Prosciutto

This stuff is way too expensive but my parents got me to like the taste of it when I was younger (we had an entire parma ham!) and then it was reinforced when I was in France. I'm not sure if it was exactly the same, but they had cheap packages of it everywhere labeled, "jambon cru."So now I still buy it as a luxury to myself. A little prosciutto, brie and a baguette is heaven on earth.

Rose

Look at the pretty roses Matt gave me :-)

Bart's

Susan and I went over to dink around Laramie for the day. We spent most of our time at Bart's, the huge flea market on the edge of town. You can find the most interesting, odd, and junky things there. We both made off with some cheap frames, but saw things ranging from broken appliances to antique tools to shrunken heads (though I'm pretty sure they were fake).

Best Night Ever

Matt and I celebrated our engagement in style tonight! We went to the Melting Pot for dinner (and Matt had balloons, chocolate and roses delivered to our table) and had a wonderful, romantic 4-course dinner. Afterwards, we went to see one of our favorite musicians, Jalan Crossland, play at Avogadro's Number. Matt and I have been going to see him play since we started dating. It was a perfect evening! I am hoping we can book Jalan to play at our wedding, even though he looks like a bit of a hobo right now.

Snow!

The first big snow of the year is here. It dumped a few inches in just a couple hours and continued to snow into the night. I was a little worried about getting to Fort Collins the next day, but the sun cam out and we made it. This is the pretty snowfall in the evening. It isn't too dark because of how much light reflects off the freshly fallen snow.

Antler

Matt has a plant that grows long stems that "grab" onto something as it grows. It can start to wind and crawl up all kinds of things. It is starting to wind up around an old antler (that I keep in the window to keep Stash off).

Wine

I am still reeling from getting engaged! I haven't even washed my wine glasses yet! These are the pretty crystal ones Becky gave me.

Holy Freaking Crap

Matt just proposed to me! Totally out of the blue and surprised the crap out of me. I guess my Dad and Carrie told him not to keep waiting and I am so glad that they did. I am officially engaged! A fiance! Oh my. I am still reeling and have so much going through my head. But, I decided to post the photo of my ring here so you all can see it. This diamond has been in Matt's family for four generations, and he gave it to me in the last setting it was placed in. We are going to put it in a different setting (I am thinking white gold, cathedral setting) but I think it is beautiful and am happy as I have ever been in my life! :-)

Coincedence?

Hmmmmm......

Chuckar hunting

Chuckars are small, partridge-like birds that are fun to hunt. We all went last year, since Matt's family has a friend in Thermop that raises them. I like going along for the hunting (even though I don't shoot), but I really like the hot springs and social time even more. The weekend was very fun, and I got some good pics. The rest are here if you want to see them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollybx/sets/72157625974536129/

Thermop

We just got back from a great little vacation! Matt and I went up to Thermopolis, WY for our second annual chuckar hunt/hot springs soak/Valentine's celebration. We met up with his parents, sister and her husband, and had a fun weekend together. More photos to come, but here is the sight that we saw upon driving up to our hotel. Notice the sign on the feeder....(even though I am pretty sure they were feeding the deer on purpose).

Brian Regan

My parents took were nice enough to take Matt and I to see Brian Regan at the Civic Center. It was a blast. He was as funny or more so than any comedian I had ever seen (and I've seen Jerry Seinfeld live!) and had us laughing out loud all night. If you have never seen his stuff before, I recommend it! Thanks for the fun night, parents! Oh, and yay for telephoto lenses and cameras that make it easy to turn off the flash.

Political Protest

I took some time off work yesterday to go to the Capitol and participate in protesting HB74, a bill that is not only banning gay marriage, but keeping legal marriages in other states from being recogized in WY. I won't even get into the million reasons why this bill is stupid, damaging and of no benefit to WY. It felt good to do some lobbying and spreading the word. I got some great photos from the protest, and will be loading them on Flickr and Facebook later.

Creative Process

I have tried a few times to have a nice wooden palette with my paints organized into nice little consistent spots, like Bob Ross. After totally ruining a few palettes, I went to wax paper ones so I could mix colors all over them and throw them away when I'm done. This is what one of my palettes typically look like after I finish a painting. Not very organized.

Valentine's Day

Matt and I had a pretty low-key Valentine's Day this year. We went out to dinner at Mondello's restaurant and exchanged cards at home. He got me a very sweet card, and even drew a heart around my name. Even though he later said he thinks his heart drawings look like a butt. :-)

Pottery

Rachel and I had a theraputic afternoon painting pottery at Graffito. Even though they were packed and it took as an hour to get a table (and I may or may not have gotten a little cross at one of the owners for trying to to give other people a table before us), we finally sat down! I did a pink bowl with little flower designs, and Rachel did a bowl and small plate. It was very fun, and Rachel is very serious about getting the details right, as you can see.

Antelope

I have been working very hard on a large painting of a herd of antelope for a long time. It hasn't been going very well. So I am taking it in a totally different direction and slapping on the vivid color, dark out-lines, and van Gogh-y brushstrokes that come naturally to me when I paint, rather than trying to make it controlled and realistic-looking. I like it better already.

Depot

 Grandma and Grandpa Meese came to take care of the animals and were nice enough to meet Matt and I in town for dinner. We went to Shadows and had a very nice time! I snapped this photo of the Depot at night as we were leaving. I am totally impressed at how easily my new camera adjusts to take clear and well-lit night shots. I think it and I are at the start of a very special relationship.

Icy

It has been cold and icy! Hence, an icicle.

Tulips

Sorry I have been slow at blogging. Over Wed. and Thurs. this week, I had to take photos of our entire staff and contractors. Over 40 people. So, I was getting a little tired of taking and editing pics. I didn't fail to take ones for my blog, though! This is a bit unimaginative though...a vase of flowers.

Frontier Park

I delivered my work to the Old West Museum for the Western Spirit Art show today! Unfortunately, I picked the snowiest day of the year to do so. At leat I didn't have to wait in line to drop things off like the other artists that came the day before to avoid the snow. It was very pretty though, with the snow falling on the bronze statues. I took this one of the snow collecting on the Lane Frost statue. I am carrying my camera everywhere with me now. It is bulky and annoying, but at least I get the pics that I otherwise would have missed.

Monkey!

Monkey!

Super Sunday

I had a fun Superbowl! We had too much food and beer (which is never a bad thing) and good friends. I was proud of my blue cheese, buffalo wing, queso dip. It was as good as it sounds.

Bread

Rachel and I went to the Winter Farmer's Market yesterday! They had everything from bread, to jam, to meat to chocolate covered bacon. It was pretty sweet! I ended up with some bread, beef goulash, duck eggs, and smoked salmon dip. Good morning!

Gallery Walk

Rachel, Chris, Matt and I went to Fort Collins for First Friday. I had my pieces up with the Art on Mountain Gallery. Oh, and they officially asked me to stay on as a full member/part owner for the next year! Yay! We went to Austin's afterward for some more delicious prime rib. Rachel is looking at the jewelry and knowing her stuff is just as good...

Contest

Ok, another 8'' x 10'' photo to whoever an tell me what this is! Or best guess.

Macro

I went to a photo show reception with Susan tonight. It was a fun time and her pics looked awesome! The theme of the show was "Macro" or super close-up photography. There did seem to be some people though who didn't really understand what macro means, or even close-up photos for that matter. Most of the photos were of flowers and bugs, too. I think macro is cool because you can take a picture of something big in macro, rather than something small. It got me thinking about what I would have taken a photo of. My hand!

Mylar

I have been working on a new fish drawing like "Circling Cutthroats." This is what the beginning stages of one looks like. I throw a bunch of ink and color on the back of a sheet of Mylar (crazy plastic-y stuff) and then refine it until it looks like something.