In honor of 5 years...

Next weekend is our 5th wedding anniversary and 14 years from the day we met. I've decided to post my journal entries from 5 years ago for the next week, in real time, in honor of the big day! I hope you enjoy my little trip down memory lane!

Time after time...

My boss is getting ready to head to Alaska for his 20 year reunion and it has started me thinking a lot about my own, which is only two short years away.
Thanks to the invention of things like Facebook and Myspace and their apparent popularity, I've already found myself in the middle of a reunion of sorts. Every day the "People you may know" function pops up another vaguely familiar face on my screen.
It is interesting what time has done to so many of my classmates. They seem to all fit into a few categories.

• The ones who have not changed at all. Seriously! Either, the last time they got a photo taken was 15 years ago, or they found the secret to eternal youth! Good for them!

• Those that have changed so much that they could come up to me and say hello and I would not have a clue as to who they are, but they have the same name as a former classmate.

• There are those who somehow time warped far into the future and have the face of their parents. If you were to look at them, you would imagine we were approaching our 40th reunion! (That is what hard living and being unhealthy will do to you!)

• And then there are those who really blossomed after high school and will probably not bother to go to a reunion because they are having too much fun in their life now.
  

I didn't spend much time doing things with High School kids when I was in high school, so I don't have a lot of "Good old days" memories from that time. All of my friends and high school boyfriend lived in the city and had their own lives and apartments.
I have a few old friends that I stay in touch with and a few friendly faces that I'm really happy to see again, but for the most part, that whole time is so far in the past and such a distant memory for me, I sometimes wonder if going to something like a reunion would even be interesting.
I think I've come to a decision that if I do go, it will be for the purpose of a documentary. I would love to use that opportunity to get loads of footage. I think a school called Chugiak High School in the middle of nowhere Alaska will probably have at least a few entertaining soundbites to offer.

*The photo is what came up when I did a search for reunion. I thought it was kind of perfect.

Rainbows and Barbies

I took my second Wilton's cake decorating class at Michael's. I'm taking a class every Friday.
This week's project was a rainbow cake. The goal of this class was to practice icing a cake, using the star tips, and cutting it in half and tarting the cake (filling it). I put a yummy marionberry jelly in mine. I was really proud of how it turned out, but on the very long and hot car ride home it wilted a little and got a little smooshed in the box.

I forgot to bring my camera to class, so I took the photos post car ride.

At least it tasted good!

Speaking of cake, here is the Barbie cake I made for my friend, Marissa's birthday on Monday:

2001: Serendipity

I was taking the bus home on an exceptionally gray day. It had been a long month and I had a million things whirring through my mind. I sighed to myself and whispered, "What am I missing?"
Right then, the bus stops and the doors to my right opened. There, framed perfectly by the open doors, almost within reach, he stood reading the paper, unaware of just how close I was. It had been months since I'd seen him, so the shock almost knocked the wind out of me.
The door closed as quickly as they had opened and the bus was moving again. I just started laughing. Sometimes the universe is a little too obvious.

1995: He touched my hand & stole my heart

After hundreds of hours on the phone, we finally got to meet face to face again for a few precious, stolen hours. He reached across the table and put his hand over mine. It was such a simple action, but it's impact on me was nothing short of magical. Every part of me knew we would be married someday, I just had no idea then, that it would take another seven years before we could finally be together.

1996: Maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me...

The first nights we spent here there was no furniture, a small makeshift bed in the bedroom, some candles I gave him as a housewarming gift, and a CD player with one CD that we played over and over. It could have been anywhere as long as we were together. It was one of the happiest weeks of my life.

1997: The greatest distance

We had not talked in over a year since our tearful goodbye. He had gone back to her and I was trying to move on. I stood at the bottom of these steps for what seemed like a lifetime, but could not bring myself to walk up them and knock on his door.
It was time to walk away, but I didn't know how to let go.

1998: Sanctuary

Two lost souls with broken hearts, bruised egos and daughters to raise found friendship, love, music and sanctuary here. This was the place where we put the pieces back together and prepared ourselves for the lives we were meant to have when we were whole again. The thing we didn't realize at the time was that that life would be wonderful, just not together. This was a time for healing, personal growth and sanctuary.

1993: After searching all day we found a home.

We got off the plane at 6AM and started out on foot with exactly $1100 in our pocket and a need to find a home.
The sun was going down and we were starting to worry we would be out of luck. This was the last place we looked. The landlord let us move in that night. We slept on the floor using our jackets for pillows and a sheet borrowed from the landlord. We were home.

1994: I sat here with my one suitcase & a baby in my belly waiting for my life to start.

The taxi came and we escaped into our future, my unborn baby and I, leaving this stoop and that life behind.

1993: We would sit on this wall & dream about the future

When it was too hot to think and we were too poor to go out, we would sit on this wall enjoying the night breeze, sharing a cold drink and dreams of the future. These were happier times for us, before he let his addictions get the best of him. We were young and at the start of a new life and a new adventure.

Ben Folds & The Auers

Tonight was a good night.We brought the girl to see Ben Folds. I've been putting his songs on her iPod since she can remember, so it was really cool for her to see him live. She seemed really impressed with the show. Afterward we stopped backstage to say hello.

A very good night indeed.

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

I made THESE cookies tonight. Yum!

Many Misfits Imaginary

My book is done and for sale on Lulu as of about an hour ago!!
If you look to the right of the screen you will see the link where you can preview and purchase it.
Or just click HERE

Sebille, The Spring Fairy

Sebille has been very busy. There's so much to do for a little Fairy during the Spring. So many new flower buds needing to be opened, so many trees that need to wake up again...

Lil' Mizjah

With a face only a troll mother could love, this little guy will find his way into your heart like he found his way into my clay. I was planning on making a human baby, but as the clay came to shape, I sort of started to fall for this little troll baby. Most everyone's reaction has been "Ewww... actually that is pretty cute in an ugly sort of way!"
Don't worry, Mizjah has thick skin, but whoever adopts him better not have any pets, I noticed he has a tooth coming in!

Dear Jane Letter...

Here is my latest recycled wine cork doll.
Her name is Jane. She just got a letter from her boyfriend that reads, "I'm sorry, it's not you, it's me..."


Her body is a recycled wine cork. The rest is Polymer clay, some yarn, and old wrapping paper. Her headband is from a clothing tag and an old crystal from the junk jewelry drawer.

A weekend of firsts...

My dad just went home after spending the weekend with us. It was kind of a last minute, we have air-miles that need to be used before they expire and you have time off, kind of trip. But I was really excited to see him, and we made good use of our time.

I thought it would be fun to make it a weekend of "Firsts" for him.

Here is a short lists of the firsts.
He had his first massage at my office by the very talented Toni. I think we got him hooked.

I got him his first pedicure at my favorite salon. That was kind of fun to watch because he kept squirming. Who knew he was so ticklish!

I made him eat Calamari for the first time. He said it was, "Different" but seemed to like it. He didn't have seconds though.

He was one of the first people to see the inside of the new Crocodile!

He saw Jon play solo for the first time in said Crocodile.

He watched them making a video of the performance.

I took him to Dick's drive-in for the first time.

We went to the butterfly house for the first time. He had a butterfly hitch a ride on him for most of the visit.

We discovered a great new art store in the U-District, so that one was a first for me as well.

None of it was bungee jumping from the Space Needle, but it was a lot of fun. Also, the sun was shining all weekend! It didn't even sprinkle for the first time until he was about to leave. That is kind of a first! Usually when he visits, it rains the whole time!

My only complaint was that the weekend didn't last longer.

Part two...

The kitten is no longer a kitten. I think he might be bigger than Buddy now. He certainly weighs more!

Whose bed is it??

Our boys reminding us who actually runs the place.

Doodle blog: A conversation...

If you ever get back to Hackensack...

Meet The Mills

Here is my first custom cake topper. This is more of a gift to celebrate 22 years of marriage between my lovely friends, Mark and Suzy Mills. It was also great practice! http://www.dreamingviola.etsy.com

Here is the original (I stole it from Suzy's flickr)

And their clay characters

Now for sale!

I'm selling my wedding cake toppers online now. I can either sell the ones I have already made or I can take custom orders and create a topper that looks like the happy couple. These would also be great for anniversary parties or birthday cakes.
Here is my store: http://www.dreamingviola.etsy.com

Happy Birthday Mr President...

OK, two things happened. First, I realized that I put Marilyn's mole on the wrong side, so I fixed that. Then, I thought she looked lonesome, so I made her a John Kennedy of her very own! Here he is with a tiny champagne glass being serenaded by Miss Monroe.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...

Here are today's installments of "Things I made on my days off from work"

Mini Marilyn Monroe

The Happy Couple - cake topper

SMOOCH!

Trio

Lil' Red

Blossoms...

Little Sakura:

A Rose For Emily:

Duet

Spirit in the bottle.

Here are more wine spirits in better detail. (I took the photos with my fancy new camera!)


The idea is, that every bottle has a different personality or spirit. That is why each of these are a little different.

Back detail:

Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand...

I just finished this little recycled doll project I've been working on.
Here are a few pictures of her.

This is just before I made her dress:

I call her, Tiny Dancer.

She is made of Polymer clay, a wine cork for her body and her dress is leftover wrapping paper that was sprayed and molded into a skirt and hat.

"Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand..."
-EJ

In my head there are Wine Spirits and Robots...

I made some really fun stuff today. I love how they all turned out.

These are the Wine Bottle Spirits. I have been trying to find a crafty way to use the corks I've been collecting, and today I did! I LOVE these ladies so much. The photos do not do them justice. I'm very proud of them.


Back:
And then, do you remember this guy from a while back?



He was one of my favorites, so I remade this drawing in Sculpey:
Even the worm is smiling! Isn't he too cute?
And I made a tiny robot charm as well. Here is the whole gang together.
I wish I could get a better photo of the grape detail in their hair. It is really cool looking.