Day 11!

What a wonderful day!

Nice, late sleep in.
Nice, late breakfast with Mom in Boulder.
A matineeeee at the big theater.
Cookies and Tea and a 15-minute nap.
And then... a little VELODROME action!!!!!!


pic courtesy of CYN!


Thank you mom and cyn for a wonderful day!

jj

Day 10!

Today...

Today was a Nap Day!

Below you will find random pix of the weekend in Aspen with our gracious and wonderful hosts, Eben, Jean, SkyBunny Captain of the Universe and Milo.

Thank you Jean and Eben!



jj

Days 8 and 9!!

Yesterday, day 8 ----- I think we went for a walllllkkkkk with the puppies.... We Went up to Ashcroft for a little recon.... We ate and drank and smiled a LOT.

Today, day 9 ----- Up in the morning ... a little indecision as to the what/when/where for the day, then OUT THE DOOR, blazing back up to Ashcroft. Jean and Eb were on the super-speedy nordic gear. Ed and I took our time on our full back-country gear ... and up we went.



However ... as we all know (and if 'we' don't, 'we' should), Avalanche conditions are high. Ed and I turned around early, and decided to work on a little transceiver practice in the basin. Jean and Eb continued up the skin path, dug a snow pit ... and confirmed the questionable nature of those early, deep layers (can we say S U G A R?).


ahhhh.... feeling right at home ;-)



2 of at least 10 slide paths from the last 2 days.


jj

days 5, 6 and 7!!

Slacker Poster, Jeny!

Day 5: spent the day casually breezing around Boulder with my mama... and enjoyed a LOVELY Christmas Eve present-session with my darling partner, Ed, in front of the Christmas tree. Dreamy.

Day 6, Christmas Day: We awoke to not-so-stellar snow reports. So, we stayed home and indulged in succulent coffee, breakfast, and more present sessions ;-) We then loaded the buggy and hauled our spoiled little selves to Aspen to visit Jean and Eben, and hopefully align ourselves with another 17+ inches of the BigWhiteFluffyStuff ;-). We spent a lovely night in a snow-pounded Glenwood Springs. We enjoyed a delightful and romantic Christmas dinner at a sweet little French restaurant in Glenwood.

From 12.26.2008

Day 7, today: Aspen Highlands reported 17 inches. By the time we got there (after meeting Jean and Eb at their place, and eating brekki, and bouncing off the walls), I think all those 17 inches were tracked out and gone by the time we got there.... Such a bummer.... BUT, we had a BLAST!

Photo credit to Ed, of course:-)

Now: Wine. Fire. Dogs. Jean. Eben. Sweetness and love all around.

Tomorrow: some pre-day skinning. Then, some major hiking in the Highlands bowl. One goal: complete and utter exhaustion. Period.

;-)


Jj

vacation day #4!!

Oh Holy WinterBliss!

Never, never in my life have I experienced this much SnowBliss, in quite this way:


Glory Be to the Snow Angles spreading blankets of WhiteFluffy all over our playground.

In this current moment, after all that WhiteWinterBliss, it is far easier to get into a tele-turn than it is to walk down even 2 steps in a stair case.

All is well in Vacation land. WhiteBliss has turned into ComaBliss. Thank you EdE and thank you PAPA for a wonderful day out playing like MAD in our crazy-little universe.

PS: Ed will post more pix soon

Jj
(frank, how's "killy" treatin' ya!?!?! ;-)

day #3!

OUUUCCHHHH.... I cannot walk. Tele-love (tele-skiing) is too much fun, and I am paying dearly for not primping (training) properly for it. One would think that MTB fitness would translate. But it really, truly doesn't. It's too bad ;-)

And, today is Ed's BIRTHDAY! Tonka loves Eds birthday because he gets to crawl into EVERY gift box to see which one fits the best. And which one fits my enormous kitty the best? The smallest box, of course!

And, we are prepping for what we hope to be a really, really, BigSoft day on the slopes tomorrow! Yea!!!

Jj

2nd day!

Ohmygoodness.

I'm so flippin' tired it's really not even funny!

Wonderful day in Vail. Juuuuussstttt spectacular.

jj

day #1!

Day One, and what did I do today?

So I completely woke up today with all the right energy, and the completely right attitude and motivation towards my 16 days of vacation. So, straight out of the luscious, sleepy basket, I completely prepped and made Beef Bourguignonne (made = prepped and in the pot for the next 9 hours). And, in the process, I whipped up some killer Portabello and Parmesan omelets. Gotta start vacation off right, right? Riiiiiigggghhht.

Then. Then I was required, by Universal Law, to listen to my inner yearnings (screamings), and go get a Christmas Tree. Yes. I did this. And you know what, Ed was a complete sweetheart about it. He placated my every Christmas Tree Whim, and we ended up with a beautiful, beautiful (if not slightly lop-sided) Christmas Tree. I didn't even know how badly I wanted one until I found myself literally BOUNDING off the ground with the energy of the whole ordeal. Goodness ... yes, lots and lots of goodness!!! Poor Ed. He maintained calm and stability the entire time. I am so impressed.

Behold, Christmas Tree #1 for Ed and Jeny (for Christmas #2;-):

This is the top 10th of our tree. Click the picture for more complete, and more detail photos ;-)

Then. Then it was nap time. Tonka did not disagree. Ed has, apparently, post pix of that.

THEN........ I was required, by Universal Law, to listen to my inner yearnings (flat-out-beltings), and HAD to go ride in my bike in the bitter-sweet cold.


While it was likely a balmy 20 degrees F outside (freezing windchill not included), I was still reluctant to leave the house without bundling up to an almost in-movable state;-) And, I was required, by Universal Law, to NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT MY CHRISTMAS BELL ON THE PONY! Yes, that was so, so sweet.

I must say that I did not ride a very long distance, and I did complete some christmas shopping along the way, but sheesh, all of the billions of hills I had to climb to get home had me in my little ring, spinning away in some desperately slow and depleted day. I really felt pathetic. But, more-so, I fell SO damn glad that I got out on the pony today.

And, I must admit this: the apex of my ride found me at the BAKERY (duuuhhh). And what did I find at the bakery today? I found UNICORN COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!! (ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmygod.)



Uhm... what happened after the bakery? I'm trying to remember...

OHYEAH!! I rode home. Uphill the whole way. S L O W L Y. I find this totally amusing.

Then home to my beautiful man, my beautiful Christmas Tree, our slightly-freaky Kitty... and FOOD. I think I made the best Mashers I've ever made! Yehaw!!!


The view from home sweet home.

And now, over many glasses of wine, I am prepped and stoked for tomorrows big adventure to Vail to ski some of the super-sweet white stuff.

That's it for day one ;-) As far as I know.

Jj

bbbrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Nice early-ish start today!!!

-1 to start, made it to 11,750'!

It was only warm enough going up hill. Going downhill ... I froze.

BURRR! I'm really, truly trying to get 'winterized'.

(click for more pix)


jj

BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG DAY!

FIRST BIG!!
Ed has been PUBLISHED, in Mountain Flyer Magazine (you have to go buy it) page 52/53 he has a 2 page image spread, and page 54 has a huge pic of one of his best pix ever ... and, he's made it into the Editors Notes on page 10!!! YEAH FOR ED!!! This is HUGE!!! I'm so proud of you!



SECOND and THIRD BIG!!!
MICHELLE WWWWWOOONNNNN!!! (JeffCo vs. mountain bikers in court in regard to tickets issued earlier this year!!!) So this is A.) Huge for her, B.) Huge for AJ and their riding crew and C.) HUGE FOR THE MTB COMMUNITY here in the Front Range. This one counts for at least 2 BIGS!

FOURTH BIG!!!!
I survived a rather traumatic and deep 2nd round of cuts at the work place today. Holy cow, I've never been through anything quite like that before. My heart goes out to my colleagues ... the ones who didn't make it through the day... I sincerely don't know what or how we're going to do with out you. I'm absolutely spinning -- and rather dumbfounded.

FIFTH BIG!!!!!
GotDirt is now advertising in Mountain Flyer --that is Big (CottonQuips.com) ... and guess what HOT model he's got in the ad... Michelle.. yup, uuuuu-hhuh! Weeee!!! Go see page 12!

Let's see..... other things happened today, too... Tonka attacked me with venom; we had VISITORS -- can you believe that?! That was fun. Oh -- drove home in a raging snow storm ... roll-overs and all.

Big day. BigBig day.

Jj

hiking bliss (pony-break!!!)

hiking, in my favorite place today -- back to the car after sunset -- again.

i'm lovin' this life. really.


more twirlies
walking around and within
the intimate close ups, and the wide-open horizion
our familiar and vast back yard
thank you, darling
for every step

jj

tag-oh-ramma!

OK, GooneyBliss -- you tagged me, and so here we go:

6 random things you likely don't know about me:

1.) When I was pretty young, I wanted to be a fashion designer (HA!). When I was very, very young, I wanted to be a race-car driver.

2.) I spent my first year of college out at Mesa State in Grand Junction, CO. My passions at that time were skiing and trail running (exclusively). One day a good friend somehow convinced me to take my TREKsomethinghundred out for "a mountain bike ride". I thought this was absolutely ridiculous -- who would want to haul an extra 25+ lbs of anything along those super sweet trails (now the 'lunch loop' trails). We got out there and started riding. Within 10 minutes I ditched the bike on the side of the trail (literally) and ran instead. It would be 1 year before I ever bothered trying to "go mountain biking" again. That was 15 years ago.

3.) I used to spend my winters ice-climbing ... until I realized that A.) I truly am deeply afraid of heights and B.) I truly do hate standing around belaying when it's flippin' cold outside. I remember being at the base of a lovely little fall up on Longs Peak thinking, "It would be much warmer and far more fun if I were generating some BODY HEAT ... like when I am tele-skiing .... yeah, tele-skiing". That was my last ice-climbing adventure. I gave my axes, helmet and crampons to my little sister.

4.) I had no hair on my head until I was 3 years old. My mother used to tape bows on my head so people would know I was a girl.

5.) I've been to Burning Man 3x: once for fun, once by accident, and once to officiate my dear friends' wedding (I am 'a Reverend').

6.) I think I might be the laziest person I know ;-)

I'm now tagging: CynnyBun, MyssM, RockStarKim, and CalGone ;-DJj