i LOVE maps!

I love maps of all kinds! I thought this one was particularly interesting. Turns out I've really only lived in areas that most other people don't live...explains a lot, I suppose! :)

I ♥ Riding New Trails!

New Fun Trails!

What a lovely day in CO!!

I had wanted to go ride Picture Rock trail this morning, but when Collin, Holly, and Andrew got to our house, they said it looked like it was snowing in Lyons...a quick call to Lyons confirmed. New plan stat! We decided to head South and decide where we were going along the way. Centennial Cone won out! I'd never ridden there before, so I was psyched to check it out.

It got a little snowy!

We didn't get to ride all of the trail due to some remaining snow and some Silly Elk that didn't get the memo that people want to ride their MTBs on the trails and that they should go eat somewhere else! haha Anyway, the bit of the trail that we got to ride was a ton of fun, and it was nice to get out on a proper trail, especially since the remainder of my day has been spent at school!

James and Collin...probably waiting on me!

Yay mountain bikes! :)

Erin Rocks!

Ahhh, the Lemur

My friend Erin has some of her AMAZING pieces at a local shop (Topo Ranch), so we headed downtown for the First Friday Artwalk to check out the place and support her. They had some Boulder Beer and a band playing, so we all had a good time socializing and getting the night started. I had planned to go back to school afterward, but after 2 beers, I threw that terrible idea to the wind and decided to make a night of it!

LOVE her work!

The band

Check Her Work Out at Deadwilder Design

Kristin had come up from Denver, so we all went to dinner then headed out to the Downer and the Pub for the night. It was really nice to hang out with friends and get away from school for a little bit!

My lovely friends Erin and Kristin

Sun, Wind, and Goats

Man, talk about service! Kashi and Sabrina changing my flat tyre for me!

Well, goatheads that is! My friend Sabrina just got to town for the next couple of weeks, so we took advantage of Boulder's 75º+ day and headed out for a nice easy ride on our MTBs. She and her bf, Kashi, just got to town yesterday, so I thought...this might be my only chance to keep up with two of the fastest people I've ever ridden with! We headed out to the trails around the Reservoir. As we were riding around near the Res, I was telling them to watch out for these horrible pesky pests called goatheads. They're terrible weeds that no matter how they land on the ground, there is always a spike poking up, just waiting for your tyre to roll over it! Well about 15 minutes after my speech on goatheads, guess who got a flat tyre?? Yup, the blabbermouth! Ha, ha. I have to say, I definitely had the fastest tyre changers that I've ever had. Okay, maybe the tyre change wasn't that fast, but Kashi and Sabrina certainly are! The tyre change was a bit amateur hour since I somehow (???) had a 29er spare tube instead of normal one, duhhh! I don't know how that happened. Anyway, we carried on straight into the hurricane force winds that were pelting rocks and water off the water at us and climbed up. I got back on my bike and thought, hmmm, my rear end feels a bit loose. haha Sure enough, flat tyre #2!! Uhhh, so, we ended up having to make the 29er tube work, since it was the only option. Pit stop #2 was faster, as we'd learned a lot on #1! Off we go again...for about 1o seconds, until my chain breaks!! :( Mind you, the wind at this point is howling, so hanging out messing with bikes isn't the most fun thing ever, but we were all still smiling! Once again, Kashi retired Pro World Cup Racer Turned Bike Mechanic sorted me out and we finally got back on track to brave the wind and head back to Kashi's friends house. His friend cooked us up a wonderful dinner and we had some good laughs into the evening, well Sabrina and I sat and giggled about nothing in particular the whole time and I think the boys were mostly just laughing at us! Regardless, even though the wind sucked, and goatheads and broken chains suck, we had a wonderful afternoon/evening. It's amazing how great people to be around can make even crappy situations fun or at least funny! :)

A Lil Party for Bobbi and Lil Mil

Bobbi surrounded with goodies

My amazing friends Bobbi and Jon Watt are having a baby! They have nicknamed her Lil Mil for the Little "Milli" Watt. She of course won't be named Mil, but for now, it sure is cute! Her mother-in-law hosted a really nice shower for her today. She has a lot of really creative friends who showed up to help her celebrate.

Nadia was charged with the task of hanging all the clothes

For me, it was really nice to get to catch up with some bike racing friends that I haven't seen in awhile, including Miss Watt herself! Jon and Bobbi are gonna be great parents!!!!

4x Girls reunite! Riders Ready, Watch the Gate, Beep beep beep BEEEEEEEP :)
Me, Bobbi "Snap" Watt, Shannon Ambrose, and Nadia Steinbrecher

Time for a Wedding!

Our New Bigger and Better Family

NOOOO, not mine!!! haha That requires two people who are in love! :) My dad met a truly amazing woman, Djaylan. Although they weren't super forthcoming with letting everyone know that they were planning on getting married when we were in Vegas, that was indeed their plan! Originally, I wasn't going to be able to go to the wedding as it was on Wednesday, and I was meant to go home on Tuesday. As luck would have it, though, Mother Nature really wanted me to be at the wedding!!! :) She had another one of her little shit fits and puked a bunch of snow in Denver on Tuesday afternoon (and night!). My flight got canceled, and I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the airport doing a little hallelujah dance!! So, after a couple of hours at the airport, I hopped on the shuttle back to our hotel just in time to join everyone for dinner.

My lovely sister Tori and me

Before I left my sister and I been talking about how much fun it would be to go to a Cirque du Soleli show, and once my flight got canceled, I thought...we can make it happen! I mean, we only had 2.5 hours to have dinner, sort tickets, and make it back down to the strip, but, I was determined! All 11 of us crammed into the 7 passenger mini van (Tori and I had cozy seats in the boot with the strollers and some luggage), and we headed down the strip. As we got closer to Treasure Island Casino, we made the "Let Us Out!" call at a red light, and a pseudo chinese fire drill ensued! I think we about gave my grandmother a heart attack, since we were in the middle of traffic, but it worked out perfectly! We got to the ticket box office and talked the woman into giving us a discount. We weren't prepared to pay $129 for tickets, but we decided $72 was doable, and we were only 1 minute late for the start. The show was awesome, and it was a lot of fun to get to hang out with my sister.

The Bride and Groom

Wednesday we got up and got ready for a wedding! The wedding was set for 1:00. We all got ready and headed to the Chapel. My dad, Djaylan, and my new little step sister, Monique arrived in style in the limo.

Monique, the Little Princess

Auntie Monique with her nephew Marshall

After a nice ceremony, we had a super photo taking session and then headed back to my uncle's condo for a little reception. I haven't seen my dad so happy in as long as I can remember! I couldn't be happier for him and Djaylan (and Monique!). I'm psyched to have a stepmom and a new little sister! Welcome to the family Djaylan and Monique! :)

Our New Lil Sis

Our Extended Family

Vegas Fun!

The Doors were the theme of the light show in old downtown

Cutest kid ever!

Tor and me with our dad

And our Grandma

Well, I'll have to eat my words, as I never thought I'd have this much fun in Vegas! It's been a quick trip, but it's been nearly a complete family reunion getting to see aunts, uncles, my grandma, dad, and sister! We had a great time running around yesterday eating good food, seeing a light show, dancing, and swimming.

On our way to the top of the "Eiffel Tower"

Me and my Sis

Today, we went to the top of the "Eiffel Tower" and I played some Texas Hold 'Em with my dad
for 2 hours and won $70! Now I'm heading back home (in First Class, again!!!) to a bunch of snow...sigh!!!!!

Dad and Djaylan

Tori giving Marsh and Monique some dance lessons

Monique is quite the photographer!!

EDIT: Didn't make the flight, it got canceled, so the crazy Vegas story continues!

Lotsa Snow!

It was 70ºF here on Wednesday, 60ºF on Thursday, and today we got a foot of snow. WTF?!? Mother Nature has issues! It did mean a good day of riding up at Eldora, though! There was a ton of snow...too bad I didn't get up there until 1:00. Had a great afternoon of riding with Akira, though!

St. Paddy's Day

The makings of a good night!

I decided to get people together to enjoy this wonderful holiday! Abby decided that all of my favorite holidays are the ones that you get to dress up and drink on...pretty much! :)

My four leafed clover soda bread

Delish!!

I decided to cook up some corned beef lots of potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. I tried my hand at soda bread, but Abby's roommate Matt showed me up with a much better version! :) The food was great, and the consumption of many car bombs made the evening even better.

Matt, getting off to a good start!

Get it while it's hot!

Chris got to join us when we went to Pearl Street, as his 21st bday was the day before, so it was fun to finally get to all go out and have a good time downtown!

Several of the CU Cycling boys have "invested" in morph suits...hilarious!

Unfortunately they didn't wear them when we went downtown!

Training Secrets of the DH Samurai

Lovely Mary Jane

The winter wonderland that was Winter Park on Monday (or so I'm told) was completely transformed into winter sunnyland by Saturday! TJ skied bumps ALL day (this is his samurai off season cross training secret!!), I dabbled in them here and there and stumbled down them when that was the only option! haha Great day on the slopes. It's been fun to watch TJ's bump skiing advance and progress throughout the season!

Sorry it's sideways, I can't figure out how to turn it...duhhhhhh!

Just starting to study for my German exam tomorrow...not sure where the hours in the day always seem to disappear to!