howie day...

Hi. It's been a little busy this month huh? Almost time to deliver May baskets to the neighbors. Easter with family. Rockin' trip to KC to visit friends (I was going to wait to write that entry until there were some pictures to show. Cough cough. My camera is still broken, and my photographer has had a hectic schedule... so hopefully soon). Slumber party. Rockies game. And lots and lots of sunshine. That sums up April quite well.

This coming Saturday I'm in an all-day outdoor volleyball tournament. The team was kind of modge-podged together, but never fear, my super amazing planner friend Laura came through to save the day. She organized practices the last two Sundays so we could polish our skills (and boy, do we need it!). The first one we had a come and go attendance of about ten. Usually three or four on a team. And really, we're not very good. But we played for over three hours in the sun, and laughed out hineys off. Our arms throbbed from repeated beatings and we received some strange sunburns, but it was awesome to be outside enjoying such amazing weather.

Wash Park is the hang out. And when I say hang out, I mean everyone and their three dogs, kites, strollers, and rollerblades are there on the weekends. It's huge. There's a lake, tennis & basketball courts, and any variety of bustling activity happening all at once - soccer, ulitimate frisbee, washers, football, volleyball nets up everywhere. And it has a great dirt running trail with an inner paved biking trail - about 2.6 miles around. You could people watch at this place for hours and never get bored. There's all sorts and sizes - laying out in bikinis, folks loaded with piercings and chains moseying around, and lots of picnickers. Feel free to bring your own grill. All my summertime visitors will definitely get to check it out.

So anyway, this place is great. Guess I had to set the scene so you could fully envision. Today over twenty of us met up for v-ball. It was awesome. More and more people just kept coming and joining in. Another three hours of volleying, this time with six legit players on the court at all times. Turns out we're not so bad.

And there was only one injury the whole day. Somehow I was involved. I'm just going to blame it on the fact that is was toward the end of the day. And we were fairly worn out. It went down a little like this - the ball came over the net, right down the middle. Michaela and I were on opposite sides of the court, but it was landing short, which meant one of us had to go for it. Well, we both went for it. And didn't stop going for it until we crashed into one another. (Apparently both of ours' pet peeve to let a ball drop.) Her knee careened into my femur, and my shoulder flew into her upper body. Now, I don't consider myself a weenie (well, I suppose sometimes...) but there was a slightly large amount pain following the incident. Thank God we didn't smash heads.

So now my shin in nicely bruised and swollen and her knee is injured. Which I feel terrible about because she's supposed to run a 1/2 marathon next weekend. I'm sorry Michaela! Crap crap crap. Next time I think we'll call the ball.

Go team!

iheartskiboots...

So my ski season came to a close last weekend. I'd say it was quite successful - thirteen rounds and no injuries. Well, unless you count the time at the condo. When Laura was dancing me around the living room trying out an intense polka spin. We spun right into the futon arm. Bruise the size of a silver dollar on the upper thigh. After that event we decided boys do have it pretty rough leading all the time, and that we'd leave it up to them.

Anyway, back to skiing. It was a great snow season. Of course it's my first real ski season, so anything is better than previous experiences. The best part was hanging out with all the different people I got to ski with - local friends, friends from a land far, far away, friends who didn't even know they'd end up skiing with me, and family too. I'll be honest. My brother is probably the most fun to ski with. And no it's not because he sprays me with powder every chance he gets. He can go stinkin' fast and tear up the trees too. All the while I'm left panting trying to keep up. It's great.

The season has also brought on some new experiences for me... such as witnessing a dude (cough... cough... Nate... cough) torpedoing down the mountain sans any stopping lessons, skis, poles, goggles everywhere. Complete yard sale. Actually, correction. Multiple yard sales. But Laura and I did not lack entertainment when he was on the hill. I should probably give him a little credit - for a first timer he rocked the slopes and was paralleling within the first five minutes. It's the "under control" thing we'll be tackling next, and then he'll be set. Except I don't think he'll technically ever want to be under control, which may make my coaching a little more difficult. I also took out a skier for the first time this year. Maybe, possibly because I was out of control and slid up right behind the poor guy, but none the less, everyone should do it sometime.

And (perhaps a little off the ski topic, but closely related) when we weren't eating delicious peanut butter sandwiches to keep our tummies full, Michaela, Laura and I stumbled upon the MooseJaw one fine evening and found ourselves some decent grub. Complete with a full-on mountain town atmosphere. Beautiful. I mean rustic. Uhh... beatifully rustic it was.

Next year is another go. I'll probably take lessons to improve my technique... I've realized some bad habits have been fairly well established by now. Hopefully the cousins and I will have our pass situation figured out a little more this time around - we couldn't match up on a mountain this season, which really was the only bummer I encountered.

So, here's to a great ski season in CO Part I. If I can help it there will be many, many more in store.

charge!...

Today was the Rockies opening day at Coors Field and it was beautiful! Big ol' herds of people corralled up and down the streets, scalping tickets, haggling peanuts, and just trying to get in the door. The buzz of excitement was enough to strike a grin from ear to ear. It was amazing to witness the mass quantities of folks who made it to the game in the middle of the afternoon. Does no one have to work in Denver on this day? The bars nearby were packed, and few empty seats remained when the first pitch was thrown. Our Regional Director loves sports and hasn't made it to an opening game (a tradition of hers) for a long, long time. So she bought us all tickets and we headed to the stadium - how sweet is that?

Sadly enough the Rockies lost, but they put up a good fight. Devin and I danced to the music, cheered our hearts out, and basically appeared slightly foolish for the sake of good fun. We made it all nine innings. Quite a feat, considering within that time I taught him where the "short stop" position was, how to keep score, and what "full count" meant. It was a bonding experience.

I am looking forward to many more games this summer. There's nothing quite like a baseball, sunny days, and a cold beer to wash all your cares away. Play ball!

happy happy...

Fiesta de Rachelle was held March 24 at la casa de Laura y Michaela. It was ridiculously fun! Festivities included sombreros, mucho margaritas, homemade salsa, two pinatas, a bonfire, and a tres leche cake to die for. I'm serious. Laura (see wonderful red-head on left) is an amazing cook - I craved that cake for days afterwards. In fact, I'm craving it right now.

The pinata was hilarious. Too many margaritas, too many spins around the bat, and too much mud on the ground, plus high heels equalled quite a few tumbles and dizzy spells before any of us struck candy.

Later in the evening was, of course, a traditional dance party, with perhaps some nontraditional dance moves. Both by Laura, who does a mean sexy seaweed, and Jonathan, who can spin and twirl a girl to her heart's desire (he's good!).

We concluded the night with an old fashioned slumber party, with breakfast and reminiscing in the manana. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and surprises - I had an awesome day thanks to all of my fabulous friends, here and away. Bring on 23!

(Blogger changed the picture formatting and I can't figure out how to put text with pictures without jacking up the layout... hence the two posts - so photos capturing the moments are below - ack!)

feliz cumpleanos...