Packing for a BIG Party

I've got a few seconds to post...because I've got to get started on packing my suitcase! Tomorrow morning I'm heading to O-Town for an early flight to St. Louis, MO.
I'm meeting up with a bunch of friends in St. Louie to attend the Haskins/Kourtem Wedding on Saturday afternoon...congrats to my roommate:).
I'm also hanging around one more day to ring in the New Year with good friends and lots of fun...we're going to find the biggest party in town and make ourselves part of it:)
After totally throwing off a 'normal' sleeping pattern for 3 days...I'll be flying back home on January 1st...just in time to say 'Hi' and 'Bye' to my parents who head out Around-The-World on the morning of the 2nd!
Dustin just left (5 minutes ago) to head back to G-ville because his Christmas Break is officially over with an early morning practice tomorrow. We weren't too sad to say g-bye to each other b/c I've got plans to head up to G-ville on 2 weeks to watch the National Championship Game with some fellow Gators:)!
I will be off-line for a few days (lots of partying to be done) but I will have TONS of fun photos to post on Tuesday when I return (and catch up on sleep:)! Happy New Year Everyone! Be SAFE and Have FUN!

Christmas Cheer

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday! The McLarty Farm was full of fun, food, and flying presents all day. We were confined to the indoors all day because of a HUGE thunderstorm that roared through the state. It came by us around noon...with a tornado warning and lots of high wind advisories. Thankfully, we did not have any twisters touch down in the yard...they did touch down (and destroy) a few of the trailer parks up the road...we've decided that the wind must swirl a bit different in mobile-home-parks because they seem to be some sort of magnet for destructive weather.
We opened presents in the morning. Then Dad and Dustin made a yummy blueberry and pecan waffle breakfast for the family. After some more present opening we put some of the new games and gifts to use. I tested out my new snow skiing helmet (THANKS DAD) which fits perfectly. Along with just trying it on my head...I hooked up my iPod Shuffle and had music playing through the built-in headphones:) I challenged everyone in the family to play a cool new board-game from my Aunt...it's called Yali and it's like Chinese Checkers with a balancing act thrown in.
My Aunt and Grandma loved their future gift from me...on January 6th we are going to all drive to Downtown Disney for an early lunch and the Wolfgang Puck restaurant followed by the 6pm Cirque de Solei show!! I went to this show a few years ago with my immediate family...but their shows are so amazing that it will still be like my first time!! Although my mom hasn't tried on her new surfing wetsuit...it looks like it will fit perfect and she can't wait to test it in the surf. Dustin is excited to actually be able to cook and bake in his house in Gainesville...I outfitted his kitchen with almost every imaginable cooking utensil needed. Dad will slowly be getting his Christmas gift over the next 5 months with a monthly delivery from a "Beer of the Month Club" from microbreweries all over the country. I snuck a 6 pack of Colorado Springs brewed beer home for an abbreviated 'month' before he departs the country.
After a long day inside the house, no thanks to the weather, we headed to our new neighbor (my Grandmother who is living in the house in our front yard) for Christmas Dinner. She served a lovely spread of food followed by more presents. Sitting in her living/dining room after dinner and watching 6 people opening gifts...you can figure out all 30+ odd charities that she donates money to during the year. In response to her donations, the charities send silly gifts, which my Grandmother wraps up and gives to us at Christmas!
My 23rd Christmas ended with one last mad dash through the rain back to our house to curl up in front of the TV with my family and watch a movie (albeit a very bad Aniston/Vaughn movie) while consuming a bag of Christmas chocolate and falling asleep. Nothing more perfect to end a fun-filled-family day. Merry Christmas Everyone:)

Tradition Continues: The L-Bowl

Where will you find a bunch of out-of-shape former High School Cross County stars on the day before Christmas in DeLand, Florida?? On the High School track playing a game of tag-football...teams divided into 'old-guys' and 'young-ins' based on a graduation year. This was officially the year that I moved into the 'old-guys' team...2000 graduation was the cut off year!!
It's OFFICIAL...I'M OLD!!! That's okay, I can handle it:)
I don't usually attend this annual reunion for the football...but for the socializing with my former teammates and life-long friends. It gives us about 2 hours to catch up on a year of life and remind each other what we all look like. I got to chat with Carrie about her up coming wedding, Rachel about her Masters studies and bike training, Marie about her travels and running life, Tony about his recent engagement, Amanda about her daughter, Jimmy about replacing one of our High School government teachers, and Coach Loienstein about life at DeLand High and the potential of the track team starting in January.
Dustin and I aren't the only 'family members' who attend...the Johnson family beats us with 3 siblings that were former runners...and Coach Lo and his daughter Lindsey span a generation gap. (But Dustin is the only McLarty that goes to actually PLAY football:)
























SMILE CLUB............7 + 4 = :):):)




















John (my class's Valedictorian), Me, Rachel (she can kick my butt on the bike), Tony (my class's president)




















Proof that there was actually a FOOTBALL game being played:)

Ski Photos (as promised:)

Branden enjoying the fresh powder in one of Breck's bowls.

















Haven carving tracks.

















Branden almost eating snow...he saved himself, though!




















Me, Haven, and Branden on the top of Peak 7 at Breckenridge (12/18/06). The weather forecast was for clouds and snow storms...notice how we are squinting into the sun for this photo!! We were also skiing with Cliff and Sam but lost contact during a pee-stop...we would eventually re-group later in the day.

From Snow to Sunshine

I'm home-again, home-again, jig-a-de-jig:). It was lightly snowing in Colorado Springs yesterday morning when I got a ride to the airport. My flight was at 10am (I'm staging a one-person revolt against those 6am flights out of COS that require a 4am wake-up alarm!) from COS to Denver. Then Denver to Washington, DC...and finally DC to Daytona Beach. Other than taking ALL day to get home...the trip was uneventful and painless.
What WAS painful was waking up in the middle of the night before flying home and realizing that I GOT SICK! It's such a rare feeling for me that sometimes I have to step back and figure out what's wrong. Basically, its just a 'winter' cold...very swollen throat and stuffy nose...shouldn't take too long to disappear now that I'm in the warmth, sunshine, and most importantly: the humidity of Florida.
I guess the cold caught me because I didn't take good care of my body during my MONDAY SKI TRIP!! Not like I care...I was having a TON of FUN on the mountains at Breckenridge! I started at 6am with a quick breakfast and last-minute packing before driving up to Manitou to park at Haven and BrandEn's place. I had promised that I would drive to and from Breck...but the forecast was full of snow and ice...so I felt like a jerk and had to ask for someone else to take over the drive because I can guarantee that my silly Florida vehicle would be upside-down-in-a-ditch at the first sign of slick roads!
Big 'Thanks' to Branden who volunteered...and we were underway around 7:15. First stop in Breckenridge was for ski and helmet rentals (with my 20% discount) and then straight to the free parking lots. We pulled in about 10 cars behind Sam and Cliff, gathered our gear, and caught the bus to the lifts.
We skied as a five-some for the first hour or two...too bad most lifts are quads and doubles:)...and then we split up for the middle of the day. Haven, Branden and I warmed up and got some lunch at one of the lodges after the main lunch-crowd was gone. As we headed back out for some more powder (I forgot to brag that we had 3-4 inches of fresh POWDER all over the mountain from a light snow during the night!!) we caught sight of Sam and Cliff again so we finished the day as a five-some again.
We explored the Peak 6 and 7 area (first time for me on all these runs) and had fun in the powder-y bowls. I would go down first and then pull out my camera to try and get some fun shots of the guys on their way down (photos will be posted soon...I'm too lazy right now go back up to the house and get my camera:). We skied until the lifts closed...and timed it just right to make our last run long and winding back to the parking lots.
We made our way home as the sun set and the snow started falling. It was more than a perfect ending for my 2006 in Colorado...I will miss the snow, my friends, and my car for the next month...but I will be loving the uninterrupted, flat, and warm training that I can get in DeLand:)

UGLY SWEATERS!

Jaz, Me, Courtney...good times!






















Brandon, Me, Haven (well, half of Haven)...not one of my best 'Self Portraits'!!























Troy (party host) and myself.....Troy, why are your eyes almost closed???























Me, Jeana, Will (other party host)...rocking the ugly sweaters!

Now we are talking!! I think the fact that I couldn't get my buttons to line up correctly makes mine even better:) Courtney had 28 snow globes on her sweater and Jaz had the worlds largest teddy bear:)

Ugly Sweater Party

I found something to do!! There was no boring and lonely night for me in front of a TV last night!!
Jaz and Courtney drove down from Denver to the Springs. We met up and went to Troy and Will's place for their Ugly Sweater Party!! See my photos for the hilariousness of some of these sweaters!
As the house party wound down...we headed to downtown COS for the last couple songs played by the band "ginger's hotter" at the Ritz dance club! We danced, and danced, and danced...and then wished we'd gotten there earlier for more dancing:)
We followed dancing with one last midnight soak in Haven and Brandon's hot tub before calling it a night. Nothing can beat being in a hot tub, at night, in the middle of winter, in Colorado!
Now (it's 1:30pm) I'm finally awake and getting ready to tackle all the things I need to do to prepare for traveling home on Tuesday...return rental movies, laundry, packing, last minute Xmas shopping, fill my gas tank, plan a ski trip, etc.
I totally lucked out on my ski trip...I was just surfing online and I went to the website of the ski rental place that I used last weekend. They had a link marked "Discounts" so I clicked on it...it gave me a page to print out a 20% off coupon! SWEET! That will make renting the Top-of-the-Line Performance Demo skis a bit easier on my wallet:)
Breckenridge is supposed to get a bit of snow tonight!! FRESH POWDER for us in the morning! It might be a bit colder than last weekend when the sun was shinning all day and we actually got 'warm' while skiing...but I think you've got to be happy skiing in ANY conditions (just happy to be able to ski:). The live web-cams are showing clear weather today on the slopes...and at the half-pipe competition that has been going on all week in Breck...so maybe we will get the same conditions! Finger's Crossed XXXXX

Last Days in the Springs

This week has passed very slowly for me. I've been enjoying my last couple of days in Colorado Springs before I head down to the Sunshine State for the Xmas holiday.
I've been hanging out with all my friends that are still in town...eating out a few last times at my favorite restaurants...enjoying the mountains...and hoping that I will get onto the ski slopes one last time!
My flight home is on Tuesday morning (next week). So my goal is to be completely finished packing for home on Sunday night. That way, I can spend all day Monday at Breckenridge skiing to my heart's content! I've invited everyone I know who might be interested...we'll see if I have company or not (b/c I'm going No Matter What:).
I just sold a couple items on eBay...just things that I had lying around that I was going to throw out but thought I'd give them a chance to make me money rather than fill up the garbage can. One cycling jersey that I had for a while (and only wore it once b/c it was way too big) went to someone in Germany for over $150!! That helped out with my Christmas shopping:) When I get back to the Springs in February I'm going to list a bunch of wetsuits that I have stockpiled...hopefully with the '07 triathlon race season approaching, they will draw a lot of bids!
Tomorrow we've got a morning swim practice and then the rest of the day is 'free time'. As of right now, I have NO exciting plans...but I'm trying to come up with something to do (I don't want to spend my last hours in the Springs watching TV or napping...I can do that the whole time I'm at home and trying to get away from my family:)

Weekend on the Slopes!

Saturday morning I was awake very, very, very early! I don't think I've been up that early since I was swimming in college...fortunately, I wasn't headed to a freezing pool at 5:30am. I grabbed all my ski gear and headed up to Manitou Spring (no, there isn't any skiing in Manitou:).

Brandon, Haven, and I loaded up Haven's car and got a dark-and-early start on the back roads to Vail Mountain. Since the drive took us through Breckenridge, we stopped really quick so I could rent skis and poles (I've got my own boots...very important if you want to be comfortable during a day on the slopes...warm and pain-free feet!). While we were in the ski shop, all three of us decided to rent ski helmets and see what it was like to ski with a helmet.

We reached Vail only a few minutes behind schedule...threw on our ski gear and headed up the Gondola. 4 hours and many, many, many runs behind us, we stopped for lunch in one of the lodges. The day was absolutely beautiful...bright BLUE skies, warm sunshine, uncrowded runs on the back-side, fresh groomed trails, good skiing buddies, and AMAZING skis on my feet!After a lunch break, we went down a few more runs on the back-side, headed over to the front-side and made our way back to the base. We made an early exit back toward Frisco to check into the hotel, shower, change and grab some dinner.

After I layered up into every item of clothing I could fit under my ski jacket and pants (4 layers on top and bottom) Haven, Brandon, Jeff, Mary Kate and I rode back over to Vail for the Counting Crows Concert. Need an explanation for the layers and layers of clothing?? The concert was OUTSIDE...in VAIL...at NIGHT...in DECEMBER!!! Other than loosing feeling in my feet halfway through, it was a great concert with good songs and a very interesting crowd!!

Thankfully, we parked like a mile away from the concert venue so the walk back to the car helped me regain feeling in my toes. I was actually pretty warm when I got in the car...and with the heater running, I actually took off my hat and gloves for the ride home.

Funny thing is...I had to put my hat and gloves back on in the middle of the drive back to the hotel in Frisco. WHY??? Because we were halfway up the Vail Pass on I-70 when Haven's car ran out of GAS!! It's 11pm at night...temperature is 10 degrees Celsius...good thing no one in the car was named "Donner":)! We called for help and only had to wait 45 minutes, play one 'name game', and eat the rest of the pizza...before 2 gallons of gas was delivered to the car. We made it to Frisco, filled up the gas tank, and fell asleep within seconds of crawling into bed.

I remembered to set an alarm for the next morning so that we would not be late to Day 2 of skiing in Breckenridge. And it was a day you would not have wanted to miss...more blue skies, warm sunshine, great trails, and another day with fantastic skis (I still can't get over the great performance of my B2 Bandits ...I didn't even have to TRY, they did all the work for me!).

Unfortunately, my two cool ski buddies had to make it home for Sunday Night Football so my first day at Brec was cut short. We skied non-stop from 9am to noon, returned my rental skis and the helmets, realized Brandon left his jacket on the roof of the car, and then drove straight back to the Springs.

I had a great time with my camera on the slopes, grabbing some 'in motion' shots and some posed group shots at the mountain tops. A big thanks to Haven for doing all the driving to-and-from the weekend ski adventure and for remaining calm when he ran out of gas:)

Skiing Photos

Haven and Brandon in Vail...We were riding the t-bar-ish lift that took us from the back bowls to the lodge for lunch and it just stopped working...after I took this photo we had to skate-ski and pole our way up the rest of the hill!

YES...there IS air between my SKIS and the SNOW!!!

Haven and Brandon showing off our sweet (warm, comfortable, and safe) rental helmets!

Top of the mountain in Breckenridge...nothing but white snow, blue skies, and good friends!

Self portrait while skiing (it was a Green Trail:) (and that's Haven behind me, right before I almost ran him off the edge of the cliff:)









More jumps...you just can't resist when the trails are empty, the snow is soft, and there's a great launch in the middle of the run!!

Ice and Advil

I'm sore, sore, sore! Nope, it wasn't a hard training day (come on...it's December...who trains hard in December??)...

It was a BIG NIGHT of DODGEBALL!

I was asked to fill in for a missing teammate on the GOOFBALLS dodgeball team...sounded like a ton of fun so I said yes. I drove out to the Eagle View Middle School a bit before 8pm so that I could join my friends to watch the 7:30 game. It was a quick way to learn all the rules and secrets (like rolling the balls back).

Our game started at 8pm against a team who correctly named themselves "The Nancies". I threw a couple balls, dodged a lot of balls, and caught no balls...I won one game by hitting the other team's last player:)...I got hit out once but got to go back in when Troy caught a ball...I got one jammed finger (from my own teammate, no less)...I finished with a sore shoulder...and our team won with a score of 7 games to zero!!

Too much fun!! Here's a photo of the GOOFBALLS after the game: left to right: Haven, me, MJ, Deb, Troy, Brandon, Jeff.

SnowShoe Adventure

Today was my introduction to the activity of 'snowshoeing'! I actually woke up before the sun rose (not something I like to do more than once a month). I groggly got dressed, grabbed some breakfast, packed snacks, and then John, JD and I piled into Salerno's car for a morning drive up to Denver. We exited at Dry Creek Road to pick up Jasmine and 4 pairs of snowshoes at her house (big thanks to the Oeinck Family for letting us borrow their gear)! On Monday, when we were making plans, we thought we would drive to Breckenridge, rent snowshoes, and hike on their trails...but Jasmine had a better idea...borrow her family's snowshoes (cheaper) and hike in the National Forest outside of Bailey, CO (closer).

So, that's what we did today...4 HOURS OF HIKING in white snow, under blue skies, between white aspens and green firs, and uphill to a frozen lake! It was an epic trip...I was EXHAUSTED and very thirsty at the end of hiking (mainly because I packed snacks and water for a 2 HOUR hike:). Of course I packed my NEW CAMERA and took photos along the way:

Big Horn Sheep we saw during our drive to Bailey.

Jasmine, John & JD preparing to start our showshoe adventure.

Snack stop at the turn-around-point (also a very beautiful view point)!

RealLiveSports Animation

Gator Fans...Check out this funny animation of sports reports talking about the BCS.
My friend and fellow open-water-swimming fan, Steve Munatones, made this creation. On a side note, he admits he made it before USC lost last week:)

2 in 2006!!!

Our Gator Football Boys won the SEC Championship game on Saturday night...first time since the un-beat-able era of Steve Spurrier!!
But the REAL excitement came last night when the BCS announced that the number 2 Gators were invited to the National Championship game in Arizona against Ohio State!!!
On January 8th...GO GATORS! I'm looking forward to that date because I'll actually be in GATOR country...visiting my brother up at UF to watch the game and go crazy with the swim team:)

First Photos With My New CAMERA!

My first official photo with my new camera was of the gift-giver...my brother at the dinning room table during the Thanksgiving holiday.















That's John and Jasmine watching The Office on Thursday night.














That's Haven sticking a pool cue up his nose at Phantom Canyon Brewery.














My Grandma Jane after Thanksgiving dinner...modeling her new earrings from Aunt Jan.














This is my proudest Scrabble moment to-date...I spelled a word using the "Q" AND the "Z"!!! And then my Mom spelled a word using ALL her letters!! Can you find those words?














And this is a photo I took 2 minutes ago out my window...IT IS SNOWING in Colorado Springs! Bring on the POWDER in the mountains for good skiing!