Good for Us!

A Wonderful Weekend in San Francisco!

Last weekend I went to San Francisco with some of my favorite people in the whole world. We made a list of things that we wanted to do on the night we arrived, and we did it all!

Here's the list:

Go out to eat on Castro

Eat a BIG burrito in the Mission

Go to an old Speakeasy

Eat sushi

Go hiking near Paris' house

Stroll around Golden Gate Park

Visit with Toby and Loral (Paris' dog and mom, respectively)

Take the Ferry

Go to Pier 39 to see the seals

Cross the bridge

Go to the beach

Drive through the Tenderloin (don't ask)

Koi on a Castro sidewalk

I want this in my window!

This store had the goofiest shirts. We all got photos with our favorites.

The four of us in front of the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog

Paris and I at a sweet bar whose name I can't remember

Thai Clip the beagle at Paris' lovely home

Stupefied (not stoned, though I may look it) by the size and weight of this burrito

A walk in the park...Golden Gate Park

There really is nothing like good friends. I love you ladies!

Big Plans for 2011

I have to say, 2011 is off to a fantastic start and I've got big plans. They say the key to realizing your goals is sharing them, so here it goes. I'm trying to keep goals to a minimum this year because I always make too many and then only 1/2 accomplish most of them. This year I am dreaming big, but keeping it a little realistic too. Being vague helps.

11 Goals for 2011

Goal 1: Complete a couple of triathlons

A few sprint distance

A few olympic distance

How I will do this: I've started slowly working my way into a training schedule. I want to start the season svelte and in good cardiovascular health. Once spring rolls around I will start working on getting in time on the bike and doing longer runs. I also want to become more comfortable in open water this summer. I may have to purchase a triathlon wet suit. My fancy dancy new GPS watch with heart rate monitor will be an awesome addition to my training and keeping track of it!

Goal 2: Run a half marathon

This has been on my goal list for the past four years and I've always failed to sign-up. In training last summer I was up to 18km runs which are just 3 km short of a half marathon. I was so close! 2011 is the year.

Goal 3: Do more yoga

What does 'more' mean? Who knows? What I do know is that yoga makes me feel good and I should do it more. In addition, yoga increases flexibility, strength, cardiovascular ability and more. Why is this even a goal? It should just be instinct.

Goal 4: Read at least 30 Books

Last year I made a similar goal and only made it to 20-some books. I read a lot of non- fiction and those count as double, right? I'm off to a good start. I've finished one and am almost finished with 2 more and I've started another.

Goal 5: Make 2 quilts

I'm almost finished with the top sheet of one, but I've been working on it for a long time--a very long time. I already have some beautiful fabric picked out for the second, but can't bring myself to start until the first is finished. And then there's the fabric I bought in Africa four years ago...the intention was to make a quilt out of that too. Maybe purchasing a sewing machine is in the cards this year. That was seriously speed things up.

Goal 6: Save a chunk of money

I just spent the last year trying to rebuild my bank account after travelling. Apparently being a ski instructor isn't the way to do it--neither is buying a new road bike and a car. Becoming an adult is expensive!

Goal 7: Cook a totally new dish every week

To avoid falling into the void of culinary boredom, I have decided to cook something new every week. I am the WORST at following recipes, so the other purpose of this goal is to improve my recipe following abilities. Plus, Gareth and I like cooking new things together so it will be fun for both of us!

Goal 8: Read the News

The cover of our weekly newspaper almost always has a picture of a skier or a hockey player on the cover. Enough said. Don't get me wrong, I love reading the local news but need to go out of my way to find more enlightening news stories.

Goal 9: Call Friends and Family More Often

I miss my friends and family and don't call them enough. I have a good long distance plan and am ready to talk. Gareth thinks I am afraid of the phone, so really this goal entails conquering a fear too.

Goal 10: Be More Ecological Friendly

This is hard when your daily commute racks up 100 km worth of carbon emissions. I bought a super fuel efficient, used car which will help a bit. I have also decided to completely boycott paper coffee cups. If I have forgotten my mug, no coffee. Living where we do we hardly ever go out to eat and eat very little processed food, we rarely go shopping because we don't have much money and our house is largely off the grid. I am also going to get a worm compost. Gareth is opposed because he thinks it will attract mice, I am phobic about worms and the smell of compost makes me gag. This could be interesting.

Goal 11: Learn a new skill every month

I'm off to a good start. This month I have learned how to drive standard and while there is still room for improvement, I've upgraded to driving around downtown Banff and downtown Canmore. Some other ideas include learning the basics of reading avalanche terrain, learning to appliqué and learning how to use Photoshop. It is going to be a good year!

Wish me luck!

Goodbye to a Good Year

2010 was a fantastic year; 2011 is going to have a hard time matching it, but it is off to a good start!

January: The year kicked off with an awesome New Year's party at a small, rustic hostel in the woods. It involved a sauna, fireworks, Fireball, an ice dragon and lots of singing. The rest of the month was full of skiing and too many drinks at Banff's too many bars with too many 18 year-old Brits.

February: Skiing. Skiing. More skiing. I went back-country skiing for the first time, tried tele-marking and went on a x-country skiing trip to another rustic cabin in the woods.

March: I went 'skiing' in Jasper, but the conditions were terrible so we got drunk in the chalet instead. I had the best skiing day of my life in Revelstoke, BC. It snowed all day, there were no lines and almost every run was fresh tracks. Amazing. At the end of the month, Gareth and I camperized the van and drove it to Vancouver. We had a lovely week there visiting friends, drinking good beer, playing board games, sitting on the beach and cleaning out our storage unit. Storage units are funny, we couldn't figure out why we kept any of it in the first place.

April: In April, the snow began to melt. We hiked. I skied some more. We went for our first car camping trip along the David Thompson Highway; it was one of my favorite trips of the year. We pulled the bikes out of storage and went on some fun springtime adventures.

May: Gareth got a new job running a hostel and we moved to our little log cabin. Excited about our new home and all the awesome trails surrounding it, I bought a mountain bike. By the end of the month I had a new job working at an outdoor retail/rental shop.

June: I spent the month of June learning about bikes and trying to mountain bike. After a few rough rides left me battered and broken I decided that I needed to step back a notch and save the single track for later in the year. For work, I learned how to tune and maintain bikes. Who knew bikes were so easy to understand?

July: For Canada Day, Gareth and I went to Vancouver. We went to a sake tasting, visited with old friends and played games on the beach. A quick, but worthwhile adventure. I bought a new road bike and it quickly became my favorite possession. I went for a quick trip home to Minnesota (i.e. 42 hours) and spent most of it at a friend's cabin up north. Then I flew to Montana for the Tiffany family reunion, which is always a blast. My family is a full cast of characters and I love them so much. Plus, the reunion was in Glacier National Park and I hiked and hitchhiked with my dad--a year's highlight for sure.

August: After Montana, my parents and brother came to visit us. It was a fast, but fun visit. Not much else happened this month except lots of training...the Banff triathlon was upon me. Gareth officially became a volunteer firefighter. I am proud of him.

September: The Banff triathlon was the highlight of the month. It took place on a freezing cold day and the water temperature of Two Jack Lake was 11 degrees C! Organizers were so worried about the water temperature that they cut the swim distance in half. I had a lot of fun and finished better than I expected. I'll be there next year and am shooting for an even better time! The rest of the month wound up being warm and dry, and I did more hiking in September and October than the rest of the year combined. I also went to Minnesota for a week to help out at my dad's work.

October: The weather was still great. We hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian Thanksgiving that is) and it was warm enough to eat outside. What a feast! Later in the month Gareth and I spent a few nights at the Rampart Creek hostel an did an awesome scramble up Mount Wilcox. At the end of the month, I took an Advanced Wilderness First Aid course involving 10 long, intense days in a row. For those 10 days, I literally slept, ate, went to class and studied--nothing else. Worth it.

November: The shop closed for the month, so I had some serious time off. I went home for two weeks and spent some much needed time with old friends and family. We went to Madison for Thanksgiving...it is still my favorite day of the year. At the end of the month, Gareth's entire family flew down to Barbados for an early Christmas celebration. We ate tons of fish, swam everyday, relaxed and spent a day at sea. A perfect vacation.

December: Last month was filled with all kinds of new things. I got a new job working at an expedition company...I love it! I bought a 'new' car (thanks for the help Mom). Gareth worked really hard to make our house look amazing. Christmas was great, we had so many visitors and had so many good family meals together. As great as it was, next year I will spend it in Minnesota.