Diamond stone...costly mistake

Well here it is, a whole month since we got back from WDW and we miss it a lot. I don’t think I mentioned before about my diamond in my wedding band. Well somewhere between Florida & Sacramento I lost the stone. I hadn’t noticed it missing till the day after we got home. We were sitting in the Waffle Barn having breakfast the next morning and I folded my hands under the table and rubbed my right finger over my ring finger and found myself being scratched by what I thought was a sharp prong but NOPE my diamond was missing. Oh I was terribly upset. We looked in the cushion, the floor, we even moved the table to see if it was there and it wasn’t. I was sitting at the table crying. We got home, Jake and I looked everywhere thinking maybe I lost it in the bed or shower or anywhere but it was nowhere to be found. In the meantime Jake called the Sacramento police, the TSA & the Florida airport just to report it missing just in case anyone turned in a diamond. No such luck. At least we know we did everything possible to find it. Jake then called the insurance company to report it lost. Luckily we have renters insurance and luckily when we were in last year to see our agent he suggested getting insurance on the ring, good thing we did or else we would have been out of luck. Well, we got the insurance check so we could buy a new one. Tonight we went to a jewelry store to find a new stone. So far we’ve only visited 1 store but we’ll be going to other stores to compare prices. We went to Jared and they showed us a really beautiful stone, it’s called the Radiant-cut diamond. It looks so pretty in my setting. I think they have the highest price on it though so we’re going to continue to shop around. We never heard of the Radiant before. It was GORGEOUS and it’s a nice change of pace from an original round cut. When we go to other jewelers we’ll ask to see this cut. GOSH, I really MISS my ring. I want to start wearing it again. I feel so ‘naked’ without it.

So a word of caution to all Homeowners & Renters is to be sure to get insurance on your wedding bands or for that matter any jewelry you have. Or it can be pretty costly mistake in the future. See you next blog.

<-- this is what a Radiant Diamond cut looks like. Isn't it gorgeous???
Trimmed corners are the signature of this diamond, and they help make the radiant-cut a popular and versatile choice for jewelry. A radiant-cut looks equally beautiful set with either baguette or round side-diamonds. Radiant-cut diamonds can vary in their degree of rectangularity. To find the dimension of radiant you want, look for the length-to-width ratio in our interactive diamond search and on each diamond's detail page. The lenght-to-width ratio will determine the diamond's outline, or what it will look like when viewed from the top. For a radiant diamond shape that is square, look for length-to-width ratios between 1 and 1.05. If you prefer more of a rectangular shape, look for length-to-width ratios greater than 1.10.

Croppin' Around the Clock Website

It took me awhile to figure out all the html lingo, but I finally did it, I finally got my website up. Check it out

http://www.croppinaroundtheclock.com

WOO HOO!!! Now I'm in business officially! I'm very excited.

Scrapbook Retreat Business

Life has been such a whirlwind of business around here these days. I, myself have been busy planning 3 different events, all happening in the next 3-5 months. The 1st is a 25th Wedding Anniversary for Feb '09, the 2nd is our Halloween party on the 25th and the 3rd is my Scrapbook Retreat in November which I am hosting. I'm very excited to be planning NorCal Scrapbook Retreats and hope to make them so much better each time. The first one however is a 16 hour crop at a local hotel. I have been busy getting a bank account set up, trying to get a website set up (eventually), getting Scrapbookers (like myself) set up as attendees, getting vendors and projects coordinated. I bought QuickBooks a few days ago so that I can keep track and be able to send invoices and receipts, those sorts of things. I know a little bit about QB. I dabbled in it a bit at my old job. I like using it and it will keep me better balanced on the financial side of the business. I’m learning how to design reports, invoices, and receipts and trying to use some of the other features it has to offer. I’ve always been a “hands-on” kind of person when it comes to learning new programs. I got really good at Access & Power Point on my own so I figured learning more about QB’s would give me a challenge. So far so good! My new venture program next on my list is MS Office Publisher. That way I can learn how to design my own website. I do however want to take some classes and learn web design. I think it would be a great tool for me to know how to make changes to my website as opposed to just giving someone else the job. Besides, having another skill under my belt wouldn’t hurt…right???

Today my MIL and I went shopping. I had so much fun going to the stores and picking up gifts/prizes being given out at the retreat. Wish I could tell you about the prizes but that would ruin the surprise for some of the ladies who read my blog who are attending the retreat. LOL

I’ve had weekend scrapbook retreats at the house before but not of this magnitude and not as an actual 'business'. The ones I’ve had in the past have been put on by me and DH, well DH would set up tables, pick up food, keep us stocked with snacks and such. We would provide meals and give out goodies, games, prizes, that sort of thing. This one is more detailed but my heart and soul is being poured into it. All the wonderful ladies and DH who are supporting me in my new venture, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. =)

The idea of doing scrapbook retreats came about when I, my friends Maria & Holly went to a scrapbook retreat in Reno a few months back. It was our first one so we didn’t completely know what to expect but thought it would be a little more worth the $. It wasn't a terrible experience but let's just say there were lots of things that could have been better planned and executed. However we did get a lot of scrapbooking done!!! On the way home we talked about how if we did scrapbook retreats, we could put one on and have this and that and do this and do that. We had so many ideas; they were just flowing like water. It was so great. Our adrenaline was pumping and we were psyched up!!! I wrote down ideas we had in my notebook while Holly drove and Maria sat back putting in her ideas as well. Maria didn’t want to be in the drivers seat but I think Maria’s words were something like “Well you two plan it and I’ll be there to scrap”….or something to that effect. Ha-ha. She is a graphic designer by trade so I was able to recruit her to design the logo for the business. The business is called…well I won’t tell you, I’ll just show you. Here’s the beautiful logo she designed for me. Isn’t it cute??? She did a great job. Thanks Maria.



Holly is doing some cute card make-n-takes for each of the scrapbookers. She does beautiful work on cards; they always turn out so cute. I’m looking forward to seeing what she has come up with for the cards. Thanks Holly.

So here I am 4 months later putting all our ideas and plans together for the 1st of many hopefully. I’m very excited and nervous at the same time. My BIGGEST fear is someone coming in and having high expectations and me not being able to deliver. But I know in my heart of hearts, that I can deliver a great event and have them wanting to come back again. I know, I know, I worry too much! It’s in my nature to worry. I’m a worry wart. =(

I have had some great feedback from ladies who are interested in this one. And I’m looking forward to meeting new friends along the way. Jake has been supportive throughout this new venture and so great. I appreciate his patience and support. Love you honey.

And in the last few days, I’ve begun the stages to plan a weekend Scrapbook retreat sometime in March ’09 in Napa. I found a really beautiful hotel/spa and will be making plans to go and check it out in the next few weekends to get the ball rolling. I’m hoping to get a website soon so that I can advertise that way as well. MORE details to come soon on this retreat. Keep an eye out for those scrapbookers out there!

We had our friends the Curtis’ over for dinner last night. After dinner we taught them how to play Bohnanza Game…a.k.a. the BEAN GAME! At first I didn’t think they were going to like it. I had a hard time understanding when the Pascoals first taught us how to play. It’s a very hard game to learn at first but once you get the hang of it, its soo much fun. There was a whole lot of laughing, trading, negotiating, and even a few…3 HUGE favors to be exact going on. ;o) I think it took us about 3 hours just to get through 1 game. We had a great time. Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the game. Next time I talk to you, you’ll be telling us you bought the game online…just like I did when I learned to play it. Ha-ha. Although I went overboard and bought all 3 sets, the original, the extension and then the extension to the extension. LOL! By far out of all the games the Pascoals have taught us how to play, this one has to be our favorite. Have a great week everyone. See you next blog.

Flintstones - Happy Anniversary

Jake & I will be celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary next Saturday, the 20th. Whenever it comes around I start singing the song Happy Anniversary from a Flintstones episode that I remember from way back when I was a youngin'. At first he didn't believe it was a real song but I found the clip online and the words to the song. LOL...too funny! See honey, it's a real song! :) Here's the link from YouTube Flintstones - Happy Anniversary

(Gioacchino Rossini; arr. William Hanna / Joseph Barbera)Practically a restaurant standard, most people don't realize that these lyrics, to the tune of "Thw William Tell Overture", were written by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera for the episode titled "The Hot Piano".

Breast Cancer walk

This past weekend a good friend of mine did a 3-day, 60 mile walk in the San Francisco Bay area Breast Cancer walk fundraiser and raised over $1700 herself from donations from friends and family. YAY Holly! It was covered on the local news station ABC News. Keep up the good work Holly!!! We are so proud of you.

MESSAGE FROM HOLLY! "Hi all!! There is so much to tell you about the Breast Cancer 3-Day, trust me I will make sure to fill you all in with a letter and pictures!!! In the mean time I was able to find one of the local station's website and they have two video clips and a mini write up about it. The video was taken at Opening Ceremonies, and guess what... I can actually find myself!! *smile* Here is the link: ABC. I can't wait to express to you all that happened, and share my photos with you. I have to tell you that I because it was such amazing experience I am going to sign up to walk next year in San Francisco and crew in San Diego. Thank you again for all your support: moral and financially. It means soo much!! Because of you the event raised $4.4 million!!!! :) More to come soon!!Sincerely, Holly"

Disney photopass photos

So when we visited the Animal Kingdom we were standing in front of the Tree of Life, the photopass guy asked me to hold my arms as if I were cradling a baby and both Jake & I were instructed to look down and we weren't sure why. Well we get home, I log into disneyphotopass.com and see these pictures. Now we know why. We cracked up laughing. Isn't our baby Simba cub adorable???

Going home & Epcot - Day 8

Since our flight didn’t leave till 6:38pm, we were able to get a late check out so needless to say we slept in till around 11, got up packed all our stuff and goodies (souvenirs). Since for the last 8 nights we didn’t get to sleep till well after midnight. We needed the late checkout badly! We had to meet our Magical Express bus @ 3:30 to catch a ride to the airport for our flight; so we opted to take a quick boat ride back to Epcot for one last go around. We had 3 ½ hours to kill so grabbed a quick burger and fries at the park, and then headed toward Test Track & Mission Space, the only rides we had enough time to ride. L Since HP is a sponsor of Mission Space, we got to go to the VIP lounge inside of MS. The VIP lounge has a bar, tv, and some other perks for HP employees and their families. We then get escorted down to the ride and get first dibs as if we had the FastPass. It was awesome. What a treat.

If you ever come to WDW and you want an easy way to get around the parks, stay @ any of the Disney resorts and ride the monorail, buses or boats. All forms of transportation intertwine somewhere. Another great perk is if you buy something @ the parks, you can have it sent directly to your hotel and all you have to do is pick it up in your resort gift shop. It’s easy as pie.

As we were going through security at the airport we had put one of the souvenirs in one of our carryon bags. It was a 6 person set of silverware and guess what it had in it…yep you guessed it butter knives. Doh, we didn’t think about it having them and just put them in our carryon bag. Luckily security was pretty nice and understood our forgetfulness and just walked Jake back to where to check in the bag so it can go with the rest of the luggage. I hope it gets to us ok because it has the rest of our souvenirs in it. Jake assured me that it would arrive safely. =) And here we are on the plane heading home. We’ve missed home. It’s funny when you’re away from home for so long you almost forget things. We missed our family and friends and our kitty kats too!!! We can’t wait to see them. Our friends Daryl & Lisa are picking us up from the airport which is really great of them. Our flight gets in around midnight and we’ll be dog tired. Well ladies and gents, that was our vacation. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to log in everyday and blog about each day so hopefully this recap will be as accurate as we remember. Every night we were so tired from coming back from the parks it was always too late to blog. Not only that, the cost to use the internet @ the hotel was pricey. Anyway, thanks for reading my long blog of dailies. Hope you enjoyed reading. If you would like to see photos, please feel free to view my WEBSHOTS site with all our photos. See you next blog.

Animal Kingdom - Day 7

BOO our last full day at the parks. We weren’t able to finish everything we wanted to do @ Animal Kingdom the other day and opted to go back. We saw the Finding Nemo musical which is fantastic. It’s amazing what they do with 3D these days and animation. We saw Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade and it was really neat. They had floats shaped like african animals made out of wood. It wasn't something we'd never seen before. It was amazing. We rode Kali River Rapids 2 times in a row. We got soaked every single time. Needless to say it was getting near closing time and we were still soaked from the ride. After we exited the park we headed out to Fort Wilderness Lodge and got a tour. The cast member at the conciere desk let us view one of the standard rooms they have. Irony is, it's setup is exactly like the Yacht club (our resort). Jake took some pictures and you can view them on my webshots. ANIMAL KINGDOM. We took a ferry boat over to Fort Wilderness to catch our 9:30pm show of Hoop-Dee-Doo review.

Tonight we had reservations for the 9:30 show at the Hoop-dee-doo review in Fort Wilderness. OH my gosh that was a lot of fun. It was dinner and a show. We had salad, cornbread, fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes and beans and thus we forget strawberry shortcake for dessert. =) The show was hilarious. We had a great time. And again, they recognized that we were an anniversary couple, asked our names, where we were from, how long we’ve been married and announced all that to everyone, then they made us get up and dance to the song “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and smooch. =) Of course we weren’t the only anniversary couple, there were lots. We had a great time. We would go again, YUP! After dinner we caught the bus back to our resort and to bed we went. See you next blog.

Typhoon Lagoon & Downtown Disney - Day 6

WOW, what a water park this one is. We spent the day @ Typhoon Lagoon. We had so much fun. The huge wave pool was awesome. For 45 minutes at 90 second intervals, huge 6” waves took us full force back toward the shore. If you were lucky enough, you made all efforts to try not to tumble over other swimmers in the water. That was hard. We did a lot of the rides together but I went on the majority of the water slides, and I have to say that Crushin’ Gusher is my favorite one. There where PhotoPass photographers @ the end of each tube and they took your photo. We’re hoping they came out good. When we get them, I’ll put them on my webpage somewhere or on my webshots, which might be easier.

As we headed out of the water park around 5 (closing time), we decided to make our way to Downtown Disney for our 7pm reservations at FULTON’S CRAB HOUSE. Their food was fabulously delicious; especially the Alaskan King Crab legs. YUMMY!!! Jake opted to try the Fulton’s Fried Platter which consisted of a combination of Maine lobster tail, sea scallops and shrimp with tarter and cocktail sauces, cole slaw and french fries but instead of the scallops he got extra shrimp. All the seafood was battered and deep fried. His favorite dish was the deep fried lobster tail, I believe his description was “This is a true delicacy”. I tried a bite and he was right, it was delicious. After we had eaten, we were surprised by the waiter with an ALL chocolate cake and scrolled on the top were the words Happy Anniversary.

After dinner we strolled down to the Adventurers Club in Pleasure Island. Adventurers Club –Journey into the past in this audience-participation comedy club featuring tall tales of explorers' exploits. Get into the fun of it and shout the rallying cry: Kungaloosh! But if we tried to describe The Adventurers club would be kind of hard. I guess you could describe it as a comedy club about strange things…anything can happen. Last year the Pascoal’s introduced it to us and we wanted to do it again. As Jake was up at the bar getting our drinks the French Maid called him upon stage and he had to do some really funny skits. He had to pretend to be praying to the God of the club. After his performance he was presented with an official Adventurers Club pin, he is now been officially inducted as a member. It was hilarious. I have pictures to prove it, I got it on film. Our camera batteries ran out so I had to take photos with my camera phone so the pictures aren’t as perfect as I’d hope. L After Jake’s outstanding performance we walked across the street to the Comedy Warehouse to catch the 10:25pm show of comedians improvising skits. They were outstandingly hilarious. If you’re ever @ PI, you have to see both of these shows. TYPHOON LAGOON photos.

Well here we are back in our room and getting ready for bed. Only 1 full day left @ WDW and we’re probably going to the Animal Kingdom Park again. See you next blog.

Animal Kingdom - Day 5

Today we spent all day at the Animal Kingdom. I am really fascinated with the characters so I saw the chance to get photos with some of them. Ha-ha. We walked over to Camp Minnie-Mickey and I talked Jake into going with me and getting some done. He’s such a trooper; he stood in line and even got in them. We rode some rides except Mount Everest, that ones a roller coaster so we didn’t do that one. It was another hot day in the park and luckily the majority of rides are inside where it’s nice and air conditioned. Wahoo!

One of our favorite things to do @ AK is ride the Safari ride. We saw a lot of animals of all kinds. Too bad the drivers of the jeeps go too fast to get some decent photos. I did my best. All photos can be viewed on Webshots ANIMAL KINGDOM. See you next blog.

Us & Rafiki

Epcot - Day 4

For the 2nd year the Disney Company has put on an event called Disney's 2008 Alliance Appreciation Dream Week. It consisted of vendors such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, Siemens and all sorts of other companies that help to make Disney what it is. They had a lovely and plentiful buffet ready for us as we walked into the reception hall. It was absolutely BEAUTIFULLY decorated. All over the tables were pretty blue table clothes with iridescent shimmering star tablecloths, a DJ booth, drinks, appetizers, and one very beautiful CINDERELLA carriage tucked just ahead of the buffet table. As everyone walked in the room we were greeted by cast members handing out Mickey ears to wear that lit up like fireworks. What a treat that was. As we searched for a table to sit at, we encountered 2 other HP employees and their families/spouses. Turns out that one of the ladies works almost in the same group as Jake but she lives in Atlanta and the other gal works in Santa Rosa facility. OH, the food was delicious as was the dessert which came later. Yes, you know me, I took photos of FOOD!!! The DJ played some great music…all Disney of course. The kids had fun, they danced and they even had a dance contest for the kids. They made it fun for everyone there especially the kids. After dinner at 8:30 everyone was escorted down to where we had VIP seating for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. It was magnificent. There were fireworks galore, it was beautiful. We had a large dessert buffet waiting for us as well and coffee and other beverages. Disney sure knows how to put on a good show that’s for sure. EPCOT photos.


After the fireworks display at Epcot we made our way to the Magic Kingdom. The extra magic hours were till 3am and we stayed till around 2:30. WOW, what a busy, busy day. We stayed and watched the Spectro Magic parade. Not long after the parade we headed back to our resort to bed. We were so tired. See you next blog.

Epcot - Day 3

We were talking with some other guests and they said that since we were celebrating our anniversary at WDW, if we talked to the concierge at the hotel they would give us a Happy Anniversary pin to wear. It has Mickey & Minnie. So for the next 5 days we heard Happy Anniversary from Cast members and anyone else who saw the pin. We felt pretty special.

Our 3rd day was spent at Epcot. We rode a lot of rides, saw a lot of things. Sorry there is not much more, just did some rides so needless to say we didn’t take many photos. Sorry. What little we did you can see them here EPCOT from the Finding Nemo musical. They didn’t come out very well unfortunately. See you next blog.