We arrived home yesterday in the late afternoon from Gooseberry Minnesota State Park. It feels so wonderful to be home. Warm house. Warm shower. Running water. I'm going to tell ya, I'm not the camping type. My husband is the camping pro and he love's the great outdoors. We did have a really good time though...the time I had with Eric was really special. We hiked around Gooseberry Falls, the shores of Lake Superior, and visited a small town called Two Harbors for a nice lunch and a little souvenir shopping. All in all, the camping trip was a success. My second favorite part of the trip (the first being the solo time I had with Eric) was the photo opportunities. I think I left that place with over 400 photos. There was so much to capture. It was hard to set my camera down. My fave was the moss that was growing in between the rocks on the lake shore. It was so dense in texture and saturated in color. I also loved the old tree roots that could be seen on paths, cliffs, and numerous other locations. Lot's to absorb and admire. Here's some photos from the site (a few anyway, sorry if they take forever to download..it was hard to choose which photos I wanted to share)...
One of the great things about Gooseberry Falls is that it's shallow enough to navigate, even near the edges of the falls. Eric caught this photo of me near the edge of one of the falls...ironically, this very place of being was so relaxing, even as the very edge of life stood next to me.
My hubby whom I located inhabiting this tree...what's he doing there? A good laugh never hurts.
A few pics of the falls. Heaven on Earth.
The beautiful Lake Superior shore...the lake itself is crystal clear and holds 20% of the earth's freshwater. It's also a mild 40 degrees in temp throughout the year..I put my feet in that lake for about 5 minutes and decided it was a bit too cold for me. brrrrr.
Can't camp without a tall fire and a few visits from the local critters.
I loved seeing all the contrast and color that surrounded me during the trip..these fallen leaves were seen on a dirt path on our way to the shore..a foreshadowing of fall.
One of the best things about leaving town was that we didn't have to think about the "C" word. When we got back, we found out that Eric's primary neurosurgeon out of New York, Dr. Hall, got a chance to review Eric's last MRI. He came to the conclusion that the "scar tissue" (which was noted a few months back) that's growing in the same area as the previous tumor is actual "new cancerous tissue". This is in addition to the three spots located in that same MRI last month. We were very saddened by the news, but not terribly surprised. Eric is undergoing another MRI tomorrow along with a lumbar puncture to collect cerebral spinal fluid which will be tested for the presence of cancer cells. After tomorrow, we'll know a lot more about the extent of the cancer and if it has grown over the last month. A new treatment plan may be in our future. We may also have to make some big decisions if the cancer has progressed...it's going to be a tough week indeed. I'll provide an update later in the week on the findings.
I picked up the new Autumn Leaves book, "Designing With Details". I highly recommend this book if you love the "artsy" look..lot's of really unique embellishment ideas...though, I will warn you that some of the materials used on a few of the layouts in the book seemed a bit extreme and over the top..such as the balsa wood sheet that was carved out to illustrate various size letters...sounds like a ton of work to me..but heck, who am I to talk about that. Laugh. It's definitely worth owning.
Some of my fave designers to be seen in the book include Candice Carpenter, Danielle Thompson, & the always reliable Jamie Waters. Love all their work! Just wish Danielle would return to the scrapbook arena..so miss seeing her stuff.
Lastly, I haven't forgotten about the "layering 101 tutorial". I'm hashing out the details. I will provide an update very soon. It will include a project...and a very cool kit club (hint, hint).
