Happy Halloween!

Huber

My Jack-o-lanterns

Hallow's Eve Trail Race

Fun in the Fall

The last few weeks have brought about some cooler weather and with it, some fun outings with friends. Over the Thanksgiving long weekend Mike and I drove out to Vernon to visit our friends Steve and Bobbi-Jo. We were originally going for a wine and climbing trip, but with mediocre weather and Mike's injured finger we decided to skip the climbing part of the trip. We filled our Saturday with a day of wine and cheese tasting where Mike and I restocked our wine rack. On Sunday Bobbi-Jo made us an excellent turkey dinner to celebrate thanksgiving and while we were waiting on dinner we headed out to the Shuswap River in Enderby to see the spawning salmon. It was something else seeing the thousands of red fish swimming up the river. We also spent a great deal of time trying Steve and BJ's new game, Rock band! It was great fun, so much fun in fact that we stayed up way too late every night playing it and managed to finish the game over the 3 days we were there. All in all it was an great weekend of hanging out and visiting with good friends. Click Here for some pics.



Just this last weekend we threw a stag and staggette for Christian and Ursula who's wedding is coming up in just over 3 weeks (In St. Martin; Yay to destination weddings!). The boys did the usual boy stuff - Rock climbing, Strippers, dinner, gambling - but us girls decided to keep it classy. We all got together for cocktails and Thomas Haas chocolates in the late afternoon and then we had a limo pick us up and take us to Frederico's Supper Club on Commercial Drive. It was an excellent choice for a night out and I recommend it to anyone, groups of friends and couples, to check it out. The evening started out with a 3-course Italian dinner, which was fabulous. During dinner a solo classic guitar player provided music for dinner entertainment. After dinner, Frederico and his band took the stage and did a 2-hour set of dancing music, everything from classic Italian tunes, to 60's music to top-40 hits from today. The crowd had great energy and everyone was dancing and having a good time throughout the night. Overall, a successful staggette to send Ursula off to a new stage in her life. Click Here for some pics.

Back to Reality

The last few weeks have brought us into the midst of fall and back into reality and routine. It's been a nice change from the constant craziness of Summer. We're back to climbing and running regularly and it feels excellent to be getting noticeably stronger with every run and climb. We recently bought passes for the Edge Climbing gym and are pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere; a lot more laid back and less pretentious than gyms we have previously frequented. I'm quite enjoying indoor climbing for a change; it's been a while since I've actually enjoyed it instead of feeling it was just a chore to stay in shape for the outdoor season. The Fall running clinic is also now into full swing. I always love the fall clinic after taking a few months off of running; it always feels new and exciting to be back on the trails. The weather and temperatures this fall have been perfect for morning runs so far too. We're up to 1 hr 45 min now in our training schedule and slowly building to the 3 hour mark. It feels good to be ramping up the distance again and playing in the forest with a great group of people every week.


Apart from our revived exercise routine we've been out having some fun with friends too. We went to a BC Lions game last weekend where the Lions made a spectacular come-back in the second half of the game. There's something to be said for the outdoor stadium too; It's an awesome place to spend a warm fall evening. We also saw the movie "Social Network" this week which was surprisingly good. It was quite entertaining and a good choice for a night out at the movies.



Two weekends ago Mike and I went down to the annual Snow Show at the Vancouver convention center. for the past few years I've been using my backcountry ski gear to ski in the resorts. I decided that I should get another, stiffer and more responsive setup strictly for in-bounds skiing and thought the Snow Show would be the place to get it. I managed to score a brand new set of top of the line atomic skis and bindings, still in the plastic, for $300. The only catch, they were last seasons model. Oh no! ;P I'm pretty stoked to get a sweet set-up for so cheap. Now i just need the snow to start flying so I can get out and try them. Lets go winter!!!!