Busy autumn week

It is amazing how buys I've been staying since I've not been working. Never in my life have I had time to just sit back and enjoy. Yes, I'm looking for a new job, but I'm also loving my time off.

E and I have talked about how we want to landscape our backyard, and since returning from Japan we've decided to do an Asian Garden. I've done lots of research on what makes a beautiful Japanese stroll garden, and last week I started the garden officially when I bought three new trees. One is a Japanese Maple, which is essential in Japanese gardens. One is a crab apple which had huge pink blooms in the spring and turns bright orange in the fall. And I got a firebush, which isn't really a tree, but turns a bright stunning red. Our garden is going to look magnificent.

Another thing I've had time for over the last couple of weeks is my dolls, and my doll friends. I am so lucky to have met some awesome people on my doll message boards, some of my closest friends are online friends that share my love for dolls. Last week I got a message from a Utah member that has been admiring my collection and photographs from afar. She was hoping to get some pointers from me (for some reason she thinks I have talent!) and wanted to meet me. I was more than happy to meet, and last Friday I met my new friend Caroline at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. We had a wonderful time chatting and talking all things dolls. And, we took lots of photos of Violet and her girl Mari, who dressed in "violet" to meet Violet. We wandered around the gardens for over two hours and finally said goodbye, hoping to see each other the next day for the doll show.

On Saturday I woke up early to attend the biannual doll show held in Salt Lake. The greatest thing about the doll show this year was we saw lots of our American Girl friends there! Amy, Kathy, Sandy, Melissa, and others were there. And Caroline attended too, which was great fun, because we just continued our long conversation from the day before. Plus, I acquired two new AG outfits and a beautiful custom made dress for Ruthie.

More about Sunday's activities to come