Something new each day, routines altered, possibilities open up, a new future, into the unknown…and a really cool stained glass ceiling.  This ceiling is at the Hotel Boulderado in downtown Boulder.  I’ve lived here for two years and been inside the Hotel twice.  And NEVER had I looked up!

Stop trying to be perfect and do what in your heart, what you feel.  Trust yourself.  Close your eyes and jump girl.  You are almost there.

It’s been a long and emotionally draining day.  It always amazes me how each and everyday are the exact same length but some days can feel sooo lonnng.  Ahh.  By the way, I’m laughing at how zero people read my blog yesterday.  Good for you!  You’re out there having fun and not glued to your computers or smart phones.  There should be days when no one reads this.  It’s humbling and reminds me I’m doing this for me.  (I do hope that someone reads this tomorrow though.)

Wow!  Day 50.  I almost can’t believe it.

My adventure to Lyon, CO. this afternoon brought me to some new places and new sights.  Always beautiful and always laughing.

Apple Valley Road Bridge

The plaque next to this said “Hippologus.”  I guess it’s supposed to be a cross between a hippo and pegasus.  Um, ok.

Nothin’ like antlers on a green garage.

What would an adventure be without seeing a scarecrow shovel?  I ask you, what?!

And a sunset to top of the day. Ahh.

It was a very cold morning.  But the sun was out and brought with it sparkling frost, long shadows and cool ice.

I was recounting to a friend this afternoon how I dropped the ball on my blog yesterday.  That I was reaching for stuff and coming up empty.  How I felt like I was pushing the creativity and how I wanted nothing more than for someone to give me a big hug and tell me everything was going to be alright.  I was saying how I should take a different route to work and see what I see – see what becomes new.  As I was talking and babbling, I took a wrong turn and ended up back home instead of back at work.  Ah!  What a day!  My very wise friend calmly said, “Well, just go the opposite way and you’ll be where you need to be.”

I reversed, did a three-point turn and took the opposite way back to work.  And guess what?  I pulled into the back parking lot – a lot I never park in – and immediately I see my picture for the day!  I quickly parked and ran over to take a picture, giggling to myself at how spot on my friends words were.  I altered my routine, just slightly, and found inspiration and creativity in an instant.  How cool is that?!

“Eye See You!”

Cool and kinda creepy – Like a weird tree from Where The Wild Things Are is watching me.

I was trying to capture bird tracks in this snowy prairie dog field but it didn’t work.  I’m not to impressed with myself today.  My mind was not on this project, I was not focused on finding something that really inspired me and I wound up with a not so great image.  It’s like I forgot that I am doing this project for a reason – So that I get to be creative everyday.  Not so that it’s one more thing I have to do, which is how I felt today.  In addition to taking a picture tomorrow, my challenge will be to get creative!  Find something interesting.  Remember that this is supposed to be fun and bring me to a place I’ve never been before – actually having completed something.  Ah…today is hard.

“Hoot Hoot”

O, come on!  How do you not laugh at that?!

I had a woman at work today tell me how infectious my laugh was.  Every time she hears me laughing she starts to laugh, too.  I loved hearing that!  It made me feel like I make a difference, even in a small way.

I do laugh quite often at work.  (Amazing, since I occasionally go through  some tough times there.)  I laugh so often in fact, that last week, another co-worker had to come over to me at lunch just to see what all the fuss was about because he couldn’t understand why I was laughing and smiling so much.  (To clarify, I wasn’t sitting in a corner alone laughing and smiling to myself, like a loon.  OK.  I was actually engaged in conversation.)  Once I explained to him, laughing and smiling all along, that I’m generally a happy person and it’s just sorta who I am, he got it.

It really made me aware however, of how seldom people actually laugh – especially at work.  And I’m not talking about the under-your-breath, roll your eyes, this project’s a joke kinda of laugh.  I’m talking about true, honest, calorie-burning laughter.  It’s fun!  When ever I’m pissy or down or feel like the world is tumbling down around me, I try and remind myself not to take things so seriously.  All of a sudden, things are a little funnier and I start smiling more.  The next time you’re having a crap day because your boss just doesn’t get it, or you’re feeling like your life is never going to turn out, or you would so much rather be lounging on a boat, kicking back with the best beer you’ve ever tasted in your life, tell yourself to breath.  Lighten up and laugh.  You could choose to look at life as a game, where the purpose of the game is to play and have fun.  Try it.  See what happens.  Your day might just fly by and you can’t wait to return for the next one.

As I watched the sun set behind the Flat Irons, I declared myself out of my funk.  I left it behind and will not drag that funky mood into the week ahead.  Tomorrow is a brand new day.

I am in a funk.  Perhaps its the weather, perhaps it’s PMS, maybe it’s simply the ebb and flow of life.  But it’s all me.

I forced myself out of the apartment and made it to the Denver Art Museum.  A very cool exhibit landed me some very different pictures for today.  And what started out as a pretty crap day, actually, turned out…pretty great.  Still in a funk though…

Embrace! Exhibit – Katharina Grosse

Embrace! Exhibit – Charles Sandison