Jacob takes his 1st Army Oath

As most of you have heard by now, my youngest son, Jacob, is enlisting into the Army. He took his first oath on Aug. 23rd (2 days after I returned from my trip and all of this was decided on while I was away). I am very proud of him, but I am still having to get use to the whole idea. We had hoped he would take a year off from school and work and then go to college in an ROTC program to earn a commission and then go in and he was originally talking about going into the Navy and now all that has changed. He wants to go into Infantry Airborne Rangers. He leaves on Sept. 18th for Basic Training which starts on Sept. 26th in Ft. Benning, GA, then Airborne School there after that and then if he qualifies he goes to Ranger School and then if he qualifies he would like to go into Special Forces. Above are pictures of him taking his first oath (His dad was able to administer the oath since he was a Naval Officer, so that made it special)

My Trip to Marco Island, FL and Ft. Worth, TX

Well, I am back from my trip to Marco Island, FL. Harold and I had a great time. It is beautiful there and the weather was wonderful. We went on a Sailing & Shelling tour on a 6-pass catamaran our last day there. We saw dolphins, 1 sea turtle (I missed him but Harold got a quick glimpse of it) and pelicans, egrets, and of course seagulls. I took pictures of different birds on the beach, one with a beautiful large orange and black beak. I have been advised by my bird-watching nephew-in-law that the orange and black beaked ones are Black Skimmers and the other bird picture are sandpipers (I knew that, but still not sure what variety). I had also gotten pics of Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, Brown Pelicans and a White Egret. All very pretty.

On my return trip I went thru Ft. Worth, TX and spent a few days visiting family. My folks are doing okay, but not as well as I wish they were. I got to go and visit my brother-n-law and his wife and daughter, Lindsey and my new little nephew, Jay Jay. He is absolutely adorable, he is now about 7 1/2 mos. old.

I also got to go see my first pro-baseball game with my sister, Melanie and her son, Brandon and a neighbor of theirs. We saw the TX Rangers vs Detroit Tigers game. Rangers won 9 to 1 - YEAH!!!

Greetings from sunny Marco Island, FL

Hi everyone!! Well, I made it to sunny Marco Island, FL. Harold is here for a conference and I had to come along to take in some sun (my poor white body needed it). Plus those of you that know me know I LOVE the beach and I miss it. As you can see it is absolutely gorgeous here. Above is a view from our balcony. Ain't it grand!!!! I am loving it. I even got up early this morning (and I am NOT a morning person) and went for a walk on the beach. I have been picking a lot of beautiful seashells and taking lots of pictures (of course). Can't wait to share them. Later today Harold and I are going on a Sailing and Shelling Tour on a 6-passenger catamaran. I can hardly wait. Never done anything like that before and am excited about it. I will share more pictures later. Love ya'! Note: the boys are at home in VA and I know they are wishing they could be here - but Harold and I are really enjoying this time together by ourselves. He will be returning home tomorrow (we got here on Monday) and I will be going from here to TX to visit family. Will finally get to see my new little nephew, Jay-Jay and my other niece, Tiffany's new house, as well as visit my folks and siblings.

My Stampin' Up! Open House

Today was my Open House to show everyone some of the new products and catalogs. Well, I had some of the new products, but if not for my downline, Gabby, I would not have had any catalogs. She ordered hers the day before I did and received hers several days ago and I am still waiting. Luckily, she was able to spare some and gave me one and then shared 3 more for me to hand out. Other than she and her mom, I had 2 customers that attended the Open House, so that worked out great (the third had to cancel for an emergency, so she will get hers tomorrow). Anyway, the Lovely Letters Monogram Note card is the project I had prepared for the Make-n-Take. This is a total case from Lee Conrey (StampingleeYours), I LOVE this card. Simple, yet elegant.

Tina arrived first and since the others we knew would not be coming until much later, we decided to play and she created the card using the new Level 2 Hostess set "Serene Spring" (bunny card) (this one is actually one that Margarethe did when she arrived, Tina did use a retired DSP paper with Wild Wasabi on hers). She also used the new In Color Pink Piroquette. I started playing and made the simple card with the narrow red ribbon and the new Wow Flowers stamp set, after everyone left and since I was still in the stamping mood and everything was still out, I played and made the second card with the same set, but used the same layout as the monogrammed card. LOVE IT! Both Wow Flowers cards were also made using the new In Colors - Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red and Tangerine Tango. I had three door prizes - Margarethe won the 1-1/4" circle punch, Tina won the Love & Happiness Rub-ons (2007 SAB item) and Darlene won the retired East Coast Designer Series Paper. We had a great time, wish more of you could have attended. I am having a class on Aug. 30th, 12-3pm to make the monogrammed cards again (5 for $10), so you will be able to pick your catalogs up then if you have not gotten it yet.