We Have A Winner!!

If you haven't already found this amazing lady Bernadette

who has an amazing blog 

Barefoot Hippie Girl

Go check her out!

Shes' the winner of this lovely apron that I made from a vintage pillow case.  You can find more of these aprons for sale here; NoDots Shop

AND While you are out and about on the internet today   You should check out what's going on over here; Reno Tattoo Mecca It's my new lil writing project that I started with my sister and I'm pretty excited about it.  Have a great weekend beloved reader. 

A Little Promo Time

Howdy Beloved Reader- I miss you. I don't have time to blog but I just wanted to say that I wish I did. Instead of blogging let me show you what I've been up to in pictures.

I took this picture this morning on a little site called Instagram. You may have heard of it.  I have been on this picture taking app long before it got bought by Facebook. Long before it had sponsors. Long before anyone even knew it was there. And today I just shot my 2500 picture on there. That's a whole lotta insta- grams ;) wouldn't you say? If you have time to look at 2500 pictures and can come back here and tell me what my first photo on there was there might .. No, there WILL be a prize in it for you!! I posted the pic with this lil blurb; "It's good to be reminded that no matter how fierce the storm may blow, at the end when the wind dies down and the rain stops Gods promises are true and HE is beyond faithful."
Here's where you can find me on there; NoDotss Just so you know its where I check in (social media wise)more often than anywhere else. Shh.... don't tell my blog ;)
When I'm not taking 2000 + photos I've been preparing for the McQueen Craft Show coming up. I now have two children that attend McQueen High School and so it gives me great pleasure to be a part of this craft show, because all the proceeds go to the students of McQueen.  Here's some of the stuff you might see at my booth if you come out and see me this weekend.

Vintage Pillow Case Aprons, pattern and design by yours truly ;)

Sweater Felted Headbands modeled by the LOVERLY Chloe Nashelle, 

And Embroidered Hoops with some pretty darn funny quotes on them.

Those are just a few teasers of what will be at my table.

I'm super excited to be teaming up with my friend Jami this year.

If you live in the Reno, Nevada area the show is Friday, Sat, Sunday and I hope to see you there!

McQueen Craft Faire Info

Well, now you know why I have been ignoring you.

I hope to pay closer attention to you next week sometime, but in the meantime here are some other great blog reads that I favor; 

In Praise of Leftovers- This blog not only gives you great recipes, but lovely inspiration from my friend Sarah who lives in Washington.

Caterfly Lara- This soon to be a (very well known author) is not only an amazing encourager to any woman but a salt of the earth kind of gal! Lara and her blog will not disappoint. 

Mothering with Creativity-   This momma of 4 is not only creative but she is down right, AMAZING!! If you are a stay at home mom, and or a home schooler you NEED to read this blog. 

That's all I've got for now Beloved Reader...

Happy Reading !

Follow Me Wednesday

It is my goal in life to have as many blog followers as a girl can possibly imagine.
Some set goals for marathons, triathlons, ME I set blogging goals.
My goal for this week is to get 30 followers by the weekend.
I would be twitter-patted to get more, but I will settle for 30.

Help me would you please?

If you haven't clicked that beautiful blue button to your right there that says "Join This Site" please do.

Please. I said Please.
Pretty Please with a cherry on top.
Oh maybe you don't like cherries, then I would say Please with an Olive on top.
Now that's my kind of PLEASE....


Ok so maybe it's not my only goal but it's pretty high up there.

Recently I found a group that shares this goal, so I'm joining forces.
If you followed me over from there, thank you thank you thank you.



And if you haven't joined me yet then I don't know what else I can say but, Please.
What's a girl got to do to get more followers around here?

How many times did I say please?

Things Are Changing Around Here

I don't know if you have noticed my faithful readers, but things are changing around here.
(Things are also changing around here @9567, but I won't be posting here @beautiful life about @9567 anymore because @9567 has it's own blog now.)

I am of course speaking of the design of my blog and the few little things that I have done to this place. This year in August will be the 6th year anniversary of beautiful life.
In honor of 6 years of me having this live journal I have been making some changes to spruce up the place. I hope you like the subtle changes, and don't worry I won't be getting all crazy like about it. Just a few changes that won't take away from the words on the page.

Here are some of the things that have changed.

I have labeled every blog so they are all connected and you my readers can now easily find the topic you might want to read about on the right over there. You might need an hour or two, but if it's a rainy afternoon and you don't have anything better going on(which for your sakes I hope you have something better) then give it a whirl. If you are faithful reader chances are your name is on the right and you have been labeled. So go... go right now find your label.
If you don't find your name over there and you have been a faithful reader, but not a faithful commenter, than shame on you... comment, comment now and I will give you a label all your own.
Of course maybe you don't want to be labeled. My Giant hates to be labeled... that's why I have so many labels for him :) Snicker, snort, giggle!

The other change I have made is that I have created pages. To be quite honest I am not exactly sure why "pages" are necessary on a blog when the whole blog is in fact a "page" but whatev! I have pages now. One is about this blog and what I talk about here. The other is the first blog explaining my new blog 9567. How many times did I say blog? How many times can one say blog without smiling. Blog, blog,blog! Try it. Did it make you smile.

And finally, I added permanent pictures. They are the cast of characters in my life. I may refer to them by other names like Meisha, Lo Lo, and Zed in the future so I put them there as a little reference to help you out:) I'm a giver!

I hope you like the changes. I hope you know how much I appreciate your comments, encouragement, and support. Thanks for keeping up with my life. Ya know, I consider this my year long Christmas letter. I hope you know, label or not you are important to me. And please by all means comment about the changes, do you like them?

Oh and I almost forgot come August we are going to have a little blog party to celebrate my 7th year of blogging,so consider this your official invitation. Blog Door Prizes will be given!

Blog Rolling and Stolen Moments in NV

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is roll through all my favorite blogs.










On any given lazy Saturday, I love to sit with a good cup of coffee and roll through all my favorite blogs. This is "blog rolling" or so I have deemed this silly Saturday morning luxury.



Over the years blogging has been such a sweet escape for me, and if I were to choose only one internet luxury
ie:
myspace
facebook
picture websites
etc.
I think I would choose blogs.


Recently one of my favorite sites slogoin vw's got removed, and I know it might seem silly but it really bums me out. See, I like to check in on my friends, family, favorite authors, favorite chefs through the venue of blogs.
I like to see pictures, read the stories, copy the recipes, steal the ideas from blogs.


I also love to blog myself. I have said it before and I say it again over the years this blog spot has become my own personal therapy sessions. Sorry for those of you who have had to weed through the more therapeutic sessions/blogs than others.


Well, despite losing one terrific blog( Tasha if you are reading this COME BACK COME BACK!!) I have now added a new blog site that will for sure be regular stop on my Saturday blog rolling trips : )
Here it is in case you are interested in a great new sight as well;
http://caterflylara.wordpress.com


Happy Blog Rolling Friends!!

The Written Word

I love writing.
There is something so beautiful to me about the written word.
Words that are spoken are important for sure. But to me they are words that would normally come out of ones mouth, and then maybe fall on ears that would remember what was said for a day or two.
Maybe if the listener was really paying attention the words are ones that a person would carry for a lifetime, but often times the words we say fall on deaf ears never to be thought of again.

Ah... but the written word.
Well, that is an entirely different beast all together.

Good or bad the written words are forever held in time.
Right now I am finishing up a book club choice called People of The Book, by Geraldine Brooks
It's a fictional book about a book restorer who is working on a book that was written in the 1400's.
The book she has been commissioned to work on is an old Jewish prayer book called a Haggadah.

Anyway, the story is amazing!
The story within the story of this book is what has got my wheels turning.
She finds in her restoration process stains and marks in the book, and then has them analyzed for further clues as to where the book got it's origins. The amazing part to me is that we have books like this.
Books that have withstood the test of time.

One of my favorite older books that I own is a book called "Cooking for Two, by Janet M Hill copyright 1909.
I bought it from my neighbor June.
It has articles in the front and back about "Being a Good Housewife" or "When Mom lets us Cook" or " Some Cleaning Secrets " and all of these and her little scribbles here and there are what make the book that much more precious to me.
The story within the story.



June was an older Scottish woman who to keep her mind sharp and get some social interaction, every Saturday morning she would open up her little garage on Minnesota St. in Carson City and sell some of her treasures that she had carried for a lifetime.
I would go down every Saturday and buy only one or two things. Usually one of her salt and pepper shakers and one book.
We would talk for a bit, mostly I would ask her a lot of questions about her life and listen carefully to this very wise wonderful woman.
I miss June.
But I carry a little piece of her with me in the books that I bought from her.

I have often thought now that we have become so digital and everything is out here in cyberspace rather than on paper what treasures will be lost when we no longer have access to this.
There are ways, I know that you can turn your blog into a book and I really have thought of doing that for my children to enjoy someday.
It most certainly is a record of events.
An out loud journal of sorts.
It makes me wonder, why we all love living out loud so much?
Those of us that blog anyway.
To me its therapeutic.



When I first started blogging it was because I was a stay at home mom who desperately needed connection to the outside world.
Now I blog because I have grown to love the blogging community and the process of getting things out of my head and onto the computer screen.
I am thankful for the written word.
I am glad that there are others out there just like me who treasure it as much as I do.

For those of you who are just like me, I leave you with this the quote at the beginning of that old cookbook;

"The best things are nearest... Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life."


True, true indeed.

That and next time you are at a rummage sale, don't look over those old books. There might be a story within a story.
Oh, and when you own a book be sure to make your mark on it, who knows someday those little notes that you write down might be the very thing that makes that book so much more special to the readers of the future!

Happy Reading AND Writing Friends!

I have to say that I have had absolutely no inspiration for a blog lately. It could be because I have been gone every single weekend for the last month and that doesn't leave much time for the imagination. 

 I thought about blogging the trips I took but then that's kinda like sending one of those postcards from Hawaii that says, "Wish you were here" which to me is just plain rude! 

(Speaking of rude, Bon Qui Qui has got the number on that word, "RUDE-  Don't interrupt" if you don't know who this character is you are seriously missing out) Put in Bon Qui Qui on YouTube and prepare to enjoy.

I was home this weekend though and still no inspiration is on the horizon. Some would leave their blogs unattended for a while but NO, not me.

I will sit here and type about nothing-ness just to have something new to look at on my blog.  I think I might share some fun new pics though.

- So the first would be SF-Giants ball park, I do believe that I could become a fan over time. Not more than the Bo-Sox's mind you but I have to say that SF has a pretty great park going on and I want to visit this place again in my lifetime. 

-Second pic is of me and Mo in our bus celebrating 14 years of marital bliss!! :)

-Third pic is Auntie Jen and Lo with blue bubble gum at Isaiah's graduation. Chloe is 9 now. She has this one last year before I have 2 kids in double-digits.....Help me Jesus!!

-Fourth pic Savy Rae Rae is a 2 year old now. I am just not okay with all these birthdays that happen so fast this time of year. We have Chloe and Em in May, Jeremy and Savy in June, and Isaiah in July. It hardly gives this phlegmatic time to breath.

-And Finally Emmers is now 11 and let me tell you something ....well I am practicing saying No and not caring that if her looks could kill me I would be dead 1000 times over, that is all I can say!! No really she is such a good girl it's just this pre-teen stuff not sure how I feel about it.