The Musings of One Megan

Cyber Warfare explained...somewhat

2011-09-09T17:17:00.001-07:00

So yeah, this is scary...didn't know that now stuxnets scripts are available on the interwebs. This will certainly be an interesting next 50-70 years or so (assuming that's about how long I'll be around to witness the madness)

This Inspires Me

2011-08-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

I don't ever want to let this kid down.

Yes. This is Awesome.

2011-08-03T11:04:00.001-07:00

Caffeine from Big Col on Vimeo.

Now if I could only ride my bike downhill that fearlessly and flawlessly :)

Anybody Know the Vlogbrothers?

2011-07-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, a few years ago...2007, the summer before Caley and I started dating, I ran across this vido blog (and became addicted to it..) where two brothers took turns sending each other videos as their only communication for a year. They lived on opposite sides of the country etc etc. Anyway, they became YouTube stars, and now they're pretty famous (in certain circles). This movie makes me laugh, and DON'T FORGET TO BE AWESOME!

Ok

2011-07-19T16:05:00.001-07:00

Source: musicaldeity.tumblr.com via Megan on Pinterest

More Phone Pics

2011-07-19T11:42:00.001-07:00

We haven't had a lot of photos of us lately, most of these are old, but they make me smile.

Found Movie

2011-07-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

I think Caley was testing out a new camera when he made this movie. I like it. Hope he doesn't mind me stealing :)

Thank you Mumford and Sons

2011-07-16T21:19:00.002-07:00

After The Storm

And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.

I will die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and mine so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

I've always loved this quote

2011-07-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like a volcano and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that is is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, and it is not the promulgation of external passion. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those who truly love have roots that grow toward each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two. -Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Berniers

An old one: scenes from Portlandia

2011-07-14T20:18:00.001-07:00

Vermont and North Carolina

2011-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Ogunquit for one day and Boston for half a day :)

2011-07-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia Adventures

2011-07-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

I HAVE A JOB!!!

2011-07-06T12:57:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted here, but I figured getting a JOB might be a good enough excuse to put down some thoughts! I'll be teaching at Overland High School in Aurora, CO. Go Blazers! What is a blazer anyway? A sport coat? I'll have to find that out. Their (our) colors are Blue White and Green, pretty much the same colors as Caley's team's old kit :) I'll be teaching three sections of Biology and one of Physical Science. I think the bio will be sophomores, and the physical science will be freshman, but that's just a guess. The only step remaining is to get things squared away at the district level; I think they do another background check and make sure they have all my transcripts etc. Then I'll get an employment package in the mail with all the pertinent dates etc! Holy cow!! I'm so excited. This could not be more perfect! I'll be commuting about 45 minutes each way...although with traffic and some construction on the way back it was only 40 minutes, so without traffic early in the morning and later in the evening it shouldn't be too bad. I feel like I have all summer ahead of me now! Trying to find a job was a serious weight on my shoulders, and now all things are possible! I was also really worried that I wouldn't be able to find a job that fufilled the requirements for kstf, but this one does! So relieved, I really didn't want to have to suspend my fellowship for any amount of time.

Other happenings from this summer....

PA trip #1 for KSTF Orientation

Burlington Trip for a week with 6th graders and Caleys family, sans Caley...that was interesting :)

North Carolina Trip for Evolution in the Blue Ridge

Coming up.....

PA trip #2 for Summer meeting

Europe trip? Still have no idea if I'll be able to get over there to visit Caley. He leaves for the Tour at the end of next week, and I don't think I'll be able to go for that, but if he goes to Switzerland in Aug. I might be able to get out!

Getting back into shape...

Lesson planning! Hopefully I can get ahold of someone to give me an idea of their curriculum map etc. Yay!

Photos to come as soon as I can get a micro sd card and reader to get them...I reaaaallly don't feel like emailing every single pic I've taken this summer individually.

Food Dehydrator

2011-04-26T15:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.target.com/dp/B0000665TM/ref=cm_reviews_pg3?ie=UTF8&page=3&sortReviews=-votes#communityReviews

I'm thinking about getting this. Thought you should know. Or, if anyone would like to get me an early birthday present, I would like this :) Thanks!

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

I had the most wonderful Spring Break a few weeks ago! Started out with a few days at home in Durango with the family, then headed south to visit Caroline in New Mexico! From her home in an old monastery, we headed north west to Bluff, UT for some desert camping and hiking. I was sort of sad to come back to the craziness that is student teaching, but the end is so near!! Now I just need to focus on applying to jobs!

Here are some photos! Enjoy!

Photo Highlights

2011-02-05T14:52:00.001-08:00

Photos from Christmas! Sadly we didn't get any of Christmas day when the Uncles and Grandma Ruth came over. Quite the relaxing week. It was so awesome to see Caitlin for more than a day, and we basically focused on the food the whole time we were there.

Grandma and her cross word, a morning staple

Christmas morning mimosas by sister chef Caitlin. Our first "adult" Christmas, meaning we had alcohol at most meals :)

Christmas eve Cassidy Family tradition: dinner made entirely out of h'or devours

Grandma in her new Christmas pj's, another Cassidy family tradition: one present opened on Christmas Eve, and it's always a new pair of pajamas!

Our exotic 2010 pajamas, zebra... :)

Traditional Cassidy Family Christmas day breakfast! Mushroom omelets and leftovers from dinner, plus extra special Christmas bread (Norwegian coffee bread) made from Granny's and Gramps' recipe.
One of the few pics of Caley, trimming the tree.

Sisters!

New boots! Gift from Laura, they are super awesome, and I've actually worn them quite a few times :) Just had to get my confidence up to pull them off. :)

Family photo in the back yard, first not-white Christmas in awhile!

Wow, It's Been Awhile

2011-02-02T11:06:00.001-08:00

So much life has been lived in the past few months, I don't even know where to begin!

First of all, Caley and I moved to Boulder on the 1st of January, an interesting way to start the New Year. Huge thanks to Erick and Roger for helping us load everything up and even unload it, all in the cold and snow.

Christmas was spent in Durango with my family this year, I was so happy to spend a few days with my sister who amazingly got some extra time off of work! Both Grandmas were in attendance, as well as Uncle Paul and Pat, I feel like I haven't seen them in forever! Talk about a different scene from Caley's family. My extended family all fits nicely around our small dining room table :) We did miss watching the little girls open presents for hours on end though :(

Caley started full time at VeloNews!!! His first full week was kind of crazy...he almost got sent to San Diego permanently! Luckily someone else in the office offered to go in his place, so we get to stay here in Boulder at least until May when the decision will be revisited. Talk about stress, we were kind of at a loss for a few days trying to figure out how we would handle living in two different places for those few months. Thank goodness it worked out! With the current single digit weather, I must say California doesn't sound so bad...

I started student teaching!!! So far it's been pretty good, really stressful and causes me much anxiety. The craziest thing about student teaching is that I'm teaching real students whose academic careers are going to be affected by me, either for good or evil.....hopefully for good, or at least neutral :) I love all my students except for two....and they were so mean to me on Monday!! Gah! I'm not sure what to do, I think the next time the one kid gets out of hand I'm going to give him the option to either sit quietly and be on task, or leave my classroom. If he chooses to go, which I actually think he might, I'm going to have him sit in the science office and if he's not there the whole period I'll mark him absent. :( Ugh, scary, I hate discipline, but this kid is a tough nut, I'm not sure what to do.

I'm excited to start on the next unit in genetics, I'm going to do "development" which means I need to do some studying up, but that was the part I found the most exciting in my intro to genetics class in college, and hopefully I can impart my fascination with the topic to the students.

Other happenings in bullet form:
-Caley went to Tucson for a week, abandoning me in my second week of student teaching. They were there when Gabrielle Giffords was shot, it was a weird emotional week.
-We rode our mtn bikes for the first time in Boulder! It was a beautiful 65 degree, sunny day. I am now more motivated to exercise...but the cold is making me wimpy and keeping me indoors. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back on the wagon.

-We've had two snow days in a row!!!! Loving it!
-The count of high school classmate who are married/engaged/having kids continues to grow. Just sayin. Really nothing implied in that statement...:)

Well, that's about it I guess. I'll post pics from X-mas as soon as I can find the do-hicky that takes photos off of Caley's camera and puts them on my computer :)

I really miss Fort Collins, we haven't had a lot of time to hang out in Boulder, too darn busy, so I'm sure things will improve and we'll find our groove here, but it's so different. #1 major complaint is the attitude of the people that live here. So dang entitled.

The flatirons are sure gorgeous covered in snow though, almost makes up for all the rich assholes :)

First Ski!!!!!!

2010-12-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Caley, Nick Frey of Boo Bicycles, and I went up to Happy Jack to do some cross country skiing! It was our first time out on snow this season, and first time ever for Nick! We had an absolute blast! It was warmish, and not too windy, the grooming was awesome, and Nick did great. Usually when we take someone out for their first time, we don't get much skiing in, but Nick was moving along quite well and we ended up getting in a good solid hour fifteen or so. Can't wait to go up again!

Some no poles work:

Epic Thanksgiving Adventure Trip!

2010-12-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I took pictures this time!! They are all from my crappy camera phone, but you'll get the idea.

Friday the 19th Caley picked me up from work, and we headed south to the airport! Best way to leave town, didn't even stop by the house for a last minute pick up or anything! The trip was very smooth, we both "won" at the security line (no pat downs) and the flight was uneventful. All we had to do was wait for dear Emily to pick us up!

Caley waiting...

That night, Kelly came over for dinner and it was a grand Fort Collins reunion! Next day we headed to the coast for a gorgeous hike through the muddy woods to an overlook of the ocean. Gorgeous day, it was even sunny part of the time!

Caley at the beach

The hike was followed by a delicous picnic in the car, care of the always prepared Emily! Oh man was I ever glad to eat some lunch :)

The rest of our time in Portland was spent hanging out, eating delicious food. Case in point:

The food carts

And the best pizza place I've ever been to!!! We saw it on Anthony Bourdain, and had to check it out. The more than an hour wait was totally worth it!

Soon our time in Portland came to an end, and we headed out on the bus to Salem and family!

Our first bus ride!

There was a crazy guy up front who kept yelling out innappropriate comments...very entertaining!

Aunt Erins new house in Portland is super nice! And it was wonderful to hang out with most of the cousins...only my dear sister was missing, and we missed her terribly :(
The day after Turkey day was a blast! Caley missed out because he caught a flight home to prevent premature death-by-stress with all of his homework and work work. This time of year is really busy at VeloNews. But anyway, the rest of us ventured off into the countryside to taste some wine and visit an olive orchard! We went the long way and took a ferry across the river! The water was really high and it made me a little nervous, but we all made it safely across, whew!

View from our car

And the view from the other side watching Uncle Kevin's car

Jesse at the Methven winery tasting room!

After Methven, we made our way through the twisty and winding hills of Oregon wine country to the most charming inn/herb shop/garden shop/olive orchard I've ever been to (and the only one...). It was incredible! The views were fantastic, and the olive oil was delicious. Aunt Erin and I agree, this would be the perfect place to get married. They have a huge trellis thing in their garden that is covered with flowers in the summer.

Views

The olive press

This beautiful day ended with some coffee and dessert in Portland with Kylie and her friend, and Martha and Lloyd, who just happened to be in town visiting Martha's family for turkey day. Small world.

Uncle Kevin, Meara, and I headed out the next day for the long haul home. Part way through the Columbia River Gorge (which thankfully wasn't as icy as everyone was saying...) was Multonomah Falls. It was breathtaking in the mist, and everything was covered in ice.

We dropped Meara off in Missoula after a tasty Thai dinner, and headed out for Fort Collins. Uncle Kevin was a champ and drove through some really bad snowy and limited visibility conditions late at night. I did quite a bit of the drive myself, but had dry roads, much less stressful. Also, I stopped taking pictures, it was dark, and I was driving or sleeping.

We made it home around 10:30am the next day. Brutal drive. I hope to never do it again.

So that was Thanksgiving break! I didn't post pics of the meal because Caley has a whole album on facebook. You might be able to see it if you paste in this link http://www.facebook.com/caley.fretz?ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=2442845&id=19226249 but I'm not sure what his security settings are.

It was an awesome trip, I'm so glad we went! I think it was really special for Aunt Erin to have us all out there this year.

-Megan

USGP Weekend Recap!

2010-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, the USGP (U.S. Grand Prix) of cyclocross was held in Fort Collins!!! The weekend turned out to be sooo much fun.

We started things off Friday night with the rider presentations a the Rio Grande restaurant downtown. This is where they introduce all the "famous" people. Teal was there, and she was one of the famous people being introduced! We talked about it later and how it's kind of funny how cyclists are only really famous among other cyclists. So they can be a rockstar at the race weekends, but then during the rest of the week, or on the off season, nobody knows who they are or what they do, it's not like the have to deal with paparazzi (unless you're Lance of course). We both found it amusing. I am super excited for all the success she has been having lately! It's highly amusing to think about how we have been rivals all along growing up in sports (although she was aways just out of my reach...) and now she's in the big leagues! So cool!
It snowed some on Friday, and Saturday was FREEZING!!!! I had a great time spectating and cheering. I have a "technology" assignment for a class due on Tuesday, so I was video taping some of the races to get some footage for my project. I think I'm going to do something about muscles...maybe zoom in on all the cyclists gluteus maximus' for effect or something :) Caley drew kind of a bad start, 56, and ended up finishing a few places ahead of that! Whoo hoo!
Sunday I was at the venue allll daaaaaay looooonnng. My volunteer shift was from 11:30-4:30, but I had to go in early with Caley because he was in the pit for Brian, and I wouldn't have had a ride over later. Anyway, it was another cold day, and suuuuper slippery in the morning, people were crashing all over the place :) My volunteer job was to fix the tape marking the course, it was pretty fun. I just had to walk around, cheer, and fix tape :) Caley drew a much better number, 36, and ended up in the 40's somewhere, but he didn't get pulled until two laps to go, vs three laps to go on Saturday!
All in all, a GREAT weekend!! What an amazing group of super nice people!!

Oh, I forgot, we also went out to dinner with some industry people on Saturday night. It was a blast! Of course there was lots of bike talk, but the conversation never really lulled (is that a word?) and we made some new friends/connections. I had a great time talking with the guy named Peyton who works in the entertainment industry in LA. He was really nice, and we had a great time. The next day we were chatting at the race course, and I come to find out his "entertainment job" is the lighting director for Greys Anatomy! Whoa! Go figure, a cyclocross superfan who works for Greys Anatomy! :) I love meeting random people like that :) I'm also really glad Caley includes me in his work life. I was definitely the hanger-on at the dinner of industry mucky-mucks, but nobody seemed to mind, and now I'll know who Caley is talking about when he mentions the "sales guy for SRAM, etc, etc.

Then I came home and did 4 geology lab and 1 geology exam. Go me!

For real, pics coming sometime...maybe not in the near future, but sometime :)

Goodbye Fall?

2010-11-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

Snow in the forecast for tomorrow, although I'm pretty skeptical, we shall see. It was 85 on Saturday down in Boulder, I got quite the sunburn watching Caley race and working the pit for him. In cyclocross racing, you can have an extra bike in what is called the "pit" usually located at the middle point of the loop, and accessible from the outgoing side of the loop, and the incoming side of the loop (if that makes any sense at all). Racers can enter the pit from either direction, and swap out bikes. They may choose to do this for several reasons: too much mud and goo, flat tire, lost brakes, mental issues, etc. The pit crew can then change the flat, clean the goo, or pretend to do something to calm the racers mental issues. The racer can then come back to the pit on the next go around and get their original bike. They can do this as many times as they like. The pit is a crazy place, luckily Caley didn't need any flat tires changed, he would have been out of luck with my skills :) This past weekend, I also had the pleasure of working an 11 hr day in the lab. I got to switch labs a couple of times, but it was pretty horrendous, never again!

The next couple of weeks before Thanksgiving break are going to be pretty hectic. I am teaching another lesson on Thursday after completing a take home exam on Wednesday, then I'm giving a partner presentation on a "unit plan" the following Wednesday (the unit plan we still have to finish...) This coming weekend, I have 4 labs due in Geology, plus an exam and some discussion posting online. The USGP is here as well, and I'm volunteering on Sunday! Good grief... But! Then I get to hop on a jet plane taking me to the Pacific Northwest to see some excellent friends and family and eat some delicious food! Soooo excited!!

I do promise I'll put a montage of photos up here at some point soon, or maybe a link to a picasa album or something...I figured out how to do that the other day, neato :)

Fall Friday

2010-10-22T13:38:00.001-07:00

It's raining. I wish it was snowing.

The past couple of weeks have been super busy! We drove 18hrs out to CA for mtn bike nationals, placed 6th as a team, had one nationals champion, fineagled our way into the banquet for the 6th year running (at least), imbibed a large amount of "juice" and then drove 16 hrs home to Fort Collins. I taught a lesson the next day, and we have yet to catch up on laundry :)

Mountain bike nats, as you might have guessed already, was an incredible time! We had such a great group of people and even the downhillers were respectful and responsible! My races were ok, not great and not terrible, so it was a bit of a let down, but I'll take it.

Up for this weekend: Veloswap, homework, and work.

I Got a Raise

2010-10-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's true, $0.25 raise effective for my next paycheck I think :) I don't believe I have ever gotten a raise...no wait, when I worked at the climbing wall I got a raise...but my first since high school! Apparently it's an unusual situation where they are trying to remain competitive with other computer labs on campus, and I've been doing a good job and will only be here through the spring, but in any case, I'll take it!
Me in the computer lab...

In other news, WE'RE GOING TO PORTLAND FOR THANKSGIVING!!!! I'm bummed that the East Coast trip didn't work out, but it was waaaaay too expensive for us to afford, and to ask Caley's parents to fly us both out there would have been asking quite a lot. So, hopefully we can both get back at some point soon, but if not, Caley will definitely be going back sometime over the winter. While in Portland, I expect Emily and Brendan and Kelly to show us an amazing time and take us to all their favorite places, and I expect to eat lots of amazing food and have some quality time with most of my Dad's side of the family! Sadly, the parents can't make it, but we'll see them over Christmas this year! Also sadly, the sister can't make it; I looked up tickets from her godforsaken icy wasteland of a town, and the cheapest is something like $830....whoa.

I hope to have news to share about Caley's position at VeloNews soon! The last time he talked with his boss, the plan was to negotiate a more permanent employment situation after they got back from Interbike....so they're back, and now they're going to talk! I'm excited and nervous for him! They say women are often paid less because they are less assertive in negotiations for salary, well, I believe it! I don't think I would have even the remotest idea of where to start. I guess you learn the more you're involved in the industry or whatever, but still...scary.

I'm excited for mtn bike Nationals!!!! We've had such a great group of people this season, I wish we could bring everyone that's been racing every weekend. I think we've convinced the other two girls to go though! Yay!!!!!! I won't be the only one among 12 stinky boys :) Plus, Jourdan is super fast, it's going to be my goal to stick with her on the xc race, good to have inter-team competition!! We went for a stellar team ride the other night after a delicious bbq at Roger's parent's house, a much more fitting end to the season than the Winter Park weekend was.

Ok, I should go do some homework...ciao!

Monthly Post

2010-09-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

The rate of my posting seems directly correlated with the amount of busy-ness in my life; the busier things get, the less I blog, which makes sense, but means there is always so much to catch up on when I finally get around to it!

Let us see...after Caley and I got back from Ogunquit....we had about two more beautiful weeks of summer before jumping into school. Caley finished up his internship with VeloNews, and as I'm sure you all know by now, got hired part time for the Fall semester!! He recently went to Interbike in Las Vegas, the largest bike expo in North America (I think...) and had quite the experience. He was so busy I was lucky to get a 10 minute chat out of him each day, but on the night of CrossVegas, the cyclo-cross race hosted at Interbike, I got to see him on the live streaming video from cyclingdirt.com. It was soooo cool! I felt like we were hanging out :) At one point he was lying down on the side of the course shooting photos, and I yelled at him to get out of the way before his head got run over!

School has been going really well, I've done well on all my assignments, and I'm enjoying being in the classroom at TVHS. My match-up teacher is trying a more inquiry based apporach this year for the first time in 20+years of teaching, very cool! It's a learning experience for both of us, and I wish I was there more than just 2 days a week, I think this would be a very unique opportunity to really collaborate with him and share the techniques I've been learning in my Methods class. Unfortunately work prevents me from going down more on my own, but it makes me even more excited for next semester student teaching!

The mountain bike series is screaming to an end, and I'm sad! Racing and traveling with the team has been so much fun this season! I feel like we've barely started, adn with only 4 weekends of racing this year, it's kind of true :( We leave for Nationals on Oct. 13th, and race that Friday and Saturday. We have two other girls who could go this year, but both of them have really heavy school loads. The team is trying everything to get them to go, and I hope they do!!! It's so nice to be on good terms with the team, all the drama of last season seems like a long time ago (thankfully!).

Some recent photos are coming soon, I promise!!

Catch-up

2010-08-26T18:09:00.001-07:00

Yet again, I haven't posted in forever and there is a ton to catch up on!

At the very tail end of July, and the beginning of Aug. Caley and I took our annual summer excursion. We started out at Winter Park for another mtn bike race. I didn't get last, barely, and Caley had fun riding around cheering on his teammates. Then, we packed up the bikes and headed down to Durango to visit my family and go to a Michael Franti concert!!! Here are some photos...at one point, he came out into the crowd and was so close I could have touched him! WOW!!!!

The next day we packed up and headed to DIA for a red eye flight to Maine. A week on the beach was just what the doctor ordered! Lobsters, sun, sand, waves, grilled cheese from the beach shack, tide pool exploring along the Marginal Way, wine on the dock, I could go on and on and on about the magic of Ogunquit. A few pics for your enjoyment!

(coming soon, just have to grab them from Caley)

Back home again, Caley and I celebrated our third anniversary, started school, I had my birthday yesterday, and Caley got officially hired with VeloNews! August has definitely been a go go go month for us.

We rode the tandem out for some delicious Asian food at Taipan

So far school has been good, I haven't had a whole lot to do which is kind of weird. I'm also taking an online geology course. I hope I can keep on top of it. In my new job as a computer lab attendent I'll be spending at least 14 hrs a week on the computer, so it should be too much of a problem...

Oh, and, today I got a haircut!! I like it, even with all the goo they put in there that I never will :)

Pictures!

2010-07-27T17:55:00.001-07:00

Some pics from the last couple of months! Heavy on the biking...sorry:)

And in no particular order...

This is a snapshot of Caley's first hard copy magazine piece!!!!!!! I am sooo proud of him. Basically he's running VeloNews now :) But seriously folks, we are pretty sure he's going to get at least a part time job right after he graduates, and maybe even before that! Talk about a dream job. He is loving it, he comes home, and immediately hops back on the computer to check if he has anything else to do. It's feeding his internet addiction to be sure, but at least for now I'm not complaining :)

I don't remember when this was, but I love the picture, Sebby looks.....really happy for sure :)

My friend Anna and I right after they announced our mtn bike race was canceled due to snow at the top of the mtn. Of course as soon as we were leaving the sun came out and all the snow melted, but oh well, we got to eat at Beau Jos in Idaho Springs. I registered for the whole Winter Park series this summer and I've done almost all of them and I'm currently 5th overall in my category. I don't think there is any hope of getting on the podium though, 1st-3rd place are waaaaaay ahead in the points. The next race is this weekend, and I hope not to run into a tree this time :)

Me riding while on a bike ride with Caley at Blue Sky my favorite mtn bike trail around. I love his old Rio kit, I wish they had parted ways a little more amicably so I wouldn't feel weird wearing it...oh well, the skull is super cool!

Caley and I after a great ride out in Lory State Park. It was late evening, the temp had dropped a little, and the trails around the reservoir are super fun to just cruise on.

And this is me on that ride in Lory! Caley is sneaky with the camera, I didn't know he was video taping, I probably would have tried to do a jump or a wheelie or something....hahaha, not. :)

In other news, I applied for a job on campus in the CAHS computer labs today! I walked in to turn in my application and ended up doing the interview right then and there! I think it went well, and I really really hope I get the job. There are quite a few applications in front of me from people last spring, but hopefully I made an impression :) I'll keep you posted!

My website

2010-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

For the STEPP program at CSU, we are required to create a portfolio, and the program has been making the transition to online portfolios. So, here is mine! It is a work in progress for sure. If you see any typos, or have any suggestions of things I should add or eliminate, I'd appreciate the feedback. Most of the classes I'm taking have a final portfolio aspect, and these are posted under individual class sections. Sometimes these include class assignments, experiences, etc...maybe not things I think are particularly relavent to showing a future employer....some of them are kind of fun though!

CLICK HERE to see! :)

Fear Not!

2010-07-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have not abandoned this blog! :)

I just realized I didn't post for the whole month of June, and more than half of the month of July! Wow! I guess that's a good thing, too busy with life and adventures than to write in a blog. What does it mean that I am now back writing? A brief hiatus from adventures I suppose :)

Let us see...a brief recap of June and July?

For the month of June and some of July I was taking classes at CSU!! I took 4 classes total, split up between two sessions. I LOVE EDUCATION CLASSES!! It has been such a relief and so refreshing to be in classes that are discussion based, and super interesting. 5.5 years of almost total science left me craving a class where the students argue and debate and get all philosophical :) I got to spend some time in classrooms in the summer school at Rocky Mountain High, and definitely learned a lot! I can't wait for more in class time next semester and I hope I can nail down a really great student teacher position for the spring. I'm still waiting on grades for one class, but so far I have one A+ and 2 A's :)

Since the end of classes, I have been babysitting for some good friends of ours. Their six month old is the cutest, chubbiest, little baby. I am becoming the nap master!! He was down for 2 hrs and 4 minutes earlier today, and I just got him down for another good one I hope :) Hopefully the thunderstorm won't wake him up!

This weekend I am signed up to take my General Science Content Knowledge exam, which is a licensing exam. I've been studying for the past couple of days, hopefully I'll be brushed up enough to pass...the test was something like $120 so I definitely don't want to have to retake it.

The rest of my time has been spent trying to get out on the bike! I've been racing at Winter Park on my mtn bike and have successfully completed two so far. I think there are two or three left in the series, one of which I will be doing the morning before driving down to visit the family in Durango!!! Caitlin enticed us there with a Michael Franti and Brett Denin concert...how nice of her! :)

Also, I QUIT SUNFLOWER!!! Yay!! I'm so glad I don't work there anymore, although we do miss the food discount :)

Anyway, pictures soon!

It's Humid Here Today

2010-05-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Case in point :)

You would think it's Windsday!

2010-05-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Whenever it gets this windy, I always think about that Whinnie the Pooh movie we used to watch about Windsday :) Good times.

Yesterday was kind of momentous...I met up with Brenna (formerly known as T.W.), and we made peace. Whoa. Relief and more relaxed than I've been in months are my main feelings at this point. To be honest, I was exhausted by all the anger and hate I was holding inside. I think the team weekend in Durango kind of got to me...why would I spend so much energy caring if she even walked into my kitchen?! It's been like 7 months or something since all the $#%! hit the fan, so to speak, and it's time I let go. So yeah, we had coffee, and talked, and I got teary eyed, and then we talked some more, and ended up just visiting and catching up on what we've been doing for the past semester. I immediately, instantly, right then and there, felt like I was back on the team. I've been excluding myself, I know it's been only me that's been doing it. The team would never have had to "choose sides" except that I made them, and of course they "chose" the girl that was actually racing this season...but now it won't be an issue! I can't even begin to describe how much better I feel about life! This coming week at Nationals, this summer, next Fall and Spring can now be spent having fun racing bikes instead of being worried about where she is and who she's talking to, and we can be teammates and cheer each other on. I really feel like this is a brand new start to whatever friendship we may have had before anything happened, and I'm going to do my absolute best to hold tight to all the goodwill and happy thoughts I'm having right now, so that I won't slide back in to the detrimental habits I've had for the past year. Anyway, thought I'd share, I feel really good about it, and I hope the rest of the team can forgive me for all the bad behavior I've displayed, I miss them, they are my family.

Also, Caley and I went on a date last night, it was wonderful! I love getting away from the computers (Caley just got a new one...it's soooooo sweet) and spending a whole evening just talking and enjoying some good Thai food!

Census Picture!

2010-04-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Did everyone fill out there census form? Caley and I took a couple of weeks to answer, then like a month to actually mail it back...but we did it! We count! :) And now some weirdo census worker won't come to our house!

Today is rainy and cold, and I'm thinking about going running, we'll see though, it's so nice and cuddly in this blanket:) Also, I love Shelby Lynne, her voice is hauntingly beautiful! I first started listening to her right around the time I broke my ankle, so the music has some melancholy connotations for me, but sometimes rainy days just call for that kind of music :) If anyone knows how to embed a music file, let me know and I'll put up one of her songs!

I get to go home to Durango this weekend!!! I'm so excited!! I'll be sure to take pics so you all can experience the amazingness that is my home town!

Have a wonderful day!

-Megan

Alley Cat

2010-04-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Alley Cat, how full of angsty teenagers you are. I spent long hours here my first few years of undergrad, and I come back when I feel the need to remind myself of how far I've come :)

Big News!! Caley got an internship with VeloNews!!!!! I'm so excited for him! He will start this summer and probably be down in Boulder 3 days a week or so. He's going to be the best intern they've ever had :)

Cheese Day!

2010-04-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

I love cheese day! I get to go to work for only 4 hrs! To clarify, for all of you who don't know what cheese day is....I get to work in the cheese department at Sunflower one day a week! And it's awesome! I love working in the cheese department! All I do is cut the cheese.

Hahaha, ok, that was funny in my head. Anyway, it's great, I don't have to deal with customers, I get to cut and wrap and label and organize, and we cut fruit too! And, of course, I get to sample little bits of very expensive cheeses :)

This morning I'm at my favorite coffee shop, The Red Table Cafe, and I'm all motivated to work on my substitute class (6hrs online) so I can get some subbing in before school gets out. Unfortunately, I have discovered that all the classes are videos! And I forgot my headphones :( So I have to wait for Dear Caley to get out of class and come meet me with some headphones.

In other news, I got my class schedule all figured out for the summer, no thanks to the evil front desk lady! There seems to be a lot of evil front desk ladies. This particular one was determined to not let me take the classes I needed until the Fall. Apparently, she just didn't like me! :( I had the great fortune of going in one day when she wasn't there, a different totally awesome front desk lady was there, and she signed me up right away, no hassle, no fuss, it was the perfect front desk lady interaction. Of course the next time I went in to turn in the last little piece of paper, the evil lady was there :( She didn't make me cry that time, but she sure did make me mad!!!!!! Why must the least powerful people in the very powerful bureaucracy be the ones who have very inflated sense's of self?? Annnnyway....I got all signed up, and then I took the next step to figure out my financial aid situation!

I went down to the office yesterday and got all the computer system glitches taken care of. Isn't it nice that one of the most important parts of college (the financing..) has a ton of computer system glitches! Since I'm not in a degree program, all CSU can offer me is loans, which I'm probably going to take, and then have to work on top of that to make it through, but I think it will be doable! Kind of a bummer that I made it through 5.5 years of college without any debt, but I actually own't come out with much since I'm only going for summer and two semesters. Plus, I'll be a substitute when I get out just in case I don't want to start working for Poudre school district (or am unable to find an actual teaching job...) and I'm going to look more into the debt forgiveness programs the federal government has for new teachers. Although, Caley refuses to live in rural New Mexico for 5 years....:) I don't blame him, we'll have to look for an area that has some of the things we like; awesome roads to ride, awesome trails to ride, a little green, or a little ocean, or a little mountain. Rural New Mexico doesn't have any of those things....maybe trails, but that's about it :)

Since yesterday was my day off, and Caley ended up not going to Boulder, we went for a wonderful 2 hr mtn bike ride! I was rockin' it, I cleared a ton of stuff that I had no idea I could clear. It's kind of funny how mental mtn bike riding is for me. When I start off the ride in a good mood, and maybe make it through a section I haven't before, the rest of the ride is just magical. I feel superhuman and have a lot more confidence.

I can't wait for mtn bike season when I will crush souls! I mostly just want to crush T.W's soul, but that won't be too hard...:) She's an amazing source of motivation.

BREAK FOR WORK

Now at home, just had amazing dinner! Sauteed onion and garlic, added some shrimp and butter, placed on top of small corn tortilla baked in the oven with feta cheese on top! Oh Man, so delish! I would have a picture, but we ate it too fast.

Well, I'm going to wrap it up, this has been a long post. Thanks for reading, I aim to keep you updated on our lives, not a whole lot has been going on lately, just lots of work and lots of Caley biking:)

Love,
Megan

2010-04-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

I am super unmotivated today! Bleah! It's kind of gray outside, Caley is gone in Colorado Springs for a bike race, and I have work later...etc etc. All great excuses for not doing anything but drink my coffee while sitting in the armchair, covered with a blanket, listening to NPR. I guess that's not so bad in itself :)

The past couple of weeks have been really nice! Spring is starting to sproing, although, it has been an unusually cold spring I think, we haven't had a whole lot of really really nice days yet. Caley and I went for a glorious mtn bike ride (I love when he has a "day off" and can go ride with me) and we've been making lots of tasty dishes :)

Pics for you!

Sauteed beets and onions on tiny tortillas with lots of parmesan and feta cheese!

Gorgonzola turkey burgers with a nice fresh salad! Soooo tasty!!!!!

We're like a Cooking Show

2010-03-24T17:30:00.001-07:00

Today was my day off!!! Last night, in typical CO spring fashion, it snowed about 12inches of slush; so today, Caley and I had a fire, walked to get coffee, went shopping at Sunflower, and made a ton of food!!!

First on the list was homemade pesto! We had some leftover pesto from my trip to Steamboat (Mom loaded me up with all sorts of goodies and household items...THANKS MOM!) and got inspired to make our own. It turned out sooooooooo amazing! We used about 4oz of fresh basil, 2 cloves of garlic, a 1/4 cup of cashews (since we're too poor for pine nuts...), 1/3 cup of parmigianno reggiano(sp?), and a cup or so of olive oil. Literally, you just throw it in the food processor and it comes out absolutely DIVINE!! We smothered a couple of little corn tortillas with it, covered it in parmigian and mozzarella and had two incredible mini pesto pizzas :)

Next up was homemade almond butter! Again the trusty rusty food processor is all it takes. Throw the almonds in, and let it go to work. It took a loooonng time for the almonds to be broken down enough to release all their good fats and oils, but now it's perfect to go on apples, or on tortillas or just about anything :)

After that, Caley had a craving for chocolate chip cookies. He used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen website, and I'm telling you, they are the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES I'VE EVER HAD. And folks, I've had a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my time...Seriously. The trick I think is the way they have you combine the butter and sugar. You have to brown the butter, then stir in the sugar for 30sec every 3 minutes for 12 minutes or something like that. In any case, request that he make them for you the next time you're over at our house, cause they are over-the-top amazing!

Still to come this evening is some tilapia curry. Not sure what all is going to go in there, but I'm sure it will be delicious!

Also, I realized it's been awhile since I've updated this blog! Let's see....last week I worked 47 hrs in the deli. That was brutal, but only because the weekend before, I was gone to Steamboat to visit my dear sister and mother and grandmother. It was a wonderful little vacation. We stayed in a condo about two blocks from the race venue, and about a block from all the restaurants, coffee shops, stores, etc. Perfection! Caitlin and I spent a good deal of time shopping for a "cowboy shirt" for her boyfriend, Tim. Let me tell you, I've never shopped so long for a shirt in my whole life. I guess it doesn't make it easy that Tim is 6'5 and about 145 lbs. Can someone say string bean? :)
The races were exciting to watch as well! Caitlin, Tim and her friend Anna Karin (who stayed with us at the condo) didn't actually race, but it wasn't hard to get into the team spirit and cheer for all the kids from NMU as well as some kids I grew up with who now race for other colleges around the country. Collegiate racing for Nordic is structured very differenetly from cycling. For example, they limit the field size for each race at NCAA's to 39 skiers. Basically this makes it an extremely elite competition. Just being able to qualify and race there means you are super duper fast. I got all inspired and a little sad wondering what it would have been like if I'd tried to go to college just to race skis. I guess it was never really an option I thought I had. Leave that to the younger sibling :)

Here are some pics for your enjoyment! I wish I'd gotten more, but I kept forgetting my camera :)

Oh, AND we had another alphabet party! A super fun night filled with super awesome friends. Caley made an eclair from scratch! It was soooooo gooooood! Other food included egg rolls, espresso (Matt brought an espresso machine!) eggnog cake, espresso marinated beef, edamame, and enchiladas! I can't wait for "F"!

And! I almost forgot, I went salsa dancing two Tuesdays ago. It was so great to see old friends and I ended up staying until the last song! That hasn't happened for awhile :) I arrived home happy and tired.

My Sister in Pictures

2010-02-27T09:13:00.001-08:00

Looking back through old pictures, I realized that I mostly have old pictures of Caitlin! Mostly because we haven't lived in the same town for...six years now? That's crazy! I miss living in the same town as my sister. Hopefully someday in the future we can agree on a town and move there.

I wish there was an easier way to upload photos to blogger...they need to work on that!

Anyway....

Our Engineer hike this past summer!

Picnic in the backyard!

Christmas at Mom and Dad's house!

A series of several years of Telluride Bluegrass Festival Pics

Somewhere on the East coast during a trip she and my mom made

Pics of Caitlin's senior prom, she is gorgeous! It's my goal to fit into this dress someday soon and steal it from M and D's house:)

Caitlin at Soldier Hollow after she podiumed in a relay, and then with both Grandmas, one of my favorite pics!

Skiing at Grand Mesa many years ago...

Can you tell I miss the sister?? I am going to have my camera on hand 24/7 on my trip to Steamboat! I can't wait to see her!

One more day, then one more week!

2010-02-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

AND THEN I GET TO SEE MY SISTER!!!!! Hopefully. It all depends on if I can get a few days off, but I should be able to! And best of all, I get to see her in Steamboat!!! How awesome is that?! We will eat at Wynona's (best breakfast/lunch place ever!) and we will soak our worries away in the hot springs, and we will ski to our hearts content, and we will graciously deal with her having a friend there with her who is Not a sister of mine.....:(

Among other things...I have turned in my application to go back to school this summer! I finally figured out how to get my transcript from Pueblo Comm. College for my high school classes (thanks Mom!) and mailed it to them on Monday! Hopefully I'll hear soon and can get my act together on the financial aid front. There has to be some sort of grant for licensing new teachers right Obama?? Especially now that I'm almost completely self funded and super poor :) I could probably make it happen working full time and having a loan or two, I would hate life for a little while working nights and going to school days, but it would be worth it!

In any case, I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

A Winter Evening

2010-02-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

Winter is still upon us here in CO. The 45 degree temps in January always leave me unprepared for late winter/early spring snow. We built (and by we I mean Caley...) a lovely fire this evening to ward off the cold seeping in through every crack in our very "cracky" apartment :)

What are you lookin' at?

Very concentrated, building fire is important work

Sepia cat!

He's not really cross-eyed

Buddies

Soooo cute! I'm only biased a little bit :)

Olympics!

2010-02-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

I love the Olympics, except when people crash and get hurt and all their hard training escapes down the slope or the track or across the frozen fields. I cry a lot during the Olympics, and not just during the commercials...but yes, during the commercials. The one this year about Moms always seeing their kids as kids, brings tears every time! I'm a sucker, it's true.

Watching the Olympics with my honey:

Here's to Our Dreams

2010-02-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

I have so many nebulous dreams for the future.

I feel like voicing them at this point might just jinx them :) I guess I have conflicting dreams as well, things that wouldn't all fit in if I tried to have them all. Being out of school has allowed me to live more in the present than I've been able to for awhile. I don't know exactly what each day will hold, and things are all so up in the air at the moment, that I can't really even TRY to plan too far ahead :)

For those of you that don't know already...I'm a huge planner. I have my parents to thank for that probably. They never do anything without planning it at least several weeks in advance, and they like to have several months to mull it over. You know it's true Parents...I guess they have rubbed off on me. In my spare time last semester I would write out a couple of calendar years by month, and plan out our (me and Caley's) life, just to see. I usually called it the 5 year plan, although sometimes, depending on the version, I extended it to 6 or 7 or even more. But now, with Caley having the possibility of getting a job here in CO after he graduates, and me possibly going back to school, but possibly not, or maybe moving out East, or maybe not, there's just no telling what the 5 year plan holds anymore, and I don't really feel the desire to try to figure it out. It's still fun to think about, and I still bug Caley asking him...so, what if you get a job here? What about the fact that at the end of 5 years I will be 28?? Huh? What do you make of that?! ;) That fact still kind of blows me away....

The only thing I know for certain is that I really really really want to do our Europe bike tour. I am also the kind of person who always talks about doing awesome stuff like that, but then allows things like "sensible" and "financially sound" to ruin everything. I absolutely don't want this trip to be another example of how lame I am, and never happen. Which is why I will continue to ask for panniers for every holiday you get presents for, and I won't ask for anything else (just so you know Parents).

Anyway, I should go to bed. I'm here, sitting on the couch, drinking a 1554 (or two) after getting home from the closing shift at the deli. Caley is sick :( so I decided to unwind out in the living room so he could get some good sleep. It's my fault after all, someone was sick at the deli, and I brought it home last week :( As soon as we're both well, we get to meet our neighbors new kiddo!! I can't wait!

Have a wonderful night, and here's to not letting our dreams slip through our fingers!

Yummy!

2010-02-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

I made lasagna last night! Here it is before going in the oven....

And here it is as lunch today!!! :)

Working Girl

2010-02-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

Today is my day off, and tomorrow will be as well!!! I am conflicted though, because this week I only have 31 hours... not enough to support my lifestyle. Which, by the way, is not extravagant in the least. I must admit, I broke down and got that hair care product I was craving. BUT I got it on the internet for $13 and free shipping! That is better than over $25 +shipping or, around the same amount at a local store with no shipping....internet shopping is something I have avoided because it's so darn easy, and fun, and would most likely drain my limited funds away.

Anyway, I feel justified somehow....it is February, and according to my friend, Emily, February is an evil month. She is allowed to do anything she wants in February to try to make it better. Drink beer everyday, eat chocolate to her hearts content, donuts, not feel guilty about staying at home in long johns all day, whatever it may be. Once March rolls around, the decadence stops, but anything to get through February! I can vouch for this theory, I am starting February with a cold...to combat it, I am sleeping at least 16 hrs a day and raiding the fruit bowl for oranges and tangelos and bananas.

In other news, our friends Brian and Tracy had their baby!!!!! His name is Kai Theodore Holcombe and he is the cutest little baby ever! I can't wait to meet him! We decided not to go over during visiting hours the other day because of my stupid cold...might be rude to challenge the little guys immune system just yet.

I suppose that's it for now, I don't have any pictures, life is kind of uneventful at the moment. OH! I almost forgot, Caley is going to be writing for VeloNews this spring!!! He is going to be a collegiate correspondent for their online magazine! I'm so proud:) Anyone who knows anything about cycling will know that this magazine is The cycling magazine!!! Hopefully this will turn into an internship and then a job??? That would be super cool!!!! You can check out their website HERE. Congratulations hon!!! :)

I lied, here's a picture of me hangin' in my longjohns, hangin' in them makes me happy.

DAY OFF!!!

2010-01-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

To Do Today on my Day Off:

-Listen to Weekend Edition/Car Talk/Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (would be easier if they weren't doing a fund drive and making me feel like a horrible person! I swear I'll be a sustaining member as soon as I'm sure I have enough funds to sustain myself!)

-Drink my coffee slowly (microwaving multiply times if necessary) and relish the homemade pancakes Caley so kindly created before he went on his bike ride.

-Perhaps get outside for a bike ride, perhaps just a commuter ride to the store...and maybe downtown

-Purchase thank you cards, and write in them.

And...that's about it. I would go get a notarized copy of my passport for the teacher licensing program application, but I don't think the notary is there on Saturdays. I would also call the insurance company again, but they are definitely not there on Saturdays. What about FedEx? Are they there on Saturdays? I think so...they left a note saying they'd be back for three more consecutive days on Wednesday, but they haven't come back yet, so not sure what's going on there.

Anyway, last night was the Letter D! I made daiquiris! Strawberry, Mango, and ManBerry (strawberry and mango together if that wasn't clear). I LOVE the new cookbook Caley got for Christmas! It has a whole section on cocktails, and we've made several incredible dinners out of it including Hoison Glazed Salmon on a bed of bokchoy sauteed in garlic and ginger. Simply delicious! The homemade pancakes this morning were out of it as well, buttermilk I believe (although, we don't have buttermilk, and I'm not sure what the substitution was because I was still in bed). Other dishes in attendance were: homemade donuts from Erick and Julia, rotisserie "duck" (actually chicken, from Sunflower, which I made earlier that day...) from Trevor, dark chocolate covered almonds from Adam, deviled eggs from Kelly and Aaron, dirt and worms (chocolate pudding and gummy worms and oreos) from James and Mia, doritos of course from Alex, feta and red pepper Dip, and some other delicious things I am forgetting.

Here we are watching the Roomba in action

The Epic game of Jungle Speed (crazy French card game that always draws blood)

And us, after everyone left at a beautifully decent hour of 11:30pm, I like chill parties, I enjoy going to bed before midnight!

By the way, you might notice the improved quality of photos! Thanks to Caley's Auntie Marie for the new lenses! They were a BIG upgrade!

One last picture, yesterday I rode my bike to work at 7:30 in the morning, it was a super foggy day, everything was frosted, it was a lovely invigorating ride! Then I did a double shift and didn't leave until 7pm...that was not invigorating.

Productivity!

2010-01-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

I am so productive these days!

Yesterday I did laundry, dishes, went to campus to meet with an adviser, picked up a prescription, mailed back a phone, went shopping (twice!), and went for a bike ride with the girls. Whew!

Today I put away all the laundry, did more dishes, and filled out most of the application for the teacher licensing program at CSU! I was going to go buy thank you cards...but took a nap instead...Speaking of thank you cards, they WILL be done before the end of January!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next on the list is work, 3:30 till 10pm and I have to close by myself, could be a little scary, or just mean that I'll be there until like 10:30 to get everything done. I wonder when I'll get paid for the first time. After that I'll know it's every two weeks, but there's always a lag when you start a new job.

In other news, Sebastian is now the proud owner of a giant play palace. We inherited the homemade colossal cat contraption from Alex and Julia. It takes up a substantial amount of space in our living/dining area, but he really loves it...so we'll probably keep it:)
Teacher licensing is pretty simple if you're a post bachelor candidate. The only class I have to take other than the education courses, is GEOL 120 which is quite humorous because its the exact same class Caley took last semester! Too bad I didn't sign up for it with him just for fun! :) Apparently it's known as Rocks for Jocks for good reason....I am allowed to take it here or at Front Range, so depending on how the cost of tuition and other things add up I might do that instead of at CSU. I'm hoping I can apply for some scholarships and grants and things to get most of my costs covered. I'd really like to avoid getting loans, but that might not be possible, especially if I won't be able to work while I'm in school....BUT I'm getting ahead of myself. Kind of.

I think I'll get the application turned in sometime next week, and then work on some financial aid stuff in the coming months, and hopefully by April I'll be able to make a decision. If I decide to wait, and not go back until next Fall, it would take me two years to complete the program, but if I go back this summer, I will be done only one semester after Caley. Sooo many things to think about!

Anyway, one more pic of the kitty for your enjoyment :)

The New Job!

2010-01-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I have two days under my belt, and I can definitely say, this job is going to teach me to be the best multitasker ever!

I am working in the deli for now, they said something about me being trained for the bakery and possibly cashier as well, but I haven't heard anything more about that yet. I wouldn't mind being in the bakery once in awhile, I don't think they deal as much with customers, just baking :) The customers have actually been really nice. I like when people smile at my weird sense of humor, and I don't have a problem being cheerful all day, go figure eh? I think it's because I don't have time to go into blood sugar debt, literally, there is no time to even think about anything except the next dish to prepare, or the next customer to help. I can't believe how busy it was today! For the last three to four hours, there was a customer at the counter pretty much constantly. As the newbie, I can cover most of this pretty well, learning how to make all of the prepackaged dinners and lunches and stuff will take awhile longer. My ONLY complaint so far is the hours on my feet! I've been wearing my skins, and tried out some more supportive shoes today (first day was tennis shoes, they seem a little worn out...) and that seemed to help. However, I see a lot of leg rubs in Caleys' future:) I'll reciprocate of course, bike riding is hard too :)

By the end of the week, I'll be at around 33 hrs, so not quite full time, but to work another day would be pretty brutal. I think I'll just try to supplement with some hours down at the club helping them with their filing stuff. I'm still pretty bitter about the substitute stuff not working out :( Oh well, next school year I'll be all set to go and sign up for the first orientation they have!! I also want to keep riding my bike a decent amount. It will be hard to motivate after work, but as it gets lighter later hopefully I can just suck it up and do it!

Here is a pic of me on my first break yesterday :) I look kind of dorky :)

And here's one of how we spend our evenings; I am on the couch and yell, "What are you doing in there?" Caley replies from the kitchen, "Oh, just reading primary documents and stirring fudge." I'm excited for the fudge!

2010-01-21T07:45:00.001-08:00

This is what I do with my mornings, at least for the time being....

Hopefully today I'll get a job though! Stay tuned for the full update later this evening, keep fingers crossed for good news!

Ok, update time: To date, my list of attempts to get a hold of the substitute coordinator include, 2 phone calls with two voice messages left, 2 emails, 1 visit to her office where I was turned away by the front desk lady, never even made it through the door. I have been informed that there is no possible way to attend the LAST substitute orientation for this school year. There is apparently a slim possibility that there will be one in the spring...but not in time for there to be any actual subbing done obviously. My strategies for trying to weasel my way in include, showing up just in case someone else doesn't show up, emailing all the science teachers in the district for an endorsement or something, or getting on a list at the very least so I can be contacted if someone cancels! The response to these strategies? (mind you, this is only from the front desk lady, the substitute coordinator has not responded to any of my inquiries, at all) WE DON'T DO IT THAT WAY. Point blank. No sugar coating it, no sorry...more in the lines of , "She's already had 12 this year..." To me, this suggests that she thinks I am a lazy, spoiled, slacker or something. NOT TRUE!!!! My thinking on this subjects remains, what harm is there in me just showing up in case??? I understand that they lack space and resources or whatever their reasons are, but wouldn't someone not showing up be a waste of that space and those resources????? I'm sooooooo frustrated!!!!!! I put sooo much into this process, and even obtained two letters of recommendation from two wonderful sources, and you all know how hard it is for me to ask for this kind of stuff......PLUS, I got word today that my actual license has been issued and is active and valid for another three years :( I'm super bummed that this isn't working out for me. I'm more just pissed off that the substitute coordinator isn't showing me the common courtesy of calling or emailing me back, even if it's just to say that none of this is possible :( grrrrrr grrrrrraoinaweofija efoiaew[i so frustrated!!!! It makes me not want to work for Poudre School district at all if this is the kind of treatment I can expect from them.

So, I'm thinking about going down to Greeley for their sub orientation which is next Thursday and doesn't require a reservation, and doesn't require letters of reference (at least at this point). However, if I get a job at Sunflower Farmers Market, I might not even be able to go down to do that! I guess I could just ask for that day off (and Feb. 6th for defensive driving...) I won't know about Sunflower until Monday though, so maybe a miracle of miracles will happen and I'll hear back from Poudre District. Doubtful.

I am pretty excited about Sunflower though. It sounds like I would probably get full time hours, starting at $8/hr which isn't bad...but isn't great...so perhaps supplementing with one day a week substituting or working down at the club might help with that. Plus, you get 20% off at the store on non-sale items, and benefits after working there for awhile. It's the perfect job for where I am right now (less perfect that subbing...but oh well...) It will definitely pay the bills and save us a ton on groceries! Fingers crossed!!

I'll let you know what happens:)

Wish List of Stuff I Want Volume I (leaving room for later volumes)

2010-01-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

An accurate bathroom scale to further the cyclists obsession with weight

Redken Ringlet hair styling cream stuff...it worked when the stylist used it! It will work for me too!

Nice smelly candles for the house, sometimes the cat (and the boy...) can be a little stinky :)

A good blender for all those mixed drinks we make, ha, more like for recovery smoothies!

A KitchenAid Mixer! I can tell there's a super baker inside me just dying to get out!

A Thule roof box, I've always wanted one, never gotten even close to getting one.

The rest of Alex and Julia's furniture to match their couch that we now have.

A leak-proof coffee travel mug. My last one melted in the dishwasher, and yes, it was dishwasher safe!! booooo

A good commuter bike that can get me 10+ miles down the road with all my stuff...so panniers are another thing I want as well :)

Anything out of the Sundance catalog!

While I'm dreaming....A SEMI-PERMANENT JOB PLEASE!!!!

Last Day Blues

2010-01-16T09:02:00.001-08:00

Well, vacation has come to an end. Today we pack up and head back to winter in CO. I have mixed feelings of course. I absolutely can't wait to get home, we've been away for almost a month! However, going home means I have to go back to the real world...the world where I'm pretty much unemployed, the world where bills need to be paid, dishes need to be done, laundry piles up, and I have to figure out what exactly it is I'm doing with my life! At least I've got a head start on cycling fitness for the spring/summer season! My goal is to commute by bike every day that the weather allows, and it's getting lighter later, so it should be even easier than it was 2 months ago! As Caley said, "Two hours of commuting a day is more bike riding than you've ever done in your life!" Haha, it's totally true:) Another goal is to be super fast in the USAC races to show T.W. (The Whore) that she wouldn't have been able to beat me if I raced for CSU this season! It's a great motivator.

Anyway, pic of me at Paradise Bakery and Cafe...my choice instead of getting my butt kicked at the super fast group ride the boys are doing this morning:)

Great little Recovery Ride

2010-01-14T14:37:00.001-08:00

Riding along a nice little bike path is conducive to taking pictures :)

Century Followed by All You Can Eat Sushi!

2010-01-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

Like the title says, we did about 105 miles today, it was a glorious day! Partly cloudy, some sun every once and awhile, my only complaint was the wind, but I just sat on the back of the group all day, so it's not like it was that much of a factor :)

Needless to say, I was toast by the time we got home, snacked, showered, stretched, passed out for a few, and then we went to sushi! Delicious!

Caley and I at the sushi joint...he's not paying attention, but that's kind of normal :)

Rest Day!

2010-01-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

Caley and I enjoyed our rest-day evening by watching the sunset at the top of Gates Pass. It was pretty cute, lot's of senior couples enjoying the balmy evening.

After our date, we went by Trader Joes. I'm sad to report my first Trader Joes experience left a lot to be desired. The store had and incredibly poor lay out, it was crowded, it was tiny, and the atmosphere just wasn't there. I had such high expectations! Oh well, I guess if you are looking for a few gourmet things, this might be the place to start, but the selection was pretty underwhelming. :(

Anyway, life is great down here in Tucson with 20 teenage boys...as Caley put it after I had a bit of a cranky day, "You're allowed to be a bit of a butt head when you're living with 20 dudes." :)

One more to satisfy the silly girl in me :)

Lackadaisical Saturday

2010-01-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

The boys finally all headed out on their morning bike ride (silly boys, I'm waiting until it warms up to at least 60 or 65...) and I have the house to myself! Lovely! I thoroughly enjoy my Saturday morning rituals: coffee, breakfast, Weekend Edition, laundry and just relaxing. Tucson has been amazingly wonderful! The temps have been hovering in the low 70's, the wind hasn't been too awful, and the new house is awesome!!!! Pool included! Too bad the water is freezing and I didn't bring my swimsuit :) I've been keeping a somewhat low riding profile for the past four days. I really really really didn't want a repeat of last year in Santa Barbara, and so far I haven't had any knee pain! Whoo hoo! Today I think I will do a bit of a repeat of yesterday, we rode this awesome route on the Old Spanish Trail. Swoopy road, some pretty smooth spots (mixed in with horrible falling apart spots...) and a tailwind all the way home. I'm actually looking forward to the ride alone with my ipod, no worries about keeping up and worrying about everyone else getting hit by a car.
Here is a pic taken on the first day, we rode up to the base of Mt. Lemmon just to loosen up a bit, it was glorious!

Whirlwind of adventures!

2010-01-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we barely made it out of New England before Burlington was slammed with 33 inches of new snow!! I think Boston got some out of the storm as well, but definitely not as much. Our plane had to be de-iced before we left, new experience for me, slightly disconcerting, but everything went very smoothly, and we had no problems with travel on the way home.
Our good friend Erick picked us up at the airport, and then picked us up again 36 hrs later to drive down to Tucson, AZ for some warm weather training! Our day at home was spent snugging with the attention starved cat

and doing massive amounts of laundry (most of which were leftovers from before we went East...)

The drive down to Tucson flew by...NOT! But here we are, ready for some fun in the sun!!! Pictures to come :)

VT Fun!

2009-12-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

Skiing at the Von Trapp Family Lodge! I couldn't help but run through a few songs in my head :) All together an epic day, it was snowing so hard, we were completely soaked through by the time we got back. A nice stint by the fire fixed that right up though!
I love it here, but I do miss my family :( Good luck to Caitlin as she competes in Anchorage this coming week!!

60 degrees at the end of December? Bike Ride Time!!!

2009-12-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

2009-12-19T09:17:00.001-08:00

Early Friday morning as I sat at the transit center on campus, I was suddenly struck by college nostalgia. Campus definitely had the "after finals Winter break excitement" feeling in the air. I miss being a part of the student body getting ready for grand winter adventures, proud of what they accomplished during the semester. I definitely don't miss my grad work...but I think there is more schooling ahead for me, maybe for many years to come.

I have been thinking more and more about trying to teach, probably high school biology. Memories arise of the "classroom" I started for Caitlin in our extra bedroom in our elementary years. I did everything, geography, math, writing (of course in our special "mirror" writing style...backwards so you could read it in the mirror) and I loved "teaching" her, and grading the assignments I gave her. Hahaha silly sister to sit through all that :) I don't think it lasted very long, I had too much power in my teacher position and she certainly chaffed under it :) In any case, the more I think about it, the better it sounds. Summers off every summer?! Heck yes!

Another musing tumbling around in my head is buying into Grant Family Farms for next year. The season begins in June, and runs through Dec. If you buy the veggie share

* quick side note..the upstairs neighbors are having a giant screaming and yelling fight again...happens at least once a week, and is always the girl freaking out at the guy. Yikes. They have a dog that never gets walked, barks and whines all the time when they are gone, and apparently chews up her sweatshirts which causes her to yell and scream at him about how stupid and $#*%ing retarded he is... Caley and I tend to think they should just break up already and move out so we don't have to listen to their fights and their dog anymore.

Anywaaaay, if you buy the single veggie share where you can work on the farm for a discount, it averages out to $11 per week for seasonal, organic, local veggies! The only problem would be the upfront cost. It sounds like we could work out a payment plan so it's not the one lump sum of $305 all at once, and I'm thinking about asking our neighbors if they want to go in on the family share together for a bigger quantity and greater variety and it would only be $8 more if we split it in half between the two households. Plus, if we did this, I think the time working on the farm would be able to be split as well..it's only 18 hours for the whole growing season, and I'm sure it would be so much fun, we'd end of doing more than our share anyway! So, hopefully I can get a job before Feb (the cutoff for the early season sign up ends 2/28...) and can buy in! I would also consider buying in for the eggs too. They are pretty expensive, but good eggs are sooooo worth it! You can check out the farm website HERE.

Well, I really should get outside for a bike ride or something, got to take advantage of the weekends!

-Megan

Recent Happenings: TDay, Home, Haircut

2009-12-12T21:35:00.001-08:00

The Joys of Being Home!!!

2009-11-24T07:45:00.000-08:00

When it rains, it poors

2009-11-21T20:06:00.001-08:00

Today was not such a great day. It started off good, it really did! Coffee in the morning, some Weekend Edition on the radio, Caley leaving with me so i could drop him off for his ab/back test on my way to work. Then BAM!!!!!!!! I ran a red light. Didn't even see it; the one on Horsetooth and Mason that, for some reason, is hard to see even though it's right in front of you... I avoided the car in the closet lane to me, but hit the one in the far lane directly on her drivers side door and some of the back passenger door. The air bags went off, the car filled with toxic chemical dust and smoke, and before I knew it I was opening the door, and out in the middle of the intersection looking at pieces of the vanny van strewn across the road. I barely got my bearings when Caley was on the phone calling the police, getting things taken care of, making sure I was ok and the other driver was ok and seeing about moving us out of the intersection.

Yeah, wow, not expecting that. It took the police forever to get there. In the mean time we chatted with the other lady who, of all the people to hit in Fort Collins, works at the Honda dealership about a block away from the accident (I was there two days ago getting an oil change...). She was amazingly nice, and totally cool about everything. The officer was too after she arrived. I got a ticket for running the red light, and since it resulted in an accident, I have to go to court on Dec. 17th. Hopefully not to be put in jail for 10 years...and more hopefully not to have a giant fine...

These past few months certainly have been challenging. I guess now I really have no excuse not to ride my bike to work now though.

A brief update on the Job Search

2009-11-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

-REI stopped hiring about a week before I applied :( sadness

-I got blown off by some guy who didn't know what he was talking about at Whole Foods, and I should have just asked to see the hiring manager for the department right then and there...but I was sad and overwhelmed, so I did not.

-I went to the "observation day" at Clean Water Action and lasted until about 8pm, at which point I called Caley to come pick me up. I simply cannot bring myself to ask people for money three or more times after they have already said no and their dinner is getting cold on their plates. Bleah. Hopefully won't live to regret this decision when I can't find anything else....

-Since I'm not a student, I don't qualify for a desk job in the NR department...

-A cashier position at Ace hardware sounds like it will only be temporary through the holidays. This makes me sad, first of all that it wouldn't even be full time then, and then that I would miss all of the holidays with family, and then that I wouldn't have a job after the 1st of January.

-Sunflower Farmers market sounded promising, but I haven't heard back from them...probably have to go in today or tomorrow and just check in.

-The biologist position application is in the giant black box of government hiring...no idea who I would even contact about this position, and it sounds like a computer is the one giving me a "score" on compatibility and they only interview the top three scoring applications. BS. So inhuman.

-Starbucks application is in. I have no barista experience, but could definitely learn, and they're another one of those pretty cool companies to work for as far as support and environmental awareness etc. I'll have to ask a friend of mine who used to work there to be a reference :)

-Applied to Jax Outdoor Gear this morning, will drop off a resume to them this afternoon.

-Applied to some babysitting job that pays $10/hr...hopefully I can just get in for a few days to make some food money for January. Caley and I figured out that we can pay rent through January, but then would only have $475.00 combined for living expenses for a whole month...rice and beans anyone?

-Going to apply to Miramont gyms today and maybe some coffee shops downtown.

Wish me luck!

And it Begins!

2009-11-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Caley and I joined the team group ride up Rist Canyon for our "1st" training ride of the winter season! I stuck with the group until the canyon started...right around the dirt road they started to pull away. I then did my best to keep the other stragglers in sight, yet at the same time settling into my own pace that I knew I could hold up the canyon. About 5 minutes below the mailboxes my blasted knee started to hurt again! Same one that crapped out in Santa Barbara, same place, everything, BOO. So, I stopped at the mailboxes and turned around to head home. Caley caught up to me at the bottom of the canyon and we rode home together. A few weeks ago, Caley borrowed my seat post, and I put it back not paying that close of attention to where he had marked it...so, we adjusted, and the knee immediately felt better! Hopefully this does the trick. In the meantime I am icing and doing all the right things because I would be soooo pissed if this kept me off the bike any longer than I already have been!!!!
In other news, I have applied to two positions at REI, and I would be soooo psyched if they contacted me for an interview and I got to work there!!! Check out there job website here...it looks totally awesome!!! I still think that I'll take the community organizer job if they offer it to me, just so I have a job for the next month while I continue to look for one with better hours!

-Megan

Progress!

2009-10-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have an interview scheduled for Tuesday!! The job search is going well I guess you could say:) The interview is for the Clean Water Action group for a position as a "community organizer". I am following in President Obama's footsteps! :) It pays well, about what I'm getting now, and the hrs are from 2pm to 10:30pm M-F which would give me a chance to train in the mornings! I guess we'll have to wait and see what it's all about on Tuesday, but it seems like a neat little interim job that would look good on a resume and is totally different from what I've been doing for the past 5.5 years, which is good. Click here to go to the website!
I've also applied to Whole Foods, Sunflower Farmers Market, and today I'm going to attempt one of the government jobs I feel kind of qualified for...a term job of "biological technician". It's limited to two years, and pays about 2x's what I was making as a grad student. Might be a nice change :)
In other news....Caley and I are slowly recovering from a bout of Swine Flu! Not a fun week and a half. Coughs are still lingering, but we both feel so much better, and might even attempt a bike ride tomorrow!

Fort Collins got about 2 feet of snow this past week as well! However, today temps are already soaring over 50degrees, and most of the snow is gone! Crazy CO weather!

Click here for some photos of us at City Park!

Being an "adult" is going ok so far, hopefully I'll find employment soon!

-Megan

Life Happenings

2009-10-20T15:32:00.001-07:00

Since Caley just posted an epic blog, I figured I'd better follow suit!

The past few weeks have wrought some huge changes in my life. First and foremost, I have withdrawn from CSU and discontinued my research with Dr. Black. I guess you could say the decision was a long time in coming...but I'm sure seemed rather sudden to my poor unsuspecting parents. I could list all of my various reasons for deciding to become an adult a little earlier than planned, but most importantly, I want to be happy, and this program has been making me unhappy for quite awhile. I hope to find something that I am passionate about and can see myself in as a career. If it takes me awhile to figure out what that is, so be it, but I'm pretty excited right now about taking the time off!
Equally as important, Caley and I have each been doing a lot of soul searching, and so very thankfully have come to the very informed and mutual decision to continue our relationship, and we're doing well. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break and Christmas (hopefully any future job can work around our trip....) when we are surrounded by loving family and good food.
Let's see...other news...I have been on my bike two times, and gone on a 20min run!! I feel great, very out of shape, but great! The forced time away from exercise was definitely not great for my mental health:) The family arrives on Thursday, and I can't wait to hang out, go shopping, and have a beer with my newly legal sister!!

More later, I am off to watch some cyclocross racing at the New Belgium Brewery!

-Megan

SNOWWW!!!!

2009-10-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

So excited that it's snowing here in Fort Collins! We had a delicious breakfast at Choice City this morning, fire in the grate here at home, and the seeds of our recovery are being planted :)

Pics of the new living room situation (new couch!!!!) and the snow for your enjoyment!

And our morning adventure to Choice City:

And some of the delicious food Caley has been making lately in this fall/winter weather! Apple pie (CF <3 MC on top...), and spring rolls!

And Sebastian, of course :)

Cat In Front of the Fire

2009-10-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of my Lucy dog at home :)

Wonderful Weekend!

2009-10-04T20:37:00.001-07:00

Epic bike racing by all this weekend in Grand Junction at the conference finals for collegiate mountain season! The team took home many individual medals, and 3rd place in the conference overall! (darn it, if we could only get more girls on bikes!!!) I had a great time driving the van, visiting with everyone, riding around on my cruiser at the short track, and most of all, WALKING ON MY OWN TWO FEET WITH NO CAST!! That's right people, I'm back, and will perhaps be better than ever at some point in the near future:) I've convinced myself that training starts this week!! My plan, of course, is to take it slow, start out on the trainer so I'm not too far away from home if it does start to hurt or something. Caley has refused to let me race cyclocross on Tuesday (meany head...) but I'm sure he's right. I probably shouldn't be hopping on and off the bike and running to leap over inanimate objects...
I'm still bummed I have to miss mtn bike nationals out in Truckee, but I'm excited enough about starting to train again that I think I can get over it :)

Picture of the team after the races today! (girl in the red jacket in the front row is Brenna, the one who went to track nationals...)

and a good one of Caley :)

ROOMBA AWESOMENESS!!!!!

2009-10-01T14:50:00.001-07:00

So I caved, and got a roomba, but it was a really really really good sale! Video:

AWESOME ROOMBA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yXP8g1_PBM

What to say

2009-10-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Today is a chilly, windy, typically gorgeous fall day in Fort Collins, CO. This time of year always makes me feel excited and cozy and wild and melancholy all at the same time.

Without sharing too much detail that you all don't want to or need to know, this past week has been pretty horrible. Caley and I are dealing with a girl on the team who likes him, and did something about it. She's new this year, and the unfortunate part is that I thought we were going to be friends. She was the only girl to go to track nationals this year, and will be one of about 3 going to mtn bike nationals in a few weeks...we have had words and I'm sure it's done, but it doesn't make it any easier for me to see them off with an easy heart.

Anyway. We love each other very much, and in the grand scheme of things, this will not matter at all.

A Megan Week

2009-09-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you all know, Caley is out of town this week for Collegiate Track Nationals! This means I pamper myself all week long! :)
To date I have:
eaten a chocolate cake
had a fire in the fire place
had wine with dinner two nights in a row
slept late
journaled
watched a few silly girl movies
etc...

Anyway, it's been nice, but a little lonely...Sebby would be offended by that statement I'm sure:)

Apparently they've done really well this week, I haven't gotten the official updates yet for today, but the past two days have been very successful!

I'm really starting to look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas!! Hopefully the damn mosquitoes will be in a place where I can leave them for a few days of relaxation.

Also, Caitlin comes to visit in a little less than a month! I've got to think of some cool stuff to do, and try not to be at work until 9pm...highly likely for that Friday I'm afraid.

Anyway...not much going on this weekend, maybe some studying, maybe some breakfast at Uncle K's..we shall see!

-Megan

Fall Time!

2009-09-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Everyone, keep fingers crossed for snow soon!!!

p.s. I've had this weird eye twitch all day, it's getting really annoying and I'm sure I look kind of weird :) Hopefully it goes away after a good nights sleep!

2009-09-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

I would like to go home now please.

Stupid Mosquitoes

2009-09-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

So, because my mosquitoes are not maturing at a quick enough rate, I probably won't get to go up to Beaver Meadows this weekend! :( I hate mosquitoes. For any of you who have gotten the erroneous impression of late that I may have started to get fond of them, you are WRONG! I still hate them, I still hate the sound of them buzzing in my ears, and I wish I could be done with them all right now! Unfortunatley, I'm getting to the most labor intensive part of my project as far as mosquitoes go. In the next few days, I have to isolate individual pupae from each of my six hatches (as many as I can) and wait for them to emerge as either male of female. I then have to set up as many single family pairs as I can with those isolated males and females (crossing females with males from a different population and collecting the eggs from that cross). This breaks down to A LOT of tiny cages for individual pairs of mosquitoes. Then I have to make sure each female in these pairings feeds well, mates and lays eggs. Then I start the whole process over again, and repeat four more times. I'm sure at this point I won't be done in November. I should probably email my counterpart in Mexico to let her know...but I won't do that until I can get a good estimate of when I'll actually be done, no idea at this point, but after I get eggs from this first cross I'll just extrapolate.
Aside from the crosses, I am doing insecticide resistance assays as well. I won't go into details because it's too complicated to explain, let's just say it's going to involve an extreme amount of counting larvae/adults, and extreme amounts of dish washing, and extreme amounts of time. It's not part of my project, but helping out another person in the lab...I'll be doing the same for my mosquitoes later, so this counts as practice. In any case, I'll have help on this part, but I'm not at all looking forward to it.
Also, (let's just get all of the complaining out of the way shall we?) I am beginning to feel like a blob. My right calf and thigh are already super tiny and wasted away, and I haven't had any exercise for 21 days!! At least I know I'll be super motivated to get going once this damn boot comes off, but for now, I think my mood is being affected by the lack of physical activity.
My mood today:

Sebby Went Missing!!!!!

2009-09-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Caley and I got home after a wonderful afternoon of coffee with friends, some beers, bike polo, and a great barbecue with the team to find that we had forgotten to close the porch door, and our dear Sebby cat was gone!! Usually he's really good about staying on the porch and we've left him out there before, but maybe he spied a lady cat this time or something, anyway, it was horrible! This prompted about 2.5 hours of searching with the flashlight, making up fliers and posting them, knocking on doors and calling the 24hr missing pet hotline that has his microchip information. We discovered knocking on doors that he actually ran into our downstairs neighbors house and hid under the bed, but instead of keeping him safe, they chucked him back outside! Poor scared kitty!! The lady on the hotline gave us the tip that if we stuck his litter box outside, it's like a "smell lighthouse" and he might be wanting to come home, but just couldn't smell where we live! We did as told, and seriously, it was miraculous! In about five minutes I saw him run across the grass right below our porch! Caley was already outside hanging up posters so I quick called him and he got back to the house in time to catch the little bugger before he took off again. We were soooooo relieved!!!!!
We've had Sebby for almost exactly a year now, and I can't imagine our little apt. without him! So, moral of the story, Sebastians porch time is going to be seriously limited!
Here's a picture from when he was a new member of the family...he's grown a lot since then!

A Couple of Pics from the Past Month or so

2009-09-07T12:12:00.001-07:00

From a hike with Emily, Brenden and Cricket up to Mount Bearstadt(sp?) It was cold up there at 14,000 ft above sea level!

Camping with the team up at Beaver Meadows is always focused around eating at the picnic table!

All set to go as the official water bottle holder at the first xcountry race of the year up in Wyoming!

Post race in the car, sad that I didn't get to ride, but happy cause it was a GORGEOUS Fall day and everyone did so well!

Tour de Fat!!

2009-09-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Tour de Fat was AWESOME I'm super glad we stayed in town and participated. I had planned on volunteering because I wanted a free tshirt, but decided not to at the last minute because logistics with the ole ankle just wouldn't work out. Here is a video (courtesy of Caley's iphone) for your viewing pleasure of the craziness of Tour de Fat!
Hope you are all having a great weekend!
-Megan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQFtsof5Ixw

Workin' Away

2009-09-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

Me. Working. Healing my ankle. :)

Allelic Frequencies

2009-08-31T14:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, Question of the Day:
1. (5 pts.) Population Genetics Based Upon Phenotypes. Cyanogenesis in white clover, Trifolium repens, is controlled by two unlinked loci. One locus controls synthesis of a cyanogenic substrate while a second locus codes for synthesis of the enzyme that releases the cyanide radical from the substrate. Cyanogenic plants rapidly release cyanide when they are crushed. Cyanogenic plants can be identified by crushing their leafs in the presence of dinitrotoluene (I nitro away from TNT!) which turns red in the presence of free cyanide. The cyanogenesis phenotype is polymorphic in white clover populations throughout the world. Alleles at the first gene that encodes the cyanogenic substrate are usually fixed. Cyanogenic alleles are incompletely dominant to acyanogenic alleles at the second gene. Acyanogenic plants are assumed to be homozygous recessive. Numerous studies have shown that cyanogenic plants are eaten (by a variety of things) less often than acyanogenic plants. On the other hand, cyanogenic plants don't recover well from being trampled or crushed and generally show less vegetative growth and lower fecundity. The fitness of the genotype is thus dependent on the environment. You observe the following frequency of cyanogenic phenotypes in three populations. Assume the existence of two alleles at the second gene that encodes the enzyme that releases the cyanide radical.

Population 1 Population 2 Population 3
Cyanogenic

+ 0.2 0.5 0.95

- 0.8 0.5 0.05

a) Calculate the frequency of the cyanogenic allele in each population.

b) In two or three sentences provide a hypothesis to explain the maintenance of alleles at these frequencies in these populations. How would you test this hypothesis? (Hint: What selective forces might be operating in each of these populations?)

If anyone can tell me whether or not the part about incomplete dominance of the cyanogenic allele to the acyanogenic allele makes any difference at all, I will buy you a candy bar!!!! If you could also give me a better nudge in the right direction for question "b" that would be much appreciated and warrant an even better ICE CREAM CONE!!!

Ok, now that you all are on that...

It's Monday again, and I'm struggling with my homework. Also, unless my friend Emily comes to pick me up, I'm stranded on campus until 7:15, at which point we go over to the student center for an officer meeting, and then a team meeting at 8pm, meaning I will not get home until around 9pm. At which point I will have been on campus for a solid 12 hrs. Whoa.
Today was payday!!! I wasn't able to save anything this month, and probably won't be able to for the next two months, mostly because I have to make payments to CSU for my fees. I won't complain b/c certain people like to point out how cheap in-state tuition is vs out of state....but it's still a lot of money for me :)
Better get back to it, I have a bunch of homework still, and a tiny bit more lab stuff to finish up today if I can just buckle down.
Thanks for reading! Hope you all had a great Monday!

-Megan

ps. I forgot to mention trail work weekend #2! It went well, no one broke any bones...

FRIDAY!!!!

2009-08-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad it's Friday!!!!!!!! This week has been possibly the longest of my life, and I can't imagine how Caley feels. Poor guy has been at my beck and call all week, and he's been amazing about it, but I still feel bad.
This weekend should be full of fun! Tonight is Tirrels "going away" party :( I'm super sad!! I'll miss her calming influence and general Tirrely awesomeness. We have, however, inherited her lovely sister Marlena, so perhaps she will be a good replacement:)
Saturday morning we are volunteering for the Rist Canyon Road race, starting at 6:45am!!! We get free lunch though, so it should be worth it. Saturday evening it's back up to Beaver Meadows for some more "trail work" aka sitting around relaxing for me:) I have a feeling though, that the weekend is going to fly by, and before we know it, it'll be back to the grind. Man I can't wait to be done with school!
Short post today, lot's to do!
-Megan

Broken Ankle

2009-08-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

So, I broke my ankle. Not doing anything spectacular, it was a very slow motion fall on the mtn bike. My foot didn't clip out, and my body acted as a nice lever to snap the tip off of my fibula. A picture for your enjoyment:

Other than that, school has started, my Population Genetics class is going to be super tough, a lot of statistics and convoluted math. Hopefully I can stay on top of it seeing as my adviser is my teacher...I'm also taking Spanish again which should be fun! The teacher is really enthusiastic and seems nice. I'm taking the first year review class, it's definitely the right level for me to be in. Hopefully they won't get me into trouble for not taking the placement test and just signing up for it :)
Research is going well, I'm about ready to take the next step in both of the projects I'm working on. I think I'm going to hatch some eggs tomorrow to start my first cross between my mosquitoes and the Mexican mosquitoes. Cross your fingers that they all hatch well!!! I collected the eggs from my mosquitoes about 2-3 months ago which is the very end of their viability. Hopefully I won't lose any...another thing to keep me up at night.
I tried Vicodin (sp?) for the first time last night. It was awesome! It put me right to sleep, I didn't have any nausea and my foot felt great! I told Caley, under no circumstances is he allowed to let me get addicted to it:)
Well, off to class, hope you all are having a nice week!
-Megan

Summer is Gone :(

2009-08-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just realized it's been over a month since I last posted anything! How could I let that happen? :)

I am a mixed bag of feelings about the coming school year. While I'm pretty excited about getting back into the routine of school and going on a lot of fun biking trips this fall, I'm also reminded of how much I have to accomplish between now and the end of the school year! So much remains to be done on my research project, and of course I find every little thing to stress about...every nit-picky little detail that could go wrong, and probably will...At least I have a pretty clear idea about what has to be done to finish the project. Then comes the thesis writing and defending! I take comfort that many people have gone before me and survived:)

The past month has been full of fun adventures! A crazy trip to see the sister and friends and family in Durango:

Fun riding bikes, Emily made it to the top of Rist Canyon for the first time!!

Also, we went to Nantucket! How could I almost forget??! Favorite pic of the week:

Quite a bit of work, although I don't have any fun pictures for that....

Caley and I marked our 2nd year of togetherness with some epic trail work on the reservoir loop and then some fun downtown at New West Fest. We can't decide whether the past two years have gone really fast or really slow...still not sure:)

I should head to bed, we're getting up early to ride some mtn bikes! I'm trying to get some good riding in the next few weeks before racing starts. Somehow the summer went without me riding nearly as much as I would have liked. I guess I'll be forced to this fall with races every weekend, racing into shape is my favorite thing to do anyway...:)

I'll make a more concerted effort to keep you updated this fall!

-Megan

Catch Up with Pictures!!!

2009-07-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
I finally got the picture thingy and now have hundreds of pictures to sort through from the past 4 months.

I'll pick one or two from every adventure, facebook will have the rest:)

Everyone hangin' at my house for the FLC road race

Group ride to our sponsor shop right before nationals, we stopped at the raptor rescue

At the awards ceremony after Nationals, I already forget what place we got as a team...

An awesome mtn bike ride with Caley

Breakfast at Verns with our friends Emily and Brendan, Caley is a little full :)

Tirrels graduation party, I will miss her a lot!!

Post Iron Horse Picnic in Silverton!!!

At the beach on Balboa Island after my first successful scientific conference

The first of Caley's birthday celebrations; at the Trailhead with good friends

Hangin' out in the park playing frisbee

Fourth of July! Almost all of the cousins were there

Jesse's birthday and Sunday breakfast all in one!

Out to a fancy dinner with Caley courtesy of his Aunt Linda!

Lake weekend with Emily!

That brings up pretty much up to date, I still have to upload pics from last night's Wine and Cheese Extravaganza party. (aka WACE party, pronounced "wacky")

This summer has been about the best ever, and we are going to Nantucket tomorrow, so it's about to get even better!!!!
I'll keep you all posted:)

-Megan

Goings On!

2009-07-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hello! I realized today that I haven't written in awhile, and there has been so much going on I'm sure I'll forget most of it:) Let me try for a quick recap:
- Got my primers to function at work!! Whoo hoo!
- Caley turned 21 and had approximately three parties/get-togethers. First we went to the Trail Head for his actually birthday (buy one get one free burgers and $2 beers!) Thursday we had people over for dinner, small gathering of good friends that was totally impromptu. Friday was the big party with tons of food, lots of good beer, lots of good friends (and most of my family who were in town for the 4th). We went downtown after for the art walk and some bar hopping.
- Saturday was spent watching the Tour, sleeping, home improvements and a big bbq at my Uncles house with the fam. Fireworks followed, and a pretty mellow evening because the rain upset our campfire plans at another friends house.
- Today we had breakfast with the fam again, Cousin Jesse's birthday!! He's 24 today! Wow, so old :) I've been sleeping pretty much all day, tuckered out from all of our festivities, I can't believe how many times we've had people over to the house the past week!

For your viewing pleasure, a video tour of the new apartment because I've finally gotten it into a bit of shape! :)

I sincerely hope this doesn't make you motion sick :)

In anticipation of a grilled dinner!

2009-06-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

Caley and I have been grilling a lot! His favorite of course is sausage from Sunflower or our new found Beaver Market:) Tonight will be an experiment! Grilled portabella mushroom caps and maybe some grilled red pepper? From looking up a bunch of general recipes, this is how I imagine I will grill them:

4 portabella mushroom caps with stems removed and wiped with damp towel
4 cloves of garlic
some olive oil
chopped shallots?
some balsamic vinegar

Marinate mushroom caps for ~20minutes in mixture of oil, vinegar, chopped garlic and shallots

Grill caps 3-4 minutes each side!

Serve with grilled peppers on buns, or just eating them like steak! Whoo, very excited! Most recipes I've looked up are a variation on the theme of olive oil, some simple spices, and maybe some vinegar, but since I'm a huge fan, we're doing the vinegar for sure:)

I'm also going to try grilling some summer squash later this week, and if the salmon is on sale at Sunflower...maybe that too! Grilled salmon is just about my favorite ever!

Last night we had a delicious shrimp curry a la master curry chef Caley :) It was called peppercorn shrimp in the book, but we substituted normal pepper (didn't have peppercorns) and substituted cumin seeds for mustard seeds cause we didn't have any of those either, but it was soooo delicious! I love the taste of curries with coconut milk in them, a lot more mellow and sweet than some of the non coconut milk ones we've tried. We are big curry fans :) Not sure if I mentioned the smoky eggplant curry I made a couple of weeks ago, but WOW is all I can say!! Definitely going to make that one again!

I wish Caitlin would blog some more and put up some awesome recipes that she's been making...:P
-Megan

Political Thoughts

2009-06-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I don't believe my generation of U.S. citizens, brought up with the belief that you can do anything you want but not taught the value of the hard work that goes into achieving those goals, could ever lay down their lives for something they purport to believe in. I myself, don't believe I would lay down my life for an ideal. Of course military types are the exception, but they're crazy anyway:) Case in point, a lot of us feel that the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were sent under false pretenses and are losing their lives in an unjust war. It's tragic! I don't want this to be about Iraq though, what got me thinking is all the unrest in Iran at the moment. Hundreds of thousands of people are marching against the result of their presidential "election". Basically, the old president "won" in a landslide "vote" and the opposition party is calling fowl (justifiably in my opinion). Yesterday the military fired into the crowd killing up to 7 people so far. These people are standing up for democratic ideals in a country where I'm pretty sure their system isn't even set up in a democratic way. I'll have to ask Caley, but to my understanding, even if the vote is one way, the Supreme Leader of their council of 12 religious leaders has the ultimate say anyway. I'm not saying that the people should give up fighting for rights and freedoms they probably won't have, at least in the short term, I'm just saying the concept is so foreign to a middle class white girl from CO, USA. I guess the freedoms we've come to expect here in the US haven't really ever been threatened in a serious way; but if I can be convinced to move to France just because of our lack of a good health care system here, then I sure as hell probably wouldn't stay if our entire political system failed.
Hopefully I will never face a situation that calls for me to put my life on the line for something so abstract as "country" or "values" until then, I'm not going to worry about it any more :)
-Megan

While I drink my Coffee

2009-06-14T18:30:00.001-07:00

7:30pm, getting some caffeine for a late lab night....
This weekend has been so lovely! Friday started with patio beers at NB and Odells, followed by sushi at Suhiros, then early back to the homestead but a late night snuggling with Sebby and watching online TV. Saturday was a sleep late, eat a great breakfast then bike ride day. I rode up to horsetooth, then glade road to Loveland and ended up back in FoCo at Fossil Creek Park for the family bike festival. Emily hooked me up with free cotton candy, and I sat around getting a tiny sunburn watching bike polo. Bike polo is like polo on horses, only with bikes, and a little be slower I imagine. It looks like so much fun!!! I would be terrible due to my lack of eye/hand/bike coordination... but fun nevertheless.

Then, after a great nap, I met up with Emily and another friend Amanda for some homemade pizza and cold ones on the porch, followed by thirty seconds of the Sugar Ray concert (I just wanna fly...goodnight folks!) and ice cream at Walrus! The crowds were amazing, and we probably sat outside Walrus for a good 45 min just watching people go by and stumble around outside the Rio...Today began with delicious breakfast at Uncle Kevins, and Kylie and Meara were home!! Yay! I haven't seen Kylie since Christmas time, and Meara isn't around that much either. I should have gone down to check out Taste of Fort Collins, but went for another bike ride instead :) I did Rist and back down Buckhorn to the Poudre. It was pretty awesome, I got rained on at the top of Rist, but I had some extra clothes, and no hail, so I survived. I def. have a good tan going after two days...wonder how dark I can get! :) I always wear sunscreen of course! I will be finishing today up with some lab work, need to have something to show Dr. Black when he gets back in tomorrow morning...boooooooooo. Plus, that's where my phone charger is, soo, must go to work. I will be wearing sweats though!
Hope you all had a great weekend!
-Megan

ps. I'm still waiting to hear how Bryn is doing after giving birth to her first child! Congrats already Bryn!!!

New Address and stuff

2009-06-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

So you all know...

710 City Park Ave B221
Fort Collins, CO 80521

Unpacking is progressing well only the bathroom and clothes left...probably a lot going to goodwill....

Alison Krauss and Norah Jones are perfect for rainy days.

I love thunderstorms with hail and lightening and light flooding of gutters! I am sorry for everyones gardens, but its just so exciting!

I got to work at 10 today, and still beat more than half of my coworkers! :)

Time to get back to it!
-Megan

Update from CA

2009-06-03T17:42:00.001-07:00

I have been feeling exceedingly grown up the past few days out here at the conference in CA. I wear nice clothes, heels, drink wine with dinner, present on research, hobnob with world famous scientists (hours of hobnobbing=exhausting), and read the paper poolside before dinner:)
My talk yesterday went well, I was super nervous and felt like I was being unclear...but, people have complimented me, and everybody now knows who I am due to Dr. Blacks insistence on calling me Meganita and correcting anyone who calls me Megan instead :) Oh well, at least I'm not like the grad students from London, they haven't contributed anything to the discussions or given talks. Dr. Black is an awesome advisor for making me go to this thing and forcing me to present my little project (totally against my will, but I'm supremely grateful now).
I've also had a change of heart about my project. After hearing all about the whole project from everyone, and seeing how I fit in, and how much my stuff will be able to help, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and can't wait to get home to make some real progress the rest of this summer and next school year! It really was a good thing that I had to come :)
Also, I found out I'll be going back to Tapachula late Aug....which I'm sure means I'll be missing my birthday or the first week of school or something I was looking forward to I'm sure. However, I have been thinking a lot about the last trip I was on down there and how much fun I had, and I'm actually looking forward to the coming trip! I'm not sure how long we're planning on being down there, I hate being away from home and Caley and Sebby for more than a week...I'm such a home-body.
Still looking for the picture thing dammit! I'm going to order one next week off of Amazon if it doesn't turn up as soon as I get home! In the meantime I'll take pics of my swanky digs here at the hotel, AND I get to go to the beach tomorrow since we don't have any obligations here at the conference!!!! Woooo!!!!
ciao,
Meganita :)

Iron Horse Weekend!!

2009-05-26T14:29:00.001-07:00

Finally back to the mosquitoes after a lovely three day hiatus. Poor things were so hungry, my arms are the testament to that...
Now, the Iron horse! After a rushed work session in the early hours Friday morning, we were off on time around 8am. A pretty uneventful drive to Silverton, a few showers, a hunger crisis moment, great conversation, excellent. We met my Mom at the courthouse in Silverton so we could leave the cars for the next day and make the rest of the way piled into the highlander. A quick stop at the fairgrounds to check in, and we were home! Mom had a great spaghetti dinner all ready to go, after which we debated the chances of our actually racing the next day given the forecast of 80% rain/snow and high of 56 in Silverton. Lucky for us, the day dawned cloudy and a little chilly, but the rain and snow held off the whole day!! My race was allright, we rolled up the valley really slowly. I'm sure no one wanted to go fast before Mara Abbott decided to go fast...needless to say, I was dropped on Shalona, and ended up with the exact same time as the last time I did the race two years ago, and 32nd place. I was pleased, and disappointed:) Still have to break 3hrs sometime, only need to take off 10 minutes!! Our after race picnic was as pleasant as it's ever been, Anne joined us (conference director for RMCCC) and a bunch of the nordic kids and some parents were there as well. We still had leftovers, although by the end of the weekend I think we left the parents in good position to finish the rest of it off. Sunday's crit was super fast and hard. A few of the faster girls had not raced the day before, and I managed to stay on to the pack for around half, not sure because there wasn't a time clock at the start/finish (really annoying, and honestly, how hard would it be to put up a clock??!!) Anyway, a huge crowd made the race a lot of fun, many of my high school classmates were there cheering me on which was fun until I got dropped...:) I ended up 17th overall. The time trial was pretty good, I would have done A LOT better with any type of aero gear. I actually ended up 2nd to last :( I thought I did better, but not having any aero gear at all, and a very flat/rolling first section, made a huge difference.
All in all a great weekend! I miss Durango a lot, and seeing all my friends there almost made me wish I was moving home for the summer as well. Fort Collins is a great place to be though, and there's so much more to look forward to!
Some pics courtesy of one of Dads work friends:

Scenes from the Lab

2009-05-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is particularly for the parents/Grandparents, those people who don't really know where I work and what I do. (as always, you can click on a pic for a bigger version)

I start my day off by "picking pupae". Pupae are the stage of life of a mosquito right before it emerges as an adult, flying, insect. I pick them out of the pans they hatch in, and put them into cages where they will emerge as adults, but cannot escape. This picture shows the incubator we keep pupae pans in. If you look closely, you can see mosquito larvae, they are longer and touching the surface so they can breath.

Next I usually take care of the adult mosquitoes by feeding them (yes on my arm...you all might have seen twitpics of this....) and collecting eggs, putting in new cups for them to lay eggs in, and collecting individual females for a specific part of my project. In this picture, you can see larvae pans on top, mosquito cages in the middle shelves, and then on the bottom shelf, small individual "icecream carton" cages for individual females so I can get eggs from individual females, and know they were the only female laying those eggs.

Today I started isolating DNA from the individual females I've already collected and gotten eggs from. I will be analyzing their DNA to look for unique genetic sequences for which I've designed a detection system (called primers for use in melting curve PCR for anyone who has any idea what I'm talking about...) In this picture you can see my tubes of ground up mosquitoes on the hot plate at the top of the picture, the ice bucket used for keeping samples cold while I'm working with them, and the centrifuge for spinning my samples to concentrate the mosquito material to the bottom of the tube (it spins around really fast and centrifugal force pulls the heavy particulates down to the bottom)

This is where I wash dishes...mostly mosquito pans after they are all adults, I don't really use a lot of glassware, most undergrad students put in a lot of hours washing glassware. Unfortunately we don't have one of those in our lab...

So, I hope you learned something today about my lab and what I do! Yay for science:)

Summer is AWESOME!!!

2009-05-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I last updated, so let me give a recap of the awesomeness of my summer so far :)

Day One: Friday afternoon! Beautiful mtn bike ride with Caley, Erick and Aaron. I got dropped super hard, but that's ok because then I can go my own pace :) Perfect way to kick off summer, get all the stress from finals out on the trail.

Day Two: Saturday was a lovely day! Slept in, biked out to Verns with Emily and Brendan and Caley for epic cinnamon rolls and hearty breakfast, got some fun books to read at the library, read until it was time to go to Tirrels grad party, then the party! Tirrel and family put on an awesome party with keg of Easy Street, tons of delicious salads and grill food and deserts. We stayed until it was almost dark, chatting and playing badmitten. Watched some Star Trek season I and went to bed. I have to add here, Caley has been watching the old Star Treks ever since we saw the movie so that we can go see it again and he'll understand all of the tiny little reference that only Trekkies would understand:)

Riding to get cinnamon rolls on the tandem<3 (click on picture to see larger version)

Day Three: Sunday was another amazing day!! We woke up pretty early to get the bikes ready and packed up, then headed over to breakfast at Uncle Kevins. First breakfast of the year out on the deck, and man it was hot out there already! We also got some delicious rhubarb straight from the garden for making a pie. Then it was off to gas up, get a fellow teammate and head down to Boulder for some criterium action! Caley's first race was at 1:15, my race was at 5:40...so, I had a beautiful day sitting in the park, reading my book, and looking up occasionally to cheer on the boys. Caley totally called me out on reading during his race :) He ended up 2nd in the cat 2 race, and was already tired for the pro12, which some super fast guys showed up for (guys who ride in The Tour fast...) so finished about in the middle. My race was awesome! A bunch of really fast girls showed up, Amanda, Meredith Miller, Amy Dumbrowski, Mara Abbott, some girl from Colavita who's Australian and wins lots of stuff...anyway, it was FAST! The first three laps were primes as well, so it was all I could do to hold on for those couple. I ended up staying with the front group for about half the race, dangled for a super long time, and then finally got totally popped with about 19 on the clock. I got caught up by a few other girls with about 16 to go, and after reminding them not to be mean to me (one yelled at me to pull through when I was, just not as fast as she would have liked....) sprinted to the finish for 2nd in that group, and 20th overall! Although, there were a bunch of lapped riders who got mixed in with us, and I know for a fact that the girl who placed "15th" I definitely beat, so who knows how I actually finished up! Which is exciting, and I'm sure there weren't that many girls who were Cat 3 so I'm saying I got top three for sure in the Cat 3's :) All in all a great day!

Day Four Monday: Worked the normal work hours, then went on the Rio recovery ride which was actually slow for the first time I think because people had actually raced over the weekend and were tired :) It was a gorgeous day, super hot, around 90 something for the high. We're definitely not used to the heat, but at least it's not humid! After the ride we stopped at Tirrels to attempt to help her finish the keg from Saturday. Wasn't going to happen, but we did get a few games of badmitten in, and some more good visiting time with cycling peeps. It's funny how they are the only people we hang out with, makes sense, but still funny at times how insular our world is. It will be really strange to move to a new place, guess we'll just have to join the local team whenever we do move!

Day Five Tuesday (today): At work, already been very productive! Took care of the mosquitoes this morning, updated and organized my notebook all afternoon, plus got the last of the primers designed and ordered with Dr. Black. Now I just have to start isolating DNA and getting as many females as I can to lay eggs for me! Hopefully I'll be able to have some results by the time we leave for CA...not sure if it's going to happen, but I'll try. Tomorrow will be spent grinding up my female mosquitoes, I hope to have some room in the big lab to work so I can have other people to talk to:)

I'm still looking for the picture thingy! As soon as I find it there will be lots of fun picks from the already great summer break!

CAN'T WAIT FOR THE IRON HORSE!!!!

Finish of Our TTT

2009-05-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

Caleys phone takes pretty awesome pictures!

Mental Break

2009-05-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Taking about an hour break from studying and everything for the last hour before my class. I think I figured out one of the things that was plaguing me last night (how to find error degrees of freedom in a split-plot design) and now I'm drinking coffee, listening to NPR online, and trying not to hyperventilate about the upcoming exam. I am not, I might add, at work. After a 9.5hr day yesterday (8 of which were spent in consultation with Dr. Black) I needed a change of scenery; my sunny, cozy little living room fit the bill.
I'm bummed because I can't find the thingy that lets me put pics on to the computer from the camera. Hopefully we'll find it when we move in roughly two weeks....aaaahhh, hadn't realized the move was so soon! Next week will have to be spent looking for boxes and trying to decide what needs to stay out for the remainder of the month, and what can be packed away. Poor Caley, I feel so bad that he will be moving everything without me. However, it will probably go more smoothly without my low-blood-sugar-induced-crankiness/stressed outness :) Moving has always been a highly irksome adventure, someday we will be in one place for more than a school year.
After the stats exam I will immediately begin work on the take-home exam for BDV which is due by email at 5pm on Friday. For all the previous exams I have been able to use a full week, this one will only get 2.5 days....should be fun! I actually don't mind that kind of exam too much, as long as there aren't any questions I have to dig too much to find answers for I should be ok.
Also, (geez, lots has happened in the past couple of weeks!) I now have a full graduate committee. We will be meeting on Friday for about an hour just as a preliminary sort of thing. I'm not sure what I should bring/be prepared for, but I'm going to bring the GS6 form, and a rough idea of what my project aims should be. I think I've already accomplished the first aim which is to characterize populations of mosquitoes from Tapachula and the lab to determine unique haplotypes to be used as genetic markers. I guess the second aim would be to create the genetic markers, and the third aim would be to evaluate the strains for insecticide resistance, and I'm not sure if I need to look at vector competence as well or not, or if I have to evaluate fitness etc...hmmmmmmmm I guess that's what the meeting is for! Hopefully there won't be too many surprises and I'll come away with a better idea of how to finish this thing up next year!

Wish me luck, I'll need it!
-Megan

2009-05-10T19:54:00.001-07:00

1554 (fav New Belgium beer) is the perfect way to end a very successful biking weekend. Not studying for finals like I should be of course, but a few delicious beers and some fajitas courtesy of our resident cook-and-bottle-washer, Phelan.
Road race was one of my best races ever! 23rd place, I finished in the top four of the group I rode with for most of the race, dropped most of the other girls on the climb up to the overlook of the reservoir, and dropped the ones that caught up again on the South dam.
Took 23rd in the crit on Saturday (go figure...I'm super consistent). But I got prime points in the 3rd or 4th prime, totally my accomplishment of the day!
TTT today was horrible, legs felt like crap, and Rachel dropped off so I had to stick on while Tirrel and Julia pulled me around for half of the course. Oh well, I'm ok with it, the RR and crit make up for poor performance today!

I hope to post some sort of pictures soon, we have misplaced the thingy that takes photos off of the camera and puts them on the computer. boooo.

Have a wonderful good night, and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS!!

Love,
Megan

Photos from New Belgium

2009-05-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of shorttrack1 on flikr

Pics from the last day are missing, so maybe I'll add more once the guy updates his flikr acct.

Beautiful Sunday Morning!

2009-05-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

I love the days I can get up and do what I have to do and start the day on a positive note. Today was one of those days! I woke up early (around 6:45) then snoozed until the alarm went off at 7:30. Dashed off to work in the glorious sunshine with rain still clinging to the grass and leaves with that amazing after rain/morning smell. The worms were out, that's how green and glorious it was out there :)
Picked some pupae at work, then fed the damn mosquitoes on my arm...let me tell you, it was an exercise in self control and overcoming one of my great fears in life, mosquitoes biting me. I'm sure I've discussed it in the blog before, but a fateful trip one summer to Michigan left me forever scarred from the bird-size mosquitoes that would hunt you down at all hours of the day and night. The past 5, almost 6, years of my life in the lab have been spent overcoming this childhood aversion to that minute, blood-sucking, insect.
Now enjoying a little cup of day-old coffee in my beautiful sunny, airy, cozy living room before heading over to Uncle Kevins house for some delicious waffles and sausage and whatever yummy fruit is available. Oh, and whipped cream, can't forget the homemade whipped cream:)
Later today I will be testing out the new time trial bike (unfortunately not mine to keep) and then a two-three hour ride with the girls on the road course, and then a volunteer party at Pelaton for the amazing volunteers for nationals. As part of the nationals team we are being required to show up in our kits...hope they don't mind that we'll all be sweaty and gross from a ride:) I'm going to bring the camera today, so hopefully I'll have some good pics for you all to look at from this beautiful CO day!
-Megan

statistics sucks my will to live...

2009-04-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Case in point

Trying very hard to focus on stats so I can go for a fun bike ride later!!! Not completely working at this point in time....
Yesterday was both awesome, and kind of sobering. I went and rode the Nats RR course, started with the boys, got dropped on Bingham...spent the rest of the ride by myself until I got out to Masonville. It wouldn't have been so bad had there not been a 30mph headwind out of the south, booooo. However, it was a gorgeous sunny day, I got some tan, and fresh air, and Caley rode back with me. We split a tangelo at Horsetooth mtn park, then finished strong going up and over South Dam. By the way, the right hand corner off of the dam where there's that stop sign? TOTALLY SCARY AND WILL BE VERY SKETCHY IN THE RACE! Anyway, I am trying to maintain a positive outlook on the race, but it's going to be super-de-duperly hard!!
Caley and I are going to go for a sunset ride on Blue Sky this evening, I think he's planning on doing a road ride before that, nice for me cause he'll be tired! Maybe I'll have some cool pics later.

Ok, enough procrastination! Back to the stats.

New Belgium Short Track (again)

2009-04-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

I did two races again this past Tuesday for the short track series, and I won both of them (for the women)! Some pics courtesy of Brian and Caley (some from last week as well)

Utah Recap

2009-04-29T10:05:00.001-07:00

Utah was wet and cold, not exactly the Utah we've all come to know and love...

The team did really well, very proud of Caley winning the crit yet again! Tirrel won the womens crit, she has kicked some major butt this season! Tirrel and Julia also finished one and two in the conference. I can't go into details about how many of our riders placed in the top three within the conference, but let's just say we did in every category except Mens B to my knowledge!
Here are a few pics from the weekend!

Caley winning with me jumping up and down ecstatically next to the finish line

Me warming up/looking like a squirrel

At the start line of the crit (only race that wasn't freezing/rainy/snowing/sleeting)

During the crit, the group that I finished with

Hope you all have a great day!
-Megan

Getting Ready to head to Utah

2009-04-24T10:17:00.001-07:00

Hopefully the weather will be nicer than is predicted (60% chance of rain tomorrow in SLC) and we will get a chance to practice out TTT this weekend!!! I'm excited for the races, I hear there is a huge climb in the RR, should be a good indicator for nationals. I've managed to have fun this past week despite the stress of school and work; Rio ride on Monday, short track on Tuesday, campfire at Brians on Wednesday, mtn bike with Caley on Thursday, and travel today!
Unfortunately, it looks like only one out of my four sites hatched...I'm going to leave the egg papers in over the weekend just in case, but I'm not sure what I'll do if I can't get any mosquitoes from these sites! It stalls my whole project, I'm afraid to talk to Dr. Black about it :(
Anway, I have to go pack up for the trip! Pics to come soon.
-Megan