Red Rocks Amphitheater

Red Rocks Amphitheater

uyguguygu   06.44   Comment  

The other day I picked up an iced coffee and a Gluten Free donut and headed down to Red Rocks Amphitheater to have breakfast to. I've been trying to eat breakfast in interesting places these days and I thought Red Rocks would be a great addition to my list!

Red Rocks is a really busy place even when there's no concert going on! There are lots of tourists who come to visit and take pictures, it's a prime destination for people who want an outdoor workout (running the steps at Red Rocks is considered a must-do workout for those of us who want to get in shape out here!), families running around, day camps with kids in matching t-shirts hiking through, and couples hanging out and chatting. Even in the morning this place is crawling with people. 

I really like going to Red Rocks because of how open it is when nothing is going on. You can climb up on the stage, hike through the rock formations, and climb the steps for the generous views. There are some great hiking trails that wander through the area and I've often started mountain biking at Green Mountain or Matthews Winters and ended up making a little stop at the amphitheater just to look around. 

***

The tribal print leggings are by k-one. I bought them impulsively and really had a hard time styling them but I think I finally figured it out. The silk shirt and sandals are by Madewell (both on sale!). The turquoise is all vintage. 

The Desert in Bloom

The Desert in Bloom

uyguguygu   14.43   Comment  

We went out to Moab, Utah for the holiday weekend at the end of May. I have never been to Moab on an overcast, rainy weekend but this turned out to be the most visually dynamic trip I've ever taken out there. In contrast to the harsh, direct light that is typical of Moab in Spring, the clouds acted like a soft box and the colors of the red rock and wild blooms changed as the sky changed throughout the day.

We camped in the desert outside of Moab and arrived just in time for the sky to clear up for a brief moment. I saw the Milky Way splashed across the sky and a meteor shower sparkling and streaking above me until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. The second day it rained like crazy, with all six of us hiding in a car during a torrential downpour with epic lightening strikes. Right before the rain shower I took a quick walk with my sister-in-law and we photographed everything we saw blooming. Finally, on the third day it was overcast and cleared up around the time we left. We got to see the clouds rise out of the canyons, hiding just the very tops of the mesas and rock formations, forming islands in the sky.

Saturdays at the Barn - Barbour, Horses, and a Sweet Little Corgi Puppy

Saturdays at the Barn - Barbour, Horses, and a Sweet Little Corgi Puppy

uyguguygu   08.28   Comment  

I've been lucky enough to double the amount of riding I've been doing this month. This means I get to spend much of my Saturday morning at the barn with all the various people who make up that precious community, the horses, and the occasional guest star, like my trainer's 9 week old corgi puppy who thought walking across the piled cavaletti was the most amazing thing he had ever experienced!

***

Dressing for the barn means function and form - while this barn doesn't have a dress code or serious expectations about what we wear I still feel it's important to both look nice and make sure my clothes stand up to the beating they get when I'm there and help me be a more effective rider. With one horse I wear gloves, with another I don't because of how I want the reins to feel. I dress in layers and wear protective clothing like a helmet and halfchaps. Today I'm wearing Ariat Paddock Boots, Tuffrider Breeches (like always...), Dublin Halfchaps, a very old sweater from the GAP, my trusty Barbour Beadnell, and Betsy Johnson sunglasses.

I am also wearing two of my vintage turquoise bracelets we've picked up on various trips and a wonderful leather one with an equestrian theme from Wild Horse Feathers. I've taken to wearing it almost every day and have gotten a lot of great compliments and comments on it, both around and at the barn. 

Summer Sweetness - Part Two

Summer Sweetness - Part Two

uyguguygu   12.47   Comment  

Summer is drawing to a close - I finished my internship yesterday and on Monday I start training for the new district. Oh my goodness! This summer has absolutely flown by and has been so jam packed and busy. We hit the ground running by flying to Alaska the day after I finished up with my school year, I started my internship the day after I got back, and I start school three and half days after my internship. 

Despite this, there has been so much time to play! When I think of all the amazing things that I have done this summer the thing that comes to mind is gratitude - simple gratitude for all that has been given to me, for all the happiness I have. 

What are you grateful for this summer? 

 

It goes without saying that all of these pictures were done by Jessica Triggs. 

*** 

The Hair and Makeup was done by me. 

*** 

The shirt is vintage, repaired quickly before the shoot after sitting under my bed for almost three years. The scarf and shoes are vintage, too. The shorts are by the talented Anna Allen.

Farm Scenes and a Word of Advice

Farm Scenes and a Word of Advice

uyguguygu   20.59   Comment  

There is something to learn from everyone, that I know is true. 

I used to work with this man when I was restoring antique textiles who I learned so much from simply from saying good morning to and asking how his morning was every day.

"Every day above ground is a good day!" he would exclaim honestly as we filed in to start our days of quiet, solitary work. 

It's easy to learn gratitude from someone with that sort of relentlessly positive attitude. Thank you, friend, for teaching me the glory of morning and the worth of work. With that approach to life how could I possibly ever lose?

(More pictures from the farm, as shot by Jessica Triggs!)

Under the Shadow of Denali

Under the Shadow of Denali

uyguguygu   17.29   Comment  

It's so wonderful to blog about the trip after you get home because it's kind of like reliving the trip, in a way. You get to reflect on it when all is said and done, and really think about the way it went. 

We left Anchorage and drove to Denali National Park. The sky was so blue, Southwest blue, the color of the turquoise found in bracelets out here, that it was startling and almost oppressive. I hadn't expected it to be so hot or humid.  

The roads up there have lower speed limits than the roads we have here so it felt like we didn't so much drive to Denali, we ambled. And I think it was a good thing. We stopped wherever we wanted. We took in the view again and again and again, and we watched as Denali loomed closer and closer, finally becoming clear in the distance, floating on that blue sky like a mirage or a dream or a reflection of something bigger than everything.

"That," JR said to me at one stop where we looked at it "is bigger than anything I've ever seen that's been made by a person." And indeed it was, towering over us, omnipresent in the way that only God's creation can. 

After we got into the car I thought to myself, "It's good to be awed. It's healthy. We don't do it enough." I thought about what awe was, about awe as a transformative process. To be awed is to allow ourselves to be humbled and that's a tough thing to do. Humility, at it's core, is making ourselves lesser to become greater people and I don't want to be lesser. I struggle with that and it is a continual process I have learned to at least allow myself to be humbled by the experiences I have and the people I love, and yes, even the things I see.