Gift Certificates

I'm now offering Gift Certificates in both of my Etsy Shops:

Handmade Jewelry
www.RockisArtisanMetal.etsy.com

Handmade Jewelry Supply Findings
www.RockisSupplies.etsy.com

No matter what the holiday, event or occasion, purchase one of my Gift Certificates for that special someone. A little easier on you and a fun shopping experience for the recipient!

Happy Holidays!
Rocki

Pretty Pink Flowers!

Okay. Yes, I like pink. I used to dislike pink actually, but as you can see that is now not the case.

Mark surprised me with these pretty pink flowers for my birthday! Maybe because they matched the pink in my hair perhaps? I just LOVE them! I mean, they are the prettiest pink flowers I've seen in a long time and I just had to take pictures of them.

Jeremy & Jason will just love me for taking this shot of the flowers - those are one of their high school pictures. I have TONS of pictures, as you could imagine. I also keep cards I receive, especially from my boys - Mark too of course! The ones on my dresser mirror from my boys are quite funny - they are such the comedians :) Oh and yes, that is "Rocky & Bullwinkle" in the background. Their hands are bound together as they are life partners... no, not in a kinky way - sheesh!

I know, this isn't about my pretty pink flowers, but my princess Sasha's tongue is pink! LOL! She likes to be on our bed when I do the laundry, to take naps, and watches me when I take pictures of my work. I don't know why, but whenever I get the camera and she hears the sound it makes when I turn it on, she's RIGHT THERE! This shot cracked me up - a total surprise because she was sitting still and as soon as I took the pic she yawned! Or maybe she's trying to tell me something?

That's it for today. I'm trying to get back into the blog world, but work is keeping me pretty busy. Speaking of, I need to head into the studio now.

Happy day everyone!
Rocki

Happy Birthday to Me

I am now one year closer to my BIG birthday bash and I'm so very excited! Today I am 49 on paper and 20 something in life. Obviously, my BIG birthday bash next year will be the BIG 50.

Age truly is just a number and that's it. I feel that if you THINK you're old, then there you go... you're old. Think young and life will be a blast! You know, I don't even know what 49 feels like because I still feel young and will FOREVER be a kid. In fact, I'll be wearing jeans, tank tops and flip flops until the day I die. I've never given much thought about my age as it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Well, wait... okay so when I was just 16 years old, I had a crush on our Crystal bottle water delivery guy - he didn't know it, so I thought. He was probably around 20 something and I always made sure to be the one to answer the door when he dropped off the jugs of water. Oh and let me just say that I've always looked younger than my years (although they are catching up with me). So one day I guess my face said it all and he made the comment that I was probably only 12 years old. OUCH! That was the end of my crush.

Mark teases me about being older than him, robbing the cradle and all that, but come on hon... by 6 months and 10 days? He knows it doesn't bother me at all, but teases me all the same. You know hon, you're right behind me ;) I just love him to pieces! Oh and thank you hon for the hilarious birthday card - TOO FUNNY!

Well, just a short blog about my BIG upcoming birthday. Yes I know, I have a whole year to go, but why waste time? I'll enjoy every second of life and when the BIG day comes, watch out - I'm letting loose!

Happy day everyone!
Rocki

p.s. the picture was taken at the U2 concert in October. I dressed it up a little :) Oh and I have a 'slightly' different pixie hairstyle now more upbeat, funky and sassy with pink only in the front. It's so me.

Happy Birthday to my BEST FRIEND!

Today is a historical day. It is the day that my best friend was born. He's not only my best friend, he is the love of my life, my soul mate, life partner, my rock and my loving, caring and understanding husband: Mark - a.k.a. Bullwinkle, Bullsky, hubby and, well, I'm not giving you his pet name :)

Not only is this day historical because it is birthday, but it is the day we are NOW the same age. I'm proud to say we are NOW 48 years young (on paper that is, in life we're in our 20's).

Yep. I robbed the cradle as he says - by a whopping 6 months and 10 days. I'm sure he has the minutes and seconds down, being an accountant/bookkeeper and all. Speaking of bookkeeper, doesn't he totally fit the image? I mean come on, don't you see his pocket protector in his leather vest and the calculator attached to the tank in the above pic? All accountants ride to work like this, don't they? That was his 2000 Road Star a.k.a. Millennium Falcon, which we no longer have (sold our bikes a couple years ago - now have a jeep).

Mark is truly a special guy. Don't worry, I won't go on and on of how ABSOLUTELY wonderful he is - most of you know this already from previous posts, those who know him, etc. He is a very friendly & likable guy, a proud Navy Veteran, fun to be around, loves his family, life, his work and his computer (me too of course :). Kids just love playing with him. Above is one of my favorite pics of Mark & Ian, one of my nephews. This was taken a few years ago at my brother's house, one of our many BBQ parties. He loves all his nephews and they love horsing around with him.
Mark LOVES Star Wars and Star Trek. When we used to ride, he was tagged with "Bullwinkle" (wonder why?), "BullSky" and eventually "BullSky WinkleWalker." Say that one 10 times fast! One of our comedian friends did the above pic. It is actually Mark's head on, I'm guessing, Luke Skywalker's body. He loves this picture.

This was from last November, our 14th wedding anniversary (yes, metal in my mouth too). We are still newlyweds and are pretty much attached at the hip (can't you tell?). Well, I said I wouldn't go on and on about all his good qualities, kindness, love and... oh, sorry - I'll stop.

Happy Birthday Honey! You're as OLD as me now! Thppppppp :)

Love, Rocki

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

Jason, my youngest son turned 29 yesterday. Wow. Where on EARTH does time go?! It truly does feel like yesterday when he was just a little bundle wrapped in my arms. Now he's a big bundle, still wrapped in my arms.

The picture above is on Jason's MySpace with the caption "Hello Ladies" - he's so shy. He's actually a very good guy. Very helpful, opens doors for others and most who meet or know him say he's like the guy next door. He's always been there for me. When I was very sick years ago, he would take me to my doctor appointments and practically carry me - literally. The night my mom died at the mere age of 53, we were at Jason's Band Banquet where he won an award. It was such a special night for him. When we arrived home to many messages left by my dad and heard the unexpected news, Jason, at 17 years of age, was right there for me, picked me up off the floor, carried me to my room and comforted me right along side with Mark.

He's also my little comedian. Well, not so little, he works out and has been given several nick-name at work, such as "Buff, "Hulk", "Superman" and so on. But let me tell you, he can make you laugh in a heartbeat! He's in the process of becoming a Fire Fighter. He'll be taking an EMT course soon and will go from there. No matter what he does in life, I'm proud of him and always will be.

Jas works at Trader Joe's and has ever since he graduated from high school. He has a great deal of customers that know him well and many ask for him. In high school he and Jeremy worked at Dairy Queen, so he's pretty much worked ever since school. Like mother like son.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday at his choice of restaurants: Mimi's Cafe. He even got a special birthday pie and special birthday wishes. No singing though, bet he would have loved that.

There's is so much I would like to say about my baby boy, but I don't want to embarrass him with all the mushy stuff. He knows already because I tell him all the time. We're very close, he's my buddy and protector. My nick-name for him is "Bud." However, I will mention that every single school picture, he sports bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes or a broken arm. He makes jokes about it of course and it is funny to look at them, but in every picture, he has that adorable smile.

I know most of you know this already, but I've been very blessed with my boys as both Jason & Jeremy make it easy to be their mom. I never had any problems with raising them, they were model students and... well, I just couldn't be more proud of them and who they are. I love them to pieces.

Happy Birthday Bud, I love you!

Mom

Happy 30th Birthday Jeremy!

Bitburg, Germany - 2 1/2 years old

Thirty years ago today, my first born son came into this world and forever changed my life. The moment the nurse placed Jeremy in my arms, a feeling came over me that touched my heart forever. I felt like a mom - complete in every way.

Both of my sons mean the world to me and I'm so very proud of them. I find it hard sometimes to talk about one without the other as we are all very close, but today is Jeremy's special day, so it is about him.

Visiting in-laws in Clarksville, Tennessee - 10 months old

Jeremy has always been a great son and has accomplished many things in his life so far. I can honestly say that raising my boys (okay, this is about Jeremy...) was a piece of cake as they never gave me any problems. Honestly. He was an honor student throughout school, was busy with school activities such as the Marching Band, loved to help me around the house, got a scholarship to NAU and wanted to be a Veterinarian ever since he was in grade school. However, he has found his true calling and has been going to school to become an A.S.L. Interpreter (American Sign Language).

Jeremy & Jason, Nov. 83, back from Germany traveling to next station.

Jeremy & Jason are 17 months apart and are very close brothers. Always have been and I'm sure will always be. Some people used to tell me that it was strange that they didn't fight like "normal" brothers, but to us this was very normal.

You never seen one without the other. In fact, I'll never forget the day we moved Jeremy to the NAU dorms (only 2+ hours north of us). It was hard on all of us and there were tears. After leaving the dorm and walking to the Blazer Jason broke down and cried. We got seated and Jason just curled up like a baby. Crying myself, I asked if he wanted to go see him once more before we left and he mustered up a "yes". We knocked on the door and as soon as Jeremy opened it, Jason bear hugged him. I was crushed.

Bigburg, Germany, 4 years old. Found the cookies.

Jeremy learned to read when he was about 2 1/2 years old. His first book that he read to me was "Are you my mother?". He also became very interested on how babies were born and was persistent on finding out - he was 4 years old. I always wanted to have an honest and open relationship whenever I had kids as I did not have that with my mom. So, I gave him the best answer I could, which he bought for a while. I mean come on, he was only 4. It wasn't until he asked his Kindergarten teacher that we had another talk about it.

Visiting Jeremy in Portland, Oregon couple years ago

Jeremy now lives in Portland, which I think has been about 7+ years now. THAT was another hard day, but he's very happy there and we love visiting him there. I especially love when he comes home for visits! We text and talk as much as we can, but there's nothing like seeing him in person :)

I could go on and on and on about Jeremy - my boys - as I love them so very much & so very proud to be their mom. However, this post will go on forever if I do!

Happy Birthday Jeremy! You are loved beyond words and I wish you peace, love and much happiness!

Love,
Mom

a.k.a. Rocki

Welcome Home & Happy Birthday Jeremy!

My oldest son, Jeremy, is home from Portland for a 2+ week long deserved vacation from school and work. We surprised him with a 30th birthday party... 5 months early!

Jeremy is going into his last year in the A.S.L. Interpretership program (American Sign Language) and works at Starbucks (thanks for our gifts Jeremy!) Due to the intensity of the program, he is now working very part-time (I think just enough to keep us supplied ;) and has very little free time for himself right now, but says that it is all worth it as he is doing what he loves.

Jason, my youngest son, has worked at Trader Joe's for years, school part-time and is working on becoming a fire fighter. We all feel that this is his true calling - plus he fits the look!

Both of my boys are my pride & joy, my buddies, pranksters, comedians, bodyguards, etc. They both work very hard for what they want in life and I'm immensely proud of all their accomplishments.

My boys & I have an open and honest relationship and are very close. Jason & Jeremy are very close as well (like twins actually), and always have been. I can honestly say that they made parenting very easy for me - despite all the jumping out of closets & grabbing my feet from under the bed scare tactics.

Mark & I are so happy to have Jeremy home (or is it the coffee he brought us? KIDDING!)

Oh! Back to why we celebrated Jeremy's 30th so early. sniff sniff... because due to school, etc., he won't be able to come home for the holidays or in January. I couldn't let his 30th go by without a bash! Yes, he'll still get birthday gifts from us in January :) I'm happy to say that we were able to pull of the surprise with help from Jason & Lauren by getting Jeremy home at the right time and everyone keeping their mouths zipped about it.

The day was perfect in every way and to top it all off, Mark surprised me with a bouquet of my favorite flower - the Sunflower!

Happiness to all,

Rocki

p.s. Check out my sister's new blog to see the photo of us both with bling-bling mouths. Oh, and there will be more party photos posted in my MySpace later this week.

Weekend of Happiness

This weekend was so full of happiness that I have a permanent smile on my face. When looking for a picture to post, I found the above which we should all truly take to heart.

So what was so special? I'll just list the main ones, otherwise this blog will turn into my first full length novel (and my friends know how I can ramble on):

1. Went to Danny's Pet Scan results doc appt. - miracles do happen! His lung cancer shrunk 90%!!! Even the doc was amazed. Danny is going to continue with chemo, but the doc changed the dosage due to the severe reactions it caused. Our 7 hour days will now be 3 hours due to the change. Yes, we were told that we still have to fight, he's not cured & there is no cure, and that his life span is short, but we're not going by that - we're just going to continue on with each day as it comes. Nobody can predict the future. We had a very nice celebration dinner right after we left the docs office. I'm still full!

2. Jeremy, my oldest son, called to confirm his plans for his trip in 2 weeks! I can hardly wait as it feels like it's been forever since I've seen him and it was *only* last year. Way too long for me! He arrives on the 14th and is here until the end of the month :) Yes, there will be a blog about his visit :)

3. Mark bought me a laptop - my first ever! I didn't think I would really need one as I have my own PC in our office, but wow... this is cool (I'm typing on it right now while sitting on the couch having my morning coffee!) I'll be taking it to Danny's chemo appointments (he has his own :), trips, outings, etc. This rocks!

4. We celebrated my Dad's 67th birthday at Laura's house (67 on paper, 30 something in life). He knew about the party of course as he was doing a lot of the cooking as well. He LOVES to cook, BBQ, grill, bake, make his own BBQ sauce - you name it, he does it. He's an Arizonian Emerill - BAM! A surprise was in store for Dad. My Uncle Bob from California came down to surprise him. Dad was in the kitchen when Bob called his cell and talked to Dad like usual - then Bob walked in the house while still on the phone talking. Dad finally looked up (while still on the phone) to see Bob standing in front of him! BAM!

5. My supply shop is taking off faster than I expected and I am more than thrilled! With each sell I make, I feel so very blessed and am grateful for each and every one! My biggest seller, so far, are my Signature Elfin Earwires. In fact, I woke up this morning to a return customer's sell & convo that she is submitting an earring design to a magazine - using my earwires!

Blessings have been pouring over me these last few days - must be my good karma ripening.

I wish you all peace, love and much happiness.

☼ Rocki