The Rundown

The end of the year is always a time for retrospection, self-inspection. The spirit of the blog is somewhat similar everyday--pretending your life is important enough not only to publish to cyberspace but important enough that other people will read it, will enjoy reading it, will love it and adore it and set their schedule by it and comment, comment, comment. Combine the date and the form together then and you have (dum dum dum DUM!)... A million and a half memes and top tens. And to prove that I too am one of you, I too will do a year review. (And yes, if you all decided to, I'd jump. Just tell me which bridge) What follows then, is a month by month collection of The Boyfriend's fabulous pictures organized by month. Ain't he just so talented? And cute too. But you will have to take my word for that one.


JANUARY
Ouch. Though I have been a skiier since I was four or five, I decided to give snowboarding a try for the first time. For two reasons: I was skiing in Arizona, which is small and has rather sub-standard snow (says the Colorado girl). I figured I might as well stick to the bunny slope given that was what the whole mountain could amount to. Also, our friend Suzanne was taking a lesson too and you know how I feel about peer pressure (see above). Regardless of the bruise, I persevered and snowboarded a few more times this year. I must say, I'm not half bad.






FEBRUARY
So began my first year of motorcycle travel. Don't you love the outfit? In the big, black manly world of the motorcycle, I had to fight to get a bit of blue. This trip we were headed up to Roosevelt Lake and the Tonto National Monument, a small collection of cave dwellings in the Arizona desert.





Another motorcycle adventure. One of my favorites, even though The Boyfriend was quite sick. We motel-ed it in Wilcotts where we saw the movie Hutch in a small, renovated yet antiquated theater for $5. This picture is of the Chiricahua National Monument, an amazing place where God used to play as a child with his blocks. Time has worn those toddler towers away to look like stacked tiki gods or totem poles on the point of collapse. Rounded out the trip through Tombstone, AZ and back up to Phoenix


MARCH
Drove down almost to the Mexican border to Organ Pipe National Monument. In fact, many illegal immigrants make their way through the park and into the USA. The organ pipe cactus that the park is named for grows in abundance--a large, multi-stalked catci that looks exactly like its name. We camped, hiked and headed back up in the space of a weekend. Very fun but I wish we had more time to take.



APRIL
The Boyfriend and I's anniversary dinner. Honey glazed pork roast (though the gravy didn't turn out quite right), tomato and green bean salad, and this delicious Greek cake that I can't remember the name of--dense and not too sweet with dried apricots and golden raisins coated in, again, honey. Mmmmm.





Motocycling to Kartchner Caverns, a well preserved and still living wet cave that was found south of Tucson, far underground. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so this is the best one I have. Too bad. There was an amazing stallagtite formation they called Kubla Khan that truly deserved the name.






Just an everyday sunset from my father's backyard. Love you, Pops!











Skiing at Snowbird Resort outside of Park City, UT. Had the opportunity to check out Brett's new condo up there. It's amazing by the way, Brett, and thank you for the invite. Will let you all know when he installs the hot tub webcam.






JUNE
In May, we drove on the bike from Phoenix up to Denver. We camped in Mesa Verde on the way up north. Mesa Verde is a National Park highlighting a canyon with a large amount of cliff dwellings. These people, the Anasazi, disappeared. Abandoning their highly-developed homes to journey places unknown for reasons mysterious. Walking through their rooms, you can still feel the residue of their lives--people cooked, slept, reproduced right under my motorcycle boots.


On the way down south again, we stopped at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. From the mountains and plains emerges this incongruous patch of the Sahara that exists due to a unique climate and wind formation. You can climb up to the exhausting top (sand is hell to walk in) but the trip down is better. You can basically fall down the dunes and have the soft sand catch you at every step. The sand is difficult to wash away afterwards, however, so prepare to be picking it out of your hair and ears for days.








JULY
July was... July was a gift beyond expectations. Due to the generosity of Fares and Angela, The Boyfriend and I had the opportunity to fly to Italy. It was the Boyfriend's first time out of the country and it was amazing. We were able to stay on Isola del Giglio, a small island off the coast of Tuscany where they make their own wine and the gelato is orgasmic and both are everyday indulgences. This is the island's main city of Porto, where drunkeness and mussels did occur.


This is the view from the house, which Fares' family time shares. The rock in the distance is called Tortoruga (the Turtle). The house was on the Arnella beach--small, secluded, and full of mostly German and Swiss families on vacation. Thank you to Antonello, who ran the beachside cafe, and his brother Marco, who wore a beanie and rented us boats. It was two weeks of bliss.




We also took the time to spend a week in Rome while we were in Italy. How could we not, really, considering the cost of getting over there in the first place? We stayed in an apartment near the Campo di Fiore market and saw all the major sites--Colliseum, Forum, Nero's Palace, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pallitine Hill, Capitoline Hill, Janiculum Hill... We even took a day trip out to Ostia Antica, the ruins of Rome's first colony and first port town. This picture was taken in the Jewish ghetto after a fantasic dinner of fresh seafood and homemade pasta. I photoshopped it up a bit to give The Boyfriend as a Christmas gift. Awww. Ain't we cute?




SEPTEMBER


The Boyfriend turned 29 and we rode out to the coast to celebrate. This picture was taken at Santa Monica beach. We ate hummus from the bike's side cases and walked the board walk. We also stopped by Grandma's house (hi g-ma, auntie becky, uncle mike, jeni, aspen! thanks for the chinese!) and also at a local BMW motorbike shop. I got a heated vest for my birthday. How romantic.


OCTOBER
Along with Brett, Ann, and B.F.'s mom, we hiked the Grand Canyon. Down to the bottom in one day to camp, up to Indian gardens on day two, and up to the top on day three. 17 miles total and a mile in elevation change each way. This is only one of many amazing pictures and enjoyable memories. I swear, I would do this everyday if I possibly could. Just to feel your body working, pumping, living the way it was meant to, to feel the accomplishment of miles and visual distance--so satisfying to me. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea--Ann, you made it and we love you!




Race for the Cure Phoenix. My third time doing the race--which means 3 cancer free years for my mommy--but the first time in Phoenix. I saw parts of the city I didn't even know existed and then feasted at a little diner the size of a walk-in closet with meals the size of a, well, master bedroom.









NOVEMBER


Flew up to Denver for a wedding in Boulder. My long time friend Amanda decided to become conventional by marrying her long time boyfriend Matt. As if you two could ever be conventional to me! Thanks for a great time in the picturesque setting of the Boulderado Hotel--stained glass ceilings, antiques and haunted rooms. Congrats to the happy couple! And to my father and his new wife, Julie, though I have no good pictures of their occasion to share here with you.







DECEMBER


Luminaria at the Botanical Gardens was my favorite event of the holiday season, other than getting to see all the family in Colorado. The desert landscape lit up with millions of tiny candles and a new musical experience around every corner--country, harp, beautyshop quartet (yes, really), jazz, etc... Wine tastings. The crunch of sand under your shoes into the thick night air (always reminds me of camping). The novelty of wearing gloves in Arizona. Don't laugh. It was cold and your blood thins out down here. Thanks for the tickets, Julie.









Skiing in Breckenridge with The Boyfriend on Christmas Eve. The slopes were dead and so were the lift lines. Hurt myself a bit on the second to last run of the day but I am proud that I boarded several blue-blacks. Also had a great time on Christmas Day up in Copper Mountain but didn't get as good of pictures. And I was a bit gimpier due to my tweaked knee.



Wow. I had an amazing year, thanks mostly to the generosity, love and adventurous spirit of my family and friends. And The Boyfriend. Love you, baby! I have been a few dark, bad places in my life before, places and moods that you don't think are ever going to get perfect--maybe better slightly, but you don't believe certain things are ever attainable except during day dreams. I can honestly say right now, however, that I am the happiest I have ever been with my life. Sure, a lot of things are up in the air--like school, moving, my career (if I am ever going to have one). But life is what happens when we are busy making other plans. And if these are the kind of experiences that are going to populate my life, I cannot wait to continue living it.