Sundance!

For the past 11 days Sundance Film Festival has been going on in Park City. I have been watching all the updates on E! of all the stars and all their great movies and how everyone is ranting and raving over Paul Rudd and Demi Moore. As crazy as this may sound, I have lived in Utah for almost 4 years and this was the first year I attended Sundance! Not my normal style, but there have always been mitigating factors. Anyway, last Tuesday a girlfriend of mine and I drove up to Park City and had dinner at High West Distillery. We sell almost all of the whiskey that they distill right there on their property in my bar, and after going on a tour, I had to try their food. (In case anyone is curious, the Bouraye whiskey they make is my favorite and I concocted the most delicious cocktail with their silver whiskey with muddled fresh mint and fresh raspberries, homemade simple syrup with a press. I believe that I should trademark it, it's so good. Anyway......

So, we had dinner up there, and ordered some of their signature cocktails. We went up the street to the No Name Saloon and were greeted immediately with free drinks. The girl I was with was having so much fun, since "she never gets out and drinks in Park City" that she begged to stay at the bar to keep drinking. I kept directing men her way and watched with amusement over a nice snifter of scotch. We missed our movie, which I was really disappointed about. So....the next day, I decided that it was absolutely imperative that I see a Sundance movie, so I bought a ticket for this morning. Pretty much the only movie that wasn't sold out was called Attenberg. The description in the movie guide was that it was about a girl who lived with her father in a decaying sea town and a stranger comes to town and changes everything.

Now, anyone who has shared a bag of popcorn with me knows that I HATE READING MOVIES!!! The first thing that happens in the movie is Greek dialogue with subtitles. OH NO! I want to scream! But, no, I stay put, having just purchased a very large bag of popcorn, paying $30 for the movie, driving all the way up to Park City, braving the traffic to dart across Kearns to stand in a tent, outside with a bunch of stinky, hair- not- washed, liberal artists. I battled through the whole movie. Not only did I have to read it, I was subjected to hairy Greek crotches, an insufficient blow job scene, the scattering of ashes, more underwear, no plot and ugly actors. It was excruciating. The actors/ directors did not even show up to introduce the movie! I hate to complain, but that was my Sundance experience. All would have been forgotten had I met Ryan Reynolds.

After the movie, I drove up the street to Park City where I was able to get a few switch runs in down McConkeys and Pay Day and then a few through the park. A throbbing migraine forced me to pack it in early, but I did make it home just in time to watch my favorite athlete, Shaun White, annihilate the Super Pipe in Aspen to win gold in the X Games. Altogether an interesting day off!

The bottom picture is at the top of McConkeys overlooking the backside of Brighton and Guardsman's pass.

Glad I Chose...

The University of Utah instead of NYU to get my Masters Degree. Everyone always assumes when I tell that that I went to UNLV for my Undergrads that the Strip would have been a distraction. I quickly correct their assumption by telling them that the Strip was never a distraction for my studies...but these mountains....now THEY are the ultimate distraction! The proof is above! (Both of these days I did attend class, however!)

For those who are curious: The top picture was taken in Thunder Bowl on the Defiance Ledge at Snowbird. This picture is of the Western part of Mount Superior, which is my new back country hiking conquest. The bottom picture was taken at Brighton Resort at the top of Great Western facing West looking down Big Cottonwood Canyon with Snowbird far off to the left (not shown) and The Canyons off to the right. Actually, my next real back country mission is to take Ninety Nine 90 from The Canyons, traverse the cirque and drop the back side of Park City Mountain Resort and drop into Big Cottonwood Canyon. I better get on it, the winter's almost over!

My Snuggle Bunnies

I love how animals don't care what kind of job you have, how much money you make, what you look like, if you have a boyfriend, what grades you get in school.... but they do care if you're happy and healthy. They just want to snuggle and give you love. At the risk of sounding like the ultimate crazy cat lady, I love my babies more than anything and can't imagine my life without them. How can you not love those faces.. :) Time to go snuggle and get my head licked!

Fun Day at Bogus!

One of the season passes I have is at Bogus Basin, outside of Boise. Today me and Skip went up and had SUCH a fun day! It was so beautiful! A little cold at 18 degrees, but we had a blue sky, amazing sunset, good beer, soft snow and good runs. I rode switch almost the entire day and feel so much better about it. I love to night ride and at about 5:00pm the cats come out and I can follow them all the way down on the front side for a couple of really fast and silky runs, I love it! The park was closed so I missed out on hitting the kickers that I had my eye on, but that just means that I'll have to come back in the next few weeks and hit those up! Thanks for a FUN day Skip!

Pomerelle

On my way home from "home" I stopped off at Pomerelle, a ski resort outside of Albion, Idaho. It was a quaint little resort with two lifts and pretty panoramic views of southern Idaho. It only took a few runs to see the whole resort and then I became obsessed with hitting this one kicker. I realized that spinning switch comes more natural to me than spinning regular, so that was interesting.

What was more interesting were all the characters I saw up there! The majority of the people up there were rollin on free boards from beer or tobacco companies....(Bud Light, Corona etc.) I saw a few people in jeans. Almost no one had goggles. They didn't even have sunglasses! How could they see with the wind in their face? Hardly anyone had beanies and no one had a helmet. Gloves were also optional and everyone smoked on the lift. Not bud...but gross cigarettes! Someone built a little kicker on the run under the lift but no one was hitting the groomed kicker, except for me. The funniest part was that they wouldn't spin or grab, they would just launch themselves off the jump and land in the soft powder without even trying to ride out of it. Pretty strange! But, it was really fun to visit a new mountain and add it onto my life list of 100 resorts. (so far I'm still hovering around 20). I felt way over dressed in my purple pants and new Empyre hoodie, not to mention my new goggles! But the lifties were nice- always grabbed me while I was standing waiting for the chair. Not sure if they thought I was going to fall or what. Not my first rodeo....maybe I looked like a novice since I didn't look like some of hard core bangers and beaters they had there.

My drive home was also an adventure....my Idaho State Highway map showed that there was a road that connected Manta to the I-84...however, no such road existed. So, I took a lonely back country highway which was covered in snow until I hit the Utah border. (Where they are much more efficient at snow removal and use salt) I ended up getting back on the interstate and drove through my old friend Snowville, which put me at ease.

Once back in Salt Lake I stopped in and picked up the baby girl, who I had really missed. She had fun staying at Daddy's house and playing with her new boyfriend Boomer. (Aka Boom Town). There was some excitement at Dad's house- he got engaged over Christmas!!! Mischa will be the flower girl and Boomer will be the ring bearer. I'm so excited and happy for Josh and Andrea! Love is in the air!

A Muppet Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Yesterday Skip and I thought it would be great to go skiing...around 3:00. We went on a few really fun runs. We decided to swing into the lodge and sit in the sun and have a beer. We sat on the deck in 35 mph wind drinking our beer until mine kept spilling from the wind. We moved inside and enjoyed the rest. We started to notice that no one was on the mountain..."Oh, they're going home to have dinner and go to church..." I say. I couple little dudes came in and informed us that the lifts shut at 4:30 because of the holiday. WHAT? Since when? HUH? So, we had a really windy but cool run down to the bottom and we had the whole mountain to ourselves!

Today we slept in, Squirrel made us a good breakfast and we opened presents and posed like Muppets. Tonight, we're seeing True Grit. I'm going to nap with the boys and wait for Skip's turkey, pie and wassail...yuuuummm!!!!

(Allen got an air soft gun and of course attacked us with it. He scared the crap out of poor Biff. Conan and Bitch are used to being hit with foam bullets, but not my sweet little baby boys!)

The BRONCO NATION is Off to Vegas!

Another FUN trip for the Seymours!!! Skip, Squirrel and I loaded the Boise State "party" bus at 5:30 am Tuesday morning and allowed our bus driver to drive us through rain, fog, snow and slush all the way down to Las Vegas! Patron was imbibed (Skip's new favorite "treat") a nice bottle of Scotch was almost killed and we got there in record time.

Jimmy flew in from San Jose and we all headed down to the strip where we ate at one of my favorite restaurants; Canaletto, in the Venetian. I had a wonderful glass of Barbera, which is from the Piemonte region of Italy, where I lived. Skip ordered my favorite risotto dish and shared with me so I could get gnochhi. YUUM!

After an excellent dinner, we walked around the Strip, in the rain, and checked out the scene. Jimmy hadn't been there in 4 or 5 years! Much has changed! We all agreed how much we dislike City Center and how much we love the Bellagio.

As per norm, Allen and I were up to our usual shenanigans. I accomplished one of the funniest tasks that Allen has put me up to.....bombing Asian photography. The goal is to "poach" someones picture. Of course, Asians are the easiest, because they won't fight! My first mission was on the bridge over to Bally's. It was on a solo Asian girl getting her picture taken by her mom. I waited until the very last minute, right as the mom was pressing the button and I swooped in right behind her and got my mug right in the shot. AAHAHAHAHA HHHHHHAAAAAA AHAHAHA!!!! Of course, Allen and I laughed our heads off all the way over to the Bellagio gardens where my missions were even more challenging. I managed to get into at least 3 still shots and 2 video cameras. One lady even followed me and continued to tape me after I just blatantly put my face right in front of her video camera. She followed me with it and so I just stood there waving. Definitely the funniest part of the trip!

On Wednesday morning I was able to have brunch with one of my best friends, Lisa. Her and I always have much to discuss. We got a lot accomplished as far as discussing our usual life and relationship status. I can't help but laugh when I compare the two of us and what we love in our lives. We are so different! (She shops at Prada for her Christmas presents and I shop at Gallensons) We love different kinds of people, do different kinds of things, yet her and I seem to really get each other. I miss Vegas everyday, but miss it mostly because of her.

Later that afternoon, all of the BRONCO NATION met at Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of Vegas, in the rain, to cheer on our boys. It didn't rain the whole time, and because of my thick skin, I wasn't too cold. It was a fun game! I had a girlfriend from Salt Lake sitting on the other side of the stadium and peeps from all over watching our win. Granted, it wasn't the Rose Bowl, and it wasn't the best game they have ever played, but it is always really fun to see #2 score :)

The party animals went to the Hard Rock after the game to celebrate, while Jimmy and I hair dried our feet and stayed in and watched a movie. Apparently, Allen had the best night of his life the night before, and I haven't gotten the entire story, but he was satisfied with his Vegas trip!

The trip home went pretty fast and it was fun to spend the weekend with the fam. Now, it's time for more snowboarding and a chance to watch Allen do a 360 kick flip on his snow blades. I'll try to document that!

(The middle picture is of Allen learning how to poach a picture. I am teaching the young one the finer intricacies of photo bombing! It looks like he got the hang of it!)

Avy Class!

Since I am totally obsessed with snow, snowboarding, the mountains and all that that entails, I thought it would behoove me to take an extensive avalanche training course. And man, I was right!! On Wednesday night about 50 locals (mostly dudes my age that love to ride) met with some of the local avalanche gurus to discuss some of the main topics of the course. Today we met at 9:00am and went straight through until 6:00pm.

In the classroom, we learned about islands of safety, terrain triggers, hazards and characteristics, weather patterns, first aid, dog teams, the proper chain of events, how to safely set up a production shot in the back country, safe ascent and descent and sled safety. We stopped for lunch and then all met up at Powder Birds where we learned about heli etiquette and safety and then met with the University of Utah life flight team. That was interesting to learn about how to prep a proper landing zone and how to "package" the victim.

The rest of the day was spent in groups. We went to different stations where we learned how to find hidden beacons with our own transceivers, strategic shoveling, spiral probing, on scene emergency protocol and the organization of information, team members and others on the scene as well as belay techniques.

It was only about 10 degrees outside all day and my new boots weren't as warm as I wanted them to be and my feet were freeeezing. I even had feet warmers in. But, it was such an amazing day and I learned more than I ever would have imagined. After learning these life saving techniques, I feel incredibly confident that I could perform them on the scene of a real avalanche. The statistics of finding your friend alive is daunting, however. Within 15 minutes of finding and digging your victim out, if they don't have head and body trauma, 90% of them will live. After 30 minutes 50%, after 45 minutes 40% and after the "Golden Hour" only 30% will survive. There are about 83 avalanche deaths in the United States every year.

Tomorrow we are talking about recognizing snow pack and conditions and analyzing the risk of riding certain areas. We will be riding on the mountain at the Bird and digging "pits" to analyze the snow. I am really excited! Extreme weather is soooo fascinating to me and especially living in Utah, I have the opportunity to experience it. But, after all is said and done, I feel that this class was so beneficial. Now, all my riding buddies are going to be stuck listening to me and having me teach them all about finding ME with their beacons, how to shovel me out and how to make sure that I am alive if I make the wrong decision and end up getting swept up in an avy.

I will say though, my whole motivation for this stemmed from the inbounds avy death at the Bird two years ago when Heather Gross, a local skier, who was my age, was caught in an avy off of Baldy. She didn't have a beacon on and it took her sister and the other skiers who witnessed the slide an hour to find and get her out. Unfortunately, she had head and body trauma and probably hypothermia and by the time she was airlifted the hospital she had passed. I'm not saying that I could have found her any faster, since I normally don't roll with all my back country avy gear when I'm just cruising around the resort, but I do know that I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge in order to keep myself and my friends in a safer set of circumstances when we are out in the back country.

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The lower picture at the top of this post is of Mount Superior, which is right across the canyon road from the Bird. I feel confident about ascending this bad boy. I am going to obtain a detailed top map of the Wasatch and drop all kinds of new terrain now. I always want to "See what's on the other side" and the same goes for this. I know that Big Cottonwood Canyon is on the other side of that peak, but I want to see the panorama for myself. So, that's on the list for this year!

The first picture is of one of the Powder Bird helis. I have had heli riding on my LIFE LIST for a looooong time and I found out yesterday that as my Christmas present, I am going to go heli riding in Utah this winter!!!!!! I was so excited listening to the guy talk about landing on peaks and hitting fresh lines out in the middle of nowhere, I could hardly contain myself, knowing that in a few short weeks, one of those is going to whisk me away to some of the best powder stashes on the planet amongst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world!!!!! I am a LUCKY AND HAPPY GIRL!!!!!

Happy Bird Day!

I was lucky enough to get three days off over the Thanksgiving week and I even got to go to a JAZZ game!!! Wayne and Spjute came with their sweet little nudger (Gage). Wayne, Spjute, Gage, Gavin and Livia drove from Boise with Kent, Wendy and Kara (Wayne's parents and sister) and the Randalicious drove up from Vegas. He wanted to drive his new crotch rocket, but we had such a crazy snow storm, we all thought it best that he drive a car instead.

The game was so fun! My ticket broker buddy hooked me up and we got lower bowl seats. I had nachos and a Chasing Tail.. and the guys beer next to me...on accident. I had moved over to let Spjute in, which then made my beer on my right side, not my left. I drank out of the guys beer who was sitting next to me...for probably half his beer. I was laughing hysterically when I found out. I told the crew and his mom overheard and then she told him, but he didn't say anything :)

The next day was Bird Day (as in Thanksgiving, not Snowbird day, which is happening Monday because Mineral is finally open!!). So, the whole gang met up down in Provo to celebrate in the gym with the Carlson side of the fam. Always a bunch of characters, good food, basketball and even a strange wig this year! It was fun to see all of Wayne and Randy's relatives. Wendy has 13 brothers and sisters so by my calculation there were like 200 people there. Gage was BY FAR the cutest (and biggest) baby there and he thought I was funny.

I talked the Randall into seeing Harry Potter with me. Not my favorite one so far, but always a good time. I'm excited for the next one to come out in July.

I had so much fun with the Gager! I already told Spjute that when I take her snowboarding this year, she better not pull the same move she did last year.....I take her up, on a nice night to Bogus. She FLIES down the bunny hill like 10 times and then finally at the top she goes..."Umm, I don't think I can ride anymore....maybe now would be a good time to tell you that I'm pregnant!" Not that I wouldn't be absolutely thrilled to be Crazy Aunt Brianna to another one of their beautiful kids ( please name him Dash!). Anyhoo....it was a really fun time with the Mortensens!

My Beloved Cat

As Park City Mountain Resort said..."It's time to roll out the white carpet!" AHHHHHH I love corduroy!!!

A Rare Post- Salt lake City- The City!

As much as I rant and rave about living in Utah, nothing is ever mentioned about the actual city. Probably because I practically live in the mountains, even though I actually live in the city. But, I just thought this picture was too pretty not to share. Maybe after seeing this Jimmy will reconsider calling this "Shit Stank City". We can only hope.

Blissed Out

It's November 11 and I just had the BEST first day of riding!!! I hooked up with some of my favorite riding buddies and we tore it up! Pow runs, boxes, rock drops. It was an incredible start to the season and I could not be any happier today!!

The Annual Pre Season Night Hike

Alas! Or should I say, AT LAST!!! The season has begun and I am back in my snowpants! Since someone would rather hang out with their pretty girlfriend than brave 10 degree temperatures at 11pm with me, I had to make the annual tradition a solo mission...

I bought new RIDE boots last week. Today was their first day and they performed wonderfully. I was not even able to tell that they were new boots. The intuition liner was snug, warm and squishy and I felt like I was back in my old boots again. An excellent purchase. I am lucky to not have the painful breaking in of the boots period, because they are perfect how they are. Hurray!

It was 10 degrees up there and anyone who has ridden with me before knows that the least amount of clothing I can wear, the better. So, after about 20 yards, off comes the coat and gloves. I was relieved that my internal furnace is still working. I hate wearing my coat!

One of my favorite things of all time is the snow cat. I want one so bad so I can groom my backyard some day. I love seeing them in the middle of the night cruising along the mountain. They were up there tonight as well as the snow making machines. (The middle picture). Some day I will hop aboard and go cat riding.

It was probably the worst night to attempt my mission because it was PITCH DARK! No moon at all. I could see the city below and the stars above but surrounding me was total darkness. Usually the snow reflects some light, but not tonight. Then, of course, my brand new head lamp went out about half way to where I wanted to go. So, mission aborted, but I still was able to get some turns in and and I even got tossed at the very bottom after hitting my nose on a big rock. (It was pitch dark with no headlamp, didn't see that coming!)

I really feel that when things in my world are just not right, I can always go to the Bird to recalibrate. The tears stop, the over analyzing in my head stops and until the lifts stop, I am in another world. Snowbird is my ultimate zen. For some wonderful and strange reason, all of my physical pain issues disappear too. I don't remember ever having a headache at the Bird. The swelling in my back is reduced and I never feel as good as when I'm up there. Of course reality hits once I hit the car, but for the time that I spend on the mountain, I am happy.

Since the new season technically started today for me, I thought I should calculate last seasons stats:

The 2009/2010 was my best season so far and here's why!:

3 season passes

77 days

542 runs

7 stitches

1 snowboard camp

1 new board (Which I LOOOOOVE!)

5 new Empyre hoodies

12 different resorts

9 months that I snowboarded in (October 27- June 20)

1 first time I landed a 3!

1 new favorite riding buddy

200 times I listened to "Don't Cry Out" by Shiny Toy Guns

98 times I listened to "Personal Jesus by Marilyn Manson (I learned how to ride to this song)

Here's how ridiculous my "snowboarding addiction" is:

$3,238 in lift tickets and passes

$2,193 cost of gas to get up all these mountains

$5.97 per RUN (that figure always rocks my little world)

9,040 miles driven just to go ride

36 tanks of gas

$200 cost of x ray

$1,700 cost of new brakes because I refused to downshift when coming down the canyons

$1,300 cost of new tires from going up and down the canyon everyday

$5,431 cost of passes and gas

These figures don't include the costs of all these fun little items associated with riding:

Wax sticks, edgers, cans of rockstar, powdered sugar donuts, Rumplemintz, PBR, 7-11 turkey sandwiches, smart wool socks, peppers, gum, peanut butter sandwiches, McDonalds chicken mcnuggets and apple pies, oil changes, new sets of car keys, new beanies, new pants, new bindings, shin guards, knee guards, helmet, Peeps pass, waterproof case for iphone, Patron, tylenol for black and blue butt (riding switch), new grenade gloves, beacon and wench straps.

I think that the whole summer I was a little bit "off" because I wasn't riding. Well, winter has come and I am READY TO RIDE!!!!!

School Nerd so I Can Be a Bird Nerd

As usual, Biff, and especially Axel, have been helping me with my homework and writing papers. Axel knows how to read, but Biff just lays across the desk, purring, offering moral support. It's getting down to the wire with the end of the semester thankfully looming. My main motivation is snow, however. Brighton is planning on opening on November 10th so my goal is to have all my research papers written and Arabic homework up to date so that when the chairs start moving, I'll be on one!

So, if anyone has any thoughts on rentierism regarding Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Kuwait, or on how oil thwarts democracy, or the economic prowess of Egypt between 1840-1914 or the influence that Islamic fundamentalist leaders like Hasan al Bana had on the formation of Hamas and its subsequent role as a terrorist organization and state provider, or how to conjugate Arabic adjectives into the future tense.....feel free to share!

Live, Love, LAUGH!

I am so lucky to have a LIFE that I love, people I LOVE and lots of characters to make me LAUGH! So to all of you jokesters in my life...

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU MAKE ME LAUGH!!!

I had to come back on here and post some of the funny things I'm currently laughing about:

• "I'm warning you...my house smells like a poop stick"
• "Just between us girls" (And it's a hot guy saying this :)
• "You so handsome" from a crazy Asian woman to her cute neighbor
• "Can I drive on the lawn when I drop you off? I did it to your best friend, I'll do it here"
• "He farted in front of our customer!"
• Spjute driving a mini van
• Crazy drunk women putting me in a head lock and then licking my face
• Ass punching a girl at work, with full softball style wind up
• "Who puked? Who F**king puked!!!!?"
• Telling your hot boss you'll be gone from work because of a breast reduction
• Sleeping in a bar and almost getting ketchup in my mouth
• "Why fart and waste it when you can burp and taste it?"
• "I'm wearing my visor". "Well I guess you won't be picking up a man, then"
• "Nutrients"

P.S. As I'm sitting here, I of course have tears running down my face and snorts that come intermittently. I'm so lucky that my peeps are funny!

It's Still Fall.....

I LOVE fall and I LOVE taking pictures in the fall. I drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon yesterday to look at all the pretty trees....and to verify that there still isn't snow grazing the half pipe that I want to ride... I drove over Guardsman's Pass and down into Midway. If I could access the Bird from Midway/ Heber via heli or snowmobile, I would totally live over there. I spent a lot of time there this summer and really like that side of the Wasatch.

Seeing Brother, Skippy, Squirrel...and Austin :)

Another wonderful Seymour Family vacation to California to see Allen...and Austin Pettis A.K.A #2. We started the weekend off with a walking wine tour of San Francisco. Allen had a White Zinfandel and loved it. (My favorite part of the wine tour was him enjoying his White Zin) From there we went on a tour of Alcatraz at night! I thought it would be scary, but it wasn't. The cells were so small. The "hole" was huge as well as the medical cells. Al Capone was there for 6 years for tax evasion. So, as much as I HATE giving money to Obama for him to waste on socialist policies, I would really hate to end up in jail for that!

The next day was the BIG day!!! Bronco Nation represented well at the San Jose stadium where we beat them 48-0. We covered the spread before the first half was over. I met my new favorite Bronco Nation Boisean....his name is Super Fan! He was leading the cheers in the Boise section the whole game. Skippy and I have been really wanting to start a grassroots revolution to implement a new cheer. Spread the word, it's the up and coming new Boise cheer. Instead of yelling Boise!....State!... we are now going to call and respond to BRONCO......NATION!!!! I went over and sat next to "Super Fan" and discussed my thoughts on the new cheer. He loved my idea and did it right away! He gave me props for the whole thing, we cheered and waved to each other the whole game and I think we might be onto something. I am anxiously awaiting the day that I return to Boise to hear my new cheer in action...with the WHOLE stadium involved!

The next day it was raining, but Squirrel came prepared with ponchos for the fam so we could watch the San Francisco 49's beat the Oakland Raiders! It was the first time any of us had been to a pro football game and it was so fun! The beer was good, the fans were intense, the game was pretty far below but it was really fun to watch!

After the game we went into San Fran to eat and watch the Giants lose to the Phillies. I was in a bar, drinking a beer, and somehow....I fell asleep. Unfortunately, this was caught on camera and I will never live it down I am sure. "The documenter" also took a picture of me sleeping on the plane the next morning too.....I think it is just a good indication of what a FUN time we had!!!

So Skip, thanks for all the tickets....Jimmy, thanks for letting me crash in the poop stick.....Squirrel, thanks for the vino and good food! Always a fun time with the fam! I love you!!!

Enjoying Fall While We Wait For Snow

Grammie texted us the other day telling us that she was riding her bike on the greenbelt and that it was a beautiful day up in Boise. I had already been up looking at a good place to hike, but surrendered to my headache and went back to bed. Grammie telling us that she was out enjoying the Indian Summer was enough to get me out of bed, grab the baby girl and head out on a hike.

We asked our neighbor Larry about where we should go. I had wanted to go to Park City, American Fork or the Provo Canyon, but since it was so late in the day, he suggested we go to City Creek, right behind the Capitol. We were there in about 7 minutes and enjoying the warm sun and turning leaves. If this Fall wouldn't have been so warm, the leaves would have been so pretty on our hike, but instead most of them were brown and shriveled up. But, it was still so pretty! Mischa was on the lookout for rattlesnakes, but she didn't find any, thank goodness. I've seen some in that area before and I was not in the mood to either suck venom out of her butt or pull her out of a snakes mouth

The view from the top was great. It was a little hazy, but we had a perfect view of the whole Wasatch Front, Kennecott, the Salt Lake valley and The Great Salt Lake. We sat up there for about 45 minutes enjoying the view and snuggling.

There are lots of different trails that go up the little canyon and according to some locals, it's a great place for snowshoeing. So, bring the snow! (He he, I had to incorporate snow in here somehow!)

Good Bye Summer- Hello Winter!

Within the course of 24 hours- this was the difference in Utah weather. Yesterday I was in my bikini and I took the baby girl to Deer Creek for one last spin around the the lake. Today, it is snowing at the Dirty Bird. A sight for sore eyes! The last time I rode was 3 months and two weeks ago and now I am ready to hike this B! Good thing I have a new beacon, a new shovel, and a new probe. Still need new boots, but that won't stop me from strapping on my headlamp and thundering up that mountain!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!! SO EXCITED FOR WINTER!!!!

Fans Running Amok!

Skippy actually had this great idea! She got all dirty loading up our bikes for GAME DAY on ESPN and she drove us down to the greenbelt where we rode from the river take out point to the stadium to watch Erin Andrews on ESPN and to cheer with 20,000 of the Bronco Nation fans! (Did I mention that this all occurred at 5:30 A.M.? And it was 11 hours before kickoff and I was wearing a skirt? And it was cold? And dark?) It was AWESOME!!!

At 8:00 a.m., just as the sun was coming up over the Eastern bleachers of the stadium, Skippy and I took off on our bikes and rode down to the Capitol where we lined up with about 20,000 women for the Celebration Fitness Walk, Run and Stroll. I felt like I was running the Capitol Classic again! It was lots of fun and we saw Spjute on our way down Americana! I liked Tuxedo Row- men giving out high fives in tuxedos and the highlight was seeing Don Day! HA!

Hi.....#2.....I liked your somersault into the end zone in Wyoming...even if it did get you a personal foul and benched...hi... I'll be wearing your jersey in San Jo... see you there!

"How do you get your fans to do that?" other teams always wonder how Boise can be so organized and wear the right color for the section they're in. I love it!!!

We had so much fun at the game! My boy, Pettis, #2 had one touchdown (sans the somersault) and a 6 yard TD pass (Which was crazy!) We beat the Beavers 37-24 and it was such an exciting game! We had lots of opportunities to yell "First Down!" and to see Cecil the dog run out onto the field and retrieve the tee.

So thanks Squirrel for the ticket! I think I represented the Bronco Nation well! It was a whirlwind day for me and Skippy but we had so much fun! I want to do it again!