I smacked it last night (accidentally), which has almost completely removed it. I can see where the new nail has grown out underneath .. really wish it would come off the rest of the way now because it's digging into my skin along the edges where it sticks out. I'm hoping that today or tomorrow it will come off the rest of the way.



For those who felt grossed out last time, I felt queasy last night after it happened, so you're not alone.

I really hope nobody is THAT grossed out by my chronology of my toe .. lol .. it's more intriguing for me than anything right now, since I've never lost a whole toenail that I can remember - so I wanted to document it, like a good photographer. :)

Well, the 4th was fun. We had a picnic, and ants in the food, potato guns with loud reports, rainstorms, loud music, and fireworks. The kids were excited and painted these little red, white, and blue stars the night before that we hung up around the picnic table.


Flags wavin'


potato gun








no idea what John was doing here


The rest of these were taken by Anna or Jem ..





I like this one








Sarajean looked like a little hippie that day lol












North Carolina, among 5 other states, cracked down really hard on fireworks this year. California claimed it was because of fire risks (hmm, and let's review why California has so many fires again - oh, that's right, it's all the environmentalists who protest forests being managed properly), and other states didn't give specific reasons, more vague like North Carolina's - "we're concerned about people's safety while they're setting off fireworks" and "some of those fireworks people buy in South Carolina are like bombs!".

Since when did it become the government's responsibility to protect me from myself? If I choose to buy huge fireworks, and in setting them off, blow off my hand or arm because I was sloppy or careless - that's my own personal freedom to choose to do so. On Independence Day, while we celebrate the remaining freedoms we have left in this country, and the ones we started out with, the police are driving around fining people $500 a pop for doing things that their personal freedom rights should allow them to do.

On the issue of independence, I wonder if we have we lost the meaning of true independence? Originally, our country was started to get away from depending on another nation - now our economy, energy consumption, production, and other goods are all dependent on other countries. Do people really think about that on July 4th? Maybe not, but it's worth thinking about.

Saturday night I tripped coming up some steps at Anna's parents, and my big toenail on my left foot caught on the edge of the step and lifted up. Man - talk about hurt! I thought I had torn it off, but it might only be lifted halfway back. I still might lose it - time will tell. I'd post a picture, but it doesn't look near as gross anymore as it did when it first happened. Needless to say, it's pretty painful to walk on and is oozing some watery-type serum from under the nail constantly, so I've been trying to stay off my feet.

Earlier that day, we went paintballing, but only 4 people ended up being there, so the games weren't quite as interesting. I managed to stay relatively hurt-free from that, only to have the toenail incident later. Bleh.

Natasha Bedingfield is like a happy Joss Stone. I've been listening to her music today, and in a day of pop music filled with angst, hers is very upbeat and positive. I liked the lyrics here ..



Dry roasted sunflower seeds are my new peanuts.

Just in case the post yesterday was taken too seriously, it wasn't actually real. There's no magazine by that name, and you can make your own magazine cover by going to MagMyPic. lol

For all the photographers out there, Studio 414 is having a photo contest The grand prize is a new Canon EOS 5D.

Obama makes another stupid blunder here, and here, and oh yeah - he got the Kim Jon Il endorsement now. Yay for all communists and tyrants worldwide! The man is smoking some serious blue-smoke crack.

Just because I choose to educate those who read my blog about how ill equipped Obama is to lead this country, does not mean I like John McCain either. I don't. I do, however believe that McCain has the best interests of America at heart, as I believed Hillary Clinton does also. Obama is a fraud hiding behind a smokescreen of unclear associations. Heck, even Bill Clinton doesn't like him and called his candidacy a 'fairy tale'. Of course, James Dobson so much as called him a fruitcake, too.

We departed from Raleigh Durham International on Friday around 11, and our adventure started. This was Anna's and my first time flying together.
















On the flight to Denver, we had some excitement when one of the flight passengers needed medical attention. I'm not sure what what wrong with her - I think she was starting to pass out. They made a call over the intercom for anyone who was an EMT or doctor to help, and they stayed with the lady for the rest of the flight. When we arrived at Denver, local EMT's came on board and helped the lady off. The plane did seem to be getting hot and stuffy towards the end - I actually felt a bit lightheaded myself.







The rental car facility in Denver was a trip. I always rent an economy car, yet I hardly ever get one because they've usually rented out all the ones that they have and have to upgrade people for free. The economy car I rented from Advantage cost $12 a day, so they were trying to get me to add on every little thing they possibly could. First the guy at the counter asked me if I wanted to upgrade to something nicer, like an SUV or a Dodge Challenger. I was like no, not unless it's a free upgrade. I'd gladly take the Challenger, but not for extra money. After asking me again and again if I was sure, he informed me that they didn't have any economy cars available and he was going to upgrade me to the Challenger for the same price so I didn't have to wait for one to become available. lol Then he tried to get me to add on all the collision and liability insurance, something again that I never get because my American Express card covers that on all cars that I rent with it. His insistence annoyed me, but then the tip of annoyance was when we went out to where the car was supposed to be parked, and there was no car there. I went back inside, slightly irritated. He acted like he didn't know what to do, and another lady that was there told him to just give me the XL7, and asked if I was over 25. I don't know what being over 25 had to go with getting that vehicle, but we ended up with a Suzuku SUV which imagine was something in the premium class, since it had power everything inside, cruise, etc. So I got the $40 rental for $12 - haha.


Rockies from DIA


DIA from outside

We were greeted at our hotel by this girl who would have been better suited for a career in prostitution than the hospitality industry. She had a hoop through her lip, and her bellybutton pierced, then a tattered, see-through sweater covering the upper part of her body that had several holes ripped in it conveniently positioned so has to show off a 6" circle around her bellybutton as well as her other tattoos. She didn't have the best attitude, and seemed to have that attitude with all the guests over the weekend. I was surprised that a Days Inn would have someone dressed like that working the front desk, because it wasn't professional.










Friday afternoon we decided to head to a place we saw a brochure of, called Estes Park, which was about 4,000 feet higher into the Rockies than where we were staying. It was only about 30 miles away, but the drive out took us over an hour and a half, because every couple of minutes we kept seeing something new that looked cool to photograph and stopping to shoot it. lol Plus, the road wound around and around, so it wasn't really made for fast traveling. It was one of the most amazing drives I've done. I'd always wanted to drive up into the Rockies and explore. We saw so many amazing things just on that drive, and we didn't even venture off the major route. There were several side roads that would have been fun to explore also.





Cottony-like seeds that were blowing off the trees


Horses near the foothills

















Our rental SUV





Anna took this of me

























There was an amazing restaurant at the entrance to the trailhead at the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was all lodge-like, and they had wild game dishes. Anna opted for steak, but I got the wild game skewers with elk, bison, and lamb served with wild rice. It was good.


High elevation
















On Saturday we found another park area close to our hotel where we thought we could take some more cool photos. I had pulled over alongside the road at a spot I wanted to shoot from, and was on the phone with my mom also finishing up a conversation, when I saw blinking blue-and-reds behind me. When the door opened, I saw it was someone from the park. He asked if we needed any help, and I assumed that maybe we were parked somewhere we shouldn't have been, so I explained that we were taking some photos and I had been on the phone so just pulled over to finish it. Unknown to me, I was parked right beside a no parking sign, which the ranger nicely pointed out. lol He was nice about it though, he said they didn't want people parking at that spot in the road because there was an osprey nest across the field from there and apparently they are kind of skitterish birds and scare away easily if there is a lot of traffic or commotion around where they are. He gave me some answers to questions I had about the park, and then we went back into St. Vrain National Park for an hour or so and shot some more photos. On the way back out, I did snag a photo of the osprey nest as we drove by though. I just couldn't help it.




Saturday we also went to Celestial Seasonings factory, which was pretty amazing. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us take photos inside the factory itself, but we got some outside. They had a free tour and tea samples. Walking through the factory was so awesome, because every so many feet you'd smell something completely different as you passed rows of totes filled with cinnamon, hibiscus, and other herbs. They keep their regular tea and peppermint tea away from this area, because it would absorb all the smells from the other herbs. The peppermint room was so strong with natural menthol that it made your eyes water, and cleaned our sinuses out instantly. It made you want to stay there and keep breathing deeply. lol One of the other interesting facts is that they don't have a master blend for any of their teas. There is a guy named Charlie who's been working there for over 30 years who tastes every batch of tea to make sure it tastes correct. Because they get ingredients from all over the world, there could be changes in the amount of rain certain plants got and other variables that would affect the outcome of the tea if they just went by a master blend.

















the sleepytime bear











Anna loved all the tea sets in the gift shop



















Something else humorous that Anna saw on our way back to the Denver Airport ... there was a correctional institute alongside the road, and a sign near the road that said "Do not pick up hitchhikers". I wonder if they have a lot of people escape??

More cool Longmont photos ...
























































The flight back was completely filled, and they offered to pay someone $100 to take a flight an hour later because they had oversold this one. I had this sneaky suspicion, since we were boarding in the last group, that there was not going to be two seats beside each other for Anna and I to sit in. Sure enough, we walked the whole way through the plane and the only two that were left were 3 aisles apart. I told the stewardess that we wanted to sit together and she said I'd have to ask people to move then, because she wasn't going to. I asked the guy on the end of the aisle where there was an open seat if he'd be willing to move back to the other open seat so Anna and I could sit together. He mumbled something about being settled in already and needing to do some work on his laptop (which he didn't have out of his bag, he could have just picked it all up and taken it with him). There was a guy in the window seat who was kind enough to give up his seat and move back to the open one so Anna and I could sit together, which was nice of him. Then the laptop guy tried to make small talk with us, asking how long we'd been married and stuff. Maybe he felt bad because he hadn't been a gentleman, I don't know.

The stewardess on that flight was a hoot. It all started with the customary routine announcement, which had some excerpts like this ...

"Ladies and gentlemen, can you pretend to give me your attention for a moment..."
"...should this flight become a cruise, there are lifejackets under the seat..."
"... in the event of loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop down above you. After you get done kicking and flailing around like a little girl, place one over your mouth and breathe in. If you're seated beside a child, I'm sorry. Put your mask on and then help your husband... "
On takeoff .. "...please keep your arms and legs inside the aircraft, the captain is going to be trying something new ..."

After we landed in Raleigh, she started singing a song to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, and announced that she had forgotten to bring her CDs with, but if people wanted to leave her ten bucks, she would bring the CDs with on the next flight and make sure that people got them. Southwest has always had good humor, but we really rolled with her punch lines.

The air in Colorado was super dry, and I had nosebleeds almost every day. I was actually glad to get back to the humidity of NC, and the dryness did murder to our hair also. I guess there are some benefits to humidity, after all.

Here ends this lengthy post, made even more lengthy by all the photos. To see more photos, visit my Flickr site.

These are also some pics that I took in AEB, and Jeremy made HDR's out of them.