It all started with a rock!

Where did 2011 go?

2011-12-27T10:52:00.002-07:00

I'm ending this year pretty much the way I started it! I've had a couple of jobs this year. Some were fun and some were not, but I'm still unemployed and it sucks!! I do have a nice big reading list though, so here it goes in order of being read:

Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid

Doug Robinson

Driven: An Autobiography of Larry H. Miller

Leolard W. Levy

Origins of the Bill of Rights

Heidi S. Swinton

To The Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson

John H. Groberg

In the Eye of the Storm

Proctor

Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt

John H. Groberg

The Fire of Faith

David McColluch

John Adams

Orson Scott Card

Pathfinder

Louis Sachar

Holes

Mark A. Shields

Gospel Symbols: Finding the Creator in His Creations

Tim Allen

I'm Not Really Here

Andrew C. Skinner

Prophets, Priests and Kings

Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero

Mary Jane Knight

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide

Gerald N. Lund

The Work and the Glory: Pillar of Light

Ethan Rarick

Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West

Pat McCarthy

Biography of Daniel Boone: Frontier Legend

Brandon Mull

Beyonders: A World Without Hero's

John W. Rockwell & Jerry Borrowman

Stories From the Life of Porter Rockwell

Richard Lloyd Dewey

Porter Rockwell: A Biography

James Dashner

The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters

Elaine Marie Alphin

Davy Crockett

Nancy L. Stair

The Bill of Rights

Charles Portis

True Grit

James Dashner

The 13th Reality: Search For Dark Infinity

Maureen Sherry

Walls Within Walls

Julie Wright & Kevin Wasden

Hazzardous Universe

Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy kid: The Last Straw

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do It Yourself Book

Walter Farley

The Black Stallion

Jane Yolan

Johnny Appleseed

Gerald N. Lund

The Work and the Glory: Like A Fire Is Burning

Cooper Edens

Classic Western Stories

James Dashner

The 13th Reality: The Blade of Shattered Hope

Carol Beach York

Casey Jones

Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune

Obert Skye

Beyond Foo: Geth and the Return of the Lithens

Wonkenstein: The Creature From My Closet

Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

James Dashner

Jimmy Fincher Saga: A Door In The Woods

Cressida Cowell

How To Train Your Dragon

James Dashner

Jimmy Fincher Saga: A Gift of Ice

Jimmy Fincher Saga: The Tower of Air

Jimmy Fincher Saga: War of the Black Curtain

Cressida Cowell

How To Train Your Dragon: How To Be A Pirate

How To Train Your Dragon: How To Speak Dragonese

How To Train Your Dragon: How To Cheat A Dragon's Curse

How To Train Your Dragon: How To Twist A Dragons's Tail

How To Train Your Dragon: A Hero's Guide To Deadly Dragon's

How To Train Your Dragon: How To Ride A Dragon's Storm

James Dashner

The Maze Runner

All are great books, but Diary of a Wimpy Kid and How To Train Your Dragon series are "freakin Hilarious!!"

A tough 26 months!

2011-07-30T22:41:00.002-06:00

I have a job! After 26 months of heartbreak and lessons learned, I got a call from a man named Kirk. Amy and I were at a Pirates 4 when it happened. We came out of the theater and I had a missed call, but there was a message that told me a little about the job of polishing concrete floors and he was looking at my resume and thought that we could both benefit. He hiring me and my talents with polishing. I called him back and he hired me. I have never even met him yet, but he liked what he saw on the resume.

I turned in a resume 4 months prior to a job in Tremonton, Utah. A long drive, but doable for the money, then I forgot about it. 4 months passed and I was hired, out of the blue, without so much as an interview. The interview would be on the job to see if I liked it and if they liked me. The first job was in Idaho Falls and I would be leaving for a week to work in a Walmart that was being remodeled. I had 2 days to prepare. I showed up without anything that was needed. I was under the impression that I would be getting a food card for my food, but that was wrong. I had to provide my own and I would be paid back on my paycheck. $25 a day per Diem. I also needed steel-toe boots which I didn't have and needed on site. So Amy (bless her heart) had to find the money for me to pay for my food and I also bought boots on the job (bad idea), don't ever buy steel-toed boots from Walmart!! The work was ok, but I was quite nervous. I was around all new people, in an unfamiliar place, on my hands and knees, working graveyard, with little instruction to go on! I shared a room however with a return missionary. Dan is his name and he made it a little more comfortable, since I could relate to him religiously. At the end of the week, I was ready to go home. I was told that I did a great job, but to be truthful, I was completely lost on what I was doing. My feet were ready for a break too! I had more blisters than feet! My toenails are still black even 2 months later and I still get blisters like crazy. The job in Idaho was a week on/week off and so was the next in Long Beach, Ca. where we polished the floors of a new WinCo in Lakewood, Ca.

The job is ok, I don't really like! I hate being away from Amy, but it's a job and until I have another, I have to stick with it!

Thanks to all who prayed for us during our 2 year trial. The trial is not over yet, but it's a lot better than it was! I know that there are a lot of others out there that are unemployed and searching for work. Don't give up and keep on keeping on. Keep yourselves busy, donate your time to others and pray often! To my friends and family, thank you so much for all you have done and are doing for us, we appreciate it and we love you!

Where did 2010 go?

2010-12-31T23:46:00.002-07:00

2010 sure went fast. It's the only year that I didn't have a job to speak of. My brother-in-law kept me busy with his own business when he needed help during the summer, which was a huge help to Amy and I. Thanks again Matt, your the best and a great friend! As all of you may have noticed from my last post, I did a lot of reading and I've done some more since. I read a book called: Walls Within Walls by Maureen Sherry. A great story about some kids who move into a new home in New York and find clues all over their apartment about the former owners and their treasure. I learned a lot about New York with actual facts in the book like: Sugar Hill, The Amiable Child, Grant's Tomb, Grand Central Terminal, The Staten Island Ferry, Ellis Island, The Kissing Post, Guastavino and tons more.

I also read a book called: Disneyland Detective by Kendra Trahan and Amy and I have some books about Sharks and Ancient Egypt that I pick up every once in a while. I already have a hefty list for next year that I want to start on.

As far as 2011 goes, it would be nice to find a job and I'll be spending a lot of quality time with my wife. She is after all, my best friend! Happy New Year

2010

2010-12-09T16:04:00.003-07:00

Time sure fly's by and 2010 is no exception! Amy and I have experienced the worst and best of times this year. Not being able to land a job has been the worst. Finding them is not difficult, but getting them interested in you, is! I have been able to however, not to let the stress-stress me out! We are still alive and kicking and are trying our best everyday. I have however had a great year with reading. I have never been a great reader. I have a hard time with reading mostly because by the time I've read a book, I've re-read the book every few sentences and that is just plain discouraging! When The Lord of the Rings was released as a movie, I wanted to read the books (hopefully before the movies were out), just to see if it was better. The movies were good, but not as good as the books and now I feel that I love the books more. Don't get me wrong though, Amy and I love movies and we will continue to see them.

I just wanted to share the list of books I've read this year to see what I've accomplished:

JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Tales of Beetle and Bard

Robert Ludlum

The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum

Brandon Mull

Fablehaven
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague
Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison
The Candy Shop War

Did I mention all of the standing in long lines to have all of Mulls books signed. They were long lines!!

C.S. Lewis

The Chronicles of Narnia:

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Mario Facione

Mafia to Mormon: My Conversion Story

Stephenie Meyer

Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse

and I just couldn't bring myself to read anymore of this series, it's just toooooo sappy!

JRR Tolkien

The Silmarillion
The Children of Huron (started)

Michael Lewis

The Blind Side (started)

Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson and The Titans Curse
Percy Jackson and The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian
The Red Pyramid (almost finished)

Obert Skye

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret
Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want
Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra
Leven Thumps and the Ruins of Alder
Professor Winsnicker's Book of Proper Etiquette for Well-Mannered Sycophants
Pillage
Choke

Tim Allen

Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man

My everyday on going reading is the usual whatever is on the Internet that catches my eye, my scriptures and the Ensign.

That is quite the list and I wonder what is in store for me next year?

Gratitude

2010-03-10T16:06:00.003-07:00

grat·i·tude (a.) The state of being grateful; warm and friendly feeling toward a benefactor; kindness awakened by a favor received; thankfulness.

I recently read an article in the March 2010 Ensign about "Gratitude" and this article filled me with joy and happiness as I read and thought about it's meaning. As I read, I felt a great amount of gratitude towards all who have helped Amy and I in recent months and toward those throughout my life. What is gratitude? In the definition it says, "being grateful for and towards a benefactor." In the article, it states; Gratitude is a positive experience that comes from recognizing gifts or blessings and feeling thankful. It is also an "attitude" and a way of perceiving life in which individuals are willing to receive and acknowledge the beneficial actions of others on their behalf. Those who display this attitude have a "grateful disposition." Gratitude can become a habit that can focus us on our blessings in life and it can also have a profound effect of how we look at our life experiences.

The last 14 months in our life (Amy and I), have been full of challenges! The first 3 months of 2009 we knew that I would not be receiving a paycheck and a cut in hours, so we prepared for that, but we really had no idea of the rest of that year and finally losing my job in Sept and still being unemployed to the present time. During this time, we have been brought to our knees in prayer, fasting, study of the scriptures and putting all of our faith in our Heavenly Father for answers! Not to mention the sacrifice that our family and friends have given for our benefit! This we are truly grateful!

Prophets have taught us the importance of gratitude. The scriptures counsel us, " to give thanks in everything" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). To arise daily with a heart "full of thanks unto God" (Alma 37:37). Amy and I, give thanks each day for even the smallest thing. Food, Water and roof over our heads. One another, our growing understanding of our trials, our testimonies, the beauty that surrounds us, the abundant wildlife and within 5 minutes of being on and hiking a handful of mountain trails and paved pathways throughout the city.

This post is for me to show gratitude to all of those who I may have not shown the thanks for all they have done for me in my life and for Amy and I now. Recently, I learned that my cousin, Porter, had slipped and fallen to his death in a hiking accident. I miss him, but happy for him at the same time! I am glad to have had time to know him in his short mortal life and know that I will see him again. Porter worked with me one summer in the granite shop. We had a great time working together and sharing in our love of music. He introduced me to a band called Keane. They're one of my favorites! I love his family! I loved going over and joking around with Mark and laughing with the family and letting Susette finally talk me into blogging!

Amy and I have a great deal of gratitude for Dave and Roberta and their family for the help and support during our most trying months. Aunt Monica, I don't know if I ever told you how much I enjoyed going to the Symphony so many years ago. My grandparents for their love and support and their advice, which I always tried to listen too. I remember Grandpa Fisher patched me up once when I smashed my thumb with a hammer. I missed the nail completely and flattened my thumb. Cameron and I walked down to the house in Indian Hills from a few blocks away where my dad was working and I remember Grandpa taking great care cleaning away the blood and bandaging me up. He was great for a laugh and his constant teasing totally prepared me for Amy's grandfather! Blaine and Kathy for the fun and the best darn English Toffee the world has to offer!

I have many great memories with my brothers and sisters. Sarelle will call or email at any given time just to say hi and it usually starts out like, "Hey Davey" don't stop! Trent and Candace always ready to help out whatever the circumstance and for letting Blake come and visit Uncle Dave whenever and for not killing me when Blake got into my gum and I let him try it! Stacey and Juan, always keeping up to date on available jobs and for bowling! Cam and Shayna for letting me barrow the car and for helping me convert all of those Cd's into a digital copy so I don't have to try to remember which of my Cd's are missing! Courtney, I'll always be your Dave and Derek for being my Lego buddy! My mother, for always lending and ear when I needed to complain or needed to talk to someone. For all your years of letting me know that I'm worth it and that I have great talents waiting to be discovered.

Growing up, I couldn't wait to go on trips to St. George to see my aunt and uncle and cousins, Lynn and Edna, Warren, Angie, Brett, Ryan and Kimi. Cameron and I had the greatest adventures there. Hiking the Red Mountain, biking around town, the Res and Gunlock Lake, Camping in Snow's Canyon and almost dying hiking home in 100+ degrees and running out of water in the middle of the lava fields! Watching my uncle Lynn and how he treated his wife serving her tirelessly and taking that into my own life to treat Amy with the same amount of love and respect. Aunt Edna for your words of comfort and always having a smile and laughter and full of life. Owen and Jennifer, rocks and mafia wars and uncle Kevin for all the fond memories growing up and going on a road trip to deliver eggs and sorry that I lost your fishing pole, but you kept it up all day and caught the fish who had your pole still attached! I have way too many cousins and aunts and uncles to mention, but I have a great deal of gratitude and fond memories for all!

Amy's family is 1 in a billion and I am so grateful for each and every one of them for coming into my life. I love you all, for your advice, friendship, support and the fun that they share with us. Learning that I have cousins from 2 different families that are best friends with Amy's brother Jethro's wife Stacy, (confusing huh?). She lived in New Mexico and knew Uncle Doug's family. And Amy's sister Bekah who is friends with another cousin. Small world! Matt and Bekah for your hospitality and Nya, well she is just so darn cute!! Jethro and Stacy for the laughs and help and Katya and Cali and their smiles. George and Amy and family. What a fun week and the girls are so cute! The games and I miss the smack talk by the way! Andrea and Jason, thank you so much! Words can not express and your kids who are so fun to be around! Joanne, your the best mother in law anyone could ask for. I love you and thank you! Reuel and Ana, I thoroughly enjoyed your visit and we can't wait for the chance to visit you!

Most of all I have so much gratitude for my wife Amy and for the chance opportunity that we met at just the right time. I love her so much and thank our Heavenly Father each day for her! I love you Amy!

I have a few friends that I have made in past years and I am very grateful for them and their kindness that they've shown me as well as for Amy. Dave and Roxanne for your friendship, letting me use your computers and giving me the chance to show my talents with the stone work I've done for you! Dave's crew, Ky and Nate and the rest, some of the best friends you could ask for! Thanks James, for the same things.

I have a great deal of gratitude for 4 years of my life in the granite industry and the talents that came about while working with stone. The things that I could see in my mind and the ability I had to make what I saw! The ideas that are still yet to come to life and for dreams still buried deep in my head. I have gratitude for each and everyday of my life so far and thank my Heavenly Father for my many talents and gifts that make me happy and those around me.

Amy Elizabeth

2010-02-11T17:51:00.007-07:00

For a year and a half now, I've known and for just over a year I've been married to Amy and in a year roughly, we've had our share of trials. In the past 5 months I've had an overwhelming trial of being unemployed. It's been tough to say the least! We've had to cut our living to essentials only but we've have had tons of help from countless people. Family, friends and our LDS faith. We have been steadfast in prayer and our tithes to find an answer.

I have tried countless times to find work through the internet using a variety of websites, Yahoo, MSN, KSL, ldsjobs, etc.. with several interviews and always turned down. Even my recent interview which was very promising, but to no avail. I've had several very depressing days with today being the hardest one yet! Complete emotional overload!! The only way to describe what I was going through this morning. I had looked over at least 500 job listings and some very disturbing thoughts flooded my mind! I can't describe them, but they went from bad to worse, even suicide came to mind. The sadness that followed was overwhelming and I had a rush of anger, such anger I have never felt before! I just sat here wondering where it had come from and when it would end. I had to try hard to think straight and thought of Amy. Without much thought, I had gotten to my feet, walked into my room, knelt down and cried uncontrollably for about 20 minutes!! Through my sobs, I was able to plead for Mersey from the Lord for these feelings to leave my mind, which they did immediately!

Amy came home shortly thereafter and found me in such a delicate state and I was able to relay to her what had happened. She began to cry and went into the other room for a minute or so and when she returned, she told me that she arranged for some more time at home before work. It was the best afternoon I've ever known! To spend such valuable time with the love of my life and to feel of her compassion and love for me!

The utter hopelessness and shame (that I have felt) to not even land the simplest job to ease our tension would still not have brought me to such things as I thought today, as it would most undoubtedly have ruined more than just Amy and the rest of her life!

Rest assured that I have not and will not give up on my life nor Amy's life and I continue to search for a job that will at least give me comfort. But I will always have the comfort companionship and love with Amy.

This has been a hard trial and as it continues I hope that no one else has to suffer from it. But I know that there are countless others in the same place with the same thoughts and my prayers are with you!

I Love You Amy

Sacramento

2010-02-01T13:31:00.013-07:00

Amy and I went to Sacramento a few weeks ago to visit her family. George and Amy and their 3 girls, Sara, Kate and Juliette. Gideon and Becky and of course Nathan ummm, I mean Tripp! I had never met George and his family and I hadn't met Gideon and his wife. Amy took me to see the Sacramento Temple which was dedicated in 2006. It is a very pretty Temple and I love the trees around it as well. Amy also took me and Sara and Kate to San Fransisco. I've never seen the Golden Gate Bridge and now I understand all of the commotion and that bridge. It's dang big!! We walked across it and got to see a really big ship pass under us. After that we rode the B.A.R.T. into S.F. It goes pretty fast and under the ocean between Oakland and S.F. When we got into S.F. Amy showed us a really big mall, about 8 stories and the escalators were curved like half moons. We went all the way to the top and back then we went and rode the famous San Fransisco Trolleys to Ghirardelli Square and back. That was totally worth it! On our last day in Roseville, we met up with my brother in law, Shane. He has a job with Cal Trans. We had a ton of fun and miss George and Amy, Gideon and the rest and of course we miss Sacramento, but we don't miss the drive. Here are some pics from our trip. (Click on pics to enlarge)

F-22 Rapter flying over the bridge.
Another F-22.
More F-22's.Don't Jump!!! There is hope!
Amy, Sara and KateAmy and Dave

Alcatraz.
Bay BridgeWe rode this Trolley to Ghirardelli Square.
We rode this one back.

Spalted Maple

2009-12-14T11:02:00.003-07:00

The wood in this clock is called Spalted Maple, Spalting: is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi. Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur under stressed tree conditions or even in living trees. Although spalting can cause weight loss and strength loss in the wood, the unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought after by woodworkers.

I found a stencil that I liked for the numbers and then clear coated the clock for protection. It was a very hard clock to make. I had to push all of the wood pieces down one by one because they kept floating to the surface until the solid surface hardened. It was a fun clock to make and the results are very nice. The dimensions are 12 1/4" X 12 1/4" X 1"

The last few months!

2009-11-29T07:36:00.003-07:00

The last few months have been quite an adventure to say the least. With little help from me in earning an income and little in the way of finding employment, however the stress is all but gone from the time when I was working with the expectation of not getting paid for several months. Amy and I have stress, but it's a different feeling. I have started to list my remaining clocks on a web site that Aunt Roberta told me about called etsy. I will have listed 4 by the end of the day and a fifth hopefully before I leave for a week to help in St George at the Dickens Festival. I only have 7 clocks left and Amy and I hope that they will sell, as well as a table or two!

This one was made from a pallet. I liked the knot and since we threw away the pallets, I cut out what I liked and made this desk clock. It's about 14" tall and 11" wide and about an 1 1/2 thick.

(click to enlarge)
I love Walnut and this is some really nice Old Walnut. You can tell that this tree was old by the deep, rich color of the wood. I didn't really want to cover it up by the clock face, but it looked good with it. It's only 10" X 7 1/2"
This one has Alder and Poplar. As you can see they alternate and I cut them as a mirror image. The number pieces are colored shells. This clock has a 10 7/8" diameter and almost an inch thick.
I saw the brown pieces on the table saw in this shape and in my mind I saw this clock!. I had this interesting piece of Maple. I cut it in half and set the brown pieces around it and poured the white around the rest to form this design (it starts as a liquid). It's 12 3/8" diameter X 1"

Finished

2009-10-06T00:46:00.003-06:00

I finished 2 of my clocks. I only have 8 left and have decided to finish and sell them. One of these clocks was made to look like a Halloween Decoration and the other is just something else altogether, but they are very nice and are going up for sale on several web sites. Ebay, etsy.com and itallstartedwitharock.9f.com and here on my blog.

If interested let me know or if you know someone who is.

A new beginning!

2009-10-05T23:46:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow I'm starting a new job and training. I start work at Deseret Industries while I'm trying to get into school. They have a program that allows you to work while train for a new career and the career I've chosen is Radiology Tech. I am excited to start this chapter in mine and Amy's life. I know that this will be a long hard road, but the payoff will be worth it. I will always miss Granite work and you never know if I will get the chance to do that again, I hope so, but not for the company that I've been working for ever again, that chapter of my life is over! Wish me luck!

The last day!

2009-09-25T17:18:00.004-06:00

I quit my job today. I figured that it really wouldn't hurt us much since I'm not getting paid anyway! But I called my boss and left him a message telling him that I was going to quit and turn him in for not paying me. I received a call about 5 minutes later and he had found a few hundred to pay me. I took it, but I quit in the process of picking up a check. I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders and I was quite happy tonight and I really don't have any worries. I will certainly miss granite for a while, but new and exciting things are in mine and Amy's future. First thing is to get into some sort of college course and I may have found an answer to that through LDS Employment and there is training available through Deseret Industries. I'm going to go for some kind of Medical. I liked Radiology Tech and they have one for a CNA, so really any of what they offer will help. I'll find out Monday.

Spare time.

2009-09-23T09:57:00.006-06:00

I've had a lot of spare time lately. Work has all but stopped and finding a job hasn't been any better. Applying online is just a hassle, either your bombarded by emails for school or ads! But not just any school, the one's that will cost you not only an arm and a leg, but maybe your whole life and anything else you might own. I guess if you want to get in and out of school in a year or less then this would be an option, but I've been told to go to a school that is accredited and I am currently preparing for the test to get into the MLATC which is in Orem by UVU.

So while I haven't been as busy with work, I've been trying to keep myself busy. I've sold just about everything I've had in storage on ebay and I listed a few of my tables just to see what would happen. Nothing happened, yet, but they did what was intended for the moment and that was for people to see them. About 50 people have looked and that is all I was looking for.

I dug out my clocks that I made several years ago and decided to finish and sell what I have left, but first I needed to test it and so I finished one. It's orange and black and looks like it belongs to Halloween, so I bought some stickers and used them for the numbers and if you read my wife's blog: auntieamyandcounting.blogspot.com you can see that Nya my neice was very helpful in helping me finish the look of this clock. And then you can read about next injury from the same night as well. Amy and I took it with us yesterday when we went to visit my Aunt Roberta and she put it in her booth at the Holy Cow in Pleasant Grove. So I hope it sells and these are the pictures of it.

The backside.

The Great Outdoors part 1

2009-08-29T20:13:00.009-06:00

The great outdoors is something Amy and I have experienced the last few days. Part 1 is what I am writing about and part 2 will be on her blog in the next few days or so. On Thursday we went up to the Temple Quarry Site in the mouth of the Little Cottonwood Canyon. I had never been there and Amy took me there to see how it was all done 150 years ago. I love history and I really like to see how things are done.

Click on pictures to get a better view.

After that we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon and over Guardsman's Pass to Park City. Neither Amy or I had ever done that before. It was amazing and it was nice to be in the mountains.

Yesterday, we went to dig Geodes out in the desert at the Dugway Geode Beds. I hadn't been there since I was young and didn't quite know how to get there, but we made it, eventually!! It was a long way out there and we didn't find any Geodes either, but we had fun just getting out of the house. There were some amazing views all the way out into the desert like this one.

It was very hot and half way there, we stopped at a place called Simpsons Springs. There is a spring out in the middle of the desert. It was amazing to see it since it felt like 120 degrees when we got out of the car!! There was a small stone cabin there and a few other ruins of where houses stood. Simpsons Springs is part of the Pony Express trail and every 5 or so miles there is a marker showing where the trail was. Some of it was where we drove and some was off the road quite a ways. It is really cool to think about how they could ride a horse all the way from the Mississippi River to Sacramento, rain or shine, day and night, all alone! Kind of scary, but thrilling at the same time!

A big green rock called Limestone.

In the far background you can see buildings at the Dugway Proving Grounds. In the foreground is the Spring that animals, Native Americans and of course Pony Express Riders and staff used.

After Simpsons Springs we were driving alone and Amy was feeling a little sick and we saw the sign for Dugway Geode Beds 22 miles. We just about died, but Amy said that we were almost there, so we kept going and when we got there I dug some holes and looked around and we didn't find a thing! We saw a lot of lizards and this one was amazingly big which Amy will have on her blog.

When we were done looking for stones that weren't there and since it was getting late, we left and decided that we would come again someday. All the way out there I had told Amy about all of the amazing animals like Antelope and Deer that I would see when I would go to Topaz Mountain. We saw only 3 wild horses driving in and tons of lizards!

Then at a moment I saw a Pronghorn on the side of the road and skidded to a stop. It hopped away about 30 feet and stopped and looked at us. Amy got a few good shots of it and we proceeded on our way back to Simpsons Springs.

I kept saying that it sucked that we didn't see any herds of animals like I had seen before and before we knew it we passed the Springs and there in the road and all around us were about 50 to 60 Pronghorn (Antelope)! Amy got a lot of great shots and when I was rolling away to leave, we almost hit one that was just kind of strolling in front of us. He was good sized and very close so we got a great picture of him too! We got going again and eventually we came across dust just floating above the ground. We were both trying to figure out what was making it. The answer came when we got closer. There were Hundreds of Wild Horses moving across the plain. I'm not sure if they were Mustangs, but it was amazing to see!!! My Mother would have loved it!! Amy got some great videos and she will be posting them along with some really cool pictures. It was really neat to see wave after wave of horses walking up to where we were to a watering hole and then moving on across the road out towards Dugway Proving Grounds. Amy said, "that that was worth the whole trip!" It was also way too dark to see anymore, so we just got going and about an hour and a half later, we got home.

Headaches!

2009-08-20T14:38:00.004-06:00

I suffer from headaches, Migraines to be exact and this last week has been a showcase of different headaches. The stress level for Amy and I has been overwhelming to say the least, but we've managed to keep faith that all would be well. Yesterday, we both met our breaking point and both of us kind of had a bad day!! We didn't fight or anything, but we were definitely not in a good mood! But that changed last night when we both thought all was lost!!

Trent (my brother), came over last night and was helping me get signed up on a new web site to look for new jobs. Basically jobs for civilians on Government installations, like Hill Air Force Base or The Tooele Army Depot. So far I've found a few with great pay and I plan on going for it, but last night he kept telling me to just turn in my boss, just be heartless and do it! For me this is a really hard thing to do! I always turn the other cheek and I'm very patient, but I was at an end of my patience, but I had an overwhelming feeling to call my boss and give him just one more chance and if it didn't get me the results I wanted, to turn it over to the Labor Commission. First thing I did though was to go over to the shop and see what was happening. Much to my surprise, nothing had happened in the way of having a job gone and installed by Tuesday. It was still there! I figured that they just didn't have the same kind of speed that I have or it was just a pain to Fab., which is what it looked like to me. So I called and was told that he had collected a check that day, but it was after the bank closed. He asked if I could wait until morning and if I could help them install the job. If you pay me first, then I'll help you. He agreed and this morning, we got paid nearly $2,000 and we're up too date!!

The moral of this lesson for me is, always follow the spirits guidence. No matter how bad someone else has treated you and how angry they make you, always follow what that still small voice says! The Lord did not let us down and even in the midst of feeling all was lost, something happened that changed that. I know that we're not out of the woods yet, but we don't know what's around the next corner and we'll continue to fight our way through these tough times.

Today is a better day, my body is a little more rested and calm, but I have a Migraine the size of Mt. Everest!!!!!

Thanks George for all your help and I'll consider and keep that knowledge for the next time that this happens, except I won't wait 2 months next time, I'll walk every 2 weeks if I don't get a check on time!

I went to work today,

2009-08-17T11:26:00.003-06:00

I went in at about 8:30 this morning and waited and waited and waited. Finally at 10:00, someone showed up and at 10:15 my boss showed up and I said that I was leaving and I would come back but only after I received my pay in full. His only response was that he understood and he is working on getting all of it together.

Then I left!!

Why do we work?

2009-08-15T10:49:00.003-06:00

Work, it's an easy enough word and easy to understand. Why do we work and have jobs? That is easy enough as well. To earn money is usually the first thing that applies to this basic word. Work used to be this and more for me: A sense of accomplishment, a job well done, pride in my work, the best fabricator on the planet, creativity and something to do. Many of you know that work for me this year has been a little slow. This year has been hard to say the least with little or nothing to do at all, until now! Work is booming and we're booked for several weeks.

For about 6 weeks though, Amy was in and out of the Hospital and during those weeks and for those days I spent my time with her giving her my total devotion and support to her to help her get better. Luckily, before all this happened, I had been paid after waiting for 3 months to get it. 3 months is a long time to wait for a paycheck and the stress that goes with that is not fun either! During all this free time I had, I was applying for jobs and going to interviews. And still nothing has happened in improving our circumstances! Recently I was turned down again and I didn't get the job, but now it doesn't seem as if I need a new job since mine is busy again.

But,
I feel dead at work! I no longer have a desire to do the work, at least not there! The "not" in "getting paid" has given me a desire to just not bother! I have now been waiting another 2 months for a check. For what little they owe me, you'd think that they could pay me! I have just about sold everything that is not tied down on ebay. I only have 1 box of personal items in our tiny storage closet and I may break that down even more to earn what little amount of money you can make on ebay!

I have been working hard and fast everyday for a two weeks now. The amount of work that I'm doing each day is enough for a small crew, but somehow I manage to produce about 2 slabs of granite a day, which is fast for 1 person. Sink cut outs take a toll on your back and take at least 2 hours of time. More than 1 in a day is hard enough and one day this last week I did 4 sinks plus the job in about 9 hours time. That is a super fast time! The more I do the more they expect and the more I won't be paid for! This is super frustrating!!

Finally, yesterday I was told that they would have to try to get me paid fast sometime soon! Soon should mean "NOW" and "NOW" should not wait! My desire to work has lost it's taste and everything that is said to me makes it even more tasteless!

I work well with praise as well as pay. Being positive and praising one's work, works great! But the one's who are doing your bidding, your work and paying your bills, seem to be forgotten more often than not. I would like a raise or a bonus, a job well done, but it seems that all I'm getting right now is, "you complain too much, are you sure you can get this done today?" and if there's a mistake, it's my fault automatically. Maybe if the schedule wasn't overbooked and on such a jammed up time line, that there would be time to breathe and think about what is being said! There seems to be no praise anymore, which makes bad situations worse! Depending on what is said to me next week, I may just walk out the door!

So, why do we work?
Well, I work for my boss's sake!!

3 years ago

2009-07-25T16:16:00.009-06:00

3 years ago next month (Aug), I started working for Ken again. I worked retail for 5 years and learned many new things like retail really sucks, it doesn't matter how hard you work for big chains, if your not willing to brown nose, you'll never get anywhere! I set a few records at Wal-mart while I was there. I received employee of the week and month in the same month and for 10 days of that month I was on a very special vacation in California. When I quit there, the store manager was begging me to stay, but I got a higher paying job closer to home and went and worked for Cabela's for about 2 years. Same story there as Wal-mart, overlooked, underpaid, and under appreciated until the day you leave, but I had to do something else and get out of the atmosphere that was turning me into the kind of person I didn't want to be.

When I started to work for Ken, he had changed the company name from KMB to Utah Granite Counter Tops and they were only fabricating granite. I was told by Kevin to make what you want whenever, so I started to make the little one of a kind end tables again. I am very fascinated with rocks in general, but the one's that have special qualities like iridescence and lots of colorful designs, really get me to thinking, so I started to make my 3rd table and I had this small piece of green granite that has a really nice vein in it. I bought a piece of white marble tile at the Home Depot and cut it to fit in the hole that I made in the granite. I found 2 pieces of slate, one is green and the other is a major contrast of a dark maroon red with some yellow in it and I glued them together. I made it so that you can just turn the slate over and have a completely different look! Eventually I found a piece of marble that was kind of green and white mixed. I put a rope light under the tile and when it's plugged in, it lights up. I'm one of those kind of people who likes something different sometimes on a daily basis, so I can use either the slate or the marble whichever I feel my mood is in. Enjoy

Green tile natural light.

Green tile with rope light plugged in and on.

Plain tile and light is on, but its impossible to see with the flash!

Maroon slate.

Green slate (flip side).

My 2nd Table

2009-07-20T16:54:00.006-06:00

This is the 2nd try at making something unique! Fabian had been over to his friends shop and brought back some really nice red and black marble. The red marble was very expensive and the other is not as and more common than the red. The other shop had an extra piece, so Fabian brought them back to see if I could do something with them. I decided to checkerboard it somewhat, (with only 4 squares, the game would be over quickly), but I liked the design of black and red squares. The stone holding them together around the bottom perimeter is called Tan Brown and I had to use something, because the red and black was all but taken with only a few little pieces left! The edge is a waterfall edge or a half bullnose and I ground it down by hand. It wasn't hard to do, marble is significantly softer than granite, though it was hard to keep it's shape when polishing due to softer stone!

I had a few problems with it and one problem was that it broke in half and I had to try to put it back together. It worked better than I thought it would and it's very hard to tell where the break occurred. Once I got that done, I had to choose what kind of base I wanted under it. Wood is such a nice thing to work with and I really love all of the varieties that are out there. Usually, I like a lot of knots and holes anything where bugs have gotten in burrowed, eaten or damaged it. I feel that it gives it a lot of character, but I went with a plain old piece of a Redwood Fence Post. I covered it with Amber Schlack to give it a richer red color. Amy and I think that it looks very nice and it gives the room some nice color. This one is Amy's 2nd favorite, while her most favorite one is the Cherry Tree Plant Holder. This table is 23 1/4 inches tall and the top is roughly 17 5/8 inches square and an overall weight of 43lbs.

Careers

2009-07-20T16:40:00.002-06:00

My job has been less than desirable these last few weeks with little or no work at all. I get to go in tonight and start a new one that goes to Heber later this week, but for the most part, I'm glad that I was home to help Amy out the last few weeks with our many trips to the LDS Hospital. We only have 4 more, then we're done. Yay!! To those who don't know, it's just some tests and such. While at the hospital so many times, I've gained an interest in Nursing and everything that they do throughout our stays there. It makes Amy a little queasy at times when I'm asking them questions about what their doing to her when their doing it, but for some reason, it hasn't made me sick or anything like that, so I got to looking into some options and I've decided to go to school for some kind of Nurse or something Medical. My first thing is to get an EMT certification, so this week I'll be going over to SLCC and getting the info that I need. I've received some really good idea's so far and think that I'll go for my EMT first, then apply for a job on a Paramedic Crew and go from there. I feel like this is the best thing for me right now and I've got it in my mind, so I better get to it. As far as work goes, I'll take it as it comes and I'll try yo get more work as well in the meantime.

My first granite table

2009-07-19T19:47:00.012-06:00

My first granite experience was in the solid surface counter top shop and Ken took over the business from my Uncle Mark and their other partner Bill. Ken decided to expand the business by offering Granite as well as Solid Surface which was called Durastone, (like Corian), a product that we made. One of the first things I learned about Granite was how easy it was to polish it and then I learned to cut and fabricate it. I took to it like a duck to water and started making my own little pieces of granite art. Fabian was the name of the man who came into the business to teach us how to fabricate granite and he was the primary fabricator of the granite and I was the fabricator of the Solid Surface, but I learned all the same and one day Fabian cut out this little round sink hole for one of the coolest under mount stainless steel bar sinks I've seen! The Granite leftover from the cut out is called Baltic Brown and it measures about 12 inches wide. I got this idea to turn it into a small table and I wanted to make it a little unusual! I wanted to glue on a 2nd layer of stone, but it was a different color. Fabian had trouble with it in the first place. He told me not to mix colors by saying, "we put joints in stone to hide them by using the same color of stone" and I replied by saying, "it's stone, you can see it, so what does it matter!" So I made what was in my mind and got the respect of Fabian anyway, because he said it looked cool!

The leg of this table is a branch from a Cherry Tree that I got from Carl, a good friend of mine. I was looking for something like this branch and Carl's father had just cut some of his tree's, so I went and chose a nice piece. The base is made out of Solid Surface and I had to pour it around the branch in stages, meaning that I couldn't pour it all at once, because of how thick it was going to be. Solid Surface is a man made material basically a plastic and when the Catalyst is mixed in, it causes a reaction to harden it and the reaction causes heat. It would have warped with the thickness of the base. It still warped a little and sits better on carpet rather than a hard surface. It is 25" tall and weighs 30 Lbs. The top is 11.5 " wide and the base is 18.5 at it's widest point(s).

A few weeks after I made this interesting table, our sink supplier saw it and wanted to show his friend. His friend had a store in Park City and he sold furniture but nothing like this. I didn't want to let him take it so I took a picture and gave it to him to show his friend. A week later, I received word that he had sold my table for a handsome sum! Shocking was more like it!! I was completely and utterly shocked when he told me it was selling for 10 grand and from a picture no less in a week!!! I was amazed! I was also amazed when I found out what I was going to get out of it, a mere $3,000 and I even spent 59 hours of my life making it, (It was my first, and it took some time to figure things out, it doesn't take nearly that kind of time anymore), but I was shocked that I was only going to get 30%, so I told them no and kept it. I have been called foolish and stupid for that decision, but I think that I would have been more foolish to have let it go and to be taken for every other piece that I've made since. I haven't sold any of them and sometimes wonder if I made the right decision, but I know that I did. I'm not that dumb. I have done my research and most middle men and/or sellers only make a commission of 25 to 40% not 70%. I know that I made the right decision and I would be more than happy to sell my work, but not to be taken for someone else's benefit.

What you see, is what I saw and each thing I've ever made, was a visual picture in my mind. I know that I have some kind of talent and I hope that it can help Amy and I out in the near future. I love what I can do with a piece of rock. I'm thankful for the talents that our Heavenly Father has given me and I hope that it gives others as much joy as I get from it. I am going to tell of each of my pieces one by one and as I finish one to the next, I'll be trying to sell them as well. We're going to sell this one, or at least give it a try, on ebay this week. I'm going to start it at that mere $3,000 and see what happens. I was also told of a place in Salt Lake that specializes in local artists work, so I will probably give that a try to too!

This is what it looks like in our house.

I didn't get the job!

2009-06-28T09:26:00.002-06:00

Most of you already know that I had applied for a job with Merit Medical and had a great interview, but I didn't get the job. I was really calm throughout the week waiting for some word of the outcome. Friday morning I got that word and I was ok with it, but deep down I was hurt. I've had a hard weekend, but Amy has been here with me and she is all that really matters. The love that she shows me can make all the difference. I know that there must be something out there for me and Merit must not have been it, so I'll still keep searching for what is waiting for me and fabricating granite which is what I love! I just wish I could be working more than 2 days a week!

What's been up!

2009-06-24T22:11:00.002-06:00

So, some of you have asked me to post life in general, so here is the first and probably the last. I got this blog going to share my artistic talents in hopes to find some interest in it. I haven't found much and not many people really care at all, but such is life. So Amy and I moved to Draper Ut. back in April. We love it here in our nice little appartment! It's quiet and we have yet to meet any of our neighbors! We have however, met their smoke! Yuck!! What a discusting habit and we have to keep cleaning up after the butt-heads! ha.

We have had a hard year so far and work for me has been a bit depressing! Slow at best and getting paid was a whole different problem. I have been paid in full just last week, but it's taken 3 months to get it. We have been surely blessed and have continued to fight and have made it every month with lots of prayers and great family support, (You all know who you are and we love you so much, thank you!) I have been job hunting for months and last week was quite the test. On Thursday, our brand new car broke down and the dealer would not get us a temporary vehicle, but they managed to find a part somewhere in this vast country and had our car fixed by 1pm Friday. Monday afternoon I received a call from Merit Medical about a job in the shipping department and yesterday morning I had to go in for some tests. If I passed the test, then they would interview me. I was very nervous! I hadn't been in this situation since I had applied for Cabelas almost 5 years ago. I passed the first test with an average score and the 2nd test with a better than average score and then the 3rd test, which was a dexterity test. I aced that one and set a new record for them as well! I had an interview and now we are just waiting to hear. So basically if I get this job, it will become my primary job and I'll still work at the granite shop part time. I would like to stay in granite and I love what I do, but I think I'm going to have to love something else! Other than all of this extra stress, Amy and I absolutely love to go hiking, movies and one anothers company!

Peacepipe

2009-06-24T21:44:00.002-06:00

When I started working at the Granite Shop again, I worked with a guy who was part Native American and he made a Peacepipe out of 2 pieces of stone. Kevin and I were going to make one as well. I finally finished mine and it's pretty big and over the top! It weighs almost 9 LBS and is 26 inches long. It has just about the same amout of super glue and bondo holding it together as there is stone in it! Currently it could be used, but I'm going to plug it so it won't. I'm afraid that if someone got a hold of it and tried to smoke with it, that they may die due to the glue and fumes involved. I had a suggestion to sell it and so Amy and I will probably sell it as a decorative pipe on ebay.

Clocks

2009-03-28T15:56:00.009-06:00

When I worked for KMB Countertops, I got this idea from a good friend named Carl to make clocks out of the Solid Surface material. KMB stood for Ken, Mark and Bill, the owners of the company. Ken is who I work for now in the Granite business. Mark is my uncle and Bill is Ken's brother in law. I worked at KMB for about 10 years and in the last 3 years of working there I made some clocks. Each one was different or better known as "a one of a kind", some just happened by accident, but most were designs I thought up. I had to learn to make each and every one of them and some were just stubborn and challenging! I made some money on a few of them, but mostly people just wanted them for free! I gave a lot away, they made nice gifts. I lost quite a few due to temperatures that made them break and I still have several left and in storage. The pictures show a lot of them without numbers, so use your imagination. Some are finished and show the creativity of each clock. I dont make clocks anymore, but a granite clock would be cool!

This is the first clock I made and I gave it to Carl for the idea!

This one is the 2nd and I gave it to my mother.

The wood in this one came from a pallet. I liked the knot in it and tore it apart to make this clock. Cool huh?

This one just happened by accident. I had another idea, but it ended up like this. I don't remember what I had in mind before, but this one was cool just how it ended up!!

I needed a tooth pulled, so I traded with my Dentist!

This one is in a recording studio in New Jersey. I had a friend and her uncle owns the studio. She had me make this and she payed me about $40 for it.

I still have this one and I use it around Halloween. I just need to finid the right creepy-crawlies for the numbers of the clock!!

Everyone tells me this one looks Japanese! It was easy and fun to make!!

My sister is holding this one. It's big of course and somewhat heavy, like 10 lbs. and I made $100 on it. It's still hanging on his wall!

Made with scraps!!

My first attempt of a cow design. I made 2 others and they both sold. It just so happens that I don't have pictures of them. If you like this cow design, I still have it!

If this one looks like it was hard to make, then your exactly right! The maple pieces would float and I had to push them down until the plastic hardened! I still have this one too and I love it!!

This one's base is a separate piece and my nephew, Blake said today "Elephant." Looking at it closer, the knot does look like an elephant!

This one is quite heavy and it cost me plenty! I had to pour the plastic twice to make it work and then I could never afford the time piece. That alone was $80 and the glass cover I wanted for it was $200. I still have it and it's still not finished, maybe one day. I made and designed table as well. I gave that too my sister and her husband for their wedding present.

This one is made out of a Cypress Tree Root. This is it's true color. The outside is very hard, but thin skinned. The inside is very soft and like cork and it stinks!! It grows in the swamp and that's what it smelled like when I cut into it!

I learned how to put things into the resin, like these Sacagawea dollars. The person who got this one took a hammer to it (right in front of me no less) and retrieved the money! Nice!!!

I also put things in the resin like...

Aluminum...

A smiley face, ugly, but I got $120 for it...

A Black Widow Spider. I came into work one morning and Ken, Mark and Bill caught and put to death (by way of resin torcher), this spider! I kept it and one day it became the 6 for this clock! The guy who bought this clock only gets to display it on Halloween. The rest of the year, it stays in a box in a closet and if it comes out before Halloween, his wife will throw it out! He loves it, she doesn't!! I sold this clock when I worked at Walmart and it went for $150 which went to charity.

And finally...

This one sold for the most. It went for $275. The company my mother worked for had me make it for an employee which name has been erased. The blue was made with auto paint and it was also made to look like the company emblem. It turned out really nice and I hope the recipient liked it as well.

I made so many variations and I never really made any money out of them, except for the few, but it cost me more than it was worth, so I stopped.

Jewelery Box

2009-03-22T23:39:00.003-06:00

We found this marble box while we were helping my mother pack for her big move! I made this box when I worked for KMB Countertops about 6 years ago. As most of my friends and family know, KMB is now Utah Granite, but I made this box in my early learning days of fabricating stone. Fabian was from Argentina and the person who taught me to fabricate and he got me the marble for the lid of this box. The sides and bottom of this box are Travertine and basically this outside box holds an inside box that is made of Solid Surface, which at the time was my specialty. I found a music box and set in the inside box's lid and it's of one of my mothers favorite pieces of music called-Music Box Dancer. The total weight of this box is 17.4 lbs and a little too heavy for "the mom" to be moving around, so it sits on a shelf in her closet until she can find a permanent spot for it to be diplayed.

Mazes

2009-02-15T23:23:00.013-07:00

Mazes. I started drawing and making mazes in Jr. High. I would watch my mother find her way through them pretty fast and would learn by watching her how to make them harder. I noticed that she would start at the finish and it was ten times easier to get through it by going backwards, so I started making it hard both from the finish and the start. She doesn't even think about going through them anymore. I made quite a few, but I haven't made any for several years, well at least since High School. Here are a few pictures of what I have and some of the ideas I had making them.

The crude maze above is one of my first. Once I got started drawing mazes, I used this thing called a ruler! ha

This one has my sister Sarelle's name in it. I got to where I put words and shapes and intigrated them into the maze itself.

This one is easy except for the three colors it is drawn with and it messes with your mind!

This one says start and finish as well as having a start and finish.

I used mostly diagonal lines in this one.

This one is a replicated design of itself all the way around the page.

This is the master copy of the maze on the right.

This is my big maze. It has 2 pages and I called it a story maze because it has 2 stories. This page is the start page and the one below has the finish. Each shape that is a different color links each page together. My assitants finger points out the elevator to the next page. This maze is very hard and you have to flip the page 17 times to get to the finish, that's if you go the right way

Where it all began

2008-12-28T14:39:00.020-07:00

It all started when I was young, as early as I remember. I loved rocks and started collecting them. It quickly turned into a hobbie and was impressed in all natural beauty and the wonders of the earth, I was especially intrigued with rocks and how they form with the colors and crystals. Utah is where I live and grew up. We have some great mountains and really cool places to collect rocks. I received a rock polisher for a Birthday present when I was about 10 and started polishing some of the rocks I collected just to see what they looked like inside and learned about what I could polish and what would turn to dust in the tumbler. I was brought a cool little rock from my Grandmother that she had found from Deer Creek Reservoir about 10 miles east of where I live. I polished that rock and still have it today (see below).

Here are just a few polished rocks from my collection and its amazing to see all of the different colors that you find inside a dirty old rock off the ground!. I see this everyday in working with Granite. I'm always amazed and it's beautiful!

This is called Mica and it came out of a granite slab of a recent job I fabricated. It peels of really thin and you can see through it. Pretty cool for a rock, but hard to work with. It has a tendency to pull out in chunks when working with it, just like these chunks!

The carved elephant is one of my favorite rocks called "Malachite", I know it can be found in Utah, but I have no idea where to look. The rainbow looking thing is called "Bismuth" and is in the periodic table of elements, but this crystal is artificial. The small one in the lower left corner is a "Ruby" and it's from Brazil. A very good friend of mine (who is a Geologist), gave this to me when I lived in the south of Orem, Ut.

These are "Sun Stones" at the top of the picture and "Topaz" in the lower part. I love going out to Topaz Mountain and in recent years seeing lots of Antelope besides finding Topaz. All of the Topaz in this photo have been bleached by the sun and there is tons of it all over and the Sun Stones are poor, but I didn't have a lot of time there.

This is "Copper" in it's natural form. Not very big, but it has some weight to it!

This one is called "Fluorite" and it glows under a black light.

The green one I'm not sure about, the red is "Silver Ore", the Gold is "Pyrite" and the white one is "Calcite" that I got out of the Calcite Mine on the west side of Utah Lake, long story, but that is a big mine and deep and really cool riding through it on a motorcycle!

I have lots of "Obsidian" and "Flint" both used to make arrowheads out of by Native Americans.

The last 2 pictures are of "Beryllium" and Utah Beryllium is red and purple. These two are really good examples and I used to have more, but gave some of them away. It is very pretty, but it can be dangerous. Beryllium dusts can damage lungs, so I keep these away from everyone! No breaking or cutting these! They're also hard to get, but worth their weight in gold!!

I have arrowheads, some pottery, fossils and geodes. It's nice to go out in Utah and find these little treasures and it's fun. Next summer I'd like to go get some Trilobites and go back to visit Paul Bunyans Log Pile (cool place) and eventually to Arkansas to dig up a Diamond or two!

Is it worth a thumb?

2008-12-28T14:13:00.003-07:00

I made this table and finished it in November of 2008. I started it in October and cut off part of my thumb! But let's not get ahead of ourselves, I would like to start at the beginning....

My Hobbie

2008-11-30T19:44:00.009-07:00

I have been working with granite for over 3 years and in the counter top business for over 13 years. I started making small pieces of furniture from the beginning out of scrap. My first table consisted of two different colors of granite glued together, with a piece of cherry tree as the leg. The base is made of solid surface.

This table did sell, but I decided not to sell it at the time. Now I have decided the time is right to share my talents, and start selling my work to those who appreciate one of a kind items.

These are all original designs that I have created from my own thoughts. They are unique, creative, and each one has special meaning to me as well as to others that see them.

Thirteen years ago I started in the soild surface countertop business. I quickly became an expert in the production of soild surface material. I would experiment with the material to see what I could and could not do with it. I would expose it to different chemicals for different effects. Once I let a piece sit in Acetone for a week, and after a week it had etched it in such a way that is sparked my curiousty. From an idea of a good friend of mine (Carl Williams), I started to make clocks. In a matter of 3 years I made over a hundred different clocks. I sold a few of them for a descent profit, but ended up giving most of them away. I still have a few left.