Back Tracking

I told you that i would update you with photos from yesterday and here they are... first, I forgot to tell you that the car we rented on Monday in Napa, Ca had the needs service light come on in it on Tuesday, so Wednesday before we left Flagstaff, we had to take it to the local Hertz place and exchange it for another car. They didn't have any economy cars, in fact, they told the man in front of me that they didn't have ANY cars! We ended up with a Pontiac G6



Photo off one of the balconies of our suite at Little America in Flagstaff



One last photo of cute little Maci before they head back to Phoenix



Ok.. now Meteor City... did I mention that yesterday? Big walled in place with teepee's around and a gift shop at the entrance? The billboards along the road and on the wall advertised woven Indian blankets from $7.77... Inside... the blankets were tagged "Made in China" Hmmm Chinese Indians? I asked the young man in the shop what was behind the wall.... the conversation went a little like this:

Me: Excuse me, I was wondering wha's behind the walls outside.
Him: We live there.
Me: Oh, I thought maybe there was a big meteor Crater or something in there.
Him: No.
Me: Or maybe aliens...
Him: No.
Me: (looking at him very seriously) Are you sure?
Him: Yes.
Not a very talkative fellow.. he was about 16 and I think meteor city was the last place on earth the he wanted to be. Here are a couple of photos:





Then there was the Wigwam Motel. They were booked... can you believe it? And another not so talkative fellow.. this guy older with a bad toupee' It would seem the Wigwam Motel was his fathers invention... his mother lived in Phoenix and he visited her three days a week. I'm wondering who watches the motel when he is gone... Oh did I mention the motel office doesn't open 'till three pm? OK photos:




I think that covers Wednesday!

Day Three

Had a leisurely day yesterday.. didn't travel very far. Visited with relatives. Saw the Wigwam Motel and stayed the night in Gallup New Mexico. Photos to be added later

Day Two

We got a late start out of Barstow this morning... leaving at about 11:30 am. I was going to be a scorcher there today. Mom took the first drive shift again... no tickets today! In fact life was pretty uneventful today as we had family coming up from Phoenix to meet us in Flagstaff. Because we were kind of on a time frame today, we stayed on hwy 40 and only took one Route 66 detour... that was Ludlow.. it looked like this:



Then we stopped in Needles for lunch... Went to Denny's where the gal at the door told us they were temporarily closed because they had no water. We asked where we might find another restaurant in town. The gal started giving directions to a place called the wagon wheel... "turn left over there, go down by Valero..." I'm looking around for a valero and see nothing. She continues. Go under the over pass turn left, go to the (I don't know what) go under the over pass turn left. she is talking so fast I can't understand her and I just start cracking up! I did find it. When we walked in the place was deserted and all the employees were sitting at the counter... Boy life was hoppin' in this town! Lunch was actually good and we were on the road again... I'm driving.... the road looked pretty much like this until we hit the mountains and then lots of straight up....

We finally arrived in Flagstaff at 6 pm... got settled, spent some time talking to my moms half sister Barbara and her daughter Danielle... that was it for today.... Oh I took tons of photos of Danielle's 19 mo old daughter Maci... isn't she a cutie!

We have zero plans for tomorrow, so we'll See what it brings!

So It Begins

Well today was day one of my road trip with mom... I left Yuba City at 6 am, made good time and arrive at mom's in Napa at 7:30... I thought this was a good sign. Once inside mom's house, I found her sleeping... hmmm.. well the car wasn't supposee to be ready until 9, and she appeared to be packed... so I let her sleep... we left for the car at 8:45... the car wasn't ready until almost 10... uh oh.. this isn't a good sign... Did I mention that while doing the paper work for the car I noticed that I had forgotten to put a credit card in my purse? Oh yes.. thanks goodness... for bankcards and plenty of money in the account... ok well it saves me from needing to pay the bill when it comes. Mom chooses the first drive shift... I would have driven 680/580/99... mom choose 12/99... on highway 12 right on the other side of Suisun (about 30 minutes into the drive) this happens


Ok well the only good thing about that was I wasn't driving! We ended the day in Barstow... on the way we stopped at Safeway in Lodi to pick up some Gallo salami for my sis in Missouri because she can't find any there.. then we stopped in Chowchilla to visit the cemetery and discovered this is what happens in perpetual care when there is no family left in the area to visit the grave.

We did get a commitment to have it fixed... make note to follow up....
So at 543 miles we made our first gas stop. As many times as I have driven hwy 58, I don't recall ever seeing California City... but that's where we were... the good new was ... 10.5 gallons... the not so good news... WIND... can you see how windy it was?





Off to Flagstaff tomorrow!

Anger

The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present.

- Barbara De Angelis.

Wonderful Spam

So much of it I don't read... but this came from my cousin who hardly ever sends me spam. I figure it must be worth looking at if she felt it was worth sending on.... and it is... interesting time for this to be coming around, but I guess it has to be somewhere...

USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

You can learn more about the ship and see the artists renderings here: http://tinyurl.com/285ub4

for those who don't know, on September 12, 2001, I put up a memorial website. Many times since I have thought now that I have the time, I should put up a really nice site.... and then I go to my site and read through it.... and decide... this is my original, this is my raw emotion flowing.. I can't replace that.. so if you will excuse the simple mechanics, you are welcome to take a peek. I had to disable the guest book because of hackers.. but I do belong to a couple of 911 rings you might be interested in looking at...
http://jleist.com/911 Right now I just don't know how we can be so short sighted!

Scraps of Life

those of you from the digiscrap community might recognize that as the name of Doris Castle's blog... ... ... that's because I come bearing glad tidings from studio doris! Doris is having a blog contest.... read about it here... and pick up a new studio doris blinkie while you're there!

It's Here!

It's Here!
It's Here!
It's Here!

Perfect Sense! (still tracking)

Everyone knows INDIANAPOLIS, IN is on the way from Alaska to California... what an odd place for a hub LOL... alas... just a couple more days!

Tracking Update #1

Okay, Okay, I admit I'm anxious! LOOK! It's in Alaska! Actually, it has left Alaska!

May 7, 2007 3:00 PM
Departed FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK 12:58 PM
Arrived at FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK 9:23 PM

what I want to now is why 15 hours in Alaska.. come on guys! I'm waitin' for it here!

Tracking

Well of course I immediately went to see where it is!



ummm... does this mean it's stuck in CHINA 'till Monday??? DANG! CHINA! What the....

Anticipation

oh boy... I can't wait!

Order shipped

Hello julie leist,

Your order from the HP Home & Home Office Store is on its way! Your chosen shipping method is standard 5-7 business days**. You can use the tracking numbers below to check your order status. Please retain packing lists for your records and mail-in rebates.

We have built your order number xxxxxxxxx to the following specifications:

- HP Pavilion tx1000z CTO NB
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-60(2.0GHz/1MB)
- 12.1" WXGA BrightView w/Integrated Touch-screen
- NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150
- HP Imprint Finish + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam
- 40% off upgrade from 1GB (2 Dimm) to 2GB (2 Dimm)!
- 200GB 4200RPM SATA Hard Drive
- LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
- 802.11a/b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
- Extra 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
- Mobile Stereo Earbud Headphones (1 pair)
- tx1000 additional stylus

So cute!

sharing a slideshow I nabbed off SIL myspace! The adoable little Rylie Ryster, his beautiful mother and wonderful dad! Oh yes I'm a proud mother/grandmother!



..

Dirty Little Secret

Revision of yesterdays post. I torn it down to the two back elements flipped it over and started again. More art therapy. The item in the lower part of the layout is my arm. I wanted to make a layout, showing the damage I had previously done to my skin through my compulsive actions. Looking at the photo was too painful so I covered it with splatters. I don't think it matters much because I know what's there and I put it on paper... and that was the objective... to put it on paper and out there for the world to see!

FEAR

um.. maybe I'll explain later....
and then again... maybe not!

Useless info

time to share some spam!

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be

02:03:04 05/06/07.

This won't happen again in our lifetimes. (Duh! but next year we will get 03:04:05 06/07/08... even I'm smart enough to figure that one out!)
Hopefully, neither will this kind of useless information. But it is interesting nonetheless, no? Oui?

I Dunno!

Just something I put together tonight... er... this morning... created entirely with brushes... not one photo was harmed in the process... threw them all together in a little slide show.... I do have a fav... but thouoght I'd share them all... 2:30 am... I probably really don't know what I'm doing.... LOL.. alas, life would be boring without my little antics eh?

WooHoo!

I'm so excited! Look what I bought today! I should have it in a couple of weeks! I can't wait! It will be here just in time for the rod trip I am taking with my mom! We are goiong to catch Route 66 in Bakersfield, follow it to missouri where we will visit my sister. On our way to missouri we will make a couple of stops in Texas to visit relatives. When we leave missouri we will head up to Nebraska, do some visiting, then take 80 home! We haven't set a time frame, but were thinking 2-3 weeks... anyway, I'll have my new laptop to upload the photos I take along the way.. I'm not making sense... I'm just giddy! WooHoo!

SALE!!!

Add $30 worth of great kits to your cart at Studio Doris, upon checkout, enter Coupon Code: SPRINGFLING30 to receive discount.

Is it REALLY Art?

This is just my lame attempt to get the song "Nothing at All" by Travis Pickle on my blog. "Rock You" is the only place I can find it. It's NOT on their album... so, enjoy! I love this song! This gals voice is haunting!

Our Past...

Recognizing what we have done in the past is a recognition of ourselves. By conducting a dialogue with our past, we are searching how to go forward.

- Kiyoko Takeda

Woo Hoo!

Check it out!

April 11/07 justjulz's "bare footing"
3Scrapateers Layout Pick of the Day!

April 11/07 justjulz's "bare footing"

What a great layout for the newest trend, photo popping! Great extraction, and terrific journalling to go along with it!To see Justjulz's gallery, click here.


Thanks kiki-kins! you made my week! Hugs! ~Julz

Font Freak?

I certainly am.. can't get enough of 'em... that's why I gotta share this: The Dollar Sale at ScrapNfonts is coming to an end. Don't miss your chance to save up to $66% on most of their products! I think ALL their fonts are $1.00 right now!

I'll usually wait and wait before I pay $25.00 for a font and when I do it's because I just can't live without it anymore... Today, I bought 35 fonts... that brings me to a grand total of.. oh.. about a bazillion!

Forget the shoes.. I need fonts!

ACTION!

Some of you may know that when I get a creative block I often go out begging for other peoples photos. I don't know why, but I always find them so much easier to work with. Thanks to an old friend of mine, I didn't need to go begging this time. He has the coolest action photos of his family... I have never had an opportunity to work with such photos before and I think I'm addicted. Take a look at what I have done with his photos

Little Lucy

Just thought I would share a few of the photos I took at the Sanza/Souza wedding on March 17th. It's hard to believe the girls are all grown up and both married now! Lucy (Lucia) Sanza and Justina have been life long friends. You can see photos of them together at Justina's wedding and on Lucy's first day of Kindergarten on my photosite Look for Justina's wedding album

Little Things

Enjoy the little things,
for one day you may look back
and realize they were the big things!

Queen of Uniquity

It's been a while since I have been over to DAQ (Digital Art Quirks) so you cn imagine my surprise when I recieve notification that I had two new comments on a layout I posted back in October 2006. They're so much fun over there.. here's one of the comments:

Thu April 5, 2007 5:27pm
Today, you are the queen of uniquity!

LOL thanks indy bev... what a great mood lifter! maybe even a motivator! I love ya guys! here's the layout.. made from a photo I took at the 2006 west coast VCOA national meet. you may have seen it, but look at it again and think "queen of uniquity!"



hey I think I'll even wave my DAQ blinkie!

Play List

Yes... ok... it really was time to give 'ol Alice Cooper a break. Radio JULZ has put together a new play list. This list goes out with a personal dedication to the luch hour DJ(S) "A kind soul is inspired by Angels!"
Enjoy! ~J

Memories

This, for an old friend... thanks for the inspiration I took these photos while taking a drive down memory lane in my home town not too long ago. I have many a wonderful memory around this bridge. Being there, the sounds of the birds above and the water rushing below, together with the sweet familiar smells almost made me forget the past 35 years... and I was 13 all over again!

Irish Blessing

May the Blessing of Light Be Upon You, Light on the outside,
Light on the inside. With God's Sunlight Shining on you, May Your Heart glow
with Warmth, Like a Turf Fire that Welcomes friends and strangers
alike.

May the Light of the Lord Shine from your eyes, Like a candle
in the Window, welcoming the weary Traveler.

May the Blessing of God's soft rain be on you, falling gently
on your head, Refreshing your Soul with the sweetness of little flowers newly
blooming.

May the strength of the winds of Heaven Bless you, carrying
the rain to wash your Spirit clean, Sparkling after in the
Sunlight.

May the Blessing of God's Earth be on you, and as you walk
the roads, may you always have a Kind word for those you meet.


May you understand the Strength and Power of God in
a Thunderstorm and in Winter, and the Quiet beauty of Creation, and the Calm
of a Summer Sunset.

And may you come to Realize that insignificant as you may
seem in this Great Universe, You are an Important part of God's Plan.
May He Watch over you, and keep you Safe from Harm.

More Fun

MIA.. yeah.. I'm not ready to talk about it! But I do have this to share with you....

This is so fun!

Have you been to SmileBox? What a great thing... I made this..... yeah it's very simple... but I think it's oh so cute! Just click in the box below!

Click to Play Now

More Love

Believe in "happily ever after"
and it will come true.
~Jane Dettmering

Romance?

I want to take a moment to recognize the loss of Anna Nicole Smith. To some she was like a train wreck to others inspiration. I'm sure I will return to this before long.. but for now... MORE LOVE!

You Follow Your Heart

You're romantic, sentimental, and emotional. You tend to fall in (and out of) love very quickly. Some may call you fickle, but you can't help where your emotions take you. You've definitely broken a few hearts, but you're not a heartbreaker by nature. Your intentions are always good, even if they change with the wind

Do You Follow Your Head or Your Heart?

A few days of fun and love!

You may or may not have noticed I changed my music.... but I did! just a few selections to get us in the MOOD for love... and here's a little fun to go with it.. what does your candy heart say? mine says:

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship. You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you Your flirting style: friendly and sweet What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Falling Behind!

Ack! My life has run away with me! Holidays have been tough for a while.. I really thought I was going to beat it this year... I know my limits and have learned to say "no"! I try to leave room for the unknown but it would seem have yet to estimate how much "unknown" I will have. The thing about me is that I "appear" to be "well" most of the time. That appearance consumes energy.. blah blah blah.. enough of that garbage...

My computer is about ready for it's annual reformatting, I defragged the hard drive and the registry, but it is still moving slow and the items on my task bar seems a bit small. Ho Hum.. I hate reformatting, it often takes me 6 months to get everything back on and tweeked just right.... I tried to scrap last night and waited a half an hour for PSCS to load... then I just dumped it, I didn't want to wait anymore... I can't post my layouts to the photosite page either... I don't think I have enough ram to run the program anymore... all it wants to do is crash! grrr... Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of the layouts I have been able to finish! This first one, is of course, that little cutie of a grandson of mine... The products I used were created by the very talented Doris Castle for "The Storytellers Club". To be honest with you, I haven't been able to locate it over there.. so no link.. sorry...

OK... now another one of the little cutie! he he.. again using products by Doris Castle this time created for Cottage Arts.. this is Simply Love 1 Paper and Element paks.I really like the way this one came out! I wasn't sure what to put as journaling so I just used the lyrics to the Carpenters song "Close to You"

Oh now more fun! I went out and bought the little guy a bunch of finger paints. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I wanted to do this with him. (did you know finger paints now come in squeeze bottles?) I solicited Grandpa's help to set us up with a painting studio in the garage. He set up his extra work bench and covered it with a old shower curtain (I knew that would come in handy someday), put all our supplies on top (including the painting apron I had purchased for Rye) He even put out paper towels, a trash bucked and a bucket of clean water! WOW, we were set! Oh, yes, do you notice the jammies under that apron... this was the same visit where I couldn't get him to put on regular clothes! LOL So we start painting... he wasn't real keen on putting his hands in the paint, so Grandma showed him how to put blobs of paint on the paper and fold it in half... that was good... but I foresaw a huge problem with that meathod... and a frustration factor if he couldn't get the paper unfolded, so I went over to Grandpa's supply closet and pulled out a foam roller and a small brush! Now we were in business! He really enjoyed that! He just loved putting lots of paint on the page... so much that it took all week for the paint to dry! LOL... I was impressed with the results! I remember hating to finger paint in kindergarten because while everybody else ended up with these colorful pictures.... mine was always BLACK! LOL now there's an instance where more isn't better... more color and more mixing only made my picture worse! But Rye, on he other hand... well, you can see.. I cut one of the pictures in half, framed both pieces and gave one to great grandma and one to great grandpa (my mom and dad) for Christmas! The supplies I used here are from a new source for me, a German site, Scrapbooking Heaven The designers name is Gisela and she is a real sweetheart! If you are int he market for a Valentine kit... check out her "I SEE PINK" it's fabulous! This kit is called "Sparkling Stars". Gisela has a number of "gifts" on her site including an adorable Star Doodle that would go very well with this kit!

credits

Kit - Sparkling Stars by Gisela http://tinyurl.com/368jwc

Handwriting Cards By Doris http://tinyurl.com/3atq39

ScrapDrawers: Dictionary Definitions By Doris http://tinyurl.com/2nzmsj

ScrapDrawers: Photo Lifts By Doris http://tinyurl.com/32v66x

Personal Trash By Doris http://tinyurl.com/348vgz

Schöne Tochter - Katharina

I came across this photo on Petra Losbichlers blog and knew one day I would want to scrap it.. so I naturally lifted it.... I do have Petra's blessing to post my layout.. (thank you Petra)... I have been in a terrible creative slump.. well a slump in general... I thought I hadn't scrapped in over a month and then realized that I actually had and was sitting on the layouts waiting for the ads to come out.. the ads have come and gone, I guess I better get busy and post the layouts! LOL

credits:
Romantic Recollections by Lara Payton
available at both Dustybear and Digital Freebies

BAZ-AL

Love the message, hate the messenger.... something inside me screems SUNSCREEN and closing with a quote from churchill shows lack of creativity.. but how can I say that about the man who invented the internet!? Anyway, SING, FLOSS, STRETCH, DANCE, TRAVEL and for crying out loud WEAR SUNSCREEN!
Oh and for heavens sake.. Do NOT read BEAUTY magazines, they will only make you feel UGLY!

NONSENSE

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.
Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living,
it's a way of looking at life through the
wrongend of a telescope and that enables
you to laugh at life's realities.
- Dr. Seuss

Pajamas

Oh yes, the "I can do it" stage. Dear Rylie has arrived! Not only can he do it... but it must be done his way! Currently dressing himself is a big deal... and no matter what the day's activities, it's generally in his pajamas. This day we walked to Starbucks for a cup of hot cocoa and then off to the childrens salon for a hair cut... all in his pajamas!

credits:
Baby Cakes by Carrie Stephens
available at SBG http://tinyurl.com/y3l9q8

Fringe template by Kristy Nerness at PBW

floral brush by onegreeneye

font: Alor

Elves?

Ok a little Christmas Fun...
I have an Elf name.. can you believe?

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Floppy-Feet LOL.. well at least they smell good! That's assuming Peppermiz is a good thing... Ok one more fun thing.. then out to the stores!

Which of Santa's Reindeer are you? Donder Like Donder you are sensible and a good leader. You know the right things to do at the right time and have people's respect Find out which of Santa's Reindeer you are at Quizopolis.com

Well that's not too bad! I was afraid I might end up as the reindeers a*s

Baby's Got Style

Oh my.. I just finished a week with Rye... he's becoming soo independent, he is now going through a phase where he wants to wear his Pj's all day. I finally figured a little public embarrassment was better than the frustration of trying to convince him to put his clothes on. When he's here, I generally try to get him a decent haircut at a local children's salon... this day it was in his Pj's so I brought my camera to record the event...
Credits:
Create-A-Quick Page: Midnight Bloom
by Doris Castle at SBG http://tinyurl.com/ydnwjc
Brush by Andrea Victoria
Fonts: Dokyo and Chopin