Viva Las Vegas!

We are back from Las Vegas and we had a great time! It has taken us both some time to switch gears and get our feet back under us. For anyone that has been to Vegas you know exactly what I mean. There is no place quite like it. Think about it. An entire city built just for entertainment. And they have it down.

View from our room at the Four Seasons.

We stayed at the Four Seasons, the top floors of Mandalay Bay, and loved their resort. The pool was quiet and relaxed with constant pampering, even cucumber slices for your eyes. We spent almost every afternoon there and it was heaven.

Pool at the Four Seasons

In the evening we would prowl the strip looking for the perfect martini and dining experience. By the third day we were ready for hamburgers in our room, which we did for our anniversary, and could not have been happier!

Ric in front of New York New York Casino in Las Vegas.

Fountain at Bellagio.

Ric at the Venetian.

We also got to see Cirque du Soleil's "O", Cher, the lions at MGM Grand, the dolphins and tigers at the Mirage, and a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, which was our favorite thing.

Waiting for Cirque du Soleil's "O."

Papillon Helicopters is a really great outfit and our pilot, Mike, is a great guy. He took time to give us a great tour, pointing out landmarks and features on the way to the Grand Canyon. I loved every minute!

Yes! I am the copilot! That's Mike behind me. World's best pilot.

Ric and I in the Grand Canyon with a helicopter taking off behind us.

I hope you enjoyed the snapshot vacation! I will be back with your "regular programing" in my next post. Cheers!

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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Red Ruffles and Dew Drops

A crimson flower opens to the early morning light, sparkling with morning dew like a Hollywood starlet wearing a gown of rhinestones and red satin at a movie premier. She is a flashy flower standing out in a crowd of tiny wildflowers in soft pastel hues on my summer deck. And like most ingenues her time is brief. As my demure houseplants come in for the winter she is left looking more and more ragged to face the first frost alone. But when she was in her prime she was a show stopper!

I hope you enjoy my "Red Ruffles and Dew Drops" photo and check back with me next week. I will be out of my Colorado photography studio for a week and am headed for Las Vegas. It is once again the week of our anniversary and we are off for some fun and relaxation. See you next week!

Red Ruffles and Dew Drops
A deep red zinnia flower catches the sparkling drops of morning dew on each perfect petal.
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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

September 2010 Free Wallpaper Calendar

We are on the cusp of autumn. Here in the Rocky Mountains, the kids are back in school, the aspen leaves are turning, and the blankets are going back on the bed. Fall has always been my favorite season. Maybe it is the memories of the smell of a fresh box of crayons for school that I still can not resist. Maybe it was the crunch of leaves under foot and jumping into a big irresistible pile of them. Maybe it was bundling up in a soft sweater and drinking cocoa. I think perhaps it is all of that. How about you?

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for September 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Friendship

Friendship is a special state of being with another. I think of it as another flavor of love, different than your soul mate or sister, but just as real. The interesting thing about friendship is that it is entirely optional. There are no strings of family ties or marriage vows. The only thing binding you to this other person is a genuine bond of goodwill to the other. I am lucky to have a couple friends of this caliber that I have known a lifetime. They are the ones that endure through the hard times and even when apart for a time, the conversation picks right up as if it never stopped. If you are lucky enough to have an enduring friendship than you are lucky indeed.

Amigos
Two reservation dogs square off and discover that they are friends with the touch of a nose.
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Friendship
Two men in blue plaid venture off from their wives in a brotherly embrace to share a moment of friendship.

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Less Traveled Road

The sky was grumbling and growling as I made my way on the less traveled road. The wind was buffeting the truck and a gust brought the sweet scent of rain in through the window and moistened my face with its coolness. The pickup crested one hill and plunged down another before laboring up the next one. I was heading right for the churning clouds. It was time to stop and watch as the line of pines marched off into the maw of the storm.

Less Traveled Road
A black and white landscape photo of a back country dirt road in Colorado stretching toward a stormy sky with silhouettes of pines marching in the horizon.
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By the way, I have a free drawing for two photographs going on over at Facebook. If you are not yet following me on Facebook now is the time. All of my Facebook followers who RSVP the 500 Fans Celebration Event will be eligible! Good luck! Deadline is midnight August 27, 2010.

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

The Grass is Always Greener

The ranch is resting. The last two summers the climate has been generous with abundant rain. The number of cattle has been reduced to allow the land to heal and replenish itself. The high mountain valley is getting greener and the grasses are reseeding, reducing the noxious weeds that like to take over in an overgrazed pasture. The old cattle trail scars are disappearing from the hillsides and are being replaced with trails of prairie flowers. A few horses are lucky enough to be able to reach the yellow flowers between the rails of a fence. And the golden seed heads of tall prairie grass rustle and sway in the sweet breeze of a Rocky Mountain dawn.

Sweeter Grass
A dark horse finds the grass greener on the other side of the fence. Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Golden Grass
A western fence transects the amber grass heads in the early morning golden light as they gently sway in the breeze. Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen