All Shiny & New

Conquering Fears

2013-05-06T20:17:00.002-07:00

(Seriously cool grate. Do you see the "K"? I've walked by this grate 100+ times...only time I've seen the "K")

Today I did a really scary thing. I went swimming. In a great big pool. Not an itty bitty pool. An competition sized pool. If I were a brave girl, this post would have a photo of a swimsuit, not a seriously cool grate. But I'm so not brave I left my phone at home...accident? Maybe. So what brings on swimming, something I'm seriously afraid of since an event at Lake Powell some years ago? The only explanation I have is that I was looking for scuba classes at work for Don & it dawned on me that I'm no longer a strong swimmer & that I'm pretty afraid of it. I actually signed up for a lap swimming class for the fall, but dropped it because I decided to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts instead. (I'll tell you about that some day.) Then some girl Don used to work with made me ridiculously jealous by something she said & implied...the next thing you know, I'm at the pool swimming laps.

Today I went for the first time. I had butterflies in my stomach. But I made myself go. Turns out the big pool has the lanes in the long course pattern today. Oh joy (she says dripping with sarcasm). The long course is 50 meters one way. I have not been in a pools for anything other than a few handstands in years. I venture out to the pool & just stare at the length of it. Holy crap. What have I gotten myself into?

There are about two dozen swimmers there. Translation: you have to share a lane. Luckily someone warned me at the front desk that you can "split" a lane with another swimmer as long as they are ok with it. I grab my kickboard & ease into the pool. I expected it to be much cooler, but it is quite comfortable...refreshing, even! Down & back...100 meters...with a kickboard. This isn't so bad, I think to myself. Lets try freestyle. Halfway down the lane I begin to panic a little bit...I feel myself becoming exhausted & anxious. I have a good little talk with myself & relax a little & keep going. When I get to the end (50 meters) I stop & have to catch my breath. I forgot how hard this is! I gather my wits & swim back, breast stroke...much easier. I go that way a while, alternating kickboard/freestyle...each lap getting just a little bit easier. I suffered some foot cramping, but that has always been an issue when I swim. After 35 minutes I feel home. The water is where I'm meant to be.

As I leave the pool, I make sure to sign up for a yearly pass. This is exactly what I need.

Bear Mountain, Sedona

2013-04-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

I never got around to telling you about our hike up Bear Mountain, did I? It was quite an adventure!

We woke up Sunday morning (oh my goodness...that was two weeks ago already!) & headed to The Coffee Pot for breakfast. Locals call it "Home of 101 omelets & ten parking spaces". It's typical diner food...nothing to write home about. (What we should have done was get to the trail at 7 am.) Then we met our friend Whitney in the parking lot at Bear Mountain. Now, I'm not really sure whose idea this hike was...I don't want to blame anyone...but lets just say, it was intense. However, according to Cosmic Ray's guide book, it's hard. Cosmic Ray claims the Airport Mesa Loop is intense. Dude is seriously messed up on his words. Hard is an understatement.

That's Whitney & Aggie. A really beautiful trail! It starts out pretty innocent...

Happy to be out & hiking!

So pretty!

You want me to go where?!

This trail...is not easy. But it is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. These photos do not do it justice...

One of the places I "needed" to take a photo. Really what I needed to do was not throw up.

At the top! Made it all the way! 1 hour 45 minutes for 2 miles. For the record, I can walk 3.5 miles of hilly terrain in 50 minutes. That's how steep that trail is...

Worth every single step...

On the way down. Oohhh...you can kinda see how steep it is here!

Love him!

Yes, I am awesome!

Almost to the end...a job well done! This trail is my 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Will I do it again? Mmmmm, maybe.

Airport Mesa Loop, Sedona

2013-04-10T20:53:00.001-07:00

I don't remember ever going to Sedona as much as we have in the past few weeks. Frankly, I am sick of being cold. Sedona promises weather that is usually 20 degrees warmer & that my friends is what I am after...warm! It's just a short 45 minute drive down the switch backs & poof you are in a beautiful place that is warm & sunny!

This past weekend Don & I went down to Sedona on Saturday & came back Sunday. We didn't get there until 4:30 pm so we had to curtail our hike so we were done before sunset. The guy at the hotel desk suggested the Airport Mesa Loop. It's a 3.5 mile loop around Airport Mesa (go figure). It starts across the street from the Airport Vortex & ends at the Vortex. To say this loop is rocky is an understatement. It's also filled with prickly pear cactus...tons of it! The trail is clear, just don't stumble...

This trail gives you a 360 degree view of Sedona in all it's beauty. It's pretty spectacular!

Prickly Pear Cactus. If you have the patience, the jam & syrup you can make from the fruit of this cactus is delicious! But getting those spines off sucks!

I know. You're thinking, "she just said that trail was rocky...doesn't look rocky to me". That's because I couldn't take photos when it was rocky...didn't want to fall into all those cacti that were filled with what I imagined to be thousands of snakes...don't even ask about the snakes. I am a freak about them (and I don't mean that in a good way).

I tried a few times to get that flower in focus...I was shooting with my phone, so I'll cut myself some slack. (I think it's Indian Paintbrush...anyone know?)

Little baby cactus blooms...I am just facinated with what happens to cactus lately.

I have no idea what this is. Don & I thought it was a Century Plant, but I just googled it & I'm pretty sure it's not. Any ideas?

The backside of the trail. What a view!

Ocotillo. These are so cool when they bloom! In the winter they look like dead sticks...something you should pull & toss. Then they start to leaf out & get these pretty little blooms.

The backside of the Vortex. Since Wikipedia is the keeper of all that is true & accurate on the internet (ha! I'm kidding!) I'll let them explain a vortex to you here. Turns out Wikipedia is greatly lacking in Sedona Vortex info. Here's a much better explanation. I am not sure if i believe the Vortex's really have any energy or if they're a tourist trap. I sat on top of that big rock for 45 minutes, even mediated a little....nothing. It was absolutely breathtaking & stunning, so I'll go back. And if I happen to get a little Vortex energy on the side? That'll be a bonus.

This wasn't even the best part...that I didn't get a photo of.

I think I'm going to start rating our hikes on a scale of 1-10 for how hard they were. Don & I thought that this trail was relatively easy. Let's go with 4.5. Wait til I tell you about Bear Mountain...in the meantime:

A random bike at our hotel (we stayed at Sedona Super 8...it was clean & the nicest Super 8 I've ever stayed in). I love all the bumper stickers & the teddy bear on the handle bars.

Mermaids

2013-04-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

I seem to have mermaids on the brain lately. I painted this little gal for a card I made for my Love Notes pen pal.

I hope she likes her!

Painting with watercolor has been fun a fun adventure! I learn something new every time I pull the watercolors out. I can't wait to see where this takes me.

Wall Art

2013-03-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I came across this blog post showcasing transforming a wall with stencils. The photos of the project just made me want to stencil every room in our house. Stencils have been around forever, but honestly, I had visions of lame grapes & leaves so I never paid them any attention. Until that blog post. Royal Designs makes some fun, modern stencils! It was hard to narrow it down to one, but I ended up getting this one. It's called Endless Circles. Love it! But I had to convince Don that it would look good in our bedroom. It took convincing because he had to repaint the bedroom wall a light ivory color (it's the color we use on all the trim in our house)...and then we needed to stencil over it with the color that already on the walls (I didn't want to change the color, surprise, surprise!). The result is a wall that I love. The process? Took way longer than I had hoped. I had hoped it would take 3 hours...it took 7 1/2. Yes, you read that right. 7 1/2 hours.

Here's a little bit of the process (bad light & cell phone photos...I didn't want to get paint on my camera, sorry):

You have to start somewhere, right? Painters tape, spray adhesive, a small paint roller, a level, Behr Spa paint & an entire Saturday are all you need.

The paint has to be rolled on really lightly. So lightly that it's supposed to dry instantly. I never quite achieved that. If the paint is too heavy, it seeps under the template. Too light & you have to keep going over it. I suspect going over it twice is why it took so long, but it was necessary.

Lining up the stencil wasn't hard at all. Leveling it was a little more challenging.

When I started the first row I really wasn't sure if I was supposed to flip the stencil or keep it the same orientation. I flipped it once...and in the second row, I regretted it. It all worked out, just a little extra challenge.

Oops...haha!

Another oops....

Am I ever going to be done? I'm afraid not!

The ceiling & corners were the hardest part. I ended up free handing the ceiling line...I just couldn't handle that floppy stencil.

Not perfect, but I don't think anyone will notice. Please ignore the popcorn ceiling. It's not a project I care to tackle right now. (Kendall's on me all the time to remove it...notice I didn't say "Kendall offered to help us remove all that nasty popcorn." Just saying.)

This is the worst of the paint mess. I kinda loved that the paint got so thick I just peeled it off.

I could not have done the corners without Don. Well, I could have, but there would have been a great big meltdown. Thank you, honey!

Will I do this again? Yes! I'm thinking of doing this one in my living room. On the wall with all the photos.

And dad, if you're still reading, the next project is a green house made out of whatever we can find...windows, siding, etc. I'll need your help for that one!

Playing

2013-03-27T21:34:00.001-07:00

At the insistance of Kim, I have started scheduling creating on my Google Calendar. I added reminders for blogging & meditation, too. But like most over zealous things, I over scheduled it & couldn't live up to my own very high expectations. At first I found my inability to keep my own appointments incredibly frustrating. Now I'm ok with it (must be the meditation!) but it's something I need to refine. I have had to realize that i don't have to do something every single day. A few times a week is just fine.

This week I've been playing with watercolor & sketching in my little book. It has created such a mind shift for me. My doodles may not be stellar but they've opened up some forgotten part of my brain that seems to be essential for my survival. This is not melodrama. It is real. When I create I am happier & dare I say, content. When I don't create, life kinda sucks.

Here are a couple things I've created recently (they're in process). My big painting that i showed a few posts ago is awaiting a weekend that isn't packed full of activity...maybe this one...

Little Horse Trail

2013-03-25T20:45:00.001-07:00

Saturday Don & I headed down to Sedona with our friend Nate for a day of exploring. Who knew Nate had never been to Sedona? Crazy! We hopped in Kendall's cute little convertible (not that we could put the top down...freaking cold I tell you!) & headed down the switchbacks. Along with about a dozen people on bikes that were loaded down with gear...on a teeny, tiny road, filled with tourists. That was eventful!

Our destination, Little Horse Trail, was just before the Bell Rock Trail, between Sedona & the Village of Oak Creek. Both are pretty fabulous & easy to follow. I'd say there are less people on Little Horse, but then I didn't see jeep tours on Bell Rock...

I love how well marked the Sedona trails are.

I'm that girl who's always making shapes out of clouds in her mind. I do the same with rocks. Do you see the pansy in the left third of this photo? Seriously? You have to see it there!

First signs of spring...yes!

Stunning, no?

The sky was totally that blue. (I don't have time to edit photos & make you believe it was that blue when it really wasn't.) And look! The Easter Bunny! Don't tell me you don't see him....

Those wee little people are Nate & Don, heading to the top of Chicken Point to check out the view. Stunning, I'd imagine. I was perfectly fine sitting on my behind watching them climb that rock. I have a huge fear of heights...and sliding down sandstone on my ass.

An incredibly blurry image of Nate & Don...egads. Sometimes I should not have a camera in my hands.

More signs of spring at the Chapel of the Holy Cross (now that is one spectacular church!). Pretty as a postcard, don't you think?

People make wishes & toss money on the rocks surrounding the chapel. Some of it just rolls down the parking lot, down the hill...maybe that's why there are mansions down there. Ha!

I'm a sucker for mosaics. This one is at the entrance of the chapel.

I don't really have any good photos of the inside, but can tell you it is small. Teeny, tiny. Down below is a sweet gift shop filled with all sorts of religious things...crosses, nativities, etc. I bought two St. Anthony charms because my friend Doris says that when you have lost something, St. Anthony will find it for you. Can't hurt, right?

Spending the day with Nate was so fun! He is adventurous, funny & sweet. When was the last time a 15 year old wanted to hang out with you? I can't remember when! So for Nate to want to come along was a treat, as well as a bit of an ego boost! Everything we showed him he showed genuine interest. It was truly a great day! Thank you, Nate!

Now, if he'd only told us he was turning into a popsicle on the way back....Flagstaff may just be a little too cold yet for a convertible....

Oh & Beth, this would be a good trail for us when you come to visit...though I think I liked Soliders Pass Trail better (but it is much, much longer).

Nephews

2013-03-19T19:31:00.002-07:00

What a lovely surprise to hear that my nephew David, who lives in Tulsa, OK was going to be at my mom's house for a few hours today! It was so good to see him! And now I have all my little nephews & nieces with their hearts for my wall. It felt funny not having him there...now it is complete!

David is 11. He was born on Don & my 10th wedding anniversary. I decided this year (our 22nd anniversary) we'll be going to Tulsa to spend his birthday with him. I've missed too many.

AJ, Ray & David. I love that they get along so well!

Ray made a heart at my Valentine's party...he must have had fun because he really wanted to make another one. I just noticed the goatee on his smiley face...haha!

Playing...

Before you oooh & ahhh over this photo of adorable AJ, he was hiding the booger flowing freely out of his nose. I swear that kid is the biggest snot producer in the country!

Goofball!

This is Nick, David's brother. He is a handful & pretty hilarious! The drawing? Yeah, that's Arizona.

So glad I got to spend part of my day with these adorable boys!

Found Love

2013-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I almost missed out on these great finds today...not the way I normally go when I'm done at the rec center at lunch, but I was drawn to go a different way. Here's what I found:

You'll be seeing these (or variations of these) again...they ignited a spark of creativity!

Lazy Sunday

2013-03-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

After Saturday's mini road trip I thought we could take it easy Sunday. Don wanted to go to Sedona & hike, but when you only have two days off & you go go go all weekend Monday morning is hell. So instead we went to my favorite breakfast spot, MartAnne's.

MartAnne's is this fabulous little mexican food breakfast/brunch place downtown. It used to be much smaller, but they just moved into a bigger spot. I love the food...i adore the decor (all Emma Gardner skeleton paintings). The service...hit or miss. Yesterday it took an hour to get our food. Good thing it was a lazy day! I had Don snap this photo of me only because I wanted a photo of the roller derby pin up girls. Artists tend to not like their work photographed so we snuck this in. I had hoped to get the girl with the unicorn in it for Kelly & Danielle to see, but I didn't want to risk getting busted (the artist is also a waitress there).

After MartAnne's we lingered around downtown, stopping by Aspen Sports (who happened to be having a killer sale on some things we needed) & then Seasoned Kitchen for a new french press.

In the past 6-8 months, we've managed to break four Bodum glass french presses. If they didn't make such good coffee I would have thrown in the towel & replaced our coffee maker. When I busted the last one on Friday I decided it was time for a tough one...one we couldn't break. Ended up with this Frieling Stainless Steel one. It's indestructible. Should have bought the good one to being with. It's amazing!

After coffee, we headed to Fatman's Loop at the base of Mt. Elden. It's about 2 miles of lots of switchbacks. It takes about 50 minutes to do the whole thing. I like to go up the super steep part...I'm a much better climber than descender.

The distance from the parking lot to each of these trails. There is a huge pipeline trail that connects all sorts of Mt. Elden trails. You can end up here starting out from the west side of town, if you're so inclined.

We're still a little barren from winter, but this is view of East Flagstaff from close to the top of the trail. Don & I both remarked that the trail looked completely different with nothing in bloom yet.

This just made me laugh...

When we were done, we headed to Home Depot for some paint for the bedroom. A project for Don! Then home, where I wrote a letter to my pen pal, a friend in Ohio & one in Texas & soaked in the sun. It was windy, but the sun felt so good! The chickens were hanging out with me too, in the shade on the deck.

It was truly a great weekend! Still, I could use another day off...two days are just not enough...

Road Trip

2013-03-16T20:48:00.001-07:00

Don & I took Kendall to the Phoenix airport this morning, where she flew off (sans broom, though I packed mine for her, just in case) to see Don's brother & his family. Instead of just turning around & coming right home we thought we'd take the scenic route. It's been super fun...I've been to places I've never seen before...& a trip to Trader Joe's is always fun! Here are some highlights of the day:

•The hot air balloons just north of Phoenix. I find them fascinating, but you will never see me on one...I am deathly, unreasonably afraid of heights...and snakes...see Wickenberg.

•Dutch Brothers Coffee. Don's favorite coffee. He gets a caramel annihilator...yum! I had The Kicker, which had a little kick of non alcoholic Irish to it. Pretty tasty!
•Scrapbooks Etc in Mesa. I haven't been there in years. I'd heard about all the fabric they have & was pleasantly surprised by the quality of what they carry. I bought some adorable scrapbook paper & some Heidi Swapp mists in aqua & mustard, as well as a couple yards of fabric for kitchen curtains. Just so happens I have the same fabric in a skirt I just bought from etsy. I must really love it...I couldn't even see past it to consider others.
•Cave Creek Highway. All of the saguaro cactus made my heart happy. They feel like home to me. Maybe because I spent part of my childhood surrounded by them in Tucson? Hmmmm...I don't know. They took my breath away & they're not even in bloom yet! I need to go back when they are.

•Pandora. Best road trip music ever. Started with my Gin Blossoms station & then onto my Colbie Calliat station. Love them both! I think Don tolerated them, but he was a good sport.
•Driving with the windows down. Oh my goodness have I missed being warm! Hot even!
•Wickenberg. What a cute little town! I could do without all the damn snake sculptures every freaking time I looked down though. Don may or may not be suffering temporary deafness in his right ear & loss of feeling in his right arm. Damn snakes. We had lunch at Nana's Sandwich Saloon, a BLT for me, a hot pastrami for him. Other than some questionable wilted lettuce, it was really good.
•The drive between Wickenberg & Prescott. Lovely! But the last part of that road was so twisty turny I had hard time keeping my lunch down.
•Oddly enough, road kill. We see skunks all the time in Flagstaff. Never have I seen a javalina. Two. One on either side of Prescott. I know...gross. Poor animals.
•Trader Joe's. 'Nuff said.
•The magnificent rocks between Prescott & Chino Valley. They reminde me of rock giants from a movie whose name is eluding me at the moment. They felt like at any moment they would move.
•Chino Valley. Where else would you see an emergency vet clinic right next door to a taxidermy shop? Wish I'd gotten a picture of that!
•The view of the San Francisco Peaks from Paulden. There's a storm coming into Flagstaff & it was beautiful to see from 100 miles away.
•Don hollering to get a photo of the sunset in my passenger mirror.

•Stopping on the side of the road to take photos of the peaks at sunset.

My only regret is that we didn't stop to take photos of all the weird things we saw (next time!) or bring a real camera (these are all from my iPhone): a humongous rock painted green & made to look like a frog right before Yarnell, the ape/monkey statues that were everywhere, the rusted iron elephants in Peeples Valley, etc.

Love that guy!

What?!

2013-03-15T08:09:00.002-07:00

Say it isn't so!

Any suggestions?

Painting

2013-03-12T07:59:00.003-07:00

It's been a long time since I've painted anything...or even had the desire to. I bought this 3x4 board a few years ago with the intention of painting something for my bedroom wall & never got around to it. Finally this weekend I broke the board & paints out. Don was working on the new ceramic tile in the bathroom & I thought that I should put something on the wall, you know, finally finish off that room. So I set out to paint a bunch of flowers. First I watched a video by Danielle Donaldson that totally motivated me. Then I got an email from Beth, talking about our Unearth retreat painting & poof! All of a sudden I had a the makings of a girl. Here's the start of her.

She's still not done. I need to do the detail work. I really like her...a lot! I think I liked the background better when it was bright, but we will see when I get the details done.

And Kim? Thank you for pushing on the painting. It has made all the difference. How freeing!

A few things I love this Friday

2013-03-08T06:40:00.001-07:00

I love Fridays. I love that tomorrow is a day off with no plans (a miracle). We're about to get a nice big snow storm, so hopefully, we'll be tucked away at home all day....crafting & watching movies.

I love this heart so much...I either need to figure out how to make it or find where to buy it. Makes me smile every time I run across it on my phone.

I love this self portrait attempt. I had set my Gorillacam on 10 continuous shots & the dogs & I walked towards it. It cracks me up how Maggie's paw is right there.

My redesigned wall-o-photos. Mostly new photos...and a new arrangement. The canvas in the middle was a deal off Amazon Local. It's 20x30...love it!

Changed this wall up, too. The two big photos are Kendall's senior photos. The word picture is surrounded by photos of my nieces & nephews holding their I Love You hearts. It makes me happy.

(image: oak creek market)

My new favorite destination on the road to Sedona: the Oak Creek Market at Indian Gardens. They have the best little cafe in there. Their shelves are stocked with reasonably priced snacks & drinks, much of which are local & organic. I had their Ferrari sandwich yesterday & it was heavenly. They use Sedona Fireside Coffee beans...my favorite (though I might be a little off on the name). You can buy the beans at Bookman's, but honestly, a little trip through Oak Creek Canyon will be worth your while.

Happy Friday!

Directions

2013-03-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

Another self portrait that I love:

Now if I could only take my own advice....

Happiness & Meditation

2013-03-06T15:48:00.001-07:00

A TED Talk that is worth a listen.

Sunday Hiking

2013-03-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning Don, Kendall, Audra & I headed to Sedona for a hike. I needed to be out of the snow...and out of my puffy down coat. Sun. Warmth. That's what I was after. I asked one of the coordinators at work where to go & he suggested making Soldiers Pass Trail & Brins Mesa Trail a loop. So glad I took his advice! It was beautiful! The trails were well marked, easy to follow. We spent about 3 hours on the trails...not as fast as Audra & I normally walk, but still a good pace. Here are some stops along the way:

A sink hole called Devil's Kitchen. It's much deeper than the photo shows...and that fallen rock slab is enormous!

Very well marked trails.

Carins. I'm still fascinated by them, but after our horrible Cook Stove Trail hike a few years ago, I will never believe them again. I regard them as art.

Waiting for Don & Kendall to catch up.

Audra & Dutch.

Hearts were everywhere!

We ran into a guy on top of the mesa that offered to take our photo. That's Coffee Pot in the background.

There is a lot of cactus on the trail. I bet in a month they'll be blooming with prickley pears.

I'm telling you, hearts were everywhere!

Loved these trail markers!

This is a trail I'd enjoy doing again. Maybe from the back side (up Brins Mesa) where there is quite an uphill climb.

Meditation

2013-03-06T06:25:00.002-07:00

Last night was my 5th meditation class. I have one left. Meditation sounds so wooey wooey...I can assure you, this class is not. I wish I could say after 5 weeks that I've mastered clearing my mind & focusing on my breathing, but I cannot. Last night was no exception. They call it "monkey mind" when you brain just bounces all over the place & it doesn't calm down. I must have had a monkey circus in my head last night...I just could not get the thoughts out of my head. They say that we cannot control our thoughts...I find that fascinating. For this meditation all you do is sit quietly for 20 minutes & focus on your breathing. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Ha! Some days are easier than others, but I'm learning to enjoy that 20 minutes of quiet. Even looking forward to it. Thinking that I'll explore it more. I signed up to do the Oprah/Deepak Chopra 21 Day Mediation Challenge which starts next Monday. And I hear there's a 2 day mediation retreat in Flagstaff March 16th & 17th that I may sign up for. Don't go thinking I'm going to grow dreads & move to Sedona to live in a vortex. Just trying to make living in my head a little easier.

Every time I leave my meditation class I have a sudden urge to watch this:

Haha! Maybe tonight!

Love Rocks

2013-03-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

I found this rock in Sedona on Sunday. It's a paper weight on my desk now...reminding me that love is all around. It's big & heavy & I love it!

I also brought home this little heart & gave it to my sister in law for her birthday. Her husband gave her a stun gun for her birthday...albeit a pink one...I told her if the stun gun didn't work she could hit him with the rock. Note to husbands who read my blog: stun guns are not good presents for your wife's birthday.

Self Portraits

2013-03-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

My self portrait class ended February 28th. I really enjoyed all of it. Vivienne makes you think...experiment...have fun. I did 20 of the 28 lessons. Maybe 21. Instead of posting them all at once, I think I'll show you a few here & there. I think of all of them, this is my very favorite:

I'm not someone who acts very free...but I crave the feeling. I grabbed Mia & went to the park to play. I grabbed a scarf & put my iPhone on a tripod, set the Gorillacam timer to take 10 photos at a time & just twirled. The sun was setting, which made me really more of a silhouette. I did apply a filter to this when I uploaded it to Flickr (as I did to most of my photos) & it brought out the sunset.

I tucked my phone into the waist of my yoga pants for this one.

I am a girl who loves the sun. This day it was still cold, but the sun felt oh so good!

I love this photo. It was the truth of that day. I wasn't feeling well & Kim was leaving the next day for Thailand. I was envious of her new adventure & feeling stuck in mine. This is the perfect pity party photo.

I will show you others...or I will take new ones. Who knows! If you feel the need to be inspired, keep an eye out for Vivienne McMasters online photography classes here.

Devil's Bridge

2013-03-03T21:26:00.003-07:00

I have spring fever something fierce. I'm so tired of the cold & the wind. All I want is to spend a day not wearing my down coat, even though I love it. So a couple Sunday's ago Don, Kendall & I headed to Sedona to hike to Devil's Bridge. The day was beautiful...warm! The hike was amazing!

This is the top of Devil's Bridge. It looks really unassuming...but it's a long way down! I walked out 1/2 way over the bridge & had to stop. My fear of heights got the better of me.

A safe distance from the middle.

From the middle of the bridge, looking at Kendall on the cliffs (the one ignoring me). She was totally ticked off we made her hike 1/2 mile straight uphill. So ticked she missed out on the bridge.

We almost didn't take this little off shoot trail to see it from the bottom. (Kendall chose to sit this out). In my opinion, it's the best part! (This is one of my self portraits from my Be Your Own Beloved class).

She was a little happier on the way down...

I looked for weeks for hearts for my photo class...couldn't find a single one. Now, I'm seeing everywhere. Billions of them!

I truly loved this hike! I love climbing uphill...I do not like coming back down. Scares me to death. So much so that I've started doing the stairs in the dome a few times a week to try to strengthen whatever muscles you use to go downhill. It seems to be working.

Plodding along...

2013-02-25T19:58:00.001-07:00

Blogging has not been at the top of my priority list lately. I can't say I'm any busier than usual...just lack of motivation, I guess. I've had plenty to say...probably better that most of it hasn't been written down to be held against me at a later date. Teenagerdom is is not easy to navigate for the teen or the parents. I seem to be the recipient of much of her angst. As you know, I'm not so great at letting it roll off my shoulders. The hardest part is that she wants to be an adult SO bad...but not really. And I want to let her be an adult but don't know how to back off on the mothering. {sigh} first world problems I know.

My meditation class had been going well! It's interesting. Tomorrow is my 4th class (out of 6). It's Insight Meditation & basically you sit in a "comfortable" position for 20 minutes and just breathe. When a thought pops into your head (and trust me, you can't keep them out, its called monkey brain) you ignore it & go back to concentrating on your breath. Sometimes the 20 minutes flies by...other times it feels like an eternity. I do feel some of the effects though. I feel calmer, generally. I've been listening to an audio book & find I'm actually paying attention. Thats new. Insight Meditation teaches you to live in the moment. Tonight I listened to a podcast on my Stitcher app that was Metta (its about love & forgiveness). I liked the podcast much more than just sitting quietly. I know the sitting quietly is important, but listening to the prompts made time fly...and it made me feel like I was getting it right. Last week my teachers told us about a two day Vippasana meditation retreat coming up in Flagstaff. I'm seriously considering it (its free). I'm that intrigued by it...

The other thing I've been doing is taking a 28 day self photography class, Be Your Own Beloved. I find it to be so inspiring to see the types of photos the other 120 people are taking...how they view themselves...their creativity. I am seriously loving it! Even loving it as I do, I find some prompts to be very difficult & I put them off. I'm either really caught up or really behind. Today I'm really behind. And I'm ok with that.

Here's a photo from my walk tonight with Maggie & Ori. I went with the intention of taking photos for my class...ended up playing instead:

Love

2013-02-10T14:26:00.001-07:00

Don & I have been hosting a kids crafting day for the past couple of holidays. We love spending a few hours doing fun stuff with the kids! I'm pretty sure they had a blast too! This Saturday we: made paper collage picture frames out of old game boards, cut out big hearts & decorated them, made valentines, decorated sugar cookies, melted rolos into pretzels, dipped strawberries in chocolate, watched old Disney movies (The Aristocats & Fern Gully (not Disney)) & just had fun.

The kids really seem to enjoy our time together...I know Don & I do! It's fast paced, energetic & filled with laughs. What's not to love?

Happenings...

2013-02-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in another post that I signed up for a self portrait class & an insight meditation class. I'm on day 5 of the self portraits, though I skipped day four. Sometimes the topics are uncomfortable, but more than that, I was just in a funk & didn't want to do it. Maybe tomorrow I'll catch up. I do love the Flickr group & seeing all these wonderful self portraits. They are pretty amazing!

As for the meditation class, it started tonight. I honestly think it will be wonderful! The people leading it are normal, everyday people with this clam presence...I strive for that! Tonight we did two meditations, just short ones. I thought the intruding thoughts & random twitches were going to drive me nuts! But maybe not... Our "homework" is 20 minutes of meditation once or twice a day until the next class. 20 minutes of quiet? Yes, please!

Here are a couple of my self portraits from today:

Menu Planning, Week 4

2013-02-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

I'm learning that as much as I plan for meals on Friday night, something happens & we end up eating out. This past Friday, Don & I went to Pato Thai for yellow curry. It was a late lunch, so dinner wasn't necessary. I'll keep Fridays on there a few weeks longer & we'll see what happens.

All of the recipes we had last week were super tasty! Obviously, we didn't get to eat the Chicken with Basil, but all the others were outstanding! Here's this weeks menu:

Chipotle Steak Salad

Lazy Sunday Caserole

Greek Quesadillas

Mongolion Beef

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

This week has some oddities in our schedule...so we'll see how it goes. I really do like this menu planning! And I love that we're not eating the same stuff week after week. We had the Chipotle Steak Salad last night...tasty!