The Birkie fever has passed. Until next year.

Well, the post-Birkie blues have set in. It's Monday and I'm back in Houghton, after a weekend full of friends, family, skiing, food and relaxation. I would have done anything to get one more day at the cabin with everyone, but this is real life and unfortunately, I'm already back to reality.

Me and my friend Adam took off from Houghton to drive to my parent's cabin on Friday afternoon after class. It took us about 5 hours, after the time change and after picking up our bibs in Hayward. We both get really cranky when we're hungry, so once dinner time rolled around, I turned up the music and we both went silent for a good hour or so, until we arrived to a warm cabin filled with friends, family, dogs and of course, carbs.

After wiping the last of the alfredo from my plate with my 7th piece of bread, I cleared my place and headed into the "wax cave" with Adam and my dad and his friend to get to low down on the ski wax situation.

Both me and Adam classic skied the Birkie, since we're young and attend school in the frozen  tundra of the UP which provides us with more than enough snow to train, whereas my dad and his friend both skied the Korteloppet, which is half of the Birkie, because MN was very snow-deprived this season (again). In addition, my good friend Lewis skated his first Birkie, and his dad did the Korte as well. Even my own mom skied her first race in a while! She classiced the Prince Hauken, a 12k race on part of the Birkie trail. Go mom!

So once we had everything ironed in, brushed off and corked in, I hit the hay for the 4:30 wake up call the next morning. As always, 4:30 comes way too fast, but I was so excited to ski my 2nd Birkie that I popped right outta bed and immediately got ready for the big day.

We ate our oatmeal, bananas and bagels, then took off around 5:30 for Cable. Once there, we got a ll situated and me and Adam got to the start in time for his wave one start and my wave two start.

Me and dad at the start

Our whole family (minus the pups) raced this year!

Sooner or later, around 8:25, I was off into the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin with 12,000 others.  For the first 15 or 20 km, I won't lie, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it. But once I hit 00 (the halfway point), I felt much better, and kept trucking all the way to mainstreet Hayward for the grand finale finish.

So many skiers in one area...

I forgot how many people are lined up along Hayward's main street. I also forgot how long 54km really is, and how good bananas taste when your body is put to the test. What a fun day. I completed the race in just under 5 hours, about 10 minutes slower than last year. So I was happy. Everyone else finished without any medical problems, and my mom finished too! Everyone was exhausted, but happy, as always.

A glimpse of the finish down main street. So amazing.

All the racers!

The rest of Saturday consisted of nursing the sore muscles (my hip flexors felt like they were going to rip apart, and still do), sleeping, eating, and more sleeping. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend! And with that, counting down the days until Birkie 2014. 363 more to go...

More aftermath!

I thought it may be good to post some more pictures of the recent snow storm we've had up here. They've been floating around Facebook of course, so I chose a few to share here.

It's a little small and blurry, but that is a car on M-28 that has discovered a drift mid-highway.

The highway actually closed down on Wednesday I believe. For good reasons too.

This picture was taken in South Range. Just a guy out snowblowing his driveway I guess.

Anyways, Happy Friday, I made it through the hectic week. Well, almost. The American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wisconsin is tomorrow and this is a national holiday in the Kirby family. I will be leaving this afternoon (100% chance of snow at noon might I add....) with my friend Adam to meet some 10 or 12 of our friends at my parent's cabin for the big race. I cannot wait to eat half my weight in my mom's pasta to carb up for the 54 kilometer race ahead. And see my dogs. And my family and friends. Pictures will follow I'm sure!

Uhh, is this week over yet?

Well, it's safe to say that we've sure had a change of pace here at Michigan Tech this past week. And yes, it's only Wednesday, ok but it literally feels like Saturday to me. Sure, blame it on the fact that I haven't had class for almost 2 days due to the worst snow storm the western UP has seen in 17 years (as the weatherman told me last night) that dumped close to 3 feet of snow on us in 48 hours. But seriously. Where do I begin.

Well, Monday was normal to say the least. Just another Monday in my book, it consisted of rolling outta bed around 10, bumming around until the worst class ever at noon, then giving a tour to 2 very lovely but sorta awkward families until 4. Then came the homework, dinner, meetings, yeah yeah yeah. Oh, and the rumors started flying about this "huge storm" that was gonna hit, but I just assumed it would be another week long lake effect snow event.

Tuesday was a different story. My 8 AM was cancelled because our professor told us to attend the Career Fair on campus later that day, so that was a good start. Slept in a bit, climbed out of bed to check my e-mail, seeing that my web design class got cancelled due to the weather. I then looked out the window to see if this was really necessary and what I saw made me discouraged to go to my 9:30 programming class. 40+ mph winds, blowing snow, falling snow, bent trees and close to zero visibility is what I saw. Awesome. Grabbed my scarf (thanks mama, I know you're probs the only one reading this!), hat, mittens, iPod, jacket, mukluks and whatnot and headed out into the storm after a hearty breakfast consisting of Honey Nut Cheerios and OJ.

The walk to class was one of the worst. I couldn't see a thing because the wind was whipping my face so hard, and there was a moment when I literally couldn't see 2 feet in front of my face so I had to stop walking until it calmed down. Cars were stuck, students were unrecognizable in their parkas and ski goggles/masks, and snow was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. But I did make it safely to programming. Yipee.

After programming is when the week took a new turn. I received a text saying "Michigan Tech is closed due to severe weather today. Classes are cancelled after noon today. Career Fair is still on." This is a rare occurrence here in Houghton as I've been told, so naturally everyone was stoked about it. I went on with my day, hit the Career Fair, got some work done and so on. Went to bed expecting to sleep in until my class at noon the next day.

I woke up at 6 AM this morning to my phone buzzing under my pillow. I rolled over in my cocoon of blankets to open the text message and squint through the dark at the blinding screen to barely make out the blurry words "Michigan Tech is closed due to severe weather today. Classes are cancelled." I rolled back over and fist pumped the air. This meant I had a whole day to myself and one assignment and possibly 2 hours of work. The Huskies of MTU finally scored a snow day.

So the day went on as a typical weekend-type day. Slept in, got up, ate breakfast while watching Kelly and Michael in DisneyWorld (jealous) then did laundry, cleaned my room, shoveled out my car (see below...) and got ready for my 2 o clock tour. The weather was slightly better surprisingly, still cold and windy though. After my tour, me and 2 of my roommates regressed into 10 year olds and went to go jump in the snowdrifts. More pics of that...

That's the front of my car...ooh wait...

I managed to fall through that hole on the right into an abyss 

gigglin'

notice the lightpost...

Oh, and here's a picture from last Sunday! Apt 305 adventured into the Keweenaw

ANYWAYS.

After enjoying some hot chocolate in the dining hall, we all went back to the apartment for a bit to hang out. That didn't last long. Soon enough, we were jolted back into our boots and jackets by the screeching fire alarm, and we trudged outside once again, assuming it was another annoying drill.

10 minutes later, 2 firetrucks and 5 police cars later, we were still out there, teeth chattering and minds wandering. Turns out, a pipe froze in the workout room, and burst everywhere, flooding the ground and the first floors. So, we were homeless for 2 hours, but everything worked out in the end and now I'm happily enjoying some homemade tomato soup and wondering what the rest of the week will bring..........

Taking a breath

And Winter Carnival 2013 comes to an end. The friends and families leave, the activities die down, and reality starts back up again. I can't help but feel a little sad knowing that this fun and relaxing week has ended and I have to wake up for class once again tomorrow.

Winter Carnival 2013 is one heck of a unique experience here in Houghton, MI. The all-nighter on Wednesday was like nothing I've ever experienced, with most of the school's population all on campus together, watching the snow fall on the dance floor as we all dance and laugh the night away. It's hard to find another university that puts on a 4 day long weekend for its students just to celebrate winter, friendships and snow. Here's a glimpse of campus that night - that's me, my roomie Chelsea and her boyfriend Sean.

Speaking of snow, there's an annual theme to the snow sculptures that are built all around campus that different student orgs work on. This year it was super heros and villans. Here's a few pics:

Anyways, after all the chaos and fun of the past 4 nights died down and I rolled out of bed around noon or so today, I didn't think twice to get suited up and go for a ski to calm myself down and get back to reality before I began my homework and such. I literally skied for 90 minutes, and then stopped in the middle of the woods, and took a deep breath of the warm 30 degree air. I realized how awesome this week was, and how excited I am for next year already.

After spending the long weekend with my closest friends up here and making new friends, I look back on it and truly feel grateful and happy for my decision to attend school up here. I've met so many amazing people and truly hope that they will stay in my life forever. I heart da Yoop.

And yes, with a busy week ahead and a busier year ahead, I'm already counting down the hours till Friday and the days till Winter Carnival 2014. Best week ever.

Happy Winter Carnival week

Well, here goes another post on winter activities! What a surprise, I know. This past week I have had quite a lot of adventures, good and not so good.

To start, I skied my first race of the season last Saturday on the 26th of January in Marquette. The Noque takes skiers from Ishpeming to Marquette on a beautiful and narrow trail through the woods and across lakes. The recent snow fall made the woods absolutely gorgeous, and at times I forgot I was racing a challenging 50km race with a bunch of Midwestern geezers.

Me and my friend Adam drove down from Houghton to Marquette, where we parked then shuttled to Ishpeming. Then we proceeded to ski 50km to Marquette where we found our mutual friend from high school, Lewis. Here's a picture of our exhausted and accomplished selves post-race, hats and all:

Next event of the week, Tech finally decided to plow the parking lot where my little Toyota Avalon hangs out when I'm not using it. I mean, they could have taken action about 2 or 3 weeks earlier BEFORE the week-long blizzards and random rain storms hit, but that's cool. Long story short, everyone had to move their cars to a different lot, which is difficult when they're all sitting on a layer of sheer ice under all that snow.

I already knew I'd need help before I even started digging my car out. This was only confirmed when I found this lovely scene waiting for me in Lot 17:

 So I suddenly became a helpless female and decided to take advantage of the 75% male population here at MTU to get some car help. In the end, my two very generous and helpful friends hooked me up to a truck and pulled me off of the ice rink. I owe them.

Next, me and my two buds up here woke up this past Saturday morning to find fresh powder and a rare glimpse of sun. So we decided to go for a little adventure in the woods of the Tech Trails! Here's what we found:

Anyways, today marks the start of Winter Carnival week! The snow statues are going up and the broomball continues. Our team is still undefeated and hopes to go all the way. I am excited to post more   next week! Until then, happy Monday and Happy Winter Carnival!