a birthday

Saturday night I got an early birthday present! The dogs went wild as a big truck pulled into the driveway - didn't recognize it. Stepped outside the door, leaving the dogs in the house, and met Justin and Jennifer Nef and their adorable 5 year old daughter! What a surprise! I worked with Justin when we were both working for Triple "A" Landscape (my son's company). He was a young guy at the time - kind of a bad-dude with tattoos, earrings and an attitude! I immediately loved him! He'd had a rough up-bringing and we got to know each other pretty well. I knew his mother - but his mother just didn't do her job and decided she didn't want to mother any more! She took off on the wrong path! There were lots of times when we would just sit and talk about stuff. He just couldn't get a break - man he was a hard, hard worker and did a great job. Long-story-short, he grew up, feel in love and is now working a corporate job in the sprinkler industry! The bond we formed must have been a lot deeper than I thought as we sat and visited for a few hours! I told he and his wife that they were doing something that was a dying-art - VISITING! When was the last time you went, knocked on someones door and just visited? They said they were coming by to wish me a happy birthday (saw it on Facebook)! How about that! Pretty cool and speaks volumes for a young couple! That pretty much made my year!

Bob spilled the beans several weeks before my birthday that he was doing something special on my birthday. Well, that something is being installed as we speak! I'm so excited to show you but waiting until it's all done - then I'll take a photo and post it! It's pretty awesome! I tried asking Shawn and Kandee about it several weeks ago and they both claimed ignorant of any such surprise but come to find out they knew all along!

My birthday was pretty quiet this year - it fell on a Sunday and to make matters worse, on Memorial Day weekend - plus the weather was cloudy, rainy and cold! So Bob, Granny and I ate dinner together and no one else was around - pretty quiet compared to normal standards! Things started to rock and roll when everyone started to call - I like that - love talking to our kids and grandkids.

Shawn brought in his big equipment to move some dirt and get things arranged! The day was miserable - cold and rainy. He donated his time to do the installation of my surprise. Shade, my most handsome grandson, helped in the landscape redo! Pretty special!

Bob was there to help move things into place - can you tell what it is yet?! Super fun and exciting - for me anyway!


Grif and Katrina sent a sweet present - these really cool necklaces on a simple cord - love, love, love! The blue underneath is the vibrant wrapping paper the necklace was wrapped in - so pretty - so Katrina! Grif decorated their envelope in a pretty fun-creative way. No photos of it right now but, I'll get some. Made me laugh!

I have been bugging Whit lately about what's a good green tea without caffeine! She finally said there was no such thing as decaffeinating green tea kills all the nutrients in it! So, as a surprise, they bought me the most beautiful cup (Polish Pottery as you can see) and some Get Lost tea for loosing weight (caffeine-FREE) - as they know that's always the desire of my heart - getting skinny!!! Haha!

So pretty - I put it in my cupboard and it blends with all the other Polish Pottery I have - I just love, love, love that stuff!

Heather and the boys gave me this little "Thank You" angel statue - she's super-cute and I love her!

Thanks to everyone for their phone calls, Skype-experience and love sent my way - you ALL made my day pretty special!

old betsy

Grabbed the camera gear and headed out the door yesterday to . . . wherever! My favorite thing to do on a weekend when there's a pretty day going on out there! We pointed the car 'west' but we ended up 'north' in search of some fun and interesting photos. I had a few requests this past month, by a travel magazine, for photos of the sand dunes and had to admit I had nothing in my files! So, we ended up north doing just that. "The Sand Dunes" - interesting place - miles and miles of sand dunes in the middle of nowhere. They say the sand comes from the Teton mountain range - over time the sand accumulated in the form "The Sand Dunes". You actually have to see it to believe it!

On our way home, we found "Old Betsy" (photo above) - Bob and I instantly fell in love with it and got a few photos of her (will post ALL photos tonight). Come back to see some sand dunes - pretty impressive.

(click photo to read about "The Sand Dunes")

field behind the plow

(updated blog entry following this post - see below)

"Field Behind the Plow" is actually a song I teach to my guitar students and it happens to be one of my favorite - written by a Canadian guy. You've probably never heard it OR heard of it. The other day, my trusty assistant and I headed out and took some photos of some of the pieces of 'art' the farmers have created in the last few weeks - and they are beautiful to behold. Tractors these days are navigated by GPS units and the rows could not be straighter - just amazing - I marvel.

chamber of commerce - artist of the month!

Getting ready for the Chamber of Commerce photo DISPLAY for the month of May! How do you do that? Well, it's a lot of work - took a week of my life and a few bucks to get it ready. AFTER getting the photos back from the lab, I had them mounted on foam core as I was NOT going to frame them (tooooo expensive). Then, I had to figure out HOW to attach them to the wall - that was a feat in itself!



The photo of Cortney fishing is the center of the display (focal point) - laying on the floor to figure out a pattern . . .


Then I took these photos so I would know how to hang them when I got there - like putting a puzzle together . . .



This photo collage I call "Our Town" will be given to the Chamber for featuring me as the 'Artist of the Month' (I kind of love it!). Locals, figure out how many of these photos you can recognize AND where are they found!

MAY 5, 2011 -

Woke up this morning (5:45 a.m.) just ready to go - big day ahead! I've been trying hard to get (8) hours of sleep every night - yep, you heard it. I'm one who subsisted on 4-5 hours sleep, walked around like a zombie mostf the time and was just tired! It's amazing, and totally worth a little sacrifice. I'm hooked on a good night's sleep and loving it!

I've been missing in action for over a week - hate when that happens! A month ago, I was asked if I'd like to be the "Artist of The Month" for the Chamber of Commerce. I said, "Yes!" Little did I know that it was a ton of work to get ready for it - couple that with teaching everyday, church responsibilities and daily life - the word would be, burn-out! I had to figure out what photos were going to make the cut, send them off to the lab to be printed, get the prints backed with foam core, figure out a way to hang them (seriously, it took a power higher than myself to figure it out!!!), have over 100, 2"x2" foam core blocks cut to be attached to the back of the photos (so they would not sit flat against the wall - but have dimension). Some of this was done while watching the Royal Wedding ! ! !

This morning, I picked up Grandma and we headed to hang 21 photos in some kind of organized fashion - she's such a great helper. It'll be a great opportunity to show photos to a lot of people (for free - that's always a plus). The photos will be on exhibit for a month - sweet! Below, the logo I designed to go with photos (with a few logo changes suggestioned by Grif (my personal business advisor - lucky me!). It actually looks much better in person!

This is the placque I made to hang with the photos - certainly looks better in person!!! Come to think of it, drop by for a look-see!

happy mother's day to all MOTHERS & mothers-to-be

(Please scroll down and turn music 'off' - thanks and Happy Mother's Day!!!)

"The noblest calling in the world is that of mother.

True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions.

She who can paint a masterpiece or who can write a book that will influence millions deserves

the plaudits and admiration of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy

beautiful sons and daughters whose immortal souls will be exerting an influence throughout

the ages long after painting shall have faded, and books and statues shall have been destroyed,

deserves the highest honor that man can give."

::David O. McKay

the city limits - LOVE!

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, turn off the music and ENJOY this most amazing photography ! ! ! ONE MORE THING: If you "double click" the screen, it will open a LARGER version of this spectacular scene. Tell me what you think!

Timelapse - The City Limits from Dominic on Vimeo.