Yes, yes...I'm still alive! ;)

Hey ya’ll!


So sorry it has been FOREVER. My laptop decided it wanted to die on me, preventing me from being able to update my blog and keep you all informed on what has been happening in my life. So I have decided to do a quick rundown of what has been happening since I last posted months ago!

Biggest change has been that I have become a mommy to an adorable baby blue heeler named Pbers. I got my little man about 5 weeks ago, when he was 9 weeks old (so for those of you who don’t like math he is 15 weeks old now).  He is growing so fast it is unreal and every day I get to see a little bit more of his personality.  He is very curious about everything around him. The other day I took him on a hike with me up through the Colorado Monument and it was so funny to watch him checkout every little rock and plant along the trail. He even had to stop and roll in the red dirt for a bit, much to him mom’s irritation…being that he’s a mostly white puppy, Colorado’s red soil is not the easiest thing to get out of his white coat…He also even found a stick along the trail that he liked so much, that he carried it in his mouth all the way back to the car. Ha-ha He thought he was tough stuff carrying a stick almost as big as him.



Mr.Pbers...
when his ears still drooped over, now they stand straight up!

  



Snuggled in taking about to take a nap.



My baby Pbers and Me!!!

Other things that are new are my snowboarding class has sadly commenced. But with class being over that means it was time for the weather to get nice and me to being my hiking class! Every Wednesday afternoon I spend a few hours hiking along the local trails. My favorite hike that I have experienced so far was one through Bangs Canyon to the Mica Mine. It was an absolutely gorgeous hike along the creek at the bottom of Bangs Canyon-a canyon that runs through the upper Monument. The Canyon led us to a cave that used to be a Mica Mine. For those of you that are unfamiliar with what Mica is…it is a white crystal like rock. The trail along the creek was sprinkled with Mica and it looked so unnatural I felt like I was Dorothy in the Wizard-of-Oz. Only instead of following the “Yellow Brick Road”, I was following the “White Mica Road.” I have also become a little bit spoiled because I am now used to Colorado weather. The locals have a saying here, “If you don’t like the weather…wait a half hour. It will change.” And if that isn’t the truth I do not know what is. Just yesterday, I woke up to a dusting of snow on the roof and by yesterday afternoon it was sunny and 78 degrees out.



Last day of snowboarding class...miss these hooligans!



Hiking up in the CO Monument

Let’s see what else is new…I am still working at Zumiez and have decided that I love my job there so much that I am going to transfer back to a Zumiez in Maplewood, MN that is about 30 minutes from my house in River Falls. Other then that I have just began packing up all of my belongings getting ready to head back to good ol’ Wisconsin. I cannot believe this adventure is already coming to an end. It truly was not long enough and I am happy to report that Colorado has taught me a lot of things that I will be taking with me throughout rest of my life. Not only have I done a lot of growing as an individual, I have realized what I truly value in life and have revealed a few undiscovered dreams that I want to achieve someday before I kick the bucket. Colorado has helped me to learn that nothing is out of reach. I think Olympic Track Champion Gail Devers said it best, “Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. So if you believe it, you can achieve it.”

Until next time…sending you peace, love and good vibes from Colorado’s Western Slope!

Gateway to Heaven

Well guys, let me first apologize for the long-time coming this post has been. Things have been somewhat crazy and uneventful out here in Grand Junction as of lately. I have started a new job which has been taking up much of my time; along with my other love, and the true reason I came to Colorado…snowboarding. I thought this week I would share some awesome pictures from Powderhorn, the mountain here in the valley that I ride at the most often, it is also the hill that I have class at every week. J Enjoy….

A look up the hill on the West-end

Another look up the hill

Looking down the hill & across the valley from the lift

The Mountains

Another look down the hill/run

A Bucket List

Bucket list:

So the other day this wonderful cousin of mine, told me about how she had created a “Bucket List”-a list of things that she wanted to do before she died.  This really got me thinking….what do I want to do before I kick the bucket?! So I decided to sit down and create a “Bucket List” of my own. I never would have guessed how fun it would be and how inspiring it is. I encourage all of you to make one of your owe, no matter how young or old you are. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. I hung mine somewhere that I can see it daily; it’s my friendly little reminder that the only thing stopping you from fulfilling my bucket list is me!

MY BUCKET LIST

*        Visit all 50 States

*        Go skydiving

*        Sail the Mediterranean

*        Take a roadtrip with no set destination

*        Vacation on the Virgin Islands

*        Visit all the Continents

*        Get married*        Adopt a baby from Africa

*        Meet Kenny Chesney

*        Go caving

*        Live somewhere Tropical

*        Get into grad school/law school

*        Marry a random stranger in Vegas (maybe not for real, but I like the idea)

*        Climb the Eiffel Tower

*        Ride a bull

*        Visit a random city for a week with an altar egos the entire time

*        Learn to salsa & swing dance

*        Go cow tipping (even though I know it doesn’t work)

*        Ride a camel through the desert

*        Have 5 kids

*        Go white water rafting

*        Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans

*        Hold a chimp

*        See the ancient ruins of the Aztecs in Mexico & South America

*        See the Vatican City in Rome

*        March in a Pride Parade

*        Vacation in Italy

*        Get a job with a professional sports team

*        Witness the Vietnam Memorial

*        Volunteer in Africa

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS….Like any good Wisconsinite I was extremely excited to watch the Packers win Super Bowl XLV! Though it probably would have been a little more exciting watching it in Wisconsin with other people who were football/Packer fans-but either way I am yet again proud to be from Wisconsin and a PACKER-BACKER because Lombardi is finally coming home to Green Bay.

Besides the Super Bowl excitement this last weekend, I spent much time in the car traveling to Denver with to go home with my friend Scarlott, to celebrate her birthday with her family. Friday night Scarlott’s brother, Ean took us downtown to watch a show at Mo’s Barbeque. Followed by a pretty casual weekend of lounging around, playing games and going out to dinner on Saturday night for Scarlott’s birthday dinner. And before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and time to head back over the mountains to Grand Junction.

On our way home I did get my first sight of the legendary Big Horn Sheep that reside here in the Rockies. They were right along side the road fighting while we were driving on I-70 through Vail. They are a beautiful animal, and much larger then I had expected!

In other news: IT SNOWED IN GRAND JUNCTION!!! It has been the first time it has snowed in GJ, since I moved here. It has been a little interesting hearing locals complain about “All the snow” when really there is only a few inches on the ground. My response to them is-“I’m from Wisconsin where snow is at least a foot deep and we have wind chills below zero, this is nothing!” Though I did kind of like wearing flip-flops last week ... J 

WE ARE THE CHAMPS!!!

Celebrating Scarlott's Birthday

X Games 15!

Well guys I just got back from one of the funnest places I have ever been to---Winter X Games 15, in Aspen, CO. This weekend started out with my friend Scarlott and me leaving Grand Junction on Friday after class and heading for Glenwood and our hotel room. Took us about an 1 ½ to get to Glenwood and check into our hotel, then we headed for Buttermilk Hill and the X Games!!! I got a chance to meet up with some of my friends from back in Wisconsin, who came out for the Games as well. Since we got there a little late we only caught Snowmobile Speed & Style, and Snowboarding Big Air- on Friday night before heading back to Glenwood and our hotel.

Saturday was an early morning so we could get back to Snowmass for a full day of events. We watched Women’s Pipe Elimination, Women & Men’s Snowboarder X Finals, Skiing Slopestyle, Snowboarding Street Final, along with lots of Snocross practice—which made me miss Snocross terribly. But while I was watching practice I met some crazy “Yoopers” from Ironriver, MI. They were there supporting Kyle Pallin, a young 18 year old pro-snocross racer, who qualified into X Games not only his first year racing pro, but also at his first race in the pro-class! They had a really great story and gave us someone to watch and cheer for.

Next, we were off to watch

Snowboarding Street

—and what an adventure that proved to be! First: we got front row (which is super hard to do at X Games). Secondly: I got given a “Golden Ticket” by one of the Staff members. The deal with this “Golden Ticket” is they hand out one for each competitor, and if the person who is named on your “ticket” metals (by getting: gold, silver, or bronze) you win really awesome prizes. Thirdly: The person named on my “Golden Ticket” was Jeremy Jones!! The man who earned the 2011 Athlete of the Year for pushing the edge in his video Deeper; in the film Jones explored Alaskan Mountain Ranges that can only be accessed on foot, proving to be some of the most awesome lines in snowboarding ever caught on camera…And I was holding the ticket with his name on it! J Thought Jeremy ended up taking only 4^th and not medaling he was still the only one trying the sickest tricks with the mind set of “Go big or go home”. Fourthly:  I got interviewed by ESPN!! The commentators were standing directly in front of us, to the point that while they were setting up we were joking with them to move down because I finally got front row and now they were blocking the view. Haha But the guys caught me totally off guard by turning around and putting a camera in my face and asking me about my cheering on Jeremy Jones and how excited I was to have his “golden ticket”. Crazy stuff. Fifthly: Jeremy Jones himself came up to me after the competition and chatted it up and took pictures with us. He joked about it sucking I got his name on my “ticket” rather then some young punk like Suave (the guy who won Gold). After saying cheese for a few pictures with Jones, we hung around to see who else we could spot and ended up meeting Joe Sexton. He was another X Games rookie, but one that was definitely a crowd pleaser. After every run he would go up to people in the crowd and hug them and just overall pump-up the crowd; to the point that the crowd started chanting “SEXTON”. Kid was so funny and said he was as happy and surprised to be at Winter X as all of us were. He didn’t even care that he didn’t podium, just competing was a dream come true for him. But I’m pretty sure we’ll see him in years to come on top that podium.

After all the

Snowboard Street

excitement we headed back to Glenwood to call it a night. But not before we grabbed a slice at one of supposed “Greatest Pizzerias In Colorado”…and after eating there I would not argue with whoever decided that.

Sunday morning was a crazy one, first we had to check out of our hotel and re-load up the car and get back to Snowmass for the last day of Winter X. We had a full day of events that we watched, starting with SnoCross—round one, LCQ, & Final. Followed by the SnoCross Adaptive Final, which was men racing who had an injury or disability. Most has prosthetic limbs; one racer was even paralyzed from the waist down! It was neat to see how the sleds were modified to let these slednecks continue doing what they so loved to do—race snoCross. Mike Schultz ended up taking the gold. Which was awesome, because I remember when he got injured years ago racing pro-snoCross and had to have his leg amputated. He has made the most progress to advance the sport of Adaptive SnoCross, he has created special prosthetics that allow people to continue doing the xtreme sports they love. A truly inspiring story in my book!

Next we were off to the car for a quick lunch. Then back up to the ground to get a good spot along the pipe to watch Men’s Superpipe Finals. Our spot along the superpipe proved to be a great place to also watch Snomobile Best Trick, as well. And what a night it was for snowmobile Best Trick! We got to watch a TWO MAN BACKFLIP on a sled!!! Pretty much the craziest thing I saw all weekend. Unfortunately, the Moore Brothers got DQ-ed for their amazing backflip, because there was nothing in the rule book about it. But they still earned Gold in my book!

Then it was finally time for Men’s Superpipe, an event I had anxiously been awaiting all weekend. And we had front row seats, right along the halfpipe! It was crazy to watch the first rider take a practice run, it felt like they were going to fly right into us. Lol Of course my man Shaun White won the event!!! J But I think the true hero of snowboarding that weekend was Scotty Lago, a man who just the week before had had his jaw wired together, due to a broken jaw that he got from a snowboard crash. He was still riding with his jaw rubber banded together, but the announcers were explaining how if he fell on it again his jaw would shatter and probably not be able to be fixed. Yet, Lago competed in all events and podium in most of them; taking 2^nd in halfpipe right behind Shaun White.

After the halfpipe excitement; it was officially the end of Winter X 15, and time to head back to Grand Junction and home. But no worries Aspen, I’m planning on seeing again next year for X Games 16!! J

Until next time…

First night at X GAMES!!!!

Snowmobile Speed & Style

Day #2- at Winter X!

SnoCross practice

I MADE IT TO THE WINTER X GAMES!!!!!!

My "Golden Ticket"

The ESPN guys standing right infront of us...
(the guy in the plaid is the one who interviewed me)

Nic Sauve-he won Gold

Jeremy Jones!! Getting his ride back up the hill behind a sled

Joe Sexton!!!! I loved this kid's personality!!!

Jeremy Jones!!!

SnoCross Adaptive Medalists

Front row at Men's Superpipe!

Men's superpipe!!

Scotty Lago!!

Shaun White waiting on his score..#1 baby!

One last look up the pipe...

Shaun White!

Winter X Games 15 - Caleb and Colton Moore Tandem Snowmobile Backflip

Most cRAZy thing I saw at Winter X!!! Yet I think it was ridiculous that they got DQ for it! Moore Brothers still got the Gold this year in my book...2 man backflip was INSANE!

Ice Climbing in Ouray-Video

The video of the history of Ice Climbing in Ouray!

One Week Down

I have official been a Coloradoan for over a week now, and I cannot tell what a trip even this first week has been. I have met so many new people, who come from such different backgrounds then the ones that I am used to. Most when first meeting me laughed at my “accent” and the infatuation I have with the Mountains….a majority of my friends here have seen the gorgeous Rockies out their windows for their entire life and cannot imagine living someplace flat without Mountains, such as Wisconsin. But our differences have made my experience out here that much more a learning experience. I am learning about the different foods that people commonly eat here such as: Rainbow Trout, sushi, “The Western Sandwich” (which is composed of scrambled eggs or egg omelet cooked with ham, onions, green peppers, salt and pepper, and usually served on toasted bagels). And my new friends are learning what Cheese Curds are!! Haha most think they sound disgusting and don’t believe me when I say they are super yummy.

But one of the greatest things that I admire about the people out here is their love of the outdoors. I do not think a single person I have met here does not have a love for being outside. Most grew up hiking, cycling, skiing/snowboarding, climbing, camping---and when I say camping I mean true camping where all you have is the pack on your back and sleeping out in the open under the stars, none of them would ever even consider camping in a motorhome or pull-behind camper. So it has been extremely exciting and fun for me to get introduced to all of these new things.

Last Thursday I had my first snowboarding class at Powderhorn Resort which was AMAZING! I now know what it feels like to snowboard in fresh powder, and ungroomed trails—and let me tell you the feeling in indescribable!! My class consist of over 100 students, but we were all broke down into groups about 7-12 students depending on our skill levels and given an instructor. My instructor’s name is Matt and he is super fun and teaching us all new skills. Pretty sure we will all be getting an easy “A” in the class. J

Then this weekend I experienced something totally new. I went Ice Climbing with the Outdoor Program here at school. It is an amazing club/office here on campus that takes trips every single weekend, doing everything from rock climbing to skydiving to everything in-between. We headed to Ouray, which is about 2 hours from the valley, in a big ol’ 15 passenger van. Now Ouray is a reasonably small Mountain town in the San Juan Mountains, which in my eyes are some of the most beautiful Mountains that I have ever seen. They have tons of beautiful canyons among the mountains and in some of the canyons the “ice farmers” create ice for the sport of ice climbing. The story of the Ouray Ice Climbing is pretty amazing if you ask me. To give you more of a background on the area I’m going to attach a Youtube link that will take you to a video about the area of Ouray.



The San Juan Mountains



Again, The San Juans

When we arrived at Ouray, we unloaded the van and got all of our gear into our backpacks. Before being able to enter into the actual park we first had to put on helmets and crampons-which are spikey things that you attach to the bottom of your special ice climbing boots that give you traction.  Upon putting on the required gear we headed off on our 45 minute hike into the Mountains to get down into the canyons to begin climbing.

My friend Brook on the sketchy log bridge that we had to cross on our hike

When we got down to the ice canyon, we were all watching fellow ice climbers shimming up and down the ice, making it look easy-as-pie. I remember standing there waiting for out lines to drop saying, “You have got to be kidding me! I am never going to be able to do that.” But I am happy to report that I did and made it all the way to the top on my FIRST attempt! What an adrenaline rush looking down at how far up I was!! It was amazing, and after I repelled down I wanted to do it again and again. Which all of us did for most of the afternoon.





The canyon where we climbed





Taking my first climb!





Me repelling down!





I'm almost to the top!



For lunch my friend Tom taught me how to make mac’n cheese in the wilderness, on this tiny little camping stove with these adorable little pots and pans---all of which fit into his backpack of course. And let me tell you it was some of the yummiest mac’n cheese I’ve ever had. I don’t know if that is because it was so cold down in the canyon and the warm food really hit the spot or if it was my amazing cooking….maybe a bit of both. Heheh



The Pocket Stove that we made mac'n cheese on
-it's like 3 inches big!





By time the sun started showing signs of retreating below the mountains it was time for us to pull our lines and begin our hike out of the canyon and back to the van. The hike out at the end of the day was beautiful. And just as we began to hike out, Colorado showed us how unpredictable and changing it’s weather truly is, because a huge dark cloud and a snowstorm began brewing over one of the Mountains right in front of us.



A look at the canyon during the hike out



 



The Moutains again





The storm cloud that suddenly appeared







One last look down the Ice Canyon



 After loading backup the van it was off to the Ouray Hot Springs! The Hot Springs in Ouray are known for a few things: 1.) The natural feel of their pools, unlike most hot springs that look just like a swimming pool that smells like sulfur, the Ouray Springs have a more natural pond look to them. 2.) They are clothing optional- so we encountered out far share of “free spirits” while we soaked our sore climbing muscles. The soak felt wonderful and was super relaxing after a long cold day of climbing; causing most of us to fall asleep on the ride back to the valley and Grand Junction.

My Sunday was spent catching up on homework, doing some laundry, and of course cheering on my PACKERS!! We’re going to the SUPER BOWL BABY!!!! Yaaayyyy. J

Well that is about the extent of my week thus far, next weekend I am off to Aspen, CO to watch the Winter X Games and hopefully see/meet some of my favorite athletes. So watch for me on television!! Haha



Until next time….sending love and good vibes from Colorado. <3

 

Mission Complete!!

Thursday morning we successfully got Dad’s truck back up and running after a visit to the mechanic in Brush, WI. Upon sitting at the garage waiting for the water pump to get fixed Dad chatted it up with a local man about the agricultural industry in the area. He was quick to tell us about the big feedlots that collect all those big black beefers we’d been seeing scattered along the countryside. The man told us that one such feedlot was just a few miles down the road. So after getting the truck back, we of course had to check it out. And I think big was an understatement…the lot was HUGE! All you could see was beefers forever, thousands of them getting finished off for slaughter. It was crazy. I’d never seen anything like it before.

After checking out the feedlot we were back on the road bound for Grand Junction. It was only a few miles down the road when I got my first glimpse of them….the ROCKIES! They were unreal, looked like something out of a storybook nestled all up in the clouds. But it wasn’t until we hit Denver that we could see the bottom of the massive “hills”, I’m so unused to saying the word “mountain”.



The Rockies in the Distance



After traveling through Denver we went a bit off course to visit the adorable town of Golden, CO and the home of the largest brewery in the world, The Coors Brewery. The town was right at the foothills of the Rockies, the perfect place for Adolph Coors to find the freshest water to make his beer with. Mom, Dad and I took the tour of Coors. I have been on other brewery tours, but this is the first one that I really remember. It was extremely interesting to watch how Coors in made from growing the hops, to mashing it, to packaging the cans…and of course tasting the final product. We got to try two new recipes that are not yet available back home: Native Colorado-which is the latest addition to the Coors family; and Batch 19- a recipe that was created before prohibition, but got stashed away when liquor and beer was outlawed, the recipe was just rediscovered only a few months ago. Both a little on the heavier-side for beer but yummy just the same.

Daddy & I taste testing :)



The story of Batch 19....it's a little heavier, but yummy-yummy!

Following our stop at the brewery we were off for the long trek through the Mountains. We drove over 170 miles straight through the Rockies. The mountains that I saw pass through the windows of the truck were unbelievable. And hitting them at sunset made it all the more magical. I thank God that we had nice weather on Thursday making the trip through the mountains not so treacherous, I could not imagine driving that curvy road in bad weather conditions. And after 3 hours of mountains we reached it…the valley that held GRAND JUNCTION!! The town that would be my home for at least the next 5 months.

We got settled into our hotel and then went exploring the town, we found the Mesa State College Campus and walked around a bit to check things out and find out where my orientation would be held the following day. Afterwards we returned to our hotel for the night. Friday we were up bright and early for my college orientation, I had a student session while Dad and Mom were in a parent session. We had lunch here on campus and bought my books, got my Mav-ID card, and found my dorm. Then we were off to find Powderhorn Ski Resort, the ski-hill where I would be having class 2 days a week!! It is about an hour drive UP the mountain to get to the hill, it is nestled far back in the valley of the surrounding mountains. My parents have never really seen a ski-hill up close so they were pretty excited to watch people skiing and snowboarding. While I was just itching to be one of those people riding down the hill!!! Haha After leaving Powderhorn we heading back for the Mesa Valley and Grand Junction. On our way we stopped in Pallisade (the town adjacent to Grand Jct) to do a little wine testing. Wineries are all over here. The lady who was doing our wine testing explained that some of the best fruit is grown locally right here in the valley, including grapes, peaches, pears, strawberries, etc. Upon making our selections we returned to Grand Junction to begin moving me into my dorm.

My dorm room, which is now my new home, is HUGE compared to my old room in River Falls and the views out my window irreplaceable!! Grand Junction and the Mesa Valley are surrounded on all four sides by mountains. Including the Grand Mesa-the largest flattop mountain in the world; and the Colorado State Monument…so gorgeous! Saturday Dad, Mom, and I visited the State Monument. I was the lucky one who got the privilege to drive along the windy drop off cliffs—scary is an understatement. But the view was totally worth the sketchy drive up the side of the mountain.

One of the tunnels we went through at the Monument

Looking down on of the Canyons



Another view of the Canyons

On of the coolest rock structures: Balancing Rock

After our visit to the Monument, we found the next best thing Grand Jct has to offer…an awesome shopping MALL!!! Haha of course Mom and I were right at home. J After we got our shopping fix, we were off to me my new roomie Anel. She is a doll, I see a great semester in our future!! After a quick intro with Anel and dinner, it was PACKER FOOTBALL TIME!!! So mom, dad & I headed back to the hotel to catch the game and to watch the Packers kick some Falcon booty. Whoop, whoop! Then this morning it was time to say the much dreaded tearful goodbye and send Mom and Dad back to Wisconsin.