The South Saint Vrain

I really don't know what has happened to spring this year.  Not only have we gotten a gazillion inches of April snow and even a partial snow day at work, but the days and weeks seem to have zipped past.  In a blur.  And I know I was doing stuff.  But what stuff?  All I have photographic evidence of are two weekends spent climbing and exploring in the South Saint Vrain Canyon, which we discovered is a short 20 minute drive from the new house.  Bonus!

We've only been to three different climbing areas so far, but definitely some of the best granite climbing around the area. With the added bonus of not being super duper crowded, unlike some other areas around here.

Color Affection... so close

I am SO freaking close to being done with my Color Affection Shawl.  Blerg.  But my DH has given me his lovely head cold.  Argh.  Well, here is the mass of lace weight alpaca that is my shawl.  Only a few more rows on the border, blocking, and then it will be D-U-N... done. 

Wow, the colors really don't show in the photo above... they look more like this.

House

We bought a house!  Here are some pictures from the first floor and of the staircase.  I really like the staircase... as do the cats.  We are still working on the unpacking.  And at some point we will need to have a serious visit to the furniture store.  And there are some minor repairs we need to have done.  But,  we have a house!

Hampstead Wreath

Wow.  It has been a while.  This project was finished back in December and sent to my brother well before Christmas.  I thought this was going to be a really straight forward piece of knitting, and really it was, but this project progressed in fits and starts and took longer than it should have.  I didn't buy enough yarn the first time.  I bought too big a wreath form.  I think I knit and frogged the whole thing at least twice.  Needless to say, I was VERY happy when it was done.  Making the pom poms was a nice finish to a finicky project.

Road Trippin

November was a busy month.  Lots of driving.  Lots of Desert.  Lots of camping in the cold.  And lot of climbing.  We initially drove to Las Vegas and climbed at Red Rock National Conservation Area for a few days.  The weather was great during the day and we climbed some fun routes.  On the way back to Utah we drove through Zion National park, which was pretty amazing.  We ended up back at Indian Creek for a day (no pictures) and then spent a day in Kane Springs Canyon, where we climbed the Devil's Golf Ball and scouted out some other small towers.  Super fun trip and well needed break from work.

Road Trippin'- Red Rocks, Zion, and Kane Springs Canyon

Hallo-Creekend

The crew on the South Six Shooter Summit

Halloween at Indian Creek is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite things to do. I mean, who doesn't like climbing amazing cracks in full on Halloween costumes, eating bite sized candy by the campfire, and hanging out and climbing with friends? The highlight of the 2012 Hallo-Creekend was our group ascent of the South Six Shooter... in costumes. Yes, I climbed the whole thing in a T. rex fleece footie pajama ensemble.  Patagonia... why don't you make fleece onesies for adults? They make amazingly comfortable climbing kit.

Jaro setting up the rappels

Carol the ninja attacking 90s Hacker Jon

Ninja Carol with the North Six Shooter in the background

T. rex attacking Jaro

Kolby reaching the summit

T. rex airplane

Half Marathon the Third

I ran my third half marathon last weekend in Moab. What a great race.  Super well organized, great weather, bonfires with coffee and hot chocolate before the start, and mostly importantly a t-shirt AND a pint glass. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so the above is a shamelessly stolen official race pic. I used the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan... sort of... in theory... well, for about the first month, then work took over, but still.  I thought it was a great training plan!