Things I've been up to...

Here's a summary of the last 10 days...

Last Sunday - My first powder day!!! :)

8 inches overnight at Copper and we were first chair thanks to my friend Nick T letting us stay at his place in Breckenridge. Riding in powder is amazing but kind of hard. Then Nick P and I headed to San Francisco for the American Geophysical Union conference.



Monday-Friday - conferencing, which wasn't as much fun as usual because I got sick on Tuesday and stayed that way until Friday morning. My poster was on Thursday and it went fine, that was the only thing I did all day other than sleep and watch TV. I was hoping for inspiration on my PhD topic at the conference but don't think I found it. Also, I was really disappointed to be too sick to do my big run. Although I did do about 4 miles partly along the bay Wednesday morning. That was nice but maybe not a great idea considering my sickness.

Saturday - flew home, but gave up my seat on the early flight for a $400 voucher with Frontier :) I also have enough frequent flier miles with them for a one-way ticket, so Chris and I are pretty much set for a free trip somewhere next year!

Sunday - laundry, church, shopping, laundry, packing, presents with Chris, and watching Christmas Vacation

Monday - back to the airport to fly home! My mom, brother (David), and sister-in-law (Julia) picked me up at the Atlanta airport and we headed straight to my aunt's house for some mexican train and homemade eggnog.

Today - lunch with Tricia and her 3 month old baby (cute!). Grocery shopping with mom (for 15 people, it took 2 hours). Dinner with David, Julia, and cousin Adam, and dessert at the Varsity. David noted that times have changed when there is a whole room in the varsity and it's only white people, and there's Fox news on an LCD flat screen TV. But the onion rings are still good! Stopped on the way home for pictures of some humping reindeer. Ended the night with the Dark Knight, what a good movie.



Tomorrow's Christmas Eve! Maybe I'll feel good enough for a run. And, Chris gets to town, yay, I get to see my husband again! :) Goodnight!

Holy Crap!

The title of this blog is how I felt when I got home from my run last Saturday. Two Saturdays ago, I planned to do a 9 mile run. This was second longest run ever, so my goal was just to make it 9 miles and keep the pace easy so I could finish. I ran it in 1:45 and was pretty happy about it. So, last week I was planning on a 10 mile run, but kept getting distracted by work (hate it when that happens). Saturday morning I woke up and had a lot to do, but figured I'd run for "only" an hour and a half. Since this is something I know I'm capable of, I didn't really worry about my pace. I just ran something that was comfortably challenging, and stuck to my walking 1 minute every 10 routine that I do for long runs. I was amazed when it was time to turn around and I had made it as far as I did last Saturday! I finished 9 miles in just under 1:30! I don't really keep track of pace on these runs but one of my last miles was 9:30, including one minute of walking. So, I'm pretty excited about that! :) Also, I felt good almost the entire run. Sometimes I was breathing hard but it was never painful or anything. Sweet!

My goal is to run a half marathon by the end of the year. There aren't any official ones around Colorado this time of year, so I'm probably going to end up running 13.1 miles by myself on Dec. 31. Running is funny because I really despise it when I'm not running regularly. But when I do it 3 or 4 times a week - I start to really love it. I'm planning on running 10-11 miles Wed or Thurs this week in San Francisco and can't wait. :)

It almost evens out

Things that are ticking me off ...
1. My GCM code is encountering negative PBL depths and I don't know why or how to fix it.
2. As I was trying to fix it, the program just stopped working. Now when I try to execute it just says "Killed". Screw you code.
3. Chris keeps flipping to some ESPN awards show and it's disgusting how enamored the announcers are with Tim Tebow. Same was true during the SEC championship game last weekend.
4. I'm not sure when I'm going to write my paper that is due next week. I thought I would have had my code running several days ago.

On the bright side ...
1. I had a great lunch at the Silver Grill today with Rachel, Nick, Levi, Matt Bishop, and Beth.
2. It looks like it will be snowing this weekend and Chris and I are planning on going snowboarding, if I can afford it time-wise.
3. I had a really nice swim this morning and got in 2000 yds, and am hoping to run 10 miles in the AM!!

Remembering Dad

Today's been a little emotional for me because I've been thinking a lot about my dad, who passed away Dec. 10 2003. I don't really talk about him too much, and especially not about the fact that he's gone. I would bet that the majority of my friends in Colorado don't know that my Dad is no longer living. Mainly, when does such info come up in day-to-day conversation? But also, I don't usually like to talk about it because it makes me sad. So, maybe talking about it on my blog is a step in the right direction.

It would be hard not to think of my dad today, and so, like the past 4 Dec 10ths, I've tried to find ways to honor his memory and celebrate his life. That way I can remember him in a happy way without being sad all day. Tonight Chris and I went out with our friends Jeramy and Christine (and their 6 month old, Carson, who was sleeping the whole time) to Macaroni Grill. I had forgotten about the times I went there with my dad, but after our friends suggested it some good memories came back. My dad really liked antipasta salads - the ones that are more meat and cheese trays than salads. One time when he and I went to the Macaroni Grill, he was insistent on getting one, and basically told the waiter how it should be made, so that the chef could make one for us. :) Very funny, and very my dad.

It was really nice to be out with Jeramy and Christine, they have come to be good friends of ours out here but we haven't seen them much since the little one came along and everyone's schedules got more hectic. Another thing about my dad is that he would make friends and strike up a conversation with anyone. When I was young this really embarrassed me, but I appreciated it more the older I got. One of my cousin's most embarrassing moments as a kid involved my dad and I. For some reason, we had this little inside joke when I was somewhere around 4 of having a bad breath contest. Who knows how that started. One day, my cousin, my dad and I were at the grocery store, checking out. And I figured, I bet the cashier wants to compete in the bad breath contest. So I asked her, "Want to smell my breath?" My cousin was mortified, of course, but I saw nothing wrong with it. I don't remember my dad's reaction, I really hardly remember the event myself but it will live in emphamy in my family.

Anyway, my dad had several people who cared a lot about him. I got phone calls from his old friends who I hadn't seen in ages right after he passed away, and one of his friends even called me the following Christmas to say he still missed my dad. So friends were really important to him.

I'm lucky to have really good friends, too, and the few times I felt sad today I reminded myself of this and how important it was to my dad, too. Today was nice because I ran with Mollie during lunch and then had coffee with a handful of friends in the afternoon - so it's been easy to remember how lucky I am in that respect.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few of the memories I had today of my dad, just to help keep him alive in my heart. Thanks for stopping by.

Who has the time????

I've been annoyed today by the lack of time I have in each day. What's even more annoying to me is how much some people seem to get done in a limited amount of time. How is a person supposed to keep up with a house, job, relationships, and hobbies? What's more, how on earth does one do all this sanely with kids?? I really appreciate my friends who don't pretend to be perfect. Hearing that other people don't have it together makes me feel a little better. I feel relieved when I'm at someone's house and it's not sparkling. On the other hand, it's somewhat stressful to me to be around people who try very hard to have a "I have it all together" image.

I started the day feeling this way because of the current (well, pretty much perpetual) state of our house - we have a tree with no lights on it, lights on the house left over from last Christmas that no longer work, two knee-deep piles of clothes on our bedroom floor, dirty dishes, a backyard littered with wheelbarrows and hoses (now buried in snow), and a garage that is hazardous to walk through. So, I feel a little bummed that none of that got addressed over the weekend. On the other hand, who cares? I had work to do and ran 9 miles on Saturday, went to holiday parties Friday and Saturday nights, and spent Sunday snowboarding at Copper and at the Avalanche game in Denver. I didn't have time for all of that other crap, and I had a really nice weekend.

Sometimes I feel like I have to fight to stay sane because of this lack of time issue. The best thing I can do is to just break up tasks and try to do a little each night. Tonight I washed the dishes, went grocery shopping with Chris, and cleaned most of the bathroom. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the laundry. I just have to remember that my life is not completely together because I enjoy it, and I'd much rather spend a day snowboarding than scrubbing my tub. On the other hand, it's worth the work to keep my house somewhat in order because it saves me from stressing out when I realize we live in complete chaos. It's all about balance. I'll let you know when I get that one down.

Pancakes and Beer

1. You need to make the pancakes I talked about in the previous post. They were so so good. Especially when eaten with lots of bacon and coffee with eggnog. Can life get any better?
2. The only chance of life getting better is all of the delicious seasonal beer out these days. New Belgium's Giddy Up, Fort Collins Brewery's Big Shot, and Coopersmith's Jingle Ale are all really good. Big Shot is my favorite winter ale, it is perfect. It's actually a little hoppy (I don't like really hoppy beers like IPA's) but not too much. Jingle Ale wins the award for the most fun coming-out party. I went to Coopersmiths with Matt, Beth, Rob, and Kelty tonight for a pint and it is a very unique but tasty beer. It has cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other odd spices that you would expect in banana bread but not beer. In addition to having $2.50 pints, they had a full bagpipe band with Irish dancing, and a brass band that played some holiday tunes. It was a great night!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel very lucky in life. I have a lot to be thankful for, and despite my griping over the summer about how much work/life sucked - my life is extraordinarily good! Just to be alive and to have friends and family I love should be enough, but on top of that I have a life that I love. Sometimes I can't believe how blessed I am.

Today I've been getting ready for a trip to a yurt near Cameron Pass for turkey day. A yurt is basically a cabin with canvas walls on stilts. This will be my third time to stay in a yurt, it is run through Never Summer Nordic. They are surprisingly warm. I'm

going with Chris, Rachel, Nick, Matt, Jim, Kevin, and Katie. It will be nice - and very interesting to see if we can cook a turkey on a charcoal grill when tomorrow's high is only supposed to be 29! Even if not, we will have more than enough food. Today I made a pumpkin pie and a sweet potato casserole from Paula Dean (so of course it will be decadent!). I also got everything together to make pumpkin pancakes tomorrow morning. The recipe is from a blog I found: http://www.wearenotmartha.com/2008/10/pumpkin-pancakes.html.

I'm looking forward to relaxing with my friends, passing the time with cards, a good book, and some wine, hiking in the beautiful mountains, and of course eating mounds of food. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Forest and River Tour

So my river tour went really well. To be honest, I was kind of worried about it. I wasn’t worried at all until the night before when Lixin said it would be good if someone else was going with me for safety. Then my imagination started going … what if this guy took me out on a boat, took all my money, and left me in the middle of nowhere?? So I was kind of stressed. Also, I woke up Friday morning to a big storm. Jean Claude, my guide, called to make sure I was still okay with going out in the rain. He said it was safe but I was nervous. We decided to go to the docks and play it by ear. I almost couldn’t eat breakfast, that’s how nervous I was. So I thought, “You should either call Jean Claude and cancel or just stop worrying. Because the trip won’t be any fun if all you’re doing the whole time is worrying. You have no reason not to trust him – his company is legit and the only reviews I found of them online were good. So either suck it up or cancel.” I chose the former.

We got to the docks and most of the thunder and lightening had stopped. It wasn’t too windy so the water wasn’t all crazy. We met our boat driver, who goes by Herchita (?), which means little mouse because he was a kind of short and squat guy. We decided to go to the Ecological Park first. So we headed up the Rio Negro. The boat had a cover so we stayed dry as we cut across the kind of choppy water. Eventually, we entered a ‘small stream’ (its size was somewhere between that of a Coloradoan and Georgian river). It came from the Amazon and was a different color from the Rio Negro. The scenery was serene. The rain was pattering on the river, and the hills around it were very green. It was kind of like going through the estuaries on the Georgia coast, but with slightly more topography. Here and there were small wooden houses that were not in great shape, to say the least. The people have two methods of adjusting to the rising and falling waters between the wet and dry seasons. One option is to have their house float on the river. They use a combination of large logs and tires to keep it afloat. I can’t imagine living literally on a river; it is so different from what I’m used to! The second option is to build your house on a hill on wooden stilts. But Jean Clause said that even then, the waters often come up to people’s houses and they have to board up the windows and live in the attic. Crazy.



Anyway, we arrived at the Ecological Park and it was still raining pretty hard. So, we put on our rain jackets and headed out. From the docks, we walked up a wooden walkway that went through the forest. It was about 8 feet off the ground to avoid the flooding during the rainy season. We took a side trail to see a Samauma tree. They have very wide bases that are an architectural adaptation of the tree to being under water part of the year and withstanding strong winds during storms. Pretty impressive.
Next we arrived at a covered deck that overlooked a pond. There were large lily pads that bloom from delicate pink flowers and several kinds of large and small birds. I’m glad we were there so early because we were the only people there and it was very peaceful. I took a ton of pictures. Eventually, we also saw two alligators and a few monkeys running around on the other side of the pond. It was neat to see the monkeys walking upright.

I don’t know how long we stayed on the deck. I could have stayed all day. If you just take one glance at the forest, it seems kind of ordinary. It’s not like looking at the Rocky Mountains, where you are automatically amazed. But I think the more time you are there, the more you see and the more you appreciate it. That short time, maybe one or two hours, made me really want to come back to the Amazon forest. I was filled with a large sense of awe at the complexity of the ecosystem. It reminded me of the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. At the time, I was considering hiking into it the next day but was very apprehensive of the strenuous 18 mile hike. But as soon as I laid my eyes on it, I was first completely amazed, and second convinced that I absolutely had to explore it. That is how I felt Friday. A few hours didn’t do it justice. I want to get a chance to know the forest at least a little more intimately.





After leaving, we went back to the Rio Negro and stopped to see a rubber tree. I was thinking this wouldn’t be that exciting, but it turned out to be a fun stop. First, there wasn’t a dock where we stopped. It was just a spot that Herchita knows about. So we pulled up the boat next to the shore and got out into some intense mud! I had my chacos on and after about 15 steps there was an inch-thick layer of mud both on the bottom of my shoes and all around them. The shores were also pretty polluted. Jean Claude said most people don’t put trash into trash cans, they just throw it into the streets or streams and it eventually ends up in the river. Sad. Anyway, Herchita was walking barefoot through all the muck and led us into the trees. There were some pretty neat trees in there that I took a lot of pictures of because they had amazing root systems above ground. He showed us a rubber tree and cut a niche in it with his very large knife. Some white sap came out, which is the latex. Interesting, I didn’t really know where latex comes from, but there it is!

Next we went to a piraracu farm. These are some of the largest freshwater fish in the world. The “farm” was really just a guy’s house in the Rio Negro – about 100 yards off the banks. Next to the house is a floating boardwalk that surrounds a “tank”, which is apparently really deep and surrounded by nets that come down from the boardwalk. So we saw some of the pirarucu. They were, as promised, very large and very colorful. We stayed for a bit but it was not the highlight of the trip.


The next stop was the infamous Meeting of the Waters. This is where the Rio Negro (warm, ‘black’, acidic) meets the main branch of the Amazon (cooler, brown, nutrient-rich). You can see where these two rivers meet up from space. It was neat to see, but to me the best part of it was just being in the middle of this huge river. A couple of local guys rowed up next to us with a boat full of fish. It was just a little rowboat, but the bottom of it was covered in dead and dying fish. Yum – dinner!


So we looked at the water and then I decided to jump in! Definitely not recommended by my travel nurse, but I’ve talked to a few people in Manaus who swim at the beaches along the river. They are still alive, so … Also, not much lives in the Rio Negro and that is where I mostly swam because it’s warmer. I jumped in from the boat, which was fun. First I jumped into the Rio Negro. It was pretty warm. Jean Claude said that I should jump into the Negro first, then swim to the Amazon to feel the temperature difference, and Herchita would drive the boat along to meet me in the Amazon (by the way, we are only talking a distance of less than 25 yards, so this wasn’t a major swim). So I jumped in, woohoo!

And then Herchita started up the boat and I had a moment of sheer panic that they were going to drive away and leave me in the middle of the Amazon. It was choppy and not easy swimming, and the temperature difference was very noticeable and of course got me thinking about density. But I was not wanting to stick around in the river for too long – first because I don’t want fish swimming up my you-know-what, and second because I didn’t want to be left behind (not that any thing either of them had done would indicate that leaving me was their intention). I guess I would have gotten a ride from the locals. It would have been pretty bad. My silly over-active imagination!

So that was my trip. It was enjoyable, especially the Ecological Forest. Jean Claude was a good guide. He is not from Manaus, but it was nice that there were not difficulties with language. There were some questions I had that he couldn’t answer, but in general he was knowledgeable. It was nice to be able to call the shots and elect to stay the longest in the forest. I will gradually be putting more pictures on http://www.chrisandanna.shutterfly.com.

River Tour - Thoughts before

Well, tomorrow I am going on a cruise/tour of the Meeting of the Waters. I'm going with Amazon Mystery Tours with Jean Claude Comeau. I am the only one on the tour. Finding a tour guide was kind of frustrating to me. There is a lot of mixed reviews of companies out there. If I had several days and Chris was with me, this company's trips would be great (canoeing, rappelling, tree climbing, camping). Anyway, I wanted to find a tour before getting here, but it was too hard to decide with all of the mixed reviews. So, I thought I would probably find people at the conference who also wanted to do tours. Well, there was a company at the conference but it's tours just didn't sound as nice. Maybe it was the guy, he was very short. Jean Claude emailed me pages of options, and when I told this other guy I wanted to do a tour he said, "Ok, you can do this one." That's it. So ... I am doing the expensive option but screw it. This way we do what I want. :)

Anywho, he is picking me up at 7:30 and we are going out to the meeting of the waters (where the Amazon River and Rio Negro converge) and to the January Ecological Park. I think it will be nice.

Happy Day

I feel very happy at the moment. I gave my presentation today and I think it went fine. I was really really nervous beforehand. My thesis defense was definitely a bigger deal, but this was stressful because my audience was so knowledgeable. I have me a handful of scientists whom I cite in my thesis, so they obviously know this stuff very well. It just makes me nervous to talk about my research in front of people who are experts in the field. I told Ian this and he said, "But you're an expert too!" Haha. I half-expect to find out that I've been going about this all wrong, misinterpreting their papers, and my results are crap. Well, maybe I am a novice expert. If I use a lot of big words, then people won't know what I'm talking about and won't ask questions. :) Just kidding, I need a thesaurus to use big words.

I had to put my presentation on a USB drive and transfer it to the appropriate laptop this morning. I watched the woman do it and then she opened the file to confirm it was okay. Well, when it was my turn to talk, they didn't have the powerpoint!! Luckily my USB drive was still with me and they downloaded it fairly quickly, but it was a bad start. I tried not to think about it. Like I said, I think the talk was fine. The jitters never really went away but someone I talked to afterward said I was very calm while giving it. I think I come across as calm often. It's a neat trick.

After the talk, I was very very tired. There were a few questions that I think I handled fine (that word keeps coming up). Some people said they really liked it. One such person is someone I cited in my thesis, and he also said he's read part of my thesis - he found it online somehow! Wow ... people are reading my thesis?! That is pretty cool, except he goes to U. Florida. But, he was nice and not a Gator fan, so it was okay.

The rest of the day was nice. The morning plenary talks were about "Visions and models for sustainable development in the Amazon region." I enjoyed them. Two of the speakers are scientists but are currently more involved in sustainable development now. It's very encouraging me to see scientists who are able to also apply their passion to helping people and the environment in a more direct way than just doing research.

Two other great things about today: 1. I found out that the hotel next to mine has a fitness room and pool. It is 10 reals (about $5) to use it, so I got up at 5:45 this morning and ran 9.4 km on a treadmill. :) It felt so good to get some exercise after almost a week without any and lots of food! It was a perfect way to start the day and I'm going to try to keep it up. 2. I just watched heroes! I had to buy it on itunes and it took all night to download, but was so good. Maybe it is also nice to have a little bit of American culture, plus just sitting and watching a tv show is a nice break from all of the working and socializing. Anyway, I love that show.

So, now Ian, Lixin and I are going out to dinner. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Weekend in the Amazon

What a great weekend. :) I am posting pictures on http://chrisandanna.shutterfly.com. I am very happy. Yesterday, Julio picked up Lixin, Ian and I at noon. We went to a supermarket first and bought a ton of food for the equivalent of $75. Then we headed north into the rainforest. After about 50 km on a road that goes all the way to Venezuela, we turned west onto a choppy dirt road. Ian took the wheel at this point, just in time for a little bit of rain. The water makes the dirt very slippery so it's like driving on ice. There was one very steep hill that we initially didn't make it up because the truck lost traction. It was a little nerve-wracking reversing down a slippery, steep slope but the second try was a charm!

Our first stop was the C14 tower. It is at kilometer 14 on the dirt road. The hike to the tower was short and being in the forest for the first time was amazing! The tower is the oldest in Amazonia, I believe. It was put up in the early 80's. Also it is wide enough to have stairs to walk up (4m x 4m). The main tower goes to 45 meters, but Julio built an additional tower on top that goes another 10 or 15 m. That tower was a little more rickety but the view at the top was great!

At first glance from above, the forest looks like ... a forest. But two things are very striking. First, for 360 degrees all you can see is forest. No roads, houses, power lines, rivers, or lakes. That is incredible, especially considering what you can see from a 60m tower is a very small portion of the entire forest. Second, if you focus your eyes in one direction, you can probably count about 15 different kinds of trees right in front of you. That to me is kind of a subtly amazing thing about the forest because you might not realize it right away. Also you can see and hear lots of birds and occasionally monkeys. We had lunch on top of the tower, it was an ideal spot for a picnic. :)

Geek alert, move to next paragraph if you're not interested! I've learned some good things over the weekend. I'll just name a few. 1. We went through a couple of different types of forest. In the lowlands the ground is very sandy and there are mostly palms. They are enormous though ... maybe 15 meters tall with humongous fronds. Higher up there is more clay and hence larger, taller trees (some as tall as the first tier of the C14 tower). 2. It is very still inside the canopy. Julio kept pointing this out because its importance in carbon fluxes. Even if there are large exchanges of carbon between the trees, ground, water, and air, that doesn't mean that the fluxes will translate directly to changes in carbon in the free atmosphere. Above the canopy, there is a nice breeze that is very refreshing ... and it enables exchanges between the canopy air space and free atmosphere. 3. The Rio Negro is not black. It's clear ... which is black. I don't know, I was confused. But it is that color because of all of the nutrients that are leached out of the groundcover on the way to the streams/river. It is very acidic and bugs don't like it. There were not many mosquitoes because we were near tributaries of the Rio Negro and it was really nice. OK, end the geek out session.

After climbing the tower he headed to the LBA base camp. I was feeling a little tired and thinking how nice some coffee would be. We first stopped at another LBA base camp and there were two guys there ... who offered us coffee! Yay! :) Then it was on to our base camp. It consists of a two-story building. The bottom is open and has a kitchen and tables. The top has screen windows and all the beds. There were a couple of bathrooms/showers, an equipment room with a pool table, and a cabana with a TV. It was weird to see a TV out in the middle of nowhere. We didn't watch it. Once it got dark, we had our own entertainment.

We cooked a surprisingly good meal considering we were in the middle of the forest. Tortellinis with sauteed green and red peppers, onions, green olives, a broccoli-type vegetable and a spinach-type vegetable, and chicken. Yum! The night sounds were pretty neat. Crickets, birds, and these crazy monkeys. Julio said they are not very big, just a few feet tall but they are very very loud! The males basically roar and fight for the females' attention. Julio said the ones we heard were probably 4 or 5 km away but they were so loud. It was pretty neat and a little creepy too. He said it is really hard to sleep when they are closer but I think it might have been worth it to hear more of them. I woke up a couple of times in the night and heard them again. Very cool.

After dinner we were very full and decided to go on a hike. At first it was neat to be in the dark of the forest (we had two headlamps but mine was nearly dead). After a bit, I saw two green eyes glowing from the side of the trail! I wasn't too concerned until I pointed them out to Julio and he said it was a snake, and it started moving toward the trail! We kept going, and then I started noticing, out of the corners of my eyes, glowing green eyes everywhere! Maybe they were not all snakes, but it freaked me out. Julio made fun of me, Ian sounded annoyed, and Lixin freaked out too. It was interesting to say the least. Lixin was nervous too and too reassure her, Ian asked her something like, "How many times do you get to do something like this?" She said, "Never!" And he said, "So this is a first." And she said, "Yes, that is very nice, if we survive!" My sentiments exactly. Well, we made it and it was a neat experience. After that, it was time for bed. I will write about today's journey later, we are going to dinner soon!

this is a movie of the monkeys roaring at night. It is kind of faint and sounds like the wind howling, but those are monkeys!

Brazil day 1 - Party like a braziliero

My laptop is telling me it is only 10:35, but it’s actually 1:35 in Manaus, and I am exhausted! Today started at 3:30 AM in Miami (or 1:30 AM Ft. Collins time). I was at my terminal by 4:30 and in the air by 6:45. The flight was uneventful and I probably slept for about 3 hours. The flight landed around 12:45 (but was only a 5 hour flight thanks to the time change). I was a little nervous going through customs because of some hoops we had to jump through to get our visas. Basically we had to come up with a reason to be in Brazil other than a conference/work, and I hoped I could be convincing that I was just visiting a friend. Julio … I don’t know his last name. Perfect. I wasn’t even sure if it mattered. Maybe it didn’t because things went fine. I got my passport stamped, caught a taxi, and got to my hotel around 2 PM.

Here are some things I noticed on the drive: 1. Lane lines are merely a suggestion. It’s perfectly okay to have three cars abreast and even a motorcycle in a two-lane road. 2. Manaus is kind of hilly and has pockets of forest here and there. 3. It is kind of smoky, maybe it hasn’t rained in a couple of days? 4. Most of where we drove looked like the industrial side of many towns. Just a little unattended to looking, and kind of dirty. 5. We drove by some nice houses and 12-ft tall walls topped with barbed wire surrounded them. The driveways were barricaded with pretty heavy-duty looking gates.

Once at the hotel, I waited for Ian and Lixin to get back so we could go out for dinner, and that didn’t happen until 7 PM. I was glad for some downtime but ended up getting pretty bored and very hungry. In the meantime, I read my Lonely Planet guide to Brazil (caught up on some of the history and worked on some Portuguese phrases), read a few chapters of For Whom the Bell Tolls (I just started it yesterday but I like it a lot so far), did some stretching and core workouts (lame), and painted my toenails (girly). When I got hungry, I had a guarana soda, which was really good, and a snickers bar, which was really healthy.

Finally my comrades showed up, along with Julio Tutto, who is collaborating with Ian and Lixin and taking us to an observation tower over the weekend. We headed off to the Beir Haus – actually a microbrewery! How incredible ☺. I had a pilsner (easy to drink) and an esturo (not sure what that means but it was dark. I liked it better than the pilsner. One guy said it was like Guinness and I think he was off his rocker – it wasn’t that good). I also had a caparini – it is made with cane sugar liquor, more sugar, and lime. It is a pretty strong drink and reminds me of a sweet mojito. Sugar is kind of a big deal in Brazil, according to my Lonely Planet book. They use it to make ethanol, and it is apparently eight times more efficient than using corn. Way to go Brazil. Oh yeah, I also had rice with some squid, shrimp, and clams in a yummy sauce. And I had some bread and cheese, and some sort of pastry filled with cheese and meat. Yum!

Eventually more people joined us at the restaurant. They all either work with Julio or are also attending the conference next week. The fun started when a band took the stage and people started dancing. After about two hours of dancing and really working up a sweat, it finally dawned on me that I am in Brazil! I am not a great dancer but I had a blast. I hope we go again while I’m here. The restaurant didn’t have walls on the front, it just opened up to the night air. Also, it was very spacious. But it was pretty hot and really humid, so after just a little dancing I was really sweaty. But so was everyone else and no one cared. Every one was just enjoying the music and each other. How nice ☺. I actually feel like I got a workout tonight. My legs are pretty beat.

Ok … time to sleep! Thanks for reading, I took some pictures tonight that I can put up later. Don’t expect an update until after the weekend – we will be staying in the rainforest tomorrow night! ☺ Oh yeah, and I do have cell phone service here (it’s the network), but I am roaming. Seems like that could get expensive so I’ll be avoiding the cell phone as much as possible. Goodnight!

Next stop, Miami

I'm just hanging out in the Denver Airport. I am really tired but pretty excited! Saying goodbye to Chris this morning sucked. It gets harder the longer we're married, I think. It's crazy that this is the second time this year that we will be apart for more than 10 days. :( Hopefully next year we will do some more traveling together!

There's nothing really exciting to report yet. Although, I must say that traveling for work is really great because of the per diem! I had a ham and cheese sandwich on french toast (with syrup of course) for breakfast with fresh-squeezed OJ. That's the high life. I'm trying to find a good place to get seafood for dinner tonight in Miami.

Last night we went to Coopersmiths with a group of friends. Chris and Matt went to a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity a while back and Chris won 4 pizzas, 6 pitchers of beer, and 2 hours of pool at Coops. :) Yum! It was nice, there were about 12 of us and we just had to pay the tip, plus everyone threw in a little extra to donate to Habitat. I can handle free food and beer for a good cause. :) Also, our friend Jon was in town and it was really good to see him. He and Kristen were a part of our Bible study for a few months and are great, fun people. They lived in Nigeria at Faith Alive AIDS clinic for about 3 months and now are living in St. Paul. I'm sad they couldn't come back to the Fort permanently!

Also, Mollie and I ran more than 7 miles yesterday. I'm not sure how far, but it took us 1:25. It was great, although my stomach was not very happy. I think it was either the ton of sushi I ate Tuesday night or all of the dairy I had on Wednesday. Either way, it was not good.

I hope that I've remembered everything I need. Traveling so far away by myself is a little nerve-wracking. Whenever I get nervous, I just try to think about something else. Because I'm pretty sure I'm prepared, so worrying will just make the trip less fun. Ooops, I never got travelers insurance. haha. Well I guess I could still buy some tonight. Bye!

Getting ready to go

Well, I leave for Brazil in just a few days! There have been a lot of things to take care of in preparation. I guess if I ever get to the point where I frequently travel internationally for work, maybe it won't be such a hassle each time. Plus, CSU has some obnoxious rules for students. I had to fill out this travel packet with all of my information. I had to make copies of documents, get signatures proving I visited a travel nurse, give them my flight information, and watch a short video with mostly things that I already know or are irrelevant (ie: Don't get in a car driven by someone I don't know ... and don't binge drink just because I'm in a country with a drinking age less than 21). It's probably nice for younger undergraduates who have never traveled abroad before, but as a 28-year-old who's lived abroad I was annoyed by the whole process. The one useful thing I got out of it is this website: www.travel.state.gov. It has information about traveling to different countries and you can register at the U.S. Embassy in the country you are traveling to.

I'm in the middle of making some plots, so I'm gonna run. Stay tuned for updates once I start traveling!

68 Reasons to Tri!

This is a list I came up during some of my more OCD/can't stop thinking about racing moments. I started it in 2002 when training for my first tri, and recently added 45-68. Enjoy ... or not. It makes me happy! :)

1. I like being in good shape – feels good!
2. I enjoy competition
3. It forces me to take care of myself
4. Helps motivate me to work out – gives exercise a purpose
5. Training makes me more in touch with my body
6. I want to look like a triathlete – trim and fit
7. I like being able to kick ass – to some degree!
8. Physically, if I can do tri’s, I can do the PCT, climb mountains, etc.
9. I think I can do well in them
10. It’s cool to be able to say “I race in triathlons”
11. To celebrate what God gave me
12. Enjoy my athleticism while I’m still young
13. The race is fun
14. It’s a challenge
15. Having goals is healthy
16. I miss competitive sports
17. It forces me to be disciplined
18. Good for my heart
19. Less impact than running marathons (as if)
20. I can pig out in a healthy way
21. Maintain, maybe even lose a little, weight
22. It’s a way to improve myself
23. See new places
24. Meet new people
25. I get to be written on
26. To collect cool t-shirts
27. It’s exhilarating
28. The transitions are exciting
29. A good excuse to go to the lake
30. A good excuse to go to the country on a bike ride
31. I get out my frustrations through training
32. This is one area where I can tackle my weaknesses
33. It feels good to do well
34. I learn more about myself when challenged
35. It teaches me to work hard for something
36. Cycling is fun
37. Running is fun
38. Running in cool places is more fun
39. I like the way my body cuts through the water
40. It works almost all my muscles
41. I can get on a bike and just go
42. I can mountain bike better
43. It forces me to eat better
44. I can impress myself

45. Nothing beats the excitement of race morning
46. Setting goals is good – achieving them is better!
47. Training requires a balanced lifestyle – healthy eating and lots of rest, attention to how I’m feeling and doing
48. I’m more focused in other areas of my life when I’m training
49. Early morning runs in the foothills
50. Tackling the dams or Rist Canyon and feeling good doing it
51. Swimming for 2 hours with Rachel and then eating a huge meal at Lucilles
52. I (really really) love my bike
53. I love biking and running with Chris
54. Checking out bikes at races
55. Seeing all the fit, motivated, healthy, happy people at races
56. Being surrounded by positive attitudes and amazing stories of success
57. Long workouts and getting into the zone where I’m totally focused on the present moment
58. Training is my “me” time
59. Peanut butter and oatmeal with a cup of coffee before a big ride, yum
60. Having lots of neon swim caps
61. Yoga and stretching don’t just feel good, they are a necessity!
62. Having a good excuse to get a massage now and then
63. Espresso love gu’s
64. The excitement of coming out of the water into T1
65. The joy of crossing the finish line
66. Flexibility in my workouts – I don’t have to ride my bike when it’s 20F outside
67. It’s nice to have a low resting heart rate
68. Being in shape to commute on my bike and not have to drive everywhere

woohoo!

I have lots to do, including a discussion of two papers that I'm leading at 12:30 (it's 10), but I just cant focus on work. I am pretty happy about how the election went yesterday, and am feeling cautiously optimistic about the future. But, politics, blah, so I'm going to write about the wonderful weekend I had.

Chris and I are ALMOST 100% done with our landscaping. We've killed weeds, planted new shrubbery (probably at least half are low-water), put down landscaping fabric and mulch, outlined the backyard area with some edging and made a stone/rock walkway from our back gate. All that is left is to get some timbers to edge the front yard part and to buy some drip-line dripper-thingies for the front yard.

Also, we finally picked up our house from the mouse fiasco a few weeks ago. I have been feeling awful about our house the last couple of weeks. After being at an interview for 14 hours Thursday, I actually dreaded coming home b/c it was such a mess. It was really stressing me out, I am not usually a neat freak but I do have my limits! So I am feeling very good about both our house and our yard right now.

Oh, yes, my interview was for a co-teaching position at Colorado College in Co. Springs next March/April. I found out yesterday I got the position (there were 3 positions and 3 applicants, so it wasn't a huge surprise). I think it will be very challenging b/c they are on the block schedule. Classes go from 9-12, with labs usually from 1-4 and maybe office hours after that. So it is a crazy day! But the whole course (climate) is crammed into 3.5 weeks. So I think it will be hard but a great experience and a good way to get my hands wet in the world of teaching. I don't get paid, but I get free housing and food on the CC campus, which is nice. I'm kind of looking forward to exploring the Springs, and I hope Chris can come down for one or two weekends to explore with me.

One more thing is that I decided last weekend to go see Obama with Nick, Michelle, and Rachel. Nick and Michelle got in line at 6 AM (I showed up at 9:30), and so we got a spot 20 ft. from the podium. It was pretty incredible. Even if you don't agree with his politics, you have to agree that he is an excellent public speaker (the exact opposite of a certain President I can think of). I feel even more fortunate about seeing him now that he is President-elect. Big thanks to Nick and Michelle for being hard core and getting in line so early!

So ... yes, I am excited about life right now, which feels great to be able to say! (maybe there is a correlation between that statement and the fact that I am on my second cup of coffee) :) Thanks for stopping by.

I'll post some pictures that Michelle and Nick took last Sunday.

He was so close!


It was estimated that 45,000-50,000 people showed up, I believe it. There was a huge crowd and the line to get in stretched a couple of miles!

The weekend

Today (and last night) have been really nice! Well, for me. Probably not for Chris unfortunately because he has been working :(. His company is hosting a conference in Denver from Thurs till tomorrow. The upside is that it is at a pretty nice hotel and Rachel and I stayed with him last night. First, Rachel and I went out to dinner at Illegal Petes (good food, and margaritas!). Chris met up with us and we had some beers back at the hotel. It was a fun but relaxing evening.

This morning we were all up early. Chris to work, and Rachel and I to go to Veloswap, which is a big convention-type event with a ton of bike-related stuff for sale from any one who has something they want to sell. I've never been before and it was great! I got a Specialized helmet, High Road bib shorts, Chipotle long-sleeve jersey (I love the argyle!), CSC jersey (for Chris), and handle bar grips for $95! Sweet! Rachel got a nice pair of road shoes for $10! It was nice, and we were done by 11:15.

I was feeling good and it has been a gorgeous day, so I went to Cherry Creek Res. for a run. I ran 55 minutes (well, walked for 10 of those)! My longest run since July and I felt pretty good. :) The beauty of where I was running definitely helped. I had some nice views of the mountains, which have a dusting of snow. I ran 3 days this week (about 12 miles), which was my goal, and have felt pretty good for all of them. I am excited about getting back into running! Who knows, maybe I will run tomorrow and make it 4?

I got done running just in time to watch the amazing Georgia-LSU game. I figured that Georgia SHOULD win, but that doesn't always mean anything. But they looked great! I guess the defense could have done better, but other than that I was very impressed. I think they are ready for Florida, which will be an even tougher game. Go Dawgs!

Now I'm hanging out waiting to hear from Chris. Maybe we will have time to eat dinner together. Then I will probably head back to the Fort for the night, although there are a few football games tonight I would like to watch, so maybe I will stay. Who knows. I'm also trying to decide if I should see Obama speak at CSU tomorrow. It will be an all-day affair because of the crowds, but it is also a pretty great opportunity to see the possible future president just a few miles from my house. Hmmm ... I am going to get political for the first time ever on my blog!

I think I am voting for Obama. I was kind of on the fence but you know what pushed me over? I've always been a little leary of McCain because he is old! What if he dies in office?? Seriously. And as I get to know Palin more, I really don't think she could be president. I think it would be a disaster. I think she is probably a fine governor of Alaska, but I can't see her being the ruler of the free world and sitting down with foreign diplomats and using her hockey-mom language with them. So, that is what tipped me. But I like a lot of things about Obama. I like his views of energy and the environment. I like that he wants us out of Iraq sooner than McCain, although I hope he doesn't rush it. I like the idea of universal health care coverage. I don't like McCain's ideas for health care. When was it, 2000, I was hoping McCain would get the republican nomination. I would have voted for him then. But I like Obama. And I don't want Palin to be president. So, there you have it! Politics! Scary! Oh, one last thing, THE SINGLE GREATEST MOMENT in the debates was when Obama and McCain were talking about helping in Darfur. Please, please please, next president, do something to help those people!

ALright that's it. Thanks for stopping by!

Climate Change

I have a little part time job at my department writing content for a website (http://www.cmmap.org/learn/). So far I've written about clouds and climate, and now I'm writing about climate change. I'm posting what I write on my other blog (remember, I am a nerd and have two) http://outwardthought.blogspot.com. I'm interested in feedback. If you are interested in the science behind climate change, you might want to check it out, and let me know what you think!
Thanks :)

"Work"

I haven't had much to do lately. I'm waiting for things to happen so I can make final changes to my thesis and start running a higher resolution GCM on a supercomputer. Today is a prime example of what my life has been like the last few weeks ... very busy & unpredictable at home and just looking for things to keep me busy at work.

6:30 alarm goes off
7:30 wake up, it's 54 degrees in the house!
7:35-8:30 Chris and I planted some bushes and small plants in the backyard. We meant to do this Sunday but instead spent the whole day filling holes in the house/crawl space and cleaning up after some mice who have been visiting us. Turns out Tiger was a great deterrent (way to go buddy!), and we might be getting a new cat sooner than we thought.
8:30-10 Get ready for work, water the plants, ride to work.
10-now (1:15) I'm not sure. Ate breakfast, had some coffee, checked email, bought plane tickets to Georgia for Christmas, talked to my mom, talked to Rachel about Heroes, talked to Nick about the need for a playoff system in college football. Opened a keynote presentation I'm working on - it's for a presentation I'm giving Oct 30. I usually never work that far in advance but I don't really have anything better to do!

Anyway, it's alright, I shouldn't complain about not being busy. It's just weird - especially since there is a lot of stuff going on at home with our landscaping project (we are trying to do some xeriscaping) and the stupid mice. Just wanted to post an update. Thanks for stopping by!

Sun Devil's Revenge

Last weekend Georgia soundly defeated Arizona State in the arid, hot desert. After the game, I added my two cents and kicked a picture of the Sun Devil, Sparky. Ever since then, the little nymph has been out to get me and the entire Bulldog nation, and I have proof.



First I got a fever that got up to 101.6 last Friday. It felt like there was fire in my blood. It was Sparky. The fever came with a bad headache and aches and pains throughout my body. It sucked. It also induced some pretty strange dreams, and the fact that I dreamed about a Gator is further proof that the Sun Devil was at work.

In my dream, I was at David and Julia's wedding (which actually took place almost 3 years ago) and Tim Tebow was there. Yuck. I asked him what he was doing there and he said that some of his gang friends were friends with David. I don't know which was more shocking - the fact that my brother (a very good person) was in a gang or that Tebow (who ... well where should I start ... he's found a cure for cancer, captured Bin Laden, worked as a missionary, and won the Heismann ... when he does a push-up, he doesn't push up the earth goes down ... yada yada yada) was in a gang. Anyway, as I pondered this he ran off with a butter knife.

Saturday started out okay. UGA VII is the cutest damn dog I've ever seen. And Corso picked 'Bama, so that seemed good. And, I got to see the quad where I spent two years of my life on College Gameday. But, some strange things happened too. I realized I have no idea what a Hoosier is but maybe it has something to do with cow milkers based on the motions of the fans at the Indiana game on TV.

Sparky's revenge was most evident during the Georgia-Bama game. I don't need to say much else other than there was obviously some dark, evil powers at work during the first half because the Dawgs did not look like their usual selves.

Today Sparky decided he wasn't done with me. I was still feeling a little sick but decided to go to our softball game. Rachel played defense so I could sit out but still get to bat. The game was kind of crazy (starting with the ump being 15 minutes late), and in the 6th inning I got a hit into short right field. I must have been possessed because for some reason, when the right fielder bobbled the ball, I decided to run to second. I was out by a mile, but still felt the need to slide, leaving behind half the skin on the front of my left leg in the process. Ouch.

And now, I am clearly delirious, blaming all these things on a non-existent devil ... or is he???

Anyway, if I had the chance, I'd kick him again! Go Dawgs!

MOAB - slickrock fights back

Sunday morning we headed out for the infamous Slickrock Trail. Last time we were out here, my nerves were completely fried and I couldn't ride more than a couple of miles of this trail. It is serious! Lots of very steep up and downs. And it starts out tough, there is no warm-up. This year was much better for me, although you can see from the picture above that Chris had a little run-in with the Navajo Foundation. He fell over going up one of the very steep sections. Luckily I was behind him, so he ran into me instead of sliding all the way down the hill. Other than that, it was a super ride. Again, amazing views and fun (and slightly unnerving) riding.




As a side note, I had somewhere around 70 ounces of water - and I wish I'd had more. We were riding from 11:00 until about 1:30 and it was pretty hot when we got done.

After that, we lounged around a park on the Colorado River, repacked the car, and ate lunch. We thought about riding again that evening but were pretty exhausted. Instead we tried out the beer at Eddie McStiff's brewery. We were very unimpressed, and we had to sit in a "Beer Den" since we weren't ordering any food. However, I did get a pint of heaven in a cup - Polygamy Porter. Funny name, I know, but it is a really good porter. It is in my top two (along with the Kona coffee porter). We went back to Moab Brewery for dinner again - yum!

MOAB - merrimac & monitor, and arches

Chris and I headed out of town by about 7:00 on Friday, of course stopping at Chikfila in Loveland. We drove over the continental divide, passing some snow on the way, and made it to our stopping point for the night by about 1 AM. We found a great place to camp off I-70. It is exit 1 or 2. If you drive south of the highway, you enter BLM land and we camped in a site with great views, a pit toilet, and no other people. The Kokopelli trail goes right by it, or starts nearby, so it would even make a nice weekend mountain biking destination that is not as far as Moab.

Saturday we woke up early and headed for Moab. We had a schedule to keep because the Georgia - South Carolina game started at 1:30. We decided to ride the Monitor and Merrimac trail because it was relatively short (about 7.5 miles) and on the way into town if you take 191 from I70. It was a great trail for the first half. You wind up some slickrock to great views of the Monitor and Merrimac buttes (not sure what else to call them) and amazing cliffs all around. The slickrock is pretty fun and easy to ride on, but I would recommend turning around when the trail reaches the jeep road. From there it is over 2 miles of sandy riding. It sucked. Even riding by some Dinosaur Trail did not boost my spirits. Stupid sand.





Well we got done riding by noon and then set up a campsite off Kane Creek Rd. The place we camped with Jeramy and Christine last year was gone - all the trees chopped down and no more campsites. But we found another nice sight that is stuck inside this narrow canyon with big cliffs on either side. It is a beautiful place to camp. The only downside is you have to walk in, but that makes it more private. It would be very convenient for Moab rim trail and Amasa Back.

Next we went to the Moab Brewery. We love this place - it has really good beer (I recommend the Wit), wings, and food at a good price. We settled in to watch the game and there happened to be 5 other Bulldogs there watching it too! It's a Dawg nation! The game turned out to be a nail-biter but luckily Georgia hung on to win (or I should say, luckily South Carolina screwed up twice to basically hand the win to Georgia).

After the game, we went to Arches, hoping to ride our mountain bikes on some of the dirt roads. We checked at the entrance gate first to make sure this was okay and were assured that there were plenty of places to ride. Then we went into the visitor center to get a map. This is how the conversation went ...
me: "We are interested in riding on some dirt roads. Can you recommend some?"
woman: "You can only ride on the paved roads, and not on the trails."
Looking back, I wish I had said:
"Damn, we were really hoping to ride up Delicate Arch and practice our jumps in Devils Garden"
Instead I said
"Oh, we were told we can ride on dirt roads."
She said: "Well, there are a few but most people can't ride on them because they are sandy and very difficult."
Now, again I could have said several things, like:
"Mam, we are not most people." or
"Did you see our legs when we came in?? Bring on your measly dirt roads." or
"Check out the gun show, lady."
Anyway, she begrudgingly told us where these roads were and we headed off. We decided to ride on Willow Flats Road, which begins just opposite Balanced Rock. Chris and I read some of Ed Abbey's Desert Solitaire on this trip and I am pretty sure this is the original road into the park and the first visitor center was off it. The road was fine. Everything was ridable. It had great views and gradual grades. I don't know what that woman was talking about. We watched the sunset over the park and then headed back to our campsite, completely exhausted but very happy to be on vacation.

Too Much Fun

Life has been so good lately, and it looks like the good times will not slow down for at least several months. Yesterday Rachel defended. She did a great job, I think her research is really interesting even though she seems to think it's boring. We celebrated in grand style last night. I went to dinner with her group at Stonehouse, then we went to the Rio. I had 1-1/2 margaritas, which apparently was more than enough. I guess my tolerance is not as high as I would like to think, because next we went to Elliots and I had 2 beers and was done. It was a pretty silly night. I didn't realize how geeky our conversation was until Chris pointed it out. For some reason he does not find talking about things like particle accelorators, derivatives, and non-linear vs. linear geophysics interesting. Geez. JK, I know I am a dork and am glad that he puts up with me! I am really happy for Rachel. Now all of my friends should be relatively stress free, at least for a little while. Yay for having a life again!

Tonight Chris and I talked about our trip to Utah and Arizona. We are leaving Friday night, so time is really short! We came up with a route through the Needles district of Canyonlands that will take 5 days and is around 50-60 miles. It sounds really incredible and I am pretty excited about it. I'm also a little anxious because this will probably be our biggest backpacking trip yet (minus my Outward Bound trip but I didn't have to do the planning for that!). But we have the whole week off so we might as well take advantage of it! The biggest concern to me is how heavy our packs will be with 5 days of food, plus the first two days we can't count on water so we will probably have about 16 pounds just for water. Yikes!!

We also finally started unpacking from last weekend's backpacking trip with Mollie and Rob in the Flat Tops. That trip was unbelievable. I should do a summary of the hike, I would definitely recommend it!! The highlight was hiking over the Devil's Causeway. It is a narrow ridge that is 4 feet across at the narrowest, very rocky, and has sheer drop-off's (maybe 100 feet?) on either side. I was very very scared, especially after Chris jokingly said, "Don't worry Anna, it's only certain death if you fall." For a while I wanted to just take my pack off and cry, I was so scared! But we all made is safely across and the views were well worth all the nerves.

Anyway, I should go to bed, but I am pretty excited about our trip. I'm also anxious and feel like we have A TON to do between now and Friday afternoon. I also have a lot of work to do. I feel bad for not doing any work tonight but it was a busy evening of cleaning and planning. It might be a late night tomorrow!! Thanks for stopping by!

A Beautiful Weekend

I had a wonderful wonderful time in Georgia last weekend! My only complaint is lack of sleep and a few blisters on my feet from trying to walk around downtown Atlanta in heels. I was in town for Tiffany’s wedding but got to see a lot of other people too. Friday night I went to the Cheesecake Factory with Tricia, Jennifer, Kenneth, Erin, and Brandon. It was really nice that it worked out for Jennifer and I to both be in town. I stayed with Laurie and Stuart Friday and Saturday night at the Georgia Tech Conference Center (boo). Margaret met up with Laurie and I as we got ready, it was a fun day. The wedding was at 5:00 and was gorgeous! The sermon was also really good, probably one of the best wedding sermons I’ve ever heard. He went through the vows line by line and talked about what each of them means.

The reception was at the Biltmore in downtown Atlanta and was very very nice. We had a
great time. Margaret tore it up on the dance floor. My old college roommate Jaymee was there too and she is pregnant! She has a cute little bump showing (which Tiffany called the “Baysden Bump” after Jaymee's last name). After the reception, Margaret, Laurie, Stuart and I went to the Hilton, one of the main hotels that Dragoncon takes place in. As Stuart so eloquently put it, “it’s like the Olympics for nerds” (of course i am a nerd, too, just in a different way ;). We had a drink and did a lot of people watching. There were lots of interesting costumes.

Sunday I had dinner with my mom, Jim, aunt and uncle. We had a really good time and of course Jim went all out for the dinner. It was delicious! After dinner I met up with Jennifer, Kenneth and their friend from Auburn, Dusty. We had a good time for a few hours, until I was so exhausted I just had to call it a night. Like I said, it was a wonderful weekend!

I got back to Colorado at noon Monday and was happy to be home. Monday, Rachel, Chris and I bought season passes for snowboarding this winter. I am very excited about that, especially since I only went once last year and he didn’t go at all. And taking a few days off to go snowboarding mid-week will fit in very nicely with my plans to slow down and enjoy the rest of 2008! :) That's it, thanks for reading!

Me, Erin, Tricia, and Jennifer representing for PiHi class of '98!

Tricia's pregnant!!

This is what I get for living in Rutherford Hall my freshman year at UGA - 4 great friends (not to mention a husband thanks to Laurie!:) Margaret, me, the beautiful bride, Jaymee, and Laurie

Tiffany and Greg cut their beautiful (and delicious) wedding cake

We had to show our disdain for the rambling wreck (to hell with Georgia Tech!)

A sad sign at the Georgia Tech Convention Center

Travels

I'm currently sitting at the Bean Cycle. I haven't been here in a while so it makes me happy. I've had a kind of fun day. I went to this 'total body strength' class this morning at 6:30. I can't believe I woke up in time because I was up past midnight. Mostly cleaning my room and unpacking from my trip to Georgia 2 months ago. :) I've been moving emails from one server to another a lot of the day. I'm not sure why this is so time-consuming but it is. Especially when you put in the wrong port for your new email account. Apparently that is a bad idea and your emails may temporarily get lost in cyberspace for a little while.

I've also been talking to Amy and Ian about going to Brazil a lot. I'm finally registered for the conference (http://www.lbaconferencia.org/lbaconf_2008/eng/index.htm). Right now it looks like I will leave Friday Nov. 11 with Lixin (another member of my group) and meet up with Ian. Then we'll go into the Amazon (!!!) to check out some flux towers. I can't believe I'm going to be in the rainforest. I can't wait to see the rivers. I can't wait to see big huge trees, strange insects, and just how poofy my hair can get in the tropical forests during the wet season. The conference I'm attending is the next Monday through Thursday. I hope I have some free time to check things out.

So while not transferring emails today, I've been researching immunizations. I went to the CSU health center to find out which vaccines I should get and when. I'm especially excited about dengue fever - which is incurable and has no vaccine. I'm going to have to get vaccinated for yellow fever and typhoid. I need malaria pills. I need hepatitus A and B but I am pretty sure I got these when I went to Honduras when I was 16. I could get rabies vaccine but it is expensive and unavailable, and I don't plan on getting bit by any animals.

Anyway, I love traveling, and especially to other countries, and I haven't done that since 2002, so I am feeling very lucky to have this opportunity and really excited about it.

Speaking of traveling, I'm headed to Georgia tomorrow for the weekend. One of my good friends, Tiffany, is getting married on Sat. We met in the dorms freshman year and both went to the Presbyterian Student Center, so I'm excited to get to see her tie the knot and our other friends from those places. I'll also see some of my friends from high school (or earlier). One of my best friends Tricia is having a baby next month and I can't wait to see her. Her having a baby is stirring up all kinds of emotions in me that I won't get into now. It's exciting to see all this big milestones in my friends' lives, I wish I could make it home for more of them but I feel lucky to get to be a part of these. That's good for now ... thanks for reading!

Trip Report - Arapaho Pass

I need to write about this hike because it was wonderful and I would highly recommend it. It is also very well described in "Hiking Grand County, Colorado" by Deborah Carr and Lou Ladrigan. If you are considering hikes in this area, you should buy this book!

I started around 11:00 at Monarch Lake trail head. There are a ton of great trails starting from here. It is south of Grand Lake. You could even just hike around the lake, which is about 3.5 miles for an easy but scenic day hike.

Me at the Monarch Lake


From the trailhead, I hiked along the south side of the lake to the Arapaho Pass trail. The trail is long but only slightly uphill. It goes up a narrowing valley toward the continental divide. Where the trail crosses Arapaho Creek is a great spot for lunch. I think it took me about 2.5-3 hours to get here. There were tons of wildflowers, just a preview of what was ahead. The trial climbs more steeply (but not too bad) after crossing the creek. Then you get into some wide-open meadows with amazing wildflowers. They were out of this world. (according to the book they are "beyond belief").

Coyote Park - home to big meadows and wildflowers. The clouds were around my whole trip, unfortunately.


I reached my destination for the day after 5-6 hours. It was 8 miles so I was taking my time, but why hurry through such beautiful scenery? I camped at Caribou Lake. There was one guy with a dog, and a family of 4. But the campsites were pretty spaced out. For the most part, I felt like the only one there. You have to get a permit to camp in the Indian Peaks. It is $5, and there were people at the trailhead checking so you might as well get it ahead of time!

The clouds basically descended down to the lake as the day ended. By nightfall I was in the cloud and it was pretty moist and cold. But kind of neat, too.

Views from my campsite Thursday night

And Friday morning


Friday morning I almost didn't hike up Arapaho Pass because of the clouds, but I could see most of the way up the trail to the pass from my campsite so I set out by 8:00. It took a little less than an hour to get to the top. The views up there were amazing. You can also get to this pass from Boulder. I would recommend getting there any way you can! I just love being above treeline and this part of the hike did not disappoint. I spent some time laying on my stomach at an overlook, taking it all in and wishing the moment wouldn't end.

Me being very happy.

Where I came from

The trail from Arapaho to Caribou Pass went along this ledge and was very cool.


Caribou Pass is very close to Arapaho Pass. You have to hike along a ledge to get there. From Caribou, the descent really begins. Again, the wildflowers are incredible.

Columbine and heartleaf arnica

Lots of heartleaf arnica


After what seemed like a very long time, I got to the Junco Lake trailhead. From there, you turn right onto the High Lonesome trail, which is the Continental Divide Trail. I found it interesting that the ranger station there had piles and piles of chopped wood around it. So much so that I couldn't find the trail for a while because it was covered in chopped branches. And yet, just a few minutes into the trail all signs of maintenance disappeared and the trail was covered in fallen in trees. It was rough for a short person like me!

Also, the High Lonesome trail signage is disappointing. At one point it indicated I had only hiked .6 miles in an hour. Then distances to Monarch Lake changed between two signs. Also, I had the 3rd Edition Southern RMNP/Indian Peaks Wilderness Map. It shows the trail going to the left (west) of an unnamed, 10315' mountain. But the trail goes to the right (east), which is how it is in the book I referenced but didn't have with me on the hike. The book is from 2002 and the map is from 2005, so that is confusing. Reason is at this point you are in the Arapaho National Recreation Area, where logging is allowed and there are a lot of timber roads criss-crossing the trail. The CDT is reasonably well marked, though.

It doesn't help that the views on this trail do not compare to the ones from earlier that morning. I am not saying it isn't pretty, it's just not as dramatic. I was getting discouraged so I implemented a break every hour to put my feet up and help enjoy my trip better. That definitely helped, my feet were starting to hurt.

Eventually you get to a junction with an unnamed trail that goes down to Monarch Lake. this trail sucks. It descends 1200' in a little over a mile (depending on which sign you believe) and had probably close to a million switchbacks. I was really glad I had my trekking poles or else my knees would have been toast. But once you get back to the Southside trail it is smooth sailing. If I weren't looking forward to meeting up with Chris in Grand Lake, I would have gone for a dip in the lake, it is beautiful. Next time! Overall the hike for Friday was about 14 miles. According to my book, the total for the trip is 22.5. Do it!

Celebrations

My idea of celebrating getting my master's degree was to go on a 3 day solo adventure near Winter Park, meeting up with Chris the 3rd night and spending the 4th day with him. Overall this was a really really good trip. It was very nice to be alone for a while. And since Chris and I were mountain biking on the last day, I had his ridiculously large mountain bike with me the whole time - so it at least looked like I was traveling with a rather large male. I seriously think I will take his bike with me on future solo trips.

I had lots of time to think about things. First, I met this elderly man at the campground I stayed at the first night near Fraser. He was with his wife, a friend of their's, and their friend's sister. The first three have been traveling together every summer since 1961, along with the friend's wife. I thought this was amazing, and it made me really hope that I am still friends with many of the friends I have now in 47 years. The friend's wife died this past year and this is their first trip without her. Sad, but still an amazing testament to their friendship.

Second, I spent lots of time looking at wildflowers. I have a wildflower book and I tried to commit as many to memory as possible. Usually I will look up a flower, see it's name, and forget it by the time I close the book. Seriously. I really love wildflowers and there were a ton.

Third, I read the Alchemist. It was a really good book and ideal reading material for a solo trip. The idea of it is that we all have a personal legend (or destiny) to fulfill. The main character is seeking out his destiny and is constantly reminded that when we really want something, all the universe will conspire to help us. I thought it was neat and it made me wonder what mine would be? Am I living it out? What about Chris' destiny? Am I enabling him to live his? In the book, the main character is told that your personal legend is most clear when you are young. I've often wondered (I know this will sound strange) if the adult me encountered the child me, would the child me like me? Haha, that sounds really scitzo. But I wonder because when we're kids, we're very idealistic and have huge dreams. Then reality sets in and that inevitably changes us, but hopefully not too much. Anyway, good food for thought.

Speaking of food, I decided that from now on I will always bring Jelly Bellies on camping trips. They are the perfect dessert, other than chocolate (which melts).

Being alone was really nice but being with Chris was lots of fun, too (once I got used to being around another person again). We had a blast mountain biking downhill at Winter Park (I cannot say the same for the uphill part). I am really pleased that I somehow lost much of my fear of riding fast on a mountain bike. I'm not sure when it happened, but I'm glad it did! We went down a difficult trail and I was hitting jumps right behind Chris. I never thought that would happen! And no falls after 2 days (~31 miles) of mountain biking! :)

Sweet singletrack in Fraser


My car has a card table hidden in the back! It made breakfast very pleasant.


Chris and I at the top of Mary Jane, 11,200', the highest I've ever mountain biked.

The End and The Beginning

Yes!!! I am done with my Masters degree! I defended on Monday. Leading up to it I felt really nervous and stressed. I got through the morning with lots of deep breathing and prayer. Of course once I started talking things felt much better, and I feel really good about how the presentation went. I talked for 45 minutes, which is probably the longest I have ever talked in one hour. :) Then I had a closed door session with my three committee members. We talked about a lot of background-type information that was in papers that I read two years ago and couldn't remember the details of. If I hadn't been helping to run/attending workshops and conferences for the past three weeks I probably would have been better prepared so I was a little frustrated but at least I passed!

Last night I celebrated with my friends from the department. It started at the Rustic Oven with several members of my research group including Scott, plus Dave and his wife, Chris, Mark, and Rachel. Scott was very generous and paid for several of us, which I wasn't really expecting but was nice. A little after 8:00 we went to the Rio. I love their margaritas but hardly ever go there because it is expensive. So I was very happy to enjoy one on Rachel :). And Michelle bought me a shot of patron - ikes! It was good though. Several other people met us there and I had a really nice time talking to different people. I feel very blessed by my friendships in my department. I feel like some of them have only really developed in the past year - mostly thanks to softball, suffering through Dave's modeling class, and the coffee club. Also Rachel and I decided we are kindred spirits, and also agreed to hug more often (we agreed on this while we were sober, too). Haha :)

Today I was awake from 5-7 AM. I couldn't sleep, I think maybe the shock of being done was hitting me. Finally I fell back to sleep until 10:00. Nice! I did some laundry, cleaned a little, made scrambled eggs and coffee and watched Family Feud. Seriously, I could get used to this! Around noon I went to the office to do some moving. Erica and I are moving into Nick's office, which has a window so I'm really excited! Also it seems fitting to be moving into a new space as I move into this new phase of my graduate career. I can't believe that Erica and I were in Room 412 for three years!! They flew by!

I ran some errands and at 4:30 I met Kim at the gym and we swam 2100 yds. It was great to swim with her, our pace is very similar, and I got a great workout. Then I went to dinner with Mollie and Beth at Star of India. Oh yes and Kelty came too. She is so cute and I can't believe her first birthday is in just a few weeks! Anyway, dinner was really good and it was so nice to see those two. I have missed hanging out with my friends this summer!!

Now I desperately need to go to sleep! I should probably be really excited about being a Master of Science and having this great degree and being smart, yada yada yada, but what I am most excited about is getting my life back. I am just so ready to go back to Chris and my happy existence. Last night and today were definitely a wonderful start to my renewed freedom and generally happier, less stressful life. :)

A Tribute

Poor Tiger passed away two weeks ago, on July 19. I miss him a lot. It's sad to not hear his toenails clicking on the hardwood as he walks down the hall, or to see his head popping out from behind the curtains when I pull into the driveway. But I know it was time for him to go, he was pretty bad off the last couple of days. So ... I am not going to be sad anymore in this post but I wanted to put up a few pictures of him to remember the good times. Which probably qualifies me for crazy cat lady status, but screw it. It is almost impossible not to get really attached to a pet you've had for 15 years who kicks ass.


Tiger doesn't look too happy about playing in the snow.

He liked to sit on a chair and look out the window, and one day he decided that I make a nice chair and hopped on up while I was on the phone!

Doing his standing trick. Anything for food.

Just hanging out.

What are you looking at?