tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

So, we got another huge snowstorm this weekend. I’m always shocked when the weathermen get it right. Luckily we didn’t lose power (yet) and I’ve got a lot of knitting to do and MacGyver to watch so I’m prepared to be stuck inside for a while. Except of course to shovel and take Illy out for walks.

Who knew she would be such a snow dog? She loves it!

Not many other dogs got out to the field so we had to forge our own way.

It wasn’t easy.

She only looks sad because she knows I’m tired and we’re heading home.

Not even a deer track in sight!

What else to do while we’re snowed in? Try my hand at latte art, of course. My very first sort of heart:

We headed out for our annual January trip to Snowshoe on Saturday morning. We really should have really paid more attention to the weather reports and left Friday, but we didn’t want to pay for another night, and Saturday is kind of a waste anyway since the slopes are so busy during the day. So we left around 10am, after it had already started snowing. 66 wasn’t too bad, but by the time we hit 55, things had gone rapidly downhill.

The roads hadn’t been plowed or treated at all, and we were heading into the mountains. Oy.

The 4 Runner handles pretty well in the snow, but Aaron was still taking it easy. I think we hit a high of 25mph twice. And what was scariest about it was the idiots flying past us – I’m really shocked we didn’t see any of them flipped over later on.

It was a tense ride, but Aaron had it all pretty much under control. Then we came to what I like to call The Death Slide. We were going downhill, on a completely snow covered road with barely any traction, coming up on a turn, and while there was a guardrail, the other side of the guardrail was a steep drop into trees and I think a creek. Aaron was crawling along in Low, and we started to slide. The steering wheel was turning, but we were headed straight for the guardrail. And the cliff. I jokingly told him he was making me nervous, but when he came back with, “I’m making myself nervous!” I knew we were in trouble.** I was knitting at the time (a lace pattern, no less) and I started shaking so badly my needles started banging together (I still haven’t gone back to look at that row and see how many mistakes I made).  I noticed my fingers had turned white and I wasn’t ‘breathing’ so much as ‘panting in terror’. I could only picture us careening over the edge of the guardrail, tumbling down the hill, and coming to a rest at the bottom of the mountain. The empty, deserted mountain where we would probably not be found for days.

Suddenly the tires started to grip and we started turning away from the guardrail and back on to the road. A little too much back on to the road and into the other lane, but luckily no cars were coming the other way.

Needless to say, Aaron got us safely through The Death Slide, and then another one, this time a right hand turn with no guard rail. Finally we made it down the mountain (passing quite a few cars struggling and skidding to get up) and we stopped for much needed pit stop.

**Aaron claims we were never in any real danger, and I completely overreacted by almost going into a panic induced cardiac arrest, but what can I say. I suddenly realized how much I liked being alive and I wasn’t sure how long that was going to last!

The roads were slightly better when we crossed over into West Virginia, but we still had to go pretty slowly. Our 3.5 hour trip took almost 6.5 hours. But, we made it! We checked into our Rimfire Junior Studio (241 for future reference) and headed over to Silver Creek for some night boarding.

The conditions were really great, and it wasn’t really crowded at all. It was a good way to unwind after that drive. We had a few good hours and then called it a night.

We didn’t get out until about 11 on Sunday, which was nice because everyone else was heading in for lunch. There was lenty of snow, cold enough to be fast but not so cold we were miserable.

Aaron rode the Arbor park board and Flows I got him for Christmas last year, and now that he had his bindings set up better, he really loved the board. It definitely has more pop than his all mountain Never Summer. He had a good time playing around with his ollies and seeing what jumps he could hit along the way.

We ended up on the blacks by Soaring Eagle since that lift is always empty. I just wish people who insist upon snowplowing down blacks they really shouldn’t be on would do it on the side of the hill, not right smack in the middle of it. It’s just a recipe for disaster.

After a few hours we went in for some lunch at FireFox Grille, and learned they no longer sell bottles of their sauces. Horrors! That Bucket Hill sauce is freaking awesome!

We decided to hit Silver Creek again before people started coming over from the main mountain. We started getting tired after a few hours so we decided to call it a night. We hit up Red Rover for dinner and watched the end of the X-Games.

We were pretty sore so we decided to come straight home on Monday and not board. At least we saved some money on lift tickets. We made it home in 3.5 hours, a much nicer trip.

All in all it was another awesome weekend of boarding!

The question of the year for us is: Where do we want to live? And beyond that, what kind of home do we want to have?

We both sort of don’t mind where we live now, but it’s definitely not our ideal utopia. Of course, we don’t know where that would be either.

I know I want to live somewhere with seasons. I need them all. This sort of puts the nail in the coffin of ever living near any of my immediate family ever again, but I guess I knew that already, even without the seasons.

I don’t want to be anywhere flat, like southern Illinois. I would like to be within driving distance of snowboarding mountains. Aaron likes water, as in lakes. I like the ocean, but I don’t know that I need to live near the ocean. But I know Aaron would love to live on a lake. Or at least have a vacation home on one.

So lakes, mountains, and seasons.

Beyond the geographic, there’s the usual: have jobs in our field, improved commute time from what it is now, lower cost of living, good school systems, safe…

And it seems like there’s really nothing in this country that fits that bill.

It’s those damn seasons that get you.

We’ve also been talking and decided we would prefer a lot of land, a good sized garage Aaron can work in, and not a huge house. McMansions look so impressive and sound so nice, but I really prefer a cozier home, and one that’s easier to clean. I don’t like to rattle around in places with bad acoustics, and buy furniture just to fill up a room. I grew up in a one floor, 3 (small) bed, one (small) bath house for 5 of us. It was warm, it was messy, it was crowded, but it was cozy and it was home. I like that feeling. I would rather have a few acres and a smaller house than a huge house with inches between us and the neighbors.

Yeah, so….I don’t know.

Finished just in time for the supremely cold weather I’ll be facing on Monday’s commute are my Snapdragon Flip Mitts (Rav Link)

I have long been a fan of staying home on NYE, either throwing a big party or just having a small get together of close friends. This year was one of those intimate, casual gatherings – and was so much fun. My face was hurting all night long from the constant laughter. It was definitely a great way to end the year!

For posterity, here is how I looked on the last day of 2009.

Austin and Kelli braved the weather and arrived around 6.30. The menu for the evening: fondue. We had a swiss cheese concoction (which did not photograph well) followed by an amazing chocolate fondue. It was utterly…divine.

Kelli and Austin:

Aaron and Austin:

Lovely Kelli:

After we devoured the fondue, we settled in for some rousing rounds of Apples to Apples. Aaron and I had tried playing it once before and were not impressed, but we became totally addicted after playing with Austin and Kelli! We literally laughed for 5 hours straight. It was fantastic.

Austin is Harmful.

The best hand of the night:

Eventually Aaron and I took advantage of being home and changed into pajamas.

Squishy:

Nervous dog is nervous.

Awww:

Getting ready for the ball to drop.

Cheers! Happy New Year!

Too much champagne, perhaps.

The best part of my 2009 and my every year:

Happy New Year!

A white Christmas, finally. And what a Christmas it was, complete with a visit from Santa Kelly. Bur first, the stockings.  All the frantic knitting paid off. Just about everything fit:

Buddy loved the presents under the tree. The wrapping made such a delightful crackling sound as he pawed back and forth all over them.

I do love stuffed animals.

Happy with his gifts.

After stockings, before presents, we took Illy for a walk.

I didn’t get a picture of Santa Kelly, but she arrived midday with Aaron’s big present, a ridiculous 25″ monitor I had shipped to her house so he wouldn’t be tipped off. Thanks for the hand-delivery, Kelly!

After presents galore, Aaron’s dad came over, with Casey.

Lunch/dinner was cornish hens with roasted vegetables and cornbread, with banana pudding for dessert. A family favorite, apparently.

My big gift was the Breville BES820XL – espresso from heaven.

Ignore the fingerprints, please.

I hope you and yours also had a very merry, holly jolly.

Well for once the weatherman was right. I was sort of annoyed, since I had planned a nice afternoon of knitting, movies, and festive holiday cocktails with a few friends. And of course the 2 feet of snow put an end to that. However all was not lost, since I do love snow and we had a fun time playing in it. Surprisingly, Illy loved leaping through the snow drifts. She hates water, but I guess snow is more fun.

This was our family walk Saturday morning. Aaron’s wearing the first scarf I ever knit for him.

Leaping dog leaps!

It was coming down heavy all day.

Practically a white out. You can barely see the other dogs and their owners in the back of the shot.

Illy with her boyfriend Ralph.

Just chillin’

Belly deep snow!

It finally stopped snowing. We didn’t measure what was on the table but suffice to say, it’s the most we’ve seen here in ages.

The door on the deck wouldn’t open because of the drift, so we had to let her out through the basement. She bravely forged a trail.

And here are the cookies I made for the neighbors and the knitting party. The neighbors did get theirs, at least!

Another year has rolled by, steadily picking up speed on the way. I feel like a spring thaw is just around the corner and we haven’t even had a good cold spell yet. At least these are happy times, just fast happy times.

Kim came down on Friday and we had a fabulous time, as always. As soon as she arrived we jetted off to the outlets since I had a coupon for the Le Creuset store. We were on 15, merrily chatting away, when I saw a big black dog run across the road into my lane. I hit the brakes, slapped on the hazards and pulled over. The truck behind me stopped, and I was able to grab the very friendly black chow’s collar. Meanwhile his little black and white terrier friend came running over to say Hi, and I was sure the cars coming the opposite way were not going to be able to stop, but they did. I grabbed his collar too and tried to wrangle both of them back across the street. The little terrier started whining but I got them across the street, where I thought they lived. I shooed them toward the house….but they kept running past it. I was about to go get them again to see if they had tags, but another lady had stopped and grabbed them. So I assume they are ok. Run little doggies, run!

Anyway, after that we headed to the outlets, did some furious shopping, ate and came home.

Kim had gone to a knitting event the weekend before and asked Jared Flood to sign his pattern book for me for my birthday, which delighted me to no end:

I couldn’t stop squealing. I love me some Jared Flood. I don’t want to be crass and discuss all the wonderful gifts I received from all my various friends and family, but I did want to also share this adorable polar bear spatula she gave me. I have never seen one before and it is just perfect:

Of course I don’t want to stain it so I have to be very careful what I use it for. Sugar cookies, anyone?

Sharan came over later that night for some wine and knitting time.  Misty was also very happy to see her.

Knitting, wine, and friends – perfect!

Saturday was my actual birthday, and Aaron woke me up with a handmade birthday card which I just loved. Pat and Kelly and Lila came over for mimosas and brunch (including Kelly’s awesome gluten free crepes!) and we had an awesome time.  Lots of nutella, bananas foster, champagne, and good friends. What more could a girl want?

Aaron made me the most amazing chocolate cake ever (a Barefoot Contessa recipe). Seriously, this cake beats out every other chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It is divine. It might be because of the extra love he puts in when he bakes it for me

I did manage to snap a picture of another gift – Aaron gave me this beautiful peridot necklace, which I haven’t taken off since.

After we recovered from brunch we got ready to head out to the Melting Pot for dinner.

Dinner was delicious, and those wild berry martinis are no joke. It’s always more fun to cook your own food than you think it’s going to be. I’m not proud of this, but we didn’t even have enough room for dessert! I know, I’ll try harder next year, promise.

Kim headed out shortly after breakfast on Sunday, in the dreary downpour. I immediately took a nap.

It was a fantastic weekend – I am a truly lucky girl.

There is something I just love, love, love about a Christmas tree with presents piled underneath it. I like to get our tree up as soon as Thanksgiving is over as possible (and sooner, if Aaron wouldn’t veto the pre-Thanksgiving tree raising!) so I can maximize tree time. It also reminds me of college when we would string Christmas lights all over our dorm rooms so we didn’t have to use those God-awful fluorescent lights. They always seem so warm and cozy. It adds such a nice glow to the room.

I also love that our ornaments have meaning. Every time we go on vacation, we collect an ornament. And if we go someplace and can’t find them (I’m looking at you, all of Europe), then I order an ornament from Snapfish with a picture of us on that vacation instead. So it’s really fun to decorate the tree and relive all our trips. I took pictures of the ornaments but they didn’t turn out that great, so I probably won’t post them. Ditto the tree as a whole. I need to get out Aaron’s fancy camera and tripod and lens hood and flash whatever thingies he has to make pictures turn out gorgeous, I guess. Maybe one day…

I think the cats would also love the tree to be up all year, since they love hiding underneath it and tromping all over the presents. And eating the fake needles.

December always flies by, so I’m trying to suck as much enjoyment out of the season as possible. Bring on the gingerbread lattes, scented candles, peppermint shnapps, baileys, christmas cookies, and good cheer!

It turned out pretty well – cooked a lot faster than normal turkeys, had a lot less fat (boo!) but also a lot more nutrients. The skin was divine. The brining did infuse a ton of flavor, and it wasn’t salty at all. It was juicy, but I’m not convinced that was due to the brine. I think using the pan of water in the oven helped more. I should try using a can of Guinness or Boddington’s for beer butt turkey….hmmm….

I still don’t really see what the big deal about a turkey is – I guess you need more than two people for dinner to appreciate it! I think next year I’ll do two cornish hens.