Halloween Weekend

First, there was the Gorilla Run. If you are thinking of a thousand people running a 5K in gorilla suits, you would be correct. The race benefits gorilla conservation and all participants wear a full on gorilla suit. But not only that, you really do need to dress up your gorilla suit. A little bit like the Zombie Crawl... any costume you want to wear is fair game, as long as it fits over your gorilla... costume. (costume squared?) Anywho:

And they're off!

Oh yes, wheels were allowed, too.

If you are thinking that looks like a bar on wheels that you must pedal as you drink, well, you'd be right. Bananas vs. Gorillas, of course. 

And they start to return...

And bananas are the winner!

That's my gorilla (AKA roommie, Kate)

 Now why you gotta make everything political?

Yay, Kate!

Next, it was moving day for Travis. (YAY!! Oops, was that out loud?) Which led to Travis and Jill vs. the Couches. That's right, couches. Plural. Stay tuned...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween from GlobaLinks!



(weekend update to come)

My Wednesday

My friend at work adorably asked me where I got "that snowbrush thing for my car". My response? "Nebraska." (love you K!)

Yup.

3-6 inches tonight / tomorrow morning. Unless the storm settles further south in which case it is 6-10. Yup.

Pumpkins and zombies and, umm, more pumpkins

Yes the Halloween season is upon us, as evidenced by the happenings of the last few days.

Thursday: Krista had a get-together with some work folks at her apartment. The wine from our decorated pumpkin bottles was poured (yes, we totally decorated those when they were still full) and pumpkins were carved by all. A few photos:

(Yes, Travis carved his pumpkin to say "pumpkin". It wasn't very structurally sound after that and collapsed upon itself the next day. But it does give off a pretty cool shadow effect on the wall behind.)

Saturday: Zombie Crawl! Denver was aiming to set the world record this year for the largest zombie crawl. Last year there were over 7,000 zombies crawling/stumbling down the 16th street mall, and this year there had to be more. I went along for entertainment value and was expecting a bit of white paint and fake blood, but my, did I get way more than expected. All the crazies come out and people really COMMIT to their zombie-ness. But really, ALLL the crazies. Some photos:

(My zombie is the one in the middle. Wall street zombie, as some people called him?)

 Unicorn zombie?

 I decided it is an excuse for people to wear any crazy get-up they want to and just smear on some fake blood. Hence, Gumby zombie. 

 Family-friendly event. (?)

 Too soon?

 This zombie band was my favorite. Stayed in character the whole time. 

And then on to pumpkin carving party #2! Mine is the white pumpkin with the ghosts (I know, soooo creative) and the middle one has been blurred out due to Jeff's inappropriate imagination and uncanny ability with a pumpkin carving tool. Sorry, folks. 

Update from home

Mom sent through these gems yesterday so I thought I would share...

And update on the landscaping/remodel at Mom and Dad's... see the firepit? Where was that when I was in highschool? Let's just have our next HS reunion here. Edum, B, Kate - you in?

The cutie-pie Haug family at Eli's baptism. So adorable.

Much love from the Rockies!

Keep Me In Mind

This was filmed at the Red Rocks concert we went to! Look closely, I'm sure we're in there somewhere :) I do love me some ZBB.

http://www.cmt.com/videos/zac-brown-band/700782/keep-me-in-mind.jhtml?id=1668954

Monday night crafts

Well, if you consider "holiday-themed bottles of wine" crafts - and we do!

Bearcats and Roller Dolls

What a great weekend! Friday was spent with the Denver contingent of Northwest alumni. Granted there were only 6 Bearcats that showed up (plus Travis and another schmuck that was drug along - thanks, Travis!) - but what a fun group of people. Including a 1952 grad that insisted on giving me a hug when we met... after all, once a Bearcat always a Bearcat! Grant and I are going to try to get this group more active, and if anyone can do it, it's Superfan. (And his sidekick, ummmm, me.)

On Saturday my friend Natalie invited me to join her and some friends for a roller derby extravaganza. Ummm, yes, please. Denver Roller Dolls, we are now fans! Good thing it was a double-header - we almost got the rules figured out by the end of the second bout. What a fun night!

Halftime entertainment was provided by [insert name here] as seen on The Sing Off.

Thanks for a great night, ladies! Much love from the Rockies!

Looking back

Sitting here during my lunch break I'm muching away on a granny smith apple with expired caramel dip from last fall (it doesn't really go bad, does it?) thinking "I need to put something clever on my blog". But all I'm thinking about are the approaching deadlines for my Italy students, the ever-growing to do list, and my 2 day long headache. Safe to say I'm not feeling very clever. So I decided to go back to my blog posting two years ago at about this time...

On Oct. 13, 2009 I was sitting in my dungeon basement blogging about how SEWAGE WAS BACKED UP IN OUR BASEMENT AGAIN and edging closer and closer to my room. Amidst grad-school madness.

Thanks for the reality check, 2009-me. Life today? It's good. :)

first steps

Welp, after more than 2 years in Colorado I've decided to venture into the mountains when it snows and try this sport the kids are calling "skiing". Which means I must first do an exhaustive amount of research to find ski pants that do not show 2 inches of my ankles which would a) make me look stupid, and b) make me cold, thus c) making me cranky. Luckily The North Face heard my call so a few credit card numbers later these bad boys are on their way to my place. Now if only that was the only purchase I had to make. eek!

If you were in Durango, CO right now this would be your life:

A little place called Asssspinn

This weekend Travis and I headed up to the mountains (shocked, anyone?) to the Snowmass/Aspen area. I've never been and he hadn't been in a loooong time. We stayed at a super cute hotel in Snowmass, just a few minutes outside of Aspen. While Aspen did not leave the best impression on us (read: unnecessarily overly-stylish children and $20 burgers), it was great to be in the mountains. And the Aspen trees were turning so the views were AWESOME!

Today we headed to the Maroon Bells, a series of three mountains overlooking a glacial lake. They are the most photographed peaks in all of North America! Which means then, that they are surrounded by the most photographers in all of North America (or so it seems)- especially when the leaves are changing. People set up their cameras at 5 a.m. just waiting to get "the" shot as the sun rose and the peaks reflected in the water. Lovely, I'm sure, but that leaves little to no chance for an amateur like me with my point-and-shoot camera and my 9 a.m. arrival time to get "the" shot without a ton of photographers', ummm, rear views, in my picture.

 The Maroon Bells! And a photographer.

And a few more. 

Luckily there was a hike to take that went behind the lake nearly to the base of the bells. MUCH less crowded. This is looking back at the madness. Travis claims it looks like spring break. I think that's what happens when you have shuttle buses full of people all going to the same place. A very multi-cultural hike. And we came across a new, small rodent we had never seen before. It looks like a hamster, so we aptly named it the Colorado Mountain Hamster. Look out - Colorado Mountain Hamsters are ruthless when it comes to tracking down left-over Subway sandwiches (or so we would like to believe).

But the colors on the hike were totally worth it. So now... about 100 yellow pictures. Sorry :)

Much love from the Rockies!