It's me!

My outfit totally clashed with the bike. I was so embarrassed. I actually have had that shirt for awhile, and bought the helmet a couple weeks ago. It was just a coincidence that they matched. That doesn't happen often. My mom can varify that.

Up close and personal! Maybe a little too personal? I thought so.

I have to admit, I love the "boot" pictures! It's great to sit back and watch time pass! I even had time to write you a message!

Yep, that's me chillin' on the quad! For the older generation, that is me, sitting on the four-wheeler. I know, I'm a smart donkey..sorry

Quads

(left-Ryan, right-Jerrod)

This past weekend, we went out to Mescalero Sand Dunes to ride four-wheelers...again! Saturday we got a late start riding because there was an accident with two dirt bike riders. They had to bring in a helicopter, 3 ambulances and the search and rescue team. The boys were lucky they weren't killed, but they have extensive healing to do in the next year. Good thoughts go out to them! We finally got our friend Ryan out riding again!! woohoo!! It was great to see him have so much fun. He's an awesome rider. I despise him! Mainly because he's so natural riding! I'd say he looks graceful, but that's too girly! So he looks handsomeful!

(Left to right-MJ, Ryan, Jerrod, Ferron)

The boys! They were talking strategy for the dune they were planning on jumping. MJ looks like he's left out of the conversation, Ryan and Jerrod are passionately staring at each other, and Ferron's kind of in his own little world!

You can't tell, but Ryan is popping this wheelie! I did a wheelie!!!!! sadly though, no one saw it, so it doesn't count...sigh. I was so excited about it too! I'd like to say it was on purpose, but I'd get struck by lightning. I gunned the throttle to get me up a hill and landed on the back tires. It was AWESOME. I looked around to see if anyone saw, but they had left me in their dust! I do however have pictures of me jumping a small hill, so I will post those when I get them!

Polar Express

As I was looking through some files today, I found a couple pictures I forgot to post! Which is brilliant because I haven't posted anything lately.

With the anticipation of Spring right around the corner and our 75 degree weather today, I am going to bring your thoughts back to the snow filled days of December! I can just hear the glee and happiness radiating from the other side of the computer screen. So, before you get too excited about the snowy pictures, I warn you now, the pictures aren't really about the snow. Granted, there is snow in the pictures, but it's not the main subject!

The Polar Express-Durango, Colorado

It's a train ride for all ages! At least I enjoyed myself. The ride is based from the book/movie "Polar Express." The kids (myself included) dress in the pajamas and board the train for some hot coco and a cookie, a little story telling, some dancing and singing, and of course...Santa Claus! The entire ride takes about an hour and was worth the 5-7 hour drive!

As we were anxiously waiting on the loading dock we heard a loud toot and saw dark smoke billowing in the air! (poor description of a gigantic train, but I just wanted to say "toot" rather than "choo choo") The train came bounding down the track as all the kids began to jump up and down( And no, I wasn't jumping up and down! What do you take me for, a little kid? sheesh )

I achieved this picture by going out the enter-"no exit door!" Did I ever tell you I'm cixelsyd...sorry, I mean dyslexic? The guard on the other side of the door was nice and understanding, so he let me get close enough to take a picture of the train docking.

It was a fun trip and think it will be fun to take the nephew there when he's older! I have more pictures of the trip, but who wants to see grown adults and young children leaping and bounding over a human on the ground as they jump from bed to bed in a motel room?

My how time passes by

Hello again!

I'm sorry it's been a month since my last post! Not that I have had any complaints about not posting, but I feel bad anyway. I hate that I put the blog on hold because my life is stuck on the fast forward button. But enough with my words, it's time for pictures!! WooHoo!!!
Sadly though, I don't have any at the moment, so you can exit out of this blog or keep on reading. (I wouldn't know either way. It only posts how many people visit and not how many people actually read!)

I know you're wondering why I don't have pictures to post and the reason is..........I'm forgetful! Yes, I said it out loud! Well, it's typed on the computer and put out into cyberspace for all eternity! I reckon my forgetfulness comes from my dad (sorry Dad, but you know it's true) . I forgot where I'm going with this.................Gosh darn it..........hold on, let me think................ Ok! Sorry, my thoughts got derailed again, as they so often do! Pictures!! I forgot my memory card in someone else's computer, therefore, I don't have my pictures! Once I get them, I will post them immediately. Those pictures were taken at Ski Apache a few weeks ago!

I do however have two pictures I took the other morning around 6:00AM when the sun was rising, but I just haven't had time to put them on the computer. They are amazing! I certainly enjoy them and maybe someday (soon) you will enjoy them too!

I did try to take a picture of the HUGE moon the other night, but the car behind me was not so appreciative that I decided to park on the side of the road to attempt a picture. Needless to say, I hauled out of there. And when I say hauled, I mean going as fast as I possibly could without breaking the speed limit! Maybe I will attempt this picture again, but with more planning on my part and less flashing of headlights and honking of horns from the passer-byers!(if that's such a word).
Well, I hope you enjoyed the update! I hope you don't fret about the lack of pictures on this blog. I will post many more pics for the next one. They might be pics of random objects, but it will be fun!

Beagliers

This is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel/Beagle= Bealgier. My friend's dog had pups and they got to stay with my for a few weeks, so they were my test subjects! I took the pics in color, but I changed to sepia. I love how they look, especially with the leather case and "used" straw hat.
Curious pup! I just bought a new camera bag and had it outside with me since I was taking pictures of the puppies. They kept walking around and sniffing the bag. This was when I got the idea to put the dogs "in" the bag. I love the pics of lab puppies hanging out of bags, and thought I would try it.

This is one of my favorites!

Don't believe the expression. He wasn't in there very long and he didn't even budge! He did very well and the picture came out like I hoped it would!

"Bird Dog!"

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

In 1941, Nicholas Fouquet, the finance minister of Louis XIV bought the estate, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte {voh-luh-vee-kohnt'}, outside Paris. The French baroque château was the model for the Palace of Versailles.

The château, built between 1956-1961, was lavish, refined, and dazzling to behold, but these characteristics proved tragic for its owner: the king had Fouquet arrested shortly after a celebration was held on 17 August 1661.

The celebration had been too impressive and the superintendent's home too luxurious. Fouquet's intentions were to flatter the King: part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually constructed specifically for the king, but Fouquet's plan backfired. The king was led to believe that the chateau was funded by Fouquet embezzling from him. It is now certain that there never had been any embezzlement, but just a plot to undermine Fouquet and jealousy on the part of the King. These pictures were taken during/after a nice May rain rainfall.

Every Saturday night they light over 2000 candles around the garden. Unfortunately you can't tell from these pictures, but the site is gorgeous.

Of all the places I got to see in Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Vaux-le-Vicomte was my favorite. It really paints a picture of what it looked like in the 1600's.

Parc des topiares

"The greatest Topiark Park in the smallest town in the world"

If you are a fan on plants shaped into forms, I would recommend going to Durbuy, Luxembourg. You will see many different shapes and sizes of plants designed into ducks, people, sports, etc..

Here are just a few of the many topiaries they have.

http://topiairesdurbuy.be/-Topiaires-Durbuy-.html
(the website if you want to see more...just click on the British "button"...has a red cross)

The Kayakers!

Lady In The Tub

Prayer

Faith-Hope-Love

The Dog Park

Beware of animals!

"It was this big!"

Shootin' Lodge

Since I showed what the lake at the shooting range looked like, I wanted to show what the old house looked like. I have always loved westerns and the simple/scary times of the 1800's. That would be a time I would like to travel back and see. And, I also like porches! Always have. I guess it represents that old time charm where people can sit on the front porch drinking a soda pop and talkin' 'bout the olden days and not worrying about their hectic lives.
This old farm house represents what I like about westerns and porches! Unfortunately, this house has been vacant for years, except for the rodents and any other critter that needs a place indoors.

Back when this house was uninhibited by rodents, it was a place for local men to ride their horses to and get away from their city lives. Yes, they rode horses. No, they didn't have cars at the time. I can just imagine them sitting on the front porch talking while their horses are tied up out front.

I like the angle of this photo. The window reminds me of the cross and the view is what God created for us. I know I would have ridden my horse 10-20 miles to sit on a front porch with this view!

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

Who doesn't love the boat in water pictures? There are probably some that don't, but I for one enjoy looking at the boat that is headed somewhere on the water. I don't know the specifics as to why I like it. Maybe it's because it represents serenity. The boat, all alone, cutting through the glass-like water. Or maybe because it represents adventure. Either way, it makes me jealous because I wasn't the one to be on the lake ready for an adventure-the other photographer got that chance.

I always kick myself for not taking photographic opportunities, but not this time. This time I was taken to a place that had the glass-like water and the boat! I had gone to this location to shoot some guns with my dad and uncle. Not that I do this often, but I hadn't been in a long time and wanted to go spend some time with them. (side note...I did better shooting my targets! Not sure to be proud or not considering one can barely see out of one eye and the other had bad arthritis.Oh well) This place is an invitation only hunting and fishing club. It has an old house and a lake full of algae that has unfortunately killed all the fish. All that's left are a few old boats and ducks. But the view is sure "purdy."

So did I enjoy my adventurous boat ride on the water? Heck no! It was way too cold to get in a metal boat and row myself around. Besides being cold, I am known to be a bit of a klutz! I will admit that I have scars from running into walls (7 stitches), swimming into the coral reef (scar for life), falling off a skateboard (twice- 7 stitches each time), and many other scars and scratches with really cool stories! So if I can fall off a skateboard twice, then the chances are HIGH of me falling out of a cold metal boat and into a cold, algae infested lake. Though I am a strong swimmer, my feet could get tangled on the algae and I couldn't get out and the only ones able to help me are blind and crippled! Imagine my luck....so I decided to take my opportunity to walk around the lake and take pictures of my non-moving/non-adventurous boats!

Four-Wheelin'

Some of you might not know this, but between Tatum, NM and Roswell, NM is the Mescalero Sand Dunes. It's a great place to take your four-wheelers and go riding. I apparently know some crazy guys who like to live on the edge! Here's a few shots I got.

Lake Bonito

Sorry it's taken over a month to post pictures. I added 4 pictures to make up for not posting any. These pictures were taken outside of Ruidoso on Lake Bonito. I hadn't been here in a long time! I was excited to see what the lake looked like and I got a great view.

As I made my way over the dam, I caught view of the lake that was completely frozen. I have never seen a lake frozen in person. Maybe a pond or puddle, but never a lake. As I enjoyed the peace and quiet of a place the could be heaven on earth, I started to hear loud cracking noises and my mind went to thinking bad things. 1st-I am in the mountains where wild animals live without any means of protection other than my cell phone. Pretty sure that won't get me out of danger. 2nd-If I trip(which lets face it, I do that on a daily basis), I am most likely falling into the thinly frozen lake. So out of my brilliant thinking and realizing that the noise was only the ice cracking and moving since it was a warm day, I decided to go sit on the shore and take in the beauty.

I have friends who like to show off their feet with the ocean behind them, so I decided to show off boots with the frozen lake! So there!!! I wish I had gotten to stay there longer, but I had my life to get back to and attend some meetings. If only I could have a moment like that everyday. A moment where I can sit back and enjoy the simplicity of something so majestic.

I find it difficult at times to take a gorgeous landscape and put it on film. When I first put this pic on my computer, I tried to take out the sunlight. I thought it ruined the river, but as I looked at it longer, I realized I loved how the sunlight was streaming through and highlighting everything. It was like God shined a light on this picture

I loved the way these trees were leaning, so I took the picture. It was that simple. So for those people that say they wish they could take good pictures, practice makes perfect. Snap it till you like it.