Rock, Paper, Scissors

A close friend got engaged over the weekend so it inspired me to make more cards!  This card can be used for either an engagement or a wedding.  It can even be used for a wedding shower!  It is super cute with words like tuxedo, wedding, engagement, bride, groom, and honeymoon cut out of black paper and placed on top of pink card stock.  Grey rhinestones sporadically placed give it an extra sparkle!

I also made some cute cards to send to Nick.  I don't want him feeling neglected in the desert!

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!  Please take time today to remember why you have the day off of work and are grilling in the nice weather.   Remember those that have served for our country.  Remember those that have died to protect our freedoms.

I miss my hero and am so thankful that he is safe even though he is in a dangerous place.  Thank you for serving our country honey. I love you!

"We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies."

-Moina Michael

Grandma got ran over by a reindeer...

Last night I went to see Grandma Lee at the Palace Station Casino.  You might remember her from America's Got Talent last summer.  She is the most inappropriate and funny Grandma I've ever met.  Unfortunately, she lost to Kevin Skinner on America's Got Talent.  (He was the redneck chicken catcher.  Yes, you read it correctly.  He catches chickens for a living.  I'm pretty sure he only has three teeth as well.)

Here is some information about her off the Palace Station Casino website:
Grandma Lee was seen on "America's Got Talent", "Last Comic Standing", HBO & "Comic View" with Lisa Carrao. Grandma Lee is America's funniest and most outrageous grandmother who is not close to being ready for the rocking chair. Lee electrifies the stage from the moment she bursts from the starting gate until she crosses the finish line in a blaze of glory. This sassy senior has mastered the art of entertaining audiences of all age with her unorthodox views of family, television and life in general. Grandma Lee is most recognized from her recent appearances on "America's Got Talent". She has been so popular with TV audiences that she has been a special guest on three different seasons of "Last Comic Standing" including being Top Ten Favorite Comic on the show and won the Las Vegas Comedy Festival at the MGM Grand Hotel. 

Preparing for Memorial Day

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located in D.C and is guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year.  I recently learned that once you become a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown solider, you can never drink alcohol again nor can you swear.  I decided to research this and discovered the following interesting facts about the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.
-The guard takes 21 steps across the tomb of the unknown to signify a 21-gun salute.  This is the highest honor given to any military dignitary.
-The guard also hesitates for 21 seconds before his about face to also signify the 21-gun salute.
-The guard's gloves are wet to prevent the rifle from slipping from his hands.
-He carries his rifle on the shoulder furthest away from the tomb.
-Guards are changed every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
-There are very strict physical requirements for the guard.  They must be between 5'10" and 6'2".
-There waist size cannot exceed 30".
-They must commit two years of service to the tomb and live underneath the tomb in barracks during that time.
-They can not drink alcohol once they become a guard of the tomb of the unknown nor can they swear.  This isn't just while they are serving as a guard, this is for the rest of their life.
-The first six months of duty the new guardsman cannot speak to anyone or watch television.  They must learn the names of all 175 notable people lain to rest at Arlington Cemetary and where they are interred.
-The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

Moooooooove Out of the Way!

This was the view of our back yard when we lived off base in the Azores.  Our neighbors typically only had one cow at a time which they were raising for beef.  I would name each cow when it came into our pasture to pass the time.  I was always sad when they went away on their "Caribbean vacation."  RIP Elvis and Priscella. 

There was a gang of cats that also would play jungle kitty in the pasture as well.  There were probably about 20 kittens in the pasture always hiding in the tall grass ready to pounce at any given moment.  Our house off base did keep me amused!

One day I walked out of my house to get into my car and drive up to base.  This is what I was greeted by at the end of our driveway:

Oh how I miss the island!

Owie, I got a paper cut!

It's Friday night and the moon is bright.  Gonna have some fun, tell you how it's done, TGIF.  Anyone remember that jingle from growing up?  I used to get so excited to watch Family Matters on Friday nights because of Steve Urkel. I know I wasn't the only one that would pull my pants up to my armpits, snort, and say DID I DO THAT in the most annoying voice possible.  I miss waking up to a nice bowl of Urkel-O's and milk.   What ever happened to that guy?  I can't find his cereal in the grocery store anymore.

Anyway, back to the point.  You are probably wondering why I am reliving television shows of my childhood.  Well, here it is Friday night and I'm just being wild and out of control here in Sin City.  Instead of partying on the strip and getting attacked by Mike Tyson's tiger, I'm papercrafting.  I think behavior this out of control should be illegal.

These are the most recent birthday cards that I made.

 Please let me know if you would like me to make you birthday cards, invitations or thank you cards.  I'd be happy to!  I'll make cards for any occasion.

Laura's Legal!

Happy 18th Birthday Laura!  You are now old enough to legally smoke, vote, get arrested as an adult, and enlist in the military, but you are still considered too young to drink.  This picture was taken in 2006 in Delaware.  Yum, all you can eat crab! (Too bad no one posted a picture of me stuffing my face! Humiliating photos are reserved for the birthday girl.)

 I love that shirt you are wearing by the way! Where did you get such a fantastic shirt?  What is that you say Laura?  You don't remember having a UNC shirt?  No, you don't have a pink shirt just like that that says Clemson.  No, I didn't use my computer to edit out the word Clemson and change it to UNC.  Why would I do something like that?  Do you think I'm some kind of crazy Tarheel fan or something??

Brotherly love in our first apartment in Delaware in 2006.

I threw in a picture of my 21st birthday just to be fair.  Look what my sorority sisters did to my bed!!!!  I'm still finding confetti and glitter to this day!  That's not what you were looking for Laura?  Ok, let me try again...

Here's me stuffing my face with ice cream in Germany.  Does that make you happy Laura?

"So easy a caveman could do it..."

I recently discovered a prehistoric cave painting while hiking through Red Rock Canyon.  It appears as if prehistoric man was attempting to express the emotion, "love."

Obviously this is not true.  Well maybe half of it is and you can figure out which half.  It made me think of my husband and I thought I would share it here.  I love you honey.

Just to be safe, I want to make sure that you know this is OBVIOUSLY a joke. I support the military 150%.  But just in case someone stumbles across this who doesn't know me, I want to make that clear.  This was an advertisement that the Navy made to poke fun at the Army.  I got a good chuckle since everyone knows the greatest branch of our military is the United States Air Force.  Yes, I might be a little biased since I am married to an amazing USAF Captain.

"Excuse me while I kiss the sky"

Funky art that I photographed at the Red Rock Canyon visitor's center.

More pictures of Red Rock Canyon.  You can actually see the stripe of red rocks in this photograph that gives the canyon it's name.  The red rock layers are known as keystone thrusts and were formed over millions of years.  250 million years ago the earth's crust started to rise due to the shifting of tectonic plates.  This caused the water that was present at the time to be forced out and left behind salt and gypsum.  This caused some of the rocks in the former sea bed to oxidize and form the red and orange layers of rock that you see today.

Oh Baby!

I spent the last few days making these baby shower invitations with a friend here in Las Vegas who is very creative.  We had a great time making them for another spouse who is expecting her first child.  These are the invitations that I made.  I'm very proud of them and wanted to share.

They actually flip open to reveal the information for the upcoming shower.  Each invitation is hand made and unique.  I will have to wait until after the baby shower to post pictures of our other creations.

Casey-Doodle

Everyone reading this knows how much my family and I love Bichon Frises. They are sweet, soft, cuddly and just downright adorable.  Our dog Casey was no exception.  Casey-Doodle, as I call him, wasn't just a dog, he was a member of our family.  I'm thankful that he's no longer in pain and can run around and play to his heart's content.  Don't worry, the point of this blog isn't to make you sad about our sweet little boy who has passed away.  The point is to tell you about Small Paws Rescue.  Small Paws is a Bichon rescue organization that operates across the entire United States.  I'm actually a foster mom for the organization which means that I would take a Bichon into our home if it needed a temporary place to stay while the organization finds a suitable permanent home for the dog.  Now I realize not everyone wants a dog and that's not what I'm trying to push.  Small Paws spends THOUSANDS of dollars on medical bills to save these bichon's lives.  Yes, they do need donations but I have a much easier way that you can help out.  It's called GoodSearch.  It's a search engine that makes a small donation to a non-profit organization every time you use it.  It's basically the same thing as Google but it's helping the bichons.  So, next time you decide to Google "Lady Gaga" so that you can see her newest fashion faux pas, go to GoodSearch  instead.  Make sure that you have Small Paws chosen as your charity of choice.  Easy Peasy!

Bellagio

Since we live here in Vegas it makes sense to blog about all of the amazing attractions Sin City has to offer.  One of my favorite FREE attractions is the fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.  Each performance is a unique light and water show set to music.  It's very relaxing and can be quite romantic with the right companion.  Unfortunately I have only been there with my camera and holding my camera close didn't make my heart flutter.  The hotel directly behind the fountain is the Bellagio and over to the right is Caesars's Palace.  Interesting Vegas Fact:  Obama stayed at Caesar's Palace after he was elected President in a 25,000 square foot suite.  Can you even imagine a house that big much less a hotel room?  (I will refrain from making political comments on my blog for as long as I possibly can.)  

Does my picture of the Bellagio fountains look familiar to you? Can't quite pinpoint where you've seen it before?  It's at the end of the new re-make of Ocean's 11.

Recent Photographs

  

My Perfect Husband

Hubby sent me a beautiful flower arrangement from Afghanistan.  I'm shocked the flowers were still in such great shape after such a long trip! Ok, so obviously the flowers aren't actually from Afghanistan.  I'm not here to brag about how amazing my husband is...but he is. I've been taking a lot of pictures now that I'm done with school and wanted to share.  

Aflac

The other day I was in my kitchen when I heard a loud noise coming from the back yard.  I thought one of our dogs had fallen in the pool.  Nope.  It seems we had a little visitor stop by to take a rest in our pool.  This duck was in the pool for about 10 minutes just hanging out and swimming around the pool at a leisurely pace.  He didn't even seem to be bothered by the dogs lurking at the edge of the pool.  Luckily our dogs didn't bother the duck.  I don't think I could handle the site of that!  Although I have been having a craving for Peking Duck.                                                                

Can you spot Ella lurking in the palm tree?  Jungle Doggie!

The dogs weren't too sure about the avian visitor in their pool.

                                

Sheep's Demise

While I was busy baking this,


















the dogs were busy doing this.

I baked around six dozen cookies today to send in care packages to Nick and our mutual friend Adam who just got stationed in Japan.  I can't even tell you how long it took to bake all those cookies but when I was done and walked out of the kitchen, I was greeted with the death of little Bo Peep's Sheep.  Apparently the dogs had a hay day pulling the stuffing out of the sheep.  RIP Sheep.  You were a great toy to Casey and Ella before Bristol got a hold of it.  I think Bristol is even smirking in the photo above.  He's proud of the mess.