Where the Bass and Back Beat Can Lock In

I haven't had a stellar year. I wouldn't even say that this past month has been very good. But this weekend was amazing!

First of all, it's the pivotal Autumn weekend when all of the leaves that turn bright amber and vivid ruby are in their full glory. To top that off we had a mini heat wave that left us three spectacular days in the 80's with perfect Colorado blue skies. Since it was my first time off and home in almost a month, there was much lounging around to appreciate!

There was no alarm set Saturday morning, and luckily Bosco decided he needed to sleep in too. We started off with pumpkin pancakes and then hit several restaurants in Cherry Creek for Brian's birthday culinary adventure, which was a lovely and relaxing indulgence. We finished the night off with games and pumpkin empanadas chez Gustin with some wonderful friends and a couple of bottles of wine. Sunday morning I accompanied the choir at church, and then got down to business on some of the household chores that haven't been done in three weeks. The terrifying tower of laundry was tackled, as well as the pile of donations that has been accumulating in the garage for a few months. Hopefully by the time snow comes we will be able to get both cars inside! I also made some progress learning music and movement for Sound Circle's Oct. 29th show, which has been heavy on my mind.

Aside from feeling relaxed and productive, I had several moments where I got to soak in everything happening around me and think, "Wow, I am so fortunate." In those moments, I find all of the things that stress me out to be trivial. I live in this breathtakingly beautiful place, with a handful of loving and loyal family and friends, in a very comfortable house that is always well-stocked. La vie est si belle!

Forget the Weights that Hold Me Down

I think over the past four days I may have gotten 15 hours of sleep. But it was worth it! Lanie and Will invited me and Jenny to come visit Albuquerque and experience the Balloon Fiesta. It turned into a whirlwind adventure that was full of bold southwestern flavors and tons of bright colors. I arrived with a list of must-try restaurants from the Johnsons, and we did our best to conquer them all. With Hatch Chiles abounding this time of year, everything had an extra kick to it. From coffee to taco salads, to enchiladas, it was all delightful. Our definite favorite was The Range - we liked it so much we brought the boys back for a second round later that weekend!

Saturday we got on the Balloon Fiesta shuttle at 4:30am. Ugh. We fought our way through the dark out onto the launch field, leaning on some fresh mini-doughnuts and hot coffee to keep us awake. Around a quarter to 6 the Dawn Patrol began to prepare for launch. Watching the balloons slowly rise and take on the horizon was absolutely stunning. We stood on the field and watched hot air balloons from all around the world inflate and lift-off for over five hours - 555 balloons in total. My photos do not capture the majesty and grace that these giants encompass. The designs are all creative, while some are more beautiful and thought-provoking and others are witty and amusing. Then there's the Darth Vader balloon...with a crew of Storm Troopers.

After extracting ourselves from the masses of spectators, Jenny, Dan and I went up to the top of Sandia Peak to check out the views. Our goal was to be up there to watch the sun

set and see the Night Glow. It turned out that there were plenty of other tourists who had the same thought - the wait for the gondola was 2 hours! We decided to take the scenic route and drove the 45 minutes up the mountain. We ended up on a very different trail head than the gondola, which we practically had to ourselves. The views were astonishing, and the Aspen trees were gloriously gold. We hiked around a bit, and watched the sunset, but realized that we were too far away from the launch field to see any of the balloons glowing. It was still an amazing day.

Sunday included a hike through Slot Canyon in Tent Rocks National Monument. Again, we had perfect fall weather, not too many other hikers around, and lots of photo opportunities. All four of us were all a bit slap-happy at this point due mainly to a lack of sleep(and partially to some white cheddar Cheetos), and we had a fantastic time. This is definitely an weekend I will repeat at some point in my life!