Thrifters Rock

Every Tuesday, I take my oldest daughter, Tayda, to Palmer for violin lessons. Palmer is a cute little historic farming town about 10 miles from Wasilla. Palmer is ALWAYS windy, and I don't mean a light breeze, I mean WINDY. I believe the wind has something to do with the glacier. The wind this week was actually warmer than last, which I am truly thankful for. No offense to my Palmer friends, but I can barely handle the occasional Wasilla wind so....your wind would probably blow me away! Tee hee :)

I always enjoy the special Mother/Daughter time Tayda and I get on Tuesdays and this week on our way home we spotted a new thrift store. In the past we have often frequented Bishops Attic or Salvation Army on our way home, this week we decided to check out the new shop. Thrifters Rock, which happens to be run by Church On The Rock (hence the name) is located on the Palmer/Wasilla HWY and really does ROCK. They've set it up so cute inside. Great decor, nice music and no yucky thrift store scent. It seemed more like a boutique than a thrift store, which I can appreciate, since I happen to be a thrift store "picker". At Thrifters Rock, I didn't find any wool sweaters, antiques or retro finds, so it wasn't such a great place to shop for 49th Find or MoRockin Creations. It was a great place to shop for the Morock Family as they have a lot of used Christian books, homeschool books, fabric and other goodies I could actually use and am in need of. I ended up with 3 pairs of pants for the hubby, this man is a 32x34, I RARELY find anything in his size never mind his style. I got a complete set of Abeka US History books for the boys for next year for only 5.00. Teachers manual, test books and work books! Our homeschooling organization will not pay for faith based curriculum, and I can't afford to supplement their materials so this was a great find for me. I also found the sheet music for Only Hope by Switchfoot, which made my younger daughter, Bug, very happy. A couple of books for the boys and a beautiful flannel for me and everyone got a little something. I know the $ goes toward a good cause too, which is always the "cherry on top" for me in choosing where I "pick" and shop.

All in all, I highly recommend Thrifters Rock, but don't forget to bring your cash or checkbooks...you will find something to buy and they DON'T have a credit card machine (I had to drive back to Palmer and find an ATM).

Date Night

My husband recently felt led to start up a marriage course at church. We are using a wonderful video and book series called The Marriage Course . As a requirement for the course, we are to schedule a date night or "marriage time" once a week. A date night, every week! Yep that's right..... Tonight was his turn to plan the date. Everything he planned was a surprise to me (I don't like surprises too much, but I survived). First he took me to the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. Then surprised me with a trip to Anchorage, the drive was amazing and I got to fill up on some more of that intoxicating sunlight! We ate dinner at a great little Thai place on Muldoon, that used to be a Pizza Hut, which was kind of romantic as we met at a Pizza Hut 18 years ago this May. I ordered Pad Thai, which was amazing, the best I've ever had. He ordered Sticky Rice and an Eggplant and Pork dish. The food was outstanding! We finished up supper and headed over to Kaladi Bro's for a couple of Americano's and eventually ended up at the Regal to watch The Tourist. The Tourist was fabulous by the way. I absolutely loved it, I have no idea why it got such bad reviews! Angelina Jolie was class and style, and reminded me of Audrey Hepburn on many occasions. And of course, what woman doesn't love to watch Johnny Depp, he is truly amazing. I guess I knew I would like it as they are both two of my favorites. The cinematography was great and the story was good too, it kept me guessing. Last week on date night, we tried to do our Marriage Course homework, and got into a little tiff. We learned our lesson and didn't do our homework this week. All in all this weeks date night gets 4.5 stars out of 5 for me. Thanks honey!

The Sun is Intoxicating.

The sun has returned. Light is a beautiful thing, we are now up to 11 hours from sunrise to sunset. I'm in a state of euphoria as my mind and body are slowly coming out of winter hibernation. Excitement for summers approach is hard to contain. I have to remind myself multiple times a day that we still have another 2 months before we even see the trees budding and the grass green, just so I don't get too excited! With the suns return to its high home in the sky, I am now noticing all of the dust bunnies and winter yuck that were hiding in my home during the darkness. Whoever came up with the term "spring cleaning" must have lived somewhere in the far north, where the sun didn't shine directly into their living rooms and kitchens for months on end. Off to start my day of deep cleaning and sunbathing...inside that is (as it is still winter!).

Sunrise over the Chugach Mountain Range

One of the best things about winter in Wasilla and the lack of daylight, is the return of the sunrise. You see, I am NOT a morning person even in the slightest. So most places I've lived in the lower 48, I rarely if ever saw a sunrise. In Wasilla, I get to watch them from October-March, from my bay windows in my kitchen. I also have the most amazing view of the Chugach mountain range. Because Wasilla is so very close to the ocean we get the most amazing skies that blow in off the waters. Icy blues, pinks, purples, and reds. Some mornings I wake up thinking I'm in a Machetanz or Maxfield Parrish painting. There are no words to describe the glory of God's creation in Alaska. Photos only begin to capture it a little. I am blessed to wake up to it every morning, fall, winter and early spring. For now I will enjoy the sunrises AND sunsets while I can. A season is coming when I will no longer be able to enjoy either.



Fred Machetanz



Maxfield Parrish

Crafty

Been feeling crafty again, here's a few of my latest faves....

ETSY SHOP

Check out my mini :)

GIVEAWAYS and REVIEWS!

I've got 2 reviews and giveaways going on this week.

First one is a review of my beach wrap by littlebgcg and his Mama review it.
To enter to win just follow the links above and enter to win your own beach wrap, Gauze wrap or 25.00 Gift Certificate to MoRockin Creations!

Christa has many other giveaways going on her blog as well. Check em out! Here is a pic of Christa in her beach wrap she reviewed.





I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by Brandy . Brandy is reviewing one of my Owl always love you Owls. I sent her and her son Orlando. She loves him of course ;). Check out her blog about Orlando and enter to win your own Owl from my shop!
Here are some owls: