Wedding Update

I have made progress with the wedding! We've picked a date, location, and I've found a dress. The dress is thanks to my mom and sister, Erin. After many scary encounters with bridal shops in Reno (including a Korean cat take-over, David's Bridal pee escapade, and a western fringe bridal shop) we decided to take a quick trip to Sacramento. And it was well worth it for a bride on a budget with style in mind! We had a great time and I'm so happy they were there to help me. I'm not going to share too many of the dress details online however as I'm doing my best to keep the secret from my fiance; despite, his interest or lack there of. And what wonderful friends I have in Idaho to back me up on my decision after freaking out that maybe I had selected something that was not what I wanted. They helped me realize I had made a great choice!

The wedding ceremony/reception is going to take place at one of my favorite little spots in the valley, Galena Lodge . It's humble but perfect! Known for it's Nordic skiing trails in the winter, and it's great hiking in the summer, the lodge is nestled 20 minutes north of Sun Valley/Ketchum. It's a journey for a lot of our family and friends to get there but I promise it will be worth it! Great food by local chefs and lodge proprietors, we are looking forward to seeing everyone!

January Flying Bye....

I can't believe we are almost through January! Time is flying by...I haven't forgotten about my little blog but just haven't been taking pictures lately b/c of the overkill on the holidays most likely. Zach has been doing a good job documenting his ski tours but finally someone else has taken some photos of him "farming turns". Thanks to Mike, thought I would share a few of Zach in his free time....where is my free time by the way ;-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Belated New Year!!!

So I'm a little behind (alright a couple weeks) but I did have a great Christmas and New Year's with Zach and his family in Idaho! Presents, eating, and skiing filled most of our days. Zach was sick over New Years unfortunately and lost his voice. We ended up having a nice evening at home with our ever growing yellow lab, Lucy. It seems the holiday weeks were a month in itself coming back to work the day after a holiday, and then having a weekend and then turning around to have another holiday left us without our usual routine.

I managed to finish another semester in grad school with all A's and have been using my time off from school to focus on the upcoming wedding! Lot's to plan and lot's to do but I'm managing and always looking for great ideas on how to do it 'environmentally friendly' and on a budget!

First Season Tour

Zach and I decided to take advantage of the new snowfall and headed North past Galena Summit. It was slightly overcast and very cold but once you start hiking on your skis it's amazing how quickly you warm up. Despite my slow progress Zach was a great leader. Of course we dug our avalanche pit and inspected the snow layering weakness levels. We felt good to move forward and had a nice decent through the new powder. I'll spare you the down hill photos (mostly because my form is not worth sharing) and just post of few of the hiking crew.

Snow Chicken

There is an annual competition at the architecture firm I work at in Idaho., "The Snow Chicken". Every year people pick a date when they think it will snow above the chickens head. The chicken is a 12" heigh flat iron silhouette of a rooster (chicken in our office). The competition is fierce as the guy's try to use previous years winners as guides for the upcoming snow fall. A meticulous record book is kept at one of the architects desk's along with the official rules. The chicken is placed in the neighbors yard to detour from any natural tampering that may occur, i.e. dogs peeing, snow falling from a tree, or somebody inadvertedly shoveling snow on it's head.

Today, the chicken is within an inch of being covered and you'll never guess who picked today...me! A little too soon to say for sure as the snow has subsided at the moment but it could be a good day to cover that chicken!

*You can see the chicken's head just peaking out of the snow in front of the truck....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seemed like yesterday and what a great time we had when Erin and Gabe came to visit us! Gabe was such a trooper and enjoyed hunting for ducks with Zach, his dad, and Kat in below freezing temperatures. He offered to throw bread out for the ducks but I think Nick and Zach has some other ideas in mind. Erin and I had fun being girls and going to look at rings and wedding dresses. A fabulous turkey dinner at Nick and Jeans on Thanksgiving. Friday night we went up to Galena Lodge and toured the site. Another great moonlight dinner! Can't wait for Erin and Gabe to visit us again!

Grand Canyon Engagment

What an amazing time in the Grand Canyon wilderness for the past 18 days! We were in remote locations with no access to roads, phones, computers, or showers and managed to survive. The rapids were intense, the surroundings were beautiful, and the food was amazing. I am lucky to have such great friends, and soon to be new family...that's right Zach and I are engaged and we couldn't be more excited! No official plans yet but hopefully next August/September in Idaho for the festivities. I want to thank Zach's family and friends for including me on this adventure of a lifetime. In the meantime here are a few pix that fail in capturing the entire adventure....

Grand Canyon Adventure

We leave this Sunday for 18 days on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. 14 people, 4 boats, 2 kayaks, and a whole lot of gear! It is a 'self-guided' expedition so no 'professional' river guides. The group I am going with has been waiting 11 years for a private permit to have the opportunity to float the Colorado on their own terms. After this year a lottery will be put in place where you can no longer apply to raft the river but instead will be randomly drawn from a large pool of contendors. So needless to say we feel very lucky to go! I'm excited to get to know this landscape better as I have only vague memories as a child when viewing it with my family briefly on a long drive from Reno to Texas. We plan on floating over 228+ miles while stopping to take hikes along the way. I have a solar charger for my digital camera battery so I hope to come home with great footage of our escipades. Ready or not, here we come!

24hours of Moab

Last weekend Zach and his friends completed a 24hr mountain bike race in Moab, UT. Interesting adventures in the dark with gear etc. where at one point Zach's headlamp went out and he only (luckily) had a light on his bike. Can you imagine riding your bike in the dark with no lights? Let alone on mountain biking trails, really fast! He definitely has a few new injuries to complain about. They had a great time!

Oktoberfest

For Rachel's 30th we celebrated German style and I learned what a drirndle is (apparently a German dress that I was convinced to wear)...That's the girls all dressed up for the fun event! Rachel is on the far right. Looking good for 30!