Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.  ~Stanley Horowitz

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.

~Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance.

Desiderus Erasmus

Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Etsy Front Page 12/27/08 ptitebaloue, originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers.

I was on Etsy’s Front page way back in December! Wow I didn’t even know.

The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.  ~Marian Zimmer Bradley

I thought it might be fun to do some beadwork and wirework, so I got out the ole box of beads.  I am surprised at how much I have accumulated, a little something bought her, a little something bought there and lo and behold a whole box of beads and stuff.

A note: all those bottles are the legacy of a difficult pregnancy, when I had to take entirely too many pills. The empty bottles are really great for storing beads in a secure way.

We had the pleasure of spending a Saturday afternoon on the west side of Michigan.  We visited Grand Haven and Holland.  We had dinner at Russ’s – the best Dutch restaurant I know, where the cream puffs are as big as a small child’s head.

Then we went over to Lake Michigan to watch the sun set.  While it wasn’t the most spectacular sunset, due to the clouds, it is still the best show on earth.

Here is a funny anicdote:  When we arrived at Lake Michigan the daughter asked “are we by the thumb?”  we answered, “No we are on the other side of the state.”  She replied “So we are in the pinky.”

An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow.  ~Author Unknown