Good News!

Hello friends!  It has been a busy week, but I wanted to take a few moments to share some good news with you!!

Today I was offered, and I accepted, a part-time (29 hrs/week) position as a recreation therapist at Hickory Trail Hospital in Desoto, TX.  The hospital is a psychiatric hospital that treats children, adults, seniors, and those with substance abuse history. Even though it is a recreation therapy position they know I am an art therapist and are ok with me doing art therapy!  I will also get to make use of my skills as a group fitness instructor!  Desoto is only 20 miles from my family which is awesome because that means I will be able to spend time with them!

I do not yet know what I will be doing about my living situation.  Desoto is not the biggest city but there are a lot of surrounding cities and I could even stay in Arlington if I wanted to.  So, now the house/apartment hunt is on and it will be tricky because I want to live in a good neighborhood but it has to be somewhere that I can afford!

That is all for now friends!!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope to post some art for you tomorrow!!

Texas Antiques Week

Last week Mom and I went to Texas Antiques Week in Round Top,Texas!!  It was CRAZY - I think you could go for like 5 years in a row and still not know everything about it... you could also go for a whole week and still not see everything.

One thing we did see, however, was a tent with creepy doll heads:

And in Round top we found a wagon and pumpkins and had a photo taken by a random stranger:

Awesome horse carving that we saw:

We got some tiny spoons to make jewelry :

We made a stop at the Junk Gypsies World HQ:

They had an awesome mannequin.

Then we did some more antique shopping....did not buy anything but took some photos:

Here I am wearing the one thing I purchased - a purse that can be worn cross-body or clipped onto belt loops.

We had a good time but we were exhausted by the time we got home.  If we go again we would concentrate our time on Warrenton and maybe try to go for more than just two days! Also make sure to bring lots of money because things were more expensive than we anticipated.  Did any of you guys go to Antiques Week?

FSU Veteran Creative Arts Workshop 2014

A few weeks ago I went back to FSU to help with their annual creative arts workshop!!  Here are some photos from the first day when we were set up on the Union Green and had a make-and-take event where any student could stop by and learn about paper making and make some paper!

FSU Student Veteran Center's new logo ready for screen printing!

pressing water out of the paper with a Gator!

 And pictures from the workshop:

It was a lot of fun!  I went as an art therapist  - so I was there if anyone needed someone to talk to.  I helped with the workshop too.  I also made a few sheets of paper!!  Here are some photos:

Half Army - Half Navy Paper

Half Air Force - Half Marines

Some fabric that was dyed purple...and put a retro lady on it

I loved helping with this event!  I am super excited to be working with Peace Paper Project again in November when they are going to Texas Tech University.

August 26th - Leaving Scotland and heading home!

It was a sad day on the 26th as it was the last day of my great adventure.   Edinburgh airport:

 I finally found a tartan with one of my family names on it!!

 Security at Pittsburgh was horrendous... I was about to go crazy.

 So, I was SUPER happy to get on my last flight!!

My final art journal pages from my travel journal:

Pocket for goodies!  Has stamps from 3 of my destinations on the pocket.

Thanks for putting up with my LONG re-cap of this trip.  I hope that it was at least somewhat interesting.  Tomorrow I will be back to normal posting!!

August 25th - Last Day In Edinburgh!

My last day in Edinburgh was jam packed!  First I went on a hop on/hop off bus tour which was free to me since I purchased a military tattoo ticket.  I only did about 3/4 of the tour because I got off the bus to see Hollyrood Place:

And then I walked to the National Museum...but it was closed for another hour due to a strike.  So I went to explore Greyfriars Kirk:

Back at the National Museum I saw a bunch of cool stuff, but I was exhausted.  I decided to head back to rest but got distracted by the Fringe Festival!  I saw two shows but I couldn't take photos.  I saw a comedy called "Lie Back and Think of England" and a circus show!  They were both AWESOME!

The last show ended at 9pm-ish and I was exhausted from all the walking I did that day.  So, I went back to re-pack and get ready for my trip home.

Here is my art journal page from this day:

I hope you come back tomorrow to see my last two art journal pages!!

August 24th: Leaving Skye Heading Back to Edinburgh

** Apologies for taking so long to get this posted.  Last week we had a bad storm and it knocked out power to a significant portion of the city (over 30K people without power) - So, I was unable to finish writing this post.  Then I went out of town for Antiques Weeks (post to come!).  Please forgive me!!**

On the third day of my Isle of Skye trip we left Skye and headed back to Edinburgh but we made several stops along the way...
Eilean Donan Castle:

 Highland Cows:

Loch Ness:

I Saw Nessie!

And where the European and American tectonic plates connect:

 After getting back in to Edinburgh I dropped off my suitcase and had some dinner.  Then headed back to my hostel to rest because I was exhausted! Here is the art journal page from this day:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great evening and come back soon!