Sweet River Studios

My husband and I decided to leave the dreary weather of Ohio behind for a few days and head to Phoenix, Arizona. We've never been there before and I know very little of Arizona except there's a desert, hot air balloons, some big cactus and the sun. Before going anywhere, I usually shop for my next vacation on TripAdvisor reading reviews of locations and activities. I found myself reading about the Boulders Spa and Resort and decided that's where we would stay. The resort is situated around a golf course and I was told the area is 1300 acres with the resort on about 33. There is landscaped areas and some wild areas that was really nice to walk through. A lot of the plants were blooming making it an even more memorable experience. The resort area was full of rabbits, lizards and birds to watch and enjoy as well. I have to admit, I thought the staff did a remarkable job. Everyone was pleasant and efficient and treated their guests very, very well.   The resort uses golf ...

Another year has passed and for me it was a fairly quiet one. We didn't go on vacation and I'm pretty sure I sewed less this year than last year and I definitely posted less. I had around 30 blog posts from bluebirds to quilts to cooking classes. There were no anniversary parties this year but I did take my grandmother to OSU Orton Museum to speak with someone about her rock collection. My grandmother is 89 and fondly remembers the time she spent traveling out west with her husband in the 1980's. During their traveling she picked up rocks from all the states they visited and they came back with the trunk full. It's a wonder they didn't break the car she has so many rocks. She loves her rocks but she doesn't really know what type of rock they are and some are very unique. She's wanted to go over her rock collection with a geologist for years and often spoke of inviting someone from OSU to her house to see her rock collection. Now that she's 89 and fee...

It's less then two weeks before T-giving and I'm on cooking duty this year. It's been a few years since I've cooked and I've been taking a french cooking class so I'm ready to start planning and start cooking. We also have a couple of people with food allergies, so I try to be mindful of what everyone can or cannot have and make sure there's something for everyone. There will be some new items this year and of course some traditional. I like to change things up a bit but others don't want anything but the same thing year after year but since I'm cooking it's my house, my food, my rules. If you've never cooked Thanksgiving before here's a few tips: Plan Ahead. Don't wait until the last minute to go shopping. Make a list of what dishes you're serving, under that write down your shopping list and under that list keep your recipes. Then under the recipes or next to them, write down the day you're going to make them. Also, f...