She's crafty...

Yesterday my friend Christina and I were feeling inspired by a little hut and decided to create our own versions of cut-paper art. Here's mine.




While I don't think it's terrible for a first try, it's so similar to the original. I'm thinking next time I might try something a little different - perhaps a different subject matter, or even something abstract, using the same technique.

Kickoff 2008

Earlier this week I attended our annual sales conference in Dallas. Usually I wouldn't post photos from an event like this in the blog, but I figured the glowing centerpieces were interesting enough to share.

Check out the kickoff gallery if you're interested in party photos of my silly colleagues and friends.

Grand Canyon

Road Trip!
Dick and I took off early Saturday morning for our trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We saw a whole lot of desert and a whole lot of trucks. This one was one of my favorites, although it was a little eerie when it was coming up behind us.
On old Route 66, there was a sign but there was no motel. I love the colors.
We finally arrived at the rim. Before this trip Dick had never seen the Grand Canyon. Here's his first look.
And my first "self portrait" of this trip in front of the canyon.

Sight-seeing with Family
We enjoyed this trip with my parents, my grandparents, and their respective puppies. Here's a shot of Pampa in his FABULOUS hat along with Dick (in his ordinary hat).

Dede sees the Grand Canyon for the first time in her life! Pampa is seeing it for the first time in more than 60 years.

Mom, Dad, Dede & Pampa pose for photos at the edge of the canyon at Yavapai Point
Inside the Yavapai Observatory, this Teddy Roosevelt quote is written on a window to the canyon. I thought it was cool enough to include in the blog.
Dick babysits Izzie. Apparently she has been chewing on chins ever since... can't imagine why!
Mom and Dad check out the view
Here's what they were looking at
Pampa walks Angie. This is one of my favorite shots of the trip.

Critters!
We were extremely fortunate to be able to see quite a bit of wildlife while we were at the grand canyon. In addition to the puppies you've already seen, we took photos of elk, deer, coyotes and a chipmunk. These are a few of my favorites.

This coyote was checking us out from the side of the road.
Beautiful!
And this little guy had no intention of moving when we passed him on our path.

The Trip Home
Well it's no Darjeeling Limited, but I liked all of the colorful box cars on the trains going through the desert. This one was taken from the car.
Home was so close and yet so far...
We decided to take a slightly longer route home so we could check out the famous Cabazon dinosaurs from movies like "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and "The Wizard". They don't look quite as cool as they looked in the movies in the 80's, but I guess that's just how things go.

Apparently the museum inside the dinosaur has turned into a Creationist museum. Unfortunately the museum is closed during weekdays so we'll have to forever wonder about the secrets it holds.



Check out my Grand Canyon Gallery if you'd like to see more photos from this trip.