New Banner and Title

If you haven't noticed, I changed the title of my blog and made a new banner. I thought it would be a quick task but it is already 1PM and I started at 10AM. 3Hours!!! It seems like it has only been 30 minutes but once I get sucked into photoshop and illustrator I am in there playing around and before I know it hours have gone by. Good thing I have a slow week!!!

I wanted to make a new banner for my Exquisite Blooms blog too but that will have to wait for another day. I am still in my PJ's and have to get this day started. Oh and I also want to know how to make my pictures larger...anyone know? Any suggestions? I have tried to figure it out but I am lost. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This was the other banner I made but I think I like the clean look of the white one.
Lastly, do you think I should change my blog website to www.awarmconversation.blogspot.com???

Time Travelers Wife

Has anyone seen this yet or read the book? I went to see it tonight with my sister-in-law Marcie and I am having mixed feelings. I think I better read the book because it seemed really intriguing but something was missing. You know when you have read a book and then see the movie and you can follow along because in your head you know the background??? But then you think to yourself how are other people following if they haven't read the book??? I felt like the other people...the outsiders who don't have the inside scoop. I felt like I was missing large pieces of information or story and therefore didn't have a strong connection with the characters. I wanted to feel their emotion but I never felt that attached to them and so I merely watched and that was it.

You see, I am a big time lover of "crying" movies, movies like 'The Notebook' and 'P.S. I Love You'. Of course these are books too, but even though I did not read the books until after I saw the movie, I still was very emotional while watching. I felt that the movie, while it didn't stick strictly to the book, still conveyed the emotion.

In 'The Time Travelers Wife', I just never had that emotional attachment. Hmmm, I don't know maybe I am just rambling but I thought I would share my mini review and if anyone wants to read the book I will be starting soon and would love to discuss it.

P.S. I think Rachel McAdams is gorgeous and she was really great in the movie


All It Takes is One Hello
I took the time to say hello
To someone that I didn't know
To someone who was walking by,
A look of sadness in her eyes.
And when she smiled back gratefully
And said a warm hello to me,
I realized my "little gift"
Had given both of us a lift!
You never know just whom you'll meet
Throughout your day on any street,
People just like me and you
With loneliness and problems, too,
Yet life is always better when
We take the time to be a friend
To someone we don't even know-
And all it takes is one hello.

Growing Older

Ok, so I'm not 75 or anything but sometimes I feel like I am getting so much older and it seems so long ago that I graduated from high school and college. It's been 10 years since BV and 6 years since SDSU!!! WOW!!!

Our high school reunion is coming up in October and while I swore up and down that I, WAS NOT under any circumstance going to the reunion, I found myself giving in to Lisa and Erin and now we are all going!!! Mixed feelings for sure, not sure why but still they are there. One reason I guess would be that I see most of my friends from high school and we are still close, so why the need for a reunion? Never the less, I am going. Maybe it will be fun?!?!?!?

This little rant leads to today's "Moment of Inspiration"

What Does it Mean to Grow Older?
What does it mean to grow older?
It means to grow wiser each day,
To Appreciate more fully
The joy life sends our way.
It means finding pleasure in little things-
A word, a smile, a thought,
To play and dream but not forget
The joys the past has brought.
It means to value having friends
And loved ones always near,
To learn from each experience
And cherish every year.

I really like this little "moment" because it makes me think about what I truly cherish and what brings me joy...
My wonderful newly wed husband :). He is so sweet and funny and goofy and full of ideas and dreams and we have so many memories together to always remember and build on.









My sister and my girlfriends...we always have fun and laugh about silly things. And while some I have known since birth and some just a few years, I love each one very much.








My family who is always there for me and always supportive...
(doesn't my immediate family look tiny compared to Jeremiah's?)


And while growing old can be freighting and sad, right now I am looking forward to it. Sometimes I think "I don't want to get old!" but for now, growing old means more exciting adventures with Jeremiah like finding a new home, having children and watching them grow.

Bohemian Eclectic

I took this home style quiz and here is my result:

Sally, you are a Bohemian Eclectic

You have wide-ranging interests and influences and so appreciate a mix of styles, cultures, periods, and objects. You would never use a matching suite of furniture or want a home that seemed cookie-cutter. You have an artist's eye that enables you to mix the old or the unusual with the new and modern. When traveling, you seek out unique objects that reflect what you love, and you use them in a sophisticated way. Your home is visually intriguing and comfortable, with a delightful mix of cozy chairs, ethnic fabrics, elegant pieces, hand-made items, even a little touch of quirk or humor, all of which gives your place a laid-back, Bohemian feel.

You value creativity. You are stylish and fun loving, and can be an inspiration to others. You have a natural sense of drama, and you know you have to be willing to take risks—whether with colors, finishes, furniture choices, or ideas—for your home to stand out. Your home can be happy and lively and the place all of your friends want to be.

I think it fits me perfectly and here are a few pictures that I found to represent how I would love to decorate my new place :)...

Now you take the quiz and post your results in the comment section.

Short but Sweet

I have no time for a long entry today but I do have time to share a "Moment of Inspiration"

Opening Up to Beauty
If you open your eyes to beauty,
you'll see it blossoming brightly
in flowers and trees.
If you open your ears to beauty,
you'll hear it singing its song
in a brook, in a breeze.
If you open your heart to beauty,
you'll find it smiling
in all the nice things people do.
If you open your life to beauty,
you'll show it,
And others will find it reflected in you.

(picture taken by Andy King, on our wedding day at the ceremony site)

Italian Honeymoon-Part "Venice"

From Florence our little Panda Fiat took us to Venezia...we arrived mid morning and checked into a "camp ground," the 1st of 3 camp grounds we stayed at in Italy. I know you are thinking "camping?!?!" but it is not what you think. Their campgrounds had places for tents and RV's but they also had little mobile home type "cabins" which were complete with beds, mini-fridges and bathrooms. So we checked in and then headed off to Venezia. We arrived by the local bus again and headed into this virtual Disneyland of scenery, history and maze like streets. By far, this is the MOST picturesque place I have ever been. It was everything and more I had ever imagined or envisioned and every corner I turned I wanted to take a picture. I just wish I had a better camera!!!

We walked all over Venice the sights such as, St. Marks square, not to many pigeons out that day, disappointing :(, the Grand Canal and lots of gondolas. I schooled Jeremiah on Venice through the trusty Rick Steve's books but also through my extensive research of Renaissance times from period films :). Very academic!!! We had a delicious lunch at a little restaurant that we never found again because we got lost in the maze but we will always remember the Frito Misto and the Raviolis with a truffle sauce, mmmmm it was so good. We walked along endless canals and enjoyed a peaceful day on the little islands of Venice. It was a great day!!!

Daily Moment of Inspiration:

Follow Your Dream
Follow your dream...
take one step at a time
And don't settle for less,
just continue to climb.
Follow our dream...
if you stumble don't stop
And lose sight of your goal,
press on to the top.
For only on top
can we see the whole view,
Can we see what we've done
and what we can do,
Can we then have the vision
to seek something new.
Press on and follow your dream.

Daily Moment of Inspiration

Memories are Treasures of the Heart
All the treasures of the kings
and all the gold on earth
Could not begin to equal
what our memories are worth.
Remembering together-times
can warm a lonely day,
And thoughts of summer afternoons
take winter's chill away.
Lovely memories linger on
of moments left behind,
And rain will seldom come to those
with rainbows on their mind.
And when life seems to get us down,
the thing that sees us through
Is thinking of the ones we love
and those who love us, too.