Thank you for your support during an exciting year and happy new year 2020! I wanted to give an update about some neat things in the works and what will be coming in the months that follow. Upcoming and recent appearances I wrote a science/devotional about the amazing inner world of diamonds and gems for Clubhouse magazine for children with Focus on the Family, and it will be out in February, 2020! I just received this preview and have to share how rewarding it was working with the Gemology community in researching the specialty of Photomicrography – taking very detailed…
Five Lessons Disney’s The Mandalorian Teaches About Creating Epic Characters
Like much of the country, I have fallen for the two main characters in Disney’s The Mandalorian series on the new Disney Plus service. On a recent visit to The Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, I got to really consider Baby Yoda, or The Child, and the Mandalorian himself as characters. We even spotted some Easter Eggs or items in the park which you won’t want to miss and so keep reading :). And if you haven’t watched yet ++spoiler alert++ so I recommend watching before reading further. How did we become so connected with so few words? I’m not the…
Special Gem Feature: Eiseman Jewels
This week I’m so excited to highlight one of my favorite jewelers in the United States where I worked back in the day as well – Eiseman Jewels. You can find them in Dallas, Texas in a really unique mall filled with art and a lot of local history called NorthPark Center. And don’t miss the links at the bottom of this article for a tour on YouTube and another post with more gems! As a graduate gemologist, I so enjoyed seeing the selection of gems. I asked my colleague Diamond Cutter and wonderful person in general, Andre Vorster, to…
What Surprised Me The Most With College Tours (part two)
Welcome to Thorn & Vine blog and a special dual post about what we learned from our college tours this summer. If you missed the first article, find it HERE all about key Do’s and Don’ts to prepare you for the tours. This week, we’re focusing on things that really took my breath away or pleasantly surprised me on the trips we took. One crazy thing, you’ll NEVER believe – or maybe you will? I sure didn’t…is below. What surprised me the most? How important SATs are for admission and also for scholarship consideration. I knew they were considered, of…
My Top Dos and Don’ts for College Tours
My Top Dos and Don’ts for College Tours With the school year starting and some families having older sons and daughters reaching for college hopes and dreams, it’s time to get ready to have a smooth transition. After visiting several colleges, and receiving great advice from friends who’ve already walked this path, I’m sharing tips for college visits you won’t want to miss. Why am I posting this? My favorite thing, besides good books and pretty places or jewelry, is to find resources and help families. With all we’ve survived and persevered through as wildfire survivors it has created a…
Disneyland’s display of Aladdin’s magic
Amidst all the fun, in a quiet corner at Disneyland near the Lincoln exhibit, I stumbled into some of the props and original concept art for the upcoming Aladdin movie, which releases this Friday in theaters. Staring Marwan Kenzari, Mena Massoud, Will Smith as the Genie, Billy Magnussen, and Naomi Scott as Jasmine, the live-action movie is a remake of the animated one by Disney, where young Aladdin embarks on a magical adventure after finding a lamp with a very funny, wish-granting genie inside. We were able to get so close to the carpet! I love the rich hues and…
Being Grateful for the Bugs
[bws_captcha]It’s been a rough month with a series of weird situations that climaxed with our water heater bursting and ruining floors and walls in my office, my website failing for mysterious reasons, and now I am waiting to see if we will need an emergency move out of the house due to a crazy amount of bugs. We were surrounded by a two-story high cloud in the front of and behind our home for about two weeks while I’ve been trying to get answers and see what damage has been done, if it was termites, and if we need to…
Recent Comments