That’s my baby boy putting new license plates on his new "old" pick-up truck. He got his license a few days ago and it was a long haul to get it. He EARNED his license!

HIs plates say "TECHIE". It is a term of endearment that a girl gave him because he does technical work for the drama department. It fits him. He’s kind of a techie guy. Back in our day, they were called the "Audio-Visual Nerds".
THOSE boys are now running the biggest corporations!

Drive Safe, my son.
And never forget the Total Feeling of Freedom you experienced that first time you backed out of our driveway and ventured out on your own.
Making your own decisions.

The hands of my pilot husband.

The view from my seat today. The quilt of Iowa farmland.
Normally, I don’t like to fly.
Today I did.

Today the ride was not long.
And I enjoyed the process.
And I relaxed. And just looked out the window.

And looked at beauty at it’s finest.
Plain old dirt.
One of the most important items in the world.
And Iowa Soil is the best.

And, then the most important part of flying.
Landing!!
Thanks for the nice day today, hunny bunny!

Went bowling with Mariah today at the Teammates End of the Year Bowling Extravaganza!

There are ALOT of great kids and wonderful adults in this program.

And it doesn’t matter what our score was.
What matters was the look on her face when my shy teammate entered the door at the Bowling Alley with all the nervousness of a 13 year old and she recognized me in the crowd and smiled.

Read this at the Saint John’s Bible exhibit at the Joslyn…

What better reason can there be for starting a journey?
When I was a 9 year old, desire led me to copying ancient scripts
and decorated letters.
I loved the feel of the pen
as it touched the page
and the breathtaking effect
of the flow of colored ink
as its wetness caught light.
Those sensations
Which I still experience as I work,
oftentimes seem to select
the shapes and colors
of my designs or words.
The Quill
rather than my conscious thought,
makes the choice.
The continuous porcess
of remaining open and accepting
of what may reveal itself
through hand and heart on a crafted page,
is the
closest
I
have
ever
come
to
God.
Now I am led to the making
of the Bible as celebration
of the Word of God
for the 21st century in modern scripts,
and I realize now
it is the thing
I
have
been
preparing
for
all
my
life.
So, the pursuit of closeness to God,
a lifetime’s dream commission,
a fearful challenge.
What
better
reason
can
there
be
for
starting
a
journey?

Donald Jackson, artistic director of the Saint John’s Bible.

I love reading blogs and skip around alot, reading this one and that one. My friend, Laura, buys art materials from a woman in Omaha and her company is Mantofev. I’ve read her blog and visited her site before. Her husband is a 5th grade teacher in Omaha and has also written some children’s books.

Sara sent this e-mail to Laura who forwarded it to me.

I wanted to send out a quick email to let you all know that the mythical raffle tickets are now available for sale!

http://www.dantesalvatierra.org/raffle/

These tickets are being sold to raise money to pay for my husband’s medical bills. He recently had surgery to remove a large brain tumor. He has been home about a week now and is doing really well! There seem to be no physical or mental side effects, and the tumor pathology was low grade (slow growing), which is great!

We have some wonderful items up for raffle to help raise money, including items from Lynne Perella, Claudine Hellmuth, Linda and Opie O’Brien, and tons more!
There are 19 large art item lots,
then 6 lots made up of tons of smaller art items,
and finally 5 supply lots.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the format or the website.
Also, if you are on any art email lists or have a blog, please spread the word about the raffle to all of your friends!

I truly appreciate your support, your donations, and your friendship.
Your emails of support have meant a lot to me over the past few weeks.

Thanks again and good luck!

Take care
sara

–

Sara Hopp

http://www.mantofev.com

Alternative art supplies
We Cut, You Paste.

Manto Fev Weaves!

http://mantofev.etsy.com

I know I’M planning to buy a raffle ticket!
What an outstanding, hardworking young couple!
And a very creative method of raising awareness AND money!

So, spread the word.
Send good wishes and money, too, if you can.