Is this heaven? (Not what you're thinking).

Picture this.  A beautiful Sunday at Arapahoe Basin.  Sun shining, people smiling, and an excited (and over-confident) Colorado newbie.

I make a cute snow bunny, right?  This ensemble took careful consideration and planning.

Still have that picture in your head?  Ok, good.  My good friend, Jessica, lives in Denver too.  We grew up in Mississippi together and have been hanging out a good bit since I moved .  So we hop on the lift and head up the mountain.  Our friend, Betsy, lives in Avon and was meeting us at the lift a little later, so we decided to squeeze some skiing in before she got there.  It has been quite a while since I have been on skis, but I was confident that I would pick it right back up.  WRONG.  So I take off down a green...you know, just to warm up (or so I thought).  Jessica chose to take the blue and we agreed to meet at the lift.  At this point, I'm feeling great.  There are people everywhere and I'm just taking it all in....until I realize, "Hey, I'm going pretty dang fast...I should probably slow down."  But I can't.  My legs don't seem to agree with me.  So what choice do I have but to fall, right?  Wrong.  I busted.  Skis fall off and everything.  So I gather my things and walk a little uphill to a flat surface to put my skis back on.  I then realize that I had taken a wrong turn and was headed towards a blue.  So what do I do?  Walk on over a little more to hop back on the green.  Ok, so I fell.  No big deal.  I get going again and pass a ski instructor with a little girl who is probably about 6 years old (this will be important later).  Once again, I get going too fast.  Why does this keep happening?  Only this time, I'm way more out of control than the first time.  As I start freaking out, I don't just fall...I REALLY busted this time.  Face down, toes pointed downhill, skis off (but still have my poles!) and uphill.  I open my eyes and see white everywhere.  Is this heaven?  Did I just die?  Oh wait, no...that's just snow.  Whew!  A nice man brought one of my skis to me and asked if I was okay.  Mortified, I lied and said, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you...decided to ski this year instead of snowboard...I've snowboarded my whole life."  That statement is a complete lie.  I have never snowboarded in my life.  But it saved me embarrassment...or more embarrassment I guess.  He then asks, "Where's your other ski?"  Hmm...great question.  I look further uphill and see that ski instructor with the cute little 6 year old (remember them?).  The 6 year old bends over and picks up my ski and brings it to me.  Yep...officially embarrassed.  "Are you okay ma'am?", she asks.  "Yes, honey, I'm fine...thank you!"  Jaysus.  Could this day get any better?  You bet ya!  So I attempt to get my skis back on, but that doesn't work out so well.  So I move to the side and just sit down.  So frustrated at this point.  I don't have that much further to go to get to the lift, so I start walking (humiliated, of course).  I then see Jessica in the distance and she's screaming asking if I'm okay.  She kindly walks uphill and meets me halfway to help me get down.  My right knee was hurting at this point, so I decided to rest a bit before catching the lift back up.  We meet up with Betsy, tell her the story of course, and I begin taking sips out of my flask that is full of sweet tea vodka :)  Betsy and Jessica head up the mountain without me.

You're probably thinking that I'm finished for the day.  Wrong.  I decide to try again.  Betsy kindly agrees to take things slow with me.  So we head over to the lift line and while standing there, the snow just starts falling.  A blizzard, if you will.  We head up the mountain and get off of the lift.  I turn around and no one is coming up the lift behind us.  No one.  And then the lift just stops.  That's right...we were the last ones up.  Scary.  I had decided to wear sunglasses this day because it was supposed to be sunny and beautiful....not blizzarding (I realize that's not a word).  Well it's pretty much impossible to ski with sunglasses on while it's snowing.  Jessica offers up her goggles.  I argue with her saying she won't be able to see, and she kindly replies, "Yes, but I'm better on this snowboard than you are on those skis, so just take them and stop arguing."  Geez, I'm high maintenance.  So, Jessica takes off down the blues again and Betsy and I head down the same green.  I'm feeling great and just taking it slow.  I begin approaching the scene of the crime that occurred earlier....only this time it's more scary because the snow is out of control.  I know what you're thinking...."she fell again."  Nope.  I just sat down and took my skis off and slid/walked the whole way down.  Don't believe me?  Check this out.

It's a good thing I have such a positive attitude.  I still had a GREAT time that day.  It may have had something to do with the hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps at the end of the day...

Super Nachos for a Not-So-Super MNF

I had every intention of blogging yesterday, but it took me the full 24 hours to emotionally recover from MNF.  Is Tony Romo overrated?  Yes, just a little bit.  But for the love...why did he have to get hurt?  We were already doing so poorly this season.  This just seals the deal.  This gives me even more of a reason to strongly dislike Eli Manning and the Giants.  But I still love Miles Austin.  And my close friends know me all too well...as evidenced by this picture that I was tagged in on Facebook.

I fall in love all over again every time I see this side of him.

My brother, Jordan, and his fiance, Emily, live right across the street from me.  Convenient, right?  It's so nice to be this close to him and I LOVE getting to hang out with my favorite sister.  And it's also a plus that my cute little nephew, Jackson, is only right across the street so I can play with him anytime I want!  So Jordan invited me over for MNF this week.  Emily was working, so I agreed to cook dinner and have it ready when she got home so we could all hang out and watch the game.  Jordan, Emily, and Jackson are also avid Miles Austin fans.  We were all wearing our Miles Austin jerseys :)  So what was on the menu, you ask?  SUPER NACHOS!  It was super easy and super delicious.  It involved making homemade pico de gallo.  Mark my words...I will never purchase pico de gallo again...it's so easy and yummy when you make it on your own (probably healthier too)!  Here are the ingredients and directions for Super Nachos (serves 4):

Ingredients:
-2 bags tortilla chips (I used organic blue and yellow corn chips)

Pico del gallo:
-4 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
-1 small white onion, chopped
-1/4 cup, 2 handful, cilantro leaves, finely chopped (can substitute parsley if you don't like cilantro)
-salt
-if you want a little kick, buy a jalapeno pepper, seed and finely chop it, and add just a little bit

Turkey and beans topping:
-1 Tbsp EVOO
-1 lb ground turkey
-2 garlic cloves, chopped
-1 small onion, chopped
-you can add some of that jalapeno pepper here also
-1 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/2 palmful ground cumin
-1 can (15-oz) black beans, drained

Cheese sauce:
-2 Tbsp butter
-2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
-2 cups milk
-3/4 lb pepper jack cheese, shredded, about 2 1/2 cups (if you don't like spicy, you can substitute with another kind of cheese here)

Directions:
-Chop all of your ingredients first (tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic)
-Shred cheese
-Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add oil, garlic, onion, and peppers for about 2 minutes.  Add turkey.  Add salt, chili powder, cumin.  Cook for about 5 minutes and then add beans, reduce heat to low.
-In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add flour.  Cook these 2 over medium heat for about 2 minutes, then whisk in milk.  When milk begins to bubble, add in cheese.
-Add additional toppings of your choice (sour cream, guacamole, etc.)

That's it!  Super Nachos are super easy!

Classy, Sassy, and Jobless

So I've been reading my friend Sarah's blog for months now and often considered starting one...so here I am.  I've also considered posting my resume on here since NO ONE WILL HIRE ME!!!  That's right people...I have two Bachelor's degrees, experience in a pediatric ER, a ton of volunteer hours, and no job.  I moved to Denver on October 1st with the help of my wonderful parents, settled into my apartment, and started the job search.  To date, I have applied for over 50 jobs and have pretty much been told "You are no longer being considered for this position due to lack of experience".  I'm sorry...what was I doing the last 15 months of my life?  That's right...gaining experience while in nursing school.  No hospital seems to agree with that though.  I've applied online, made phone calls, and visited Human Resources at a few hospitals.  Still...nothing.  I'm so thankful for my parents, who see my efforts and who are able to help me until I can find a job.

For the past 25 days (other than the job searching), I have had the opportunity to do a few fun things and meet some pretty amazing people.  Yesterday, you could find me at Invesco Field stalking...I mean, supporting...Tim Tebow and the Broncos.

I went to the game with Jordan's fiance/my favorite sister, Emily, and her awesome parents.  We had a great time even though the Broncos didn't show up.  AND it was my mama's birthday, so Emily's mom, Debbie, had the great idea of making signs to tell her Happy Birthday!

So what else have I been doing since obviously not working?  Watching Aggie football of course. 

 This is my sweet nephew, Jackson.  He loves Aggie football! 

I have also been doing a lot of running since I moved.  How could I not, when the weather is absolutely perfect?  This was taken at Red Rocks when I ran Run the Rocks 5K to help raise money for the American Lung Association.  I ran it with Emily and her co-workers from National Jewish.  It was so much fun (excluding the last mile which was straight uphill).  My lungs were burning to say the least...but I guess I was in the right place and with the right people if I had collapsed.  I've also been doing a lot of running at Washington Park ("Wash Park" as I was told by Jordan and Emily..."No one calls it Washington Park") and along the Cherry Creek Trail that runs through downtown.  It's absolutely beautiful here!  More stories to come!