Holy Moly, where have I been...

We all need time to sit and rest, a place to relax and take a breath. -Michael Albrechtsen

Holy moly, and holy cow...it has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog.  There are a number of reasons for that:
1.  I was trying to learn a new photo editing program: Lightroom.  I am so not good at it, but I think if I can ever learn it, I will save myself a ton of time.  More importantly, it does an amazing job of organizing photos.  No more trying to find photos.  It has been a steep learning curve for me.

2.  I have been out of town...twice.  I went to see my old college suite mate in Texas.  We had so much fun!  She has a jewel of a husband who did all the cooking so we could play.  Oh, and the meals he made--gourmet for sure.  I got all his recipes.  Thank goodness he shares.  They just built their dream retirement house.  It is fantastic, and decorated, oh so cute, as well as functional.

Me and Liz

Liz, Verl, and me

3.  I had my 10 year colonoscopy.  Anyone who has had one knows this is not a one day deal, but about 3.  On my prep day, I had rented 4 movies which I put on my laptop, and watched as I was letting the "Golytely" take its effect.  The movies sure made the time go by fast.  I had a good report.  All was normal.

4.  My second trip was family related.  Warren and I went to see Mark and Amber over Labor Day weekend.  They are now in Boulder, CO.   We drove our new Land Cruiser, which was so nice.  I drove the first half, then Warren took over.  We got to meet our new granddog, Oliver, a white Westie terrier.  He is pretty cute.  (Pictures to come)

5.  I entered two art shows: one at the Roswell Museum--where I won a sponsor award on one of my photos; the other is at the Performing Arts Studio in Artesia.  Photos must be western in subject. The show opens on Sept.8th, so I will not know how I did until then.  Here are the photos I entered in Artesia Photo Contest.

So you can see, there has been a lot going on around here.  I will post more on each later.

We had several nights of thunderstorms.  My friend, Stephanie, and I braved the elements to go get lightning shots.

See the lightning in the cloud?  Far away photo.

Now a little closer.  Lightning is visible in the cloud formation.

Closest.  Still lightning in the cloud.  

One huge thunderbolt.  

That's about it for now.  I will have other updates later.