trial post with images

first off is the great man in my life, Mike:

Mike and I have been together for 3 years. (I get to go see him in AK in a week!) whay is he in Alaska you may ask? Well because he does this:

He Is a heli ski guide. And in case I haven't made it clear already we're both rather into the whole outdoor thing especially skiing.  I love being on top of mountains but I also love just being outdoors and having fun.  My winter break was spent wandering in the snow and doing stuff like this:

But when you spend a lot of time in snowy places you have to deal with the snow... often times on your car:

so thats my life in the winter (or at least what I strive for when not bogged down with school) but in the summer it is all about the rivers or desert.

Before I decided to come back to school I spent some time as a raft guide and had the amazing experience to spend 3 weeks on the Colorado in the Grand Canyon (I couldn't more highly recommend it!)

I love all things that involve water, from the frozen form of snow to rivers & oceans. One day I will own a boat and sail around the world, but for now I just practice.

Now it is starting to look like I am a thrill seeker but thats not entirely true, I also really enjoy this:

besides these activities I love, I also really enjoy the world and simply noticing circumstances.  I am fascinated by beauty.

and I love watching interactions:

Riki this adorable yellow lab was our dog but because she is a working avalanche dog she had to stay in utah when Mike and I moved out here.  Now that was a sad sad day.  Her she is investigating the halibut we were lucky enough to catch, umm yummy!

So besides the obsession with living outdoors I was actually an engineer once upon a time.  I always liked to call myself a pretend-gineer personally.  Here is the race car I worked on; an example of good group work!

But after graduation I decided to turn away from engineering and apply those problem solving skills elsewhere.  Here is the mountain lodge I worked in and managed for a couple of years.  We would close up for the winter which mean I got to head out to utah to ski (and meet Mike!)

When I moved on from the lodge in NH instead of traveling internationally (at the end of the season my employees spread to the wind from Tanzania, Botswana, Asia and Antarctica) i simply went to Alaska. It is foreign in its own way though. For one my job as a raft guide included loading rafts on a train everyday and getting dropped off in the wilderness at the foot of a glacier to then float out a river.

And amazingly enough this is about where i'll be this sumer.  Running a backcountry lodge with Mike.  It'll be a great respite and chance to consider life after a couple years of school and living in the fast paced world of silicon valley. 

So thats some about me, now I want to hear about you!

-emilie