I LOST A RING MY MOTHER GAVE ME..revisited her jewelery collection and found something pricless!

not many ppl knew my mother the way i did, who she presented herself to be to others wasnt the same woman i had to live with most of my life.

she supplied my needs, roof over my head, food in my belly, clothes on my back.
wed do stuff together, but she wasnt much of a support, i didnt get much love from her after i hit about 13 years old, or so.

i have memories of hugging, and cuddling, and laughing with her, until about that time, and something happened, and she shifted her emotions to somewhere else. i wish i knew where, because im still a lost little girl inside, who is so confused about why my mother  fell out of love with me.

very few times i was given things from her unsolicted, i knew every gift i was getting, except 2.
one was a shirt i really liked, and my best friend stole from me (thanks sandy! love you too!), and a garnet, marcasite marquis ring set in sterling silver.

she let me pic from about 4 different rings, all with a garnet stone.
i asked her why she was doing it, and she told me because my birthstone (garnet) would be a good thing to have with me at all times.

so i chose the smallest of the bunch, a dainty little ring of a maruis setting, with marcasite gems all around the garnet stone. wasnt too big, and it fit my finger nicely.

it was the only ring i wore for years.

i wore that thing so much, i wore the underside of the band completely down to absolutely nothing! and had to, on several occasions  sauder it back together, to which, yet again, id run that completely down as well.

one time, happened to be in a car we have, so i removed it, and put it in the glove box, always trying to remember to take the time to get it out, but eventually, i forgot alltogether. life happens.

well, that car has been out of comission for about a year now, i guess...maybe longer, i cant remember. it just died one day with craig and daniel in it at the grand opening (actually the 1st day they were open) of a large 7-11 down the road.
i had to go get them in the van we have at the time.
so, this car , now sits in our driveway.

on a few occassions before this happened, craig would get in the car, and could tell that someone had been in it, glove box would be open, stuff was out of order, things were missing.

and all the while i wondered about that ring. nothing much i could do if it was taken, and the ppl who took it wouldnt get very much, cause its not a precious gem. and the band was busted.

well, this past weekend, craig went through that car, to clean everything out, because hes going to try to sell it for some cash...and i reminded him to look for that ring...
he looked, and...it was gone.

i lost the ring. its my fault for not getting it out sooner.
its also the fault of the thief. who didnt have ANY business in our car to begin with, to have taken my moms ring.

ill have to go looking through her collection i still have..

so i revisted her  jewlery collection, its been 12 years since i peeked at those items.
i didnt want to have to look at them then, and im sure when i did all i did was cry, because even tho she was cold towards me, i still loved her...
so when she passed 12 years ago, and i had to go through her things...it was very painful. ive only recently, maybe in the past few years actually been able to seak about her, or write about her, and not weep.

has the pain gone away? no, its level is still just as hard as it was at day one, im just  very familiar with it now..

anyway, i jud went and looked at her jewlery, and discovered things i dint recall ever being in there.
i kept the things i felt meant something to me.

none of it has any real value, its all costume, and junk...but personal to me.

selection of rings i chose to keep.

maracite and GARNET, and a blue stone, and i believe thats a green one, its super small so uits really difficult for me to tell.

i like the clearness of these next fe, remind me of diamonds, and hey arnt.

i believe this one was one of the ones i chose NOT to keep, because it has a gold band, and id rather wear silver.

i chose THIS ine as the replacement ring. its about the same length, slightly taller gems allot ssmaller, but it has the same feel to me,.

picked these because they are great with gaphic balck and white dress/outfit!

and my PERSONAL FAVORITE OF MY NEW COLLECTION!

 

 a ring that has my mothers initials on it: GJM (Gay Joanne Manning). this is my favorite right now.

next to my grandmothers wedding band (the thin silver looking one) my wedding set.

chose to keep all of these pins as well. because im much more a pin person than a ring, or necklace person.

so, for the loss, i actually gained a very dear piece of jewelry.  i have a ring bearing my mothers initials on it. and THAT means so much more to me than a ring she gave me with my birthstone on it.

ANOTHER BABY CLOTHES ORDER

so MRB came to me in private about a bunch of baby clothes she was getting rid of, or wanting to sell. and asked me if i was interested. said i had 1st dibs on them.

i wasnt at home to see the message, so i was late in getting to it, and saw by the time i was answering she had posted them for public sale.

which miffed me slightly, if your offering them to an individual, set a time frame for a reply, oh like maybe 24 hours? no reply? nothing, they go to the public, but dont offer them,  because you dont get a reply in 5 minutes then decide to post them..

shes young still, has a lot to learn about life.

anyway, i replied back,

explained, since she had them for public sale, id take what was left over, she said no one was interested or had the money right then

said id take them, but would have to make payments on them because were short on money, she asked me to make an offer, she has (i believe i counted 33 items) i offered 50.00

so, she then, also offered me her 3 reborns...
which id love to have to be able to use as display babies for the clothes, as well as to sell period. she asked me to make an offer:

i said 300.00
she said she could do 2 for 100.00 but the 3rd shed want to sell for 175.00
so that made the deal 375.00 for 3 reborns, and thats an EXCELLENT deal, i was going to have to pay her off, and someone esle for the baby clothes i have on hold, and then i could start 100.00 payments a month, for 4 months to buy them.

as we chatted online she asked me if id want some eyes she also had, i asked to see them, so she took a couple of pics of them, she had 3 pairs, but i liked these green ones best.

she had no idea what to sell them for and i was unfamiliar with them but ebay has ppl selling them for all kindsa different prices, lowest was about 8 bucks, she asked if 5.00 was ok with me, i said sure so i have these in my order as well.

then...she asked me a couple of days later, if i minded allowing her to sell the dolls and maybe get the money right now, as she needs the money.
i was miffed, yet again.
we have a deal...basically a contract, and she wanted to renig on that, one more time.

i said, sure, sell them.

and watched them go (or some anyway) shes sold them all far cheaper than i was gonna buy them for.

oh well, you do what you have to i guess to make a buck.

 

VIDEOS -DIY/ TUTORIAL : GEL SCENTS FOR HOME & CAR

saw this scroll through my facebook feed, wanted to grab it, so i could apply this to something sometime in the future.

seems easy enough, and with the right scents, i bet for the couple of bucks yyou spedn making these, you could sell them for about 5 and double your money back.

im considering making baby powder scented ones for my doll shop, so ppl can have that fresh baby smell with them all the time.
pretty sure these would sell, if they were in pastel muted baby tones for the colors, and had some nice lable on them.

punch holes in the lid, have some kind of plastic, wax paper in side until the client opens the lid, removes the paper, and reseals it, its a good to go item then.

life span? about a month.

supplies needed for this are:
directions can also be found HERE

- heat proof jars (I used mason jars, because I have a million and what's cuter than a mason jar?)
- 4 packages of instant unflavored gelatin
- food coloring
- salt
- essential oils or fragrance of your choice

First you'll prepare your jar(s).  This entire recipe filled up one pint jar, but you can use several smaller jars if you want to put these throughout your home.  Add a few drops of coloring, and approx 30 drops of essential oil or fragrance.  The more drops, the stronger the fragrance (obviously!)

Now, you'll boil 1 c of water on the stove.  When the water is boiling, you'll pour your gelatin packages into the pot.  WHISK.  WHISK FURIOUSLY.  I'm not even kidding, peeps - this stuff gets jelly like pretty fast and if you aren't furiously whisking you'll get clumps.  I may or may not be speaking from experience.  Once your gelatin is dissolved due to your professional grade whisking, you'll want to add 1 more cup of cold water and 1 Tblsp of salt.  The salt will help your gel from getting moldy, so don't forget this part!  Continue stirring until the salt is dissolved, and then pour into your prepared jars.  Stir with a wooden stick or spoon and let sit overnight until gel is set.

Then, decorate your jar!   fastened with a mason jar lid ring, but you could leave it open completely - no lid needed!

 love how low these are. BALL product mason jars.

unflavored gelatin does NOT have to be this name brand, if you can find generic, it would most likely be just as good. and it will save you some cash.

any brand will do fine.
but if you want NEON colors i found this:

while i was looking at that, i saw recipes for how to mix the colors to make different colors, and shades :

 

salt, any brand will do..

 

and the vital part: ESSENTIAL OILS which is where the scent comes from

so, for MY idea, ill have to look for baby smells, lavender is one...
but i may have to also try to find a super fragrant baby oil smell...just for that "baby powder" fresh smell.

if i get to the store (walmart, its right around the corner from my house) ill do a price comparison of all of these, because i know they have oils in the candle section as well, and see what the price would be to make one gel scent holder.

LOOK AT ME! I WEIGH 245!!

actually im less, anytime you weigh yourself, even naked, you need to remember theres at least 5 pounds still in you, for food, & fluids that havnt processed through your system yet.

as well as if you weigh wearing clothes (as i did).

so, well say this was a 245 lb image...but we have to take away some weight (5lbs) to get a right average of weight. im actually, using the method i was told to use whenever im on the scale by my gastric surgeon , so im actually 240!!!

i believe, this may be the lowest ive been since my gastric surgery 4 years ago..
and most likely due to the fact that i have been in bed suffering a cold and allergries, leaving me with a small appetite, or none, to be more precise.

i weighed myself, just for fun, i never do it for any other reason, anymore, a couple of weeks ago, and i was 260. on the button, by the scale, 255, by the  method.

seems like allot to most ppl, a woman 5'7 being 200+, and your right, it is...but im coming from 4 years ago, this month to be exact...310!
so, if i maintain this loss (and dont gain it back) ill have lost a total of: 70 lbs in 4 years.

im SUPPOSED to be 160. eh..ill get there, eventually..lol

of course, if im supposed to be 160, that leaves me with 80 more pounds to loose.
summers coming (hopefully, weve been having some crazy weather here in oklahoma) maybe ill lose some then as well...

anyway...i wanted to make sure i blogged about this before i gained anything, to show it as a maker success moment!
GO ME!

5TH SNOWFALL FOR THIS YEAR IN OKLAHOMA

yup...number 5 in 3 months.
sick of it.

tired of the gray, gloomy skies. tired of being cold. tired of having to put my life on hold for this mess.

church was cancelled today. we were all going to go, because of something daniels involved in, but cant (THANK YOU WEATHER!) because of this mess...

he was going to be called for a position at church, and seems pretty excited about the fact. but, sadly, due to the weather, church was cancelled, and he was really bummed about it.

much more snow has fallen since these pics were uploaded, world is white..again...

ive been in bed most of the day, because im not feeling well, i have some kind of crazy allery thing going on, im sneezing, my head feels like its going to explode, and im all stopped up in my sinuses.

seems to me, winters are lasting longer, and  other weather is almost non existant unless its summer.
as a matter of fact we never had a srong, or a fall last year, went from summer straight to cold weather...
strangest thing ive ever seen happen in my lifetime.

i wonder how many more  snows well get before well have summer? maybe...right up to the 90 degree weather. wouldnt surprise me...
oklahoma has some crazy weather situations.

were soon going to be in tornado weather..again...and im not sure how snow will effect that.
again...wouldnt surprise me if we had a tornado...at the same time its snowing.

would be weird, but not surprising.

I ALMOST BROUGHT HOME THE CUTEST BABY DUCK

he looked allot like this one, with the coloring on the beak and everything but much younger than this one.

yesterday, as we were out in the AM...
craig asked me if i wanted to go to a lumber place the flea market suggested we go to too see if they had any chicken wire.

when we were there, i said, maybe they will have some baby chicks i can look at! and i looked up at the sign and they were announcing that the baby chicks were, in deed there.

i, myself have never seen a baby chick in person up close.
and i wanted to, why? i dint know, maybe to feel close to my mom.
my mom would mention she grew up on a farm, and at one time had her own baby chick she got to raise, that she told me grew up to be a very mean rooster!
so, i guess, wanting to see them, was a way for me to remember her little story, and maybe feel close to her.

so we go in, i know right away where the baby birds are kept, and we go look, and craig walks around to another side im not at...and ays to me:

"heres what you want to look at!"

"what is it? a baby chick? i see lots of them right here."

"no, its baby ducks!"

well i went over there as soon as he said that, cause baby ducks are cute too, no stories that i know of to associate with any of them. so i was simply looking, and there was one..multi colored, 2-tone duck, black and yellow, and he was a tiny little thing, huddled in the middle of the rest getting warm under the light.

he was so cutr! wish i had my camera! cause id have taken pics of him and me if i did.

i wanted to hold him, and the gorl changing out the bedding, told me i could, so craig opened the cage up, and picked him out and handed him to me.

he was so soft, and warm...and he cheeped.

"cheep, cheep, cheep"

and he tried to bite me, lol didnt do anything to me, kinda surprised me, but it didnt hurt, felt like a little nibble.

"cheep, cheep cheep"

he was 5.50 to buy, and i could have brought him home.

but i have cats, and i knewe if they knew i had him, they might want to try to kill him, cause hes a bird, and then the question arose with how would i end to him?
hed need some kind of cage...and id have to feed him, what do i do when hes grown?

so, regretfully, i put the baby duck back.

and i felt, ok about it.
maybe someone with better housing and set up will adopt "feisty" (i named him that cause he was trying to bite me, lol)

i sure hope no one buys him to fatten him up and then eat him. cause he was wayyyy to handsome for that!
would have loved to have had him fly south for the winters and then come back spring and summer to our back yard...that would have bee an event wed enjoy yearly i think.
but hell have to be someone elses pet, for now.

om proud of myself, for letting go, it was hard, i wanted him, i have the biggest heart when it comes to animals, and i kept telling myself i could raise him, but i knew i wouldnt be able to, but i did good in letting him stay...wasnt easy, but was the right thing to do. (i hope, ill say it was and believe it, anyway, lol)

 ps-if i go back anytime soon, and hes still there ill take a few pics. i promise.

MORMON/LDS VIDEO BULLYING: STOP IT! - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

LDS MESSAGES: BULLYING: STOP IT Video

We are ALL brothers and sisters

Imagine that every person on earth has been affected in some way by the destructive spirit of contention, resentment, and revenge. the spirit of envy and hatred has led to some of the most tragic stories in history. Perhaps there are even times when we recognize this spirit in ourselves.

We are not perfect.

The people around us are not perfect.
 People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger.

Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one.

 This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon.
 When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:

Stop it!

 Haven’t we all, at one time or another, meekly approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace? Haven’t we wished with all the energy of our souls for mercy—to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed?

 Forgiving ourselves and others is not easy. In fact, for most of us it requires a major change in our attitude and way of thinking—even a change of heart. 

consider the following questions as a self-test:

Do you harbor a grudge against someone else?

Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true?

Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they have done?

Do you secretly envy another?

Do you wish to cause harm to someone?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to apply the two-word sermon from earlier:

stop it!

 there is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment.

This “mighty change” of heart is exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to bring about.

Let us be kind.

Let us forgive.

Let us talk peacefully with each other.

 “Let us do good unto all men.”

 allowing us to see others the way our Heavenly Father sees us: as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine. Because God loves us so much, we too must love and forgive each other.

Remember, in the end it is the The merciful who obtain mercy.