Occidental Fair

The summer before my 10th grade year my family moved. I entered a new school, California High School which had 2400 students. It was overwhelming to my semi-shy personality at that time. Eventually I did OK socially, but was fairly insecure about my friendships. Then I went to Occidental College near Pasadena that had 1400 students. The smaller population suited me very well. Best of all I lived in a dorm (all girls of course) and there I made lifelong friends. Also, being away from my family forced me to take more responsibility for myself. Oxy provided me with an excellent liberal arts education that has served me well all my life. My February BJP honors my Occidental experience.

Alaska Childhood

When I was 9 my family moved from Boise, Idaho to Juneau, Alaska. From the sagebrush desert we moved to the land of dense forests, glaciers, rivers and ocean channels. I had much more freedom than kids do today and used it to explore the town and the mountain near our house. Juneau is landlocked by glaciers and huge mountains, so the only road out of town was a dead end. (We called it "going out the road.") For me it was a world of adventure. Dense old growth forests were full of things to explore. On weekends we went to Mendenhall Glacier, hiked, picked blue berries and had blue berry pancakes in the picnic shelters, and collected wildflowers. Even the frequent rain or the winters didn't faze me.

From these experiences my love of the northwest environment was born. My Juneau memories are very strong. We left when I was 11 and my memories of the next 3-4 years are minimal compared to my 2 years in Juneau. The childhood friends I remember are from Juneau. When we left these friends gave me a Bilikin for good luck.

Welcome to My Life in Beads

My first blog! This might not seem like a big deal, but I've got my toe in the water. The purpose of this blog is to share my improvisational bead embroidery with my friends, family, and members of the Bead Journal Project. For more information on the BJP, click http://blog2beadjournalproject4-2011.blogspot.com/

Robin Atkins inspired me to try a whole new direction in bead work. I read her book One Bead at a Time often. It has changed the way I see myself. This led to my participation in the Bead Journal Project. My focus for 2011 will be to make a monthly piece based on important events in my life.

My January piece is about 2 years of my childhood when I lived in Juneau, Alaska.