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New CD from Bob Ryan & Terry Hann

Posted in About Me, Creativity, Family & Friends, I'm a Fan of..., Music & Musicians, tagged , , , , , , , on April 20, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Rough Mix CD Cover by Bob Ryan and Terry Hann

You may have heard that my husband is a musician. He’s been playing music all his life and loving it.

He was in a band when he was younger that made an album and now we get to announce the release of a long awaited 2nd recording!

Bob Ryan does all the song writing and Terry adds instruments to the arrangements.  They’ve played at local venues as well as at the Tucson Folk Festival and Sunnyslope Art Walk.  They’re anxious to share their love of music with everyone.

Hope you’ll love it as much as we do!

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobryanterryhann

Pass it along to your friends!

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Guest Posting at Lemon and Raspberry

Posted in About Me, Blogging, Contests, Creativity, I'm a Fan of..., Learn Something New Every Day, Photography, Scrapbooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lemon and Raspberry Blog

Hey friends,

I wanted to share with you that I had the chance to do a guest post yesterday on Lemon and Raspberry’s New Year’s Day Blog Party!  What a fun way to start 2013 and so much available in one day.

Amy always provides lots of information and motivation for all kinds of business and personal projects throughout the year and this is the way she kicks it off.

You’ll find tips and inspiration about Memory Keeping, Blogging, Photography, Travel, Marketing and just general creativity and productivity.  She also provides creative prompts for journaling the details of your life.

My post is called Memory Keeping with a Purpose. If you have a few minutes stop by and say hi to Amy, check it out and tell her that I sent you. She’s running a free mini online workshop and several giveaways as part of the New Year’s Blog Party, so sign up to participate or for a chance to win one of the prizes.

Amy T Schubert

 

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New Project Life eBook

Posted in Contests, Creativity, Family & Friends, I'm a Fan of..., Learn Something New Every Day, Scrapbooking, tagged , , , , , , on November 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

For those of you who are scrappers I thought I’d pass along this info about a new eBook that my daughter, Amy contributed to.  It’s all about ideas for a scrapbooking/memory keeping system called Project Life.

Here’s a link to more info about Project Life.

Project Dig Deep Table of Contents

And here’s a link to the new eBook that was just released.  It’s called Project Dig Deep. Amy’s offering a discount, as well as a drawing for a free copy of the eBook.  But hurry, it won’t last long.

Dig Deep eBook Contributors

She’s the one in the top left corner.  So proud of her!

Do you enjoy memory keeping or scrapbooking?  If so, you might enjoy Amy’s blog, LemonandRaspberry.com.

What’s your favorite memory keeping method?

 

 

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My New Blog is Launched!

Posted in About Me, Blogging, I'm a Fan of..., Learn Something New Every Day, Travel, tagged , , , , , on October 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Well, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting here much lately. I’m sorry to neglect this blog, but I’m happy to announce that I’m launching a new blog focused on Traveling with Purpose!

You can find out all about it here!

I will still be posting here occasionally, but for the near future my focus will be on getting the new blog going and building a community there.  I would appreciate so much if you would help me in any or all of the following ways:

  1. Visit the new website and share it with your friends who love to travel
  2. Sign up on the site to receive blog updates and/or the TWP newsletter
  3. LIKE us on Facebook
  4. Follow us on Twitter
  5. If you are aware of any great organizations that offer either service-oriented or short-term educational travel, please let me know so I can contact them and share about them on the blog.
  6. If you have suggestions or ideas for the site drop me a line as well.

I look forward to staying in touch both here and at TravelingwithPurpose.com.

View from the Mitiwanga Pier

Just for fun, here’s one of my favorite pictures from a recent trip to my hometown of Vermilion, Ohio. This is the view from the pier just a short walk from where we stayed in the neighborhood of Mitiwanga. It’s filled with “beach cottages” of all shapes and sizes. So quaint and nostalgic. I love being there. (click the photo to enlarge and see my sister on the steps)

And below is the cottage that we rented for an impromptu family reunion. We took the trip with my 88-year-old mother who wanted to go back one more time to visit our extended family (mostly from my dad’s side). We had aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd and 3rd cousins and friends all drop in for open house gatherings. I’ll bet we had nearly 50 people there on a single day.  What a blast it was!

2012 Mitiwanga Cottage

Thanks for stopping by and for visiting my new blog and helping me get the word out. I appreciate you so much!

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The Chairmaker and Friends

Posted in America the Beautiful, Creativity, I'm a Fan of..., Learn Something New Every Day, Ohio, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »

While on a recent trip to Vermilion, Ohio I stumbled upon a quaint little shop that stole my heart.  Something about the warm wooden furniture and the subtle colors of the plaid woolens at The Chairmaker and Friends made me feel right at home.

The Chairmaker and Friends Store Vermilion Ohio
The owner, Garrett Aston creates amazing hand crafted Windsor chairs, tables and other finely detailed furniture and accessories.  The kind of pieces that stop  you in your tracks and make you want to run your fingers across their glass-like surfaces.  The quality and beauty of his works of art make my heart ache with appreciation.

Antique Table at Chairmaker

Wouldn’t you just love to have this cubby cabinet?  I can think of a million things that I could use it for.

Cabinet with cubbies

Katie Allman also offers a variety of reasonably priced rug hooking classes at the store.  They keep a stock of gorgeous woolens that can be purchased for the classes or other uses.

Woolens at Chairmaker and Friends

Rug hooking room

On the way back through the store I spotted these adorable patchwork cats.  Since we recently said goodbye to our favorite cat, I decided I could “adopt” one of these for our home.  The navy one now greets us when we walk in the family room.

Patchwork Cat Pillows

Take a look at this wood working shop.  A carpenter’s dream, I’d say.  I love the smell of sawdust in a place like this.  It reminds me that furniture is being lovingly created one unique piece at a time.  Garrett also mentions that he holds wood-working classes. How cool would that be!  He also offers refinishing and various types of furniture repair and restoration for your cherished heirlooms.  Chair building workshopI only wish I lived closer to this shop.  It’s 2000 miles away from my home, so I won’t be able to get there very often.  If you live in northern Ohio I hope you take advantage of your proximity to this wonderful shop and maybe take a class or two.  It’s a gem!

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James Taylor at Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Posted in About Me, America the Beautiful, Colorado, I'm a Fan of..., Music & Musicians, tagged , , , , , , on August 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »

On July 23rd I had the extreme privilege of attending a James Taylor concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside of Denver, Colorado.  If you’ve never been there, you should make plans to go.  There’s just something magical about listening to music outdoors, especially on a cool Colorado summer evening.

2012 Red Rocks View from the top

James Taylor just happens to be the ONLY musician that I like enough to sign up for his mailing list.  He’s so amazing!  You know, its not that he’s an outstanding vocalist or flashy instrumentalist (although he sure knows how to put a band together), but his songs come straight from the heart and he’s authentic.  Every time I’ve gone to one of his concerts, I feel like I’m sitting in the living room sharing good music with friends.  And since my husband is a musician, I really know what that feels like.  It’s pure joy!

So, several months ago when I got an email saying that he (James, not my husband) was going on tour and would be playing in Denver, I talked my husband into getting tickets for my birthday (which happens to be in July).  Our son lives in Boulder and we knew we’d be going to visit him sometime, so we planned to be there for the concert too…AND since I’m on JT’s mailing list, we were able to get tickets before they went on sale to the public, so we were in row 14!  The photo above is from near the top of the amphitheatre.  That’s a long way up!

This is the walkway that leads to the seating area.  It’s a bit of a hike, but not too bad.

2012 Red Rocks Amphitheatre

The pics below show our location in relation to the top and to the stage.  It was a perfect spot!

2012 Terry & Nancy at JT

2012 Nancy & Terry view to the stage

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take in my camera, but we did have Kevin’s pocket camera to take these pics.  He and his date, Hattie went with us too.

Despite the fact that it looked stormy that night and was a bit blustery, we didn’t have any rain (like they apparently did the following night) and the concert was only affected by wind sometimes blowing through the microphones.  Oh, and one of the roadies had to sit next to the drum set to make sure the cymbals didn’t get blown over. (you’ll see that in the video below)

James and his band performed amazingly well considering the distraction from the wind (and potential storm).  I did notice though that he’s reminding me more and more of my dad.  You see, he’s tall and thin and built like my dad and he’s bald like my dad and this time when JT was “dancing”, with his somewhat awkward moves that make him so endearing, I could totally see my dad.  I LOVED it!  So he’s not only a wonderful performer, but also a fond reminder of my dad, who passed away over 30 years ago.

Just to give you a little taste of what it was like at the concert I recorded one of my favorite songs, “Sun on the Moon” with Kevin’s little camera.  The lighting is way too hot on JT and my hand is a bit shaky, but I love the rhythm, arrangement and the harmonies in this song.   And check out the cheers when JT starts “dancing”.  Gotta love this guy for his down to earth performances. Nothing flashy or overly choreographed here.

The last pic here is the band taking their bows.  It’s hard to tell, but it really is James Taylor and his band.

2012 James Taylor Final Bows

Funny thing too, we found out later that another couple we know from Phoenix was at the same concert.  Only we didn’t find out until after we got home.  It was a spectacular night and makes me smile just thinking about it.  Wish you could have been there with us!

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Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado

Posted in About Me, America the Beautiful, Colorado, Family & Friends, I'm a Fan of..., Learn Something New Every Day, Summer, Travel, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2012 | 2 Comments »

 

Did you know that the tallest sand dunes in all of North America are in Colorado?  Seems odd, huh?  I would think it would either be along the coast somewhere or maybe in the Arizona deserts, but actually you’ll find them in southern Colorado.  As you may know, one of the items on my Bucket List is to visit every National Park in the U.S.  On Friday we visited Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona (more on that soon).  Yesterday we visited Great Sand Dunes National Park!

Here’s the view from the visitor center!  Isn’t it gorgeous.  When we were there a monsoon storm was coming in from the east so the dark clouds cast shadows on the mountains and the dunes creating an ever-changing canvas of colors.

Great Sand Dunes National Park Colorado

Summer’s not the best time to visit the park because the temperatures on the dunes can reach the mid-100′s (F).  We were smart enough to stay away from walking on the sand, but since we were in the area, it was still nice to get a preview of the place in case we want to come back and visit again sometime.  If you have a chance to visit the NPS website, you’ll see that there is really quite a bit to do around there besides just running around on the dunes.  Looks like there’s a seasonal river, lake, waterfall, wildlife, beautiful fall and spring color, camping, hiking, etc.  I definitely think it’s worth another trip.

You can explore any part of the 30 square mile dunefield you wish; there are no designated trails in the sand. And there’s even a sand dunes-accessible wheelchair available for free loan at the Visitor Center for those who aren’t quite as mobile.

Here are a few of the photos we took during our short visit.  We saw Pronghorn and Mule Deer as well as the expected chipmunks and squirrels.  Let me know if you’ve been there and what was the most fun for you during your visit.

 

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The Oink Cafe – Breakfast. Lunch. Bacon.

Posted in Around Arizona, Eating Out, Family & Friends, I'm a Fan of..., Phoenix Metro, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Hey friends,

I haven’t done a restaurant review in a while and I’m hesitant to do this one because The Oink Cafe is close to where we live and a review will just mean that more people will go there.  I’m kinda liking the place and not sure I want to share it with everyone in Phoenix.  But…I think you’ll like it and my mom taught me not to be selfish, so…here we go.

The Oink Cafe in PV

When driving down Cactus Road a few months ago, I noticed that one of the retail spaces near Paradise Valley Mall had a new sign outside.  This spot seems like a wonderful location, but has been somewhat of a revolving door in the past years, not retaining businesses for any length of time.  Hopefully, this will be the exception to that rule.

Anyway, you may remember that a few months ago I won a year’s supply of bacon so that treat has been forefront in my mind lately.  While driving by this new restaurant, the tag line made me do a double take. It reads “Breakfast. Lunch. Bacon.”   What!  A restaurant that features BACON!!! Wow! I’ve got to take my husband there!

This weekend we had the perfect opportunity to try it out.  We had family visiting from out-of-town and when we described it to them they were excited about the adventure.  So, our party of 5 headed there around 9:30 on a Saturday morning.  Phoenix restaurants can get pretty busy on weekends for breakfast, so we weren’t sure what we’d find.  We checked in at the hostess station, then moments later 2 more family members arrived, which increased our request to a party of 7.

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

Maple Bacon Donuts

While we were waiting we noticed all these amazing looking baked goods.  We didn’t get a chance to try any, but will definitely need to do that next time.  Take a look at all the bacon options.

The staff handled our larger party graciously.  And fortunately while it was already pretty busy, there were a few tables that cleared just minutes after we arrived and we were seated promptly.

We perused the menu and ordered a nice variety from our friendly food server.  Here are a few photos to enjoy.

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One item of note:  At the time of this writing, they have 5 different flavors of bacon (applewood smoked, honey cured, sugar cured, peppered, &  jalapeno).  I enjoyed the applewood smoked bacon with breakfast and someone else at the table got an order of the jalepeno and gave me a taste.  It was delicious, especially for those who like that extra little kick of heat in their meal.

We mentioned to the server that they should have a flight of bacon that people could order to try a piece of each different kind.  She said that they have it, but upon checking the menu we couldn’t find it.  Hopefully they’ll add it to the menu or maybe to the list of “specials” so folks can check out all the different flavors.  Plus even though their logo is a pig, maybe they should consider adding turkey bacon for those who want to try to be a tad bit healthier.

Overall, everything was very tasty!  From the time we ordered till the time we got our food was a bit long, but since we were busy visiting it wasn’t too bad.  We’ll chalk that up to being relatively new to the breakfast scene and hope the timing improves.  It’s definitely a place that we’ll visit again…maybe for lunch next time.

Hey maybe they should offer an ultimate BLT with all the flavors of bacon!  I’d order it.  How about you?

What do you think ?  Does it sound promising?  Do you think you’ll try “The Oink Cafe” if you have the chance?

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A Kiva Loan in Honor of Int’l Women’s Day

Posted in About Me, I'm a Fan of..., tagged , , , , , on March 8, 2012 | 2 Comments »

This past Christmas our son, Kevin gave us a gift card for Kiva.  With Kiva you can empower people around the world with a $25 loan.  I wanted to take some time to choose the person that I would grant my loan to, so I just got around to getting to the website.

When I arrived I learned that I could choose a borrower based on things like Country, Gender, or Sectors such as Education, Agriculture, Health and Housing.  My first choice was female.  I’m learning more and more about the lack of opportunity and freedom for women in many countries in the world, so this was an easy decision.

Next I started looking at various countries.  Some of the first ones that I searched for, like China and Bosnia didn’t have any borrowers listed. I’m assuming that may be because of a lack of access to the people.  Then I looked in the Middle East since I recently visited there, and found a good number of women searching for loan money.

After browsing in several sectors, my final decision was to select this woman named Maram, who lives in Jordan and is seeking a loan to help finish her university education.  How exciting to be able to help someone in their educational pursuits and hopefully future independence.  Plus when she repays the loan, I’ll be able to lend the funds to someone else.

If you’d like a free trial to try out Kiva and grant your own $25 loan, visit the website here.

And did you know that today, March 8th is International Women’s Day?   IWD is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday.

Here are a few facts to consider:

  • Over 1 billion people live in extreme poverty - 75% are women and girls.
  • 76 million primary school-age children are not in school - 60% are girls.
  • There are 876 million illiterate adults in the developing world – over 65% are women.
  • Women produce half the world’s food, but own only 1% of the world’s farmland.

So in honor of the day, say thank you to a special woman who’s contributed to your life and success, then empower a woman in an underserved part of the world by granting a loan at http://www.kiva.org/women

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Blogs Worth A Writer’s Time

Posted in Blogging, Creativity, Family & Friends, I'm a Fan of..., tagged , , , , , on March 7, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I am such a proud mom!  We recently learned that our daughter, Amy T. Schubert (don’t you just love that smile) and her blog “Lemon and Raspberry” was mentioned in this article below that showcases just 16 favorite blogs and websites that are worth a visit by writers.

The magazine that this came from is none other than “The Writer“, which is also celebrating 125 years of publishing – WOW!  It’s in their March 2012 issue and available at your favorite magazine stand or bookstore.  We picked ours up at Barnes and Noble.

The first image is page 1 of the article.  After you click on the image, you should be able to zoom in by clicking again if it’s not large enough to read yet.

The Writer mag article

The second image below (click to enlarge) is Page 2 of the article.  In the right column, contributing editor Stephanie Dickison mentions Lemon and Raspberry as one of her top 3 websites.  Awesome!  I love this, especially since her blog doesn’t really focus on writing, but many other facets of the creative process.  Way to go Teegan!  I just LOVE having creative kids.

Lemon & Raspberry article in The Writer

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