Here’s a sneak peak into my exciting life for those of you who are interested.

5:45am – Alarm goes off. I turn the alarm off and lay in bed checking texts, emails for a few minutes. Brush my teeth and take a quick shower. Then the multitasking begins. Brush my hair, throw on some make up, start getting lunch together and pack bag for the day. Today is a bike to work day so the bag includes my work clothes, my swim suit, goggles, swim cap and towel for swim practice and a few odds and ends like keys, wallet, sunglasses, etc.

6:30am – Make breakfast. I usually have one egg and one egg white topped with sriracha but this morning I decided to make super easy banana pancakes. I hate the texture of bananas but I like to eat them on swim days to avoid leg/foot cramps so sneaking them into pancakes works for me. I take one small banana, one egg, one white, about a tablespoon of coconut flour and a bunch of cinnamon and mash them all together. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes on each side. I finished packing my lunch and double checked my bag before heading out on my bike.

7:15am – Biking to work was fairly uneventful. Crossing Huffine, which is Bozeman’s biggest “highway”, is always a little scary but I’m careful and I always wear bright yellow reflective gear on my rides.

HR department participating in the Commute To Work Challenge

7:45am – Get to the office, get changed, and get some water. Within the first hour of work 3 people complimented me on my dress. Little do they know that I was basically forced to wear a dress as a direct result of being too lazy to do laundry the past few weeks.

8:00am – Work, work, work. At some point in the morning, I make some tea and eat an apple. I also water Kevin, my beautiful plant that my friend Aaron gave me.

Kevin

12:30pm – Take a quick break for lunch and post this super cute pic of Gretchen and I on instagram. How cute are we?

Too cute

5:15pm – Get changed into bike clothes and head towards the swim center. Take a slight detour to Rosaurs (local grocery store) to grab a cliff bar before practice.

6:15pm – Swim practice. Thursday nights are usually long distance free but we ended up doing the Tuesday workout which was sprints…fun.

7:45pm – Shower, bike home, unpack my bag, make dinner. I threw on my current favorite hat (thanks Chris!) and went to meet up with Scott.

I have been wearing this hat every chance I get since it was gifted to me on Saturday. Here is a cute pic of Heather and I from our co-worker’s bridal shower on Saturday. Yes I wore the hat at the bridal shower.

Favorite hat

If you kept track, I got changed 6 times yesterday. So. Much. Laundry.

Well that was my fun and productive Thursday. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend 🙂

Hello there! Once again, life has gotten in the way of blogging. I actually typed (most of) this post on April 18th but forgot to publish it – oops!

I was planning on doing a full recap of the weekend but my camera randomly broke last week and I didn’t get too many pictures so here is the shortened version.

Scott and I headed to Missoula on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and as soon as we got there we headed downtown on our bikes to grab some dinner. We crashed pretty early because we were planning on waking up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to do some mountain biking. This was my first experience with mountain biking and it was TOUGH. Definitely a lot of fun though!

Summit of the Sentinel in Missoula

Post-mountain biking, we got to watch Heather kick some ass in the CrossFit Emergence Downtown Throwdown. Then we met up with Scott’s friend Allen and did some rafting down the Blackfoot River. At least I think it was the Blackfoot… Either way it was a great time. We headed back to Bozeman on Sunday morning and I met up with Gretchen for a lovely (and very windy) 30 mile bike ride. It was definitely a super fun weekend!

Road biking with Gretchen

Anywayyyyyy, Moving on to the original purpose of this post. I’m thinking that I must be really lucky lately because I won Just a Colorado Gal’s Sweet Relish Giveaway a few weeks ago and I won Girl Meets Life’s Naturebox giveaway last week. Exciting stuff.

I’ve decided to spread the love by hosting my own giveaway. I have a beautiful Satin Black Plaz Wallet up for grabs.

Plaz Wallet

I absolutely love my yellow Plaz Wallet!

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this post with what you did last weekend! I will randomly select a winner on Wednesday, May 8th.

Hello everyone! Just popping in to tell you about a wonderful non-profit organization called Operation Groundswell. My friend Alex will be traveling to Africa in a few weeks with their Gender and Human Rights program, where they will be gaining an in-depth perspective into the challenges facing sexual minorities in East Africa. Alex is one of the most passionate people I have ever met and I know she will make such a positive difference in the lives of many people while on her journey.

Alex is working on raising $1000 for Operation Groundswell. Please check out her page, spread the word and donate if you can 🙂

Alex’s Operation Groundswell Page

Please donate to Operation Groundswell!

PS – Alex, I am planning on spending lots of quality time with Milo while you are gone! Best dog ever!

Milo!

Thank you in advance for your support!

Hello there! I know I have been MIA lately! Life has gotten in the way of blogging.

The day after I returned from Olympic National Park I went up to Big Sky to visit Gretchen. Unfortunately, the snow conditions were not great and I was very out of practice but it was still a fun day!

Snowboarding in Big Sky

When we got back from the mountain we made chicken surprise. I will explain the premise behind chicken surprise for those who may not be familiar with the concept. Everyone who is partaking in the chicken gets to choose an ingredient to include in the chicken. I know this particular batch included veganaise, honey, lemons and PBR. After we threw the chicken in the oven, we decided to fry up the gizzards. They actually weren’t too bad once we dipped them into a siracha/vegainse sauce.

about to deep fry some gizzards

Patty Simms and her main man arrived in Bozeman the following day and we went on a fun adventure to Mammoth Hot Springs and the Boiling River in Yellowstone.

walking around Mammoth

We threw a Fiesta de Easter party that Sunday which was a total success. We did the mexican hat dance, we had a pinata and we played some mexican themed picturades.

the ladies

I didn’t take any pictures last weekend for some reason. I guess the weekend wasn’t too eventful. I went rock climbing at revenue flats on Saturday but Sunday was mostly spent running errands, grocery shopping, etc. Boring.

Anyway. Let’s talk about some upcoming fun events!

Yellowstone is open to cyclists in April so I was planning on biking from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful and back on Saturday but the snow may impede those plans 😦

biking last year (not yellowstone)

I am planning on going to Missoula, MT on April 26th to go to the CrossFit Emergence Downtown Throwdown. I decided not to participate because I need to focus on tri training right now but I will be cheering for Heather!

On May 11th, I am thinking about doing the Park to Paradise Triathlon in Gardiner, MT. The race consists of boating/kayaking 7 miles, running 4 miles and biking 17.5 miles. It looks like a lot of fun but I imagine it might be kind of chilly. I am currently on the lookout for a kayak so if you live in the Bozeman area and know anyone who might have one that I can borrow, let me know!

Possibly the most exciting upcoming event is the Pepper concert in Billings, MT on May 25th! I still can’t believe that they randomly have two tour dates in MT. I love it.

Scolis and I when we met Pepper in 2010

I hope everyone is having a good week. I have an exciting giveaway coming up this weekend so be sure to check in!

I’m back from beautiful Olympic National Park. I will try to put up a trip recap at some point this week.

I seriously had the perfect Montana weekend. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

On Friday night, I went to Livingston to see a fly fishing film. I haven’t tried fly fishing yet but I can’t wait to learn this summer. I caught a few fish last spring/summer in creeks and ponds but I’m really looking forward to getting out onto the Gallatin River with a fly rod. The film was awesome and I would definitely recommend checking it out if the tour is stopping in your area. After the film, I met up with a few friends who I hadn’t seen in a few weeks which was wonderful.

Proud of my fish

I went to bed at a somewhat decent hour so I would be well rested on Saturday for Run To The Pub 10k. I walked downtown around 9:45am to grab a bus to the start. Temps were in the high 30s at the start and the sun ended up coming out during the race. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do because I had a pretty bad head cold last week but I ended up feeling just fine. I actually ended up beating my time from last year by 20 seconds. The only downside was that my favorite running buddy, Heather, wasn’t with me and I missed her terribly! I’m sure she was having a blast in Flagstaff though.

Ladies

These lovely ladies came downtown to check out the race and the post-race festivities. Tumbleweeds made and appearance so obviously I got some well deserved pulled pork tacos. I heard that Cupcake Mountain was there with Guinness cupcakes but I forgot to grab one!

Gretchen came down to Bozeman on Saturday night since she was working at Bridger Bowl on Sunday. We spent the night eating an entire bag of doritos and watching a few episodes of Girls season 2 which was amazing and hilarious.

I was up bright and early on Sunday to get ready for a fun adventure at Hyalite. The plan was to XC ski a few miles in, hike up to champagne sherbet and climb it. It was a gorgeous day and we didn’t see a soul the entire time we were out.

XC skiing in Hyalite

I was a little nervous about the skiing since I haven’t been XC skiing since I was younger and I didn’t recall enjoying it all that much. It was actually pretty fun and I imagine it would be even more fun without a 25/30 pound backpack on. We skied as far as we could and when we couldn’t go any further we ditched the skis for our climbing boots and hiked up some crazy snowy terrain to get to the base of the climb. At one point I sunk into snow up to my waist – it was pretty crazy. We were completely exposed at the base of champagne sherbet and it was definitely a blustery day. Once we got all of our gear on, I belayed Scott while he led and put screws in. By the time he got to the top the conditions were getting to be pretty brutal. The temperature had dropped at least 10 degrees and the wind was out of control. I was absolutely freezing when I started the climb. Sadly, I didn’t make it the entire way up because it was getting difficult to see with snow flying in my face and I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes. It was still fun though!

Scott belaying me from the top

We kept most of our gear on and headed back to the skis to sort the gear just so we could get out of the wind. We sorted the gear, got some water, had a bite to eat and headed back to the car on the skis. We got back into Bozeman around 5, showered and warmed up and then headed out to get some wings with Gretchen and one of her friends.

Great weekend! Unfortunately, I don’t think that next weekend will be as much fun since I will be working. I will be at Olympic National Park though so hopefully I will be able to squeeze in some time to explore.

I finally started packing! On Friday I did some organizing but I was having a really hard time actually putting anything into a box. What if I need my wok at some point within the next week?! I really buckled down today, though.

progress

We had freakishly warm temps (mid forties) here in Bozeman yesterday so instead of packing I decided to go on a bike ride followed by a run with Heather. I set out for 20ish miles on my bike but I didn’t layer properly and I was freezing so I decided to stop after about 10 miles.

I wish I had taken a photo of my running outfit on Saturday because I got quite a few comments (compliments?) on it. My friend Chris told me I looked like a bag of skittles and a sales associate at Bed, Bath & Beyond told me I looked “snazzy”. My sneakers are pretty bright and multi-colored to begin with plus I was wearing my neon yellow pro compression socks, a pink long sleeve top and a purple and neon green running jacket. It was quite the get-up. Anyway, Heather and I had a great run and we finished just over 6 miles. Apparently I exerted a lot of energy because I fell asleep for 2 hours as soon as I got out of the shower and I never usually take naps.

I decided to take it easy on Saturday night because I had to be up early on Sunday morning to teach a swim lesson at The Ridge. The lesson went really well and I stayed to swim a few laps when we were finished.

So that’s my exciting weekend. I think I’ll just continue to live vicariously through last weekend’s festivities. Here are a few awesome pics that my friend ,Alex, took last weekend! She’s basically the most talented photographer in the world.

sunday funday

just a little excited to zip

getting ready to go

Any my personal favorite that Elizabeth captured…

“The pass off”

I’m a little delayed on my weekend recap but hey – better late than never, right? On Saturday night, I went to a Mardi Gras gala charity event for Big Brothers Big Sisters. My company is a pretty big sponsor so we had a table at the event.

Heather and I

DNC table

I spent Sunday morning baking a delicious carrot cake for Gretchen’s birthday. Instead of going with the traditional “Happy Birthday Gretchen” on the cake, I decided to go with an American flag which turned out better than I expected. My artistic skills definitely aren’t the greatest…

Patriotic carrot cake

The girls and I headed up to Gretchen’s place to celebrate and we went on a super fun nighttime zip lining expedition. Although several of my friends are or have previously been zip line tour guides, this was actually my first zip lining experience. It was so much fun! We were completely decked out in glow sticks, happy birthday crowns and mardi gras beads so we looked pretty amazing.

Gretchen and I

Alex and Jen

I got Gretchen this awesome Neve silk wool base layer for her birthday and she informed me yesterday that she hasn’t taken it off since Sunday so I think it’s safe to say that she likes it.

birthday girl looking sharp

The celebrations continued post-zipping and we had an awesome time. There were about 947 people crashing at Gretchen’s and although we had a bunch of air mattresses, I somehow got stuck on the floor. Not really sure how that happened but I survived.

Nora surrounded by air mattresses and sleeping bags

I wasn’t sure what time we’d get home on Monday so I took the day off and tried to be somewhat productive. I finally signed the lease to my new place which was both productive and exciting. I’m officially moving on March 9th! I seriously need to acquire some boxes and start packing this weekend.

I hope everyone has a great week!

I just realized that the title of this post may a little be misleading. Successful may insinuate that I A. found a place to live B. purchased furniture or C. started packing. Unfortunately I did not do any of those things this weekend; however it was still a fun weekend which is why I’m considering it successful.

Normally I kick my weekends off on Friday night with CrossFit but Heather was traveling on Friday so we decided to go to CrossFit on Saturday morning instead. We did a fun partner WOD called “Partner Up”. It included about a zillion reps of Wall Ball, KB swings, Push Press, K2E and step ups. You get to rest while your partner is working though which is pretty awesome. We obviously had the best team name – Ninjas.

Heather doing some step ups

Later on Saturday afternoon, Heather and I headed down to MSU to get our body fat tested with the BOD POD. It was such a quick and easy process. You give them your height, get weighed, hop in the BOD POD, sit completely still for two minutes and they print out your results.

Hanging out in the BOD POD

The results include your body fat %, fat mass in pounds, body volume and density. The results also include your body fat rating. Here is what the rating table looks like:

Risky (high) > 40%

Excess Fat 30.1 – 40%

Moderately Lean 22.1 – 30%

Lean 18.1 – 22%

Ultra Lean 15. – 18%

Risky (low) < 15%

At 23%, I fell into the Moderately Lean category. The explanation states "fat level is generally acceptable for good health" so I was happy to hear that.

On Sunday, I had super fun plans to go ice climbing with my friend Scott, at Hyalite Canyon. Scott is a ninja climber so he was extremely helpful and showed me how to use crampons and all of the tools. I was a little nervous about being cold but I did a great job layering and I didn’t get cold at all. I wore the UA Base 4.0 Crew, Sherpa Priya Pullover, Patagonia Nano Puff, a Mountain Hardwear waterproof shell and my Lole Nicky Jacket (for belaying only).

Third ascent of the day

Scott cleaning the route

I had a lot of fun so hopefully I will get out a few more times before the end of the season.

I hope everyone else had a successful weekend! Happy Monday 🙂

I am moving! I am definitely going to miss my first Bozeman apartment – so many fun memories at this place! Here are a few of my favorites:

Easter sushi party

brewing beer

carving pumpkins

game night

Anywayyyyyyyyy, my sister, Gretchen, has essentially been living in Big Sky for the past few months so I decided to move out and get my own place. Like a grown up. I actually haven’t found a new place yet technically. Apartment searching is not fun. Even though I haven’t found a new apartment, I have somehow managed to compile a list of things that I absolutely need for said apartment. If you know me, you are probably not shocked by this.

1. Chevron futon – So cute!

2. Triathlon Medal Hook – I have been wanting one of these for a while and I am planning on acquiring a few more medals this summer 🙂

3. Food Processor – Totally necessary for paleo cooking/baking.

4. Table – I LOVE yellow! I suppose it might be more logical to buy a less expensive table and paint it myself, rather than spending $300+ on this specific table.

5. Montana Wall Art – Obviously I would replace Helena with Bozeman.

6. Curtains – Loving Urban’s apartment section.

7. Down Comforter – Not really sure why I don’t have a down comforter considering that I have been living in MT for over a year…

Well that’s all I can think of for now but I’m sure I will come up with about a million other things that I absolutely need for my new place within the next few weeks. Wish me luck with my apartment search!