New Years in Colorado

After experiencing the snow storm's effects on the roads and hearing stories about the rest of the country's roads (specifically Nebraska's), Eric and I decided to by last-minute tickets to fly to Colorado instead of driving. Best decision ever. We got to spend a whole week in Colorado, which meant that we were able to have a more relaxing trip rather than rushing around to fit everything in.

We spent time in Greeley (where Sam and Bob live), Windsor (meeting other MN friends for dinner!), Denver (mostly just passing through), Silverthorne and Breckenridge. We had a really great time and have been talking ever since about how we would love to live in Colorado. There have been lots of "someday" and "maybe" and "in a few years" thrown around in conversations during the past few days. Don't worry, Minnesota peeps. Nothing is set. And we wouldn't move for a few years (that is IF we were to move). Eric and I just like to talk about this stuff and imagine how it could be to live so close to the mountains and so many fun outdoorsy things. Plus, wouldn't Indy love it?

Some high points:

Snowboarding in Breckenridge: Eric and I both snowboarded all day, and I feel like I did really well, thanks to some awesome coaching by Bob. He was our mentor. Since coming home, I've been checking Craigslist for snowboards. :)

Dress shopping with Sam: Sam and Bob got engaged a couple weeks before Christmas. So Emily and I got to go look at wedding dresses with Sam. She looked beautiful in all of them. I am so excited for her and Bob!

Snowshoeing in Montezuma: We went snowshoeing on a trail just outside of this tiny little town (with a good sense of humor). It was a great day - toward the end, the snow was really coming down!

 

 
New Year's Eve: We drove up to the ski house in Silverthorne that Sam and Bob rent with a group of people. Bob made Chili, Em and I made spinach-artichoke dip, and we got to feast on other people's great apps too. Most of the evening was spent playing an intense (and my new favorite) game of Dominos (the Mexican Train game) and having a few drinks. As midnight approached, we were all getting tired, but we decided to follow Emily's family tradition of sharing our highs and lows of the year. We had bought a couple bottles of champagne, but we didn't have glasses. So we decided to just open one bottle and pass it around. Rules: take a sip and share one of your highs or lows of the year. We did several rounds of this (not to the point of crazy drunkenness - it was more about the sharing time than the consuming of adult beverages) and then at midnight instead of clinking glasses, we all fist bumped. :) It was perfect. Perfectly funny and fitting.

And in case you're interested, here are my highs and lows of the year:

Highs:

• August 22, our wedding day
• Honeymoon in France
• Getting my internship at Children's Hospital in St. Paul
  

Lows:

• Indy's seizure (this was Eric's, but I'm stealing it cause it was mine too)
• A health insurance fiasco that has since been solved (it's now my first high of 2010!)

All in all, it was a fantastic week of relaxation, catch-up time with friends and a great start to the new year. I hope this year brings just as many highs and not too many lows. 2009 was a pretty awesome year for me. I hope 2010 is awesomer (which I realize is not a word, but I like it).