Life On The Central Coast

Mary Lou Chapman This weekend my friend Janine and I made a visit to SpiritTrek in Templeton, CA. We were there to meet with Mary Lou Chapman for an Angel Reading. Janine and I have been going through some life challenges lately and felt we needed some direction and we absolutely found some. I wasn't sure just what to expect, but I went with an open mind just to see what would transpire. Let it be said right here that she states the reading is for us and not to be shared so I won't go into detail but I will give you the gist. The reading began with ME, a card of great stability, and if there was one word to describe me, that's probably it. My oldest daughter was next. Rebecca is going to have a baby probably within the week and Mary Lou said she needed pampering and rest so she would have the strength for the upcoming birth. My next two kids she thought were twins and said they shared one spirit. Though not twins, they are similar and were great friends through much of th...

You know the drill. Every couple of years your car has to pass a smog test if you live in California. Our little rolling home was due for this fabulous event July 17. July 17 you say? And you are writing this on the 20th? Ummm, do the math....yup, it's late. And on top of that, we aren't really sure it will pass. Last year we didn't go very far 'cause of the restrictive gas prices. We camped close by, but even that has been probably a year ago. We went over last Monday and found the battery dead, of course, so we sat over there at the storage lot trying to car jump it for at least 1/2 hour. This past Saturday we went back over and had to finally admit defeat and buy another battery. Those suckers are EXPENSIVE!! Once that was installed, it started right up and ran perfectly.... Yay!! So Wes is out driving it around as we speak hoping to warm up the engine enough so it will pass. Oh, the gas you ask?? Isn't it old?? You betcha!! That is another reason I hope it passe...

At the beginning of the week, I like to consult Tarot cards and get a feel for what may be coming up. Today, I used Joanna Powell Colbert's deck, The Gaian Tarot Oracle found HERE . This deck has such beautiful, expressive pictures, it makes a visual translation easier. Looks like I need to, wake up, embrace imminent change and surrender to the flow. The OPPORTUNITY The CHALLENGE The RESOLUTION 20 - Awakening Getting conscious You have the opportunity to raise your consciousness and "wake up" in some way. Perhaps you will make a commitment to eating locally-grown organic foods, or perhaps you will begin a new spiritual practice. You now perceive yourself to be part of the global community. You know that your choices and actions affect the entire web of life, and you live your life accordingly, as best you can. As you continue to open yourself up ...

We buy our way out of jail but we can't buy freedom, We buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need them, Things we buy to cover up what's inside. Kanye West Have you ever bought things and later wondered why you did? Do you LOVE shoes, books, electronic equipment, clothes or craft items to excess? Are you addicted to internet shopping and then days later receiving all the "gifts" in the mail? I am and I'm guessing you are too. For me, shopping on the internet is almost an addiction... ALMOST. It's funny because I realize I'm doing it, and I know WHY I'm doing it, and yet, I keep on doing it. I have the most fabulous craft room you could ever imagine. Most of which was bought on sale or through Ebay. It's gotten to the point now that I can barely move around in that fabulous room. These things take up space and time organizing items over and over again. It's endless. AND, I seldom get to "play" with any of it right now because ...

Living at the coast makes for pretty cool summers. As temperatures rise in Central California, many plan vacations in our area. For those of us who live here, especially along the beach area, it means fog and lots of it. We wake up to it, go to sleep with it and if we are lucky, it peels back during the warmest times of the day, 11:00 am to about 2:00 pm, each day. What does it look like when it peels back.... kinda like this. This is a picture taken from Avila Beach, one of the warmest and consistently sunny beaches in our area. All those white clouds out there, yeah, that's the fog bank. As I turn to face southeast towards Grover Beach, you can see we are BURIED in the fog today. It hasn't peeled back for the whole day. This is looking towards Hwy. 101 and yes, more fog. Right near there are a couple of swimming pools, Sycamore Hot Springs , and Avila Hot Springs . Do you see the key word in there? Hot? If our pools weren't hot, we'd freeze in the summertime. Oh, ther...

These are the cute little favors we gave out yesterday for Beckie's Shower. We had Holly over at Scent-ials make us votive candles in her Angel Wing fragrance, added a little card then wrapped them all up with ribbon and attached a cute little Monkey on the front to carry out the "Jungle" theme of the party. I wish you could have smelled the candles... they were yum, yum GOOD! A bit like Baby Powder. "Here's a Candle For You To Light Once The Stork Has Made It's Flight. With a Flicker of the Flame, Please Say A Prayer In Baby's Name."

Ok, you probably thought I fell off the face of the earth right? Nope, there is just alot happening around here. The next event is Beckie's Baby Shower this Sunday. Decided to make my very first Diaper Cake and these are just a few of the pictures. The first thing I did was watch about 20 YouTube videos describing how to do it. Then I bought my supplies and put it together roughly first then more refined about a day later. This is a close up of the baby sock roses with mitten leaves. Yes, that video DOES exist! Next is a close up of wrist rattles and a little caterpiller radio that makes soothing sounds for baby. Background ribbon is from WalMart and the blanket set is from the Jungle Adventure Collection at K-mart. The topper for our "Jungle" themed cake is a Silver Back Ganz Gorilla . These little links slipped easily over the ribbon and added a little extra bling to the sides of the cake. Each layer consists of diapers along with extras like washcloths, burp pads and...

Today is my younger sister's Birthday. Happy Birthday Lynn! No, I won't give away your age. Have I told you lately how much I love you? Well I do! Lots! I found this picture on the internet today and it reminded me so much of the things we got into as kids; dragging home jars and jars of pollywogs from the local "swamp", hiding in the bathroom at night with walkie-talkie's to neighborhood boys pretending to me "Moon Maidens" from the moon, making tents under the kitchen table and playing dolls for hours, telling you to "suck it in" and watching as you turned from little sister to little skeleton. Man you were skinny!! Then when I got older (not you of course though, he he he) I could hardly wait to call home to find out what funny situation you had gotten yourself into this time. I SWEAR, is it possible to have THAT much happen to one person??!! Ummm, those yummy S'more ice cream cones from 31 Flavors and to-go boxes filled with the BEST O...