12 Weeks of Letter Writing Challenge - Week 2

Today's post is participating in the 12 Weeks Of Letter Writing Challenge that I was invited to by Mrs. Dash Say's....blog here.

This weeks letter is to mom and dad,

Dear Mom and Dad,

This letter will be a little hard to write as you both have passed on...and so you probably will read this in heaven.
I miss you both greatly and am so often reminded of you both in so many ways.
Mom, this past weekend I reconnected with Chuck Thornell and his wife Kathy after 25 years! When he heard my voice on the phone he said I sounded just like you, and I suppose I do. Sometimes when I laugh, I hear your voice come out of my mouth. Kinda weird, I know...but I do. Sometimes I wish you were here so that I could ask you about things like going though 'the change'...as I am now, and don't know if the many things I am feeling and experiencing are 'normal' or not. I try to read things on Google or books...but everything is just so vague. You probably wouldn't have been able to tell me as your dementia was so pronounced at the end. But I miss your smile and your positive attitude and your quickness to laugh at every situation.
We also talked about you dad. As always...no one has anything but praise for you.
One of my only regrets is that you did not teach me to read a chart and plot a course.
That would have been something cool to learn from the best boatman in the world! You instilled my love of the sea and were my anchor and I couldn't have asked for a better father.

You both are probably the reason I love going to the beach and looking for seaglass!

Anyway...I will wrap this up with one of the only (if not the only) pictures I have of you two together. I reminds me of what a great time I had seeing snow for the first time.
I love you.

Dad, mom and me circa 1974

To see some of my ocean themed jewelry, come visit Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy page!

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12 Weeks of Letter Writing Challenge

Today's post is participating in the 12 Weeks Of Letter Writing Challenge that I was invited to by Mrs. Dash Say's....blog here.

This weeks letter is to my best friend Kathy Wheeler.

Dear Kat,

It has been a long time that I have actually written to you. Like...I can't even remember that far back, but I am sure it must have been when you lived in St Augustine or maybe even when you lived in Arizona. Before the advent of email or 'The Internet' even...lol...ok, not quite that long ago.

We met in preschool and I remember when someone ran my finger over in the playground with some wooden wagon thing when you and I were crawling around on all fours playing Simba. I remember the wood shavings they would spread on the ground so we wouldn't get dirty.
I remember silly little things of our childhood like the time I barfed my breakfast of cereal and milk in kindergarten and all you could say was, 'Cottage Cheese!! It looks like Cottage Cheese!!'.

I remember us going to the beach every Saturday and how we used to roam as far as we could go in one direction and then do the same in the other direction, 'discovering' 'Blood River' at Cape Florida and climbing the lighthouse. I remember our moms taking us to the Key Hole bar afterward where they would have 'giraffe' beers (draft) and you and I would have vanilla ice cream because that was the only flavor they had.
God those were good times.
Probably the source of my many sea glass musings on this blog.

I remember when our moms stopped speaking and we weren't allowed to see each other anymore and we would sneak midnight phone calls and you would read Stephen King books to me until I fell asleep. We never could figure out how to pronounce the northeast slang-ism of 'ayuh'.

Me and Kat circa 1983

I remember when we got our first cars and would drive down to the Keys and lament over old and current boyfriends. 
I remember taking a 10 day camping trip all along the west coast of Florida and how on the 9th day we finally caved and got the last hotel room in Panama City. We dragged our bikes up 2 flights of stairs and slept for 10 hours until we finally fessed up that we both wanted to go home and so we drove 13 hours straight to get there.

I remember you being my maid of honor at my first wedding...and my second. You looked so beautiful at both.

Now you are raising your two beautiful boys in California and, although I know our life will never be what it once was, it will always be filled we these memories and many many more.
No matter how far apart we are, you will always be on the top of my 'Bestie List'.

PS. Kathy was one of my main inspirations when I started beading. 
You can see my jewelry on my Handmade Jewelry Haven Etsy page here.

Next weeks letter will be to my Mom and/or Dad..(this should be good ;)

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How Donating Your Time Benefits You

I have always volunteered for projects in the past, but when my son got accepted into the National Honor Society in Middle School, I really learned what it meant to really donate your time. 

As he needed service hours, we joined the Ft Lauderdale Beach Sweep. It is held on the second Saturday of the month. Getting up to be there at the crack of dawn was not easy for either of us, to say the least, as neither of us are 'early birds'. But I noticed that afterward, we both had a very satisfying sense of accomplishment.


Volunteering provides many benefits to both mental and physical health. It helps counteract the effects of stress, anger and anxiety. I know just being at the beach and hearing the sound of the gulls and the waves puts me in a more relaxed mood. The social aspects of helping and working with other can have a huge effect on your overall psychological well being. Nothing relieves stress better than a meaningful connection to another person.

Volunteering combats depression by keeping you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system. Volunteering makes you happy! By measuring hormones and brain activity, researchers have discovered that being helpful to others delivers immense pleasure. Human beings are hard wired to give to others. The more we give, the happier we feel.

Volunteering increases self confidence. You are doing something good for others and the community, which gives you a natural sense of accomplishment. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity and the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals.

Volunteering provides a sense of purpose. Older adults, especially those who have retired or lost a spouse, can find new meaning and directions in their lives by helping others. Whatever your age or life situation, volunteering can help take your mind off your own worries, keep you mentally stimulated, and add more zest to your life!

Volunteering helps you stay physically healthy. It's hard walking up and down a beach for 3 hours on the calves!! Studies have found that those who volunteer have a lower mortality rate that those who do not. Older volunteers tend to walk more, find it easier to cope with everyday tasks, are less likely to develop high blood pressure, and have better thinking skills. Volunteering can also lessen symptoms of chronic pain and reduce the risk of heart disease.

I happen to love the personal time that I get with my son. Usually about half way through our time there, we sit and take a water break. It is during this time that we have some of our deeper conversations about our respective future dreams and aspirations.
(It also has given me another opportunity to look for sea glass....shhhh ;)

I love to read comments so please, leave one here! I eventually WILL visit your blog (if you have one) and love to comment too!


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source: Help Guide.Org

De-Stressing By The Sea

Today I decided to take my daughter to the beach to try and find some sea glass and shells for our respective hobbies and mainly to de-stress from the previous week. The weather had been unusually wet from a cold front that had come down from up north, causing rough surf and heavy winds. Ideal conditions for finding lots of detritus washed up on the beach. I timed our arrival to coincide with the low tide, however, instead of finding the beach strewn with frosted white sea glass, we found instead, miles of frosted white jellyfish - a beach combers nightmare, to be sure.

We slowly trailed the low tide mark, growing increasingly dismayed at not finding much in the way of glass or shells.  

It never seems to amaze me how the beach landscape can change from day to day seemingly at the very whim of Mother Nature.

After carefully dodging the jellyfish, I glanced down to find a tiny emerald green spec on the sand. Not the beautiful large specimen that I had hoped for, but, as you know from my previous posts, I was eager for anything at this point.

Bella, watching me with my new found fascination with Sea Glass, asked me if she too could look for some glass, and if she could keep it. Of course I replied, 'Yes! What you find is yours!'

After about an hour, we decided to turn around and now try our luck at the high tide mark. The amount of trash on this part of the beach was staggering. We walked a little faster now as our parking meter deadline was rapidly approaching. I picked up a beach seed and slowly rolled it in the palm of my hand silently praying to the sea gods to grant me one good piece. I suddenly glanced to the left to see, what appeared to be, another half dried jellyfish on the sand....but this one was flatter. So I gingerly tapped it with my fingernail and LO AND BEHOLD IT WAS SOLID!! EUREKA!!
I held it up to the sky making a 'heavenly chorus' type of noise and gave a silent heartfelt thank you.

Bella was getting rather discouraged at this point, as little girls will get when their instant gratification needs aren't met. I told her to hold 'the lucky beach seed' and to keep looking, and what-do-you-know?! She finds a smaller piece of frosted opaque white glass within three minutes!!

All in all, I think we had a very productive day and look forward to more 'de-stressing' days at the beach (hopefully without the 'stress' of course ;)

Can you tell me which is the 'Lucky Beach Seed' pictured above and be sure to visit Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy Shop Here.



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The Tuesday Night Hobbiest

Did I mention that I have been dating someone? Actually it has been a little over five years that we have been seeing each other and have been engaged now for 3 of those years. Anyway...John league bowls on Tuesday nights and so my daughter, Bella and I have chosen Tuesday nights to start crafting.
As I mentioned in a previous post, she is making 'Beach Jars' that look something like this..

Naturally, living in Florida is conducive to visiting a lot of beaches, and on one of our more recent road trips to Bonita Springs visiting one of my oldest friends, 'Lisa Girl', she mentioned to Bella that she ought to start collecting sand and trinkets from the beach to put in jars as a memento for the trip. And so, a hobby was born.

As I have found a new found fascination with everything Sea Glass, this was a perfect way for the both of us to spend some quality time together, 'co-hobbying'.

Anyway, last Tuesday I FINALLY tried my hand at wire wrapping one of my sea glass pieces. I had watched a couple of beginner wire wrapping tutorials on You Tube (yes...that's how I roll) and went to our local craft store, AC Moore - great jewelry making supplies btw - and got down to business wire wrapping a small frosted white piece found on Ft Lauderdale beach the day after hurricane Matthew.
In case you do not know....south Floridians base a large part of their life time lines on the ebb and flow of hurricanes! I know, crazy right? Well, as it turns out, the first low tide after a hurricane is when you can find the most sea glass, and I found two out of my four piece collection that day (let me tell you - the struggles of a south Floridian Glasser is REAL folks!).
Here is my finished piece..

Hopefully one day I will make a really GREAT piece of wire wrapped jewelry, but for now, I am content to spend my Tuesday nights, practicing and watching my daughter construct her Beach Jars.

Please feel free to post comments and tell me about your hobby adventures and be sure to visit Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy Shop Here.

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A Seaside Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the long weekend on the west coast of Florida, visiting relatives and, of course, glassing.
Glassing?? Well...yes. Glassing is the term given to walking up and down a beach at low tide. head bent doggedly - sometimes painfully - down, looking for frosty glass fragments.

These are a few pieces that I've found along Ft. Lauderdale beach over the last year.
Yes. Three whole pieces. This seems to be rather a let down, compared to the glass filled beaches of California and the upper east coast of the US. However it was a bonanza compared to how we fared on the west coast of Florida!

After carefully preparing for my trip with hotel arrangements, etc, I scoured the internet trying to find out where the 'good' spots would be in that area. Some of the locations included, Anna Maria Island, Clearwater Beach and Honeymoon Island State Park. I downloaded a really nice Tidal App called 'Tides Near Me' to be able to tell, at a moments notice, when the next low tide would be. I scoped out a great lunch place to eat and then be able to walk out and do a little glassing on the trip up.

My daughter is the early riser in the family and she would faithfully wake me to get dressed and quietly sneak out of the hotel room so my son could sleep in, and we would drive to the beach to do a little walking and collecting. She also has started a new hobby of creating 'Beach Jars' from all the different beaches that we visit. We are having fun co-hobbying.

So...even though I came back empty handed, we found TONS of beautiful shells and we got to spend some nice mother-daughter bonding time. I am really looking forward to trying my hand at wire wrapping some of these recycled treasures from the ocean.
We truly have so much to be thankful for.

Be sure to visit Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy Shop!





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