Moose Twins and a Job!

June has gotten off to a great start. The weather has been everything but what's forecasted (so we've had lots of sunny, beautiful days) and training is going really well. With Kelsey (my new training buddy and teammate) gone off to far away places I've been on my own a bit more but it's what I'm used to so I don't mind too much. Casey, Brian, and Russell are around for a bit so at least the shooting workouts aren't too lonely. We've also been lucky enough to have Nick and Gabby, two cross country skiers who join us when they're home from college in summer, join us occasionally. Gabby just graduated from Bates….huge CONGRATULATIONS to her!

Casey, Gabby, Nick, and Seth enjoying popsicles after the first hot track workout of the summer.

***Remember, you can click on any of the photos to view them all larger in a slideshow format. 

A couple shots from a road ride I took earlier this week...

My biggest news and life alteration is probably the JOB(!!!) I got two weeks ago. Kelsey and I are both going to be waitressing a bit this summer at the Lakeview Restaurant in St. Agatha. I've already started and this week I'll be on my own (no more training wheels) for the first time! We have two private parties this weekend so hopefully I've learned enough to fly solo!

In other excitement….this family came through our yard while we were eating breakfast on the porch earlier this week. So awesome!

These past two weeks I've been working on some ski technique ideas and getting good and comfortable on the range again. I can happily say that both missions are going really well.

 

Working on range procedure during combo workouts….that means a lot of one-shots (taking just a single shot each time on the range)!

Afternoon precision session in the sun….

I've opened my standing position ever so slightly and so far it's a much more relaxed stance. Notice how my left foot is slightly behind my right in the picture….that's what I'm working on instead of having my feet lined up side-by-side and perpendicular to the targets. 

The summer's first mountain/cross biking adventure with Seth last weekend. We've had amazing weather up here and I've been taking a ton of pictures because everything is so lush and green. It's gorgeous! 

Seth and I took a detour through some farm roads on our way home from a track workout earlier this week and I grabbed these shots quickly so as to avoid being carried off by black flies. The pond is Daigle Pond and the fields are the top of Cemetery Hill. 

Last week I decided it was time to conquer some of Eva's fur and help her shed a bit more quickly. I brushed her for probably close to a half hour (much to her dismay) and you can't even tell it happened. So much kitty fur! When I finished I stuck the fur pile in a pot with the brushes and came back shortly thereafter to find her pulling it out of pot to play with it (see bottom left photo in the collage)!

Some crafting: bullet earrings in Out There colors (the orange ones around the right side) that are now on their way to Wisconsin! 

My new relaxation station….although with the hot sun and clear skies we've been having I've had to hide in the shade more than I like! I won't complain about sun though...

The latest additions to my hat collection...

I've been harvesting some of our neighbor Clifford's rhubarb lately. After three rounds I think I've settled on raspberry rhubarb as my favorite of the sauce options. 

 

Project complete: When I was at home earlier this spring I scavenged some old fencing boards from my uncle's house and cut them (including learning to use the saw) to create this. It came north to Fort Kent with me still in pieces and has since been screwed together, painted and hung. Now we have a fun place to display all of our random and mismatched coffee/tea mugs! 

I ran this trail along the river's edge here in Fort Kent with Seth last week. Right now it has these tiny blue flowers with yellow centers all along the trail's edge, making it absolutely picturesque to run along. 

Smartwool sent me some socks to test out….I think I almost ruined them on their first adventure when I slogged through shin-deep mud in the woods with Kelsey. 

Luckily they passed the sniff test from Eva so they're approved for more adventures.

I just found out that I'm mostly likely going to get a boot sponsorship from Alpina this year so I can retire my VERY TIRED (but well-loved) roller ski boots soon. 

Thank you Alpina….my feet truly appreciate your support!

What's next? 

Another 10 days in the County and then I head home to NH for a quick visit packed full with a trip to see the Phantom of the Opera in Boston with my mom, Kid's Day on the Farm at Beans & Greens and hopefully some quality time catching up with my parents! 

Happy June! 

Busy Days in May

My first two weeks back in the County have been packed full of activity despite the lighter training load that we're still enjoying. The weather up here has been decidedly wet but with mild temperatures most days, the training has been quite manageable. So far Kelsey (click here to visit her blog) and I have only managed one road bike adventure (I'm not too fond of riding wet roads) and the mountain bikes have remained on hold until the trails are a bit dryer. Maybe, if the weather men have more days like today where rain was forecast but it's been quite sunny, we'll break them out later this week. Unfortunately (for me…not for her) I'm about to lose my new training buddy to a family trip so the muddy-bike christening for this season might be a solo event. 

Here are some highlights from the past two weeks in photos, because I believe my ramblings are more interesting with some form of illustration!

Kelsey and I took advantage of light training hours and made a trip down to Freeport for a Fast & Female event hosted by LLBean. We brought one MWSC devo athlete, Anya, down with us and met up with more of our crew at the event. 

MWSC representing with Kikkan and her crystal globe!

MWSC's Kelsey (tutu) and Kaitlyn (recently named to new MWSC board and former MWSC athlete - to the right of Kelsey) getting their slalom skiing on as we "do the Winter Olympics" outside the store during the afternoon session. Our morning session was quite interesting as pouring rain kept us indoors so we literally ran around inside the LLBean store. Boy did we ever get some strange looks! 

MWSC devo athlete Anya pretending she's a skeleton racer.

Doing the Winter Olympics with Kikkan outside LLBean. 

Kikkan might need to work on her biathlon standing position a little bit...

Obviously I was really enjoying myself or something quite funny just happened...

The crew after the afternoon session...

MWSC junior athlete Kaelyn was PSYCHED to get Kikkan's autograph! 

Although spring is finally here and the weather is starting to get warmer, I'm stuck in crochet mode with growing plans for the coming fall and winter. Kelsey and I are locating places around the County to sell our hats so we've been working on coming up with a name and logo to work under. 

 

These hats are headed for customers and fans of Out There Biathlon through the Out There store, based in Wisconsin. So far we just have the store-colored hats listed but we're working on a custom option where customers can get in touch with me to create a one-of-a-kind hat just for them! 

Two one-of-a-kinders left over from the winter….

And the rest of the creations that I've got hanging out in my closet till next winter…or until they sell! 

Kelsey and I came up with the name 'Foxy Toppers' for our hats…it's a trendy name and we could sell other things under the same label if we get to that point. Right now we're thinking about making up a bunch of bullet earrings to sell too…who wants a pair? 

Studs made from spent rounds...

The design process for our 'Foxy Toppers' logo...

And the printed version of the final fox in black and white and with a little orange. 

With words! 

More craftiness happened after the logos were done. My mom needed new earrings to fill my display in Beans & Greens (my family's business) so Kelsey helped me come up with these: 

And photo cards (95 of them!) that also made their way to Beans & Greens:

The kitty antics have continued in fine form since I've been back. With the warm weather we've been letting them sun themselves in the porch (enclosed so they can't escape and get hit by the jacked-up trucks that rip past our house). Eva likes, no LOVES, the carpet right by the sliding door for some reason. She also found a perch on top of my computer bag one day. I think she was pretty comfortable until she had to remove her fluffy tail from the velcro strap she'd laid on. 

 

And the two kitties enjoying their view from the window in our dining room where they can keep an eye on me (and my breakfast) and what's going on outside: 

Kelsey, Seth and I had a make-your-own sushi night last week…I think we did pretty well. 

Our garden has grown (and continues to grow almost daily) this spring with the addition of an almost-new rototiller to our collection of yard equipment. I think we've probably already doubled in size. So far we've got peas, beans, carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, broccoli, beets, cabbage, brussels sprouts, zucchini, and squash in the ground. 

Seth testing out the new toy…don't worry, it wasn't as dark as it appears in this shot. 

Yes, when we went to get veggie seeds there were flowers too and I couldn't resist a few more flower photos to add to my collection. 

Gorgeous view from one of my favorite hills in the Saint John Valley. The shot was taken on New Canada road in Wallagrass. Everything is turning that lovely shade of spring green…I LOVE it. 

Another of my recent creations that has yet to be completed but it's getting closer every day. This is destined to be a mug shelf for all of our miss-matched coffee mugs from races and places. Tomorrow I get to pick out a paint color…right now I'm leaning toward Cucumber Green.

Seth and Kelsey duel it out in Kube…right here Seth is about to claim one of many wins on the evening and assure Kelsey and I that he will continue to be the defending champion. 

We'll see about that. 

And last but not least….this gave me a good laugh. Can you find Eva? Not sure how she got there but she was quite pleased with herself. 

Check back soon for more pictures of training….I promise to bring my camera along more often, even if it means I have to resort to a ziplock bag in the rain (No, I don't have an iPhone, otherwise I'd have life-proof pictures from everyday!)

Happy Spring!