Red Wings & Snow

Game #1 against the Avs on Wednesday night was absolutely STELLAR! Another win for the good guys and a great display of how truly well Detroit plays even when not having 2 starting players! Watched the first period at home, then headed down the Lazy Dog with some other Michiganders and watched the rest. Good times :)

So it's definitely winter here in Boulder and I'm LOVIN' it! However, the other athletes in the area are not so much...they're actually all flocking to San Diego over the next couple days because they're going absolutely insane!!! Whatever. I love seasons and I love doing every winter sport there is so I'm totally fine. On that note, I have decided to stay on my same training plan (do what I want, when I want) for the month of January and then get back into it in February. My first race isn't until April 26 and it's a shorter off road race so I should be fine! The thought of doing intervals right now is just depressing :) Well, off to jump on the trainer and hit the pool with Jen Jen before I get my hair cut and beautifully styled for the first time in over a year and a half! Yeah, I'm gross, but I never wear it down and I just wait until it's long enough to donate and then get it all chopped off...Hopefully our good Russian friend Alex Fomenko will give me a killer new do :)

What a MERRY Christmas it was :)

Wow...I think that's just about all I have to say about how Christmas 2007 unfolded! A short but sweet trip by the family to the mountains couldn't have been more perfect. Below are some fun pics taken by the bro, but they can't even begin to express what an amazing time we had!

On our way to Winter Park Resort over Berthoud Pass

Jerry and me on Christmas morning

Mom, Jerry and me...yes, we did wake up to 8 fresh inches of powder!!!

They opened the backcountry terrain for the first time of the year that morning for fresh tracks almost every run :) How about that for a Christmas present?!?! IT WAS AWESOME!

And it pretty much snowed all day...yes, I'm on skis...half day ride, half day ski!

Can you believe this kid graduated in my high school class and I never hung out with him?!?

We got into a little spat...I was kicking his butt, but eventually I lost :(

Me and my little bro...this was the end of the day and he was POOPED!

The drive home down the pass...it snowed the entire way which made for a long drive!

You know Christmas is close when...

Your advent calendar looks like this...

Only 2 more chocolate windows to open!!!

So what else is new...well not all that much. Wednesday, Shep and I rode outside for almost 2 hours then watched 'Reign over me' which was a super great movie! Who would have known Adam Sandler could be such a good 'serious' actor! Thursday I did nothing except eat all day. Yesterday I swam, played on the elliptical, did a little yoga, spun on the trainer then went out with my good friend Jake from Denver and Jen and got hammered off berry cider at BJ's Brewery! Guess I wasn't too bad since I was able to pull off a stellar 2hr run at 7:30 this morning in 18* weather!!!

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day cleaning and getting errands done before the family arrives from Michigan tomorrow evening! WHOOOAAAA, it's holiday time :)

I couldn't be more surprised!!!

After the dog, the gerbils, the frogs, the hamsters, the fish, and all the other random critters we've had in our house over the past 10 years or so died, my mother was adamant about having NO MORE PETS!!!

Since my brother no longer lives at home and I have been gone for almost 6 years, I still think the 'empty nest' syndrome is heavily felt over there :( Well that, and the fact that my dad always has to be doing or cleaning up after something...On that note, I got a phone call a week ago informing me that he had purchased 2 parakeets! BIRDS?!?!? I've been replaced by a bird?!? Hmmm....

I think my father's true intentions are to teach them to speak and say dirty things...especially to my mom when she's home by herself during the day! HAHAHA. Just kidding. I think it's absolutely hilarious. Take a look at these pooping machines. Apparently I'm supposed to help name them...any thoughts?!?

White Elephant Madness

Last night was the annual 'I look hot in a speedo' holiday party at Pete and Brad's clubhouse. As always, there were lots of fun times, good laughs, great food and delicious jello shots...thanks to Mark Shenk :) We also had a White elephant gift exchange which was a total riot...especially since Billy (dressed as Santa) was directing the show. For those of you who don't know what that is, everyone who comes to the party brings a wrapped item from their home that they want to give away. Everyone who brings a gift must draw a number. When your number is called (it goes chronologically) you can either open a gift from the pile or steal an already opened gift from someone else. I was fortunate to have drawn a higher number which meant I had lots of options for a good steal. Below is the game I ended up coming home with. I know you want to come over and play...and no comments from the peanut gallery :)

The love of the mountains :)

Early Wednesday morning, Jen, Jess and I drove up the icy mountains roads to Copper where we spent most of the day! Although the drive was a little sketchy, it was still worth every second of it because the mountain had great, fresh snow with hardly anyone on the slopes :) I decided to hit the skis for the first part of the day, then jump on the board for the second half! Good choice as I wouldn't have been able to walk had I skied the entire day. Again, there's nothing better in life than spending good times with great people. Thanks ladies, it was super fun. I can't wait to do it again!

Leaving Boulder in the early AM

Being Silly in the car!

Jen & Jess psyched to get on the slopes!

Breakfast time!

Aww...how cute!

The Gang about to depart...

Let it snow, let it snow :)

We're definitely getting the first big snowfall of the year and it is AWESOME!!! You know what else is awesome...good times with good people :)

Yes, Jen and I had an absolute blast making white chocolate and cranberry oatmeal cookies for Wolfgang's holiday party on Saturday which was a complete riot. I'm pretty sure we came with about half the cookies we actually made after we indulged ourselves in the batter and several of the final product! It was worth every second of it.

On the work side of things, I've been really busy getting ready for year-end and tax season. That's going to be coming up quite soon and being prepared makes life a lot easier during that insane time!

On the training side of things, I'm feeling pretty decent. I've been doing a lot of very random excercise including hopping on the elliptical, doing some yoga here and there and well, I guess just going with the flow. I hit the pool for the first time in a few weeks yesterday and I suprisingly felt pretty good. However, I'm pretty sure my shoulders and pecks are about to fall off today. Hopefully a little shakeout swim in a few will help out...we'll have to see!

Hittin' the slopes tomorrow for some skiing in the AM and snowboarding in the PM...stay tuned for some fun pics and good stories :)

Let the partying begin!!!

I know you are all wondering what's going on with the vision, but as of late, nothing new has changed...it still fluctuates daily but I do find out today when I can finally get back in the water!!! Taking 3 weeks off from swimming was not really what I had intended, but I'm hoping it will be a bigger benefit down the road. I've been spinning a fair amount on the trainer and doing some running here and there along with some really random cardio to keep myself somewhat fit for the holidays, but starting in January, I will really start to get it in gear. I just put together my schedule for next year that needs to be reviewed by the coach before released, but I promise it will be quite a shock to many of you.

Well at any rate, I'm off to jump on the trainer with the new roommie and then get things together for all the fun things going on over the next few weeks...holiday and birthday parties, visitors from out of town, friends moving this way, etc...We're expected to get a huge snowstorm so lots of skiing is planned to be done as well!!! WHOOOAAAA....

It's getting better...and worse!

But that's a good thing...I think...well at any rate, my eyesight has been going from great to crappy to good to shitty and everything in between over the past couple days. According to the doc, that is totally normal and it should settle down over the next couple weeks. Patience...yeah, learning that the hard way. It's soooo hard to see everything blurry and be totally disoriented 90% of the time and even worse when you're totally behind in work and can't do the work because you can't see the computer! Blah, blah, blah...I'm getting there slowly, but surely.

Haven't been doing too much training and still won't be able to get in the pool until next week at the earliest, but I have been sitting on the trainer here and there and going out for a jog or two. Jen and I have starting doing a little lifting and I'm hoping to get in a few yoga/core/strength classes a week as well!

It was over 70* here in Boulder yesterday with insane winds, but the mountains are getting blasted with snow which is awesome! I can't wait to get up there and actually see some significant snow this year...soon enough!

I CAN SEE!!!!

Well kinda...

I can see enough to write a small message to those who do read this silly thing and let you all know that the last couple of days have been absolute hell, but today I woke up pain-free with enough vision to make my own coffee, get on the computer and walk around in the dark without sunglasses! I have honestly not taken off my sunglasses since the procedure (even in the dark)! So I'm thinking that things will only get better from here but I do know that I will not regain full vision for another 2-3 weeks which I'll just have to live with. As long as I can function and see enough to go outside and walk around or at least spin on the trainer, life will be just fine!

I also moved into my new place on Friday, (which was an absolute disaster), but with a lot of help, everything worked out. I'll post some pics once Jon and I get things organized and actually get some furniture in here :)