A "rockin" good time!

Here is a photo diary of our first 14ers trip! We are SORE today, but proud of our achievement. Enjoy the trip!





























The end of the story: When Chris and I were turning off the highway to get to the trailhead at 3:30 am, we heard an eerily appropriate song on the XM Country station, it was "Mountains" by Lonestar. It goes something like this:

"There are times in life when you've got to crawl, lose your grip, trip and fall; When you can't lean on no one else that's when you find yourself; I've been around and I've noticed that walkin's easy when the road is flat, them danged old hills will get you everytime, yeah the good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb..."

Hope you find as much inspiration in it as we did :)

Changes schmanges

A lot has happened and changed in the last few weeks. Since our miraculous transformation in the dining room, I have learned to knit, kicked my body's butt in a bike ride, and am now a dual-language Kindergarten teacher.

This past weekend we were lucky to have my wonderful mom-in-law in town. It was fun to see her and while my dog does tend to ignore me completely when she's around, we were all sad to see her go. She left me with a new skill -- knitting. It's actually a lot of fun and I seem to be decently good at it. I started a scarf with 20 stitches and about three inches later had 37 stitches! Haha. That's not supposed to happen. The up-side is that apparently adding stitches is an advanced skill. I'm that cool :) I have since ripped the stitches out of that mini-demented-scarf and have started over, counting my stitches after each row. This time I intend for it to stay one size throughout. Hmmm...

I joined the usual group for our fun Wednesday night mountain bike ride again this week. It's a lot of fun, despite the fact that I go with a group of guys that could all quit their day jobs and become professional mountain bikers. They kick my butt up the hill and are sweet enough to find a shady spot to sit and wait for me. Then they kick my butt up the next part, and again "rest" and wait for me. They all deserve the title of "Saint" for putting up with my slowbutt each week... or do they deserve the title of "#@*#&" for picking these giant hills and encouraging me to kill myself on them each week? Hmmm...

I am now officially a part of the infamous Dual-Language program at my school. I was teamed with the dual language group last year so I sorta know what is going on although, admitedly, didn't pay too much attention. The purpose is to have our kids learn literacy in their home language (generally Spanish) while providing instruction in both languages. My teammate from last year (the dual language kindergarten teacher) took another job (to my surprise but apparently not to everyone else's surprise, but that's a whole other bitter-rant for another day). Anyway, the dual language staff and principal were unhappy with their choices to replace her and somehow decided that I was the best candidate for the job. I will be doing a Kindergarten/1st grade mix. I will be the English half while another teacher is the spanish half. I believe I'll be teaching the literacy for the native english speakers (both K and 1) and then rotating the other subjects on a weekly basis. I'm excited for the challenge and feel honored that they thought highly enough of me in my 2nd year to give me such a high-stakes position (the dual language group is always being observed by district personnel). I'm also a little nervous. Hmmm...

It's been an interesting week. Sadly, only a few short weeks left of summer vacation. Booooooooooo...

No more ugly!

Since Chris and I moved in we have both loathed the peach faux-finish dining room. It is the first room you see in the house and one of the last that we have gotten around to updating. There is still some of the lovely painting that someone obviously worked WAY too hard on left in the kitchen, so our loathing is not quite a part of our past. Mom and dad came up on Sunday and we worked from 10am to 10 pm painting, putting in 7 lights in the ceiling, and putting up our early-Christmas-present-ceiling-fan/light. It looks unbelievable and puts our outdated kitchen to shame. That may be in for a minor updating relatively soon before we redo it all together when we fall into some major $$. Donations are gladly excepted :)

Here are a few pre pictures so you can appreciate the transformation (ewwwww):





And now...

Summer Lovin'

This summer has been full of traveling for Chris's bike races, working, and learning more about my own abilities (and inabilities) in the realm of biking. It's been a great summer.

We just got back last night from a nice few days in Breckenridge. Having grown up in Colorado, it is hard to admit that I'd never been there, and I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the town. It was beautiful and if I were spontaneously rich, I could easily see myself living there. Chris has been doing so great in his bike races. I've learned how to be a good pit-crew person and each time is getting easier and more fun. Yesterday I finagled a great roadside spot for the Element and got to have support materials and dog located in the back of the car. I met some really interesting people and a nice retired couple that volunteers to be course workers for the bike races. Chris did an awesome job and I'm very proud of him. He's really disappointed with his performance and DNF but I am still just as proud of him as when he gets on the podium. I think it takes a strong rider and athlete to be able to see your limits and make smart decisions regarding your own body and how you are feeling. He hates to quit and give up on himself but his 115 mile race 10 days prior left his body completely exhausted. I think as time passes he will gain perspective and realize that the race was a great learning experience and possibly an even bigger success than a win would've been. Turbo and I were very happy to see him!

Overall, very successful and fun weekend! Here's my random thought for the day: Am I the only one that gets nervous driving in front of car that has 8 beanie babies and a bobble head hoola dancer on the dash board, and 3 necklaces and a handicapped sticker hanging from the rearview mirror? Why do people feel the need to decorate something that is between them and actually seeing the road and cars in front of them? I wonder how they became handicapped? Hmmm...