Above all else, I'd like to say that I'm just your basic, goofy rockhound who happens to love to collect agates, especially banded or fortification types. I'm not a big digger or commercial collector - I'm pretty much just a surface collector who likes to do a lot of exploring and walking around, picking up wonderful rocks as I go. I've been collecting now for about 20 years or so, and collecting agates has truly become one of the biggest passions of my life. I really enjoy cutting and polishing the stones that I find, and I also make jewelry out of many of the cabs that I cut. It is all just too much fun for words!

I try to get out and collect as often as time permits, but the desert collecting season in Arizona (and the southwest in general) is fairly limited to about 5-6 months of the year due to the extreme heat that we have in this area during the long summer season. Needless to say, the summer time is best spent here cutting and polishing your treasures.

When I'm not busy playing with my rocks, I make and sell fine silver and gemstone jewelry through a number of fine art galleries, and I am also a professional web designer, writer, teacher, and occasionally, a multi-media artist .

At right, agategrrrl busy digging up a few rocks while rockhound buddy Barbara walks the wash in the background.