Turning Wrinkles into Petals and Ruffles

Etsy Project Embrace - Turning Wrinkles into Petals and Ruffles!

Our Petal Pearl Swirl Earrings are featured here.

Check out all the wonderful finds the folks at ESTY have found for you to browse through and help those with Cancer at the same time!

Etsy Project Embrace

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and working towards a Cancer Free World!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and Home Again!

Okay, I know, you're thinking, "How did you skip over Texas and Oklahoma from New Mexico and end up in Arkansas?" 

Well, we really didn't see much of Texas (actually that's not true, any drive through Texas and you see A WHOLE LOT of Texas, but you know what I mean!) and we were only in OK long enough to be told by the nice highway patrol officer that 2 miles over the speed limit is WAY TOO FAST for his state and so I'm thinking that TX and OK can just be breezed over with this short note:  They're windy, flat, smell like cow poo and the storms can be harsh!  Enough said! LOL!! (Actually there are parts that are very pretty, but I'm not sure we saw those places!)

However, Arkansas - the portion we saw (Viola, AR) - was AWESOME!  We were on our way to see "Aunt Fawn and Uncle Tony" as Logan refers to them. Fawn's really my bro-in-law's sister,....so that makes us,...???,...well family actually, since we've spent every Christmas and Easter together since 1985 and even several Thanksgivings until they moved to Arkansas about 4 years ago. (boo hoo for us!!)

Fawn and Tony own "Fawnsberry Farm" and they have peach trees, blackberries, rasberries, these cute little horses and lots and lots of tree lined land with natural springs on it!  Fawn baked the most delicious blackberry pie for us the first night we arrived - it was scrumptious!! 

We had so much fun with them and with their friend Maggie, who was visiting from Oklahoma (I'm sure Maggie lives in one of those pretty places in OK that we didn't get to see!). We played cards (to their dismay afterwards, I'm sure!), went to Mammoth Spring State Park and Museum (the worlds 10th largest natural spring) and toured Banchard Springs Caverns (Waaay Coolio!! We liked it better than Carlsbad, actually).

Logan got to mow their grass (hey, we don't have much of that in Glendale, AZ) with the riding mower and he also drove their tractor and tilled their field for them - getting ready for more delicious, organic fruits and veggies for Fawnsberry Farm to produce!  It was so much fun we didn't want to leave!  And, it was great seeing family, too! We're practically ready to move there,.....just not sure how cold it gets in the winter,...after all, we're wimpy desert landers, ya know!

After saying our good bye's to Fawn and Tony and Fawnsberry Farm, we headed up to Wichita, Kansas to see Mike's sis, Sara, and hubby Roger for a couple of days. 

Due to break downs, we stayed a few more nights than planned - but ya see, they have this awesome yard, wonderful pool and relaxing hot tub, not to mention the nice, hot sauna!

I think they're catching on to our whole "We broke down in Concordia, KS (translation: the Middle of Nowhere) and had to have a new starter put in the RV and now it's too late to get to Dad's so we're coming back to stay the rest of the weekend with  you guys, okay?" 

But either way, they were super sweet, even coming to follow us back into Wichita and let us stay the weekend and help out with their huge garage sale - we had a blast! 

We got to visit with them, play with their grand kids and re-connect with our niece and nephew.  We viewed slides of Mike and all his family as kids, went through 'treasures', cooked some fantastic meals together, introduced them to Green Tabasco sauce and Mike made all the neighbor ladies (all in their 80's mind you!) the best Bloody Mary's they'd ever had! Oh yeah, and we forgot about the RV and all our breakdowns for about 72 hours!!

Leaving Kansas, we traveled north into Grand Island, NE but not until Mike's brother Pat and nephew James came down to Sara's house to 'get' us and take us safely up to Mike's dad's.  Worried about another break down and us threatening NOT to come home and Mike already missing his class reunion, Pat decided if he didn't come and get us we'd turn towards AZ and head home! (he was right, we WERE ready to head that way!)

So, we traveled to Grand Island, NE and Pat got us hooked up with "Ken's Auto", the best mechanic and auto garage in GI so they could get us a new mechanical fuel pump (the electric one that the Roswell crew put in wasn't doing the job - sorry guys - we should have listened to Jody and waited an extra day for the mechanical one!). 

We were able to spend time with Mike's Dad, his sister Teresa and hubby Jerry, nieces Elizabeth and Emily, brother Pat, wife Anne and nephew James and we even got to see his brother Marc, wife Colleen and nephews Adam, Austin and niece Allison, too.

The boys all floated down the Loup River, Mike and Logan selected a new "Tree" for another Famous Tree House they hope to build on Marc and Colleen's new property, the boys worked the back hoe and we fed the horses on Dad's property, chased his peacocks, Logan watched old westerns with his grandpa and we had a great time hanging with family  - it was LONG over due!!

We have safely traveled back to AZ from Nebraska in 2 days (yep, that's a long drive!) and are now at my sis's cabin, cleaning out the RV and loading up the Subaru so we can make our way back down into the Valley of the Sun (And HEAT!).

We have had an adventure that will not soon be forgotten. We spent some wonderful time with family and friends renewing bonds and making new ones and are so grateful that, despite the funny breakdowns and all, we are safe and happy with loads of pictures, stories and memories to last a lifetime!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and may all your travels be Adventures and not Ordeals!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Final Travel Quote:  "What's the difference between and adventure and an ordeal?"

Logan:  "Mom!"

Mike:  "Attitude!" (and money to fix the RV!)

Shelly:  "A well running RV!"

Another Day in Roswell!!

Up early, getting donuts and coffee for the folks at Express auto garage in Roswell so they can get the RV fixed (again) so we can get on down the road to visit family and friends!

We've changed our RV route and have decided, due to our multiple day delay here in Roswell, that we'll just bypass Texas and LA and head straight for Fawn and Tony's in Arkansas.  They own a farm - FawnsBerry Farm - and have peaches, blackberries, rasberries, small horses, and lots of land to roam on! We're hoping to enjoy some good times with them, eat some blackberry pie and let Logan mow the yard and possibly disk the field for them!!

Since our travels haven't allowed me to have internet access to the extent that I wanted, I am going to have our next few entries of just the "fun" things we enjoyed - like our fun time caving in Arkanas w/family, picking berries, riding tractors, caving in Arkansas, hanging out with Mike's sis and bro-in-law in Wichita and all those great things!

I will try to humorously post our little 'adventures' along the way - as we have had to have another new fuel pump put into the RV,....this one while we traveled in NE,......the one they put in in Roswell just wasn't doing the job!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and all things working - finally!!

Woo Hoo!!

Cheers

~Shel~

Travel Observation: When you pull up in an RV that's approx. 23 years old, be ready for funny looks. I think people think we're poor or something,...or maybe this is our home! LOL!!  It's a hoot! 

Fixing the RV in Roswell

It's Monday morning (the 19th) and we're up bright and early to get the RV into Express Auto in Roswell to get her fixed so we can continue down the road on our fantastic summer adventure.

I follow Mike and Logan into the auto garage and meet all the nice folks at Express auto,...Cort, Jody and the whole crew are super friendly and ready to help (they've already heard about us from their friends Freddy the tow truck drive and Stever the cab driver).

We leave the RV in the good hands of our new friends and Mike drops Logan and I off in downtown Roswell for some Alien watching and great shopping so he can go back to the RV park and get some work done in their club house.

Logan and I instantly spot the footprints along the sidewalk and follow them to some great little places and find some wonderful treasures, like "family vacation" playing cards which feature a family of three aliens - the mother is wearing pearls, of course - complete with broken down spaceship in the back ground!  We also find Mike a cute T shirt with the logo "Ship Happens" with three aliens crashing their spacecraft into a tree in Roswell - how appropriate for our extended "Pit Stop" in Roswell!

Around 4:00p.m. Mike tells us the RV is done and we can take her back home (to the RV Park) and head out first thing in the morning for the beaches of Texas! Woo Hoo.

We gather Coco bird - who's been hanging out in the lobby at the auto garage - and thank the good folks at Express Auto Care and jump in the RV (with me following in the rental car) and head on out to the RV park.

We get about a mile down the road and then Mike and Logan pull over into the city municipal building and I follow, wondering why they feel the need to stop there - and then I realize the awful truth,.....the RV has decided to quit running AGAIN!

I head back to the auto shop, grab one of the guys and get them to follow me down the road to where Mike and Logan are.  After over an hour or so, they get the RV back to the Auto Garage and tell us they're going to completely redo the fuel pump (tomorrow) that they just put in today and they're so sorry for all the inconvenience.   My question - where are we staying tonight? I've already checked out the hotels and the good ones are full (in Roswell??) and the bad ones are filling up fast and I'm thinking I want to just stay in my RV back at the park - but they can't get it there.  So, they offer to let us stay the night inside their lot,...yep, inside their lot,....complete with many autos and Cujo,....I mean Jager (Jägermeister),.......the doberman w/the spiked collar on! (He's really a sweetie!)

So, we stop by the store in the rental car to pick up doggie treats and head back for a fun night of luxury in the back lot of the auto garage - very private, exclusive place, by the way!

As we fight to keep the mosquitos and potato bugs out of the RV, we settle in with the doggie watching over his new chew toy and us,......wondering what new adventures tomorrow will hold!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and still broken down in Roswell!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Travel Tip #3: Always follow the RV,...don't pass it in traffic, since you may not see it turn around in your rear view mirror as quickly as you would hope!

Hanging in Roswell with the Aliens!

Okay, so it's Sunday morning and we're waking up in Roswell, NM!  The tow truck towed us in around 1:30a.m. this morning and Mike's already apologized to our neighbors for our very late and very loud arrival.

Strangely - happily so - the folks next to us (Fred and Julie, and their daughters Tommie and Alex) own a garage in Albuquerque and Fred's a certified Ford mechanic,......hmmmm,...what are the odds?

Fred's under the hood helping Mike and he lets him know the fuel pump seems to be the problem. He gets it running good enough for us to get into a garage on Monday morning instead of having to be towed in!  Woo Hoo!   Fred let's us know that if we don't want to fix anything there in Roswell, we're more than welcome to head up into Albuquerque and he'll go over it himself and get us on our way safely!  What a nice guy and what a wonderful offer. However, since we're still working this whole thing out with our insurance company, we're told we must keep it in Roswell to get it fixed. So, unfortunately we don't get to travel to ABQ to visit with our new friends - but their gesture was greatly appreciated!

We call Sunshine cab in Roswell and Steve, the cab driver, comes out to pick us up so we can go to the airport (yes, they do have a small one in Roswell) and get a rental car to drive around town in while the RV is being fixed the next day. Oddly enough, when Mike and Logan explain the situation to Steve, he not only recommends the same mechanic by name (Jody) that our tow truck driver recommended the night before, but Steve actually hands Mike the man's buisness card!  Okay - weird coincidences happen often in Roswell, don't they?!

As we get back to the Rv park, we decide to head on down to Carlsbad Caverns in the rental car and enjoy our Sunday since there's not much else to do!  Logan and I experienced Carlsbad Caverns a few years back with my sister Marsha and niece Misha.  We tell Mike what a treat he's in for and it's pretty hot out by the time we hit the caverns so we can't wait to get inside where it's cool!  As we promised, the caverns are wonderful and Mike's impressed and Logan and I are proud of our excellent tour guide status!

As we arrive back to the RV Park later that night and get settled in with a movie, we are excited to get the RV fixed the next day and get back to our scheduled trek across the country. My boys are wanting some beach time down in Texas!!

Until Next time, 

Peace, Love and Cool Caving!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Driving Along in our RV,....

Woo Hoo - I've got internet for today and I've downloaded a couple of pics so here's the the first day's log on our road trip!

Hitting the Road:  July 17th - Nutrioso, AZ to Roswell,NM (we were headed for Carlsbad, NM - just FYI)

Leaving the cabin and tree house behind, we're hitting the road.  As we pass the Drachman cabin we pull in and let Logan pose for a snap shot with his good friend's Sammie and William (Logan's the short one in between the twins!).  We say our goodbye's and get on our way!

We roll into New Mexico and our first stop is the VLA's. If you've never seen them - they're quite a sight! We take some quick shots of the Very Large Arrays and then it's back on the road, headed for our next stop - Roswell, NM, where we're hoping to get some cool aliens souvenirs and possibly bump into a few Aliens and hear of their great adventures before heading on down to Carlsbad Caverns NM.

As we drive through New Mexico and pass Lincoln, Mike and I comment that it's so beautiful, we wouldn't mind coming back through for a visit and possibly checking out land to purchase.  And then,....chug, chug,....chug, chug,......stop. 

The RV decided it's time to rest since we like Lincoln so well.  So, 2 miles out of Lincoln and still about 50 miles from Roswell we're stuck for awhile as we try and figure out what's up with the RV.  Mike thinks it's just bad gas (no I didn't feed the RV beans while at high altitude - I swear!)  and as we get the RV started back up and slowly make our way through the mountains a nice sherriff stops to let us know there's no services close by and if we get stuck, to pull off as far as we can so we don't get hit by any semi trucks running through - oh, and to look out for snakes, too!

So, Mike and Logan out vote me and we keep going from pull out to pull out, as the RV is trying it's best to stay running.  Finally, the lights of Roswell are in our site and we decide to pull into the first gas station we come to in town and put some gas in the RV.  As we're filling her up, she just stops cold - not to start again!!

After calling Gieco and arguing with them for 30 minutes as to whether we have emergency road side assistance or not - "Oh, I do see that now Mr. Buettner - someone entered it incorrectly into your policy. We're sorry about that. We have very few people working this late at night and the whole RV department has gone home."  (Gee, sorry to break down after hours - we'll try to plan it better next time so as not to inconvenience you!!!) we line up a tow truck to come get us out of the parking lot.  However, we're not sure where they're going to be able to take us to as all the garages in town are closed and will not open again until Monday morning,......and it's Midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning (In Roswell, NM!!).

Finally, after many more little 'incidents' between Gieco and the nice towning people (seriously - they were great. It was Gieco that wasn't the easiest to deal with at midnight,....might be time to change to a different insurance company after all these years!!) we got towed into a great little RV Park in Roswell (Town and Country RV) at approximately 1:30a.m. Sunday morning - oh our poor RV neighbors!!

All settled in and ready for some much needed sleep and relaxation, we drift off to dream land wondering what tomorrow (in Roswell) will bring! Stay tuned as the adventures just get better!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Thank You Freddie from Remco Towing - you're fantastic!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Travel Tip #2: Always remember to try and break down between the hours of 8:00a.m. and 5:00p.m. Monday - Friday so you can better accommodate your insurance company. 

Oh, and strangely, I have the awkward feeling we're not the first "Aliens" to have an unscheduled landing here,......

Trippin'

Okay - well, finally, I'm able to get an internet signal and post a little something here!

This one's going to be short as we're ready to leave another campsite, but here's things in a nut shell:

We left Saturday the 17th and just barely made it into Roswell, NM (yes, that Roswell!) around 11:00p.m. before completely 'breaking down' in the RV at the first gas station in town.  Eventually, after many conversations with Geico and the towing company, we got towed into an RV spot at the Town and Country RV Park and finally 'hit the hay' at about 1:45a.m.!!  On another post we'll tell you all about our trip down main street with the Aliens, how great the people of Roswell really are and all the funny things that happened!

By Wednesday the 21st, the RV was repaired and we were on our way to Amarillo, TX. Other than lots of wind and a bunch of awful smells, there's not much to talk about regarding Amarillo, and the next day, yesterday (Thursday the 22nd) we pulled out and drove to Oklahoma City - which is where I sit now as I'm typing to you.

We're headed out today to Devil's Canyon State Park in Arkansas and we'll let you know how that goes once we get another signal and get settled in with family after the weekend!

Here's to another day of fun filled adventures, beautiful sites to see and here's hoping the wind dies down!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and fuel pumps, baby!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Travel Trip #1 = In Oklahoma, when it says speed limit 70,....better to obey that. A very nice tropper let us know even 72 was way too fast for his state!  :)

Day 1 On Our Big Adventure!! (Big Bug, Big Bug!!)

"Big Bug! Big Bug!!  Ooohhh,....really big bug, someone help,...Logan???"  So, this is what my hubby (Mike) and our son (Logan) woke up to me saying on DAY 1 of our Big Adventure!

We take off today for our BIG ADVENTURE - our 4K mile trek through AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AR, KS, NE, SD and then who knows where, to see family and friends, go to Mike's class reunion in Nebraska and see as many wonderful sites as we can along the way. We're trusting our little old R.V. to safely take us to some fun places - wish us luck!

I woke up this morning and was working from inside our RV (1988 Coachmen with not even 48K miles on it yet!!) on my computer and all of a sudden this BIG BUG comes plopping down beside me!  It was a strange looking bug,...but after assessing the situation (i.e. - whisper screaming to the son and hubby!) and seeing it was harmless and then trying to save him, he found his way down into the little storage space underneath where I sleep (great!!) and he's alive and well to my knowledge!  The hubby and son told me, after I gave them a detailed description, that it was a 'bark bug' and nothing to worry about.  "Good, cause I'm not made of bark nor do I look like a tree!" was my response. 

So, bark bug and all we are leaving behind the "Famous Tree House" this morning and taking off from my sis and bro-in-law's cabin (well from their driveway at least!) in Nutrioso, AZ and going to Roswell, NM  (aprox. 331 miles) today to meet up with some Aliens! LOL!

We'll be making daily posts (internet willing) here on our blog so please join us on our summer adventure and see where all we travel  to and what adventures we have! And, be sure to share your favorite vacation adventure memories with us, too!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love, Big Bugs and BIG ADVENTURES!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Urban Chaos VS. Mountain Air!

I've been up in the mountains on vacation for a few weeks now. We had a great family reunion (the bro's and sis's from the Fernandes - Portuguese - side), celebrated our Nation's Independence Day, enjoyed the parade and fireworks, had BBQ's, sipped drinks in the "Famous Tree House" and have taken care of the dogs, cat and our little love bird, too.

While all this 'back to nature' and family stuff is cool and relaxing, I find myself longing for the 'city' just a bit. I'm ready to re-watch 'SATC' the movie (the 1st one), Love Actually (can't get enough of Hugh Grant's accent - it's my English/Welsh herritage coming out here!) and some other fav movies.  I'm scouring the internet for the latest fashion trends and happenings and wishing I had an occasion to wear a couple of the new shoes I purchased before heading up here.

And, although I'm designing some pretty cool 'organic' items right now, I was browsing my "Urban Chaos" line from last year and thought it would be a good idea to somehow mix the two.

So, here's some pics of last year's Urban Chaos designs with a couple of 'organic naturals' thrown in and in the next couple of days we'll see what I can come up with as I mix and combine the two,........hmmmmm,.....Stay Tuned!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and All Things Mixed!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Summer Vacation

With all things summer came our son's 13th Birthday (OMG, he's officially a teenager!!), our family reunion in the mountains at my sis's cabin, the 4th of July parade and fireworks in the quaint little town of Springerville/Eagar, AZ and now we're gearing up for our RV trek through out the United States. 

Our little RV tour will include 12 states, visits to family and friends, Roswell NM, Carlsbad Caverns, San Antonio (Alamo), beaches along the Gulf, Vickburg, MS (Civil War Park!!), Hot Springs, AR, more family, friends and a class reunion in Nebraska, Mount Rushmore, Pikes Peak (we think) and who knows what else.

So, as you continue to enjoy your summer, think about all your wonderful travels (wherever they have taken you) and make sure to enjoy each day, and everyone in it, to it's fullest!

I'll be making as many posts as possible along our trip, soaking up inspiration for new jewelry designs and classes and sharing thoughts and as many fun things as I can along the way!

Until next time,

Peace, Love and Fun on the Road!!

Cheers,

~Shel~