Fam Trip

This past weekend, John's brother's family came for a visit. Kevin, Kim and Kate made the trek from East Texas by car, stopping to see the sights along the way. We had a wonderful time! Thursday night we went to the Downtown Farmer's Market and the next day we went through the Colorado National Monument. Aren't they cute!

Kate and I went off on a trail and spotted this lizard. At first it looked like a toy since it was so brightly colored, but then it scampered off into the shade where John shot this picture. Definitely real.


After our hike, which was longer than we expected, Kate was bushed.


Both of us were ready to stop the hiking in the crazy heat. We ended up taking a short cut off the trail on the main road. We're such rule breakers!


Then we drove through the monument, close to the cliff's edge. This is how I felt about Kevin's driving ... Kim went to her "happy place". (Just kidding, Kevin! You did great!)


Glamor shots of me and John. You know it's mandatory. I'll be sure to post more pix of our grand adventure with the Matthews. Stay tuned.

Cocker's Concert

Last night John and I made the trek to Hotchkiss, Colo., a town around 500 people to see Joe Cocker. He's still got it and he put on a great show. His band was incredible and the fans were definitely into the concert.

Since Joe has a ranch and makes his home in Crawford, he puts on a benefit concert every year for the Cocker Kids Foundation. CKF benefits local kids with scholarships, camps, etc.

John and I skewed to the older side, but it's not to say that there wasn't tomfoolery happening in the audience, including a bit of the "medical" marijuana. Maybe those folks were reliving the Joe Cocker concert from Woodstock.

John and I before the concert.

Joe Cocker rockin' out.

We were able to go to a meet and greet, so I took John's picture with Joe. Yeah, we're on a first name basis ...

Final Friday

Today's my final Friday I'll have to work for a couple months. Every business is feeling the pinch, and we're no different. To prevent a major shake up, my place of employment has decided to have summer hours, which means Friday's off to cut back on costs.

Now, if I were still single, I would be in panic mode. But since I'm now in a two income household, it'll all be a-okay. John was excited - and so am I - because we can take more mini vacations that we don't have to rush through.

Watch out West ... the Matthews have an extra day of play! (By the way, John has so much vacation, he can never use it all, so he's considering taking Friday's off every now and again. He's so sweet!)

Telluride, Colo

Spring is here, and John and I are back at it; traveling the state and taking in the vacation spots others plan for all year. There are pros and cons to every place you live, but this is definitely a pro.

Last weekend John and I traveled to Telluride, which is about a two and a half hour drive from Grand Junction. Driving that small distance, I felt like I was definitely on vacation because the scenery changed so drastically, from the red rocks of the desert to the green trees and mountainous landscape of this cute little Colorado mining town.

The week prior it had been incredibly hot, but the day we left for Telluride, we had all kinds of rain and hail. You can see that the picture of main street is cloudy. Usually there's a huge mountain you can see towering over the valley community.



Telluride is definitely an exclusive community. There are no chain stores or restaurants to be found. If you're in Telluride, you meant to go to Telluride. This is not a community you drive through to get somewhere else since it's so tucked away. I'm sure this is what makes it the perfect getaway for stars like Oprah and Tom Cruise.

At the end of town you can see Bridal Falls. On Saturday, this is the view we had. Even though we couldn't see the top of the mountains, it was absolutely gorgeous.

We stayed in Mountain Village, just outside Telluride, on Saturday night. The hotel was very nice and the staff was incredibly accommodating at the Inn at Lost Creek. When we got up the next morning, the skies had cleared and we saw the true majesty of the surrounding Rockies.

To get from Mountain Village down to Telluride, we took the free Gondola. It's a perfect piece of transportation and incredibly convenient; take the Gondola up to get to the grocery store and down to get to Telluride. They also had a free shuttle. John and I think we could've been the perfect trust fund kids. :)

When John is away ...

Last weekend, the long Memorial Day weekend, John was out on location the entire time, hence the cleaning of the closets. In addition I sewed up a couple things I thought I would share. The first is a bag a gal I met ordered. She said she liked purples, blues and greens, so she got her wish.

The second thing I sewed up is this skirt, with a waistband, zipper and pockets. It's been so long since I've done anything too complicated, so I had to teach myself how to sew in a zipper again. The pattern I used wasn't any help. I sewed it in and it looks okay. I'm sure it'll stay in, so I consider it a success.

Coming Clean

I'm cleaning out closets Memorial Day weekend. (I know you're jealous.) Nothing more American than going through your "stuff". Actually, my crafting closet had gotten out of hand and I couldn't stand digging through a tub of fabric anymore. Since each piece didn't have a place, it got thrown in a pile. I think I have a sufficient system. Now I have to stick to it ...

OK, it's embarrassing, but this is the only way for you to appreciate the end result.

BEFORE

AFTER

The most horrifying part is I went on to clean out the other closets, or at least get the blatant messes straightened up. Be afraid, be very afraid.