Random Thoughts & Tidbits

This is what I love most about my town...

Meet "Jerry" the bear!

Don't ask...my kinds named him Jerry and I just go with it!
Jerry is a regular visitor in my neighborhood.  Most people who don't live here are freaked out by this and wonder why I would live in such a place where black bears are such a normal part of our lives...in all honestly, the fact that we randomly see these gorgeous animals just hanging out in our neighborhood still amazes me and it's my favorite thing about West Milford.  Jerry is HUGE and I would guess about 7-8 feet tall standing on his hind legs (I missed that picture, lol)...he's absolutely beautiful.  It truly is such a surreal and majestic experience to see them so close.
Last night Jerry must have been in a good mood because he seemed amused with me for a while.  My very funny neighbor, Rich banged on our front window around 7pm yelling for the kids to look out the window because he was in our back yard.  Mike and the kids ran for the back door to look out the windows and being the psycho I am, I ran in the opposite direction for my crocs, car keys and my camera with the big zoom lens.  Normally, when it's just a small bear, I would just hang out on the deck, keeping my distance to get some pictures...but Jerry has been too quick for me and is a little too big to follow around on foot (I'm not THAT crazy).  I followed him around the neighborhood in my van for about an hour.  He even stopped several times seeming to pose for my camera and listening to me talk to him.  I think he was just as curious about me as I was about him.  Almost amused.  I hopped out of the van a few times while he was laying down to get some closer pictures and he was very patient with me while I snapped away...I have to add that Mike was standing on the deck yelling at me the whole time to get my crazy ass back in to the van (he didn't grow up in West Milford, so he's not quite as used to this, lol) Of course I am respectful enough to keep a good distance and I kept my car running with the door open just in case I needed a quick escape...he is still a VERY big wild animal after all, no matter how docile and gentle he seems.  So he wondered in to the neighbors yard, had a snack from her garbage and had his nightly stroll on his way to the stream in the nearby woods. 
Here's some more of my favorite shots...although I need to play with the rest a little more on photoshop.

These pictures really don't do any justice to his impressive size.  I'd have to say, when he was up on his feet and walking around, the top of head was probably level with my shoulders and I'm short, a little over 5 feet, but that's a pretty big bear.  There's an even bigger one nearby that I saw last Fall...that would be "Brutus".  He was almost the size of a small car!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my favorite part of where I live with you.

Until next time,
jen

Last, but not least...back to Holland!

So I started and ended my 3 week trip in Holland.  Again we were greeted at the airport by my friends Hetty and Lida was with her too this time.  When I left Holland a few weeks ago it was raining and only the daffodils were blooming.  It's been one of those little dreams of mine to just "tiptoe through the tulips" in Holland and in the 14 or so times I have been there to teach, I have NEVER been lucky enough to be there at the right time.  I usually just miss them or I'm there in the fall...well THIS time, I walked out of the airport to see this...

TULIPS IN FULL BLOOM!!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, yes...I'm easily excited over little things.  But sometimes it's the little things that make me the happiest of all!
It was Queensday and we decided to stay away from Amsterdam and had a full day planned...boat tour (you know how I love them!) through the tulip fields and then another through a lot of windmills near Rotterdam...I was psyched.  However Tracie and I were both having some allergy issues and took allergy pills which completely knocked us out in the back seat while Lida was driving. We slept for a good hour when they suddenly woke us up yelling for me to get out with my camera as they pulled over to the side of the road.  I did as I was told and just check this out....

I was so happy I almost cried.  But it gets better...
So we fell back asleep in the back seat after that excitement thinking we would be at the windmills soon.  Another hour or so later they woke me up yelling, pulled completely off the road again to see this...

Yes, that is my big butt frolicing, tip toeing and doing a major happy dance in the middle of the most gorgeous flowers I have ever seen.  MY FRIENDS are the most wonderful people in the whole world.  Lida and Hetty drove an hour out of the way while we were sleeping to find this field to surprise me knowing how badly I wanted to experience this.  They searched for a BIG one, mixed with so many variations of tulips that I have never even seen before...I am truly a lucky girl to have such awesome people in my life.  We spent a long time there taking pictures and playing.  It was amazing...I love you guys more than you know! xoxox

these were definitely my favorite!


That's Lida...I love her to pieces!

It was a terrible hair day and I had like no make up on...but I didn't care.  This made me SO happy!
I even made Tracie lay down in her white shirt...it was worth getting a little dirty, wasn't it Trac?!

Ahhh, a perfect day!  We missed the boat tours, but it was SO worth it and I still got some great windmill pictures.

So we sat near the windmills and had some coffee then headed a little further to Rotterdam to meet up with Lida's daughter Loeske and her boyfriend Ronald for a fun, relaxing dinner.
It was so fun to hang out with Loeske.  I didn't see her this time as much as I normally do, but I'm hopeful that Ronald will talk her in to coming to visit us soon...Ryan and Maya miss you "LOOKSA!"

So with our day off behind us and many happy memories, Tracie and I were refreshed, rested and ready for our "grand finale" of classes at ScrapArt in the Netherlands!!  I just need to start by saying Henk and his sisters Petra and Linda are AWESOME!  We had SO much fun spending the day with everyone there!  We had full classes and were full of mixed feelings that this was our last day of classes (I'll get to that in a minute).  The store itself had  a great selection, the teaching areas were perfect and it was just a bright, happy place to be.  I am so glad that Henk's store ended up being our final stop on the tour...the entire day was perfect (well, aside from the milk I splattered all over Petra's sandals...LOL - I still feel so bad about that and I'm SO happy Petra has a great sense of humor!).  Petra, next time I am there, I want to go shopping in Amsterdam with you so I can buy you a new pair of cool sandals : )) 




I have to say that Henk is truly awesome and completely cracks me up! Great guy with a great sense of humor...I can say without a doubt that I will DEFINITELY be back at ScrapArt at the earliest opportunity and I CAN'T WAIT!  We really had a great day there and ScrapArt will be a regular stop for me when I'm in Holland!  Thanks so much Hank, Petra and Linda...you're the best and it was the perfect end to a great teaching tour!

At the end of the day, Tracie and I suddenly realized that we only had one day left together.  I don't know where it came from or who started it, but we both got very choked up and started to cry! Of course being in a room full of scrappers, EVERYONE grabbed their cameras! LOL

Tracie and I have been through a lot together over the last 2 weeks and have truly bonded more than I expected or even realized until that moment.  I wish she didn't live so far away...I miss her terribly already and it hasn't even been a week since I've been home!

It was really an amazing trip full of beautiful places, wonderful people and funny moments, but the best experience of all was forming a true friendship that I will treasure always. 
Thank you to all of the store owners who hosted us, Prima for working with us on this, Tattered Angels for co-sponsoring ScrapEvent, all of the fabulous students who came to the classes, my friends for being awesome and most of all, thank you Tracie for trusting me and sharing this adventure with me.  You are a truly *lovely* person my friend!

jen

On to Norway...

We had 2 short days in Oslo Norway and a a lot of student and classes. Tracie and I were both really impressed with not only the 2 fabulous stores we visited (Steffens and Bikuben) but also with the students!  Although we teased them a little bit for being too quiet (LOL) we had an absolute blast!  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming...and let me also say there is definitely some serious talent in Norway!  Wow! 

I have to admit, the most exciting moment for me in Norway happened when we were barely in the country an hour.  A whole parade of soldiers and musicians for the King and Queen came right down the street in front of Steffens!!!  Tracie and I grabbed our cameras and RAN out the door!  We thought it wsa funny that most of the students stayed in their seats like "Eh, we see that all the time"!  LOL.  Sorry if we seemed a little rude for a few minutes girls...it's just that it's definitely not an everyday experience for us to see that plus possibly the King and Queen of Norway!  Especially not that close!  And we did even get a little wave from the King...we were happy, happy scrappers that day!   I can only imagine if that happened here in the states and President Obama came down the street of my local scrapbook store with a whole procession like that...it would simply never happen.  Well, at least not without armed snipers onthe tops of every building.  I just think that was one of the coolest things ever! 




C'MON!!!  HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?!! 

We got no site seeing in (opting to sleep in late on Wednesday and rest) but this was exciting enough all by itself.  Thank you again to both Siv of Steffens and Ellen from Bikuben for having us.  It was truly a great 2 days in Norway!

jen

Jen & Tracie do Copenhagen!

So we had to wave goodbye to Sweden and head off to Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Oh wait, I need to backtrack for a minute.  I forgot to mention one of my favorite things that happened during ScrapEvent...I finally got to meet the youngest member of the pickle family...Anders Anderson!

What a cutie this little guy was and I was so happy to be able to spend some time hanging out with one of my best buddies, Lance (of Rusty Pickle)and his family. 

OK, back to the story...as we were waiting for our train from Helsingborg to Copenhagen we couldn't resist taking pictures.  What a pretty city Helsingborg was!  I wish we had discovered this part of town while we were getting lost, lol.

 We made our way in to the train station and and in keeping with our theme of getting lost, of course we got on the wrong train!  LOL I don't know what happened.  I had a few giggles, but I don't think Tracie thought it was as funny.  Two and a half hours later (that seems to be our average lost time) we arrived in Copenhagen and we both loved it right away.  What a truly fabulous city!  Our hotel was right in the city center and we decided to splurge a little to upgrade to a room with a view...this was the view from our window...

Copenhagen had everything I love about Europe.  Lots of cobblestone streets, gorgeous architecture, patina everywhere we looked, art, friendly people and most importantly...yes there was a canal tour!!!  I LOVE boat tours!  Since we were fairly limited in time, we asked for a taxi to bring us to New Harbor where we wanted to eat dinner and enjoy the sunset.  We were lucky to have Dan the taxi driver who was simply fabulous and gave us a great tour along the way and even let us hop out every so often to take some pictures (thanks for being so cool, Dan and making these 2 scrapbookers VERY happy!!)

The last picture is of New Harbor.  This was the place I wanted to see the most while in Copenhagen.  It's a gorgeous street with different colored buildings lined with outside cafes.  We sat outside next to the canal and ate dinner...it was a great night.
The next morning we got up and went straight to the canal tour...I was psyched! This is truly my favorite way to enjoy Europe.  I definitely love Copenhagen and would love to go back to explore more.




We were so happy with all we had packed in to our short time here and raced back to the hotel to meet Jean and head off to Jean's Scrapstrue.  We had a great time with all of the ladies there and Jean was the sweetest host.  I really enjoyed watching their creativity come out while they painted and got inky!  Thanks for a wonderful experience in Denmark!



Thanks Jean!!  Hoping to see you again soon : )

jen

ScrapEvent

Our last few days in Sweden were amazing.  I taught at ScrapEvent 2009 for Scraphouse of Scandinavia my Glimmer Decor Class which was sponsored by Prima and Tattered Angels.  Helena truly runs a fabulous event so if you haven't been to this before - don't miss it next year!  I'm hoping to be back again myself.
Thank you again to Helena for having me.  Here are some moments from the weekend...

A car, a map and 2 primadonnas who can't speak Swedish = a very funny road trip!

Monday (4/20) began with a flight from Vienna to Stockholm, Sweden.  Although Tracie Hudson and I had been talking on the phone and e-mailing (she lives in England) this was the first time we actually met in person so I was excited to meet my new friend and travel companion for our Prima teaching Tour.  We caught up on the details of the beginning of the trip and made our way to Hertz to pick up our car.  While we were under the understanding we had a GPS reserved with the car, there were none left so we were given a map of Sweden...let me rephrase that - we had classes scheduled at different stores every day for the next week all over the country of Sweden and we had NO GPS!!  Yikes!  And so the nervous laughter began. 

I was the designated driver because Tracie would have needed and international drivers license so she was the official navigator.  I should also tell you that I have issues finding my way around just New Jersey without my GPS so I had a feeling this would be an interesting trip!  We made our way to our first stop in Stockholm only having to ask a nice old man at a 7-11 for directions once.  We had a lovely few hours with the girls at Scraparazzi and Zornitza the owner and then we were off to find our hotel which was only a few blocks away from the store apparently.  Lets just say we saw just about ALL of Stockholm, stopped to take pictures several times, went through probably every tunnel at least twice, almost ran through a store  when the lane we were in just mysteriously ended without warning, laughed until we thought our bladders were going to get the best of us and finally, 2 and a half hours after we left the store, we found a taxi driver to let us pay him to follow him to our hotel!  We were on the complete opposite side of the city from where we were supposed to be.  We were so lost that at one point we actually saw signs for FINLAND!!!  Damn, I wish we got a picture of that sign, lol.  We had to pull over because we were hysterical with laughter after that.  If we didn't laugh, we would have been crying I guess.

Tuesday we spent the day with Dionne at The Scrapbook Store in Upsala, about an hour and a half north of Stockholm...more driving...more maps...more asking for directions...more giggling because we had no idea where we were and finally we called Dionne and she met us near an IKEA.  Thank God my cell phone works in Europe!  So Upsala was a cute town and Dionne's store and staff were great!  We had a fun, creative time with the students and are looking forward to visiting again soon!

Wednesday was a long drive down to Jonkoping for classes at Hobbygladje.  Carina and Therese were also great hosts and their store was in a fabulous location!  Carina met us at the hotel so we wouldn't get lost finding the store (perfect given our driving record over the previous 2 days)Close to a beautiful lake in a car-free shopping village...Tracie and I got in some quick shopping while the other one was teaching : ))  Another great group of ladies there.  This store was particularly fun because they had a lot of beading supplies too so I bought more beads for my stash...did I mention I had been collecting beads along the way during the trip?  I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I plan on visiting my pal Robin Beam to figure out how to make a nice necklace or something out of the fab beads I've collected over the last 3 weeks to remember the trip!

Thursday we ended up having off so we decided to take the advice of some of the ladies in class the night before and took a drive up to Granna, which is apparently where candy canes originated.  It was a gorgeous day and we spent it strolling through the town, taking pictures, trying to figure out how to work my new camcorder, bought TONS of candy and souveniers for our kids and I had the most amazing pizza.  who knew they would have awesome pizza in Sweden?!? 

So we left Granna and had another long drive down to Helsingborg.  We met with Helena, who owns Scraphouse of Scandinavia (the Swedish Distributor for Prima)picked up some extra supplies we needed and found our hotel...eventually, after more maps, more giggling, more phone calls but we did get to "explore" some of the back roads of Helsingborg and look at this beauty of a cottage we found on a dead end along the way...

 Ahhh, so pretty.  I wanted to move right in.  Did I mention that I have a thing for thatched roof cottages too?  Plus we could definitely SEE the highway we needed to be on...just couldn't find the right way to get there, lol.  More giggles.
Friday we taught at the Scraproom with Eva as our host.  What a cool lady.  We both liked her a lot immediately and her store was amazing!  Not only was her store awesome, but how smart is it to have a scrapstore in the same building as a toy store and baby store!?  Genious!  Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead so I didn't get any pictures here.   I was excited to find a big selection of Smurfs at the toystore and decided to re-live my childhood and obsession with smurfs by buying a house and a few smurfs for Maya.  Yes, she was thrilled, but I think I had more fun playing WITH her when I got home, hee hee!!  God, I loved Smurfs when I was a kid!  Looking forward to hopefully visiting the Scraproom again in the future as well....loved that she also had so many Ranger goodies in stock!

OK, time for dinner...I'll finish about our adventures in Sweden later!

jen

Scenes from the trip

It's taken me a few days to get over jet lag, get all of my much needed snuggles in from the kids and Mike and find the cables to get the pictures from my camera (my card reader decided not to work when I got home).  So here it goes - I have lots of fun and photos to share!

I left for Europe the day after Easter to arrive in Amsterdam the following morning.  I was greeted at the airport by my good friend Hetty...

 who loaded me up with coffee and spent the day with me playing in her gorgeous scrap room and doing a little shopping. 
Wait - I need to digress for a minute to tell you about Hetty's scraproom.  Oh - my - God!  Yes, it's pretty, but that's besides the  point.  I am in complete awe of her organization! (If you have been to my scraproom, you know that organization of "too much stuff" is not my strong point, lol) I have to explain HOW she has her clear and unmounted stamps organized.  She bought a laminating machine and tons of binders.  The stamps have all been stamped twice, once on the outside of the folder they go in and then again on the inside laminated sheet where they stick.  All of the original packaging is gone and she can fit like 2-3 sets of stamps on each sheet.  Each binder has a theme and is labelled and put in order in this goregous PINK hutch  - like I display my good china in my dining room!!! Now I am not the most religious person in the world, but I truly believe that God brings people in to your life for a reason.  I seem to surround myself with friends who have unique organizational skills and Hetty has inspired me so much to do this, I will need to fly her to NJ and have 2 weeks off to get through all of my stamps!  I have made this my goal for the summer : ) 
OK - sorry, I just had to get that all out...I have been obsessing over the idea of doing this for a few weeks now!  So back to the story...We had to shop for  a new suitcase because it seemed the new suitcase I had just bought before the trip, which was loaded with everything BUT my clothes exploded at the seams.  It was a complete mess...not to mention I lost a few things out of the big hole in the side.  So I am now the proud owner of a bright turquoise, big, hard suitcase which worked out great...washable, no seams to split and virtually indestructible!  Love it! We met up with one of my favorite people in the world, our friend Lida, and had a nice dinner at Hetty's.  I was so happy to spend time with them and giggle...it's my favorite part of going back to the Netherlands.

So the following day we were off to Ede.  I had 2 Ranger technique workshops planned at Joan Gevaert's Shop and let me tell you this store was dangerous!  Oooh, so many stamps and unique goodies and I did a little damage to my wallet before I left : )  Hetty and I arrived there early because Joan asked me to film a "webisode" featuring Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Line and Sticky Back Canvas from Ranger.  Admittedly, I am a little camera shy (it's a chubby girl thing) and a bit of a spaz on camera, but it was really, really fun and I think we only had to do 3 takes.  I'll share the link when it's ready.  Classes went well and we had a good inky day, including lots of laughs, awesome birthday cake and 2 fabulous dogs...one of them ended up taking the class too! Although I think he was really more interested in my lunch LOL

So the first part of my trip was over and I had to say goodbye to Hetty and Lida for a little while and begin my adventure in Vienna...

I have to say that Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever experienced!  I arrived on Friday afternoon, dropped off my bags and decided to take the advice of one of my hosts, Herwig and splurged on a relaxing horse drawn carraige tour of the city.  I had about 2 hours to take it all in and figured this would be the best way to see it all. 






After getting my little bit of site seeing and of course a bit of shopping out of the way, it was down to business to get ready for the weekend of classes for Vienna Impressions.  I want to thank Sulie for putting this all together and hosting such a wonderful weekend!  The location was great for classes and all of the students were so wonderful and patient.  Despite the occasional language barrier and my bad New Jersey accent, I had a great 2 days getting to know everyone over 7 classes and tons of techniques.  We had a good mix of workshops including ATCs, cards with Blonde Moments, canvas with Grungeboard and Tim Holtz's masks, layouts, mini-books, Prima and just about every Ranger product you could think of! 




I have to admit...one of my favorite moments was being greeted by one of my students, Thomas, with a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  He said it was tradition...I just think it was sweet and a lovely welcome to Vienna!  Thanks Thomas! (Hey, still waiting for a link to see your work, by the way!)

On the last day, I also received a small beautiful red box filled with Austrian crystal from one of the other students and a beautiful handmade card from Thomas - wow.  I have fallen in love with the beauty of the city as well as the people of Vienna.  Not only did Sulie host a wonderful event, but I was really impressed with the variety of products she had as well.  We had fun getting to know each other and spending time together a few weeks ago when we attended Ranger University together in NJ before I left for Vienna.  I was sad to leave Vienna, but more sad to leave my new friend Sulie.  Looking forward to more giggles with you in the future!!

OK - I'll have to split this up in to a few posts...there is seriosuly NO food in my house and I need to get off the computer to go food shopping.  I've been putting it off all week.

more later,
jen

Goodbye Europe...

Well, it's Saturday night here in Amsterdam, we taught our last class yesterday and I'm heading home in the morning.  It's been a long but wonderful trip and although I am happy to be going home to my family and my own bed, I am sad to leave my friends here and will definitely hate parting ways with Tracie in the morning when I head to the airport...I believe I have made a friend for life and we have had so many giggles.  During the 2 weeks we have spent every minute together and have definitely bonded in some pretty hysterical ways...the tears already started last night when we realized we would have to say goodbye soon.  It's been awesome and I'm hoping to get to Devon, England soon so we can visit and giggle some more (and get a glass bead making lesson, lol) : )) Love ya Tracie!

We finished up the tour with a fantastic, fun day of classes at ScrapArt yesterday.  Henk, Linda and Petra were the most wonderful hosts, the classes were full and the students were all great...we had a lot of fun and both Tracie and I are looking forwrd o going back to ScrapArt soon!  When I get home I have so much more to post about the trip, but I need to upload my pictures.

We had a nice relaxed day today with my friends Lida and Hetty.  They picked us up at the hotel at noon so we could sleep in and we headed off for a nice lunch outside in the sun on the side of a canal in a perfectly pretty little Dutch town, then we made our way in to Amsterdam where I was excited to start a beaded/charm bracelet of sorts (my husband is not going to thank Tracie for enabling me and getting me hooked on Troll and Pandora beads : )  It looks a little pitiful at the moment with only 3 beads on it but I have a feeling it will fill up pretty quickly!  I got 3 beads that will remind me of our trip and bought Tracie a little car bead to remind her of our road trip adventures.  So after a little shopping we got on a boat and took a nice long canal tour.  this is by far my favorite thing to do when I travel.  I think I've done the Amsterdam cruise 4 or 5 times now and we did the cruise in Copenhagen as well...I love it!

Ok, back to packing and I'll post more when I catch up on some sleep and get enough snuggle time in with Mike and the kids.

jen