A Very Cold Weekend

Our friend Ashley is staying with us this weekend.  So far we've spent this weekend around the dinner table enjoying homemade pizza (delicious!) and red wine, running, and doing a little retail therapy.  Ashley and I decided to brave the cold and headed outside for a run, which felt great!  I think I'm turning into a winter runner because the cold weather (above 15*F) doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  I'm not a fan of running on crappy roads but I love running with friends, so I was game!  We were very careful with our footing, focusing on traction and dodging patches of ice and snow.  At some points we were tip-toeing and speed walking to avoid falling, but in the end, it was a rewarding and refreshing run.  We made it back just as it started to snow.

We made it back safely!

   

Our splits according to Runkeeper.

Sunday was even colder but that didn't keep us inside.  We went for a walk at Valley Forge where we shared the path with many snowshoers and cross-country skiers.

Winter is Here

There's no doubt about it.  Daisy loves the snow.  I'm over it.  The first few snowfalls were exciting but now the perpetual grind of winter is becoming monotonous.  Only two months until spring begins!

My running schedule has been pretty non-existent this winter as I like to run outside but early nightfall and poor road conditions make it near impossible to run outside.  I can feel the progress I made in running slowly fade away, which frustrates me.  I'm trying to be positive and tell myself that inconsistent running is better than no running, and that daylight and road conditions will soon improve.

I had a half day at work last week and managed to get out for what was suppose to be an easy 3 miles, but it felt much harder and took a lot longer than I had hoped.  Looking forward to getting out there again this weekend.

Welcome 2014

We welcomed the new year with family and friends at Mom and Ben's new home.  The traditional meal of pork and sauerkraut was had along with delicious chocolate lava cakes.  Yum!

Their new home is wonderful!  I love that it feels like home and not just a place with four walls.  It definitely has a comfortable feel to it and lots of natural light.  I love visiting them and spending time getting to know the area once again.

Speaking of homes, we are in the process of buying our very first home (!).  The process is very exciting and overwhelming, and has been a huge learning curve in many ways.  I've had so much fun documenting our experiences on this blog that I decided to create a separate blog just for our journey as homeowners.  You can read more about it at www.lifeonoak.blogspot.com.

We also celebrated Bema's birthday this month with dinner, desserts, and birthday cards.  It was another great night around the dinner table with family.

Summer Happenings

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning in June on the river with family and friends.  It was FULL of adventure. We ventured down a familiar off-shoot of the main river for some variety.  The river was swollen from recent rainfall but not moving particularly fast, so we thought the off-shoot would be a nice change of scenery and easy to maneuver with higher water levels.  And it sure was!  The off-shoot has some tight bends, making it just slightly difficult to steer.  With two people in a canoe and four kayaks, we had some exciting moments of direct contact and narrow passages from recently fallen tree limbs.

The adventure didn't stop there, at least not for T.  His phone unfortunately saw the end of its life after B and T took a spill in the water.  Fortunately for T his contract had long expired and all worked out in the end with the phone.  A ton of memories and long-lasting jokes were created on that beautiful morning.

Daisy and I made it into the local paper twice within two weeks, which apparently isn't very hard to do.  We were mentioned for our support of a local ice cream parlor that's under new ownership and has delicious ice cream.  The second occurrence was about our volunteer work with a wonderful organization that arranges a reading program for kids to read to dogs.  Daisy was a star - she was well behaved, tolerated little ones of all dispositions petting/poking her, and was generally interested in the stories, which is one of the requirements to attend (!).  It was a very rewarding experience with many tender moments.  I can't wait to do another reading program in addition to the nursing and rehabilitation facilities we visit.
   

Lovin' Summer

Wow... hello blog and readers.

A lot has happened since my last post all the way back in March.  I need to update this blog with pics and memories from Helga's visit and everything in between.  More to come on that...

Last weekend was beautiful.  We took full advantage of the gorgeous weather all weekend.  Mom, C, T, and I went to St. Peter's Village for some lunch on the deck overlooking the river of rocks and then C and I played on the rocks for a better part of 2 hours.  We had so much fun rock hopping and strategically maneuvering over and through them.  C is quite the strategist, too - I would totally do the Amazing Race with him.

C, T, and I took a hike around the lake at French Creek, where I was told I walked right past a snake and didn't even notice.  Which is funny because I was looking for snakes that whole time!  There was so much low movement in the brush that I knew we were bound to cross paths with one.  Daisy helped herself to a swim in the lake while we looked on sweaty and enviously.  Families and kiddies got a kick out of her love for the water.

Manboy

Dessert for breakfast!

St. Pete's

 

Recital and Smoothies

I attended my friend's faculty recital this weekend.  My friend, Katie, is an amazing musician and instructor.  She's a soprano singer and definitely jolted me out of my sleepy haze when she took the stage and let her voice take over!  Amazing performance AND dress - the girl brought down the house in style!

Katie, lovely in red:

Smoothies: my latest craze.  I've been having fun concocting delicious combinations for refreshing, fruit and protein dense smoothies.  With two of my latest concoctions below.

Oatmeal banana almond smoothie:

Strawberry blueberry banana smoothie:

My Lock&Key Diary from the 90's Never Saw this Coming

My blog came in the mail today.  In print format.  I've been getting my blog printed every year since I've started documenting autobiographical events four years ago.  I think the hybrid being within me - the one that lived without the Internet and a cell phone and the one that can't live without the Internet or a cell phone - needs/wants both mediums.  You know, something to show the grandchildren, right?  And, in a small way, to hold onto the memory and practice of the pre-Internet world.

A few months ago I filled in for an absent coworker and gave a small and very young group of boy scouts a tour of the library, full of instruction and information literacy!  When we ended at the microfilm machines and their final assignment, one young boy exclaimed, "Look!  These are the machines they used 100 years ago!"

Yikes!