Day 2 in Sedona - part 1

Our first morning with a toast to the beautiful Sedona view

More photos of our Sedona celebration trip and once again I'll let the photos speak for themselves, along with a little explanation. 

Rocki and Mark waiting for the tour to begin

We started out the day with a trolley tour that took us into the Dry Creek Valley, further up the mountains to see the breathtaking vistas of Boynton and Long Canyon.

Sedona Arizona, Uptown

Just one of the breathtaking views of the red rocks from Uptown while waiting for the trolley to depart.

Sedona, Arizona

Another amazing view while on our tour.  One of many reasons we love Sedona.

Sedona, Arizona

The low clouds made for a gorgeous scenic photo op. 

Sedona, Arizona

Mark jokes around with me of my photo choices - like these "weeds" as he calls them.  I think the photo came out pretty cool myself.

Sedona, Arizona

I tried to get Mark to grab a couple of those rocks to take home.  He declined, darn it!

After all these years and we're still madly in love!

Scenic break over and back into the trolley to continue on our beautiful tour.

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona, Arizona

One of many vortex spots in Sedona - is this not gorgeous!

Sedona, Arizona

We're coming back here after lunch to hike that mountain - I'm feeling me some vortex vibes!

The trolley tour was relaxing, enjoyable, breathtaking and pure bliss.  From there we went to lunch at The ChocolaTree - that will be my next post.

Peace,
Rocki

Fun first day in Sedona!

Leaving for Sedona on year 1 celebration

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves, but will add a little more info about our trip that was perfect from start to finish!

Hello Sedona!

After an enjoyable drive up, we made it safe and sound to the red rocks.

Perfect view of Snoopy Rock - 3rd formation down

Mark is taking in a peaceful moment with one of the beautiful views from our motel.

I think I found my new ride.

We headed into town to do a little fun walkabout.  If you've never experienced a jeep tour in Sedona, the Pink Jeep tours are a total blast!  We didn't do it this time, but maybe next visit.

"Ya'll call this a coffee mug?  What a teaser!"

Mark, Mr. Coffee Aficionado, didn't know quite what to think about the little coffee mug.  His is about 4x that size.

Pink Javelina

We kept running into pink everywhere we went.  Like these pink javelin's in front of the Pink Java Café.  Pink AND coffee - perfect!  

Beautiful Buddha Garden in front of Andrea Smith Gallery

We went to the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village for lunch and then walked around.  This is where we met Andrea (my hug friend - see my YouTube video here for more info) and her hilarious husband Gary.  I still have to do a video about what Gary did to me as it is too funny! 

Andrea's gallery was so very beautiful!  She not only has her artwork there and other artists, but one of the most magnificent collection of Buddha's - a stunning variety from palm size to life size.  Wish I had a few extra bucks to spend...maybe one day.



Gorgeous life size Buddha statue outside of Andrea's gallery

One of the many views surrounding Sedona

After our little walkabout we hopped in the car and enjoyed a peaceful drive.

Peaceful Sedona

 

A welcomed rainy drive back to the motel

After dinner we headed back to the motel and called it a night.  The next day was filled with breathtaking beauty, fun and...well, you'll see when I post the next set of pics in a few days.

Peace,
Rocki

Long time no blog

Short and sweet...

I've been enjoying my summer, how about you? In between working and such I've been swimming laps just about daily, bicycling (stopped last month though - too hot!), enjoying time with my honey and now on my biggie vacation in Florida - with my dad who'll be celebrating his 69th birthday! Go dad!

Okay, I said short and sweet. Hope to blog more when I return.

Oh - so you're probably wondering what the heck does the photo have to do with this post. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I just think that little guy is so cute! That is Mark's finger pointing at the little critter when we went to the Wildlife Zoo a few months ago. Okay, so they are both cute :)

Chow for now.
Rocki

VACATION TIME!!

Quickie little post as I'm on VACATION in California for a MUCH needed break!

What will we be doing?
- staying in a no frills bare minimum motel across the street from the beach
- slothing at the beach
- building sand castles
- whale watching cruise
- more slothing
- taking our bikes & riding along the beach walk
- swimming
- getting sand between my toes and in my swim suit
- sea shell hunting
- eating on a budget
- more slothing
- doing absolutely nothing I don't want to do

There. That pretty much says it all.

Happy Summer!
Rocki

Name That Cloud

I've been meaning to post some pictures from our Florida trip in December, but... So I'll be posting a few of my favorites here and there.

Yep, that goofy gal is me driving my brothers boat while he co-captains. We had a total blast on that trip! It was the middle of December and we experienced rain, cold, sunshine and beautiful warm days. We'll be heading back there again in August for a whole week and I get to drive a BIGGER boat then!!

Okay, so now to the Name That Cloud. I love clouds, especially ones that resemble real life. Take a good look at the below picture and DO NOT scroll down yet. Can you make out what it looks like? Give it a few minutes and it will hit you.

So while we were visiting, we pretty much stayed in and on the water. So many beautiful places and beaches. Now that Chris has a bigger boat with cabin (and the all important bathroom!) we can travel even further into the ocean! Oh and he's going to teach me to drive that boat as well, that we have nick-named after me. He didn't actually name the boat "Rocki", but just for fun he did.

Oh yes... the cloud. Any clues yet? I have a couple other fun cloud pictures that I took on our trip, but will only post one of them because the other one is... well... let's just say it's on the nasty side! But we all got a good laugh out of THAT one!

As mentioned in my previous post, we're pondering moving to Florida. This is no joke, we are seriously looking into it as Mark & I are ready for a change. However, there are many factors right now that we have to consider first.

Cloud? Well? Any thoughts? I would love to say that the winner gets a pot of gold or "one meeeeeelion dollars" or a free shopping spree in my shop, but how would I know that you didn't cheat and take a peak at the below picture, hmmmm? ;) Okay... the moment of truth. Last chance before I disclose what it is! I'll give hints along the way as you slowly scroll down:

- animal

- large

- mammal

- hates mice

- loves peanuts

- grey (or gray, whichever you prefer ;)

- trunk

- zoo

Got it now?

Yep, it's an elephant! Come on, you can see it too, it's not pink! I'll post the other one next week - the clean one that is!

Happy Day!

Rocki

Huntington Beach & Sea Shells

Some very cool findings from our walking the beach!

We had the most fun & rewarding vacation in a very long time! Instead of trying to cram our entire vacation into one blog, I'm going to do little blogs with pictures of some of our most memorable times.

Yep, that's me above after arriving to Huntington Beach. Oh and yes, that is pink hair you see - I FINally had it done! I still have the blonde and dark look, but had some very cool pink highlights added. Kind of like Neapolitan!

Anyway, this was the day before we returned home and Mark & I agree - it was the BEST way to end our fabulous vacation. The sun broke about an hour after arriving to the beach and the weather was perfect. The water was a bit cool at first, but was nice. I have more pics to share later, but for now these are it.

Mark enjoyed relaxing and watching the waves hit the beach. It wasn't very crowded at all, so it made it even more enjoyable.

This is our shell collection. I was itching to walk the beach and find shells like I did when I was younger. Of course, back then we found a bigger variety of shells, but what we found that day was amazing.

I have another picture of me holding the very cool Sand Dollar I found, but it isn't loading right - keeps turning the pic upside down. So, I'll try to add that one later.

If you go back up to the top picture, not only will you see the Sand Dollar I found, but also a very cool broken shell. The broken piece looks like a heart! I love hearts and even create them in my jewelry findings, so finding that broken shell was a very cool find!

We had so much fun doing many different things. I'm still not sure if the Whale Watching Cruise is #1 or relaxing on the beach is. In either case, this vacation was AWESOME!

More later as it's time to get to work and as one of my customers said "back to the real world!"

Peace, Rocki

Knotts Berry Farm Day

I had a couple pics to use for today's vacation blog, but after several tries to upload it via blogger it did not want to work. So, please imagine the entrance to Knotts and a goofy pic of me & Mark on the little kids train :)

Both of us agree that Knotts Berry Farm is not like we remembered it to be. We were both young children the last time we were there and it's simply not like we remembered. Yes, we know times change and all, but the nostalgia was gone - at least to us.

I can remember my parents and grandparents taking us kids there in the 60's - back when it was still part farm, playing with the farm animals, watching the piano playing chicken, trying to figure out the the old mind shack that when you walked inside you leaned to one side and the big giant turtle you sat on - a real one! Fun times.

Now with the area around Knotts all grown up, buildings, shopping areas and other entertainment venues, guess they had to do something to keep up the pace to keep the locals and other visitors coming.

I'm not saying we had a bad time or anything of that nature, as we did have an enjoyable few hours while there. Although we didn't stay the entire day, it was another good day of our vacation spent.

We sure do miss the old Knotts - and the piano playing chicken!
Rocki

p.s. This morning we are going on the Whale Watching cruise - again. Hopefully this time it will be smooth sailing :)

Today's Whale Watching Cruise

Another sort of quickie post of today's vacation events:

Above is the boat we went on for the 3 1/2 hour whale watching tour. Notice the name of it? It is my youngest brother's name (who lives in Arizona as well). Chris is the one who suggested we go on a whale watching cruise as this is the season for it and lots of whales are seen daily. There are many of these tours around, but how ironic that the one we called happened to have one of their boats named "The Christopher" - too funny!

Okay, not that funny I guess as our 3 1/2 hour cruise was cut down to about an hour due to one of the two engines died about an hour into the trip, but it was still very enjoyable. Plus they did issue us a free pass - so we will be going another day this week - probably Wednesday as tomorrow is Knotts!

Oh yes, we did get to see one small whale called a Minke - about a 20 footer. How did we spot the whale? Whale... er, I mean well, here's the story... The captain explained a few things and one of them was that if you spot a whale then you point and holler "THERE SHE BLOWS" and the direction (12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, etc.) Who was going to be the silly one to holler "THERE SHE BLOWS?" Whale, I mean well - that would be me!

Yep. I was looking off into another direction while everyone else was looking some place else. And there it was. I was a little hesitant at first - in case I was seeing things, but then when it popped up again off I sounded "THERE SHE BLOWS 9 O'CLOCK!" I kind of felt like a celebrity afterwards, but no autographs were given out.

Whale, I mean WELL... time to get some shut eye as tomorrow is another fun filled day. We're having a blast and now thinking about a bigger cruise to take on our next vacation.

Have a whale of a day,
Rocki

Love our hotel room!

Here's a quickie post:

We're loving our vacation in California!
Absolutely adore our Aztec hotel room - it's SO us!
Yes, that is a kitchen in there... and no, I won't be doing any cooking. Oh and I took the picture with my cell phone in excitement, so excuse the look of it.
Love the Azteca Mexican restaurant at the hotel - yum!
We're getting ready to go on our whale watching cruise this morning - fun!
Need to call my pal Deb and set up a time to meet :)

That's it for now. Off to have more fun and I'll blog as I can.
Happy Monday everyone - wish you were here!
Rocki

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.

She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,

"First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then," he said with a deep sigh...

(slowly scroll down)

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"Let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box."

Okay, now for any blondes out there please forgive me, but hey, I'm blonde! Hair color only that is :) Oh and this very funny joke that made me laugh until I cried was sent to me by my lovely friend Deb.

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Vacation update: My shop is already in "Vacation Mode" while I finish up a couple more orders and then we leave for California in a couple days. I'm SOOOO excited! I'll have my laptop with me and plan on blogging and/or tweeting while there.

Peace, Love & Happiness,

Rocki

Summer, gotta' love it!

I love the sun and REALLY love summer time! My body does not like cold weather at all. I love every aspect of the sun, in fact I do believe I have sunshine pouring through my veins.

Although originally from California (until the big Sylmar quake of 71 that took our 2 story house down to a 1 story - I may blog about that sometime), Arizona is and always will be my home. Yes, it's hotter than H.E.L.L. during the summer time... okay, more than just the summer time, but hey... "it's a dry heat."

So what are your plans for the summer? Mine? Well, we were originally going to go to Cali/Knotts Berry Farm in June, but had to change plans due to my wrists and all. So, we are going there for 1 week in August. I am VERY much looking forward to it!

Barbeque's are always fun. See the big burger above? That looks just about like one of my dad's famous burgers, but smaller. Dad makes the BEST burgers ever! Including his own BBQ sauce ranging from root beer, jalapeno, apricot, etc. The man loves his BBQ!

For me, summer time brings out the best in people, just like during the winter holidays. Well, except if you're in Arizona getting into your extremely hot car that has been sitting in the parking lot while shopping, burning your bum on the leather seat, grabbing hold of the steering wheel which has turned into hot magma and then scream in pain.

Camping! LOVE camping! Haven't been in a few years and we really miss going, but that is a fun summer/anytime event. Now I must admit that our tent setup looks NOTHING like the one above. Ours is blue. Naw, really, we camp like real campers... sleeping bags, tents, campfire, make shift kitchen, roast marshmallows, make coffee on the rocks by the campfire, etc. Fun times!

There are many things to do during the summer and no matter if it is simply hanging around the house, going to movies, relaxing at the beach, lake or back yard pool, visiting friends, having BBQ parties, creating for the upcoming holidays, cleaning out the closets (okay, maybe not that one) or simply doing nothing - enjoy it and don't waste it - life is precious so enjoy every moment!

Happy summer!

Rocki

4th of July Holiday Relaxation Break

Awe. A holiday. Time off. Short Break. Relaxation. Sedona - my happy place.

Peace. Quite. Tranquil. Sedona - our 2 hour trip to sublime nirvana.

Stillness. Calm. Serene. Reliving our week in Kauai. Natural beauty. Sounds of nature. Naturally at ease.

I'm putting my shop in Vacation Mode for 3 full days (7/3-7/5) as Mark & I are taking off this weekend - to do absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. We will enjoy this holiday and be thankful to those who allow us to do so.

However you spend this 4th of July Holiday, I wish you peace, happiness, joy and safety.

Rocki

Vacation is over :(

Maeyln, Sasha & Yogi were all so happy to have Jeremy home again. Even though they have their own bed that they sleep in (their own couch that is), while Jeremy was home they slept with him in his bed.

It goes without saying of course, but I love having Jeremy home and am looking forward to his next visit! I'm not going to go into all the mushy details because my eyes will water more than they are and then I won't be able to see to type. I'm his proud mom, so you can only guess how I feel. Oh and while he was home I made him two Sterling Silver band rings and forgot to take pictures of them! Ugh!

Jeremy went back to Portland on Sunday (sniff sniff, boo hoo) and I'm not the only one who misses him. Maelyn continues to sleep in Jeremy's bed on his pillow (I still need to put the futon up, but not yet). Each night at bedtime we always tell our 'kids' good-night and every night so far we find Maelyn all curled up on his pillow. It's the cutest and saddest thing ever!
I finally got the pictures from the lake downloaded and need to send them to Jeremy. They aren't the best quality as I used a disposable camera, but it works. Oh and I love that we can get CD's made when you get your pictures developed!

The lake was a blast, we all took turns in the big water tube and race car tube that Chris has - so much fun!

The family knows that no matter what the occasion, I ALWAYS bring my camera and sometimes I take too many pics, but heck, I love keeping memories on film as well as in my heart. My boys know that my "just one more picture" quote is like saying "in just a minute" and I know it gets old for them, but what can I say - that's just me :)

Above, Laura is showing my boys, Jeremy & Jason, a picture she took of the both of us prior to their arrival at Jeremy's surprise birthday party. She had put tin foil (shivers!) on her teeth to make it look like she had braces (since I now wear them) and we both smiled real big - it was pretty funny. My sister. I think I'll keep her.

Happy Monday, er, I mean Tuesday!

Rocki

Oh and if you're interested in seeing me kick Mark's but in boxing, check out Laura's blog :)

Taking the day off!

There are perks to owning and running your own business:

- don't have to wear nylons (yuck!)
- can work in my pj's, house robe, shorts & tank or sun dress - even in the nude (if I wanted to)
- don't have to clock in and out
- can eat & drink at my work station
- don't have to worry if I'm running late
- can take breaks whenever and as often as I like
- lunch can last for hours
- can play any type of music I want without hearing complaints
- can take the day off whenever I want - like TODAY!

Yep. I'm taking the day off!! I worked extra hard this week in order to make this happen. I guess that's one of the downfalls of owning & running your own business - if you're not there, nothing gets done. As long as you plan it right, it will work out.

My brother Chris is taking us & Jeremy to Lake Pleasant today on his boat. I'm looking forward to soaking up the sun, feeling the water spraying on my face and watching Jeremy zipping along the lake in the big water tube!

I'll be back Monday with a very cool spotlight on a fellow blogger buddy & Etsian :)

Enjoy your weekend and remember to smile!

Rocki