New Year, New Inspirations

I just watched Julie & Julia last night with my family. It was a better movie then I thought it would be. It inspired me to get in gear. I wouldn't say I'm not a finisher. I'm a finisher, but I don't think I finish things to the best of my ability. I have all great intentions, but things just never work out. I was tossing and turning this morning at 5:30AM, not only due to my back and neck pains from falling down some stairs yesterday, but also to all the projects I want to do. Then I got to thinking about my blog and how I severely neglected it since this summer. I have had many adventures during this past semester that I could have shared. Adventures through projects, things I've seen, and inspirations I have found. So, time to combine this blog with my design blog and keep things flowing. With logging in this morning I noticed I have more followers then I thought I had and that I possibly do have some great things to share. So, look out! More things are to come.

3.5

Only 3.5 weeks left of being spoiled by the Colorado landscape. I'm sad to go, but also excited to see my friends. It's nice to get messages from you guys saying how much you miss me. It means a lot to me. But, I should not be thinking about leaving already. I still have so much to do! This Colorado adventure is not quite over yet.

Tomorrow morning I am getting up bright and early to run and also meet up with John and Susan for a trip into the mountains to check out some land. From my understanding, it is somewhere up in Woodland Park. Hopefully we will be passing the Donut Mill! That would be quite the treat and Susan and John have yet to eat there! Unbelievable!
So, I am looking forward to a nice day tomorrow. Those two are a lot of fun to be with.

Tonight, I just watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It wasn't too bad of a film. I enjoyed how proper everyone acted in the movie. After the movie I practiced the guitar for quite some time. I have been getting better, but as with anything, it is a slow process. I decided to go to the beginning of the book and start transitioning between notes with only play notes with one finger. So, after I get the notes down with using just one finger, I'll add in all the fingers to play the notes and hopefully I'll be better at transitioning.

Again, another wonderful, funfilled day full of learning.

A storm of Rustic Bread and Eggplant Lasagna and red wine

Another week in the real world. This week has been very eye opening and has helped me know to a certain extent what I would like to do once I graduate. But, I will always be exploring my many options.

After work I stopped by the new Sunflower Farmers Market that opened up in town. A great store with great prices for organic and local food. I picked up some eggplants, tomatoes, and sourdough bread.

I came home, turned on some music and just started cooking away. I used a recipe off of the site called vegan yum yum. It's alternating layers of grilled bread, tomato sauce, and olive oil baked eggplant slices. I had that with a wonderful glass of red wine. A nice storm accompanied me at dinner with lots of hail. You could hardly see out to the backyard it was coming down so hard.

My mom knitted this lovely sweater for me. It is made with hand dyed yarn from Japan. I think the colors make it look like a landscape. It such a beautiful sweater and I can wear it in the colder and warmer months.

Early morning breeze, scuffed knees

Today has been filled with nothing but adventure. I woke up at 5:30 this morning to something hitting my bedroom window. I saw a hawk above the window well, very still and cocking its head back and forth. It was not making a noise, which was puzzling since I kept hearing a banging noise. Then 'boink'! A young pigeon plastered itself against the window. Then again and again. You could just see it saying "Oh please let me in! For the love of god, do you see this hawk's beady eyes?"
So, I walked upstairs in a daze and found Aunt Mary in her writing room and proceeded to stumble over my words to try and tell her the activities happening at my window. She finally gave up on trying to decipher what I was saying and just said, "Let's go down and just check this out". By the time we had got to the window, the hawk had left and the pigeon was up against the corner, still as a statue pretending he was not there.
When Uncle Pete woke up he climbed down the window well and retrieved his pigeon. It turns out he is the runt of the batch and can't fly so well. He seemed to be okay. Uncle Pete said it looked like the hawk had gotten him at least once. There was a little bit of blood on his head, but nothing more then that.

After all of that excitement, uncle Pete and I packed our packs and pedaled away to work on our bikes around 6:30AM. We could not have picked a better morning for a ride. There was a nice cool breeze and a blue sky filled with clouds. The first few miles of the ride were brutal. We would pedal up a big hill and only coast down a little hill before the next hill. It was a constant roller coaster. At one point I wasn't so sure if I would make it. I was behind uncle Pete and it looked like he was dominating those hills. Until, he had pulled over to wait for me to catch up. I slowly conquered the hill and met up with him. Both of us talking inbetween gasps of air. So we took a little rest and dominated the rest of the hills like true gladiators. We pedaled through town for a bit until we reached the Santa Fe trail. A beautiful red graveled trail that stretches for 40 some miles I believe. The trail was full of wildlife and little streams of water. The Air Force Academy is in Colorado Springs. We saw about four or five parachuters above us. It was quite a site and I wish I had my camera on me. Maybe next time I'll catch them. They jump just about every day. I usually see them on my way to work. It's fun to try and find a pencil dot of a person jump out of the plane.

Eventually the trail splitted in two and I heard uncle Pete behind me say something along the lines, "this way". So I tried to turn around, but turned to sharp and just bit the dust. He was just trying to tell me that he had to take that trail to get to his work. So I scuffed up the knees pretty good and rode the rest of the way to my work. I made great timing and got to work around 8:45 AM. Thank goodness work has showers, otherwise I would have been one stinky person. I felt very accomplished and downed a banana and some strawberries when I got to work. I was extremely hungry.

Our bike ride was around 26.4 miles! The longest and hilliest ride I have ever been on.
Aunt Mary was on call today as our first aid team. Luckily we didn't quite need her. But, she came in handy. After work we were suppose to ride and meet up at this great bar called Trinity. Right before I was about to get off of work that unusualy Colorado weather kicked in and started pouring down rain. It didn't seem like it would be one of those 10 minute showers. So I called Aunt Mary to see if I could be picked up. Here she had uncle Pete on her cell phone and me on the house phone. Uncle Pete was soaked and waiting under a dry spot. So once each of us got picked up we all headed to Trinity.


It was a happening place tonight. The entire parking lot was full and the bar packed with all sorts of people enjoying every aspect of Trinity. We decided to sit out on the patio and enjoy the freshly watered earth. We ordered a few drinks and all sorts of great food. BLT sliders, Tuscan platter, and Vegan buffalo wings that are absolutely to die for.

Ace Pear cider. Such a beautiful drink all around.

It was a bit chilly.

The accomplished bikers!

The scuffed knee.

(Don't worry Mom,

this wound won't get infected!)

We then came home and watched an episode of Sherlock Holmes on PBS. And now I am tired and starting to feel a bit achy in the legs. Hopefully they won't hurt too bad tomorrow. We are having the neighbors Susan and John over for finger foods and drinks tomorrow night. So I am looking forward to another great weekend with family and friends. Happy 4th of July!

A weekend in Denver and Boulder

We left Saturday morning around 9:45 AM to head up north to Denver. We were meeting up with friends of Aunt Mary and Uncle Pete's at a Chinese restaurant. We all had tickets to go to the Botanic Gardens of Denver for a Japanese Tea Ceremony. We could not have asked for better weather. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze that touched us. The gardens were full of beauty that stretched on and on. At the back of the garden underneath a collage of green and through a small bamboo gate was the tea house. Leading up to the tea house are stepping stones. It is very important in their culture to only step on these stones. Especially when you walk up to take a bath before entering the tea house.

Taking a bath consists of walking up the stone path to a rock that has a puddle of black stones surrounding its base and a bamboo is coming off the top of the rock. The water runs through the bamboo shoot and lands in the top of the rock. From here you take the bamboo ladle and scoop up a cup full of water. First you rinse your right hand, then your left, then pour the water into your right hand, put the water in your mouth to rinse the mouth.

The Bath.

After taking a bath we then were allowed into the tea house. It had a great floor, which I hope to have in my studio one day. It was concrete with polished black stones stuck in it. The tea house had sliding windows for the walls which allowed for a nice and peaceful breeze to flow in. One of the Japanese instructors said that a tea house was suppose to be a place were you felt relaxed and leave refreshed. It certainly does. Everything is jut so peaceful. The tea house was built in Japan and then the builder took it apart and traveled with it to Colorado and reassembled it.

Outside of the tea house.

The door where the host comes in and out of.

The stone is where you sit and take off your shoes.

We had to wear white socks in order not to get the tatami mats dirty.

We were served the best green tea ever in these Japanese bowls. Before we are served the tea and while the host is making the tea we eat sweets. There was a crispy sweet of some sort and then a powdery texture ball sweet.Everything about the tea ceremony is just about enjoying the present of one another. You do don't converse and the guest takes there time to observe the aesthetic work of everything from the scroll, flower arrangement, the pot that holds the tea, and the tea bowls.

After the Tea House, we traveled about 30 minutes or so to Boulder. We stopped at the paper store called Two Hands Paperie. It's a great paper store that has journals of all sorts, stationary, pens, paper, books, wax seals, and so much more. It is hard to not find something you like there.

Then we headed up the street into a great book store. This is how all bookstores should be. Old hardwood floors, wooden book shelves from floor to ceiling just full of books. After getting our fill of books, we needed to fill ourselves up with some food.

We found a great place called The Corner Bar. They had great food and a great patio to sit on. However, our server just did not understand our friendliness.

Aunt Mary picked the best dessert of the night.
A chocolate torte with dark chocolate ice cream accompanied by figs.

A nice big hat

When we got to the hotel Uncle Pete was so excited because they sold great beer at the front desk! You should of seen his face. He was like a 5 year old in a candy store. So, we went down to the desk and got us some brews. The rest of the night we enjoyed the luxury of cable television and watched Independence Day.

We enjoyed a lovely Sunday brunch at a Mexican restaurant. The made the best mojitos and margaritas. We are going to try and duplicate them one day. After eating we had gone into this wonderful art gallery. I struck up a conversation with one of the artists who sells her jewelry there. She has a studio just outside of Boulder and gave me her number and told me to stop by anytime and she would love to show me her work. So sometime in July I plan on going up there to check our her studio!

Strawberry Mojito!

We left Boulder around 3 and stopped by the guitar store so Uncle Pete could check out his dream guitar again. We all just sat and listened to him play and the guys that worked there were just prepping for Uncle Pete to buy the guitar. They grabbed the case from the back and were just waiting to see what the outcome would be. Well, you could tell that Uncle Pete fell in love with the guitar. So we all left Boulder with all sorts of goodies and smiles on our faces.

Friday 26

When I had got home from work on Friday, Uncle Pete had done what looked like two days worth of work on the small pond in the back yard. Most of the plants he had even planted around the water feature.

We then decided to go out to eat to one of my favorite restaurants in Palmer Lake called, Bella Panini. It is a small Italian restaurant that is always full of great people, wonderful food, and a refreshing patio to sit on. We were quite the entertainment of the night. All three of us had worn our glasses there. At first people gave us looks, but then we had people start commenting on them. One group of people asked me to take their photograph because they just loved our glasses and asked where we had gotten them from. It was a joy to tell the that they were from elope and that I am a designer there!

Aunt Mary has never finished a dish at Bella's before...Congratulations!

Our waiter, Matt, was kind enough to humor us and take a picture.

Wahoooo it's Friday!

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I am so excited that it is Friday! Plus, I got paid today, so I am ready for the weekend. It is hot and sunny today, but definitely more bearable then Ohio weather. This morning Aunt Mary made fruit smoothies for breakfast. These smoothies are the right way to start any day. So with a smoothie in my belly and the sun shining I am ready to go to work!

Thank goodness for no humidity in Colorado. It's nice and warm, but not sticky, and there is a nice breeze. Especially tonight, it is actually chilly and you need a sweatshirt to sit outside. However, I am not complaining by any means because I heard it is quite a scorcher back in Ohio. 

It is quiet around the office this week. Two of our designers have left for a design conference in Texas. We are very busy though, trying to catch up while they are away. I have been getting a lot of new products done, and checked off our product development list.

We had left overs for dinner tonight and afterwards I practiced playing the guitar. I am improving slowly, but surely. My fingertips are a bit raw. It is taking a while to train my fingers to stretch and be in the right places. 

The Road Trip Began and Ended

The weekend was the longest lasting weekend ever. Which is a great thing. I didn't want the weekend to end, and I don't think anyone else did either. We left early Saturday morning around 7AM and our first stop was at The Donut Mill in Woodland Park. By far the best donuts I have ever had. And I have tasted a lot of donuts in my lifetime. Teresa, you said I wouldn't be able to find a better glaze donut than the one you gave me before I left, but I HAVE! You are not going to believe it, but they are spectacular!

Aunt Mary and I in front of the Donut Mill

Our giant Cinnamon roll!

We stopped at this lookout to use the bathrooms.

It was odd Colorado weather on Saturday. Well I guess I should say typical Colorado weather. You never know what is going to happen. It was very overcast and quite chilly. The weather did not by any means make our trip less enjoyable. The views were spectacular regardless. Just driving and being surrounded by mountains of all shapes, textures, color, and size. At one point we were driving by the Blue Mesa Reservoir. The water was so still it looked as if it was just a giant mirror reflecting the mountains and sky above it. It looked like you could walk right through it and on to the next set of mountains.

at the lookout

We then arrived into Montrose around 12:30PM and walked around the little town for a bit looking for a good place to eat. We then decided we should drive, because we weren't finding much, but a bar called Nikos that Mary and Pete had been to before. Let's just say it was a chug a beer and get the heck out of there kind of deal.We came upon a nice Mexican restaurant that had a patio we could sit on. Ordered some food and had a nice relaxing lunch. After that Uncle Pete and I ran into the grocery store to hunt for food for dinner later. We got some colby jack cheese, crackers, dry salami, summer sausage, turkey slices, apples, grapes, and Italian Soda. Quite the campers feast. When we were walking out of the grocery store Aunt Mary had the back of the truck open ready to load groceries, and pointing at her watch saying that we were going to be late to see the PUPPIES!We quickly loaded the groceries and headed to the house where all of the puppies were.

Look at these little Aussies

Aunt Mary and Uncle Pete will go back in July when the puppies are bigger to pick one. It looks like it might be between these three though, depending on how their personalities are in a month. But they are as cute as can be.These next three pictures are from when we were traveling down the mountains through Monarch. SNOW! SNOW! It was pretty cold up there. While driving there were storm clouds brewing from the mountain. It seemed as if every mountain had storm clouds coming up from under their bases. We drove down a forestry road to look for a good camping spot. The end of the road led to a gorgeous log cabin that overlooked a small lake. Where the roof peaks, there was a beam that had a carved Eagle's head. It was a gorgeous carving. On the deck there was a gorgeous picnic table and benches that grew out of the cabin's side.

After looking around for a good camping spot we decided it was to wet and cold. With the storm clouds hovering above us it looked like it would probably snow that night.We traveled for probably another hour down the mountain into some lower country where the sun decided to shine. We came upon this beautiful camping spot with spectacular views. We couldn't have asked for a better spot.

Clouds brewing in the mountain

Aspen leaf nurtured by a nest of grass

This was our home for the night. After setting up the tarp on the back of the truck, we gathered fire wood for a good hour and struggled to build a fire. The wood was so damp, but with a few dry twigs and some starter fluid, we had a nice campfire. While Aunt Mary and Uncle Pete worked on getting the fire started I slaved away in the kitchen, which was our cooler. I sliced up some salami, cheese, summer sausage, and apple served on top of crackers. It was quite the feast that left our stomachs satisfied for the night.While enjoying the stars Mary and I had knocked two rocks off of the campfire to warm our feet on. It was the best feeling in the world. It felt like we were at a spa!

Aspen tree in the next morning

I woke up around 5:30 the next morning and watched the sunrise over the mountains. It was entertaining to watch the sun make it's way across each mountain top until it reached our campsite. The sky was glowing with orange and pink clouds. 

Uncle Pete spent the morning on a photographing everything around us. I had gone rock hunting and aunt Mary had done some exploring herself. We all met back up and had croissants with grape jelly for breakfast and just enjoyed the morning view. 

After packing up our campsite we started our journey back home, but of course had to stop for some more donuts at the Donut Mill. It is a necessity you know. 

After our fill of donuts we stopped at one of my favorite stores REI to buy some new shoes and a pair of shorts. 

We got back to the house around noon and after unloading the car enjoyed a cold drink and some snacks on the porch. I was pretty exhausted, so I took an hour nap and then did some work in the garden. 

That evening Uncle Pete gave me my first guitar lesson! I am learning on his classical guitar. I am very excited to learn a new instrument. I think my fingers have probably gained a pound of muscles from playing. So hopefully by the time I leave Colorado I will be able to play a song or two.

Another lovely evening

After a long day of designing, I came home and found Aunt Mary creating greeting cards in her studio. We then came upstairs to find something to munch on. I made some guacamole dip and aunt Mary cracked open the first bottle of champagne of the night. We were enjoying the warm and second day of dry weather. Uncle Pete joined us on the porch and we enjoyed yet another beautiful Colorado sunset and great conversation. We then had a family meeting and brought the family calendar out on the porch to plan everything we want to do before I head back to Ohio. It looks like I will be extending my stay so I can go to my work's summer Gnome Dome camping party and have a few days before I head out of here to relax. It also looks like we will be planning a trip to Montana sometime as well! I am really excited about that because I have never been to Montana and I am sure it will be beautiful there.

We then ended the night singing 

 "We are the champions - my friends 
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end - 
We are the champions - 
We are the champions 
No time for losers 
'Cause we are the champions - of the world!"

Sunday June 14th....Hiking Day!

There is so much to describe about this hike to Devil's Head, that it will have to wait until tomorrow morning to write about! I hope you enjoy the photographs in the meantime.

Saturday June 13

I finally have an internal alarm clock. So even though I went to bed late, I was still up at 6AM, as if it was a work day. Everyone was still sleeping so I spent the morning writing letters and feeding meal worms to the blue birds out front. They have a nest in one of the bird houses my aunt built. So every morning and night we feed them a couple hand fulls of worms.

I finally went on a run. I was waiting until I adjusted to the altitude a bit. I ran a mile in around 8 minutes and didn't get sick from the altitude.

After my run I made some ciabatta bread. One of aunt Mary and uncle Pete's nephew's was turning 3. So, we were making food to bring to the picnic. The picnic was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day and extremely windy. Uncle Pete flew one of his kite's which was neat to watch.

After the picnic one of their friends Yoko needed help with setting up her analog t.v. Yoko is such an interesting woman. She is a Japanese artist who seems to do every kind of art. She carves animals out of wood. These are the most gorgeous wood carvings I have ever seen. When you walk into her house, in her entry way, she has a rock garden lined with bamboo and a place for you to take off your shoes. In her living room there is a wooden plat form with bamboo matts underneath a low japanese table. Behind the table is a display of Japanese tea sets like you have never seen before. It is a very comfortable house and her hospitality is unbelievable. She will offer you every kind of food and tea. You also will not leave her house without a gift. Not only does she carve wood, but she sews, and is now making faberge eggs out of goose and ostrich eggs. They are very stunning and her handwork is immaculate. She gave Mary an egg that is lined with gold and is a music box for her birthday. I will have to take a picture sometime and put it up. I left with some oreo cookies and an invite to come over and learn how to make faberge eggs and anything else. Along with a homemade Japanese meal!

When we left Yoko's and it was storming and hailing. Here are some photos of the ice we got! It isn't summer here yet.

Friday June 12

So I haven't been keeping up with the blog this past week. I had so many fun things going on that I was just too exhausted by the time I got home. So, time to update all of you.

Friday night my Uncle's sister Michelle's family came over. Michelle, John (her husband), Naomi (their daughter) are so much fun to be around. I love that I get to see them every time I come out to Colorado. They feel like family, which is nice. We had some champagne decorated with strawberries and left the house to go to the Black Forest Community Center. The Black Rose Acoustic Society puts on concerts every other Friday. Here we sat in folding chairs, in a small one story log cabin house. It was so friendly and neighborly. At one end they were selling bake goods and coffee and then some music cd's of some of the opening performers of the night. The opening act was magnificent. He was about 19 or so years old. A shy, yet very talented guitarist by the name of Adam Gardino. Even though he was so nervous to be performing, he used his nervousness as part of his show, saying witty remarks and just his overall mannerisms. After Adam there were a couple of weak performers, but I give them a round of appaulse for trying and being on stage in front of a crowd. It is not an easy task to accomplish. Then we had the honor of listening to one of the best Harp Guitarists in the world, Stephen Bennett. He was the star of the night. He is such an amazing person and musician with long silver hair and a mustache. Glasses are perched on the edge of his nose and while he plays you are just comforted. After he played for an hour he invited Adam up on stage to play with him. Adam was honored and so nervous. But, he did a wondeful job of keeping up with Mr. Bennett and. It was a joy to be able to share Adam's excitement of playing with one of his idols. It was a very inspirational night and we all left with happy ears and souls.

When we got back to the house, Michelle had a small feast ready for all of us. We spent the rest of the night eating curry and rice, fresh fruit, drinking champagne decorated with raspberries, and laughed until 1 AM.

Colorado Disc Dogs and Sunsets

I decided to make this post as colorful as possible because this weekend was the most enjoyable and gorgeous weekend. I am sure I will be repeating this quite often, but the weather and scenery has just simply been amazing. On Saturday we left the house about 8 in the morning to drive to Fort Collins for the Colorado Disc Dog competition. On our way there we stopped at a really nice town called Castle Rock for some coffee at Crowfoot Valley Coffee. Then we continued up north through Denver and into Fort Collins. The Dog Disc competition was in a really nice park and the altitude was about 3,000 feet less, so everything was much greener. Here are some photos of the dogs in action.

This is Lily

On our way out of Fort Collins we stopped by the biggest nursery I have ever been to. I would say we only conquered about a quarter of their plants. We picked out some plants for the yard and a hanging basket that we are going to redo the chain links on in a more rustic and sculptural fashion. I bought some flowering cacti and I am going to make a little cacti garden dish for the front patio. This nursery also had tons of ceramic pots.

I think we are going to try and do a water fall

like this one in the larger pond in the back yard.

When we got home aunt Mary and I watched Lars and the Real Girl. Which is a great Sundance film. I recommend it.

SUNDAY SUNDAY!

Today we took 6 homing pigeons out on our way into town. My Uncle Pete releases them to get some exercise and somehow they always find their way back to the pigeon coop. They are really fascinating birds and they haven't quite figured out how they find their way back. When we got back home from our errands, 4 of the 6 were already back.

After releasing the pigeons we went to It's a Grind! and had some coffee drinks. Then we headed to the feed store to pick out some more plants and get started on our outdoor projects. The store didn't open until 11am, so we killed some time in the local park. We are definitely kids at heart!

We got home an unloaded the car and got to work. Aunt Mary had the front garden planting flowers in a big pot on the porch, a hanging basket, and other little plants. Uncle Pete and I started working on the smaller fountain that is going in in the backyard. Here is the beginnings of the fountain.

I picked out about 20 different rocks to fill in around the base of the pond. It's going to look so nice when it is finished. We didn't get as much as we wanted to get done because rain clouds started to roll in, so we decided it was time for a drink on the back deck. While aunt Mary and I were cleaning up uncle Pete made us the fanciest Gin and tonics I have ever had.

It was very refreshing. After our drinks, aunt Mary and I headed to the studio and worked on some creations. Tomorrow I have to finish a basket that I started out of pine needles for a calligraphy guild meeting on Tuesday. I'm kind of making it up as I go. It is looking really interesting though and it's a lot of fun to just experiment with other materials.

To end the day, the neighbors Susan and John came back from being out of town and they are quite a hoot. It was Susan's birthday and we joined them and two of their other friends for a Chinese all you can eat buffet. My first time at one, and it was stuffing and oh so good. Lots of laughter and Susan is in love with the best movies. She is a fan of Borat and I could not believe it that a person not around my age was so into that movie. I think we are going to see Burno when it comes out. After dinner we had a glass of wine of the front patio and watch the sunset. I am looking forward to many more nights like these.