The Sweetest Girl...

Well, I was finally able to meet my niece, Maya. In the midst of my crazy show schedule, I had the opportunity to spend three wonderful days with Ty and Molly at their home in McMinnville, Oregon. Of course, I fell immediately in love with that little "puddle" (JJ has lovingly nicknamed Maya) and wanted to spend each and every waking minute with her. You have to remember that I have never been around a newborn, so all of this was a very new and emotional experience for me. Some pictures of our oh-too-short-time-together:

This is Maya with her cousin (1 month her senior), Bradley.

Life on the Road...

Hello! Long time, no blog, huh? I have to apologize for that, but I have not had much time as I have had a total of four days at home in a month. 'Tis the season. I left Salt Lake City on October 20th to set up for our show in Tacoma, Washington. The following weekend I was in Eugene, Oregon. Then I traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and then this past weekend I was in Denver for one of our biggest shows of the season. Tomorrow I am off again; I will be in the Tri-Cities in Southeast Washington, then I will fly home only to turn right around and head back to Washington for Thanksgiving, thankfully with JJ traveling with me. Our last show of the year is in Puyallup, Washington, so JJ will fly back home and I will get into "costume" for the Victorian Country Christmas. (By the way, I laugh and say that we play the role of the "peasant population" among the nobility of the Victorian Era.) I love my job, and I love working with my family, but I also miss my husband and puppies, so I try to travel home as much as possible.

Below are a few pictures so that you can get an idea of what it is that we do, especially since we now have a little different show set-up with our new jewelry business. I promise to make a better effort at keeping in better touch, and to update my blog more frequently.

An overview of the Holiday Food and Gift Festival in Tacoma, Washington. From this angle, we cannot see our booth; it is directly below where I was standing when the took the picture.

"The Mom" at our booth in Tacoma. They are hard to see, but in the trays in front of my mom, all the earring charms are displayed.



Each and every time we set up at a new show, our booth is different, which is what makes the business challenging and fun for me. My dad is adjusting a light in our booth in Eugene, Oregon.

"Eclectic and Eccentric" would be the two words that I would use to describe our new friend, Jeanne. Her booth was right next to ours and she was a kick in the pants! I think her goal was to keep us laughing the entire weekend in Eugene. We would love to do more shows with her and I look forward to seeing her again soon.

Wigged Out...

I love the fall season, and I love Halloween, but with everything going on this year, I have to be honest and say that this is the extent of my Halloween costume... I bought a wig and freaked the kids out! It was truly priceless to watch their faces as they realized who was under the black and blue hair; I even fooled a couple of my adult friends. :0) Happy Haunting!

"Annual" Pumpkin Carving Party...

My heart was warmed about a month ago when several of my little buddies asked me when the "annual" pumpkin carving party was taking place. What makes this funny is that we have only had one other party of this nature, and that was last year. I am thinking that after several more years we can make it "annual". As you will see from the pictures below, it was a great success and everyone had a wonderful time!

Step 1: Pick your pumkin. Ashton, Elyssa, Stacey (their mom) and I went to the 90th Street Pumpkin Patch; I think we must have wheeled that 'barrow about a mile before we found the perfect carving specimens.

Step 2: Pick your stencil. My pictures don't do any of these carving justice, but let me tell you, some of them were so intricate and well carved that by the end of the evening, we had a difficult time picking the winners of the carving contest.

Step 3: Take the lid off. Tamea had never done this before, and she thought the pumpkin "guts" were "cool, but really, really slimy."

Step 4: Start the cutting! Most of the kids are a bit too young to do this part themselves, so the parents stepped in... They probably sawed, cut, scooped, carved and detailed for over two hours straight!

Step 5: Display your masterpiece! This is the very best part of the whole evening: when the finished product finally has a candle in it, the designs absolutely come to life. The kids and parents really outdid themselves this year!

Step 6: Have some fun, why dontcha???

On the March...

I was able to attend this year's Utah National Guard Governer's Day up at the University football stadium, and I have to say, the show was pretty impressive. Because JJ works for the Air National Guard, his commander-in-chief is the governer of the state of Utah, and each year, he does his "review of the troops". It was a sight to see and definitely made me feel 100% patriotic, and so proud to be part of a "military family".

Lining up before marching onto the football field (they had to stand in approx. 95 degree heat for over three hours - one and a half hours were at attention!)

I can tell which guy is JJ, but can you? :0)

I ran way high up in the stands to get this shot, and still was only able to capture about half of the field.

JJ and Jerry with Ginger and I - all of us so thankful to finally be in the shade! This was Jerry's last Governer's Day with the Guard; he will be fully retired in about six months.

Lean Not...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways follow Him and He will make your paths straight.

- Proverbs 3: 5-6

This is the Bible verse that has been running through my head for the past two days, and I feel compelled and prepared to share the reason why: today I gave my two week notice at my construction/office job. Yes!!! I really did it!!! I know that some of you probably find this baffling, especially my close friends and family, because I have not talked about it with anyone; but my mom and I just bought a business together, which will become officially "ours" in the middle of October.

Most of you know that we have been selling earring charm jewelry for the past couple of years; well, we are taking it a step further, and we are going to be the wholesalers now. It is a big step for both of us, having been mainly in the "retail" end of business for most of our lives, but I feel that we are up to the challenge, especially since we are buying a well-established company. I signed a lease yesterday on a little office space about a mile from our home here in Salt Lake City. In the meantime, JJ is looking for promising jobs in the Spokane area, as that is where we would like to be in a year or so. Until that point, I will operate the wholesale business from my office, and then travel with my mom and dad for retail shows and other business trips.

The most difficult part of this entire event has been having to tell my office that I will not be with them any longer. My announcement this morning was met with surprise, sadness, anger and well-wishes all rolled up in one 15 minute time frame. That was hard for me. I have been really happy at my current job - I enjoy each and every person that I work with, and the job has proved challenging and exciting, although at times (and more often than not lately) extremely boring. When I sat and weighed all my options, the words of a very dear friend of mine came back to me: "You can always settle for stability and security, Erin. There are many, many jobs available at all times that offer both. But how many times are you going to get an opportunity like this? Is it worth it to pass it up, when the chance may never come around again?"

I say: "Wise friend."

Lagoon...

Brock came down and visited us for the weekend, and what better way to have fun then spending a sunny Saturday at Lagoon?! We had a great time with him, and we have the pictures to prove it:

Playing "Whack a Mole" (which JJ won every time. Cheater!)

Brock on the Fire Dragon. Wheeeeeee!

Brock was one seat in front of us and took this picture.

JJ with "Frogger". He looks thrilled, huh?