Casto Creations Elegant Handcrafted Jewelry Designs

By now my aunt Rose has received her birthday present so I can share it with you. I thought it turned out really beautifully.

A slightly pink mother of pearl pendant carved into a delicate rose - I had a difficult time deciding what to use to compliment it properly. I finally went with small ivory colored freshwater pearls and a few dusty rose quartz smooth stones.

My aunt's name is Rose and I love finding 'Rose' things for her gifts. And she's always liked my jewelry in the past so I hope she likes this necklace.

This little girl is freaking adorable!



=)

Let me just say that I was NEVER that nice to my brother. My mom tells the story ... When my brother was born I was 2 1/2. I walked out into the kitchen and told my mom "Anthony's crying. Do you wanna know why he's crying?"

"Yes" she said.

"Because I bit him. Do you want to know why I bit him?"

Of course she did.

Now you have to imagine a fairly precocious little girl who always had attitude...a little Shirley Temple-ish with hands on hips.

"Because I don't like him!"

I was not the nicest of sisters. =)

Oh my goodness...I swear I have never been so jazzed before. I promise I won't blog too much about politics because that isn't what this blog is for. But I really haven't ever been this engaged. So I'm just typing as the speaches go on...random thoughts and such. Feel free to disagree or to give your views if you watched. :)

Watching Rudy Gulianni speak at the Republican Convention - I was laughing my bootie off! (oh how I wish that were literally true!) He gave the Messiah quite a shellacking. The "community organizer" line was hilarious.

Now Sarah herself is up and the applause, yelling, screaming, and cheering seemed to be never ending. She is looking RIGHT into the camera. Like she has no notes. I realize there's teleprompters but she's very natural (we know how bad Bush is at using teleprompters and McCain isn't all that much better).

She's talking about McCain...bla bla bla. We want to hear about her! Her son deploys soon to Iraq. Good for him and God Speed! He's 19 and deploys on 9/11. Wow. I hope that my future children decide to serve our country.

What weird names her kids have...but OMG the little girl is freaking ADORABLE. She just waved at the crowd like a pro. And their youngest, Trig, is just sleeping away. I don't see how any baby can sleep through all that noise.

She's talking about how every family has challenges and ups and downs - boy ain't that the truth. We all think our own families are the "crazy" ones. lol At least I do!

Oh man..."a friend and advocate in the white house" for special needs children and people. That makes me choke up.

Her hubby Todd is a "real" man...a manly man. World champion snowmachine racer. Didn't know there was such a thing. lol He's also an Inuit Eskimo. And cute! lol Very cute. Two decades later he's "still her guy." lol

Lesson learned from her parents..."This is America and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity" - hey...that's what my mom (and dad) taught me. "We grow good people in our small towns." Oh hell yes we do. My mom and dad were both from a super small town. So are my grandpa and grandma.

{one thing I noticed ... at the Democratic convention they chanted "Obama" "Obama" "Obama" ... at the Republican convention they are chanting "USA" "USA" "USA" ... just a note ... yes they did chant "Sarah" "Sarah" a few times but way more "USA".}

Cute joke..."difference between a Hockey mom and a Pit Bull? Lipstick." *grin*

Explaining to the opponents what being a mayor of a small town is about. ROFL hahahahahaha "sort of like a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities" *giggle* Love it!

Man...I want to work for her...though she's probably a beeyotch to work for. I've worked for women like her and they totally rock but they run you ragged. :)

Oh...I love her necklace. I could have made it. hahahaha

WOOT! She's not going to Washington to seek the good opinion of the commentators and news people. She's going to Washington to serve the people! WOOT! You go girl!!!

Govern with a servant's heart - oh hell yes. I love that. One of my good dear friends has a wonderful servant's heart and I often have to be reminded to keep that heart in front.

I love her hair...I wish I could get mine to do that. :) Then again, I'm guessing she didn't do it herself.

Got rid of the luxury jet - it was over the top. She put it on Ebay. ROFL The crow LOVES it. She drives herself to work. No personal chef. Though the kids sure sometimes miss her. OMG a close up of her youngest daughter with her new son. PRECIOUS!

Power of the Veto works! Alaska now has a surplus. She vetoed nearly 1/2 B $ in wasteful spending. Returned competition and fairness - breaking the big oil monopoly. Energy independence - new natural gas line started.

bla bla bla ... energy independence ... I agree we need to drill.

Booya! "A man who has authored two major memoirs but not a single law or reform." Facts are sticky things. "A man who can give an entire speach about the wars this country is fighting and never use the word victory...except when he's talking about his own campaign."

Lots of giggling about the Greek columns.

Ouch...What are O's plans (after he's healed the waters and planet)? hahahaha

O's "fine print" will raise taxes of all sorts and increase the tax burden of all Americans. Not just the "rich" ones.

Oops...my DVR is set to record Bones and America's Next Top Model...see that's how much I watch the news. ROFL :) So I guess I'll have to catch ANTM on rerun. They usually replay it on Saturdays.

Okay...back to the speach. "McCain not looking for a fight, but sure isn't afraid of one." *grin*

Harry Reid "majority of the "do nothing" Senate" said "I can't stand John McCain" which is proof that we've chosen the right man. *snort* That's funny. Oh but even better "clearly he meant that he can't stand up to his level" niicee.

Boy she is NOT holding back. "the journey to the white house is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery" She is hitting hard. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you."

Beautiful! I so admire all the hard working men and women of our brave military services. That is a strong line.

Shoot...I missed whatever she said that made the older guy up front tear up. I think maybe he was in Hanoi with McCain.

I get it ... McCain is a good guy. I agree. But I'm getting bored. Although she is an excellent speaker.

Thank you and God Bless America.

GO SARAH GO!

Does anyone else feel like she's the one running for President? ha! I hope to see her run in the future. I'd totally volunteer for that campaign. She looks great - poised. Not nervous at all. She is tough! Oh and here comes her family. Good grief they are cute.. Oh Trig is so sweet. I LOVE seeing a mom on the stage.

And now the nominee himself joins her on stage. She didn't look all that comfy hugging him. Ha! Funny. She is very presidential. Okay crowd...shut up.

"Don't you think we made the right choice for the next VP of the United States?"

Oh hell yes I do! I can't imagine the crowd being this excited for ANYONE else. No way would they be this worked up.

Did I mention how frickin' adorable her youngest girl is?!? She looks like she's having a blast - waving at the crowd like a pro. hahahahaha If I were her I'd be peeing my pants. =)

Time for ANTM! :)

Phew...Is it really Wednesday??? Time has been flying by and I never seem to catch up.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I actually did not leave the house all day on Monday. I woke up a little late (though I wanted to sleep even later!), fed the dogs, got online, took a nap, played X Box, and finally got enough motivation to do some laundry. *grin* Okay, a LOT of laundry. It's amazing how much laundry can pile up for two people.

I've been seriously slacking on creating new jewelry. I have some designs in my head but no huge motivation to create. Plus I've been addicted to my coupons. And when not working on deals with coupons I've been trying to clean up or organize the house...or playing with the dogs.

Speaking of dogs. I just put the down payment down at the pound on doggy number four. :) Further details will follow.

It's been awhile since I've done one of the DNeero surveys. I've hardly had time to update my blog let alone do surveys. But of course I loved this one. :) I'm still excited about McCain's choice of veep.

I've read lots of blogs and articles about it and it seems like some "talking heads" and party folks who eat and sleep politics aren't as excited. But they don't seem to understand how exciting it is for NORMAL people. I am not a party person. I enjoy politics and listen to talk radio all the time but I am no one in party politics. And my MIL isn't either and she is excited too. :)



Her nickname is Sarah Barracuda!!! How freaking awesome is that? *grin*

I know...it's superficial. I just love her whole story. She's a reformer...a true reformer, not just a "hope change" empty suit. She has actually done things - including selling the governor's jet on Ebay! ROFL How hilarious is that?!?