Back from Vacation...

I am back from my vacation - 180 miles of rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon - and it was fabulous. The trip totally exceeded my hopes and expectations.

I didn't miss any planes, I had no airline security horror stories and both me and my daughter Miranda were upgraded to 1st class(!) (on a 4 hour flight too! HUGE bonus.) The planes didn't crash, and both Miranda and I traveled well, even in the little prop (propeller) planes that bounce their way into the Grand Canyon. (And bounce they did, now and then... air currents are apparently tricky near the canyon.) Bonus roller coaster sensations! [Did you ever notice that as you get older it's a lot harder to get the whoosh sensation in your stomach, like when the car goes over a rise and down a steep hill? My children get them all the time, and me - hardly ever anymore.]
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My 10 year old daughter loved the trip, which was a huge relief. I was worried she would become bored after a day or two, but I am now convinced she could probably outlast me by several weeks. (And we both outlasted our budget, which ended well before we boarded the first plane.)

The raft trip scenery was so spectacular that it can brainwash you - I can hardly remember anything negative about the trip at all.
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Supposedly, I guess we had unusual weather for Arizona. (Which is to say - that we actually had weather, and ...gasp... rain.) I don't buy the line now that Arizona hardly ever has rain. Since it rained nearly daily while I was there, I now believe they want to advertise that they only have hot sunny days to lure you in, but they have a shameful little secret that actually, like the rest of the world, both rain and "weather" occurs in Arizona as well.
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But since I'm from Wisconsin, I'd probably find constant sun a bit boring, so the rain only really bothered me one night.

[Friday night - After a rainy day and cold soaking rapids with no sun to dry us, I wanted to curl up in my damp sleeping bag in my wet tent that I set up in the pouring rain, as the river turned a muddy chocolate brown. I wanted to skip dinner, go to sleep and deal with the wet in the morning, in the light of day. I wanted to lay in my little tent and worry about "flash floods" while I waited for sleep.
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Miranda, however wanted to eat dinner. I expend nearly all my energy to get my freezing little child warm and dry, and she wants to go back out in the rain for dinner! So I sent her to dinner, and she kept coming back with news reports and updates, in the process getting the few corners of the tent that were drier - wetter! Eventually I resigned myself that I wasn't going to get any sleep until "after dinner". I got up and went out (the rain had "let up") and ate dinner. Of course, dinner was one of my favorites, really rich spaghetti and sauce with meatballs and mushrooms, probably made with leftover ground up strip steak, for all I know. I'd missed the garlic bread, but my main regret was that I missed whatever the appetizers were for the day - and the appetizers were always so good.
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We got back in the tent and went to sleep - and (no surprise) things were brighter in the morning.]
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[[OK, safety note here. I did carefully analyze our camping location with everything I didn't know but could imagine about flash floods - campsite height above the river level; where mud, sand, soil and rock types were around us; width of the canyon at this point; locations of rapids above and below us; plants and shrubs locations near the tent, etc. I determined, (with my extensive computer background and no college geology classes) that if I were going to be a flash flood, I would not choose to reach or race through the location I had chosen for my tent. Plus I had already seen some of what and were the water would flow in a heavy rain. (Like in the Colorado river which had been busy soaking me most of the day already; and in the Chocolate water fall photo which I intend to post someday.) So I did consider safety when selecting my campsite.]]
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Well, back to getting on topic. The vacation was wonderful. I took thousands of pictures, and I will be blogging about this vacation possibly all summer long. I'll be sharing more as I can, (photos coming soon!) but for now I need to catch up on real life and get the kids through the last week of school before I can devote much more time to vacation photos or blogs.
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Has anyone waded through this entire blog post? God Bless you if you have.


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Grand Canyon intro

GC Getting There

GC Lees Ferry

GC Navajo Bridge

Grand Canyon Ruins

GC Running Rapids

GC River View

Elves Chasm

Grand Vacation

It is now the closing days before my 10 year old daughter and I leave on our "vacation of a lifetime". On Monday, we leave fly to Las Vegas, and on Wednesday, at 5:45 in the AM (morning, early...) we meet our group to fly to the Grand Canyon, and take a motorized raft 180 miles down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon for 7 days and nights.
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For seven days and nights it will be no buildings, no non-battery electricity, no running water (other then the river), and only campfires and flashlights and stars for light once the sun goes down. I don't think I have slept in a tent for even 3 consecutive days in the last two decades, much less camping so completely roughing it.
But then again, with out my wonderful bed, soft sheets (think Egyptian cotton), and four pillows, I am not sure I am going to be able to sleep at all anyway, so whatever.
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Why am I going? What possessed me to sign up for this?
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I love the IDEA of going down the Grand Canyon on a raft, especially since seeing some spectacular TV footage about 5 years ago on Grand Canyon rafting. My husband Carl knew this, and was always supportive - (Go ahead, Jeanne, you go....) When a group from my church announced a raft trip, I smiled at the thought of going, inquired a bit, and let the trip fill up without me.
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After all, I couldn't really leave my husband to get 4 children off to school while I traipsed around the wilderness in Arizona for over a week. Then, someone canceled. I still couldn't really go, my youngest would really miss me the entire time I was gone. Then there was another cancellation. I called Carl and said - I should take Miranda...

I have two children who are up for adventures, and two who are not. Miranda is always up for an adventure. She wants to travel, camp out, see polar bears in the wild (um, COLD...), to go to China and the city that has water for roads (Venice), and she wanted to see the grand canyon.
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Every year since the boys were in first grade, they have gone to camp Rokilio, the local Cub Scout Camp, (2 hours North) for a 3 night camp out, graduating in 6th grade to a 6 night camp out with the boy scouts in some remote camp (4 hours North) that I have never seen. Carl always takes vacation and goes with the boys, primarily so that my oldest son Tom can participate.
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Miranda's girl scout experiences, although fun, have been limited to one night overnights at the Betty Brinn Children's museum or similar, and culminated in a 2 night overnight at Camp Jellystone. (Very cool, but no lake, beach, boats, archery, or BB guns.)
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She loves going to the visitors night at Camp Rokilio, and has done so at least five times in the last seven years, to see Daddy and the boys. As she got older, we would stay for the campfires, even though it meant that I drove sleeping children home for 2 hours on country highways in the boondocks at midnight, after the campfire was over at 11:00 or so.
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So the idea of taking Miranda wasn't so far fetched, and evolved...
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By the time the boys had reached 4th grade, they have camped out a minimum of 12 days at Camp Rokilio alone, not counting other boy scout overnights. Miranda has had 3-4 nights of overnight camping other then in the backyard. This could almost even up the tally.

She might still not get to do archery or BB guns, but a helicopter trip might be a substitute. (After going 180 miles, they helicopter you out to the airport for a bumpy ride back to Las Vegas.)
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And the best part of the plan was that the group we would be traveling down the Grand Canyon with would be composed of people we knew on sight from church, (like the pastor and his wife, wonderful people) .
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I am of course excited about the scenery, the photographic possibilities, and I want to see the stars at night! But now I can't back out, and it really will be camping, and I am getting nervous. Pray for me! I guess it is a good idea that I am going with a group from church. Prayer will be part of the experience. (As will getting up early. Did I mention we start at 5:45 in the AM?)
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Oh, because I have never been to Las Vegas, on both sides of the trip we are staying in some pretty cool hotels. I wanted to go rafting with the church group, and now I am taking my daughter to sin city, Las Vegas. I took a Beth Moore Bible Study once, on Daniel. From God's magnificence (the Grand Canyon) to Babylon.
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Well if you hung in this far through the blog, I hope I kept you amused. Wish me well, and look for photos...


This is camping like I never want to do. Carl and the 3 boys have earned their polar bear awards. They camp in the snow for fun. Miranda has camped in the backyard in snow for fun.
I do not plan on camping in the snow.


If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

Grand Canyon intro

GC Getting There

GC Lees Ferry

GC Navajo Bridge

Grand Canyon Ruins

GC Running Rapids

GC River View

Elves Chasm

Pink Tulips

The tulips are totally in bloom around here, violets also. The Crabapple trees are just starting to blossom, and the lillies of the valley are beginning to bloom. Spring is my favorite time!


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Click here to learn more about Outdoor Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday - Flowers

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I am sharing this image at Wordless Wednesday...

Robins eggs and Nest

The robin's nest photo above is from this May, 2009, and is available for sale in my on line store. The nest now has 5 eggs. (In composition, odd numbers are usually better, but I haven't gotten a photo with 5 eggs yet.) I am praying that the nest remains safe and hidden and that I get photos of the babies - in about 12 days... I hope they hatch before my trip starting May 18... The blue egg color was the deepest I've seen in robin eggs - I hope that means the robins are healthy!


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I am sharing this image at  Outdoor Wednesday.

Poppies - Mother and Baby

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I am linking up to these memes:This is my first Macro Flowers Saturday entry.

Wordless Wednesday

May is here.

It seems that I spent much of April waiting for spring, and now spring is racing past at a fast rate. Tulips are in bloom, and once again I didn't get to the Chicago Botanical Garden in spring. (Maybe for Mother's Day? Working on it...)

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May is always a busy month, and it seems that May is arriving earlier and earlier each year.

On Wed April 29 I spent 1/2 day of volunteering at my children's Middle School ("Community Day"), then went to Church to help set up the Church Rummage Sale.  

On Thursday April 30, I pinched my pinkie finger entirely through the nail, went to the Dr's office for shots and bandages... OUCH. Then I painfully entered new artworks into the Cedarburg Artist Guild's Main Street Gallery. Then, despite my husband's medical advice, that afternoon I had a booth at an art sale at a place called Le Club. (4:30-9:30 PM)

On Friday May 1st I chaperoned 7th graders at an all day field trip to the Titanic Exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Art Museum, followed by a long nap.

On Saturday May 2nd I worked 8:00 AM -3:00 PM helping out at the Crossroads Rummage Sale, then went to my niece's 1st communion service and party.

On Sunday, May 3rd - recovery from the previous week, and unpacking from the Thursday craft show. (the children unpacked from the church rummage sale, Kinex toys everywhere!)

On Monday, May 4th - More unpacking from the Thursday craft show. (But the deposit of the money from the sales is still not made...) And after school shopping for outdoor gear for my Grand Canyon Raft trip, Starting May 19! Wish me luck.

Oh, and there was a lot more running around in there. I do have children with lots of activities...

I did two art shows in the closing week of April, and I am glad now that my art show vending season is over for awhile. I've learned a lot that I hope to share someday, but for now I am just trying to dig myself out of the mess my house became while I was preparing for the shows.

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I have two more 2009 art shows I am hoping to participate in - AFTER September!!! Spring and Summer will be for creating, on-line sales and my consignment and card sales. So I say today.

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The rest of May now is prep for vacation and travel - Grand Canyon rafting here I come!

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The robin's nest photo above is from this May, and will be available in my on-line store shortly. The nest now has 5 eggs. (In composition, odd numbers are usually better, but I haven't gotten a photo with 5 eggs yet.) I am praying that the nest remains safe and hidden and that I get photos of the babies - in about 12 days... I hope they hatch before my trip.

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The banner is another find from The Cottage Hearth.

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A blog I read had an interesting blog on birds and featured one of my photos. You may enjoy checking it out here. Good bye for now, and go CREATE!

Sunflowers in April?

One of the unexpected benefits of having an on-line store is that I am now proceeding with long ignored projects just because I have the store.



Here is an Example. In August 2007 I took over 200 photos in a field of sunflowers. Those digital photos were downloaded to my PC, where there they sat. Now that I have my store, I finally reviewed the sunflower photos, selected my favorites, and have printed out the best shots for products in my store.

Having my store gave me a reason to sort through photos in April 2009 that I had never printed or shown my family since taken in 2007.



The 1st time I took photos in the field I got permission from the farmer, took a ladder into the field and shot photos by myself for almost 2 hours. That weekend I went back a second time with my family and took some pictures I thought I might use for the 2007 Christmas card. We ended up using photos from Washinton DC for the 2007 Christmas card, but this picture was one of the options I decided not to use.



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Happy Earth Day

Today we are celebrating Earth Day, a time to pause and reflect on the state of our planet, then move forward and act to PROTECT, PRESERVE AND CONSERVE the ONLY HOME IN THE UNIVERSE WE HAVE EVER KNOWN.

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This planet is not renewable.

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I'd love to hear your reflections on earth day.

This is my earth day peace sign 5x7 available

here. It is also available at Pizzazz's in Cedarburg, and as a card at Elliot's Partyland in Mequon, the Flying Pig in Algoma, and Pizzazz's.

I also have many photos that celebrate the natural beauty of this planet in my shop at http://www.jselep.etsy.com/.

Etsy treasuries

I wanted to post two wonderful Etsy treasuries that I was in earlier this month. Both treasuries have expired by now, but I was so happy to be in them.


The first treasury featured my cookie card.
(In the upper left corner)

This treasury was created by
wirestormcreations.







This "batik boutique" treasury was created by hollyjollyshop.

Batik is a special kind of fabric that uses wax in the dying process to create a beautiful effect.

She featured my peace sign framed photograph.




(For an explanation of treasuries, click here )

April Project

Well, April is more then half gone, and spring flowers are beginning to bloom. Today the children were back in school after a long spring break.

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I dug into a project that has been beckoning me for a while. Over one year ago (or at least in 2008) I purchased an hand bound antique "book" that seems to be compilation of a "The Cottage Hearth" subscription for the year 1882. I think Country Hearth was a monthly periodical, a magazine of sorts from over 130 years ago (?). The inch and a half thick volume is crumbling, and I probably paid to much for it, but the illustrations were beautiful to me - from the height of the Victorian era, in my opinion. The "April" banner above is an example of the illustrations in this delicate volume.

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I am inspired by the illustrations and am going to try to recreate some of the bouquets, flower arrangements, and embellishments with actual flowers and photography, interpreted, of course. I hope to have an example of my interpretation in this blog before the month is out. (Uh oh, a goal)

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I also decided to feature some of my favorite illustrations as cards in my etsy store, under vintage. It will be quite different then my photography, of course, but if I can't play with my shop, who can? My interests are varied and I guess my shop will reflect that sooner or later. (I play with mosaics, and my shop has had three mosaic products for months now. So the shop is kind of varied already.)

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The dragonfly above is the first image I am considering using for a card.

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Bye for now!

My photograph is in an Etsy Treasury!

My black and white photograph of the covered bridge in Cedarburg Wisconsin was featured in this treasury on Etsy today.



A Treasury on Etsy is a mini exhibit or selection of 12 different items from different artists that is put together by a fellow Etsian - the "curator". Anyone with an Etsy account can be a curator. The curator chooses the theme of their treasury, for example colors, animal, symbol, flowers, seasons. They title the treasury, and then select the objects. I believe the objects have to come from 12 different artists.
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Many of these guest curators have a fabulous eye for selecting items that go together for their chosen theme. One thing I really love about this black and white treasury is that it makes me very aware of textures. I always feel black and white photography reveals emotions in photograph. In this treasury, I saw how much texture the black and white reveals.
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I am always honored to find out one of my artworks is in a treasury. When I saw that I was in this treasury, I decided that I would figure out how to add this to my blog. Treasuries expire, but the screen shot of them doesn't. Thank You to bstudio, the curator who included my covered bridge photograph in her treasury.

Time is flying by!

Well, April has come and time is flying by. In my Feb 28 blog entry, I said my goal for March was to post an item on my on-line store every day. I made my goal, missing only one day, the day I did my first craft show. I now have over 130 items in my store.

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I submitted an artwork to the 62nd annual Ozaukee County Art Fair (Artists are limited to 1 artwork in this fair), and my photograph "Evolution" won a ribbon. :) Notice - It is not a typo, the show has been held for 62 years! I also have 4 new pieces of art displayed in the Cedarburg Artist Guild's Main Street Gallery at the Cedarburg Cultural Center.

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In March I also did my 2nd show - selling photography at Mama Mayborne's open house ) On April 4, 2009 I participated in my first booth fee paying event, the MS Vendor Craft fair which had over 50 vendors located in a middle school - in the halls, gym and cafeteria.

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I guess my vision for my blog was to write about each of these events, and perhaps someday I will be able to achieve that vision. In the meanwhile I got a lot done - I just didn't find the time to blog about each event. We'll see what happens in the future.

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P.S. I plan on posting an item a day in my on-line store in April also. I don't plan on doing this particular goal in May. I won't be posting anything while on my scheduled vacation with my soon to be 10 year old daughter. We are supposed to pack light for our 180 mile raft trip through the grand canyon. No PC, no electricity, no buildings, just a lot of running water... I am taking some cameras though, so I hope I'll be bringing back some good photos...