The Hills are Alive (more CO pics)

Reminds me of The Sound of Music. I can hear Julie Andrews belting out her tunes right now.

Jon and his Colorado buddies, and Max-ie!

The crew on a lovely hike through lovely trees with lovely gear.

Cottonwood Hot Springs - Colorado

I'm sure he's having a great time..the water's boiling, that's all.

Jon and I went by Cottonwood Hot Springs in Colorado a few months ago and it was such a neat place. I'd never been to anything like that before and it was immensely relaxing and enjoyable. We arrived at about 6 or 7pm, left a while later for dinner, and came back at night to watch the sky and hopefully see some stars. The place was open until midnight which I thought was awesome. We didn't stay late enough at the springs to see a sky full of stars but we did eventually get to see a night sky FILLED with stars at 3am while camping on a mountainside. I'd heard about these so-called night skies filled with glittering stars touching end-to-end but had never witnessed it until then. I'm from the city so I'd never seen such a phenomenon of stars; it was incredible. I wish I'd had all my friends and family around to experience it together. So great.

Yowzers. That really was some of the hottest water I'd ever been in. Maybe it wasn't really water. Maybe it was really fire. Add a couple of carrots and potatoes. I mean, it was cookin'!

Just a long shot so you can see the basic layout of the place. I believe they had a total of 5 pools with temperatures varying from fire-hot to cold (which is why no one's in the front-most pool pictured here. Everyone's in the back getting some heat therapy...)

This is a shot I took from the pool. It's not the most gorgeous shot taken while in Colorado but it is the one taken while at the hot springs and I wanted to use it instead of some other really pretty shots taken elsewhere.

So I was laying on my back against some flat rocks in the medium-hot pool looking up at the sky feeling completely relaxed. Jon was in the fire-hot pool so here I was, alone with my thoughts. It was just me, the sky, and the warm water. It was so peaceful. No cares, no worries about our roadtrip (since at the time we were en-route to our new residence in Washington from Texas), no thoughts of family. Nothing. It was just me...and...God? All of a sudden I felt so close to nature and God. All God. No words to speak. Just...God. My mind tried to make words out of what I was experiencing, tried to give thanks, tried to speak of the world as it was at that moment for me. But there was nothing. Just the sky, and the water, and God revealing His mighty presence to me. Jon's always told me how he feels infinitely close to God in the midst of nature and I never really truly understood what he meant until then. All of a sudden God and nature were real and close, I could've touched the sky and God with my finger, but I just lay there, caught up in the greatness of it all.

I'd seen many beautiful places before, but there was just something about that particular moment. I listened to a sermon this morning about a pastor who'd stayed in a ridiculously gorgeous 5-star hotel next to the ocean with manicured lawns, landscapes, and pools so beautiful it was like paradise on earth. The pastor went on to explain that we were made to experience beauty and enjoy the splendor of the earth. That was the way God intended it to be. He gave us nature to enjoy. I mean, think of Adam and Eve and the paradise that was the Garden of Eden before things went awry. Though we live in a crazy, chaotic world that went down the wrong path, there are still instinctive things within us that recognize what we were originally meant for. That's why moments like the one I experienced at the hot springs are so memorable. Those experiences stick out for a reason. We were made for greater things. And one of these days we'll experience it in heaven.

Black eyes are great.

Alright. So here's the deal. Last Tuesday afternoon (7/31/07) I was standing on the hood of my Altima in the garage trying to hoist myself into the attic in hopes of finding a plastic mattress cover. Why the mattress cover you ask? I'll tell you why. Because I had 2 relatives coming late that night (2am to be exact) and with them came little Lexi who's been known to wet the bed.

I'd found out earlier that the step ladder wasn't going to do it. So after jumping up and down from the hood of my car to no avail and finding myself dangling dangerously from the tiny attic opening several feet above the car hood (a last attempt to hoist myself up into the dark hole proved futile since it required the equivalent to a chin up and my arm strength just isn't there yet) I finally borrowed a ladder from the leasing office since that last "dangling, flailing leg thing" scared me just a bit and made me think, "Hmm...I just might break something. I don't think this is good..."

So where did that sweet undereye bruise come from?...Well, I'll tell you where it came from. The leasing manager lady's last words to me as I left the office with a giant ladder tucked under my arm were, "Don't hurt yourself!"

"I'll try not to!" We both giggled & laughed as I went on my merry way.
Good 'ole Altima was in the way of the ladder so I got in the car, backed it up a bit, and got out of the car, ready to get this show on the road and get that stupid mattress cover.

So. Did I fall off the ladder?
No.
Of course not.
That would be completely typical.

What I did was get out of the car and
BAM!
Rammed my FACE right into Jon's stupid mountain bike hanging upside down from the ceiling right next to the driver's side door.
-Thanks a lot-
Needless to say, my "natural" reflex took over. My right hand instinctively flew to my right eye as it scrunched up complete with an "AH!! S**T!!"
It hurt.
It stung.
It hurt and stung.
The first thing I thought was, "I'm gonna get a black eye."
And if I was gonna get a black eye, it'd better be a good one. What's the use of having one if you're not gonna go all out? I'm talkin' black and green crater all around the eye socket and into the cheek.
But noooo.
So all that for this teeny little football player undereye stripe.
And yes, I got the darn mattress cover.
And yes, Lexi did pee on the bed.
----
Above names have been changed

Northwest Skies

I must admit the clouds here are spectacular and we do see a lot of colorful sunsets from our townhome's living room window and deck. Pretty lucky to get the spot we did at the the tallest point in the complex and to have such a view in the back.
Although...I keep hearing about a time when every day is rain, rain, rain...
I guess no more sunsets then, huh? ...looking forward to that....

Texas

Yeah right. I wish. One of these days I will.

Although....this was actually shot on a plane going from Portland's PDX to Dallas/Ft. Worth's DFW Airport back when Jon and I were looking for a place to live in our transition from good 'ole Texas to the Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR area. Two completely different worlds...