What HAVEN'T I been doing??

Now that spring is upon us, I thought I'd jump back into the blog writing and see if I can't catch you up to speed on the goings-on in my life, once again. As I sat down to write, I asked myself, "What have I been doing?" My first response... "What haven't I been doing lately?".... (hang with me, this is going to be a long post...)

Cross country skiing has become a staple in my winter activities menu. I love going out on a trail and gliding across the snow instead of trudging through in boots. And you get a fantastic workout without even really realizing it. AND you can get a little sun on the cheeks (don't worry, Mom, I wear my SPF 615). I plan on purchasing a xc get-up in the near future.

I learned to snowboard. Officially. I'm an official snowboarder. I can make it all the way down the mountain with total ease. Ok, I still fall of course, but I'm finally comfortable and can make nice turns and I don't get scared switching from heelside to toeside. So that's pretty awesome to me.

Hiking Big Mountain is now my workout of choice. There were recently some restrictions placed on uphill travel (hiking, snowshoeing, skinning) up the Big, so instead of having all access, those who don't want to ride the lift can only go up a designated route and have from 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM to do so. So on the last night before the restrictions went into effect, Ben, Kyle and I put on our snowboard boots, strapped our snowboards to our packs and started up at sunset. It was a perfectly clear night, and as we reached the last crest the moon was staring right in our faces. It was like a huge spotlight on the trail and probably one of the coolest moments since being here. We celebrated with a Kokanee tallboy toast, and then boarded down with the moon lighting the way. Since then, I've hiked up twice during the day, and have plans to do so every week until mountain bike season starts up. You just can't get much better of a workout than walking straight up the side of a mountain for an hour...

Also to be added to the wishlist: backcountry set-up. Skins, AT bindings, avalanche beacon, probe and shovel. I spent a weekend at Ninko Cabin, one of the forest service cabins available for rent in the winter, for Scott's wife Erica's birthday with some friends. Again, another fantastic workout, skinning up the side of a mountain and skiing back down. We had such beautiful bluebird weather that we were in tank tops by the time we reached the summit. An experience I won't forget for a while. Well, I have no choice considering I have the remnants of the blister I got from wearing borrowed ski boots for nearly 3 hours of skinning and then 5 1/2 miles of skating (mostly uphill) out from the cabin the next day on our way home. Did I mention that this cabin is 13 miles in from the road, 3 miles of which I mistakenly drove and managed to get stuck in a ditch which took 3 hours, 3 shovels, 2 stuck cars and 2 times being pulled out by a chain? Yeah, that happened too....

But alas, spring has sprung and the snow is melting away and it's time to start thinking about Thursday Night Race League and getting my hike list in order and breaking in my backpack and all that good stuff that comes with warm, sunny weather. It's been fun, first winter in Montana, but I'm not gonna lie, I can't wait for summer again!

Something new for the new year

I may have a new tradition, though I imagine it's something people have been doing all along without me realizing it.... and that tradition is doing something new on New Year's.

What inspired me, you ask? Well, this year I went cross-country skiing on New Year's Eve for the first time. It was fantastic. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to catch on, but once I got the rhythm part figured out it was so - much - fun. Ben, his friend Sarah, and her friend Cody all skied through town (we got a bunch of snow so all the roads and sidewalks were covered) to the golf course, then through the golf course on to Grouse Mountain Lodge to listed to a funk band and mingle with some friends who were there. We managed to get the fire pit outside to ourselves just in time to pop open our champagne bottle for a midnight toast. I couldn't have asked for a better time, though my legs and arms were awfully sore the next day after skiing for about 5 hours... I think one of the best parts was that I managed to score a couple of full-body ski suits from the 80's in one of the local thrift stores, and Ben and I wore them out. They kept us warm, but man we got some looks! It was classic.

So anyway, I had so much fun this year that I decided I want to try to do something completely new every year. The whole going out to a bar and waiting until the clock strikes 12 is not really my idea of an awesome way to celebrate, so I'm going to try to find something different to make it interesting from here on out.

Happy 2010!

Mountain-top islands

Man, I could really get used to this skiing every day thing. Having a 3 day weekend for 2 weeks in a row is going to spoil the heck out of me!

Today and yesterday I spent a few hours up the mountain putting in some runs. I must say, I've already seen a pretty significant improvement in my skiing ability, even if it's just a result of being more comfortable with the runs after going down them a few times. But the stuff that I would have turned a timid eye to before is looking more appetizing now. Pretty cool stuff! And I'm glad I invested in a helmet cause I'm gonna need it with the sort of skiing I'm starting to explore (you all know how clumsy I can be, and we don't need me to go bonking my noggin on any tree trunks...)

Yesterday and today I got to see what an inversion is. If you're not familiar, it's when the clouds are low and it's clear at the top of the mountain. It's pretty crazy because in town it looks completely socked in, but you get to the top and it's clear as a bell, sunny, and you can see for miles. The clouds below look like an ocean, and only the peaks of other mountains are visible, so they look like islands. Really neat to see in person, but I'll give you a peek at what it looked like yesterday and today.

No electricity? No indoor plumbing? Yes please!

If you've heard me talk about Montana, I'm sure you've heard me mention a tiny town called Polebridge. This is a gem of a town, nestled near Glacier Park, complete with a Mercantile, and bar and restaurant, and a handful of cabins. There's not really much more to it, and it's a great place to get away and live a little primitively for a change.

A couple of weekends ago, I headed out to a friend's cabin with Kyle (see previous post if you don't know who I'm talking about) and we spent the weekend just enjoying each other's company out in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely fantastic! I couldn't have asked for a better couple of days. We played guitar (which means he attempted to teach me a couple of songs, and I somewhat caught on), cooked on a wood stove, walked in the snow, played cards, and got to know each other a little better. I can't wait to go up there again. I love that sort of thing, and luckily he did, too.

The weather was kinda weird; it rained, then snowed, then rained, then snowed..... but inside the fire was crackling and the wine was flowing, so it didn't matter! Definitely have to go back and take some snow shoes or cross-country skis and explore the area a bit.

I brought my camera and actually managed to snap a few photos, so take a look if you please!

Polebridge

Happy birthday to moi!

Another year has passed, and now I am one year older. Obviously...

I had an awesome birthday this time around. My friend Kyle came back to Whitefish to visit and happened to have the hook-up to rent out this awesome condo above the sushi restaurant he works at. I had some friends over and he played his guitar for a little impromptu concert before heading out for some fun downtown. It was snowy and in the middle of the week, but there were enough good friends there to make it a great night!

I put up the photos on Picasa, so click on the album below to see them.

Birthday Party

Also, a big thank you to those who wished me a happy birthday! It's always good to hear from people from home and away.

Frozen tootsies

Went skiing today! Wahoo!

The mountain opened for the season this weekend, so today Allie and I made our way up to the summit. Talk about arctic chill....It was a frigid 7 degrees at the base, and the wind at the top made it feel about 50 below. We made it down 2 runs and had to call it a day. The hot cocoa with Bailey's sounded like a much better choice than going back up, considering our fog-free goggles managed to get covered in frost.... We spent about 10 minutes writhing in agony trying to thaw out our toes. Felt like an elephant was standing on my feet! They tell me that this is not the typical cold, so I'm hoping they aren't lying to me, cause I don't know how many days I can do that to myself!

I'm super pumped about this season though -- the little bit of the mountain I skied was fun, despite the bone-chilling wind and hard-packed ice/snow that we encountered. I'm also starting to recognize more faces, which makes it even better. I'm a freakin' local now -- how cool is that?!

I was going to attempt to take a few pics of the spectacular view with my phone's camera but there was no way I was stopping to take a glove off. Good thing there are plenty more days left in the season. No need to rush these things. Going back out Tuesday if my skis are back from the shop. They were feeling a little rough today so we'll see how they do with a good tune and wax. I'll keep ya posted!

Hey Hey It's Turkey Day!

Okay, so T-Day was yesterday, but I was too busy stuffing myself full of goodness (physically and spiritually) to actually post something on here.

I gathered with friends this year instead of family, and I must say I had a blast. I've made some great friends since I've lived here and was so thankful that I was able to spend this holiday with them. It's a little hard not having family around at these times so I'm glad I have people in my life right now that make me feel right at home.

We made a ginormous turkey which took 2 more hours than expected to cook so we ate pretty late (8:00 instead of 6:00) but we had so much fun playing games and enjoying each other's company that it didn't matter! (The never-ending flow of wine kinda helped, too...) And by the time we were all done eating we were ready to go home and go to sleep so it was just about perfect. My roasted brussels sprouts and homemade cranberry sauce were a hit, and everyone pitched in with great dishes, complete with 3 different pies. So I will be going back over to Allie's (the hostess) tonight for a second round of leftovers, mmm mmm!

I will say that yesterday really made me realize how well I've got it right now. Of course life isn't perfect and there are always things that I could complain about or wish for, and it's so easy to get caught up in all of that, but all in all my life ain't that bad. I am in a really good place with great people surrounding me and I just feel so blessed to be where I am in the grand scheme of things. It makes it easier to forget the petty things and enjoy just being happy.

:)