Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival is a little shindig put together by Robert Redford that you may have heard of. It happens every January in Park City so, since I live here, I figured I'd check it out!

While I can't say I was the best Sundancer ever, I did make it to one premiere. I waitlisted (didn't actually buy any tickets despite signing up for the locals pre-sale) with my friend Julia and we made it into A.C.O.D., a comedy about adult children of divorce starring Adam Scott (from Parks and Recreation), Amy Poehler, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O'Hara and Jessica Alba. It was hilarious!! I highly recommend seeing it if it gets a wide release! To make things even better, I got to sit in the front row during the premiere...about three seats away from Jessica Alba!

 

Unfortunately, I got sick the second weekend of Sundance (and the first weekend was half-marathon/Las Vegas weekend), so I wasn't able to experience much of the nightlife. But, hey, that gives me something to look forward to next year!

30 Questions: Love Language

What is your love language?

I don't know the first thing about love languages! So, I took a quiz and it tells me my love language is "Quality Time."

"In Quality Time, nothing says 'I love you' like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there—with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby—makes you feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed activities, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful."

Seems about right to me! There are few things that upset me more than people flaking out on plans that I've been looking forward to. I like to think I'm dependable and wouldn't do that to other people, so I'd really prefer if it was the same in return! 

30 Questions: My Body

What is your favorite part of your body and why?

My eyes!

I've always loved my eyes. It took me a few years to accept an eye color that doesn't quite fall into the existing color categories (I wore blue colored contacts in high school because I didn't like people asking me what color my eyes were), but regardless of their color, I've always loved them.

Sometimes they're very blue. Sometimes they're very green. Most of the time, they're kind of an icy mint-blue shade. My friend Katrina once referred to my eye color as the color of Siberian husky eyes. 

Here's a few samples of my varying eyes for you...

Minty blue-grey (I know...super flattering picture!)

Blue

Green

Dark greenish blue

Minty

30 Questions: Popular

What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

I'm not 100% sure that most of the world has this wrong...but I'm going to go with the notion that different is bad. 

I think different is amazing.

People who dare to think differently are the ones who change the world. Without differences in opinion and background, we would never see any sort of change. Difference makes the world go round.

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" - RFK

Think different!

Half Marathon COMPLETED

Despite basically not training, I did it! I finished my first half marathon this weekend in St. George, Utah!

It was super cold at the starting line (around 30 degrees), so the first two miles were pretty rough. I had a little bit of a hard time breathing and I couldn't feel my feet because of the cold. Finally, around mile 2, my feet had warmed up enough that I could actually feel them and my breathing had become more regular. Around mile 4, I started feeling fantastic. Miles 4-8 were awesome...great scenery, a good mix of uphills and downhills, a random person who I met and ended up running with for awhile.

When I hit mile 9, though, it got pretty tough. I could feel my IT bands tightening up and the bottoms of my feet were not feeling the best. The 2:30 pace group passed me right around that point, which suddenly gave me a new surge of energy. I was anticipating a time around three hours, so seeing that I was doing so much better than I thought was a huge encouragement!

For the rest of the race, I chased the 2:30 group, sometimes walking, sometimes running. Around mile 11, my feet hurt too badly to keep up with them, so I just tried to keep them in sight. That strategy worked and I ended up finishing in 2:33:40! I was pretty pleased with that! My training consisted of a few 3-4 mile runs on an indoor track and I've never run any race longer than 4 miles, so I was very happy!

I do have to say that my favorite part of participating in a half marathon was the pre- and post-race meals.

I NEVER let myself eat alfredo or fast food, so it was quite the splurge and I enjoyed every bite!

Also enjoyable was the trip to Las Vegas afterwards! My afternoon was spent sipping cocktails poolside at the Trump International.

All things considered...awesome weekend!!!

How I Fell in Love with Skiing

If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you probably know that I work for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. Also if you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you probably know I haven't written a ton about skiing or snowboarding.

Despite living in Colorado for a year and half, my experiences with skiing and snowboarding before moving to Park City were not super numerous. My dad tore his ACL skiing when I was a kid so, as a result, our family trips tended more towards beaches than mountains. 

I learned to ski when I was 22 when I went to Breckenridge with a bunch of fellow USOC interns. Interestingly enough, that is also where my dad tore his ACL. So, I learned to ski at the same place where my dad ended his skiing career.

First time skiing...gotta love the '80s ski pants I found at Goodwill for $12.

My first time skiing consisted of a fellow intern going up the chairlift to the top of the bunny hill with me, telling me there wasn't much she could teach me, then her skiing off to another run. So, I did the bunny hill over and over again, watching other people and just doing what seemed like it was right. By the end of the day, she talked me into going down a blue run with her. I did pretty decently until I fell and couldn't figure out how to put my ski back on. 

Despite ending my ski day on a low note, I was talked into returning to the ski hill by my lovely friends Ruth and Steven Moll, who lived in Denver at the time. We went to Loveland Ski Area a few times and had a very relaxing, fun couple of ski days. 

On one of our trips to Loveland, Ruth and I decided to go up to the top of the mountain to try out a blue run we had seen on the map. Due to terrible visibility and our less-than-expert knowledge of the ski area, we somehow ended up going down a black diamond. That remains to this day the most challenging terrain I have tackled on skis. And it probably looked like I was physically trying to tackle the ski hill the entire tire since I pretty much slid down the entire run on my ass.

My next adventure in skiing occurred when my sister decided to visit me in Colorado for spring break. I had the brilliant idea of taking her skiing. So, we drove through lots of nature for several hours to Monarch Mountain. After getting rental skis and equipment, we headed to the bunny hill. Now, if you know my sister, you know that sometimes she gets worked up very quickly. After falling a few times on the bunny hill, she pretty much decided she was done. I finally yelled at her at one point in time: "Can't is the cancer of happen!" This was a crazy Charlie Sheen phrase that we had been laughing at a few days earlier. Fortunately, it made her laugh and she eventually got the hang of the bunny hill!

Skiing sistradres at Monarch Mountain

After moving to San Diego, I didn't ski for awhile. There were ski resorts a couple of hours away, but when it was 70 degrees and sunny out in January, skiing wasn't in the forefront of my mind.

Fast forward a year. After getting laid off and taking a job at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, I found myself in Park City, Utah. And something magical happened.

After the first snowfall of the year, all I wanted to do was ski. Even though it'd been a year or so since I'd been on the slopes, it felt like yesterday that I had heard the wind as I wound my way down a run. I anxiously awaited the resort opening dates and, a few weeks after opening day, made my way to Park City Mountain Resort with my friends Korey and Ashley.

Back in the saddle again!

Now, it's January and I'm skiing at least twice a week. I bought my own ski boots, then caved and bought my own skis a few days later. My friend Julia and I frequent night skiing at PCMR to sneak in a little bit of ski time after work. I've had two ski days with my coworkers in my department. And every single time, I just love it. My quads may be burning at the end of the day and I may have a knack for falling and injuring my hands, but it's just FUN!!

First day out on my own skis at Deer Valley

Also, I got smart and bought a helmet. PSA for a moment - please wear a helmet when participating in snow sports!!

So, in short, I love skiing. Even as I sit here writing this, I'm thinking about how much I'd love to be out skiing even though my quads hurt from skiing yesterday and I have to rest for my half marathon tomorrow.

I never thought I'd say this...but can winter please not end???

30 Questions: A Historical Dinner

If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

This is another one of those questions that is on EVERY SINGLE one of these survey things and I always hate. 

But I'm going to be cliche here and go with Jesus, mainly because I'd like to hear his thoughts on all of the crazy things people like to throw around in the name of Christianity. 

As far as what we'd eat? I don't know, but I know we would drink plenty of wine.