Not Canoe Weather Yet...

But it appears that Taylor is ready! Thank you for the photo Julie!

Grant-Tastic!

I just found out I got a research grant! Yay! A small one but a good one none-the-less. It is called the Jake Duerksen Memorial Scholarship, and it is to aid in my research travels this summer. I am going to Washing DC to the Smithsonian for about 3 weeks, just to look at bird skeletons. Hopefully this will be the last bit of data collection I need to write up my thesis. Yay Yay!!

Missing my MAC

Why am I so sad that I do not have my laptop with me right now??? Maybe it is because my life revolves around it? Maybe it is because I programmed Photoshop to work just perfectly so? This computer, that I am working on right now, although much more expensive, in a way, *sucks*
I don't have my MAC because Renato borrowed it to do a presentation tonight. I trust him with my MAC, but I still wish it were here... I think I will go down to the Microstore and look at groovy accessories that I could pimp my MAC out with...when it returns to me...

My First Store

My Etsy store is up and running. BlindCaveFish (also in the bar on the left) I don't have a lot in it *yet* but we shall see. If you have any suggestions on things I should change/add/emphasize I sure would appretiate it. This is my first online store, how exciting!

Lariat

I really like wearing this piece. it's 40 inches long, made of seedbeads, copper, and has a great Shiana silver focal. It even got complements at work, and that NEVER happens!

I've become a really big fan...

Of Penguin sweaters!
See: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3713118# for the whole story

Wishbone Cartoon

Excellent!

Fun bracelet

Fun Fun Fun!
It makes noises!
I am trying to set up an Etsy store, and this one will probably the first one on it (since the photo turned out so well) Once I figure it out I'll make a link to my store!

Bunny Cookie Disasters

I decided to make my students sugar cookies shaped as bunnies for their final lab exam, it's not until the 25th so I wanted to get them done early. Last night I started...Rolling out dough, cutting out little bunnies with my little bunny-shaped-cookiecutter. All done, over 100 of them for sure! But then I tried one... YUCK!!! They were soo gross! I looked back at the instructions and found my fatal flaw, I left out the baking powder! (sigh) now I feel defeated by the bunny cookies for sure. I think I need a few days to recover

I made these earrings..pretty copper!

Hey Sal, how you doing?

Sal: I Looooove sheepskin. Oh yah! I'm sooooo comfortable

Just scratch behind the ears and I'm in kitty heaven.....sooooo comfy.......zzzzzzzzz

Organization Sensation

Because I usually make jewelry in front of the TV in the living room, I've created quite the swath of gadgets, beads, and tools all over the floor. They are organized in a very complicated way in which the average passer-by might think that it was a 'big mess' or a 'pile of junk'. Renato seems to have gotten fed-up with my big pile (the cats enjoy sitting on top of it) and has come up with a great solution.... He made me a storage cabinet. It's a very cool design: all of the shelves are mounted on a pipe in the corner, so they can all swing out individually. There is also a spot on the top for the really heavy things. He brought it home last week and we have finally finished it (stained and varnished) so that it can be used to its full potential. I'm very much in love with this cabinet, I'm going to fill it tonight. These 2 photos show the before and after...

Hoops and Studs

I made these earrings last week and forgot to post them. Silly me! The first pair are stirling silver hoops with little blue lace agate bead dangles. The second pair is my first attempt at 'stud' type earrings. They are pure silver, with a lot of texture

New Family Members

We now have fish! The Gallery was not able to take care of the fish tank they were given so we took it... Now they are ours! I know fish are sometimes messy and easy to ignor, but I think that we can handle it, Ren and I both have a lot of fish tank experience! So here are some pictures of the tank. The fish we got were 4 feeder goldfish (unnamed due to the fact that I can't tell the difference between them) and a plecostomus, whom I've named Franco.
Sal and Inertia really love their new fish tank. Cat TV. They stare at it all day. The tank is big enough that they won't break it, and the top is covered so they can't get in. Inertia really loves the fish food, not to eat... just to smell. She attacks the bag when I feed the fish. It must be kept out of reach or she will rip into it and cover the floor with fish food (eww!)
Here is Franco:

Here's Sal drooling over the fish:

Here's Inertia drooling over the fish food:

Life Without a Truck

The truck was a gas guzzler, and it was loud, and way too big, but I do miss it.
We got lots done with this truck, however:
1) Went to IKEA (as I've already given away)
2) Groceries gallore!
3) Recycling gone
We didn't get some stuff done on my list, like cat food and litter, and the market. But we had a limited time with the truck, we did, however, get some unexpected things done:
4) Pick up the cabinet Renato made for me (I'll explain in the next post)
5) Pick up the fish tank (yet another fun story)
We also acquired 4 gigantic rubbermaid bins, which will come in handy soon enough... You can never have too many rubbermaid bins!

What a fun day at IKEA!!

we got:

and these for me:

and this for Renato (properly named RENS)

some stain to make some of our wood stuff match

This was the major purchase

it will soon be taking the place of the dreded CHEST FREEZER. And, yes, we still have it. I've made ads for it and people have called to look at it but no one seems to want to make the effort to just look at the dang thing!! It will go soon...very soon...