Motivational Art #19 Follow Your Passion.

 

 

 

It has been a while since I've posted some motivational art.

I am grateful to one of my readers for motivating me to get busy.

 

I hope you like it.

An Engagement Party

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Last weekend at this time I was just getting home from our trip to Glendive, Montana.  It's where my whole extended family traveled to go to my nephew Daniel and his finance Melissa's engagement party.

What an adventure of fun we all had.

Melissa's family and Dan had arranged for all of us to stay at the Makoshika State Park located in the badlands of Glendive, MT.  Most of us stayed in this really nice large A-frame lodge.

The park is rustic and beautiful.  Everywhere you look is a delight for the eyes.  Winding our way up the mountain to the lodge was a something.  I avoided looking down.  Once we arrived at the top.  My dad gets out of his car and says,  "I think, my brakes just went out."  What?  Sure enough, he had no brakes, and we could see a trail of the oil drippings.  Whoa, we were glad it had happened where it had.  But now, the new dilemma.  How were we going to get a car down the mountain with no brakes?

We didn't have time to think about it.  There was Melissa's family to meet, unpacking and eating to be done.  Unfortunately, my parents still worried about their car.  It is no fun to have car problems.

My dad has been a member of AAA for over 50 years.  He used to buy a AAA card for each of his 7 kids for many years, even after we left home.  I now do this for my own kids.

I called up AAA.  Would they please send a tow truck to the top of the mountain so we could get my dad's car to an automotive shop. "Sure, no problem," they said.  Great, we thought.  Problem solved.  An hour later we received a phone call from AAA.  No trucks available that night.  Could I please call again in the morning?  Rrrrgh.

By the way, I would like to put a plug in for Verizon.  It was the only cell service that worked after we passed through Fargo, ND.  My Virgin Mobil cell phone was worthless for the major portion of my travels.  When my husband called them for me to see if I could get service.  They told him, I would need to find someone with a Verizon phone (a competitor who had service) and maybe they could get my phone to work.  Yeah, right.
My next phone will be Verizon.

Saturday morning, I called AAA.  They called me back.  Turns out no tow trucks will go up the mountain.  Oh, and then the real bummer.  Turns out AAA doesn't help you if you happened to travel onto a gravel road.
A member for 50 years, and when you need them, they can't help you.

After a couple phone calls to one of the local car repair shops, and more run around. We determined that our best shot was going to be taking that car down the mountain ourselves. 

This could spell disaster, obviously.  But what choice did we have? Dan had a large strap that he hooked between his truck and my dad's Buick.  Would it hold?  There unfortunately is only one way to find out.  The first turn seemed to be okay.  Dan's truck held the strap tight.  They moved slow.  When they were out of our sight my mom, brother, and I could not stand not knowing what was happening.  So we hopped into my zippy (name for my new car) and headed down the winding mountain.  We caught up quickly and prayed and held our breaths as we watched them make every twist and turn.

They made it all safe and sound.  Once we got to the bottom we waved them off and turned around and made our way back up the mountain.  We thanked God the whole way.  What a miracle!  Of course, the guys still had to get through town and find a mechanic all without brakes, but the worst was behind us. 

Later this night after the car was all fixed.  Thank you nice mechanic for working late.  We enjoyed a beautiful engagement party, right in our lodge.  How cool it was to be staying right where the party was.  Melissa's family did a beautiful job with decorating the lodge and all the delicious food.

 

Thank you Dan & Melissa (and especially Melissa's family) what a great time we had.

 

Glamping - Is Camping With Style.

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Have you heard about Glamping?  It stands for glamorized camping. 

I woke up this morning excited because in a few short weeks I'm heading to Montana with my whole extended family.  My nephew and his fiancé are having an engagement party.   We're all staying together in a big lodge which will be a lot of fun.

This time of year reminds me of how much I love to camp.  Unfortunately, my husbands doesn't like to camp.  Boo hoo.

Maybe this kind of camping would change his mind.



A girl can dream, right?


I'm thinking my sister's would love to visit one of these glamping resorts.  What do you say girls?



Here are some books I recommend if you would like to learn more about the Glamping Lifestyle, written by MaryJane Butters.  I adore her books.



        

Here are some Glamping Resorts that I am hoping to visit someday.  You might want to check them out too.

http://www.theranchatrockcreek.com/content/all-inclusive-luxury-ranch-vacation-Montana
http://www.pawsup.com/glamping/moonlight-camp.php#.UelxwYwo73g
http://glampinggirl.com/glamping-in-bc/

Banana Bread Muffins

I'm tired of throwing away Bananas that have gone dark and soft.  I tend to stay away from baking Banana bread because for some reason the center of my loaf is always mushy.

Still, what could I do with those Bananas?

I know, Banana muffins!

So easy, and they turned out perfect and delicious.

 

Gather your ingredients.

 

1/2 cup butter or margerine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

4-5 over-ripe bananas mashed

1 cup walnuts (optional)

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

 

Pour into muffin tins or paper tins

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Check if done by inserting a knife into the center of a muffin.

If it comes out clean, they are done.  If not, bake for another

5 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

 

Mix all ingredients together.

 

Bake & TaDa!

 

 

I added some chocolate chips to a few of them.

 

 

Add butter if you like and enjoy!



My New Car - A Kia Soul.

This weekend was a lot of fun.  My husband talked to a customer at our store about her Kia Soul car.  She loved her car so much, her husband bought one too.  

My husband was really surprised to see how roomy they are.  So on Saturday, he wanted me to go take one for a test drive.

I didn't expect to love it so much.  But, once I took it for a drive I was sold.
It is so much fun to drive. 

                          Check out my new car. 

My Top Five Things I Love About My Kia Soul.

5.  It's cute little shape.
4.  The bright red color.  It's called Molten Red.
3.  I like that I sit higher up.  I step out of the car, rather than climb out.
2.  Great windows, with less blind spots than our Nissan Altima.

My number one favorite thing. 

1.  It's Hands Free Bluetooth Phone System.

Of course, there is much more to love but these are my favorites.

Ebb & Flow - Beauty in Simplicity - Artistic Doodling

I am drawn to create art that seems to move in random and soothing ways.

This was a sketch I drew one night while listening to some music. 
I love that there is nothing it is trying to be.  It is what it is.

I call it,

 

"Ebb & Flow."

Have You Tried Famous Dave's Burnt Ends?

I probably shouldn't be writing this review.  If my kids read this blog post they'll know that my hubby and I snuck away one afternoon and stopped at the restaurant Famous Dave's to try these new BURNT ENDS, without them. 

Quiet, maybe they won't hear me.

We ordered them to share.  I love brisket, but Dave's brisket is in my opinion the very best brisket I have ever had.  When I saw the commercial for these delicious looking Burnt Ends, I knew I had to try some.

OMG - the best!!!

They look exactly like the photo, Perfect!

Of course, they didn't last long.  Don't wait - if you like brisket, you will love these.

 

Doesn't this look delicious?