Brother & Sister Time :)

After the parents took off on Thursday evening, it was time for Erin and Jerry to spend some quality hours together. What better way to do that than on the mountain!?!

Sunday we went to A-Basin where the weather was incredible and the snow was even better. With almost no one there, Joe, Jerry and I had one amazing day. After a fun dinner at Dos Locos and a little hot tubing, we spent the evening at Joe's killer condo in Keystone.

We met up with Jenny, Tom, Jon, Jen, Chris and Nate at Winter Park on Monday and not only had another day of fabulous weather, but lots of good laughs. It was stupid crowded but the snow wasn't bad and the glowing sun made everything just fine! It was so nice to finally spend some time with the little brother who has been getting 4.0 after 4.0 at the University of Michigan in Aerospace Engineering. Yes, I am going to brag...he's a pretty smart cookie :) I love ya J!

So sad...

The Detroit Lions became the first team in the NFL since the inception of the 16-game schedule (1978) to go 0-16. No need to say anymore :(

Copper Mountain and the Red Wings!

Christmas day was spent at Copper Mountain with the fam, Jen and Winston. We had some good snow, great laughs and some mmmm good food for lunch. Upon arriving in Boulder, we picked up my brother's friend who is in town for a wedding on Sunday and brought her back to my place.

Although we planned a big dinner Chez Erin, everyone was way too tired so we just hung around and ate lots of junk food!

Then there was the Red Wings vs. Avalanche game down in Denver!!!

Jerry and I were pretty pumped up before we left with our rockin' Wings attire, but soon found ourselves out of place when the Avs scored 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period. Needless to say, they rallied back and scored 3 goals of their own to tie the game up in the second period! We were sitting in a section with a ton of Wings fans so it was tons of fun with lots of 'Let's go Red Wings' chants. Although they dominated the entire third period, they couldn't get the damn puck in the net. Same went with the 4 on 4 overtime. It then came down to a shootout where Huddler needed to score to tie it back up and no bueno...we lost for the second time this year :( Oh well, it was still lots of fun and there's always the game in February.

Merry Christmas from Boulder!!!

I'm not actually going to write about Christmas right now as everyone is still getting their beauty rest before we head up to the mountains for some skiing. However, I will touch on the previous events that went on over the past couple days :)

It's been a crazy week to say the least. Friday was an absolute blast (minus the big crash on my snowboard that screwed my neck up for 3 days) at Loveland with the Neptunes crew.

Greg, Winston and I drove up to meet with some other employees for a great day of fresh pow pow.

It was pretty cold and windy, but super fun. The drive was pretty exciting too. Thanks Greg!

The weekend and Monday were filled with lots of sitting around and Tom driving me everywhere because my neck was so stiff from the fall, but I did get a lot of work accomplished and made somewhat of a dent in my pile before the rents came in on Tuesday!

After a short delay due to weather and baggage issues, Mom, Dad and Jerry arrived in Colorado on Tuesday afternoon. We had a wonderful dinner with the Shep, Winston, Tom, JZ and Mark at the Walnut. Mmmm...sooo good.


Yesterday was filled with lots of running around and getting ready for Christmas. We went to a great service at the Vinelife Church then headed down for a super chill party at the Reed's. We opened gifts with everyone back at my place later that evening and enjoyed some good laughs.

Now it's Christmas day and time to get on the slopes! More to come. Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

More holiday madness!

As an accountant, year end is always a very busy time for me. Between tax preparation, budgeting for the upcoming year, and well, trying to have a life, it's been quite hectic. It's okay though because I enjoy being busy and I also enjoy the amazing people I get to spend my time with :)

Don Orr decided to crash our 'Ladies Night' at the St. Julien, but of all the people who would be allowed, Don's the guy! Happy Birthday Kirsten :)

Then there's Tom. Tom's a great guy. As a matter of fact, Tom's an awesome guy. Even though we bicker more than my brother and I, we have a wonderful relationship that I wouldn't give up for the world. I had to pose in my new Puma gear that Tom got me for Christmas! Thanks Buddy :)

Holiday Parties and Record Low Temps

The evening began with the Neptunes holiday party down in South Boulder. A great crowd combined with delicious food made for a fun time. I even saw an old friend I hadn't seen in a while and chatted with some very interesting folk.

Afterward, we headed to the annual 'Yeah, I look hot in a speedo' White Elephant party at Pete and Brad's condo complex.
Just about every athlete I know or have heard of in Boulder (including my wonderful roommate Jon, above) was there and quite inebriated. Lots of good times.

I'm pretty sure this was the first holiday party JZ wasn't completely smashed and puking at this season...good for you lady!

The White Elephant gift giving process is always the most entertaining. Billy is in charge of directing it and without a doubt does the best job EVER. He was absolutely perfect and hilarious as all hell.

Yes, someone did bring a sex book as a gift and yes, it was the hit present to be stolen. Hmm, I might have even been the one who brought it home...

The record low for December 14th has already been broken. DIA dropped to -15 degrees by 6pm Sunday evening. The old record low for December 14th was -14, last set in 1901. Overnight lows will range from -9 to -14 degrees in the city with DIA going as cold as -20!

That's the weather for today!!!

Boulder Dinner Theater

Yesterday was Franklin's year end review meeting and annual holiday party. Unlike the rest of the world, we are kicking butt and making record sales so the presentation was quite uplifting with lots to look forward to in 2009. Later that night, I dragged Winston to the Boulder Dinner Theater where we met up with the FRG crew to dine and see 'The Producers'. I had never been there before so it was definitely an experience but lots of fun.

I've been super busy wrapping up all the year end miscellaneous for all my clients so staying fit has pretty much been put on the back burner for right now. I have, however, began to put together the 2009 schedule which I will share soon. It does include some snowshoe and winter events along with the new XTERRA America Cup Series so stay tuned!

Another awful trip to the dermatologist :(

Not only did I have another mole removed and another bike welt injected and drained, but I found out I have a bad case of 'hot tub folliculitis'. DO NOT USE THE HOT TUBS AT FAC!!!

Yes, it's absolutely disgusting and I am covered head to toe in a horrible rash that looks like chicken pox. I am going on antibiotics tomorrow but have been taking baths in vinegar to help alleviate the infection. Ugh, seriously...why me? I just wanted to relax my muscles after a great weekend of skiing and a little jog to loosen the legs...DAMN IT!

Alright, back to work and attempting not to itch myself to death. GRRRRR.

Gotta love the mountains!

Joe and I drove up to Breckenridge early Friday and met up with Tom and Catherine for an amazing day on the slopes. Although it was a bit windy, it was super fun and I'm totally falling in love with tele skiing!


Winston drove up after work on Friday night and met up with us at Joe's condo in Keystone. There was definitely lots of partying, hot tubing and craziness going on which made for a super fun night.

We had another gorgeous day at Keystone on Saturday and was fortunate enough to be one of the first few people to hit the back bowls for the first time of the season...fresh pow pow!!!

The above pic is thanks to Winston's incredible teaching skills. The below pic just confirms Tom's lack of skills and coordination.

Back to the Mountains

In a few hours, Joe and myself will be meeting Tom and company at Breckenridge for a day of killer skiing and snowboarding. It's been dumping snow for the past couple days and a whole bunch of new terrain will be opening first thing this morning :) We will then head to Keystone for some night skiing, meet up with Winston (after his butt gets off work) and stick around for the 'Girl Talk' concert under the lights outside! Since Joe has a place right across the street, we will crash there and hit up the hot tub then get up early Saturday morning and do it all again :) Ahhhh, the life!

First Time on Tele Skis!!!

With the help of the diagrams below and Winston being an absolute patient sweetheart, I wasn't all that bad...well kinda. That is one of the hardest and most challenging things I have ever done before but so excited to perfect it by the end of the season. Copper Mountain had not only perfect conditions, but going up on the weekday made the slopes almost bare with an easy commute to and from Boulder. WHOOAAAA for winter cross-training :)

Tele Skiing Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Ski Clothing
• Telemark Ski Equipment

Step1

Start sliding down a gentle slope in a balanced stance with feet shoulder- width apart.

Step2

Flex the ankles, knees and waist slightly toward the ground.

Step3

Initiate a turn by bending one knee close to the ground and sliding the same foot back. Bending the left knee will result in a left turn, for example.

Step4

Slide the other foot forward.

Step5

Reach and plant the left ski pole downhill and to the left of your body when turning left. Plant the right pole when turning right.

Step6

Steer both feet by rotating your hips, ankles and knees in the direction you want to go. Use your planted pole as a marker by which to turn around.

Step7

Maintain equal weight on the uphill edges of both skis.

Step8

Extend your ankles, knees and waist upward at the end of the turn.

Step9

Switch feet, plant the opposite pole and initiate a turn in the other direction.

The 2008 Turkey Day Vacation

What a trip! It's not over yet, but as I'm sitting here doing a little work and drinking my morning coffee, I figured this would be great opportunity to give a little update on what's been going on over the past week.

It almost started off in a very bad way as the entire lot to park my car to catch the bus was completely full. With minutes to spare, I took off to try and park at the next stop about 5 miles away which could have resulted in another large speeding ticket if I was caught. Luckily, that didn't happen and I was running down the steps to the stop as the bus arrived. There were 4 of us trying to get on the bus, but apparently the student at CU didn't have school this entire week so every single one of them was on that bus going to the airport too, leaving just 2 open seats at the 2nd stop of the bus route. After waking some kid up who was sprawled out over two seats, I was super stocked to grab one of the last seats and not have to stand the entire way. Goodness...what a debacle. Everything else was just fine and it was wonderful to see the family when I got in.
Tuesday and Wednesday were quite typical with some trips to the Lifetime Fitness gym with mom, a dentist appointment, dinner at Mr. B's with Ryan DeCook, a little Euchre (that's a card game for all you non-midwesterners) with the fam and LOTS of eating. Unlimited junk food is something I don't have at home so I take full advantage of that here...probably not the best of things, but oh is it good.

Turkey Day was fun but a bit crazy. We woke up super early to drive 2.5hrs down to Kalamazoo to see my mom's family and eat meal #1 and watch the football game. The food and company was absolutely amazing, however, I'm not quite sure what to say about the poor Lions. My friend Winston (who is from Tennessee) and I had a good smack talk session going before the game, but that ended less than 2 minutes into the game. The Lions lost 44-10 and are now officially 0-12 for the season. In some ways I feel really sorry for them, in other ways, I'm just embarrassed. At least we still have the Red Wings and Pistons to root for! We took some good family pics and then took off to drive back 2.5hrs to the other side of the family's Thanksgiving Day celebration. Again, more food, good laughs and fun pics. I came home feeling like absolute crap, like I always do after Thanksgiving as I've probably eaten more than 5x what I normally do. I'm almost thinking that the 10lbs I was joking about putting while I was home, might just actually happen!!! Oh, I love the holidays :)

Back to the gym this AM to meet up with Ryan for a swim, a little lift and a cycling class with mom. I still feel like I have a 20lb baby in my gut from all the food I've consumed over the last week, but hopefully this will get it moving...if ya know what I mean. Yes, I'm disgusting...

I'm super excited to see Katie Markey and her kids this afternoon as it's been FOREVER. She's only the coolest neighbor and the most supportive person in the world :) I love you Katie. Then I'm meeting up with an old friend, Rudy Ryback from Colorado who is in town visiting his grandparents. I haven't seen him since 2005 so it will be great to catch up. Then to the airport and back home I go!

Back to Michigan I go!

Wow, I can't believe it's already been an entire year since I've gone back to Michigan to visit the family! I'm so fortunate that my parents travel around the country with me for various races so I get to see them more often, but it will definitely be nice to see my extended family and probably run into some old high school friends around town. I've heard the weather isn't so nice there and quite frankly, I'm not very stocked about leaving beautiful Boulder, but we've got lots of fun things planned over the the next few days and I'm looking forward to seeing my little bro who I haven't seen since Christmas last year :) To the mitten I go...

Invest your money people!!!

When the market is down and people are freaked out, it's the best time to get in the stock market :) Okay, I really don't much about it, but I took my chances and became a Vanguard Shareholder on Thursday after a great meeting with Mr. Bob Stone (one of my clients and long time great friend). It's a risk I was willing to take and I bet we still haven't hit rock bottom, but when it does go back up (like it always has), I'll be happy I did it. Until then, I've hidden all the passwords and won't look at it for another couple months, or years, if that's how long it's going to take for our economy to rebound!

Alright, enough financial babble...Happy Saturday :)

The decision has been made...

There will be no eye enhancement surgery for this little girl tomorrow.

After much debate, I finally decided that I really enjoy the way I see one year after my lasik surgery and the thought of going through that entire process again is just nauseating. My left eye may not be perfect, but I see fantastic with both eyes combined and I wouldn't want them to over correct and end up having it even worse. Yes, I did pay $4500 to have perfect vision and only get to have the enhancement done for free within a year after the initial procedure, but I'm happy just the way things are now. Plus, if I had the surgery, I'd be popping pain killers and being miserable instead of enjoying this amazing weather we've been having :)

Joe Horwat is my Hero!!!

Studies this, studies that...yea, yea, yea, I know I should have got my butt in the gym and started a strength training routine long ago, but now I have and cannot wait to see myself morph into a little ball of lean muscle! Haha.

On a more serious note, Joe is one of the best personal trainers here in Boulder and has been helping athletes all around town integrate strength conditioning into their training allowing them to see drastic improvements in their performances. We went through a great set the other day (which made me sore the entire next 5 days) but I'm now getting more used to it and really look forward to incorporating these exercises into my daily regime. Thanks again for all your help and support Joe, you're the best!

Click on the link above to check out Joe's website where you can learn more about what he does and contact him directly for more questions :)

You Guys ROCK!!!

On behalf of the entire Timex Team, I want to thank Tristan, Doug, Keith and everyone at Timex Corporate and Team Sports for an amazing 2008 season. None of us would have been able to accomplish the things we did without all your hard work and support. We know that you have to deal with our insane amounts of emails, our silly bike specifications, the oddballs of the team (Bruce, Sharpie, Ross, Tingle, hmmm...everyone) and we truly do appreciate all of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You guys seriously are the BEST :)