Weddings Should Be HAPPY

I really hate the trend lately where women think it's okay to act like a total butthole about their wedding. It doesn't  make you look cool or chic-- but rather shows bad character. Nobody is amused.

To ensure that I would not be a stressed-out, miserable, angry mess of a bride, I came up with a very simple plan. What I wanted to accomplish (WHY I wanted a wedding), things I needed, and things I'd like to have. 

 Here is why I wanted a wedding:

• To celebrate the decision to spend my whole life with the one I love
• To share this celebration with those closest to us

These are the things I needed:

•  A venue
• A preacher
• A wedding dress that looked great on me
• A suit for hubby

These are the things that I wanted:

• A sit-down meal as a reception
• A cake
• Small gifts for each guest
• Photographer
• A bouquet
• Pretty decor

I found a package at a wonderful bed and breakfast just outside of Helen, GA that offered a preacher, cake, flowers, sit-down lunch, and gorgeous scenery, well within my budget. (Plus an extra night's stay for honeymooning in Alpine Helen!) All we had to do was show up.  Photographer was out of my budget, but there were 3 digital cameras among our guests, so we did get some very nice pictures.

I made lovely gifts for the guests (our immediate family). I put caladium bulbs and sparkly white confetti in wine glasses, covered in tulle, and tied with curled ribbon.

I did not even ASK what the color scheme was, what the flowers looked like, or what the cake looked like. Had never seen that stuff until I arrived an hour before the ceremony-- and it was all beautiful. The cake was small, fitting for our party of 10, and elegant, with real flowers picked from the venue's property on it. This was also where my bouquet came from, and it was gorgeous.

I could go on and on... But mostly I will say that we had a fantastic time. Probably my favorite day EVER. The ceremony was brief, but meaningful-- we weren't worried about anything, just focused on one another. The casual lunch afterwards with my family and his was so special and so fun. There was so much love and happiness.It was a day I will remember forever with a big smile and a warm heart.

What a shame it would have been if I had pitched a fit because the flowers were dark purple instead of light purple, or not had my precious little nephews there because they might make a noise-- and hurt my sister in law in the process. If I had spent that day being stressed out because some tiny thing wasn't exactly as I planned it, or being angry because of something utterly unimportant.

Television is glorifying really ugly behavior from brides. So impress upon your daughters, your grandchildren, your nieces the importance of good character. Teach them to be beautiful, happy, compassionate, graceful, and grateful brides.

My 4th of July isn't so stellar/ Now updated with HAPPY!

Please excuse me while I make a brief but whiny blog entry. It is July 4th. This is what our weather is doing:

 The darkness is not my poor photography. It is storming. It has two hours to stop so that I can go enjoy some fireworks. Or else!

We went to see some fireworks last night, but left when it started storming. Evidently, it stopped storming 5 minutes later and the show went on-- without us. I've got 2 kids who want fireworks, and here it is storming again. We're going, come hell or high water, and we're staying until either A) we see fireworks, or B) There is zero chance of any fireworks happening under any circumstances.

If that weren't enough, my back went out. It rarely happens to me, but today it has been so bad that it has been almost impossible to think of anything else. The entire day has been spent attempting to alleviate the pain. I am now ignoring it, denying it, and willing it to go away. 

My heart goes out to people who have chronic back pain and have to live with this crap every day.

I'm going to feel like a giant sissy Mary when I read this next week and see how I'm whining like a child because I might not get to see fireworks. 

Several hours later:

 We saw fireworks! There was a light rain, and for a minute we watched from the car. I didn't like it. Felt like watching on TV. 

So we got out. And it was amazing. The boom, the smell of sulfur, the eerie surreal scene, and of course the sparkling puffs of light, the stars of the show. At one point there was a giant firework with a big bolt of lightning through it! The air was heavy and dark, the festivities soaked and dripping. It was really cool.
 
No pictures, because of the whole rain thing. Pictures don't do fireworks justice anyway. 

I haz a happy now!

Horsin' Around

Here in Georgia, springtime has arrived in full force! HonkusGrogana and crew decided to spend a beautiful Sunday at the parents' house, outside in the sunny pasture, playing with the horses. I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

My daddy is giving 5-year old Sarah (a family friend) a few words of instruction.

Sidney is in love with her new horse, Choopachee.

Hubby and I with Becky.

Eli is flying by on Kate

                Mom and the kiddos. We got Eli's hair cut when we left there!



All of this horse time inspired me to make a new piece of jewelry, a horse pendant sculpted from wire. I am going to make one to give to my beautiful model, Sid, below. She obviously has seen it and even tried it on, but she doesn't know that she is going to get one of her very own for her upcoming birthday!

Click to see horse pendant in my shop!

I'm so thrilled with the changing of the season, and looking forward to all of the inspiration that springtime brings. Can't wait to spend many more beautiful weekends enjoying the outdoors with my family and friends!

Giving Up the Cell Phone

Everyone has a cell phone, right? If you had asked me a year ago for a list of 3 things I'd never leave the house without, one of those things would have been my cell phone. (Along with keys and lipstick.) In November 2010, my husband and I decided to give up our cell phones. I would love to say we were trying to live a more simplistic lifestyle, cutting out some of the electronic noise that surrounds us all every day, but our reason was a bit less noble. It was one month before Christmas, and we needed to cut the monthly budget. Of course, this was a temporary thing. We'd get them turned back on after Christmas, for sure!

The actual act of having them disconnected was easy. We had service through Metro PCS, where everything is pre-paid, month-to-month with no contract. If you don't want service, don't pay for the next month.  The mental adjustment, however, took some getting used to. I found myself reaching for my phone constantly. Even when I had a landline phone easily available, the immediate reaction was to reach for the cell. I found myself running late for work, or late coming home from work, and in a panic because I couldn't call to let anyone know. It was second nature to call hubby and say, "Hey, I'm at the store, taking a lot longer than I thought, don't worry about me!"

Click the photo to see this item @ Gifts2Give on Artfire

When I'm at work, I'm within arm's reach of a telephone at all times. At home, we found a wonderful solution that is enormously cheaper than a cell phone or a traditional landline. We use Skype, which works through the internet, and costs us a whopping $20 for an entire year of service, both incoming and outgoing calls, and no charge for long distance. Skype can be used by attaching a headset with a microphone to your computer, but we did splurge and get Skype handsets, since this would be our primary means of communication.  We were fortunate enough, though, to find them on sale at Wal-mart.

The biggest adjustment for me was that I had to plan a little better. If I think I am going to be late for work, I call my co-worker from the home phone and let her know that there is a chance I may be late. If I am not coming directly home from work, I decide ahead of time where I am going and approximately how long I will be there, and call hubby from the phone at work to let him know so that he doesn't worry. If I leave the house when the family isn't home, I leave a note-- yes, a note on paper!-- to let them know where I am and when I expect to be home. It is inconvenient that I can't call hubby at the store when I suddenly realize that we need milk, and it's not so great when I am driving somewhere that I have never been before and I get lost. Other than on those rare occasions, I don't even miss it.

I still keep my cell phone around because it has that nifty phone book full of all my contacts, but it's not in service. It also serves as my daily alarm clock. An important thing to remember is that Skype does not have 911 service, so if you should choose to ditch the cell phone service, do keep a charged cell phone around, just in case. Even with no service, a charged cell phone will be able to complete a call to 911.By using it as an alarm clock, it ensures that I do keep it charged and handy. Safety first, you know.

What started out as a temporary act of frugality has become a normal way of life. We could turn our cell phones back on. As it turns out, we're fine without them! It is fun to see the look of surprise on the faces of our friends when we explain that we will meet them at the restaurant, but that they should come on in and look for us in the dining room, because we won't be calling them when we get there. They cannot fathom how we get through life without cell phones! We just smile. We're doing okay.

If we all could have a power nap

... The world would be a better place!

In the daytime, I'm office diva extraordinaire, which is my preferred way to say that I answer phones, mail things, file papers, and type a lot. I'm lucky enough to live very close to the office, so every day at noon I race home. There, I can enjoy a salad and some hummus toast while watching Judge Mathis and enjoying the company of my incredibly cute husband, Jimmy. The one and only drawback-- no time for a quick nap!

Today I had to stay at the office for lunch hour. (This happens from time to time in a one-vehicle family.) I heated the Ramen Noodles that I had hastily thrown into my bag this morning, and found myself with some extra time on my hands. Nap time!

I set the Naked Alarm Clock for 15 minutes, relaxed on a comforter that I keep folded under my desk, and off to sleepy land! Let me tell you, I woke up feeling like a new person. Everything they say about power naps is true! I feel like new person!

Now I need one of THESE! (taken from HERE) 

I will leave you with this:

 Top 5 Things to Say When Caught Sleeping At Your Desk

5. “They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen.”

4. “This is just a 15 minute power nap they raved about in the time management course you sent me to.”

3. “Whew! Guess I left the top off the Whiteout. You probably got here just in time.”

2. “Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?” And the NUMBER ONE best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk…

1. Raise your head slowly and say, “…in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Credit

Welcome!

Welcome, and thank you for stopping in!

My name is Holly and I love making jewelry! I started making wire name pendants when I was 15 years old, working for a wonderful couple that leased a shop at Six Flags over Georgia. I did this for several summers, and it was something I really enjoyed. After that, I made pendants for family and friends, but had never considered selling my pretties.

I have a regular daytime job as a legal secretary at a small law firm, and my husband, Jaaxx, and I have an online store called JuicyLiquid where we sell the liquid that goes into electronic cigarettes. Fortunately for me, both of these jobs can be quite fulfilling. I work with wonderful people at the law firm, and I get a good feeling when I can offer help or even just a smile and a kind word to people who are down and out. I am sometimes moved to tears when someone who purchases e-liquid from us writes to say that they haven't smoked a tobacco cigarette in a year, or their grandmother quit after smoking for 40 years. But for the most part, Jaax runs JuicyLiquid. Certainly I help, but he does the bulk of the work. And as much as I don't like to think about it, my boss at the law firm won't be around forever.

One day I posted pictures of some of my jewelry on my Facebook page, and my friends really liked my stuff! I was getting tons of messages from friends there, asking if I could make them a ring like that, could I make a pendant with their daughter's name on it, could I make this one in blue? I couldn't believe it. But yes, I could do these things, and I did. That is when I decided that I'd like to take a shot at opening up a small online shop, doing a bit of consignment, and attending some craft fairs.

I'd like to share my journey here, as it happens. The excitement, the disappointment, the things that work for me, and the things that didn't turn out so hot. I also would like to share about the actual making of jewelry, and other artists who touch or inspire me. I'd also like to share other things, at times, that make me smile or laugh. I want to meet lots of fun people.

At this point, I am unsure of how my story will go. It is my hope that it will be a long and successful story of how a 30-something artist, wife and mother of two, came to be making beautiful jewelry and selling lots of it.

Thank you for visiting here! I hope you will come back and share in my journey. I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, and experiences.
My online store, Honkus Grogana, can be found HERE.