Eric's Blog

San Francisco

2009-10-06T19:38:00.007-06:00

A few days after we got back from Crested Butte, I had to go to San Francisco for work. The trip was productive from a work stand point, but not to interesting to talk about. During the day I was either attending internal IBM meetings or customer visits. The meetings were productive, and we uncovered several new opportunities during the customer visits. In the evenings, I would go for a run with my buddy Dean, go out to eat, and then go back to the hotel and get caught up on email or watch TV.

The evening runs were the best part of the trip. It’s a great way to see the city. My favorite loop took me from my hotel (Hilton San Francisco Financial District 750 Kearny Street), through the city to AT&T Park, along the Embarcadero, up some - LOTS of stairs to Coit Tower, over to Lombard, and then back to the hotel. It’s a total of about 7 miles with some good hills and great views.

My favorite restaurant of the trip was a German place called SuppenKuche. The main dinning area is filled with large bench tables that you share with other dinners. Its supper loud and you have to yell to have a conversation, but the atmosphere is great and the food was excellent…..of course Dean and the boys loved the selection of beers. We just about closed the place.

And now your moment of ZEN...... Every time I ran down town, all I could think about was the coolest skate move of all time - Search for Animal Chin. I couldn't get the video to upload so you'll have to click the link.

Crested Butte

2009-10-06T19:15:00.010-06:00

Hannah and I have wanted to explore more of central Colorado for a while now, and we had to opportunity to do that over the 4th of July weekend. The plan was to do some camping, hiking, and mountain biking in Crested Butte It is about a 4 hour drive from hour house and goes through high mountain valleys and steep peaks.

We met Hannah’s folks, Melanie and Stoney, at a camp site just outside of Gunnison right next to the Gunnison River. Melanie and Stoney camped in style in their camper, and Hannah and I slept outside. It’s great to go with someone that has a camper because you can hang out around the table playing games in the evening and when it’s raining, which it did almost every day. Plus it has a full kitchen so you can eat in style. Stoney did all the cooking, so Hannah and I just lounged around. It was great.

The bummer of the trip was that Hannah was sick the whole time, and I think everyone but me caught a bit of what she had. In spite of this, we still had fun and got out for a pretty group ride up by the resort.

Our last afternoon there I got out for an “epic” ride on the Doctors Park trail. I chose this ride because I could start and end at our camp site. The guide book said it started with 7 miles of dirt road, followed by 7 miles of trail and ended with 7 miles of uninterrupted spectacular single track - 14 miles up and 7 miles down.

The climb went up

And up

And up

And up

As I neared the top I was exhausted. My legs were jelly and my lungs were burning, but the views were great and I was having a great time. The trail hits the peak of the mountain and immediately starts descending. 100 yards into the decent the trail makes a sharp right over a log bridge crossing a small creek. The logs were wet and slippery and I hit them going pretty fast. I turned my wheel, but kept going straight. When I hit the other side of the bridge I went over the handle bars and rolled a few times. Luckily the ground was soft so I didn’t get hurt, but my front tire came off my rim. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of a deal but as soon as I got up I was accosted by mosquitoes – the worst mosquitoes I’ve ever encountered, and I’m from Alaska! They were so bad that I couldn’t sit in one place for more than 30 seconds. I had to try and repair my wheel while walking back and forth. To make matters worse I had a few other mechanical challenges, but I was able to sort them out. At one point I thought I was going to have to walk down which would have stunk because the best part of the ride was going down!! Anyway, I got everything fixed and had a great ride down.

All in all, the entire trip was great. We exercised in beautiful country and got away from the daily grid for a bit. We plan to go back this fall to do some more exploring.

And know your moment of ZEN………

I LOVE cows!!

So Far This Summer

2009-06-30T11:47:00.011-06:00

One of the tricks I use when I run is to try and let my mind wonder. I try and think about anything other than the pain I’m feeling at the moment. During these times I’ve come up with some of the funniest blog posts ever conceived of….unfortunately when I actually start to type them out they don’t have the flair they had in my mind. I feel like my uncle Parley who once said that he once woke up in the middle of the night because he had dreamed the funniest joke and wanted to get it down on paper. He said “I was going to make the whole world laugh.” Unfortunately for him, upon reading the joke the next morning he realized that it was just gibberish. It must run in the family.

Trip to Utah

A few weeks ago Hannah and I flew out to Utah to attend her sister Sunny’s wedding reception/bbq. Due to my work schedule the trip was a bit rushed, and I was afraid that it was going to feel that way, but trip was actually quite relaxing. Stoney picked us up from the Airport and we went straight to American Fork Canyon for a bit of exercise and sight seeing. When Hannah and Stoney learned that I had never been to Timp Cave, they chastised me (I’m sure David would have as well) and told me that I was taking the tour. The cave is about a two miles up from the canyon floor. The views from the trail is beautiful and very distinctly Utah. The cave itself was amazing.

The rest of the trip was spent going to the bbq, playing with Jack and Lily, visiting with family, and relaxing. It was perfect.

Races

We got back from Utah Sunday night. Monday morning Hannah and I woke up early and drove to Boulder for my first race of the season. The Bolder Boulder is a 10k that winds its way through the streets of Boulder. This year 55,000 people participated. It’s not a serious race for most, but I really enjoy it. People run in costumes, people run with their kids, Boulderites line the streets playing music and offering runners everything from burritos to beer bongs to greasy bacon. It’s a great time.

Two weeks after the Bolder Boulder I participated in a sprint road triathlon (500 meter swim in the pool, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run). My goal for the race was to have fun, practice transitions, and practice going at racing effort. Again, I had a blast. Road tri’s are a lot easer than Xterras!

Two weeks after the road tri, I did Xterra Buffalo Creek (1 mile swim, 20 mile mountain bike, 5 mile trail run). Last year I didn’t finish this race because I was kicked in the head during the swim. This year the swim was the best part of my race. The bike and run were ok. I have some work to do for future races, but I gave it all I had so I’m happy about that. The real bummer of the day was that Hannah wasn’t there. She was taking her LEED certification test (which she PASSED!!), and couldn’t make it. The race wasn’t the same with out her.

Next week Hannah and I are meeting up with Stoney and Melanie at Crested Butte for a fun filled 4th of July. I also have one more Xterra in August and I’m thinking about participating in two more. Don’t really have much else to say. Kind of boring to write about, but life for the Petersen’s is great.

And now your moment of ZEN…..

Hannah riding Stoneys recumbent bike. To learn about what type of person rides a recumbent, check out what the “Fat Cyclist” has to say. The whole article is pretty funny if you’re a cyclist.

And a little humor from the Argyle Sweater

A Quick Trip to Fruita

2009-05-13T14:09:00.012-06:00

I wanted to make a quick post about our trip to Fruita CO last week end.

I’ve had the hankering to go camping ever since spring started to….spring, so Hannah and I packed up the Subaru and headed to Fruita. Fruita is about an hour and a half East of Moab and has the growing reputation of being another mountain biking Mecca.

We drove down early Friday morning with the intention of finding a camping spot then doing some riding. When we got to the only camping site I knew of, it was full. I knew there had to be other camping around, but it was getting late and we wanted to get a ride in before it got dark, so we decided to ride first and find a camping spot later.

The plan was to ride a two loop trail system that was moderately technical and had great views of the Colorado River (Mary’s Loop and Horse Thief Loop). I wasn’t really expecting too much, but was really impressed. The trail is super fast, fun, and the views were spectacular. Hannah really stepped up her riding and was taking the steps and drops like a pro. I was really proud of her.

After the ride we were both tired and the only places we found to camp were scrub brush fields, so we opted to get a hotel. We stayed in the over priced LaQuinta Inn, and I got flea bites all over my legs. Never again. Oh well, we had a good time anyway.

The next day we went rode the Western Rim trail which is a 20 mile lollypop trail (out and back with a loop at the end). The out and back wasn’t too exciting (still fun though), but the rim was amazing. (Stoney, we kept saying that you would love this ride). After the Western Rim, we drove back to Denver, and got home at about 10:00.

All in all the trip was great, and well worth the drive. We are planning on doing a few more trip this spring and some more in the fall.

Here is a video of one of the obstacles on the Western Rim. As always it looked scarier from the top :)

And now your moment of ZEN…..

This little gem came from an awkward family photo web site that my buddy The Doze found. The picture is funny, but the comment under the picture “Wilford Chivalry” kills me.

Catching Up

2009-04-29T17:20:00.011-06:00

Humm…..lets see my last post was in November of 08 so it’s been about six months. I’d say it’s time for another post.

Both Hannah and I have had a lot going on. Mostly good stuff, but like most people we seem to fill up all of our available time with activities/projects of one kind or another. Below are some of the highlights:

City Garden Commercial Design

The biggest news on Hannah’s side is that she finally started her own business. I’ve been urging her to do this for a while, but the timing has been off. The timing is still off, but we figured that if she didn’t do it now, she’d never do it. If you don’t know what she does, check out her web site. www.citygardenco.com She is off to a great start and I know she’ll do great.

No More School for Eric

My news is that I FINALLY graduated! Good Grief! If I were in high school someone would have written in my year book “what a long strange trip it’s been,” but I’m not in high school and the trip hasn’t been strange just long – really long. I’m glad to be done. The fist few days after I finished my course work, I didn’t really know what to do with my extra time. I would sit around thinking that I had something to do, but I didn’t. It was weird, I couldn’t relax. I soon got accustom to it though, and as I said above, it didn’t take long to fill in my time.

New Bike

I also got a new bike! We started out looking for a new bike for Hannah, but I ended up getting one instead….poor Hannah. Sometimes I’m sure she regrets marring me. I’ve had my eye on the 29ers (29" wheeled bike vs. a traditional 26" wheeled bike) for a few years, I could never make up my mind. The cons are that the bikes take more power to get up to speed (larger wheel to turn = more power needed). The pros are that once those wheels get up to speed they have more momentum. The larger wheel also has more traction and rolls over obstacles better. A 29er seemed to be a good fit for Hannah so we had her try one. I tried one at the same time, and two minutes after I was on it I was trying to think of how I could justify a purchase for me too. Long story short, I got a great deal on a used frame and new components through a friend of mine, and I’m going to sell my old bike, a set 26 inch wheels, and some other items. I think I’ll come out a little less then even. I took the bike to Moab earlier this month and I’m completely converted. I love it. I’m riding better then I ever have. Just so everyone knows Hannah is still getting a new bike, she hasn’t made a decision as to which one she wants. I’m really trying to steer her towards at 29er...Hannah speaking now....Eric spent all my money! I only weigh 10 pouds (inside joke between David Petersen and us). I can't afford a new bike now so I will keep on riding my old bike and wear my tattered clothes.

Moab Trip

I attended the annual Moab guy trip again this year and it was fantastic. Due to schedules we had to go a little earlier this year so the weather was a bit cooler than normal, but it worked out just fine. As usual I went down a few days early and camped. I tried to get Timmy to come with me, but he was bogged down at work and couldn’t make it. On Monday I got up early, hit the pool for a quick swimming session, and then drove to Fruita, CO which is about a 3 hour drive. I had a conference call for work that I couldn’t get out of , so I had to hang out in town (due to cell reception) for about two hours, take the call, and then hit one of the local trails – Chutes and Ladders was the trail I rode. The riding is very different compared to Moab, but it’s a lot of fun – very fast. I took some pictures but they aren’t very good, so I found this video on uTube of the Chutes and Ladders trail. I found a great camping site that night, woke up early the next morning and started the drive to Moab. I got there at noon (I took my time). The rest of the gang wasn’t due to get there until late that evening so I went to Arches National Park and hiked to Delicate Arch and then Klondike Bluffs. It was really good to get some solid Eric down time. It was one of the best days of the trip. The rest of the trip was spent riding some Moab favorites. I won’t bore you with the details, but it was great.

Chutes and Ladders:

Mark Plumbs Wheel - this needs some explanation. Mark got a flat tire on a trail and like all good friends we took off and figured he'd catch up when he got everything fixed. When we got back to the van he hadn't caught us and wasn't at the van. We figured he road back to the condo. We decided to got to lunch. During lunch, Mark called and was at the trail...He had gotten two flats and didn't have any more tubes. He taped his tire to the rim of his bike and was able to ride about 3 miles leaving only 5 easy miles for him to hike. He hitched a ride to the restaurant. Moral of the story is - never trust your friends to wait around....your on your own!

Finally the pro of the group... Vincent taking a fall. Unfortunately I didn't get any video of him making it.

Well that’s about it, I’ll post something else in another six months:

And now your moment of ZEN…..

Two of my favorite things

Road ride up High Grade Canyon with Hannah
Fat, lazy, wonderful Pete the cat

Hannah's Birthday Trip

2008-11-12T11:58:00.013-07:00

For Hannah’s birthday I offered to take her to Maui. I thought it would be win/win because she would get a Hawaiian vacation and I would get to see the Xterra World Championships which just happen to be at the same time. To my surprise she wanted to go camping in Moab with her folks – I love this girl.

We left Denver Thursday morning and drove the 300 miles to Moab in about 5 hours. The drive was great. We snacked on red vines, cookies, talked, listened to Dickens’s “Great Expectations.”

Stoney and Melanie arrived in Moab before us, and found a great camping spot next to the Colorado River. That night we ate bratwursts and steamed vegetables and played games in the camper.

Friday morning was spent playing around by the river and lounging in the sun. In the afternoon we road Slick Rock and went out to eat that night. Saturday we did a short hike through “Wall Street” in Arches National Park and then drove home.

The trip was really fun, but WAY to short.

Yard Redesign Project

2008-11-12T10:54:00.012-07:00

I’ve been heads down trying to bust out my last few classes (only 3 months to go!!), so I haven’t had much time to BLOG, but I thought I post a few before and after pictures of our landscaping project. Hannah did a great job. I’ll post some more pictures in the spring when things have started to grown in. Not only does the yard look 10 times better, but we have twice as much usable space and 1/3 the lawn to water.

Before

After

Miscellanies Debris

2008-09-17T16:06:00.011-06:00

With the last three posts, I felt like I was kind of on a roll. I had taken a break from school, and we had some fun things to talk about. August 1^st came and I started school, Hannah started a new job, and my job became really busy. The last thing I wanted to do was come home, get on the computer and BLOG…..but I want to keep in the habit, so I’m going to post some random items – hence the BLOG title.

Food

One of the things that Hannah and I decided we could do to improve our fitness level is to eat better. We eat alright, but we could do a lot better. We decided that we would plan out our meals and only buy food items related to those meals. We’re still not perfect, but we’ve gotten a lot better. I found a couple of food BLOGS that are pretty good and have been getting some ideas from them - like grilling vegetables. One of my favorite dinners is fish tacos with mango salsa. I took a picture of it, but it’s difficult to make food look good in a digital format so I decided to skip it. Here is the recipe:

Fajita size tortillas (we use the whole wheat kind)

White fish (halibut is best, but tilapia is much much cheaper and still tastes ok)

Mango salsa:

- 1 Mango cubed

- 1 Avocado cubed

- Juice from 1 lime

- ¼ c finely chopped cilantro

- Salt to taste

It’s best if the salsa sits for at least an hour, but it’s good any time.

Training

As I look back on last years training schedule, I learned a few things. First I think trained a bit too much – rather I trained in the wrong way. The over all volume was good, but I would stack difficult workouts back to back and sometimes three and four in a row. My body never had adequate time to recover. Next year I will plan things out better. I’m think of joining a virtual training site that will out line the types of workouts I do and when.

Second, I need to do more brick workouts. A brick is doing two specialties back to back. For example: bike / run, swim / bike, lift / run. Stacking workouts really helps to train you for the fatigue of a race. Hannah and I did one on last Saturday. We swam and then biked home from the pool. We took it easy, but it was really fun.

Memories

I like to listen to music when I work out, and don’t want to listen to the albums time after time, so I’ve been listening to some mixes. My friend Jon is a huge music buff and has made me two fantastic mixes, and I recently made one I’m enjoying. I like it because each song invokes some sort of memory. Some of the memories are very specific and others are references to a block time in my life. Below I’ll list the songs and the associated memories. *Note – it is somewhat embarrassing for me to admit that I like a few of these songs….but I do…..there I said it, I’m out of the closet. **Note – keep in mind that these are song that I run to, and I need to run to up beat music.

1. 99 Luftballons (Nena) - This was the fist music video I ever saw and Tim showed it to me.

2. Come on Feel the Noise (Quiet Riot) – Playing video games at Bullwinkle’s pizza

3. Rock you like a Hurricane (Scorpions) – watching John Unzicker and Cory McPherson play guitar with their way cool mullets

4. Round and Round (Ratt) – Dustin Jacobson turned me on to this song after his trip to Seattle

5. Owner of a Lonely Hart (Yes) – going over to the Eakins house. Mark played this song for me on his brother Bob’s record player

6. A New Level (Pantera) – coming down from snowboarding in Derrick Jensen’s van with this album blasting the entire way. We waited 15 minutes to make a left across traffic, and everyone was getting really upset because some of us had to work that night. We finally had an opening, and Derrick popped the clutch and stalled the car. He was so mad he let out a string of profanities and punched the windshield…it shattered….Derrick was REALLY upset then. Brad leaned over to me and whispered “whoah, Derrick is pissed……but that was SO funny.”

7. Hunting Humans (Misfits) – no specific memory to this one, but anyone that can sing those lyrics in the voice of a crooner gets extra points in my book.

8. Mannequin (Firehose….not FireHOUSE) – Brad Hartman…..how does he find these cool bands? Brad was always ahead of the curve on that kind of stuff.

9. State of Love and Trust (Pearl Jam) – again no specific memories, just a time period in my life.

10. London Dungeon (Misfits) – This is one of my top 3 favorite snowboarding albums. I never get tired of it. I probably listened to it every time I went to Brighton in 93.

11. C’mon C’mon (The Von Bondies) – This is a recent memory. Jon told me about these guys, and I remember being surprised at how much I liked them.

12. Corduroy (Pearl Jam) – Hanging out with John Unzicker in the middle of winter at his and Noah’s cabin in Juneau.

There are more songs on the mix, but I’m usually done running at 12.

Here is a random photo of our trip to the dinosaur exhibit at the natural history museum.

And now your moment of ZEN….

Since I was waxing nostalgic I decided to post my favorite Alaska Airlines commercial.

Xterra Indian Peaks

2008-08-06T16:15:00.013-06:00

I didn’t do a race report for Xterra Buffalo Creek (too much was going on and I bombed anyway), so I’m going to do one for Xterra Indian Peaks.

For those that don’t know, during the swim at Xterra Buffalo Creek I was kicked in the head, and didn’t end up finishing. I probably could have, but I got in the race marshal’s boat to recover and that’s a disqualifying move - c'est la vie.

Indian peaks’ lake is pretty small, so it’s a staggered swim. Ranked on anticipated finish times, racers go into the water every 5 or 6 seconds. The result is a nice even group of swimmers rather than one big frothing mass.

Despite the staggered start, there is a tendency to clump up. I swam with the same group of about 8 or 9 swimmers most of time and only had one incident. Towards the end of the swim, I put on a small burst of speed and caught the person in front of me. My head was about even with his waist, and I was right next to him (he was on my right). During the freestyle stroke your arm makes an arch in the air, enters the water in front of your head and shoots forward. Because of my position relative to the guy in front of me, my arm made the wide arch and speared the guy right in the neither region between his legs. I breathe on my right side, so I saw it as it was happening, but due to momentum I was powerless to stop. All I could do was go push forward and get lost in the crowd. Luckily with wet suits, swim caps, and goggles, it’s hard to tell who’s who. For some reason, after that happened, the song “strangers in the night” kept running through my head.

After the swim, we had to run 600m to the transition area. It was all up hill, and seemed much farther. I slipped out of my wet suit and donned my bike gear. As I started the bike, I realized that I forgot my sunglasses….to late now. The course is on the nordic ski trails of Eldora ski area. The trails are short, so the course zig zaggs up one trail, down the other, back up the first, down another, across one, back across another, and so on. It was well marked, but hard to tell how far you’ve gone.

The course is shorter than Buffalo Creek, so I was expecting it to be easier….it wasn’t. The course was steep and very technical. I was burned out by the end.

Not only was the bike course harder, the run was much harder as well. There isn’t a flat bit of ground on the thing. About 100 yards out of transition the trail goes up for awhile. At the top of the hill my quads were starting to cramp, so I pulled my foot up behind me to my butt to stretch them out….my hamstring cramped up so bad I didn’t think I could straighten them out again. The rest of the run was a blur.

Despite the fact that I really underestimated the course, I had a great time. There were lots of pro’s there, the weather was great, the trails were really fun, and I finished. My friend Jason did really well (he was with Hannah at the end of the run as I was coming in. He yelled, “dude, I’ve already eaten my lunch…hurry up!).

I don’t have anymore races scheduled for this year, and that feels pretty good. I’m going to concentrate on work, school, and exercising for fun!

P.S. Regarding the pictures - there all of me…sorry. Hannah had the camera. Also, I’m probably going to jail or at least going to get fined for using some of the race photos with out buying them. I would have bought them but they don’t offer a digital format. They only offered large print for $40.00, and there is no way that’s going to happen.

And now your moment of ZEN…..this is my favorite Easter cartoon. I was cleaning up my picture folder, and didn’t want to wait a year before posting it.

While I’m at it, I also found this old Monty cartoon that I always laugh at (you'll have to click on it to read it).

J town and the Wedding of Brad

2008-08-01T17:58:00.019-06:00

This seems to always happen to me. I start out hot and heavy on the BLOG. Then I miss a week but I want to write about it, so I postpone (or procrastinate) writing anything until I write about the week I missed…..next thing I know It’s weeks or months since I’ve written anything.

Here’s what I missed: A Petersen family reunion in Juneau, and the wedding of Brad and Christy. Way to much happened, so I’m not even going to try to write about it. I am going to post some pictures and briefly explain them. The only bummer about that is I didn’t do a very good job of taking pictures, so I didn’t get everything I wanted to. Oh well, here goes:

Hannah and I on the boat – Photo by Ray

Hannah and Jake – my dream come true (this is a labradoodle puppy that Hannah and I brought up to AK for Nicole). He lived in our garage for a few days and bonded with Hannah.

The Kids…..that’s right “kids.” Hannah wants to move to AK because Sherry and Karen have such great skin from living with 300 days a year of overcast sky’s….not a wrinkle on either one of them.

Nicole - casting some kind of spell? I don't know what she's doing, but I like the picture – Photo by Kara

Sea lions – Photo by Kara. Hannah really liked this on because the big one on the right reminded her of our cat Pete. Pete is of course black, but when he lay’s he looks just like a sea lion or a sausage.

Don on the boat

At $7.00 per pound for halibut in Denver you’re looking at about $600 - $700 worth of fish…the things you take for granted in AK.

Me and my Dad

Eric, Kara, and Kyle

This is a video of Hannah catching her HUGE chicken halibut. We ate it when we got back to Denver, and dreamed of lazy days on the boat of AK. - video by Ray

Eric and Brad - some of the greatest adventures of my life were with this guy. Road trips, camping, hiking, and snowboarding….Life was sweet. Brad’s catch phrase was “I just want to go dooo something.”

Hannah and Matt – As you can tell by the fine craftsmanship, this is not the fist piñata Matt has made, but here’s the thing….if you had a party, Matt would be the bouncer. If someone is acting up, Matt would escort them to the door and in no uncertain terms let them know they needed to leave…and they WOULD leave. He’s tough, he’s loud, and yet….he enjoys the gentle art of making piñatas for children….the dichotomy is staggering. He’s complex. He’s also a one of the best friends a guy could have.

Eric and Andy – What can you say about a guy that everyone likes. He introduced me to skateboarding. I hadn’t seen him for years, and it was like no time had passed.

And now for your moment of ZEN……

I Think I'm Loosing My Mind

2008-06-16T18:35:00.009-06:00

I’ve done some bone head things in my day, but lately I’ve reached a whole new level. Work is going great, but I’m forgetting things…..important things. I’ve been really lucky in that I have a ton of deals in the pipe and I should do about 250% of my fist half number. It’s the best I’ve ever done. The problem is that I forget when deals book. Last week I forgot to reflect in my forecast that I closed 50k the week before. I forget to follow up on 20k deals…If I didn’t write everything down, I wouldn’t get anything done. I would just stare at the computer wondering what I was supposed to be doing.

The forgetfulness isn’t just at work either. Last week I road my bike down to the lake for a swim and realized that I forgot my goggles. If you have ever tried to swim with out goggles it isn’t fun. The wind was blowing and there was about a foot of chop on the water. Every time I would lift my head to look were I was going I would get an eye full of spray or a wave right in the face. I started to swim for 2-3 minutes at a time without opening my eyes. The strategy poses two problems, the first is that it’s really, really, really boring. Swimming isn’t the most entertaining sport, but when you can’t see, it’s especially bad. I was trying to do multiplication problems in my head to kill time….it didn’t work. The second problem is that I couldn’t tell were I was going. One time I looked up and found that I had been swimming at a 90 degree angle from the point I was aiming for…..at least I was making good time.

While the above mentioned incidences are more annoyances than real problems, I pulled a real beaute last Tuesday. I drove under an over hang and forgot I had my bike on top of the car. My hart sank as I heard the sound of my car rack being ripped off my car. I wasn’t going fast but the damage was severe. My car rack was broken, my bike rack was bent, and my bike forks were snapped in half.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I have the Xterra Buffalo Creek coming up next Saturday, which means that I can’t spend a lot of time looking for deals. Also, just two days before, I was telling Hannah that I wanted to upgrade my forks, but couldn’t justify spending the money. When I called her up and told her what happened she said
“did you do that on purpose?” I told her that are easer ways to get new forks.

Well my work quarter is wrapping up at the end of June, as of today I’m done with school until mid July, and in a few days the Xterra will be done….hopefully I’ll start sorting things out better.

Speaking of Xterra, last Saturday Hannah and I were going to go pre-ride the bike course, but that couldn’t happen so we went up and ran the trail portion. I also swam in the lake for a bit. The water was cool and the air was warm. It was a beautiful day. I’ve also been doing a fair amount of road biking during my lunch breaks. The IBM campus is just outside of Boulder and there are mile and miles of farm land to ride through. I’m really luck to live in such a wonderful place and have a flexible job. Our quality of life is great.

And now you moment of ZEN……sometimes when I’m out and about I see things that I know would make Hannah happy, and knowing that they would make Hannah happy, they make me happy. This picture is of some fury cows. I don’t know what kind they are but I know Hannah would get a kick out of them. I pass them on my lunch rides, and smile every time.

The Boulder Boulder and a Fist Full of Quarters

2008-06-04T18:36:00.008-06:00

I love summer…..I mean I REALLY love summer, and the older I get the more I love it. Summer means longer days, warm weather, and various Saturday activities with Hannah. Summer also means that I can go running or biking on my way to and from work.

For those of you that don’t know I have an hour and 15 minute commute to and from work. In the winter, the drive starts to grate on me, but in summer I actually love it. The drive is up and down the “Front Range” with hundreds of great trails for mountain biking or trail running. Lately my schedule has been:

Monday – Run in the morning and Bike during lunch
Tuesday – Swim in the morning and stretch during lunch
Wednesday - Run in the morning and Bike during lunch
Thursday - Swim in the morning and stretch during lunch
Friday – Long trail run in the morning
Saturday – Long bike ride

It sounds like a lot and two years a go I would have thought the same thing, but now I wish I had more time to exercise. It’s satisfying and mentally relaxing……anyway.

On Memorial Day Hannah and I ran the Boulder Boulder with some friends of ours. The race is 10k (6.3 miles) and goes through the city of Boulder. The neat thing about the race is that it’s the 2nd largest foot race in America and the 4th largest in the world. This year over 50 thousand people participated. There are bands on every corner, people dressed up in gorilla suits, and general craziness. The ending is in the Colorado University stadium, with thousands of people watching so you feel like your in the Olympics. It’s great.

I ran a 9 minute miles, which for a runner is poor. I wanted to do an 8:30 mile but I’m happy with it. Actually the last three miles were 8:30, but the fist three were slow. I’ve been doing speed work all month, so hopefully I can do 8:00 minute miles for Xterra Buffalo Creek.

Last Saturday was pretty fun. I wanted to get up at 6:30 and do my home work (I hate school) but I slept through my alarm and woke up at 7:30. I had just enough time eat, wash my face, get dressed, and head out the door for our ward service project which is cleaning up a mile section of road buy our house. We’ve done the “adopt a road” thing, so we do a clean up once a quarter. I usually do the same section and it’s funny because on one particular corner I always find tons of banana peels. I can just picture some guy eating his morning banana and chucking the peel out in the same place every morning.

That afternoon Hannah and I went on our favorite bike ride, but the highlight of the day was watching the much anticipated movie “The King of Kong – A Fist Full of Quarters” (You have to check out the link). I wanted to see it at the theater, but it never came to Denver, and was thrilled to find it on TV. The movie is a documentary about the raining Donkey Kong video game champ, and his arch nemesis who is trying to beat his 20 year high score record. I give it two thumbs up, five stars, and a big heck yeah. I can’t even begin to describe it, but I’ll give you two of my favorite quotes:

1. The contender is driving from Seattle WA to Tampa FL for a Donkey Kong shoot out with the current champ. The winner of the contest will be in Guinness book of world records. The contender’s 5 year old daughter asks her father why he cares so much about getting in the book, he gives an answer, and she says, “yeah, I’ll bet a lot of people ruin their lives trying to get in that book.” ……out of the mouth of babes…the moment was priceless.

2. This quote was said by a person who holds the current world record for playing “centipede”….with his feet. “Well, you don’t see a lot of DDG’s in here (speaking of the arcade)….DDG stands for drop dead gorgeous if you didn’t know.” I think that pretty much sums it up.

Well that’s all I’ve got.

And now your moment of ZEN……we love cows.

This thing weighted over 2k pounds....

I Wish I Lived In Moab

2008-05-14T10:01:00.011-06:00

Notes from Eric:

New blog format – the main frame is wider and the text is larger. I hope it’s easier to read.
Various links – I’ve added links to my workout logs and other blogs I read. You may be interested, you may not be.
Because we don’t update this blog with any regularity, I will continue to send out email notifications.

Humm….my last post was in July of 07...it’s now May of 08…it’s about time for another post. Far too much has happened to recap, so I’ll by recapping last week.

Last week I went to Moab with some friends for a much needed biking vacation. Originally I was planning to leave Denver on Wednesday and come back Saturday with some friends from our ward, but my plans changed Saturday night before the trip after I spoke with my friend Tim and learned that he wanted to go to Moab as well. I hung out with Tim Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday. I spend Wednesday by my self, rode with the guys from the ward Thursday and Friday, and drove home late Friday night…..it’s was a great trip.

On Monday Tim and I rode the Slick Rock trail. It was the first time for both of us, and we lucked out because there were only a few people on the trail. Usually this trail is packed with so many people that you can hardly move (so I’ve heard). The trail is almost completely on sandstone and is amazing to ride because unlike the name implies, the surface is extremely “grippy.” You can climb very steep hills because your tires never loose purchase.

On Tuesday we decided that we weren’t in the mood to bike. We were tired from Mondays ride, and I hadn’t slept well the night before (I slept outside, and the wind blew sand in every nook and cranny of my body). So, what are two not so young bucks to do in Moab if they don’t want to bike? They rent a jeep. I highly recommend this form of entertainment. Our jeep was brand new, came stocked with a cooler, and had satellite radio. The only set back was our jeep broke in the middle of a trail. We were crawling on some rock when we heard something fall off the jeep. We got out and took a look, but all we found was a washer. There wasn’t anything obviously wrong, so we kept on going (slowly). A few minutes later we discovered that the shock absorber came unbolted from the frame, and was threatening to punch its way through the fire wall of the jeep. Luckily we were able to get cell reception, so Tim called the rental company. They brought us another jeep, and we finished the trail.

Tim left Tuesday night, so I camped out and rode the slick rock trail again Wednesday morning. That afternoon I rode part of the Gemini Bridges trail. I had hotel reservations for Wednesday night so I checked in and took a long hot shower. My other friends were not going to get into Moab until late that night, so I ate some Chinese and went to sleep early.

On Thursday we rode the Sovereign trail, and on Friday we did a mix and match of the Gemini Bridges, Poison Spider Mesa, and Portal Trails. I had a small crash on the Sovereign trail and cracked my helmet. I was slowly making my way down a steep rocking section, when I hit some sand and endoed (went over my handle bars) I landed in sand, so I didn’t get hurt, but my head found a buried rock and it cracked my helmet…..ALWAYS wear a helmet. After eating dinner I drove home, and I was lucky not to have fallen asleep.

While I was in Moab, Hannah was in AZ seeing her sisters. You can see her sister Jenny’s blog for updates on that trip.

That’s all for now.

And now your moment of ZEN…..

This one needs some explanation. Hannah dropped her keys in the toilet, and they got stuck. She had to remove the toilet to get them. She did it in her night gown…..I love this girl! I offered to do this for her, but she wanted to do it her self. This picture is of her getting ready to clean off the tarp she used in the bathroom. If you don’t hear from me again, it’s because Hannah has killed me for posting this picture.

July 2007

2007-07-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

Well it’s official; I have the coolest wife ever. She took me to a bike race, “Colorado Crankworx,” for our 6^th year anniversary. Crankworxs is a bike event that has traditionally been held at Whistler ski area in British Columbia. I don’t know the background but they decided to hold one at Winter Park Colorado. We drove up Thursday night, ate dinner at a local restaurant, and stayed the night at one of the lodges.

I’m still recovering from my wreck (two weeks ago!!) and it hurts to lie down for a long time, so I woke up at 5 am and decided to go for a walk. I wasn’t sure were to go, so I got in the car and found a dirt road that looked like it might have some nice views. The sun was peaking over the mountains, and it was absolutely beautiful. It was a great way to start the day.

After my walk, I drove back to the hotel and woke up Hannah with some peanut m&m’s. I got the idea from watching a TV commercial were I guy put a diamond necklace on his wife while she was sleeping. The women woke up and kissed her husband and they lived happily ever after. Hannah’s not in to diamond necklaces, and I don’t have the money for one anyway, but I knew m&m’s would get me the desired response. Hannah woke up, smiled, ate the m&m’s and went back to sleep….mission accomplished : )

After we checked out of the hotel, we went to Safeway for breakfast, and headed up to the race.

Crankworx has cross country races, downhill races, and slope style / big air competitions. The event in BC is much bigger, but this one was pretty good.

In the morning we watched the slope style / big air events. The racers would enter the course by riding off a 30 ft platform and landing on a steep slop. Depending on how fast they road they would get 40-50 feet of air. It was INCREDIBLE!!

In the afternoon, we hiked to the top of one of the ski runs to watch the downhill events. These guys (and girls) were riding so fast that I got nervous just watching them….memories of my crash have left me a little gun shy.

All in all it was a great anniversary. Hannah is my best friend, and I can’t image life with out her.

And now you moment of ZEN……this is an old picture, but it deserves to never be forgotten..

June 2007

2007-07-09T20:53:00.000-06:00

Well its official, I’m tough. T- U- F- F tough. That’s right, I’m a grade A tuffy. I’ve been telling you all this for years and now I have a medal to prove it. I raced in my 1st Xterra triathlon 2 weeks ago.

My friend Kristen is a swimmer and my friend Laurel is a runner and I love to mountain bike so we decided to enter as a relay team. They let you do it as a team if you’re not ready for the real deal. I thought this was a safe way to try something new. For those of you who are not familiar with the Xterra triathlon let me give you the run down. Basically the Xterra triathlon is the coolest triathlon in the world. They hold these races around the world and they are unique because they are all off road and held in rugged locations. The amateur races usually consist of a 1 mile lake swim, a 20 mile mountain bike course and a 5 mile trail run.

After seeing everybody warm up in their swimsuits I am convinced that these triathletes are the fittest athletes around. Needless to say, I was very intimidated. I almost backed out because I have been so busy at work I haven’t had time to train. Riding 20 miles on a mountain bike at 9000 feet above sea level and pushing as hard as you can is not the same as 20 miles on a road bike.

Most of the race was single track and I was worried about some of the technical areas….rocks, stumps, etc… When it came down to I actually did fairly well. I passed more people than passed me and I did very well on the downhill and in the technical areas. In fact, that is where I was able to pass people. I just wasn’t prepared for the 3 miles of steep uphill at the end. It was terrible!

Anyway, like I told Eric, “I went crazy fast” on the downhill single track and we ended up being the fastest relay team. This doesn’t mean a whole lot because I didn’t have to swim or run, but we were the only female relay team and beating the boys always makes me feel good. I wore my medal around the house for a few days until Eric said it was getting old.

My dad flew out from Utah to hang out and watch us race. It was wonderful having him here. He could win in his age bracket if we could only teach him how to swim. I was surprised how good it felt to see my Dad and Eric cheering for me at the finish line. I felt like a little girl again in a very good way. It was a great experience and I look forward to racing again.

Eric raced in the sprint course which is a shortened triathlon. He had to swim a half mile, mountain bike 10 miles and run 2.5 miles. He worked hard for his race and lost 20 pounds in the process. He did very well and now he is hooked. They have an Xterra race in Ogden, UT in August and he was thinking about racing until he fell off his bike. Turns out he cracked his sternum, a rib, bruised his calf, and dislocated his arm. It has been over a week and I am still not allowed to hug him, touch him or look at him too hard. He must be hurting because he struggles taking the lid off the peanut butter jar.

Both Eric and I are working all of the time and I am gearing up for girls camp. Sorry for the delayed blog. Busy times.

And now your moment of ZEN.......(notice Eric's 'post race' bowed legs..)

April 2007

2007-07-09T20:19:00.000-06:00

In April I had to go to Washington DC for some meetings. The meetings were scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and under normal circumstances I would have flown out Sunday night, but due to flight schedules I was a lot less expensive for me to fly out Friday night, so I ended up staying over the week end.

Because I had some extra time, I decided I’d play tourist for a day and bought a tour with “Old Town Trolley” for $25. It was worth every penny. The tour covers Washington's major attractions such as the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, Washington National Cathedral, the White House, the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

The trolley’s stopped at each site every 15 minutes so you could get off at the sites you wanted to see and skip the ones you don’t have time for. It was perfect. I only had two regrets. First: I wish Hannah were there. It would have been much more fun with her. Second: I wish I would have brought warmer cloths. It was 60 in Denver and the forecast for DC was in the mid 50’s…..well it was much colder and the wind chill was brutal. I did the tour in a sweat shirt and froze my nubbins off.

On Sunday, I attended church in Virginia. The ward was very friendly, and I had a great time. I even got a dinner invitation, but declined. The rest of that day was spent in my hotel room and walking around Bethesda (that’s were my hotel was).

Monday meetings….Tuesday meetings…Tuesday night I get a call from my friend Tim, and he tells me that our friends Joe and Barbara Muir live in Chevy Chase MD. Tim had their address and contact information, and low and behold they lived 10 minutes away from my hotel. I was disappointed that I didn’t get this piece of information sooner, but I was able visit them.

Joe was instrumental in helping me return to the church, and the meeting was kind of emotional for me. It had been seven years since I’d last seen him and I wanted to tell him that I had been grateful every day for everything he’d done, but when I saw him it was the same old Joe, and he down played everything he did. It’s wonderful to have good friends.

December 25, 2006

2007-01-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard, Denver had a heck of a snow storm last week. Roxborough received over 3 feet of snow, and some of the wind drifts were 6 feet. The whole town shut down, and we didn’t leave the house for 3 days, but had power, heat, and plenty of food, so it was like a vacation. Hannah went to work Wednesday morning, but decided to leave around 10:00 before the roads got too bad. When she got home, she had a movie, treats, and told me that we were going sledding. I told her that just because it was a snow day for her, I had to work (I had my laptop). The good news about technology is that I can work from home, and the bad news about technology is that I can work from home. It’s a mixed blessing.

By Saturday enough of the roads had been plowed that we could make it to the state park just up from our house, so we decided to go cross country skiing. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the snow was light powder – perfect conditions. The park was closed, which was great because we didn’t have to pay, so we skied in. The road to the park is about 3 ½ miles, and has great scenery. It’s almost better then the park. When we got to the park, we decided to do some exploring, and ended up having to make a choice of backtracking or going through a gully of scrub oak. We knew the scrub oak patch would stink to go through, but it was a long way to backtrack so we decided to go through. We found a dry stream bed that had slightly less trees in it and followed it down. The trees were so thick that we had to take off our skis and the snow was up to our waist. I slipped on a covered rock, and banged up my knee. I had a brief thought that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the main trail, but Hannah broke trail and we made it out in about 35 minutes. When we got home my knee had swollen up so bad it looked like I had an orange under my skin, and now it’s starting bruise nicely.

We went to church on Sunday, and Hannah gave a wonderful talk about the importance of receiving, and showing our appreciation for the gift of the atonement. She also sang in the choir.

That night we cooked a ham, made cheese mash potatoes, salad, rolls, and cherry cheese cake for desert. After the feast, we opened our presents, and being stuffed played “fat dog” (lay on the floor).

A few weeks ago Hannah asked me what I wanted to do for Christmas. This was our first Christmas without family, so we wanted to establish some traditions. I told her I didn’t have any ideas, and she asked me if I wanted to go downhill skiing.

When I worked at Brighton, I would volunteer to work on Christmas. I didn’t have any family in town, so I figured I’d let someone else spend it with their family. Christmas day was a great day to work… My boss would let me take a few runs before we opened, and everyone was in a great mood. I always wanted to go skiing with my family on Christmas, but because Hannah’s not a big downhill skier, I never thought we’d do it. The one condition that Hannah placed on the skiing adventure was that I couldn’t be too bossy.

Christmas morning we got up at 6:00 and drove to the Loveland Ski Area. It’s more of a local resort, so we didn’t think it would be as crowed as some of the destination areas. Another bonus is that they have an entire section of beginner / intermediate runs separate form the rest of the area. We had a wonderful day. I think this tradition may stick.

That evening we went and saw the new James Bond movie and ate all of our Christmas candy.

Hannah speaking…Christmas was wonderful this year even though we did not get to spend it with other family members. Because I was preparing for a talk the weeks leading up to Christmas I made an extra effort to reflect upon why I really should celebrate the season. Christmas is about celebrating our Savior and receiving our King. I didn’t make treats or buy lots of stuff but I was happy. I was happy with the blessings I do have because of the Birth of Christ…..my life, the Gospel, eternal families, the Comforter, an eternal perspective….life is wonderful.

And now your moment of ZEN.........(I was Santa again this year)

December 15, 2006

2007-01-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Last week stunk. Our cat Max had been fighting a cold for a few weeks. He seemed to get better, but then he would relapse and get sick again. We took him to the vet twice, but were unsatisfied with her diagnosis – “Max is in perfect health.” Hannah found a cat specialist in Castle Rock, 30 minutes south of us, and she took him there.

Once there, she explained the history and the vet noticed that Max’s coat looked unkempt. He decided to run some tests, and found that he had the virus called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). FIP is extremely rare, and only 1% of cats are diagnosed with it. He told us that there was no cure, and that Max would appear to get better, and then get worse – never fully recovering and steadily going down hill. The decision was made to put him down.

The morning we were scheduled to put him down, Max was feeling better and purred when we picked him up. It sounds dramatic, but it was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do in my life. I bawled like a baby. The last time I cried that hard I was a child. I really bonded with that cat. On Sundays when I’d take a nap, he would jump on the bed and sit two inches from my face staring at me until would lift up the blanket and he’d crawl in. If I rolled on his legs, he wouldn’t make a sound, just kick his way out, and then go back to sleep.

Hannah and I decided that we needed another cat right away, so we went to the pound and picked up a 15 pound black male. He’s very mellow, likes Sally (our other cat), and sleeps all day….he’s perfect. We tossed around several names, and landed on Pete…I think. For fun I’ll list a few of the names we tried on:

Berry White: Named after the R&B singer. Berry White was a ladies man, and had a deep baritone voice. When Pete was at the pound he was in a room with all females, and he would let them lay on him, and has a deep rumbling purr, but his meow is a soprano.
John Coffee: Named after the black guy in the movie “The Green Mile.”
Puddy: Named after David Puddy on Seinfield
Molasses (Mo for short): Black Strap Molasses??? Slower than molasses??? I don’t know it just seemed to kind of fit.
Mouse Face: From the side he looks like a mouse.
Chief Meow Meow. This was Hannah’s first choice but Eric rejected it.

What ever we end up calling him, we’re glad to have another cat.

October 8, 2006

2006-10-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

Welcome Max Powers!!

Last Saturday Eric and I went to the animal shelter and adopted a new cat named Max. Eric named him Max Powers in tribute to one of his favorite Simpson episodes. I will explain….. Homer Simpson concludes that all of the bad things that have happened in his life are due to his weak name…. Homer. He decides to rename himself with the most powerful name he could think of….Max Powers. Later in the episode he has his wife’s name changed to Chesty Sinclair. I don’t feel it appropriate to rename our other cat Sally, Chesty.

Well Max is very, very tall and leggy. He has beautiful tiger stripes and is very friendly and soft. We love him already. He does meow way too loud. Every night this week he has woken Eric up at 4:00 a.m. For those of you who have not seen Eric woken up when he is deep asleep you will not be able to fathom the drama. Max meows very loud, Eric flips the light on, kicks the covers around, yells a lot, stomps around the room, threatens the poor little cat’s life, locks him in the laundry room, slams the door and then reports back to his sleepy and bewildered wife that in the morning they are returning Max to the pound. The funny thing is, is that when 6:30 a.m. arrives and Eric loves Max and comments on what a wonderful cat he his. You should also note that Eric refers to Max as Reggie, our old cat. I find this a little blasphemous but I think David, I mean Eric, may have inherited the renaming gene from his mother.

You will notice that Sally our other cat hates us now. She stares at the corner instead of associating with us or the new cat.

And now, your moment of ZEN.... I believe that this photo is "photoshoped," but it makes Hannah and I laugh really hard every time we see it....Remember you can double click on the image and it will enlarge.

September 17, 2006

2006-09-17T22:02:00.000-06:00

Hello friends and family. Things are good here in Colorado. The weather is perfect… cool, crisp and sunny. The skies are blue and clear during the day and at night they are full of stars. We live in an area by the mountains away from the city. We do not have very many street lamps so the view at night is amazing.

I was just released from the primary presidency and am now the new young women’s president. I am looking forward to working with the young women. They are all kind, good girls. I will miss the primary terribly. When I was first called to the primary I didn’t think that I would enjoy it as much as I did. I’ve never really spent much time around children and I didn’t enjoy them like other people. I think that working in the primary presidency has been my all time favorite calling. I love the children; they set such a good example and love unconditionally. The Sunday that I was released the primary chorister asked the entire junior primary to come up and hug me. They mobbed me all at once and took turns hugging me. I was kneeling on the floor and was covered in little kids. I could see their sweet faces so excited to come and hug me that I started to cry. (I don’t like to cry in public) This made the chorister cry and all of the other primary leaders. I was surprised at how willing the children were to express love and gratitude.

We just had our first combined young men/ young women activity the other weekend. We took the youth to the ‘Taste of Littleton’. The Taste of Littleton is a community event where many local restaurants line Main Street in Littleton and provide samples of their food to the public. We purchased wrist bands for $5 which allowed us unlimited samples. It was a lot of fun. I do not have a counselor yet, so Eric came along and drove some of the kids in his car. My folks would have loved this event. They loooooove free samples.

Eric here. The taste of Littleton was fun, but I had to deal with young punks making fun of my Subaru. As Hannah pointed out, I had to drive some of the kids in my car. The kids I happen to get were gear heads. They all drove big trucks, and couldn’t fathom buying anything but American. Of course they also get 9 miles to the gallon, so by the time they get to the movies they don’t have enough money to get in, and I definitely highlighted that fact. In the end they came to respect the Sub. I floored it a couple of times, and let them feel the awesome power of its mighty four banger.

I was only able to ride twice this week. On Tuesday I rode the Apex trail, which was fun, but technically difficult. One of the keys to getting over technical terrain is to have momentum, witch requires power, and generating quick bursts of power every fifty feet wears you (me) out pretty quickly. The down hill was, as always, extremely fun. It drops down the Front Range with beautiful views of the city.

On Friday, Hannah and I met at the Chimney Gulch trail head, which goes up to look out mountain. This is one of my favorite trails. There are a few rocky sections, but for the most part it’s a steady climb for about five miles. The trail isn’t a loop so you have to watch out for riders coming up as your going down, but you can see far enough ahead to be able to get some decent speed.

Your moment of ZEN......

Memories of Reg

2006-09-04T20:00:00.000-06:00

About three weeks ago, Reggie got out at night, and we never saw him again. We think that a fox or coyote got him. We miss him terribly, and the house seems empty with out him. Even though his name was Reggie, I usually called him Pal, because that’s what he was. He would come when we called. He’d follow us around when we were out in the yard, and just wanted to be by us. Of course I also called him Rotten Reg, and Reggie the ruiner, because he was constantly getting into things, but all in all Hannah and I decided that he was our favorite cat of all time.

Even though most of our “Moment of ZEN” pictures were of Reg, I thought I’d post a few more in his honor.

September 4, 2006

2006-09-04T17:21:00.000-06:00

A few months ago, Hannah had a really good month at work, and as a reward she wanted to buy her sisters plane tickets to come out and visit. She decided that even though the fairs are reasonably priced, it was still to expensive. She said that she would go out and visit them. As time went by, I realized that she wasn’t going to buy a ticket (we have a lot we’re saving up for). I also knew that she really wanted to go, so I bought a ticket for her.

I was planning to go to the Black Hills in South Dakota when she was in Utah, but a week before she left I sprained my ankle playing basketball, and the weather was suposed to be rainy. Rather than drive five hours and go for easy bike rides in the rain, I decided to stay in Denver.

I’ve done a fair amount of traveling for work since Hannah and I have been married. While I never really like to leave, I’m working, so the time goes by quickly. Staying home while Hannah leaves STINKS. I was board out of my gourd. Hannah was livin' it up, so I would as well.

I took a few hours of on Friday, and rode the Hall Ranch trail just outside of Estes Park – North of Boulder. The first two miles are extremely technical and I ended up walking my bike up a lot of it. After the first section, there is a five mile loop that was fairly easy, and made for fast riding. On the way back, I was able to ride down most of the technical parts, and really enjoyed myself. I came home, ate left over spaghetti, watched some TV and went to bed.

It rained Saturday, so I changed the oil in my car, cleaned it out, did some minor things in the garage, went for a hike, and went out for Sushi.

I am addicted to Sushi. I can’t get enough of it. I dream about it. On my birthday a few years ago, Hannah took me out for Sushi. She had never had it and was skeptical. I knew she wouldn’t like the Nigiri Sushi, which is raw "whatever" on a ball of rice, so we got a sushi roll. I can’t remember what was in the roll, but the conversation went something like this:

Hannah: I just don’t like the texture of the fish.
Eric: It takes some getting use to.
Hannah: I’m just not a fan of the sauce.
Eric: The do have other sauces, or you don’t have to get any sauce.
Hannah: I really don't like the seaweed wrapper... it makes me gag.
Eric: So the only thing you like is the rice.
Hannah: Yeah, but even that tastes like the seaweed.

Needless to say, we haven’t gone out for Sushi together since.

This morning, I got up at 6:30 and went for another bike ride. This time I went to a trail just outside of Roxborough Park about a mile South of our house. I hadn’t been on this trail before because the entrance is in a gated community. We have some friends who live there, and they said that we could use their name to get past the gate, so I did, and had a great time. The pictures of the red rocks are of that trip.

And now your moment of ZEN.......

August 27, 2006

2006-09-04T17:03:00.000-06:00

Hannah and I have started a mid-August resolution…..write more on our blog. It took the gentle prodding of some good friends. They used kind words like, “You have no excuses,” and “it’s been three months.” There is no need to mention names…you know who you are….and we miss you.

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A lot has happened. We went river rafting in Southern Colorado for our 5th year anniversary. I spent four days in Seattle for work and then we went to Oregon for a week and had a mini family reunion. Everyone was there with the exception of the Huntsmans, whom we all missed.

Since we don’t have time to go over everything in detail, we’ll do a quick summery:

The rafting trip was great. It was Hannah’s turn to plan the anniversary trip, which is good because she always has the best ideas. I got off work early and we drove down to Canon City in Southwestern Colorado and spent the night. The next morning we went rafting in the poring rain and loved every second of it. There was one other group in the trip with us. Two of them were members of the Church from Arvada ( a few miles North of us) and some foreign exchange students from Saudi Arabia, who consequently had never been swimming. We had a great time. Hannah and I had a boat to ourselves (plus the guide) so we sat right up front and faced the rapids all day. The guide was pretty cool and even let us “ride the bull”. To ride the bull one must sit on the front point of the raft with your legs over the front edge of the raft and hang on to the bow line like a cowboy holding onto a rodeo bull. As you hit the rapids you scream like an idiot and love every minute of it. We became friends with the other group and made plans to do it again next year.

I had to go to Seattle for a mid-year planning session. While I was there I took the opportunity to visit some customers and eat Sushi every night. It was great fun, and I enjoyed meeting some of the people I work with, but only get to talk to on the phone. At the end of the trip, I was ready to come home and realized that I don’t like Seattle as much as I thought I did. I still really like it, but it’s just too darn big. It takes too long to get to the mountains.

At the reunion we saw Sherry and Ray, David and Wren and their family, Grandma Petersen, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Parley and Aunt Kathryn and of course my parents. It was wonderful, but the schedule was really hard on me. Each morning I would wake up, eat some cereal with fresh raspberries and blackberries, lay around for a few hours and then go swimming. The hard part was going back to the real world.

And now your moment of ZEN......(Eric and his nieces running from the waves).

July 1, 2006

2006-09-04T16:53:00.000-06:00

I just saved my baby Reggie’s life! I was walking out the door to go to the church and I saw a fox in our neighbor’s yard. I freaked out because he was so close to our house and I knew that Reggie (my cat not my baby) was outside. Just then I saw my fat, juicy, tender little cat stalking the fox. I was in my car and drove as fast as I could toward fox and the cat because they were only a few feet apart from one another. Reggie would have been a goner but the fox hadn’t seen him yet. I pulled up in front of them and honked my horn trying to keep Reggie from springing on the fox. The honking distracted both of them and gave me a few second to get out of my car and grab Reggie. I saved that dumb cat’s life. The worst part is, is that the fox was kind of cute and I couldn’t blame it for the situation. Well I came home all freaked out and now Eric and I don’t know what to do about this dumb old cat. I think it might be best for him to spend the rest of the summer with Melanie and Stoney.

Eric bought a new bike and has been riding a lot. He thinks he is better than me now that he has his fancy new bike with his fancy little biking shorts. Well he is. I can still take him on the uphill but as far as technical skills go the grasshopper has surpassed the master. I need to have my Dad, Stoney come to Colorado again for another bike ride and put Eric in his place.

Eric gave a wonderful talk today in church about the Plan of Happiness and the Atonement. This is the third time he has spoken in church in a year. He did a wonderful job. He is comfortable speaking in public and likes giving talks. Good thing because our ward is small and I am sure they will keep asking him to speak.

I am still working hard. Cub Scout day camp is this week and I am assigned to take the boys this Wednesday. Cubs…what can I say…they are appropriately named cubs. I have been missing my family and friends lately especially my sisters. I was so worked up about the fox attack that I had to call Jenny to calm down. She is the only one who can fully understand the tramas of being way too attached to a cat. On Fathers day I really missed my Dad. My Dad is wonderful. He taught me to love so many things that make my life happy. I hope that we are always close. I am always happier when he is around.

Eric and I are sooooooo excited to go and see his parents in July. David and Wren will be there and so will Sherry and Ray. I think Eric’s Grandma Ann and Aunt Sharon may be there as well. One good thing about our marriage is that both Eric and I love our in-laws. We love being around each other’s family.

Our 5th year anniversary is this week and it is my turn to plan something special. I still don’t know what we are going to do but it will be romantic. I will keep you all posted.

Well Melanie (my Mom) is an inspired woman. She gave Eric a case of brownie mix for his birthday and it is being put to good use tonight. My Mom Rocks!!!

Your moment of ZEN..... (if your wondering what Hannah has around her legs, it's a piece of elastic. She has take wide steps with it around her legs for her knee exercise’s)

May 21, 2006

2006-05-21T21:23:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, I know. It’s been awhile since our last posting. There are two reasons for this. The first and, probably the most accurate is that I’m lazy. I don’t know why it’s so hard to keep this current. Once I’m typing everything goes smoothly; sitting down at the computer is the hard part. The second reason is that my camera is broken. The small clasp that holds the spring loaded battery in is missing, so every time I want to take a picture I have to hold the battery in. Without pictures, I think the blog would be boring.

A few weeks ago, we got a call from our friends Aaron and Kristen. They had some extra tickets for Les Miserables, and asked if we wanted to go with them. I usually balk at entertainment that requires dressing up, but Hannah really wanted to go, and I wanted to hang out with Aaron and Kristen, so we said yes.

The play was on a Friday night, and before I left work one of my co-workers asked me if I had any plans for the week end. Let me pause for a moment, and tell you about this individual. His name is Dean Holmstum, he’s single, he rides a Harley, and on the week ends he goes for beers with the boys. In short, he’s a man’s man. When Dean asked me if I had plans for the weekend I panicked. I wanted to tell him that I was going to Les Miserables, but I didn’t know how to pronounce it. Not wanting to butcher the title, I said I was going to “la Mis.” I had heard it referred to this before, but it never sounded so feminine as when I said it. Dean looked at me for a moment and said, “That’s ok…I’m sure you’ll have a great time.” We still joke about that. It was actually pretty funny.

Well despite the not wanting to dress up, and feeling awkward for not know how to pronounce the name, we had a wonderful time. The singing was great, and the story was inspiring. I was so impressed with the production, that I’m reading the book, and really enjoying it.

Work is going well. I’m starting to understand how to navigate IBM, which means that I’m more productive. I don’t have to spend twenty minutes researching each question I get.

The commute isn’t bad either. If I didn’t have one, it would be better, but I’m making the best of it.

I pass several great bike rides on the way home, so I’ve decided to ride once or twice a week. Last week I road the Heil Ranch trail. It’s just outside of Boulder and it reminds me of South Fork in Provo. It’s a long narrow valley, with beautiful meadows, and plenty of trees. It also has tons of open range cattle. As some of you know, I love cows. I don’t know what it is about them, but every time I see them I feel happy. The only problem Heil Ranch is that it’s quite rocky. A lot of the trails around here are rocky, and normally it doesn’t bother me, but this year I’ve been feeling like I just got beat up after every ride. I came home and told Hannah that I wanted a new bike. I was expecting to have to justify the purchase, but Hannah was wonderfully understanding, and said I could get one if it wasn’t too expensive. I was planning on getting a new bike this fall, so I’d been doing a lot of research, and already knew what I wanted. The bike shop I went to offered demos, so I demoed a bike on Friday, and bought it on Saturday. It’s like a dream come true. I can’t believe the difference.

Well that’s all I have to say for now.

We love, and miss all of you.

Eric and Hannah

And now your moment of ZEN.......