With all the countless ways that I’ve tried to help my husband

provide for our family, this is probably the hardest. I have been growing my hair out for almost 4 years (after practically buzzing it off after a bad perm…I just moved to Utah and wanted to fit in, I guess) and I’ve discovered that there is a market for human hair to be used in wigs.

I’m not sure what price my snail’s-pace growth of hair will fetch, but after browsing through several “sold” ads, I’m thinking that I should get a minimum of $200 for my beautiful layers. I just posted on www.HairTrader.com if you’d like to check out my ad.

Planning a Jungle-Themed party? Know someone who absolutely LOVES monkeys? Well, check these out! These monkey cookies are available exclusively through 350 Cookie Lane.

On Saturdays, I like to be able to go out and do something with my family. However, the need for yard-work prevailed and I ended up pulling weeds out of the garden while Aaron mowed the lawn. Tomorrow is a new day, though, and we’ll probably end up at Salem pond…and hopefully come back with a couple fish.

This man has become my new favorite author, alongside Stephen King, my first love. I recently finished reading Jurassic Park and Lost World, both of which were read in under two days. I highly recommend that you pick up these classics and throw what you know from the movies out the window. It is a totally different experience. I don’t know why the characters were changed so much for the movies, but the story itself is somewhat different…more so in Lost World. Here are some major differences:

Jurassic Park:

-Dr. Grant and Dr. Sadler were NOT an item

-Dr. Grant WAS very fond of kids

-Ian Malcolm and  John Hammond are MUCH more eccentric

-Lex is younger and much more strong-willed (nice word for stubborn little B*)

-Tim is the older brother and is the brains, although still very interested in dinosaurs

Lost World:

-John Hammond is NOT involved. Period.

-Sarah Harding is a more predominant character, as others

-Arby and Kelly’s characters replace Ian Malcolm’s kid from the movie, and are not related to anyone

-Lewis Dodgson from Jurassic Park (the restaurant scene with Nedry), is another character that makes his way back for this book

My next Summer read was The Andromeda Stain. Although this book was interesting to a point, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the last two. I personally felt bogged down by all the medical jargon, and had a hard time weeding out what seemed to be a lot of useless information, like the graphs and print-outs from the research conducted by the scientists in the story. As a graduate of Harvard Medical University, I have no doubt that Michael Crichton considers what he wrote to be layman’s terms. However, me being a student of art and design, found it a little difficult to follow at times. If you’ve ever watched the tv show, Numbers, you might get the same feeling from this book. Like when Charlie (Numbers) discusses the theory of Mathematics and then gives an example of real-world use for us to easily understand. Anyways, if you like end-of-the-world type stories, as I do, or a little suspense and detective-work, you’ll enjoy this book. At 330 pages, it’s a lite read for the Summer.

My next book that I will be reading is Ice Station by Matthew (Matt) Reily, the first in the “Shane Schofield (Scarecrow)” series.

This year doesn’t seem to be going so good, as far as vacation goes. First off, we usually have the Ward family reunion during the summer months. This year it was canceled on account of the high gas prices and the distance that everyone would have to travel. Second, my family (parents and grandma) usually go to the Riviera Beach and Spa Resort in Dana Point, California, during September for our week-long vacation…that too was canceled. What the heck is going on? Will we even take a vacation this year?

One way or another, we’re taking a vacation. Even if it’s just gonna be our little three-some. Maybe we’ll save it for our anniversary or Christmas? Luckily with Aaron’s new job, he gets two weeks of paid vacation on top of paid holidays (what a great blessing), so we get to take more time off than we’re used to. I can’t wait to have something to look forward too! It gets a little dull around here and I love it when we have a trip planned, especially back home to California

Yesterday, I spent a couple hours sitting in the Mormon Handicraft room on the second floor of the Deseret Bookstore. It was 98 degrees, and my husband and son and I had just come from the Farmer’s Market in Salt Lake City. It was nice to be inside after our long stroll through the park. I felt a little uncomfortable at first, as I climbed the stairs, realizing that I had come here alone and feeling a bit nervous about conversing with a handful of strangers after becoming something less than a social butterfly from my two years of being a stay-at-home-mom. Still, sitting at a 8ft plastic table, in a matching plastic chair, surrounded by neat rows of coordinating fabric and fascinating women, I learned to tat.

This was my second class. I originally had been invited by my mother-in-law to attend with her step-mom, friend and herself. My husband graciously offered to watch our son while I was gone. This time I was dropped off at the store on Fort Union Blvd. and proceeded alone.

As soon as I sat down, I was relieved to see a new face and someone who was (I assume) close to my age. I didn’t feel quite so alone anymore. She took notes and I listened to how the teacher, Heidi Sugden, helped her to position the shuttle in her hands, wrap the thread around and make the first double stitch. That was me last month, learning how to take my first steps in tatting.

I was now anxiously awaiting my turn for instructions. All month long, I had been dieing to know the next steps to take so I could start a new project. When she got to me, Heidi patiently helped me through the process to join my stitches and start my first project…a small doily. I was elated, to say the least. I had learned a new skill. I had learned something that I could teach my grandma and not the other way around. I was proud!

So, all last night I stayed up and finished my first doily and started on my own pattern (that I found online, of course) to make a bookmark. I’m still working on it now, but I will post pictures as soon as I’m done. I can’t wait till the next class where we will be starting on snowflakes. If you are interested in joining the class, it will be held at 1-3pm on July 19th and August 9th at the Deseret Bookstore in Midvale: 1110 E. Fort Union Blvd. The best part is, it’s free of charge and all you have to do is call (801) 561-8777 to register (they will transfer you to the Handicraft room).

Hope to see ya there!

After carefully considering my options and the number of items I would like to offer, I thought it might be a good idea to set up separate shops for each of the major categories of crafts that I want to create. For example, I want to do crocheted blankets, scarves and hats and will therefore create a shop solely for the purpose of displaying those items. In another shop, I would like to have my oil paintings and offer custom portraits from pictures. And finally, a shop to act as an extension of my online bakery, 350 Cookie Lane.

So for a while, I may not have everything ready. But, when I do I will definitely post about it here…

Stay Tuned!

I just joined the Etsy.com crowd! Don’t know what Etsy is?

“Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade. Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade“

So, now that you know what it is, feel free to stop by my shop. I will have everything from my special bakery items to original oil paintings and artwork.

This week, my project has been to put in our garden (finally). Last year we made two 4 foot by 4 foot planter boxes out of 2×6s. We tilled the ground and laid them out. Then, we changed out backyard plan and they had to be moved again. So there they sat…all winter long and into the spring. Not anymore!

By the end of this week, I will have completely installed the boxes and planted everything that my in-laws gave us to plant. So far, we have tomatoes, swiss chard, acorn and butternut squash, and “Big Boy” pumpkins. I still have to plant some random herbs like catnip, rosemary, chives and some others that I can’t remember off the top of my head.

The part that makes me the proudest, is that I did it all myself. I dug and tilled the ground, mixed in some peat moss and compost, and planted and watered all my new baby plants

Stay Tuned!

Wholly crap! I’m so freakin’ tired today. I feel like I’ve been running non-stop for the past week. It started on Saturday when I stayed up until 5am to finish baking cookies for some samples. I made 50 cookies in 8 different designs. I’m still trying to finish decorating them.

So you might be wondering why I’m staying up so late just to make cookies. Well, I own 350 Cookie Lane and I will be displaying my products at a bridal expo in Orange County, CA on June 1st. I wanted to make some more samples for my wedding category, since I have so many cutters that I haven’t used yet. I can’t wait to get them all done!

So far, I’ve finished the Wedding Gowns, Frog Princes, and Monogram Hearts. I’ve completed a new design for the Wedding Cakes (still need to get pictures of it) and I’m almost done with the brand-spankin’-new Sandals. It’s really exciting for me, ’cause I’ve been designing cookies for my business now for two years and I have a total of 46 designs! My goal is to get up 70 designs by the end of this year.

Come check ‘em out!