Mosasaur Bone Found

Dad & I went looking for prehistoric Mosasaur bones. Since North Texas was once part of the ocean we found fossilized oyster shells, ammonite, sea shells, petrified wood and I did find a mosasaur tailbone vertebrae between 20 to 70 million yrs old.

Handmade Gemstone Rosaries

I am now creating beautiful handmade gemstone rosaries. They all have a large detailed crucifix at the bottom and 59 beads. Check them out on http://www.shophandmade.com/Item/6-758-H764K1R at Shophandmade.com.

I Am Now Selling On Another Website

Check out more of my designs and supplies that I have just listed on ShopHandmade.com.
http://www.shophandmade.com/Store/Naturaldesigns

Conversation Fun

The grass and the rain,

Have you ever heard of people referring to their life being so dull that they say that they are watching the grass grow. Well if they are doing that they must be up all night because grass only grows at night.


I organize and manage a lot of estate sales and art shows and I am always worried about what the weather is going to do if some of my items have to be outside. One little thing that I have learned to listen for is birds singing. About 15 minutes after a heavy rain the birds start to sing and that usually means that the rain is over. At times I have noticed a few spotty showers but never a major down pour after the birds have been out singing their songs. Come to find out Native American Indians also used this technique to tell when the heavy rains were over for the day.

Conversation Fun

Tidbits About Gemstones

Did you know that if you stuck a hot pin in a piece of amber it would smell like pine? Also, amber is not mined. Amber is the sap that has harden from trees millions of years ago. Amber has been around since the dinosaurs. This is why there are several different colors of amber: yellow, honey and green. The bubbles in the amber are air pockets that were created when it was in its hardening process. People studying amber have extracted the air from the gemstone to see what the air was like millions of years ago. Fossilized bugs have also been found inside the amber. These pieces are very expensive.

Several years ago my husband and I went to a pearl farm in Tennessee. Below is a few interesting facts about a pearl.

Do you know the way to tell if a pearl is real?


First of all I advise everyone to make sure that the pearl is clean before you do this test. Rub the pearl on your teeth if it has a smooth feel to it most likely it is fake. If it has a gritty feel to it then it is a real pearl.

A cultured pearl is one that has been formed with human intervention on a pearl farm. A natural pearl is one that forms without any human intervention. Sometimes you will hear of a blister pearl, this is a half-sphere formed flush against the shell of the pearl oyster.
Pearls are created by a hard object irritating the mollusk inside the shell. Many pearl farmers will place a piece of polished mussel shell inside to cause this irritation. Natural pearls can be created by just a grain of sand or another piece of pearl entering the oyster shell.
Mother of Pearl is the rainbow part of inside of the shell.

Conversation Fun

By any chance do you know what the largest living structure on earth is?


The coral reef, The Great Barrier Reef to be exact located off the coast of NE Australia. It is over 1257 miles.

Conversation Fun

If you were a fish and a hippo showed up for an afternoon swim, what would you do? Something that big you would probably get out of its way, maybe he might think you were a snack, a nice fresh fish sandwich.

Well. actually the hippo is a vegetarian and for the fish, they just can't wait until the hippo takes his afternoon swim. The fish feed off the hippos poop and enjoy snacking on the hippos skin. Ya, that's right. The fish give the hippo cleaning from head to toe by sucking off the mites and ticks. The fish even enjoy donating their time to free dental work. The hippos open their mouth and the fish clean any nasty thing that might be in their huge pie hole. It looks like everyone gets free trading service out of this afternoon.

Conversation Fun

Have you ever hear of a shutter dog?

A shutter dog is the wood or metal arm hook or fastener on the outside of the house that holds the shutter open.

Conversation Fun

Did you ever see gray/ green stuff growing on three branches, grassy green layers on rocks and a spongy looking thing growing out in the woods in a very shaded area or mushy looking mushroom flowered spores and wonder what it was? You probably said that is some kind of a moss.

Well what you saw was lichen. Lichen is a symbiosis. That means that it is two or more organisms living together such that both are more successful within the partnership than they would have been if they were living on their own. With lichens the basic components of this partnership are 1) a fungus called the 'mycobiont' and 2) one or more algae and/or a cyanobacteria called the 'photobiont'.

Lichen make look cool but in time it will kill the trees.

Conversation Fun

Herb Facts & Funny Names

I am sure the cooks out there will know the answer to this questions.

What is a scallion? A green onion. They are a variety of young onions with a long, thin white base that has not yet developed into a bulb and long straight green stalks that look like giant chives. Both the white base and the green stalks are commonly eaten.

What is a shallot? The shallot is a relative of the onion, and tastes a bit like an onion, but has a sweeter, milder flavor. Shallots are formed in clusters of offsets with a head composed of multiple cloves like garlic.

What is a leek? Leek looks like a scallion but much thicker and larger. It has a mild onion-like taste, less bitter than scallion. The taste might be described as a mixture of mild onion and cucumber, with a fresh smell similar to scallion.

What is a chive? Chives are the smallest species of the onion family and grown for their green hollow stock.

Conversation Fun

Do you know who were the first people to start scalping their enemies?

Not the Native American Indians, it was the white man.



Native American Indians did not let any part of the animal that they killed go to waist. Do you know what the most nutritious part of the buffalo was?

The afterbirth

Oh My! What Some People Wear

Maybe these pictures will make you think twice about what you are wearing. You might want to have a full, yes, full length mirror to look into before you leave the house. www.peopleofwalmart.com

Conversation Fun

Do you have problems with indigestion? If you still have indigestion after 20 minutes of eating lie on your left side and lean a little forward for about 20 - 30 minutes. What?, lie down, everyone always says don't lie down after you eat. I noticed that this worked for me and asked several doctors and they just ignored me or just said, "I don't know". Well I finely found a doctor that did know. The gas will be pushed out one end or the other. Why does this seem to work? The way your intestines are routed will help push the gas out of your body.

Conversation Fun

Have you ever heard of the word Tussie Mussie and thinking what in the world is a Tussie Mussie?
A tussie mussie is a small bouquet held by a bridesmaid. In Victorian times each herb and flower conveyed a specific meaning.

Tidbit of information, did you know that when bats are waking up at dusk they start a hissing noise right before they take flight. When they go out for their nightly feast, what direction do they fly in?
East, away from the sun set into the darkness.

Have you heard that your fingernails and hair grow after you die? Well what is really happening is that the skin is dehydrated therefore making the skin recede from the hair and the nails making it look like they have grown when they haven't. Nothing can grow when everything is dead.

Restaurant Coupons

Long John Silvers 9 Coupons http://www.longjohnsilvers.com/ Expires 5/31/10



Kentucky Fried Chicken 9 Coupons http://www.kentuckyfriedchicken.com/ Expires 4/30/10

Important Information You Should Know About Facebook

More and more people are trying to still someone's identity instead of going out to make a honest living that there are a few things you should know when you sent up your Facebook account. Never put your birthdates and if you do don't use your correct one also don't put what state you are from. For example: If you are from New York just put down I was born and raised in a beautiful northern state. Hackers can use your birthdates and your state to get your social security number. The first three digits of your social security number is the state where you were born. Hackers don't need much to turn your world upside down and cause you years of problems.

Newspaper Coupons

Newspapers just keep going up and up so are they worth buying? Yes, the best time to get more for your money out of your newspaper is the first Sunday of the month. That is when you will find more coupons for groceries, cosmetics, restaurants and more. The only time that this may not fall true is when major holidays fall around the first part of the month.

Knock Down Your Mortgage Note

Order an amuration schedule from your mortgage company. Pay your regularly monthly payment and then drop down to the next month and pay only the principal amount. Continue to do this and your home will be paid off in half the time.

Do you have money coming back from income tax? Could you be one of the luck ones that puts the refund check in the bank just to draw interest? No, No, No, pay it on your mortgage. This may cut several months off your note by applying it to the principal.

If you have an automobile payment or some other bill that you have with interest make sure you apply your extra money on that bill before you pay on your mortgage because you might be able to itemize on your income tax and write off your mortgage interest.

These steps have helped me out. I bought my first house when I was 20 years old. I didn't make much money as a single young female but I applied these techniques and had my first house paid in 7 years.

M. Chapman

Vanguard Mutual Funds

I have been very impressed with Vanguard Mutual Funds. I purchased VGSTX and VWIGX both are making a very nice profit in a very short amount of time. Check out ETF's on Ameritrade. The cost of a trade for an ETF is the same as buying and selling a regular stock.

Handmade Gemstone Rosaries

I have been asked to make custom rosaries for a Christian book store in Texas. I will soon be selling them on Etsy. My rosaries will be very unique with natural gemstones or bone. I am hoping to get them up for sale by the first week of April.

Frontline Plus Flea & Tick Pet Medicine

I have been using Frontline Plus for over nine years and I have discovered that you can really get your moneys worth out of this product. Vets recommend a monthly treatment, but I don't treat my dogs every month but every three months. All of my pets are outside 75% of the time. I have one dog that is 55 lbs, and two that are 15 lbs each. I buy the treatment for an 80 lb dog and split up the dosage. I tried stretching the flea and tick meds to 3 1/2 months but 3 months was the limit. I am very impressed that I can get so many months out of one tube, this really saves a lot of money. I buy the 3 pack 80 lb tubes for three dogs and that will last 9 months. I have told several other people about the monthly treatment lasting three months and they couldn't believe it until they tried it. GREAT PRODUCT!

Today Was The Day To MOVE THAT BUS!

I got to spend four hours watching Hollywood make take, after take, after take in Mineola, Tx at the Extreme Make Over Home Edition. Hundreds of East Texan's got to welcome home the Carr family as they got to see their new home, furniture, car and toys.

Comedian Bill Engvail, and the Home Edition team Johnny Littlefield, Paige Hemmis, Ty Pennington and the Aussie were all there to great everyone.

I Start Monday Painting on the Carr Family Home with the Extreme Home Make Over Team

I have gotten the email to start painting Monday on the home in Mineola, Tx for the Carr family that was chosen for the Extreme Home Make Over. I am adopted so this is really going to be very special for me and a great opportunity to help other adopted children make their life easier because of their handicaps.

Chosen Family From Mineola, Texas to Have The Extreme Home Make Over

Katrina and Mike Carr and their four adopted children are an inspirational family who strive every day to overcome severe physical challenges while living in a cramped and dangerous home. For the Extreme Makeover team and the hundreds of East Texas volunteers who will build the Carrs a new home. It's a Texas-sized opportunity to give back to a family who are role models of spirit and resilience.

Comedian, actor, producer, and author Bill Engvall will be the celebrity volunteer for this build.

Katrina and Mike Carr met while working at a summer camp for special-needs children. After they married six years later, the couple followed their passion of making a difference in the lives of others by adopting four kids from Kazakhstan who were abandoned at birth. Two of the children were born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which caused Ryanne, now 7, to have both legs and one arm amputated, and Rina, 3, to lose a leg. Their brother Nikolas, 9, was recently diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction, which causes an inability to organize information as it comes through the senses. Compounding the family's struggles, health problems have required their father Mike, 41, to have both pancreas and kidney transplants over the past decade.

Extreme Home Make Overs Hit Hard By Tough Economic Times

They make it look so easy on TV. Hundreds of volunteers and skilled craftsman make building a home in one week a reality, but recession times have thousands of dollars worth of once donated materials and goods now being used by businesses that are struggling for profit.

Fewer businesses to handle the load of donations ups the pressure when there are less than 2 days when the show begins. Many business ownders have just folded up and closed their doors.

Extreme Home Make Over's is coming to Tyler, Texas the week of February 22, 2010.

I have meet the cast and production crew that will be conducting the ABC Show Extreme Home Make Over's. We haven't meet the family as of yet. There was five families that were considered in the Tyler area for this great opportunity. We were told that a food and blood drive will also be taken place for the East Texas area. From what I understand all the volunteers will have a meeting point and we will all be shuttled in to the work site. Typically it takes 4 to 6 months to build a house. This home will be built in 106 hours. Each hour equals 1 day on a normal home building site.

Country singer Neil McCoy will also be volunteering his time and singing his new song on the television show.

I am very excited to be a part of this great experience of a life time. This will be such a turning point in this special families life.