The Mountains are taller than ME: First artshow, first blood. Not at all related.

First Art show

A couple years ago, many of you may remember a little show I was cast in called High School Musical. Yes indeed, though at the time of my audition I was 25 and 6'3 they cast me anyway, and I am grateful for that for so many reasons. One of those reasons being the amazing people I met. I made some great friends in that show, and one of them happens to live in Denver! Score.

Her name is Karin Carr, and she is as energetic and kind and she is funny and adorable. She also happens to be an incredibly talented artist besides being an incredibly talented actress, so that's super for my self esteem. :-P She invited me out to see her art in a show at a Colorado Springs studio she belongs to, and seeing as how those were clearly the only plans I was probably going to have for quite some time, I jumped at the invitation! She had 2 pieces in the show, and I also saw artwork from one of her very talented friends, Ben. His pieces were Mardi Gras themed, and so colorful and amazing that I loved them right away. Karin's pieces astounded me, especially one of her paintings of a man holding 3 puppies. There's a picture of it at the bottom of this post, but it doesn't do the painting justice. I love that painting, and if I could afford the $1,500 it cost, it would be hanging in my living room. As it is, my Target and Walmart wall art will have to suffice. :)

After the art show, Karin and one of her friends (and a new friend of mine!) Julia and I went to dinner at a charming little restaurant that used to be a Colorado Springs train station and had a great time over appetizers and beer. It was nice to be reminded that I am known and liked by at least 1 person in this state.

First Blood

The weather since I've been here has been very odd indeed. The day I moved in, it snowed. The day after that was sunny and 70 degrees. Then the wind picked up and has been blowing for nearly a week straight. Yesterday the weather was PERFECT. Sunny, warm, a slight breeze, just perfect. So I says to myself, I says, "You can't stay inside today!" I've been scheduled for 10 days in a row, which I won't complain about since it means I'm getting lots of hours and therefore lots of money, but I couldn't stay inside after work either. So I went back to my apartment and put on my running shoes. That's right: I was going running through the Garden of the Gods. Now, I was worried about the lack of oxygen, but I just figured I'd do what I could and just enjoy the views and the sun.

The Garden actually is quite huge, so I was fearful of leaving the roads since I'm unfamiliar with the hiking trails, and I didn't want to end up wandering the Garden until 4 in the morning looking for my car (especially since I had to be at work at 5am), so I stayed on the road for a while until I found a trail that followed the road pretty closely, and that I was pretty sure I could find my way back on. All was well and wonderful for the first half of the run. I did get tired pretty quickly, but was able to run for longer than I had anticipated, so I was pleased about that, and of course happily distracted from my wheezing lungs by the beauty around me. The trail is made up of red dirt, so my shoes were very quickly covered in red dust as I made my way around the twists and turns.

Speaking of twists and turns, there are a lot of those on the trails, as well as quite a few protruding rocks, not to mention the piles of horse apples you have to watch out for. Lovely. But while I was confidently jogging around the rocks, up the hills, and over the drop-offs, happily staring up at the huge red monoliths all around me, I failed to see a small rock about the size of my fist protruding from the path in front of me. Yep, I bit it. Hard. My ankle turned out from under me and I fell face first down on the trail.

Luckily: Other than a few scrapes, I wasn't hurt.
Luckier: No one had seen me do it!
Luckiest: I had not fallen face first into a pile of horse crap. Cue sigh of relief.

After shaking my head at myself and dusting myself off, I started back the way I had come, thinking that maybe this was a good place to cut my losses and make my way back through the Garden to where my car was parked. I've spilled my first blood in the Colorado dirt...I suppose I'm making myself more and more at home everyday. :)

I took some pictures on my run, since I use my blackberry as my mp3 player as well, so here's a few to enjoy, including one of my lovely trail burn. :)

Oh, and P.S....Emily, I got your card in the mail today, so thank you for making me cry on my way from the mail room to the laundry room. I got a few curious looks from fellow Altamira residents who now probably think I am deeply aggrieved by my dirty clothes. :) But thank you all the same, and I miss you too.