vroom boom...

Tuesday was one of those amazing days. It seemed as though everything that day kept getting better and better. We were working on a big investigation at work, which usually wouldn't be something to look forward to, but it's my first one - and I have a lot to learn before I'm on my own conducting them. So I had to work late, got home around 7:30, and headed for the computer. I'm on the hunt for a place to live and I'd gotten a great response from a potential roommate. I called Bridget R. to celebrate the almost perfect living situation - an extra living room, den/office, and only a few miles from work (and her house). Woo-hoo.

Next it was off to the rec for a quick workout, followed by a trip to the little grocery store/farmer-like market for some grub. This week was my turn to make house dinner and I needed soup ingredients. On the way home I was chatting on the phone with Laura, excitedly explaining the potential house setup. I paused for a moment, thinking I heard a strange noise coming from my car. After nothing happened, I assumed it must have been something on the radio.

Then I tried to make a right-hand turn. My power-steering, unfortunately, did not assist me in this maneuver. Oh crap. Car trouble here we come.

I pulled over (using all my strength) right away, as I'd always been instructed in situations such as these. My battery light was on, and I'm on the verge of tears. So I call dad - he fixes everything. He tells me to drive it home but watch the temp gauge in case the car decides to overheat. My roommate's boyfriend helped me push it into our half-driveway. He found a large belt lying loose in the nose of my car. Yep, that must be the problem. Where is there a mechanic available at 10pm?

Thankfully we live close to the lightrail, which I took to work the next morning. A sure perk of living in the city - public transportation can be fairly convenient. I wasn't sure how I was going to get home that evening though, because I forgot to bring my keys, and it was over a mile from the station to the lightrail (temperature highs in the 3 degree range). Well, simply put, God works in amazing ways. My other roommate called at the end of the day and had free Nuggets tickets. Perfecto. The stadium is only a few blocks from my building. I walked to the basketball game, and got a warm ride home.

So I was still super stressed out today. It's miserable not having a car, and relying on others for rides, putting them out, not knowing how to even get your car fixed. I took the morning off and drove my power-steeringless vehicle to my cousin Kenny's shop. He instructed me not to use anything that would require battery juice. That meant no heat, no wipers... not even a blinker if I could help it. If anyone's ever up for a challenge, you should try driving without the steering boost, and a twice frosted windshield. Shwew.

He told me I was incredibly lucky this hadn't happened on the highway or freeway. I thought of all the trips I'd taken up to the mountains, to KS and back, and to work on the over-crowded roads every single day. For all places for my car to malfunction, 10pm on a weeknight side street sure seemed like a lucky spot. Two hours later he had me all fixed up and ready to go. My serpentine belt (or however you spell it) had fallen off because the ball bearings in a pulley thing had fallen out. I learned more about cars today than probably ever in my life - okay, which probably isn't saying much...

Anyway, the point of this long, over-elaborated story, is that even when things are uber-stressful and crazy and you feel you can't handle the things much longer, most likely things will work out; they will get better. The way things simply fell into place with my breakdown and while I was out of a ride was incredible. Things like that don't happen on accident. They just don't.

semi-sweet...

I don't have much to say. Just playing around on the computer and chowing down on a bag of Nestle chocolate chips, my new food addiction (unfortunately). When instead I should be cleaning my chaos-induced living space once known as a bedroom.

I guess I wanted to write because I'm excited. Excited for the weekend I had with an amazing group of girls; excited for the true friendships I've been blessed with in Denver, that came comletely unexpectedly. Excited for what is to come in the next few months. Hopeful. Scared. Anxious. The kind of holy-cow-I-have-no-idea-what's-ahead, hang-on-to-your-seats excited, because some changes are a'coming. I know not yet what they will bring.

family ties...

Family. What would you do without them? Probably get into less leg wrestling contests with brothers, have a freezer stuffed with absolutely zero homemade chicken noodle soup dishes from mom, and have a car that's broken down without dad's constant TLC. So, I'm definitely better-off with them, as most of us grow to realize more as the years fly by. And my family is awesome - incredibly supportive, easy to hang out with, and I actually look forward to spending time with them over the holidays. But probably one of the best parts...? We're all a little borderline crazy. See for yourself. Above: Our family Christmas photo...
Left: Christmas Eve's Eve. Jumping off a hay bailer thingy (I'll just call it a farm implement, because really I have no idea), onto a rope that has enough momentum to smack you into a tree trunk if you don't use super dodging-power skills (and a little brother for protection). I had to crawl my way up that thing four times before a successful landing. And for some reason it was seriously one of the scariest things I've done lately. Maybe it doesn't look very high-up from here, but trusting a small knot and fraying rope to protect you from a broken leg... believe me, it will give you a new perspective.
Other left: My Uncle Leon and second-cousin-in-law at our glamorous Breck condo. The owners skimped on nothing. Why is this crazy, you might ask? This photo was taken the day Dad and I almost lost our noses to frostbite just to get some runs in (okay, slight exaggeration, but pretty much almost true nonetheless) and this is all I have to show for it.

Aren't they the best?

tis the season...

Jeepers. It's been a long time. I've had lots of blog ideas before and during the Christmas season, but kept forgetting to post them. I had a great holiday. Went to SC for a week, visited lots of family and friends. Goofed off with my brother and enjoyed spending time with his gf, Amber, who made the trip down as well.

I recently also experienced two of the most coldest skiing days of my life. Ever. Ever-ever. My first time up this season was to Loveland with my cousins Adam and Brendan. We knew we were cold. We knew it was windy. Only later did we find out it was 0 degrees that day, with a -20 degree windchill. Yikes! I knew the wind had been whipping through my clothing and sneaking into any zipper I had sticking out, but we had no idea it was that cold.

Round 2 was at Breckenridge last Sunday. My dad and his brother and wife had come out to stay with friends who have a condo up there. It was a beautiful place, and I enjoyed reading by the fireplace on the bear rug. Not kidding there was a bear rug, and it was amazing. Anyway, we went up despite warnings that it would be a cold day. This day beat the run at Loveland hands down. It was so cold and windy that multiple times we experienced complete white-outs, either on the chair-lift or on the slope. At one point I freaked out because we were supposed to unload and I couldn't see a thing. Nadda. Just whiteness all around. Luckily the wind died down long enough for me to hop off. But wow, that was intense skiing.

Dad and I agreed that if we wouldn't have paid so much for our passes, we would have quit, but by golly we were going to get our moneys worth. Due to the high winds (35mph with 65mph gusts), only three lifts stayed open. About 2pm that day one of the guys we were with noticed something white on my nose. I used my glove to brush it off, assuming it was snow. He said nope, it's still there (and told me later he was embarrassed because he thought it must have been snot). I wiped it again, and then his face looked panicky. Just then my dad skied up and I noticed the same thing on his nose. Both of us had frostbite! Our poor noses had been the only things sticking out that day, and apparently they had become so numb with cold that we didn't even notice how brutal it really was. We tucked our honkers in and kept on going. I had a date the next night and was not looking forward to black flaky skin chunks falling off my nose into my dinner plate. Luckily we caught it soon enough and no permanent damage was caused. Phew!

More plans to hit the slopes this Saturday with Brendan and Adam. The fam and I were at Copper last weekend and we had great weather - sunshine and six inches of powder, which I'm finally learning to maneuver in. Man were we absolutely worn out by the end of the day. Our legs were a jelloed mess. It's hard work cutting back and forth in that deep snow!

Just an additional random note - we played two full games of Monopoly in less than three hours, which has to be some sort of family record. And my brother won both of them - how crazy is that?!

That's all the news for now. Thanks to you all for your Christmas wishes, phone calls, and visits. It's been great to hear from everyone!

I'm hoping the next entry is a Year in Review - 2007. At least that's my plan. Time will tell.