Eyes Forward

It's the last Tuesday, the last day of December 2013.  I'm down to the final hours of a year that was both good, bad, and ugly.........tomorrow I get to start all over again to think ahead, look ahead, be ahead of where I was this time last year...........

I do not make resolutions.  Resolutions are promises to yourself that you cannot keep.  If you are one of the special people that can keep resolutions, my hat is off to you and I salute you........good for you, keep up the great work.....make it worthwhile.......

My human soul makes no resolutions or promises that she cannot keep.  What she does is be a better person than she was the day before.  She'll hug a little harder and let you feel the warmth of her heart and the arms that surround you.  She'll hold her hand out, let you take it, to feel her strength and know she'll never let go.  Her shoulders are there to lean your head on, her ears ready to listen.......Her eyes will not judge you, nor will her lips pass judgement against you.  She's no saint by any means, but a lady who takes one day at a time and enjoys every moment.  If you cross her path, she'll open the gate for you, let you pass or stay awhile.

I'm leaving 2013 with memories of road trips, sunrises, sunsets and Mother Natures beauty.............these I leave for you.....the memories I've made that I've shared with you this past year.   Tomorrow will be the beginning of another adventure with more memories and more friends to be made.

I took a trip and saw life through the eyes of children.  I became a child myself all over again.  I left pieces of my heart scattered across sandy beaches that gave me some of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen.

Sunrises from a place that I will never tire of.  A place where my heart and my soul find their happy....

I said so long, farewell, adios....to a kid that still fascinates me and thousands of others to this day.  I had fun writing about you, 1 f Jef........you do and still make people feel special...............I will continue to watch you grow up, explore the world, spread your humble soul, your kind words.......you're the man!!!!

I give you the flowers from Mother Natures paint palette.......through my eyes I give these to you.......

So long, farewell 2013..................

Happy New Year............another journey begins......................


twitter@CotySimon
Instagram/Howunique310

Day 46

I'm trying really hard to embrace winter and get into the holiday season.   I had someone tell me recently to embrace winter and maybe doing that it would help get me through the long, cold winters.   I'm trying, I'm trying really hard to do that.........being sick is not part of the overall plan of embracing winter though.   It doesn't do a body any good to stand in  freezing temperatures with a wind chill of 2 degrees for 5 hours  cheering on a soccer cup final in Kansas City when you are sick and then losing on top of it.  Oh, well.  It was worth it, sick or not to watch the boys in claret play.

By the time the final click of my humans heels and the words "there is no place like home" were muttered, hibernation was sounding pretty good.  Not happening though.......construction  is alive and well.........to look at the mess, you'd think nothing was happening.  But plenty has.

There's no place like home.
Salt Lake City, Utah

It still looks the same.  A mess is a mess.  Plastic wrapped furniture, paint buckets, caulking containers....it's all still in place.  I've learned and my human is learning the word "patience'.....it is one of her virtues, but there comes a time when you want to say "enough already" and let it be done.  I wish I could just wiggle my nose and have it be done.  I'm trying to look at the end result, but frankly, pulling my hair out, is not part of the pretty picture..............

What's happening now is painting of the living room and dining room walls, the china cabinet and the fireplace.  A lot of prep work has gone into just being able to pick up a paint brush and slap some paint on the walls.  I'm on day 46 of a 30 day remodeling job...............hahahahahahahahaha..........

Pictures of the finished rooms will come later........it will be January 2014 before it's all done.  In the meantime, I'm headed to my partially deconstructed kitchen.  I'm whipping out the Kitchenaid and summing the help of my trusty Elf who seems to think that he's on vacay too along with the ornament fairy, to help me whip up some Christmas treats.  I have no tree up yet, so maybe the smell of something good baking in the oven will help revive a holiday spirit in my human that seems to be lost right now.

I made my human search through pictures of last years Christmas to help remind her that Christmas away from home was no cup of tea either.  She has to look at it this way, last year was fun, she was with her family, but waking up in a hotel room on Christmas morning is just not the same as waking up at home.  This year, the family will be here, hopefully the plastic is off the furniture at least in the living room, and a small, yet decorated Christmas tree will be set up on a table.  As long as there is family to celebrate this precious holiday with, what more could she ask for?  Construction can wait.  Family, friends, good food, and being alive to enjoy another holiday is all she wants.........

Reflections....Venetian Hotel
Las Vegas, NV

Atrium at the Belagio Hotel
A winter fantasy.

Merry Christmas my friends.  Enjoy what you have..........living in this mess is nothing compared to what some peoples living conditions are.  I may moan and groan, bitch and complain, but in all reality, I   am grateful for the small things life gives me............

Before and after pics are coming soon...........I've developed cabin fever and I'm hoping to get out soon and snap some pictures..............

Sugarhouse park -

The clouds parted, sun came out, and the snow
glistened........this was an 18 inch snowfall

Twitter@CotySimon
Instragram/Howunique310

Humble Eyes

As a typical, average everyday, person, I find myself along with thousands of other typical, average everyday people, thinking this is the only time of the year to be thankful and to be grateful.   We  should be thanking our lucky stars each day we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, friends and family to share our joy, tears, and laughter.   Mother Nature showed us that she's still in charge.  She carved out a path of destruction in the midwest recently.  Just in time to displace many people and put more sadness and sorrow in peoples hearts that don't deserve to have their hearts taken up with it.

My human being, bless her heart, has been living in destruction and construction for a month now.  She has no room to complain with what happened recently.  A lot has been going on in the house, but the destruction she's had does not compare to the lives lost, the houses destroyed, or the families displaced from Mother Natures wrath.   With these recent events, now isn't the time to show the changes her house is going through when she knows others don't have a home..........it's high time for me and my human to count our many blessings and be thankful.  Thankful and grateful we woke up and saw daylight once again.  Pictures of the new fireplace can wait until next week.................

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"Over the river and through the woods"................it's that time of year you want to burst out into song, sing Christmas carols that are playing everywhere, watch the Hallmark Channel with nonstop Christmas movies, eat to your hearts content and ignore your complaining stomach..........pretty sure Tums, Rolaids, and other OTC antacids make a killing this time of the year......

Once Halloween is over with, concentrating on Christmas becomes center stage.  Thanksgiving is just a day you eat big fat turkeys stuffed with goodness.   Pile mashed potatoes high, smother them in giblet gravy, and spoon green bean casserole onto your plate.  Pass around the cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with brown sugar and melted marsh mellows.   Have a homemade roll with butter and jam.   If you live in Utah......J-E-L-L-O, whether it be plain and jiggly, or with fruit inside placed on a bed of cottage cheese or lettuce.........Now that you are stuffed just like the Big Tom you ate, lets top it off with a slice of pumpkin pie or pecan pie or both, with real whipping cream..............praise the Lord that you don't keel over with a heart attack.  In all seriousness, when she sits down to the dinner table with her hubby and boys,  she will take a moment to be thankful for what she's got and not for what she wants.  Her needs are simple.  She has warmth from a hug, a heart full of love, and a family that she adores.

....I am and she is....grateful:

To live in a country where I am free to roam, express myself, and enjoy freedom of speech.

To travel the dusty roads of this fine country.  Take the scenic road, get off the beaten path.  Not having to follow a straight line.  Being free to chose where I might wander.

 For walking outside my back door and seeing this.  Having two eyes still able to see..........

Living in a state that gives me magnificent and breath taking views....no matter where I go.........

BEAR LAKE

PACIFIC OCEAN

For the lake and the ocean that has so much of  my heart scattered along the sandy shores..My eyes will never get tired of looking at these bodies of water, nor will my heart ever stop beating for them.........

My fur babies...... Charlie the dog who travels with me, keeps me company on the long, lonely highways.   I'm grateful for Bear the Shitzu.  He tries my patience at times, but the unconditional love he gives is worth it.

The sky that gives me pleasure in the clouds that dance across it.  The air I breath, the wind that blows against my face......I never get tired of looking around or looking up........

For these three goof balls who take great delight in flipping off my human being.  God bless her and her soul (me) for raising such characters.  They are the apples of her eyes......the mischievous, fun loving trio of testosterone.................

Her loving husband.....she's grateful for the man she married, who puts up with her wandering down the road ways with camera in hand, never getting lost and always finding her way home.

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Happy Thanksgiving my friends......may your day be filled with joy and laughter.  Your bellies full of good food prepared by loving hands.  I hope your day fills your heart with more love than it will hold.  Share this overflow........open up your arms and surround your heart with the warmth from a hug.   Make the moments count......you're going to be passed out from the sedation the turkey gave you.

A happy and thankful day to my friends who don't live in America.....have a great day, enjoy your family, your friends and know that I will be thinking of you and wishing you well................

Twitter@CotySimon
Instagram.com/Howunique310

Hidden Treasure

I'm learning to live with drywall dust, workers coming and going like worker ants, leaving little, no not little, but BIG piles of crap, scraps of wood, screws, and nails. They do clean up, somewhat, after themselves.....Trying to live in a construction zone is not easy.  Not easy at all. Your home is supposed to be your castle.  Well, it's not while it's undergoing surgery.  You are at the mercy of the construction doctors making much needed repairs and improvements to a houses body.  Just like a plastic surgeon would do to a real live person.   The smell of the mud the drywall dude uses as a facial to the walls.......stinks.........horribly.........gagging almost!!!  Hallelujah he's done.  Did I mention drywall dust? It's everywhere.  My TV screen has pretty finger pictures on it, the furniture....well, lets just say that dusting it is a waste of time and energy..........

This past week has been like opening an early Christmas gift for my human.  A blank wall in the dining room was opened up and  it revealed a sweet hidden cabinet.  A built in china cabinet.  Why would you want to hide a treasure like that?  She'll never know.   Right now, who cares.  It's open, the doors have been built and put on.  Glass knobs will open and close it, and clean, crisp white paint will coat it inside and out.   On a scale of 1 to 10, this is her 10.  Her simple pleasure.

Blank Slate

I can honestly say I was "tickled pink" when  the hammer met the wall

A buried treasure has been uncovered

The doors are on.........I can't wait for the knobs and paint...

The remodel is progressing well.  Crown molding is up.  The interior doors get hung tomorrow.  Next week......we're hoping for the fireplace surround and mantel be done and installed.  Then the tile work can get going.  The tile is all picked out and ordered.  Paint color has been decided on......well almost decided on.  My human, bless her heart, cannot make up her mind between two color families for the living room and dining room.  Kitchen color is picked out, bedroom colors are done, but the living room/dining room is making her crazy.  Will it be in the sage green family?  Will it be in the gray family?  Either one will go with the rest of her color choices...........The yellow that has been a part of her life for the last 10 years is going away........yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......................

On her scale of exciting things to take place in this little remodel, the china cabinet was number one.....the fireplace is number two..............

The contractor is building the surround and mantel.   Maybe with a little luck, the fireplace will be put in place, and the tile work started or finished by next week.

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The snow that fell has melted, but Mother Nature doesn't disappointment.  She's got plenty to spare and share.  More is on the way for the weekend.  I'm ready for it......I'm going to grasp the flakes as they fall and embrace the beauty of winter.  I'm eager to get out after a fresh fallen snow and head over to my favorite park where the snow will be heavy on tree branches and the mountains standing tall in the background all covered in white.  Yep........I think I am going to have to invest in some boots...........but dang, these construction workers need to hurry the hell up and get out!!!.................


Twitter@CotySimon
Instragram.com/Howunique310

Under Construction.......

My human host is getting a good idea of how it feels to be wrapped up like a cocoon.   I know already how it feels since I make my home deep inside her.  She is now living a life all wrapped in painters plastic.

For the next several weeks, instead of taking pictures of what life is like in the outside world, her world will be shot inside the home she shares with her hubby and their two dogs.......a little bit of construction is being done, walls will be painted, new flooring put down.  A few things here and there........its about time it was done.


The awful, horrible, white rock wall that flanks the west side of her living room has come down.  Yippee, no more.........it's gone.  Felt sorry for the contractor.  The stone was cemented in 3 inches of old, gray cement and thought at one time, we were going to have to live with the ugly wall.  A lot of elbow grease, a hammer and chisel, it finally came crumbling down...........whew.........my human could breath at last a sigh of relief.  No more ugly rock...........

What was before, is now gone.............

On each side of the fireplace are two windows that have been buried since sometime before they bought the home.  She'd love to have them open once again, but that poses another set of problems.  She's knows they are there, not going anywhere, and will in time be opened up so the sun can shine in.  Right now, the drywall goes back up and the windows sealed again.

Holy crap.....the walls, the windows, the trim,
were painted this color.........I'd cover them up, too!!

This house was built post World War II when building material was still at a premium, brick laying was still a craft.....I  wonder about the hands that touched these bricks, laid the mortar down and pain staking tucked each one in place. If only walls could talk and carry on a conversation with me.  The stories they could tell, I can only imagine.   This home is built solid.  Real wood, real brick, and a lot of hard work.  This human host of mine, is keeping with the integrity of the home.  A new mantel, surround, and hearth will go back to where it once stood.  It won't be like stepping into 1947 when it's done, but it will still have that feel of simpler times, when you could go play kick ball in the streets after dark........Over the next few weeks as the work progresses, more before and during pics will be posted.

The dining room is part of the living room, L-shaped.....behind a wall is a buried treasure she knew about..........it's finally being opened up.  So, with camera in hand, I'm off to help my human celebrate the demolition of uncovering a built in china cabinet.......................

Later....................

twitter@CotySimon
Instragram.com/Howunique310

Open Eyes

Keep your eyes open....they are the windows to your world.

There are eyes everywhere....watching....
Creepy!!!!

My feet are planted firmly back in the ground....Already they are itching to pull out and be free, to walk, run, skip, and jump into another adventure.  I hate shoes and socks........The soul is restless..............and the feet are screaming.........did I mention I hate shoes?

Some people when they come home, peel off pieces of clothing that are uncomfortable to them.  Guys will kick off the shoes, throw the pants and shirt on a chair, grab a beer from a fridge, plop down in the easy chair in their underwear, with remote in hand, while switching channels to find the current sporting event on and taking a swig of beer. (This is as close to multi tasking they can get)!!!!!!   Woman, it's shoes off, comfy drawstring flannel jammies, an old shirt, cuddling on the couch with our favorite 4 legged animal(s) and/or a two legged handsome devil...........the commonality in this?  The shoes get kicked off..........

I had one last day to walk around in sandals outside.  Wander around the yard and see what I am going to miss until next spring and summer.  All the flowers have been pulled up.  The tomato plants are now mulched in with the leaves, but not before one final pick for fried green tomatoes.

There are grapes that hang on the vines that won't be picked in my neighbors yard.  They hang in sadness as he recently passed away, but the birds are taking advantage of their fermented sweetness.  They literally are drunk on it.  It's amazing how loud they can get.  Celebrating one last hurrah before the cold bears down on them, and the snow flies and it piles high.

Soon everything around will look gray, drab, and dead....this is the only time of the year I do not like.  You look outside, and it looks sad and lost.

The weather is turning rapidly.  The Indian Summer we have enjoyed will disappear soon.  There is a storm brewing and it's heading our way................

There was one last, lonely leaf on the lawn.  It seemed to be saying to me...............

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO SHINE

Waving goodbye 

Happy Halloween.....be warm if it's cold, be cool if it's warm.  Be safe.  Have fun.............

I love ya'll, my social media friends.  You are the best bunch of people................

Sharing is caring.......if you read this, share it........not everyone can venture outside their cocoon.  This helps them see what else is out there.    

twitter @CotySimon
Instragram.com/Howunique310

Eyeing the Prize

Home is where the heart is.......most definitely.......I've spent a lot of time this year away from my home than I ever have.  I'm done now...it's time for me to put my roots back into the ground that I call home.

I spent several days around Yellowstone last week.....never made it inside the park, thanks to the shutdown, but I did have fun.  Came home for 24 hours.... long enough to empty my suitcase, do a load of laundry, and repack for one last, long weekend with the girls....and tell the hubby I'd see him on Sunday.  I'm married to a pretty cool guy who lets me spread my wings and fly............. 

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho is close and convenient for someone who wants to get away, soak in some marvelous hot pools, and take in Mother Natures glorious scenery. This was supposed to be my last "camping" trip with the girls, but two of the girls decided they wanted "luxury" over camping.  If you are looking for a comfortable place to lay your head, we didn't find it.  I think the motels in this tiny town must be in cahoots with the hot pools.  You sleep on their beds and wake up with the worst lower back ache from too soft mattresses.  This forces you to run, (hobble and hunched over actually), not walk, across the street, and ease your aching back into these therapeutic pools of bliss.......Best part, you have your choice of hot, hotter, and hotter-than-hell water...............Next time, I think they will opt for camping in a nice trailer, with comfortable beds!  The cool mountain air at night, soaking in the pools........awwwwwwwwwww, heaven, sheer heaven.............

It's a beautiful area and of course, the camera couldn't stay buried for long.  The fall colors are just about done, but are still very, very pretty.  

Dirt fields that once had hay, barley and potatoes planted in them are groomed and waiting for the winter snow....It's a vast land of colors and texture that you don't get with city life........and I think for some spunk and fun, the farmers see who can make the best crop circles, too........the rolling hills of green beg for you to stop, run up the hill, and roll down them...just like you did when you were a kid, laughing and giggling all the way down............

I'm sad my road trips have come to an end for the year......planning them for next year has already begun............

In no time the snow will fall.  Halloween is fast approaching, Thanksgiving is coming up, and then.......Christmas.........I can't wait to see what kind of mischief the ornament fairy and the Christmas elf get into this year.  Still can't find my sock the elf hid, and the ornament fairy took her sweet time putting ornaments on the tree.  She had way too much fun hanging out with the elf, and sharing a rather large martini..............

Twitter @CotySimon

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