Alright so I have a lot of writing to do to truly “catch up”, but I figured I would start with this story! While visiting Red Lodge (on my extended stay) I went snow shoeing for the first time, and let me just tell you AMAZING! It was one of the coolest winter activities I have ever tried, you can just about go anywhere, and you never fall through the many layers of snow!
So my dad and I have been planning this activity for quite sometime, but every time that I get home I either have pneumonia, or it dumps so much snow that I am to destracted to think of anything other than SKIING! well we woke up and it was a beautiful day out… seriously one for the books. So we packed up our gear and headed out of town. Once there it took me some time to get those little buggers on my feet, which I did without grace, or style hahaha. But once they were on I was off. We hiked through the girl scout camp, up the West Fork, and along side the river.
All in all we hiked about an hour up, and 45 minutes down. I got some great photos, and also some great quality time with dad! I even liked it so much I went back and did it again the next day all by myself!
This is over the first bridge that you cross before entering the Girl Scout camp!
This was a HUGE stove that stood alone in the middle of the forest!!! It was really cool, perfect for a photo shoot!
This is the view looking from the ground up, while standing next to the huge stove!
These are just some of the amazing ice cicles that were living underneath bridge two! (I used my sick new lens to take these)
And last but not least this is a little stump with the greenest moss I have ever seen… all the while being covered with snow!!! ahh I love the winter and all of its blunder and glory!
CC Duren Designs is a small knitting company that I am trying to start up! I love to knit, and think that I am starting to get pretty good at it! These few photos are just a taste of my work, there will be more to come! If you see anything you like feel free to leave me a message… or buy one!
This is a headband that I made out of this super skinny yarn! It has a big felt flower on the edge to give it that retro, vintage look!
This is one of my favorite hats. I made it a few months ago, it matches nothing that I own… or ski in, but I love it! I am proud of it!
This hat was my first “flower hat”. I knitted the hat, and crocheted the stem.
My sister has been asking me for weeks to post these pictures… don’t worry sis there are more to come! I LOVE YOU!!!!
I call this one a “hoot of a hat”!!!! it is a black and white knit stitch pattern with a felt owl on the right hand side!
This is a new one! It has tiny little felt flowers with pearl centers. Its a great little beanie to wear with some funky side swept bangs or a flashy pair of goggles!
And yes these are my tags… I made them myself and I am rather in LOVE with them!!!!
There will be many more designs to come so keep checking in to find something you like!
PEACE AND LOVE!
As most of you know I have been in White Sulfur Springs Montana for the past five days on a ski race. It was a great time, especially since Showdown is one of my all time favorite mountains in MT.
Wednesday:
The day started out pretty crazy, I had to run around town and finish up some last minute homework. Then at 11 Ty picked me up and we headed over to Rogers house where we picked up all the benches, and equipetment. Then we all headed up to the mountain for one last afternoon of training. Then at around four we hit the road (the winding road) and made our way to Showdown. After we got there and unpacked we drove three miles out of town to a shed where we would be waxing skis the next four nights. Once the tuning was done we headed to one of the “many” resturants in White Sulfur.
Thursday:
Thursday was the training day before the three days of Super G races. Ty, Rog and I got up bright and early and left for the hill around 7:00 a.m. Its about a 30 minute drive to the mountain. The sunrise was amazing, and of course I had forgotten my camera that day! Once we got to the hill it was time for the coaches meeting. It is tradition that on the practice day the order of the teams are picked out of a hat. Once a team is picked they are put in order 1-10 and that is the order they will run (be sent down the course). I was chosen to pick names out of a hat (2nd yr. in a row). Of course I picked my own team LAST… not on purpose. And Silver Run (my almamatur) 2nd to last! So I spent the rest of the day at the top of the course watching my kids go fast, and wishing that i could too! The only good thing was that it was 40 degrees and sunny, which literally NEVER happens there! The kids were given two runs and an inspection, our second run was suppose to be reversed (BSF would have then gone first), but they changed their minds and we went last AGAIN. That night we went back to the shed and tuned 11 pairs of skis, which took quite some time. After that Ty, Rog and I went for pizza and beer at the local movie theatre and pizza place (the movie theatre is in a basement of a restaurant). That night we were all pretty sore so Ty and I went for a dip in the hot tub, and I took a long shower. Around 10 p.m. Gina arrived to help for the next three days!
Friday:
Friday was the first of three race days! The four of us headed to the mountain just in time to make the coaches meeting, and collect the tickets and bibs. The kids were all pretty jazzed, as was I. When leaving the lodge that morning I had an accident. I fell down the stairs while carrying my skis and bag. I fell right onto my bad hips, which as you can imagine was not how I wanted to start my day! So not only was my pride shot, but so was my back and hips. The rest of the day ran smoothly, the kids did great and I was very proud of all of them. Erica, who is 13 took first place, as did Abbie, who is 14. Evan took 3rd, and all of my little girls placed within the top ten in their age groups. That night we got back to the hotel played some soccer, watched video of the kids skiing to prepare for the next day, and went to the shed to tune skis. Dinner that night was an interesting occasion, we ate at the truck stop, which was not worth the stop. I ordered a salad that had more dressing that salad. Gina ordered a taco salad that only had meat in it, and Ty’s clam chowder was really potato soup, with one clam. When we returned home Gina and I took a dip in the hot tub, and then it was lights out, and off to bed!
Saturday:
Saturday with stuck with our routine, and surged through the day pretty fast. That afternoon after the race was finished we took the kids free skiing, which was great cause the night before the mountain got 6 new inches of snow. G and I took Elizabeth for a few free runs, she broke her collar bone a few months ago, and Sunday was going to be her first day back in a course. While G and I were with Elizabeth, Rog and Ty took the others to huck some cliffs. Rog even got it all on video. Once our free skiing fun was over we took in the awards ceramony and left for the hotel. That night we played some kick ball, which was so freakin fun, then we watched the video from the race, and the cliff hucking haha! That night after we waxed all the skis it was off to the coaches bonfire. It was awesome they had a huge fire, and tons of food, loud music, and NO kids. I think we all had a little too much fun, and a little less sleep.
Sunday:
Sunday was our last day. Rog and Ty left for the mountain around 6:30 a.m. since Rog was setting the course that morning. G and I followed shortly after loading up our car and eating a quick bite to eat. The meeting this morning was pretty crazy. the officials got the start orders and bid numbers all wrong, I had to pay for all four days of lift tickets, and two of our racers went MIA and decided not to show up! The race ran pretty well, and our kids continued to place in the top 5 which makes me very proud and happy. Elizabeth ran the top secssion of the course, just enough to count, and then pulled out. A wise move by a very smart lady! The race was offically over and the it was time to drive home!
i am sure most of you know that i just recently got home from a Florida vacation where i was visiting my big sister and her family (Ryan, my brother in law, Harper my 2 year old niece, and Layne my 3 month old niece).
it was a great time, and as usual i was really sad to leave. while there we did just about everything, i went shopping (ahhh i love FL shopping), went to the beach, had dinner with friends, and of course while i was there it was halloween. halloween was a blast, i loved every moment of it! my sister made pumpkin role, which is probably one of the best desserts in the whole world, i went tricker treating, and ate LOTS of candy. Harper was a mermaid princess, and Layne was a flower child (we put her in a tye dye onzy, and put a peace sign on her cheek, and a flower headband). we went to this thing called a trunk or treat, its where people set up there cars in a row, and decorate there trunks to hand out candy to the kids. it was pretty cute!
one day after church my sister took me shopping, which was really fun, and special. i may have a huge shopping addiction, but i am the only one in the family, you see my sister doesn’t share the same love of malls as i do! but she sucked it up and took me shopping all afternoon, i think we walked just about every square inch of the Palm Beach Mall, not to mention we ate a Mrs. Feilds cookie that was pretty much TO DIE FOR! i think the best part of the day was finding “the deal of the century”, it was a pair of riding boots from Kohls and they were only $40, the same pair are $180 on Piperlime.com .
while there i was also able to surprise all of my friends from PBA, i haven’t seen them since i left so it was nice to catch up! most of them are graduating this year, getting married, and movie across the country. we even went out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory, which is one of my favorite places to get really full, and really fat all in the same meal. I also got to see my friend Amy who lives in Pompano Beach, she came up and we surprised some old friends, and talked for hours!!! it was a great time, not to mention lots of laughs!
the last night that i was there my sister, harper, and layne and i went to the beach, it was amazing! it was the perfect sunset, and the perfect weather. while we were there i took tons of photos of the girls ( in the hats that i knitted them). KT even paid for us to go onto the peer, which was fun, harper really liked all of the fishermen, and the dead fish! i got some beautiful photos of the ocean, the sunset, and those cool old school viewing machines (which i love).
it was a great trip, and i was real sad to see it go, but i as super excited to go home and edit all my photos! well when i plugged in my camera to my computer the other day something went wrong and i lost all 239 photos from my FL vacation. as you can imagine i have been devistated, photos are my life, and that vacation meant the world to me!
well at least i have the memories!
Hey guys I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally started up my website for my photography!!
www.web.mac.com/cdphotography1
