I AM STILL HERE

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that I am still here.  I've just been taking an unexpected blogging break.  Ever since I started working, I've found it hard to juggle blogging and working and everything else. However, I've come to the place where I'm feeling the need to blog again so that I can keep the creative juices flowing.

With that, let me leave you with a few photos for today.

I saw this beautiful piece of American machinery while at the grocery store the other day. It's a 1955 (or 1956) Ford Thunderbird. I really do love vintage classic cars.  When I saw this in the parking lot, I KNEW I had to snap a quick photograph with my camera.

Cannery Row is a lot of fun. It can also get really busy with traffic.  Today was the craziest I have ever seen it...literally. This is what it looked like when my dad and I went out for a drive this morning.  As long as one exercises some patience, it's possible to navigate these tight spots. This is the first time I've ever seen it like this. Usually it's just a matter of driving around a semi or a delivery truck.

The purple ice plant in Pacific Grove is starting to come into bloom again. It'll be in full bloom around May and this entire shore will be covered in this purple pink color. It'll be absolutely fantastic ;) :) :)

Otherwise, I'm doing really well, even if I'm still having some issues with time management :) :) :)  God has been really good to provide me with my current job and it's making it possible for me to pay all of my bills. 

I am working on saving up for a Canon 7D camera, so I can take professional quality photos. That'll take awhile, but I'm up for the challenge :) :) :)

I would love to hear how all of you are doing.  What have you been up to these last few days?  Stop by and leave a friendly hello.  That's the news from the ocean shores of California today.  Love and hugs, Heather :) :) :)

THE CUTEST PATTISERIE IN TOWN

HI everyone,

It feels really good to be back to blogging again.  It seemed like I was in a bit of a blogging funk for a couple of months. However, yesterday, I finally decided to pull myself out of my creative rut and just start writing again.

Today I went to Whole Foods for coffee. Then after that my dad and I drove by the post office to get some photos. Oh, NOT photos of the post office, but of the Parker-Lusseau patisserie right next door. 

One of the things I love about Monterey is it's Spanish heritage.  During the holiday time there are these really cute adobe Christmas angels hanging up all over the downtown area.  I'm not sure if that's what they're really called, but that's the name I'm giving them.  Here are a few pics of the bakery, too.  It's housed in a historical building that used to be the home of General Fremont. He plays an important role in the early history of California.

So here are the pics. I took them on my mobile telephone since it was easier than using my "big girl" camera this morning:

Just looking at the sign posted on the side of the patisserie makes me smile. It's got some serious vintage charm.  If a sign were cute enough to convince me to fall off the gluten free wagon and sink my teeth into a tasty croissant, this sign would definitely do that.  I really do love what they did to the look of this building, for sure.

This is the patisserie, as seen from across the street.  The sun was super bright this morning.  You can see two of the adobe Christmas angels still hanging up above on the second floor balcony. Aren't they really cool?

I'm not sure why I like this Christmas angels so much.  These really enchanted me when I first moved here and they still do :)  I think it's because they honor the Christmas season and the Spanish/Mexican heritage of this area.  It really is beautiful.  There are at least 8 different version of these angels that I've counted so far. Maybe even more than that, too.

This is a view of the patisserie from street level.  It is a really small space inside, but I never go inside. I just like staring at the outside of the building.

All of the historical buildings in town have some sort of sign that says something about the history of the building and/or who it belonged to. In this case, this was General Fremont's place.  There's even a street named after him in Monterey.

Here's a close-up view of another of the adobe Christmas angel's. 

This is the side area where people can sit, enjoy a cup o'joe or whatever else to drink and a nice, tasty good pastry :) :) 

Well, that's about it for today. I hope you enjoyed this mini view of Monterey today. 

The weather has been really, really beautiful today. It is cold.  People forget that "sunny California" doesn't also mean "warm", especially when there's an ocean in the backyard ;) :) :)  I think I'm going to head out to the library and check out some DVDs and books on tape.

Oh yeah, another piece of BIG NEWS...TWO pieces of big news:  I got my driver's license on October 5th. I can officially drive now...YEAH!!!! The next piece of news is that we no longer have any tv service of any kind.  Yes, it's true. That's why I only watch DVDs and listen to books on tape now, especially while I"m crafting. That'll be a story for another post.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.  Extra love and hugs to you all and Happy New Year 2013, Heather :) :) :)

I AM BACK :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Hi everyone,

I am back to blogging again :) :) It's been a LONG, LONG time.  I'm going to start slow by posting a few photos in my next blog post.  Big hugs and thanks to all of you who are still following my blog. Sometimes life happens and a break is needed. For me that was starting a new job :) :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of CAlifornia today.  love and hugs, Heather :) :) :)

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Hi everyone,

Just a quick reminder for those of us in North America...Daylight Savings Time is happening at 2.a.m. on Sunday morning - November 4th...so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight (Saturday) before you go to bed...that is unless you want to wake up at 2 a.m. and set your clock back then. I do not.  I'd much prefer to sleep :) :) That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

HAPPY SONDAY, EVERYONE !!!!!!!

Hi everyone,

I want to wish you all a very happy SONday.  Here is a nice Scripture photo for you to enjoy.  Feel free to share this on your blogs or on Facebook. Just please, link this photo back to me. Thanks :)

Have a great day, everyone. I start my new job tomorrow and I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather

I GOT A JOB. I GOT A JOB.

This is a vintage truck that I saw in the parking lot of the local mall. It's so cool. Nothing compares to vintage vehicles. They have so much style and character.

Hi everyone,

How are you all doing? It has been a LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG time since I last posted something here.

Well, let's see. I got a job. It's a part-time job here at a well-known department store. I'm so excited.  There is the possibility of picking up extra shifts when available, which is really nice. It also means that I am one step closer to being completely off of public assistance. It's scary and exhilirating all at the same time.  I've been grateful for the help, because without it my family would have really suffered. However, it'll be nice to slowly be back to a place where I can "be my own boss" in terms of my money etc :) :) :)

I also became a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant and I'm really excited about that, too.  So if you have any questions about that, please send me a private email :) :) I can ship anywhere in the United States.

What else? I"m pursuing my photography a little bit more. That's really neat. I'm  looking into seeing what I can do to earn some extra $$$ from all of that.

I am also going to get braces. I'm paying for that out of my own pocket since I don't have health insurance. However, God is making it possible for me to do this. My dentist and my orthodontist are aware of my situation and have been really bending over backwards to work with me. Did I mention how thankful I am that God is making this all possible?

Oh, and I'm taking my "behind the wheel" driver test on Friday, October 5th at 2:30 p.m Pacific Standard Time. Please pray for me that I"ll pass.  It has been a really difficult couple of months in my personal life. I'd written about it twice and then deleted the posts, because I didn't want a reason to dwell on those bad things.  However, God has been really, really good to me...and so many things are happening all at once :) :)

With that, I leave you all with this photo. This is me, how I look now after having lost 87 pounds. I rarely post photos of myself, but I like this one:

That really is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Extra love and hugs, Heather :)

TEXTURE TUESDAY

Hi everyone,

How are you all doing today?  I'm doing really well. I'm still dealing with some congestion etc that I've had since the Tuesday before last. It started out as a really bad, hoarse, scratchy throat and now I'm just congested. It's getting better, but it still sounds icky gross when I cough sometimes.

However, having said all of that, it's a fantastic day. My dad and I were running some errands today and decided to take the ocean drive back home. We almost always drive through Pacific Grove...and lo and behold there is a "Little Car Show" going on.  So I had to stop and take some photos. I'll share some more of that another time.

Today I'm participating in Texture Tuesday over at the lovley Kim Klassen's blog. Click here to pay her a visit. She's a really nice lady with some of the neatest textures anywhere. I use them with Photoshop and Picmonkey. 

This week it's centered around "looking down".  Whenever I am at the ocean (which is any chance I can get) I like to go to the rocky shore and look down at the ocean. It gives me time to rest, breathe, think and be grateful for all the good things that are happening in my life. It makes me happy.

Here is the original photo that my father took of me this morning. It was a rather ocean foggy day this morning. The fog hadn't lifted yet, so it was still very gray:

Then this is what I did with the photo. I used three different, but equally lovely textures from Kim Klassen.  Here is the photo and then I'll tell you what I did with it:

I started out with the "Dream It" texture for this week...and I followed a similar recipe to what Kim Klassen used for her photo.

I added the "Dream It" texture in soft light at 80% opacity and gaussian blur at 100%. Now the gaussion blur, I'm not sure what "percentage" I should have used. I consider it a success that I even found that feature on my Photoshop CS3 :) :) 

Next I added "waterstained frame" at 80% opacity. Oh, I think this was in "screen", but I can't remember for sure...

Then I switched to Picmonkey...hush...don't tell anyone...and I added a third layer of "Reverie" in Overlay at 76% fade...

So that's what I did to get this look. I love the much softer look. It still reflects the gray tones on a foggy ocean day. You really can't see much of anything. In spite of all that, it's absolutely gorgeous and I love the icy blue/black of the water when I look down at it.

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today. I love it when you all leave me comments.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to your day, Heather :) :) :)