"Times they are a'changing." - Bob Dylan
"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in." - Napoleon
Obviously, the concept of time has been on my mind recently; I don't have enough of it, I'm having the best of it, I'm trying to chase it, and I'm trying to plan for the future of it. But most of all, I'm trying to learn how to balance it. Somehow I managed to finish my formal education and graduate from a post-secondary university (with relatively decent grade points), and I still don't know if I have that elusive time management skill down pat. I say this because I wasted all of today doing nothing productive. And yet, it was entirely productive. You see, I'm on spring break.
Ahh, spring break. I've managed to have a spring break for two years past most people my age, and it appears with law school on the horizon (more on that later, perhaps in an entirely different post) I am signing up for three more. Tough break. Well, except for that whole law school thing. But again, more on that later.
This spring break has been one of the best of my memory. I would say going to Italy in high school trumps, but even still that is placing this past week as #2 of 23. Not too shabby. I spent five days in one of my favorite places: Colorado. I drove out there right after school on Friday with one of my oldest friends, Julia. Our plan was to meet up with one of my other old friends, Becky, who relocated to Denver about five years ago. Along for the ride was Julia's co-worker Abby, as well as Chris and Kylie, and one of his law school school buddies Matt. The boys and girls drove separately (gross, cooties!), with the boys beating us there by about six hours; six hours that they made sure to do some damage in. I got to drive around Denver at 2am trying to find an apartment that didn't exist, according to Google, just to bring every
one back to our hotel right in the center of the city. Yes, it sounds like a cluster, and it was. But it was also a lot of fun, and the initial separation of the genders allowed for some solid, and much needed, girl time. I've known Julia and Becky since I was a very small girl. In fact, we were in the same girl scout troop. For your viewing pleasure, here is a scanned gem. That is Julia on the far left with the stylish crimped hair, Becky on the far right in the ever-classic mustard colored t-shirt, and me second from the right with my trendy-yet-practical bowl cut. If we only knew then what we know now...
Denver remains one of my favorite cities. It has an understandable focus on sustainability, it is remarkably clean, and there are such wonderful gems as the Doughboy Ba
kery and the Mellow Mushroom pizza parlor. Of course we hit up both, as well as a St. Patrick's Day parade. We ended up at a bar called Sport's Column, which had an identical emblem as the Sport's Column (or SpoCo, as it is fondly called) in Iowa City. Imagine our further surprise when there were Iowa flags inside and the bar stamp was a tiny, yet distinctive "IOWA." I took a picture of my hand with my POS BlackBerry, but you can see the stamp as well as my cliche green beer.
From Denver, we made the beautiful drive through the mountains to Dillon, which is a quaint town right in the middle of all the resorts. We're all poor and could only afford to stay at the Dillon Motel, which turned out to be one of the best worst ideas ever. We skied Keystone on Sunday, which w
as Julia's first time skiing. She was a really great sport about learning on actual runs (which I maintain is the best method) until we wound up on a blue. Oops, sorry Juj. Our second day we went to Copper, which I had never skiied before. Chris and I took to the back of the mountain and I did my first black diamond run. It was easily the most physically challenging thing I've done in years, but it was easily the most gratifying as well. I took this picture from my phone, and poor quality and all, you can't deny the beauty of the Rockies. Copper is also now my favorite resort. It is really boarder-friendly, and although I don't snowboard I appreciate that the trick parks are on one side of the mountain, effectively separating snowboarders from skiers. Let's face it, snowboarders can be huge assholes to skiers, and vice-versa. I hope to make the transition to boarder next time I'm in Colorado, but until then, I stand with the skiers.
From our adventures skiing, we made the drive up to Fort Collins, home to Colorado State University and some of the best breweries in the world. We started off at ODells, which is a much smaller brewery that distributes in only a handful of states. I brought home
a case of their 90 Shilling Ale, so if you're in Des Moines you know I'll be spreading the wealth. From ODells we walked the block to New Belgium, making a pit stop at a playground on the way to swing with the children. Going to New Belgium Brewery has been on my bucket list for years, since the first time I heard about how ethically and environmentally-minded the company is. The tour absolutely did not disappoint, although Julia's camera dying did. This is the only picture I have from the brewery, and once again it's from my crap phone. If you've never heard of New Beligum, or you've tried the deliciousness of Fat Tire but don't know about the company, check out their website. You will surely be impressed with what a phenomenal company it is. At the end of the tour, our guide told us how to apply for jobs with the Brewery. We decided Julia will be the brewery's financial accountant, I'll take over the legal department (in a few years of course), Chris will be the health and safety director, and Becky will design all interior structures and elements. Now, we just need to convince the company of this plan, but I have faith it will all work out.
I truly do adore Colorado, and I hope that one day I am lucky enough to live there. There is no denying my jealousy that Becky goes snowboarding about once a week during the season and routinely hikes and camps during the warmer months. Plus, the state seems to embody the philosophy of sustainable and environmentally-conscious, active and healthy living. You know this pseudo-hippie is down with that. The rest of my spring break was spent in good old Des Moines, which included St. Patrick's Day. I am about 50% Irish and take that very seriously. I don't really participate in the get-crazy-drunk activities of most people, although I do go out. I mostly value the heritage and history behind the day, so I tend to take it far more low-key. I'll leave you with two photos, one of people, one of a far better species. My dog-envy goes crazy when I'm around this particular canine, so that is only one of many pictures I took of him.
Kate and I at the parade downtown.
one back to our hotel right in the center of the city. Yes, it sounds like a cluster, and it was. But it was also a lot of fun, and the initial separation of the genders allowed for some solid, and much needed, girl time. I've known Julia and Becky since I was a very small girl. In fact, we were in the same girl scout troop. For your viewing pleasure, here is a scanned gem. That is Julia on the far left with the stylish crimped hair, Becky on the far right in the ever-classic mustard colored t-shirt, and me second from the right with my trendy-yet-practical bowl cut. If we only knew then what we know now...Denver remains one of my favorite cities. It has an understandable focus on sustainability, it is remarkably clean, and there are such wonderful gems as the Doughboy Ba
kery and the Mellow Mushroom pizza parlor. Of course we hit up both, as well as a St. Patrick's Day parade. We ended up at a bar called Sport's Column, which had an identical emblem as the Sport's Column (or SpoCo, as it is fondly called) in Iowa City. Imagine our further surprise when there were Iowa flags inside and the bar stamp was a tiny, yet distinctive "IOWA." I took a picture of my hand with my POS BlackBerry, but you can see the stamp as well as my cliche green beer.From Denver, we made the beautiful drive through the mountains to Dillon, which is a quaint town right in the middle of all the resorts. We're all poor and could only afford to stay at the Dillon Motel, which turned out to be one of the best worst ideas ever. We skied Keystone on Sunday, which w
as Julia's first time skiing. She was a really great sport about learning on actual runs (which I maintain is the best method) until we wound up on a blue. Oops, sorry Juj. Our second day we went to Copper, which I had never skiied before. Chris and I took to the back of the mountain and I did my first black diamond run. It was easily the most physically challenging thing I've done in years, but it was easily the most gratifying as well. I took this picture from my phone, and poor quality and all, you can't deny the beauty of the Rockies. Copper is also now my favorite resort. It is really boarder-friendly, and although I don't snowboard I appreciate that the trick parks are on one side of the mountain, effectively separating snowboarders from skiers. Let's face it, snowboarders can be huge assholes to skiers, and vice-versa. I hope to make the transition to boarder next time I'm in Colorado, but until then, I stand with the skiers.From our adventures skiing, we made the drive up to Fort Collins, home to Colorado State University and some of the best breweries in the world. We started off at ODells, which is a much smaller brewery that distributes in only a handful of states. I brought home
a case of their 90 Shilling Ale, so if you're in Des Moines you know I'll be spreading the wealth. From ODells we walked the block to New Belgium, making a pit stop at a playground on the way to swing with the children. Going to New Belgium Brewery has been on my bucket list for years, since the first time I heard about how ethically and environmentally-minded the company is. The tour absolutely did not disappoint, although Julia's camera dying did. This is the only picture I have from the brewery, and once again it's from my crap phone. If you've never heard of New Beligum, or you've tried the deliciousness of Fat Tire but don't know about the company, check out their website. You will surely be impressed with what a phenomenal company it is. At the end of the tour, our guide told us how to apply for jobs with the Brewery. We decided Julia will be the brewery's financial accountant, I'll take over the legal department (in a few years of course), Chris will be the health and safety director, and Becky will design all interior structures and elements. Now, we just need to convince the company of this plan, but I have faith it will all work out.I truly do adore Colorado, and I hope that one day I am lucky enough to live there. There is no denying my jealousy that Becky goes snowboarding about once a week during the season and routinely hikes and camps during the warmer months. Plus, the state seems to embody the philosophy of sustainable and environmentally-conscious, active and healthy living. You know this pseudo-hippie is down with that. The rest of my spring break was spent in good old Des Moines, which included St. Patrick's Day. I am about 50% Irish and take that very seriously. I don't really participate in the get-crazy-drunk activities of most people, although I do go out. I mostly value the heritage and history behind the day, so I tend to take it far more low-key. I'll leave you with two photos, one of people, one of a far better species. My dog-envy goes crazy when I'm around this particular canine, so that is only one of many pictures I took of him.
Kate and I at the parade downtown.
And here's Mojo. Don't mind his pink eye.
So, here's to a good spring break, and hopefully a few more just as wonderful. All in good time, as with that post I'll make some day about law school... Until then, slainte!
