Southwest Florida Eagle Cam & Misc.

I know some of you like watching the eagle cams.  We have one here in Iowa in Decorah but the eagles here have been getting their nest ready so the female can lay her eggs soon.

Two eaglets have recently hatched in Florida so if you watch this web cam you can see them being fed several times during the day.

http://dickpritchettrealestate.com/eagle-feed.html#

Bill and Tim have been keeping busy going to various farm related classes since Christmas.  Bill always goes to the dentist, eye doctor and gets a physical this time of year. We've been working on all the paperwork for taxes and are now just waiting on the rest of our 1099's.  Farmers have to file taxes by Mar. 1.    

I've been keeping busy with P.E.O., Tues. Bible Study, and lunch & shopping with friends.  Great Niece, Lacey, just had her 11th birthday party which we were invited to at the Pocahontas bowling alley (6 lanes!).  We all had supper there and bowled a couple of games.  She got lots of nice gifts.  

A couple of weeks ago, I got to have lunch with friends at The Chocolate Season in Algona, a link to their web site is HERE.   It was very good, and I'm looking forward to going back.  They make everything there including quiches, soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts.  And very fancy chocolates.

I had the wild mushroom soup (loved it) and cranberry turkey sandwich.  For dessert I had chocolate truffle cheesecake - so good!   I also had the little bite of brownie you can see in the picture.  They serve a bite with every meal.  If you like chocolate, both of these desserts were amazing!  

We've had snow on the ground for quite a while now.  This weekend is warmer so some may melt.   We're supposed to get 1-2" of snow tomorrow and then around 4" and lots of wind Tues. and Wed.  They were thinking LOTS of snow at first but now we're down to 4".  The blowing snow will be the problem.  I have 3 things to go to on Tues. of course.  All may be canceled.   

Happy 20th Anniversary to Me!

Today is my 20th Anniversary as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!  It does seem like forever ago that I started in 1996, but yet it doesn't seem like it has been 20 years either.

I've always been a card sender.  I remember many times looking at Hallmark cards in the store and being irritated that people around me would be talking a lot, and I couldn't concentrate on picking out the perfect cards.  And so many of the cards said such dumb things.

One of my friends from jr. high, Debbie, and I had lunch one day, and she told me I needed to try to get my hands on a Stampin' Up! catalog.  She had been to a party and learned how to make your own cards with rubber stamps, ink, glitter and embossing powder. So I decided I'd just book my own party and see it all right away.  I invited my mom, my best friend and a couple of other people to my little dining room.

Debbie started it!

As Jodi demonstrated some simple cards and techniques, my eyes and smile got bigger.  My mom, best friend and I were all hooked right then!  My list of things I wanted to get started making cards was really long so I started thinking about signing up to be a demonstrator, just for a little while, to get all of that stuff on my list at a discount!  But did I want to SELL??

I mentioned it to Mom & Dad.  When Dad heard that there were only about 20 demonstrators in Indiana so far, he said you better do it.  So I signed up pretty quick (because I wanted to get my stamping stuff and get started making cards!).   I had my first "guinea pig" party at my house and invited only about 3 friends to practice on.  It didn't seem hard because I was looking down at the projects and just explaining how to do it.  A month later my friend Marie (at that first party) signed up to be a demonstrator too!  

Then a friend from church had a party and lots of women came.  (I remember our minister's wife saying "they even make their own envelopes, haha" like we were CRAZY!)  But that first church friend had several $900-$1000 parties with me!  And from there it spread.  At one time I had 300 demonstrators under me.  

I was divorced and working to pay for my house and car, etc.  Dating was not going well at all and NOT fun.  Stampin' Up! came at the perfect time for me.  I worked full time during the day, and every night I was either at someone's house doing a workshop or working at home until about 11:00 at night entering orders or getting ready for the next workshop.  It kept me BUSY and meeting new people.  It was kind of fun having workshops in other peoples' homes - some were very nice.  And, it was a nice second income plus I could buy all the stamping & scrapbooking supplies at a discount and without spending any of my other income for them.

One group of customers was from another country - I can't remember where now, but they always had a meal before the workshops and wanted me to eat with them.  From them, I learned to like baba ganoush (and how to make it), Greek salad, and also Big Train spiced chai tea (made with milk)!  That is my favorite hot drink still.  The hostess's husband made the tea for us.   

Being the Manager of 300 demonstrators also kept me busy.  My group name for my downline is Stampers At Heart.  We attended many Stampin' Up! Conventions and Leadership Conferences in fun cities like San Diego, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis and Orlando.  I had meetings for my downline, to help them learn new stamping techniques and business ideas, and helped to keep them motivated. 

I don't know what year this was.  Stampers At Heart at a convention.

Teaching people the art of rubber stamping has been rewarding.  It's a feel good thing for both the maker and receiver of cards.  It's a relaxing hobby and cheaper than therapy we say!  When I had classes in my home in Indiana, I enjoyed baking something good for them and they looked forward to the pecan pie in the fall, the warm corn dip in the winter, etc.  

The best part has been learning this fun craft - I'll always make my own cards - and the many friends I've made; both customers and demonstrators.  I still have some customers in Indiana that call me with orders and we catch up, and I keep in touch with demonstrators from all over that I've met at events.  Stampers seem to ALWAYS be nice people!  Including the owners of Stampin' Up! - Shelli & Sterling Gardner from Utah.  (You can read Shelli's blog HERE.)  Stampin' Up!, and its great products, have been a big part of my life, and I'm very thankful for it.

If you'd like to order Stampin' Up! products from me, you can shop any time at cindykemna.stampinup.net.  Right now we have Sale-A-Bration until the end of March.  For every $50 you spend, you can choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration product.  See my SU! web site for more details!      

Fun Experiment with Frozen Orbs

I saw this idea last year and was hoping to remember to do it with our great nieces this year.  You put some food coloring in a balloon (use bigger balloons - these are kind of small), put the opening of the balloon on the end of your faucet and fill with water.  Tie and then shake gently and put outside (or in your freezer) to freeze.  It takes quite a while to totally freeze them.  Like longer than overnight in 0 degrees.

When totally frozen, and with rubber gloves on, snip the balloon with scissors or a knife and peel the balloon off.  It comes off very easy.  If doing several colors, you'll need to rinse your gloves in between colors because the food coloring will get on your gloves and transfer to the next color.  You see some blue on my yellow one.

Most winters if we have snow it stays white everywhere all winter.  (I was used to it melting between snows in Indiana)  So I really like it that these will be colorful decorations in the snow by our front sidewalk all winter!  My favorite is the dark blue one and the yellow one on the right in the front.

I have a couple more out there that still have the balloons on.  I think one may be purple because the girls wanted to mix red and blue to try to make a purple one.  They thought it was fun. 

It will be fun to see how long we have them.  April?  Anyone want to guess?  Leave your guess in the comments below.