Ruidoso 2009 - Day 3

** Disclaimer: This blog is being written under the influence of 2 very strong margaritas made from freshly squeezed limes and a large glass of Muscat Canelli from the Tularosa Vineyards ( a local New Mexican winery ) **

As much as I tried to sleep in today, it didn't happen. 6:30 am. Rise and shine. My back was KILLING me. I'm attributing it to the skiing yesterday, but I'm also blaming this bed we are sleeping in. While the condo is nice and has 5 bedrooms, the bed we got stuck with is pretty much a glorified piece of plywood (okay, maybe not that bad, but it sure is hard!). And it's a full. Needless to say, Jeff's legs hang off the end. :D

After our rise and shine we came upstairs to see what everyone's plans were for the day. My parents wanted to go see Billy the Kid's resting place (I believe) in Lincoln County. Of course,like any typical Forsythe adventure, there were many side trips along the way. The first was a trip to a 'ghost town' - yeah right - there were definitely peeps living in this town and while there were some historical markers and a museum, they weren't very informational and the museum operators decided that today wasn't a day they wanted to work - so they were closed - boo!

Then we decided to head to the town of Capitan for lunch. We took a gamble and chose to eat at a place called El Paisano. A small builiding, but inviting. As we walked in, I instantly thought we had made a mistake. The silence reverberated off of the walls and there were only 2 other patrons in the building. Mistake? Not so fast. Thankfully, the owner started some background music and he was extremely personable. We had some delicious homemade tortilla chips, salsa and queso (delicious) which was followed up by some of the best Southwestern food I've ever experienced. I highly recommend if you are ever in the Capitan, New Mexico area (what will be the odds???).

After lunch, we visited the Smoke the Bear museum (hq'ed in Capitan) and saw his gravesite. Very well done, but the entire place could be toured in less than 15 minutes. Think of it as a $2 donation to help conserve the forests. "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires."

As we had decided to get back to Ruidoso by 3pm, we decided to bypass the Billy the Kid tour, which was kind of the point of the day and head back to get in some afternoon shopping. At the thought, I immediately decided that a nap/relaxation was more appealing. Afterall, it is vacation!

Tonight, we celebrated Ashley's bday (which was 2 days ago) with a delicious fajita dinner prepared by her Dad, Gene, and his friend Kathleen. Followed up with birthday cake (red velvet) - yes, please!

As, I write, we've got a rowdy group of cards going on! Good Times, Good Family, Good Friends!

Pictures to be uploaded to Flickr, hopefully tomorrow!

Ruidoso 2009 - Day 2

Remember all those complaints I made yesterday about possibly not skiing? Out the window! Completely! This morning, J.R. (bro), myself, Karolyn (Ashley's sis) and her bf, Mark, headed up to the mountain to check out the conditions. If good, we'd ski, if not, then at least we'd enjoy the views on our way up.

Lo and behold, there was some snow when we got there. I mean, there was still a ton of runs shut down, but there was at least some decent runs open. Enough to enjoy ourselves. So, we rented some skiis (super cheap! $20) and bought our lift tickets (buy one get one free!!!) and headed up the lift to our first run.

Of course there were some patches, some slush and some ice, but there were some pretty decent snow to ski on as well. I made a joke to J.R. that it's less of Ski A-pache, and more Ski PaTchY.... haha. Please, applause IS welcome. Towards the end of the day though, and after decent foot traffic, er, ski traffic, the runs were getting really thin. Hopefully they'll make some more snow this evening.

I got brave and tried my hand at a very STEEP blue (Capitan). I think I was a little overambitious because 1/4 way down I was like, "I am WAY in over my head, here." I ended up just sliding down the mountain - upright - on my skiis. I'm not sure anyone would appreciate the technique, though my body and my knees are thanking me, that's for sure! ha! Maybe another year and more powder and I can tackle Capitan.

This evening we went out to a restaurant called Landlocked. Delicious! I highly recommend if you are in Ruidoso. It's a bit on the pricey side, definitely not one for peeps on a budget, but because it was a celebration dinner (Ashley and J.R.'s engagement, Ashley's bday and a gathering of good peeps) the parents on the trip (mine and Ashley's dad, Gene) picked up the tab! Thank You All! :) Sangria, shrimp - awesome. Plus, there was this fantastic duo downstairs playing some awesome Spanish guitar and violin (er, maybe it was a fiddle, I don't know the difference) - regardless, it was BEAUTIFUL.

I'm not sure what tomorrow holds. I barely spent anytime with my hubs today as he was on the golf course with Dad (apparently they each hit someone with their golf balls). So, Jeff is definitely on my agenda tomorrow. :D Isn't that nice, spending quality time with the hubs! ha!

Ruidoso 2009 - Day 1

Today kicked off the Forsythe family annual ski trip, destination Ruidoso, NM. What normally is a large group (up to 20+ peeps and family) is relatively small this year (only 10 of us). It's now a Forsythe-Veselka 'pow-wow' since J.R. and Ashley recently became engaged. A get to know one another trip, if you will.

Originally, Jeff and I tried to back out of the trip. I mean, lost income and all, it was the smartest idea. But Mom and Dad pleaded for us to come, so here we are. So, like any recreational skiier, I was excited about my one possibility to ski for the year. I've been checking ski reports for the past month now and Ruidoso has not been looking good. I petitioned for a change of destination, but we already had peeps book airfare/accomodations, so it was no backing out now.

As we encroached upon Ruidoso and started our ascent into the mountains, it was obvious just how bad the situation was. The mountain is almost completely brown. *Sob* I was so looking forward to some snow. So, so, so looking forward to it.

Apparently, not all is lost. They do have some runs open, but only 14 out of 55 if that tells you anything about the conditions. Dad and I have decided to head up to the mountain tomorrow to see how it looks. The possibility of the mountains being icy is completely likely. Slush by day, freezing by night = Icy slopes = no fun for skiiers = danger. If it's not icy, I think we'll try our hand. Afterall, I'm a green/blue skiier and am purely along for the fun and not so much for the double diamonds. yowza!

Our condo that we rented is huge. Four stories with very, very steep stairs. I don't feel so guilty eating some of the stuff I did today, considering I'll get my workout just by climbing the four flights to get up to the kitchen area.

Tomorrow will determine the direction of this vacation. I'm going to be upset if we can't ski (hey, I can't lie). Jeff already decided not to ski and is more excited about the opportunity to play golf all day. I guess I'll be his cart buddy if the skiing doesn't pan out. Stay tuned.

Cloth Napkins

I was folding some laundry earlier (I know, my life these days is super exciting) when I came across some cloth napkins that I had forgotten about.

I registered for them back when we got married over three years ago. I'm quite certain this is about the second time that we've used them, and only as a last-resort when we run out of kitchen towels. They are stuffed into a drawer that I hardly access because that drawer contains the cloth napkins I hardly ever use! You see how this works? In fact, I often forget I have an extra drawer. To me, it's got the same functionality that the faux drawer has that is under the sink in my bathroom and kitchen.

But back to the point. I look back on all the stuff that I registered that I thought one must have to set up their own house. How silly half of the things were. Don't get me wrong. We got some great stuff. Things we use every day. But there are cloth napkins and garlic presses and some sort of casserole dish that is not dishwasher safe that have hardly every been used, if that.

So, the morale of the story kiddies, for those who have yet to take the plunge, think before you add to your registry. It cuts out the junk!

Kittens Inspired by Kittens

An old coworker posted this video on Facebook and I thought it was flippin' hilarious! I laugh every time. Enjoy.

MIA

Sorry I've been missing in action the past few days. The photo gig started this week and I've been super busy. More so than I ever was at my full time job - weird, eh?

I've got 8 shoots under my belt now. Whew. The first day I thought went okay, but then upon further review, I realized I'd not been leveling my tripod at ALL! you got it, crooked pics! doh *smacks hand on forehead*

I'm living and learning. And that's what I'm going to use this experience as.

But, in all honesty, I'm ready to get back to full time work. So nose to the grindstone this week from here on out.

Even though I'm on vacation starting on Thursday (lookout Ruidoso) - I'm taking the laptop and hooking up via wifi to search/apply for jobs. No more lax. It's time to get on it.

No 'Quilt'ters allowed

A little over 2 years ago, I thought I'd try my hand at quilting - what was I thinking? I had an idea for a modern spin on an old pattern. Debbie, my mother-in-law, gave me some pink fabric and I brought it all home and cut it out. After numerous hours of sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing, I had pieced it all together. But that was it. I had burnt myself out. Debbie offered to finish it for me (awesome!) and she brought the finished product up this weekend. It looks fantastic!! Many thanks to Debbie for doing this for me. She's an excellent quilter and I'm trying to convince her to open up an Etsy shop in her retirement years!

*gulp*

I purchased my first flash for my camera today. These things are not cheap. Photography in general is not cheap.

But thankfully, I got some great gift cards to adorama.com for Christmas - so it covered most of the cost!

And that always comes in handy when you're unemployed! ha!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you got to spend it with loved ones!

In similar news, my brother kidnapped Ashley this weekend, flew her to Hawaii and PROPOSED!!! Yeah!!!

Sick Boy

Jeff's been sick these past few days, and home from work. So you know what that means? The two of us, together, in the house. One sick. One unemployed.

It probably wasn't as bad as it could of been, but if you've had a sick man in your house, you probably know where I'm coming from! ha!

The good news is, he felt much better today and is back at work.

And so am I, as I've got more freelance writing that came down the pipe yesterday. Exciting!

How Do You Store Your Files?

Over the past few years, I've started storing everything digital. And with the addition of my photography hobby and our movie collection we are fast running out of space on our PC/Mac. We already own 2 500GB external drives, one completely devoted to movies, the other documents/photos.

We're thinking about purchasing a 2TB (tera byte) RAID hard drive that has an automatic back up (1TB files/1TB backup files).

Here's my question to my readers. How do you back up your files? Are you storing hard copies in a filing cabinet? Are you storing them digitally and have a better system?

I'm open to comment.

H&R Block Commercial

While watching the tube last night, Jeff and I saw this commercial and we both thought it was pretty hilarious. Your thoughts?

21 Days

This year I waylaid the New Year's Resolutions, at least out loud. They're still there, more often than not in the deep dark recesses of my brain where only my subconscience lurks and sends a subtle reminder at times. I recently posted a "25 Things About Colleen" post on Facebook that has got me thinking. Number 4 on the list was:

I want to complete either a triathalon, marathon or something along those lines before I get too old.

The goal is grand, I realize that. But the goal isn't what has provoked me to write about this. It's the action to get to the goal. That's great I want to do a triathalon or a marathon or "something along those lines" - but what am I going to DO to get there. Oh right? That minor achievement. Of course, in this case, it's not so minor.

After this weekend follies, my blood pressure is resting probably in the range of 165/110 if I had to take a guess after the amount of junk and salt I ate. So I'm ready to purge. I realize I'm a yo-yo at this, but if I want to reach my goal, I need to treat my body right.

Therefore, I've decided to undertake a mission. It's going to be hard, I realize. I'm not going to want to do it (at all, some days), but I'm going to try my damndest. For the next 21 days, I'm going to do at least 45 minutes of exercise daily. Whether it be running on the treadmill, taking a walk outside, doing my yoga dvd's or strength training. Why 21 days?

That's where it starts. At least, that's what the experts are saying. Research shows that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Well, Research, I'll be your guinea pig. I've been googling for the past hour and have found some success stories where people get addicted to exercise, like running. Can you believe that?! I know. I'm a doubter too. But, I'm going to see what happens. And I'm going to document it here: Ye-ole-faithful-guilty-conscience-website that I started on a whim and have regreted ever since (not really).

Can I do it? Am I mentally prepared? I hope so.

If you want to track some other awesome progress, check out my cousin Emily's site. She's training for a triatholon (go Em!) and is already in fantastic shape. I'm trying to catch up.

Busy Week

For someone who is unemployed, I was ridiculously busy this week. It's nice to have things to do - keeps the spirits up and all that.

On Wednesday, I got an email from Girvan that said a family friend of hers needed some temporary part time help in the photography realm and she wanted to know if I was down. Down? HECK YES! Sign me up! I called her contact and got more details about the job. Real estate photography (fascinating, tell me more). Working with a Realtor (right, right, and?). High end clients (we're talking Dominion living here folks). She asked if I could meet her at 11:20 for the first photo shoot. I checked my watch. 40 minutes. I could make it. With my wet hair dripping (fresh out of the shower) I flew to the bathroom, composed myself, put my "face" on, which hadn't seen foundation in quite a few days, and I was OUT the door.

My first stop was a house in the Monticello District of San Antonio. Definitely old, it had a lot of character. So I learned some ropes, asked a TON of questions and got an idea of how real estate photography actually works! Definitely interesting. Our next stop was in The Dominion. A very prestigious neighborhood in San Antonio, it's home to the likes of David Robinson and George Strait. All my life I've driven by this place, wondering what was behind the gates, and exactly how big WERE those houses that looked pretty gigantic from I-10. I finally got my chance to see! Driving through the gates to get inside the neighborhood I made a glance over my shoulder just to make sure I wasn't being waved back by the security guard. Exciting stuff!! The house we shot was just a garden home, but, my goodness, some of the homes we passed on the way to the home were I.N.S.A.N.E. Ridiulous, even!

Jeff and I discuss this topic all the time. If we ever fell into that amount of money, what would we do? Would we build a ridiculous showcase home. The answer is unanimously No! I'd hate to spend that much money only to be a few feet away from my neighbor. And what about privacy?

Anyway, back to my story, I went on one more shoot yesterday at a home in the new neighborhood of Anaqua Springs, just outside the city limits. Beautiful homes. BEAUTIFUL hill country views, but again, lots and lots of square footage.

I think I'll like this gig for as long as it will last. It's nice to see these houses, even though it's not something I would personally live in. But everybody is different with style and taste, so I respect that. But the most important part about this gig is that I get more hands on experience with photography. Being on site with her definitely made me realize I have a lot to learn (especially in regards to lighting, etc), but I'm excited to learn and to practice. We'll see what happens!

On top of this, I'm also trying my hand at some freelance writing. My brother was nice enough (well, he IS my brother, so it comes with the territory) to hook me up with some of his contacts here in S.A. and last weekend I attended Freelance Camp San Antonio downtown. I made some connections there and this week I was asked to try my hand at content writing. I've got a LOT to learn, but I've always enjoyed it. Content writing for websites is definitely a different beast and I'm not sure that I have the lingo down quite yet, but with all things, practice makes perfect.

So there you have it, my friends and fam. My week in a nutshell. Some other developments have happened that I don't want to put on the record quite yet, but let the record show, I AM keeping quite busy in my 'down time'.

Widgety, Widgety, Widgety WACK!

I hope my desperate play on words off of the infamous Chris Cross lyrics from "Jump" will get the attention from my bro - or any other widget fixer in the blog universe.

Scroll down, dear bro, to the end of my blog and you will see my, nay, YOUR netflix widget that I used from your site. What's the issue? Why can't I get it on the sidebar?! Help!

This has got me thinking. I foresee a redesign is in the near future. What?! Did you say something!? Of course, I'm not trying to procrastinate on the job search. Why would you say something silly like that (refusing to make eye contact with you)?

Stay tuned, I've got some tricks up my sleeve yet.

He's at it again

I am a huge fan of Christian Bale. Let the record show. But it's getting harder and harder to like the man when he keeps making mistakes.

Remember last summer when he was in the news for assault on is Mom? Well, apparently, he's up to some more antics - cussing at a crew member on the set of his newest movie, "Terminator: Salvation."

Read more.

I'm not sure I can remain a fan of his anymore after this. Sure I don't know the circumstances, but really, after the video I heard this morning, regardless of 'what happened' this was a very inappropriate, not to mention unprofessional, reaction.

Domino Magazine is kaput...

One of my favorite magazines, Domino, is closing their operations! What awful news!!

While I hardly consider myself, stylish, and unique in my decor - this magazine and it's trendy ideas at least gave me some hope that I might someday get there.

I hope the employees that are getting the boot will re-form and start up a spin-off publication.

I guess the question I raise now is What's going to happen to my subscription?

Read more.

We're on the Map

Finally, Google has put our neighborhood on the map. So, fear not, those friends/fam with bad direction sense. Now you can make it out to our place with the help of Google Maps or your GPS system instead of relying on my directions of "pass the 2nd field, we're across from the larger field, but once you pass the 5th field you've gone too far."

Superbowl Commercial - My Pick

This was my favorite, which one was yours?