NoDak 2010!

Did you ever think I would really post again?

I was in North Dakota last week for the Wing Centennial Celebration. It was so much fun. Some quick history on why the heck i was in Wing, North Dakota: This was the town that my mom and most of her extended relatives grew up in. At its prime (I think when my Grandpa was Mayor!) it had just over 300 residents. Now, there are less than 100.

I really wished I could have captured a little bit of the sounds, smells and joyful atmosphere of this celebration, but pictures will have to do. There is something pretty dang special about small town America that really is lost in our big cities (I don't consider Ft. Collins a big city, but it really just depends on what you are comparing to!).

So, my Wing Adventure in pictures:

This is my grandma, Marlys, and her best friend, Arlys, getting ready for their entry in the class parade. They were the only 2 there from their graduating class. Are they not the cutest things ever? I felt like I was helping little kindergaterners get ready for a class performance as I put their signs on them and lathered them with sunscreen.



























My sister, Auntie Barbara and I walked a 5k on Saturday morning - sporting Aprons that we created to commemorate my Grandpa's butcher shop (Lindy's Lockers) for a float in the parade.


That's right my grandpa was not only Mayor, but also the Butcher! This is the float for Lindy's Lockers - that's my grandpa in blue (who is amazingly un photogenic, he looks like he kind of looks like we took him out of the group home for this...). The other people are a few of the workers over the years, including my Mom and Uncle Dale.





The Patriot in me got goosebumps during this! A singer sang "God Bless the USA" while everyone waiting for the parade stood and watched the Flag Presentation at the Wing High School. I love it! (The singer for the National Anthem didn't show up, so we all got to sing it together, that was pretty sweet too!)

Have you heard of a Pitchfork Fondue? Delish!














Here is my sister looking like a country bumpkin with bunny ears (provided by my mom's cousin Connie), my Uncle Rich and I let Steph be in our picture.







Steph and our cousin's kids really enjoyed the stage entertainment:


Lastly, i figued I'd show my war wound from the week. My grandparent's car attacked my arm, this is my sister's artistic shot of it for me:


Basically, I had a blast, and wasn't ready to go back to Intel!

Destinos!!!

I have had this almost 2 decade long (since 6th grade!!!) effort underway to learn Spanish. It comes in waves - the last several years have been a bit more focused though - if they would only quit canceling the Front Range classes that i want to take!

However - today I found one of my favorite learning tools - Destinos - for free online!! Woohooo!!! This is a cheesy Spanish soap-opera type video.

Feel free to learn Spanish too: http://teachinglearningspanish.blogspot.com/2008/06/destinos-introduction-to-spanish.html

Do your ears hang low?

Have you guys seen the new Dove Commercial - the "do your ears hang low" one? It's great! All about goofy body idiosyncrasies - I love it! I tried to find a video to link to but couldn't find it online at all.

This commercial makes me stop in my tracks and watch it whenever I hear that music.

"Does your hair make you giggle?" That's my favorite part.

I think I'm going to stock up on Dove body wash and lotion.

That's it

Duathlon!

I randomly decided yesterday to participate in the duathlon that I was supposed to be volunteering (is it considered volunteering when you are kind of forced to help?) for today.

I was a beautiful day for racing! I just did the mini-"duwop" - 1/2 mile run, 6.5 mile bike, 2 mile run. Very short, but that's what i needed since I didn't do one lick of triathlon/duathlon training this year. But, the exciting part for me was that I did much better than I thought I was going to - and almost even placed in my age group! (Okay, there were only 6 of us in my age group, but I came in 4th - so that's almost placing :-). ) The great thing about this race is that it was all women - and all abilities, so you really were just out there to exercise and compete against yourself. I had never participated in all women's tri's or du's before (though volunteered at several), I'm officially a fan now. Perhaps I'll sign up to actually do one of the all women's triathlons next year.

I'm exhausted though - and sun burned again - dang it.

Oh - and all you Broncos nay sayers out there - we're still undefeated!!! WOOHOO!!! Take that Shannon Sharpe - we induct you one week and you pick the Raiders against us the next week?

Love my Broncs!

I'M ROCKIES PLAYOFF BOUND!!!

I couldn't make my first post that I actually send to people a bit of a downer post!

I GOT ROCKIES PLAYOFF TICKETS TODAY!!! No one in my family was lucky enough to get chosen for the first attempt at playoff ticket sales - but then both my mom and dad got chosen for the next attempt at it. Being the computer-illiterate mother that my mom is, I just used her code and bought them myself! I'm very excited!

Above is a pic of the last time we were in the playoffs (the world series to be exact), we would like to be able to recreate this - but with a win during the World Series. Now they just have to make it to the first round for this to even matter!

Welcome to my world!

Well... Here it is! A glimpse inside my head .......

000011010001110000..... Broncos...... 0000010001111111..... Rockies.....Jesus......:).....0011110000... Zzzzzzzzz

Guess it's time for bed!!