salt lake city

so, in order to escape the intense chaos of the renovation, and to go visit the fantastic emily, and to see BRIGHT EYES, the girls and i headed to salt lake city for a few days.

it has been a while since i have driven a long distance with both of the girls without glenn. it was quite trying, but very worth it once we reached our destination.

i think the highlight of the trip for the girls was riding the "train" to the show. as you may have guessed, there is no public transportation in dolores.

emily's the best;

we love her.

i admit, it was an entirely different experience having the girls with me at a show. but when i saw that it was a free show, in a park, i figured i should give it a try. luckily, some random man saw us with them, told us to stay right where we were because he would be right back, and returned with a beach ball. i guess they had been giving them away earlier and we missed it. it is a good thing that he did because it kept them thoroughly entertained the whole time. they kept hitting people in the head and they would just laugh and toss the ball back to them. they danced a bit with me, read their books, played, etc. we had so much fun! of course, twice june had to go to the bathroom, during songs that i love. and we were pretty far back, where it was safe to lay out a blanket for us to sit on, not right up front, touching the stage like i usually am. and i really could really only half watch conor up there because i was keeping a constant eye on the girls. but it was great, and i am glad they were with me. i was very glad emily was with us too; she was a big help with them!

i have seen conor several times, but i have never seen him like this. he was ON. it was amazing! he is playing again next month in albuquerque and i think i will have to go (without the girls).

on friday, we went for a great hike, to donut falls. it was about 1.2 miles, and only took us 3 hours!

emily's kids, ella, sammy, and sadie, are so awesome.

and emily is hardcore!

(two on her back, one in the stroller.)

and then, after the hike, i went paragliding.

yep. i flew.

emily's husband, johnny, runs a paragliding business. that's him there in the back and i am in front. words cannot describe what it felt like.

i can't wait to try it again!

they live right down the road from point of the mountain, a world famous paragliding spot. people come from all of the world to train there. so cool.

THANK YOU so much, emily, for everything! we had such a great time with you!

unfortunately, we had a tragedy on this trip as well. we brought daisy with us, because we bring her everywhere with us. but we had never taken her on such long trip before. we didn't really think about it. but she didn't make it. she was in the way back of the element, where she always travels. the air conditioning was on, but i am afraid maybe it was still really hot back there. when we arrived, she seemed very disoriented. we put her in the shade, where it was quiet, away from the kids. but when we went back to check on her she was dead.

i think i was as devastated as hazel. but the interesting thing to me was it was the first time that she was truly inconsolable, about something real, and i don't mean that in a judgmental way, i just mean she wasn't crying because she didn't get her way, or because she wanted a toy that june had. she was truly heartbroken. and i felt that, and it was intense. it is cliche', but i felt her pain. and it made me realize that there is a lot more of that to come. and it scared me. i called vicky, the woman we got daisy from right away to see if she had any more babies. it just so happened that she had a litter that was ready to leave their mama today, so we stopped on our way home and picked out a new bunny. her father was the same as daisy's.

i am a bit smitten with little cleo. yes, it was my idea to call her that. short for cleopatra because she has these perfect rings around her eyes, like eyeliner. i loved daisy so much, and her death made me realize how fast things can change. but rather than spend too much time mourning the loss of her, i intend to put my energy into making sure this sweet little girl feels as happy and loved as daisy did.

i will be out in the shop all day tomorrow and i can't wait!

my "musical debut"

remember last year when we went to the joe moore picker's reunion? well, we went again this weekend and it was wonderful. just so much fun. just like last year, the girls had a great time eating watermelon and watching everyone play music.

and this year, glenn convinced me to play on the stage with him. our band name was "bee's knees".

i was really nervous, but it turned out to be wonderful. here is a video of us playing her eyes dart round by, of course, the felice brothers.

i have had a very interesting realization this weekend. you know how i went through so much turmoil this winter? i struggled so much and couldn't understand how to move through it, or what i would find on the other side. well, it is finally clear to me. i had to move through that pain and reach a place of acceptance in order to come to this place of liberation that i now find myself in. i feel that, for the first time in my life, i am truly free to honestly be who i am, without fear of judgement or rejection. it is an amazing feeling and i am embracing it with everything i have. i think it is this newfound sense of freedom that gave me the courage to get up on that stage. it is this new belief in myself that allows me to do the shows that i have done this summer with my jewelry and to be so successful. i am proud to offer myself and my gifts to the world. i feel confident now and the world can take me or leave me, and i will be fine either way. it is a fantastic place to find myself in.

new pieces!

yay! i finally completed some new pieces today. due to the remodel, there is considerable chaos around my house. it was great to finally have a full day out in the shop today, preparing for the telluride farmer's market tomorrow.

this is a custom piece with a gorgeous chrysoprase.

and another custom, memorial necklace, with a glorious faceted prehnite.

the "balance" ring,

with a beautiful chalcedony

a new "in the arms of buffalo bill" ring,

with a stunning turquoise cab that patty gave me for my birthday.

(i just might have to keep it...)

a new "without darkness" ring,

with prehnite with epidote

some new charm necklaces

and new pmc pieces

i will be listing some of these in my shop, but please feel free to contact me if anything grabs you; i can reserve it for you!

and here's what's happening with the remodel...

here you can see the "mudroom", which has served as my sewing room, an office, junebug's nursery when she was tiny, a toy room, and a room for the dogs. when they dug down, it became clear that the foundation was rotted through and they are tearing it down tomorrow. oh dear.

(when i said i wanted a second bathroom this wasn't really what i had in mind.)

pouring the concrete for the new porch

molly loves all the trenches and is just digging to her heart's content.

ten years

ten years ago today i married the man i love in a beautiful mountain meadow.

it poured throughout the entire ceremony.

(good luck, right?)

and my beloved, dearly departed, miles was our ring bearer.

last night, to celebrate and remind each other of our love, we returned to that meadow. and although our love has grown and changed and been tested and confirmed over and over again, it was comforting that that meadow seemed much the same.

for dinner we went to the restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner.

it doesn't look like much from the outside, but believe me, it is fabulous. we thought we couldn't really afford to have dinner there but we would just have a beer and an appetizer and go somewhere else for dinner. however, we discovered it was $5 burger night and everything was perfect. the waiter even brought us a free piece of deliciously decadent raspberry cheesecake for dessert.

i am so extremely lucky and infinitely grateful to have this man in my life.

p.s. glenn has actually planned a very special anniversary trip for us, but it will happen in late september. we are going to float the lower san juan river, just the two of us (glenn's lovely folks are coming to stay with the girls), in duckies, with a guide to show us all of the best hikes, cook all of our food, deal with the boats, set up camp, etc!