I had a great birthday!

My birthday was yesterday and it was great! I really appreciated all the texts and calls with good wishes! It made me feel loved! Thanks!!!!
I got to spend the day home with my husband watching movies. I finally got to see the new "Night at the Museum" film and it was super funny! We rented it from Redbox.  I love comedy action movies! We also watched a really funny movie on Netflix called "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec". It's in French with English subtitles, but it has mummies, a dinosaur, and crazy adventures.
My husband made me a wonderful birthday cake. It's chocolate chocolate chip with dark chocolate cram cheese icing and coconut. It's the best birthday cake ever! Some chocolate chip ice cream went well with it. I really believe there is no such thing as too much chocolate, but this cake almost did it!

Yummy!

A few days before my birthday, while looking for special beads for a worry bead strand for a friend I came across this great little cross in a box of beads and findings I inherited from my mom. It's simple and substantial with a nice curve to it. I immediately wanted to make prayer beads around it.

A gift.

I dug around trying to find the right ones for it and started off with it on a string of rose quartz, but I have never liked stone beads for prayer. They make great accents, but they feel cold to me. I decided to take apart my normal strand and use the wood beads from that. It would be my birthday gift!

Pretty flower bead.

I found this flower bead in a box of them I had collected to make earrings and such for etsy. I remember the day we got it and how excited I was to use it. Then it went into a box and waited for the right project. I finally had the right project for it.

Smile!

My husband took me to the local bead store to get some wire to string it with. I wanted the fancy 49 strand wire. It acts like thread and is really flexible. He got me a spool and this wonderful stone skull bead for my birthday.  

I was having trouble finding the right final bead to use as marker in my recreated prayer beads. I have tons of different types and styles, but none of them seemed right. All the other beads in the strand had meaning, even the wood ones and their tiger eye end bead meant something to me. I couldn't just throw any bead in there.

The perfect fit.

On Saturday we went to deliver the worry beads. She had an old box of glass beads that she let me look through. I found two that she gave me for my birthday. I now had the final piece! I spent most of the rest of the day figuring out what order to put them in and how to safely and neatly crimp off the wire. It came out great! They will even fit in my pocket thanks to the amazing wires flexibility!

A gift of many sources!

The finished prayer beads came out great and when I worked with them yesterday I couldn't help but smile. I may have put them all together, but it took family to make it happen. It's the best birthday gift I could have ever hoped for, the gift of love.

It was the best birthday ever!

On a side note. If you ever accidentally crush a garnet with your pliers, don't pick it up with the tip of your finger. It's like tiny glass shards  that stick inside and you have to use tape to get them out. Tweezers don't work it just breaks them off shorter. Use a dust pan to pick up the shards instead!

Emily Turns 5!

My adorable niece Em had her birthday party yesterday and it was great! It was a pizza party at a place that has an arcade. All the kids, and there were a lot of them, were running around playing games. It was a blast, and the pizza was decent too!
I can't believe how fast she's growing up! It was hard to get good pics of her because she never stops moving, but I persevered and here she is!

This is how most of the images came out.

She got the whole bite in her mouth!

She only holds still when she's eating.

For the last one I made her stand against the wall. She raised her arms up like she was under arrest, but the smile is a killer! She was a good princess and every package she open the squealed and yelled "I LOVE IT!" She really is a good kid. 

And because they are to good looking to leave out here's a couple of her brothers.

Nate.

Adam is under arrest!

Nate is happy to see me!

This is the look you get when you sneak up on him.

I had a ton of fun chasing them around and I can't wait for the next birthday party! It's always good to spend time with family!

Birthday Trip Day 2 Part 2!

After we left the canyon we headed for Old Bisbee, AZ to take the Queen Mine tour. Right outside the town is the now closed Lavender Mine where they used to mine copper and other metals. It closed in 1974 due to lack of production. It's both beautiful and hideous at the same time.  

The Lavender Pit Mine.

The Queen Mine tour was my favorite part of the whole trip. I loved going down the track on the cart and feeling the cold breath of the Earth on me. There were a few stairs we had to climb, but our guides were very patient and seemed to be in no rush. They never hurried me and that was appreciated. I want to go back again soon. We'll make reservations though because we had to wait for the last tour of the day. They book up fast.

They dress you before you get to go in the hole.

The old foreman got tired of walking all over the mine so they built him a special bicycle. The miners used to joyride it when he wasn't around and blame Headless John for moving it.

Our guide Benny explaining the bell system. It's small but mighty.

Would you ride in this elevator? I would!

The potty cart. Sometimes the miners would play tricks on each other with it. They would take off the brake and the victim would roll down the track with his butt hanging out. If they hit the wrong lever trying to brake they would dump the "load" and have to clean the whole track. Poor guys.

 This is the exit/entrance to the mine. A daunting yet beautiful sight.

This was the best part of my trip, but sadly most of my pictures inside didn't come out. It's so dark in there you can barely see with the lights you have, but it's a friendly dark. Next time we go I'm taking a flash unit! 

Birthday Weekend Day 2, Part 1!

Woke up on Saturday in a hotel room in Sierra Vista and it felt strange. No one was yelling at the door to be fed and no one tripped me on the way to the potty. I even slept in until 6! After breakfast we got our gear for the day and headed out.

Saw this beauty on the wall right outside the door. 

I turned around and saw a hawk eating something on a post. It saw me and flew off carrying its prize. I barely got the pic!

We had a full day planned and the first stop was Ramsey Canyon. It's famous among bird watchers for its hummingbirds. I didn't see any, but there were a ton of lizards and really neat trees. It was a long hike for me, but I had my trusty stick and never fell! If you're ever in the area I'd definitely recommend going. I want to go back when it's cooler.

There was about 6 people in our guided group. Our guides were great and I learned a lot from them.

This robin is pulling up grass to make a nest.

Huge spiny lizard that had no fear.

There looks like a lot of trees but the path is clear.

Little frog taking a nap. It ate the spiders dinner.

A nice old cabin from the 1920's. We weren't allowed to go in. The guide said that the original family still has reunions there every few years. some of them are in their 90's and remember living in the cabin. I want to be there for that and learn their

 stories

This is the family's original cabin. It was built around 1908 and they quickly outgrew it. I wasn't allowed in there either. I'd love to live there in the quiet. I even had cell service so it would be perfect.

This guy is the size of the palm of my hand and looks like he's made of metal. He moves fast though.

He likes his picture taken. He came back when we backed up.

Ear shaped formation.

Baby got back!

I don't think you can ever escape cactus completely in AZ.

After about 3 hours I was done and we headed back to the car. On the way there we saw this beauty. It's as soft as it looks and as long as my palm. I can't find a match on the net, but I'll keep looking. I only petted the head with the tip of my pinkie. It didn't seem to mind and didn't even move. I got to pet something!