All in Good Fun!

Below zero to 50s and sunny!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Thanks to Tom for organizing a super fun road/dirt road ride with a bunch of great people on this beautiful Sunday.

There wasn't a cloud in a the sky and almost no wind. The weather was perfect and the company even better. Especially when I make Tony suffer like he is here 6 weeks post surgery. Come on you wienie!

Don't Tom and I always take cute pictures?!?! I have about 20 pics of us in this same position...different attire of course.

Choosing Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:09:00 +0000

I never thought having windows replaced in a house would be such a process! Wow...I think I might be a window expect now! After spending 3 hours last Saturday at our new place while 5 different companies came to get measurements, we finally got all of our estimates back. We met with a few companies for a couple hours back at my current house over the last couple days to see samples, go over options, get the quotes, etc and finally chose one.

We decided to go with Boulder Valley Siding. It's a local company that was very highly recommended with prices almost 40% lower than everyone else. The owner himself came over and gave us a 90min tutorial on everything and anything regarding windows and glass and brought tons of samples to look at and play with. We were really happy with his professionalism, his products, and his prices fit the budget. We also learned that buying windows from a manufacture that produces windows at altitude is key in Boulder and the windows he uses are made right in Loveland, CO - Amerimax. All in all, we will be having 6 single sliders, 2 double hungs and 2 patio doors replaced. After another quick measurement this week, the windows should be ordered and ready to be installed the weekend of January 8th! Woooohooooo.

FREAKING AWESOME!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:10:00 +0000

It's Holiday Party Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Friday evening was Bryce's work holiday party at the Rock Bottom Brewery. It was super fun to meet all his co-workers and watch them give B a hard time about anything and everything. It was also really nice to see what a great group of people he spends most of his days with :)

And then there was the Annual 'Yeah I look hot in a speedo' White Elephant party with triathlon clan. As always, Billy was well under the influence and immitating Santa like a total rockstar. Yes, I did come home with another sex related book. Somehow that always happens :) Big thanks to Pete and Brad for making it happen!

More doctors?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:16:00 +0000

I had laser eye surgery in November of 2007 and until about 4 months ago, I couldn't have been happier. I haven't had the nerve to talk about my eye appointment 3 weeks back only because I thought it was just a fluke. I decided to get a checkup because I was have a really hard time reading road signs while driving, seeing the TV on the couch - really just focusing on anything more than 10 ft away - a few days after making my final payment from the original procedure. To my surprise, my right eye had regressed to 20/40. They gave me a contact to correct it and told me to come back in 3 weeks to see if it had corrected itself on its own...huh? At any rate, I did so on Thursday and it had actually gotten even worse. They only give free 'touch ups' (or do the procedure over) to patients within 1 year of the original surgery and told me it would be another $2500 to fix my eye. I'm sure you can imagine what was going through my mind and came out of my mouth at that point. Needless to say, I walked out of there with a note in my chart to call when I'm ready to have my right eye re-done for $350. I'm still not happy about it as the entire week after the surgery is the most painful and obnoxious feeling ever - you can't drive, be around light, no swimming, etc. I haven't decided when I will embark on this silly journey but it will be shortly after the New Year so I can start focusing on what really matters - TRAINING!!!!

Doc #2 - It honestly seems as though I can't even go to the dermatologist without have at least one mole removed. After getting a bit of eczema (dry skin patches), I went and saw Cathy Pacoca as always and without fail, she had to remove 2 more moles from my back and booty. I'll just blame my lack of swimming on that...hehe.

My roommates are dumbasses!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Jon brought home a crazy stupid hot sauce that calls for one drop from a toothpick for every gallon of chili. Him and Pamela went to a hot sauce tasting event and this was the hottest bottle available to try without signing some sort of waiver. Seriously?

I can't even handle medium salsa so this is nothing that sparked my interest, but Tingle couldn't wait to try it. She insisted that Jon put it on a tortilla chip (which is not recommended) but he did it anyway. She chomped down on the chip with 2 tiny little specs of sauce and immediately began freaking out because she thought her throat was closing and ran straight to the bathroom. As gross as it was, it was pretty hilarious at the same time. She kept telling us she thought her tongue was bleeding but we just laughed but when she opened her mouth, she really did have a huge blister right there.

Do I get to say I told you so?!?! She's pretty proud of herself and swears that this stuff is good for the metabolism. I think she's insane.

Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Tom Torrance closed on his cool new house on Friday so I went and helped him move in! When's the house warming party?!?

It's been below freezing every day for the last week so we had a nice little trainer party in my living room Saturday morning with Bryce, Tietzel and Flora and watch the Hangover on a pirated Internet copy :)

We're still on the 'Martha Stewart' kick and have started painting all our furniture a nice semi gloss black! It's been an adventure for sure. We even had to make an emergency run to Home Depot to get a space heater so we didn't freeze to death in the garage. Only 4 more weeks til we close!!!!

For Real?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Yesterday I had my first full body composition scan on a DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) machine. DEXA is a fairly new technology. It is based on the three component model of body composition. It uses two X-ray energies to measure body fat, muscle, and bone mineral. When having the scan done, you lay still in the supine position on what looks like an x-ray table. $100 and 5 minutes later I received a 10 page report telling me what my body was made up of from my head to my toes.

I would never have agreed to do this now (as I haven't done any significant as far as working out in the last 5 weeks) but it was meant to be a baseline for where I want to be in the spring. It's a good thing because I almost fainted when I saw that I currently weigh 124lbs and have 27% body fat!!! Guess it's time to start eating a little less crap huh?!?

I'm making progress!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:02:00 +0000

It may not be much, but at least it's a step in the right direction! As much as I wish I could put a paper bag over my head so that I don't look like a total gym rat bouncing up and down on the the elliptical, it's so exciting that I'm finally getting my range of motion back. I have my last PT session tomorrow and have made leaps and bounds since week 1. The recovery wasn't ALL that bad! Woohoooo :)

House Inspection

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Saturday morning was the inspection for the new house. We've been told by numerous people that it can be a little intense and not so much fun, but we were ready for it. After 3 hours of running around taking photos and measuring every wall in the place, we finally got the recap of all the findings. Other than having really crappy windows (which we already knew), there weren't too many other issues at all. As a matter of fact, our Realtor told us that it was one of the best reports she's seen in a while.

Since we are going to replace the windows, we got the seller to bring $5000 in cash to the closing and escrow the sum into our mortgage. Now we'll get 2 credits from Uncle Sammy. $8000 for the house and $1500 for the windows...boooooyeahhh!

Check out the link below for more pics of the house.

NEW HOUSE

Thanksgiving Day in the mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:36:00 +0000

After a great spin on the trainers, Bryce and I drove up to his house in Edwards, CO (just outside Vail), to spend Turkey Day with his family.

They live in Singletree - just across the highway from Beaver Creek and right on a rockin' golf course.

We took his beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog 'Bosco' out for several walks which was super fun. Since the golf course is closed for the year, he got to run around all over it and roll around in the snow.

Since the Binghams were vegetarian's for 20 years, they continue the tradition of eating 'Nut Loaf' every Thanksgiving. I do have to admit that it lived up to it's reputation of being absolutely delicious, however, this was the first time I have not eaten a big greasy turkey for my yearly feast :)

Tis the season for shopping!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:35:00 +0000

I made some serious television purchases this morning for our new house and it's not even Black Friday :) The 37" Panasonic above and the 26" TV/DVD combo below were just too good of deals to pass up. As much as I love online shopping, I'm sure we'll do our share of sale shopping this Friday since we're heading up to the mountains to hang out with the Bingham family. OH BOY

A good update!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:35:00 +0000

I spent the better part of my weekend with Bryce in Home Depot, Target, Lowe's, Concepts, you name it. I'm pretty sure we now know exactly how every room in our new house is going to look! We have some killer ideas and we're confident the place is gonna look amazing! Get pumped up :)

Although I still haven't gotten my heart rate above 100 bpm in 2.5 weeks, I was able to go for a little walk Saturday afternoon. It felt so good to be outside and I even saw this hilarious flag above! Unfortunately the good guys (UofM - but only bc my bro goes to school there) lost and it was a terribly boring game. I was, however, finally able to turn my leg over the bike pedal on Sunday evening which made for a very good ending to the weekend. I'm on the mend...wooohooo!

Boulder Center for Sports Medicine

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:16:00 +0000

A new partnership has formed! As of yesterday, BCSM has become one of new sponsors! Although I usually find myself there due to injury and the need for PT, the facility also offers endless ways to achieve your peak fitness in any sport. The Sports Science division of the center is one of the best physiological testing facilities in the country. It has an absolutely amazing staff as well with Neal Henderson as the director of the department. Neal is one of the most knowledgeable and supportive individuals I have ever met. He's not only my coach, but a long time friend and one of the greatest assets in my life. With his and the help of Andy Pruitt, Stephen Paul, Jason Americh, and Matt Schneider, I have been able to improve my level of training and racing throughout the past years as well as get through those 'bumps' (or injuries if you will) along the road. Thanks for everything you do BCSM. I'm super excited for this opportunity!

Erin's a BIG girl now!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:44:00 +0000

I went under contract and locked in my 4.75% mortgage rate last night on the above home! Apparently having way too much time on my hands turns into buying really big stuff. Although I'm super excited, I'm both extremely terrified too! I have a closing date of January 6th barring everything goes smoothly but still need to find someone to sublet my current house through May. Anyone you know, please send my way :) More pics of the house below. An elderly lady currently lives there but Bryce assures me once we paint every wall a different color, put in wood floors and add some sweet furniture it's gonna look AMAZING! OMG this is crazy :)

More Pics

Super Fun Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:34:00 +0000

I've been after the new Oakley Foresake sunglasses for a while and figured I should probably try them on before ordering them. Unfortunately the only place that carries them right now is the Oakley Store down in Cherry Creek. Since we didn't have anything better to do on a Friday evening, we drove down and I hobbled around while we stopped in all the various stores. Oh so fun. I'm pretty sure the best part was the 25min visit to Brookstone. We sat in the $4000 massage chairs and almost fell asleep. It was awesome. I told Bryce we weren't coming home empty handed so we purchased two hideous pairs of interchangeable sunglasses for $25 (see above) and haven't taken them off since. Yes, yes, we look ridiculous, we know!

Saturday was a fun filled day of cleaning, house shopping and going out on the town. We took Tingle and Brittany (Bryce's sister) out to dinner at Juanita's then met up with the crew at Bacaro to see the fashion show The T Bar was hosting. The only real reason we were there was to watch and make fun of my roommate Jon while he modeled underwear throughout the bar. Since training and racing aren't in the picture these days, several drinks were consumed and as always, lots of good laughs shared.

As terrified as Jon and Pamela were, they had nothing to be worried about. Jon did great and came home with lots of compliments on the night.

The Krispy Kreme hat was definitely a hit and quite hilarious.

Love the ski googles, love 'em!

We woke up to a solid 10 inches of snow Sunday morning which was absolutely beautiful. A perfect day for more cleaning, house shopping, dirt bike maintenance, relaxing and football. I could honestly give a rat's ass about football but I definitely love all the delicious food people bring over. I also highly enjoyed the deep fried oreo, which Bryce is eating above, that Jon created. He's always been into fried foods so he bought a deep fryer earlier today, battered some oreos, fried them to a perfect crisp and wabam...completely, divine, deliciousness. You should try it :)

Bye Bye BMW Moto...

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:08:00 +0000

I sold my 1999 BMW F650 GS motorcycle this morning.

It's okay, because this is what I really have my eye on!!!! Hehe.

42hr Texas Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Less than 20hrs after my surgery, Bryce and I jumped in the van and headed down to Matador, TX for his last moto race of the season.

No, it probably wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, but definitely not the dumbest either. I figured if I was going to be sitting around anyway, I might as well do it in the car with Bryce and keep him company for the 10hr drive there and back :) The drive down wasn't bad at all and we there in time to chat with a few people, get B registered, have some dinner and crash at the hotel.

Sunday was a typical early morning but a bit more rushed than normal. This was a 'timekeeping' event (I still don't get how it works) but at any rate, you need a special computer to keep you on pace and that still needed be mounted to the bike. Luckily he had a few guys give him a hand or two and made his start time with a few minutes to spare!

This was at the 2nd gas stop at mile 50. As you can see by the killer 'dust stash', it was pretty sandy and dusty. Although it wasn't his best of finishes (14th), he actually had a great race and had he been just a few seconds faster in each test, he would have been in the top 1o for sure and possibly the top 5. Great job B, that's your motivation to get faster for next season! Check out his race report at The Braap Spot.

The drive home - Since B drove the whole way down and raced all day, I figured I'd try to do a short section so he could rest his eyes a bit before the long haul home. Driving a giant van isn't easy and doing it 2 days after knee surgery isn't any easier! However, it did allow us to get home safely with only a few 10min power naps on the side of the road in the middle of the night. I'm now back on the couch resting, recovering and waiting for the time when I can run again :) Hehe.

Surgery #2

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:05:00 +0000

I went under the knife again this morning at 10am with Dr. Paul at the Boulder Surgery Center. The plan was an ITB release as well as a release of the small septum near by. The other part of the procedure was the smooth out the bone where the IT Band attaches called the Gerdy's Tubercle since it was a little misshaped causing the band to pull in a funky direction.

I wasn't nervous at all going into the surgery as it honestly feels like yesterday when I had the first one even though it was back in April. I was more anxious and excited than anything because I really think this is going to be trick in getting me back running. Everything during the procedure itself went as planned and was perfectly executed. The only concern was that the bursa he originally drained 6 months ago was more inflamed than any other bursa he had ever seen during surgery. Of course he drained it once more and cleaned it all up again and think it's definitely a byproduct of all the irritation so I should be all set to go.

Although I'm feeling much better right now than before, I'm definitely felling the aftermath of this surgery versus the first. Right away after I woke up I was in lots of pain so the nurse gave me some Morphine which made me super nauseous. Just what a girl who is terrified of throwing up needs, right? The pain subsided immediately but before I left, the nurse was adamant about me taking a Percocet so that the pain didn't return. As expected, that thing didn't sit well either, especially after eating only a half a cracker and a sip of ginger ale over the past 17hrs. Luckily I have one amazing boyfriend who has been taking great care of me and my ridiculous headaches and nausea spells. I absolutely hate being taken care of but I guess it's okay because I did the same for him last weekend when he had his wisdom teeth extracted :)

On the mend I am!

Deadmau5

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:09:00 +0000

This is just a small sample of the madness we experienced last night down in Denver from 10pm-2am :)

We had a great group of people head down to shake our little booties til we couldn't shake them anymore. Bryce and I got a total of 3hrs of sleep last night and will be completely worthless today! WORTH EVERY SECOND :)

Warren Miller's DYNASTY

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:15:00 +0000

There's nothing like a good ski/snowboard movie to get you pumped up for the winter season. I don't think I've missed a Warren Miller film yet since I moved to Boulder in 2002 and they just keep getting better. Although I enjoy the show itself, I really like the free lift ticket that you get when you walk in the door! Bring on the snow :)

Halloween and Teeth Removal

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Halloween was very chill this year as Bryce had his wisdom teeth removed the day before. We sat around, watched moto movies and handed out candy to little kids...well I ate half the bowl, but that's okay :)
I thought I'd be nice and not take a picture of B and his swollen face, but now I wish I would have because the one above doesn't do justice. I never had any problems when I had mine done so I was hoping Bryce had the same luck. I don't think his recovery was quite as quick but he did do great and is definitely on the mend. Maybe he'll actually be able to eat something solid today!!!

A little taste of winter...in October

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:45:00 +0000

The Denver and Boulder areas got absolutely pounded with snow on Wednesday and Thursday this week. It snowed Tuesday night through Thursday night nonstop. The above picture is from my deck at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon after only half the storm. Pretty crazy, huh? No worries though, it's supposed to be in the high 50s for the weekend and all through next week. I'm looking forward to a muddy mess EVERYWHERE!!! Wooohoooo.

Pumpkin Carving Party

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Monday evening we had a bunch of people over to carve pumpkins, grill, bake and rock out to some good tunes.

Everyone's except Tingle's was a great success. Notice how the one on the far right doesn't have any kind of 'real' design! It's supposed to be a butterfly but we're not too sure what happened. Courtney and Tito spent a good 2-3hrs on theirs using all the store bought tools and outlines so they definitely get the award for the best looking designs. Tito was very proud of his intricate 'wolf pack' carving...absolutely hilarious. Bryce and I decided to see who could finish the fastest (we aren't competitive at all...I swear) so ours look pretty ridiculous.

And yes, I did win.

Along with cookie and pumpkin seed baking, we stuffed little Bella in Brad's pumpkin...no comment.

Tis the season to play on dirt bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Saturday was the big Enduro Cross MX Event downtown Denver. After an early morning of checking in and getting numerous practice laps in, B was ready for some racing.

The guys make this stuff way easier than it really is.

In person, these obstacles are way bigger and scarier!

Bryce did so great considering this is not his specialty. It was a tough day and he was pretty worked afterward. We spent the remainder of the evening fixing his moto and getting ready for Sunday's race in Milliken.

We knew the weather wasn't supposed to be nice on Sunday but pouring rain and 37* is definitely NOT nice. We were both a little apprehensive about how muddy the course was going to be but turns out the race course didn't get hit nearly at all. Other than a few flurries and a couple wind gusts, the day was actually quite nice. The format was a little different for this race. Bryce started at 9am and I went at 1pm. His parents were in town so I got to hang out with them and cheer B on before I went. He had a great race and finished 6th overall. That was super impressive after his long day on Saturday. With some killer support, I finished my first race and had an absolute blast. Other than a few good bumps/bruises and a busted hand guard, I made it out pretty good. Bring on the MX racing!!!