Hey guys - in light of some recent events, I'm going to stop this blog for the meantime. I will set up shop again at some point and will email y'all when that happens. Hope everyone is well!

Charleston / First Fourteener

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay! Been busy hanging out in Charleston and hiking mountains...

Chris and I went to Charleston in early August and had a blast. Went kayaking, did the downtown thing, had dinners with the fam and got to hang out with great friends! Thanks again Allison for letting us stay with you and John!!

Then, Chris took Homer and me to hike my first Fourteener (mountains that are higher than 14,000 feet). I thought I was going to die before we even reached the trailhead. However, Chris was very patient with me and coached me to the summit. It was such an awesome view and well worth it. I told Chris that I am open to another one, but just can't have as many cocktails the night before... Have a great week everyone!

My birthday post

It was my birthday yesterday and I took the day off. I love taking a vacation day in the middle of the week, it feels like it's your own private holiday. I didn't do anything too crazy, just lazed around and didn't have to worry about checking emails all day, got a pedi with Lindsay...

Followed by a rum and diet on the porch... (Morgan, I love all the cards you send me and the one with Mr. Morris smoking is still one of my favorites ever and wanted you to see I have it prominently displayed in my kitchen)

This was followed up by dinner at an awesome steakhouse that looks like a tiki bar on the outside... Bastien's where all of our steaks were go good!

And finally, a picture of Chris and me after dinner... (ladies, I was fully preparing to wear a cute summer dress but it was raining and like 50 degrees so that didn't really fly. Next time, I promise)

My weekend...

Hi! I'm back. We'll just see how long I can do this but will try to give it another shot...

Chris and I had an awesome weekend - and we really didn't do anything. We just hung out with the boys (Homer and Pickles that is), read out on the patio, hit the local bar for cocktails and went to the Rockies game yesterday. We had the $4 tickets so here's the view from the bleacher seats...

It was good times and hopefully a good introduction to my birthday week! Will keep you updated on that, I promise...

Well, I thought I could do this...

and by that, I mean, keep up the blog! I've had a really shitty past week and just couldn't post anything. Maybe I'm not meant to be a "blogger"... However, I will keep it up when I can so for those of you who check it every once in a while...keep checking! Hope everyone has a good week and talk to y'all later!

Cats in hats!

I needed to put a smile on my face this morning so what did I turn to? One of my favorite subjects: cats in hats!

I thought this was fitting since the new Harry Potter comes out this week...

My favorite:

Of course I tried to get a hat on Mr. M but was unsuccessful so I attempted to make Lady Chloe into a bumblebee...

But I can't leave Mr. Morris off this blog so here's his latest picture.

I like you so very much...

Gr-r-r. The fuse for my radio has been blown out for the past week and a half = NO radio while I'm driving (I can't even use my CD player). I bought replacement fuses but whenver I drive over a big bump, poof! the fuse blows out again. I'm hoping I have time tomorrow to get this looked at. Just for shits and giggles, try driving around with only other people's conversations at red lights and your own crazy thoughts to keep you company.

So, it's always the last thing I heard that gets stuck in my head for the duration of my drive. This morning, it was that commercial (Bassett Furniture) and it goes: I" like you so very much, so very much I want to wake you up. you'll make biscuits and I'll make tea and and this is Christy going cra-a-zy." Agh! Make it go away!

PS - I realize I might not have the words to the jingle right. I debated with myself for a good portion of Colorado Blvd if it was bisuits - or coffee...

My view this morning...twice

Okay - here we go! I'm going to attempt to make this a "real" blog like Les's, Morgan's, Collins, etc...
Here was my view this morning... twice.


That's right - and I wasn't even going anywhere. My wonderful, but schedule-challenged boyfriend had me drive him to the airport (I did offer so it's really my fault) at 6:30 this morning so he could go to Boston for a conference... Only the conference isn't until NEXT Wednesday, which he found out after trying to check in at the kiosk and cussing out the poor United agent. So, I had to go back to DIA and pick him back up. He did buy me breakfast at Mickey D's.
He'll be driving his own car to the airport next week though...

the 4th...

Hi guys! This will be quick but for the 4th Chris and I went to Crested Butte for a REAL bar-b-q - complete with a pig and everything (and not just throwing hotdogs on a grill). It was good times and we met some super cool people. The town is B-E-A-utiful! I think the population is about 1800 in town and 800 on the mountain. Chris has some buddies there and it's definitely a place I wish I had known about 10 years ago!

Also, I'm going to start tailoring my blog after Morgan's (http://helpyouhelpme-mjs.blogspot.com/). Updating it at least a few times a week with a quick snipit of what's going on, what I've found interesting on the web, etc... I think I felt the need to write a chapter when I first started the blog but hell, you don't want to read a chapter and I don't want to write one so maybe this will work better. I'm going to get right on it, starting tomorrow :)

Rafting the Colorado River

Hi gang! Just a quick update from the past weekend. Chris and I headed west to Grand Junction to meet up with another couple (who just bought their own raft) to raft down the Colorado River. And it wasn't white water or anything, more of a float trip just chilling, drinking PBRs, and admiring Mother Nature. We camped along the river in this area called the Black Rocks - which is a geological phenomenon out there so that was cool. I getting more used to the idea of camping and going 2 days without a shower but it would be a lot better sans bugs - but what can you do except douse yourself in Off. Hope everyone is having a great week! Next up is a street fair in Chris's neighborhood this weekend which we're crossing our fingers has a jumping castle!

In the middle of the Colorado River

Breaking for lunch


Campsite for the night

Another view of campsite - the Blackrocks are on either side

Bolder Boulder

Hi everyone! Just a quick post about what I've been up to. I met Chris's parents, who came up from West Palm for a little bit to hang out with Chris's aunt and uncle and Chris and me. I had them over for dinner one point and no one got sick and I didn't burn the bread so that was a success!

Also, Chris and I ran the Bolder Boulder (2nd largest 10K in the US) and it was a blast! I actually ran the whole thing (albeit a slow jog in some places but still ran). My times are below to prove I did it. :) Mile 3 was excpetionally long because I had to go to the bathroom and it's no good running with a full bladder...so I had a quick pit stop. The last 3/4 a mile is when you run into CU's football stadium and everyone is cheering you on and it's really, really cool.

Yep - that's me out in front...

Next up: White water rafting on the Colorado River next weekend so should have some awesome pics from that trip. Hope everyone has a great week!

Oh - and Chris finished in 58 minutes and was like 12,433rd place - which means that 12K people finished in the 10 minutes between us. CRAZY!

Christy Lowell
bib number:
GD361
overall place:
24029
location:
Denver, CO
division:
F31
division place:
328 out of 677
gender place:
10250 out of 26204
mile 1:
00:09:49.34
mile 2:
00:10:23.91
mile 3:
00:12:53.19
mile 4:
00:11:00.12
mile 5:
00:10:40.36
mile 6:
00:11:03.58
net time:
01:08:03.36
pace:
10:57 (based on net time)

So fab, Moab

Hi guys! Just a quick blog about my past weekend in so fab Moab.

Chris and I decided to drive down to Moab (southeast Utah) for my introduction to camping and "real" mountain biking. So we take off Friday afternoon and finally land at the campstie that I made Chris take me to because it has a shower (and bathrooms which were actually cleaner than Chris's - which is not saying much). However, I forgot that campsites tend to be "family friendly" which means a bunch of whinny ass kids running around and seem to all next to our campsite. Needless to say, we went out on our own Saturday night (but not before I took another shower there).

Saturday we got up and rented some mountain bikes to do a slickrock trail. And for those of you in the know, it was not THE Slickrock Trail but a beginner's slickrock. For those of you not in the know, Moab is world-famous for it's Slickrock Trail.

After my ass had had enough of that, we cruised up to National Arches Park for some beautiful hikes/driving through self-formed arches. It was pretty awesome!

Then we found a campsite on the Colorado River and set up camp, grilled up some chicken, drank some cocktails and just chilled out. It was good times fo' sure!! If you ever get the chance to go, they offer much more than mountain biking - white water rafting, 4-wheeling, tours of the Colorado River, etc... It's just kind-of in the middle of nowhere - but that's half the fun.

Hope everyone has a safe and great Memorial Day weekend. I'll be huffing and puffing through the Bolder Boulder (a famous 10K run they have here).

Is anyone still reading this??

I'm such a slackass - I know! And it's not that I haven't been doing anything, just ready to shut down my laptop at the end of the working day and not look at it again until morning!

probably the biggest news is that I now have Mr. Morris back. I was down in Charleston last weekend for Leslie's wedding (it was BEAUTIFUL)...

And Mom was done with taking care of the M man so I drove back to Denver with him in the rental car in 2 12-hour days. Not fun for either of us but we made it safe and sound

Let's see - what else? Chris and I are still going strong and have more fun than ever. I think I might be done with the snowboarding season though. There is still a mountain open for the month of May but it just seems weird to ride in May... If I were in Charleston, I would already have a tan by now.

Lindsay and I are putting together a Derby party for tomorrow. I really could give a rat's ass about horses but it's a good excuse to get together and have cocktails. That's all I have for now but will try to be better about updating this - if anyone is still reading it...ha!

Have a great weekend!

My pretty new pet....

Hello! Another Monday.... boo... However, I think we're FINALLY going to get snow this week so it will hopefully we will have some powder days this weekend on the slopes.

For St. Pat's Day, I just went downtown to Fado's street party with Chris, Jeff, and Lindsay and we just had an awesome day! Made friends with some randoms from Alaska who had no problem pulling their shorts down and showing us their huge "Alaska Homegrown" ass tattoos that covered an entire cheek. Good times, good times!!

Went up to Breck this past Saturday for some snowboarding. Since it's been so dry here, not sure how many more days I will get in but we'll see.

I'm settling into the new place, and found myself a new pet. His name is Rudy and Chris is hoping that by summertime, we'll have tamed him enough to put some water skiis on him and take him out and about...

Hope everyone has a great week!

The new place...

Hi my favorite people! I'm in the new place and settling in. Thanks to Chris and Jeff for getting my oversized couch into the stairwell with no scratches! I've got an office and a huge porch so all is good. Talked to Allison today and she got engaged last night - YAH!!! So glad she's with a Clemson boy, even though John and I are both Auburn fans - when they aren't playing each other!

Here are early pics of the new place. On a clear day, you can see the skyscrapers of downtown and the mountains from my porch! Hope everyone has a great weekend! Going to A-Basin tomorrow for some snowboarding - hopefully it will snow up there tonight (it's been in the 70s here all week - crazy!)

My office which looks into another office across the street so I feel like I have a "cubemate" even though not sure he's knows I'm here.

View from my porch

Portland and Moving...

I'm a slackass, I know. I've been super busy with work this month. Not a great excuse but there you go. So... Chris and I went to Portland after the Breck weekend and had a GREAT time!! It was his birthday and he's never been so as y'all know, it's one of my favorite cities so I had some input on where we went. Skied Mt. Hood on Friday and it was a great mountain, with the exception of falling on my ass the whole time. And since the snow is harder and wetter, it hurts a helluva lot more.

Mt. Hood

Saturday we just toured Portland and walked around downtown (of course I took him to Powell's and Kell's!). It was awesome weather there for that time of year. This is a pic of Chris by the Columbia (?) River. You can barely see it but that's Mt. Hood in the background. We stayed at McMenamin's Kennedy School. It's a converted school and the classrooms are the hotel rooms. There's a movie theater and about 7 different bars in it. It was really cool.

And so the moving part - I'm moving into a new apartment. I'm closer to both Lindsay and Chris and Chloe won't be harassed by the P's (Dawn's cats) anymore so I'm looking forward to it. It's right by the Univ of CO Hospital system and in an area called Congress Park/Mayfair. All the big stuff hopefully will be in this weekend. I'll update with pictures as soon as I get my stuff in. As for Mr. Morris... Mom and I are working out logistics of his big move to Denver but probably won't get him until late spring, early summer. That's all for now. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Breckenridge

Hi everyone! Hope all is well. I heard it's cold as shit in Charleston right now while I'm sitting in 58 degree weather out here. Crazy! Chris and I spent this past weekend in Breck and had an awesome time. It was nice to ski Friday and Saturday and not worry about driving back home in traffic. Here are a few pics and I'll update again next week after my weekend in Portland!

Peak 9. I stayed on the slopes in the middle but Chris, the professional skier that he is, went to the top on the far right.



Top of Peak 9 - where it was windy as all get out

My celebration after linking some turns

Telling Chris to quit taking pictures of me only when I fall

A much needed and deserved beer after a day on the mountains!

The New Year...

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in postings - but it's been busy - especially when I was in Charleston for Christmas and then again for a week and a half for Blackbaud training. It was awesome to see everyone that I could that week though!

Things are going great here! Dawn, Chris, and I went snowboarding Saturday and had a great day! It was 50, sunny, and packed powder - good times for sure. Going back up tomorrow - I am taking another lesson just to make sure I'm not getting into bad habits and also, I need some help with my toe-edge turn (see - I'm slowly but surely learning the lingo!). Chris and I have a weekend in Breckenridge next weekend (January 30th) so don't want to look too much like an idiot... Anyway, more updates to come but wanted to touch base and let y'all know I'm still here and will update the blog more often - as things happen.

My laptop crashed while I was in Charleston so I lost all my pictures but here are a couple from New Year's Eve and skiing Saturday. AND - as a bonus, pictures of Homer and Pickles because I know there are some of you anxious to see the infamous VSB (Vampire Shit Bat) that is Pickles.

Jeff (Lindsay's husband), Chris, and me on New Year's Eve



Cars racing each other on an ice pond





Big horn Sheep on the side of the intersate on the way to the mountains




Sking/Snowboarding at A-Basin Saturday





The Home-Slice!




The VSB aka Pickles