I took all of last week off of blogging and now have a fun update about my new job and some mountain things!

First: NEW JOB.

After 5 months of personal training I decided that it wasn’t a suitable long-term career for me. I loved helping people and working with all my awesome clients, but I am too Type A to handle the fluctuating schedule. Having a routine is very important to me (along with stability, salary, and benefits), so I decided to take a look at what other opportunities were out there… and I found one!

I switched back to my Supply Chain roots and am now the Demand Planner at Noosa Yoghurt. I am really excited about it! I just started last week and I already know that I’m going to love it. Noosa is a small, growing company and I am their first official Demand Planner. It will be a challenging role, but I’ll learn a ton and will be surrounded by fun, successful, talented people.

It was hard to leave my co-workers and clients at 24 Hour Fitness, but they were all very supportive of my decision and excited for me and this opportunity.

Second: MOUNTAIN THINGS.

My last day at 24 Hour Fitness was February 19, so I had the week of February 22 off and spent as much time in the mountains as I could. Since the weather was so beautiful I went skiing and hiking.

Skiing in Breckenridge

I went skiing at Breckenridge (for the first time) with my friends Elizabeth and Christina on the Saturday after my last day at the gym. We hit the road at 6:00 am, which put us in Breckenridge early enough to grab breakfast at The Crown, a cute little cafe downtown. We were up on the mountain to hit our first run around 9:45 am and worked our way over to Peak 6, where it was a little bit less crowded. It was a gorgeous 45-degree bluebird day, so we had such incredible views. The whole day was such a blast! I can’t wait to go back to Breckenridge again.

Skiing in Keystone

After such an awesome day at Breckenridge I wanted to hit the slopes again as soon as possible, so I went up to Keystone by myself on that Wednesday. Going during a weekday is a lot different from going during a weekend. At times I felt like I had the whole mountain to myself! I think the longest I had to wait in line for a chair lift was approximately 50 seconds, which was awesome.

I wasn’t sure if I would like going skiing by myself, but I’m so glad I went. It was nice to go up and down the mountain, explore different runs, and not have to keep track of anyone but myself. However, I think it is still more fun to go with friends.

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park

I’ve done minimal hiking in Colorado so far, which is such a shame. Since we’ve had some gorgeous weather here my boyfriend and I decided to take a day trip to Estes Park to go on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that Thursday. We went on a hike to Lake Helene, which was a 6.5-mile out-and-back trail. However, since it had recently snowed we lost part of the trail about 1.5 miles in. Obviously we weren’t going to turn back, so we followed someone else’s footsteps for a while and blazed our own trail through shin-deep (sometimes knee-deep) snow for the remainder. It was definitely an adventure and the views were totally worth it!

On the way back to the trailhead we found the actual trail. This was super exciting because our feet were frozen and we were super hungry. It’s amazing how much trudging through snow on a mountain will drain you! Plus, we didn’t bring any snacks and weren’t equipped with the proper foot gear (boots and snow shoes would have been ideal). Lessons learned. By finding the trail we shaved about an hour off of our time on the way back.

In total I think we walked closer to 8 miles rather than 6.5 miles, which was fine by me – more time in the mountains and more of a workout! Afterwards we got a well-deserved burger and beer at a local place (Grubsteak) in Estes Park. It was a great day!

Hiking in Eldorado Canyon Park

Since I had such a great time on Thursday I decided to on another hike on Friday. This time, I went solo. One of my clients had told me about the Eldorado Canyon Trail in Eldorado Springs, CO, so I went there. This trail was another 7-mile out-and-back, but was much different from the Lake Helene hike. There was less snow (thank goodness), more climbs and declines, and a different type of scenery. Since both hikes were during the week and it is not really hiking season quite yet, there were very few people out on the trails. It was so peaceful.

The trail ended at the bottom of the canyon where there was a little stream. I stopped there to eat a quick snack (apple & beef jerky) and soak everything in before turning around to head back.

Similar to skiing, I’m so glad I went on a hike by myself and had a wonderful time! But man, after two days in a row of hiking, my legs were feeling it (in all the best ways).

Needless to say

the last two weeks have been quite the experience: leaving a job, exploring the mountains, and starting a new job. So crazy! I feel like I can finally settle into a routine here in Denver and I am so, so, sooooo excited about it.

My blog posts may be a bit sporadic over the next few weeks while I adjust to the new schedule and figure when/where/how to fit everything in, but I’m sure I’ll find my balance soon.

PS – Have you tried Noosa?? It is SO GOOD and I’m not just saying that because I work there!