Spring, Summer, Fall Trips

This summer I think we're going to stick around Colorado, save for a few domestic trips, and take care of some crazy adventures that have been on our list. Notably:

- 4-pass loop hike in the Maroon Bells
- Mountain biking from Aspen to Crested Butte (via Pearl Pass)
- Mountain bike trip to Moab, and to Fruita
- Hiking 3+ TBD 14'ers to keep up with our yearly quota
- Cycle to New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins
- Backpack in the San Juans (maybe after Tayler's graduation from Fort Lewis in May)
- Backpack the Aldo Leopold Wilderness around the NM/TX border
- Backpack the Picketwire Canyonlands (CO)
- Bike over McClure Pass (outside of Carbondale)
- Backpack Paria Canyon (CO)
- Hike Mt. Sopris (CO)
- Visit the Roan Plateau before it becomes a huge gas station

And more, I'm sure!

We'll take a trip to the farm in Illinois, head to the East Coast for a long weekend, and most likely spend many weekends in Carbondale/Aspen.

Everyone Loves Mom

Steve found this drawing in the snow yesterday on our run. It's German for 'all my love to Mom.' Send it to your moms!

Winter Weekend

I'm looking forward to this weekend. The weather's back to normal January temps. Tonight, Schivonne, Kris and I are going to the Winter Brew Fest in Denver. A chance to taste seasonal beers and try new things. I really love tasting new beers, especially in small doses, where you can just move on. I think around 25-27 breweries will be there. Some of my favorites are Avery, of course, Deschutes, Rogue, and Stone. I love most microbreweries, actually, but I am not usually a huge fan of their high production/money maker beers. An example would be Fat Tire. Tastes gross. I prefer their small batches that might not make as much money, but that experiment with different flavors and represent the craft of brewing.

Steve gets back to Las Vegas tonight, so that'll be good way to finish the evening!

I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. I'm sure we'll spend the day doing something either productive or fun, or both, together. If it doesn't snow, I'd like to either mountain bike Marshall Mesa, maybe go for a hike locally, go climbing, or even go snow shoeing up in Rocky Mountain National Park. I went running yesterday pretty high up, and there was still snow on the ground, despite four days of 60+ temps. So there might be too much snow to hike. I'd also enjoy going for a long run (I've been wanting to run the entire Mesa Trail for a long time), then going to the movies. One boring but necessary task is to clean the garage. Now that I think about it, though, it's in my best interest to to stay on good terms with Steve, especially after his long week of travel, so maybe we'll put that off. I can't get to the 12+ bikes we have in there over all the other crap - there has to be a better solution to our garage arrangement (and by the by, if you're interested in buying a fridge, range, oven or hood, make me an offer). We'll see about all that stuff!

We're going skiing with Ryan and Sarah at Copper (or Winter Park, if the mood strikes) on Sunday. There's a 40-60% chance of snow in the high country through Sunday, so cross your fingers for powder. Hoo ha meadows!!! If I can get my act together, I'd like to make a beef stew to have for lunch that day. I'm tired of the lunch fare at Copper and would rather have something hearty and homemade. I found an easy and good looking recipe in my Earthbound Farm cookbook that I can make in my new Creuset crock pot.

Looking forward to the weekend!!! Two more hours..

Food

I like to cook. I also like efficiency and maximizing time spent actually enjoying cooking rather than using the wrong tool for a job and getting frustrated. Off the top of my head, these are some of my favorite and most versatile tools:

- Peeler - not just for vegetables! Cheese, spices, chocolate.

- Mini-chopper and grinder - for garlic, spices, herbs, sauces, emulsifying.

- Lemon juicer - I don't care what Mark Bittman says, it's easier this way.

- A good paring knife and a good butcher knife - most knives are unfortunately one-dimensional. For good results either of these two usually does the trick.

- Plastic cutting boards - and lots of them!

- One other thing I like to do is have all of my oils/vinegars/sauces, and all of my spices very clearly displayed. This way, I am aware of all the ingredients I have at my disposal so that I can make the best decision and I can be creative because it's inspiring to see all sorts of products well presented.

I also love cookbooks. I have many, but always seem to go back to the same ones for help figuring out what to make. Not all cookbooks are great. I prefer those with pictures or simple layouts, a mix of resources on a wide range of foods, but also down to earth, appealing recipes, and also those that make it approachable to try new recipes and flavors. The three that I use most often for everyday cooking are below. Otherwise, I pull recipes from magazines, online or other cookbooks I have, when I have time and am inspired to try something new. Or when Steve has a yen for a far off food.

- The New Basics Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins: a resource for info on most any ingredient you can think of, also with very American-type recipes for all seasons.

- The Working Cook:Fast and Fresh Meals for Busy People by Tara Duggan: more like fast, easy, delicious and simple meals for a weeknight.

- Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook by Myra Goodman, Linda Holland, and Pamela McKinstry: taught me how to make my own granola and has great recipes and the story of Earthbound Farm.

What would you do if you could do anything?

Go skiing all winter in Alta?
Get your scuba driving certification and travel around the world scuba diving?
Build a carrot farm in Mali?
Go learn a new language?
Go to cooking school and open a restaurant?
Build a 2,500 sqft treehouse?
Raise goats?
Start an eco resort in Brazil and give away free vacations?


The Colorado Powerball lottery is up to $149,000,000.

Skis

I've never skied on Line skis, but Scott does and loves them. I have the K2 Nancy skis, which I don't think they even make anymore. I love them, and actually did so much research to decide on buying them, but sometimes I think that these Line Pandora skis would be a better fit:

"Introducing one of the world’s fattest women’s specific powder skis. Its wide platform, deep sidecut and light and lively feel makes it one of the most fun and functional skis you’ll ever ride in the powder, and everywhere else on the hill. The Pandora is a true work of art from the beautifully painted graphics, to the first of its kind, real embroidered logo, threaded right into the top of the ski. The only thing that will look better is the fresh tracks you’ll be laying down on your next powder day."

Either that's really good marketing, or I just really want those skis. The Nancy's are awesome - they glide through powder, turns are easy in powder and you don't have to break your ankle to shift, they are fun on groomers (although not as fast as my Burnin' Luvs - I can't keep up with Steve and Scott on the straight shots) even though I can't carve as much. I think the Lines would be better for all mountain. The graphics are nice, but I don't care about that stuff. I guess I'm happy with the Nancys - I should continue to be happy with them, as I don't think there's too much wrong with them, in terms of my needs. Next time I'll get a bit of a wider ski underfoot, a bit stiffer, and something best suited for all mountain. Damn it grasshopper!

http://www.lineskis.com/product/pandora

Life

I get really worried that I will wake up in 30 years and not have done the things that I want to do. A lot of what I want to do will come from the things that I actually do, so I need to make sure to stimulate myself enough to make new things happen. Like a domino effect. Travels can accomplish this, the people we spend time with, how we treat people and other things. Also, our career path. Every move we make influences the next. But does it really? What if we're not even thrilled about that part? Can we start from zero? Is it ever too hard to start from zero? You always hear about older people who learn new hobbies, and say 'it's never too late! never think it's too late!' I like to remind myself this. But I don't want that to be a cop out. It's never too late, but it's never too early. To be happy and do old and new things to preserve that happiness. I get so worried about making the right choices, and balancing the pros and the cons, that I find it hard to be completely happy when I actually do those things. I'm always happy, and usually so excited to be doing those things though. Maybe the word is carefree.

Then again, I'm damn lucky to be doing anything. My anxiety would probably be attributed to the desire to do everything I want and hope for and experience as much as I can! Because I do know that I'm lucky to be doing all that, and that I am able to do anything I want. And not do anything that's not worth it. I want every part of my life to build upon the last part, and I want to make sure that every fork in the road leads the right way, and that I learn from it. Maybe I should stick to knives.

Designs

One of my fondest memories of Sweden is the graphic design everywhere you look. In every storefront, window, building, there's a creative element that demonstrates that real thought and aesthetic ability was put into what you're looking at. The designs are creative, inspiring, cute, colorful, fun, and pragmatic. Animals were involved in many. They all have a sense of sensible innocence. I liked that designs were everywhere - my favorites were not only the commercial ones, but the young and old images in churches or cultural landmarks, the angles of buildings, the color schemes. Design isn't just pen to paper - it can take on many forms. What are you trying to communicate with a design? What feeling do you want the viewer to have? Colors, shapes, dimensions, perspectives, can all take on infinite personalities. It's so exciting to think of the possibilities, and the change that one design can instill. Simple designs - a powerful stroke - or complex paintings - Sistine Chapel - what's the difference? I might have gone overboard with these pictures, but here are some of the images I took of design elements that appealed to me (click on the image for a larger, clearer version).

Lists can pervert freedom, but they can also enable it

I like to make lists.

Some of my favorite morning teas are:
- Morning Thunder
- Earl Grey
- English Breakfast
- Fast Lane
- Chai

I am working on my masters in applied science in environmental policy and management, with a concentration on natural resource management. I am in my 8th class out of 12. The 8 classes that I have taken are:
- Environmental Project Management
- Environmental Economics
- Graduate Research and Writing
- Sustainable Public Policy
- Introduction to Ecology
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Environmental Law
- Introduction to Environmental Policy

My 3 favorites have been Environmental Economics, Introduction to Ecology, and Sustainable Public Policy.

Some websites that I like to go to every day are:
- Nytimes.com
- Facebook.com
- Grist.com
- DailyCamera.com
- BackyardChickens.com
- Orangette.blogspot.com

Some things that I'd like to get really good at are:
- Knitting baby sweaters (I think that too many baby gifts, given the grandeur of the event, are generic. I want to welcome new babies with creativity and love!)
- Watercolors
- Cooking eggs
- Communicating when I'm upset or angry in a constructive and forward-thinking way

I have chickens. They make me smile, and I think they're honest animals. They get worried, excited, hungry, angry, protective, inquisitive, fed up. Their names and breeds are:
- Pearl, New Hampshire Red
- Tayler, Speckled Sussex
- Sid, Araucana
- Murtha, Black Star

Writing

I find it liberating to write without an audience. I always write for an audience - a family member, a friend, a group of friends, a prospective employer, stakeholders , the public. A government official. A coworker. A client. An email trying to pitch our services. A proposal that will likely get us no where. A memo that will update people on a specific topic. An email that I spend 30 minutes on trying to get the right tone, that one person will inevitably feel is passive agressive, or not to the point, or that I will worry about and reread over an over again.

Writing to no one, about what is on my mind, instead of tailoring it to someone else's need, is therapeutic. I'm a bit self involved, but I like to explore ideas, too. I get stuck writing other things. I admire investigative news journalists. They need to come up with a story, and put together the pieces themselves. Most journalists follow the news around. Investigative news journalists, rather, make the news.

I have so many people to talk to about so many things, but it's never as cohesive as I'd like. I'd rather just write it down and get it over with.