My first blog (WOOOOOO!!!!!!)

Hi! If you're reading this, it most likely means you already know who I am, and are at least marginally interested in what I'm doing.  SO, currently I am in Stratton, VT taking my off term from Dartmouth (NOT dropping out) and focusing on becoming a super speedy ski racer.  I'm living in a nice little (little) apartment with Sophie Caldwell, Erika Flowers, and Jessie Diggins.  I've never blogged before, but I just finished up a creative writing course this past Summer at Dartmouth so hopefully that helps me out in this latest endeavor.

                                     Yummy Market in Maine!

I just got here last week, and it has been busy busy.  We were in Maine for a week training with the Maine Winter Sports Club, getting in some solid intensity and speed (and surfing and cooking of course).  Once we got back from Maine, we completed our 100K ski, which was a really long time.  6 hours.  I have officially given myself a sports bra tan line for the remainder of the winter, so at least I have a permanent souvenir from that experience.  It was really long, but Soph, Erika, Jessie and I managed to keep ourselves busy.  One of the topics we discussed was our spirit animals.  Sophie was a goat, Jessie was a chipmunk, Erika a gazelle, and I was a hybrid squirrel-honeybadger.  We were shocked when we realized that during the entire ski our future weddings didn't come up, not once.  In addition to fun conversations, we all participated in a "secret skier" gift exchange.  Andy gave me some sweet sweat bands, and I gave Skyler some sunscreen and some muffins!  For being 100K the ski went by pretty quickly.

                           Me sporting my new sweatbands from Andy

              Tanning in the scenic Shaw's grocery store parking lot in Maine

Gus kindly gave us an off day today, and to kick it off right Erika, Jessie and I whipped up some pumpkin-pecan-blueberry pancakes.  THEY WERE SO GOOD.  As part of my effort to keep myself entertained in between training sessions I have decided to work on some fundamental recipes in preparation for my future dream job of owning a bakery (the Rustic Muffin).  So far I've made three kinds of muffins--Zucchini blueberry, lemon raspberry, and peach banana.  With fall quickly approaching I've started looking at some more fallish recipes, primarily those involving apples and pumpkin (and chocolate of course).

                       Raspberry Lemon Muffins for Skyler's Secret Ski Gift!

To finish the day up we all went over to Andy Newell's hand-built cabin for some nice labor day burgers, quinoa salad courtesy of Paddy Caldwell and his roommate Jordan, and a nice broccoli salad made with CHIOBANI (AH--we literally eat like 6 containers per day).  For dessert we had some sunflower cookies courtesy of Sophie (who knew nut-less cookies could taste good?!?) and the classic Lily Caldwell brownies (so delicious, every time, they never fail).  And then I decided to start a blog, and so that's happening.

Andy showing us how to grill burgers in his super cute overalls

On the docket for tomorrow is a nice easy run, and then I'm not really sure what we are doing the rest of the week but it will be lots of fun.  All I know is I am pretty tired, and can't wait to make some muffins tomorrow (and then foodgawk for awhile to find other yummy things to try).

hugz and kissez

PS Mom I hope you enjoy this!