. Readergirlz is basically an online book community created by 4 superfantasic ladies... The Readergirlz Diva's: Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, and a recent addition Mitali Perkins.

Immediately upon discovery of Readergirlz, I joined their myspace group and began participating in the various discussions. Can I tell you how much I LOVE these ladies? They are warm, and inviting, and passionate about literature... That is pretty much the recipe for a good friend in my book :) I absolutely LOVE to read, I mean LOVE it. so finding them was kinda like coming home... PLUS, Lorie Ann and I have exceptional taste in men... We BOTH love us some Jacob Black, and Severus Snape! But I digress... :)

When I discovered them, I added them to my friends on myspace. Imagine my shock, joy, awe, wonder... pick a word... when one of the Diva's actually contacted me. Justina messaged me on myspace one day and we started talking. Our conversation lead to Justina placing an order for several pendants as Christmas gifts to the other Diva's.

They turned out very pretty if you ask me :) Each one has 2 different beaded charms that they can choose from.




After Justina gave the other Diva's their pendants, she emailed me again with another order. I was already thrilled with the thought that they all had these pendants I had made for them, but now I was ECSTATIC!

Her new book Girl Overboard was just released, and Justina wanted 10 pendants for her book release party. At this point I was (still am) totally on cloud nine. I still feel so honored that she even asked me. After playing around with the design for a little bit, this is what she and I decided on. The front has the title of her book, over the background of her book cover. The back has a small quote from the book.



They turned out cute huh? I think so...

I wanted to add something here about something Justina is doing that I think is really great. She has partnered with Burton Snowboards and Youth Venture, they are co-sponsoring the Go Overboard Challenge Grant. If you know any teens who you think could help make a difference in this world, or maybe already are, send them over to that link. The people who submit the best idea's will win 1000$ to help them towards their goals.

Readergirlz has been so good to me, I just wanted to tell everyone about the great thing they have created. If you get a chance you should go check them out, you will be glad you did! Read their manifesta it makes me smile :)

Thank you Justina, Lorie, Dia, AND Janet for making me feel so welcome in your community. Mitali, I look forward to getting to know you, and ALL of you Diva's, in this new year.

Our trip to Utah in images

We just got back from Utah after nearly a week and a half... So many great things happened... But for now, I will just post some of my favorite pics of the kids. I am exhausted!

The boys in the snow...





The boys on Christmas Morning... Covered in the chocolate they ate for breakfast and thoroughly happy :)







I'll be back in the next day or two with a real post.

Paua Shell Pendants

I listed some more items in my shop tonight... One of them was this Paua Shell Pendant Necklace. I have several more of these that I will be listing over the next few days. I am excited to be offering these at a little bit lower price than some of my other pieces. They do not take as much time to make because I do not have to cut glass for them. But I think they are very beautiful. I have always loved the look of Abalone (Paua shell is a variety of Abalone from New Zealand). Come by and take a look!

Soup, Salad, Breadsticks, and Dr. Cullen...

Jakeward the Bear, and the worlds first ever Dr. Cullen...


Last Saturday I had a lovely dinner date with my new friend Kendra. I met Kendra in October in the forums of our Twilight Mom's group,(Yes, I am completely obsessed with the Twilight series... I believe I have made that abundantly clear with my gushing on and on about the books... WELL, apparently I am not alone and there is a WEBSITE for all of us crazy obsessed mom's to go hang out and discuss the finer points of the books) and we instantly hit it off. Kendra also lives in Arizona, a few hours away from me... So, naturally we began scheming and plotting a meeting as soon as was humanly possible. That meeting finally happened last weekend at The Olive Garden in Mesa.



As I ran in the door (a few minutes late) I saw Kendra standing there waiting with a big huge gift bag! We sat down and exchanged gifts, I gave her a tin full of magnets made using butterfly wings. She gave me the worlds most awesomesuperfantastc gift EVER :) She gave me that adorable squishy soft Team Switzerland bear (I have named him Jakeward), the play lists for all three of the books in the series (Stephenie Meyer creates a play list for each of her books... always awesome music), and the worlds FIRST EVER Dr. Cullen (An inside joke, we started calling Dr. Pepper by the name of Dr. Cullen in tribute to our favorite doctor... YES I AM A TOTAL GEEK)!!!

We sat and talked and ate, and talked, and ate... and giggled, and laughed... and ate, and talked... and so on and so forth for FOUR HOURS. We literally stayed till they closed. We got there at 7 and slowly shuffled out the doors at 11, where we proceeded to talk for a while longer. It was SO fantastic. Kendra is one of the coolest, sweetest people I have ever met.



She might be here again in a week or so... and if she is we are going to see August Rush together. Also, the Twilight Mom's are planning a trip to Forks WA. Yes that is correct. A big group of us are planning to meet up in Seattle next September and we are doing a "tour" of the places in the books. We have already rented a BIG cabin in Forks for us to all stay in... the more the merrier if any of you Twilight Mom's who read my blog are interested... you should go to the Twilight Mom's site, sign up for the forums, and then go to the thread entitled Twilight Mom's Forks trip.. or something like that. You can PM the lady who is putting it all together and join in on all the fun!!! Oh, and there is a possibility that Stephenie Meyer will be in Forks that weekend as it will be on Stephenie Meyer day and Bella's birthday... *squeeeeeeee* But, back to my original topic...

Saturday was SO great, I can hardly wait to meet up with Kendra again. I believe she is officially my first online friend I have ever actually met in person. :) I am supposed to be meeting with a big group of them in Utah when I go out there for Christmas too, that is going to be so FUN! I love my Twilight friends:)


Once again, if you are a Twilight fan, come join us in our insanity! If you are not... then you need to read the books already!!! :)

xoxo
Georgia

New items:)

I listed some new items in my shoppe yesterday and today, and re-listed a few older ones. I had a hard time pricing my new necklaces, but I hope I priced them fair. The Pointed Leafwing took FOREVER! :)

The Beaded Monarch Pendant Necklace



Grow Wings Monarch Pendant Necklace



And I FINALLY listed The Pointed Leafwing Necklace :)

More Joy, less Ugh.

I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately... as made obvious by my last post. And I wasn't even sure exactly why I was feeling that way... I knew I was just starting to feel crazy. After sitting with my thoughts for awhile, and talking with a lovely friend, I began to realize that I just needed to take a step back for a moment and breathe. I need to reevaluate my priorities and perhaps shift some things around. And that is ok.

I was frustrated with my business, because I want to be making more money. And as a wife and mother of 3 young boys, it is HARD to get out of the house to do shows. Thea reminded me that I have this lovely thing at my fingertips called the internet (who knew?) and that I could take some steps to improve my business using just that. So, even though I would LOVE to be out working all the shows with my Mafia Familia, I will be happy doing what I can with the group, and not knocking myself out trying to do everything.

I was also frustrated with some issues at church... Well, there is nothing I can do to change the minds or perceptions of other people, but I can take control over myself. I know that everything that happened was because someone thought they were doing the right thing. I also know that it is time to let it die. I hate that I have held on to it for as long as I have. I know that what happened will most likely still irritate me from time to time, but I will not dwell on it. I will continue to live my life the ways I feel are right for me, and try not to worry about what other people tell me I need to live like. Also, I may ask to be released from my calling if I continue to feel overextended. I have never been one to do that, but I am slowly realizing that in order to function well I sometimes have to let go of some of the stress.

My husband works very long hours and is almost never home before 7 or 8 at night... many time it is even later than that, 10:00 at night is not a rare thing... and there has been quite a few times where he does not get home till 1 or 2 in the morning. This means that anytime I need to go to a meeting or anything related to my calling (which by the way is often) I need to call a babysitter, and right now we really can't afford a sitter much, so I don't end up going... Working in scouts has added significantly to the stress pile... While I REALLY like the woman I work with, and I also think the boys are fun, I don't really know if I can keep it up. I do not feel comfortable doing something if I cannot give it my all and do a good job. Right now I am not doing well at it, I have not made it to the meetings and even had to cancel one. I am still not sure if I will ask to be released or not, I need to think hard about it.

So, that is where I am at right now. I am feeling pretty good, not nearly so crazy as I was before. I am ready to focus on my family, and on finding ways to increase my business online so I can add to our income. I am also ready to take a step back when I need to and make sure I am taking care of myself a little bit too.

So, in an effort to increase business online I listed several items yesterday in my shoppe :)

Monarch Wing Earrings



And... Drum roll please :) The Delias Necklace. ( I love this one)


I also have some idea's in mind for a few new things to sell. Keep checking back, I will be posting regularly with new items for sale in my shoppe.

xoxo
Georgia

Ugh... just ugh.

How does a stay at home, mother of 3... the oldest of which is turning 6 tomorrow by the way... do it all?

Is it even possible to have a business that is successful, keep a house clean-ish and organized-ish (it's a word... I swear), AND spend quality time with the kids and hubby... Not to mention have a life... you know, the kind with friends and girls nights out...

There is so much to write about right now... And I don't know how to say any of it. I do know that everything I want to say has lots of really cool expletives in it... The kinds of words I try to avoid typing in my blog because people at church will see it and get their panties in a twist (It's happened, I can't handle being pulled into someones office at church again to discuss the contents of my blog or I might unleash all the power and fury of those previously mentioned expletives on their ass. And that would not be pretty...) And allow me to say that if you are someone from Church and you are reading this, what I said just then was in all likelihood NOT directed at you... the only person that was directed to KNOWS it was for him... So, heads up. IF YOU WANT TO "DISCUSS" THE FACT THAT I SAID "ASS" IN MY BLOG, I RESPECTFULLY DECLINE! If you want to be a normal human being who does not want to discuss things that are not now and will NEVER BE any of your damn business then we are good. Wow... why can't I say that out loud? I wish I could have said all that out loud a year ago... I wish I had a freaking voice.

Okay... I got WAY off track just then. Apparently I have some issues. And apparently more than one thing is bugging me and I only just figured that out. Sorry you must bear witness to my current state of mind. What I originally came here to write about was my frustration with not being able to do it all. Why can I NOT do it all? I need to explore this whole thing more... but I can't do that all here, I need to think about it all. Then I will come back with something that actually makes a bit more sense than all this that you just read.

Ugh... just ugh!

Rusty wings and other things

This post would fall under the Shameless Self Promotion category...




This last week I finished some new pendants and necklaces... And I wasn't sure how I felt about them at first... But I think after I wore this one around for a while they are growing on me. Yeah... I think I do like them, this necklace especially :) I will be listing the new pieces in my shop over the next few days... go take a look!




To see what everyone else is wearing just click here :)

Wearing a smile

Today I am wearing a shirt with this mornings breakfast smeared on the hem...

I am wearing my favorite comfy pants (the ones that still fit because they stretch) even though they have bleach spots on the butt...

Today I wore mismatched flip-flops, because they were all I could find and I didn't want to wear my fluffy slippers, although I am totally not above doing that... I did it yesterday infact..

Today I have a hair clip in my hair keeping it off my face, because my hair decided today was a good day to suddenly be curly.

Today I wore a smile on my face... Even though my printer had broken, and I thought my warranty had expired. Even though my two year old has decided that naps no longer matter in his world and he would rather play... Even though that means I no longer have that little amount of time in the middle of the day to *try* and work on my business *if* my three year old will stay occupied...

I wore a smile on my face, even when I didn't really feel up to it. I didn't give in to feeling upset and overwhelmed. And you know what? It all worked out okay. :) My warranty doesn't expire till December, so they shipped me a replacement printer head today. Kael does not nap anymore... but I got some more play time with him, and it was wonderful. I will just have to find ways to be more productive in the time that I do have to work now.




To see what other people are wearing look here.

Why my family is cool

My family is cool... We are quirky and bizarre... and we do odd things like send mass emails to each other featuring such subjects as David Hasselhoff, or Sasquatch... Or aliens...
This is the latest bit of emailing that has happened between us all... Admit it, you are jealous your family is not this cool ;) Or... you may be slightly appalled at our discussions... whatever. This is the stock that I came from...

---------------------------------
Anatomical Parts Jewelry emails...
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My mom wrote:

oh people!!!! I can't tell you how wonderful I think the "enema bag" pin is ..it's beyond decription.. if it weren"t so expensive...shucks! & I'm really not joking... anybody need to get me a gift...? it brings back memories ... georgia in celebration of your 3 boys in utero I think you should get the "uterous-(SP?) pin" & don't forget about the "colon" pin .... !!! such creative wonder!!! love Mom >>>link
below!
Go here

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Georgia wrote:

Perhaps a few of us can go in on it for you for
christmas... I like the enema bag pin with the butt...

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My mom wrote:

I didn't see the one with the but! I think I've changed my mind it wouldn't be the greatest x-mas gift although the fallopian tube was rather clever... oh forget it.. people would just end up "staring" at whatever the pin was stuck on my jacket & it would end up being an annoying situation... " oh! why I've never seen a pin like that before.... OH Sue! I just love you! You always come up with something so different!!! heheheh oh!.... Iv'e just got to call you one of these days for a massage!!>>> so as you can see - let's just forget it - I think I am getting grouchy so I better go get some sleep...

love Mom

---------------------------

My mom wrote again:

To whom it may concern!...

I'm sorry but I am just laughing so deliriously I can hardly type.... ! I Georgia I have returned to the photo & I can't believe that it is actually a very strange looking butt... which it is indeed! & that I actually told everybody that was my pin of choice !.. I actually liked the plain enema/ hotwater bottle
pin-(with no human parts!)- the best because I thought for some strange reason the other one had the enema pin going into a womens "sternum" which was kind
of very strange in my mind that the anatomical pin creator would make it that way (when he was so very precise about the human anatomy in the other pins) ... so I thought! !!! I think I need to do some of those right & left brain hemisphere exercises so things transmit in my brain correctly. I need some specialized brain energy work!!! good night & good luck- love Sue/Mom

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My Aunt Karen wrote:

It does look more like boobs and a sternum than a butt!
I can't find the other stuff

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Georgia wrote:

Seriously, how can you not tell it's a butt? Look right in the middle...
it has a BUTT HOLE!

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My cousin Marita wrote:

My dearest family,

I have finally had a chance to check my email today and couldn't help checking out this incredible piece of art. You do know I am about to finish my master's degree in Teaching Through the Arts come February. Anyways, Ka I was a bit disturbed that you thought this exquisite piece could be more like boobs and a sternum than a butt. My fine eye for art would ask you, what then is that sphincter in the middle of the "boobs." I was quite disturbed in trying to think about what it would be like to have a huge sphincter hole between my evergrowing breasts. Especially when the piece comes with it's own enema bag and tube to hook right in. This is all too much for a pregnant mother right now. But, thank you all for this cultural experience with arts.


Love,
Marita (and Ian who was making me breakfast)

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Georgia wrote:

I too saw the sphincter... how could no one else see it for what it was? What on earth would a pair of boobs and a sternum with a hole have to do with an enema bag in the first place I ask you.

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My Uncle Doug wrote: (Oh, and Dwayne and Neva are my grandparents... The parents of my mom, aunt and uncle. :) )

I honestly don't know what to say. Should I show concern about my sisters' well being? And by well being, I don't mean Colonic Health. Am I actually seeing that this has been copied to Dwayne and Neva?

Karen--- Boobs? Huh? Look again at the picture. Weren't you the one who endured the AUNT MARTHA ENEMA? So maybe you have psychologically blocked this obvious image out of your conscious mind, because of that fateful day in Mesa.

Dad would say, "Hoo, Let me show you my scar...", so so in this case, maybe I will a D. DWAYNE Brimhall, and rip open my shirt, revealing Brimhall chest hair, and showing ample Man Boobage, and say "Hoo, Let me show you my Sphincter." I keep my water bottle close to my chest to keep the water warm— When I am not in need of a good cleansing, I can use it Like a Camelback water hiking backpack, and suck on the tube to drink the stored water—my cleavage serves as the perfect spot to store the drinking end of the tube.

And look again at the picture. What do you think Abe is thinking?

I think the design of the earrings are all wrong. The bag part should hang from a piercing at the top of your ear, and then the tube is the stretched down and inserted into the inner ear. In fact, this could be modified to be used for hearing aids, iPod headphones, and Secret Service agent headsets.

This image makes me feel compelled to explore other things on the www.lunaparc.com website, but honestly, I don't know if I should open that can of worms. I'll never be able to shut it.

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My Uncle Doug wrote again:

I'm sorry to do this to you, but I did jump to the Dark Side—here are other pages from this same glorious jewelry website:

Here

Especially, please note the overall size and special heartwarming story on the "Colon of Joy".

And the special little fresh water pearl-y touch on the end of the—well, I better just have you find it yourselves.

-----------------------------------

Georgia Wrote:

Yes... The Colon of Joy story is a very touching one... Also the pearl "drip" was a nice touch... I mean, that particular piece of art would NOT be complete without the pearl "drip".

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Zoe wrote:

That butt pin reminds me of what the tin mans butt would look like or maybe the bicentennial man. Either way I think I’m going to show this website to my anatomy teacher. Its a hoot. Or is it “humerous”? Ha ha. Anatomy joke.
-----------------------------

Karen Wrote:

OK all,

I'm sorry, but when you have a Brimhall Butt like mine, you never see your sphincter in such a big valley! And I don't think any of us have butt buns quite so perky. yes, it was weird to see an enema bag going into a chest, Hey, I'm Miss chemo, maybe it was an ancient way of administering drugs. Those buns look like two melon boobs. I stand by my original impression. That does not look like a butt. It looks like boobs with an alien hot water bottle connected to them. I just ran it by AJ and his first impression was boobs as well.
-------------------------

My Mom wrote:

Georgia- your making me choke - I regret sharing with you the "colon of joy" & other anatomical parts! you are making me face my own foolhardiness! are you
satisfied?
Karen you are exactly correct ... I could not have defined it so well... you have helped me to understand that my brain saw that the way it did for areason... & a very good one too... you will notice that few ...but mainly Georgia figured it was a butt
- but it's because Georgia has no big floppy butt to speak of-- so of course it made sense to her--but you have made me feel very good about my brain, right & left hemisphere function....... thank you so very much.. love sue
---------------------------

And thus concludes the "Anatomical Parts Jewelry" email discussion up to this point... :)

My family is made out of craziness and cheesecake.

xoxo
Georgia

A write up :)

I don't have much time to blog tonight... I am gearing up for a big show tomorrow... I have to be up by 5 am!!! But, I wanted to post something really quick.

A little while back I was contacted by Jenipher from Cherry Runway. She is so sweet, I loved messaging back and forth with her. Anyways, she did a write up on me and my Shop today! You should go check it out and send her some bloggie love. Also you should visit her shop if you get a chance. She has some adorable jewelry!

Go CHECK IT OUT :)

Thanks Jenipher! I feel so honored that you featured my shop in your blog.

Pear Salad... or Edward Salad, whatever :)

I am having a hard time thinking of things to post for this months Self Portrait Challenge. I keep thinking f photo's after the opportunity is gone. Like, Chad and I went camping this weekend... perfect chance to take some camp food pictures... I forgot :) I was cooking (I know a big shocker) the other night... like a REAL dinner. And I forgot. So, today I FINALLY remembered!

This is quite possibly the most delicious salad you will EVER taste... if you are lucky enough to taste it. My friend Jessica made it for me one night when we were having a movie night. And I have never been the same since. I mean, this salad has changed the way I look at salads. It may just be the most addicting thing I have ever tasted (aside from chocolate and Dr. Pepper... and Chicken Tika Masala...) It is like the heroin of salads. Ooohhhh. like if Edward were a salad! Seriously. SO.GOOD! Maybe I will rename it Edward Salad... It is SO fitting, because he is so delicious... Now I need a Jacob themed food... Some kind of dessert perhaps?

Cheese Pervert Chuck-a-roni

I made a gourmet spread for dinner tonight. Leftovers. Leftover Cheeseburger Macaroni. *gag* But, whatever. The kids will eat it without hiding pieces under the table for the dogs, or something. And I am tired of cooking healthy dinners only to have NONE of the kids eat them! Fine. Corn dogs and macaroni it is :)

Kael got excited when he saw his dinner... So excited that he yelled its name very loudly. "Cheese Pervert Chuck-a-roni!!!!" I almost died laughing :) So... I think this meal now has a new name in our house. I love when kids say things the wrong way. This might be one of my favorite examples yet though.

My life :)

I don't have much to say today. My life is kinda busy right now, but busy in a good way. I am too tired to write a post that is well thought out... so instead it will be more like a list of things going on in my life right now:)

* I have been trying to list items in my Etsy shop on a regular basis. Just one or two a day... I usually list a whole bunch at a time, and then go a long time without listing anything. While talking with my lovely friend last week, she encouraged me to list more regularly instead of all at once. And because she is a genius, I had to agree:) So that is exactly what I have been doing. I plan to list a couple more items later today.

* My shows are finally starting their new seasons!!! I am so excited, and also slightly appalled at the amount of television I actually watch. Prison Break is back *yay* I love me some Wentworth Miller. Also I am excited to be able to watch HEROES, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Supernatural (not starting till next week), Boston Legal, and a few others... And then there are the new shows... I am going to be such a couch potato. Good thing I can pull my table over in front of the TV and make stuff... Oh, and did I mention we got our projector fixed, so now we can watch our shows on a 110 inch screen??? SWEET! Maybe all my shows being back on will help pull me out of my Twilight obsession... Or maybe not.

* Speaking of my Twilight obsession... My insane fan girl talk has FINALLY convinced my husband to read the books. Well... not read, but listen to. We are currently listening to the Twilight audio book. Right now Bella is stuck in the parking lot at school behind Edwards car while a few boys take turns asking her to a dance. Hehehe :) LOVE IT!

I think that is about it for today. I have some errands to run. But, if you are at all interested I did post over on the Phoenix Craft Mafia blog today... You can go read a bit of something I wrote last year for Nanowrimo... I am not promising it is anything good... But its also not terrible :) So if you DO read it, tell me what you think.

xoxo
Georgia

edited to add a little bit more...

Also, today I am listening to some of my ALL TIME favorite Broadway shows. I was lucky enough to go do a Broadway tour when I was a senior in Highshool... I got to see 5 shows that week... they were AMAZING. But by far, the best were these three.

Side Show *This show had me sobbing by the end. It was THAT good. Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley were sooo fantastic, there are no words for what I feel when I listen to them*



The Scarlet Pimpernel *I met Douglas Sills... he was sooooo scrumptious, I was in love with him for years... listen to his VOICE!*



Jekyll and Hyde *not with David Hasselhoff... ewww. No, I got to see it with the original Broadway cast (actually I saw ALL of these with the original casts) Which means Linda Eder *my hero* and Robert Cuccioli *swoons*!!! Now... This song gets me EVERY time. I love me a bad boy, I realllly do. And he is sooooo uber creepy and SEXY as hell in this show. If you watch closely you will see him lick her hand... When I saw it he licked her wrist and I almost died! SOOOO creepy!!!! And also, I admit it... HOT!*

Applying mascara....

It is not often these days that I get the chance to do my hair, get dressed up in something that looks more like real clothes than my pajama's, and put on make-up... I shot this photo yesterday while I was getting ready for Church, wouldn't you know it... I actually got myself all prettied up and we ended up not going at the last minute because Chad had a project to go finish for work. Meh. Ah well, at least I got to go through the day looking like a person who actually pays attention to what they look like :)




I make odd faces when I put on my make-up... I never paid attention to what my face does when I put on make-up... now I know:)

To see other peoples Self Portraits just go HERE.

We do it at home: A Birth Story.

I have not yet participated in this months SPC, simply because I have not been around any cool bathrooms... And the thought of shoving all the dirty laundry out of the way so I can set up a picture has been less than appealing to me. Maybe next week... But my sweet friend Jenica suggested I use a photo from one of my births, and although they are not pictures I took myself I thought it was a good idea. So I did :) Just a little warning though, for those of you who might get offended easily or something... There is some side boob showing in the photo's. You can't see nipples or anything like that but I am obviously not clothed in these photo's. I don't get bothered by such things, and while I doubt many people would be upset by these pictures... Some people may not be so ok with a little nudity. I love these pictures, and so I want to share them. And that being said, You have been warned :)

Some of you may be aware of the fact that I have three kids. And of those people who know this, some of you will know that I gave birth to all three of those kids in the comfort of my own home. That's how we do it around here. We fill up a children's swimming pool with nice steamy warm water in the living room, or bedroom... I hop in, and a little while later I emerge holding my new baby. Simple :)

Well, this last time around things went a little differently. We thought that my labor would be blindingly fast like my second one (the one where my midwife didn't make it in time and me and the hubby did it ourselves). So as soon as my water broke, we were in super fast motion getting everything ready. We phoned Pam our fantastic Midwife. We filled up that pool as fast as we could... And then we waited. And waited some more...

With my first two pregnancies as soon as my water broke it was go time. Baby was coming and baby was coming NOW! With Kayden I was in labor for just over 4 hours from first contraction to baby out. With Jett I was in labor for only 1 hour from first contraction (water broke on second) to baby out. See why the midwife didn't make it? ;) With Kael things went a little differently...

My water broke. We spazzed out and got everything ready... And nothing happened! I had maybe 3 of 4 little contractions and then they just kinda stopped. Pam arrived and we all just kinda sat around waiting for the party to start. A couple hours after she got there we all decided to go back to sleep for a while... no reason being up all night if we can be sleeping right?

Well, after about 5 hours of nothing Pam comes in to check and see how I am doing. I roll over onto my back so she can check me, and suddenly we are in business. A HUGE contraction comes rolling through me and I tell her its time.

Now, at this point the water that has been sitting in the pool for a little over 5 hours is cold. So, I get in the bathtub to wait for Chad to add hot water to the pool... no such luck. We should have known. As soon as I got to the tub there was absolutely NO moving me. My body was already pushing involuntarily as we moved me from my bed to the tub. If I remember correctly, we had just enough time to fill the tub, with me in it before Kael made his debut in this world. I only remember sitting up, bracing my legs on the wall and Chad's shoulder as well as I could. Screaming because at the last second I got a terrible leg cramp, and then I was catching my baby. All 9 pounds 3 ounces of him. Like I said, its a party!

He was adorable! He was born with a full head of WHITE hair. Not just peach fuzz either, it was at least 2 inches long on top. Kinda explains his pretty long blonde hair now :)

Anyhow, these are my two favorite pics of that day. Kael is literally seconds old in these photo's... I can't be sure, but I think we have not even cut the umbilical cord yet. We always wait a while to do that.





To see other peoples Self Portraits just click HERE.

Monkeys on crack

I know that a couple other bloggers have mentioned the insanity that is Yo Gabba Gabba... But I feel it is necessary for me to mention that I think this show may have infact been created by a few monkeys on crack.

Now, when I was a kid we had Sesame Street, and Mr. Rogers... Those were good shows... But now we have weird random stuff like this.

And I had to laugh really really hard at this one... I will never be able to watch Lord of the Rings with a straight face again.

Samson

That is Kael. Kael Morgan Cranston, my youngest.



Cute isn't he? Yes... that's right. He. Kael is infact a boy, despite his lovely long hair.



Did I mention that he has very long hair? It goes all the way down his back when its wet... Pretty soon it will be touching his butt. My hair has NEVER been this long in my entire 28 years on this planet!

Lots of people think its about time we cut his hair... And I have entertained the idea myself a time or two... and yet his hair remains firmly attached to his head.

We have convinced ourselves that his hair is like Samson's. If we cut his hair we think he will lose all of his cuteness and turn into a rotten 2 year old... It happened with the other two after all... we just never connected it with the cutting of the hair... :)

I figure we will have to cut it soon... people jut mistake him for a girl far too often... Which makes me sad. I love boys with long hair. And he doesn't look like a girl to me... except for the one time my friends daughter dressed him up as a cheer leader with clothes from her dress up box... and then we put his hair in pig tails... What??? It was HILARIOUS! I need to get the pictures from her.



Ah well... What do you think? Should I leave it long? Just look at that hair! I would die to have that growing out of my head :)

Oh, and a post is coming soonish about how the trunk show went over the weekend :) If you want to know now, you can read all about it HERE on our Phoenix Craft Mafia Blog. :)

xoxox

Ramblings and what not...

Well... I have been a bloggy slacker. I admit it! But I have been so busy getting ready for the Trunk Show I am doing this weekend I have had NO time to do much else. I did however write a post for the Phoenix Craft Mafia blog today, that you can read HERE. Go read it and make me feel special ;) It has a sneak preview of some of the things I have been working on lately too. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and The Phoenix Craft Mafia has a new look... We are packing some heat now!



xoxox