Cindy deRosier: My Creative Life

Anniversary Getaway in Sausalito, CA

2026-06-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

After our day of fun in Fairfax and San Rafael, Steve and I went to Sausalito. Sausalito is a charming coastal town (population 7100) located in Marin County, across the Golden Gate Strait from San Francisco. It's only an hour from where we live, but it is different from Fairfield in practically every way.

We checked into our room at Hotel Sausalito.

This was the view from our window.

Our first order of business was taking our annual anniversary photo together.

With that done, we headed out to explore. There's San Francisco.

We loved the sea lion sculpture.

There's Angel Island! You can barely make out the white buildings at Camp Reynolds. That's where I took my students for a Civil War Living History Program.

It was a bit windy.

These elephants (Jumbo and PeeWee) are at Viña de Mar Park. There were 12 of them on display at the 1915 World's Fair in San Francisco; the architect sent these two to his hometown of Sausalito after the fair ended.

We had a wonderful dinner at the outstanding Barrel House Tavern.

We didn't get dessert there. Instead, we went across the street and got cones from Lappert's. Yum! No pictures - we were too busy eating our delicious ice cream.

Saturday morning was our actual anniversary. Did we celebrate by sleeping in and relaxing all day? Of course not. The first thing we did, after enjoying this timeline of Sausalito History, was head out on a 2.1 mile walk.

Where did our walk take us? Here.

This is known as the Otis Redding Dock, because it's the place where he wrote his most famous song: (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay. From here, there's an excellent view of not only the Bay, but the nearly 300 floating homes here.

I'd hoped there would be a statue of Otis Redding but there wasn't. There were some nice chairs, plus the benches at the park, but we didn't have time for sitting. We wanted to be at our next destination (1 mile back the way we'd come) in time for their guided tour.

This is the Bay Model Visitor Center and it is fabulous.

The Bay Model was built in 1957 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. For several decades, it functioned as a crucial scientific tool used to test the impact of things like landfill, barriers or other structures, salt water intrusion, oil spills, and more on the SF Bay. The Model is the size of 2 football fields; the building that holds it is 3 acres. It is impressive, to say the least.

We live near the Suisun Bay.

Places like cities, airports, and the Model itself are labeled to help people orient themselves.

Interestingly, the Model was built with two different scales. Horizontally, 1 foot = 1000 feet. Vertically, 1 foot = 100 feet. The salinity of the water is 1=1, but the tidal change is significantly different. The Model goes through a 24 hour tidal cycle every 14.9 minutes.

There are a lot of exhibits to explain everything.

Within the larger museum, there's a museum about Marinship, a shipbuilding company founded in Sausalito in 1942 to provide cargo ships and tankers for the war effort. It was really interesting.

There is a LOT to see at the Bay Model Visitor Center and I highly recommend a visit.

We ended up leaving after 2 hours to go get lunch, then we came back to finish the rest of the museum. Lunch was at Le Garage, which I also highly recommend.

After we finished up at the Bay Model, we walked the mile back to Hotel Sausalito. I did my Duolingo and Steve sat at the window and watched the people.

And, as it turns out, the baby skunks.

Our anniversary dinner was at Poggio. It was incredible.

We got a complimentary anniversary dessert: lemon mousse with meringue and pistachios. Sooo good!

We had such a great day together. But the weekend wasn't quite over yet. The next morning we had brunch at Cultivar. We ended up over-ordering. Everything looked so good and we were headed home, so there was no problem having leftovers!

We had a wonderful time in Sausalito. It was a great place to celebrate our anniversary. Sausalito is a charming town that is well-worth a visit, whether it's a day trip or for multiple days.

Fun in Fairfax and San Rafael, California

2026-06-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Steve and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary with a 2-night getaway to beautiful Sausalito, California. Since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3:00, I planned a day of fun activities to do in the nearby cities of Fairfax and San Rafael before we headed to Sausalito.

Our first stop was at the Marin Museum of Bicycling. It is home to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

We have visited another bicycling hall of fame: the excellent US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis. Bicycles are a huge part of the culture in Davis; Davis the first city in the US to have bike lanes and it it is regularly named the Most Bike-Friendly City in the US. We were eager to see how the two museums would compare. (Spoiler: They're both fantastic. They're only 70 miles apart, so you could see both on the same day if you were motivated to do so.)

The Marin Museum of Bicycling is organized chronologically to take you through the invention and improvement of the bicycle over time.

I was amazed to learn that in the late 1880's one out of every two US patent applications was bicycle related.

Bicycles have become so much faster, safer, and more efficient since the early days!

This section of the museum features the earliest mountain bikes. Mountain biking as a sport began in Marin County in the 1970's. It grew very popular first in the communities near Mt. Tamalpais and eventually worldwide.

It was so interesting to see the progression of mountain bikes on display.

The special exhibit is about Bruce Gordon, a premier framebuilder.

Here, you can look up all of the inductees in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

I found this Swiss Army Bike interesting. I had no idea that was a thing!

Check out this rare Bowden Spacelander bike! It's so unique.

The Marin Museum of Bicycling has a cozy couch area with tons of books about bicycles.

I finished the museum a little faster than Steve did, so I sat down with The Bicycle Man (affiliate link). I haven't read it since my teaching days and it's so good. I love all of Allan Say's books.

We had a wonderful time at the Marin Museum of Bicycling and definitely recommend a visit.

Next stop: lunch at the delightful TuTu Lounge in San Rafael. It features American-Thai fusion breakfast dishes and traditional Thai lunch dishes. We split one of each. That's Pad Thai on the left and a croffle (croissant waffle) on the right. Both were excellent.

After lunch, we walked to the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art. It's small, but we enjoyed our brief visit.

Less than a block away is Mission San Rafael Arcángel. Founded in 1817, it is the 20th of the chain of 21 California missions that stretch from San Diego to Sonoma.

This is a replica of the original mission building and is now called the Mission Chapel.

When we went into the main sanctuary, we were surprised to find at least 100 people inside. We later learned that we'd stumbled onto Day 1 of the Camino de California Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

A group of nuns was singing, so we sat and listened until they finished. Then we went to the mission's museum.

It was an interesting visit and I learned a lot.

Our final destination before heading to Sausalito was the Museum of International Propaganda. They have very limited hours, so I'd arranged our day specifically to be there at opening (3:30 pm). But they never opened. We waited 20 minutes past opening. I tried calling. Nothing. They never responded to my email. It was incredibly disappointing. So I don't recommend going out of your way to visit. Instead, take the virtual tour on their website.

Next stop: Sausalito! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Checking in on State-Inspired Crafts

2026-06-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

In late 2018, about 18 months after I started blogging about travel, I decided I wanted to do a better job incorporating craft blogging (that I'd been doing since 2011) into my travel blogging. I obviously wanted the travel portion of my blog to be helpful to people planning vacations, but I also wanted to create a resource of crafts that teachers, homeschool parents, and others could use with kids to help them learn about the United States. One of my Creative Resolutions for 2019 was to design at least two crafts for each of the 50 states. Turns out, that was ridiculously overambitious. It ended up taking me until March 2021 to meet that goal.

One of my 2024 goals was to bring the total number of kid-friendly crafts for each state up to at least four. I created a chart so that I could see at a glance how many I had for each state. It was really helpful in keeping me on track and I easily met my goal by the end of 2024.

I've continued to add craft tutorials inspired by each state to my blog, but it had been a long time since I'd updated my chart. Here's where I am now:

Progress!

Now my top priority is working on crafts inspired by the seven states below the red line. (I should have made it one of my official 2026 goals, but I didn't.) My secondary priority is adding diversity to the states that have multiple crafts about the same topic. Take Oregon as an example. I have 11 different craft ideas on my Oregon Travel page, but 3 of them are beavers and 3 of them are Western Meadowlarks. So it's really more like having 7 ideas, not 11.

Expect to see a lot more state-inspired crafts coming soon!

Pride Heart Keychain

2026-06-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Pride Month to all of my LGBTQIA+ friends!

I am proud to belong to a church that welcomes everyone. That includes people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. Literally everyone is welcome. One of the ways in which our congregation is celebrating Pride is with a keychain craft. I'll be leading that after church on June 14. My sample is based on the rainbow flag, but attendees can switch out the colors to make a different flag if they wish. Affiliate links below.

Pride Heart Keychain

Materials:

square pegboard
Perler fuse beads
iron
paper piercer
jump rings (ooh, they make rainbow jump rings!)
pliers
key ring

Steps:

Start in the middle of the pegboard with a row of 13 green beads. Add two rows of 13 yellow beads immediately above the row of greens. Add two rows of 13 orange beads above the yellows. The next row up is red: skip a space, add 5 beads, skip a space, add 5 beads, skip a space. The top row has two sets of 3 red beads, centered on the previous row of red.

Now work down from your original green row. The next row has 11 green beads. Below that, 9 blue beads. Then 7 blue beads. Then a row of 5 purple beads, then 3 purples, and finally 1 purple.

Follow the directions that came with the pegboard to fuse the beads. I suggest fusing the beads more than you might ordinarily, since you want your keychain to be very sturdy.

Use the paper piercer to enlarge the hole where the keychain will attach to the heart. Open a jump ring and thread it through the hole. Continue adding jump rings until it is the length you want it, then attach the key ring.

Bunny Feet

2026-06-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Several people have asked me recently how our bunnies are doing. They are great! After the initial struggles getting them to bond, Brayden and Tulip have had a strong bond for over a year. They are living their best lives as happy house rabbits. They have a large territory (our living room and dining room) where they free-roam 24/7. The two have very different personalities and each has his or her favorite spots where they spend time separately, but they also spend plenty of time together.

I've written a lot about rabbits over the years... the the joys of having rabbits as pets, whether or not you might be ready to adopt a rabbit (or two- they need companionship), and even the best gifts for rabbits. I haven't written much about their feet. Rabbits have four feet, with five toes on each front foot and four toes on each back foot. Each toe has a nail. (18 toenails x 2 rabbits = 36 units of torture for us and the rabbits every time they need a trim. Rabbits HATE having their feet touched.) But there's something rabbit feet don't have, as Brayden is helpfully demonstrating in this picture.

Do you know what's missing? Compare Brayden's foot to this screen shot of Google images.

Rabbits don't have paw pads. Not a toe bean in sight. Instead, they have coarse (relatively speaking) compressed fur on the bottom of their feet. I've made a lot of rabbit crafts over the years and you won't find a single project with paw pads. The next time you see a craft project or a branded product featuring paw pads on a bunny, you'll know it was made by someone who hasn't spent time with rabbits!

Gold, Silver, and Coal Mine Cart Craft

2026-06-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today I have a 3-in-1 craft for you. Follow the simple steps to make a traditional mining cart out of paper, then "fill" it with gold, silver, or coal. It's a great project to accompany a study of the role that gold, silver, and/or coal mining played in your state's history. Affiliate links below.

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The most famous gold rush in history took place in my home state of California. Following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, approximately 300,000 "forty-niners" poured into California the following year, hoping to strike it rich. California isn't the only state with a gold rush. The Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899) is almost as famous. Approximately 100,000 prospectors hiked through Alaska on their way to the gold fields. Other states with significant gold rushes include North Carolina (1802), Georgia (1829), Colorado (1859), and South Dakota (1874).

What do Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and New Mexico have in common? Each of these states had a silver boom in the late 1800's. Nevada, nicknamed the Silver State, had the first silver rush in the US in 1859, following the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City. Nevada remains a major silver producer today, along with Alaska, Idaho, and Utah.

Pennsylvania is the birthplace of the coal industry in the US. It had the largest anthracite deposits in the world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. West Virginia has been one of the top producers of the softer bituminous coal. Kentucky, Illinois, Wyoming, and Montana all have played a significant role in the production of coal.

Gold, Silver, or Coal Mining Cart

Materials:

Steps:

Cut a 6" x 3" rectangle of medium brown paper and set it aside. Then cut seven strips of medium brown paper, each approximately 6" x 0.5". Ink the edges of the strips, then glue them to the rectangle.

Cut 1/4" strips of darker brown to make the metal trim that secures the boards. Glue the pieces in place (2 horizontal and 3 vertical) as shown below. Then trim the edges to give the mine cart its trapezoidal shape. Punch a pair of circles from the dark brown.

Use a colored pencil to add grain, knots, and shading to the wood. Add dots to mimic rivets on the metal. Draw spokes on the wheels.

Glue the wheels in place and you have your mine cart.

Cut a piece of glitter paper (gold, silver, or black) and glue it behind the mine cart.

I wish I'd thought of this idea a couple of decades ago so I could have made these with my 4th and 5th graders. I had a space above my chalkboards that would have been perfect for displaying a long line of mine carts holding gold.

A Far Cry from Johnny Cash

2026-06-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a little more than two years since I made a map showing how much of "everywhere" (according to the famous song by Johnny Cash) that I had been. As it turned out, I'd been to 33.7% of "everywhere". I've done a lot of traveling since then, so I was excited to update my map and add it to my Where I've Been page.

In the 27 months since I wrote that blog post, I have traveled to:

Central Texas (April 2024)
Utah (April 2024)
9 countries in Europe (July 2024)
Southern California (January 2025)
Denver (June 2025)
New York (September 2025)
New England and Canada (September 2025)
Eastern Washington (October 2025)
Las Vegas (January 2026)
Arizona and New Mexico (April 2026)

In addition to those, I've also been to Idaho five times. I went on a girls trip to Disneyland with my mom, sister, and niece last November. Steve and I have visited several new-to-us locations in Northern California. Surely with all that travel, I've added a lot of destinations in my quest to go "everywhere"!

Nope.

I have added exactly two locations to my list: Buffalo and Winslow. That brings my grand total to 33 out of 91, or 36.2%. Sigh.

Let's look at my map.

Now compare it to Johnny's map and you can see what it will take to have been "everywhere."

Actually, it will take even more than that, since I cropped the image tightly enough that you can't see most of South America, which has an additional five locations beyond what I showed.

I want to make a single map that shows all of the "everywhere" locations and where I've been. It's on my to-do list. When I do, I'll post it on my Where I've Been page.

State Name Art: Ohio, Idaho, Montana, and Maine

2026-06-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I love name art. Over the years, I've shared 47 unique ideas for creative projects using my name (or yours, if you aren't named Cindy). Today's craft is a little different because it features the names of states inside their silhouettes. This would be such a fun project to do with a class of 4th graders studying their home state, or with fifth graders who are each working on a different state report.

For my samples, I chose four states with distinct shapes to see how well my idea would work. I started with what I thought would be the easiest (Ohio) and worked my way toward the most challenging (Maine). It took a bit of creativity to fit the names legibly, but figuring it out was so much fun! I'm really happy with how these turned out. Affiliate links below.

State Name Art

Materials:

Steps:

Print or trace the outline of a state onto Bristol vellum, or the paper of your choice. (Bristol vellum is my favorite when working with colored pencils.) I made the outlines using PicMonkey graphics, but there are a lot of places to find outlines. You can also have students draw their own outlines or use pre-prepared tracers.

Use a pencil to LIGHTLY sketch in the letters of the state. Make adjustments until you are happy with the letters. Don't be afraid to have missing parts of letters (like the M in Montana) or distorted letters (like the E in Maine) as long as the state name is legible. Outline the letters with a Flair pen, then color in all spaces that aren't part of the letters.

LIGHTLY sketch a scene across the white space that represents the state. When you are happy with it, fill it in with colored pencils. I chose fields and a classic red barn for Ohio...

... forests and a mountain for Idaho...

... a sunset behind the mountains for Montana...

... and a lighthouse on a rocky shore for Maine.

When you are done coloring, cut out the state and glue it to colored construction paper.

I had so much fun making these that I will definitely be doing more! I have no intention to do all 50; I learned just how much work it is when I colored in all 50 state quarters coloring pages. It took me eight months, working on four at a time. On the other hand, never say never!

I Love Pennsylvania - Hershey's Kiss Craft

2026-05-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to Hershey, Pennsylvania? Our family visited Hershey in 2017 and loved every minute. It's such a unique and fun city. (The streetlights are particularly awesome.) It's 15 miles from the state capital, Harrisburg, and about 95 miles from Philadelphia. If you've never been, I highly recommend you plan a trip to all three cities.

I thought it would be fun to design a craft inspired by the iconic Hershey's kiss. Mine represents my love of the great state of Pennsylvania. Obviously, you can write whatever message you want on your plume. Affiliate links below.

I Love Pennsylvania - Hershey's Kiss Craft

Materials:

cardstock (brown and white)
scissors
pastel blue pen (Ohuhu has the perfect shade in this set!)
aluminum foil
craft glue
Hershey's Kisses (to snack on while crafting)

Steps:

Cut out a triangle from the brown cardstock, then round the corners to make a kiss shape. Place the kiss on top of the white cardstock and draw a plume.

Write your message on the plume with the pastel blue pen, then use the scissors to cut it out. Cut (or tear) a square of aluminum foil that is about an inch bigger than the kiss. Wrap the foil around the kiss, folding back a section so the chocolate is visible.

You don't need glue for the foil, but you do need a dot of glue to attach the plume to the back of the kiss.

Reward yourself for a job well done with Hershey's kisses!

Where I've Been

2026-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love maps and I love checklists and I especially love maps that act as checklists. I've made (and updated) a lot of maps over the years, showing where I have traveled. Because searching for them to link is a pain, I've created a dedicated page to hold them all. Check out my new Where I've Been page!

Glen Cove Elementary, 20 Years Later

2026-05-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

From 1995 to 2006, I taught fourth and fifth grade at Glen Cove Elementary School. My last day as a teacher was May 17, 2006, which was a Wednesday. I left at lunchtime. There was still a month left before the school year ended. I loved my job and I had a great class that year, but I had a very good reason for leaving midday, midweek, a month early: I was nine months pregnant. My doctor wanted me resting as much as possible. I'd been leaving school at lunchtime for the past month. With state testing finished that morning, I would be home full-time until the baby was born (exactly three weeks later, as it turned out). Fortunately, I'd used so little sick leave during my 11 years of teaching that I had enough time to cover a month of afternoons off in addition to the month of full days I was taking off, with plenty left over.

I visited my former coworkers at Glen Cove fairly often for the first few years after I stopped teaching, until eventually almost everyone I knew there had retired. The last time I was at Glen Cove was in May 2016. I attended the retirement party of Greg Allison, the principal I'd had all 11 years I taught. Spending time at Glen Cove, with so many of my former coworkers, was like coming home.

Somehow, ten years have passed since then, meaning it has now been twenty years since I ended my teaching career. I decided that I would mark 20 years out of the classroom by visiting the school. By happy coincidence, the current principal at Glen Cove, Kensaburo Daniels, is a leader in our Scout troop, so it was easy to make the arrangements. Since May 17 fell on a Sunday, I visited Glen Cove on Monday, May 18.

My first surprise was immediate. There is a fence around the school! This used to be completely open. It looks so different with the fence there.

Time to check in at the office!

The building is the same, but so many things are different. It was surreal. Back in the day, the teachers had a dedicated work room across from the main office. Now it is office space and the copier and laminator are in the staff room. Areas that were used for storage when I was there are now offices and spaces we used for storage are used for small group work with students.

The cafeteria hasn't changed much.

The trophy case now has photos from the construction of the school, which began in 1988.

Glen Cove was named a California Distinguished School in 2000. I was part of the group that worked on the successful application.

This is the school library. There was a class in there when I visited, so I photographed the only area without kids. The room has more tables in it than when I was a teacher, but otherwise is pretty similar.

B-Pod was my building for all 11 years that I taught. It has six classrooms, B1-B6. I started in B5 when we were a four-track year-round school. Every three months when we went off track, the students and I packed up every single item in our classroom and stored it all in the middle of the pod. After a month off, we came back into the classroom that had just been vacated by another class. It was a weird schedule, but I loved it. (The schedule, not the packing and moving. That part was terrible.) The school year started the first week of August in B5, then we had the entire month of September off. We moved into B6 for October, November, and December, then we had two weeks off for the holidays, plus the entire month of January. We came back to a third classroom, B4, for February, March, and April, then had all of May off. We were back in B5 for June and most of July, then the school year ended. There was a week off before the new school year started.

When Glen Cove went to a single-track modified year-round schedule, whatever classroom each teacher was currently in became their permanent home. Mine was B4.

Now B4 is used as an art room.

So many things are different, most having to do with technology. The first thing I noticed is that my beloved chalkboards are missing! So are my pull-down maps and the screen I used with an overhead projector. I had one single computer in my classroom that I used for writing worksheets and parent letters and the kids used for Accelerated Reader; we had no Internet access. When I visited, there were Chromebooks out on most of the desks, as the art room was temporarily being used for state testing.

The Dutch doors that we had (and weren't allowed to use for fear someone would lose a finger) have been replaced with normal doors. There are proper screens over the porthole windows. Most teachers left their windows uncovered back in the day, but since B4 faced the playground, I covered mine with curtains so that the primary kids didn't use their entire recess staring at us like zoo animals.

That area on the left used to be grass.

The playgrounds are similar to how they used to be, other than the now-dead grass. You'll have to take my word for it; there were kids playing on all the structures and at the basketball courts, so I didn't take pictures of any of that. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the painted map of the US was still visible on the concrete. I was there when it was painted. My students and I used it all the time for geography games and general fun.

See those painted storage units? They were painted during Glen Cove's 20th birthday party in 2009.

I wasn't teaching anymore, but we attended the party and had a great time. In fact, the smallest child on those storage units is Trevor! Check out these pictures I found. Trevor was 3.

Back to present-day. There is a fence separating the playground from the field. We used that field for PE, Presidential Physical Fitness testing, field days, outdoor art activities, and so much more.

Another major change at Glen Cove: the people. There is exactly one person left from 20 years ago, Mrs. Ochoa. It was great to see her. By the way, I wore my 1995 Glen Cove Hawks t-shirt for my visit. I got a lot of comments about it.

In some ways, my teaching career feels like it ended yesterday and in other ways, it feels like a lifetime ago.

I had such a such a great visit. It was the perfect way to mark the milestone of 20 years out of the classroom. Huge thanks to Mr. Daniels for his time and to everyone at Glen Cove for their hospitality.

Wings, Flowers, and Bling Card Trio

2026-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

The final National Scrapbook Day challenge I completed was Wings, Flowers, and Bling. We could make any sort of project, as long as it had flowers, wings, and bling. Doodlebug's Hello Again collection was perfect, since it has all three in abundance.

Wings, Flowers, and Bling Card Trio (affiliate link)

I only had to make one card for the challenge, but I ended up making three. Once all the stuff is out, you might as well make multiples, right? I had a fun time making these bright and cheerful cards.

I Said Yes

2026-05-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Steve and I consider our engagement date to be July 11, 2003 because that is the day that he gave me an engagement ring. However, there are two other dates in 2003 which could reasonably be considered our engagement day: May 17 and June 27.

Backing up a bit: Steve and I first started talking about getting married in January 2003. Over the next few months, we bought a cake topper, went ring shopping, and starting thinking about venues (in that order). On May 17, Steve joined my family for Great Strides, an annual benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, held at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. It's a beautiful place year-round, but that day the weather was perfect and the flowers were in full bloom. Steve pulled me aside and asked, "Will you marry me here?" I said yes. We'd found the ideal place for us to get married.

I Said Yes (affiliate link)

Technically, it was a proposal, but (oddly) we didn't consider ourselves engaged yet. That would come with the ring. I didn't know it at the time, but Steve had been shopping for just the right loose diamond and then was having it custom set, which took a lot more time than he'd expected.

We thought a lot about wedding dates before deciding that Sunday, June 27, 2004 would be the perfect day. As it turns out, Heather Farm is a really popular location for weddings. They required all brides who wanted a particular date to show up in person exactly one year ahead of time. If more than one bride showed up, they'd hold a drawing. So on Friday, June 27, 2003 I went to Walnut Creek. I was so excited to lock in our date. But it was not to be. Another bride showed up and she won the drawing. I was devastated.

What to do? I asked if there were any weekend dates where no brides showed up. We could get married sooner if there was a date. Indeed, there was one: Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. That would work well for family and friends who were traveling from out of state. It wasn't ideal in terms of my job; we'd picked late June so that I'd be on summer break. But we could get married, have a mini honeymoon, and then I could return to finish out the school year. We'd do a proper honeymoon later. So on June 27, with Steve's blessing, I signed a contract securing our wedding venue for May 30. Technically, we still weren't engaged!

I made this scrapbook layout for the NSD Shape challenge at A Cherry on Top. We had to include at least 10 of the same shape on the page and the shapes had to be different sizes. I own three heart punches, which worked well for my layout.

Duo of Floral Cards

2026-05-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Celebrate Women challenge at A Cherry on Top required us to follow a sketch to make a card for (or a layout about) someone female. The project had to include a heart. I ended up making two cards since I was so happy with the first one I made.

Flower Card Duo (affiliate link)

This is the sketch we had to follow. As you can see, I rotated the sketch. I replaced the main circle with the rectangular sentiments and changed up the proportions of the layers.

This challenge was a lot of fun. I'll definitely be using that collection again to make more cards.

Celebrating 50 in Las Vegas

2026-05-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Steve and I had such a fun time celebrating his 50th birthday in Las Vegas back in January. This is the page I made for the scrapbook.

Celebrating 50 in Las Vegas (affiliate link)

I made this page for the Leftover Scraps Only challenge at A Cherry on Top. We were allowed to use a full piece of paper for the background, but everything else on the page needed to be scraps. I have a lot of scraps, so this was pretty easy for me to do. Once I decided what photos to use, the layout came together quickly.

Hidden Journaling Mixed Media Project

2026-05-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Not all National Scrapbook Day challenges require participants to make a scrapbook layout. Some allow cards, traveler's notebooks, mini albums, journal pages, or even general crafts. The Hidden Journaling challenge at A Cherry on Top was open to any creation, as long as it featured hidden journaling. Most of us tend to create scrapbook layouts about happy subjects, so this is a chance to explore more difficult topics in our artwork.

This is my finished piece:

I started by writing my journaling on a piece of white cardstock, using a black Flair pen and messy cursive (affiliate link here and below). Then I used my fingers to cover most of the writing with acrylic paint in shades of blue and grey. I used black stencil butter and a drafting stencil (inherited from my dad) to further cover my writing. When that was dry, I added marks with purple and blue Stabilo Woody pencils.

I tore the paper into pieces. I glued the base to purple cardstock, then added smaller bits on top to make an arrangement that felt right. Finally, I added word label stickers.

I'm fine, thank you.
I'll be okay.
This is real life.

Making this project was cathartic and a surprisingly powerful tool for exploring my feelings. I love challenges that push me way outside my comfort zone. I'm glad to have made something so different and so unique for National Scrapbook Day.

Easter Booty

2026-05-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

I like photo albums, but scrapbooking is so much better. Not only is a lot more fun to do, but it's all about telling a story instead of just showing a photo. Our family photo album from 1980 includes a picture of me (age 8) and my sister (almost 5) wearing pink pajamas, pirate hats, eyepatches, and bandanas, posing with our Easter baskets. Just the photo - no explanation. There is little chance that anyone alive (besides the two of us and our mom) knows why we're dressed as pirates for Easter. This layout, which I titled Easter Booty, tells the story.

Easter Booty (affiliate link)

My grandparents had discovered cruising in the 1970's and absolutely loved it. They talked about it all the time, which convinced my parents that they should try a cruise. In 1980, they went with friends on a Caribbean cruise over spring break; Kari and I stayed with her godparents. Our parents missed us while they were gone (at least, that's what they told us) and brought us back souvenirs, including the pirate garb that the cruise ship gave them. They gave us our souvenirs on Easter morning, which led to the photo of us posing with our Easter baskets, dressed as pirates.

I made this page for the Grab Five challenge at A Cherry on Top. We had a list of 15 supplies or techniques and had to pick five of them to use on a page. Despite it being a very simple page, I ended up using six of the 15: the color green, at least one photo, patterned paper, washi tape, at least two stickers, and journaling.

Here's a closer look at the photo. Be sure to notice the random dog bone sitting in front of me. I still have (and use) that Easter basket, by the way. And I still have the pirate stuff.

Yo ho ho! Happy Easter!

Southern California Road Trip

2026-05-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today's layout documents the road trip that Steve and I took in January 2025. It was inspired by the Numbers challenge at A Cherry on Top. We could choose odd (1, 3, 5, 7) or even (2, 4, 6, 8), then had to use those numbers of elements on the page.

Southern California Road Trip (affiliate link)

My page is even. There are two patterned papers, a four word title, six word label stickers, and eight photos. Even with eight photos, there are a lot of memories that didn't make it onto the scrapbook layout. I am so glad to be documenting our travels here on the blog in addition to in the album. Together, they help me remember all the wonderful places we've been and the fun times we've had together.

Cards with Fall Puns

2026-05-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not really into puns, so when I saw that one of the National Scrapbook Day challenges at A Cherry on Top was to make a project featuring a pun, I wasn't 100% sure if I even had any supplies that would work. But once I started looking through my stash, I found a fall collection with puns. I used them to make these two cards. The fox says, "Falling for you" and the squirrel says "I'm nuts about you."

Cards with Fall Puns (affiliate link)

Steve loves puns, so maybe he'll get two unexpected greeting cards in the fall. Or I might just donate them. Either way, it was a fun challenge and I enjoyed the opportunity to work with fall colors.

First Flight

2026-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was cleaning for National Scrapbook Day, I came across a pair of black and white photos taken at the airport in 1972 when I was a baby. I'm with my parents in one picture and my maternal grandparents and uncle in the other. I suspected that the pictures were of my first flight, which I thought would be a fun topic to scrap. I checked with my mom; indeed, I took my first flight in September 1972, at 6 months old. Unfortunately, the reason for our flight was not a good one.

My dad had gotten a call from his brother: their mom was hospitalized following a heart attack. My parents packed their bags, loaded 6-month old Cindy into the car, and drove 800+ miles from our home near San Francisco to Seattle. My parents dropped me off with my mom's parents, then visited Dad's mom at the hospital. We stayed two days. She seemed to be recovering well, so we drove back to California so Dad could get back to work. Grandma Jones died right after we got home. My first plane trip was from Oakland to Seattle so that we could attend my grandmother's funeral. While I wish my first flight had been for a happier reason, I'm glad to have documented this story.

First Flight (affiliate link)

I entered this page in the Choose a Sketch Challenge at A Cherry on Top. As you can see, I included the basic elements of the sketch, but tweaked a few elements to make them work better for this page.

These pictures are, by far, the oldest ones I've ever scrapped. I have more than enough recent photos to scrap, but I'm inspired to occasionally go back to pictures from my childhood and tell some of those stories. I'm particularly interested in learning the stories I didn't know, like the story of my first flight, and getting those into an album.

2025 Christmas Card Layout

2026-05-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

I like to include our family's Christmas cards in my scrapbooks, but I struggled figuring out how to deal with this year's card. I ended up treating the card like picture frame and "hanging" it on a split background. My page was inspired by the Half-It Challenge at A Cherry on Top.

2025 Christmas Card (affiliate link)

It's a really simple page, but I'm ok with that. The title and journaling that I would normally put on a layout happen to already be on the card itself. Into the album it goes!

Happy Birthday 2026

2026-05-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another layout I made for a National Scrapbook Day challenge at A Cherry on Top. This one required us to follow a sketch, using at least three items that start with the letters in the word SKETCH. I used: stickers (S), a tag (T), and cardstock (C) to complete the challenge.

Happy Birthday 2026 (affiliate link)

This layout is from a joint birthday dinner at Cattlemens. It's not obvious whose birthday it is (mine and Trevor's roommate's) unless you read the journaling. I'm annoyed with myself because I forgot to ask the waitress to take a group picture at the table AND I forgot to take pictures of our food. Too busy having a good time, I guess! I made due with separate pictures taken after dinner.

I had a lot of fun making this layout. Once I figured out that I could do a tag for letter T, it came together quickly. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Our First Road Trip

2026-05-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 2 was National Scrapbook Day. I didn't get to participate as much as I normally do, but I did get some scrapping in and enjoyed the games, challenges, and camaraderie at A Cherry On Top. The first layout I made was for a scraplift challenge.

1st Road Trip (affiliate link)

The layout tells the story of the first road trip that Steve and I ever took together, back in July 2003. We had been engaged for two weeks when we took off on a 9-day adventure from Sacramento to Calico Ghost Town, Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam, and Yosemite National Park, then back to Sacramento.

The trip got off to bad start when the undercarriage of Steve's car fell off about two hours into the trip, in the middle of nowhere. He'd had the car serviced the day before in anticipation of such a long road trip and apparently they did not secure it correctly after the service. Steve saved the day (and the trip) with zip ties and his engineering skills. While there were some other hiccups during the trip (though none so dramatic), we had a fantastic time together. It was the first time we'd traveled any distance together and it was immediately apparent that our travel styles were compatible, just like we were in so many other ways.

I was 31 and Steve was 27 when we went on this trip. I love looking back at the pictures of us, so young and so happy. We're not young anymore, but we're still happy. It's been 23 years since that first road trip and we still love traveling together.

Travel Adventures in Arizona and New Mexico, Part 14: Albuquerque to El Paso

2026-05-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my fourteenth and final post about our adventures traveling through Arizona and New Mexico. I recommend that you read the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received comped passes, media rates, and other benefits for several of the places we visited throughout the trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. What I paid or didn't pay has no effect on my reviews. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Travel Adventures from Albuquerque to El Paso

After leaving the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, we had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us to get to our next destination. We made two short stops along the drive. The first was to get a quick photo in San Antonio. These Official Scenic Highway Markers are all over New Mexico (approximately 650 statewide) and I love them. This one marks the birthplace of Conrad Hilton.

A bit more driving and we came to Valley of Fires Recreation Area in Carizozo. Valley of Fires is located at the Malpais Lava Flow, important because it is one of the largest volume young lava flows.

Unfortunately, the Visitor Center had just closed when we got there, so we headed directly out on the trail.

We followed multiple switchbacks to get down to the lava fields. It was great to stretch our legs a bit.

This was the second "malpais" (badlands) we'd visited in three days and we enjoyed both immensely.

Onward! We drove for another hour or so before reaching PistachioLand, home of the world's largest pistachio.

They were about to close when we arrived and they'd stopped ice cream sales, so we weren't able to try their famous pistachio ice cream. Nor could we take a farm tour. But we did enjoy checking out their large store. It's packed with all things pistachio.

The store is 98% pistachios and 2% aliens. I assume that is because Roswell is near. Well, sort of. It's 110 miles away.

There's a free pistachio tasting bar at PistachioLand that we enjoyed. We tried most of the 15 or so flavors. I never would have guessed that Margarita Lime would be my favorite. Steve's favorite was Lemon Lime. Citrus and pistachios go together really well!

I really would have liked to try the ice cream.

But that would have ruined my dinner and then I wouldn't have enjoyed the excellent food at D.H. Lescombes Winery and Bistro.

Steve and I shared potstickers, french onion soup, and a steakhouse salad. Everything was really good.

Our home for the night was the Holiday Inn Express Alamogordo. This hotel offers the usual amenities of the brand (free breakfast, free parking, etc) but if also offered one perk I've never seen anywhere else: free sled rentals. While we were checking in, a happy family dropped off the sleds they'd been using that day.

As you might imagine, there was no snow in southern New Mexico on that sunny day in April. The sleds aren't for snow - they're for sand. Alamogordo is about 15 miles from White Sands National Park.

Or is it White Sands National Monument?

White Sands was a national monument from 1933 until 2019, when it became a national park. Most of the signs are updated, but not all. It preserves the world's largest gypsum dunefield, as well as the world's largest collection of fossilized footprints from the Ice Age.

We started in the Visitor Center. I really enjoyed this exhibit about some of the most common tracks seen out on the dunefield.

There were other interesting exhibits, but it was really crowded and we couldn't get decent pictures. We watched the park movie, then set out on Dunes Drive to experience the park. Fortunately, there were no missile test closures (!!).

We listened the audio tour as we drove and stopped at several of the points of interest along the way. We walked along this trail, then up onto the dunes.

Yup. It's sand. It's white.

Because the sand is ever-shifting, the trails are marked with posts. Follow the blue clubs symbol for the Dune Life Nature Trail.

Full disclosure: I don't like sand. I hate touching it and I don't like walking on it. The gypsum sand at White Sands is definitely better than the normal silica sand, but I still didn't enjoy it. It's pretty though. It looks like snow.

I'm glad there was such a beautiful blue sky when we were visiting White Sands NP.

If you've never been to White Sands, take a minute to picture what you think the picnic area looks like.

Is this what you'd imagined? I sure didn't!

It's hard to properly express how much white sand there is at White Sands. We enjoyed looking at the pristine areas that didn't have footprints. People's footprints, that is. We were really excited to spot roadrunner tracks, which I never would have recognized without going to the Visitor Center first.

We left White Sands and had a 90 minute drive to the airport in El Paso, Texas. It was the closest and best option for getting home. We flew to Phoenix, then went to the gate for our long layover. Steve, not in the mood to sit and read, walked through the whole airport. Thank goodness he did - he discovered an eegee's!! I thought we'd had our last-ever eegee a week earlier!

Steve and I had a great time exploring Arizona and New Mexico together. I hope I've inspired you to visit this area of the Southwest. There are so many fun and fascinating things to do. We packed in as much as we could, but it still has so much more to offer. We'll be back!

Travel Adventures in Arizona and New Mexico, Part 13: Grants to Albuquerque

2026-05-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my thirteenth post about our adventures traveling through Arizona and New Mexico. I recommend reading the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received comped passes, media rates, and other benefits for several of the places we visited throughout the trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. What I paid or didn't pay has no effect on my reviews. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Travel Adventures from Grants to Albuquerque

Have you ever been somewhere stunningly beautiful, but knew the camera wasn't going to capture what you were seeing? The land of the Acoma Puebloans is breathtaking. This is the Acoma Sky City Viewpoint.

In the distance is Sky City (Haak'u), one of the oldest continuously occupied communities in North America. The Acoma have lived on the mesa for over 1000 years.

This is the view if you turn 180°.

We spent a good amount of time enjoying the spectacular views of this singularly unique landscape.

This is the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak'u Museum. Inside the beautiful building is a museum, cafe, gift shop, and meeting space. Photos are not allowed indoors. We enjoyed the exhibits and were particularly enthralled by a video about the work of Acoma potter Lucy Lewis. The video we watched was much longer and had interviews and demonstrations by Lewis, but this episode of ¡Colores! gives you an overview of her talent.

We'd really wanted to take the guided tour of the Pueblo, but the timing didn't work out. Hopefully someday. This is a really special place.

There were Acoma jewelers and potters in the courtyard displaying their beautiful artwork. We enjoyed talking with the women and seeing their creations. I really wanted to buy an ornament, but there's no way I could have gotten it home safely. I wish I could show you how stunning everything was, but photos of the artwork was not allowed.

We took Highway 23 back toward I-40. It was almost as beautiful as the route we'd taken in on Indian Service Route 38.

Back on the freeway, we headed toward Albuquerque. The scenery was really unique and interesting, but impossible to photograph decently at freeway speeds. This portion of I-40 is also Route 66, so there were lots of roadside attractions and themed restaurants and gift shops along the way, in addition to the natural beauty.

We reached Albuquerque and stopped for dinner at the Owl Cafe.

The Owl Cafe is decorated with... owls.

See the owls in this picture? There are a few on the dessert case, but most of them are on the 'shelf' near the ceiling, all the way around the whole restaurant.

The Owl Cafe features diner classics, some with a New Mexico twist. We shared a chicken fried steak sandwich (with fries, cole slaw, and cream gravy) and a pineapple-strawberry milkshake (which they put in two glasses without us even asking). It's a good thing we shared - it was a LOT of food. And all delicious!

We weren't going to have dessert, but when our waitress told us the options we had no choice but to order something called "juice cake." I'd never heard of it before and I'm sucker for trying new foods, especially when we're traveling. It turns out juice cake batter is made with fruit juice (in this case, pineapple, apple, and cherry) and then more of that juice is poured over the cake after it's been baked. It has a cream cheese frosting and they served it with a generous amount of whipped cream. It's hard to tell in the photo, but this slice was enormous. The juice cake was tasty, but we would have needed at least four friends to help us finish it (no exaggeration).

We left the Owl Cafe and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. It was clean, comfy, newly remodeled, and perfectly located near the morning's first destination: The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History (Motto: Reactions welcome.) After a good night's rest and a tasty breakfast, we headed over.

I love the periodic table design on the floor of the lobby. When I see features like this, I know a lot of thought and care went into the museum.

Indeed, the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is an outstanding museum. The exhibits are very interesting, with excellent descriptions for people with all levels of background knowledge (or none at all).

This was so interesting. The people working on the Manhattan Project in New Mexico in 1944 were issued anonymous drivers' licenses! This engineer is a 5'9" man with medium brown hair; his full name is "Number 224."

The Gadget.

Fat Man.

I have only one complaint about this museum and that is that there is nowhere to sit while watching their videos.

There are so many interesting exhibits.

It's always exciting to see LLNL discussed at a museum. When I was a little kid, almost all of my friends' dads worked at the Lab (affiliate link here and below) and that seemed perfectly normal to me. Turns out, growing up in Livermore is different than growing up in other places!

From my hometown to my current town! "Broken Arrow" is the military term for a nuclear weapon accident. The one that occurred in Fairfield, CA in 1950 killed 19 people, including General Robert F. Travis, for whom Travis Air Force Base is now named.

I didn't expect to see pieces of the Berlin Wall here, though in retrospect it's not surprising. It's almost as exciting to see Berlin Wall pieces as it is moon rocks.

My favorite exhibit at the museum was about toys and games during the Atomic Age.

It's fascinating how wildly inappropriate some of them seem from a 2026 perspective. Pencils with real uranium?! A game where you drop bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?!

The Boys' Life magazine reminds me of a book I've been wanting to read: The Radioactive Boy Scout. It's a true story and highly disturbing.

Add a flux capacitor to the list of things I didn't expect to see at this museum. Hey - Arco, Idaho! We ate a lousy meal and spent the night there.

The hands-on kids' space, called Little Albert's Lab, is outstanding.

Three Mile Island souvenirs?!

Hey! We were just there!

The nuclear waste is simulated....

But the cube of uranium is real.

Don't miss the temporary exhibit, American Nukes. It's a collection of 90 photos of nuclear weapons displays across the US. Some of them are in expected places, like this museum or on military bases. Others are in public parks and even schools. We've seen a number of them in our travels.

After finishing the indoor exhibits, head outdoors where there are a wide variety of aircraft, missiles, and other big stuff (technical term) on display.

We had a great time at the Nuclear Museum, aka the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. I definitely recommend a visit.

We spent over 4 hours at the museum and had a lot of driving ahead of us. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the last things we did in New Mexico before it was time to fly home.