Photo Blitz!

I have found the world's greatest time suck. Readers, I present to you: pinterest.com.

It's like an online bulletin board: as a member, you can "pin" the pretty things you find online to your board in whatever category or order you like, and the site displays your finds altogether. I'm not doing it justice, but trust me, it's wonderful. I'm so anxiously awaiting my invite (because they don't have enough bandwidth to support as many memberships as, like, Facebook - I am literally on a waiting list for a membership).

Anyhow, I sat in the back of History of Christianity II on Tuesday with my dear friend CK, both of us listening to our professor and blissfully clicking through the "best of" board. It was parallel play at its finest. I saved my favorites to repost here.

(File this post under "sometimes you just want to write about things that aren't very important.")

I will argue it until I'm blue in the face: our president is absolutely remarkable. I love this.

So fun! I would make popsicles every day with these molds!

I don't know whether I like this photo because of the instructions or because of her striking coloring - what great red hair!

Everyone needs a teddy.

Cute.

I think I might make some of these wings out of felt and sew them onto my running shoes.

I LOVE this because the little one looks just like a kiddo I babysit - so sweet!

Pretty.

It doesn't hurt to admit it.

Such a great new take on the family photo

I hope this catches on

I'm going to print this and frame it and hang it in our apartment. It's my motto and it's SO true.

Ah! I want! What a fantastic piece of furniture!

I'm glad.

This is too cute to be true

I think we should do this - it's a nice use of space, and goodness knows we have enough books

I actually made this for lunch today after my run and it was AMAZING: apple slices with peanut butter, granola and chocolate chips. It covers four of my food groups (fruit, nuts, carbs and chocolate chips) and it's delicious!

*

I'll close today with the video for my current favorite song, "Airplanes" by Local Natives. When I showed AJS, he said, "Yep, that's a Kelsey song." As you listen, keep in mind that it's a tribute to the keyboardist's late grandfather. (His name is Kelcey!)

"But I feel like I'm on the surface of the sun!!"

Tourist season is upon us again here in the Valley. We (my roommates, friends, the people with whom I ride the bus) are back to the busy schedule - working 7 days a week (and many of those are double shifts); fielding questions from people who stop us in the street (something about us must scream "SHE LIVES HERE"); hoarding Emergen-C (in the hopes of warding off inevitable colds); hardly sleeping at all. Restaurants have waits. City Market is out of things. The people-watching is out of control.
A friend of mine in college, JKM, spent his summers in Pagosa Springs as a raft guide and waiter at the local steakhouse. He used to joke about having to paddle fat tourists down the river, and then turn around and serve them huge steaks at night...thus shooting himself in the foot. I think my winter is sort of similar, except in reverse: I get to ski with kids all day and then turn around and babysit them at night. If I've done my first job well enough - and the kids are sufficiently wiped out from skiing - then my second one is a breeze.
This week we had a BILLION kids at the Treehouse. My friend IY is just like Mitch Hedberg, except still alive and with Cuban heritage. Together we taught 24 never-evers on Sunday, and it was awesome - we had that magic carpet running like an assembly line. I had to be at the Ute on Monday, but I had many of the same kids again Tuesday-Thursday, and they were a) well-behaved, b) really good skiers (I had them at Level 4+ by the time I was done on Thursday), and c) pretty funny. One of them fed me the line that is the title of this post. I'd forgotten how much FUN it is to teach skiing to these kids.
*
My bracket doesn't totally suck this year. Of course I'd picked Nova and Notre Dame to both go into the 3rd round, and NO one saw Murray State coming, but otherwise I'm faring much better than I have in recent years. I have Syracuse taking it all in one bracket - which is probably not going to happen - and Kentucky in the other. (I hate everything about Kansas.)
*

So long story short: I had to chip all the ice off the sidewalks in front of the Ute today, and I was thrilled about it. It occurred to me - whilst I was chipping away - that there exists at the Ute an air of non-machismo amongst my coworkers. I work with all dudes (there's one other girl, KH, but we work exactly opposite schedules, so she doesn't count), and there is no question that they see me as an equal. They put me through the ringer. Outpost was an amazing place to work, but it was deeply sexist: in 6 years there, I never had the chance to sell a pair of skis, and I never took out the trash, and none of the male employees there had to input the information from a rental form in the computer database. The Ute is special. I can't play the girl card. I think that's how it should be everywhere.

*

My roommate AB's Argentine boyfriend left today. I'm heartbroken, both for her and for me. He's a good egg, and they were a good match, and I liked hanging out with him and I liked who she was when he was around. I know she's going to be hurting in the next few weeks, and I don't like to see her sad. I also don't like to think about the fact that I'll probably never see him again. It's a big world - one in which we all move around a lot - and although I plan on living well into my 10th decade, I suppose it's fair to assume our paths won't cross again. My path also won't cross with my dear friend GC, the South African lifty from last season with whom I spent a ton of time, and with whom I still talk. I guess this speech is a way of saying: I'm thankful that God put these people in my life, and I'm wicked thankful for Facebook.

*

My coworker and friend CM is funny. We work at the Ute on the same days, and he has a job in Snowmass the same days that I'm there, so we end up with a lot of face time, which means: we're so comfortable with each other that we act like siblings. Another guy at the Ute calls us the Twins. We get along well...most of the time. CM thinks I'm "crazy" (his word - he means "eccentric," not "unstable"), and he's crafting a list of reasons why: I'm a germaphobe; I love statistics; I say things he finds ridiculous. Anyway, he wears his shoes a full TWO AND A HALF SIZES too small, so really, he can't throw stones. But as we were having a conversation about this the other day, he said this, and I found it funny enough to write down: "It feels so much more...aggressive. Agile. You think ninjas wear their shoes a size bigger?!"

*
I always pray when I wake up in the morning. Lately it's been mostly: "Thank you for loving me even though I'm such a screwup. Please help me to not suck so much today, and to love other people as much as you love me."
*
Katie gets home today! She's been in Scotland for 11 days for a school spring break trip, and I am absolutely losing my mind without her. It's almost embarrassing how often I've texted/FBed her even though I know she can't respond and won't get any of my messages until she's back on American soil. On a typical day, we talk about every two and a half hours, MAX. I can't cope right now.
*

A woman was in the Ute the other day, and she caught me texting (my mom of all people) from behind the counter. She told me this story: she's an administrator at a high school in Texas. There are 2300 students at her school. They have a no-texting policy in place, and they charge $15/infraction when kids are caught breaking the rule. So far this year - just since September, mind you - the school has collected $7,000 in fines!!! I asked her what they used the money for, and she said, "Oh, it goes toward the greater good." She told me that they host a big luncheon for all the teachers at the end of the year. I think that's awesome.
*
Chaco makes dog leashes now! I mean, why wouldn't they? That's two of my favorite things in one - yellow labs and quality webbing.
*
So my friend ES works at the Nastar race course at Snowmass. There are big shacks at the top and bottom of the course, and they're heated, so he keeps his ski boots there overnight. He told me this story: The other day, at the start of his shift, he put his ski boots on. One boot felt weird, so he tried to ignore it, but after a moment he somehow came to the conclusion that there was a MOUSE in his boot! He called a couple of kids over to him - they were in ski school and about to race - and said, "Watch this!" and took his boot off and dumped it over. All three of them watched a terrified little mouse go sprinting across the snow toward the trees. :)

*
Happy Vernal Equinox!

I don't feel the need to explain my art to you, Warren

I am such a crabass tonight...but there are a bunch of things I forgot to say last night, so I'm gonna check the bad attitude for a bit and just write.

*
This is by far this week's best PostSecret:
*
I love the results that show up when you Google my name. (Can I say that without sounding like a total narcissist? It's my blog...I guess I can say whatever I want.) It's an accurate, relatively concise portrayal of my online life. Twitter, Facebook, and this blog are there; so are my race results (everything from running to uphill races to erg sprints at CU), the CSU Biochemistry Department, and the activity of my friends. I'm not embarrassed by any of it.
*
Last night Courto and I had one of those only-because-we're-sisters moments, just posting and reposting the lines from one of our favorite movies on her Facebook wall. I miss her. I really hope she gets to come visit me next week.
*
Wednesday afternoon, it was so nice outside that I let my Capilene dry in the sunshine on my porch:
It looked cooler in person.
*
My propensity to buy an artist's music correlates directly with what kind of person I perceive him or her to be. Like, I want John Mayer's new album SO badly, but he has turned into such an awful individual that I won't spend money on it. Instead, KD is burning it for me. Barefoot Truth, on the other hand - and/or the Avett Brothers - are totally worth the money. Why support someone's lack of character?
*
Quentin Tarantino is a freakin' weirdo.
*
This bottle of wine was amazing:
I think all pinot noirs are good, but this one was ridiculous.
*
I'm beginning to love Anne Lamott the way I loved Orlando Bloom back when I was in high school, except in a non-crush sort of way, which is to say: I loooove her. I love the things she says and the things she's involved in and the way she writes and talks. I don't love her dreadlocks, but I think it's sort of rad that she has them. Oh, her writing... I would give anything to write the way she does, and to have the insights she shares. Par example, from Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith:

"But I prayed: Help me. And then I drove to the market in silence, to buy my birthday dinner.
I flirted with everyone in sight, especially the old people, and I lightened up. When the checker finished ringing up my items, she looked at my receipt and cried, "Hey! You've won a ham!"
I felt blindsighted by the news. I had asked for help, not a ham. This was very disturbing. What on earth was I going to do with ten pounds of salty pink eraser? I rarely eat it. It makes you bloat.
"Wow," I said. The checker was so excited about giving it to me that I pretended I was, too.
How great!
A bagger was dispatched to the back of the store to fetch my ham. I stood waiting anxiously. I wanted to go home, so I could start caring for suffering people, or turn on CNN. I almost suggested that the checker award the ham to the next family who paid with food stamps. But for some reason, I waited. If God was giving me a ham, I'd be crazy not to receive it. Maybe it was the ham of God, who takes away the sins of the world."
She keeps going with the story from there, but the 'ham of God' made me laugh so hard that I had to call Mom and tell her about it, except I was so giggly that she couldn't understand the message I left on her voicemail.
Also:
"Grace means you're in a different universe from where you had been stuck, when you had absolutely no way to get there on your own."
Also:
"At times like these, I believe, Jesus rolls up his sleeves, smiles roguishly, and thinks, 'This is good.' He lets me get nice and crazy, until I can't take my own thinking and solutions for one more moment. The next morning, I got on my knees and prayed, 'Please, please help me. Please let me feel You while I adjust to not getting what I was hoping for.' And then I remembered Rule 1: When all else fails, follow instructions. And Rule 2: Don't be an asshole."

This is why I love her: she is at once so full of grace, and so screwed up and relatable. She loves the same God I do, and for most of the same reasons, and we can both be pretty pissed off that God seems to stand by while bad things happen but also understand that there is SO MUCH we don't understand. When I started reading her stories, I felt like: 'YES, I'm not the only one.' Part of why I'm so excited to start seminary is to meet other people like Annie.

Pretirement

I never thought it would take me until the middle of July to pen an update, but, well, here we are, and here goes...

*
The off season was so phenomenal. (Actually, almost everything I've experienced in the last several months has been "phenomenal," so prepare yourself to hear that adjective many times in the next several paragraphs.) I'll do my best to make the synopsis concise, as I value your readership and don't want to bore you to death, but three months of intentional adventurous living doesn't lend itself to summary in a few short sentences.

I screwed up my wall pretty badly, but only lost $20 of my damage deposit!

*
April:
It didn't take long to re-remember how to live at Mom and Dad's, and before I knew it the ski season felt totally behind me. I spent most of my days kicking around the house, cleaning up my stuff, running, and trying to earn my keep (picking up Christian in Longmont, mowing the lawn, etc), and most of my evenings with friends. (One really fun night I ran into 19 friends from college in Old Town. Yes, I made a list.) As I was dead broke - and remained dead broke through the beginning of July - I got creative with my time and money, and survived in large part thanks to my parents' generous pledge to not charge me for rent or food. Thanks, guys. :)

Dinner with Mom and Courto

*
May:
The end of April and beginning of May, I drove to South Dakota to spend a few days with Grandma, Grandpa, my aunts/uncles/cousins and a few friends who live in Rapid. Beth was confirmed on Sunday, but I wanted a little extra time with the family all by myself. It was such a great trip - I played cards with Grandma until the middle of the night, had lunch with Tom two days in a row, got to see both Beth and Tom perform, had coffee with Wanda (she's close enough to family to get her name mentioned instead of just her initials), went for a long run with Rando, and helped Karen and Grandma cook dinner for 400+ people at church.
I worked at camp for three weeks with AJS, GW, CM and two new girls (whom I totally loved - camp is in good hands this summer!). Aside from being wholly necessary to keep me busy and provide a teensy bit of spending money, it was refreshing and healthy and fun to be back at camp. I was so thankful to get to catch up with AJS, breathe some fresh air, have regular Bible studies and teach some punk little private school third graders.

Making a "Welcome to Sky Ranch!" sign for the kids. As is probably obvious, it didn't turn out so well.

With AP, one of the new girls at camp

CM playing with fire

Three of my favorites from camp - TM, ZW & AW

On the weekends, we celebrated Dad's birthday (53's gonna be a good year for him - that was in the cards a long time ago, as 53 is Rando's old football number), ZH's college graduation (such a hilarious hick party), PS & MS's high school graduation, and then finally Grandma's 80th birthday. That last one will get its own post.
*
June:
I moved up to Snowmass on June 7th to take a job as a hostess at a restaurant, the name of which rhymes with "Schmage." As I'm about to detail, the job ended up being such a terrible experience - and I'm going to deride it so much - that I don't want the actual name listed in my blog in case these negative comments are someday discovered. Anyhow, the position was awful from Day 1. The management was perpetually stressed out (which rubbed off on me in a big way); the hours were terrible; the money was terrible; I had to take my nose ring out; I wasn't allowed to drink coffee before work (HAH, as if they could stop me from that). As I complained about it, RS succinctly put the last nail in the proverbial coffin by saying, "I think you're a little overqualified to lead sheep to their feed." Now I realize that every job is an opportunity, so I found myself a new job and, like a responsible adult, gave my two weeks' notice at the Schmage and worked my BUTT off for two weeks (80+ hours between the two) before my last day a couple of weeks back.
And about the new job: I now work at Aspen's premier outdoor outfitter, the Ute Mountaineer. I cannot be emphatic enough about how much I love this job. The people are fabulous; we sell the COOLEST gear and clothes; I work just over 40 hours in 4 days, so I have 3-day weekends every week; it's located right next to the bus stop, so I don't need to drive to work. It's a lot like working at Outpost, only bigger and much busier. It has already made my summer completely fantastic.
*
July, thus far:
I'm settling in.
Work has only been fun so far, and because I've started to really explore Aspen and the trails surrounding the city, I'm getting more comfortable with giving customers advice on where to go and what to do. A group of people from work are coming with me (I organized it!) hiking La Plata Peak tomorrow, which should be a lot of fun.
My living situation is brilliant. I have three roommates: a) UP, a 51-year-old Peruvian who works in housekeeping at the Ritz-Carlton and brings home bags full of the things her wealthy clients leave behind when they check out of their room; b) JVH, a 31-year-old Chilean who works the childcare program at The Snowmass Club and speaks hardly any English, so we're teaching each other our native languages; and c) ES, a 21-year-old Romanian who works as a waitress at the pool at The Snowmass Club and is sweet as pie. She is perpetually boiling potatoes and is fluent in Spanish, so that is the language we speak in our house. (Guess who's learning?) Our apartment is part of an employee housing complex in Snowmass, so we're surrounded with other people our age. It's like the post-college dorms, and I love it. I'm two floors away from RS, who is yet again my go-to friend in Snowmass, and several other buddies from the winter who are always available to play frisbee or share dinner or hang out on the hammock and listen to the Thursday night concerts. My room is covered in pictures; I'm growing tomatoes on my patio. Really, really, life is good.

Hanging Lake, just outside Glenwood Springs

*
Other Unexpected Sparks from Pretirement:
- Following Amy, Katie, Courto, and Aunt Karen on Twitter
- Remembering how much I love running, and finally getting to run at least 10 miles at a time
- Finding $9 jeans at the Gap
- Being away from Facebook for about two months. It was liberating.
*
Great Quotes from Pretirement:
- "It was like, you could play Snake, or you could call someone. Or you could check what day it was." - EW, on having a cell phone in 10th grade
- "It was kind of...the writing was on the wall, Nebukannezer-style, because we were months behind on our rent." - EW again, on the close of his restaurant in Windsor
- "I know it's ironic, but I'm jealous of that Bible." - Katie, on the Lutheran Bible Beth received for Confirmation
- "He's probably dreaming about where he can't go." - my cousin Rick, on watching his yellow lab, Zeke, stare out at the Black Hills from within the confines of his electric-fenced yard
- "What's that over there? That looks like the thing that Jesus got tortured on." - A third grader from a private school in Fort Collins, on a cross in a worship site at camp
- "There's efficiency, and then there's theft." - AJS, on a teacher from said private school who walked off with another staff member's backpack
- "Gladiator is just a pissing contest with a lot of money." - RT on watching 'Gladiator' on TV at the Stonehouse one night
- "Yes, but you can buy a dog. I can't BUY a baby." - my roommate JVH on which of us wants it more
*
On the docket for the rest of the summer:
- A trip to Cape Cod for Grampy's 80th birthday this Thursday through Tuesday, July 21
- Backpacking east of Independence Pass with Jeff either late July or early August
- Amy, Katie, Courto and my annual Cousin Trip, this time to San Francisco, August 14-18
- A raft/float trip down the Niobrara River in Nebraska sometime late August (I'm still planning this one, and if you're reading this, you're invited - it's gonna be a BLAST)
- KH & SD's wedding in Salt Lake City over Labor Day weekend
*
I'm so glad to be alive.

Ten-second thoughts

I'm going to stop joking that I have cystic fibrosis every time I get a cough, because a three-year-old in my class this morning actually had it and it's not funny.
*
My mom gives the best advice. I wish I had swallowed my pride and asked for it more often when I was growing up. Tonight when I told her my brain was swimming with thoughts, she said, "I had lifeguard training. I can help you swim." She calls me 'grasshoppa,' too.
*
Today my three kids were talking about building a snowman, and one said, "We should build it, then knock it down so we can build another one." My first thought: wow, a four-year-old future developer.
*
"I only date people based on their visa status. J1? Not gonna cut it." - AB
*
Aspen Skiing Company is giving away CFLs under the guise that "you are part of the solution to help slow global warming and SAVE SNOW." The damn things are wrapped in FOUR DECORATIVE BOXES A PIECE. How disgracefully ironic and hypocritical is that?
*
I hate that the fan in my bathroom makes my shower curtain blow in against my legs like some kind of awkward, wet static cling. Blech.
*
I had a dream last night that I was driving my Outback down College Ave on icy roads when a firetruck hit me from behind, making me crash into the car in front of me. I was fine, but my car was wrecked. It was so realistic that I was surprised (and euphoric) upon finding my undamaged car this morning.
*
I'm dipping M&Ms in peanut butter. Is that weird?
*
I have two new nicknames from my friends: CK calls me Captain Scatterbrain, while DR calls me Hoover. Sadly, I think they're both pretty accurate.
*
"There is a story about the Greek Gods. They were bored, so they invented human beings; but they were still bored, so they invented love; then they weren't bored any longer. So they decided to try love for themselves. And finally, they invented laughter, so they could stand it." - Harry Stevenson, "Feast of Love"

Poker

I've been collecting pop tabs for almost four years now. I send them in batches of about six pounds to the Ronald McDonald House in Providence, RI. Right now my Timbuk2 bag is swimming with them.

*

Saturday morning I had a class of five level three five-year-old boys. All boys. I was super anxious initially, but they turned out to be angels - good skiers with great attitudes who behaved, didn't complain and seemed to have a lot of fun. They stayed in my tracks, didn't argue about the line (everyone argues about the line!), kept their clothes/helmets/goggles on and even carried their skis. When they fell over, they could get up without help, and they even put their skis on and took them off without me. I was so pleased, and frankly a little shocked. One of them made me a valentine (a little construction paper heart with my name on it), and another cried when I tried to switch him into another class ("But Kelsey, I wanna ski with YOU!!"). I got $100 in tips from their parents, too. It was an awesome day.
*
Our trip to Steamboat last week was a riot. There were 11 of us - myself and four Aussie girls in my car, DR and his people in his car, RS & AB in JF's Outback - and it was the perfect group. Our sleeping quarters were a little cramped, but it made me that much more happy at 8am when I threw open the curtains of our Comfort Inn room and started singing at everyone to get out of bed. It was a freakin' powder day! Steamboat had probably 20 fresh inches (RS, DR, DW, JB, JF and I skied Morningside Park the first half of the day and nabbed face shots with every turn) and nothing felt skied off all day. Our drive home was the funniest part; I think I'll let the picture tell the story:
*
Moving on. Today at work, my boss JM bought me lunch at Cafe Suzanne. It was delightfully special; we were both super busy & couldn't ski down to the Treehouse for our free lunch, so instead we sat and chatted about our families and ski bumming and little kids and snow. Then at the end of the day, I found a fox den in the MIDDLE OF A RUN!!! That poor little mother fox is going to have the shock of her life when she births a litter of kits (right?) in mid-March and has to compete with hundreds of beginner skiers for space on the snow...
*
I've gotten to make a real dinner two nights in a row - first last night at JG's house as I babysat his kids, and then tonight, when I showed up pre-poker at the CK-AL-JF household with food for all of us. (Mom, I made the ravioli/sausage/tomato thing, and I broiled some broccoli to go with it. This kitchen is even more fun to cook in than yours!) I desperately miss cooking, so it's been fun to craft some solid meals for more than just myself.
*
My buddy JF is pretty swell. He wants you to know that his name is Jared Friday (as in, he's my first friend to give permission to use his actual name and not just his initials - "of course, until I do something stupid, and then you have to take it off," he says). He's standing over my shoulder as I type this.
*
I have a gnarly craving for some Walrus swiss dark chocolate ice cream.
*
This morning up at Elk Camp, a bajillion instructors were standing outside in a meeting - a whole mass of red jackets nodding politely as TH gave them instructions - and another instructor said as an aside to me, "Our Father, who art in heaven..." and we both giggled. (He was implying that the group looked, from our vantage point, like they were taking communion.) I started saying the rest of it; the instructor paused, then joined me as we finished the Lord's Prayer in its simple entirety looking out at the snow. It really choked me up.
Lately I've been reflecting about the lack of real church in my life here. I've been to a couple of services in the three-ish months I've lived here, and nothing has stuck. That's not to say I've cut God out of my life; I frequently find myself saying small thank you prayers for my friends, good snow, CC's thoughtfulness, waking up before my alarm, a hot shower, a kitchen, well-behaved kids, etc. I spend many gondola rides meditating. The punchline is that contrary to what many people think (myself included), the absence of a weekly church service hasn't left a void in my life. I haven't missed it, per se. It's not like I'm living in sin, but given the planned trajectory of my life (seminary in a couple of years) I had expected to feel some loss. I think this morning it kind of hit me like a truck, and I think I might come home this summer just to go back to Spirit of Joy again every Sunday.
*
My mom joined a Facebook group called, "I bet I can find a million people who don't care that Michael Phelps smoked weed." I have a righteous mother.
*
I played with THREE yellow labs yesterday, including a puppy. Life is grand.

The Mother of All Blog Posts

Oh my GOODNESS - after almost a month, my first chance at some quality time with functional internet. Hallelujah! There is much to write about, so without further adieu...

*
Recent Great Quotes:

"Hey, señor!" - some lady to my (Asian) friend DW (who is from Australia)
"John McCain's a nice guy - he just needs his heart fixed." - a 5-year-old in my ski school class

"Hey, let's do something totally out of character and ski really slowly and in control for a change." - RS (granted, it was 11pm and we were skiing in the dark)

"Robbie, the faster you ski, the more you ski like a Canadian!" - JM

"My mom said if I didn't add her as a Facebook friend, she'd sell my chainsaw." - MT
*
Lately I have become positively OBSESSED with the song "Time to Pretend" by MGMT. It's my ringtone, and I listen to it compulsively whenever I go anywhere. I think these lyrics are really cool:

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone

Those words hit close to home right before I left for Aspen, which is why I like the song so much. MGMT also sings about doing heroin and dying young; that part I really can't relate to, though.

*
As I mentioned, my internet hasn't worked in ages, and that means I haven't gotten to check my email, change my Facebook status or upload pictures, and/or write in my blog. I hate - HATE! - how much that agitates me. I live in such a pretty place and my online addiction isn't waning. Blast.
*
A recent Facebook chat:
Courtney: "How are you?"
Kelsey: "Fine."
Courtney: "So you're freaked out, insecure, narcotic and emotional?"
Kelsey: "Hah, yes, but shouldn't it be 'neurotic'?"
Courtney: "Oh...yeah. Spell check didn't catch that one."
*
It was two weeks ago now, but President Obama's inauguration is still on my mind. I think it was one of the happiest days of my life. I "luckfully" (as Courto would say) had the chance to watch most of the proceedings on TV even though I was working (thank you, beautifully liberal Aspen Ski Co.) and I made a short list of the things I'll tell my grandkids about some day:
-the musical arrangement just before the swearing-in was composed by John Williams and included a song that I'm familiar with as "Lord of the Dance"
-the incredible benediction by Reverend Lowry, the entirety of which I'll post in a separate blog
-bunches of foreign teenagers were hanging out around me saying things along the lines of "meh, we're foreigners, we don't care," and all of their instructors would just say "well you're in America now, so pay attention!"
-crying the most refreshing tears of joy and peace, knowing that our country is once again headed in a positive direction

AB, myself and LH celebrating on Inauguration night:

*
A few weeks ago I watched "Wall-E" with my good buddy RS. We both teach little kids, so we hear about this movie on a regular basis. OH MY GOSH, it's so cute! There are a couple of strong undertones about the state of our world (the movie is about a trash compactor that cleans up the world after humans create too much garbage to live here), but my favorite part was the love story between two robots that taught people how to feel again. SO cute, I'm telling you.
I could take or leave the commentary in this little clip, but it has most of my favorite little Wall-E scenes, so I'll post it anyway:

*
I can't really sum up the last month properly. I'm struggling to identify the important things.

Downtown Aspen at night

*
When I was a kid, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was never a real holiday in our house, in that Mom always had big plans for us. While all of my friends were sleeping in or skiing, we marched the streets of Fort Collins and listened to speakers or attended rallies and talked about ways we were promoting peace and justice in our own lives. At the time I honestly hated it. I was kind of bitter that I had to spend my day off in some sort of alternate school. Looking back now, though, I am so appreciative for those extra lessons. MLK Day is so important; how great is it to really celebrate the man and the cause?
*
RS, AB and I skied Snowmass as free skiers (we weren't working) for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Hooray sunshine!
*
During a clinic back in early January, RS, DR, DW and I started talking about how fun it would be to hike Buttermilk some night under the full moon. We kicked it around for a few nights but kept having to put it off - RS went to Steamboat with his parents, I went home for a few days, DR's family flew in - until one night about three weeks later when we pulled the trigger. We decided at the last minute to hike Snowmass instead, and it was a fabulous, fabulous evening. The hike itself was totally ethereal - just the five of us hiking in silence under the brightest blanket of stars - and we giggled the entire time skiing down, headlamps blazing. DR even went into the terrain park, which was really freakin' stupid if you ask me. We hopped in the hot tub after we got home and decided to night hike all 4 mountains before the end of the season.
*
This is "National Brotherhood of Skiers" week at Snowmass, which means that - eureka! - for the first time ever, I'm in a racial minority. The Brotherhood is an organization of African-Americans from around the country and they have descended upon this (very white) ski town in a big way. I love it. In all seriousness, when I look across the hill, it takes a while to find another Caucasian.
*
Superbowl Sunday was a blast. We had a big party at CK, AL & JF's (palatial) house with more food and drink than could feed even two dozen hungry twentysomethings, which is a marvel. After the game, we fit 16 of us into one teensy hot tub, and of course all of us ended up crashing in various places around the house. The night was further evidence that this ski bum year is all of the best parts of college, minus the work. Who knew?
*
The Winter X Games were held here last week, and they were FUN.

AB & I at the bottom of the Superpipe

My friends and I went to the events when we weren't working; frankly, it was hard to watch much action because it was so damn slippery at the bottom of the courses. It was worth it to be there, though; I got THISCLOSE to Shawn White as he walked to the podium on the last night:I think they should be called the "Shawn White Games" instead.
*
I hiked Highlands Bowl today. It was AWESOME.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I have much to be thankful for.

*First and foremost, I'm thankful for my family. Every day I'm more amazed that God put the six of us together, especially when we're such different people. We complement and challenge and inspire the best in each other, though, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
This year I've grown incredibly close with all of my cousins, too, and I'm grateful that we live in a day and age when our relationships are able to grow stronger even though so much distance separates us. (It helps to have good texting rates.) I don't know what I would do without Katie or Amy; most people aren't as close with their sisters as I am with these girls. I'm ecstatic that Katie's almost home.
*
I'm so thankful for the relationships I have with my friends. As I get older I have more people in my life whom I genuinely love, the kinds of inner-circle friends I can count on for anything. I don't remember having those relationships when I was younger (or not as many of them). When AJS & I broke up in May, BB came to my house when I wouldn't get out of bed, crawled in next to me, held my head in his hands and promised me I'd be okay...with his and KH's help. He was right, and I know that any of my best friends would have done and said the same thing. People tease me when I say that I have so many "best" friends - I've even made a joke of it myself - but it's true. I mean it. And I'm lucky.
*
I'm thankful that my parents support my decisions. I'm taking a year-long break from real life and moving to Aspen, and my parents couldn't be more excited for me. They should be upset with me for squandering time/money/my education on self-indulgent living, but they're not. I'm lucky.
*
I'm thankful for all of my "littles":
the 3 S family girls I babysit, the oldest of whom refers to me as her "other sister";
AB, the original little brother;
CF (second from left), my little sister through and through.
I'm so grateful for their presence in my life - their energy, their perspective, their personalities. Their problems. Their hope.
*
I'm thankful for weathering the storm that was my breakup with AJS. We both are. Parts of this year were total shit, but we've come to a place where we can look back on what was and be both grateful for it and at peace with it. We have gone our separate ways; we recognize that separating was the right decision, and we remain committed friends. I couldn't ask for anything more.
*
I'm thankful for the many, many opportunities that lie before me.
*
I'm thankful for my health - the fact that I can get up and run 4 miles with my parents, the fact that I can ski my butt off for a whole season without much preparation - and that my family remains healthy.
*
I'm so thankful for CC. I would be in awe of him even if I wasn't dating him. He's incredibly caring and funny and wicked smart and sweet and patient and loyal and articulate and genuine. He knows what's important and acts with integrity, and by some happy little miracle he seems to find me tolerable, even worthwhile. He has terrible taste in music but a huge heart, and I'm truly blessed to have him in my life.
*
I'm thankful for a spirit of adventure. And for my church. They're kind of related.
*
I'm so excited for the future. I feel like God has blessed me especially richly this year, so it's my responsibility to go forth and do good things in the world. I'm nervous, but I'm ready.

Penguins are not just for boys.

The Flobots' new song "Rise" has become the unofficial anthem of the Democratic party and the Obama campaign. It's appropriate and well-deserved - even Biden said he liked it. Have a listen:

*
So my former camp director - a good family friend - moved to Minnesota with his wife and daughter last year. He called a couple of days ago to tell us his daughter's new trick: she'll point to a picture of Obama and proudly call him "President Barack Obama," and then point to his opponent and call him "JUST John McCain." And she's two. Talk about a girl after my own heart.*
And speaking of politics, something happened yesterday that both infuriated and thrilled me. I attend Spirit of Joy, perhaps the most liberal Lutheran church in greater Northern Colorado. Yesterday as I was leaving church with CF, we walked into the parking lot and saw fliers on the windshield of every car - weird, right? Upon closer inspection we found the fliers to be some outrageous "Obama is a baby killer" literature promoting McCain, Schaffer & Musgrave. I was PISSED. How dare someone come into our church during the middle of the service and spread that shit on all of our vehicles?! The inspiring part came a half-second later when I saw my pastor and two other men from church running around the parking lot taking the fliers off of all the cars. I was so, so pleased. Of course, CF and I helped destroy the "junk mail" (as Pastor J called it), and all the while we debated whether they were distributed because a) they figured since we were a church, we agreed or b) because they figured we were so liberal that we may not vote that way. I hope it's the latter.
*
I found this new Ryan Adams song. I love it. I can't find the video online, so I'll post the lyrics instead:

"My love for you is real
It moves like the summer breeze
My love for you is strong
Lord it brings me to my knees

It was born in the wild
It's river long
Rock strong
True and wild as hell
Honey now, my love for you is real

My love for you is calm
Candy sweet and thunder strength
My love for you is wide
It breaks a lock it's never tame

My love for you is long
It crossed the oceans on a sail
My love for you is true
Meanings change but not the tale

It was born in the wild
It's river long
Rock strong
True and never stale
Honey now, my love for you is real"
*
I babysat ALL day yesterday. It ended up being a great day, but initially I was really anxious about it. First of all, I've never sat for the family before - strike 1. They have two kids, a 12-year old girl (strike 2 - preteen girls never like me) and a 4-year old boy (strike 3 - young boys are notoriously tough to babysit). Strike 4 is the 8-year age difference - how in the world do you keep both a 12-year-old and a 4-year old happy at the same time?! Add to that a) the seven hours I was scheduled to babysit and b) how exhausted I was from working 14 hours the day before, and the end result of the equation was the "why the crap did I say yes to this?!" that I was asking myself on the drive over. Like I said, though, we had a BLAST. Their kids were fantastic; the daughter was the best big sister I have ever seen, and their son was totally hilarious and wicked smart. He said the funniest thing over lunch: "I'm a little Spiderman guy, a little Batman guy, a little Superman guy. I'm into all the boy stuff, like Hot Wheels. And penguins."
Anyway, we spent the entire day in the sun, which I was (naturally) super happy about. We took a couple of 3-mile walks, played volleyball and hide & seek in the backyard, and wandered over to the new house they're building in the same cul de sac where the S family lives. Of course we knocked on the door to see if the girls wanted to play, and of course they did. Before I knew it we had a single swingset occupied by 7 children under 7 years old, and I LOVED it. I got to hang out with AS, too, and that always makes me happy. :)
*
Saturday night I covered a shift at the SBUX on Harmony & Timberline. There was something strange and uncomfortable about being behind the counter there again - after all, I worked there four years ago - but I met the coolest girl, LJ. I knew I liked her when she said she named her bunny Ella Fitzgerald (especially when she described the rabbit as "sassy"), and I liked her even more when she told me about her brother's girlfriend. You see, her last name is Jolly, and the girlfriend's name is Holly - so if the brother and the girlfriend get married, this poor woman's name will be Holly Jolly. LJ was like, "Imagine being around her at Christmas!"
*
I rented "Once" last night, in large part because of the BR withdrawl symptoms from which I'm suffering. (He recommended the movie and sang "Falling Slowly" at camp.)

The movie was fantastic. You really, really ought to watch it. Anyhow, it inspired me to do two things: a) pick up my guitar again and b) call BR. I found the guitar tabs for "My Love For You is Real" and have practiced it a couple of times; I'm still pretty rusty with the F chord, so it's a work in progress. And talking to BR was, of course, totally delightful. I might get to see him this weekend!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm so excited - that statement more than warrants the 11 exclamation points I gave it.) I'm going to be in Dubuque for the conference at Wartburg, and Madison is only a couple of hours away, so he's going to try and come down for a cup of coffee at least. Oh my goodness, I'm so excited. So excited.
*
I don't have much to say about Halloween, other than that it was fun and I'm disappointed that I didn't see more people I knew. Courto and I ran around Old Town for a bit, played with LT and his kitten, then hit up a house party with EG. The whole thing was fun, but it went by too quickly. And I put way more work into my costume (I was a German beer maid) than I should have given how little I got to wear it.

My costume (I sewed it myself!)

Two girls at work - ER was an 80's girl; BC was a geologistHappy Courtney with LT's kitten, whom we call "Mini-cat"

Courto and I at the SteakoutSadly I didn't get any pictures of EG (he was a tourist) or LY, the most convincing - and HYSTERICAL - Jesus I've ever seen. I hope I never forget the image of him dancing to techno with a red plastic cup in his hand.