So, I’ve started another blog, will you follow me there?

I won’t be posting photos of everything I cram down the hatch. I have no idea how people manage that every day but more power to ‘em; however, I will be talking about the positives/negatives of what I’m going through, my progress, workouts, health meals, plus also photography because I still enjoy that hobby very much.

While I will retain this blog and still post, I hope you’ll pop over to the new blog – My Size: Healthy – and if you follow me on Twitter I have changed my handle from @WrapdnHappiness to @MySizeHealthy.

I hope your New Year is going well so far and I hope to still see you around again!

I made it almost the whole year posting at least once a week for the WordPress Post a Week Challenge and I’ve since bombed. As I said mentioned above everything’s good, nothing horrible happened, to explain for my departure.

At the end of October I met with my nurse practitioner for an appointment and she lit the fire to join a gym. I was hesitant since my previous romps at a gym didn’t last long and locked into a contract for a year the money went down the drain; however, I found a gym and I love the place. ::cough:: I enjoy going! Unlike the few gyms I’ve joined in the past that felt like a warehouse full of equipment, smelling like B.O. and music pumping through the speakers loud enough that you cannot hear myself think. This new place for me is great. I call it the Whole Foods of gyms. I also purchased several sessions with a personal trainer to work on my knee clicking issue, which still hasn’t improved but is only annoying and doesn’t hurt thank goodness. Oh, I didn’t tell you about the knee thing–my left knee doesn’t track well and only if I go up stairs does it click. Or if I do a good, decent squat.

Before I go, I need to pat myself on the back about Thanksgiving. Friends, we had a feast, and it was pretty much a healthy one! Jon’s parents came, my mom and her husband, my brother and then Jon and I were all present. Everything was ready to go, as much that could be prepped ahead of time was done but the morning of the bird was a tad still frosty in the cavity so I had to give it a “water spa”…

I wasn’t happy about setting the turkey in my sink because then I had to decontaminate the sink with bleach, but oh well. It didn’t take long and I was able to finally mix up some softened butter and a variety of herbs where I rubbed it under the skin and all over the top. I started out grossed by the neck and other little organ gifts to pull out, but after that I got to know my turkey. I even made it wave to Jon while I was basting it with butter! <– dork

Look at that pretty turkey!

Call me silly, but I was excited to use my new All-Clad roaster I bought for a great deal through CHEFS Catalog. My husband said the pan weighed more than the 19lb bird. Which he’s probably right but oh well, I’ll have this roaster forever.

The Menu:

• Butter herb roasted turkey
• Garlic mashed potatoes with pan gravy
• Roasted veggies: Brussel sprouts, parsnips, carrots, new potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Sautéed green beans with shallots, garlic and slivered almonds
• Homemade stuffing with apples and onion
• Whole wheat rolls

Dessert:

• Apple pie – Jon’s mom
• Pumpkin pie – My mom
• Cheesecake w/ gingersnap crust & macerated cherries for topping – Me

No, the dessert wasn’t low-calorie but I had only a small piece of my cheesecake that day because I.was.exhausted. I have a lot to improve with my cheesecake making skills, but that’s okay, as long as it’s edible I don’t care how it looks right now.

Note Chester’s tail in the last photo there?

I went with a simple dining table and a centerpiece that didn’t cost a ton. Everyone had a great time and next year I need to plan for some leftover stuffing waffles.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and the holidays have been merry and bright for you as well! So tell me, what’s new? I’m behind with the blogworld.

*All photos taken with cell phone.

If you’ve never seen the Thriller movie, enjoy! If you have, reminisce and bust a move!

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween! No trick o’ treaters for our house tonight. Last year I had basically all big kids and some rude little snots who asked, “That’s it?!” when I gave them a handful of the good stuff in terms of Halloween candy. Rude much?

Small rose bush I photographed in Manitou Springs, Colorado

I didn’t do much last week. I didn’t take any of my photos for the 30 day photography challenge either. A few days I forgot and others I was just not interested and my camera stayed in the bag.

The week was a big ol’ mishmash of nothing special and somehow the days just went ::whoosh:: right on by! I did have an appointment with my nurse practitioner and that appointment led me to get an x-ray for my left knee, it clicks when I go up stairs, and I’m going in for a PT eval this coming Saturday. During that same appointment we discussed my dark cloud of health stuff and she basically determined I have PCOS. I don’t have many of the typical symptoms and we’ll address more about it in a month after I try to make some lifestyle changes. Oh boy, lifestyle changes, that word is like a broken record in my life.

The week didn’t take an upswing until Saturday when I spent five hours at my cheesecake class.

Oh boy, yum.

And I understand in the same post I mention health stuff and PCOS and then talk about making a cheesecake in a baking class. Don’t judge. The class was planned over a month ago and, well, I still wanted to take the class even though I don’t plan to make another cheesecake for quite some time.

Back to that cheesecake. I have to end this post on a positive note!

Regular cheesecake with lemon curd and raspberry jam on top. Hello, amazing! The type of amazing that makes a person mumble Oh.My.God. While the regular cheesecake was baking away we made a savory cheesecake you’d serve as an appetizer with a southwest kick to it–one word, delicious. And I’ll share the wealth with all of you in coming posts.

So that’s my past week. A few thorns with a rosy finish. I just need to learn how to nip the thorns in the butt. I let them grow way to big it seems lately.

How was your weekend?

Although late, I figured best to still post about his first pie before I post this month’s apple pie!

Before I get to the recipe and the pie itself, remember the first attempt for the cherry pie last month and how it tanked? And I ended up buying one for the day of his birthday so he didn’t go without?

Look at that pretty pie! I commented to Jon how her pies alone in looks blew the ones from our wedding out of the water–wish I knew about her bakery a year ago. Not only pretty in looks the pie was tasty too. So much so it only lasted two days. That’s what happens when my husband consumes a slice for breakfast and a slice for dessert after dinner until the thing is gone.

But back to my pie attempt el número dos…

I took a chance on the pie the same weekend Jon’s parents were coming down for dinner on a Sunday evening. I wanted/needed a success coming from my kitchen oven, not a dud! Success meant a flaky crust and a delicious filling. But then who wouldn’t agree!

So let’s get to it.

What you need to know about this pie: This is not a typical cherry pie. Most people expect a tart cherry pie with a bit of sourness to it. That is not this pie. A lot of people expect the typical cherry goo from a can for filling with the perfect, bright, red cherries. This is not that kind of pie. Instead there’s a nice, subtle sweetness. The real sweetness you get from a cherry, not doused in sugar.

About those cherries. All I could find were fresh Bing cherries. We were nearing the end of cherry season and I didn’t buy enough so I used some fresh and some frozen. Since we are into October now you’ll need to use frozen if you want to make the pie in the coming months. Not a bad thing, frozen fruit comes just after fresh in my book. Way before the canned stuffed. If you do buy frozen see if the bag contains various sweet cherries for a variety, couldn’t hurt!

Another thing, this pie is a labor of love. From all the pie crust steps (so worth it though!) to depiting the cherries. Commit a weekend afternoon to it because in my world this pie doesn’t happen on a weeknight.

Using frozen cherries? Make sure to measure out the amount while the cherries are still frozen. Once measured let them thaw before baking, cut the cherries in half (if not already bought that way) and drain off some of the liquid.

Using fresh cherries? I’m so sorry, but you’ll need to depit the cherries and then cut them in half. I don’t own a cherry pitter to easily pop out the pits so I improvised: dark (ugly) apron you don’t mind staining, a cutting board, pairing knife and an 1/8 tsp metal measuring spoon. Latex gloves are a plus also, if you have them, so you don’t look like you’ve been knuckle deep in cherry Kool-aide.

There’s a great YouTube video about depiting cherries four different ways. I didn’t have a pitter or a paperclip, and I didn’t want to mash my pretty cherries into a mangled mess, so my only option was the cut and pop method. My method was a tad bit different than the one in the video, read along if you’d like or watch the video.

• Step 1: Music playing in the kitchen!
• Step 2: Wash the cherries off in a colander under running cold water.
• Step 3: Pluck all the stems off and tossed the cherries into a large bowl.
• Step 4: Place a cherry on the cutting board and using the paring knife slice down until you feel the pit and then roll the cherry so the knife cuts all the way around. Cutting in this manner reminds me of how I cut an avocado in half. Plus, I prevent cutting myself with the knife if I don’t hold the tiny cherry in my fingers.
• Step 5: Grab the cherry on both sides and twist the cherry halves in opposite directions.
• Step 6: Use an 1/8 tsp metal measuring spoon (perfect size!) to dig in. Face the cut side of the cherry (with that pit) into the bowl and pop out the pit, minimizes the cherry juice splatter.

If you wish to save the cherry pits and make a heating/cooling pillow, that’s a nice plus for all your hard work.

After that mess I could get to work!

This is a pie dough made using a food processor. I had never tried this method before and was hesitant; however, my last attempt using my hands to blend the fats and flour together resulted in warm dough and thus cause for my failed crust.

Start with cold butter, shortening and liquids. Place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to starting.

You want no uncoated flour and a cottage cheese curd looking dough. Sounds yummy doesn’t it?!

Time for the secret … vodka. Yup. Vodka! Any vodka brand will work, nothing fancy. I bought this small bottle for like $4.50. I’ll probably invest in a larger bottle next time, not like it’ll go bad or anything, since I plan to make so many more pies!

Do not leave out the vodka if you plan to use this recipe. Just don’t do it.

After you dump the dry contents from the food processor to the bowl you’ll sprinkle in the water and vodka. Combing the ingredients by folding together and pressing down on the dough. Stop once all combined and dough is a little raggy and feels tacky. The dough will be very soft like cookie dough almost.

Divide dough into two equal amounts, flatten into about a 4″ round disk shape and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes, yup, that long, and you can even make the dough ahead of time and keep it for two days before using. Note: When making a sweet cherry pie with Bing cherries you don’t want to make a lattice crust. The lattice will let too much moisture escape and a double crust is a better choice.

While the dough is chilling wash your food processor bowl and blade because you’ll need it again.

Break time! Go read a magazine or do something for the next 45 minutes–set a timer. This is a time intensive pie crust but I swear it’s worth it.

You’ll need a good amount of flour sprinkled on the counter to prevent sticking. This dough isn’t as dry as most so don’t be a chicken and let the flour rain! Take one dough disk out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes, just a few though. Unlike many “doughs” of any kind, this recipe doesn’t bounce back and require resting to keep it’s shape when you roll out.

Rub a little flour on your rolling pin and sprinkle a bit on top of the dough disk. Again, don’t worry, the flour is your friend! If the crust does tear it’s not the end of the world, patch it up, everything will be alright. I had to, see on the lower left?! Once the filling is added and the top crust is placed on top you won’t be able to tell, especially after baking.

Since I was the only one around I couldn’t roll, handle dough and flour, wash hands, take a photo and all that business so I skipped photos. I like to document and help ya’ll out but I just couldn’t do it at that point.

Rolling tips: Roll out away from you, turn the disk a quarter turn, roll out and away, turn and keep going. The disk will pick up a bit of flour underneath with the turning and every time you roll and turn will help maintain a circle shape–exactly why you form the disk shape at the beginning! If you notice the dough is starting to stick then throw some more flour under the disk and keep going. If the dough won’t pull up because it’s stuck–well, then get out a knife and edge it under the dough (trying not to tear) or use a bench scraper to get under the dough. Flour is your friend and prevents that from happening again.

Place the dough into the plate and guess what time it is, again? Back into the fridge for 40 minutes so the dough can set up once more. It’s very important to keep the dough chilled until it enters the oven, again, flakiness.

While the dough chills for a second time, pull together your pie filling ingredients.

Another strange ingredient you may not expect, red plums.

The sight of the red plums and deep red cherries made me smile. The colors were so pretty!

::wurrrrrrrrrrr::

In an instant the plums and cherries became a smooth and pretty mixture. And my goodness did the mixture smell good! I’ll have to remember the combination for smoothies next year.

Whip out the strainer and push on the solids to express the juice through. You’ll need around 3/4 cup of the liquid, don’t worry, you’ll have excess. You don’t want to use all of the liquid because the cherries are also juicy while the pie bakes and if your filling is too wet then you’ll have a soggy bottom crust–no bueno.

Right about now you’ll need to grind your instant tapioca to a powder using a coffee grinder. I bet if you have a mortar and pestle that will work too. I have neither. I’m so prepared! So instead I just threw the tapioca into the bowl hoping it would dissolve like I needed it to and help thicken the filling. I highly suggest grinding if you can but my pie came out just fine without doing so, your call.

Combine all the cherries and other filling ingredients into a large bowl and let it set up for about 15 minutes. While that sits pull out the other disk of cold pie dough and roll out like before to make the top for the crust.

Remove the chilled pie plate from the fridge and set on the counter. Carefully spoon the filling into the pie plate. Don’t forget the butter pieces! Next time I’m cutting them into smaller chunks so I can spread out a little more.

Top off with the crust you just rolled out and flute the edges. The easiest way is with a fork, simple and done. But I wanted to try my hand using my fingers to make a pretty edge. Ehh, it came out okay, more practice needed!

Make up an egg wash with an egg and a little water and brush on top. I was a little overzealous with the wash but oh well. The crust was browned and golden when done and looked so pretty! Don’t forget to cut 8-9 slits in the pie to vent. You need a way for the steam to escape so you don’t have a squishy pie.

And for 10 points, can you guess again what you need to do with the pie plate? Uh, back into the fridge? Nope, close! Put the pie in the freezer for 20 minutes (dont’ forget to set a timer) on a level surface. If you can’t use your freezer then the fridge will do but leave it in there a tad bit longer.

After 20 minutes pull the pie from the freezer and transfer straight onto the baking sheet in the oven.

And now you wait an agonizing hour. An hour!

After I shut the door I told Jon if the pie tastes like shit then I’ll probably burst into tears over all the work I put into the damn thing. Apparently I have a slight sailor mouth when I’m in the kitchen.

When the aroma began to drift through the house I stuck my head out the door to the backyard and called to my husband, “Come sniff the kitchen!” He couldn’t smell very well due to all the yard work he was doing–congested. I pulled him closer to the oven and told him to sniff over the oven vent at the back of the stove–yes, I did this I was so excited–and he said it smelled amazing! AH! Amazing?

I turned on the oven light and leaned over to see a beautiful little golden pie. I didn’t even need my crust saver dealy thing to prevent the crust edge from over browning.

My thin spot caused the filling to ooze out on one side on the top. Not ideal but I didn’t care, the pie was so pretty! Due to my heavy handed egg wash, apparently I thought I was dousing a turkey with drippings, the crust was extremely golden. Unlike that peach galette I made and the recipe didn’t call for a wash and I forgot to put some on.

When my in-laws arrived my mother-in-law’s jaw just about hit the floor. I’d never made a pie before, but that’s not what she was surprised about. She wanted to know how I made such a flaky crust!

The pie was a huge success and I couldn’t stop smiling. I was so happy with myself and thrilled to make my husband a belated birthday pie that he devoured with a smile accompanying each bite. My mother-in-law actually told me she hadn’t had such flaky crust since her own mother’s baking days, some 33 odd years ago or more. Besides Jon’s smiles that was the best compliment ever!

SWEET CHERRY PIE

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Print recipe!

Pie Dough Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup cold vodka
• 1/4 cup cold water

Cherry Filling Ingredients

• 2 red plums, halved and pitted
• 6 cups (about 2 pounds) pitted sweet cherries or 6 cups pitted frozen cherries, halved
• 1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon juice from one lemon
• 2 teaspoons bourbon (optional)
• 2 tablespoons instant tapioca, ground
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Pie Dough Instructions

1. Combine 1½ cups of the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses.
2. Add butter and shortening; process until all flour is uncoated and resembles cottage cheese curds in uneven clumps, around 15 seconds. If the dough accumulates on one side of processor, scrape bowl with spatula and redistribute dough around processor blade.
3. Add remaining 1 cup of flour and pulse until dough is evenly spread around bowl and the mass of dough is broken up, about 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty dough mixture into medium bowl.
4. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With spatula, use a folding and pressing down motion to mix until slightly tacky and the dough sticks together.
5. Divide dough into 2 equal balls and flatten each down into a 4-inch disk. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days if making ahead of time.
6. Take 1 disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to ¼ cup) work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.
7. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin (like your rolling up a burrito) and unroll into pie plate. Leave at least 1-inch overhang. Gently ease dough into plate by lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Be careful not to tear the dough.
8. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 40 minutes.

Filling Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to the lowest position and place baking sheet on oven rack, heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Process plums in food processor with 1 cup of the halved cherries until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl if needed.
3. Position fine-mesh strainer over large bowl and pour puree through, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Retain 3/4 cup of the liquid.
4. Stir remaining halved cherries, sugar, salt, lemon juice, bourbon (if using), tapioca, and cinnamon into puree; let stand for 15 minutes.
5. Remove pie plate from fridge and transfer cherry mixture, including the juices, to dough-lined pie plate. Scatter butter pieces over fruit.
6. Remove second disk of dough from fridge and roll out just as before. Flute edges or use a fork to press crust edges together and seal.
7. Mix one egg and one teaspoon of water to make an egg wash and brush top and edges of the crust.
8. With a sharp knife, make 8-9 evenly spaced 1-inch-long vents in top crust.
9. Freeze pie 20 minutes.
10. Remove pie from freezer and place directly on preheated baking sheet and bake 30 minutes.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes longer.
12. Remove pie from oven and place on wire rack; let cool to room temperature and allow juices to thicken, 2 to 3 hours.
13. Cut into wedges, serve and enjoy!

Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples waiting for upcoming hand pies.

Day 8: A Bad Habit

I have a slight magazine addiction.

Day 9: Someone I Love

My husband. Boy do I love him like crazy! If you’re wondering what’s on the plate, he’s about to plop some perfectly seasoned pork loins on the grill for dinner. He’s trying not to smile.

Day 10: Childhood Memory

The counted cross-stitch poem my mom made while I was just a little bun in the oven. Currently the poem hangs in the future home of my craft/office room and every time I see it hanging on the wall I smile. If you cannot read the poem:

Day 11: Something Blue

Our dinner plates from our wedding registry. Oh how I love them so. The blue vine is just enough but not too much.

Day 12: Sunset

Sun setting just to the north of Pikes Peak.

Stay tuned for week three coming next Friday. Subjects I need to find and photograph:

• Me with 13 things
• Eyes
• Silhouette
• Long exposure
• Technology
• My shoes
• Something orange
• Bokeh

I didn’t plan to wake up early on the first day of our vacation. For some reason I woke up at 5:40. That is not rise ‘n shine time on my vacation timeline. I realized the sun would be up in the next 40 minutes or so and looked outside to see complete darkness and a gorgeous crescent moon. Remembering I had my tripod and a zoom lens I quickly got dressed in the dark. Jon, the sweet husband he is, groggily rolled out of bed to accompany me into the dark so I wasn’t alone…with his iTouch in tow.

Thankfully we remembered to bring light coats for our trip since we’re up in the mountains early fall time. The temps were quite chilly and we could see our breaths. Note to self: Buy my husband a smaller coat. The one he owns is too big and swallows him!

With the tripod set up, thanks to the helpful light from the iTouch, I wondered how close I could get for a photo of the moon with my rented lens.

ISO 3200 / 46mm / f29 / 4.0sec

Waiting for that second ::click:: seemed to take forever due to the low light. My husband even noticed the difference. I decided to rack it out to 200mm, the farthest my lens could reach, and see what I could get.

I was so excited to capture photos of the moon at this stage that I was dancing in the middle of the dirt road by the lodge!

I loved the hammered copper signs flanking the parking lot entrances at the lodge. I ended up snagging a slight flare off the light fixture.

The sun was soon to rise and I confessed to my husband I was going to be out there for a good hour or so. His smile quickly turned to a grimace because he was freezing and had to walk around to stay warm. Oddly enough I was doing just fine and we’d been outside for an hour already!

As the sun started to rise I started to get a little tired. After a long day traveling, going to bed late and then waking up so early I wished I were in bed under the covers. Until I saw the pink sky…

Can you see the slight white mark? Closer towards the top in the purple area just past the pink. That would be the moon I previously photographed.

I sent Jon a text and told him he was missing a pink and purple sunrise. He wrote back and said his cheeks were frozen and the bed was too warm to leave!

It’s amazing how fast the sun moves during a sunrise or sunset. You never notice the movement otherwise but when you’re sitting there waiting, watching, and taking photos the sun seems to move much faster than you’d expect.

I was enjoying the solitude. The quiet. The sounds of birds waking and saying hello to one another. And the chilly morning air. Speaking of birds, a magpie kept coming around and a few times he creeped up on me and I had no idea he had landed so close by!

I finally decided to call it a morning and headed back to our room. My yoga pants weren’t keeping me warm anymore and I wished I had some warmer ones!

Not your typical hotel lobby now is it?

Before I knew it we needed to pack up and head out after our one night stay at the Chipeta Sun Lodge & Spa. Unlike the big chain hotels we actually needed to check out because the lodge uses real keys for their doors! I cannot remember the last time I used an actual key for a hotel room.

For brunch we made plans to stop by Kate’s Place. I found out about Kate’s online and we had a wonderful breakfast. The location is open seven days a week, 7am – 2pm and breakfast is served all day. After reading the great reviews and seeing the menu online, I knew we’d have a great brunch.

The atmosphere is laid back, the employees are very friendly and the place was packed! Even the patio outside was full and people were waiting to get a seat. Jon was almost salivating for his choice of breakfast, a Chorizo Burrito:

Chorizo sausage, scrambled eggs, black beans & Monterey jack wrapped in a chipotle tortilla topped with housemade green chile sauce, sour cream & avocado, served with a side of homefries.

I think they forgot the green chile sauce though! HA! Jon must have forgot and didn’t notice because he loves green chile anything. Doubt he cared because there wasn’t a bite left on the plate.

I went with the Heart & Soul Breakfast. Simple, filling and just what I wanted that morning:

Two eggs served with white cheddar grits, a toasted English muffin (plus strawberry jam) and ham.

I almost went with fruit, instead of the grits, but I never tried grits and felt daring that morning. Plus, the thought of white cheddar sounded very appealing! Turns out I’m not a fan of grits. The texture gets me and I just can’t do it. The flavor was good but the texture made me turn up my nose.

Our time in Ridgway was over and it was time to head south, up and over Red Mountain and head west towards Mesa Verde. Our trip that day took a little longer because we stopped quite a bit, where we could, for photos. There were times I had to take the photos from inside the car or lean out the window because there was absolutely no where to pull over—the road cruised right along the cliff many times and if you stopped then traffic would back up. To say that at times I couldn’t look down was an understatement. Thankfully we cruised along the inside near the mountain rather the canyon. Otherwise I probably would have needed a tranquilizer.

The twists and turns were plentiful and I made sure to take my Dramamine that morning before we embarked. As a matter of fact, at times we could only go 10mph because of the tight curves and drop offs. Ninety percent of the drive over the pass was a simple two-lane road!

With all that said, the drive was absolutely beautiful. Stunning! We were driving through the area probably at the best time due to the changing colors and I’m so glad we took that route.

A fun fact, the highway is dubbed the Million Dollar Highway. Some say because of the views. Others say due to the amount of money it took to build the highway through that rugged area. A lesser known nickname for the highway, Highway to Hell. The curves alone could send someone over the edge if they don’t take the speed limits seriously, yikes! But to build the highway they even had to blow out large portions of the mountain to continue a road around a curve…

Notice that drop off on the side? No guard rail there. Maybe not look steep but that cliff goes and goes and goes! Thus the 10mph speed limit through this area we were in.

Do you see that line at the bottom of the sign? 133 years ago a gold ore wagon crossed the pass. Wow.

Abandoned mine building.

I don’t know how many times I pointed out the gorgeous views, the amazing historical mine buildings and of course, the foliage.

At one point I took a nap to feel a little better (elevation change makes me sleepy) and before I knew it we were arriving at Mesa Verde National Park. Although the drive does me in, I hope to take the trip again. I cannot stress how gorgeous this drive was. If you ever find yourself in the area for a trip, take Red Mountain, you won’t regret it. And as always, drink that water, you’ll need it to battle the elevation.

Next stop, Mesa Verde National Park!

Day 1: Self-Portrait

After about 15 photos my husband was finally able to capture a photo I liked (self=critical). Which by the way, when using a tripod and a timer, how does one take a photo in focus? Is that possible?! I’d like to know how.

Day 2: What I Wore Today

Ever since I bought my Merrell hiking shoes I’ve been in love with them. So comfortable and very supportive. Also saved my butt climbing down to a cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde too!

Day 3: Clouds

The blaring sun shining through clouds about 30 minutes before “sunset”. Living near the mountains the sun disappears a little faster…winter time that can be 4:30pm!

Day 4: Something Green

My shamrock plant is resilient. Forgetful waterings, no fertilizer and hot sun even through closed blinds and she still keeps on kickin’. I especially love when she throws out pretty little white flowers.

Day 5: From a High Angle

My husband, Jon, hard at work putting together a wooden divider for the rock area in our backyard. I really like the angle with the power tool, his dirty hands and his wedding ring bright and shiny.

Day 6: From a Low Angle

The last of the chokecherries the birds didn’t get to. I had to lay on the ground to find these!

Stay tuned for week two coming next Friday. Subjects I need to find and photograph:

• Fruit
• A bad habit
• Someone I love
• Childhood memory
• Something blue
• Sunset
• Me with 13 things