Sisters....

More of the family photos I dragged home from my "vacation"...

This is me and my big sister, Esther....

There's an 8 1/2 year difference between us and that made for very little sisterly bonding when we were younger. By the time I was beyond carrying around and having my diaper changed, she was a mature "young adult" with her own life.

All that has changed now that we are grown up (AGAIN, those words!) and have families of our own. I can truly say I am very lucky to have my sister in my life. She rocks!

She's also a very talented jewelry maker, and if I had any pictures of her pieces I would post them. She does the coolest things with wire and stones! Not sure that she has updated this lately, but take a look at her website ....

Bittersweet Good Bye....

Revisiting that vacation I just got back from....

It was a bittersweet visit, that's for sure...

The kind of "vacation" where you finally say goodbye to one parent and realize that you'll be doing the same with the other soon enough...

The "getaway" where you finally realize you are "all growed up" and there's no escaping everything that comes with those loaded words...

My Dad passed away in September, 2006. While we had the traditional funeral soon after, I feel that I truly let him go on this past vacation. Dad was an avid outdoorsman and would sneak down to the Gulf Coast of Texas whenever he could, to get some fishin' in. That's why it was just so right that we released his ashes into the Gulf of Mexico, a place where he loved to fish. Not your traditional resting place, but SO right for him and the man that he was.

Rest in Peace, Dad....I'll be seeing you again someday.....

Oh yeah (just in case you didn't figure it out) and that's him and "mini-me" up there in the cowboy hats....It was a family vacation and I was 2, I think (based on the date stamped on the photo)....

And Since We're Talking Website....

How about a FREEBIE to celebrate the new site?

Just click on the link above to visit my site. The FREE PATTERN button is to the left towards the bottom. While you're there, think about signing up for my newsletter on the main page....

ENJOY!!

Website News....

That's right....my website is now open, with lots of decorative painting patterns and much more to come! I am still loading goodies (seems to take me forever!), so keep checking back often.

Just click on the cute little store front above to visit....

I've Been tagged....TWICE!

This is what I get for not blogging in so long....multiple taggings...ouch (didn't hurt- not really)!

Kathi and Tonya each got me!

Here's how it works...

You must list one fact (sorry, even though I've been tagged twice, I'm only giving one!) that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

Allrighty then....my middle name is JOANN....

J...sorry Kathi but you know I love the JUNK too! Gotta go with that!

O...is for OLD, as in OLD JUNK...not even going to touch any personal age references!

A....is for ART...all kinds, all shapes and forms....ok maybe not that "look what my monkee fingerpainted" kinda of"modern" stuff but anything else works for me!

N.... is for Norah Jones...I love to listen to her music while I'm painting...

N...is for Not , as in "NOT another N"!?!

Well there it is...NOT so inspired, but I did it!

Gone Fishin'....

June 28th? Really? Two MONTHS ago? No-that can't be last time I blogged! Well I guess time does fly when you are having fun....or the kids are home for Summer. Take your pick......

That's my son Connor in the red shirt, with my niece and nephew, fishing from the back porch of our rental bungalow in Port Aransas, Texas a few weeks back. We reluctantly got home Sunday night. DC is beautiful but anyone who's ever been far away from family that they want to be close to will understand my homesickness for Texas....yes, already!

This is a picture of Mustang Island a day before Tropical Storm Erin came through. Yes we were there, but it pretty much bypassed us. There was enough rain to put a damper on our beach time but not enough to do any real damage to the area. Port Aransas and Corpus Christi got lucky with this one, considering the amount of flooding it created throughout the US.

This was the view from the front porch of the house....you can tell how humid it was, even the lense was steamy!

Last but not least, this is what happens when you give a bored teenager free reign with the camera! We were waiting for a table at Moby Dick's, a colorful local seafood restaraunt, and this is just one of many "interesting" shots....lol!