You can see more of my custom designs (as I upload them) on my Facebook page. See you there! :)
Friday, June 5, 2015
My First Approved Jamberry Design! "Crimson Garden"
You can see more of my custom designs (as I upload them) on my Facebook page. See you there! :)
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Final PHS Choir Concert for 2015!
Tonight the Choir Students at Payson High School had a fabulous final concert! The spring concert is a lot of fun because they do lots of great music from the best Broadway shows, along with simple choreography that just makes it a ton of fun and great way to end a fabulous year.
It makes me so anxious to find a way to get back into more choral and stage productions. We shall see how the next few years play out and see if I can make time for this passion of mine that has been neglected.
To see all the pics, click on the link to visit the full album on Google Plus.
Love these kids!!
It makes me so anxious to find a way to get back into more choral and stage productions. We shall see how the next few years play out and see if I can make time for this passion of mine that has been neglected.
To see all the pics, click on the link to visit the full album on Google Plus.
Love these kids!!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Goodbye Broken Nail - Jamberry to the Rescue!
I have a fun story to share with ya'll! No, I'm not from the south, but my Dad is, and it's such a convenient word, so I'll just go with it! ;)
Anyway, so I'm in the middle of doing a Jamberry party this week, and I've been wanting to put on some new wraps because I think they're just so fun, and I wanted to show off the pictures to my party-goers.
And I'll just start with a *disclaimer* here that I am NOT a Jamberry consultant, just a happy customer! So happy, in fact, that I *am* hosting a party this week, so the only way I'll get anything monetarily from this post is if you happen to read it during my party and order something before it ends, in which case, I may get a better hostess reward. But chances are that by the time you read this, my party will be over anyway, so I just thought I'd let you know that this is an unbiased report of my experience with the product, and a couple of issues I had, and how I solved them. It's not intended to be a sales pitch. (**UPDATE: See the June 3 update at the bottom of this post for details on my becoming a Jamberry "hobbyist" several weeks after hosting my party! **)
Now that that's out of the way, can I just say that I LOVE Jamberry?! Normal nail polish never has worked for me very well because I tend to forget myself and chew on my fingertips. I know, I know. . . it's a bad habit, but I always end up with chipped nails within a couple of days, or hours. :P Either that, or I lose patience waiting for them to dry and end up with a sticky, gummy mess. All that, plus the fact that I am a piano player, and now a piano teacher, so shorter nails have always been the norm for me. Needless to say at this point, nail polish has not been a huge part of my life. I've mostly just done boring, short nails.
SO - when I first saw Jamberry about six weeks ago, at the beginning of April, I was super excited! I thought, "Wow! This could really work for me!" So I got a free sample in the mail from my newly-found cyber-friend, Jenn Stevenson, who is an Independent Jamberry Consultant. When the wraps came in the mail, I was so excited to try them! The sample was just one little tiny wrap, but I have short nails, so it gave me just barely enough to do my two pinky fingers and two pinky toes. haha. But it was great because it gave me an idea of how they worked and whether or not I would like them.
Here's the result of my first attempt at putting on Jamberry nail wraps:
I know, my "naked" toes look UGLY here! I had just trimmed them and they were really dry, so they look kind of weird. But hey, they're feet! I have nothing to hide from ya'll! (there it is again, love that word!) In fact, I kinda love my toes because they are all the perfect size. You know, the big toe is the biggest, and then they go down in a row perfectly like little stair steps, just the right sizes for playing "this little piggy" haha.
ANYWAY - after trying out the samples, I figured that doing jamberry on ALL of my fingers and toes would be a huge improvement, right?? Right. So I ordered four sheets using the "buy three, get one free" special, plus I got the nail kit since I didn't have more than a couple of nail clippers kicking around the house. Seriously, I didn't! haha. Anyway, after placing my order, I waited anxiously for them to come! I also got a free sheet for wining one of the games at the party - go me! (jus' sayin'). AND - I must say here that I had a little hiccup and my main order got lost in their system or something, because after more than a week they weren't here. So I contacted Jenn who called them and got the order express shipped to me, AND got me another FREE sheet just for my hassle. Oh yeah, I really scored on this order. :)
Once the wraps arrived, for my first complete manicure I chose a really gorgeous design called "Timeless" seen here:
Unfortunately I did NOT get a picture of them on my fingers. ARG!! Oh well. I wasn't really planning to write a blog post about it, so I didn't think of it. But to make a long story short, I LOVED them so much!! And they stayed on for. . . wow, I'm not sure, somewhere between 2 to 3 weeks. . . I lost track of the time. It was amazing! And, they looked great the whole time! Toward the end, a couple of them started to peel up at a few of the edges, and that's when I decided it was time to take them off.
So, last week I pulled them all off and they had grown out quite a bit from being under the protective wraps - how nice is that?!? Oh, let me give a little hint here, about removing them. I didn't do it the "official way" because I didn't have any nail polish remover on hand. So after they were removed, there was a little bit of gummy, sticky stuff on them. Luckily, I had some DoTerra Lemon essential oil with me, so I just took one drop and spread it across a couple of fingernails, then used my fingernails and a paper napkin to wipe them off completely. I was actually riding in the car when I did it and it was SO easy.
Anyway, I already mentioned that I'm a piano player so I like to keep them short by habit. So I ended up trimming them kind of short and decided to give them a few days "off" to grow a bit before applying the next set. Well a few days grew into a week or so. . .
And that is when disaster struck.
Okay, I'll admit, that's a bit of a dramatic over-exaggeration. It wasn't exactly a disaster, but it was unfortunate. See, yesterday night when I got home from a family activity, I looked down at my left hand and realized that I had accidentally TORN OFF NEARLY THE ENTIRE TIP of my left middle fingernail - OUCH!! It was literally HANGING by the last little bit. And it was torn off very deep. UGH! You know how it is when there is NO white left? Yeah, that's how it was. I knew that if I cut off the rest it was going to hurt very badly for days. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it, but it looked something like this:
At first I figured it was a lost cause, and I was going to just clip it completely off. But it was very close to the nail bed, and I was afraid of it hurting or bleeding. Then it suddenly occurred to me - I got thinking about the fact that Jamberry is made from vinyl, and thought, "Hey, maybe it could act kind of like tape to hold the nail on until it grows a bit so it won't hurt when I have to clip it off!" So I decided it was time to do some new Jamberry wraps! I had wanted to anyway for the party... so here's what I did:
First I prepped the nail to try and get it to stay in place, so it wouldn't move around when I was trying to apply the Jamberry. I had some "liquid bandage" in the medicine cabinet, so I decided to try that first. I basically held the nail in place, and applied a couple coats of the liquid bandage to the nail along the crack.
It took about 3 thin coats, and a little patience, but I just held it carefully in place and waited for it to dry. Here's what it looked like after the glue was applied:
After it dried, it was still really fragile, so if I hadn't had Jamberry, I would have just had to forget it. (Although, today I found another great TIP for fixing a broken nail, so if you don't have jamberry on hand, you can try this other method!)
Next, I needed to choose a wrap. I had a couple to choose from, and decided on this really fun one that shows off one of my favorite hobbies:
You guessed it! MUSIC!! So, I started cutting my wraps, turned on a movie, and stayed up really late just applying my nails and watching a show and relaxing. Here's how the broken nail turned out:
And that's the rest of the story!! It's been nearly 24 hours now, and I am so excited that it's staying on great!! I can tell that the broken finger nail is definitely weaker than the other nails, so next time I'll probably use THIS METHOD before I put on the Jamberry. But considering that I was just improvising with what I had on hand, with no knowledge of how to fix a broken nail, I think it turned out great! Here's a picture of the full finished hand:
Great fix, huh?!? I figure that even if it just keeps the nail on for a couple of days, it will be a bit longer, making it trimmable without being painful, but I have a feeling that it's going to stay on quite a bit longer than that. So far it doesn't seem like it's going to break off, though it may start bending a little as it grows out and the bond of the liquid bandage wears off. But I think we can call it a SUCCESS!
Keep smiling!!
~JS~
---------
Update May 30, 2015:
After going through the whole process, I would recommend using super glue to make the broken nail stay in place before putting on the jamberry wraps. I used liquid bandage on mine, but it turned yellow and you could somewhat see it through the wrap. Also, it must have affected the adhesive bonding, because the wrap (only on that finger) started to come off after a few days. Wanting to let it grow longer before it broke all the way off, I redid the repair on that finger twice, once more with the liquid bandage, and the last time with super glue. Overall, I would say it worked out pretty well. Though it was a bit of a pain, it was better than having a bleeding fingernail! Putting on the Jamberry postponed the total breakage of the nail long enough that when the nail tip was annoying enough for me to finally cut it off, it was long enough that it didn't bleed. It's still pretty short, but not painful! ;)
---------
Update June 4, 2015:
Two and a half weeks after I posted this story, I was redeeming my hostess gifts, and my party had done so well (over $350 in sales!) that I decided to become what Jamberry calls a "hobbyist!" This means that I signed up for a consultant account, but will not necessarily be actively building a business. I did this with the intent to get a discount on my future purchases, AND - the part I'm most excited about - to design my OWN nail wraps using the Jamberry "Nail Art Studio!" This way I can occasionally sell to friends and family, on the side, as a hobby. :) Where this will go is not clear at this point, but I thought I should post this update to clarify for those of you who will see that now I *do* have a jamberry website at: jumbledsunshine.jamberrynails.net. Thank you! :D
Anyway, so I'm in the middle of doing a Jamberry party this week, and I've been wanting to put on some new wraps because I think they're just so fun, and I wanted to show off the pictures to my party-goers.
And I'll just start with a *disclaimer* here that I am NOT a Jamberry consultant, just a happy customer! So happy, in fact, that I *am* hosting a party this week, so the only way I'll get anything monetarily from this post is if you happen to read it during my party and order something before it ends, in which case, I may get a better hostess reward. But chances are that by the time you read this, my party will be over anyway, so I just thought I'd let you know that this is an unbiased report of my experience with the product, and a couple of issues I had, and how I solved them. It's not intended to be a sales pitch. (**UPDATE: See the June 3 update at the bottom of this post for details on my becoming a Jamberry "hobbyist" several weeks after hosting my party! **)
Now that that's out of the way, can I just say that I LOVE Jamberry?! Normal nail polish never has worked for me very well because I tend to forget myself and chew on my fingertips. I know, I know. . . it's a bad habit, but I always end up with chipped nails within a couple of days, or hours. :P Either that, or I lose patience waiting for them to dry and end up with a sticky, gummy mess. All that, plus the fact that I am a piano player, and now a piano teacher, so shorter nails have always been the norm for me. Needless to say at this point, nail polish has not been a huge part of my life. I've mostly just done boring, short nails.
SO - when I first saw Jamberry about six weeks ago, at the beginning of April, I was super excited! I thought, "Wow! This could really work for me!" So I got a free sample in the mail from my newly-found cyber-friend, Jenn Stevenson, who is an Independent Jamberry Consultant. When the wraps came in the mail, I was so excited to try them! The sample was just one little tiny wrap, but I have short nails, so it gave me just barely enough to do my two pinky fingers and two pinky toes. haha. But it was great because it gave me an idea of how they worked and whether or not I would like them.
Here's the result of my first attempt at putting on Jamberry nail wraps:
 |
| Left pinky |
 |
| Right pinky |
 |
| Toe pinkies! |
ANYWAY - after trying out the samples, I figured that doing jamberry on ALL of my fingers and toes would be a huge improvement, right?? Right. So I ordered four sheets using the "buy three, get one free" special, plus I got the nail kit since I didn't have more than a couple of nail clippers kicking around the house. Seriously, I didn't! haha. Anyway, after placing my order, I waited anxiously for them to come! I also got a free sheet for wining one of the games at the party - go me! (jus' sayin'). AND - I must say here that I had a little hiccup and my main order got lost in their system or something, because after more than a week they weren't here. So I contacted Jenn who called them and got the order express shipped to me, AND got me another FREE sheet just for my hassle. Oh yeah, I really scored on this order. :)
Once the wraps arrived, for my first complete manicure I chose a really gorgeous design called "Timeless" seen here:
 |
| Timeless: "Featuring a sepia tone, this wrap looks like it may have been preserved for generations." |
So, last week I pulled them all off and they had grown out quite a bit from being under the protective wraps - how nice is that?!? Oh, let me give a little hint here, about removing them. I didn't do it the "official way" because I didn't have any nail polish remover on hand. So after they were removed, there was a little bit of gummy, sticky stuff on them. Luckily, I had some DoTerra Lemon essential oil with me, so I just took one drop and spread it across a couple of fingernails, then used my fingernails and a paper napkin to wipe them off completely. I was actually riding in the car when I did it and it was SO easy.
Anyway, I already mentioned that I'm a piano player so I like to keep them short by habit. So I ended up trimming them kind of short and decided to give them a few days "off" to grow a bit before applying the next set. Well a few days grew into a week or so. . .
And that is when disaster struck.
Okay, I'll admit, that's a bit of a dramatic over-exaggeration. It wasn't exactly a disaster, but it was unfortunate. See, yesterday night when I got home from a family activity, I looked down at my left hand and realized that I had accidentally TORN OFF NEARLY THE ENTIRE TIP of my left middle fingernail - OUCH!! It was literally HANGING by the last little bit. And it was torn off very deep. UGH! You know how it is when there is NO white left? Yeah, that's how it was. I knew that if I cut off the rest it was going to hurt very badly for days. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it, but it looked something like this:
 |
| It was torn off like this, but about much further, nearly all the way off. |
 |
| Click to order! |
It took about 3 thin coats, and a little patience, but I just held it carefully in place and waited for it to dry. Here's what it looked like after the glue was applied:
 |
| You can see how it was torn right along the white, from the left and nearly all the way across. |
Next, I needed to choose a wrap. I had a couple to choose from, and decided on this really fun one that shows off one of my favorite hobbies:
 |
| Sheet Music: "This simply clef-er design will have everyone singing, which could be treble." (Hardy, har, har...) |
You guessed it! MUSIC!! So, I started cutting my wraps, turned on a movie, and stayed up really late just applying my nails and watching a show and relaxing. Here's how the broken nail turned out:
 |
| It's the one in the middle - you can't even tell, huh? |
 |
| Jamberry to the Rescue! |
 |
| Time to put some Serenity in the diffuser and enjoy a relaxing night's sleep! |
 |
| And here's one more pic just because. :) |
Keep smiling!!
~JS~
---------
Update May 30, 2015:
After going through the whole process, I would recommend using super glue to make the broken nail stay in place before putting on the jamberry wraps. I used liquid bandage on mine, but it turned yellow and you could somewhat see it through the wrap. Also, it must have affected the adhesive bonding, because the wrap (only on that finger) started to come off after a few days. Wanting to let it grow longer before it broke all the way off, I redid the repair on that finger twice, once more with the liquid bandage, and the last time with super glue. Overall, I would say it worked out pretty well. Though it was a bit of a pain, it was better than having a bleeding fingernail! Putting on the Jamberry postponed the total breakage of the nail long enough that when the nail tip was annoying enough for me to finally cut it off, it was long enough that it didn't bleed. It's still pretty short, but not painful! ;)
---------
Update June 4, 2015:
Two and a half weeks after I posted this story, I was redeeming my hostess gifts, and my party had done so well (over $350 in sales!) that I decided to become what Jamberry calls a "hobbyist!" This means that I signed up for a consultant account, but will not necessarily be actively building a business. I did this with the intent to get a discount on my future purchases, AND - the part I'm most excited about - to design my OWN nail wraps using the Jamberry "Nail Art Studio!" This way I can occasionally sell to friends and family, on the side, as a hobby. :) Where this will go is not clear at this point, but I thought I should post this update to clarify for those of you who will see that now I *do* have a jamberry website at: jumbledsunshine.jamberrynails.net. Thank you! :D
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Jumbled Sunshine Gets Distracted - Shocking!
I just realized that I've been wasting the last hour doing nothing. This is not good because I have some really important stuff to get done. In fact, it's stuff that's not just due soon, but way overdue. It's puzzling that when I'm fairly tired or have a huge project on my plate, I have a really hard time getting started on my work. What's the deal?
This reminds me of a really great quote that I found this week:
Isn't that great?? I mean, how hard is that? If you need to begin something, just START! Duh!
I guess that's been my problem all these years. . . beginning is just way too complicated! haha. :)
But seriously, why is it that when I need to urgently get something done, I find myself just doing random things like surfing the web, reading articles, browsing and commenting on Facebook, posting to Twitter, watching silly videos, etc, etc, etc...?? Why don't I just BEGIN??
I wish I could figure it out because I really, REALLY need to get working on some revisions for a textbook chapter that I am co-writing with my husband. It has been a humongous project that has taken months to complete, and all that's left now are the final revisions. So why, instead of working on my project today, do I find myself sitting here doing a bunch of things that are just time wasters??
What am I avoiding? I *want* to get this done, so why am I procrastinating?
Oh, and here's the really ridiculous part - while I laid down on the couch for a mid-morning nap today (which I deserved because I have a torn rotator cuff and I'm waiting for surgery, so no judging!) I was listening to an audiobook about being productive and overcoming time-wasting habits. Yep. Really.
But that's not the ridiculous part, this is: After my nap was over, I woke up and thought about how awesome it would be to do the "time analysis" the author had been explaining. As I thought about it some more, I got distracted (shocking!) and found myself playing Google's newest "game doodle" that they released today in remembrance of the Pony Express. haha! Hey, but I improved my score from only 44 pieces of mail collected to 86 pieces of mail collected, so that's good right?!? Yeah. Whatever - Ms Jumbled Sunshine! Sheesh.
ANYWAY - So I finally realized what was going on, and that I just couldn't seem to get myself to do what I actually *needed* to be doing, so I remembered this Chrome extension that I used to have on my computer called "Stay Focusd" that is designed to block you from going into time-wasting websites during your work hours. I had used it for awhile and really liked it, but I had apparently uninstalled it at some point, probably because I was in a "do what I want" mood and didn't like it's strictness, haha. So . . . I thought it would be a good idea to re-install it so I could actually get something done today.
So I started browsing the Chrome store and found it quickly. However (funny though it may be) I started reading through all the reviews instead of just getting down to the business of re-installing it . . .
ARG!!! What is my deal today?!?
So when I once again realized what I was doing, and stopped reading all of the reviews, I clicked back to the front page to install it and realized. . .
So ANYWAY, I am going to re-enable the extension and start using it again (at least for today!) to help me stay FOCUSED on what I'm supposed to be doing. This is crucial because this project really needs to be finished this week since Lonny's going out of town soon and I may be having shoulder surgery sometime after my doctor's appointment next week. So, non-focused brain -- watch out! Here comes Jumbled Sunshine!!!
Except wait. . . I need to just go check really quickly to see if anyone else liked or commented on my Facebook post of William Wordsworth's quote.
I'm getting to work now. I promise. Right after I post this to Jumbled Sunshine. And don't you worry because I have a timer running and I have 8 whole minutes left to finish this up!! :)
Update: After I finished writing this, I sat down with Lonny to review our planned textbook chapter revisions. We focused really well and were able to get the overall plan done in only 45 minutes! And to think of how long I had been procrastinating.... just shameful!! But instead of being down on myself, I'm going to focus on the positive: I finally DID get something done! AND I got an extension put onto my browser that will help me be more focused from now on. So - well done Ms Jumbled Sunshine! :D
~JS~
This reminds me of a really great quote that I found this week:
 |
| "To begin, begin." -William Wordsworth. |
Isn't that great?? I mean, how hard is that? If you need to begin something, just START! Duh!
I guess that's been my problem all these years. . . beginning is just way too complicated! haha. :)
But seriously, why is it that when I need to urgently get something done, I find myself just doing random things like surfing the web, reading articles, browsing and commenting on Facebook, posting to Twitter, watching silly videos, etc, etc, etc...?? Why don't I just BEGIN??
I wish I could figure it out because I really, REALLY need to get working on some revisions for a textbook chapter that I am co-writing with my husband. It has been a humongous project that has taken months to complete, and all that's left now are the final revisions. So why, instead of working on my project today, do I find myself sitting here doing a bunch of things that are just time wasters??
What am I avoiding? I *want* to get this done, so why am I procrastinating?
Oh, and here's the really ridiculous part - while I laid down on the couch for a mid-morning nap today (which I deserved because I have a torn rotator cuff and I'm waiting for surgery, so no judging!) I was listening to an audiobook about being productive and overcoming time-wasting habits. Yep. Really.
But that's not the ridiculous part, this is: After my nap was over, I woke up and thought about how awesome it would be to do the "time analysis" the author had been explaining. As I thought about it some more, I got distracted (shocking!) and found myself playing Google's newest "game doodle" that they released today in remembrance of the Pony Express. haha! Hey, but I improved my score from only 44 pieces of mail collected to 86 pieces of mail collected, so that's good right?!? Yeah. Whatever - Ms Jumbled Sunshine! Sheesh.
ANYWAY - So I finally realized what was going on, and that I just couldn't seem to get myself to do what I actually *needed* to be doing, so I remembered this Chrome extension that I used to have on my computer called "Stay Focusd" that is designed to block you from going into time-wasting websites during your work hours. I had used it for awhile and really liked it, but I had apparently uninstalled it at some point, probably because I was in a "do what I want" mood and didn't like it's strictness, haha. So . . . I thought it would be a good idea to re-install it so I could actually get something done today.
So I started browsing the Chrome store and found it quickly. However (funny though it may be) I started reading through all the reviews instead of just getting down to the business of re-installing it . . .
ARG!!! What is my deal today?!?
So when I once again realized what I was doing, and stopped reading all of the reviews, I clicked back to the front page to install it and realized. . .
I ALREADY HAD IT INSTALLED ON MY CHROME BROWSER.
But I had apparently disabled it.
 |
| Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! |
Now maybe that doesn't strike any of the rest of you as being funny. . . but to me, well I just did a big-ole' forehead slap! How forgetful and distracted can I be?? Seriously!
There must be something in the air today. Yeah, that's got to be it - something in the air!
So ANYWAY, I am going to re-enable the extension and start using it again (at least for today!) to help me stay FOCUSED on what I'm supposed to be doing. This is crucial because this project really needs to be finished this week since Lonny's going out of town soon and I may be having shoulder surgery sometime after my doctor's appointment next week. So, non-focused brain -- watch out! Here comes Jumbled Sunshine!!!
Except wait. . . I need to just go check really quickly to see if anyone else liked or commented on my Facebook post of William Wordsworth's quote.
JUST KIDDING!
I'm getting to work now. I promise. Right after I post this to Jumbled Sunshine. And don't you worry because I have a timer running and I have 8 whole minutes left to finish this up!! :)
________________________________________________
Update: After I finished writing this, I sat down with Lonny to review our planned textbook chapter revisions. We focused really well and were able to get the overall plan done in only 45 minutes! And to think of how long I had been procrastinating.... just shameful!! But instead of being down on myself, I'm going to focus on the positive: I finally DID get something done! AND I got an extension put onto my browser that will help me be more focused from now on. So - well done Ms Jumbled Sunshine! :D
~JS~
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Thought for the Day: Keep Trying!
Elder Renlund reminded us of the importance of improving and becoming better. #ldsconf
Posted by LDS General Conference on Saturday, April 4, 2015
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Happy 18th Birthday Katilyn Ward - JS Baby #4!
Happy Birthday to an AMAZING and wonderful daughter!! AKA Katilyn Louise Ward, Lady Kate, Lady Kin, Tatey Win, etc... You are the BEST! I can hardly believe you are EIGHTEEN!!!! I'm so proud of the choices you've made in your life and the incredible young woman you've become. I know that many great things are in store for you as you live out your dreams and become the magnificent woman that you are meant to be. It is going to be so fun to watch you blossom into adulthood. I can hardly wait to see you FLY! Love you peety swy! ;)
Happy 18th Birthday Katilyn! Happy Birthday to a very wonderful and amazing young woman! I love you! Love, Mom ~JS~
Happy 18th Birthday Katilyn! Happy Birthday to a very wonderful and amazing young woman! I love you! Love, Mom ~JS~
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
A Tribute to My Mom (The Original "Jumbled Sunshine") On Her Special Day
Well, I started out this morning with a giant SIGH. Why? Because today is the anniversary of Mom's birthday. If she had not succumbed to the effects of heart disease, she would have turned 68 years old today. Instead, we lost her on November 5th, 2007, when she was only 60... So sad. :(
As I think about how much technology has developed over the past 7 and a half years, I often think about how much Mom would have LOVED to be a part of it! She was so tech-savvy for her age all through the 80's, 90's and 2000's, and she was such a social person and so intrigued with learning information, that she would be just really enjoying where social media and blogging has led us during the past decade.
Although, when I think about it very much, I realize that the technology where she is now has got to be SO incredible! I don't know if it's technology or just some incredible celestial power of awesomeness, but I guess what we're doing here on earth must pale in comparison. But still, from my perspective here, I would sure love to have enjoyed posting to her on Facebook, reading all the blogs she likely would have started, chatting with her through texts, and seeing all the fun interesting things she would share every day online.
Sigh.
Here's a great picture of Mom near the end of her life. The bright colors in the kite shop represent her so well. She was truly the original Jumbled Sunshine - I am just a shadow of her bright and vivacious personality. She is truly the wind beneath my wings.
Funny, I'm listening to Pandora while I'm typing this, and right after I started the post, a song came up that has poignant lyrics considering the occasion. It's supposed to be about a breakup, but since I was thinking about Mom when it came on, the lyrics took on a new meaning. Here they are:
"Walk Right Back" by the Everly Brothers:
I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me
Walk right back to me this minute,
Bring your love to me, don't send it,
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me
Walk right back to me this minute
Bring your love to me, don't send it
I'm so lonesome everyday...
Love you Mom! I am so lonesome without you. Thanks so much for giving me life and a loving home in which to be born and grow up. Though our home life wasn't always perfect (whose is?), I have extremely wonderful and affectionate memories of all the time I spent with you and Dad and Eric, Muffy, George, and Ruben. My favorite times were those occasions when we did fun things together as a family - going fishing, ice skating, roller skating, sledding, watching TV together as a family on the weekends, and going on Sunday drives in the countryside.
I even fondly remember working and weeding in the garden together (though I complained incessantly at the time!) and then gathering our bounteous harvest and prepping it together as a family. I remember snapping green beans (and eating them raw!) and canning tomato sauce for Dad's famous spaghetti. The raw tomatoes always gave me a rash on my hand while we worked, haha, so I could find a convenient way to get out of the work when I was tired of it. :)
One of the most adventurous times was when I came home from school only to find that you had knocked down a wall with a sledgehammer (haha!), and we all had to chip in to help you and Dad rebuild the room layout according to your newly designed plans. :) There was always a fun building project going on at our house, so I learned to love the smell of sawdust when I was a child, and that fresh smell still makes me nostalgic to this day.
I loved to see your mind work as you'd pick out new paint colors, fabrics and furniture to redecorate our home according to the latest trend. I still love perusing decorating materials, furniture stores, and antique shops, and I think of you every time I do.
As I think about how much technology has developed over the past 7 and a half years, I often think about how much Mom would have LOVED to be a part of it! She was so tech-savvy for her age all through the 80's, 90's and 2000's, and she was such a social person and so intrigued with learning information, that she would be just really enjoying where social media and blogging has led us during the past decade.
Although, when I think about it very much, I realize that the technology where she is now has got to be SO incredible! I don't know if it's technology or just some incredible celestial power of awesomeness, but I guess what we're doing here on earth must pale in comparison. But still, from my perspective here, I would sure love to have enjoyed posting to her on Facebook, reading all the blogs she likely would have started, chatting with her through texts, and seeing all the fun interesting things she would share every day online.
Sigh.
Here's a great picture of Mom near the end of her life. The bright colors in the kite shop represent her so well. She was truly the original Jumbled Sunshine - I am just a shadow of her bright and vivacious personality. She is truly the wind beneath my wings.
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| Bonnie McCroby Wuensche - The Original "Jumbled Sunshine" (1947 - 2007) |
"Walk Right Back" by the Everly Brothers:
I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me
Walk right back to me this minute,
Bring your love to me, don't send it,
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me
Walk right back to me this minute
Bring your love to me, don't send it
I'm so lonesome everyday...
Love you Mom! I am so lonesome without you. Thanks so much for giving me life and a loving home in which to be born and grow up. Though our home life wasn't always perfect (whose is?), I have extremely wonderful and affectionate memories of all the time I spent with you and Dad and Eric, Muffy, George, and Ruben. My favorite times were those occasions when we did fun things together as a family - going fishing, ice skating, roller skating, sledding, watching TV together as a family on the weekends, and going on Sunday drives in the countryside.
 |
| Our cute little family in 1976. L to R, back to front: Jay, Bonnie, Maureen (Muffy), George, Erika (me) and Eric. |
One of the most adventurous times was when I came home from school only to find that you had knocked down a wall with a sledgehammer (haha!), and we all had to chip in to help you and Dad rebuild the room layout according to your newly designed plans. :) There was always a fun building project going on at our house, so I learned to love the smell of sawdust when I was a child, and that fresh smell still makes me nostalgic to this day.
I loved to see your mind work as you'd pick out new paint colors, fabrics and furniture to redecorate our home according to the latest trend. I still love perusing decorating materials, furniture stores, and antique shops, and I think of you every time I do.
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