No better way to start 2008!

From Chicago it was off to Denver for 4 days of vacation with some pretty amazing people!

Amanda and Derek picked me up at the airport and we headed back to their house to enjoy some take out BBQ. Amanda was a roommate of mine in DC, she and her husband Derek moved to Colorado from Philly about a year ago and I hadn't seen them since I had been up in Philly running a half marathon a few years ago. It was fantastic to see them..unfortunately we didn't break out the cameras for "blog documentation purposes!"

Derek and Amanda graciously shuttled me over to Emily and Brad's. We met up with Andrea and Richard, who brought with them Brooke and Lee who had flown in from Dallas, and all piled into to the cars and headed up to the Lewis mountain house in Keystone...making it up there just in time for kickoff of the Meineke Car Care Bowl featuring our favorite Demon Deacons.

I was thrilled to watch the Deacs beat UCONN 24-10 in my first and only game watching of the season!!!

Brooke, Andrea, Emily and I turned this trip into an unofficial "girl's weekend" which was fantastic for Brooke and I who missed last year's annual Memorial Day event...we wished the rest of you girls could have joined us in Keystone!

Andrea, Richard, Brad, and I braved the high winds and somewhat icey conditions for an afternoon skiing on Keystone Mountain. To my plesant surprise, my downhill skills hadn't gotten too rusty and I was almost able to keep up with the Denver natives. You really can't beat an afternoon on the slopes followed by an evening in the hot tub enjoying hot chocolate & baileys while watching the snow fall over the mountains!
As usual we played a lot of games (Mexican Train, Sequence, Celebrity) and ate a lot of food..but balanced that out with some mountain walks with Deac and a sledding adventure.

New Year's Eve 2008 was spent enjoying a fantastic meal, heading down to River Run to watch fireworks, and.....
.... celebrating Emily's 29th birthday with chocolate fondue!!!