Six Degrees of Blogeration....

You know the theory...that you're connected to everyone in varying degrees of knowledge....up to 6 degrees? And the whole "Kevin Bacon" six degrees theory (that you can connect to Kevin Bacon somehow, some way, within 6 degrees...I'm your connection now, lol...but I'll have to explain THAT connection later)


Anyway...there was a comment on my post about my friend Cindy...from a friend in my past. As with most things military, you make friends, you bond over common interests, and then you move on...and sometimes, you forget about people you knew. NOT because you didn't care, but because sometimes, you just have to live in the present and form friendships where you are. You know...bloom where you're planted. Because if you aren't tying to enjoy the garden where you have been planted, your roots will never form deeply, because you'll always be reaching out and not forming the bonds you need to survive where you are.

But I love how my friend came to me...by "blog surfing". She was over at the blog of one of her friends. Somehow, she ended up finding my blog through her friend. I was trying to figure out how she got me. This is as near as I can figure. I visited my friend Kim's blog (she's a new blogger, by the way, so if you want to give her some blog love, click on the link in the sidebar - Ketchup), and then followed the link on one of her comments. This was Sharon...and apparently, Sharon is a friend of Suzanne's...and even though I SAW pictures and comments from Suzanne, I did not recognize her! But she somehow remembered me.

I was happy to spend the better part of an hour reading her blog and getting caught up with her life. And now, I have TWO Suzannes listed on my Blogroll!!!

Six degrees indeed. Amazing how you can find out your connection to others!

** Kevin Bacon Connection....

My sister knew a man named Brad Delp, who was the lead singer for a Beatles' cover band called BeatleJuice. (Brad also sang with the band, Boston, if you're familiar with them). Apparently, Kevin Bacon was a good friend of Brad's. Thus my connection: My sister, Brad, Kevin....and so, if you "know" me, you have your connection!)

Hungry?

If not, I hope the following pictures will make you reconsider!

Chicken with pineapple salsa, Rice Pilaf, mixed greens, from The Radisson - Junction City, KS
Crème brûlée cheesecake from Washington Street Grille - Junction City, KS
Tiramisu from Washington Street Grille - Junction City, KS

Now, lest you think I am the one who ate all of this, I ALMOST did. Actually, the chicken and the cheesecake were mine. The tiramisu belonged to a friend of mine. We belong to OCSC (Officers and Civilian Spouses Club) and had attended the monthly luncheon. Several of us were still quite hungry after our meals (at The Radisson), so we headed out for dessert. I couldn't help but photograph my friends and the desserts. One photo didn't come out quite as nice as I would have liked; it was Double Chocolate Oreo pie. I'm posting the picture simply because even if it is not quite CLEAR, you can STILL discern the absolute yumminess of it!
Double Chocolate Oreo Pie from Washington Street Grille - Junction City, KS

Notice the wonderful presentation for the desserts. Sometimes, just getting a NICE LOOKING plate makes a huge difference. Can you see the word "Enjoy" written in caramel on the tiramisu? Washington Street Grille has a small selection of desserts, but I have had (or tasted) most of them now, and they are ALL fantastic.

And of course, the company was wonderful too. They all balked at getting their photos taken. I took them anyway! Here are two of the gals I was with:

This is Sandra. I met her in Germany. Her kids and my kids are pals! We have hit the milestone of our youngest children being the age that our OLDEST children were when we met! Our birthdays are a day apart, though we call her the baby of our "group"...since her husband, my husband and I are all at the 40+ mark, and she's not there yet!
This is Cassandra...she didn't want me to take her picture at ALL. This was taken on the sly, and I think it is beautiful. She is a lovely woman with a ready smile and lots of energy. She has to, she sells Partylite and has young kids!

We had one other friend there, but her picture came out even blurrier than the oreo pie! She was laughing and she moved just as I clicked. I will get a picture of Lori eventually! Lori is quite an amazing woman. She is the mother of SIX children! Her husband is a nurse in the Army, and recently, Lori was accepted into the Army nurse corps and will be attending training at the end of March.

First of the First

First day of FIRST GRADE!!!! I actually was a bit teary-eyed today. Last year I was all about the "Go girl, go! Have FUN!"...but this year choked me up a bit...don't know why!

Anyway! LOTS OF PHOTOS:


The HAIRSTYLE


The NEW SHOES


yes,, they ARE Tink...what ELSE?


The BACKPACK (once again, TINK)


Official "First Day" picture


The Bus Stop Gang: Hannah, Will, Tre, Ty


The "New Shoe Review" (those of you old enough will recognize the play on words from an OLD TV program...anyone?)


Patiently waiting for the bus


BYE, MOMMY!!!!

The mother of all RAK's....

RAK: Random Act of Kindness. A term commonly used in the online scrapbooking community. Got something you don't want or need? Send to to someone else who might need it, randomly. Or not so randomly, sometimes (many online scrapbooking groups have lists for RAK's...kind of takes the fun out of it sometimes)

RAK's consist of anything from a strip of stickers to stamps, cardstock...heck, sometimes, RAK's don't have a thing to do with scrapbooking, but just what you love - like CHOCOLATE!!! Whenever I send an RAK, I really enjoy putting it together, working on what the person might like and hoping they enjoy it. I always enjoy receiving RAK's too.

I got an RAK this week. Mind-blowing.

Some background: Many years ago, I "met" a woman online by the name of Kim M. She had just started a yahoo "club" (back when they had both groups AND clubs) for military wives scrapbooking. I had thought about starting the very same thing, but she beat me by about an hour! I was the 1st person to join her group, and she made me a moderator. We worked well together, transitioning into a "group". I became a moderator for another group she owned, Army Spouses. We had a lot in common. She was in Bamberg, Germany...but she left just before I was ready to go. We have NEVER met face to face, though.

Kim is an awesome military wife - she provides a lot of information that new spouses really can use...she's well informed. She's a great mom, a great scrapbooker...just a wonderfully great person. When I was preparing to move to Germany, she made the awesome decision to open an online scrapbooking store. She asked me to be a designer for her. I was one of the first she considered. I was honored, and I said yes. But I had no idea what to expect. I was in the process of moving and was worried that I wouldn't be able to do what was needed. Kim was great, giving me the leeway that I needed (my supplies were still in transit) and working with me. She was familiar with my work and gave me product she knew I would use. I designed for her website for just about 2 years. I believe I am one of only 2 who stayed throughout the entire time she had her store open.

In January, she made the decision to close her store. Her husband was deployed, and she wanted to be able to be there for her boys. She not only gave up her online store, but she also gave up a job at home, too. I was sad to see the store go. But we all agreed that she needed to do what was best for her family.

Last week, she emailed me, telling me she was going to send me a package...a few leftovers from the store that didn't sell. I expected a small box, a few sheet of papers, some embellishments. What I received was NOT expected.

This box weighed about 40 lbs...seriously! Packed to the top, bulging, LITERALLY, at the seams.

There was so much stuff in there!

Basic Grey (one of my favorite lines) boxes, paper, letters, monograms, tags....there were idea books, embellishments, fibers, stickers, paper, paper...just TOO much to single out! There were layovers, vellum and a color wheel....just incredible. Kim told me I can pass along whatever I can't use...though it's going to be hard NOT to keep it all. Luckily, there are duplicates of a lot of stuff...SO, that being said:

Tell me about one special person you have met online, but never face to face...and how this person has changed your life. If you're a scrapbooker, let me know. I will send a package of stuff from my RAK out to one person, selected randomly, from all those who comment.

Kim - there is no way I can ever thank you enough for all of this.

lots of photos

I finally off-loaded a bunch of pictures from my camera (needed a new battery) and have been making little collages (thanks for the great idea, Suzanne!) to showcase them.

Of course, I have since discovered that I only have 1-3 gig of hard drive space, thus causing my photoshop to hang up over and over. Time to buy an external hard drive for those pictures - betcha that'll clear out about 20-30 gig of my drive, lol!

Anyway, wanted to share the pictures with you. The first two are from Milford Lake. There is a fish hatchery, butterfly house and a small birds of prey/game display. Some of the owls live inside the tour building, but I only photographed the ones outside. I was fascinated with the bobcats. One started to chase a leave and came right up to the fence, allowing me to get those great shots!


These are some of the birds of prey they had displayed. Most are injured birds. The golden eagle (top right) was HUGE...this picture doesn't do him justice. He was missing half a wing.
The red-tailed hawk (top left) was gorgeous. The little hawk in the middle (I forget what kind) just posed so beautifully for me. I only wish I was able to get the camera up close enough to get the fencing out of the way like I did for the other birds. The owls were great too. The middle left photo is hilarious because the owl on the left has his eyes WIDE open. The middle right photo is a grand horned owl...so majestic looking. And the kids played a little and had a great time.


These next photos are from Hannah's kindergarten concert "The Months of The Year". I didn't get too many pictures because I was video taping. Scott wasn't able to be there, so I wanted it taped for him. My friend Sandra came and brought her girls, Ashlyn (who had the day off from kindergarten on post - different school system), and Alyssa (who is in love with Scotty, and vice versa!)



The last series is from Sunday - it was incredibly hot (almost 90°!), so I took out our little pool, put it on the driveway, filled it up, and let the kids have a blast. I rigged a mini-sprinkler with the hose, too. I don't have ANY pool pictures with Scotty, so I took several of just him. We invited the neighbor boys over (Will and Tre, but Tre chose not to be photographed - he's EIGHT, you know!). It was a fun day for me too. Will's mom and dad, Lori and Tim, came over and hung out and just had a nice day. I'm glad I did it...now the weather's gone batty again and it's raining and YUCKY again.....