Shannon Gurney Photoblog

Inspired...more from Eureka Springs

It's funny how changing your perspective can change your daily life.  We create our own experiences and those experiences shape who we become.  This trip to Eureka Springs was nothing amazing.  I didn't jump from any airplanes or hike to the top of Pike's Peak.  BUT, I left there inspired. 

I spent some quality time with my family and friends, rested a bit, ate what I wanted, breathed in the crisp morning air, and soaked up EVERY last ray of sunshine.  It was just what the doctor ordered...so to speak.

I'm even starting to see myself inside here somewhere...that person I was 4 years ago before giving birth to my two FAVORITE little men in the whole wide world.  I know I was always there - I just hadn't seen, REALLY seen, myself in a very long time...even that double chin I've come to know so well is starting to disappear.  That's enough to inspire anyone!

It helped that I walked into THIS store.  What a perspective!  I wanted to buy every clothing item, journal, sticker, and doggie bed in the whole place.  Why can't we all live life thinking nothing but the best.  As Jake and Rocket put it so well, "Good vibes are contagious."  Amen to that!

I even got back to my roots.  OR revisited them...by way of my mom and Karri...HA!

They say the waters in Eureka Springs have healing power.  Whether it's true or not, I believe my life is different today because of my trip there.  I had to LET GO a bit in order to make the trip.  As you all know, I've never left my boys for more than a few hours at a time.  It wasn't really my plan to do that.  I'm not quite THAT neurotic.  The opportunity just hadn't presented itself.  Needless to say, I was a bit worried while being gone from them.  I'm pretty sure, however, I missed them more than they missed me.  Talk about a WAKE UP CALL!

I survived my time away and came back renewed.  I can't wait to introduce you to all of the changes I'll be making in my photography business and in my life.  Not to worry though, the changes won't be in pricing!  :)  Come back tomorrow for the first of many details...
 

I'd forgotten how completely gorgeous my mom is...I see her everyday almost the same way I see myself...running herself ragged from job to home to taking care of everyone else (including me)...

I hope she's as renewed as I feel today.  She deserves it as much, if not more, than I do.  I love you, Mom.  You're beautiful today and everyday.
 

I really wish there was a way to get a good shot of Thorncrown Chapel without all the trees blocking the view.  It was amazing.  I'm sure most of you have heard of it, but it's just not the same as actually being there....reading Psalms while you breathe in all the majesty that is our Lord.  God is good.

After all, he did provide me with the BEST of family and friends.  People who love me for who I am...no matter the circumstance...

Don't worry, Karri.  There's hope for you, yet.  HE has a plan for your life, too.

Just keep on kissing those FROGS...

Prince Charming will be here soon.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
I had a super time girls!  Can't wait to go back!

 

AND, don't forget to smile...Life is good.

Eureka Springs...catching up.

As you may have noticed, I've been MIA for a few days.  I've been REALLY wanting to post to give a big shout out hello to all of you in blogland, but resting won out.  We've literally been laying low for the past few days while on vacation in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  It's been nice.

I was super worried I'd be missing by boys and sad.  BUT, I have to say, it's been NICE.  Did I mention that?  I do miss my boys.  I just really needed the break from all things mommy.  Does anyone else ever feel like that?

So, here's where we're staying.  A little cottage on Spring Street.

It's called the Wishing Star.  Pretty cool, huh.  AND, since being here.  I've even come up with some changes for my photography business.  I feel refreshed and full of energy...READY to take on the world.
 
Life is good.

I'm getting to spend some quality time with my mom (YES, that's me!)...

AND, my sister...who I absolutely adore...

AND even our friend, Karri, got to come along...

We've been silly, nutty, sleepy, lazy, HUNGRY, and just plain ole' us.  It has been perfect!

So, thus far, we've shopped for antiques and cool little bobbles...
 
 

We've gone cave exploring...
 

We've even gone GHOST HUNTING....Yes, us!  Just look at the orbs we found!

There are some SERIOUS ghost stories regarding this place...they've even been on GHOST HUNTERS!

So, as you can tell, we've really enjoyed ourselves.  Here are some more random shots before losing my internet signal all together.  I'll check in again with you all in a day or two.  Happy HUMP DAY!
 

Did I mention, I love my adorable sister?
 
 

Ya'll come back now. YA hear?

Back...ON the grid

You've heard of "off the grid" right?  That's where I've been for the past 10 days.  It's been nice, relaxing, a little frustrating (for those of us attached to our computer and internet), and super cool.  BUT, the vacation is officially over. O-V-E-R  It's back to reality for me.  Back...ON THE GRID.

I'm already tired again from staying up the past two nights doing laundry, proofing photos from before my vacation, taking care of screaming kids who aren't adjusted yet,  and trying to get everything done in the earliest possible time.  Stress comes to mind.  But, I'm not one to complain or anything...

This, I promise, will be my last post of vacation photos.  There are a ton I could share with you, but a person can only take so many vacation photos, right?  These are also a bit random just like my last post.  I'm not feeling too organized yet and didn't even edit these except for sharpening and brighting some of them a bit.

So, stick with me and I promise to post something other than vacation pics really soon.

In my last post, I left off in Ouray, Colorado.  Here are a couple of shots taken during the totally rockin' Ouray 4th of July Parade.



this next one was actually taken with my point and shoot out the window of our moving SUV...it's a bit blurry, but you can see how the town is located down in the valley at the base of the mountains...


We rented a Jeep on one of the days we were in Ouray.  It was the one thing I wanted to do at some point during our vacation.  I love driving a Jeep.  We did a little off-roading and then I pretty much cruised around town until my time was up.

Another cool part of Ouray is the Hot Springs and all the waterfalls.  The boys went to the local hot springs swimming area and had a great time.  I didn't get any shots of that since I was too tired and stayed back at the cabin with Wes.

I did, however, get some shots of our visit to Box Canyon Falls.  It's a huge waterfall that you can actually walk under and see the massive amount of pressure and force this thing produces.  It was a bit scary, but we survived.  Here's what the walk looked like...


After leaving Ouray, we headed to Red River, NM.  It's a really quaint little town set at the base of the mountains, as well.  They have lots of delicious places to eat, cool local shops to peruse, and even a Go-Kart track for the boys...and Grandma?



and then the dreaded trip home...

Hiking, Chipmunks & Ouray

This post is somewhat random because I'm too tired to think of ways to organize these photos for you.  Tonight, I'm in Red River, NM.  It's 11:25pm Mountain Time (12:25am Central, which is how it feels to me!)  I thought I'd try to catch you up a bit on our trip.

We arrived in Red River, New Mexico late on the 4th...just in time to watch the fireworks display over Eagle's Nest Lake (4th photos will be in the next post).  We're now starting our trek back towards home.

In case you haven't been keeping track of our route, we started up near Creede, Colorado then moved on to Ouray, CO and now we're in Red River, NM on our way back South towards Oklahoma.  Tomorrow morning we'll be driving straight home (about 9.5 hours without stops).

The day before leaving Creede, we took a hike (all of us together) up even higher than our camp to a place called Brewster Park.  We had to keep the family hikes pretty short since Ty can only take so much of that stuff on foot...and someone has to carry Wes.  The altitude here gets to you quickly when you're hiking, which makes it tough on the kiddos.  Ty had to stop and rest quite a bit.  But, he's a trooper and didn't whine too much.

Here are a few pics from our hiking trip...

 

Ty with his Grandpa

 

The views were spectacular throughout this whole trip...and this hike was no exception.

 

 

Ya gotta have a walking stick when you're on a hike.  At least, Grandpa and Ty think so.

 

 

taking a break...

 

and these little guys are everywhere in Colorado and New Mexico.  Ty had an absolute ball trying to catch them all day everyday.

 

 

We actually saw this potty on our hike through the mountains.  Does anyone really use this stuff?  Cause there is no way...NO WAY!

And...last, here is a shot of Ouray, Colorado.  The town sits down in the valley between all these mountains.  It was seriously amazing.

 

You'll see more shots of Ouray in the days to come.  Have a great Sunday!

At One With Nature

Hello there good buddies.  I missed you!

 

So, for the past 4 days I've been trying to log on to the "very sketchy" wireless internet that was promised to us in our mountain retreat near Creede, Colorado.  When booking this location, I knew full well I would have no phone service, ABSOLUTELY NONE.  But, that was okay because I knew I'd have internet access to compensate for it.  Not so.

I've been coming to this location for about 25 years (I started coming with my parents when I was just a kid) and you'd think I'd know better by now.  Not only do we not have phone service or internet access, but we barely have electric...it strictly runs from a generator for a few hours each night.

Well, today, I'm back online.  Yippee!  Seriously - I'm doing a jiggy dance!  I never knew just how attached to my computer I was until now.  We have moved on from our mountain cabins in Creede to more modern accomadations in Ouray and I am so HAPPY!  I can finally catch up with you guys!

Here are a few to get you started... and I'll be posting much more in the days to come.  Get ready!

Day one of our trip. This shot was taken near Albuquerquie, NM.

The upper Rio Grande, near Creede, Colorado.
The best way to keep things cold in the mountains...
No words needed.
My cute mom and dad.

This is one of the cabins in our camp.  Ours was way up in the trees and it was too hard to get a good shot, but you get the idea.

 

This little guy was the cutest thing on the planet.  He is a Scottish Highland breed of cattle and was the friendliest thing ever!  He looked like a big teddy bear to me.

Guess who...

The rest of these shots were taken with my Canon point and shoot by my dad and Josh because I wasn't brave enough to hike to the top of Pole Mountain at 14,000 feet.  No, thank you.  I'll stay home and babysit.

 

 

 

 

Alright, that's it for tonight.  It's nearly midnight central time and I'm pooped.  But, there's more to come.  So, keep checking back.  See you guys soon!

Oh, by the way, noone else caught the puking bug.  AND, kristy, if you're reading this...the Expedition is still in great shape!

Still Alive... Vacation - Day One

So, in case you were really worried about me, I'm still alive!  Yay for me! 

My vacation officially started today since the past two days have been spent driving.  We left home early Friday morning and stayed Friday night at a friend's cabin near Albuquerquie, NM.  It was a little out of our way, but definitely worth it to see our old friends.  We got up Saturday morning to the sound of Josh puking his guts up in the bathroom.

nice.

We all started to worry that maybe we'd gotten food poisening or something the day before.  Luckily, noone else got sick until we arrived in Colorado about 6 hours later.  Mom and I were in the Alamosa Wal-mart stocking up on supplies when I made a call out to our truck to check on the boys.  Apparently, they'd gone to the park up the street from Walmart where Ty puked all over Grandpa during their swinging session.  And, from what I hear it wasn't pretty, not pretty at all.  I got back to the car to find Ty in his carseat in the cold, rainy Colorado weather in just his underwear...poor thing.  I bought him some Pepto and we got back in the truck, headed to our destination. 

As of today, the rest of us are still puke free.  Say a big Thank you, Jesus for all of us.  We need all the help we can get.

We got to our destination, The Lost Trail Ranch, near Creede, Colorado around 6pm last night and have been recooping from our drive ever since.  The boys (Josh and Grandpa) have already had their nap and just left on a hiking adventure, Ty is sleeping like a log in the other room, and Wes is fussing...as usual.  Me?  I'm on the computer...as usual, because I can't be away from you guys for more than a few hours.  Sad, isn't it. 

Okay, so anyway, I was really only checking in for a second and this turned into a super long blog post with NO PICTURES... what kind of person am I!  But, I promise to post again tonight with photos.  I've been taking them all morning and along the way from Oklahoma, as well.  I just haven't had the chance to upload them since the internet here sorta comes and goes.  Last night, I didn't have it at all.  By the way, we have absolutely NO CELL PHONE service.  So, if you're trying to book a session, please email me instead.

Talk to you guys tonight!  Hugs...

San Antonio

I mentioned before in this post that I had taken a ton of San Antonio photos.  I also mentioned they weren't the greatest quality shots in the world.  I didn't mess with settings much and mostly used my camera as a point and shoot.  However, I still feel the need to share them with all of you.  Plus, my mom is whining because I haven't posted more.

inside the Buckhorn Museum...

Ty was getting a little tired of walking...

heading into Sea World...

Every time one of those sea lions barked, Wes would mimic it.  It was SO funny and had my mom and I cracking up!

and finally, here's the sad little bed and breakfast we stayed at...
it actually looks fairly nice in this shot, but it definitely needed some work...

we really liked the owners, though.