On the cross country drive, after seeing so much of it everywhere, I knew I wanted to find a good piece of turquoise jewelry. While I did end up finding a cool cuff bracelet and a ring, I kept seeing jewelry supply shops everywhere... And, I decided what I really wanted to do was buy some turquoise and make my own piece of jewelry. I randomly (and unexpectedly) came across New Mexico Bead and Fetish, in Albuquerque's Old Town, and I got two strands of turquoise from a Kingman, Arizona mine. I finally unpacked/found my jewelry pliers and made two bracelets last night -- one with memory wire, the other with a toggle clasp:

I got a request from my oldest bro to update my blog. So, here's a photo of what my summer is going to be all about: me at a wedding. This is at my friend Ali's wedding, from this past weekend. (Be sure to check out the delish cupcake from her reception... she had a three tier stand filled with cupcakes in lieu of a wedding cake!! My kind of gal!)

This was the first of three weddings I'll be attending over the next month and a half (including my brother's). I'm wearing my new favorite dress in the photo, that debuted at my friend Amy's wedding rehearsal earlier this year. I was thinking of wearing it to the next event, but maybe I should add some variety to my wedding attire. We'll see. I might be embarrassed to have yet another photo of me wearing THE dress!

As for being back in Alabama -- I'm still living amongst a mountain of boxes in my bedroom that I'm slowly unpacking. I'm working at my dad's office in the meantime, and in the process of applying to college for a 2 year program in web design/management. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not here to visit.