Toward the mid-to-end-of-winter, when it was clear that i was not going to be spending a single day snowboarding at the Village this season, i registered for a bike race.

good decision.

it was just a 60-mile forest service road along the Oregon Trail outside of Casper, Wyoming.

a trained a little…which is more time on my bike i would have had, otherwise.

and it was fun. even when i couldn’t feel my toes no matter how much i wiggled them as i boogied up the pass into the snow. and when i took my first loop over the back humps in the badlands in 5 or 6 years. and loping out to the binoculars on Champ for the first time in a while. and the occasional trips to town from the Moose Willow. and the new bike trail. and that bike trail outside of Fort Collins where i remembered that i stopped considering myself a mt. bike rider years and years ago…it was even fun when i pushed my bike along the highway 4 miles with a flat…

and i trained on my mornings with Shank too. We never don’t go uphill. and i never don’t chug it to the top.

when the race was cancelled, i was bummed. i was ready to ride rain or shine or wyoming spring. Crit has been pumped about staying in a hotel with a pool for months! i was looking forward to the Team Neidens adventure of it.

and instead, we’ve been having the dreamiest Team Neidens adventure right here at home in the snow.

we got to make it to Elle’s graduation party!!! Yay! Fabulous! Wonderful! Terrific! Our lives would not be exactly this way if it weren’t for the incredible influence and care from Elle. She rocks our world inside and out and we were thrilled to be able to celebrate her most recent success.

and today we chilled pretty hard core. the fellas went out for a little side-by-side adventure. i painted. Crit made plans with Napkin…

and then we had dinner with our nearest and dearest. and it felt great. and there were Katrinaritas. and they were scrumptious. as were the tamales. but mostly the love.

We have been ricocheting all about lately: the desert, California, turkey hunting, Boulder,…and this weekend would have been the race in Casper. our schedule-sabotage is a welcome treat. slowing down this weekend to just be in the snow and the rain feels absolutley right. it is beautiful out every window every part of the day, and it is never the same.

we have taken the time to just be. to cuddle. to giggle. to wear the gorilla mask and jump out at each other. to make cards for people we love. to make juices. to make rice pudding. to show up with our dear friends.

i cannot fathom an alternate life that could beat this one.