December Update

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, and that is my only excuse for being such a bad blogger.

In December, I have:

• driven across Kansas to return to Colorado from Missouri, where we went for Thanksgiving break
• suffered through proctoring tons of district assessments with my students (BORING)
• spent a wonderful weekend with Dan and friends in Steamboat Springs
• skied my very first BLUE run (Heavenly Daze at Steamboat Springs - thanks again, Aaron!)
• fulfilled 10 magnet orders from shoppers on Etsy (and made over 250 magnets for those orders)
• completed seven canvas collages for buyers from my Etsy shop {click here to visit my shop}
• celebrated the completion of the first semester with my students and colleagues with food, Elf, foosball, ping pong, and dancing
• tried a new (and delicious) cookie recipe
• celebrated Dan receive PILOT as his job and finish his ninth out of ten semesters at the Air Force Academy

As of this this evening, I have ONE work day left for the semester... and it's a teacher work day! Yay! We will soon leave to visit Dan's family in Portland and then a couple friends in Philadelphia. Both trips should be fun, and it'll be nice to experience a new city (never been to Philly).

I just wanted to post a quick update since it had been over a week... oops! 

The Holiday Week

This week has been different from normal, and it has thrown me off completely. 

I'm going to back up JUST A LITTLE BIT, though, and go to last weekend. I started receiving several orders from my Etsy shop (Christmas gifts, I assume), so I'm feeling overwhelmed there, but it's also a great feeling. It was wonderful working on those orders in the sunlight of my home with my two fur-babies. 

Gilligan always has to be near me - even to help me make magnets!

At least Stormy stays away and lounges in the window... in awkward positions.

On Saturday, I drove over an hour away all by myself to see a movie that was out on limited release. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of my favorite books, so I headed to a suburb of Denver to see it, and it was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, guys. IT is definitely the best book-to-movie adaptation EVER. Read the book. Go see the movie. Just do it. 

After the movie, I headed to Denver International Airport to pick up Dan. He had been in California at Edwards AFB for one of his classes, and he had a BLAST out there! We stayed in a hotel in Denver that night and headed to Winter Park to hit the slopes with a friend all day Sunday. Skiing was amazing, and the mountains were beautiful, as always.

I had to work on Monday and Tuesday, which is unusual for Thanksgiving week, but it was fun because Dan came in and did physics experiments with my students during their science class, and I got to help out with that. They had a BLAST and paid SUCH good attention to him. It was incredible. I took a ton of pictures, but I can't show their faces, so I'll leave you with this one of three of my rowdy boys completely engaged with what Dan was telling them.

On Tuesday, as soon as school was out, we left to head to Missouri to see my family in Kansas City for the holidays. We always take the cats with us when we drive, but we normally drive all the way through at once. This time, we couldn't leave until close to 5:00PM, so we had to stop in a hotel for the night. Because of this, Gilligan and Stormy got to stay in a hotel room for the very first time. They were skeptical, but I don't think they minded it too much. 

We spent Wednesday and Thursday hanging out with and talking to my family. Thanksgiving was fun, and we are hanging out with some friends tonight. Having five days away from work is nice, but I am ready (already) to get back into my routine. I'm such a creature of habit. Winter break will definitely throw me off this year, as it is two weeks long, and we will be flying to two different places during it. 

Stormy hid from us, of course, but Happy Thanksgiving from us to you. 

Spring Break 2013

One of the things I enjoy (among many) about being a teacher? School breaks! I thoroughly enjoyed having a week away from school/work, but I am ready to be back tomorrow. I feel rejuvenated, and I'm ready to tackle the last quarter of the school-year! Spring break was adventurous, though, so I'm going to recap through pictures.

1. I started spring break by enjoying an ice cream party with my colleagues and students! Our hardworking 8th graders deserved that little party for working so hard and behaving to their best abilities during testing. They asked me specifically to bring ants on a log (for an ice cream party... I know...) so I did! I also took homemade chocolate chip cookies, though -- don't worry!

2. Dan and I spent that Friday evening enjoying free Panera and then just hanging out. We hadn't spent time with each other in nearly three weeks (aside from a few hours one Sunday), so it was really nice to just get back into the rhythm of being a couple! We also bought all of our seeds for gardening this year, and I found my all-time favorite soda (and I don't drink much at all) at Ace Hardware of all places... On Saturday, we cleaned my entire house and ran several errands... and went to church/dinner! I took a selfie picture when I was bored in the middle of cleaning, and then Dan lounged with his favorite cat (Stormy) on the couch when we were all finished! 

3. On sunday morning, we woke up at 6:30 and set out for Glenwood Springs. It was a place we had always wanted to visit, so the road trip was totally worth it! We crossed it off of our Colorado bucket-list. I got to meet up with a friend, and Dan and I checked out the hot springs for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, and the drive was BEAUTIFUL! Oh, and did I mention that I found an ice cream cupcake at a gas station at 7:30 in the morning while it was snowing? This crazy girl could never pass that up, and it was delicious! We checked out a local brewery, and they had a reuben made out of tempeh that I ordered. It was SO good, and it was nice to have that taste again after nearly five years meat free. 

4. On Monday morning, we headed back East to Copper Mountain. We stayed in a hotel in Silverthorne, and we spent two days at Copper Mountain skiing and then one day at Winter Park skiing. It was tiring because I am no good at skiing, but spending time with my sweet fiancé is totally worth the pain/struggle. We also met up with a friend and his family at their condo in the mountains, and that was really nice. Dan and I drove to Breckenridge one evening to go shopping, and I was SHOCKED to find TWO ITEMS with my name on them! I have NEVER found anything in a store with my name, much less spelled correctly! I *ALMOST* bought one of them just because, but I decided I didn't need them. Wednesday morning, we found a few inches of fresh snow on our car when we headed out, and that was also a nice, fun surprise! :)

5. On Wednesday, we headed to Denver International Airport to pick up my mom on our way home from skiing. I somehow managed to take ZERO pictures while she was here (except at the Wolf Sanctuary, but I will make a separate post about that excursion soon), so I don't have too much to show. We went to Heart of Jerusalem, though, as always, and I took my mom to a couple places she had never been as well (Jack Quinn's and Jose Muldoon's). We also made homemade broccoli cheese soup, beer bread, and brownies one evening (recipe for the soup coming soon), and we spent some time at Garden of the Gods. We didn't do too much, but it was nice having my mom in town for a few days. She got to experience Dan furminating both cats (and you will see just how much they LOVE that process), and after she left, we started our seedlings in cups so they can get a nice start before we transplant them to the garden beds outside after Colorado decides to stop freezing randomly. For Easter, Dan woke me up at 6:00 to go to the Sunrise Service at our church at 7:00 (which was held outside and FREEZING cold, might I add), but then we had a productive morning afterward while we waited for Dan's sponsor family (Mike and Ellen) to come over for lunch. We had a great time talking to them and grilling out in what felt like EXTREME HEAT after this morning, and yes, I do have a sunburn from eating outside. Oops. 

Spring break was pretty busy, but it was so nice to finally spend some time with Dan again! Sometimes I feel like we're still in a long distance relationship despite the fact that we live 15 miles from each other. It's an odd feeling for sure. 

Skiing (and Getting Over Fears)

Yesterday, Dan and I went skiing for the third time this season. This is only my second season skiing, and the first one was a COMPLETE DISASTER. Seriously. There are no better words for it. I hated it. I was terrible at it. I complained a lot. And I never wanted to go.

This season started out well when I got professional lessons the weekend after Thanksgiving. I did well with the lessons, but I still didn't get off the bunny hill. The next time I went, I decided not to pay for more lessons, so I went out with Dan and hit a green run, which ended with me in tears, screaming profanities as I flew down the mountain, still unable to turn and stop correctly. It is a terrifying experience when you're FLYING down a mountain at full speed knowing that you don't know how to properly stop yourself.

I had mentally been preparing for a new day of skiing in a new year. It took me all week to figure out my approach, but I wanted to be strong for myself. I WANT to enjoy skiing. Dan likes it so much, and I want to be able to enjoy that WITH him. I decided to give myself some encouragement, and that included turning to the Bible, something I have been doing often. Since 2013 is my year of being FEARLESS, I decided that applied to skiing as well. If I can be fearless in my attempts at everything else, why not skiing too? I found the following verse and repeated it to myself all through that first run down the mountain on Saturday.

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7

It just happened to work, and I made it down carefully but fearlessly. I said to myself "not fear, just power" over and over again. I didn't fall, but I also didn't give in to my normal routine of being TOO careful to enjoy it. I had fun, and I was excited to try it again.

Then, as we ate lunch, Aaron joined us. He is Dan's roommate from the USAFA Prep School and also one of his very best friends. He is going to be the Best Man in our wedding, and he already has the honor of tapping me on the butt with the saber at the end of the saber arch, welcoming me into the Air Force family. He is a really good friend to us both, and he offered to help me out a little since he's an excellent skier. Well, his help HELPED. He watched me ski in front of him to determine what it was exactly that was stopping me from skiing my best. It was like a personalized lesson, and I didn't even have to pay him an outrageous amount of money (but don't worry -- I did pay him in margaritas at dinner afterward).

After two more runs down the mountain with Dan and Aaron, I felt so good! I was confident in my abilities and REALLY wanted to go again. My legs were SHOT, though, so I called it a day. It was SO nice to finally be able to feel GOOD about skiing, though.

Here are some pictures from our day:

resting my feet after a successful first run

my fiancé is the best and brought me this hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and pretty sprinkles

Dan was able to get a few action shots of me :)

Dan was able to get a few action shots of me :)

Dan was able to get a few action shots of me :)

Aaron and Dan -- Prep School roommates, best friends, and ski buddies :) 

Dan and me -- actually smiling and enjoying the day on the slopes! LOVE IT! 

All in all, it was a successful day at Copper Mountain. I am actually EXCITED to be going again this Saturday! I can't wait to practice my newfound skills.