Home Again

1931 miles, 7 days, and 6 nights complete.  I really wondered how I would feel when we rolled back in to town.  Would I be ready to come home?  Would I get bored being gone?  Would I get homesick?  How would my body hold up to that many days on the back of a bike?  Pulling in our driveway, would I feel that same sense of relief I do when we travel in the car?  The answer is No.  Mostly I just felt dread.  I'm starting to understand why people just take off on their bikes and never return back to that place they call home.

Now obviously I missed mom, our kids and our fur people.  Truthfully, they are the only reason we came back.  When I flipped through the week's worth of mail I seriously thought, "someday there may not be a water bill to worry about. Someday there will be no junk mail.  Someday there will be no address for anyone to send me all this crap".  Someday .......

I really thought I might come home with a better idea of what it's like to just live on the road.  After all, this was our biggest trip.  What I found out is that I'm never really going to know what that's like until it actually happens.  As long as there's an end game that leads back to home I won't be able to fully comprehend.  There's so much we would have done differently with more time.  No complaints though.  For only having 7 days we made the most of it.  Initially the ride was going to be about 1400 miles.  We ended up adding on another 500 after getting ahead of ourselves.  That was mostly me I think.  We'd get up in the mornings and I was ready to be moving back down the road.  One night was almost to long for me to stay anywhere.

After about the third day I noticed that every morning when we'd load up, I'd climb on the back of the bike and feel that sense of "home".  That relief of being back in the place I belong.  That familiar, comfort of being in my own space, even though I was sharing space with the BWG.  That felt like home.  Pulling on my riding boot and jacket, slipping into the seat that my butt has traveled 20,000 miles over the course of a few years, THAT where were I felt "home".  The not knowing of what was to come in the miles ahead of us, that was "home".  Returning to the place I grew up and have lived most of my life felt more like riding back into an extended stay somewhere that really doesn't fit anymore.

I also realized the older I get the more unsettled I become in everyday living.  Things that mattered so much twenty years ago seem more like big steel chains strapping me to things and stuff that have no real meaning in the big picture.  That scares the shit out of me.  Shouldn't I be concerned about retirement, roots, and having a solid life?  What woman decides at nearly 40 years old that she wants to just chuck it all out the window and run?  Me.  I do.  And yet for now, I won't.  Because no matter how much I love the road and the freedom, I love being a mom more.  Yet there's that glimmer that comes with knowing that one day they will be all grown up, families and lives of their own, and my "mom" role will be different.  From looking at where it all stands now, I'm going to need the road to compensate for all that will change once the kids are grown.  I'm going to need the miles to ease the ache of no longer doing the one thing I've spent most of my adult life doing. 

I have lots of pics and stories to share from the last week.  However for today it's playing catch up, reorganizing day to day life, and working my way through a little bit of grief that it all came to an end so quickly.  The miles on a bike are just never long enough.

"Warning! Flash Flood of Worry Advisory Until Take Off"

For whatever reason, there is ALWAYS pre-vacation trepidation.  In the weeks and days prior to us hitting the road there is this little red neon sign in my head, "Warning! Flash Flood of Worry Advisory Until Take Off".  It doesn't help that nearly everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.  It's always a frustrating time for me.  I feel like I "should" be able to just be excited without all the pre-planning worry.  That's what I get for "shoulding". 

There's kids to get organized.  Rallying my village of those who look out for my kids while I'm away.  Making sure everyone knows what's going on and where they will be.  I NEVER leave town without being certain there is a list of family and friends keeping an eye on my kids.  And still, leaving them is hard, even though I know they will be taken care of and cared for.

There's dog and house sitting to arrange.  Writing up a list of tasks for the kids to do that I normally take care of.  There's the packing and making sure all the necessities of road life are prepacked to save time trying to hunt down anything that I may have forgotten in an unfamiliar town.  It's preparing for the unexpected, because everything is unexpected on the road.  There's the financial anxiety that always presents itself in full black tie attire.  I learned a long time ago, if you always wait until you think you can afford to do something you may never do it.  So, I cover all the absolute bases beforehand.  Make sure the bills are paid and rat hole whatever I can for the trip (which is usually not much).  The up side to traveling on a motorcycle is that it is relatively inexpensive.  You can go a long way on little cash.  The BWG takes care of most of this part.  He figures up our ride budget and generally leaves me with little to worry about.  But still I worry.  It's like cramming a year's worth of "normal life" worry into a week.  However, life is not "normal" on the road.

I know that 50 miles down the road, all that worry will have dissipated into the asphalt behind us.  On the road it's simple to just accept what is and roll with it (and if it's not you've chosen the wrong road).  I try very hard to bring that home with me but I have to admit, the monotony of everyday life seems to steal my "oh well, it is what it is, enjoy it anyway" attitude.

This year we opted to do the ride alone.  We will spend six nights on the road roaming Colorado.  It will be our longest time out to date.  We are both VERY grateful for the extra days we will have this year.  More days on the road = more letting go.  Letting go requires traveling light and small.  For us, it means traveling solo. 

I think every couple has their own way of doing things.  The BWG and I have a great flow of working together (most of the time, LOL).  Being on the road as a couple is actually pretty easy for us.  The miles bring us together in a way that everyday life does not.  If you're riding in the rain, you're both getting wet.  If you're riding in the wind, you're both feeling it push you around.  If it's cold, you're both cold.  It's truly a cohesive blend of the unexpected.  You're both experiencing whatever is happening at the exact same time.  The perspectives may not always be exact, but those few differing perspectives only enhance the experience.  It's a dance where neither of us misses a step.  It's simple, it's easy, it's leaving the day to day crap behind and remembering why we even choose to spend our lives together.

That's not to say that we've not had difficult moments on the road.  We have.  But ONLY when one of us forgot the importance of being a team.  That teamwork is CRITICAL when you're traveling on a motorcycle. If someone screws up, it impacts you both.  Just like the rain, wind, and cold.  There have been moments when one of us has forgotten, and we both paid the price.  Through experience and miles you learn.  Screwing up isn't a very good option on the road.  Not when you're a thousand miles from home.

These upcoming six nights will be different.  You add more days and the dynamic of how you do things HAS to change.  It's going to be an adventure.  It's going to be a learning curve.  It's going to be a lot of reminding of what life is really about.  Daily worries will disappear and be replaced with the here and now.  That knowledge alone with pull me through the next 30 hours of worry hell.  That hell is only temporary.  By the time we land tomorrow night, I will have slid right in to my wanderlust and embrace the days of ultimate freedom before me.  It will be an easy embrace, knowing that the freedom is only temporary as well ... for now.

Valentine's Day Conversation Hearts

Every year I give my kids Valentine's.  My mother always did this for me and it just kind of carried over.  This year I wanted to do something a little different than the standard box of chocolates (which I will do too).  Conversation hearts kept coming to mind.  They about drove me nuts for days.

My baby is 10 so I wanted them dainty and easy to wear throughout school and hard played recesses. 

Perfect I'd say.  :)

These will be available, with your custom name or initials, on my site for $25 until January 31.  They are hand cut, hand stamped, and have a little patina added so the letters stand out.  The heart is from Argentium Sterling Silver and the chain is also sterling silver.  You can get this with either 16" or 18" chain.  I found the 16" to be perfect for my little one.  It will allow her some room to grow too.  Love that!

Get your order in before Jan. 31 to take advantage of the special pricing (after that they will be $40), and to get them in hand before Valentine's Day.  They are shipped in a gift box and all ready for you to pass on to your loved ones.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email.  Have a great weekend!

Updates and New Projects

Wow.  Been Busy!  The good kind of busy though.  I finished updating the website yesterday and it's looking pretty good.  :)  I invite you to pop on over and check it out.

Mischievous Creations

I've got some updates for the blog coming too.  Soon!  Promise!

Here's a few new things I've done lately.  They are all up on the site, just follow the links for more info.  :)

Silver and Copper or Brass Earrings

Silver I Love You Necklace

Silver and Brass or Copper Heart Necklace

I am about two weeks out right now so make sure you get your Valentine's Day orders in soon.  :)  I've also got some new projects in the works for sharing here next week.  Until then, have an amazing week!

Permission To Not Be Positive All The Time

Last week an old friend of mine commented on one of my Facebook posts something along the lines of "how great to wake up with such positivity every day".  I had a few moments of panic.  Is that how I come across?  Have I been dishonest with my social media presence?  Am I one of those people who online dresses up their life to be perfect and without flaws?  Holy shit I hope not!  Here's the reality....

I do not wake up positive every day.  As a matter of fact I don't even want too.  I let go of the unachievable goal that everything, including myself, is always going to be rainbows and butterflies.  It's unrealistic and far from healthy.  I also believe it defeats the purpose of the "human experience".  We are intended to experience life on all levels.  Happiness, gratitude, peace, abundance, dosed with insecurities, tragedies, sadness, depression and illness, is all part of the living experience.  It's the duality of the world we live in that helps us grown and learn.  How do you ever learn true happiness without sorrow?  The trick is learning to accept both sides of the duality exactly as they are.  Finding the beauty not only in the happy, but the sad as well.  Being somehow grateful for the growing pains because they ARE pushing you to grow

I choose not to "whine" on social media because I see so much "negativity" online and that shit spreads.  "Poor me" leads to more "poor me" and "oh yeah, well my life is more horrible than yours because of ......".  I don't like that crap so I choose not to go there.  I call it taking responsibility for my own energy and what I put out into the world.  Now that's not to say that when The Big White guy walks through the door at night he doesn't often times hear "so ya wanna know what really pissed me off today?".  Actually, that happens a lot.  I share my stories, my pain, and my insecurities with him because I TRUST him and know that bottling all that crap up is so NOT good for me.  He is my sounding board.  He is my person I can talk about all the "crap" of life with and know that it's ok and he's not going to carry it with him.  He knows me well enough to know I'm just working things out in my own head.  He's also strong enough to understand it's not about him and to not let it effect him.  He listens.  I think everyone should have a "person" to just listen, because again, carrying crap is NOT good!  Having that "person" who listens allows me to work through it and let it go.  It also gives me another point of view that I probably hadn't considered; which leads to more growth.

I allow myself to not be positive all the time.  Even trying to be positive all the time is just too big of a task for me to live up to and I won't put that kind of pressure on myself.  It leaves the door wide open for self abuse when I can't meet that expectation.  I give myself permission to feel the ugly stuff too.  You know what I mean.  All the "if I was really a good person I wouldn't feel ________" (jealousy, shame, anger, fear, guilt, insert what ever 'shouldn't' word here).  I allow myself to acknowledge I'm feeling those things so I can learn from them.  I allow myself to be human.  What I have found in that permission is that it really is easier to let things go.  I'm more aware of the days I'm a little off beat and can be a bit more tender with myself.  I communicate better with those I love.  I understand myself better.  I don't stuff crap which leaves more room for the good stuff, ie. love, happiness, gratitude, peace, and abundance (and yes, to me abundance can be a very big emotion).  I'm also able to look back on a not so positive experience and find the goodness and growth in it.  I often wait to post until after I have gotten to this place so I can share it as positive growth rather than painful whiny growth. (I'm a silver lining human)  I'm just not all about spreading low self worth and bad juju around.  I want what I spread in the world to come from a place of unconditional love and genuine humanity.  We need more of that, not more self pity.  However I also understand the importance of acknowledging the truth about our "not so positive" days.

To some degree I appreciate that online I'm perceived as positive all the time.  However that's not really the truth.  The truth is I'm not, I just don't like spreading my own "blah" around and really don't see what purpose it would serve in helping anyone or anything.  I've never seen anyone get inspired from that behavior and my goal is to encourage and inspire.  Sometimes that requires me to feel the crap too and process my way through it.  So....permission granted to be human.  :)

Lean Into It

2015 is going to be my "Lean Into It" year.  I received a lot of really good feedback on my writing in 2014 and have decided to give it a bit more attention for 2015.  Most of my writing has ended up in some really long facebook posts, so back to the blog board I go. :)  Blogging is not my favorite.  Mostly because it really feels impersonal to me.  That's why I love love love Facebook.  Interaction and conversation rule there.  But I believe I can find a balance and learn to love the blog world a little more.

This quote is really what inspired the "Lean Into it" theme for 2015.  (Well, and the fact that I love a good "lean" on a motorcycle.)  Vulnerability is a tough one for me.  While I fully understand that it is required to make genuine connections with others, putting myself  "out there" has never come easy for me.  I'm practicing.  I'm practicing hard.  More often than not the payoff is fantasmic, but there are still those instances when I'm floating wide open and someone tosses the arrow in my balloon.  And damn does it ever hurt.  With each hurt I learn and grow so it's never a total loss.  But still, it requires practice, perseverance, and courage.  I'm good at those things, mostly. 

So this year will be more leaning, more practice, more perseverance, more courage, more vulnerability, more writing, more creativity, and more of the good stuff.  We will see where it takes me.  :)

Popularity vs. Being Yourself

There's been some pics floating around on facebook that reminded me of my high school days and struck a chord of annoyance.  I'm not going to share the photos due to the fact that I don't have all the information about what they applied to.  However, I am going to tackle a subject that has never made much sense to me.  Popularity. 

I loathe that word.  I always have.  For me it hits that "everyone must like you no matter what button".  I call bullshit right here and now.  There is no one on this planet that was created so everyone could like them.  Not even Jesus Christ himself.  We were created to be what we were created as.  Period!  I do not for one second believe popularity had a damn thing to do with our creation. So why oh why is there so much value placed on it?

I was lucky enough to be raised by people who pretty much let me be me.  That meant allowing me to go through style changes, friend changes, music preference changes, boyfriend changes, hair style changes, etc.  You get the idea.  And never once did my parents tell me it was not ok.  Not even when I was fascinated with Jim Morrison and The Doors.  Instead, they taught me how to respect myself and others.  They taught me what it meant to have dignity and integrity.  AND they let me find myself and who I was without judgement.

I've always marched to my own drum as the saying goes.  There was an incident in high school when my parents were out of town and all my friends wanted to have a party at my house.  I adamantly refused.  I was also tormented like hell for it.  I think to this day some of those people still call me "Cream Puff" because I wasn't willing to lose the respect I had from my parents.  I didn't much care then and I don't much care now what they call me.  I still had what was important, and I still do.

I did my run with the "popular" crowd for a couple years in high school.  It was the single most miserable experience of my life.  While there were some that were "popular" and human, for the most part it was a lot of back biting and oodles of fake crap I couldn't stand.  Didn't take me long to figure out that was not what I wanted for friends.  I didn't want friends who judged what my hair looked like every day.  Or what boy I liked.  Or what music I listened to.  Or who my family was.  Or what church I was a member of.  I wanted friends that would accept me exactly as I was.  So I found those friends and immediately became "unpopular".  It was wonderful!

I'm blessed to have children who realize the only way to have REAL friendships is to be yourself.  While we have had struggles here and there with the "popularity" factor, they are getting the fact that it's more important to be yourself.  They still get teased for being too big, or too loud, or too "weird", but they are building the confidence in themselves to move past the teasing.  The fact is if you can't like yourself you're a sunk ship. And doing things just to be popular will NOT make you happy.   I watch my kids move more and more into the people they are and I also watch the friendships they have grow into REAL friendships.  Ones that will last long after high school when popularity really means absolutely nothing.  No one cares after high school.  And... let me make this point ... if you were a popular jerk in high school you'll be nothing but a jerk when it's over.

My nine year old came home from school one day after being tormented and told she could not be in a club because she loved watching "Raising Hope" and hated "Glee".  To be in the club you could ONLY watch "Glee".  I didn't even have to tell her how wrong that was.  She already knew.  Needless to say she wasn't in the club and continues to watch "Raising Hope" after promptly telling that other girl where she could shove her "Glee" and her club.  Those things make me proud as a mom.  It gives me peace to know that she is comfortable with who she is and will defend it.  I like the fact that she doesn't care if the other kids think she's weird because she loves to wear mismatched socks and go for motorcycle rides.  That is who she is right now.  And who she is is beautiful beyond words.  She listens to herself and fills those needs.  If she doesn't feel like playing for a day, she won't.  Not because she doesn't like her friends, but because she needs some time on her own.  The friends she has know that and respect it.  And she has some pretty amazing friends.  In my book that means a whole lot more than being popular.

My point in all this is, better to be who you are and unpopular than who everyone wants you to be and popular.  Popular is a facade.  It's not real.  It's worthless.  If people can't like you for who you are, you don't need them in your life.  If you are one of those magical people who could be yourself and still be popular, kudos to you.  Most of us were not that lucky.

A Couple New Projects

Quick post today since I didn't make it yesterday.  :)  I was working on a couple of things.

Sold

I was able to pick up a few more pieces of Chevron Amethyst a couple weeks ago and they've been calling my name ever since.  Plus I've been itching to spend some time with my Weller Soldering Iron.  I call it my wand.  I know that's not proper but that's what it is.  Magic comes from that thing!  Even though I now have a torch, which I call my flame thrower, I still love the rawness I get from my wand.  Most everything I do with it comes out with a very boho gyspy feel to it. How can you not love that!

I'm also experimenting with copper a little.

Copper Butterfly with Blue Patina

Can you see that blue patina?  Oh yeah, I'm in love!  This is totally an experimental piece so I'm not sure it will ever make it to the shop.  I've got a couple other techniques I'm considering.  It's either going to get some hand cut words and a coat of resin, or I'm going to torch some solder and do a little stamping.  Who knows, maybe I'll do both. Then there's also the possibility of adding some alcohol ink for more color. At this point it doesn't really matter what I decide, I'm pretty excited about the direction it's taking and that's what really counts.

I will be posting more about our ride.  There's just photos to edit and I've had to manage some priorities.  Time is a bit of a factor this week.  :)  That's the way life goes I guess.

I'm off to pick up this cute girl from Volleyball camp today.

So ready to have her home!  And tomorrow this amazing young man will be home too.  I miss them terribly when they are gone.  Not sure how well I'm going to manage when they actually start moving out.

Looking forward to having a few days of all my kids under the same roof!  We've not had much of that this summer with my boy working out of town.  There will for sure be some benefits to having school start.  I hate school, but all three will be home every night again.  YAY!

Have a great day everyone!  Time providing I'll be back tomorrow.  :)

Gratitude and Curiosity, The Spices of My Life

I took a character strength quiz a few years ago.  It was no surprise to me when Gratitude showed up as #1 and Curiosity came it at #2.  These two elements of who I am are the salt and pepper to my everyday life.

From the time I was very young I was taught that there is something good in every experience.  No matter how painful, there is always something good that comes with the bad.  It comes naturally for me to look for the silver lining, my curiosity wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm grateful for that.

The last couple of weeks have been a bit crazy.  A few days after we got home from our ride I headed out to Callao Ut to visit my son and see exactly what his new job consists of.  The girls and I went with him to do his chores, get the grand tour of the ranch, and visit Indian Farm canyon and some ponds nearby.  It's so so beautiful out there.  Then Monday morning it was time to load up and get my oldest daughter to Volleyball camp.  Lots of traveling for this girl lately.

I had a feeling the day before we headed out to Callao that I was going to blow a tire during the trip.  Sure enough, just before I headed back in to town, I lost a rear.  Lucky for us we were on a dirt road and I was driving pretty slow.  My boy and I (along with some very appreciated help here and there) managed to get the spare on an get me back on the road.  I didn't realize how very lucky we were until yesterday.  After having a new tire put on I noticed that a vibration I had noticed a few weeks earlier was all but gone.  Turns out that tire was coming apart long before I blew it.  There had been several trips, with speeds of up to 80mph, before the blowout.  Most of which someone I love dearly was with me.  Gratitude at it's finest right there folks!  That tire was gonna go no matter what.  My family and I were being watched over to have it happen where it did.  Once again we were all taken care of.  Still today, doing this blog post, it starts the water works.  Great big tears of gratitude.

I don't know first hand the adversities and challenges other families face.  I only know ours and my own.  I know it was my curiosity that led me to the people that mean the most in my life and my gratitude that enables me to express my genuine love and admiration for them.  I know the gratitude for my children and the curiosity to see how my son is doing his work led me to Callao and quite possibly prevented one of us from being seriously injured.  All that along with the divine hand of God protecting us.

Without curiosity I would not be where I am.  I would not be able to call myself an artist.  I would not have found the love of my life.  I would not have the children I do.  I would have never got on a motorcycle.  Never traveled to Canada.  Never experienced all the amazing things I have and I would not live the adventures I do daily.

Without gratitude I wouldn't even know how much I love those closest to me.  I wouldn't understand how blessed I am.  I wouldn't even be able to conceive all the beauty in my life.  Especially when things get tough.  I simply would not understand the gift that has been given to me to live in this body, with these people, and GET to experience all the dynamics of life with them.

So on the days when I'm being tested, when my bank account says I'm so screwed, when things are changing (as they always do), when the darkness starts creeping back in, I take a big step back and allow myself to see the beauty even in the hard.  I allow myself to be grateful for the experience and allow my curiosity to keep my patient enough to see how it's all going to turn out.

Jailhouse Cafe, Moab, and Hole in the Rock

The first morning of our ride we headed straight out of Green River Ut. in to Moab Ut.  The Big White Guy (the BWG) and I were pretty excited given that neither of us had spent any time there before.  I've learned not to put expectations on new places and just accept them as they are.  It makes for a better overall experience.

 Seemed like a good fit for us.  :)  Who wouldn't want to eat at a place like this?

We loved the set up of the Jailhouse Cafe.  It had an outdoor sitting area that was perfect and LOTS of flowers surrounding the cafe.  We had a nice view of the main drag which gave me a little time to really inspect any potential galleries or funky shops to check out.  The food was so so but not worth what we paid for it.  This probably isn't a place we will stop again, but was great for a "one timer" and they had coffee.  I'm all about coffee.  Really!  Especially after waiting for that first cup.

We also hit the Kokopelli Gallery in Moab.  It's a pretty big gift shop/gallery that was full of some pretty damn amazing artwork and jewelry.  I'd totally stop there again.  I will say that in all the jewelry I inspected during the ride some was really really good, and some could have been really really good if not for some shoddy metal work.  I'm a perfectionist.  Big time.  In my world you should not be able to see the seam in a bezel.  I was able to walk out of this shop feeling pretty good about my skills yet realizing it will be a forever learning process.  I always always inspect artwork and jewelry in shops and galleries.  Not to critique their work, but to see where I can improve my own.  I can often times pick up new technique ideas I want to try or see where I need to improve.  Even when I see work I think could be better, I still carry the utmost respect for these artists. This is a tough calling.  And anyone who can put there stuff out there for the masses deserves some respect.  They are trying.  They are in the arena getting their ass kicked.  I will always have respect for that.

I also figured out I can take photos while we are going down the road.  And they don't turn out half bad.  Ya gotta be super careful though. It would be pretty easy for that road wind to take your phone for a ride.

I seriously love this pic.  :)  This was just heading in to what would be our next stop.  One of our buddies that was riding with us is a truck driver.  He had been by this hundreds of times and never been able to stop simply because it's not a good place for a big truck.  We were all pretty excited for him to whip in there.

We parked right by this bowling ball cactus.

I cannot even imagine the time involved in building this thing.  Holy crap.  And everything at this place was all about the details that took thousands and thousands of man hours to construct.  To say it was damn cool doesn't even begin to cover it.  Check out this Jeep!

I think I need one.  And I also think that between the BWG and I we could totally pull it off.

This was a memorial set up for the people who started the place.  At least that's the story I got.

I don't know if they are really buried here or not.  But it was heart touching none the less.  There was even a pet cemetery. 

I appreciate people who love their pets.

This was my sign it was going to be a good ride.  I'm big on signs and anytime I come across one of these suns it gets my attention.  This one actually had a bird nest in the eyes and a baby bird greeted us.  :)  So cool!

Who doesn't love a good outhouse.

I told the BWG we could take this little "pad" home for him to stay in when I'm mad.  I'm not sure he thought it was very funny but I sure giggled.

Seriously, if you are ever headed south out of Moab Ut and you see this coming ....

By all means STOP and check it out!  There's so much more to see than what I've shared here and it's totally worth it.  More pics from the ride tomorrow.  You can click on any of the photos posted here and see a larger version if there's something that deserves a "closer look" as my grandson would say.

Have a great day everyone!

If You Want To Get To Know Someone, Go On The Road

I've decided that if you ever really want to know someone, and how well you mesh, one of the best ways to find out is to go on the road with them.  Really.

This was pretty much a defining moment for me.  We'd hit some rain the day before.  But some rain really doesn't count for much.  Anyone can deal with that.  By the time we got to this cute little veranda we were soaked, and it was only going to get worse.

See, cute veranda WITH live music!  :)  Great place to get out of the rain.

I'm not big on group rides.  At all.  The Big White Guy and I have our own little way of doing things that works for us.  It's gets tough for me to step outside of that.  ESPECIALLY when there is a "camp coordinator".  I hate being told what to do and how to do it.  That just pisses me off, and even more so on a ride.  I've only been on a handful of overnight group rides and there have a few I loved and a few I wanted to pull every hair out of my head and punch someone in the face.

However, this time, our own little way of doing things meshed GREAT with the friends we rode with. (I hope they feel the same.)  You really get to see a whole different side of people when you're on a ride and I either end up never wanting anything to do with them again, or with a whole new level of love and respect.  I feel especially honored to have spent those days with these people.  One I knew very well and love her more now than ever.  The others I got to know better and all of them will forever hold a place in my heart.  They were considerate, kind, respectful, funny, fun, interesting, and independent.  I love those qualities in people.  Especially on the road. 

Crazy Rednecks!  Who says Harleys weren't built for dirt roads?  Try telling that to some old school desert racers.  :)

So really, if you ever want to know if you really like someone, and if they really fit in your life, hit the road with them.  After you spend a few days out in the elements, traveling to unknown places, and running without a clock, you'll know for certain.

More on the actual ride in the next few days. :)  Until then here's the latest piece I was inspired to come home and make.

Click here for more pics and details.

 

It's created from a genuine free form amethyst and argentium silver (my favorite).  Enjoy.  :)

We Made It!

Well, the vacation is over (bummer), and we made it home safe (YAY!).  I've got lots to post this week but lots to catch up on too.  So today is just mostly a quick check in until I can formulate what I want to share into words.

Once again Colorado was AMAZING!

Ouray Colorado

This is just one of the many beautiful views we enjoyed on the 4th of July.  I honestly can't think of a better way to have spent the holiday that celebrates freedom and independence.

Tomorrow I will start sharing what is going to take several days to get through.  It's pretty tough to cram five days in to one blog post.  But for today I'm off to finish my catch up work and a ring I started yesterday.  (Told you I would come home with lots of creative inspiration.  :)  Happens every time.)

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! 

Let The Ride Begin.

We head out for our annual vacation ride this evening.  And all I can say is THANK GOD!  After two days of making absolutely nothing, doing laundry, cleaning, taking care of loose ends, I'm about to lose it!  It's time to get the hell out of here for a few days.  The planning of this ride has been nothing less than a complete pain in the ass from the very beginning.  Note to self: DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!  I don't do well with plans.  It's so much better to just jump on and go!  But, it has finally arrived and by tonight I'll be in full on relax mode.

We did get our Street Glide back on Saturday.  This is our driveway now.  :)

After MONTHS of getting jerked around either by our insurance company or the Harley dealership we had fix the bike.  (It had a mishap with a milk truck back in April, thank GOD the Big White Guy wasn't on it).  If you ever find a business that actually provides great customer service please let me know.  It seems to be a lost art these days.  It's all about people collecting their money and not caring about the quality of work they are getting paid to do.  We opted to keep all the banged up parts and I did get a giggle out of this ...

That's half a Harley Davidson in the back of my Montero.  The only time I can say I couldn't ride it but still took it with me.  The Montero was packed!  Even the passenger seat was loaded.  Other than some pretty serious blind spots it made for a nice riding companion.

We did decide to make a few little changes.  New pipes!  And they are LOUD!

I love the look of the Big Radius pipes on a bagger.  It's not something you see everyday.   I guess we will see if I'm going to hate the added noise this weekend, but I'm guessing no.  There's something pretty soothing about that rumble as you're going down the road.

Even Shorty is pretty happy to have the bike home.  She wanted to wash the Street Glide last night.  We had her start with the Sporty for practice.  I don't care who you are, this is freaking CUTE!  It was a great family night washing the bikes in the driveway.

She's always been pretty fascinated with the bikes.  She's the only little girl I've ever seen that would watch Biker Build Off and Orange County Choppers alone.  She's loved them ever since the first one came home.  :)

So here we are.  The day has finally arrived.  And after all the bullshit we WILL be on the road.  That's the payoff.  I'm praying like hell we don't have any issues with the bike.  There's already been a few little things that the dealership screwed up on, which pisses me right off given the fact that it was near a $10,000 repair bill, but hopefully we won't run into anything serious.

It's hard to say if I will be motivated enough to post anything while we are away.  Usually I have a hard time even taking pics.  I get so lost in the moment I don't even think about stuff like that.  I AM going to make more of an effort to take photos though.  We need better logs of our rides, just for future purposes.

Everyone have a great 4th of July weekend!  I'll be back by Monday, hopefully with some pretty good "tales from the road" and lots of inspiration for new jewelry.  :)

Dream Big and then Dream Bigger

I've always been a master daydreamer, even when I was a child.  It's always come naturally to me.  I didn't learn how to throw that in to action until I hit my early twenties.

Last week there were lots of little things popping up to remind me to keep dreaming.  I get obsessed with my work sometimes.  I do a lot of plotting, planning, practicing, and I forget the magic of dreaming.  Without the magic the rest doesn't count for a whole lot.  Sometimes I need a little reminder.
 It's obvious with my children that I'm big on dreaming.  My shorty surprised me with this.  It was serendipity too.  It came just after I had read a really cool post of facebook, that of course I can't find now, about not only dreaming, but dreaming bigger.

I'm not really surprised that when sat down to work jewelry yesterday this is what came out.  My very first ring! This one is not for sale but I will be taking orders after my vacation.  I was practicing with some scrap and there are some imperfections on the back side I would never send out to customer.  But it's awesome for me.  :)

Dreaming is the magic, it's the motivation that keeps moving us toward our goals.  It's the fuel that moves us in to action.  My dreaming has not been big enough. I gotta go BIGGER.  It's going to require a huge amount of moving out of my comfort zone.  It's not going to be easy, but it will be fun.  I've already started plotting my course of action.  I'll have plenty of time the next week to get some solid dreaming in and put a firm plan together.  Vacation starts in two days and there's no place better to dream than on a Harley.  :)  Then, come July 7th, action will begin.  :)

I also want to share this custom order I did over the weekend.  :)

I did these for one of the sweetest girls on the planet.  :)  This is where the scrap for my ring came from.  I killed it the first go around and had to start over.  No biggie.  However when I get back to the table I'll be doing some work with different shapes.  I think I have the little squares about mastered.

Happy Monday everyone, and remember not only to dream, but DREAM BIGGER!

Simplify

Sometimes ya just gotta simplify.

I really loved the old style of my blog, website, and eTsy shop.  However a couple days ago I realized it doesn't fit what I'm doing anymore.  Too much stuff!  It's drove me nuts ever since.  So... that's what I've spent the morning doing.  Updating near everything! I call it progress.

I'm a little sad to see my cute red boots no longer fit here.  But everything changes right?  I've still got a few tweaks to do but for now I can live with it.  I'd really rather be making stuff.  The thrill of creating graphics and doing blog layouts left me a long time ago.  If it's not "hands on" I just don't want to do it.

I'm getting better at letting go.  Seriously, you really have no idea how much I love those red boots!  But it's time to move forward.  And I'm so so good with that.  I realize there's things that have to be scaled back and scaled down to keep me moving forward.  I've always been really good at hanging on to things I don't need or that don't fit just because I love it.  Attachment.  Too much of that is NOT productive.  Acceptance.  I get it.  If it doesn't fit don't keep it.  That crap just weighs you down.  And it's the old stuff that no longer serves any kind of purpose except keeping you stuck somewhere back there.  I already did back there.  I even loved back there.  But I'm ready for over there.  Over there and back there just are not going to work together.  Detachment.  Peace.  Letting go so you can move out of stagnant waters freely.  I like freedom to move.  I like freedom to go with the flow.  Hanging on doesn't get it done.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  And I hope you enjoy the new look around here.  :)

Flux Is Your Friend ... Sometimes

A few years back I purchased one of Sally Jean's online soldering tutorials. I love her artwork.  I love her pendants.  And the woman can wand solder like a freakin' rock star!  Anyway, there was a ditty in one of the videos where she says "flux is your friend" and every single time I sit down to solder that is exactly what goes through my head.  After yesterday it has a little add on, not only is flux your friend, but not all flux is created equal.

In this post here I talked about the hours it took me to get my solder to flow.  And let me tell you I tried EVERYTHING!  I kept thinking I was doing something seriously wrong.  Going in too fast, too much heat, not enough heat, metal not clean enough, on and on.  All I accomplished that day was making a big mess.  Finally I decided that while I was in fact new to torch soldering, I wasn't completely stupid and there was a big possibility that the flux I was using just sucks and wasn't right for my kind of projects.  I ordered some Handy Flux hoping that would help.  Sure enough, all flux is not created equal and Handy Flux is now my new best friend. And finally a completed project to show...

Click here to see more pics and details.

The tricky part yesterday was that I had previously spent so much time working with crap flux that I am now overdoing it a bit.  But I'm learning and starting to get a really good feel for what works and what doesn't.  I've also figured out that metal is very very forgiving with me and if I screw something up it really doesn't take too much to fix it and often times the mistakes turn out to be pretty bitchin anyway.  Did I mention how much I love metal?  Like to the moon and back a million times over.

Here's another project from yesterday that required absolutely no heat at all (which honestly was kind of a let down since I really love playing with fire).

Click here to see more pics and details.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these earrings.  They have inspired me to try something a little different with my earring hooks, but that may not take place until after my Harley vacation (7 DAYS!  WHOOT!).

Both the pendant and earrings from today's post are available in my eTsy shop if you'd like to check them out.  Everyone have a great day and remember, Flux is your friend but not all flux is created equal.  :)

Hello 38 and Hello Kawasaki!

I celebrated my 38th birthday over the weekend.  And this is what is back in my driveway and runs (thanks to the Big White Guy and my son).

This is really a big deal.  I mean really!

A few years back when I had decided that I wanted to learn to ride myself, and the Big White Guy needed a restoration project, it made it's first appearance in our backyard for my birthday.  At that time it didn't run.  It had sat for awhile and needed some TLC.  We've been working on it here and there over the last few years.  It's been a great project for us to work on together and full of great leaning opportunities for me.  I learned how to pull carbs and tear them down with this. :)

Me getting my hands dirty.  :)

The BWG working his magic.

It's a 1981 Kawasaki CSR 305.  Here's the part of the story that gets really really good.  It was bought brand new in 1983 during a "Sunshine Sale" by the Big White Guy's dad and sister.  Back then motorcycle companies were over manufacturing and there were literally crates of bikes that were a couple years old just sitting around waiting for their new homes.  This one in particular has stayed in the family so there's a lot of sentimental value to it.  My father in law, sister in law, and the BWG (I'm so tired of typing out Big White Guy, from here on out that's what I'm referring to him as, the BWG) rode this.  I haven't heard all the stories yet, but enough to know the BWG rode it quite a bit while helping his dad farm.  Yes, our bikes get used to farm.  Even the Harley's have been out as service and farm bikes.  :)

This last year I did have the opportunity to take the Rider's Edge Course through Harley Davidson.  Up to that point I had only ever rode my son's little 90 that had no clutch.  So today, here I sit, fully endorsed and still needing lots of road practice, (and let's face it folks, just because you have an endorsement doesn't mean you can ride), staring at my new/old ride as I type this post. This is what year 38 is going to bring for me.  One more thing to scratch off my bucket list and one more adventure.

Even though I didn't ever get the chance to meet my father in law, I do know how very loved he was.  Makes me feel a special that the family is allowing me to be a part of this.  I look forward to being able to practice on this, and to the hours of quality time it will continue to bring to my family and I.  Cuz that's where the really good stuff is.

I have to send out a great big THANK YOU to the BWG and my son for working so hard last week to get it running for my birthday.  There's still some work to be done on it and a few adjustments to make but damn it, I can ride!  :)