Census Picture!

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!!!!!!!!!