I went to Colorado

I have had a trip scheduled there for months for an Operation Christmas Child Conference, which ended up being a wonderful time and I grew to love and respect the non profit I am involved in even more than I already did. All I will say on this people; no matter who you are, what you believe, what your resources are... Next November pack at least one SHOEBOX, these small gifts are impacting our world for good, one child at a time. One more gift filled shoebox means one more hurting child (out of billions) touched with a message of love & hope. Remember that one person who said or did something for you as a child that you've never forgot; these shoeboxes not only do the same thing they are going to children in extreme situations therefore the message is heard and felt so much more deeply. Okay, done preaching.

It turned out to be even a sweeter deal since Laura moved to Steamboat in February, it was easy to alter my plans and stay a few days longer and fly up even deeper into the Rockies.

Flying 'up' is something else. The plane goes up & up but then on the descent it is a sharp nose dive down onto the airfield. I was a little taken back but looking out and seeing only mountains around us I realized, we are landing in the mountains.


It's that simple. I have lived on the edge of a mountain range for years (the Cascade) but I found the Rockies differed in the fact that they simply never seemed to end.


To say the Steamboat is beautiful is an understatement. It is a town that is the Mountain and is a true Ski Town. I had the luck of hitting it on the last day before 'Mud Season' began and the 'Mountain' was filled with festivities. We spent the early part of the day being entertained by a Pond Skim and enjoyed watching skiers dressed in wacky outfits attempting to make it across the pond successfully. It was very entertaining and we were delighted to learn in the next days' paper that "Captain Underpants" (a very young boy dressed in his cape & whities) took second place. He was by far the cutest competitor and did quite well on the pond!


We then decided to brave up the gondola in order to get another perspective into this lovely setting.


As you proceed up you fully see that this is a town that sits at the base of a mountain.

Since it was a very spring like day it almost made me wish I was on skies, swishing down the slopes. Which is a bit of a joke because I do live in Bend, OR and have not skied in years! But 70 degree weather and skiing seems like a concept I could not only handle but even enjoy, a lot!


You can even see Laura's apartment from here.


So that down there, that's Steamboat and all that around it; I am pretty sure those are the Rocky Mountains. Can you even imagine being a Wagon Trainer....


I have to get Chatty in here. I love this guy and I miss him. He has lived with me so much and at times I admit I wanted to shoot him (he's a bit insane). He is just so cute and I really love him and would never shoot him. I had so much fun just playing with him and walking him.


Hiking up to the 'Frozen Falls' even more beautiful. Studded with what I thought were maybe Birch and snow still deep, white and fresh along with perfect springlike weather.....




Chatham is not much of a mountain goat but he does try.


We could see that the spring melt was fast approaching, it made for an even more breathtaking setting.


Stefan who is 100% outdoor oriented, I am sure is contemplating, "How can I just spend the rest of my life, right here..."


So this is the falls that we were expecting to find completely frozen like they were the last time Laura had visited. What we found were these windows that the season had opened up. The falls roaring behind the frozen wall in full view. I was awestruck.




It saddened me when I loaded the pictures and saw that they did show the majesty of this snapshot of creation. The top 'window' was at least 30 feet tall if not 50. To say this place is a wonder seems trite, you are lucidly drawn in to sit and absorb.


My girl, who I adore.


Along with the boy & his dog who've drawn her to Colorado.


I missed some great photo oops on this next day. Laura and I decided to do some pretty cheesy\touristy type stuff that I failed to record in photos. Let's just say you've never painted pottery till you've done it with a hippie (who seemed quite stoned) and his kitty crawling all over your.... everything.

Along with lots of fun shopping for Laura for a new outfit or two for her upcoming 21st birthday, we ended our afternoon in the tranquility of natural hot springs.


What a cool place, 7 miles into the mountains, pools arranged off the river and springs so as the temps are controlled from cool, to enjoyable, to bearable, to hot!


You can feel the springs coming up from below here and there and oh man, it's warm! And this is my gorgeous Laura getting her body temp to adjust.


I had to get a shot of this on our way back down, being someone who lives in a modern home and who is married to an amazing designer I have grown to appreciate architecture quite a lot. This my friends is amazingly someone's house (I googled it). Really stunning and huge in an unbelievable setting.


Another shot I had to get; Laura tells me this guy is everywhere as you drive across the country but I've never seen him. I would've loved to get on that saddle and get a shot but I try not to be overly dorky.


She is so so beautiful and her heart is even more so than that amazing smile. My daughters what a blessing they are to my soul and as a mother I could not be more proud.


I will end with this, the foodie that I am. We got a bit obsessed with an Italian restaurant in town and ended our week with yet another meal there. This is my favorite dish on the planet, Spaghetti Bolognese and other than Juri's and mine (who I learned from him) this was the most delicious I have ever had! Yummy.


Thank you Colorado for having sunshine when I was there and being home to my baby girl 'for now', you are not a bad place.

Water

It has been such an honor for us to work with this client, to know and understand the inner workings of what a "foundation" actually is and to see the good that they are contributing to society. We are blessed to know the people of The Annenberg Foundation and are so excited, yet nervous when we get invited to an 'event' if we are able to attend, we do. We have a deep respect for the people of this foundation and want them to know that, and how thankful we are for the work that they provide for BrandNav.

Last week was the latest opening for The Annenberg Space for Photography. It is a wonderful museum that is dedicated to photography. Bill had the extreme honor of being chosen to create the brand identity for the museum which in turn has brought forth continued work, assignments and branding projects from them as the exhibits change quarterly. We were able to attend the previous opening night 'Sport'. It was quite intimidating watching a Red Carpet (knowing full well you do not belong) mingling with athletes and the photographers who made them look good in the pages of Sports Illustrated. We were both really nervous and had a hard time relaxing and absorbing it all for the joy and fun that it simply was.

So being invited back for 'Water' last week we felt more prepared and excited to enjoy the evening for what it was. This particular exhibit is filled with caution and meaning on the significance of this natural resource in "Our Thirsty World". You can learn more about it by attending the Space yourself or pick up the most recent issue of National Geographic, many of the stories and photos are included there.

We got into LA early in the day in hopes that I would spend the day at the pool while Bill worked. Well lousy weather and a sponsored event very unlike the one we which were attending (which is an entire other blog that I will not be doing) scrapped my day at the pool, instead I spent a day at a nice LA Salon getting my bleached, ruined hair back into shape and health! Before this though we were able to steal away for a nice lunch and refreshing glass of wine. While walking to lunch we were delighted to see some of the marketing pieces BrandNav had created for the event.





Hair done and a run for Bill we headed across the street to go enjoy the party.


The Annenberg Foundation occupies part of this building, the view being the Hollywood sign and because of one of the other occupants it's not uncommon to run into the likes of Renee Zellweger on her way to the powder room.

The Space for Photography sits directly behind 2000 Avenue of the Stars.

Upon arriving we were quickly welcomed by friends, introduced to new faces, introduced to the National Geographic Team who personally thanked Bill for keeping and understanding the 'integrity of their brand'. It was humbling to be there and yet so fun. Spending a half hour or so absorbing the meaning, story and depth of the photos; we were intensely touched by the message of this exhibit. We ventured into the center to hear the speeches, presentation and introduction by the leaders and the Nat Geo CEO. This was followed by a moving film with each of the photographers represented sharing the thoughts behind their assignment.

Sadly, very quickly into the film Bill suddenly felt extremely ill. They only thing he could think of was to get out of there NOW and that he needed a drink of water! Having no idea what was going on I quickly followed him out and he just kept saying, "I am so thirsty". Within a minute we were outside sitting, with him trying to sort out the way he felt. Then boom, GONE. Eyes and mouth wide open, head back, sweat pouring from him and no pulse that I could find. I was in utter shock. mainly because I could not find a pulse and I immediately thought, "He is 52 now, my dad passed at 54, that's it. I am in LA away from anyone I really know and my husband just died." Thankfully someone we did know saw thew whole thing and had the sense to phone 911. They were there in a few minutes and right before they arrived Bill suddenly RETURNED! And of course all he wanted was water; but the ambulance had said when they called, "when he comes to, do not give him any water." Oh the irony.....

So we spent the next hour on an ambulance. Bill refused to go to the hospital saying he felt FINE, yeah right... Arguing with the EMT's over and over, me knowing all along he was thinking of our horrible health insurance (which will not change at all with the new ideas and plans) and what this would cost! They finally decided he was stable enough to return to our hotel, so they drove us across the street and escorted us in. For this I was so embarrassed because of the before mentioned event (the party had gone on all day and by evening was a complete atrocity) at the same time we were thankful for our hero's who seemed genuinely concerned for Bill and I. Since Ambulances do not carry water, they wanted to make sure he got some into his system right away!

So our evening of glamour was cut very short, I spent my night worrying if he was breathing or not. And no, we have not got him into the doctor yet to find out what on earth went wrong. He was feeling 100% normal in 24 hours and we are thinking maybe he is hypoglycemic or something similar. We will find out.

In the meantime we are trying to make sure that he is drinking enough water yet being careful to not abuse this precious natural resource that we so take for granted.

The evil of Facebook

Well life actually has began to settle here in the new Chiaravalle home; once I managed to get taxes somewhat settled √ (I am VP of finance for a small design firm in Central Oregon you know), ship young daughter of to CO for a new life )o: √, winter escape running from reality √, finally having a home that is pretty much furnished √. (You know I had previously referred to our new home as one very similar to Fred & Wilma's. Yes it does have a modern feel but at the same time with dark grey stone floors, light grey empty walls and few places to rest you body it had a bit of a cave like feel. So having people over \ ie. a life was not really an option.) Well all these √'s marked off and it's time to get a life, now that we are very settled.

Bill & I are both quiet people, not outgoing, introverted, shy.... whatever; it's simply our make up. At the same time we love friends and interesting people so very much that one of our very favorite things to do is entertain. So waa hoo, we finally get to do that once again and for that we are quite thankful.

First on the list is so blog worthy that it may take way too many words to say why, but I will try. (o:

A few years ago when we were well into living is Sisters, Bill gets this call from his High School chum Jeff. Backstory is Jeff & Bill had grown apart over life and time at the same time I quickly noticed a pretty deep yet quiet respect for one another. So Jeff calls and he is in Central Oregon looking for a retirement home so we invite he & Marji (wife) over since low and behold they are in our area. We had a great time, one of those times where you are just, "wow, that was so fun and special and we really like these people." Fast track years later, they did buy that home (bravo for them before things got crazy here), rented it out and once Jeff was able to retire and they could sell there house in Bay Area, bam, here they are, 20 miles away! In this rural area, that my friends is practically neighbors. Jeff had let Bill know they were here around the holidays. My thought was, "are you kidding.... have people over.... yes I know I have this great kitchen and all but really, Brontasaures Burgers are really all I could serve!" Seriously it was like A CAVE.

So of course, Jeff & Marji were first on my list to have over in what I hope is the beginning of many fun times together. It was a great evening. I love to cook for friends, I love to get to know people and try and figure out why they are who they are and I love sharing my home and husband with people I enjoy. We ate and talked and drank (a little, not too much, they are not quite the wine lovers as Bill & I and they had to drive) and talked and argued (a bit) and laughed and had the delight of getting to know one another on a deeper level.

One of the most compelling parts of the evening was when I told Jeff, "I can not believe YOU are not on Facebook!" He respectivly let me know why.

He reminded me how he was a follower of my blog and as a result of that a follower of all the blogs that our family once authored. Then sadly, ka zam, they all ended. He let me know how he was freaking out, wondering, "WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED WITH HEIDI"S HIGH RISK PREGNANCY." I sulkingly admitted he was right, it took well over a year for Josiah to be born in the blog world. I also ashamedly admitted how much Facebook had taken away from my own blog.... Oh time. I promised Jeff I would try harder, but then it's been weeks since we had them over.....

So what is this about; I don't know if I know. Facebook has brought a few of my best friends back into my life which is something I have dreamed of for years, at the same time obviously it has taken away from my writing, sharing and stories on a deeper level. I will keep trying.

As for Jeff and Marji;


We look so forward to getting together with them again, but next time it'll be their style. Horses and all. They are way better Oregonians than Bill and I and are truly, "living the life" that this place has to offer, ranch and all. I have a feeling that blog will have some beautiful photos of their life. But as for us two misfits who are sure they were made for 'City Life" and have tried to create that in their own home. It was so nice to rekindle and deepen a friendship I so am thankful for simple friends.

As few as they may be those there are, they are dear.