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Up until now, most of my posts have been car related.  Well, that is part of the name of my blog.  I am more than a car guy’s wife.  I am also a mother, a daughter, a friend, an employee and a designer.  Now my design experience is specifically in kitchen design.  I spend many, many years in the kitchen design field.  While doing this and as I was getting older, I started looking for other outlets for design.  At one of my “big” birthdays, I decided to take a jewelry design class. A birthday present to myself.   Now, this was like an awakening.  It started me on a journey of learning about making jewelry.

This is my latest bead purchase.  We live in Tucson, Arizona, and in February each year we have a gem and mineral show.  This show is recognized world-wide and we have vendors here from all over.  Now, I still consider myself a beginner, but if you were to see my bead stash, it would scare you.  For me, I get warm and fuzzy just thinking about my beads.  I have found a hobby that I love.  I get to design jewelry and work with my hands to make the pieces.  Along this journey, I discovered that I really enjoy taking old, discarded pieces and discovering what new things I can make from these pieces.

These 2 sets of earring used to be 1 old bracelet.  It was discarded by someone because it was broken. When I get broken jewelry, I just see possibilities.  I just love it when someone gives me a bag of old broken jewelry that most people would toss in the trash. Sometimes it takes some time for the piece to “speak” to me.  I had this one on my desk for a few months.  Now, I can’t wait to wear them.

This is one of my new pieces.  New beads and so pretty.  I haven’t worn this one yet.  It took me a few weeks to figure out how I was going to incorporate the larger beads with the touch of silver.  And the clasp is so pretty.

So there it is, one of my most favorite things to do, other than be a carguy’s wife.  I am a jewelry designer.  Beads and jewelry take me to a happy place.  I have so much more to share about my jewelry, but I will save that for another day.

The reminder here is all of us are more than what people see on the outside.  You may see me at a car show, beside my car guy, having an awesome time with my car club family.  But, underneath, is the jewelry designer.  What are the things that you like to do, maybe wish to do or just dream to do?  Everyone should have that 1 thing that brings joy.  Maybe its time for you to find out what brings you joy!

Until next time,

Michelle

 

Saying goodbye to the weekend and getting ready for the week ahead is in my head today.  Yesterday we made a trip as a club down to Sonoita, Arizona.  The president of our club works at the Sonoita-Elgin Fire Station as a paramedic.  We gathered at a local parking lot, to drive down.  It’s a short 45 minute drive down Highway 83 off Interstate 10 just east of Tucson.

After our short drive, we joined the rest of the community for a pancake breakfast.  Oh, boy, there was a lot of food!! I thought we were getting pancakes, but there were eggs, bacon, hash browns and biscuits and gravy!!  After our big breakfast, we wandered around the station and found ourselves out back, near the helicopter.  I’m in the back row, if you want to look for me.

This community reminded me of the area where I was born, in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Rolling hills and grass surrounding the station.  And the community turning out to support one another.  One interesting fact, they said they have over 500 volunteers to help in the station.  Sometimes it’s like today, for the breakfast, or to help when the staff is called out to an event.  There are lots of small communities around Southern Arizona, and I am so glad that our club participates in events like this.  Its places like this that remind me how important it is to connect with people.  Big or small town, city or country side, we all need to have a connection to our community and to the people.

Short and sweet this week.  Not many pictures, just the thoughts of a special Saturday with special friends.  Hope you get out and connect with the people in your community, where ever that may be.

Until next time,

Michelle

 

Hi Everyone!

Hope its been a good week for you.  My week was good, but better on Saturday!  We took the Mustang out for a cruise with our club.  My carguy prepared the car on Friday and then we took off on Saturday morning.

   

This is our 2015 50th Anniversary Edition Mustang GT.  It is #1216 of 1964.  We purchased this beautiful car in 2017 and it is a lot of fun to drive.  I like to think of this as my car.  Its very easy to drive but I didn’t drive this time.

Every year our car club has an event we call Rally Del ano Nuevo 2019.  This has been an annual event for our club for a VERY long time.  We left Tucson at 8am and headed to Phoenix.  Our destination was the Hall of Flame.  This is a museum dedicated to firefighters.  It has over 80 pieces of apparatus on exhibit, dated from 1725 to current day.  We arrived around 10 am and spent over 2 hours touring the many rooms in the museum.

There were so many interesting displays.  Too many to mention, but I must make note of a few.  There is a emergency response truck from FDNY that served on site during 9-11.

I also found this piece of the World Trade Center.  Many memories flooding my mind looking at this.

They also have a truck that belonged to the Granite Mountain “Hot Shots” fire crew.  This is a memorial to those who lost their lives serving. Standing near these trucks is very emotional and humbling experience.  Well worth the trip if you get to the Phoenix area.

 

We then headed out to do what we do best, EAT!!!  After lunch, we continued our cruise to the east of Phoenix and south through Florence to drive by the Tom Mix Memorial.

Last Stop of our day was for gelato.  Again, we are driving and eating.  We are very good at this.

Here is our group at the Hall of Flame.  Our Rally Del ano Nuevo was a success.  Thanks to Mike & Diane Champlin for setting up this great trip.  Next week, is another trip.  This time down to the Sonoita Elgin Fire District for breakfast.  The president of our club arranged this and how could we resist?  If it involves driving and eating, we are there!

Short trips out of town are fun and getting to spend time with our friends in the club makes for a great day.  Hope you had a fabulous weekend.

Till next time,

Michelle

 

Hello Again,

Well, here I am again.  It’s been a while, but I’m back.  Lots of happenings around my world.  But then again, its really more of the same.  I asked myself if I was ready to get into this again.  It really doesn’t take much time, but you know, its easy to just sit on the sofa and take a nap on Sunday afternoon.  Well, since I already took my nap (with my little poopy girls next to me), I decided to try this one more time.

One of the things I get very involved with is our car club.  We are a very active club and every month there are things to do.  This picture is from last fall.  We were asked by my current employer to attend an grand opening for a new model home.  Of course, our members always enjoy showing of their cars.  My employer had a BEAUTIFUL new model and its boasts an RV garage.  Now, my car guy and our friends in the club were in awe with this house.  Mostly because of the space for cars, not because they would need it for an RV.

My car guy and our shenanigans.  The model is beautiful and who would resist goofing around a bit?  It was a great day and my boss was pleased with the turn out.  There we go again, helping our community.  But then again, when we get to show off our cars AND help out the community, we can’t resist.

Our mustang will come out of hibernation next week.  There is a 2015 50th Anniversary GT under that cover.  Our next club event is Saturday.  I will share more pictures next week of our car and the happenings on the event.  Thanks for letting me share my life with my car guy.

Until next time,

Michelle

 

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a few weeks and its been a busy time.  This wife of a car guy has been doing so many things.  The car club went on a special cruise south of town to have an early breakfast. We went to the historic Cow Palace in Amado, AZ.  It didn’t take long to get there, and we parked right in front.  All of the mustangs, right there in view for everyone.  As we sat down, the owner of the restaurant came out and welcomed us and asked for our patience.  The cook had to leave because of a tragedy at his home.  We had seen smoke on our drive and it turned out this was the cook’s home, on fire.  And here is where our club just steps up.  When we heard of this, one of our members passed a cup around and we collected money to donate to the cook and his family.  One of the best things about our club is how all of our members, just open there hearts to help others.  Thank you again, Southern Arizona Mustang Club.  I am so honored to be a member of this group.

After our breakfast, we headed over to the Historic Canoa Ranch.  They had a special slide show for us and then we walked around and toured the buildings.  Connecting with the history in Arizona is a special treat.  Some of our members took pictures of their cars in this amazing venue. This was a special day with special my special car family.  Thanks to Dave & Gloria Carroll for setting this up.

The title today is speaking to another event that occurred this week.  I received a phone call from a friend to tell me that a former coworker had passed away the night before, very unexpectedly.  I spent most of that day in shock and trying to fight back the tears.  I have such vivid memories of this lady, for I have known her for over 20 years.  I remember her 2 daughters when they were young.  I remember her coming back to work at the place I was working after having been gone for 6 or 7 years.  (The exact time frame doesn’t really matter.)  I left this job in December of 2017, but I remember several conversations I had with her about the process of making my decision to accept a new position.  She told me she was very happy where she was, but if I thought it was a good thing, just go for it.  I hadn’t spoken to her since I left, and now I am regretting not reaching out to her.  She was a beautiful, lively, fun and kind lady.  She loved to dance, ski and spend time with her family.  And now she is gone.  This is a picture of us and a fellow co-worker attending a kitchen and bath conference several years ago.  I am the one in the center and the lady on the right is my friend Carol, the one who passed.  The other lady still worked with her.  I was told it was a very difficult day at the office when everyone found out.  I am grateful that I have this picture and other very special memories of our times together.

Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell someone you care.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to reach out to say hi to that long lost friend.  Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell your loved ones “I love you”.  Don’t wait until tomorrow, because you might not get a tomorrow.  Do it now.  It will only take a minute and you will never regret it.  That is why I am here today, sending this message. Take the time.

Until next time,

Michelle

 

I have been missing for a while.  The holiday season has been busy in our house.  It seems that every weekend for the past few weeks we have been doing something that kept us out late.  Sunday is my day to write on my blog and my schedule has been so crazy there hasn’t been time.

There have been many changes in our life recently.  I made a very BIG decision to change the direction of my career.  I left the job that I had for just over 30 years.  Now, this decision was not make quickly or without lots of discussions with my family.  And I mean ALL of my family, my husband, son, brother and his wife and my parents. I came to the conclusion that it was time to make this change.

How do you make a change after this long at one company?  Well, I guess its was kind of like jumping into the deep end of the pool.  Now, I don’t enjoy swimming, so this comparison is very accurate for me.  Gather up all that support that I talked about and just hold it in your heart and head.  Then just JUMP!  When I said yes to the new company, that was the first leap.  Then I had to tell the old boss that I was leaving.  Second time, JUMP!  Then I had to start telling all the employees, JUMP!  Then came the day I had to start training someone to take over one of my accounts, JUMP!  Then the very last day at my old job, JUMP!  With tissues!  You would think by now, I would be used to the leaping into changes, but there are certain things that just take time.  I am looking forward to starting my new position in the new year (There we go again, another JUMP!).  You would think that I would be drowning by now, but guess what, I’m still breathing.  I made it thru all of my “JUMPS” into the deep end of not knowing what will happen.  And I am ready to make the next one.

New year, new challenges, new opportunities.  There are lot of ways that things come into our lives.  Somethings are easy, somethings require more thought and lots of help.  However you deal with changes, don’t let your fear hold you back.  Sometimes the change won’t work out but maybe this time, it will be fantastic.  Just hold that love and support from the ones that are close to you and JUMP!!  One way or another, you will grow and learn.  Isn’t that what its all about???  Now go out there and JUMP!!

 

Till next time,

 

Michelle

 

 

This time of year, everyone seems to be in a giving mood.  Our car club, Southern Arizona Mustang Club, has a special event around the beginning of December.  Every month we have a First Saturday Cruise.  I wrote about last months cruise a couple weeks ago.  This month, we have our Toys for Tots Drive.  The day of the cruise, we met at someplace to eat (yes, there goes the eat & drive thing again) and then we cruised over to the Tucson Airport Authority Fire Department.

One of our members is a retired fireman.  He worked at this station for 28 years.  (Shout out here to Mike Champlin!! Thanks for arranging this special event).  When we arrive at the station, all of the toys get dropped at the door.  Now, let me tell you, there wasn’t much room for walking after our members dropped off the toys.

After dropping off the toys, we headed back to the bays where they keep the big trucks and they put on a special show for us.  Impressive display!!

Next it was time for treats!! All of the members on the cruise brought desserts to share.  And there were a lot of treats on the tables.  We had so many yummy goodies.  Cookies, brownies, cheese cake, dipped pretzels and so much more.  Hot chocolate was provided by the club.  How do you decide what to eat?? Well, you eat a little bit of everything.    That’s what you do!!

When we were all content with treats and cocoa, everyone headed home.  And the treats were left at the station for the next shift, if they made it that long!

This is once again an outstanding example of how our club supports the community.  We have fun with our cars, no doubt about that.  (There were a few speeders on our way to the station, but I won’t tell!) The members of our club have such big hearts and just jump in to give, give, give whenever it comes up.  A big Thank you to the Southern Arizona Mustang Club and the Tucson Airport Authority Fire Department.  There will be a few more happy children this year and that makes me proud to be a member of this club.

Until next time,

Michelle

 

This week was full of things to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving was the first of 4 days off, unusual for the business I’m in, but there starts the first thing to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving morning I was up early to make my contribution to dinner at my brothers house.  Stuffing w/sausage in the crockpot.  Its pretty easy but lots of prep.  Chop all the onions & celery.  Brown the sausage and then mix it all together.  Don’t for get to sample it along the way!  We headed over to my brothers house for dinner.  Lots of yummy food and great company.  And we go to chat with my nephew in German and my niece in South Dakota.  More things to be thankful for.

Friday was a bonus day and I spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry.  My pups didn’t know what to do having me home all day.  And I must admit to a quick nap.  What else could I do?  The sofa was just looking so comfy.

One of the best things about Saturday was hearing my son’s voice.  He has been deployed for 6 months and is finally on the last leg of his journey.  He got into port and got a new phone.  Then I heard his voice.  Oh, that is the best thing to hear, my boy’s voice saying “Hi Mama”.  Happy doesn’t even describe the feeling.  I am a crazy emotional Mama.  My boys (the carguy and my son) understand this about me.  I’m never far from a box of tissues during these times.  I should invest in a tissue company.

We are also getting ready for next Saturday.  Our car club is collecting toys and we are cruising to a fire station to donate the toys.  One of the best things about our club is they way we help our community.  Small ways but so meaningful.  More pictures of that next week.

Sunday is the last day of my long weekend.  Today I went shopping for my carguy.  He insisted he needed a new pair of shoes for an upcoming trip.  Not only did he need 1 pair, the store had buy one, get one 50% off.  He must get that from me.  NEVER PASS UP A SALE.  Shopping is one of my favorite pastimes.  Of course, I did get something too.  The last thing on my list today is raking the leaves in the back yard.  Usually by carguy does this sort of stuff, but with his trip, he won’t be able to and the yard really needed cleaning.  But one thing I noticed is that as soon as you are done, the wind comes up and here comes more leaves.  The pups tried to help but usually they just run around barking and leaving footprints in the nicely raked yard.

My weekend is done and there were so many things to be thankful for.  My carguy, my family, my son’s voice, my pups, having a home to take a nap in, a yard to rake leaves.  Thanksgiving reminds us every day to be grateful for what we have.  Many people out there have much less.  Find something to be grateful for, even if its just that there were leaves to rake today.

Until next time,

Michelle

 

Last week my car guy said I should tell you how I became the Carguy’s wife. When I was in high school,  I spent 3 days a week and Friday and Saturday nights at a place called Skate Country North in Tucson, AZ.  We met the summer between my sophomore & junior years in high school.  Yes, we are high school sweethearts.  This is where our love story started and so did his love of a car called Mustang.  He had a 69 Mach I and it was a very nice car.  We spent so much time running around in that car.  After skating, we would head out to cruise Speedway, then stop and see friends, then out to cruise again.  Our whole summer was spent this way.  And come to think of it, that’s kind of what we do with our Mustang club now, except we add dinner to our cruises.  And we go different places, not just Speedway.

One of the times we were on our way to cruise, he had to stop at home for something, I don’t even remember what.  We were heading down this street and the car just stopped running.  I’m sure that he can tell you exacting what happened, but I did not understand at all.  We were close to his house at the time and he decided to push the car home.  But he would not let me push.  He told me to sit in the drivers seat and steer.  My first experience with his frustration with a car.  There have been many other times and I have sat behind the wheel in many cars over the years, in a helping capacity of course.

Here I am sitting on the hood of the car.  Something that would not be permitted with any of the cars we have now.

There are plenty of days we wish we still had that car.  But then, he wouldn’t be on his current 100 car quest.  Ok, I will tell you about that another day, but lets just say, we are in the 70-80 range.  And several of them have been mustangs, but he doesn’t discriminate.  We have owned Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Datsun, even Hyundai.  I will have to share the list of cars one of these posts.

So that’s the beginning of my life as a Carguy’s wife.  I started as the Carguy’s girlfriend.  38 years later, we are still together, enjoying our life and still riding around in a Mustang.  Things have changes a lot over the years, but then again, not so much!

Till next time,

Michelle

 

Saturday November 11th is Veteran’s Day.  This is the day we honor those who have served or are serving our country.  Our mustang club honored this day in a special way.  Early on Saturday morning, we met at a local mall, and headed out.  We traveled north to Anthem, Az. to a Veteran’s memorial

This is the kind of thing we do on our time off.  If you are new, our club name is Southern Arizona Mustang Club, or SAMC for short.  We stopped at the rest area between Phoenix & Tucson and someone (my carguy) decided to leave our mark.  After a short break, we were back on the road and on our way.

We got to Anthem just in time to see the amazing program.  At precisely 11:11 a.m. each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States.

Now, I must say, I was moved by the whole event.  Our son is currently serving in the Navy.  I have a nephew in the Air Force and my brother served in the Air Force as well.  And there are many veteran’s in our club.  This was an emotional event for me and I was so very happy that I remembered to put the tissues in my purse.  Even my car guy was moved to tears, although he may not admit it to everyone, he is a softy when it comes to our son. Thank you to Frank Sanchez from our club for the beautiful photo.

This was another wonderful weekend with great “car” people.  Or as I have come to know them, my mustang family.  This event was a first for our club, but I think it will be on the list for next year.

Until next time,

Michelle