Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods is an amazing park full of rock formations in Manitou Springs, CO, which is just outside Colorado Springs. We took highway 9 south out of Breckenridge and down through Manitou on our way back to Denver.

Here are a few shots of the drive down:

Love the big open sky!!

Snow-capped mountains in the distance =)

We drove thru a few miles of road carved out of the red rocks =)

Love that a family somewhat recently donated this beautiful land for the rest of the world to enjoy =)

A few of the great rock formations at the park:

The sign warns that the rocks may fall, guess we were lucky not to get hurt ;)

Cute little blue jay hunting worms =)

Magpie nests in the trees =)

Funky looking deer!

JC and I enjoying the sunshine =)

JC checking out the view

I think this is the only picture of the two of us from the whole trip!

We went from skiing and snowboarding to enjoying the dustiness of the desert in one day =) I can't decide which I think is more beautiful, the snow covered mountains or the red colored rocks of the desert! Someone that I told we were moving out here told me "You'll love it, Colorado is God's country!" After being here a month I have to say that I agree; the sky is huge and always a bright blue, when it's not the snow is also magical, and the weather is perfect =) It was a big risk, and I think many people were nervous for us, but moving out here was definitely the right move =D

New Jobs, Knitting Classes, and DAM

Hey everyone! Life is great here in CO =) After a month on vacation, it sadly comes to an end next Wednesday when I start my new job! I am going to be a Leasing Consultant for Promenade at Hunter's Glen, an upscale apartment community located in Thornton, CO. It's about 25 miles from home and a great stepping stone towards our long term goal of owning vacation rentals in the mountains.

Here is a picture of the lake you can see from my new office =)

Last Saturday I decided to get out of the house and go to a free knitting class at the local library. It was extremely basic and she just gave us a couple of knitting patterns and instructions. Less than a week later I had this =)

And now I am making this one for JC =) Hopefully I can make a couple hats for us for next winter!












On Thursday JC and I were on our way to the Denver Zoo when we noticed tons of big, yellow school buses. Realizing that it was a day for field tripping, we decided to go to the Denver Art Museum (DAM) instead =) We are now members so expect to go to it if you visit us within the next year!


Lucky we went that day because we caught the tail end of the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit! Obviously we couldn't take any pictures at the museum so I found the following online =)

This is one of my favorite's from her ram skull paintings. I loved the shading and how the brightness of the blue contrasted with the dark of the horns =)

Ram 's Skull with Blue Morning Glory             

Georgia O'Keefe was very inspired by the Hopi Tribe's Kachina dolls. These were dolls made out of Cottonwood to embody the characteristics of Hopi deities. They were used to teach children of the tribe about the different gods. 

Georgia painted a series of Kachina dolls, here are a few of my favorites =)

Almost forgot to add my other favorite painting... probably one of the best I have seen from the Renaissance period!

This painting by Gustav Dore is called Le Famille du Saltimbanque: L'Enfant Blesse. He painted it in France in 1873 after witnessing a street performance tragedy. This family supported themselves by performing in the streets of Paris. When their act failed, it resulted in the death of their son. The amount of emotion in the dad's eyes is amazing. I have never felt so much through a painting before. 

We are very much enjoying our lives in CO, finally got new driver's licenses and license plates, so I guess we are official citizens now =) Stay tuned for a belated post on the Garden of the Gods!!

Thanks for following!

Breckenridge

Hey guys! sorry it's been so long, enjoying my vacation =)

So last week we decided to go to Breckenridge for a couple of days. On the way there we saw a sign for Buffalo Bill's Grave and Museum. We stopped to check it out...

We saw some of the weirdest squirrels... they kinda look like rabbits, which are everywhere!

We stopped in Georgetown to look at Bighorn Sheep (didn't see any) at this frozen lake...never seen one before!













































After Georgetown we drove thru Frisco...

Scariest runaway truck ramp I have ever seen!

We rented a condo in downtown Breck with a great view of the mountains and the town =) There is tons of shopping, dining and skiing. We don't have any ski equipment/clothes yet, so we decided that we would try that again next winter.

JC made me a Grown Up Grilled Cheese (provolone cheese, bacon, and tomato on texas toast, delicious!)











The second day we were there it snowed almost the entire day!

It was very pretty, but not that much fun to walk around in...

We got about 4 inches =)
















Right before we left we took the free Gondola from town up to 2 different peaks =)

Even though we weren't skiing we could ride the Gondola for free up the mountain so we could still get the views.

While at the bottom of the ski lift, JC and I both decided that next time we go back we will have to go skiing so that we can go to the top!







































Tonight we are going to see a Denver Nuggets game... will post that later =)