Do not drink and blog??

So I'm deserted for 6 days. My husband is in the desert, more precisely Bootleg Canyon, Nevada (near Vegas) to ride DH bikes for the week/end. He's hanging out, riding bikes, and drinking beers for a week with a bunch of dudes... and kinda the most socially inept, least likely to hit on a girl if their lives depended on it dudes... ever. So the fact that he's gone is comforted by the fact that he may or may not actually even come in contact with a female between when he left and when he gets home, besides the inevitably bitchy gas station attendant who thought Bootleg Canyon was the bar in Coyote Ugly, not a middle-of-nowhere town in the desert.
Moving on.

Long time no post! I've actually had blogger-guilt about not posting (to my two readers out there, one whom I'm married to and will judge me greatly for this post). But seriously, why start a blog and then not post? (I'm talking about you, Courtney). But in my own defense, since I dont see anyone standing up for me, I've been busy!

We spent New Years in Chicago. What a cool city! The art, architecture, food & bars, and the people. Who knew people stuck living in the cold, windy, forgotten part of the U.S.A. would be so friendly? In all seriousness, Chicago is cleaner and nicer than San Francisco, no contest. The architecture also blows SF out of the water, figuratively speaking of course. We loved it. We spent so many hours just walking around, window shopping and admiring. And feeling like we were a part of it all. We saw so much cool stuff (but lets face it, all 2 (3??) of you are facebook friends, so you can see pictures there.) But my favorite moments had to include the comedy show we saw at Second City Comedy Club, and the moment we had wandering around a newly discovered neighborhood- we had just stepped inside a coffee shop for an espresso and a brownie, and small light snowflakes started falling right outside the window we were seated at. A thin, blonde woman with bright colored clothes and not enough of them (think: Californian visiting for New Years) looked around like she'd never seen snow before. Automatically she started posing in the snow, and her man-friend documented the moment on the trusty Canon. It was fun to watch... I felt like her on the inside, but I also loved being the casual observer from the warm coffee shop.... Anyways, Second City. John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and Bill Murray are just some of the comedian/nes who found first moments of fame on this stage. The show we saw was just a compilation of skits, but it had us laughing good and hard for 3 hours. We were downright pissed when it was over. Please dont consider skipping this if you find yourself in Chicago.

Our New Years Eve was fun and silly. We spent it with one of my best friends, and a few other friends, but mostly as a couple. We were at a fancy-shmancy Chicago hotel with exceedingly expensive tickets and "top shelf" drinks all night. We dressed the part and we started out as demure as could be. But long drink lines and high heels kept the classy at bay. Scott actually had to order 2 whiskeys on the rocks and 2 beers all at once just to make the line worth it. The countdown was lame and anti-climactic, the "classy" and expensive party got completely out of control and decidedly unclassy, and I lost my heels after about an hour because who the fuck really needs to torture themselves like that. Bare feet, downright drunkeness, and absolute classlessness ensued. And it was awesome. Scott and I danced the night away like it was 2012 1994, and it was rad. Welcome 2012, you dont know what hit you. Oh wait, it was our dance moves.

Congratulations if you've made it this far through my post. I worked 25 of the last 36 hours, and I've had 2 Ruthless Rye IPAs (thank you Sierra Nevada for your newest brew).

In serious news: I take my English test next weekend. I feel like I should be studying for a $200 test, but yet every time I look into it, I still find that all I need to know is a "proficient understanding" of the English language. WELL. If one cant discern from this eloquently scribed post, I undoubtedly have an unparalleled understanding of the English language. Ha.

So Yes, we're still planning on moving to New Zealand. No, we don't have any "updates" or "dates" set. Its a slow, slllloooooow process. We're excited about it, but there's so much time between now and when we actually leave, or even find out if we can go, that we have a lot else packed in.

Ie: I signed up for the Spring Thaw DH race again! (See "my first race" from last year). I took the liberty of moving myself up to Cat 2 from Cat 3, as I am better now than I was then, and well, I felt like it. Also I'm going to race at Sea Otter, which is the biggest (also most financially exploitative) race in California if not the West Coast. So, May and April respectively for those races. That should also roughly be the time I start hearing back form the job hunters in NZ. Things with the immigration process wont seem so slow if we keep busy here.

And lastly, my hubs may be partying it up in the desert right now with arguably decidedly the stinkiest guys I know, but I have my own tricks up my sleeve. My BFF and I are headed to Colorado at  the end of the month for some good old fashioned ski week...er... rock climbing, hiking, and sun bathing if Mother Nature doesnt kick her ass in to gear. But regardless, we're going to have a sweet time, chilling in Breckenridge, CO all snow-bunnied out. Watch out Breckenridge, you better stock up on wine. And tequila.