Brewing Cider

Can you pick which yeast is hard at work and which yeast is looking a bit sluggish?

Carboy on left contains 5 gallons of Apple Cider, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and White labs "WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast".

Carboy on right contains 5 gallons of Apple Cider, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and White labs "WLP715 Champagne Yeast".

Both carboys were put together at the same time. Both show signs of yeast action in the air lock, but one seems a bit more active than the other.

Brew Ha Ha

Dan's brewing beer again! Yee Haw!

First Swim Meet of the Season

I had my first swim meet of the season on Saturday, the Kevin Nash Memorial meet. The meet was sponsored by my team, the BeeGee's, because Kevin was our coach until his passing in the summer of 2007. It was an afternoon meet and I was incredibly pooped from the week before and that morning of Pilates and errands. I was just looking forward to seeing where I was and I was much better than expected. Dan came to cheer all of us on. Hopefully he will be racing at the next meet. Here I am in the lovely BeeGee team polka dot suit I swore I would never wear (holy smokes I look tired! thank goodness we "fell back" an hour today.). I ended up wearing that black suit underneath. Dan is pretty positive he will never wear the team suit. They aren't that flattering but you can spot a BeeGee a mile away. 

Future NHLer???

The Denver Women's Hockey League, the league Debbie is part of, played at the Pepsi Center last Thursday after the Av's played. This is the same Pepsi center where the NHL team the Colorado Av's play and the NBA team Denver Nuggets play. It was very cool. Debbie said it was super hot under all those lights, they couldn't see people past the first section and they couldn't hear anyone. There were about 50 people in the seats and we were cheering. I was disappointed the Av's didn't stick around to watch because we all watched them play a horrible, pathetic game before we watched the women.  If you score or get a penalty they announce your name over the loud speaker. So with one minute left and without scoring, Debbie tripped a player and was sent to the penalty box. Her name was announced. It was very cool!

Deb getting ready to play. 

If you squint, you can see Deb in the penalty box and her jersey number on the scoreboard.

Happy Halloween!

Here are our pumpkins this year. Once again we took the easy route and didn't carve them. The decorations can be used again next year so no waste! 

Corn Maze

It is, or was, that time again. Corn maze time. It was very disappointing this year, just like last year. It only took us 18 minutes! I think we need to go earlier in the month and not wait until the last weekend. Or go find another maze, there are many to choose from out here. The corn was dead and it looked like people trampled through the corn to make their own path. They did however, have a few new things like these funny picture cutouts.

Welcome to the family!

Debbie got a dog, Max! He is a 90-pound, 2-year old Golden Retriever. And a total love. Ahhhh!

Funny Sign

On our way home from Eagle, we stopped in Avon. This is funny!!!

Fall Foliage & Hockey

Wow! I didn't realize it has been over a month since my last post. Life has been busy. We drove up to Eagle, CO a few weeks back and the Aspens were beautiful. Debbie played a hockey game there, they lost, but the 2 hour drive was worth it. We had never been to them there parts before and now we can say "been there, done that." Here is some of that awesome foliage, Eagle and Debbie kicking some hockey butt (she's in the white jersey).

Eagle, CO is a very pretty town. This is it.

Debbie!!!

A long, long time ago, in a place far, far away...

Dan and I got married. It was 7 years ago to be exact, in beautiful Malibu. 

Brrrr!!!

It's cold outside today. I love it!!! Made a fire for the first time in our house. Well actually just turned it on. It still was nice and cozy.

Hangin' with the cool crowd!

I had the pleasure of sipping some cafe' alongside two champions. Amy D. (on the left) is the national cross bike champion for the under 23 age group. She also placed 25th at the worlds amongst all age groups. Pretty cool! And Beth was State champ for the crits (is that right?) last year.

It's Football Season!!!

We are addicted to the Broncos. We had such a blast last year going to those games that we decided to buy a few tickets this year. And when I say a few, I mean 4 tickets to two games - one preseason game and one regular season game. Here is a view from our seats. Dan is pointing to the players in case you can't see them. Broncos played the Cowboys and we won. 

We are the Champions, my friend!

Debbie's ice hockey team are world champions! Well maybe not world, but champions of the women's Denver hockey league. Out of the three teams in their league they won the playoff game. Even though she didn't score, this was by far Debbie's best game that I saw. The whole team played so well and as a cohesive unit. This is definitely not a sport for those who tire quickly or don't like to get hurt.

Debbie taking a shot (she missed but it was still very exciting!). 

Debbie getting her first place medal. Yeah Debbie!

Baby Sam!

Finally I got my bum over to see Bethie and her adorable new baby, Sam. He is so tiny and cute. Just a little cuddle muffin. He turns one month new tomorrow. I could have hung out with him all day. It was nice to catch up with Bethie too. ;) You would never have guessed she just had a baby one month ago. She looks fab-U-lous!

Snow in August?

You betcha! This photo was taken from my car as I was driving. Yeah, I know, super smart. It was really cool to see Longs Peak covered in snow, especially since it was in the 90's and100's the previous week. Wonder what kind of winter we are going to have. Our first year here, it snowed in September and we had a crazy blizzard winter. Maybe we will have another crazy winter! Fun!!!

BSS #6 & #7

Sadly the Boulder Stroke and Stride has come to an end for the season. It was such a fun race, and fit perfectly into my schedule. 

BSS #6 was not that great. Once again the swim was longer, 796 meters, and it was my worst time to date. I didn't wear my wetsuit and just didn't feel great. I think I placed 5th, maybe 6th. My run was decent, third fastest split to date, still not under the 30 minute mark. But was happy with it after that lousy swim. The weather was crazy hot. Who would have thought that at 6:30 in the evening it would still be in the high 80's. Gross. 

BSS #7... I really didn't want to race. Not because I am lazy but because for two days prior I was a juror on an assault case and that had taken so much out of me - emotionally, mentally and physically. The weather the day of the race was super overcast, gloomy and cold. So cold that I got cold waiting for the race to start so I decided to put on my wetsuit. Such a drastic change from the week before.  I told myself to just get through the swim and decide on the run once I got back to the transition area. The start of the swim was good. I put everything I had into it. I raced hard to the finish, I didn't want to leave anything on the table (or in the pool). Once out of the water, I walked slowly back to my stuff and started to take my wetsuit off. I thought I should at least run, I did pay for it. Plus I figured it would be good for me to get all this craziness I felt from jury duty out of me. Unfortunately my transition to the run took longer than it should have as my wetsuit gave me a workout to get off. Once on the run I felt great. I actually caught up to some people, granted these people were an 8 year old boy and 10 year old girl, but it still counts in my book. Well I couldn't shake the 10 year old girl so we ran the whole thing together. I got a little ahead of her and then her mom passed by and told her to keep with me. I turned around and she was smiling, so I told her she was doing great and to keep with me. Then on the final stretch she passed me, then I caught her (wow it was exciting and the fans were cheering, for her of course) and I told her to sprint and not let this old lady beat her and at the very end she edged me out. I told her great race and thanks for pacing me. She just looked at me, smiled and said ok. Oh to be 10. So how were my times? AWESOME! I actually I had my fastest time in the swim, under 12 minutes, second out of the water and the course was too long again, 813 meters. I seem to swim my best times (except for BSS #6) when the course is longer. Hmmm, interesting. In regards to the run, I finally did it. I finally broke 30 minutes - 29:14. I was thrilled and so glad I did the whole race. What a way to end the series. It definitely lifted my spirits. :)

Phelps' Incredible 100 Fly Finish

Check out his finish frame-by-frame.

Before & After

Dan and I remodeled our fireplace/tv area. We are so in love with the outcome. It is amazing what a difference it has made to the feel of our home. It is so warm and cozy now. Next, new paint color for the walls! Thanks to Vaughn and Beth for helping turn our house into a home.

 

She Shoots! She Scores!

Been going to watch Debbie play some ice hockey over the past few weeks. She recently joined an all-women's hockey team and they play about 20 minutes from my house. She kicks ass. It is actually so much fun to watch, quite different than the NHL. She plays on the novice squad so the skating is slower and stopping sometimes means running into the boards but these ladies have spirit and guts! What is so cool to watch is that they never give up, even when they are super exhausted by the third period. Unlike the NHL they don't have a full roster. Often only 4-6 women will show up so that means a lot of play time for these ladies. At her game two weeks ago, Debbie scored! It was awesome. I screamed in excitement and jumped up and down. Then I turned around to the gentleman behind me and told him that was my sister who scored. I was so proud. There were about 10 of us in the stands that night, it was a large crowd. Here are some pics of my sister in action, she's #11...

BSS #3, #4 & #5

Did three more Boulder Stroke and Stride events. I'm just going to pass through #3. My swim time was good considering I had stomach issues all day and then some ashhole/poor sport decided to do one wallop of a kick in my stomach and then tried to swim me out of the reservoir. My run was slow but glad I finished it. Wish my swim was as gentle as this swim.

BSS #4 was awesome! Bragging moment - I was first out of the water, men and women, for the 1/2 mile swim. My 5k time was the fastest to date. My swim time was only a few seconds slower than my best time and then I come to find out that the swim was 839 meters instead of 750 meters. It was an awesome race and I felt great. 

BSS #5 was good. I decided not to wear a wetsuit and I could tell a difference in my stroke/swim. I finished fourth out of the water and my time was a bit slower. If I can make excuses, which I can because it is my blog, I blame it on not wearing a wetsuit and the fact that the swim was 815 meters instead of 750. My 5k time was slow, just couldn't find the power. I emailed the race director asking him if the swim is long again this week if we could shorten the run to make up for it. He didn't go for it. :)

Tomorrow is BSS #6. I'm really hoping to break 30 minutes in my 5k. Yes, I am a slow runner. Guess it would help if I ran more than this one time a week, plus I'm still trying to be gentle on my back. The following week is the last BSS of the season (I missed the first three). I think I'm going to try the 1-mile swim and 5k as a power finish to the series. Ohhh, Ahhhh, yells the crowd. 

The series has been so much fun and will probably be my only triathlon type race I do this year. I totally recommend it to anyone who is out here. Yeah!

Early Look-alike Meter

On Beth's blog, she has links to her friends blogs. I clicked on one to see what and how they blogged. I stumbled across this little gem. Thank goodness I equally look like my mom and dad. All those Kmart Bluelight Special rumors can now be squashed!

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

BSS #1 & #2

No, BSS does not mean bullshizzle stupid, it's the Boulder Stroke and Stride. I finally did one and then one the next week. The BSS is either a 750 or 1500 meter swim and a 5k run. You also have the option of only doing one of the swim distances or only the run or a relay. For the first one I chose to do the swim distance only and of course the shortest distance, 750 meters. It's been a while since I did an "open water" swim (it cracks me up that lake swimming is referred to as open water swimming, I'm used to the ocean as open water swimming). It was a blast. I swallowed a bunch of icky Boulder Rez water, had to tread water several times to clear my goggles, pissed people off around me as I swam breakstroke to look for the buoys and still managed to come out of the water third. I felt like such a wimp not running so I knew I had to suck it up for the next one.... BSS #2.



I was third out of the water again for BSS #2 (and my time was the same as last weeks!) and good thing because I am the worst runner. To be honest, I'm just happy I can run again. Walking and not being crooked is pretty darn fabulous too. I'm a run/walker because I'm just not there yet in my fitness or back strength to go all out running. Or so I thought during this BSS. The person who came out of the water second was not very nice in the water as she totally slammed me against the buoys on one of the turns. Really, is that necessary when it was just the two of us next to each other. Sheesh! I saw her on the run and noticed she walking too. I thought she is definitely swimmer based like me and can't run, like me. So I thought I had a chance to catch her. I finally did in the last 1/2-mile. But only because I chose not to do my run/walk and I ran almost the entire 5k except for 3 minutes of it. Did I pay for it afterwards, a little, but I could still walk and that is all that mattered.



Next Thursday is BSS #3. I hope to be consistent in my swim time and maybe just a smidge faster in my run. It's hard to walk when you are getting passed by a ton of people running. It is frustrating. They probably would pass me anyhow if I was at my best running pace, I just hate to walk. It feels so great to be racing again, even if it is super short distances.

Sports Bra = SOS

Yet another use for your bra ladies....

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/23/colorado-hiker-uses-sports-bra-send-sos-alps/

OMG!

Jordan Summits Denali!

Congratulations to Jordan Romero, age 11, on his successful summit of Denali (aka Mt. McKinley). He is attempting to become the youngest person to successfully summit the eight highest mountains in the world (I thought there were only seven, but apparently there is some controversy about this so he is covering his bases and climbing them all). Five down, three to go. Props to Karen and Paul on summitting with Jordan as well.

Two years ago...

yesterday, Dan and I arrived at my sister's house, who lives south of Denver. I can't believe it has been two years since we moved out here. The minute we got here it felt like home and that we had lived here for years. That is always a good sign. I still get excited when I see the Rockies on my way to work as well as all the farms and horses. It is just so pleasant and beautiful and peaceful. I hope I never lose that lovin' feeling.

Becky!

I met up with my dear friend Becky yesterday! We swam together in Arizona many moons ago. We just reconnected on Facebook a few weeks ago and I found out she was going to be in town because her husband is from Boulder. How cool! She suggested we meet in Boulder at a Master Swim practice. I was game. We swam meters. Apparently she still swims meters and it showed as she lead our lane. I haven't swam meters since high school. It is a long ways down the pool, especially swimming backstroke. It was fun and so wonderful to catch up with her. The visit was too short but hopefully her next trip to CO we can visit a bit longer. It has been 16 years since we last saw each other, so there is still lots to chat about.

Here we are after practice. I wore my Pepperdine swim sweatshirt in case she didn't recognize me when we met at the pool. :)

Don't cry wolf!

Beth was nice enough to lead us on a mountain bike ride this morning. She turned around after 30 minutes because the trail became technical and at 8 months pregnant, riding those types of trails is totally inadvisable. The sad thing is that she totally kicked our butts at 8 months pregnant!!! As we started up the technical hill, a wolf came up from the side and crossed in front of me. I wasn't nervous, just taken aback. At first I thought it was a coyote because you normally see them out here. But I kept thinking that is the biggest coyote I have seen. And I have never seen a grayish, white one before. I told my dad the story and he set me straight telling me it was probably a wolf, and he was right. Hee Hee. I crack myself up. How can you mistake a wolf for a coyote??? Unfortunately Dan didn't see the wolf. I always enjoy seeing the wildlife, however, I'm ok if I never see a mountain lion expect say, at the zoo.

It's a miracle! No, it's Pilates!

I ran/walked a 5k last Sunday with some friends form the swim team. My goal was to keep my back pain free. Ad good Lord, I did it. I didn't have any pain on Sunday after the race, after I cleaned the garage, all day Monday, Tuesday after running/walking again and all the way through today, Saturday. Pilates Rules!!! Here we are after the race. Ian, at the end, didn't run. We would have given him a hard time about not running since it was only a 5k, but he just got back from the Masters Nationals swim meet where he broke a few state records. He desrves a break.

No More Paper Shades!

Our shutters were installed today, yeah!!! These shutters totally made our house feel more like a home rather than your first place after college. :)

Before

After