Welcome!

Hey Everybody!

This is going to be my attempt to stay connected to many of you without the use of Facebook or things of that sort. My goal is to update how I am/what I have been doing at least once a month so if you are at all interested, you can check up on me! You know you're curious! Follow along with the Adventures of Zach in the CO.

I officially pulled into Boulder on Saturday, August 15. Our apartment is very cool. We live just off of one of the main streets (but you hardly ever hear traffic) and many of the bike paths. In fact, everything we've needed so far has been within biking distance. We have 1.5 baths (Trish gets the .5 to herself), 2 bedrooms, a huge living room, decent kitchen, tiny dining room, and a sweet balcony. Our complex comes complete with a pool, tennis court, volleyball court, and playground. We opted to live away from college housing for a quieter, more residential neighborhood and cheaper rent, so it is about 3 miles to downtown. It has been a process, but our apartment is like 98% set. That feels good. We just got real internet (read: no longer stealing from someone) on Monday, have a weekend subscription to the local paper (for coupons and such), and are talking about getting Netflix once income is available. I'll try and include some pictures of the place in a future post.

I do not have a job yet because my Colorado teaching license has not come in yet. When I applied back in May, they told me I'd have it by early August and when I called last week they thought by the end of this week. It sucks. As soon as I get that I can substitute teach all I want, which will hopefully be every day...otherwise I'll be looking for other supplementary jobs. In fact, I already applied to be a quizmaster for a local bar trivia organization. There are actually 2 music jobs in Boulder that have not been filled as they are still going through resumes, so there is still a chance I could get hired as a "real" teacher. In the meantime, I worked for the catering company my cousin, Nicole works for this past weekend. 2 weddings, one Saturday, one Sunday. It wasn't "fun" exactly, but it was a nice paycheck, good leftover food I was able to take home, and it was good to get out of Boulder for a while. They are going to add me to their lists which means when a job opens up, they will send out an e-mail and the first X number of people to reply get the job, so that could also be nice part-time work.

To fill the extra hours working would normally fill, I have been organizing the apartment, biking and exploring town, and playing pick-up frisbee and soccer with random (mostly older) guys. I joined a Sunday afternoon frisbee league that starts in 2 Sundays which I am very excited for. Trish and I have gone downtown a few times, but with no income, we have tried to be real cheap. Also, we think many people assume we are a couple so Trish is developing t-shirts. I hope mine says, "I'm not with Stupid" or at least "We are NOT a Couple." She has started to develop some really cool friends at Naropa and my cousin Ashley has introduced us to a few people who have since introduced us to a few more people and that is the way it is going so far. I'm going to try and talk to more people around the apartments in the coming days. We have gone hiking a few times and I have officially climbed 1 mountain! Hopefully many more will come. When I get some money, I would like to invest in some climbing gear and check out some of the climbing areas (indoor and out). I have also been writing songs and organizing/trying to remember old ones. It is a personal goal of mine to do an open mic night, a poetry reading, and be a street musician for a night, so practice makes perfect I guess.

On the list of more ridiculous things I've done, the Muddy Buddy is way up there. The very next morning after I moved in, our friend Matt and I competed in a 6ish mile bike and run around the Boulder Reservoir. I ran about 3.5 miles then biked another 3 while doing obstacles along the way and finishing by crawling through a huge mud-pit. Trish has some great pictures on Facebook if you haven't seen them yet. Here is the link to a video the local paper made. You should notice a familiar face/yellow, high socks around the 2 minute mark. Muddy Buddy! This should give you a better idea of what we were dealing with.


Trish has been doing a great job, not only of putting up with me, but of keeping up with me. She has tried all sorts of new foods and has been very upbeat about biking everywhere and going to random places I'd like to explore. It's been great.


The second goal of this blog is to serve as a forum for you and I to share music. I hope to make a new mixtape once a month and mail it out to most of you (if you would like to receive a CD, but have not yet, let me know and I'll add you to the list). As many of you know, it is a passion of mine to find new artists and new music and I want to share this with as many of you as possible. I am going to post the track listing for the past 3 mixtapes I've made so you, the listener, will know exactly what and who you are listening to. If you like a song (or hate a song), please please reply and let me know. Tell me of an artist you found that you like...or of one you've always liked...or of one you've never heard of, but think you might like. Ideally, many of you will reply to me and I can post your thoughts on songs and we can start a whole web of music recommending and sharing and such. I think it has a lot of potential and could be very fun, but that all depends on you, the listener, and how often you decide to get back to me with how you liked the music. Kind of like Pandora, but specifically for my friends/family. I hope this works! So, sit back and enjoy your new music! Also, call me if you'd like! Or write me, that's fun too! Talk to you all soon!