Or this:

No?  Ok, ok…  This:

Hmmmm… Well, this was nice too:

Ok, ok, well all know the real real deal was THIS!

Enough of being a tease.  I’ll try to sum up Italy as quickly as possible without leaving out any of the important details.  I may insert a few pictures, because I’m not sure how I’d tell you everything without illustrating the awesomeness.  Yep, I just said awesomeness. If you’ve been on facebook at all, you’ve probably already seen these pictures (or if you’re like me, you’ve seen them more than 100 times), but here are the stories that accompany the pictures.

We flew into Rome, found our hostel, took the advice of the desk boy and walked down the busiest, most expensive street in Rome.  Here we had our first run-in with a “Bar.”  We find out a few days later that 1. They want you to sit down 2. You don’t pay for than 1.50 euro for a cappucino 3. You have to buy something to use the toilet 4. They all have fresh squeezed blood orange juice and fantastic sandwiches that are all placed on a press to be heated and toasted.

After deciding we do not like this street, we veer off the beaten path to avoid the crowds and find the gorgeous streets of Rome.  They look like alleys.  There are no green street signs; their names are engraved in stone on the walls. We find the overcrowded, kinda cool, but “whats the point?” Spanish Steps.  We had a similar experience with the Trevi Fountain.  I threw my coin in hoping to feel something special, Rome already calling me back to visit, a slight tinge of that loving feeling… All I felt was “Dang, there went 50 cents.” I hope they use it to keep up the fountain or something.  One good thing that came out of Trevi: our first gelato experience!  Pistachio was my first flavor and it was phenomenal!

After the Trevi fountain we wandered to the Pantheon.  We didn’t go inside as this was also a super duper ridiculously crowded scene.  We took a few pictures, wandered around, got lost (the cute little illustrations of the monuments are NOT drawn on the maps in the proper positions, they are drawn always facing towards you– or south.  Do not attempt to use them for directional purposes), tried to figure out the bus sytem, decided to walk back to the Trevi Fountain and catch the train back to the hostel.

Showers, bus ride to Traverste neighborhood, then the very hungry search for a highly recommended restaurant.  It was closed.  Holiday?  Who knows.  No sign.  Just flat out closed. We stop at the very next restaurant we find.  Bread, wine, calamari and a pasta carbonara later, we are headed back to the bus.  On the way we stop in another “Bar.” BIGGEST CANNOLI I’ve ever seen!

Day 2: Coliseum, Non-Catholic Cemetary, Jewish neighborhood (see pasta picture above: fried rice balls, fried artichoke, best. pasta. ever.).  After we ate in the Jewish neighborhood, we decided we wanted to see the outdoor market in Camp di Fiori before it closed for the day.  Plenty of time.  Well, maybe for the average person.  An example of what we did along the way:

We also discovered the route we took from the Jewish area to the marketplace was one mile of the best. shopping. ever.  Afforadable, yet really nice stuff.  Between the three of us we bought about seven scarves, two pair of shoes, tried on ten pair of jeans, sunglasses… Need I go on?  Yes, I bought the Italian leather boots I had seen in my dreams every night from the day we booked our flights.

When we finally arrived to Campo di Fiori, we saw a movie being filmed, bought Italy’s version of two buck chuck, ran into the people that sat in front of us on the airplane (and played tonsil hockey the. entire. time.), and ate some more gelato.  Ok, I had two cups.  Raspberry mixed with lemon, then I couldn’t pass up the dark chocolate I saw in a store a few blocks later.  We also discovered that the large Nutella jars are actually FULL OF NUTELLA!

We did not see the market.  We had a mile to walk, a few hours to spare but we just did not make it.  No worries, we had new shoes!

Later, we decided to do our night walk, in which we learned:

• Trevi Fountain is more crowded and just as uninteresting at night
• You can buy bottles of wine from street vendors, they’ll uncork it and give you cups
• Niki has a small bladder and Rome has very few bathrooms
• How to use the busses, or at least which bus lines we needed
• How to get out of a stalker/possible pick pocket situation (and that Niki’s evil eye does NOT scare people in Italy)
• The coliseum at night is AMAZING
• Drinking a bottle of wine and getting on a bus route through cobblestone roads… not a good combo
• The bathrooms at the Termini all close at night
• Late night pizzerias are WAY better than Krystals, Steak n Shake, or any 24 hour taco place in the US
• The guy running the late night pizzerias will sing and dance to Michael Jackson– ooowwwwww!!!

the road to farmstay

The next day, we went horseback riding on a pretty trail.  The area around farmstay looks a lot like Colorado, but they have castles and old ass buildings.  The guy who owned the ranch (?) did not speak a WORD of English, but he looooooved Garth Brooks.  After rididng horses, we watched live DVD’s of Garth back in his glory days.  This was our favorite memory of Farmstay.

Niki is glad the horse part is over.

Antonello, who runs farmstay with his family, dropped us off at a small, um, well… I don’t even know what to call it.  Deli? We bought sandwiches for the next two days and a bag of cookies.  So you get this amazing fresh bread, an entire ball of fresh bufalo mozzarella, and fresh proscuitto (sp?) all in a fantastic sandwich for about two euro.  Sora was good to us.  Most of the meat was pork, so Naama had to get creative in asking for Turkey.

We went for a hike that involved quite a few stairs (always stairs!!!), an old church, and at the top were the ruins of a castle.  You, know, the usual… Just a castle on top of a hill.  No big deal.  We walked the long, uphill walk back to farmstay.  On the way we stopped in a market and learned that unlike the states, they don’t like it when you touch the produce.  I also had a lady insist that the dried mango I wanted to buy was actually papaya and it was just labeled wrong.  It was definitely mango.  We relaxed, took naps, and ate dinner at the farmstay where we discovered lentil balls.  The word “balls” was used entirely too many times during dinner.  I guess Italians also have an excellent sense of childish humor.

farmstay house

The next morning we woke up at 5am, got a ride to the bus, took the bus to the Naples train station and met the nicest Italian old man working at the train station.  He basically planned our next three days for us and itemized what each activity would cost.  We should have taken a picture with him.  I almost gave him a hug.  Things we learned in Naples:  This is where the loud Italian stereotype is born. “The Situation” will feel at home here.  The phrase “Let’s check out the situation” — also used way too many times.

We took the train to Eculano (Herculaneum), then a bus to nearly the top of Vesuvius.  I had the pleasure of sitting next to the “mini bus” driver right in the middle seat, shoulder to shoulder.  A song came on the radio– finally some Italian music!  The girl was singing about a bastard!  I asked the bus driver, whose English was very limited if I had just heard it correctly.  He taught me how to say it properly and with passion.  ”basTARdo!”  Ok, I get it.  Also, the ride to the top of Vesuvius puts Hoosier pass to shame.  Literally.  I covered my eyes a few times.  Mini bus driver thought this was funny.  Niki, not so much.

Top of Vesuvius (yes there were pockets of steam coming out of this crater):

Contrary to your history textbook’s teaching, there are not plaster formed bodies all over Pompeii, much of it looks like ancient ruins, kinda cool, but only for about half a mile.  Another old chatty Italian guy and 30 minutes of conversation with him led us to the holy grail of Pompeii:

Awesome.  Ok, enough history, I’m hot, tired and I want to go to the coast.  More public transportation, a surprise private room in the nicest hostel ever, and we’re on the Amalfi Coast!

Highlights:

• Buying coral jewelry – many many many inside jokes and stories that only the three of us will understand.
• Huge lemons EVERYWHERE!
• Scary bus ride, getting stuck between a wall and a truck because neither our driver nor the truck would give in and back up

maybe i didnt mention that this road was on the edge of a huge cliff.. candid photo, no joke

that bush is growing off the edge of a cliff. co-pilot necessary.

• The beaches have pebbles not sand, black colored pebbles
• The maid folding every last item of clothing in our room, including dirty clothes that were in our bags
• The most gorgeous views ever (see above… and below… I’ll limit myself to two.)
• More shopping in Sorrento!
• A gelato making class where we learned how to find good gelato, how to make lemoncello, and got to eat orange/lemon gelato right out of the machine
• In Positano we ran into the tonsil hockey couple from our first flight.  Again.  This time the chick took our picture.  Then the guy stuck his tongue down her throat.  Just kidding.  But I wouldn’t have been surprised.
• Our picnic on the beach that included amazingly fresh strawberries, fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta (with added powdered sugar), and box wine (of course!)

That same day, we took the train back to Naples, kind of sad! We ate pizza at da Michele pizzeria.  We suspected it was the pizzeria from the movie Eat Pray Love due to the 45 minute wait outside, however, once inside with our pizza, we realized that yes it is the same place, but the movie chose it because it was already popular with the Italians, not popular because of the movie.  FANTASTIC Margherita pizza.  See pictures at the top.  I can’t look at them again because they make my mouth water.  Yes, it was THAT GOOD.

for erin. because she loves cats. especially positano cats.

I’m thinking about where I could be today.  A year ago I had two options: avoid life for a year and teach English in Korea and travel Asia with Jackie OR take a job in Colorado where I know no one but could easily fall in love with the mountains… the kind of job I should have taken as soon as I graduated.  This was a VERY hard decision, even though no one really wanted me to go to Korea.  Maybe that was part of its appeal.  In the end, I decided to be responsible.  How many times do you get the chance to start your career over AND live in vacation land?  Colorado it was.  Unfortunately for me, that means giving up traveling Asia with Jackie, who just left Vietnam and is headed to Thailand. I know she is having a blast and I wish I was with her, but…

FORTUNATELY, I live in vacation land! Naama and I decided to climb Pikes Peak this weekend, a 14,000 ft mountain in Colorado Springs.  I think it is also the easternmost 14er, so you can see the difference when you look off the east side and the west side.  Flatlands Kansas vs. Rocky Mountains!

Charlie climbing a boulder next to a cliff!

To make a long story short, Naama and I convinced ourselves this was a good idea, Charlie came along to babysit, there was a lot of whining, encouragement, fast speeds, slow speeds, some giggle fits (while Charlie scratched his head wondering what was so funny), meeting new friends along the way, people coming down that lied to us about how close we were to the top, and the moment of pure joy when we reached the top after 11 straight hours of hiking uphill, climbing over rocks, almost falling down, and thinking we were never going to make it.  Then the fun pictures at the top with our celebratory beers, real bathrooms, Pikes Peak doughnuts, and telling tourists our story.  Then there was the sleepy Cog Railroad ride down, me feeling nauseated, Charlie with a headache and Naama about to pass out and all three of us trying not to kill the really loud, attention whore 10 year old boy sitting across from us.

Top of Barr Trail

We made it.  And it was painful, gorgeous, and rewarding.

Finally!

I wanted to go on a hike yesterday and face my fear of hiking alone.  Some things you should know before you judge:

1. A girl in Georgia who worked at the Gwinnett Center that looked just like me was abducted and killed while hiking alone.  Everyone thought it was me.  It wasn’t.  I’m still here. 
2. Every time I go hiking with others and I’m in the lead, I always end up taking a wrong turn.
3. It was nearing dark and a thunderstorm was brewing.
4. Only Charlie knew what time I was supposed to be back and he hardly ever worries about anything.

So, with all this in mind, I set out around 4:30 to hike Section 16.  For those of you not from Colorado Springs, it’s not a super hard hike but its one of the more challenging in the nearby Colorado Springs area (5-10 mins from downtown).  It is no incline.  Nor is it as crowded as the incline.  And it takes you into the woods.  And you have to walk or run a dirt road next to a babbling brook to get back to the trailhead where your car is parked.  So if you scream, no one can hear you.  So, you see what is in my head while I’m hiking. 

Anyway…

I was bound and determined not to be a baby and go for a hike by myself.  I invited people but they were all busy.  Fate was telling me I needed to do this.  I conquered the steep part in average time.  I was kind of tired at the top, but proud of myself for not turning around when I saw clouds rolling in.  I could have used this as my excuse not to keep going, be lazy, and go home to cook dinner.  I kept going.  The view from the top was gorgeous!

Here comes a decision: turn around and go back down the steep part, or continue on the longer, less steep, downhill trail back to the dirt road that takes you to your car.  I’ve done this trail one time.  I was hungover and chatting with other people.  I’m also a huge klutz.  I decide since I’m by myself and likely to fall and hurt myself going down the steep part that I will go down the easy way and get a decent workout in and run most of the way. 

There are less people on this side.  There are more animal noises.  You are farther back into the woods.  The clouds are moving in. It’s getting closer to 5:30.  Things aren’t looking so familiar… but maybe I wasn’t paying attention last time I hiked it?  So I ran.  And I ran fast. 

I crossed paths with father/son duos, boyfriend/girlfriend duos, single girls, single guys, people training for the ascent, people on bikes, people struggling to get to the top, a girl carrying her dog because he was tired.  No one sketchy, no one that was out to get ME.  I passed a really pretty waterfall/creek and didn’t stop.  I ran Forrest Gump style.  Because I’m a big baby. 

I got to my car with 2ish hours of daylight left.  I made all the right turns and didn’t get lost once.  No one abducted me.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone would use enough energy to climb that high just to find someone to abduct. But now I know I can do it quickly!  And there’s not really anything THAT scary out there.  Just use a little common sense and you’re fine.  I’m still a big baby, though.

In case anyone was wondering, here’s a link for what to do when hiking alone.  It’s actually kinda fun if you don’t freak yourself out!

http://hikingbackpacking.suite101.com/article.cfm/hiking_alone

4th of July and Sarah/Toby wedding recaps coming soon… I know they’re out of order… Sorry…

I took a red eye flight from Denver and arrived in Charleston around 9:00am.  Two full hours of sleep the entire night. Phew!  Brandi, Sadler, and McCranie picked me up in a fully decorated bachelorette Expedition to include a welcome home sign made by Brandi herself.  Even though I’ve never been to Charleston.  I thought of it as a welcome back to the south!  Very cute, ladies!

I started off the weekend with a nice long nap, while the girls shopped in the historic district and checked out the Farmers Market.  I joined them for a few hours and almost purchased a $200 pair of earrings from an antique shop.  Much to my bank account’s dismay, they were the wrong color.  Don’t worry, bank account, I won’t neglect you much longer!

Salder and I snuck away from the group to pick up some delicious cupcakes and tried to keep it a secret, but I ended up blabbing in casual conversation.  McCranie was nice about it and pretended like she didn’t know, but I knew she knew.  They were pretty cupcakes, regardless.

We went to a delicious tapas restaurant for dinner, where we ate probably 15 dishes in about 10 minutes.  I’m not sure what prompted us to eat like starving children in a third world country… The server must have noticed because he brought Sarah a HUGE dessert made of two round scoops of ice cream, one rather large banana, and some strategically placed whipped cream.

After dinner, we went out on the town.  It involved a ride in a rickshaw, lots of shots for Sarah, other bachelorette and bachelor parties, a scavenger hunt list for Sarah, a serenade by some citadel kids, and a really fun visit to the porcelain princess in the hotel room.  I knew Sarah could take care of herself, so I tended to the other girls who desperately wanted a velveeta/rotel dip.  I wanted nothing to do with this, it was all them. (wink) 

The next morning we got a very late start to the beach.  We spent the day on the beach, perfecting our tans for Sarah’s big day, ate dinner at a delicious seafood joint on the way back to the hotel, then had a shower for Sarah. 

The next morning we had brunch at a delicious place on Queen street and headed home.  Overall, I’d say it was a fantastic weekend– can’t wait for the wedding in Macon!

The incline with Pikes Peak in the background-- I did not take this picture.

In the early 1900′s Colorado Springs built a system of pipes to deliver water to residents near Manitou and Colorado Springs.  The railway that helped them lay the pipes through the mountains served its purpose and it was later turned into a tourist attraction, carting people up the mountain to view the scenery.  Rock slides made it too expensive to maintain, so the rails were pulled up, but the ties remained…

Looking down from about the midway point

The crazy athletic people of Colorado discovered this “incline,” and decided to turn it into the state’s largest outdoor stair-master.  With approximately 2,744 railroad ties, it covers a mile and ascends 2,000 feet.  The average grade is 41% and the steepest grade is 68%.  Oh, also, it is mostly private property and maintained by enthusiasts, so technically it’s illegal to hike.

So Brinley and I have the day off…

Me, halfway up!

We huffed and puffed, took a few pit stops, only sat down once for a breather, crawled over rather large water pipes, saw a guy fall down about 5 stairs, met a guy who had hiking shoes on his dog, were encouraged by a really nice woman who could breathe unusually well for the altitude, saw a guy with a weight vest on monitoring his heart, were passed by a rather old gentleman who was sweating as if he were in Georgia, were slightly discouraged by the fake peak even though we were warned, and finally made it to the top!

Success!!!

At the summit, we sat down for about 15 minutes, drank the delicious purple G2, had a snack, then walked/jogged the 3ish miles down the Barr trail and learned why people run it instead of trying to walk.  It’s downhill and slippery… using gravity to your advantage is the smart way to go…  I feel great today!

Along with the data went every. single. digital. picture. i’ve. ever. taken.  Period.  Gone.  Thanks to Facebook and Picassa, I can still see the ones I uploaded, but will never have the high quality version of them again.   Therefore, when I changed the “theme” of my blog today, I lost the picture from my header.  I stole the picture back from facebook but now it is not high quality.  I’ll survive.  The mountains aren’t going anywhere.

Life updates…  Ski season is almost over, which means that it is time for my friends in Vail to go home- mostly back to Georgia.  I am driving Joel to the airport on Friday.  It seems like not too long ago Joel was driving me to Colorado Springs!  I guess this means I’m really on my own now, although I have some fantastic new friends and a few old friends that recently moved to Colorado.  Phew!

The Beautiful Bayshore Blvd.

I am thankful that I was able to spend a week in Tampa during Easter.  I didn’t have much of a chance to relax, but it was a great week!  I was able to help out Guido with his Tampa City Council campaign, visit with my dad, play golf, get a tan, play on the beach with my cousin and her family, hang out with my grandparents and my mom, and spend Easter with Erin and my family! Nothing beats a good Italian style Easter dinner!

We hit the ground running at work.  April and May are really busy.  I am thankful for my colleagues who all have a great work ethic and all work well as a team. If I’m allowed to take pictures of any of our shows I will post them here!

Next time I promise I’ll have a more entertaining story to tell.  I’ll leave you with a picture of my family at the Italian Club in Tampa celebrating my grandmother’s 83rd birthday!

My happy family!

I took the red eye and arrived at 6am, waited until 11am for Alex, and we were off to find La Radial bus station so we could take the bus to San Ramon.  We took a $4 (!!!!!) taxi from the airport to the bus station and had our first encounter with the tourist leeches.  Another taxi driver pretends to work at the bus station and tries to convince us not to take the bus for less than $2 a person (a 2 hour trip!) and take his taxi for $40.  Thank you Lonely Planet for warning us about these people.  We waited two hours for the bus.  We had a nice walk around Alajuela and ate a ham sandwich and french fries at a Mexican restaurant (???)

Our first bus experience…  We stood the entire way to San Ramon from Alajuela because (which was good for us) they pack the busses until you can’t possibly fit another body into it.  I’m not sure if the bus drivers just take the extra money or if this is normal policy, but I couldn’t reach the bars on the ceiling and almost fell over a few times going through the mountains.  It was entertaining and a cute little Costa Rican old man made friends with us even though I was REALLY rusty with my spanish and he didn’t know ANY english.  I was sad to leave him. 

We met Ran, our couch surfing friend, in San Ramon.  He told us to take a taxi to his house, and gave us directions, find the market, go 100 meters north of it, then 50 meters south and its the white house with the fence.  Why not just an address, you ask?  Because there are no street names or addresses in Costa Rica.  Muy entertaining.  I gave him some cookies and he was happy.  Alex and I walked around San Ramon, I bought some coffee, then we went out with Ran.  He had us take shots of Cacique, which is the traditional Costa Rican liquor drink.  Instead of limes at the end, we ate some strange fruit with salt that came out of a tree in his backyard.  I liked it, Alex– not so much.  Ran cooked us an amazing breakfast the next morning and sent us off to the other bus station to catch the bus to La Fortuna.

Not wanting to stand 4 hours to La Fortuna, we pushed our way to the front of the line and got seats on the back of the bus, which is nice and airy, no sun beating down on you.  We listened to the ipod most of the time… Alex introduced me to a lot of new (fantastic) music, and we met some other travelers that spoke English.  They were on a volunteer trip for a few weeks and decided to see the volcano that weekend.  We all decided to stay in the same hostel, Gringo Petes. 

The Group with Mr Lava Lava

We all checked into Gringo Petes, Alex struggled with a hammock and took a nap and I booked our first outing to see the lava with our hostel owner, Mr. Lava Lava.  Alex and I took a nap while the rest of the group went to Baldi hot springs.  Mr. Lava Lava woke us up, we picked up the rest of the group, and went to see lava.  We stood outside in the dark for a while when El Senor (mr lava lava) started shouting “LAVA LAVA! JESUS CHRIST! LAVA!!”  It was pretty exciting, the first lava sighting was huuuuge and then we saw a few more smaller ones and decided to go eat dinner at Baldi.  The dinner was a fantastic buffet where I was introduced to the juice shakes that are all over Costa Rica.  AMAZING! 

The next morning Alex cooked us some fantastic breakfast (and I cleaned) and we were off to Rio Celeste with the group.  It took about 2 hours in a tourismo van, about 30 minutes of which were the bumpiest Mr Toads wild ride I’ve ever taken.  Our tour guide stopped along the way to show us a sloth, a huge ass tree, and to get us some free pineapples that had just been picked on the farms we were driving past. 

The hike through Rio Celeste was amazing, we saw a HGUE ant mound, a gorgeous waterfall, crossed the river (I almost fell in), crossed smaller creeks on wooden logs, saw the Rio Celeste where the two rivers combine to form a grogeous blue lagoon (only place in the world where this happens), then finished the hike through what seemed like a monsoon, mudslide, etc…  Now I know why they call it a rainforest.  A few things about rainforests in case you didn’t know…  They sound just like the “rainforests” at the zoo; It is more gorgeous than anything you can imagine; They are very muddy and slippery; If you plan to hike one, it will be a VERY good workout; and finally if you plan to do the one in Costa Rica be sure to take a guide with his own van.  You do not want to drive that by yourself.

Waterfall at Rio Celeste/ Rain Forest

The next morning Alex and I took a canopy tour in La Fortuna in the rain.  It was kinda fun but apparently slippery and hard to stop.  My arms are still sore   Then we walked around La Fortuna, bought a few souveniers (Happy Birthday Ashley Oddi) and got on the bus back to Alajuela.  The first hour of this bus ride was the worst experience I had in Costa Rica because my window would. not. open.  Por favor, ayudame con este ventana?  Yeah, no one could open it.  The sun was beating down on me, I was in a hot box and nowhere to go on the most crowded bus ever.  Then in San Carlos everyone got off and Alex and I found new seats, together, with working windows.  The next three hours were a very nice ride back to Alajuela.  Another $3 cab ride and we were at Alajeula Backpackers hostel.

Countryside on the way back to Alajuela

Being our last night, we went out to eat and I had what I’d been eating the whole time, Casada, which is the traditional dish in Costa Rica.  It is basically rice and beans, with some sort of meat, small salad, platanos, and a potato.  I miss it already.  I ordered extra platains because they aren’t exactly easy to find in Colorado.  I also had a bastida pina con agua. (Pineapple juice/shake).  FANTASTIC. 

Alex and I went back to the hostel and crashed, as our shuttle to the airport was leaving at 5am the next morning.  The hostel was gorgeous and really close to the airport, but we didn’t spend much time there. 

Back to Colorado, it’s snowing again.   I guess that just means I have to go skiing.  Hmmmmm yeah, that’s what I’ll do tomorrow!

• January trip to Breckenridge… learned to ski
• Trip to Europe (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany)… fell in love with traveling
• 5th Annual camping on Cumberland Island, with awesome friends
• Purchased and “learning” to mountain bike… starting to overcome old fears
• Being in the Gasparilla parade with mom… Seeing things from a different perspective
• Sunday night family dinners at Mt. Royal and Thursday night Greys Anatomy quiet time
• Purchasing new camera, re-learning photography skills
• Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary in Chicago
• Sarah and Toby getting engaged
• Being able to visit Chicago multiple times in a year
• Two metro cooking shows, one in ATL and one in DC
• Three trips to Savannah/Tybee– tequilaritas on the beach!
• Spending two+ weeks in Tampa this year
• The infamous East Coast Farewell tour
• GETTING A NEW JOB…
• IN COLORADO!
• Seeing the Rocky Mountains every day outside my door
• Fabulous Halloween costumes and halloween night, goodbye yellow brick road
• Learning to ski… For real this time.
• Friends driving through the mountains and being able to ski/vacation with me
• A nice, long Christmas in Chicago with the whole family… finally!
• Being able to say “My life is better than your vacation!”  (sorry…  kinda.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I can’t wait to see what 2010 has to offer!

I have two goals for every day: 1. Meet someone new and 2. Help someone out. 

On Thanksgiving day, we ventured through the Loveland Pass to reach Keystone, where we were going skiing.  Mark suggested we stop and take pictures at the Continental Divide.  Sweet!  Oh wait, I’m from Florida…  What is a Continental Divide?  Thanks to Mark and Brinley, I now know that it is the point the divides drainage between bodies of water.  Anything to the West drains to the Pacific and anything to the East drians to the Gulf/Atlantic.  I learned something new on Thanksgiving Day.

Is it too lofty to have three goals for each day?  Should I add “3. Learn something new?”

Oh… and in case you were wondering, I achieved 1 and 2 that day as well.