Just back from spending a few days in Colorado with dear friends.

And now — Preparing for school to start. Heavily involved in church responsibilities (which, to me, are really more of a blessing than a burden). Trying to bring our family back to normalcy as the Summer winds down. Wrapping up design work on the 2012 Project Life products. Getting ready to share sneak peeks and information on all the other products coming out even before that. Trying to get my head above water with the inboxes. Housework. Projects. Quality time with my family. Certainly not enough sleep …

To say life is busy feels like an understatement right now. So I’m taking a few minutes to say hello to you and share a few pictures from our little trip last week. I documented the entire trip with my iPhone and edited all the pictures with my favorite photography apps before I even got home and uploaded them.

……….

We spotted some bears as we were driving through a friend’s neighborhood (ironically, on our way to the zoo). Truly one of the highlights of our trip. We saw about six bears, including little cubs.

……….

We spent a little time in Garden of the Gods to let the kids climb around on the striking red rocks.

……….

And we floated down a calm river.

……….

We hung out at the beach (some local country club has a lake).

……….

I’ve decided I can’t visit Colorado Springs without hiking the Incline. It’s one mile, straight up. Very challenging. Very rewarding to make it to the top. This is my second visit to Colorado Springs and my second Incline hike.

Looking up.

Looking down. And PS – That’s our friend Katie on the right, who is 6 months pregnant! So proud of her. Tina (left) is local and hikes the Incline all the time. She is such a motivator and example of living well.

Hiking back down on the 4-mile long trail.

……….

You probably know about my new love for shooting panoramic shots with my iPhone. Inevitably, I have a few from this trip to share.

……….

Last time I visited, I made a few floral arrangements for my friend Tina. This is a glimpse of one of them. I used this picture to demonstrate some fun photography apps with my friends. 

This was showing the “tilt shift” feature in Instagram that allows you to select an area of focus, leaving everything else blurry. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s super easy. Bring up a photo in the Instagram app, then tap on the picture and you’ll see “Tilt Shift” in the corner. Click on that and then move around the bar (area of focus), widen it, change the direction, etc. Super fun.

…..

And now … I’m right back to the whirlwind that is this week. See ya.