Anniversary

   I was reading Self magazine today, the anniversary of the day that I fractured the top of my humerus while riding at Steamboat Springs. My accident happened on my last run before I stopped for lunch and a much-needed break. Unfortunately, I was really too tired to keep going, and ended up with a break of a different kind!

  In the magazine I ran across these two quotes from Olympians, and found both to be true and inspiring. 

   Here's to one more snowboarding trip in 2014, and here's to not breaking anything this time around!!! Can't wait to get to Winter Park in a couple weeks… forward!!!!!

Golden girl / Tetris

   You know it's cold outside when the dogs wanna sleep on my feet and the kitty wants to sleep on my lap! The couch is a bizarrely-furry game of Tetris lately.

Photos from Breck & Vail

   This "remix" was made by EpicMix from my professional photos taken on-mountain yesterday & today. Yesterday at Breck was a mixed bag of TONS of fresh powder (12"+ overnight), snowing all day, some sun, high winds, and blowing snow to near whiteout conditions at the end of the day. Quite an experience. Today in Vail was the PERFECT bluebird day, with tons of fresh, groomed powder, bright sun & super-blue skies all day long.

You're spoiling me, Colorado. But oh, how I like it!

All smiles here!

   We're having our first real snow of the season. Hoping that Denver is getting some fresh pow too! Just picked up my freshly-tuned snowboard yesterday (ground/filled/waxed) and can't wait to use it!!!

My horoscope made me do it

The Radiant 2010 by Salomon

   Today's horoscope says, "Treat yourself to something you want that you didn't get." And I'm sure it meant to say somethingS, so I bought myself an electric-yellow snowboarding coat so I can be easily spotted on the slopes, and an equally-awesome new animal-themed board. (I feel slightly less guilty since they were both heavily-discounted, and will be happily enjoyed.)

   Now, if I were completely out of control, I also would have purchased the following two awesomely-designed boards. (Lord, please grant me the strength to resist...) It is a really, REALLY bad idea for artists to become snowboarders... these things are real works of art!

b
Bataleon Violenza 2012 (maybe it will go on sale in 2013?)

The Coda 2012 by Arbor shows off gorgeous bamboo with a Japanese motif

3 Chicks + 7 Canines

   Renee invited Joni and me (and our associated canines) for a hike at Shawnee Mission Park this afternoon. Great fun was had by all, which included: Renee, Rosie & Boo; Joni, Wager, Kip & Asher; myself, Aki & Taylor. 45 degrees is great for a late December day, but it's a little cold for swimming! Didn't stop the dogs!!! (Other than Aki, who clearly must be the smartest of the bunch.)

This is what a very happy Shiba looks like!

Bordermobile

Shibamobile

Muttmobile

The Adventures of Jen & Bud

   An imagined scenario, in which I invite myself over to Ginny's house on a snowy day and teach Bud to ride a snowboard. (That'll teach him for trying to throw me!!!)

Breck or bust... some bones

   Headed to Breckenridge with Maureen and Terry to gallivant about the slopes, shop, hit the spa, enjoy our private hot tub at our condo, and of course, use the heck out of our free Gold Medal ski passes (thanks to Maureen's buddy)! I happened upon these helpful tips in Fitness Magazine on how to fall properly. Love the first line: "Snowboarding leads to 100,000 ER visits every year." Mommy! If I don't come home snowboarding like a champ from this adventure, I'm hopeless!

HAPPY (CHINESE) NEW YEAR!

   It is officially the year of the rabbit (卯年 in Japan), but I'm the lucky one...  my friends Kari and Dave recently returned from a business trip to Hong Kong, and they brought back plenty of goodies to share, from both China and Japan. ごまパイ (sesame pie)、チョコレートパイ (chocolate pie)、シーサーチョコ (Shiesare brand chocolates), a giant chocolate coin, good luck guide and more!

   Japanese caramel-flavored chocolates in the shape of foo dogs (with the coolest illustrations on the box! Their names are あ—"ah" and うん—"uun".) The candies aren't filled; the chocolate itself is infused with caramel flavor, smooth and delicious!

   And perhaps one of the strangest finds... pork candy. It's actually a piece of dried, spiced pork. And although that sounds really weird, let me assure you: it is DELICIOUS. If I had tried them before, I would have asked the gang to bring a few bags back for me. Yum.

   Kari held her annual Chinese New Year party, and the best part: her Dad showed up in a giant white rabbit suit! Wish my dogs could have seen that... I'm sure they would have lost their minds!

THANK YOU, KARI AND DAVE!!!  :)

Hike Hidden Valley Natural Area

   It's another snowy weekend in the OP, and despite Taylor's little escapade yesterday, I decided to treat them to a hike. (It turned out to be a long, cold hike with a lot of hills, though, so I hope Taylor learned his lesson!)
   Turns out the valley was even more hidden than I expected... the directions I got from Google were TERRIBLE and had me going the wrong way on Parvin Rd. I drove in circles for a bit, left a message for the hike leader, then asked at a gas station—and none of the three people working had any idea where I was talking about. @$%*!! Finally I found the park and the group, who patiently waited 25 minutes for me. I cringe when I think about it, but they were very friendly and didn't make me feel bad.

Here's the gang at the hike's start:

   The snow was deep—more than ankle deep and occasionally up to my knees! The area was heavily wooded and we often had to trudge along single-file:

Nancy and friends on the overlook:

This was pretty much my view for the 4-hour hike:

   We were up by Worlds of Fun and caught occasional glimpses of the park. An odd sight from a wilderness area, but at least I'll know where to go if Zombieland ever plays out in KC.

   We saw five deer as we hiked around, but the trees were so thick that I never got a good shot of them.

Michal, however, got this:

Here we are again, atop the bluffs:

It's a long way down to the ground, highway and Missouri river:

   The dogs were so energetic and excited that they were dragging me along; Taylor literally dragged me almost all 4 hours of the hike, until the very last hill. (The following day, my arms were as sore as my legs!)

Almost back to our starting point:

   Most of the group was leaving after the first 2 hours, so I had to run up to the parking lot and move my car. Then I raced back to the group. The snow was up to the shibas' shoulders at times, but they loved it!

   We should have called this "The Mike Hike" because there were three of them! Made remembering names easy. Michal was a crack-up. He found icy, narrow logs over creeks and walked across them. He looked, sounded and acted like a perfect cross between my friend Brad Bryant from OSU and Octavio Perez, former Hallmarker and incredible painter.

   Inexplicably, an old rusted-out car in the middle of the woods. So of course he climbed into it.

Getting fatigued. "We're going to what up which hill now??"

   Almost the Iditarod: the dogs pulled me down one steep hill, and up the next, even steeper hill.

Ta-daah! We made it!

Thanks everyone for a fun hike (and for the homemade hot choco!)

   It was nice to have other photographers on the trip—many of these are Michal's from the Meetup site. Thanks, buddy!