June 2019 – Smart Girl Ideas

Summer time in Colorado, an Astonishing Miracle

**It’s thrilling to see how much the foliage has filled in over the month of June.**

**The pots are beginning to explode with color and texture, making my walkway a garden path!**

**And of course, weeds are also coming in quickly! I think I have a couple volunteer sunflowers at the base of the windmill. I’ll keep you posted as they grow!**

**So cool to see my neighbors also taking the opportunity to upgrade their siding and landscape. The ripple effect is real! Both of these houses just had their siding upgraded!**

**Doesn’t that look great! And this is what I see when I look out my window now. I love it!**

**First steps out of the house in the morning, sniffing things to see what happened overnight.**

**Then he settles into his favorite morning spot in the sun!** **We both look forward to the start of the day, sipping Chai and soaking up the beautiful morning!**

**It feels good to have my space organized and cleaned up enough to have some friends over.**

**Just out of storage, I’m using my dining table on my patio for the summer and love how it opens up the patio and gives me space to entertain.**

**Some of my girlfriends enjoying an Al Fresco happy hour on the patio. Beth suggested my place looks like a Napa Valley back yard! YOU KNOW I love that!**

This month, I’ve been cleaning out my storage and looking for places to put all my stuff! As I bring more stuff over and try to find permanent homes for everything, I can’t help but wonder, If I haven’t used this stuff in almost a year, do I really need it?

As luck would have it, Susie just bought a house in Lake Havasu and is setting up her new house at the same time! So as much as I feel attached to my stuff, I’m grateful to contribute to their lake house and know I’ll get to enjoy and appreciate all these things there, instead of in Colorado.

**What to keep, what to donate , what to share…**

Walking into someone’s storage feels a little bit intrusive, but I’m happy to report this is the last of my storage and by the end of the month, I’ll have all my stuff in one place again. It’s been quite a project moving from 2300 sf to 893 sf. Overwhelming, but I feel great knocking this out and reducing my footprint even further.

**I’ve had this mirror for several years and rediscovered it in storage. Although it’s heavy and dark, I have an idea to update it…**

**I like this lighter version better, so I’m going to paint and distress my heavy Black mirror and give it a fresher look.**

This is my Water Fitness class of ladies! At the end of our workout, we volley a beach ball for 10 minutes. It’s fun and challenging, but mostly funny! These ladies are awesome. They’re supportive, positive and all doing their best to stay in shape.

Growing Old Gracefully, With a Little Imagination

**In 2008, young and energetic, toward the beginning of my career.**

Some days, it’s tough feeling like I’ve gone past my prime and can see the changes to my face and body. I have a new appreciation for young people, being so fresh and beautiful and full of energy and anticipation of life to come. And I’m learning how to also appreciate the experiences in my own life, which have made me wise, patient and accepting of other people and myself. Today, I’m sharing some of my thoughts and decisions as I wander down the road of aging, excited to see what happens in the last half of my life.

**As a working girl my hair was curled, I wore a full face of professional makeup, business clothes and kept my overall look polished. I stayed professional, not wanting to look too trendy or flirty.**

I got up 2 hours before I was expected in my office and my routine was basically, shower at night and wet my hair in the morning, blow it dry and curl it. Over time, I got comfortable being casual on some days, letting my hair dry naturally into a curly bob. This felt like I was stepping out of the box!

After I left my job, I still tried to keep up what I thought was the most flattering hairstyle, blown out and curled. But my outfits started to be more comfortable and flowing instead of tailored and fitted. **Over time, I began to wear my hair naturally curly in a low maintenance bob.**

Within 1 year of leaving my career, I blew that all out of the water and got hair extensions, finding a whole new look I could play with. I love having long hair, instantly! And I can change it up often. Now that I wasn’t in a professional career, I felt I could have more fun with my style.
**This pic looks like a romance novel cover, with me being the main character. Nice one!**

**Extensions are fun and somewhat versatile, changing my whole look. It’s fun and flirty, to be sure! Finally, I could just relax and play with my style instead of using it as a uniform.**

**Here, I am wearing my extensions in pig tail braids.**

**This curl is closer to my natural hair curl.**

You may have heard that hair extensions are hard on your hair. It’s true! They are fun, but I caution anyone who wears them to do so judiciously. It’s a good idea to not use them constantly, but give your natural hair a break from them regularly. Then when you wear them you feel spectacular!

My skin @ 47 years old, started to show damage from sun and lifestyle. I did my research, asked some friends and decided on a CO2 laser treatment for my face with the promise to erase all those years of damage to my skin.

**Just leaving the CO2 treatment, getting ready to drive home. This is nothing, wait until the next morning!** **For the first week, I have to sleep sitting up and propped against some pillows to reduce swelling. I don’t really sleep, mostly nap in between pillow adjustments all night long.**

**Holy Crap! Is my face falling off?** **Besides some oozing, (which is disgusting and looks like hamburger, on my face!) I also have some swelling, especially noticeable around my eyes and nose bridge.** **The dark damaged skin cells are starting to lift and it looks like a splotchy shadow across my face. Sun damage be gone!**

I’ll be honest, the first time I had this done, I got queasy when I saw how I looked like the next morning. I’ll share with you that this procedure looks horrible, but is not really that uncomfortable. The worst part is during the laser process which simply feels hot. It takes about 45 minutes, but she does use a numbing cream for a hour before and you hold a hose shooting out cold air onto the spots she is treating. Within 5 minutes of being done, the heat dissipates and you can’t feel any pain. I feels like a sunburn. And the results!

**3 days later, no makeup**. **This treatment addresses sun damage, firms and tightens the skin and create healthier skin by resetting your cells to produce more collagen.** **The cell renewal process takes about 3 weeks before you see the actual results when your new skin cells begin to surface. Once I got through the first treatment, I was convinced of the benefits!**

My mom always had beautiful natural dark, arched eyebrows. Mine needed assistance. I have a chicken pox scar in my left brow and sparse eyebrow hair growing naturally in either brow. So, I’ve penciled in my brows for years and decided to see if I could find a more permanent (natural) solution.
Here in 2013, drawn in eyebrows.

I found Microblading, a semi permanent tattooing procedure for cosmetic purposes. The first time I had the procedure, I believe the brow specialist used a heavy hand, making the procedure almost unbearably painful. Even after using the numbing cream for a hour, I felt her “strokes” cutting into my skin. And the sound of it is sorta scratchy. Hard to describe until you’ve had it done.

However, I really like having my brows dark and filled in to create a fuller look. So, I found a new technician to do the same procedure in a following year. She used a lighter touch and it was a much more comfortable procedure. This pic is the same day of the procedure. It takes a week or two for the tiny scratches in my skin to heal, peel and fade to a more natural shade.

**I’ve slowly changed my style to reflect a more casual and natural look. Which is funny, because it’s not natural, but makes me feel like I look more natural by using less makeup everyday.**

It’s been coming in for many years and I’ve stayed with my dark Brown hair color, which I’ve done myself with a grocery store hair color. Recently the hair color product I’ve used for 20+ years has been discontinued. So, I’m thinking this is a sign to take the plunge and let my Grey grow out! I like the Grey, but I’m struggling with the fading residual, now Gold-ish hair color on the bottom half of my hair with the Grey and natural dark Brown growing from the roots. This is 3 toned color blocked hair! Not ombre’, not natural or pretty, in my opinion.

Luckily, I’ve been working with my hairstylist (bless this woman!) to find a solution to the color blocked hair. She tried a few things and we ended up finding a subtle solution of using a permanent transparent ash color wash to take down the Gold and brighten the Grey.

**And it worked! This is after the appointment with clean hair. The transition of color is gone! Thank you Andrea!**

BTW, I’ve been polling my friends about letting Grey hair grow in. It’s been an interesting discussion with a common response of “I’m waiting until I retire to let my Grey hair grow in”. And I understand their anxiety. It’s interesting that women consistently feel that we need to keep coloring our hair while we’re professional, but can let it grow out naturally after we leave the work force. Do men have the same concerns? I’m not sure, but maybe I’ll poll some men to get their take on going Grey.

**With wet hair, you can see the Grey is more striking, giving my hair a focal point.** As the Grey grows in more, I’m crossing my fingers to have a cool Grey streak in the front, giving my hairstyle a fun and edgy vibe for a middle aged woman who has always thought of herself as somewhat stylish! We’ll see how this goes!

I discovered at 14 years old, that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’ve tried to stay physical and active for most of my life. At 52, I feel more aches and pains, have less flexibility, don’t feel as strong, feel more jiggly, blah, blah, blah. I think many of you know how I feel.

I got a flash of inspiration in March and started to attend Water Fitness at my local Rec Center. I did not expect to love it as much as I do. I had silly notions that I wasn’t comfortable in a swimming suit in public, I didn’t want to get my hair wet, I’m not an old lady, etc…

But I went, and after 4 months, I love going to class 3 times per week and seeing my new friends in the pool.

We use a variety of pool equipment, but just being in the pool feels so amazing! I feel like a kid when I slide down into the cool water and the buoyancy picks up my tired and sore body so I can actually get a good workout against the resistance of the water.

If we’re lucky, we get the opportunity to have these thoughts and concerns as we age. It’s a vulnerable feeling sharing these inside views of my personal beauty choices with you all! Some people will see this post and decide all this stuff is not necessary or expensive or just vain. Others will see it as no big deal and may have done even more extreme things to themselves as they age or just because it makes them feel good. But I support people doing anything that does no harm and makes them feel confident and beautiful. The most important thing I try to remember is to make decisions that are healthy for me and to stay focused on balancing my physical, mental and emotional health. I hope these insights are entertaining at least, or helpful- even better, as you find yourself thinking about how to age gracefully! We are all beautiful just as we are, but a little lipstick never hurt anyone!

My Dad, a lifetime gift of fascinating and informative delights

**He has a great sense of humor as you can see by my aunt Katie’s reaction to his new hairdo!**

**What a sweet little boy, living in California with his mom.**

**Visiting with his aunt and his dog in High School.**

**He’s taken us on a life long adventure, showing us the way of nature and science.**

**And showing calm and strength, as needed.**

**He prefers to be outside, when possible.**

**Taking a break from chores in San Diego.**

**He showers us with love and attention.**

**So handsome! Dad grew up in California.**

Besides being outside, playing the guitar maybe his favorite pastime. He has played as long as I can remember and shares his songs with anyone who is interested. Here, he is playing for some elderly residents at a nursing home.

**Showing Preston how to handle his instrument.**

**Dad was a pack guide for several years in Yosemite. Easy to see why mom fell in love with him**.

**With his young family, mom and step dad in Lee’s Ferry, AZ around 1970.**

**Displaying his catch of the day from his deck in Island Park, ID.**

**Sharing his guitar skills in Gunnison.**

**So proud with Michael and newborn, Lauren.**

**Susie and Mark’s wedding reception in Gunnison.**

**With Preston @ Dos Rios Golf club, in Gunnison.**

**Dad with “El Cap” in the background**.

**What a fun day of skiing near Crested Butte with Susie and Mom!**

**With his 1st born in 1967, Yellowstone National Park.**

**After spending most of a day working on the sail shades, a hail storm came through and pounded the courtyard, filling the sails up. Dad is modeling a big chunk!**

Dad playing Norwegian Wood on guitar with photo gallery.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you so much!

Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, powerful images from 79 AD

On August 24, 79 A.D., the Roman city of Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and stayed buried for more than 1600 years. The eruption spewed searing hot ash upon the city, preserving its people and treasures in a volcanic time capsule. Artifacts include beautiful frescos, marble and bronze sculptures, jewelry, body armor, plumbing fixtures, furniture, ancient Roman coins, and full body casts of the volcano’s victims shown in eerie detail. In 2012, Nikki and I went to see the exhibit while showing in Denver.

**Mount Vesuvius in the back ground with the streets of Pompeii in the foreground.**

**Large frescos were found and saved as excavation unveiled these amazing works of art.**

**Metal side table with exquisite detail. This society wasn’t poor. They had very nice things and a shocking display of modern luxury items.**

**Dionysus (Bacchus) – Greek God of Wine and Grape Harvest.**
**This Greek God has the love of all the people.**

**A Bacchus wine fountain. I need one of these**!

**I was amazed by the sophisticated plumbing that was shown. This was 79 AD, 2000 years ago**!

**Another view of plumbing fixtures. This blows my mind.**

**And the jewelry! I would wear any of these pieces.**

Another wall fresco.
” Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall.” (Wikipedia)

**These body casts of Pompeian residents show their last moments as the volcano buried the city.**

150 bodies were found in a warehouse on the beach in Herculaneum, a nearby city to Pompeii. Both cities were buried by Vesuvius, but fewer bodies were found in Herculaneum. It seems these people were trying to find a safe place to go.

**More body casts found in the buried city.**

Speculation is that this dog was tied up and climbing to stay on top of the ash as it piled up around him. There is nothing warm and fuzzy about this exhibit, but it shows the reality of life and tragic death in the city of Pompeii.

On finding the courage to love, wherever I look…

Let me nurture love in my heart to the point that I must share it with everyone I connect with. Let me remember that every one of us faces challenges, difficulties, heartbreak, poor decisions, health problems and pain even when we desperately try to hide it. Let me remember that God puts people in our life for a purpose. And help me to find his love in the face of these obstacles, helping one another navigate tough times when we’re at our worst and feel alone. Especially when they don’t look like me or come from the same background. Only then have we heard God’s word and can truly be healthy, happy and thrive! And that’s God’s Love!