I'm back! :)

After a looooong absence, I am back to blogging! There has been so much going on in life and such that I just haven't had time to update anything really but I am starting to realize that it isn't something that is destined to change anytime soon, so I may as well just "make time" for the things I want to do! Since I last wrote, I now have a new job that I am really happy with; working as a home health nurse at the local hospital. This is a "specialty" that I hadn't really considered before until someone suggested I give it try and I am really glad that I did. We are a very small agency with only a few nurses and most days we all get along great and that just makes for a much nicer working environment than where I was before. Plus now I get to work "normal hours" most of the time.
I wrote before about being part of a dachshund rescue group; for reasons I won't get into here, we have decided to no longer participate with them, however we have added two more doxies to our family....these will be the last as this puts us up to four! :)
I still make and sell beads via Etsy; and I still LOVE it! I have a few new listings up and more to follow soon!

New way to raise money

As I was looking around the web yesterday for new ways to help raise money for the two doxies that we will be taking in that I spoke of yesterday, I stumbled across a website called fundable. It is an online fundraiser website! Very cool indeed! You simply pledge the amount you wish to donate and if the target amount isn't reached in a certain time frame, you pay nothing! I set up an account for our two doggies in need who we have learned are named Crystal and Holly. We get to bring one of them home on Monday so I will try to keep updating as I can as to their condition. In the meantime, if you would like to help please visit their fundable account here. :)

Pictures as promised!

Here are a few pics of the first few days with Zoie and Chance. Chance has filled out a bit, but still has a few pounds to gain. He is learning to play with the others and learning how nice it is to have his belly full! I will try to get a few more pics up in the next week or so. Anyway, here they are, Zoie is the red one, Chance is the darker one with the white "mask" and the smaller dark brown one in one of the pics is my Bobo.

Remember, if you are interested in adopting, check out the AADR website!

Busy as Usual

I mentioned before that we had joined the All American Dachshund Rescue and will be fostering dachshunds and the rescue has been very busy of late due to several puppy mill raids. I have been working on one foster member application myslef, unfortunatly the person decided that fostering is not for right for them at this time. We were to get a female doxie a week ago Sunday but she was lucky enough to go to what I am sure will be a wonderful forever home instead. This Sunday, if everything goes as planned, we will pick up 2 *somewhere* as a caravan makes it's way from TN to AZ. It is really amazing to see the way this all works, all of this transportation is volunteer and because there are enough members, usually each "leg" of the trip is no more than 2 hours or so. I have also been working on putting together some things to donate to the rescue to put in baskets to raffle at the picnic that will take place in May in TN. I don't think we will get to make it to the picnic ourselves due to work schedules and things but it sounds like fun!
In addition to all of that, I have been working like mad trying to make new things to put in my Etsy shop, no pics unfortunately as most of it is in the kiln still or hasn't been photographed yet. I took an extra day off of work this week thinking that I would get some of these things "caught up"...not so much. :) Hubby has been sick with a nasty sinus infection so has been home 2 extra days himself. So basically it's been a whole lot of busy but not a whole lot of actually getting anything done! But hey, that's just me! :)

Finally Something NEW!

Yep, you read right! I finally got some new things listed in my Etsy shop! I have had a few custom orders over the past couple of weeks, one a very large one. That, along with my full time job has made getting new beads done to list a bit difficult. Not that I'm complaining at all, the custom orders were fun and turned out nice. But sometimes it's nice to not have any clue what I will be making when I sit down at the torch! Over the past few days I have managed to create a new frog bead (see below) as well as an elephant and a pig which have yet to be cleaned or have pictures taken yet.

I have also been looking at going back to school to get my bachelors and then masters in nursing with the ultimate goal being getting my family nurse practitioner licence. I know that will take a lot of time and effort, actually it kind of already has just looking at programs and pass rates and tuition and scholarships and all that goes along with that, but it will be worth it in the end. If I can't be a full time lampworker, this will be second best. :)

My husband and I have also applied to become foster parents (insert look of shock here for all who know us and are saying "Why don't you just try and have your own kid?!")....and the rest of that sentence is for dachshunds. Yep, you read right, foster parents of dachshunds. We have been approved with the All American Dachshund rescue! As some of you may have read from previous posts, we have a mini dachshund named Bobo, and we just fell in love with the breed when we got him so we wanted to be able to help out where we can. These dogs come from kill shelters, or abusive home environments or puppy mills and the like for the most part. I'll keep you updated on how that goes and if/when we get a foster pup I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to post!

Ok, now on with the beads! You can find all of these in my Etsy shop! :)