on bicycles and leaving

Not so long ago, leaving Denver wouldn't really have meant all that much because I didn't really have any connections at all, I was just floating on by studying and doing my own thing.  Now though, I actually have an amazing friend that I hang out with every day and bike with and work out with and drink mimosas with and commiserate with!  And now I am sad!!  I know I get to move to a city that has built in friends, and will spend the next two years with a family of sorts as 50 of us students struggle side by side to learn medicine, and that is going to be awesome in its own way.  I am just remembering how incredibly heart breaking it was to leave Minneapolis just a few years ago.  Eric, Pigeon, and I drove down the highway while tears just streamed out of my eyes for miles and miles.  IT WAS SO HARD.  I know this time is different in a million ways, but this time will be hard too I think in ways that I haven't yet considered.  BUT luckily I am bringing my best friend with me on this adventure, and our two ridiculous dogs are great for comforting even if all four of us will be smooshed in the cab of a u-haul for hours on end!  I think perhaps most big changes must be mourned and then let go so that the memories can live on however they will.  In any case, this is a sappy post and I am okay with that.

Now I will tell you that my friend Renae is raising money (soon) for a ride she is doing in August.  She is biking her first century (100 miles) in the Rockies no less for the Tour de Cure raising money for diabetes research!  Once she gets a donation site up I will plaster it up here and ask you all to support her, but for now you are off the hook.  We have been training together, and it has been so nice to ride my old training routes and do them with someone else!  I didn't realize how lonesome my training was when I was by myself!  In any case, Renae and I got out on Saturday for a 35 mile ride in 78 degree weather along Clear Creek and it was absolutely lovely.  She didn't even mind when I kept making her stop so I could take pictures, even when one of the was mid-climb..  Hope you all are having as beautiful weather as we are!

I think I can..

..I think I can, I think I can be a morning...exerciser? Ohhh the pure, amazing goodness of not having to go to the gym after both work and school. IT IS AWESOME. Seriously so, so, nice. Unfortunately the trade off is getting up at the crack and biking before work. Let's make this clear for those of you who haven't had the joy of experiencing such things, I am NOT an early riser, or a spring out of bedder, or a peppy 7 AMer. I've been drowsily spanking on my spandex, slogging over to the gym and clipping in to bike 14 miles every day for the past week and, although it does feel great once all of the steps in this process have occured, why oh why is it so hard to get up in the first place?! The neighborhood moms laughed directly in my face when I moaned about the alarm at 7:15 (I bet Kathy doesn't have too much sympathy for me either...Oscar, I'm looking at you!) but I loooove sleep AND I don't have kids...I just, apparently, have morning biking.

In other news of things in my life that are sorting themselves out, it turns out Colorado has some ridiculous rules (laws) in the way of cars that I never even thought about while living in Minnesota. The most pressing issue, which I was warned about, is parking. Oh parking, never have you been more frustrating! I live on capitol hill which is about as close to downtown Denver as you can get without living on the mall. This leads to a parking conundrum every. single. day. (and night!) If you are lucky and get home right before the evening hours you can usually find a spot relatively close (we're talking within two blocks). If you are unlucky, or simply return home from work at any time other then dusk, you have no choice but to circle around with all the other unluckys and hope something miraculous happens. Yes I just referred to getting a parking spot as being "miraculous". If you are one of the unluckys and also happen to be in a lesser known minority of parkers who don't have a parking permit yet, you my friend, get the added joy of moving your car every two hours (constant vigilance) or risk getting a $25 ticket. The meter maid people here drive around in these little jeepy cars and literally have a Ticket Stick, which allows them to slap a big yellow ticket onto your windshield without even getting out of their annoying jeepy little cars. OH THE INDIGNITY!! But, all of this is leading up to the fact that I am no longer in that little wedged between a sharp knife and a giagntic boulder of a minority...I officially have Colorado plates AND a parking permit good until 2014. I may never ever leave, but if I do, I know I will be able to come back here and park for longer than two hours at a time! Yeeehaw.

How about those bad boys, eh??!

back from the dead

PHEW. I've been sick and then sick again, which added up to most of my november just slipping by my window while I barely even got the energy to go outside. Luckily the view from my window was pretty, alternating between snowfall and glorious sun. Yesterday was 8 degrees and today is a nice 35. A girl could get used to this place! Since returning to real life I've been battling with the Colorado DMV, getting out for quick bike rides, and teaching the little one how to sit up and eat solids. In the midst of all this, two of my favorite friends came to celebrate the holiday with me and celebrate we did! I've got pictures to show off, but an internet connection that is tenuous at best and loading anything tends to push it off the edge. Next time. December already feels as though is is going by so fast, which is too bad because it is one of my favorite months of all! I got the Christmas lights my parents thoughtfully snuck into my apartment up in a desperate fit of energy, but my concrete box doesn't take to tape very well and they were down in about an hour. I've been searching for a christmas station on the radio becuase I'm a sucker for the traditionals and it always feels much more enchanting to hear them pop up unexpectedly on the radio waves as opposed to blandly on an itunes mix. I've got tickets home for my birthday and a lot of family fun to anticipate, parties and friends to hug. It's the first year I can ever remember not spending with my Grandma, even the year I was born, so it will be a change for all of us I think. I am so fortunate to have such an amazing, supportive family..is this turning into a belated Thanksgiving post? In any case, I just wanted to reassure you that I'm still alive out here in this mountainous desert that I have love-hatingly been calling home for just about three months now. It seems life is just stressful sometimes no matter where you are, but for now I am very glad I am here.

a patch of pumpkins

It was a gorgeous pumpkin patch day, with the mountains right next to us, but I couldn't get a picture cause the sun was setting right behind them.

1.
My lopsided beauty.

2.
The bountiful spread.

3.
Jeremy claimed his method of determination involved standing on them to see if they could hold his weight..

4.
JP, loading up the wagon.

5.
Trusty stead?

6.
We only had room for three.

7.
Menfolk.

8.
All carved up.

to the top!

I finally made it to Estes, on a gorgeous sunny day no less! We left Denver after yoga where it was 80 degrees and sunshine-y and pleasantly breezy. Strapped on my back were sandwiches, tootsie roll pops and some box wine for good measure. We blew through Boulder and stopped for a coffee in Estes, sneaking into the Mcdonald's to swipe some mayonnaise (take that establishment!). We took the requisite sign photo after snapping dozens for tourists in matching t-shirts:






We rode into Rocky Mountain National Park and tooled up the mountain taking in amazing views, trees starting to change their colors for fall, snow tipped peaks and even some Elk! I tried to take a picture from the motorcycle, but it maybe wasn't the brightest idea and I settled for shots while stationary.






At the top is was cold but gorgeous! JP made a few snowballs while I steered clear of the cold as best I could. Minnesota winter is just not a distant enough memory for me to be able to relish the idea of more snow just yet..














We had a picnic at the top which was delicious and not just because the altitude made a sip of wine feel like a bottle..




...and our trusty stead. Mmmm it was a great, great afternoon. The ride down was hurried partially because I was wearing girl shoes without socks and partially because we had dinner plans at my cousin's house that we were late for while still on the mountain.. we honked people out of our way when they paused to take in the magnificent elk that came right up to the road, choosing instead to view them at full speed with a nod of acknowledgment from my backseat perch.

rough around the edges, or how I settle in..

Here we have my closet; with ample storage, a lack of clothes (I don't know why I didn't think they wore clothes in Denver), and just enough red galoshes for all this rain we've been having!

My last bathroom was stripes so it had to be polka dots this time around..

First things first, Grandma's painting found a home, and of course my helmet came with me!

Here's my little kitchen, Pigeon's room with a view.

My tiny cot, banished to the corner. It is exactly as small as it looks.

In sum, after two days in the ol' homestead I am content to be living alone for the first time ever. I had First Apartment Coffee this morning and watched the rain from my window while I caught up with friends. Things are unpacked for the most part and even though it's a small place it's quite bare! My sights are set on a futon, a bookshelf, and some tables to round it out a bit. Rest assured that by the time I've got my first out of town visitors there will be places to sit! I'm sure the cot will suffice as a perfect guest bed, so don't worry about lodging..

a resting place, for now

I've been searching for an apartment all week, I know it's pathetic I haven't already secured a job, a home and a gaggle of friends after three days on the trail, but the pieces are at least starting to come together! Maybe the pieces are just starting to be formed into recognizable pieces, but either way it's good so far.

I've seen some dirty carpet dumps, a kitchen that was literally a closet (a small closet) that was accessible only if you stood at the doorway and leaned in with some stretch-armstrong like arms, exposed brick walls, mini fridges, a closet that was partially taken up by the back of the fridge and one special one with the sink detached from the wall.. Gritting my teeth and plodding forward I've finally found a sweet little studio on Poet's Row in Capitol Hill. It's got arched doorways, hardwood floors and lots of sunlight. My application is pending, so cross your fingers I get accepted and can post some pictures! They are always taken aback when in response to the question "When do you want to move in?" I say "Well my car is full and right outside..! (grin grin, but seriously)".

In other life-moving-forward news I've gotten my first interview for a job! Very exciting as my rent will potentially be much steeper than the steals I've occupied in Seward these past few years.. It's a nanny position for a four month old, flexible twenty-hours a week and hopefully no fluffly dander-y cats to stand in my way of an income! Goodbye restaurants, hello snotty noses and stinky diapers! There's nothing quite like having a degree to open up new and exciting career paths...!

I have also (re)realized my love of motorcycles, the open road and mountain sunsets. All great things by themselves, but combined they make quite a lovely collection. This weekend takes me to Estes Park for a meandering mountain winding excursion, the perfect thing to relax after this demandingly hard work week.