2016 picture recap

Update for 2016.

It's been awhile since I have added to my blog.  Besides a trip to Mexico, I have been working and riding.

Last year, my work began an enormous renovation and expansion.  In January, the construction crew  decided they had to close us down for 2 weeks to complete the renovation.  Charlie and I  decided to take advantage of this break and quickly planned a vacation to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

We stayed at the Royal Playa del Carmen and had a fabulous time.  We went SCUBA diving.  We took four dives in the ocean and two dives in freshwater underwater caves called Cenotes.  The cave diving was the BEST!  There are so many miles of caves.  We can go many more times and never see it all.

 

One day we rented Harley Davidsons and rode from Xpu-Ha up to two of the ruins  We left the rental place and it started raining about 5 miles down the road.  No windshields and the rain felt like needles on our faces.  We pulled over under a bridge to wait it out a bit.  We were joined by a truck full of workers and another couple on a motorcycle.  We first rode to Coba, inland about 25 miles.  We got a bike taxi out to the ruins as it wasn't practical to walk out there in our motorcycle boots.  When we got to the ruins we found that it was allowed to climb to the top.  I wasn't up to the task and it was pretty steep but Charlie did it.  He said when he got to the top of the pyramid he could see across the trees and where there was more archaeologic diggings going on.  We got a ride back to the parking area and got back on the bikes and rode back to the coast to the other ruins called Tulum.

 

Tulum is where the Corona beer commercials  are filmed with all the white sand.  When we got back to the bikes, a busload of tourists started taking pictures of Charlie riding the Harley.  He had on his leather vest and a borrowed German style helmet.  Good times!

 

Motorcycle ride

I'm quite comfortable just jumping on my bike and go for a few hours.  Got to stop for gas and water!

 

 

June 

We had to say Goodbye to our little Jake.  He was nearly 14 and suffering from Alzheimer's.  He had lost so much weight and was so angry.  Quality of life was pretty bad. It was hard but he needed peace.

My BFF Kathy and I headed on a great trip from Medford, Oregon to Susanville, California.  Nothing extravagant - we stayed in motels and made a few stops.  One was the Lava Beds Monument.

 

June

 

Early morning ride I stopped in Jacksonville, Oregon to take a picture.

 

 

Took a trip to Redding, stopped at Castle Crags park. 

 

 

Shasta Dam was cool

 

 

 

August

My Dad and I took a great ride from Medford to Bandon Beach.  Had a great time.  I had my first real martini as the sun set over the beach. 

                                    Doc and Bob are doing well, can't believe he will be turning 30 soon.

August

Another great ride with Dad.  A stop at the aquarium in Crescent City and then lunch at the pier - great as usual.

 

                                       Stopped at the lighthouse - Haceta Head.

October

We took an awesome vacation to Europe.  We took an 8 day cruise on Norwegian and saw some amazing things.  There is a whole separate blog for that trip.

 

November

I started a new position at work when I got back from Europe.  The OR was just getting too hard.  Not only physically but mentally as well.  My thinking skills were slipping.  I was having a hard time and was slowing down in the OR so I wouldn't make a mistake - and then some of the doctors were complaining that I wasn't fast enough.  I actually was worried and I saw my doctor about it.  He said it was stress and not to worry so much - because I was only stressing myself out more.  I am grateful that my employer valued my skills enough to find a less stressful position for me.

 

I'm lucky I have an outgoing personality and am able to talk to anyone.  I would be doing all the pre-op phone calls and pain clinic phone calls. 

 

One of the scrub technicians gave me some great advise:  Take the position and make a real job out of it.  Make is so they can't do without you.

 

I took on every opportunity I could and now I make all the calls for pre-op, pain clinic and triage.  I am now the official  Employee Health Nurse, Accident Investigator, member of the Safety Committee.  I'm busy as hell but it is a great job.  Turns out I am on the cutting edge of a new position.  I have read articles on surgery centers using a single nurse as a way of maintaining patient continuity and make sure all the patient's are given the same pre-op surgical advise.    

Learning to Paint

A friend from work told me that "anyone can learn how to paint".  I had started painting miniature figures so I had the paint.  I thought I might try a little painting myself. 

 

My Dad and step-mom were moving to Arizona so I made them this miniature scene in a jar of the two of them.  I carved the cactus from balsa wood.  It was so much fun painting the miniatures to look like them.

 

I was coloring using some great gel pens and had a hard time getting the coloring of Michone's face from "The Walking Dead" coloring book.  I think this may have been my first attempt at painting something. 

 

A friend at work has a daughter that loves "The Walking Dead" so I painted this for her.  Since she was only 12 years old I picked one of the less bloody pictures from the coloring book. 

 

In July, my husband and I started watching the old painting shows by Bob Ross.  One afternoon we sat on the back patio and pained all afternoon. 

 

After watching a video, same afternoon, a cool painting of lavender using Q-tips.

 

Another Bob Ross inspired painting.  We were on the back patio for nearly four hours.

 

I have been watching what seems like a quadrillion hours of painting videos.  There are some great painters online that love to share their painting skills.  They are blessed with great skill and the desire to share.  I am grateful!

 

I took an overnight solo motorcycle trip to the coast.  I stayed in Port Orford and walked the beach.  I got some cool pictures.  

I used the photo to paint the picture below.  Turned out pretty cool.

 

Still having fun coloring.  I painted and colored this for the girls in scheduling.

 

 

This next one is different parts of different videos, water, lilly pads, dead trees and clouds.

 

 

 

I'm still working on my little "crime in a can". I think the background painting just gives it a nice finish.

 

 

Another great video online led me to paint these two versions of an Italian Countryside.  The top one went to my brother Mac and the bottom one went to my stepfather Bob.

 

More painting videos and I did this one.  I just love the way the barn came out.  I sure want to paint more of those.

 

I finally finished the "Dubrovnik Fixer Upper"  This one was actually all me.  I took the photograph while on our cruise in Europe.  I painted the picture from the photo I took.

I decided to try my hand at "photo realism" and painted a copy of a can of coconut milk.  One of the girls at work has it hanging over her desk.

This one turned out pretty cute.  It's a copy of a pear label.  It was fun to do and a friend at work snagged it up as soon as she saw it!  She is going to frame it and hang it up in her vacation house.

 

 

This one is Taarna from the movie "Heavy Metal"

The first two versions of her face were pretty bad - made me laugh so hard.  The final version was pretty decent.

 

Another video helped me do this boat on the beach.

 

 

Video - video.  Said I was watching a quadrillion hours.  I did this tree in fall.  Love the colors.  12-2017.  Someone else loved the colors too, I put it in a craft sale at work and sold it.  It was my first sale of artwork.

The next one wasn't so good.  I need to work on it a little more.  Or not - and just paint over it.

 

                                           I'm currently working on three different ones.  The first one is for my best friend and motorcycle riding buddy for a Christmas present.  It's a picture from a satellite photo of the road around Klamath Lake. One of our favorite day rides.

The barn is inspired from a photograph I took in the Applegate Valley a few months ago.  It's for my dad and step-mom for a Christmas present.  They don't read my blog so I am safe to post.  The blue flowers came out of a bad brush stroke but they looked so cool.  Almost like little blue bunnies.  It still needs a bit of work. 

 

 

Finished painting, wrapped and mailed for Christmas.  I hope my Dad likes it.

 

The blue wave.

 

Turned into my first commissioned painting.

 

 

Sold it for twice what my first painting went for.

 

My first barn using a canvas.   

 

A friend in Texas just had a baby calf.  She posted a picture and it was so cute that I painted a picture of it!

 

I'm also doing a cute cartoon dinosaur for my new nephew.  He is only a few months old but maybe his parents will appreciate it.