Lucie's Graduation

On July 6th, Lucie graduated from The Salon Professional Academy, and she is now a professional!! I'm so proud of her. She worked very hard with full time school hours, and at least 20 hours a week at Red Lobster.

We started a graduation tradition 3 years ago, that each educator puts a few words down that remind them of each student. We spend a lot of time and put a lot of thought into it. Then we put them in a frame with a positive quote and give them out to each student in front of their families.

This time was extra special to me because of my girl, but it's always an emotional time. We get so close to each and every student after spending every day with them for a year or more.

I can't believe how exciting it is to have my daughter be a part of this industry that I'm so passionate about. It's been so much fun watching her develop her technical as well as people skills.

On the 25th, my first baby will turn 21! It's hard to imagine where all of the time went. It really was like I blinked and she turned into this beautiful woman. I'm sure all of you other moms agree with me...sometimes I wish I could just relive 1 day of each of the special moments in her life, like that sweet newborn baby, her first laugh, words, walking, school. I am SO blessed!!

OH, the beauty of SPRING!

"Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!"
Song of Songs 2:11-13





This is my azalea topiary tree I got for mothers day last year. I moved it in over the winter, and when it bloomed, I moved it back outside.


Here are a couple of blooms on my clamatis. I tried a couple of climbing plants this year. I can't wait until the jasmin blooms!








I love how the colors change in the petals of these little daisies.


Pansies standing at attention facing the sun.




White Columbine, and purple Columbine. I love these blooms because they are so intricate.

This year, I've particularly loved planting flowers. I love walking through the nurseries and seeing all of the beautiful colors. Seemingly endless choices of color and fragrance. My pots and hanging baskets have a lot more variety than usual. I had Dave break out the camera to try and capture some of the beauty. He did a great job, don't you think!

Birds singing, beautiful blooms on the flowers and trees, sunsets...I love to take the time to enjoy the love notes of our Savior!

A Weekend Away with My Honey!

The kids were on Spring Break last week, so Dave and I decided to get away. We have not done that since right after we got married and I moved here. I found a great little Bed and Breakfast in La Connor online called The Wild Iris. I've been to La Connor many times with my friend Lisa, and it's almost become like a tradition to go have lunch there at the Calico Cupboard.

It's such a cute little town with a lot of fun shops and history. Dave had never been there, so we had a great time walking around. The weather was perfect! The forecast had called for rain the entire weekend and into the week, but the sun popped out and it was absolutely perfect!
The Inn surpassed our expectations. Actually, our expectations were a bit low. Both of us had some pre-conceived notions about "Bed & Breakfasts", complete with community bathrooms and not a lot of privacy. Were we ever surprised! As soon as we got there, the owners met us and had everything ready. They didn't ask for a credit card or signatures, just friendly, welcoming conversation about where we were from, etc... They walked us into our room, the door was open, there were fresh iris' and fresh baked cookie-like things that were still warm.

We had a private deck with an outdoor jetted tub. They have a little cabinet in the lobby that is full of various movies, and if you want one or two, you just go get one and you can watch it in your room. We watched "Click" with Adam Sandler before bed.





After exploring our room and walking around La Connor for a couple of hours, we decided to go to Anacortes to look around and eat dinner at the Rockfish Grill. About 12 years ago, Dave remembered driving through Anacortes and seeing an old classic truck at an old shipyard. He was really hoping to find it and get some pictures of it this time. Sure enough, we found it. He was SO excited that it was still there after all of these years. We had so much fun, we can't wait to go back! SO,We booked a room there over the Fourth of July Holiday!

Looking forward to some "Creative Rest"

I've known how to sew since I was little when my gramma gave me he sewing machine. I have made a few things here and there, but I've always wanted to make quilts. I remember the day my dear friend Lisa called to tell me she had found her daughter from China. She had this beautiful picture of her sitting on a slide. As we looked at her picture, we talked about what her room was going to look like, and the hunt was on, to find Lady Bug fabric with light blue and a hint of red...NO PINK.
I decided to take that opportunity to make my first quilt, and it would be for her. My goal was to have it finished before she came home. Hers is still my favorite.

You can ask my husband, NO ONE wants to go to the fabric store with me. I can spend literally HOURS searching for just the right combination of fabrics for the project I can see in my head. Soon after finishing Claire's blankie, I made a patchwork duvet cover for my bed. Then after moving to Washington and leaving Lucie behind at Boise State, I decided to make her a blankie for Christmas. Her favorite colors for her room in her apartment were hot pink and tourquois. Unfortunatley, I didn't take a picture of the 3rd one I made for a friend of Dave's new Baby Collin. It was construction trucks.

I've decided this year to make one for all of my kids. Bryce's is next. His fabric looks like pajama bottoms with black flannel for the back. I've already picked out the fabric and cut my squares. I have a week of vacation starting Friday, and I plan to get lost in the creativity of blanket making!

REDKEN Symposium 2009!

My kitty knows when the suitcases come out, I'm leaving. I don't travel near as often as I used to these days, but she ALWAYS sleeps in my suitcase. She leaves her signature fur all over the top of it so I can take a little piece of her with me. She is so funny!


Lucie on the plane.




Redken puts on their biggest hairshow ever, every 2 years. I've been attending ever since 1999, even one time as an employee, helping out behind the scenes 4 years ago. What a treat this year for me to be able to take Lucie with me! Besides the amazing education we got, we had great mom/daughter time. We stayed at Mandalay Bay (beautiful!) on the 30th floor and had a great view of part of the strip. As soon as we walked in the room, I opened up the curtains so we could see the view day and night. The first day we were there, we walked over to MGM Grand and ate at the Rainforrest Cafe. The last time we were there was 2003, when I took Lucie, Bryce, and Elsa to Vegas for vacation.


Out ejoying the warm weather on our free day. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go as far as we wanted to due to not having a lot of time. Lucie would have liked to go further up the strip and seen old Vegas, like Freemont street. We will have to go back another time and do all of that. It would be a fun family trip. We still did A TON of walking!





These are some of the models we saw at the show. I took the picture of this up-do because it is so classic. I love the old wave and pin curl sets. They are making a comeback. Just new ways to achieve the look with heat instead of wet setting.

It's been so much fun for me to be a part of Lucie learning this trade that I have such a passion for. I can hardly believe she is half way through already. I'm so proud of her.





GOING HOME! Our bodies and brains were so tired!