Mile Hi - New Things

Today I have decided it is time to add a profile picture to my blog but I don't necessarily want my picture up there. I saw that my cousin, Juliette, had some sort of cartoon figure as her profile picture, so I thought it would be fun to make a cartoon or caricature out of myself as well. I did a Google search on the keywords 'free caricature from photo'. I looked at a few websites but used this website to cartoonize my profile  BeFunky . It only took minutes to complete. I guess this one isn't too cartoony or crazy, but I like it. It looks like a real artist painted me. Then I experimented with Simpsonizing (if you like the TV show The Simpsons) myself and Avatarizing (if you like the movie Avatar) myself.   Someday while I’m at a carnival or amusement park, I would also like to get a real live caricature artist to draw one for me too. What did you do today?

I'm pretty big on buying from  Groupon and other daily deals from websites these days.  I probably average buying about 2 per month.  Matt and I ate brunch at Off the Vine Coffee & Wine Bar  in Englewood with my Urban Dealight deal.  It cost $15 for breakfast with mimosas for 2.  We had a Green Chili Breakfast Burrito and a Smoked Salmon NY Style Bagel.  Both were very dealicious (ha ha get it) and a great way to start this sunny Sunday! What did you do today?

I went to the WVU alumni bar in Colorado today to watch WVU take on Rutgers.  The bar is called Hopper's Sports Grill in Wheat Ridge, CO.  Rutgers gave us a run for our money but we pulled it off winning 41 to 31.  While I was there I tried a draft of 90 Shilling Ale by Odell Brewing Co.  Since I wasn't sure if I had tried that before, I had a Full Sail Pale Ale by Full Sail Brewing Co when I got home.  It is a pretty good beer. What did you do today?

I watched a movie tonight after work called Hereafter . It released in 2010 with Matt Damon. It’s about the lives of 3 different people in 3 different countries that are affected by death and the afterlife in some way. They are all searching for answers and their lives intersect at some point.  I give it a 8 out of 10. What did you do today?

I believe I’ve carved a pumpkin or two when I was little and helped carved one in Chicago a few years ago, but I’ve never saved the seeds. The scraping and carving process is a lot of work and is a mess. The stringy stuff apparently is pointless but we separated the seeds from it. We scraped and scraped. Later, I roasted pumpkins seeds in the oven at 325F on a baking sheet for 30 minutes with worcestershire, oil, and seasoned salt. It is a good, healthy snack! What did you do today?

My apartment complex has a small fitness center with 3 ellipticals, 3 treadmills, 2 bikes, some circuit training, and some weights. This is not enough for me. As a Glendale resident, we can get discounted membership rates at Glendale Sports Center at Infinity Park right down the street. We have a free day passes there, so we decided to try it out. They have Technogym products (their ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes all have personal touch screens where you can watch TV, listen to the radio, or listen to you iPod!), a basketball court, plus fitness classes that are offered, mornings, afternoons, and evenings. You get all this for the bargain price of $8.00/month. The fitness center wasn't all that big but it also wasn't crowded at the peak hour of 6:00pm and at $0.27/day, you really can't lose! What did you do today?

It’s Taco Tuesday! So Matt and I tried a new Mexican place (new to us anyway) called Little Anita's New Mexican Foods  on South Colorado Boulevard.  We really wanted to try Denver's best white queso dip at Yolanda's Tacos, but realized they closed at 7:00 pm before we got there. Anita's has won many "Best of Denver" awards.  We had Chile Con Queso and Chips and a #4 Combination plate with a beef burrito, pork tamale, cheese enchilada, rice, and beans. The waitress also brought us 2 free sopaipillas for dessert.  I've never had a sopaipilla before. It was like a puffy, sweet dough. We ate it with honey. What did you do today?

Last week, when I was at the local Albertson’s grocery store, I saw a butternut squash on sale for $0.69/lb, so I decided to buy it since it seemed last a nice fall vegetable to eat. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it, so I went to www.allrecipes.com and did a recipe search by ingredient. The most popular recipes were for variations of Butternut Squash Soup, therefore I choice one ( this one ). The recipe called for butternut squash, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and chicken broth. It took about 10 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook. The weird part was putting the chunks in a blender, but it doesn't matter because it was delicious!

I watched a new movie today.  It is a little embarrassing to admit, but I watched The Craigslist Killer  on Lifetime Movie Network. It is based on a true story of Philip Markoff, the Boston University medical student who went on a murderous crime and gambling spree back in 2009. Crazy story, I remembering hering about it when it was happening. Apparently, after he was arrested, he committed suicide in jail in August 2010. You can read more about Markoff here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Markoff .

Arapahoe Basin has been open since October 13, 2011, therefore Matt and I went skiing today.  Only 1 lift open and 2 trails open, but it was still skiing and only October.  It was a sunny day about 50F and pretty windy. The snow was decent and we did 4 runs and then went back to Denver.

Today during the lunch hour, I attended a TRX Rip Training class at Englewood Recreation Center . "The TRX Rip-Trainer is a three dimensional (3-D) training tool that delivers intense core work through functional movement, promoting proper posture and core stability. You train every muscle in the body how to move with precision and power." Here is a picture I got from the internet: There were only about 6 people in the class. We all stood in a circle facing the base. Each of us had a bar attached to the base with a resistance cord. The trainer led us through variety of exercises in 45 minutes, mostly upper body but some abs and lower body. It was an interesting product and worked different muscles. Overall, I wasn't a big fan of the class, but I think I'll be sore tomorrow so it did the trick!

HELLO! Long time, no post. I’ve been really busy with work, grad school, and life. But I graduated in August so I’m back! Occasionally, I get bored of my daily routine (ex work 8 hours, work out, make dinner, watch a show, go to bed). Therefore, I’ve decided to challenge myself to try something new each day, 365 New Things (in terms of cooking, eating, drinking, reading, travelling, fitness, games, careers, good deeds, and more). I hope it will inspire others to be experimental and exploratory to try new things in your lives as well. I encourage you to read my blog, follow me in my adventures, and share your new things as well. I leave you with this expert from a post from Trying New Things, by Alex Lickerman ( www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/02/28/trying-new-things ). In summary, here’s a list of things I try to remind myself whenever I’m faced with trying something new: • Trying something new often requires courage. • Trying something new opens up the possibility for you to en