New Town, New Peeps!

I think the biggest challenge about our move to Colorado, has been meeting people. Especially for me since I currently do not have a job... which is pretty much how I met all my friends (some in a round about way) in our old state. We love our neighborhood, our neighbors are great, but we are the youngest here and don't have kiddos yet... which means we rarely see them. John has made guy friends through work that he skis with, but it really hasn't done much for me.

So what's a girl to do in a new town? Join meetup.com. Seriously.

What's Meetup?
Meetup is on a mission to help the world’s people self-organize into local groups.
So far more than 6.5 million people have signed up and formed over 60,000 local Meetup Groups.


I was so hesitant to join at first, which is why I waited until I lived here for 5 months before checking them out. I regret waiting that long! In the past few weeks I've joined over 10 groups for everything from hiking to movies to wine tasting. I realize my experiences may have just been luck (no crazies yet), and I've been pretty particular about the groups I've joined... but I have met some really fun, great people through the groups! Since I signed up I have met not just people that share the same interests, but some friends... where we talk and hang out outside of the group. The best part is, my calendar is FULL of fun stuff. If I wanted, I could do a different meetup every day of the week.

Like being outdoors? Hiking, snowshoeing, climbing 14ers, camping? There's a group or 10 groups for one or all of those activities.

Like volunteering? There's a group for that.

Like scary movies? There's a group for that.

Like adventure (rock climbing, kayaking, white water rafting)? There's a group for that.

Like photography? There's a group for that. 

Like going to the theater and/or seeing musicals? There's a group for that.

If you can think of it, there's probably a group for it, but if not you can always start your own. If you're looking for people who are interested in the activities you love doing, and want to meet new friends... check them out. Obviously be careful, and meet in public places.  

No, I'm not being paid by meetup.com... but maybe I should! They are hiring... hmm.

Koda's 5th Birthday

So I was supposed to post this on Koda's birthday... Let's just pretend this was posted then, OK?

Koda was born on April 8th, 2005 but we didn't meet her and adopt her until September that year when she was five months old. Wasn't she cute?

The picture above was taken when we first brought her home. She was so shy and timid... it took a few days for her to show us her true personality. I can't believe she is 5 already!

We went for a walk and she got a kong full of peanut butter to celebrate among other treats throughout the day (and she got 2 hikes the following weekend!). I think it's the funniest thing to watch her try and get all the PB out of her kong. I had fun taking these pictures. Just in case you couldn't tell.

 Happy Birthday Koda!

Happy Earth Day!

I have neglected this blog recently, as I have been busy enjoying spring in Colorado! However, I had to drop in and wish everyone a Happy Earth Day! I was all revved up to volunteer today but I guess I waited too long. I was turned away last week from volunteer opportunities around here for today and Saturday because they are all full. Apparently there are a bunch of tree huggers living here besides me :). Have I mentioned lately how much I love this state? I plan to do some catch up posts about some of our hikes but here are a couple of pictures until then.

Koda and I taking a rest at Red Rocks

View of Mt. Evans from the summit of Evergreen Mountain

Forsythia

Since spring has arrived and the weather has been gorgeous (in general, today it's stormy and rainy) we have been hiking as much as possible... at least twice a week. It would be 4 times this week if the rain hadn't decided to show up! I really can't complain about the rain though, it's making our lawn green and all the trees and flowers bloom. I need to take pictures of the flowers in our yard... we have daffodils, tulips, and a huge forsythia bush (picture to the left, but not of ours...)

Saturday, to celebrate Earth Day we plan to hike Bergen Peak which is at 9,708 ft! I'll admit I'm a little nervous as it's a 9 mile hike with 2,100' change of elevation. But I need this challenge to get into better shape to hike 14er's this summer.

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day? Do you plan to make any "go green" changes?

TIME's "The Perils of Plastic"

After a get away to Florida to visit friends and family for almost 2 weeks - I am on my way home (can you hear my sigh of relief?). I arrived at the airport early so I browsed the stores and my eye caught Steve Jobs staring at me from the cover of TIME Magazine and the words "Inside Steve's Pad" (I'm dying to try the iPad).


When I was trying to decide if it was worthy of buying, I noticed across the top "Environmental Special: The Perils of Plastic". Yup, I had to buy it...



Our government is catching on, finally, after a recent biomonitoring survey by the CDC. The survey found traces of 212 environmental chemicals in Americans, including toxic ones too many to list here as I'm typing this entry on my iPhone, on the plane (will not publish till we land and I can turn off airplane mode).

I'm thrilled to see this article in TIME. I know some people are rolling their eyes about this controversal topic... But to me, it all makes sense and a bunch of nay-sayers are starting to back pedal, including the FDA. Wonder why obesity, diabetes, autism, AD/HD, and auto-immune disorders are on the rise? They could be linked to plastics, specifically BPA (which is found in more than just your water bottles, try soda cans and canned foods) and phthalates (in cosmetics to IV bags). The scary part is that babies are already born with chemicals in their systems and then their bodies act like sponges mainly because they eat and drink more relative to their body weight.

I don't believe in the methodology that, "Chemicals are deemed safe until the EPA can prove that they are dangerous". Especially since the EPA has limited information from industry and like everything else, has limited funds and a bunch of red tape which makes the process take years.

I could go on and on about this... If you are interested in reading this article, email me (click envelope on the right side of this page) and I will email it to you once I scan it. Also, I have a bunch of other resources I've collected over the past couple of years that I could share, like a guide to the numbered plastics (what's in them, which are safest, etc.).

Check it out, but really I think it's only a matter of time until it's in front of everyone's faces. America seems to finally be catching on! The sad part is that the government, the way the regulation system works, fails to protect us. From the article, it sounds like proposals for regulation reform are coming soon. However, implementing change will take years. Reading this at least makes me think that maybe all these petitions I'm signing and letters to legislation are being read...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone