Colorado Pictures

I posted a slideshow a few days ago but I havent been happy with it. This weekend I got a chance to fix all of the pictures from my trip and I put the best in a new slideshow. The last one didnt have a lot of the best ones. I was in too much of a hurry and still not feeling great when I put it up.
Enjoy...sorry there are so many!

Back to Missouri....almost back to full health

We made it back from Colorado Saturday night. We had a wonderful time. The second day though Shea got very sick. The first 2 days we did so much hiking and rock climbing and we all thought that with the altitude and exertion of energy that he had become dehydrated and had altitude sickness. Four out of five nights there Shea was terribly sick. But everyone I asked said that it must altitude sickness. The last day when it was time to leave, he was feeling a lot better. We drove all day Saturday and got home around 9:00pm. Within an hour of being home I had the same thing Shea had. It was the FLU!!! I am finally much better today. My throat is still soar. It was the most awful thing ever. Sick to my stomach, achy, soar throat, no appetite. AWFUL!! I have literally slept the last 4 days.


So my trip was great (except Shea being sick)
The first day we went to Garden of the Gods. I had seen pictures and wasn't really impressed, but this place in person was magnificent. There were huge balancing rocks and hiking trails. We stayed there all day climbing and taking in the view of the surrounding mountains.
The next day we went to Green Mountain Falls. That was really awesome. We did a 4 mile hike on rocks and trails, pretty much climbing the whole way. As we hiked we came across beautiful waterfalls. The dogs had such a great time. They were both always way ahead of us, they would find the falls and then run back to where we were.
That was an amazing day.
Since Shea was sick the next day I went shopping in Old Colorado City. When Shea was feeling a little better at the end of the week we got to see Seven Falls. The falls were pretty frozen but it was still really cool.
I would love to go back out to Colorado sometime in the future. The scenery was breathtaking.
I am going to work on a slideshow of all my pictures. Here are a few for now.

RECENT PICTURES

Update for the week

I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment with all that I need to get done before I leave Monday. I am so relieved to have a week off of school. Last week I got called into work an extra 3 days. (so I am very tired) I do work tomorrow night and I get off at 8:00am on Monday. Then I will be loading up and heading out.
So, there is lots of laundry to be done and packing and checking my lists over and over....etc.
I probably wont talk to any of you until after I get back. I will have my cell phone, but no computer, or t.v. or anything like that.
The sound of that is .......wonderfully refreshing.
I love you all.
I will have lots of stories and videos and pictures for you all.

Flowers for Mama

I thought this was such a sweet picture
of my gentle, loving boy. I took it yesterday.
After so much hard playing,
Moses rested in the field with these flowers.
(actually, he likes to eat them)
What a cutie!

Perfect Day

Today has been so beautiful. The outdoors screams for you to come out. The fresh air beckons you to breath it in, while the sun reaches to warm your face. For the first time in MONTHS, being outside has been utterly enjoyable.
I decided to answer the call from nature. Shea and I took the dogs hiking through the woods back a mile or so to an open pond. We sat and watched the dogs play chase in the water, running through the woods, and playing keep away with sticks. They were off-road dogs today, no leashes, no rules, just pure fun, not a care in the world. In that same sense, I felt as they did. My mind was cleared of school work, mid-terms, cleaning the house, moving, being able to just ignore the eveyday responsibilties of life for just a moment.
What a gloriously, wonderful day.

Ramblings...

Well, it's been a while since I have posted anything about a day in the life of Joanne. Everything is going pretty good. There are lots of big things coming up that I am super excited about... but daily life is still a big YAWN! I'm kidding. I wish I had the time to yawn!
School is pretty good. Last week was insane for me because I had 3 papers due this week and I ended up picking up a couple of shifts at work.
Until yesterday, anytime that I was at home it was cram session, trying to fit in everything.
I got it all done though. I turned my paper in about "sex education vs. abstinence education" on Tuesday. I have to say that it was a GREAT paper. I enjoyed the research too. I know that the information is something that will benefit me as a future teacher especially if I am in the public school system.
Another big paper that was due yesterday was for Psychology, it had to be a historical event that made way or in some way changed your life. I was going to just write about becoming a teacher, but I had to fit in something from history. So I geared the paper more towards, women or courage and bravery. I am not big on the "women's suffrage" front, so that was difficult. I love women in American history like Aimee Semple Mcpherson and Catherine Beecher. Totally different women in history. I even thought about writing about women's move from the roles of motherhood and housewife and whether or not that has been good for society. It was probably a good thing I didn't.
But, I do think it was a good paper. My professor is one for a lot of "fluff" and that is not really me at all. Honestly, I am not very fond of her. This week especially. College teachers that take advantage of their position of influence in order to push a political agenda on kids that are not informed on issues and facts really anger me.
I know I need to pray about that.
The good news for now is that I have an A in all of my classes..... and the even better news is that Spring Break is in 10 days!
I am going to Colorado Springs. I am so excited. It will be so beautiful and relaxing and tons of fun! I will be doing a lot of hikes and mountain drives and biking.... and more.
There will be tons of pictures too!!! Can't wait!!!

Watch out Mike Graston

If this crew is coming to Jacksonville in the near future,
M. Graston and his team just might have some friendly competition on their hands.

crazy weather!!

Today it is beautiful outside: Warm sunshine, cool breeze and an awesome 62 degrees. It's hard to believe that 6 days ago it was in the teens and there was 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. I hope it stays like this at least the rest of the week!
I am so sad that I have to work from 3:00-7:00 pm. I would love to spend the day out at the marina or the lake. Or go hiking with the puppies, or play at the dog park.
Oh well......duty calls.