Happy Birthday to Matt!

Happy Birthday to my husband of (almost) 2 years - the happiest, most easygoing and good-natured person I know :)

Look how cute you were! Thanks Cynde for these pics!





I'm glad you have convinced me to take adventures with you...







And I love you even when you do things like this :)





The nug loves you too and wants to say thanks for always being her pooper scooper even when the poop police come after you...



Wow - 28 - we're getting old!

Going Green

We're official. Nope - we haven't become complete tree huggers with a minuscule carbon footprint quite yet. I can see it coming though. I mean, we do live in Vermont now! Anyway - this post is about the fact that both of us now have Vermont license plates and driver's licenses! Yipee - got that over with. The process was actually fairly easy and painless. It cost me less to register my car here than it would have to pay my VA car tax this year - imagine that! I think the Vermont plates are pretty. See?



I do have one worry about giving up my VA license plates. I think that people give you a break if you cut them off or drive 10 (or 20) miles over the speed limit when you're from out of state. Now I have no excuse. Oh well!

Matt is pumped because his plates say "Truck" on them. I'm glad he appreciates the small things in life.



I'm almost done with my bathroom - hooray and I'll post pictures soon! I hope you have a great weekend :)

Behemoth Jane

There's a dog in our neighborhood Matt calls "Behemoth Jane." He is terrified of her and claims Willow is too. He is so afraid that he avoids walking down her street. She's a Borzoi (also known as a Russian Wolfhound) and she looks like this:



Pretty innocent huh? According to the AKC, "the Borzoi is a quiet, sweet, intelligent, independent, moderately active dog. They are quite affectionate with people they know well. To stay fit, Borzoi need plenty of exercise. Take your Borzoi out for a bike ride or jog, but remember to have a firm grip on the leash, in case it chases a small fleeing creature." This dog is HUGE. Matt seems to thinks that, to her, Willow might qualify as a small, fleeing creature.

I teased Matt mercilessly about his fear of this dog. I thought, these dogs are probably sweet and she's just excited to see someone walking by. She's also fenced in her backyard! One day, I accompanied him on a walk past Behemoth Jane's house. She came running out, crazed, and proceeded to gnaw angrily at the top of the fence posts. At that time, she looked more like this:



Keep in mind, the fence is approximately 4 feet tall and she could easily jump over. Here it is after Jane's destruction:



The teasing stopped. I dare you to walk by and say you aren't scared.

Weekend Recap

We've officially lived here for 3 weeks - Wow. How did that happen? It was another beautiful weekend here! Not quite as warm as last weekend but still sunny enough to enjoy being outside.

I spent the day Friday painting (the bathroom!) while Matt went skiing. Friday night we had dinner here.


If you come visit us, this is where we'll go - it's amazing. The only catch is that there is always a wait, which is fine if you want to wait it out at the bar like we do, because it's a popular place!

Saturday we repeated our new weekend routine. Hiking Mt. Philo (Kate - I promise you could do it while wearing tennis shoes - and enjoy yourself!), lunch at the Old Brick Store, and spending some time watching Willow swim at the lake.

Saturday night we went here to enjoy the "Folk and Fondue Music Series." This is yet another delicious restaurant - a creperie where you can order crepes filled with just about anything you could imagine. The musical guests were interesting. One of the musicians played this instrument:



It's called a melodica. Ever heard of it? Me either so I looked it up. It's a keyboard you have to blow in to make it work. Anyway, it's actually the second new instrument I learned about this week. I really need to educate myself on all the unusual musical instruments out there. Did you see the digeridoo that accompanied Crystal on American Idol?



Sunday Matt went skiing and I worked in the yard. Does this sound like it's becoming a pattern? He has now skied 5 of the 8 resorts in this area. He's made it a lot closer to his goal (to ski them all this spring) than I thought he would.

Matt also has been enjoying his new (early) birthday present from his parents. It's one of these.



He loves it! This weekend when he wasn't skiing, he spent a lot of time doing this. I like it too but it's hard for me to sneak in a time when he isn't using it :)



We're working on planning some birthday fun for next weekend - the big 2-8!

WORK

**Warning - long post with few pictures :)**

So I've been anticipating the start of my first "real" job since I decided I wanted to be an Occupational Therapist way back when...Now after two and a half years of class and countless hours of unpaid clinical time, I actually earn a paycheck! Yay!

I work as an OT in a school that serves grades Pre-K to 8th. What a range! I have far more kids in the Pre-K and Kindergarten age range than the older kids, but it's nice to get experience with them all. The school itself is an "Open Plan" school, a style that was popular in the US in the 1950's-70's. You can google it for more info, but the basic concept is that the interior of the school (both upper and lower floors) have NO WALLS between the classrooms. Some teachers put up bookshelves, etc in order to divide their space but for the most part things are all open. It's a crazy thing to get used to!

There are lots of reasons why I love this job so far, but here are the top ones:

1. The kids. They are ADORABLE - I wish I could share some photos! You have to trust me that they are so so cute. For the most part they are all happy and excited to be at school! They try so hard and their sweetness wins me over every time.

2. The teachers and other staff. When we decided to move to Vermont, we heard a lot about "Vermonters." We often heard that they are nice, but not in an "in-your-business Southern type way." I have to say everyone has been incredibly nice and helpful, much more so than I expected! The one comment I do hear from almost everyone after meeting them is, "Well...you sound like you MUST be from the South. Where ARE you from?" I never thought I had too much of an accent, guess I was wrong.

3. Working 3 days a week. I've been easing slowly into the working world again. I take Wednesdays off right now. It's awesome. By the time I'm getting tired of waking up at 5:30am (more on why later), I get a day off. I can work on reports, sleep in, go ski, you name it! I start working Fridays a little closer to home soon, so my 3 day weeks are numbered.

4. I finally have the chance to do what I learned in my almost 3 years of school and it's so fun! Oh yea, and the paycheck is nice too.

There are challenges to every job and this one does have some:

1. The Drive! This is why I need to get up at 5:30. I have to drive about 45 minutes each way to get there. It hasn't been too bad so far...I take a "highway" almost the entire way so that gives me a chance to chat on the phone :) Also, the weather has been great and I have these great views of the mountains both ways.



2. Starting a new job is overwhelming. I'm not only new to the State, I'm also new to the schools in general, as well as new to the profession! I'll get there but it's taking a while to feel comfortable.

That's about it for now. I'm working on getting my bathroom into shape so I can hopefully show some before and after photos soon! I'll leave you with a a pic of Willow and her favorite Mr. Boo the first time she ever visited the lake :)

OH YEAH!!

2010 National Champions!!!

The Weekend

It was a B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L weekend here! The normal highs for Vermont in April are in the mid 40s, the last record high was 65, and the high on Saturday was 82! Wow! Everyone here has been cooped up inside all winter and couldn't wait to get out. The local police had their hands full as all the college students crowded onto the "beach" on the lake and commenced with partying and underage drinking. We didn't join them but here's a run-down of our fun!

Friday we went skiing here.



The views from the top were amazing.

In this one you can see Stowe in the background. From Stowe to Smugglers' Notch isn't far in the summer, when the mountain pass between them is open. In the winter, it would take almost an hour to get around to the base of Stowe!



In this one you can see Mount Washington in the background - it's in New Hampshire!



I decided I love spring skiing.

1. It's cheaper (especially if you are a Vermont resident).

2. It's sunny and warm.

3. You get to see things like this.



We also had the chance to meet all of our neighbors this weekend! They were all outside hanging out in the street (like I said - good weather brings everyone out) so we walked over and introduced ourselves. We lucked up with our neighborhood, everyone is so nice and fun!

Friday night we met up with a friend from high school and her boyfriend. They live about an hour away and came to town for a concert so we joined them for dinner and the show. It was great for us to go out with someone besides each other :)

OK - Saturday was another beautiful day!

We hiked with Willow here.



A lot of other people had the same idea as us.



Here's the amazing view from the top.




They post a nice explanation of what you're seeing.



You can see the lake house in this one (almost). We headed there for the afternoon.



Well, first we stopped here for lunch. Yum.





I camped out here for the day to get some sun - I have to take advantage of it while it lasts up here!



Poor Matt had no chair - I forgot to bring an extra one and left my keys to the house at home. Oops.



Again, here's the view I never get tired of.



Saturday night we watched DUKE advance to the National Championship Game! Yay! I'm going to keep on listening to those fight songs on my Ipod - maybe it's good luck.



Sunday morning we went to church and were filled with the Easter spirit - for an hour and a half! Wow - not sure Matt will let me take that much ski time away from him when winter comes around again.

The Easter Bunny came and brought Willow a new toy. She was super excited. I don't think the picture quite captures it!



Monday morning, back to work. I hope you all have a great week!

PS - Thanks for all the comments - it's fun to know who is reading :)