Where's Waldo

Wow.. the past two weeks of my life have been amazing.. make yourself comfy kids.. we are about to embark on a little sledding adventure.

When my company announced that they were selling the Denver office, I was super nervous. So nervous that I dusted off the ol' resume, bought a pair of heels and went snowboarding. As
it all turned out, I got a job as a Petroleum Production Engineer with Noble Energy. I am super excited. I don't really know what a Production Engineer does every day but I hear that you get to use some big toys. The job starts tomorrow.. lets hope I make it past day one.

So because I am starting a new job, I decided to take two weeks and travel to see a bunch of friends and family.

The trip started in New York where I saw Melinda and her little pun-kin heads. It was so much fun that I forgot my glove. I am serious people.. if you ever want to have more fun then you can handle, go sledding with a couple of kids. A couple of sledding tips... make sure that if there is a big tough rod iron fence at the bottom of the hill, there is a big pile of snow to soften the blow; if there isn't a big pile of snow to soften the blow, make sure their mother is not watching. Side note - Tia Lia is an awesome babysitter.

After Melinda kicked me out of New York (just kidding) I went and visited my sweet, darling sister Bink. We ate some great Pho, did a shopping marathon, made a huge salad for dinner, went to mass, moved some furniture, drank Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and laughed as only sisters can. I cannot believe that my sister has been in Boston for two years now. She rocks the Boston area like none other.

Next was Grand Rapids.. all I have to say is.. I drove a FarmAll M. People I drove a FarmAll M.(ohh and aww here) I had such a great time in GR. Curt, Katie and Rylie live there. They rock the farm life. It is a simple, healthy life where you go pet your neighbors new chicks, chase a barn cat out of the house, eat a delicious farm raised steak, and bury a kid in snow.

I then ventured to Houston.. where I saw Melli and Manuel but no Micah. I don't have much to report about Houston.. and that is a good thing because all I did there was nothing.. and it was great.

So.. after watching 18 episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" I am glad to finally be home... back to life, back to reality. If you had two weeks.. Where would you go?

Oh Canada!

There was a time when Superman was my least favorite comic book hero. His problem is that he has so many powers that it’s difficult to even enumerate them all. Strength, speed, flight, a whole raft of vision-related powers, cold breath, and nearly invulnerable.

“I swear,” I used to think, “his biggest challenge must be in deciding which combination of powers to use in a given situation.”

But lately, I’ve come to identify with Superman more and more, as my own arsenal of superpowers continues to expand. One new component added to my arsenal.. my new "Made in Canada" bike. It rocks.



And a confession...
Apollo Ohno is my secret boyfriend. :)

A little sand and water never hurt anyone.. just a camera.

A crabby time...

This little crab is the reason why I don't have a camera anymore...I was chasing it around the beach sometime in November..Picture this.. me in my swimsuit jumping all around rocks, sand and water saying... "here crabby crabby"...


Totally worth it...anyone want to go Brazil and ruin another camera?

Anyone just love love love their small, digital camera? I need one and would appreciate some suggestions.

P.S. I got my coffee pot in the mail today...full report on the DGB900 coming soon.

Ok Ok Already... and Welcome Back!

Ok.. it has been awhile since I have blogged... I got sucked into Facebook and am just finally surfacing.

What is new you ask???

Hmmm.. I bought a new coffee pot. I have not used it yet (since I just bought it today on Amazon). BUT it has great potential. Not only does it brew coffee.. it also grinds it. Yes, folks I have made the big giant big-girl leap into snazzy kitchen appliances. Last year was the year of the slow cooker and this year... the year of the Cuisinart DGB900 Grind& Brew. But enough about that.. I don't even know if it will meet the high standards set in the Lia kitchen. Which if it is going to compete against the slow cooker it will need to walk the cup of coffee to my bed in the morning.

In other news... I am now addicted to the Bourne Identity book series. I started reading it while I was on vacation and I have now read three more of the books. Pry me away people... I need something worthwhile to read. Any suggestions? I will do a book exchange with you. (Meaning you send me a good book and I will send you my Bourne series :)

Ok.. it is February... and we all know what that means. Spin Class. There is nothing I dislike more than riding a stationary bike indoors with some sweaty instructor yelling at me to turn the knob on the bike half a turn and pedal pedal pedal. Actually... there is one thing I dislike more.. being beat going up Lookout by some old lady on a mountain bike. For the love.

OK.. So I finally downloaded some pictures..

Ok.. So it occured to me that I never really post any pictures or any real life stuff... Well I finally finally finally downloaded some pictures off of my camera.. So here are some of my adventures from the last months.

Here is the first one from my most recent vacation... I call it... "Look ma, no helmet!"

Notice the dress from KatieKate that I am sporting. You can have one too.. just ask Kate real nice.

On a different trip to Grand Rapids, Russ and I saw Curt and Katie's longhorns. They are some hardy animals. It was my first time up close and in real life to an actual longhorn..(I know!)

During New Years I went to New Orleans.. it was a super fun trip filled with way too too much Gumbo (seriously I had a really bad stomach ache) and for the first time in my life I ate pecan pie. (And loved it!) Here is me infront of the famous Camellia Grill.. the vanilla shakes were great and the burgers were out of this world. (Hi Sue!)

Anyway.. wanna take a trip somewhere? Call me, I would love to travel with you. I might even share the arm rest with you on the flight over. :)

Fat Tuesday

So as you may or may not have realized, we are in the Lent season... which is for some Christian denominations, is the 40 day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter.

The purpose of lent is to prepare for Easter - aka the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. To prepare for Easter it is common to give something up.. a sort of 'fasting' so that we can become a little closer to God.

In previous years I have given up chocolate, or television or something of the sort. This year I am giving drinking beer. Now.. even though I am not a daily beer drinker or even anything close to it, an occasional frosty cold one has its perks. For example last night.. the recreation volleyball team I play on won its first game of six. That called for a little celebration which included the frosty beverage. Now.. it will just need to be a nice refreshing glass of Coke.. with a twist of lime.

Call me up friends.. lets go have a cup of Joe or a lemonade. I would love to catch up.

The Bubble.

When I was fresh out of university and working at my first 'real' grown up job, the older 30-something engineers used to tell me 'just wait until you are out of the bubble' or 'enjoy the bubble while it lasts'. And they would smirk a little and laugh. I never really knew they were talking about until this year.



It is not so easy.. this growing up thing...



The year 2008 was a growing up year for me. It seems like all at once my parents got older, my friends moved away, I not only bought a furnace but also windows, my sisters are giving me advice instead of me giving them noogies, I solve real life problems at work.


One out of the bubble question I have been trying to answer is... what do people do after work? For the past three years I have done the grad school thing.. but now that I am done.. I don't really know what to do with myself. Maybe you can shed some light on this topic.. What do you do after work?

More on the domestic front

Ok. For my birthday, I received a crock pot. I have never really cooked in a crock pot, or for that matter at all but I was pretty excited for the new challenge. I emailed one of my most cook-iest friends (hi Katie!) about a pot roast recipe and was off to the grocery store.
The butcher lady at the grocery store was so super duper nice. She cut me a new piece of meat and gave me some great cooking tips. I got a little lost in the potatoe department but was sorted out by a phone call to a friend and a nice old lady. (not the same person). Long story short, my pot roast was a success. I have tons of left overs. If you want the recipe here it is:

Pot Roast… in. Little salt and pepper on top.
Carrot, potatoes, onions… in.
Packet of onion mix, packet of brown gravy mix… in.
2 cups of water… in.
Maybe another cup if there’s lots of veggies.

Ok.. so far I have done 2 new things (pot roast and sew).. it is going to be a longer winter than anticipated. It feels like my bike will never see daylight any time soon. If anyone wants to do anything fun just call me.

D is for domestic.

Ok. So about a month ago I hired a company and we put new windows in my house. Actually, I stood around and watched and they broke old glass and put new glass in.

Friday, as I was looking around I noticed that I don't really have any curtains in my house.. you know big kid curtains.. not just blinds. So I went to the store and found that I didn't really like any of the curtains. I had this bright idea to buy material and make my own curtains.

#1 Material is expensive. Who knew? Anyway, with my 10 yards of material in hand I called my mamma. She brought over her sewing machine, threaded it all up and left.

Second- I don't really know how to sew (except for in 7th grade sewing class, I once made a pillow). Fast foward to day 2. (I gave up after mom left and went and got my skiis tuned). Fresh from church I decided to turn on the Bronco game and sew some curtains. I carefully took all the measurements, cut all the material, pinned all the material, and turned on "the machine". About 10 minutes into a happy sew song, something happened and there was a tangle of thread all over. Well.. in true engineering fashion, I decided that I would fix it. Wrong answer. I ended up calling my mom, she came over (with some barbacoa and salsa) and helped me sew. She scolded me on my pinning and sewing strategy and showed me the advantages of the double stitch. My mother is so super patient. Seven hours later, 8 of my windows now have new curtains.

My next domestic task this week.. I will make my first turkey for the church community dinner. I figure it is a good idea to practice my turkey making skills on total strangers.

Fall Colors

This weekend I rode bikes with the "Yetti Beti" team. They are an awesome woman's team who don't seem to have any brakes on their mountain bikes. They are super fast and they make really good cookies. It was a blast to see the fall colors and get in a workout.

Growing Up.

I think that 30 years old is the most difficult year of my life.
I am not kidding. When did I start spending money on windows for my house instead of something cool like a non-essential cute fall jacket. When did I ever start coming home from work dead tired? When did everyone start having kids and all of a sudden have no time for movies and kickball? When did I start eating eggs instead of Fruit Loops for breakfast? AHHHHHHHH... I want to be back in the bubble.

Realization

So I have been thinking about what i am going to post today.. at first I was going to post my new personal record time up Lookout mountain, and then I was going to post some other stuff about biking.

For the first time in a long time (ok all summer) I went to church this morning. (I know. I know.) It is not that I don't cherish everything about going to church.. I just get caught up riding my bike.
Whatever.

So Michael (our pastor) spoke about our attitudes and humility.. here is the big take-away.

"We don't need to think less of ourselves.. we just need to think less about ourselves."

I think this is big for me. Have you ever put something/someone else ahead of God? Have you ever raced to a parking spot to beat out someone else? Making ourselves less to make HIM more. That is the challange I constantly face. How about you?

Catching some fresh air.

This weekend was Russ's birhday. I decided that for a birthday present I should take him skydiving. Now.. knowing 1) I am afraid of heights 2) I get motion sick really quick 3) I am peferctly same, I decided it was the perfect present. Here are some pictures. I would like to point out that even though I look really nervous in this picture and my heart was beating out of my chest and my legs were super shakey I had a smokin' good time. I reccommend this activity to anyone who does not have a heart condition. Come to Colorado for your birthday friends.. I will take you skydiving. or bike riding. or maybe we can just eat some cake.

Sprint to the finish.

Here is the photo evidence of me beating Russell. Oh sweet victory.

Outdoor Colorado.

Sorry about the lack of updates.. Life has been very busy on two wheels and sleeping in a tent. I loooooove vacation.

Here is a picture from my pseudo-graduation in May. Where Sara and I rode our bikes after the ceremony.. her in a helmet me in a mortar board. Turns out it is a mortar board very safe helmet if you wreck your bike or bang your head against a wall if you don't fully pass a course. Here is the Marcia Mounsey Foundation cycling team.. we rode the Windmill Classic Century, rasing about $4,000 for the foundation. It was a super hot day but everyone finished with a smile and all of their fingers and toes. Overall.. very fun.
These picures are from the Bicycle Tour of Colorado. Micah joined up with Russell, Ryan and I and we rode about 403 miles through the towns in Southwestern Colorado. It was a super blast. Come to Colorado friends.. the cycling is nice, the water bottle water is warm and the wind is brutal. Families bond.

Here is one of the best snacks.. Nilla Wafers, with peanut butter and a banana with a preztle toothpick on top. Oh-So-Good.

Bicycle grave yard.

And this is a picture from this last weekend at the Triple Bipass.. 3 mountain passes, 125 miles, peanut butter you squeeze out of a packet, no crashes and one of the most fun Triples I have done so far. I rode with the Rocky Mountain Childrens Law firm team... these guys are super duper strong riders... the best part was... they had ice cream at the finish line. I ride 4 food. That is my new motto. It's gonna be big. During all of this fun I took the 4th of July weekend to do a little bushwacking.. aka backpacking in the San Juans. Thank God for the map and compass invention. Otherwise I would be wondering around the wilderness blowing my bear whistle and eating Roman Noodles.

Here is Sawtooth mountain. So much snow, so little time.

Stuff

So alot of stuff has happened and I took many photos. I graduated, rode my bike out Lookout mountain, went to Los Cabos, went to Jesus & Lucia's wedding, and came home without my camera.

Booooo.

Studying for Final Exams.

Anybody got extra calculator batteries? I need them ASAP.

My toenails hurt.

In my new ploy to avoid homework, I flew to New Jersey last weekend and ran a marathon with my comadre Lisa. It was her first marathon, I am feel extremely honored to have run it with her. I love the finish line banner.

Mile 13
Mile 20

It was a great time. Geordie, Shannon, Christian (who also ran the marathon), Melinda, Liam, their daughters and Chris came out and cheered us along. We were able to stay at beach house O'Brian on the New Jersey shore. Who knew the New Jersey shore was such a beautiful place? I would definately vacation there. Here are some more photos of the event..

April Showers Brings May Flowers.

Well people it is snowey and rainy here in Colorado. Both literally and figuratively.

It has been super rainy and snowey here this week. The bummer part is that I have not been able to go skiing. or snowboarding. or outside for that matter. I have basically locked myself in my house with my books, tequila, and my calculator. I have decided that unless I super glue my butt at my desk, handcuff my hand to my book AND take all of the batteries out of my cell phone (all 1 of them :) my homework will not get done.

The May flowers of graduation cannot come soon enough.

39 days

39 days until I graduate.
5 homework assignments,
and
0 sanity left.

Say a prayer for me. I need all of the help I can get.