Finished the Banner! Phew!

HERE IS THE FRONT AND THE BACK OF THE COMPLETED BANNER







Close up of the moutains and pple skiing

BANNERS ON PARADE

One of the great things that is happening to me at the moment is that im working on my art. Im about to start teaching at the town all..The city have a schedule of classes that people run through them and in the fall i will be running some art classes. A sister in my cong wendy campbell, i stayed with her and her husband when i first arrived in the USA. Her husband and Aaron are best friends. We are regulary getting together every friday and working on art together, our aim is to gather enough work so that we can have stall at art events and the local farmers markets. Im really excited about it.

So right now im involved in a project called "Banners on Parade"

"A parade of painted banners will be on display on the light poles around the historic Courthouse and at various locations on Main Street from June through early September. These banners will be sold at Auction during the Artand Wine Festival on October 17, 2009. The proceeds will go to Art on Parade with a small percentage being shared with the individual artists. A panel of local artists will jury banners and awards will be presented to the top three banners. Every artist will
receive two tickets to the Art and Wine Festival, a $60 value!"

We had to submit a sketch of our design, which was themed "placerville past and presant" and any art related subject. My sketch was accepted and i collected my banner.. Here are some picture of me painting my banner..
Its not finished, but i have laid the base coats, i still need to work on alot of it. No details are in it yet and im going to adjust the size of the mountains and the area back there.. Ill post the finished Banner.




Me working on the shop fronts




Sketching my Shops



Showing how i get my sketches for my Banner



My Banner right now, hanging on the door.. its 5ft long..

Camping Time is here

It spring in California and everything is green. Not the deep green of the uk but a light bright green. Ill get some pics of everything blossoming here.. I love the Dogwood here its so pretty.
The only thing is that spring lasts about a month and then the sun burns everything up and its all brown and golden. Hence the name the golden State. Well one reason it has that name.

We are about to start our camping season. Last year when i was new here, even before i got married i was invited by Auntie Char to go camping in Sly Park. Sly park is about 20-25 mins away not far at all. It has a huge Lake there and camping spots. We spend our days, swimming, relaxing, walking, eating and playing games. Its Soo relaxing. I cant wait. Here are some pics of Sly park.

When we go ill post our pics.



sly park lake in the morning



A boat on the lake


this is were i swim and camp






this is were we camp..

CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK ...hee hee

Jehovah really blesses in the most unexpected ways.

Amanda and i frequent starbucks when we do early morning ministry. We are starting to cut back as its very expensive but when we can, and for a while we are there 3 times a week at roughly 8am.

Now and again id seen signs for CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK ! They would have the persons name and a little blurb about them, saying how much of a nice customer they are.. I was like, oohh that would be so cool, to be a regular customer and have the staff know your drink and you enough so that they make you customer of the week.

I had been joking with Amanda for months how i wanted to be customer of the week. Slowly over time the staff got to know us, our names and our drinks. It feels really nice when someone remembers you. You walk in and you hear, hey Emily how are you? Can i get your Latte ready for you?.. It sounds silly but its actully a really nice feeling, and it keeps you coming back, becuase they know your drink and make it the way you like it.. "a place were every body knows your name"..

Well one day i decided to take matters into my own hands and thought it would be nice for Amanda to see her name up there. I know it feels good to have someone know who you are and remmeber you enough so that you are given an honoury mention.. See Amanda and i are not overly outgoing and im not very good at beine preppy and happy, as those that know me well can testify too. So i reckoned positive action was needed. Amanda has been such a good friend to me i was hoping this little gesture would let her know how valued she is.

I popped a note into thier suggestion box and asked if i could nominate Amanda as customer of the week, and told them why she would be a great candidate. She LOVES starbucks.. Its really because of her we even come 3 times a week, She is one of the most important people in mylife here and is one of the top 5 who have been integral to my settling down in Placerville. Coming to Starbucks is "our" thing.. We have a chin wag and our Frapps. She is just awesome..
I wasn't even sure that they allowed customers to nominate, but who dares wins.. as Derek Trotter would say

!


Tuesday morning as usual we walk in and que up for our coffees... I see the sign and go bright red... HAHAH oh my gosh... there are our names for all to see... They decided to have us both as customer of the week and guess what i find out!!! It means we have FREE COFFEE too. I had no idea i just thought you have your name up for a bit.. WOAH...! how cool is that.

Sue and her daughter made the very awesome sign for us. They did a great job and i wanna thank them and the whole Broadway staff for being so cool. They are a great bunch of people and we really enjoying getting our coffee from them


SUE the manager of Starbucks on Broadway..

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GOOD NEWS

Ive just sent out a bulk email to everyone, but id thought id document this in my blog. I am now a regular pioneer. I found out via a friend in the cong, someone has let is slip and she congradulated me. I had no idea what she was talking about and then she realized i didn't know and was horrified. It was ok i was just relived to find out.. A few minutes later i started to cry. A wave of emotion came over me. I had not just been accepted by my elders but the letter coming back was confirmation that i had Jehovahs approval to pioneer. Not for a mintue did i assume that because my elders has signed my letter was it a automatic approval. Jehovah makes the decision, i knew it was the one thing i wanted to do more than anything. However only Jehovah knows if im ready and my heart condition.

This new will have more significance to my UK friends than my friends here, only because they have seen me come back into the truth, fight depression, shyness and a whole mountian of obsticles to get to this point. Of course all done in Jehovahs strength, i know that i do not have the strength to do what ive done. I know this is still the beginning the test is to be balanced, to stay poineering, to improve my study habits to do daily Bible reading. This is not the time for me to think ive done it! im here.. but rather to pull my socks up and live up to the prividge Jehovah has given me..

The wonderful thing is dispite whats going on around me, the financail trouble we are having (losing our home) i am the happiest i have ever been, i have the feeling of calm and peace. Its like i have my own little bubble and there is a storm raging around but i feel SO SAFE! I feel safe and its the most wonderful feeling.
TRUST in Jehovah and DO NOT lean on your own understanding.


oh and this week promises to be a great week. I get to go to the annual pioneer meeting on Friday then its out Circuit Assembly Sat and Sun and then the memorial... all within a 7 day period... woo hooooooooo..
X

Myra's 101 things that make her happy

I feel very privileged to post my sister inlaws 101 things that make her happy.. lol ( sister inlaw hee hee) miss you lots Myra cant wait to see you soon.

1. my husband
2. making people happy
3. doing things for a friend
4. surprising people
5. fresh smelling laundry
6. clean floors
7. comfy beds
8. a good cup of coffee
9. weekends at the Cabin
10. family dinners
11. travel
12. talking to friends and family back home
13. hearing experiences
14. laughing
15. picture windows with a good view
16. books
17. Grandma’s raspberry pie
18. Mom’s cooking
19. uninterrupted sleep
20. happy dogs
21. good conversation
22. listening to music, loud
23. lemonade on a hot day
24. pizza and beer
25. watching snow fall
26. baking cookies
27. fresh air
28. sleeping in
29. lazy days
30. cool grass between my toes in the summer
31. hammocks
32. encouragement
33. being generous
34. imagining
35. thinking about the future
36. reading books with Jeff before bed
37. See’s chocolate
38. cooking
39. smell of wet dirt
40. a good burger
41. air conditioning
42. kids laughing
43. hugs
44. knowing the truth
45. the whir of the dryer
46. relaxing after a productive day
47. hard work when I get to see the pay-off/benefit
48. cuddly babies
49. being on time
50. a nice haircut
51. a good hair day
52. doing laundry
53. going to the grocery store
54. a sunny corner with a comfy chair
55. well decorated homes
56. massages
57. mani/pedis
58. how my face feels just after I wash it
59. nice smelling lotion
60. true friends
61. honesty
62. the ocean
63. art
64. being myself
65. Lysol
66. soft lighting
67. people watching
68. money in my wallet
69. visitors
70. waking up to breakfast
71. quality shampoo/conditioner
72. quiet times
73. having plans
74. feeling understood
75. knowing my limits
76. affection
77. vacations
78. playing hard
79. going to the airport
80. landing safely on a flight
81. being able to speak Chinese
82. and for people to understand me
83. comfortable clothes
84. uniqueness
85. making Jeff laugh
86. helping appreciative people
87. balanced opinions
88. having a story read to me
89. good advice
90. road trips

91. staying home on a bad weather day
92. Madlibs
93. getting broken things fixed
94. accomplishment
95. Thunderstorms
96. good talks
97. feeling valued
98. initiative
99. a good deal

100. the perfect bag

101. a well wrapped present

Anne Marie's 101 things that make me happy

Hey this is a friend from the UK's responce to "things that make me happy" so i asked her permission to post it as i loved reading it and i now want to post 100 more.. Enjoy!

1. foreign travel
2. paints and canvas
3. pandas
4. working in Bethel
5. catching up with friends
6. the smell of marzipan
7. chick flicks
8. clean bedding
9. arty photographs
10. visiting Bethels
11. warm gloves
12. playing guitar
13. getting jobs completed
14. meeting new brothers and sisters
15. fleecy blankets
16. live music
17. grasping new things
18. colour
19. assemblies
20. stuffed olives
21. the smell of spice and citrus on the streets of Marrakech
22. long journeys with friends
23. writing
24. garnets
25. my cosy little room
26. the Yorkshire Dales
27. being organised
28. motivating talks
29. compliments
30. deep red
31. Pachelbel’s Canon
32. being slim
33. spontaneity
34. Italy
35. painting
36. finding bargains
37. wood
38. New York bagels
39. poppies
40. being creative
41. Rothko art
42. solitude
43. autumn
44. my lovely mum
45. chilling in Central Park
46. bright ideas
47. baby animals
48. Pioneer meetings
49. Irish accents
50. lasagne
51. reading life stories
52. Turkish delight
53. getting lost in a good book
54. hats
55. walking barefoot on sand
56. my big brother
57. good humour
58. waking up the first day of a holiday
59. my DMs
60. seeing things from different angles
61. using the NY subway
62. drawing
63. country music
64. planning holidays
65. walking through fresh snow
66. keeping a diary
67. long ministry days
68. laughing so hard I can barely breathe
69. living in London
70. mature cheddar
71. setting goals
72. Italian ice creamJ
73. Covent Garden
74. Foreign language meeting
75. driving
76. Thai sweet chilli Sensations
77. days out
78. planning my New System log cabin
79. liquorice
80. dimples
81. Donegal
82. lazy mornings
83. Amaretto
84. crème brulee
85. stationery shops
86. hot bath after a long day
87. old buildings
88. sushi
89. sunsets
90. having a good clearout
91. taking photos
92. afternoon naps
93. cinnamon
94. crisp bright days
95. making plans
96. good flatmates
97. power ballads & rock music
98. big hugs
99. long summer evenings
100. candles
101. cheeky grins