Ethan, Kyle, Bryan, Zach, me and Jessie at the Tap Room Saturday night.

As my lack of blogging will tell you, I’ve been quite busy lately. Between work, skiing, exercising, and hanging out with many visitors, I’ve barely had a minute to breathe. (I know, I lead such a stressful life…) It’s been super fun though and I’m so blessed to be able to lead this ski-batical lifestyle.

Last weekend I had a whole clan of visitors from across the country. My friends Kyle (Chicago), Zach (Seattle), Jessie (Minneapolis), Bryan (Chicago), and Devin and Erika (Milwaukee) were in town for a few days. This was the ski trip I was supposed to go on until I decided to make Vail my permanent home (suckers!).

It was so fun skiing with them and hanging out with this crew. Even though work got in the way more than I wanted it too, we had a blast skiing, going out in the Village and hanging out in the hot tub (Yes, a hot tub has been significantly lacking in my life). 

Kyle, Zach, Jessie and I have skied together for three years now and they are the reason I love this crazy sport so much. We’re already looking into our trip next year – hitting up the mountains of Whistler, Canada! (Who knows where I’ll be flying from…ohh yikes)

At the same time, Betsy had four friends from Nashville visiting her. Since all roads in my life lead to Nashville, I know her friends too. It was fun to catch up with the friends that are now hanging out daily with my best friends. It certainly made me miss my Chicago-turned-Nashville girls!

And as if that’s not enough visitors- (told ya I was busy)- my Dad flew in SuperBowl Sunday for a quick trip. It was so great to see my Dad and show off my new town. My parents skied a ton in their younger days and used to make two or three yearly trips to Vail, (like father, like daughter), but it’s been years since he’s been back. And aside from spending QT with my Pops, the best part of having my parents in town is getting to try all the great restaurants I walk by but can never afford! Yummy!

The trip was great until a monster snow storm hit Chicago and canceled my Dad’s flight. It took three flight reservations and 24 hours, but my Dad finally made it home to Grand Rapids.

And that was a week of visitors!

When Andrew and I took the Gondola to the top of the mountain we met a group of guys from where else? The second 'paraise on Earth', Birmingham, Alabama

 Things I love:

my family

mountains

cycling

running

skiing

ice cream

God  

my friends

and visitors — (hint, hint!)

 Yes, it’s true, I love hosting visitors and showing off Vail and the unspeakable beauty of these mountains. Last weekend I was lucky enough to catch up with my friend Andrew who stopped by on his way home from a business trip. 

Born and raised in the south, Andrew had never been to Vail, or Colorado. What a sight it was to see as he took in the blue skies, quaint villages and breathtaking mountains!

We explored the town, went for a run, took the Gondola to the top of the mountain, and even found some time for a little R&R. It was a two day whirlwind but so great to have him! 

And as it turns out, Andrew’s cousin Taylor is living in Vail for the season too. We were able to catch up with her and her boyfriend, only to discover that she not only works at the same hotel as I do, (The Arrabelle); but she also lives right next door to me! What a small world?! I got to visit with an old friend and make a new one. Bonus!   

I think it’s safe to say I’ve successfully converted one Southern Dandy into a mountain lover! (or at least appreciator…)   

Looking forward to the next clan of visitors this weekend from Nashville, Chicago and Grand Rapids!

So imagine my surprise when I opened up the other morning’s edition to a story called “Skis plus knife and fork.” Could a weekly newspaper in flat-as-a-pancake Chicago really be writing about skiing?!  Yes, they did! Well, kind of.

The Crain’s travel writer covered the best places to eat in the best ski towns. The cool part? They recommended the Arabelle Hotel and its restaurant, Centre V, in Vail. Sound familiar?  That’s where I work! Too bad they didn’t mention the spectacular service!

Check out the story here:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/printStory.pl?article_id=32951

 Luckily for me, my two days off were right in the heart of the storm, making it perfect conditions for awesome power skiing. As they say here in the mountains, “it was an EPIC two days of pow.”

Yummy! Hearty Ham and White Bean Soup from Runner's World

Hearty Ham and Whole Bean Soup: This is the signature recipe in the January issue of Runner’s World and is perfect for cold winter nights (especially if you live in the mountains!) My thoughts: I used Ham as the recipe called for, but you can easily use turkey too. Also, I’m not that big of a fan of white beans so I used one can of white navy beans and one can of garbanzo beans to spice it up. Recipe here   

Whole Grain Healthy Banana Bread: Here in the mountains our fruits and vegetables go bad much faster. I’m not sure why, just do. So after two days when our bananas went bad, what do you do? Make banana bread of course! I didn’t want to make the typical high-sugar, high-fat recipe though, so I opted instead for a ‘healthy banana bread’ recipe from allrecipies.com.My thoughts: It is a little dry since it calls for two cups of whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup of flax seed meal. If I were to make it again I would add a teaspoon of vanilla for flavor and half of a cup of unsweetened apple sauce to add sweetness. Overall though it tastes great and is a much healthier version of a favorite bread. Recipe here

This past weekend one of my dearest friends Liz and her fiancé Matt came to stay with me. Liz has been my friend since 2^nd grade – that’s almost 20 years! We both went to IU together and after college she moved to Indy and I moved to Chicago. So naturally when I moved out here I was thrilled that after nearly 5 years we’d get to be (almost) in the same city again.

We skied Keystone on Friday, cheered the Colts to victory on Saturday and made some turns in Vail on Sunday. There was very little snow but an abundance of sunshine!

It was fun catching up and getting to see Liz and Matt so happy living in Denver. I’ll tell you 60 degree year-round temps, 300 days of sunshine and a community of active people sure does sound tempting…

Besty and I skiing Beaver Creek on Saturday (and yes, I know my goggles are as big as my head!)

These days I have exactly two friends.

Well, hopefully if you’re reading this you’re my friend too.

But for the ever-satisfying ‘let’s grab a beer and a chat about boys’ friend, or the ‘I need to buy a new helmet will you go with me’ friend; I have two. They are Betsy from Nashville and Ruthie from Texas. And boy, are they great. Actually, no, they’re better than great. They’re downright awesome.

Betsy is a friend of friends, and the reason I moved out here, and Ruthie is a friend we picked up along the way. Similar to my story, Betsy was looking for a change from her Nashville life and always wanted to live in the mountains. Ruthie was working in Florida when her boyfriend suggested they move up here with one of his friends. Three jobs, one lease and thousands of miles later, here we are together in Vail.  

 For being thousands of miles away from my best friends, these girls have quickly filled the hole. (Note to best friends: you will never, ever be replaced) 

We’ve discovered a new church, driven three towns over to watch a terrible romantic comedy, visited countless watering holes, taken trips to Wal-mart, and even caught some live music.

I’m pumped for the adventures to come with these girls (and hopefully more friends too); they are such a blessing from God!

I set out to find a job and like any other good mountain worker, I went door-to-door and prayed. Lucky for me the post holiday hiring frenzy was on.  That day I received not one, not two, but nearly five opportunities of places to work! Talk about an answered prayer!

After weighing my options I decided to take two jobs – one at Pepi’s a woman’s ski and sport clothing store in Vail Village and the other as a waitress at Tavern on the Square in Lion’s Head.

The great thing is I had nearly three days off to ski and prepare before either started. Also, the hours would be flexible, enabling me to shift schedules if friends came in town and get plenty o’ ski time in!

So, I, the 26-year-old, college educated, corporate girl, am now just a waitress.

I couldn’t be happier.

I’ve spent the last five years of my life with the same PR agency, Cushman/Amberg Communications. While there were good times and bad times, I don’t think there are enough words in the world to express how wonderful the experience working for them was.

While I love it here and am glad I moved to Vail, leaving your very stable, very secure job isn’t ever easy. When I quit I cried, when I told my co-workers I cried, when I walked out on the last day, I cried. Cry, cry, cry.  (I know, I”m a sap)  

So to honor my time at CAC, here are the things I will miss the most (in random order):

1. Judy’s Cakes – this woman makes a birthday cake for every person’s birthday!
2. Long chats with Karyn. My BSF buddy, we could talk for hours about anything from boys to biking.
3. Starbucks. Yes, I know, they have Starbucks in Colorado. But the Starbucks at the corner of Lake and Michigan will always have a special place in my heart.
4. Team Meetings: These always seemed to go longer than necessary and cover the most off–the-wall topics.
5. Tracy’s Random links and music: My co-worker Tracy would send me the oddest YouTube videos and music. I’m not sure how I’ll discover new bands now or the latest YouTube sensations.
6. My awesome clients: I got to work with the coolest industries– fitness, beauty, real estate. Man, I was lucky.
7. Security: It’s true, there’s something comforting about knowing you’re employed and have health insurance.
8. Access to lots of newspapers/database/information: I guess I’ll have to subscribe to the newspaper now.
9. The Paycheck: Let’s just say waiting tables isn’t as lucrative as PR.
10. People: As small of an office as we were, we were a team and I loved it.