My second year of teaching has been incomparable to the first in so many ways. I feel like I have found a community here at Horizon; I am not shoved into a back corner office that no one can find, I am not on my own to plan each day and muddle through the curriculum map "draft," we actually do labs and share in the set up and take down, and I'm not worried that my students will go sprinting from the room slamming the door and yelling obscenities as they exit. So yeah, completely different experience. And did I mention the commute has been cut it half?
First semester I had 3 sections of freshman general Biology and one section of upper class men Ecology. This semester I switched out Ecology for Astronomy and kept all my freshman. It's still a constant struggle for me to remember that the freshman are shock full of hormones and their craziness, mood swings, and total lack of regard for others really isn't there fault. Most times they are sweet and funny, and make my days interesting always.
Thanksgiving was spent in Steamboat this year with Caley's coworker Matt and his family. What a wonderful, loving, welcoming family! We spend many happy hours eating, talking, drinking good wine, and we even made a trip up to the Strawberry Hotsprings :)
We did not get a Fall break this year, so no amazing Euro adventure, but we did head down to Durango for Christmas. We skied a few times, got together with high school classmates, and had plenty of relaxation time just hanging at the house. Mom and Dad are doing well. Mom still working at the high school with the special ed kids, and Dad actually just quit his job....that was a bit of a surprise. I think it was a good move for him, he seems happier, less stressed out, and I think he is taking some time to figure out what he would be happy doing before jumping straight into the next thing. In other big home news, they have jumped in the the 21st century with an Ipad!! What??!! Now I hear they are thinking about getting a smartphone! Mind you, not two smart phones, just one...
Caley's brother came to visit after our Durango trip, and even though all three of us traded off being sick/injured over the week that he was here, we still managed to have a fantastic time! We made it up to Copper and Winter Park the last weekend of his stay, and got in some great turns. I'm still rockin' out on the tele set up, although I still don't have boots...so we have to rent, and I'm positive that buying my own boots would be a huuuge improvement. Despite the boots, I think I'm getting better; I can link more turns at a time before having to stop to huff and puff and rest my screaming thighs :)
Caley and I are enjoying our time here in Boulder, I think we've finally adjusted to "The Bubble." Caley definitely wants me to keep searching for a teaching position here, and I begrudgingly agree, mostly because I don't think it's guaranteed that I will be full time next year at my current school, and to keep the KSTF Fellowship, I will need to be full time next year.
Welllll, I guess that mostly brings us up to speed, here are some pictures from over Christmas break! Enjoy!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Sunday, December 23, 2012
End of the Tour Recap
It's been awhile since I posted....French internet woes and then school started and there was no hope. But, now it is glorious Winter Break and I have time to breath, so I thought I'd go ahead and catch up on blogs!
The gallery below is of pics from the end of the Tour and my first few days in Paris. Seeing the final circuit on the Champs Elysee was incredible, the crowds were huge, and all the Brits went insane at the end when it became official that Wiggins had won. Crazy Brits :)
Enjoy!
The gallery below is of pics from the end of the Tour and my first few days in Paris. Seeing the final circuit on the Champs Elysee was incredible, the crowds were huge, and all the Brits went insane at the end when it became official that Wiggins had won. Crazy Brits :)
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
My First Day of the Tour!!!!
Caley and I took the train bright at early to the start town of....um....I forget....Anyway, we met up with the other Velo guys there. Caley took off to go take some pics, and I got to watch the caravan arrive! Talk about nuts, I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully some of it was captured :)
We then hopped in the car and took off! It was soooo cool, we got to drive the course in front of the riders, so all the roads were closed, and the fans were awesome! Again, I took a bunch of pics and videos to try to capture it. The big climb that day was Col du la Grand Columbiere, and it was huge!
As soon as we landed in the finish town, I took off to the train station to get myself home in time to get to the grocery store because we had invited everyone over for dinner that night! Talk about go go go, as soon as I got home, I had to book it over to the store, did my most efficient shopping trip yet, and then back home where I am not kidding, cooked for a solid 3.5hrs until everyone arrived! The timing was perfect though, I was finishing grilling the last few pieces of baguette as they walked in the door, and the pork loin was ready right about 30 minutes after that! Whoooo hoooo!!!
The menu:
Romesco and whole roasted garlic bulbs (is this the right term?) with baguette
White bean salad
Pork loin with peach chutney
Unfortunately no time for dessert and I totally forgot to take pictures!
We then hopped in the car and took off! It was soooo cool, we got to drive the course in front of the riders, so all the roads were closed, and the fans were awesome! Again, I took a bunch of pics and videos to try to capture it. The big climb that day was Col du la Grand Columbiere, and it was huge!
As soon as we landed in the finish town, I took off to the train station to get myself home in time to get to the grocery store because we had invited everyone over for dinner that night! Talk about go go go, as soon as I got home, I had to book it over to the store, did my most efficient shopping trip yet, and then back home where I am not kidding, cooked for a solid 3.5hrs until everyone arrived! The timing was perfect though, I was finishing grilling the last few pieces of baguette as they walked in the door, and the pork loin was ready right about 30 minutes after that! Whoooo hoooo!!!
The menu:
Romesco and whole roasted garlic bulbs (is this the right term?) with baguette
White bean salad
Pork loin with peach chutney
Unfortunately no time for dessert and I totally forgot to take pictures!
One Day at Home!
After the Gran Fondo, we had one day at home, and we spent it preparing for the Tour!
Caley got a haircut, from Sebastian :)
And then we went shopping, whoa!
Caley's Gran Fondo
After our stay on the Mediterranean we headed north to a town just outside of Cuneo, Italy! We arrived two days before the actual race, so much less stressful that way. We found a neat little town to have dinner in, and ended up going back there all the nights we were there. The main square was hopping! Several bars were blasting music outside, it was like they were competing to drown each other out. Kind of funny since it was all weird techno house music.
The day before the race we went to Cuneo to pick up Caleys race stuff, and I got to meet the legendary Claudia who was running an incredible PR operation for the race, and who Caley has met several times at product launches. After that we got ourselves out for a short ride around our hotel, even though it was only an hour, it was lovely!
The day of the race we were up super early just in case we had trouble finding parking etc. There were roughly 2000 participants! I waited with Caley at the start line until it was time to go, then headed back to our hotel for a nap before coming to meet him at the finish line, at what I thought was going to be about 6 hrs.....Turns out, the race took him almost 8! Poor guy! Turns out he wasn't quite prepared nutritionally for how hard and fast it was :( I haven't found out where he ended up, but he definitely could have placed higher with better planning.
Thankfully we had the hotel for another night, it would have been brutal to drive home after that. The next morning we took our time, and had a glorious drive home over the Alpes! We opted to go over the mountains rather than through them. Before coming to Europe, I thought the Eisenhower Tunnel was long....not true at all! Last fall we went through a tunnel that took us about 20mins going 70kph, and the one we could have gone through to get home was even longer. Plus, they are often toll roads, I think you have to pay about 40euros for this one! I'm soooo glad we went over, the views were stunning! About halfway over one mountain we decided to get out and hiked up a little rise for a quick snack picnic and picture taking opportunities. I didn't get that many pics, Caley has most of them on his big camera, I'll try to steal some in the next few days to put up here. But in the meantime, here you go!
The day before the race we went to Cuneo to pick up Caleys race stuff, and I got to meet the legendary Claudia who was running an incredible PR operation for the race, and who Caley has met several times at product launches. After that we got ourselves out for a short ride around our hotel, even though it was only an hour, it was lovely!
The day of the race we were up super early just in case we had trouble finding parking etc. There were roughly 2000 participants! I waited with Caley at the start line until it was time to go, then headed back to our hotel for a nap before coming to meet him at the finish line, at what I thought was going to be about 6 hrs.....Turns out, the race took him almost 8! Poor guy! Turns out he wasn't quite prepared nutritionally for how hard and fast it was :( I haven't found out where he ended up, but he definitely could have placed higher with better planning.
Thankfully we had the hotel for another night, it would have been brutal to drive home after that. The next morning we took our time, and had a glorious drive home over the Alpes! We opted to go over the mountains rather than through them. Before coming to Europe, I thought the Eisenhower Tunnel was long....not true at all! Last fall we went through a tunnel that took us about 20mins going 70kph, and the one we could have gone through to get home was even longer. Plus, they are often toll roads, I think you have to pay about 40euros for this one! I'm soooo glad we went over, the views were stunning! About halfway over one mountain we decided to get out and hiked up a little rise for a quick snack picnic and picture taking opportunities. I didn't get that many pics, Caley has most of them on his big camera, I'll try to steal some in the next few days to put up here. But in the meantime, here you go!
Gotta Blog Before I Forget!
Sorry it's been so long for an update! We've been traveling, and my two online classes started last week, so I've been trying to focus on them. Speaking of which, I think their expectations of 4 SUBSTANTIVE posts are a little outrageous when they are asking level 1 thinking questions...it's hard to dig in to a question that just has a factual answer....
Anyway, I wanted this update to be about our trip to the Med! After climbing Alpe D'Huez, we headed pretty much straight south. The plan had been to stop and climb Mt Ventoux, but we woke up too late, and Caley had forgotten what day it was and had a column due...oops! So I drove, he wrote, and we aimed for the sea! It was really fun seeing some of the same places we did in October, but in their full summertime splendor! It was the week before all the kids got out for school, so still not as insanely crowded as things will be this weekend. Caley had the brilliant idea of trying to find the same beach that he visited with his family 10 years ago; it was so nice they stayed for a few more days than they had originally planned to. It took awhile to remember the name of the place, but we figured it out, and I'm sooo glad we did! We ended up staying too nights at a nice little campground about a 5 min walk from the beach. Camping in Europe is pretty hilarious. You get electricity, and our plot even had a refrigerator you could connect. They have sinks for washing dishes, and showers (with hot water at certain hours of the day). Some even have restaurants or bars that you can hang out at. Many have pools! You're not exactly roughing it...
We got out for a bike ride on the bike path that followed the coast. Our legs felt like total crap after Alpe D'Huez, so it was a good thing we got out....Caley's Gran Fondo was up next!
Here are some pics from that part of the trip!
And a video of a typical driving scene :)
Anyway, I wanted this update to be about our trip to the Med! After climbing Alpe D'Huez, we headed pretty much straight south. The plan had been to stop and climb Mt Ventoux, but we woke up too late, and Caley had forgotten what day it was and had a column due...oops! So I drove, he wrote, and we aimed for the sea! It was really fun seeing some of the same places we did in October, but in their full summertime splendor! It was the week before all the kids got out for school, so still not as insanely crowded as things will be this weekend. Caley had the brilliant idea of trying to find the same beach that he visited with his family 10 years ago; it was so nice they stayed for a few more days than they had originally planned to. It took awhile to remember the name of the place, but we figured it out, and I'm sooo glad we did! We ended up staying too nights at a nice little campground about a 5 min walk from the beach. Camping in Europe is pretty hilarious. You get electricity, and our plot even had a refrigerator you could connect. They have sinks for washing dishes, and showers (with hot water at certain hours of the day). Some even have restaurants or bars that you can hang out at. Many have pools! You're not exactly roughing it...
We got out for a bike ride on the bike path that followed the coast. Our legs felt like total crap after Alpe D'Huez, so it was a good thing we got out....Caley's Gran Fondo was up next!
Here are some pics from that part of the trip!
And a video of a typical driving scene :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Climbing Alpe D'Huez!
Oh. my. goodness. Today was absolutely awesome!!!!!!!!
Caley returned home after a week at the tour last night. Well, I guess it was a week away, not all at the Tour, he was doing some product launches etc etc...not really that sure. I met him down at the train station, and we grabbed some dinner downtown before taking the nocti bus home (love that nocti bus!!) This morning dawned bright and early at 9am, seriously milking the sleep-in time of summer...that is 4 whole hours more of sleeping than I get during the school year! We headed downtown, picked up our super awesome diesel Renault Clio rental car, packed it up and headed South! First stop, Alpe D'Huez!! !!!!!!
Caley decided he wanted to go a little faster than me (and by a little, I mean a lot) so we said goodbye at the bottom and I was on my own. Except I wasn't! There were hundreds of cyclists out riding! I haven't passed so many people in years! :) The first bit of the climb is super steep, even with the switchbacks. I was passed by a group of three gooney guys, tried to stick to them for awhile, but failed. Then a pretty in-shape girl passed me and I decided to stick with her, about two switchbacks later (they are labeled by number) she cracked! Whoo, go me! I also passed a guy and his girlfriend, and guess who couldn't take being passed by a girl....he caught up to me and we chatted for awhile, turns out he reads Caley's stuff online! I felt like a celebrity-by-proxy :) When Caley got to the top he turned around and came back to climb the rest with me. I was expecting to see him on about switchback 10 or 11 of 21 (remember, they are labeled...) but I didn't see him until switchback 4 to go! I felt pretty good the whole climb (and Caley admittedly felt terrible, but I'll take it).
Here are some pictures! Sorry for any repeats, or near repeats, I kind of just throw them all up here.
Caley returned home after a week at the tour last night. Well, I guess it was a week away, not all at the Tour, he was doing some product launches etc etc...not really that sure. I met him down at the train station, and we grabbed some dinner downtown before taking the nocti bus home (love that nocti bus!!) This morning dawned bright and early at 9am, seriously milking the sleep-in time of summer...that is 4 whole hours more of sleeping than I get during the school year! We headed downtown, picked up our super awesome diesel Renault Clio rental car, packed it up and headed South! First stop, Alpe D'Huez!! !!!!!!
Caley decided he wanted to go a little faster than me (and by a little, I mean a lot) so we said goodbye at the bottom and I was on my own. Except I wasn't! There were hundreds of cyclists out riding! I haven't passed so many people in years! :) The first bit of the climb is super steep, even with the switchbacks. I was passed by a group of three gooney guys, tried to stick to them for awhile, but failed. Then a pretty in-shape girl passed me and I decided to stick with her, about two switchbacks later (they are labeled by number) she cracked! Whoo, go me! I also passed a guy and his girlfriend, and guess who couldn't take being passed by a girl....he caught up to me and we chatted for awhile, turns out he reads Caley's stuff online! I felt like a celebrity-by-proxy :) When Caley got to the top he turned around and came back to climb the rest with me. I was expecting to see him on about switchback 10 or 11 of 21 (remember, they are labeled...) but I didn't see him until switchback 4 to go! I felt pretty good the whole climb (and Caley admittedly felt terrible, but I'll take it).
Here are some pictures! Sorry for any repeats, or near repeats, I kind of just throw them all up here.
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