Out with the Old

We went out to the trails this morning to walk. Again, a gorgeous day in Santa Fe! A lot of the snow has melted in town, temps are in the 40's for the most part, and the sun is shining. Great way to end the year! :)

I have this awful habit of starting artwork on my last day of vacation/holidays/days off. What's with that, I don't know. I could take advantage of my time off and produce art. For some reason, though, I'll squeeze it in whenever. Not this time, though! Remember a few weeks (month?) ago when I started this illustration? This drawing is about 7.5" x 7" (unframed/unmatted, so far). It is currently untitled & is based on our summer hike near Silverton, CO, where we saw fields of blue columbine. I still can't get accurate color photographs of my work so it's just a little bit off. What do you think?

My next project is most likely going to be a collage for my Body Mechanics class final. I'll post it when I'm working on it probably this or next week.

Whatever you are doing for New Year's Eve, I hope it is fun. Drive safely if you're on the road & have a happy 2009! Cheers! :)

Season's Greetings!

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season! Today in Santa Fe it is over 40F (close to 50F?), sunny, and somewhat slushy out there with the snow melting. I went up to one of the Dale Ball Trails above town this morning and went for a short run. (See photos that were taken on Sunday above.) I was walking with snowshoes yesterday which proved to be more cumbersome than they were worth! Running shoes worked fine today as the trails were just snowpacked. Just the right amount of "melt" for good traction: not too slushy, not too frozen! :-)

Steve is back from Australia (mostly). I picked him up in Denver on Christmas Day when I was up there visiting our friends, Fern & Bryan. I say "mostly" because he is now adjusting to being back as well as adjusting to spending the next few months in SFe with me while I finish school. He showed me all his pictures last night, so I felt like I was kind of there (but without the heat!).

Snow Day!

Happy snow day! School is cancelled for at least this morning. We got nearly a foot of snow here in this part of Santa Fe (west of the plaza). I know that doesn't sound like much to some of you (eh?) but down here in NM people aren't as used to driving regularly in the snow like we are in Colorado & Canada.

I'm planning to take advantage of my morning by enjoying some hot cocoa next to the pellet stove and doing some reading & studying. If we are not in classes this afternoon, I may splurge and make some holiday cookies! LOL. Hope you are enjoying the season wherever you are! :-)

Still Studying!

I'm taking a short break from studying. Our holiday vacation starts next Sunday so I'm trying to read ahead and get as many projects finished as I can. Below is a collage/drawing I have been working on today for Physiology class:

We knock off a body system every Wednesday morning. Last week was the Respiratory System, if you can't tell from my drawing. Massage school is more challenging than one would think. We are learning about a lot of the muscles of the body: where they are & what they do; systems in the body; massage techniques; communication; core integration (has to do with trauma); and of course, Student Clinic. It has been frustrating in clinic as of late getting in sync with clients' requests and expectations... I've had some people lately that I just don't understand, both communications-wise and body-wise. All I can do is take in and attempt to process the information I *am* getting from them. :-)

On a not as serious note, on Friday I drove up to the Santa Fe Ski Area, hoping to XC ski in the woods. There wasn't quite enough snow. This morning we got more, so I would think skiing could start anytime! I'm looking forward to my trip back to CO for the holidays. Steve is coming home on Christmas Day & I'll pick him up at DIA. Nice present, eh!!

What are you doing for the holidays?

Day Trip: Tsankawi & Frijoles Canyon

It looks like we might be in for some late fall weather (i.e., snow or cold rain) for Thanksgiving, so this morning I decided to get out while it was relatively nice.

Today's trip to Bandelier National Monument was pretty casual. Hadn't been to Tsankawi before, so I decided to stop and hike out there. The hike is relatively short, about 1.5 miles round trip. Awesome views from up there, though! Such cool cloud formations today, too. Bandelier is not that far of a drive from Santa Fe (about 45 mi.) & it felt great to get out of town for the day.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! :-)

• P.S. You can click on any picture for a larger view.

Bandelier: Frijoles Canyon

All of the pictures above are taken in Frijoles Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, NM. The last time I was here (in 2006 with a bike tour) I sprained my ankle coming down from the Alcove House while trying to take a picture of the group from the top of one of the ladders. Silly me! Didn't get any pics that day, so I had to make it up there today. :-)

Relax and Enjoy!

Hi! Hope everyone out there has had a good week. I have -- but have been quite tired all week. We have a school break coming up, though, after next weekend. Yay! I haven't made the time to decide what to do over break: study all week, take off and go camping... both?? It'll depend on the weather and the homework load that week.

Can you guess where this photo is taken? It's from one of my favorite places to go in off season... mountains in the distance... sandstone in the foreground. Arches National Park! Yes, it is the view from Delicate Arch, the arch depicted on the Utah license plate:-) It's a 3-mile round trip hike up to the arch from the parking lot, but it's worth it! I thought I would post this one because it reminds me of my meditation imagery of Canyonlands. Each week, someone in my class gives a 15-minute self-care presentation to the group. Mine was this week. I had everyone imagine a place they felt was peaceful and imagine themselves being there: seeing, feeling, hearing. It is a method of stress relief. We played some nature/massage music, which helped to set the mood. Give it a try sometime...!

Have a great weekend! :-)