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

Christmas in Charleston

Hi everyone!! I made it to Charleston from Denver - with no planes flying off the DIA runways, thank god. Anyway, I'm actually excited to be back in the office atomsphere and seeing my friends and collegaues face-to-face. Everyone looks great of course. So, I'll be here until Sunday, 12/28, and back in Denver for the week of the 29th - where I'm hoping to get in a couple of ski days and back in Charleston Jaunary 4th for a week of training. So, if I miss you this week, plan on cocktails for the week of the 5th. Hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and talk to/see you soon!

Thanksgiving, the zoo, and snowboarding

Hi everyone! So, I've been a little lax in updating this, I know, but things have been busy - in a good way with work and going out. It's cold as hell here (wait, that doesn't make sense but you know what I mean. It's snowing right now and with the wind chill it's 0 degrees - crazy).

Thanksgiving was spent in Denver. Went to Lindsay and Jeff's house and had a great time (not as good of a time if I had been home but still good times). Word to the wise - when you cook at higher altitudes, it takes much longer to cook a turkey and the sides! But it was still a great meal!

Then, Chris and I hit the zoo on Friday. It's an awesome zoo with lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my.

Tuesday Lindsay and I kicked it over to A-basin - a ski mountain here - and I had my first snowboarding lesson. It was awesome!! I loved it and can't wait until I can get down a run without falling on my ass! Not going to lie, still sore right now! Lindsay did a skiing lesson and rocked it out as well so I anticipate great times on the slopes this winter! This is one of the reasons I moved out here so I'm so glad that I'm looking forward to snowboarding.

For my Charleston people, I'll be in town on the 22nd, leaving the 28th but back again on January 5th for Blackbaud training so I'll make sure I'll see of y'all then that I'll miss during Christmas. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Love y'all!

(and oh, the highlight of last weekend of course was beating USC on Saturday! Go Tigers!!!)

Mid-November update

Hi everyone! I know all you BB peeps are busy with the conference right now but wanted to touch base. Finally got the cast off! I have to do some exercises to get it ready for all the falls I will be taking snowboarding this winter but that's okay. My first lesson is in a couple of weeks.

Just been super busy with work and trying to catch up on fun on the weekends. Had to fly off to Chicago Friday for an onsite. Then, Chris and I attempted to see Cowboy Mouth Saturday night but they didn't start until 11pm - and we all know I'm more of a happy hour girl than a late-night concert goer. Oh well.

This weekend, we are going to see Warren Miller's Children of Winter movie. No worries if you have no idea who Mr. Miller is - I didn't either until I got out here. He is a big-time ski movie producer guy. Should be good stuff and a good motivator for getting out on the slopes.

I'll touch base with y'all after Thanksgiving. I am spending it here with the Chastains (that's "my friend Lindsay" to some of y'all) and looking forward to it - but will miss Mom's turkey and mashed potatoes! Until then...

Warren Miller movie:

Halloween

Hey guys! This will be short as my eyes are about to bug out of my head because I've been staring at my laptop for the past 12 hours working. However, knew some people could be anxious about the Halloween pictures. So - the guy I was out with was Dog, the Bounty Hunter... what else could I possibly be then... the roll of paper towels he hunted, ie - Bounty. Dawn helped me put together and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself...

The couple with us are from Charleston too! Rock on with the South representing in the Rockies. They went as Billy Idol and White Wedding - awesome.

And then, here are "my friends Jeff and Lindsay" as the peeps in Charleston know them. They are a stunning rendition of June and Johnny Cash, don't you think?

All in all, a great Halloween. An even better Saturday as we all got together again to watch Clemson, USC (Linds went there), and play CatchPhrase.

Sunday was a beautiful day and spent at Mile High watching the Broncos lose. It was fun and I think I actually got some Vitamin D back in my life.

It hasn't snowed yet - but I hear it's going to snow in the mountains tonight and the ski resorts will start opening up this weekend. I've got my Epic Pass ready and ready to roll.

That's about it for now. Getting the cast off Thursday! Whoo-hoo - will finally be able to open up screw top jars.

Hope that ladies out there have a good girl's night tomorrow and drink a cocktail for me.

Until later...