Ski Trip!

It's been awhile since my last post, and unfortunately it's not for any cool reason. I'd like to tell you I haven't posted because I've been traveling abroad on a fabulous trip. Or I'd like to say I've been too busy training for a marathon. Or that I've been in Miami looking at real estate so I'm prepared when Amy and I move there in 2012. Or that I met a rich guy and I've been occupied on shopping sprees and hanging out at his mansion in Vail. But the real reason I haven't posted is because for the last two months I've been sitting at my desk.... staring at Excel spreadsheets... and wishing I was doing all the things I just mentioned (except maybe the marathon part... let's say a 5K).


HOWEVER, I did manage to bust out of the office for one weekend (actually, I worked Saturday and busted out on Sunday) to ski. It was such a blast and so nice to get outside for the day!
The day started at 6:30am when I woke up and headed down to Amy's. She was going to be working the next week in Beaver Creek, so we decided we should really take the opportunity to ski. This was the first time in 4 years I actually went skiing on my own initiative. The only other 3 times I skiied since moving here was because work was paying for it. (And I'm sad to report the crappy economy has forced Ernst & Young to cancel this year's annual ski day.) But anyway... Amy and I loaded up her car, feeling pretty good about ourselves, and drove up to Copper Mountain.


We had a blast on the drive up -- eating donut holes, drinking coffee, and listening to Bon Jovi's greatest hits. But the fun ended when we arrived and realized we needed to put all of our gear on. This leads me to the two main reasons I never go skiing:

(1) I hate getting up early on weekends
(2) I hate all the gear. It's bulky, it's comfortable, and it's really just a huge pain in the ass.


Amidst all of our complaining, we got ourselves dressed, on the shuttle bus, and up to the mountain. We were met by our friends Terra and Rob. Rob also brought his co-worker Ron Jon. Yes, like the surf shop.

Here's one I took of us on the ski lift. I had my zoom all the way in by accident. We laughed so hard when we saw the picture.

Here's Terra and Rob on the ski lift behind us. Amy was scared I was going to drop my poles when I turned around to get this shot. I was kinda terrified I was going to fall off the ski lift, to be honest. The ski lift really freaks me out!

Here's Amy, Terra, and Rob inside the lodge:

We all went to get some food (and by some food, I mean a TON of food) afterward. I'd post the picture of Amy and me at the restaurant... but some people don't manage to look as nice as Terra and Rob after a full day of skiing.After we ate, Amy headed back up the mountain (since she was working there all week) and Terra, Rob, Ron Jon, and I headed back to Denver. What a great day!

Adam and Leane

As promised in the post below, here's a picture of Adam and Leane. Congratulations to you both!!

Christmas in a Winter Wonderland

As I sit here in the Seattle Airport during my 4 hour layover, I'm reflecting back on my awesome trip home for Christmas. Meanwhile, I'm also sitting in the Alaska Airlines super special Board Room with all the rich people because my dad bought me a day-pass. And I'm eating a PB&J that my mom packed for me. Obviously my parents love me a lot. :)

It was a very relaxing, very nice trip.... despite the darkness and extreme cold weather (even cold for Alaska). Seriously, my mom's car said -20 degrees this morning when we were driving to the airport. Actually, it said -21 degrees, which we think is where it bottoms out at because it said -21 degrees two other times while I was home but never went any further below that.

One afternoon it was particularly clear out, so we took a drive through town.We were trying to see Mt. McKinley -- even though it's hours away, you can still see it from our town on a clear day. That's how huge it is!! We could make out a faint outline.... but I guess you really can't see it in this picture.

Did I mention it was -10 that day, too? After looking for Mt. McKinley, I was feeling reminiscent, so we went to my high school....

The football stadium:My brother and me in front of the outdoor ice rink where he spent lots of time practicing for the hockey team.

I took a few pictures of our neighborhood. Here's our house....

And the view out my bedroom window:

This is looking down our street... and was taken at dusk... aka 3:30pm.And I took this one at 10:00 am to show how dark it still is at that hour...And probably the most exciting thing that happened on my trip was finding out my brother got engaged!! He proposed to his girlfriend, Leane, the day after Christmas and we all found out the next day. Very exciting!Of course I got a picture of the rock. But I completely spaced out on getting a picture of Adam and Leane together. They told me they'll send me one of them for the blog, so I'll post that as soon as I get it. I do, however, have this one picture of them when we all went to the beach in 2007.... it definitely doesn't fit my Winter Wonderland theme of the post... but here it is!

My New Place

On October 15th, I closed on my very first home -- it was a lot of work, but very exciting! I bought a condo in the Uptown/West City Park area of Denver. There's different districts to our downtown -- Coors Field and most of the nightlife is in Lower Downtown (aka Lodo). Uptown is maybe 1.5 miles from Lodo and is the area where the Ernst & Young office is. City Park is a huge park a couple miles further East. I'm in between Uptown and City Park.
So far I've really, really enjoyed my new place! Here's a tour....

This is the hallway leading to my condo:

My front door! Entry way:
From the entry way, this is what you see. There's a long hall with the bedrooms, laundry room, and 1 bathroom along the way. At the end of the hall is my kitchen and living room.

The first thing on your left is my guest bathroom (notice my UT Santa):

Next, on your right, is my bedroom:

This is the door from my room to my bathroom:

My closet (which is HUGE) is off the bathroom.
Next, along the hallway, on your right is the guest room. The furniture is courtesy of my friend Trisha... who lives with her boyfriend... but tells her parents she lives with me. It's really funny considering the only time she's stopped by is to check out my place when I moved in and then once again to move her furniture in. And she doesn't even have a key!

At the end the hall, on your left, is my kitchen.

And at the very back of the house is the living room/dining room:

Magnolia's stocking is the red one with a white cat on it. :) Coincidentally, my stocking - which I've had since childhood - has a white cat on it, too. I must look like a really freaky cat lady.

And here's the view from the back of the house -- that door at the back is my front door.



There you have it... my new house!