Welcome to Breality

Phoooooootos

2010-01-18T18:54:00.001-07:00

Well, needless to say that despite the best intentions, my photo plan hasn't quite worked out, instead getting interrupted by LIFE. I have taken a ton of photos though, especially with the trip to Florida...so hopefully I get some posted soon. I'm trying here peeps!

In Loving Memory of Jeremy Woods

2010-01-08T21:20:00.004-07:00

My cousin Jeremy passed away this week...and I'm just so sorry I didn't do more for him. He was a sweet little Jer Bear as a baby (and CUTE!)...A few years ago we had a pretty hilarious trip to Austin to visit UT (he loved the Longhorns). Along the way he lost his wallet (dork) and while tearing apart the rental car looking for it we ended up finding $80 in cash in the seats (but never did find his wallet). Some of the winnings went to that black hat he's wearing in the pic below. These are two pictures from some of my favorite times with him. I was also lucky to get to see him and his brother James a few months ago in Dallas when I was there for a quick business trip.

Love ya Jeremy. Keep a watch out over your brother and try to help guide him down a good path.

Stay tuned...

2010-01-05T11:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been a bit lax in the blogging lately...the desire just isn't there for me anymore, and I know you faithful readers are all sad. I'll pause a moment for you to grab a tissue.

THAT being said, I'm going to embark on a 365 project, well technically since I'm starting today a 360 project, to try to take and post a picture every day for the rest of the year. This is in a goal to get to know my camera better and hopefully become a better photographer, which has developed into a passion/hobby that I hope to grow and develop. I'll likely not actually post the picture every day so don't get too excited, but I'll post them all eventually but it'll be interesting what I can come up with to photograph in my relatively boring day-to-day life so STAY TUNED! It'll probably be hard for me to actually accomplish this daily as well, but I'm always up for a challenge!

And, because the National Championship game is two days away...HOOK 'EM HORNS!

Can't wait to get CARRIEd away!

2009-12-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

Thanksmas

2009-12-17T16:46:00.002-07:00

There are only a few things in this life that I claim to know for sure...and the fact that my niece and nephew, Morgan and Matty, are the cutest kids on the planet is one of them. Happy Thanksmas!

Pictures

Photgraphy

2009-12-08T13:34:00.001-07:00

I've been doing some sleuthing around the interwebs looking for another photography class, mostly because the one I took at a community education level was not quite what I wanted.

THIS makes me want to find a class even more!

I've been elf'd

2009-12-08T11:38:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or man, am I a white elf compared to Morgan and Matty?

Pictures!

2009-12-06T16:56:00.002-07:00

I know some of you have seen some of the Italia photos on Facebook, but since I took 1100, of course you know there are more. While still not the entire 1100 (I had to edit, just a bit), for your viewing pleasure:

Venice, Tuscany and Pisa
Florence
Assisi and Rome
Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri

I'm BAAAACK!

2009-12-02T20:24:00.002-07:00

I'm back from Italia and I had an amazing time. I'm so glad I finally decided to make travel a priority in my life. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to "download" my experiences for my faithful public, so stay tuned.

I did miss a few things while I was away, most notably my usual breakfasts (Italian hotel breakfasts did NOT do it for me), cups larger than dixie cups, and ice.

Stetson and Ungarski even seemed to have behaved themselves pretty well while I was away!

Coming home took pretty much forever...I was basically up and traveling for 24 hours by the time my plane landed in Denver. I was feeling pretty good until I took a two hour nap this morning, and since that time have felt like I have the world's largest hangover. I just hope I sleep tonight because tomorrow means going back to work, and that is pretty much NO FUN!

OMG! ADORABLE!

2009-12-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

Christmas in sorrento

2009-12-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

They lit the big tree in the town square the night we left!

Sorrento

2009-11-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

View from hotel...can you see the med?!?!? It's awesome here!!!

Wine tasting in Tuscany!!!!!!!

2009-11-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

I'm in love.

Venezia!

2009-11-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

First gelato! Molto benne!

2009-11-21T12:53:00.001-07:00

Winter Sunset

2009-11-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

TOMORROW!

2009-11-19T14:19:00.001-07:00

My friend Julie just sent me this blog, and that girl (who is from Denver) is my hero!

She had this quote on her blog that I think is quite relevent to why, two years ago, I finally decided to save a lot of funds (and PTO) and travel to Italy...even if it meant going solo!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." – Mark Twain

Why we need more vacation. A case study in productivity.

2009-11-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day in the office for almost exactly two weeks. I don't think I've ever been away from work for that long of a period, and that alone (the no work part) makes my vacation lovely...everything ITALIAN is just a cherry on the gelato.

The reason I bring this up, however, is that my impending vacation has not only made me more productive, but many people around me. The "sense of urgency" of me being gone is finally getting people to do things they've promised, and I've been tasked to clear a few things off of my plate before leaving imposing must-meet deadlines that probably wouldn't exist if I wasn't taking off. It's really quite a lovely system, making me think that if Americans had more vacation time to take these long "holidays" like they do in other parts of the world, we'd ultimately be a much more productive workforce. Who is with me?

I know I haven't blogged lately...

2009-11-13T07:00:00.002-07:00

...just can't seem to get up the energy to do it :) That being said, I took the photo below for my photo class of a globe at a house in Steamboat where I stayed last weekend for my friend's bachelorette party. Can you believe the big trip is only one week away!?!?!? I've been pretty much planning for this trip for two years...so the fact that it is only one week away is pretty much awesome.

Destined for Greatness

2009-11-03T12:51:00.001-07:00

Lots of stuff happened the past few weeks, hopefully I'll have time to blog about it. But perhaps the greatest story comes from Arlington, Texas...where I was for a few days last week for work. I was setting up for our workshop at the A/V guy was as well...he mentioned that he had a baby the day before. He then mentioned that a few weeks ago he saw my name come across on an event order form and him and his wife ended up NAMING THEIR BABY BREA! How exciting is that? That baby girl is obviously destined for greatness.

Football Pool

2009-10-25T09:06:00.002-06:00

Shockingly, we're in first place (out of 70 people) for the season thus far! We need to stay in the top 6 to ensure we win some cash money at the end...and the Longhorns finally beat the spread this week to help us out! Hook 'em!

Taking Bad Pictures

2009-10-23T19:06:00.004-06:00

Me and my mom are taking a 4-week photography class (I have to miss next week though, which totally sucks). I'm taking it mainly as inspiration to get to know my camera better...our first class was pretty 101, but at the end of class we were sent out into the halls and told to take the camera off auto mode and "try to take bad pictures." Thought being just to experiment with F stops, shutter speeds, ISO, etc.

Trust me, I took some bad pictures...but I really enjoy this picture of locker locks...and a fun one of madre.

Guess what?!?!?

2009-10-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

Un mese a partire da oggi i congedi per l'Italia!

One month from today I leave for Italy!

After all this time, can it really be just a few weeks away?!?!?!!?!?!? So excited!

Do you think a piano can fit in my house?

2009-10-19T19:26:00.002-06:00

I went to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra yesterday to enjoy their Rachmaninov Festival...they were featuring my all time favorite classical music piece, Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagnini. It was absolutely delightful, and as corny as it sounds, somewhat life-affirming to listen to. I definitely need to go more often as it has renewed my love for classical music and made me wish I became w world-famous concert pianist like Olga Kern...the whole concert I kept wondering if I could fit a piano in my house!

Bravo!

'Tis the Season

2009-10-15T08:30:00.001-06:00

Dear Dollar

2009-10-15T08:23:00.001-06:00

Dear Dollar,

Thank you for hitting a 14-month low against the Euro just 36 days before my long-awaited 12-day trip to Italia. The fact that every single hard earned one of you that I've been saving for the past two years is only worth 67 cents is absolutely delightful.

Regards,

Brea

Wicked good!

2009-10-11T19:04:00.004-06:00

This weekend JW2 came to town to enjoy some good food (finally had dinner at Vesta Dipping Grill, drinks at Vita and brunch at Duo). We went to see Wicked at the DCPA...OUSTANDING show!

So what color one the poll?

2009-10-04T12:29:00.002-06:00

The hair has been cut and color refreshed...what color? Red!

All the Single Babies!

2009-09-27T16:13:00.001-06:00

Have you seen this? SO HYSTERICAL!

Chicago

2009-09-27T15:54:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to head back to Chicago last weekend to attend a workshop for work...I flew in early Sunday so I could enjoy the city a bit! I was able to catch up with my recently-married friend Marta who just moved to Chicago from DC...and just enjoy the city I love so much! The workshop, which was Advanced Writing and Editing, was quite enjoyable as well. While I'm not sure I specifically "learned" anything new, it was good to step back and take a fresh look at things, so I'm anxious to put some of that stuff to work at work!

I love me some good public transportation! Seriously!

Chicago really embraces green space...hope that helps them win the 2016 Olympics...they'll find out this week!

It's time for a cut and color...

2009-09-23T19:59:00.003-06:00

So the questions is faithful blog readers...what color? Red or back to brownish dirty blondish (whatever my "normal" hair color is)...Vote in the poll on the right-hand side of the blog, or leave a comment!

Ingredients to beat Tech? PB&J and Pedialyte

2009-09-22T08:29:00.003-06:00

Not gonna lie, our offense has been a little frustrating this year, which is something I would have NEVER expected (our defense is freaking amazing though). Turns out, Colt had a touch of the flu (I don't think it was of the Swine variety) last week which didn't help things...check out this story about his halftime snack that led to a Longhorns WIN!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4492204

First Day of Fall

2009-09-22T08:04:00.003-06:00

What Fall should look like...[via]

Denver apparently skipped straight to winter, with SNOW yesterday (I missed much of the action since I'm in Chicago, but I hear they saved some for me with snow possible again tonight...). Yes, that is SNOW in the city of Denver, and not just the mountains!

Italy Practice

2009-09-19T21:50:00.004-06:00

Spent most of the day at the Belmar Italian Festival eating caprese skewers and drinking vino. Molte benne! I leave for Italy TWO MONTHS FROM TOMORROW! I can't freaking wait!

Who knew wine at one point looked like this?!?!?!

This dude could spin some pizza dough...

Italian flag throwers from Florence!

!!!!

Geting our Horns up at 7200 feet.

2009-09-13T16:40:00.006-06:00

Well, I'd been looking forward to it for a long time, and it didn't disappoint. A great weekend in Wyoming to see my beloved Texas Longhorns take on the home state team! The Longhorns started VERY slow, and the hyped-up and ready-to-play Wyoming Defense didn't help anything. Our defense was amazing as well, keeping Wyoming from doing anything major offensively. We went into the half 13-10, causing minor heart palpitations, but ended up pulling out the big win with a much better 2nd half, winning 41-10.

The offense finally kicked into gear heading into the half with a TD.

My boy Jordan Shipley! I said that during pre-game and someone asked me if he was my son...I was like, NO!...he's my husband.

Couldn't ask more from our defense. Muschamp gets 'em fired up!
[courtesy]

The Longhorns have some work to do to be prepared for last year's season ruiner Texas Tech as they roll into Austin for Saturday night's game...so I'm glad Wyoming put up a tough fight to keep them motivated.

I do have some words for the Texas athletic department for making the decision not to make room for the Longhorn band...this was apparently the first game there hasn't been a LHB presence since the 80's. No LHB? WTF?!?!!?!?!?

On Gameday me and Bjorn headed to Laramie with JW2 where we tailgated with the Wyoming folks who were serving up Bevo for breakfast (I chose to eat the "team neutral" Eileen's cookie). We also headed over to the Wyoming alumni tent to visit with friends and then headed to the stadium. We had a good crew in our row, Uncle Jim, Uncle Alan, Jen, Brian, Morgan, Matty and my mom and dad!

Now taking reservations for Austin 2010.

The shirt I made for Morgan and Matty to wear.

Adam ate "Texas" so I ate the Cowboy head.

Morgan, before her mommy taught her to put her Horns down instead...how rude!

Matty Lemmings @ 7200 feet.

Even without LHB, we managed a round of the 'Eyes post-game. Go horns!

We don't freestyle Texas Fight! big boy...

2009-09-13T16:00:00.001-06:00

Ha! Gameday will be in Austin Saturday for Texas vs. Texas Tech.

http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=tex&media=138916

Quite a cute lunch date.

2009-09-13T15:29:00.001-06:00

Check it out...I made Baby Cohen's blog :) Turns out he loves unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks!

Morgan and Matty

2009-09-10T20:33:00.007-06:00

Morgan and Matty have been here for the past week...here are some pics! Morgan is as sassy and smart as ever, Matty is learning how AWESOME his mimi is!

Family Fotos

2009-09-07T19:44:00.003-06:00

Admittedly, family photos do not bring out the best in all of us. Since the Lemmings and my Grandma are in town, we decided to torture ourselves again (just kidding...kind of)...and we ended up getting this pretty fun shot that my dad has dubbed the "rock band" picture. Morgan and I are obviously the backup singers. It should probably be noted that the agreed upon color scheme was black AND grey...I'm just the only one who pursued the latter.

Longhorns Week 1

2009-09-07T19:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my weekly round-up of all things Texas Football. I know, you are excited.

Saturday brought the end to perhaps the longest felt football drought in the history of me being a Longhorns fan. College football finally arrived. We played Louisiana-Monroe, and won 59-20. The game was on PPV and since the fam was arriving at the airport during game time, my pops and I watched a fast forwarded version of the game looking for all of the plays that I had read about on twitter! Hard to get a good sense of it all, but...

A breakdown of the good:

McCoy to Shipley for something like 78 yards and a TD...makes me very happy.
Kick-return for a touchdown. SPECIAL TEAMS, BABY!
Winning the game, obviously.

A breakdown of the bad:
Turnovers. Too many against a weak team.
Allowing the other team something like a 74-yard touchdown pass (this is the play we followed by a kick return for a TD, but still). Secondary? Hello?
Can you still see the tower from the stadium or do you just have to watch the tower turn orange on godzillatron?

Speaking of godzillatron, there was quite a twitter conversation regarding an advertisement that ATT had on godzillatron during the game (regarding the iphone, I believe) and SHOCKINGLY, ATT service was null, zero, zilch at DKR. While I have probably not blogged about it nearly enough, I HATE ATT and Apple better rid themselves of the exclusivity of the iphone agreement or they'll be losing a customer come next summer.

Around the college football universe, CU lost to CSU (WOOT!) and OU lost to BYU. I choose to focus on the fact that BYU won rather than the fact that OU's QB, Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, could be out for the season...bad juju to get excited about something like that. Text convo of the week from Jess regarding that game:

J - Wow! BYU beat #3 oklahoma! And hurt Bradford for you! crazy mormons!
Me - I'm thinking of converting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
J - Don't go overboard. Battle of the unbeatens next week! ;)

Perfect segway to the fact that we get to see my boys play in Wyoming on Saturday and that, my friends, makes me very happy. Get your horns up. WAY (as in 7200 feet) up.

PS - I'm in a pick 'ems this season with my parentals as my teammates and we got 2nd place out of 70!!! That doesn't mean any cash for us, but the weekly payout is around $175 so hopefully this week we win big or at least keep ourselves in the running to take it all for the entire season. I think our loss boils down to a bit of USC hatred and thus, we didn't think they'd cover the spread on their victory. Boy, were we wrong.

Summer, Sunsets and Sangria

2009-09-05T13:55:00.005-06:00

I hosted August Wine Club (1 day late on 9/1) and had a Sangria party. I've wanted to make Sangria for a long time, and this was my chance. I made two batches, one a traditional red sangria with grapes, blueberries, brandy and champagne and the other, a Peach Basil sangria that was some of the most delicious stuff I've ever tasted. I'll include the recipe below, and I know I'll be making it again soon!

The ingredients...lots of fruit and booze.

Peach Basil Sangria

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
3 1/2 cups peach nectar (available in most local markets)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 bottle Pinot Grigio, chilled
Sliced peaches to garnish

Procedure
In a saucepan combine half the peach nectar, sugar, basil leaves, and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Smash the basil leaves with the back of a wooden spoon to release the flavor into the syrup. Remove from the stove and let cool. Strain this mixture into a pitcher and add ice. Then add the chilled white wine, some fresh basil leaves, and some sliced peaches.

Lander

2009-09-05T13:48:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, JW2 and I headed to Lander to visit our friend Heather and her family, including the newest addition little Matthew! We had a good time, although I think Lander is about 30 minutes too far away :) We spent the day wandering around, visiting a 50th anniversary party for some folks in Heather's family, and eating some delicious food at Cowfish. On Saturday morning I returned to Sinks Canyon...we visited it last summer for Girls Gone Wyoming, and I still think it's kind of lame. Sorry, but its true.

The Watson Family

Me, Heather and Jolea

The little dude Matt (1 month old)

JW2 at the "Sinks"

Me, underwhelmed, at the "Rise"

Mental note...need to put Ungarski on a diet.

2009-08-25T16:02:00.001-06:00

My dad sent me this picture today with the subject: Ungarski on Regis and Kelly. Sad but true, Ungarski looks a lot like this little...er, I mean BIG kitty.

Vado in Italia in tre Mesi!

2009-08-20T19:42:00.001-06:00

That says, I GO TO ITALY IN THREE MONTHS! WOOT! I'm still taking Italian, so for now I'll leave you with two things....

Morgan and Matty should call me Zia Brea! or Zia Mimi!

This actually means something:
Non ho un nonno.

Fan-freaking-tastic

2009-08-18T19:42:00.005-06:00

So I showed you the cover, but come on, ESPN's cover story on Texas QB Colt McCoy is fan-freaking-tastic. I shall be heading out to purchase it over the lunch hour tomorrow.

Colt McCoy saves lives people. Watch out. The stars at night, are big and bright...and are aligning for my team!

PS - How do I sign up to play harmonica with my boy Shipley?!?!?!? And how does he sign up to be the groom in my dream wedding?

Courtesy of ESPN The Magazine.

Last of the Century...Best of the Century.

2009-08-16T20:34:00.004-06:00

I spent this weekend up in Cheyenne at my 10-year high school reunion. Friday night was a pretty wild and crazy good time...although I'm still questioning who talked me into "starring" in our video senior tribute...watching that back was hilarious though. A couple of pics below...it was good spending time with some of my favorite people and catching up with some old friends! And...I still think there should have been a photo booth. :)

Can you feel it?

2009-08-16T20:32:00.003-06:00

College football is right around the corner! (19 days to be exact...26 until I see the boys live in Wyo!)

Someone call the doctor...

2009-08-12T21:15:00.002-06:00

...because there is something wrong with me. I've never been the girl who dreams about or plans her wedding...probably because I'm really bad at dating. However, I've decided I need a fiance...STAT...because I'm completely smitten and completely obsessed with this wedding. And I want the exact same one.

I haven't even left for Italy yet...

2009-08-11T14:41:00.001-06:00

And I'm already finding reasons to go back...like to attend this, which looks amazing!

The boys are back in town!

2009-08-09T13:58:00.002-06:00

Football practice has begun, ya'll. Check out those guns on Colt McCoy...Wyoming should be very afraid. Hook 'em! [courtesy]

Party weekend!

2009-08-09T13:03:00.006-06:00

This weekend was full of fun times, kicked off by Danielle's bachelorette party, the Texas Exes picnic on Saturday morning where I got a pic with Huston Street, star closer for the Colorado Rockies and Texas Longhorn. Saturday night was Nicky's 40th birthday party in Golden, too bad I didn't have my camera for that one!

We had a delicious dinner at Steubens...

Followed by a bachelorette Drag Show at Hamburger Mary's!

Only one boy was allowed...our co-worker!

Post show...Fierce!

Huston Street! Hook 'em!

Hey baby, what's your color?

2009-08-04T17:04:00.002-06:00

Check out colorstrology. My description is pretty dead on...especially the part about people finding me attractive. ;) For those of you born on May 30, you can pretty much bite me. I'll leave it up to those interested enough to find out why...

A freaking dorable.

2009-08-03T13:02:00.003-06:00

Check out the pic my sister just posted on her blog of the cutest niece and nephew in the world...they are coming to visit in September and we will be taking them to watch the Texas/Wyoming game. Feel free to encourage my sister to let me have "custody" of one of the kids for the game so that at least one of them is in burnt orange, not brown. And if you are of the brown and gold persuasion, consider your comment blocked :)

Home ownership can suck...part 2!

2009-07-30T20:26:00.003-06:00

So, to top off the "paint situation" and the broken washer...the water line to my freezer decided to malfunction while I was in Canadia. Luckily this was one of the times I had a friend come by to check on the kitties, because she arrived to my house on Sunday FULL OF WATER. Even more luckily was that I left my mom's cell since I'd be on "international" coverage. My parents acted as all good psuedo-landlords should do and called their man Rich, who came over to fix the problem. I really owe Jessica! Conveniently, she is going out of town in a few weeks so I get to kitty/house sit for 10 days for her.

Come to find out though, I think while they were working to turn the water on/off, the water heater pilot light went out so I was out of hot water. After reading the instructions on how to re-light it, which involved statements like "Warning! Death possible!" I had the 'rents call their man Rich again, who not only re-lighted the water heater, but also flushed it to rid it of that crazy Denver water sediment. Seriously peeps, if you need "rent-a-husband" type work done around the house, let me give you Rich's phone number.

The funniest part about finding out about the mini flood in the house was that my mom sent me a message on Facebook, my dad sent me an email, and my sister was providing updates via direct tweets on Twitter. They definitely used all forms of digital technology to get the info to me, I just got them all hours after they sent them when I found Wifi in Dauphin.

Thanks to everyone who helped me and my house out, let us hope we're done for a while.

Maksymetz Family Reunion

2009-07-27T20:31:00.004-06:00

A few of the 262 photos...stories and all the pics to come!

Heading to the homeland.

2009-07-22T12:33:00.002-06:00

Heading to MSP today as phase 1 of the journey to the Maksymetz Family Reunion in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. Can't wait to tell you all about it :)

Quattro Mesi

2009-07-20T19:08:00.002-06:00

Four months from today, wheels up to ITALIA!

Some notes from my last class:

Almost learned all of the 5Ws...Who, What, Where, When, Why? Chi, Che, Dove, ??, ??
Gnocci isn't just a delicious food, it's also a "tearm of endearment" meaning goofball!
Mia Gatti [are] gnocci! My cats are goofballs!
Pesce and Pesche..which one is fish and which one is peach? Apparently in Italia if you order fish tea or fish ice cream, they'll pretty much always give you peach.
Buon giorno - Good day! Buona sera - Good evening! Buona Notte - Good night!
And what can you not leave Italia without purchasing? SKARPE!!!!! (Shoes!)

We're Texas. RIP Walter Cronkite.

2009-07-18T09:20:00.004-06:00

Just a little blog remembrance for Uncle Walter, who is a beloved member of The University of Texas community, having attended in the 1930's. In memoriam, some of my favorite UT commercials, voiced by the man himself. It should be noted that we have the most amazing, awesome, cocky commercials of any institute of higher learning. We're Texas.

There's gotta be something more!

2009-07-17T18:01:00.003-06:00

Smack dab in the middle of the house drama was a nice respite...JW2 came down for a Keith Urban and Sugarland concert at the Pepsi Center. We noticed the concert was going on when they were here for my birthday and by then all the good seats were gone...good thing "I know people" and was able to buy some amazing seats. We had an appetizer party before the show and both bands put on an amazing performance!!!

One of the delish apps was strawberry jalapeno salsa in an avacado bowl!

Bustin' out the cowboy boots!

JW2 - Happy Belated Bday Jolea!

Sugarland! I kind of want to be Jennifer Nettles. Definitely want her outfit.

Keith Urban!

Home ownership can suck!

2009-07-15T15:42:00.001-06:00

So my washer broke this week...at least it broke in a relatively simple way, which was that the valve wasn't completely closing so water would seep into the tank in between washes. They folks came to fix it today and a 5-minute project turned into about an hour + project thanks to the fact that my washer/dryer is SQUEEZED into the closet pretty tight.

Also, last night I discovered the jackarse people behind us hired their idiot renter to paint their fence...and he ended up painting all of my rock pavers, screen door, and furniture in my backyard. I just spoke the owner so hopefully that situation is remedied soon...let's just say, I was about as pissed off as I have ever been!

Turns out the valve problem was caused by sediment so it looks like I need to flush my hot water heater...let's just hope that the washer, backyard paint issue and needing to flush the water heater are the "three" (things come in threes) problems and I'll be done for a while. Sheesh!

Of course, all of this came at a time when I had a ton of other sheiza to do...when it rains, it pours.

Mountains and Dunes and BEARS, oh my!

2009-07-12T23:21:00.004-06:00

Back from a busy weekend tooling around Colorado with the Huff's, visiting from Pennsylvania...man, I'm tired...and these next few weeks are going to be BUSY!

Here is a photo preview...lots of good stories, so hopefully I have time to do a blog download soon!

Thanks, Photog for putting my big head over the important part! Elevation is 14,110 ft.

Click to enlarge!

Lingua

2009-07-07T22:38:00.002-06:00

In order to quench my desire to "learn something new" and of course, prep for my big trip, I started an Italian class tonight! The class is once a week for 5 weeks, for an hour and a half. It was really fun...we mostly focused on pronunciation, here are some highlights:

CI makes the CH sound and GI makes the J sound...two tough things to remember when reading since it defies all English logic! Ciao!
The musical scale (do, re, mi, fa...) is Italian!
Mamma Mia = OMG!
Speaking of Ciao...this is a greeting mostly used as hello and goodbye for acquaintances...except by the Venetians, who invented the word, and use it for everyone.
Two key phrases: Dove il Bagno = Where is the bathroom? Dove il Vino = Where is the wine?
Another key phrase: Vorrei piu vino per favore = I would like some more wine please.
And in case you were wondering, my name doesn't translate into an Italian name...but my instructor said not to worry, it already sounds Italian. Mi Chiamo Brea. You basically turn it into three syllables, roll the r a bit and drag and emphasize the e...say it with me now, Italian style. Brea!

Love this!

2009-07-07T22:05:00.003-06:00

I love this picture!

Via Creature Comforts.

3rd of July Fun

2009-07-05T09:22:00.003-06:00

Spent Friday (which in my head I considered the fourth of july, although it was the third) with JW2. Their family all went to the Rockies fireworks game and invited me along. We also had some fun times with the doggies. After a torrential downpour right before the game, the weather turned fantastic and we had a great time eating stadium food and watching the Rockies win...even saw my Longhorn boy Huston Street and an inside-the-park homerun. The fireworks weren't too shabby either :)

Kift...action photo!

I also spent the day as baby Gene's personal photographer.

I think this is my favorite fireworks pic.

[Lots of pics here.]

June Wine Club

2009-07-04T11:24:00.004-06:00

Shannon, post- kicking the Ironman's arse, hosted June wine club with the theme of bringing wine from where you've traveled. It was, as always, a fun time! We finally indulged in the Cherry Wine from Palisade that Nicky and I bought back during our trip to Moab...you rim the glass in chocolate before drinking the wine. Although I think Shannon and I, the culinary experts that we are, may have burnt the chocolate trying to melt it, it was still pretty delish.

The crew...Leila (who came to wine club on her due date!), Nicky, Me, Shannon and Jessica.

Jessica brought wine from Israel, where she spent her Freshman year abroad.

Shannon brought this wine all the way back from her recent trip to Australia! Can't wait to bring some vino back from Italy!

May Freedom Ring.

2009-07-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Fourth of July!

Shorts.

2009-06-26T17:15:00.002-06:00

So today, in a 20-minute lull downtown waiting for a meeting...I went into Ann Taylor Loft and purchased the first pair of non-athletic shorts I've purchased since circa 10th grade. I still have those shorts too and wear them occasionally.

Will I have buyers remorse? Let's just say I'm keeping the tag on until I've fully committed...although I just took them for a test drive around the living room and think I might like them. To me, this whole shopping scenario is just all shorts of crazy! Ha!

June in Colorado in one picture or less.

2009-06-26T17:10:00.003-06:00

...and it's root, root, root for the LONGHORNS!

2009-06-21T17:11:00.005-06:00

The Longhorns are playing in the championship series of the College World Series starting tomorrow. Here's to a national championship! Hook 'em!

via

Travelisimo

2009-06-21T11:19:00.002-06:00

So, yesterday marked still a long 5 months until Italy...I spent last night trying not to go to bed at 7pm after an afternoon of wine at Baby T's shower and Sangria/Margs at Joy's going away celebration by looking at travel bags. So here is the deal, peeps who have been to Europe/Italy...do I really need one of those "safe travel" bags with the various security features like wires in the straps or will I be fine with just a normal bag that has secure closures...

I also did some research on my recent personal pact to try to take a fabulous trip every two years (this aside from all the mini-fabulous trips i take in between).

So, to celebrate my 30th birthday in 2011...I've secured a verbal commitment from my mom to come with me to do this (or something very similar). Totally awesome. Pay special note to Day 7 and "Panda Kindergarten" and imagine me squealing with delight. I need to get my side business up and running to increase the cash flow a bit!

Don't Mess With Texas

2009-06-16T20:52:00.001-06:00

The first "summer" weekend...

2009-06-14T20:19:00.005-06:00

I'd classify this weekend as a classic summer weekend...soaking up (almost literally) some of the fun summer events around Denver and taking a weekend trip to the parentals cabin. The weather in Denver has been quite interesting lately, with severe weather every afternoon for the past week or so...we're even "above" our average rainfall which really doesn't happen here. I'm sure I'll be complaining in July when it is DRY and HOT, but I'm ready for this weather pattern to shift!

On Friday night, Shannon and I headed to the Botanic Gardens "Grapes and Hops" event. It was kind of chilly and drizzly, and it took them a while to figure out how to push people through the lines for the grapes and hops, but the food was fantastic! Burgers, salads, chips and salsa, lasagna, cupcakes, pulled pork sandwiches, noodles and the best part, the most amazing crepes. We definitely got our money's worth in the food department! It should be noted that Shannon is doing her second Ironman (if you don't know what it is, look it up, you'll be impressed) next weekend...GOOD LUCK SHANNON!

Shannon and myself post-crepes...delightfully stuffed.

On Saturday I made my almost annual trip down to the parentals cabin. I always make them mix up their routine a bit, so we stopped at the Royal Gorge (which was something I needed to check off my "I've seen it" list). It was pretty cool...we took a steep incline railway down to the bottom of the gorge where you can really appreciate the marvel of the bridge. We then walked across the bridge to enjoy the sites from 1,053 feet high.

I like this "candid" shot of my mom looking at my dad like he's crazy.

The bottom of the incline railway looking up...

Now that I work for an engineering company, I think stuff like this is fascinating...that is what is left of the old wooden pipeline that would deliver water to Canon City...now THAT is what they call in the biz "aging infrastructure."

The Royal Gorge Bridge from the bottom of the gorge...

Me, mid-bridge. I need a haircut and a tan, but I like the pic non-the-less.

1,053 feet straight down...

After bridge time, we headed to Canon City and visited the historic abbey that is there...you're probably wondering why we did this, and the truth is that it was because there is a winery attached (The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey). They have some pretty delicious wines to tell you the truth, and some gorgeous "packaging." They import most of their grapes from Palisade and California, and call their vineyard a "show vineyard." New to my "bucket list" is to have a show vineyard.

The "show" vineyard.

On the way home we stopped at the outlets...those who know me well know that I very rarely shop outside of my comfort zone of Target and Kohls, but I managed to get a pair of pants and shirt at each the Gap and Banana Republic and only spent $65. Bargain!

It was a fun weekend hampered only by the afore-blogged-about funnel cloud over my house and of course, the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow. I really need to figure out my new camera as well, but I think I got some good shots...all the pics are here.

The parentals at the cabin.

A 3-week-old miniature horse!

Morning in the Sangre de Cristo's...

While I was away this weekend...

2009-06-14T16:50:00.001-06:00

... this lovely little thing made an appearance over central Denver, aka my house. I need to teach Stetson and Ungarski how to "duck and cover."

Goodbye, Old Friend.

2009-06-11T20:49:00.003-06:00

Today, I said goodbye to my old friend, my high school tennis racquet. I think I got it about 11 years ago...and it has traveled to Texas, Washington DC and was crucial to my coming out of tennis retirement last summer.

Check out that wear and tear...

In honor of my 10-year reunion later this summer, I decided the perfect backdrop for the farewell photo shoot was my senior year tennis shirt (yes, I still sleep in it).

Tonight, I christened my shiny new racquet...because, as I've been telling people, if I'm serious about going pro, I need to get serious. :)

Ball fuzz on my new strings!

Looks fierce, right?

Pretty much the most awesome thing ever.

2009-06-09T18:18:00.001-06:00

La Piazza Del Arte

2009-06-07T18:29:00.003-06:00

My favorite of the Denver festivals was today, La Piazza Del Arte. I managed to make it out in the morning of the second day to see all the fantastic artwork and even indulged in a little italian ice! About 2pm it started raining/hailing though...makes me sad to think all of this will be washed away and/or driven on during tomorrow's commute!

James Dean

Big Blue Bear!

This one was very precise! I thought love was a jumbled mess?!?!?

This was my favorite...she was drawing a picture of herself. It was just really cool!

Go Wyo!

2009-06-05T20:09:00.001-06:00

My mom always wanted to be a storm chaser...guess we should have stayed in Wyoming. Cool video!

May...Phew

2009-05-31T17:15:00.004-06:00

May was one crazy month...between my birthday extravaganza and back-to-back trips, in addition to some crazy busy times at work, frankly, I'm quite exhausted (and POOR). What does a girl do in this situation? Goes and plunks down some dough on a new fancy camera (a Canon Rebel digital SLR) so that I can add one more hobby into my life...below is a pic of my little buddy Stetson...the 2nd picture I took with my new camera!

Here is to a chill June in which I hopefully embrace the recessionista lifestyle...

Well said, my boyfriend.

2009-05-27T18:55:00.005-06:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-thomas/the-big-gay-chip-on-my-sh_b_208183.html

Also a perfect time to show this funny video from my trip to Atlanta...just so happens "Uncle" Rob Thomas was on TV while we were hanging out! Also a nice glimpse into how M&M like to bug each other.

Another fun trip to Atlanta...

2009-05-26T19:20:00.003-06:00

I came back a little under the weather and had to work a LOOOOOOOONG day today, so thankfully, I can let my sister do the blogging about my weekend in Atlanta!

May 20 is a big day!

2009-05-20T19:53:00.000-06:00

Not only is today my grandma's birthday (happy birthday grandma!) but
it's also SIX MONTHS to ITALY!

I wonder if the Chicago office is hiring?

2009-05-17T16:57:00.003-06:00

I headed up to the lovely Zion, Illinois for work last week...we had a workshop up there for the surrounding cities, and it was located right on Lake Michigan. I had to keep telling myself it wasn't the ocean because I'm not used to seeing lakes that large! The first night we were there we even got to enjoy a lightning storm out over the expansive darkness.

Where is Zion, you ask? Look REAL close and you can see Chicago in this picture...no joke.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I worked in Chicago on Friday and stayed Friday night and most of Saturday to enjoy the city. I really love Chicago...and just to save yourself the breath needed to ask the question...No, I haven't been there in the winter.

On Friday night I met up with my friend Casey (we went to high school together). We had drinks at a Holiday Inn on top of the Chicago Sun-Times building overlooking the river...and then went out in Boys Town...including what is supposedly the largest gay bar in the world. Not gonna lie, gay bars are quite lovely and we had a great time!

Casey and I and the random "Nanny Goat" outside an apartment building in Lakeview.

On Saturday, I had a Dunkin Donuts picnic in front of the "bean," also known as Cloud Gate. I wandered around the park a bit, and it just so happened they were opening the Modern Wing of the Art Institute and thanks to Target, it was free! They had this really cool bridge you could take to enter the museum. I headed up to the Lincoln Park and River North neighborhoods and wandered my way back down to the hotel...along the way I stumbled upon an exhibit featuring some of the amazing artwork inspired by Obama. This is why I wander people, because you discover some amazing treasures! I ate Cosi, shopped at H&M...my own version of heaven!

The tulips were amazing! The dark purple ones were almost black!

Cool pic of the bean.

Casey said people he meets often ask why he'd leave Colorado/Wyoming...they have mountains! Casey's amazing response while pointing to the Chicago skyline? "These are my mountains!" Couldn't have said it better myself!

[All the pics here]

Talking about my 28...a few days late.

2009-05-17T16:40:00.004-06:00

Julie, Stu, Tina, Nicky, Me, Jessica, Jolea, Jess, Jenn, John, Bethany, Shawn and Joy!

So last weekend was my big 28th birthday celebration. Most people who know me know that I'm not HUGE on birthday celebrations, but I figured I had to at least do something, right? The plan was to celebrate at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday night on their rooftop. The weather was a little chilly, so we stayed inside for most of it, but it was fun none the less! JW2 came into town and had a room at the Hotel Monaco, so thanks to a the hotels free wine tasting at which I said "it's my birthday" and got a free bottle of wine, I started the night off quite well! [All the pics here]

A little happy birthday song to make you happy...

After drinks we ate at Osteria Marco...I'm telling you, nothing pleases me more than their grilled ciabatta bread. This is where I ordered the drink that will forever be known as the "lotion drink" because well, it tasted like lotion and was downright aweful. Jess was a true champ though, and chugged it down for me!

Jess...post lotion chug.

Saturday we celebrated in true Morgan style by heading to the "jumpy place," esssentially a warehouse full of trampolines. Trampolining is harder than I remember, and is actually a good hangover cure! Since we burned so many calories we stopped at Big Fat Cupcake for some big fat cupcakes. The night ended at another fabulous dinner, this time at Stella, with Shannon and Jordan.

How silly does this look?

Stella!

It was a great weekend! Special shout outs to JW2 for celebrating all weekend long!

Nothing says Happy Birthday like Mr. JT Hosting SNL

2009-05-10T14:16:00.001-06:00

Nothing says Happy Birthday like a B Robs cake.

2009-05-05T19:29:00.003-06:00

Haven't had one in a few years, but the B ROBS birthday cake tradition is back! My parents and I celebrated my birthday early because (in their new grand tradition of ditching me on major holidays) they will be in Atlanta watching the kiddos while the sister and brother-in-law take a vacay to the Dominican Republic...my mom even says that I can have bubblegum ice cream back in the cake for my 30th birthday! Yeah!

Basically, I love Baskin Robbins ice cream cake mostly because the frosting is fanf'ingtastic. As you can see in the picture of the cake before "waiting a few minutes for it to thaw before we cut it."

And after...notice about half of the flowers have gone missing...

Spring Barrel Tasting in Colorado Wine Country (yes, it does exist!)

2009-04-30T11:36:00.003-06:00

We are so fabulous :) Almost every place we went people would ask if we are sisters!

Jolea and I headed to Palisade, Colorado last weekend for "Spring Barrel Tasting." As you may recall, I officially discovered Colorado Wine Country while on our way out to Moab last month. Once it was determined that Jolea and I needed a getaway ala Mexico from last year, we decided the Spring Barrel Tasting was just the ticket. It is a weekend event where 8 wineries let people taste directly from the barrel and they have tons of great food to go along with all the wines.

We started at Canyon Wind, the only vineyard in the area with a true wine cave. One of my all-time favorite things was going to the wine caves at some vineyards in Napa, so this was a treat. We tasted three wines, including an '08 tempernillo and '08 syrah. Both were quite delicious...mild for reds, especially "raw" reds. It wasn't too far into the tastings that we realized the downer of this is that most of these delicious wines won't be available for purchase until next year.

The tempernillo in the wine cave. We spilled a little!

Plum Creek did a great job at their tasting...they had a "smelling" table where you could smell all sorts of different wines and they were labeled. They did an interesting Merlot tasting where you tasted a Merlot, then a Merlot with something like 10% Cab Sav to help with the "finish" and then a Merlot straight out of the barrel. I bought a 2008 Chardonney here that isn't yet available to the public...I like to be exclusive.

Another memorable stop was the Meadery of the Rockies. In case you didn't know (I just learned last month), Mead is honey wine and smells and tastes awesome. Honey wine means it is made from honey, not grapes (duh!)...they also had the most delightful collection of jellies and honeys to take home, the strawberry champagne variety went home with me!

My new favorite winery was Garfield Estates. They were just so NICE there. I mean, their wines were great, they even had cute wine dogs. But seriously, I felt like I was part of the family! We chatted with one of the owners for a bit out overlooking the vineyard eating snacks that were served by their cute daughter...we then went upstairs to the tasting room and I had my first experience with ice wine (Jolea has frequented Michigan wineries where ice wine is more prevalent). We also tasted a flight of Syrah (an '06, '07 and the '08 from the barrel downstairs). I joined the wine club so now, every quarter, two bottles of delicious Garfield Estates wine will be delivered to my door...seriously though, check them out. They are awesome.

Lucky, the cutest wine dog (at Garfield) you ever did see. He has a good gig.

Carlson Vineyards was also fun. I purchased some fruit wines while visiting here before the half marathon, so I was anxious to try some of their other wines. They had a few varietals where you would taste the wine, then taste the grape juice from the same grapes. I think more vineyards should sell grape juice, that stuff was DELISH! The true highlight of this was the food...they had a wheel of parmesan that they would soak noodles in before putting them on your plate. Best thing ever. Too bad wheels of parmesan are NOT cheap, so I won't be trying this at home.

They told us at the beginning of the day we should do 4 wineries per day. We ended up doing 7 in one day, 5 that were on the "tour", the meadery, and one other rogue winery because someone told us they had pomegranate wine (which they did, it just wasn't that good). The day started at 10am and about 3:30pm it was NAP TIME. By the time our hotel wine tasting rolled around (great little hotel, that Wine Country Inn), I'm not sure if the wines really weren't that good, or if I had hit my wine quota for the day. Either way, the whole thing was well worth the trip!

Best pic of the day!

[all the pics here]

The 3/50 Project

2009-04-28T21:35:00.004-06:00

I came across the 3/50 Project in my blog readings today...and what a fantastic project it is. Don't get me wrong, I love myself some Target (and probably spend half of my monthly earnings there) but there is something so fabulous about independently owned shops and restaurants! Living in the Highlands, I have plenty of options...and who doesn't need a good excuse to spend $50/month at these fabulous places? And while shopping online at places like Etsy doesn't guarantee this support immediately impacts your local community, it still supports great people doing great things!

ModCloth Fabulous

2009-04-27T13:15:00.002-06:00

How cute is this outfit from ModCloth posted on their blog? I think I might buy that tunic when it becomes available...and hopefully it won't sell out like my last dress that I still dream about!

For my outfit of the week, I decided it was time to go a little out of my style comfort zone. I took the Lavender Luxury Tights and layered them over the ModCloth essential Black Peacock Feather Tights. I put on the amazing Postmodern Peep Toes, and then it was time for a little help from the best stylist ever, Vasil.

He added the Head in the Clouds Headband and the following upcoming items: The Guinevere Tunic, the Just Bead It Necklace in Black, and the yet-to-be named, incredibly fierce, black chain bag - and then he told me to jump!

So now I need some feedback. Do you like the look? Has Vasil styled me fierce? Please be kind!

Give that boy some cake!

2009-04-22T19:18:00.001-06:00

Loyal Locals

2009-04-16T12:55:00.003-06:00

I saw a posting on these Loyal Locals Tee at Design Crush and was intriqued to see what the Denver one looked like, and honestly, was a bit disappointed. After looking at all of the other cities, I think it would be better if they would have abbreviated like they did for DC...looking at Denver's next to all of the other cities gives me letter overload! What a bummer!

Lesson of the day: Shirts with abbreviated nicknames are better than those without.
Rocks&
Nuggets&
Broncos&
Avs

Maksymetz Family

2009-04-13T21:19:00.005-06:00

So, I'm about 99% sure I'm attending the Maksymetz Family Reunion in Dauphin, Manitoba (that's in Canada for those of you who don't know that I'm half Canadian) this July...just have to figure out the travel logistics (ie how to limit the PTO because I'm in PTO purgatory thanks to my trip to Italy...not that I'm complaining).

Anyway, I was purusing the family web site (this is my Grandma's side of the family) and noticed this article (click on Dauphin Herald 1987) from the 1987 reunion that we attended when I was just a wee young thing. Notice the quote in the second column comes from none other than Bjorn, who has apparently been pimping the media on the PR front for more than 20 years. I think someone needs to define for me "kissing cousins." :)

I remember very little from that reunion, other than I missed the family group photo bc I was pouting in the car...doesn't sound like me, does it? I mean, look how cute I was circa 1987? I totally still make that face! Ha!

I'm also pretty sure that around this time I was convinced I was related to my favorite cartoon mouse, Fievel (of The American Tail). His name was Fievel Mouskewitz. Can you see where I could think that? Come on! Mousekewitz/Maksymetz?

Man, I forgot how much I love that mouse. Mental note: Buy The American Tail for Morgan and Matty.

I love the first family.

2009-04-13T21:15:00.000-06:00

It's been quite a while since I've blogged about Obama...I think he's doing a great job under some pretty incredible circumstances. I applaud him for authorizing the use of force to rescue the ship captain from the pirates (which sounds so weird this day and age)...it wasn't quite the 3am phone call those ads made famous, but I was quite proud of our administration and military.

That being said, I LOVE ME SOME FIRST FAMILY! I mean, first off, let me just say that I freaking love Michelle Obama...and I have, more than once, looked at an article of clothing and though "wow, that's very Michelle Obama." She has such style and grace and is such a great inspiration for young girls in our country. And she planted a garden.

Today was the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House (which is on my "life list" of things to do). I'm sorry, watch this video and you have to admit that the Obama's are the greatest first family ever. From Malia fixing the microphone to President Obama rocking a reading of Where the Wild Things Are, in all of the grim, this little news story put a big smile on my face.

On one final note, how pissed off do you think all of the "legit" publications are that THE story of the year, the First Puppy, was first reported by TMZ?!?!?!!?

Texas Tennis Alum?

2009-04-13T21:04:00.004-06:00

Tennis season started last week...I really do love that game, glad I got back into it last year and its actually something I think I might be good at.

Case in point...I started some drill classes to get me back in the groove again, playing "up" in the 3.5-4.0 class. It's basically an hour and a half of tennis with a couple of pros and about 12 people. Its fun, lots of drills, lots of hits and a good workout. Today, the pro on my court said: "You're hitting really well tonight, where did you play college ball?" That's right friends, dude thought I played "ball" aka, tennis, in college. So I of course said, "The University of Texas, Hook 'em Horns." Just kidding...perhaps I should invest in more Texas tennis clothes just to keep up the ruse.

Here comes the train! Here comes the train!

2009-04-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

My parents are taking a train trip this weekend...not my cup of tea, but I joke that I would dress "train fabulous" for the trip if I were going...kind of like Carrie and Samantha did on that episode of SATC where they took the train to California (and quickly realized trains weren't that fabulous). Anyway, I saw this dress on my new favorite clothing web site, ModCloth, and thought...that is my train fabulous dress. Paired with a cute vintage train case from Etsy and I'm ready to roll!

Twilight

2009-04-05T08:49:00.003-06:00

Well, I finally gave in and read Twilight. I tried to read Harry Potter about 3 times and could never get into it, but once one of these series reaches phenomenon status, I kind of have a "need to know" what everyone is talking about. Via Facebook I know a lot of my friends who have read it, some saying they basically became a hermit after starting because they couldn't put the books down and would read all 4 in like a week. I'm not all into vampires, so it wasn't until a good friend of mine read it and enjoyed it (and I'd say we're a lot alike) that I gave in...plus, it was on sale at Target.

Honestly, the book was about 500 pages and a really easy, quick read. I thought it was quite cheesy, actually, which makes sense since its written for 12-year-olds. I might eventually read some of the other books as I get bored and need something to read, but I'm not jumping at the bit to do so (although I've heard the other books are better because they didn't have to set-up who the characters and relationships were). I did watch the movie a couple hours after finishing the book and I thought the movie was quite good!

Always the perfect quote...

2009-04-02T19:52:00.001-06:00

Via Design Crush once again...

If only I could find some Nutter Butters...

2009-04-02T19:46:00.001-06:00

I don't know how many folks remember this...but today I broke my blood donation hiatus (12 months of which was imposed on me by my trip to Mexico) and managed to give blood and not pass out! Woo hoo! 2-gallon pin, here I come!

The love affair continues.

2009-03-31T10:25:00.001-06:00

My love affair with Coach Taylor, that is. Friday Night Lights was renewed by DirecTV/NBC for not just one, but TWO season! Coach Taylor will be coaching the East Dillon team this year...and where Coach goes, I follow.

Happy Bday MJ!

2009-03-30T15:54:00.001-06:00

I went to Cheyenne on Saturday for Mary Jane's 50th bday...check out
those flames!

MOABREALITY

2009-03-26T17:12:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe I was hot and sweaty and got a little bit of sun last weekend...considering we had about a foot of snow (no joke) in Denver today, but I digress. [all the photos]

Nicky and I headed to Moab to run the Canyonlands Half Marathon last weekend. I was, admittedly, under trained. Our journey started out well with a quick and easy trip across Colorado (left Denver about 8:45, rolled into Palisade, Colorado at noon). Palisade is deep in the heart of Colorado Wine Country, so we indulged in a few winery stops, including Carlson Vineyards, known for its fruit wines. Now, some of my wine snob friends may shun this type of wine, but I absolutely love tasting and purchasing these local wines because you just can't get them in stores. We brought back a special surprise for the wine club gals too. It was really fun to explore this area of Colorado and I'll definitely be back...we even went to a Meadery. Turns out, I like Mead. And it smells good.

We continued our journey across the border to Moab, Utah. Once we got there, we picked up our race stuff and headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Moab Valley Inn, which was the cheapest we could find for the weekend...cheaper than Motel 6, but it was actually quite nice. It had a hot tub that came in very handy both pre- post-race. We went to a pasta dinner that was at our hotel, a benefit for the Youth Garden Project. They needed my organizational skills when it came to cooking Pasta...but all and all it was a delicious dinner. We cracked open a bottle of our Colorado wine to calm the nerves and were sereneded to sleep by the classic movie, Serendipity.

Race Day
We had to be at the race staging area by 8:15 am in order to be bussed to the start. We ran a point-to-point course through a canyon along the Colorado River, so we had to hop on school busses. Once at the top, we had to wait about TWO HOURS for the race to start. This was, most definitely, not really fun. It was pretty chilly, the lines for the port-o-potties were LONG and it generally did not put you in the mood to run 13.1 miles. We made it through, though and started the race...

We were more annoyed than we looked here...as we were about to give up our warmest layer.

The view from the start...the road is there on the left.

Honestly, the race course was beautiful, albeit quiet. The first few miles were rolling downhills, the water stops were equipped with plenty of water/gatorade, and I was feeling good. We passed the time playing the alphabet game (thanks, jess!) and just trying to enjoy the experience. Obviously things got tougher and tougher, and by mile 10 my legs had decided that they were going to go ahead and just give up. Well, we still had 3.1 miles to go so I had to keep on trucking. That's what I get for under training, but hey...If you ask Nicky, she'll tell you I held her back...but she's a loser and we are no longer friends.

Needless to say, I was miserable the last few miles...we were running into Moab along a construction-zone highway, and it was just lame. We finished though, so GO US! Five years ago I didn't even think I could run a 5k, let alone a half marathon, so the fact that I can trudge through makes me pretty proud.

Post-race, we showered and headed out to do some shopping. Found some great little pieces of jewelry and headed for an early dinner of a mexican feast. My new post-race rehydration plan is 1 GRANDE sized diet pepsi, 1 GRANDE sized Margarita and 1 GRANDE sized water. We had fancy Moab queso fundido and fajitas...seriously, I think it might go down as one of the greatest meals of my life.

We continued the night with a visit to the MOABREWERY where we enjoyed some local brew, caught some Longhorn bball, crushed on quite possibly the most adorable bike guy wearing a quilted hat and plaid shorts, and finished the day with some Moabrewed root beer floats. Post-race hydration part 2. :)

On Sunday we visited the Arch Lands outside of Moab before heading home...our plan was to take a scenic drive since our legs were still pretty pissed off, and found ourselves at the lower viewpoint of the Delicate Arch, pretty much the most famous of the arches.

Right there in the middle is the arch from the lower viewpoint.

This is where we had a conversation something like this:

Me: That's as close as you can get?
Nicky: No, there was an upper viewpoint that must be closer.
Me: Oh, we need to go there then...I need a better picture.

So, we park the car, get out to what we though was about a 100-yard hike to the Upper Viewpoint (much like the 100-yard hike to the lower viewpoint) and kept walking...and walking...and laughing at these fools who were scattering up a rock mountain about a mile in the distance. Turns out, we were those fools. We accidentally got on a strenuous 3-mile hiking trail to land us smack dab at the arch. Don't get me wrong, I was bitter the entire trip (didn't wear the right shoes, didn't bring water, suffered through a half marathon the day before...you get the idea) but the minute I turned the corner to see the arch, it was worth it.

For about 2 minutes, before we realized how freaking windy it was up there (hence, my hairdo in the photos). I was planning on walking down to get a photo of myself under the arch until the wind blew away my camera case and sunglasses and I realized this was "worse than Wyoming" wind and I shouldn't risk it. We hiked our way back and decided this was a perfect time to get the heck out of Utah.

I had never been to Moab before, and it was really quite great. I definitely want to go back sometime to explore the area, minus the half marathon.

Gorgeous.