Alma de Color

A couple Chi Alpha (XA) meetings ago, Rod called me over to the sign up table, and I signed up for an event that I wasn't too sure about. In fact, I sort of forgot about it briefly. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad I did. :) I met up with my team of four other members last night at 7ish and we ambled on over to Shroyer Gym to see what was up. We all got t-shirts and a team bandanna. There were 16 total teams. We began with the egg toss, filled a cup with water using a bucket of "moose blood" (aka water with red food coloring...sick moose, I can tell 'ya!), sudoku, an obstacle course over/under flags and through cones on a tricycle...wearing beer goggles, the equivalent of DDR with a guitar, dodgeball...(no wrenches)...sucking jello through a forked tube, eating baked beans with a toothpick, wheelbarrow races with 5 crackers and whistling at the end, Scattergories (my fav), shooting hoops, and the final test between the top 6 teams

We drove to Chief Joseph ski area down by Lost Trail yesterday. The weather was gorgeous! Mom's bday was on the 9th, and she wanted to go skiing, so we did...on the 10th. Jason and Laura met us there a little after noon, and we headed out on a snow-day adventure. We picked random trails to explore and I tried to practice technique...since I seriously lack all ability in this area. :) Dad and Mom gave me pointers on skating and gliding right, although the gliding thing I have a hard time with the timing. Oh well, it was awesome anyway. My skis are borrowed at the moment, although Laura found me some sweet skis for cheap, and some awesome poles on sale. Just waiting on the boots. Anyway, the skis I used were waxless, and had some serious kicker action...just not too much glide. We hadn't put any Alpina wax...(speeds things up a bit)...so I could go up hills with no effort...but had to practically push myself DOWN them! After a few hours of exploring, we wrapped it up,

Hmmm, well, warp to a new time in my life. I am no longer in Murcia...*shedding silent tear*...but I am content here in Montana in the 2 degree (-16.7 degrees C) weather with snow storms almost every night and some days. The snow is breathtaking. After I got back to Montana in December, I had a whirlwind month of family and friends, you know Christmas time. When we all get together, laugh and tease, drink hot cocoa and eat sugary sweets and cherish the time we have together. Seth and a very pregnant Caia came back from his Air Force base in North Carolina, and Jason and Laura came home for a bit. We all went skiing/boarding as a family like last year. Great times. I was job searching, (I was not returning to MSU-Bozeman this semester), when my grandma had a stroke. She had been the primary caregiver for my grandpa, and when she went down, a big caregiver-gap was created. So that's what I'm doing now. I am living up Bridger Canyon about 11 miles, living like a 24/7 nur