life's little reminders...

This morning I was having a conversation with my fiance' and it started out the way a lot of our conversations do talking about what bills we needed to pay this week and how hard its becoming to stay afloat with our rent, power, car note, gas, etc..etc..And we both said almost in unison "Thank God we both have a job"...It just seems increasingly difficult to cope with the cost of living..we've been trying to maintain a certain lifestyle for the sake of our children mainly, but with rising prices, that lifestyle has been slowly draining whatever savings account we had...

Anyway, it's funny how when just when you think that your at the bottom of the barrel, God sends a message your way...

During out lunch break, we decided we weren't hungry enough to spend money anywhere to eat, so we would just go return the camera I had borrowed from my mom over the weekend..As we were on the way back to work, we passed an old man standing at the side of the road holding two octopus out. Obviously he was trying to sell them to passing motorists. We passed him and drove for a bit, and all of a sudden I told my fiance' to turn around, that I felt that we needed to use the money we didn't spend on lunch to buy those octopuses for dinner...He looked at me kinda funny but he said, ok if that's what you want. I'm not sure what came over me, but for some reason I just felt that I needed to go back and save that old man from sitting out in the sun...So we turned around and went back. The old man had a big smile on his face when we pulled up and I asked him how much he wanted for his octopus. He said, Ms. I would really like $12.00 because I need to buy a 20 lb sack of rice for my family and it used to cost only $8 but now it's $12 so I hope you don't mind if I ask for $12.00. I was stunned, $12.00 for TWO large octopus??? That was super bargain to me. But he said it like he was apologizing for asking for that much for his octopus. I quickly handed him $15.00 bucks and told him to keep the change. I didn't think his smile could get any bigger but it did. He kept thanking us and said he was headed to get his rice.

As we drove away with our octopus, I couldn't help but to get a bit teary eyed and I looked at my fiance and said...Man, we complain and we stress about having to live on our two paychecks...can you imagine what it must be like to have to live off the land and stand under the sun to sell octopus to buy rice for your family???

We are doing ok for ourselves..and yeah, we might get stressed and frustrated that we work all day to pay off our power, rent, car and other bills...but we are so thankful that at least we have jobs...

So yeah, I got more than just octopus for dinner..I got a reminder that things could be worse and to be thankful for what I do have ... :)

To paraphrase the late, great Mr. John Lennon....

This has to be my favorite card yet...Mainly for the sentiment expressed, but also because the fishies came out so cute!


o.k. so maybe it's not paraphrasing JL, but so what..its funny!

fish, flowers and an occasional ice cream sundae..

I spent most of the weekend at the Flame Tree Festival, but kiddo's were with pops this weekend so when I wasn't looking at art, I was trying to create it...key word "trying"

I thought this card came out cute, but I don't like the way I stamped the sentiment...it looks odd...but I will probably try it again..the big fish chasing the three little ones is too cute! I sure do...
I wanted to do something with ice cream so I could use my stickles...you can't see them in this picture but the ice creams really sparkly close up and the cherry I did with my sakura gel pen so its nice n shiny n puffy...
This was my first attempt at making a card with a different shape...I decided to try a fish bowl...I love the idea but I obviously need a lot more practice....I love this turtle too..I got him from the Internet and then drew him with my Sakura gel pens, then water colored him....He's Turtley cute!
I made this "love you" card for Tia, but then I made another one that I liked better so I sent the other one instead....

Oh Oh Oh, and aside from shopping, eating and people watching at the Flame Tree, I also met Deece for the first time..I saw Missy, but didn't get a chance to meet her (she was giving knitting lessons), and I met Jeff Turbit for the first time too..Sorry, Jeff, I was so exhausted I didn't even bother to introduce my fiance or anything...I just kinda sat there and smiled a stupid smile...Lol...And, on Saturday after Flame Tree I had lunch at 360 where I finally formally met Brad aka Brad in the sand aka Beach Boy Brad...Cool....I think I've met just about everyone that regularly blogs...aside from the very elusive Lil Hammerhead : )~

More from the Flame Tree Arts Festival

Welcome!
Artifacts
See the eel?

This sh*t is BANANAS! (Sorry couldn't help it)
Wanna Ride?
Donna and her Friend from CAHA...Check out his necklace....wow!
The orchids for sale were some of the prettiest I have ever seen!
A star made from a palm frond...I wish I knew how to do this!

Mwar Mwars by Flowerpot Salas
Coconut Jewelry
Pretty cool coral covered float
Mom checks out the coconut curtains
Traditional foods

Recycled wind decorations made from plastic bottles and soda cans...neat!
This looks like someone I know....Hrrmmmm
He picked up his tickets so he can head there to mine pozallon...shhhhh! Spondylus jewelry...very beautiful stuff!

Photo's of the islands

These were all made with tiny seeds...pretty cool!
With all the delicious food n BBQ the festival had to offer, this boy chose to eat a HOT DOG..
Samoan Queen, Alfia
The Samoan's perform a dance number
Aww...too cute!

Last day for FLAME TREE ARTS FESTIVAL!

If you haven't been there yet..today's the day to go..It's the last day and the artists usually put their stuff on sale. Dress lightly cause its HOT HOT HOT! And go on an empty stomach because there is LOTS and LOTS of food!

ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! or whatever sound you make when your mad

The front pages of today's papers made me sick to my stomach!!!! "Senate says no to national monument proposal". "Marine Monument Nixed"....Why? because according to the Senate, the majority of local people will not support the proposal...WTF!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW WOULD THEY KNOW???? DID ANY OF THEM EVER ASK THE LOCAL PEOPLE HOW WE FEEL???? I'M A "LOCAL PEOPLE" AND I LOVE THE IDEA! HAVE ANY OF THEM BEEN READING THE LETTERS OF SUPPORT TO THE EDITOR???? OR ATTENDING ANY OF THE PRESENTATIONS THAT ANGELO HAS BEEN GIVING????????? ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

THANK GOD FOR TINA SABLAN AND I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT SHE CAN HANG ON UP THERE!!!!

AND FOR HEINZ AND ED WHO VOTED AGAINST THE RESOLUTION...

I began reading a book last night that Angelo gave me called "The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts. An excerpt from the book reads,

Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travelers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish. The abundance of marine life described by fifteenth century seafarers is almost unimaginable today, but Roberts both brings it alive and artfully traces its depletion. Collapsing fisheries, he shows, are simply the latest chapter in a long history of unfettered commercialization of the seas.

The story does not end with an empty ocean. Instead, Roberts describes how we might restore the splendor and prosperity of the seas through smarter management of our resources and some simple restraint. From the coasts of Florida to New Zealand, marine reserves have fostered spectacular recovery of plants and animals to levels not seen in a century. They prove that history need not repeat itself: we can leave the oceans richer than we found them.


It literally brought me to tears reading the first chapter of the book because I know first hand what the Author is talking about...I'm not a scientist, marine biologist or anything like that..but you don't have to be to see the changes in our islands waters...In the early 80's the waters in San Antonio were abundant with clams, sea urchins, fish, octopus, etc....You could walk along the waters edge and kick the sand with your foot to reveal hundreds of clams just laying there...You can't do that now..there are no more sea urchins (at least not the edible kind)...Your lucky if you swim for hours and catch a glimpse of an octopus.....so much has changed, and not for the better....

Anyway, I'm just really sad and dissapointed this morning....

and I hope everyone will bombard the new papers with letters to the editor of support for the monument, and I hope Angelo gets a petition going and thousands of people sign it in support, and I hope someone then takes all those letters and petitions and stuffs them down the throats of ........*RELAX* as my son would say * OOHHHSAAAA* (I have no idea what that means but your suppose to touch your thumb and middle finger together when you say it, and make some Buddhist/yoga looking pose...teehee hee!)

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE and HAVE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

Pew!

Angelo gave a presentation on the National Park of the Sea proposal today at the Northern Marianas Insurance Association General Membership Meeting. The overall response of the 11 members was in total favor of establishing the park, and our President vowed to write a letter of support to the Governor from our Association.



While at the meeting, he also picked up the sponsorship check from us for the recently held concert.


AND.........I guess you could say I finally won some blog candy because he gave me the book "The Unnatural History of the Sea" which was up for grabs on his recent blog candy post..
Anyway, since he was nice enough to give me a free copy of the book, I would like to pay if forward to anyone who is interested in reading it (after me of course..he he) Just drop me a comment...

What a cool day! Oh, and I sooooo totally want to go to Maug now!!!!!!

Blog Candy attempt to win #567

I LOVE PAPER!

http://stempelchaotin.wordpress.com/

If you do to, check out her blog candy give-a-way!

Addiction

I get addicted to things fast and then bored with them even faster. My addictions last for varying lengths of time, during which I become obsessed with whatever it is I'm addicted to : ) But eventually the addiction wears off and I'm bored once again.

When Tia was a little girl I got addicted to sewing...I wanted to sew everything and anything I possibly could. I sewed Tia an entire wardrobe of cute dresses with matching pony tail holders..I sewed myself tops, blazers and even sewed the dress Tia wore when I entered her in the Little Ms. Guam Hemisphere pageant. A few months after my sewing frenzy I got bored with it and I haven't sewn a single garment since then...

A few years ago, I was addicted to making mermaid dolls. I have loved mermaids for as long as I can remember and collect a lot of mermaid stuff..One day I decided to make a mermaid doll out of a craft store doll body I had found at Ben Franklin's...Instant addiction...for days every spare moment I had was dedicated to making mermaid dolls. I even had a booth at the Flame Tree Arts Festival that year with all things mermaid in it. I had 6 of my huge mermaid dolls on display and a lot of smaller dolls I had created for sale...but after the Flame Tree Festival that addiction too wore off and ...I haven't made a mermaid doll since...

Now, I'm addicted to card making...I don't know how long it will last but in the span of a couple months I have gone from zero card making supplies, to a whole work area full...and from zero cards to close to a hundred. It's so bad that when I'm sleeping, I dream of different card layouts and ideas for my cards..ha ha ha...

Maybe I have an obsessive compulsive disorder...hrmmmm???

My mom use to warn my boyfriends when she would first meet them not to get too attached to me or "fall in love" because I would eventually get bored with them and break their heart..ha ha ha...and that's a true story..(this one's a keeper though :)~

Anyway, so the point of this blog??? I have no clue, I had just planned on showing some of the new cards I created and I went off on my addictions...

So anyway, I have never "stamped" before and have no clue how to emboss anything yet...Thank god I discovered these "Sakura Gel Glaze" pens that make all my designs look embossed and really pop! I've also never used water colors before or watercolor pencils, so these are pretty much my first attempts..but I think they came out ok (otherwise I wouldn't be brave enough to post them..teehee!)
I'm not done with this one yet. I can't think of the right sentiment for the card. Got any ideas?

I love the bright colors of these two cards..my other cards have been mostly browns and darker colors..

This is probably my favorite of the birthday cards I've made. I love love love the cupcakes! You can't see in this picture, but they have little shiny sprinkles all over them.

I love this frog! I need to practice coloring him in better though..and you can see the little embelishment I did under the sentiment is off...the blue eyelet is way off..I must have been crossing my eyes when I put it on..he he

Comments, constructive criticism, ideas, etc...are very welcome!