Shelly's Stuff JewelryAffordably Priced & Meticulously Handcrafted

Wednesday Whispers

2010-09-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

Money Monday - Credit Cards

2010-08-30T08:42:00.004-04:00

Credit card debit is one of the most popular reasons people give when asked why they are not saving money. In reality, it's not the credit card that's the problem, it's the interest rate. The average interest rate on a credit card is 18%. To make matters worse, most people are only making the minimum payment each month. Here's an eye-opening little piece of information. If you have a balance of roughly $12,000 on a credit card with an interest rate of 18% and only make the minimum payment each month, it will take you approximately 33 years and 4 months to pay off that card. And that's assuming you don't charge anything else. The most astonishing fact about this is that it will have ended up costing you $29,616 to pay off that $12,000 balance!

The easiest and most effective way to pay off your credit card balance is to get your credit card company to lower the interest rate. Here are some steps to follow to do this:

Find out how much interest you are currently paying (take a look at your most recent statement - the interest rate is usually listed on the bottom of the last page in a table)
Find out what rates the competition is offering (this doesn't mean apply for a card with a lower rate. It just means find out what is being offered so you have some data when you call the bank. Check out www.bankrate.com)
Talk to someone who can make a difference (call the customer service number listed on your statement and immediately ask for the supervisor of the person who answers the phone as first tier support doesn't have the authority to change rates. Tell the supervisor what the competing rates are, and if your bank doesn't lower your rate, you intend to transfer your balance to the competitor)

Lowering your interest rate means it will cost you less to pay off your credit card debt. This is an important part of earning your financial freedom!

Bulldog Video

2010-08-28T10:23:00.003-04:00

Happened across this video and just had to share. I love the underbite and the way her little tongue sticks out. But, the funniest part has to be when the guy filming can't hold in his laughter anymore and the dog looks at him! Gotta' love them bully breeds!

Wednesday Whispers

2010-08-25T11:39:00.003-04:00

Money Monday

2010-08-23T09:00:00.003-04:00

I've been reading a lot of books lately, mostly of the self-help genre with an emphasis on money & finances. While I am no expert in the area, I thought I would pass along some of the tidbits I read. Couldn't everyone use a little help considering the current state of the economy? So, from this, "Money Mondays" are born!

I am currently reading "Start Late, Finish Rich" by David Bach. This book is full of interesting information and is an easy read. For this installment I'd like to start off with an excerpt from this book. When I read it, I found it to be simple, yet thought-provoking and motivational.

"The fact is, you don't get in life what you wish for. You get in life what you go for.

People choose their lives.
People choose their actions.
People choose their outcomes.
Life is a cause set in motion.
And life is not over until you quit."

The Mighty Lizard Hunter

2010-05-22T08:15:00.003-04:00

I was sitting at the computer the other day when I heard our pitbull, Doom, making a fuss at the sliding door. He was stomping his feet and emitting a raspy noise that is part growling and party heavy breathing (I have always been so thankful that Doom is a very quiet dog...doesn't bark at random noises. In fact, he very rarely barks unless he's excited. More often it's a growl, which suits me fine since usually if he's growling, it's because he's heard or seen something outside the house that isn't "right".) I grabbed the camera and took this little video. Oh, how he would have loved for me to open the door so he could chase that fat lizard around the patio! And, at the end of the video when he tilts his head back to look at me, notice the green dot between his eyes. That was from rolling in the grass earlier in the day!

Wednesday Whispers

2010-05-19T06:00:00.002-04:00

CC & "Cash"

2010-05-17T08:20:00.004-04:00

I was at the neighbor's barn yesterday and happened to snap this cute pic of CC and "Cash" (not sure that's going to be his name, but so far it's the front runner). Cash tends to stand under the hay when CC is eating so he can eat the hay that falls to the floor. His back winds up being covered in hay! It's been cool to be around him as he grows. He's getting taller and so far is turning out exactly as the neighbor had hoped. She bred him specifically for his cutting genes. I'll try to get more information on his lineage and post about it.

Quote of the Week

2010-05-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction." --George Lorimer, editor and writer

Fresh from the Tumbler

2010-05-15T10:52:00.007-04:00

Here are my latest creations, fresh from the tumbler. Looks like I'm on a copper kick again! All of these pieces are currently available in my Etsy shop.

All That Glitters is not Gold - Copper and Chinese Crystal Y-style Necklace

Drops of Lava - Red Agate and Copper Lariat Style Necklace

Alice in Chains - Copper and Fossilized Coral Bracelet

Etsy 30% Off Anniversary Sale

2010-05-12T09:15:00.002-04:00

I'm having an anniversary sale in my Etsy shop. Today marks my 3rd anniversary on Etsy, so all items are 30% off. I will refund 30% of the purchase price (not including shipping) through PayPal. This sale is good through 11:59pm EST on 05/12/10. So, please visit Shelly's Stuff, where the jewelry is affordably priced and meticulously handcrafted!

http://shellysstuff.etsy.com

Wednesday Whispers

2010-05-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

Inspiration

2010-05-11T06:00:00.001-04:00

"When life knocks you down, roll over and look at the stars."

Hot Off the Bench

2010-05-08T08:22:00.007-04:00

Here are my latest creations, all of which have been listed in my Etsy shop. I am trying to break through my normal boundaries when it comes to color. This is one of the hardest things for me when it comes to creating jewelry. I tend to be very "monochrome", even in my own wardrobe. I wear lots of black, brown and neutrals. What's funny is I can remember being this way as a child. I remember my mom taking me shopping for school clothes when I was in elementary school and even way back then I had "issues" with color. If she picked out a blue pair of pants, then I had to have a blue top that matched the pants EXACTLY. There could be no difference in the shade of the color...and of course, it had to be a blue top. It couldn't be pink or red or some other color (well, except for white because white matches with everything!). Weird, huh?

Everything But the Kitchen Sink - multi stone bracelet

Hot Fudge Sundae - Magnesite, fossil bead, ceramic and sterling silver bracelet

After Midnight - multi stone memory wire bracelet

Favorite Things Friday

2010-05-07T06:00:00.009-04:00

One of my most favorite things is our American Pitbull Terrier, Doom. I've owned several dogs in my life, but this one is very special. He is incredibly smart and has a huge personality. He's also a regular on my blog as he provides good content! He should be the "poster child" for pitbulls as he would change the bad image that many people have of this amazing breed. He is a big love bug and cuddle hound, but is also my ardent protector and just naturally knows when to do his "job". These are some recent photos:

Wednesday Whispers

2010-05-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

Uh Oh!

2010-05-04T09:02:00.010-04:00

This past weekend we attended the Spring Sling mudfest at Triple Canopy Ranch. We're always amazed at (1) some of the vehicles people are driving in the mud and (2) what they attempt to do. This series of photos exemplifies that. This guy apparently didn't watch anyone else go through this mudhole before he attempted to do so. That's Daves first rule...never attempt a mudhole you haven't already watched someone else go through 'cause you never know how deep it is! The truck had to be pulled out. When the passenger opened up their door, a flood of muddy water came rushing out. Bet the driver was glad the guys in the back saved the coolers from floating away as I'm pretty sure he probably wanted to drink heavily after this!

Handcrafted Jewelry Giveaway

2010-04-29T11:03:00.004-04:00

Shelly's Stuff is having a handcrafted jewelry giveaway on Facebook. Click this link for all the details. Entry is easy so don't pass up on the chance to win this great pair of earrings! Deadline for entering is 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, 05/02/10.

I'm Back!!!

2010-04-28T09:27:00.009-04:00

After a brief hiatus, I'm back to making jewelry and blogging. I hadn't planned on being away, but found I had hit a creative block when it came to creating new pieces and deciding on items to blog about. There were many days when I sat down at the bench and nothing...no ideas. So, I would then move over to the computer and sign in to my blog, and again...nothing. Instead of torturing myself by forcing something, I decided to concentrate on other things knowing that the block would eventually pass. Some of the other "projects" include painting the interior of the house, a general decluttering of all closets and cabinets, promoting Str8 Jab, and working on the latest Jeep project with Dave. All of these things have left me feeling accomplished, refreshed, and refocused. With that said, here are my latest creations all of which have been posted in my Etsy shop.

Melon Slices - Pink coral, Bali, and sterling silver earrings

A Walk in the Forest - Rhyolite, riverstone, Swarovski pearl and sterling silver necklace

Men's brecciated jasper and hematite necklace

Blue mountain jade, Bali and sterling silver bracelet

The New Colt - Video

2010-04-03T00:47:00.003-04:00

I shot this video of the new colt and his mama, CC, this morning. Both are doing well, and CC is being a great mom!

We Have a Baby!

2010-04-02T08:00:00.007-04:00

Ok, well not a human baby! My neighbor's mare, CC, gave birth to a black colt last night. Here are some of the pics! I'm keeping this short as I'm excited about getting over to the barn this morning!

Wednesday Whispers

2010-03-31T06:00:00.002-04:00

Wednesday Whispers

2010-03-24T06:00:00.003-04:00

(Janis, this one's for you!)

82nd Annual Arcadia Rodeo

2010-03-23T11:37:00.011-04:00

A few weekends ago we went to the 82nd Annual Arcadia Rodeo, which is a PRCA sanctioned event. The cowgirls and cowboys at this event were trying to earn enough points to get to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December. This is, without a doubt, the town's biggest event (Arcadia is a quaint, sleepy little town on Florida's west coast). Donnie Gay, 8 time world champion bull rider, was on hand to announce from horseback. It was so weird to hear his voice...used to hearing him announce on tv! The rodeo clown/bullfighter they had was great. He was incredibly funny and really kept the crowd going. They started off the event with mutton busting. For those of you who are not familiar with this event, go to You-Tube and search it...it's the funniest thing. Basically, they have young children, put helmets on them, place them on the back of a sheep and let the sheep run down the arena. The child who can hang on the longest wins! We're thinking we should enter our 6 year old niece, Amber next year. They also did all the "regular" events including bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc, bullriding, team roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing. We had great seats that gave us a perfect view for all the events except for the bull riding. In this arena, the bull chutes are on one of the sides (not at one of the ends like normal) and we were off to the side of them. When the bulls came out of the chutes, most of them stayed right there and went into their spins making it difficult to see. We'd never been to this arena before, so we didn't really know what to expect. We've all agreed, next year we'll get the seats that are right over the bull chutes. I have a great appreciation for those that ride horses well. I am quite the novice when it comes to riding, and I really have to work hard and think about what I'm doing (heels in and down, toes out, back straight, relaxed hands, reins even). I have no ambition to do anything more than be able to trail ride. I've only been as fast as a trot...I would like to get to the canter someday! In any case, I really like watching the barrel racing. At this event they had both the regular division and a junior division. These girls/women were fearless! Some of them really had horses that were acting up. The one reared several times and was refusing to do the pattern. The girl riding was so calm, and didn't give up until the horse gave in and did what she asked. The last event was the bullriding, which is definitely my favorite event (I'm a huge PBR fan...hoping to go to Vegas for the finals one of these years!). When they announced the last rider, Clayton Williams, I was kind of surprised. Clayton had been on the PBR tour just last year. A few years ago he had won the big PBR Challenger tour event in Oklahoma City and won enough money to land a spot in the top level of the PBR tour. I'm not sure what happened that he's no longer on the PBR tour, but was glad to see he is still riding. He sat on the bull chutes for a little while after his ride, and it didn't seem that anyone else realized who he was. I had the perfect opportunity to make my way over for a photograph and autograph, but (1) realized I didn't have a pen or marker on me since I didn't have my purse, and (2) Dave and the rest of my group had already made their way out of the stadium, so I had no one to take a pic of me with Clayton! Guess I should have told them what I was up to! I was able to snap a few good pics of him anyway. Can't wait until next year's event!

Str8 Jab Photo Shoot

2010-03-17T13:14:00.007-04:00

This past weekend Dave and I went over to Florida's west coast to visit family. We had a great weekend and did such a wide mix of things (we threw darts at a pub, went to the rodeo, got tattoos...there will be a whole post about that, and did a photo shoot for Str8 Jab). We are so happy with the way the photos turned out and were finally able to post product pics on the website. Thanks to Janis, Bob and Erik for being our models. I also found out Dave has another talent...he's great with the camera. He was so good at setting up the shots! We came up with lots of ideas for the next shoot and I'm very excited about how things are going. The website still needs work, but since we're doing it all ourselves, I am pleased with it. I've found that the Go Daddy templates are not nearly as easy to work with as they would have you believe. I've felt very limited in where I can place items on the site and there just isn't enough flexibility. I'm going to be exploring the option of building the site with Wordpress and then transferring that to Go Daddy. I've heard that Wordpress works more like a blog (which I like) and I've seen some sites that people have built with it. We've talked about having someone build the site for us, but we're just not ready to invest that kind of money until we start seeing a little more cash flow. We're doing a lot of social networking (check us out on Facebook and Twitter) and trying to build up our fan base. I'm hoping to start a Myspace page this weekend. We have learned a lot about screen printing and the apparel business after going through this first run of shirts. We are discussing what direction we want to go in for the next run. We know we want to add additional colors as option for the shirts. We'd also eventually like to do beanies, hats and hoodies. We're hoping to have some of these additional items in production by the end of April. Once we have those, we are going to select a couple of mixed martial arts events to set up a booth at. For now, we are going to stick with some smaller, non mma events where the vendor fees and the competition are also smaller! I would love to hear from y'all...opinions, comments, suggestions, questions, etc! Doesn't matter if you're a fan of MMA or not as I know Bloggerland has many talented and creative people. Please feel free to contact me through this blog (comments are ALWAYS welcome and appreciated), via email at info@str8jab.com, or on our Facebook fan page for Str8 Jab (click here). I look forward to hearing from you!

PS...for those of you waiting for the follow up to the copper etchings I did...I still haven't gotten around to oxidizing and polishing those pieces yet! Thought I was going to have time to do it last week before we went away for the weekend, but that didn't quite work out. Maybe tonight...

Copper Etching - 2nd Attempt

2010-03-11T18:00:00.006-05:00

Last night I made my 2nd attempt at copper etching. In my first attempt (which is detailed in yesterday's blog post) the resists I used didn't work that well and I didn't get the detail of the design. This time I used a paint pen to mark the design on the copper discs. This worked much better. The pictures below show the discs after they'd been dunked in the baking soda bath. I plan on oxidizing and polishing them to highlight the design (if all goes well, I'm going to do that tonight and will post pics by Saturday). You can see the edges are a little rough and I believe that's because the etch actually came through the masking tape from the back of the disc. I should probably apply a resist to the back and then the masking tape. But, I like the way they turned out kind of rough...I'd like to think it adds to their handmade charm! I like the way the paint pen worked as a resist, but I definitely won't be able to use it for more detailed designs as the point or nib is a little too thick and doesn't allow for drawing fine lines. I did pick up some embossing powder to use with the Stayzon ink, but haven't had the chance to try it out yet. I believe that will work best for more detailed designs.

Copper Etching

2010-03-10T14:07:00.004-05:00

So, last night I decided to try my hand at copper etching. I really like working with copper and have been wanting to try this technique for a while. I had some design ideas and gave them a whirl. I don't have any kind of free-hand drawing skills at all (I mean none whatsoever...just ask Dave who painfully watched my attempts in high school art class!) so I used a template for one design, and an acrylic stamp for the other. For the design using the template, I used a red Sharpie marker and it was basically one large heart with a smaller heart inside of it. The area between the two hearts is what would etch so I thought this would look pretty cool. For the design using the acrylic stamp, I chose a flower design and used red Stayzon ink. After putting the designs on the copper discs and letting the inks dry, I traced the outer edge of the discs with the marker so they would not be etched, and then put packing tape on the back of the discs, also so they would not be etched. So far, so good. The actual etching part was also pretty easy. I suspended the discs on a piece of masking tape stretched across both sides of a small Rubbermaid container so that the pieces would be submerged in the etching solution, but easy to retrieve. I poured enough solution into the container to just cover the discs. I could actually see the effect of the etching solution on the disc within seconds! I set the timer for 10 minute intervals and would check the discs and agitate the container slightly. I did this for about 90 minutes. When the 90 minutes was up I dunked the discs in a combination of water and baking soda to stop the effect of the etching solution, then rinsed with plain water. I could see the etching, but my resists (the Sharpie marker and the Stayzon ink) didn't hold up as well as I had hoped. Some of the lines were thinner than intended and it looked like in some places the resist had dissolved. Not bad for a first try, but definitely not the quality I was hoping for. I'll be back at it tonight with different resists. The first one I am going to try is a paint pen instead of the Sharpie. The second one is to add embossing powder on top of the Stayzon ink and heat it with a heat gun. I'll let you know how the second attempt goes!!!

Photos from the Airboat & Swamp Buggy Festival

2010-03-08T13:40:00.016-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting the pics of our booth at the PBC Airboat and Swamp Buggy Festival. Dave had been sick with flu-like symptoms during the week prior to the event. Then on the Friday evening, I started to get it. I managed to hang on through the weekend, but was under the weather for most of the following week. Even now, I'm only feeling like I'm at 80% of my "normal" self! In any case, the festival turned out to be a nice event...well, except for Saturday! The weather was atrocious on Saturday! It was cold, in the mid 40's and overcast...then the rain started. It wasn't so bad at first, but then it really started coming down. Rain showers in Florida are normal...they normally pass in 20-30 minutes, but this one decided to hang around. We tried to hold out, but the rain wasn't letting up, and it eventually started to leak through our pop-up tent (even though it was Scotch-guarded). That along with the cold weather, the fact we were both sick, and the small crowd led us to make the decision to pack up and leave. I hated to do it since it was only 3:30pm and the festival was scheduled to go on until 9:00pm (there was supposed to be a concert), but my table coverings and jewelry, not to mention the Str8 Jab shirts were wet. We went home, dried everything, got some dinner and watched the weather channel. There was no rain in the forecast for Sunday and it was expected to get into the mid 60's. We did decide to go back for Sunday, and I'm glad we did. The weather was as predicted and sunny. And, the band that was supposed to play Saturday night had decided to cancel due to the weather, but played all day Sunday instead. The crowd was great! We had a good response to the Str8 Jab shirts and concept, but not as many sales as we would have liked. The jewelry on the other hand did really well! All in all, it turned out to be a good day. We handed out a lot of business cards for both Shelly's Stuff and Str8 Jab and had lots of good feedback. That is helping us to make some decisions for the future and how we want to proceed with each. And now for the pics! I'm really happy with how we set up the booth. It needs a few minor adjustments, but I was very pleased. I was so happy to find the cow print material...I had been looking for real cowhides, but they were kind of pricey. When I found this material at Jo-ann's, I was so excited because it wasn't the normal black and white cow spots! The cow print may make the setup look a little busy in some of the photos and almost like the jewelry gets lost, but in person it was great. And, thanks to Dave for making my stands. I thought I was going to sand them and give them a coat of varnish, but he suggested I leave them "raw" for that rustic kind of look and I'm glad he did. I'd love to know what you think!!!

The banners...I am so pleased with how these turned out (thanks, Jeanette!)

And what would and airboat & swamp buggy festival be without some airboats...

and some swamp buggies...

Exciting News

2010-02-26T21:34:00.004-05:00

I have some exciting news. There are actually two parts to this. The first is that I am going to have a booth at the Palm Beach County Airboat and Swamp Buggy Festival this weekend. It's been a long time (years) since I've done any kind of show with my jewelry so I am pretty nervous (and maybe that's because I'm also still making preparations!). I've put a lot of thought into the presentation of the jewelry and the booth setup. I just hope it pays off. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them once I have a chance. This is a two day show, 10am-9pm Saturday, and 10am-5pm Sunday and its outdoors, so it may be a few days before I recover enough to post the pics.

Here's the second part and this is really the most exciting! Shelly's Stuff will be sharing the booth with our (as in, Dave and me) newest business venture. Announcing...

Dave and I are huge fans of mixed martial arts and all combat sports. We've always wanted to start a business that was built around something we are passionate about. This is definitely it. We are in what we're calling our "research and development" stage. We developed the logo with the help of our neighbor who is a graphic design artist, and currently have a line of shirts (sorry...no pics yet...the shirts just came in yesterday and we've been busy getting ready for this weekend). If we get a good response to the shirts (reading between the lines, that means if we get some cash flow!), we will further develop the line and will be adding more products including hoodies, beanies and shorts to name a few. We did manage to get the website up and going, although it is far from complete. We at least wanted to have something out there so people could find us and realize we are serious about this. You can check it out at http://str8jab.com. Also, we have a Facebook fan page which you can get to by clicking here. If any of you out there in Blogger land are mixed martial arts (ultimate fighting) fans or know people who are, we would greatly appreciate any help in getting our fan base on Facebook going so we can get a unique URL. I'm sure once we get through this initial product launch, we'll be holding some giveaways to show our appreciation for everyone's support. Wish us luck!!!

Wednesday Whispers

2010-02-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I Think I Found My Calling...LOL

2010-02-22T18:00:00.009-05:00

Every year our local high school holds a fundraiser that includes a barbecque, car show and silent auction. Although we don't have any kids, we try to attend each year. After browsing the cars, we wandered over to the Palm Beach Sheriff's office display. They had two of their SWAT vehicles there. The first was their new multi-level assault van. This thing was tough (sorry...no pics...we only had the cell phone and the memory was full). This van actually had a ramp off the top of it that would allow the officers to enter buildings, homes, etc from 2nd and 3rd story windows or balconies. The other was their bullet-proof, bomb-proof, everything proof assault vehicle. The door alone weighed 800 pounds. The officer explained the vehicle cost $250,000 but the taxpayers didn't have to contribute a dime because it was paid for with money seized in drug raids. We were actually allowed inside this one. As you can see from the pictures, the officer manning the display and Dave thought it would be a good idea to dress me up in all the gear. I couldn't believe how heavy the helmet was...it must have weighed at least 15 pounds...seriously! I've always thought about a career in law enforcement, just never pursued it. Hhmmmmm.....

Favorite Things Friday

2010-02-19T07:00:00.004-05:00

I receive a lot of jokes and videos via e-mail. This video of a Blaupunkt commerical is definitely one of my favorites. It depicts why you shouldn't leave stuffed animals in the back window of your car.

Wednesday Whispers

2010-02-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

A New Twist on Braiding a Horse's Mane!

2010-02-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

Someone had tweeted the link to a website where a hairdresser had taken styling a horse's mane to the extreme. I just had to post this picture. Is anyone else thinking Rick James?

Implosion of the 1515 Tower in Palm Beach

2010-02-15T13:00:00.014-05:00

On Valentine's Day, Dave and I went to downtown Palm Beach to watch the implosion of the 1515 Tower. To some, that may not sound like the most romantic thing to do, but we really enjoyed it. Besides, Dave and I have a tendency to do things that are a little left or right of center (which is why life with him is SO exciting)!

Here's a little history on the tower. It was built in the mid 70's and is located on the Intracoastal Waterway. In 2004 it suffered insurmountable damage from the hurricanes that came through and residents were forced to leave...forever. This building has been an eyesore to residents of nearby condos since that time and considering the value of this waterfront property, they wanted something done about it. Finally, it was scheduled to be demolished. Nearby residents were concerned about the demolition as this tower stands 279 feet tall, and their residences are only 200 feet away! This demolition, handled by Advanced Explosives Demolition is the 3rd largest building imploded in U.S. history. I'm happy to report it went off with out a hitch, well, except for the delay in pushing the button at 9:00am as scheduled. The demolition crew found a man hiding within the blast area shortly before 9:00am and had to have him escorted from the premises!

A view of the tower from Flagler Dr the day before

A close-up of the tower the day before (the road was closed to traffic on Sunday)

Dave and I braving the cold (well, 42 degrees is cold by Florida standards!)

A shot of the tower from the other side of the Intracoastal Waterway (notice the small 4-5 story building to the left...this is just a parking lot away)

This was taken with my cell phone since Dave was taking the video. If you look very closely at the left side of the tower, you can see a couple of puffs of smoke...this is the start of the implosion

This was amazing to see, hear and actually feel live!

The cloud of dust...luckily the wind was pretty strong so it never reached us

A shot with a little wider of an angle

This is the video of the implosion that Dave took. For maximum effect, turn your volume up before starting the video and you'll be able to hear the first series of explosions. The implosion didn't actually start until about 9:06, and Dave's arm was getting tired holding the camera up, so he had turned it off. He turned it back on just in time to catch the first explosion! (And also, as a warning, I do believe the word "sh*t" may have been uttered once or twice out of sheer amazement. I do not nearly have the technical capabilites to figure out how to bleep it out!)

Bud Light Clothing Drive Commercial

2010-02-12T07:00:00.003-05:00

This commercial was e-mailed to me from a friend yesterday. It should have been a Superbowl commercial. I about fell out of my chair during the part with the guy and the pen. Very funny!

Hot Off the Bench

2010-02-11T06:00:00.007-05:00

I was able to find some time in the last few days to work on some new pieces. I'm hoping to be back to a regular schedule by the weekend! All of these pieces have been posted in my Etsy shop.

Bit O Honey Earrings - chinese crystal and oxidized copper

Crosses & Crystals Earrings - chinese crystal, lead free pewter cross charms & oxidized copper

Texturized Earrings - Faceted red agate, hammered and oxidized copper rectangles

I'll Be Back Soon!

2010-01-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

I apologize that I've been missing in action recently from my blog. This time of year is especially busy for me at my regular job and doesn't leave me a lot of time for anything else. But, I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I should be back to my regular posting schedule soon!

Wednesday Whispers

2010-01-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

For the Pitbull Lovers

2010-01-09T07:00:00.005-05:00

This one is for the pitbull lovers. If you've ever owned one, you'll truly appreciate this!

New Years

2010-01-08T07:00:00.006-05:00

We were supposed to go camping for New Years this year, but the park we had planned to go to was closed a week before the holiday due to construction that was taking much longer than originally planned. We looked for other parks, but they were all booked! I had no idea camping was such a popular New Year's activity! So, we changed plans and had our family come to our house. Since it was chilly out (in the 40's) we decided it was the perfect time to have a bonfire...and make s'mores!

Now that's a fire! (not the biggest we've ever had, but still impressive)

Sparklers for the kids...

...and the big kid, too!

Puppy Update

2010-01-07T14:08:00.009-05:00

My sister's litter of border collies is approximately 5 weeks old now. Chris reports that they are quite the rambunctious group! For more pictures and additional information on the pups, you can check out the Golden Oaks Border Collies website by clicking here.

Don't ya' just want to undo the latch and let them all out?

Meet Blizzard...quickly becoming my favorite. I just love his face!

Makes me want to jump in their box and snuggle up with them!

What pretty blue eyes you have!

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T23:59:00.001-05:00

Wishing you and yours a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year!

Cutting Back in This Crazy Economy

2009-12-31T07:00:00.005-05:00

For sometime now, Dave and I have been cutting back on certain things in order to try and stay ahead of this crazy economy. In 2008, we decided it was time to make a change in the vehicles we were driving. I commute 140 miles round trip daily and the truck I was driving got about 18-20 miles to the gallon...not really the best vehicle for me, but I was involved in a really bad car accident years ago in which I had to be cut out of my SUV and I had a fear of driving anything smaller (if I had my choice I'd been driving a jacked up F-250 diesel 4x4)! Gas and tolls (not too mention having the oil changed every 6 weeks) was really hitting us where it hurt, so we made the decision to buy a much more fuel efficient car. Yes, a car. I was a little apprehensive at first, but realized it really was the best thing to do. Dave and I never argue about money, and I wasn't going to let one of my fears get in the way of that. So, we went car shopping and it was much easier than I expected. See, Dave and I have always been pretty practical and incredibly sensible when it comes to money. A vehicle is not something we've ever looked at as a status symbol and we definitely don't try to keep up with the Joneses. A vehicle just needs to be reliable and practical. So, we decided on a 5-speed, 4 cylinder Honda Civic 2-door that gets 35-39 miles per gallon. Dave taught me how to drive a 5-speed eons ago so it was a no brainer. Plus, since it is a 4 cylinder, the 5-speed adds a little extra pep and is much more fun to drive. We also splurged on the sunroof figuring that this was going to be a car I would be driving for a long time, so it needed to be fun and kind of sporty. It's also a very safe car...lots of reinforced sidebars and airbags so that helped to relieve my fears! I always tell Dave that when I'm driving it, I'm on the inside and don't see the outside, so as far as I'm concerned it's an Infiniti G-35! Also, we decided not to trade in my truck since it was only a few years old. Instead, Dave retired his older truck, which didn't get very good gas mileage because of the oversized tires and was starting to develop some "gremlins" and started driving the newer truck. He has a relatively short drive to work, but the newer truck does save him a little bit in gas and is more reliable.

We also decided to have our home phone turned off. Our bills were running anywhere from $40-$60 per month and we rarely used it. Most incoming calls were people calling for Applebees or Macaroni Grill (our phone number was very similar to both of the restaurant numbers...off by just one digit) and we were always using our cell phones anyway. So, it just made sense and we haven't missed it at all. What's funny is we haven't actually unplugged the phones in each room or the answering machine!

We've also started doing our food shopping at Walmart. There is a lot of money to be saved there. For instance, a bag of Tyson's Buffalo Wyngs are $8.99 at Publix, but only $6.99 at Walmart. That's a big deal when you buy a bag a week in addition to all the other items we save on. The only drawback is that they don't always have the specific brands we use so we do occasionally still make a trip to Publix.

As we reviewed other areas we could make changes in, I brought up the Lotto tickets. Dave and I have been playing the lottery for as long as I can remember. We started off playing $5 a week on Saturday (which for the Florida lottery is 5 sets of 6 numbers, each set or play costing $1). Then somehow, we wound up with another 5 sets of numbers so we were playing $10 a week. Neither of us can remember how we wound up with another 5 sets of numbers, but the rationalization was we had to keep playing all of them...what if we stopped playing one of the sets and those numbers were drawn...we'd never forgive ourselves! Some time ago, Florida added an additional drawing for the same lottery game on Wednesday, so...we're now playing $10 on Wednesday and Saturday. In 2009, the Florida lottery also became part of PowerBall in which the jackpots are HUGE! Well, we had to play at least a couple of dollars there! Now here we are spending approximately $85-$90 a month on the lottery! We went back and forth on this for the longest time until one Saturday when we happened to be flipping through the channels on the TV and by chance stopped on Jim Cramer's (the money guru guy)show. What he said changed everything! He said statistics show you are 12 times more likely to get hit by lightning on the way to buy your lottery tickets, than you are to win the lottery! Everyone knows your chances of being hit by lightning are slim, even here in the lightning capitol of the world! WOW! Funny how that was all it took...we stopped buying lotto tickets that weekend and have never questioned our decision. However, we do still occasionally buy Powerball quick pick tickets if the jackpot is really big...just in case!

What changes have you made to deal with this uncertain economy?

Wednesday Whispers

2009-12-30T07:00:00.004-05:00

Caterpillars

2009-12-29T07:00:00.010-05:00

We have alot of scarlet milkweed growing in our yard. This particular plant is know for attracting monarch butterflies. It's very easy to grow and will spread like wild fire. Some people don't like it because it actually has an "ugly" stage. After the leaves are big and green and the little flowers have sprouted, the caterpillars move in and feed on the plants. They will devour every last leaf and bloom (if you look really closely at the pictures, you can actually see where the caterpillars have been taking bites of the leaves). That's when the ugly stage happens. The plant is left with no leaves or blooms...just long twig like branches. But what's really neat, especially for someone like me who has trouble growing stuff is that these plants will grown right back. A few weeks after the ugly stage starts, we snip the twig like branches down so that they are only a few inches long (we've had some grow to over 3 feet). The plants will come back again bigger and bushier than before. I'm not really sure what the "season" is for these plants because they seem to go through multiple cycles each year. While we haven't seen any yet this year, in past years we've actually seen the caterpillars form their cocoons on these plants and were able to watch the monarch butterflies emerge. I'll have to keep a close eye on them this year as it seems like we have more caterpillars than ever.

Not Your Average Pet Sitting Job

2009-12-28T21:04:00.007-05:00

Last week Dave and I were pet sitting for the neighbors while they were away for six days. We've done a lot of pet sitting in the past for friends...you know...normal pet sitting...feed and walk the dog, empty the cat's litter box, etc. This time it was a little different. Okay...alot different. See, the neighbors have 3 horses, a miniature cow, 6 dogs and a cat. I've been spending more time around their barn in the past few months as I'm trying to overcome some of my fears with the horses. I want to get to know their personalities a little better and be more comfortable being close to them when I'm not on their back. So, when they said they were going on vacation, I volunteered us! I'm glad to say that overall it was a good experience and I have gained a bit more confidence. Everything went pretty smoothly with the horses with a few small exceptions. The first morning, CC, the cutting mare, kind of rushed me when I went into her stall with her feed. I was trying to upright her bowl so I could pour the feed in from the pail, but she was anxious and didn't want to wait. I put my finger in her chest and asked her to back up, but she didn't. That's when I got a little nervous and decided it was best to back out of the stall and come up with a new plan. After I took a couple of deep breaths, I realized I should probably enter the stall without the feed, upright her bowl, then grab the pail of feed and go back in. That worked perfectly. When I went back in without the pail, she backed up when I asked her to and allowed me to get to her bowl. Then I grabbed the pail of feed, dumped it and we were both happy! The last night we had a little bit of a situation with Doc, the reiner, after we put his sheet on. Doc is a gelding, but tends to act like a stud! He can be kind of obnoxious, especially around those of us that are less "horsey". In any case, Dave and I decided the best way to get his sheet on him was to put his halter on and lead him out of the stall so we would have a little more room in case he spooked or acted up. Everything went fine until I turned him around so he could go back in his stall. I had lead him just a couple of feet into his stall when I started to untie the rope halter. I just assumed he would understand that I wanted him to go all the way in the stall since that was the direction we were facing and he was used to being in the stall overnight. Well, as soon as I got the rope halter untied I could feel him pulling backwards instead of going forwards. I tried to nudge him into the stall, but he didn't want to go back in so I moved out of the way. He didn't really have anywhere to go because there are chains up on the "aisles" of the barn. So, here we are standing in the aisle trying to figure out how to get him back in the stall. I probably could have put the rope halter back on him and lead him all the way in the stall, but I was a little freaked out at this point, and he was being obnoxious so I had no desire to get too close to him. In the end, Dave came up with the idea to grab some hay from the tack room and throw it in his stall. Luckily, that worked. I do need to point out that none of the horses have ever done anything that caused anyone to get hurt. It's just that I have an innate fear because I was never around horses until just a few years ago. So my adult mind rationalizes that an animal that big and strong could hurt me. And it's not even that I think they would hurt me on purpose because none of them are mean. I'm just afraid I'm going to do something wrong that's going to suprise them or spook them and I'm going to get kicked or something. But little by little, I'm getting better.

Quote of the Week

2009-12-22T14:14:00.001-05:00

"A word to the wise ain't necessary. It's the stupid ones that need the advice!" - Bill Cosby

Who Says Dogs Can't Smile?!

2009-12-21T08:00:00.003-05:00

I was looking through some old pictures the other day and came across this picture of our pitbull, Doom when he was a just a pup. He loves to lay on his back, and when he does, his upper lip tends to fall away from his teeth. The result...he smiles! Okay, it's more like a goofy grin, but I love it! All the anti-pitbull folks would probably like to say he's snarling and getting ready to go for my throat, but that's just because they've never been around one that's well-bred, obedience trained, has responsible owners and a BIG personality like this guy!

Hot Off the Bench

2009-12-20T08:00:00.010-05:00

These are the latest pieces that are hot off the bench and recently listed in my Etsy shop. I am offering a 10% discount on the Cloudy Days coordinating pieces. Buy both the necklace and earrings, and I will refund 10% of the purchase price (not including shipping). The Horse of Many Colors necklace is very similar to that found in a well-known western catalog, but much more reasonably priced!Canyon - Ocean Jasper, Sterling Silver and Bali Sterling Silver Bracelet

Cloudy Days - Ghost Jasper and Oxidized Sterling Silver Necklace

Cloudy Days - Ghost Jasper & Oxidized Sterling Silver Earrings

Horse of Many Colors - Maple Turquoise (Magnesite) and Copper Necklace

Flowers for My Pretty - Glass Flowers and Oxidized Sterling & Fine Silver Earrings

Mustang Sally Band - C'mon DJ

2009-12-19T08:00:00.004-05:00

I do believe I have a new favorite band. Their name is Mustang Sally and they are an all girl country band. I received a friend request from Tobi Lee's fan page on myspace (she's the lead singer), so I decided to check them out and see what they were all about. They describe themselves as Sex and The City meets Honky Tonk USA! You can check them out at http://mustangsallyband.com/. Below is a video of their hit "C'mon DJ".

My First Giveaway - Facebook Fans Exclusive

2009-12-18T18:57:00.004-05:00

I'm holding my very first giveaway on Facebook. Just my little way of thanking everyone who has become a fan since I started my page earlier this month. So, if you haven't already become a Facebook fan, you may want to mosey on over to http://facebook.com/shellysstuff and get all the details. Entering is easy...really easy. Up for grabs is this great pair of sterling silver earrings! The deadline to enter is 11:59pm (EST) on Thursday, 12/24/09. Winner will be announced on 12/25/09. Good luck!!!

Quote of the Week

2009-12-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure who the author of this quote is, but I found it on Delana Harvick's Twitter page. Delana is the wife of Kevin Harvick, my favorite NASCAR driver.

"It's not the number of breaths you take in life, but the moments in life that take your breath away."

Shelly's Stuff is on Twitter

2009-12-14T14:00:00.002-05:00

I made the decision if I'm going to immerse myself in the whole social networking thing to maximize all my options to attract attention to my handcrafted jewelry shops, I might as well add Twitter to the list. So, if you would like to follow me, please click here. I can promise you that I will not bombard you with hourly updates as to what I'm doing. I'm going to try to stick to just tweeting about newly listed items, giveaways, special announcements and events I will be at. Also, if you have a Twitter page, and are looking for more followers, please feel free to post the link in a comment.

Wednesday Whispers

2009-12-09T08:00:00.004-05:00

Hot Off the Bench

2009-12-08T20:00:00.009-05:00

Hot off the bench and recently listed in my Etsy shop! Silver Leaf Agate & Oxidized Sterling Silver Earrings

Copper Heart Necklace

Bronze Freshwater Pearls and Copper Earrings

Ceramic and Bali Sterling Silver Bracelet

Botswana Agate and Sterling Silver Earrings

Heather King Photography Giveway at The Lost Earring

2009-12-08T14:28:00.004-05:00

Kelly over at The Lost Earring (one of my favorite blogs) is hosting a giveway for a set of Fine Art Greeting cards from Heather King Photography. Click here for all the details. Entering the giveaway is easy...so don't miss out! Both of these gals also have shops on Etsy. If you click the links above and go to their respective blogs, you will find a link to their Etsy shops.

Thought for the Day

2009-12-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

"You don't stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing".

I totally live by this. Dave and I are always chasing each other around, wrestling, and playing silly little games that originated shortly after we started dating (a couple of decades ago). Sometimes I think to myself, "Are we going to be doing these same things when we're 65"? The answer...absolutely!

Shelly's Stuff is on Facebook

2009-12-06T12:49:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I joined Facebook. It took me most of the day as I created a business page without having a personal profile and couldn't get any of the apps to add to the page. Unfortunately, I didn't find the help section of Facebook very helpful. There wasn't a single place where it stated you had to set up a personal profile before creating the business page. And, if I had to have a personal profile first, why didn't it tell me that?! Alas, after finally figuring this out, the page was created. It's still in the early stages, but I'm slowly working on it. If you are interested in being a fan, please click here. I'd love to get to 25 fans so I can get a unique URL to direct people to the page (any help in reaching that number is greatly appreciated!). Also, I'd like to add a custom tab where I can promote others. I'd like to be able to add a photo, a brief description and a link to their website. If anyone can tell me how to do this, or where I can get information/help, I will be forever grateful! Lastly, if you have a business/fan page on Facebook, please leave a comment with the link. I'd love to see what you've done.

Favorite Things Friday

2009-12-04T14:00:00.005-05:00

This week's favorite thing is my pair of split ring tweezers. This is a tool I use when making jewelry and it has become indispensable. The pair I have is made by Bead Smith and is made of stainless steel. These tweezers are used to open split rings so they can be attached to other components of the jewelry. Prior to purchasing these, I would attempt to open the split ring by using a finger nail or anything else I could find to wedge in there. Unfortunately, I was going through split rings like crazy because attempting to open them without the proper tool was causing me to distort their shapes and render them unusable. The price for the tweezers ranges from $4 to $6, and was well worth it considering the profits I was eatting up with marred split rings.

Puppies!

2009-12-03T14:00:00.008-05:00

My sister's border collie Rori gave birth to a litter of 7 puppies on Tuesday, 12/01. The sire of the litter is their male, Tyri. The litter is made up of 4 females and 3 males. Both the dam and sire compete in Flyball, and hold several titles. You can check out additional pictures and find more information on my sister's website by clicking here. I'll be sure to post more pics as the puppies start to move around and open their eyes. Aren't they just adorable?!

The dam - Blast Off Rori

The sire - Lock-Eye Tyri

Wednesday Whispers

2009-12-02T09:04:00.009-05:00

(In honor of my mom and dad's 48th wedding anniversary)

NASCAR Championship Weekend at Homestead

2009-12-01T18:00:00.011-05:00

Dave and I headed down to Homestead on Friday, 11/20/09 as part of our annual trek for NASCAR's Championship weekend. We've been going to Homestead for the past 6 years to watch the last race of the season for all three divisions (trucks, Nationwide Series, and Sprint Series). People are surprised when they find out I'm the big NASCAR fan...Dave enjoys it, but not nearly as much as I do. I am thankful he indulges me and shares this weekend with me! We decided to stay at a different hotel this year. We normally stay in the Keys, Islamorada specifically, which is about 50 miles from the track. This is the closest we've been able to get a hotel that we actually like (stayed in South Beach one year, but hotel had centrally controlled A/C that was on 65 degrees all the time...I froze. Stayed in Miccosukee Casino one year...way too smoky...especially for non-smokers and there was no way to get to the rooms other than going through the casino). The hotel we stay at raised their rates this year and while we've always liked this hotel, it wasn't worth what they were charging. I searched for other hotels and I guess because of the economy and less people going to the races I was able to find a less expensive hotel that was nicer with better surroundings 25 miles closer to the track! Yay! That meant less drive time for Dave! Friday night was the Camping World Truck race, and I'm happy to say my favorite driver, Kevin Harvick, won the race in his own truck (he's a Sprint Cup driver for Richard Childress, but owns his own race company, Kevin Harvick Inc, which has trucks and Nationwide cars). And in addition to that, the driver of his other truck, Ron Hornaday Jr, won the series championship which also gave Kevin Harvick Inc the owner's championship. Nice to see that he did so well. Silly me didn't videotape the double burnouts Harvick and Hornaday did after the race...I was so into watching it!!! On Saturday, Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race, and the series championship. Now, Kyle's a great driver...no doubt about that, but his attitude needs a major adjustment. He is definitely the driver that fans love to hate, which is really sad considering his ability. He's the driver who will wreck someone and say they're whining when they complain, but the following week he'll get wrecked in the same manner and whine about it and that should be okay. He can definitely dish it out, but can't take it. Sunday, was the Sprint Cup Series race, which was won by Denny Hamlin, but Jimmy Johnson won the championship. Johnson actually set a record as this is his 4th consecutive championship. While that's an incredible goal, he's another one who's not one of my favorites...he tends to play it safe and is very commercialized. People are talking about him being one of the greatest drivers of all time, but I don't think that fits. Granted he's a good driver, but I'm not ready to call him one of the all time greats. His wins come from a combination of things including luck and a crew chief (Chad Knaus) who makes really good decisions...but that's just my humble opinion! In between races we spent our time walking around the many displays and the vendor trailers and tailgating out at the truck. Luckily this year we brought the pop-up canopy and the really comfy chairs. We met some great people while we were tailgating and had lots of laughs! All in all, it was a really great weekend. I'm ending this post with a video of the national anthem and flyover. This is a tradition at all NASCAR races, and I get goosebumps every time! It's not the best video as we just bought this camera and are still learning how to work it, but I think the point comes across well!

Justin Timberlake as the Gingerbread Man

2009-11-30T14:35:00.005-05:00

I happened to see this video, and just had to post it. I'll admit...I have a crush on Justin Timberlake (yes, Dave knows). He's a talented guy and seems to have his head on straight. I figured this video was appropriate since we are in the midst of the holiday season. Just make sure you watch the entire video...the dancing at the end is the best part! So tell me, who's your celebrity crush?

Things I am Thankful For

2009-11-26T11:47:00.003-05:00

Just a few of the things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

The freedoms I enjoy as an American living in America (and those in our military that fight for those freedoms)
The health and happiness of my family and friends
The truly incredible man I share my life with (for more reasons than I have time to list)

I hope that all of you, your families and your friends have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday Whispers

2009-11-25T08:00:00.005-05:00

Ssshhhhh...

The Rhinestone Cowgirls Contest

2009-11-24T14:40:00.004-05:00

Michelle and Jennifer over at The Rhinestone Cowgirls have recently opened up a brick and mortar shop, and are having a little contest to celebrate. You can read all about it by clicking here. The deadline to enter is today (11/24) so giddy up on over there and check it out! You can also shop online by clicking here. They carry Cowgirl Tuff clothing, handbags, wallets, bling belts, bling flip flops and more. Lastly, you can check out the The Rhinestone Cowgirl blog by clicking here. Good luck!

Insanity

2009-11-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

The INSANITY begins today!

Stay tuned...

Daytona Biketoberfest

2009-11-21T08:00:00.010-05:00

Back in October, Dave and I went to Daytona for Biketoberfest and were joined by our brothers and sister-in-laws. This year we stayed in Ormond Beach very close to Destination Daytona (the empire that Bruce Rossmeyer built) instead of near the track like usual. When I went to book the hotel room near the track, I was sticker-shocked when I saw the rates of $200 per night. Now, I know that hotel rates are always jacked up for special events, but this was ridiculous especially with the economy. I would have thought the hotels would be offering deals just go get rooms booked. In any case, I decided to search around Destination Daytona since we knew we'd be visiting the bars down on US 1 at night. Bingo! Found a hotel within walking distrance to Destination Daytona and slept 6 very comfortably for a very reasonable price. We had a really good time. The weather was really nice Friday night when we arrived. It was comfortable enough to wear short sleeves on our outing to the Broken Spoke Saloon. It's an outdoor, pole-barn style bar that's become a favorite. The antics of the crowd kept us entertained to say the least! And, then there was the chic on the custom. Man, we saw her get on this really nice custom...stretched...raked...fat tire and she looked really good. Kinda tough, but in a feminine sort of way. Now, her and her man, who was also on a really nice bike decided they didn't want to park in the regular lot, but back where the crowd was. So, we're all watching her, and she's trying to get it turned around...goes forward a bit, then gets stuck and has to be pushed backward. How disappointing! Ladies...if you're going to ride you need to be able to get yourselves out of any situation! Dave asked me what I would have done it that situation. Well, I would have started that bad boy up, 'cause ya' know it sounded good...all loud and mean...and would have drove it right through the crowd in front of the stage...people would have moved out of the way! We spent Saturday walking around downtown and then back at Destination Daytona. Saturday night we hit the Iron Horse Saloon, which is also an outdoor bar. The weather was a little cooler, so we all threw on an extra layer. The economy definitely had an effect on the event this year...crowds were much smaller than normal.

One of the bars down on Main Street

Bob, Janis, me and Dave at the Iron Horse Saloon

Custom sportbikes at the Rat Hole Show at Destination Daytona

Group shot at the Broken Spoke after several rounds of adult beverages. Janis, Belinda, Josh, Dave, me and Bob...say cheese!

Chili Recipe

2009-11-19T08:00:00.005-05:00

I have lots of recipes in my drawer. All of them are the creations of other people that have been downloaded from the internet or torn out of magazines. All of them but one...all but this chili recipe. And I am very proud of it *patting self on back*. And the big plus is Dave loves it (although he did wrinkle his forehead the first time I told him I was trying to make chili). It's a very hearty meal and is great when the temperatures start to dip (for me, that means below 70 degrees...my blood thinned out shortly after moving to Florida from New York).

Chili
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped*
3 teaspoons minced garlic in oil*
3 lbs beef for stew or stir fry steak cut in bite size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chili powder*
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper*
4 cups beef broth
2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained
2 can diced tomatoes, undrained

Heat the oil in a large pot. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until they are soft. Add the beef and salt and cook until the meat loses its pink color. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the beef broth, kidney beans and diced tomatoes and simmer, partially covered, for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

I like to put shredded cheddar cheese in the bottom of my bowl, then put in the chili and mix it all up. Dave just likes to add saltine crackers.

*These ingredients can be adjusted to your own taste.

SeaBabe Jewelry Giveaway - Ends 11/19

2009-11-18T13:15:00.005-05:00

This great oxidized and hammered sterling silver ring from SeaBabe is the prize in a giveaway being hosted by the Pink Dandy Chatter blog. Click here to see all the details and enter. The ring will be custom made to fit the winner. Be sure to head over there soon...this giveaway ends tomorrow (11/19) at midnight (MST)! The winner will be notified via e-mail.

Wednesday Whispers

2009-11-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

Things You Would Say to a Little Kid or a Drunk Friend

2009-11-17T13:56:00.002-05:00

The following is a list of things that could be said to a little kid...or a drunk friend!!!

"Pull up your pants!"

"What is that in your hair?"

"I think you've had enough to drink."

"Do you want your mommy?"

"Why are you crying?"

"I can't understand a word you are saying!"

"Here...let me help you put your shoes on the right feet."

"Don't do that...you are going to get hurt!"

"Stop crawling around on the floor. You're old enough to walk!"

Anyone got any others you'd like to add to the list? I'd love to hear 'em!

Ocala National Forest - September ATV Trip

2009-11-16T08:00:00.013-05:00

In a prior post I talked about our visit to Ocala National Forest and the ATV trails. We had such a good time, we decided to go back for our vacation in September. I was able to find a mobile home close to the trailheads that was available for rental for much less than a hotel would have cost us. Since it had a full kitchen, it made for a very practical and inexpensive vacation since we were able to buy groceries and make most of our meals instead of eating out (although we did splurge on Outback for dinner the first night and Bob Evan's for breakfast the last day...yummy!). The biggest plus about this rental, though, had to be that it was pet friendly, so Doom got to go on vacation with us! The first picture was taken the first day after we had been on the trail for all of 5 minutes. That black thing on the opposite side of the mud hole is a black bear (keep in mind, most Florida wildlife is much smaller in size as compared to other areas of the country...the only things that are larger in Florida are the mosquitoes!). The bear was already in the middle of the trail as we came around a bend so we were quite surprised (we hadn't seen any wildlife our previous trip). We expected the bear to take off into the woods when he saw us, but he actually got quite comfortable and laid down! Just as Dave and I were ready to put the ATVs in reverse and head down another trail, the bear got up and headed into the woods. These tracks in the mud were about 30 miles from where we saw the bear. This trip, we saw lots of tracks...mostly bear and deer.

It was much drier this trip and the trails were very dusty. What made the matter even worse was I had applied sunscreen that morning so the dust was really sticking to me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride like this all week, so we made a trip to Walmart so I could buy some T-shirts and bandanas.This is how I dressed for the remainder of the trip when we were riding. The bandana actually worked out really well (I could finally breathe!) because it also covered the bottom of my sunglasses and helped to keep the dirt out of my eyes. Notice the half grin on Dave's face... he called me the "masked marauder" for the rest of the trip. He did, however, give me credit for being such a trooper and finding a way to deal with the situation.

Even with the bandana, this is how I looked after a day on the trails. Dave wouldn't let me look at myself in the mirror before he took this picture. Funny guy! The really funny thing is I believe I made a comment like, "Wow...I didn't really get very dirty"!

A shot of one of the trails while we were taking a break in the shade.

See all the dust behind me? Dave's ATV throws up twice as much 'cause he's got these gnarly new tires that really dig in. Some may ask why I didn't ever get to lead...well, it was by choice. For one, lots of these trails (we covered about 130 miles during the trip) hadn't been ridden in quite some time so there was lots of overgrowth (low hanging branches, bushes, etc) and lots of banana spider webs. I decided I'd rather put up with the dust and dirt than getting smacked in the face with branches and spider webs!

The three of us on our way home!

Hot Off the Bench

2009-11-15T22:51:00.008-05:00

I've had a very productive weekend (finally!) and below are the fruits of my labor. All are available in my Etsy shop. I've also got a few more pieces in the works that should be ready for listing at the end of the week.Copper love knot bracelet...entirely handformed

Swarovski crystal and copper chandelier earrings

Jasper and copper bracelet

Chalk turquoise, coral, and sterling silver earrings

Mud Bogs - Palm Beach International Raceway

2009-11-14T08:00:00.009-05:00

On Saturday, Dave and I went to the Mud Bogs at PBIR. This was their second mud bog event and we knew from the turnout at the first that this one would be even better. Plus, there was $20k in prize money to be awarded. We were very impressed with the changes the facility had made since the first event. There were alot of safety issues at the first event, and those had been corrected. Also, the bleachers had been extended to go the entire length of the track so we were actually able to sit down (we stood up for the entire event the last time). It all started off rather slow as the stock class was first up and I believe everyone in this class got stuck and had to be pulled out. The stock class is basically made up of vehicles that have not had any changes...stock...no lifts, no oversize tires, no motorwork, etc). I'm not really sure why they even have this class...you can look at the track and know that a stock vehicle is not going to make it. Maybe it's for entertainment...so everyone in the stands can laugh at the knuckleheads...I mean hopefuls, who let their buddies talk them into running! In any case, the runs got better as the "non-stock" classes progressed. The best runs of the night had to be what I'll call the super modified class (lots of motorwork, big lifts and way oversized tires). Check out the video!

Favorite Things Friday

2009-11-13T18:00:00.007-05:00

I'm pretty sure that my favorite thing in today's post is also a favorite of many people. It's the Twilight Series of books by Stephenie Meyer. For me, it's not necessarily the whole vampire thing although that does add excitement to the story. What's got me hooked is the love story. I am a die-hard romantic. There are just certain couples that belong together...you know...like Luke and Laura, Brenda and Dillon and Britney and Justin (ok, the younger, fresher Britney...not the latest version)! I believe the same about Bella and Edward...they are just meant to be together. I happened upon this series through Etsy, the site where I have my jewelry shop. I was seeing a lot of Twilight themed jewelry. It had me intrigued so I looked for information about the book. As it happened, I was getting ready to take a business trip to California, and was looking for a book to read to pass the time on the long coast-to-coast flight. Since the first book, Twilight, was 544 pages, I figured that would be sufficient for there and back. Boy, was I wrong. I was buried in that book...I could not put it down. By the time I had stepped off the plane in Los Angeles I had finished it. I was in LA for 4 days, and had a rental car, so I asked one of the women in the office I was visiting where the nearest bookstore was. She asked me what kind of books I read and I explained that I had just finished Twilight and was looking for the next book, New Moon. As chance would have it, she had just finished it and said I could have her copy. She brought it in the following day, and I was so tempted to start reading it in the hotel room later that night. But, I knew if I picked it up, I wouldn't want to put it down and I couldn't afford to miss any sleep as I was working on a pretty demanding project. Plus, I was taking the red-eye back home and knew I had a really long lay-over so I didn't want to risk finishing the book and not having anything to read. New Moon, which is 608 pages, was as riveting as Twilight, and I finished it on the flight back. I've read some really good books (and some not so good ones), but this series is at the top of my list! I find that they really draw me in and I can picture everything so clearly in my head. The third book in the series, Eclipse, is 640 pages and I had put off buying it because I had so many other things I needed to be doing other than reading a book. Then, a friend from work said she had it and brought it in for me. I started reading it while on vacation in September. While this book is just as good as the others, I was able to put it down to do other things. I read about 240 pages on vacation, and haven't picked it up since (although, I do hear it calling to me). I just know that once I finish it, I'm going to want to start on the fourth one, Breaking Dawn. However, Breaking Dawn is by far the longest of the series at 756 pages. This just isn't the right time of year to start reading something like that. I'd never get any jewelry made and I'm hoping that my most recent "marketing" attempts are going to pay off so I need to keep the shops stocked with new and interesting pieces. Funny thing is, I haven't watched the first movie yet and now the second one is out. Not sure what I'm waiting for...maybe just the right time. I don't want there to be any interruptions and I got the impression from Dave that he thought it was a chick flick (I tried to tell him about the vampires and that there would be lots of action...he didn't buy it!) so I have to pick a time to watch it when he's busy doing something else. Hhmmmm.....

Zac Brown Band Performance - CMA Awards

2009-11-12T14:00:00.008-05:00

I watched the CMA awards last night and was really surprised when they announced that the Zac Brown Band was going to be performing Charlies Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia". I mean, that's a country classic...almost sacred. To me, that's a heck of a challenge to cover a song like that, and do it justice. It's just that it was done so well the first time. Well, all I can say is OMG! They nailed it. It rocked. By far one of the best, if not the best, performance of the night. Of course, this is just my humble opinion. I'd love to hear what y'all think. And if you missed it, just click below to see the video.

Wednesday Whispers

2009-11-11T08:00:00.005-05:00

Grilled Garlic Chicken & Grilled Pineapple Slices

2009-11-09T14:38:00.003-05:00

I was looking for a new way to make chicken and found this great recipe. When Dave asked what was for dinner last night and I told him about this recipe, he gave me that look (that would be the "why do you have to experiment" look)! See, I'm lucky in that Dave is very easy to please when it comes to dinner...he likes cheeseburgers and fries, steak and mashed potatoes, and spaghetti and meatballs. However, the potatoes and pasta are killing my attempts at getting back into the kind of shape I was in a few years ago when I made a real commitment to workout and eat better. I was so excited when he finished his plate and went back for more. This "experiment" got the thumbs up so I'll throw it into the rotation! For those of you that live in areas where the grill has already been stowed due to inclement weather, you could try broiling instead. Since I live in Florida, the grill is out year-round!

Grilled Garlic Chicken
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 skinned, boneless chicken breast halves

Combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Place chicken in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over chicken; cover and marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Remove chicken from marinade, reserving marinade. Place marinade in small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place chicken on grill over medium flame and cook for at least 5 minutes on each side or until done, basting frequently with marinade (grilling time will depend on thickness of chicken breasts - the thickness of the breasts I grilled varied so I grilled for a minimum of 15 minutes and the thickest pieces for 25 minutes and the chicken was very moist).

Grilled Pineapple Slices
1 small fresh pineapple, peeled and cored* (I actually used canned rings)
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon reduced-calorie margarine, melted

Cut pineapple into 6 (3/4 inch thick) slices. Center each slice on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Combine rum, brown sugar, and margarine in a small bowl; stir well. Brush pineapple slices evenly with rum mixture. Fold upper halves of foil over pineapple slices, and seal. Place pineapple packets on grill, and grill 15 minutes.

This recipe will yield 6 servings. The chicken is approximately 143 calories per serving, and the pineapple is approximately 107 calories per serving.

Enjoy!

Chic Riders

2009-11-05T14:12:00.005-05:00

I recently joined the Florida chapter of the Chic Riders. Chic Riders is an all female motorcycle organization that was started by Jessica Maine, one of the first female stunters to make it big in the motorcycle industry. I kind of stumbled upon the whole thing by accident through myspace (click here to check out my page). I was searching for other sportbike riders in South Florida in the hopes that Dave and I would be able to find some people to ride with. We are always looking for others to ride with, regardless of what kind of bike they ride. For whatever reason, its hard to find people who enjoy the same kind of ride we do. While I don't want to stereotype any group, many sportbike riders are younger than us and want to do 120mph everywhere and all the time, and many Harley/cruiser riders want to do 5mph under the speed limit. Dave and I are kind of a mix of both. We really enjoy long rides...like putting time in the seat. We don't just wash our bikes and then show up to bike night and park 'em. When we ride, we usually do about 5-10mph above the speed limit, and are known to occasionally twist the throttle until the speedometer is reaching 130mph, but that's just when the situation is right! In any case, while I was looking for some other riders to possibly hook up with for some group rides, I found Jessica's page. I liked the Chic Riders message and what they were about, and thought this might be a good way to make some of the connections we were looking for. I haven't met any of the other ladies in person yet, but will soon. On Sunday, 11/15 there is a ladies only motorcycle run departing from different parts of the state and meeting up in the middle (Ft. Pierce) for lunch. The run is actually being organized by another group, but many of the Chic Riders will be participating. Dave will have to sit this one out, but I'm hoping to meet some women whose husbands/boyfriends also ride. I'll definitely be posting about the experience!

Wednesday Whispers

2009-11-04T13:35:00.002-05:00

(My Wednesday Whispers posts are normally without words, but I just wanted to apologize for the quality of this video. I took it with my cell phone, but just had to share it...it's just that Goose, the mini zebu, is so darn cute!)

How We Spent Saturday

2009-11-03T14:12:00.008-05:00

Dave and I had made a list of things we wanted to get done on Saturday before we went to a friend's Halloween party. Unfortunately, priorities got rearranged after a little mishap involving my neighbor's Kawasaki Mule UTV and our well on Friday evening. My neighbor was on her way over to another neighbor's house for a Halloween party. She decided to stop at my house to see if I had changed my mind about attending. I'm not a real big Halloween person, and had already attended one party the Saturday before, had a Halloween party at work that day, and was going to another Halloween party on Saturday so Dave and I had declined this particular one. In any case, my neighbor pulled the mule up in the backyard and parked next to the screen. I met her at the back door and we talked for about 10-15 minutes. This entire time, the mule was running and the headlights were on. Suddenly I noticed some movement of the mule's headlights (I only had a small porch light on, and it's very dark in our neighborhood as it's rural and there are no streetlights). It took a second for me to realize that the mule was idling kind of rough and it was slowly inching itself backwards. Normally this wouldn't be much of an issue but there were some factors that turned this in to a big problem. First, the parking brake on the mule wasn't working, second, although the mule was parked on a flat spot, the ground started to slope downwards just a few feet behind it, and third, the pipes for our well were at the bottom of the slope (can you see where this is going?). When it dawned on me what was happening, I turned to my neighbor and told her the mule was starting to roll backwards. As she was running towards the screen door to try to catch it, I jokingly added, "Hey...don't let it run over the well". I probably should have kept my mouth shut about the well part 'cause it did exactly that. Once my neighbor went out the door, I couldn't really see what was happening as the mule was rolling backwards, so the headlights were still pointed towards the house...then I heard the PVC pipes from the well snapping...and I knew exactly what had happened. Dave was in the next county down visiting a friend, and it was late enough that all the stores were closed so there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it until morning. For those of you that have never had the experience of living in an area that uses a well for water, Ill give a brief explanation. Basically, in rural areas that are not on a city water system a well is drilled about 30-60 feet in the ground somewhere in the yard (normally in the backyard). Then pipes are run from this well to an electric pump that sits up closer to the house. When you turn on a faucet or flush the toilet in the house the pump pulls the water up from the well and runs it through a filtering system. While most of the pipes are underground there is a small section that is above ground (and I'm sure there is a reason for this...but I don't really understand the mechanics of it all!). In any case, those are the pipes that were run over and that meant I had no running water in the house. The good thing was, because of the time it happened, I really wouldn't have any need for water until the morning when we were ready to take showers and do some laundry. I consider myself lucky that Dave is a jack of all trades and can fix just about anything so I knew we wouldn't have to call anyone (and spend lots of $ on labor!) to have it fixed. Saturday morning Dave went out to examine the damage and determine what he would need to fix it. He returned form the hardware store and started on the repairs. Unfortunately, the PVC glue he used to glue the pipes together had gone bad and wasn't working so we had some leaks and had to go through the whole process of cutting out and fitting in new PVC pipes and priming the pump 3 times (we went to the hardware store and got different glue after the second set of leaks). What is that they say about 3rd times a charm!? My neighbor felt really awful, but I told her it could have been worse...no one was hurt and the mule didn't pick up enough speed to go through the fence and into the neighbor's pond! In the end, we were able to laugh about it!!!

Wednesday Whispers

2009-10-28T13:59:00.004-04:00

Cutting Show

2009-10-25T10:40:00.004-04:00

Several weeks back, Dave and I attended a cutting show that my neighbor Jeanette was competing in. During the summer months, most of the shows are held in the evening as the summer sun is just too brutal. I was excited about the event. One, because I love being around the horses, and two I was hoping to take some really great pictures for my blog. Unfortunately, only one of the pictures came out. That was the picture of Dave and I sitting in the stands (and it's now one of my favs). The problem was I brought the disposable camera to finish of the roll off film from the last ATV trip we had taken. The flash on disposable cameras is only good for about 10-12 feet. The arena was well lit, so I didn't think it was going to be a problem. I have a digital camera that I use for taking pictures of my jewelry and beading supplies, but for whatever reason it won't stay on for more than a minute even with new batteries. Could it possibly have something to do with the tumble it took off my hightop table in the kitchen? It's not a problem when I'm taking pictures in the studio because I have an AC adapter for it. We keep talking about buying a new one, but just never seem to get around to it. Maybe I need to put that a little higher on my list of things to do. I know I'm missing out on some really good photo opportunities! BTW, Jeanette did very well at the event, placing in the money!

Favorite Things Friday

2009-10-23T19:52:00.005-04:00

Over the last few months I've been attempting to make a conscious effort to do things that should/will have some benefit to my overall health. For instance, I keep a toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash in my desk drawer at my regular job. I've actually kept them in there for years...now I'm actually using them daily after I finish my lunch! Not only will I have better breath, but they say having a clean, minty taste in your mouth will deter you from snacking (something about stuff not tasting good if you just brushed your teeth and not wanting to "ruin" the minty fresh breath). One of the other things I am making more of an effort to do, and this is where "Favorite Things Friday" comes in, is drink more water. Problem is, I find water very boring and really don't care for it unless its very cold. I've tried Crystal Light, but for some reason I seem to get very hungry after drinking it! I've tried a few other flavored waters, but it seems I never drink them fast enough and then they get warm and don't taste very good. Then my sister-in-law Janis brought me a bottle of Sam's Choice Mandarin Orange Water. I love this stuff! It tastes a lot like Sunkist Orange Soda. Its carbonated and definitely doesn't make me hungry. It even tastes good when its warm. Its available at Sam's Club and Walmart and retails for $.68 per bottle (at least in my area). We drink bottled water anyway since we are on well water. Even though we have a filtration system, the water doesn't taste very good (and now there's some question as to whether or not the water is safe to drink...have you heard about Erin Brokovich and her latest case...investigating the possible cancer cluster....yeah...that's my neighborhood...but that's another post!). So, now that I've found the Sam's water, I am drinking more water and actually a little bit less Diet Coke and energy drinks! They have lots of other flavors, but Mandarin Orange is my favorite by far!

Wednesday Whispers

2009-10-21T14:32:00.004-04:00

Jewelry Tags

2009-10-20T14:07:00.010-04:00

I've been giving a lot of thought over the recent months to additional ways I can advertise and promote my jewelry that would be relatively inexpensive, or even free! An area that I am missing out on is if my jewelry is given as a gift. While the buyer is aware of my shops since that's where they made the purchase from, there is nothing on my jewelry that would indicate where it came from to the receiver. I've always sent my jewelry out in sealable poly bags (to help reduce tarnish or color changes) that are placed in a velour drawstring pouches. So I enlisted my neighbor Jeanette, who happens to be a graphic design artist, to create some jewelry tags. I wanted something fairly simple that wouldn't really categorize my jewelry since it runs the gamut from everyday to elegant to outright funky! I think she nailed it! I love the way they turned out. In addition, I am adding a label to the back that indicates the materials, my stock number, the length and the price. I think the tags add a professional look to the jewelry. I've asked her to also create a tag that's a little more funky and wild for specific pieces. Once that's done, she's going to design some business cards based on the tags. I'm so excited!!! The hardest part was trying to decide which website to list on the tags. There's only so much space, and I didn't want to make them any larger. After some thought, I decided to go with my Etsy shop since it's really my main site (and my other sites are listed there). The business cards will definitely have all of the sites. I would love to know what y'all think...positive comments and constructive criticism are always welcome and much appreciated!!!

August Trip - Ocala National Forest

2009-10-16T09:52:00.008-04:00

Back in August, Dave and I visited my sister and brother in law in Archer (between Ocala and Gainesville) for a long weekend. We brought the ATVs as they live in a rural area like us, and you can ride the ATVs on the dirt roads. We also planned an outing to the Ocala National Forest. They have approximately 130 miles of trails that you can ride the ATVs on. We'd never been there, and neither had Chris and Rich. We had a great time. Some of the trails were pretty mild...long, wide and straight. And then some of the trails were very technical...high banked berms, tight turns and whoops!!! We had a great time the entire weekend. It was nice getting to see Chris and Rich. Did I mention Rich is an excellent cook?! OMG...the homemade pizzas were out of this world!Chris and Rich

Dave - I love this picture so much I had it printed as an 8 x 10

Me!!!

Rich - way out in front on the trail!

Wednesday Whispers

2009-10-14T14:28:00.005-04:00

A Blonde Joke

2009-10-13T14:39:00.004-04:00

I was reading one of the blogs I follow, EsThings, and her latest post was a joke about a blonde. I'm going to follow her lead (since I'm also blonde) and post a blonde joke. I think this is one of the funniest I've heard.

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have this killer jigsaw puzzle and I can't figure out how to get it started." Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?" The blonde says, "According to the box, it's a tiger." Her boyfriends decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table. He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we are not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger." He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a cup of coffee and then," he sighed, "Let's put all the Frosted Flakes back in the box."

That was GRRREAT!

Bracelet Focals - Stephanie Hanson

2009-10-10T09:42:00.004-04:00

I received these great pieces the other day from Etsy artist Stephanie Hanson. I can't wait to incorporate them into some new jewelry pieces. Stephanie is a mixed media artist and horse lover. Her shop has been one of my favorites for a long time, but these clay focals were actually my first purchase. I will definitely be back for more!!! You can read more about Stephanie on her blog. I'll be sure to post some pics once the new pieces have made it from my brain to the bench!

Just for Fun

2009-10-08T13:55:00.003-04:00

One of the blogs I follow, The Lost Earring, posted the other day about the options on your cell phone camera (or digital camera for that matter) that you may or may not know about. She was specifically talking about the "negative"option and requested that folks take pics using this option and send them to her so she can post them on her blog. I've decided to pass this along 'cause it's just for fun...no prize to win, no guidelines to follow, etc. I think too often we get caught up in what we have to do in life, and forget to take some time to do something just because it's fun (you know...the old stop and smell the roses...just this time when you stop, take a pic of them in negative mode!). I think it will be interesting to see what people come up with. Click on this link to the actual post for information on how to send the picture to her. I was so intrigued, I tried it immediately. This is the pic I sent...it's me sitting in my office at my "regular" job (now...before you even go there...I wasn't goofing off on company time...I was on lunch...just trying to use MY time wisely and take care of some jewelry "stuff")!

It reminds me of the movie "The Patriot" where Heath Ledger's girlfriend puts ink or dye in his tea and turns his teeth black!

Quote of the Week

2009-10-06T14:17:00.002-04:00

Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right, and stick to it. -George Eliot

The Trampoline Dog Video

2009-10-04T15:56:00.003-04:00

Thought I would share this video I found on myspace.

The Trampoline Dog

Shine Fights - MMA Event

2009-10-03T13:22:00.009-04:00

Dave and I are HUGE fans of mixed martial arts (i.e., ultimate fighting, cage fighting, etc). We watch almost all of the UFC events on pay-per-view and WEC events on Versus. We would love to attend a live event, but it in our opinion, it's not really worth it unless you are within the first 10 rows of the cage. Unfortunately, those tickets are very pricey (starting at $500 to well into the thousands!) and that doesn't include airfare and hotel. We attended our first live event last December at the UCF Arena in Orlando. I found out about the event weeks after the tickets had been on sale and wasn't able to get tickets anywhere near the cage. I really wanted to attend a live event, and I was able to find seats in the first row of the first level off the floor. They were pretty cheap ($40) and since we wouldn't need a hotel we decided what the heck! Even if the seats sucked, we hadn't spent that much money and we would have a better idea for the next event. This event was put on by Cage Warriors and it was an excellent production. Our seats were pretty good, too. The energy in the air at a live event is incredible...we were definitely hooked. Hence, it then became my task to find more live events that we could attend. Unfortunately, because of the geography of the state of Florida (long and narrow) and the fact that we live in the southern part, its hard to find events that are within a two hour drive. Most productions don't want to hold events in the southern part of the state because it's harder to draw a large crowd. That actually goes for all kinds of events like horse shows, concerts, etc. Finally in June of this year I happened upon an event that was taking place in Miami. Now, Miami is only about an hour and a half drive, but neither Dave or I particularly care to go Dade county (most of it has to do with language...in that part of the state they seem to have forgotten that English is the language spoken in America). But we made an exception because I was able to score cageside seats at a fairly reasonable price! I was so excited...I had waited for this opportunity for so long. Have I mentioned that we are really BIG fans?! This particular event was put on by Shine Fights and while they need to work on some of the details (they started 45 minutes late, the boxes the camera guys stood on were way too big...blocked some of our view, and we had one of their productions guys stand up in front of us for the entire first fight) it was a pretty good event for only their second major production. By the way, I have sent the head guy an e-mail with my suggestions (I watch a lot of these events so I consider myself to be very will informed and my opinions educated!!!). They actually pulled in some pretty big name fighters...guys who had previously fought in the UFC or WEC but whose contracts had been dropped do to a loss. There were also a lot of big names (as far as in the MMA world) in the crowd and corners of the fighters. Specifically Cole Miller who has fought in both the WEC and UFC was there supporting his brother, Micah, Mike Brown, currently the WEC Featherweight champion was there supporting one of his fighters out of the American Top Team gym, and coach Fiore from Matt Hughes H.I.T squad was there supporting one of his guys.

4th of July

2009-10-02T14:18:00.013-04:00

I know...I know...that was months ago. Well, during our vacation last week, we finally finished taking the rest of the pictures that were left on our 2 disposable cameras. I tend to lean towards the disposables just 'cause most of the time we're doing stuff in which a digital camera could easily be damaged!!!. In any case, there were lots of pictures from 4th of July weekend when our family came to visit. We had such a great time!Dave and Branden

Belinda and Autumn

Janis and Belinda

Janis on the dirtbike...yay!!! (kind of hard to see in the pic...look on the road to the right between the pine tree and palmetto bush)

The mudhole at the end of the block

Me and my sistas!!!

Dave and Doom

2009-09-20T10:40:00.007-04:00

Some of my favorite pictures of the men in my life!!!

What the Heck!!!

2009-09-16T14:06:00.013-04:00

First off...you may want to grab your favorite beverage...this is kind of a long story!!!

As I alluded to in a previous post, Dave and I had taken the bikes out for a ride on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. We had stopped at the gas station (which is a regular gathering spot for bikes on Sundays) and filled up, then headed to what's becoming our regular breakfast spot. About 4 or 5 miles from the restaurant we came up on a slow moving truck. The driver was doing about 50mph...the speed limit on this road (it's a rural highway, one lane in each direction surrounded by...well...nothing) is 60mph and we were happily cruising at about 70mph. We were riding in our normal spots with me on the left and Dave on the right. Because of where I ride, I'm the one who decides if oncoming traffic is clear and we can safely pass. Looking ahead, I determined that it was clear (there wasn't another vehicle coming as far as I could see), so I gave the throttle a twist, passed the truck and started to ease back into the lane (while I ease back into the lane, Dave cuts it a little sharper behind me so he can resume his position on the right). When we pass other vehicles on this particular highway, we normally get up to about 80-85mph (the speed isn't really necessary, but we want to make the pass as quick as possible so we can get back to our lane...and...it just feels good). So, here I am easing back into the lane, and I hear a whooshing sound and realize my bike is slowing down. What the heck!? I give the throttle a twist and I can hear the engine rev, but I'm not picking up any speed...the bike is still slowing down. I look at the rpm gauge, and it's responding to the throttle so I'm a little confused. Then I look at my digital speedometer and it's going from 85mph to 46mph to 60mph and then down into the 30's. At this point I realize something's not quite right (ya' think?), pull in the clutch, give Dave, who is now a bit ahead of me a signal that I've got a problem and ease on over to the very narrow shoulder (luckily we had made it past the county line...the previous county we had travelled through has no shoulder at all on this highway...not good when you have to pull over on a motorcycle). While it seems like there was a lot going on, this all happened in a matter of seconds. Once I got to the shoulder, I put it in neutral, but kept the clutch pulled in just in case (just in case it decided it wanted to jump into gear and take off!!!). Dave had made his way back to me at this point and asked me about what happened. I explained to him in detail (making a short story long again) and he had kind of a puzzled look. He asked me if I had heard any "bad" sounds or noise, bad meaning like something metallic or clunky (or expensive!), indicating a possible breakdown in the engine or transmission, to which I said no...nothing but the whooshing sound. He asked me to give the throttle a little twist and the engine responded as did the rpm gauge. We decided to go ahead and try to make our way to the restaurant with the thought that it was possibly just a temporary electrical short (this happened once before only the bike kept moving at speed, but my gauges went crazy). So, I put the bike in gear, gave the throttle a little twist and simultaneously let out the clutch...but nothing. Again, the engine revved, but I wasn't going anywhere. Great!!! We're 40 miles from home on a fairly busy two lane highway with narrow shoulders and my bike doesn't want to go! There were 3 options: (1) I ride Dave's bike back to the house and hook up the trailer while he waits with my bike., (2) I ride on the back of Dave's bike and we both go back to get the trailer leaving my bike unattended or (3) Dave rides back alone and I wait with the bike. I decided #1 wasn't a good option since I can only touch my tippy toes to the ground when I sit on Dave's bike (my bike had to be lowered 2 inches so I can ride it) and I had this dreadful image of me dumping his bike at a stop sign cause I put my toes down in sand or gravel and lost my footing. Plus, I'd have to hook up to the trailer and find all the straps...Dave would have been waiting a long time. As far as I was concerned #2 was also out because I really didn't want to leave my bike unattended. It's 10 years old and paid off so it's not insured. It's not that its worth a lot (other than a lot of sentimental value...it was Dave's before mine), but replacing it would be expensive. Just too many trucks with trailers going up and down this highway...real easy to snatch the bike. So, I chose #3. Dave handed me his pocket knife (just in case...you can never be too safe) and headed off for home. I set my stopwatch when he left just so I would have an idea of how long he was gone. I figured he would be back within 1 1/2 hours. Well, it got really lonely, really quick, but I tried real hard not to look at my stopwatch as I didn't want to be disappointed in how little time had passed. Then came the distraction, which also scared me...a little. I could hear hogs (like wild hogs...the ones that have big sharp tusks) on the opposite side of the highway. Isn't this turning into an interesting little adventure? So, I wasted time gathering sticks and rocks that I could throw at them if they broke the brush line! Once Dave got back to the house (he made it back home in less than 30 minutes) he called me to make sure I was okay and let me know he was had the trailer and was on the way. I told him about the hogs and he laughed, instructing me not to make pig noises so they wouldn't come over to investigate!!! Needless to say, Dave made the entire trip in about 70 minutes. We loaded up the bike, went on to breakfast and then home. Once home, Dave had the problem diagnosed in minutes. The washer that goes between the nut and the front sprocket has a small tab that folds over the nut so if vibrations cause the nut to loosen, it won't be able to come unscrewed to the point where it can't keep the sprocket in place. This tab had somehow broken off and allowed the nut to become unscrewed and the sprocket stopped moving. Dave fixed it, and we had a nice ride the next morning. I'm so glad he's so good with the bikes 'cause taking them to a shop means lots of $!

My poor bike! Such a sad site!

Why am I smiling you ask considering the situation? Well, its not raining, the sun isn't blazing, and the hogs are staying on the other side of the road!

Dave checking to make sure all the straps are tight!

All loaded up and ready to go...to breakfast!

On the road again...just not the way we expected!

My First Horseback Riding Lesson!

2009-09-14T13:58:00.004-04:00

On Saturday I had my first riding lesson with my neighbor, Jeanette, on her cutting horse, CC. I may have mentioned that I used to ride her old (he's about 27 years old now) palomino, Caesar, who was bombproof. I use the term "ride" loosely as he was much like a trail horse, and would follow the horse ahead or beside him. Needless to say, it didn't take much effort on my part, although my neighbor had given me a run down on the basics. I stopped riding when Caesar became lame and wasn't ready to step up to either of the other horses she had at the time. To make a long story short (or as Dave always says, with me it's making a short story long!), she's been asking me to ride again for some time, so I finally broke down several weeks ago and told her I would ride with her, but only if she game me some formal lessons. I decided that this time around I was also going to wear a helmet. While my cowboy hat would look a lot cooler, I like my brain just the way it is...intact! Unfortunately, I was never around horses when I was younger and started riding at a point in my life where reasoning and cold hard facts are part of decision making (like...being in the saddle is pretty far off the ground and falling off could really hurt me). Oh, how I envy those who started riding during that time in their life when you don't really know enough to be afraid!!! I have to say, I did feel a lot more at ease with the helmet. She started off by giving me some instructions on the basics like how you have to have movement before you can give direction and how horses move away from pressure. While this all makes sense, for me, it some times takes a bit to put theory into practice! Riding doesn't come natural to me...I have to think about my seat, remember to keep my hands still, my toes out and heels down. And for some reason, I want to use my thighs instead of my calves to give the horse it's cues! I also want to "drive" with my hands...it just seems more natural to give the horse direction by using the reins than by applying pressue with my calves. I've found that I have the same tendency in riding horses that I do in riding motorcycles...when making a turn or changing direction, I look at the ground directly ahead instead of in the direction I want to go (they tell you in the motorcycle safety class that you should actually turn your head in the direction you want to go, not just shift your eyes...theory is you will go in the direction your head is pointed and eyes are looking). As the lesson went on it became a little easier. I rode for about an hour, just at a walk (I didn't want to add speed before I had direction down to a science!) and did circles and figure eights. I also learned how to back up. All in all it was a good day. I was happy with my progress and my neighbor said I did well. I finished up with putting CC on the wash rack and hosing her down. I also finally learned how to put a rope halter on. I've seen them around the tack room, but could never make any sense of them. If I had to put a halter on one of the horses for any reason, I always looked for one with a buckle...very obvious how it goes on and is secured! Yesterday, my neighbor was taking Doc, her reiner, out for some exercise and asked if I wanted to ride CC. I figured, what the heck...a little more time in the saddle and it was just for a lap or two around the block. I used everything I learned the day before, and we actually trotted for a short distance. I was glad to find out CC actually has a very comfortable trot. My neighbor also had me do a little exercise to help enforce the theory of how the horses move away from pressure. As we walked down the street, which was a straight line as opposed to the circles and figure eights of the day before, she had me apply pressure with alternating legs to get CC to move back and forth across the street in a zig-zag pattern. It just seemed to make it so much more clear...maybe because it was easier to see and feel her respond while walking in a straight line than when going in a circle. I'm looking forward to the next lesson or mini trail ride. If the weather holds out, we may try to squeeze some time in after work this week, otherwise it won't be until the weekend. Jeanette actually has a cutting show she is entering on Friday evening. It's actually just a jackpot, but she wants to make sure she's tuned up and ready so I don't want my lessons to get in the way of that!