Cold Weather Running

It's cold here y'all. Willow and I ran this morning and it was under 20 degrees. About 6 degrees under 20 to be exact. Not the coldest I've ever felt (think 20 below in Jackson at times) or the coldest it will ever been here in Vermont, but being outside in anything under 25 degrees will always feel cold to me!

If you think I'm not prepared to run in these conditions, you think wrong. I am married to a self-proclaimed gear junkie - it can't help but rub off a little. I used to think my friend Maegan was crazy for running during the winter out in Jackson, but now I'm wishing I'd figured out how nice it is earlier...

Thanks to Santa #1 and #2 I have lovely new running goodies :)

Very warm tights by Mizuno...



And Lululemon...



A capilene Patagonia baselayer...



The Lululemon Define Jacket...



Gloves/mittens and ear warmers (with headphone attachment!) by 180s.





And various other warm, cushioned socks and new running shoes :) I look pretty cool until I put on my reflective vest and headlamp for night running. HA!

I'm thinking when it gets REALLY cold I may need to up the gear and purchase a few new things to keep me warm.

Have you ever noticed how much mesh is on running shoes? I bet you would if you were running outside with temps in the teens. You can purchase "winter" running shoes, but I'm not going to go that far when I can purchase something like this instead. Toe caps? What a great idea!

I've also considered purchasing one of these for particularly frigid days. It even has a hole for the ponytail!



I'd be pretty scary looking, but warm for sure :)

New Zodiac Sign Dates

I'm really not a big follower of the Zodiac stuff. I rarely read my horoscope. However, I've always found comfort in feeling like my sign (I'm a Virgo) really does describe me. It makes sense.

I was watching the news tonight and came across this. Hmmm. They're really just going to up and change the Zodiac dates (and talk about it on the national news - guess they were tired of covering snow in the northeast)? It just can't be.

Now I'm suddenly a LEO? I most definitely do NOT feel like a LEO....

generous, famous, personal integrity, true to self, honorable, trustworthy, kingly, self-assured, confident

You are a very ambitious person and want to rise to the top in the profession of your choice. You have been blessed with a strong personality, which can take you places if you so desire. An extrovert, you have many friends and you are a good host. You learn to branch out on your own even if it turns out to be an expensive idea since you are ready to sacrifice much if it benefits in the long run. You are more of a materialistic person; you will find it difficult to do without worldly things. You are a well-loved person since you speak attractively and have good manners. You are helpful to those in trouble and don't expect anything in return.

I'm not an extrovert really, and I definitely don't speak attractively or have good manners! Generous? Nope - I'm as stingy as they come! My sister is supposed to be the LEO!

I'm much more of a Virgo...read this description.

scholarly, good memory, reasoning faculty, frank, reserved, service, helping, perfectionist, practical, functional, interested in crafts and projects; true to self in a simple, unassuming manner; lives up to duties and responsibilities; interested in maintaining the body as a fit vehicle; diet, exercise, herbs, etc.

General character: Virgos are creative, delicate, and intelligent. You love to have everything in order, but are also patient. You are very observant, which can lead you to be judgmental. Some people may think that you are a cold person, because you rarely show your emotions. You also have a lot of charm and dignity. Virgos are more followers than leaders. You are always logical. Virgos show a nervous, analytical nature. They seem to worry over the smallest details. Positively, they constantly serve others as they attempt to keep everything pure, natural, clean and healthy.

Virgos are even supposed to have a high forehead!

Come on.

Willow has something she'd like to say....

We had a big time snow day today! I love snow (yipee!), but it sure did mess with my day. Willow was feeling my pain and wanted to talk to me about it.

I was so proud of my little car (and her snow tires) for making it up the Bolton Access Road to volunteer for adaptive ski, but unfortunately the kiddos on the school bus were stuck at the bottom :(. I did get to ski a few runs but then it took me over an hour to make the 25 minute drive home too! I also missed yoga tonight (such a catastrophe I know) due to the sloooow traffic. What a bummer. I finally decided to settle in and watch the beautiful scene out the window.....

Maegan I promise I'll get some pictures at some point...it is still coming down right now :)

New Skis

Nope. I'm not getting new skis, sadly. I had a request for a post on which skis I would buy if I were in the market. Keep in mind that I don't know much about skis having only owned 2 pair (and what I do know is filtered through Matt) so this is just what I would do. Here you go Isabel!

I ski on the K2 Seth Pistols....I still remember the day Matt talked me into buying them. They are rather disturbing looking and I was pretty hesitant. We had just moved to Jackson and I bought them there. I have LOVED them...Recently I've had to invest in some stickers to cover all the graphic parts so I can volunteer with the kids.





Seriously? Check out the gun. It's covered with a big fat Life is Good sticker now. I'm pretty sure I didn't pay what the price tag says. I'm too cheap for that.



Anyway, they're about 5 years old now and I would love some new girly, flowery ones that actually match my personality but I'd have to get another job and work full-time first. Not happening :)

A girl can dream though. I'm a fan of the wide skis so I would lean in that direction. After consulting with the gear junkie (who is a bit biased because he just bought himself a new pair of reverse camber Volkl skis - for another opinion on reverse camber, check here) I decided that if I were going to buy it would be.....

The Volkl Aura - These, I'm told, are more appropriate for an all mountain ski experience.



OR

The Volkl Kiku - I'd probably go with these. More geared towards skiing in powder and not especially practical for all around skiing in VT so if I were really buying I'd have to do a little more thinking on that but I'd be tempted based on the design alone :)



However, if you already did a demo day on the Aurora and loved them, I might go that route. I would try one of these others just to get a feel for something totally different, but those look like a great all-around ski (much better for groomed stuff).

Wow - they're all so much prettier than mine. I'm jealous! Enjoy your purchase!

Weekend Update

We had a BUSY weekend. I'm glad I have Mondays off to recover now that it's ski season :)

We've made some new gear purchases lately so we wanted to spend the weekend testing them out. I'm still waiting on my new bindings, but I'll do a gear post when they finally come in. I know you're excited.

On Saturday, we skied for a few hours at Bolton Valley (where we have season passes) so that Matt could try out his new skis. Lucky for the rest of us, he loved them.

I finally purchased a camera bag so I can take the new camera out hiking. I ended up with a sling pack - the Tamrac 5x. I didn't want something as big as a backpack or as awkward as a shoulder bag because I want to carry it hiking easily and be able to stow it in another backpack when we start touring.




After skiing we came home to get the Nug and took her to hike here (with my camera and new pack!).







Matt and Will waited patiently while I played with my new camera...





Little did we know that Mt. Philo is the perfect place for sledding in the winter. We passed LOTS of sledders on our hike.



It was a SNOWY day....





And Willow thoroughly enjoyed herself hiking. We made her pose for a picture...



But she was way more interested in doing this...



She also spent lots of time waiting for us to make our way up the slippery slope...slowly because we weren't wearing snowshoes or yaktrax.



The view at the top was a little cloudy but still beautiful.









Up top, Matt threw Willow some snowballs. It turned into a photo session for me as I tried to figure out all the action settings on my new camera.





I'm going to post a bunch because I just can't pick my favorite - scroll on down if you don't care to see Will in action :)















Who could resist this? I'm biased because she's our baby. I mean come on - she's just so pretty :)



Do you see hew new skiing winter collar? (Thank you Santa!)



OK enough pics of Willow. I also played around with the TV (Time Value) setting on my camera. I had Matt shake some branches to see if I could catch the snow falling. I think it's pretty cool for my first try!



Some of these were really dark, but I tried to lighten them when editing.



I even let Matt have a try once I set it all up :)



On Sunday, we went skiing with some friends. I didn't take many pictures because it was SUPER windy and pretty cold for a lot of the day.

I did pull my iphone out to snap a few after lunch...

We skied at Mt. Ellen (one of the bases at Sugarbush) because we all had 2 for 1 passes (that we received from buying a wrap at the City Market co-op last week). It's pretty easy to find discount passes around here - come visit us to ski Vermont and I'll show you!



Matt found some hidden spots where we could shred the gnar so we all followed him on an adventure through the woods....

Sorry guys...those are all the pics I have. You'll just have to trust me that it was fun :)

All afternoon and most of the way home it was dumping snow. Matt checked the ski report this morning to find that Sugarbush received 15 inches of fresh snow yesterday and last night. AH - I'm surprised he managed to work all day.

Excuse the water streaks on the windshield, but I wanted to show you how pretty the sky was once we were almost back to Burlington.



Hope you're having a good week!

Dream House and Resolutions

Has everyone seen the HGTV Dream Home 2011 in Stowe? Yes please, I'll take it!



It's practically right in our backyard! It's amazing....go to the website and take the guided tour if you missed the TV special :) They also offer guided tours in person. I'm thinking a trip to Stowe is in my future. You can enter twice a day at HGTV.com and at FrontDoor.com but if you win I'm expecting an invite for a ski weekend!

On another note, I'm a little behind in making my resolutions...I've had a hard time thinking of something that I will actually be able to keep!

Last year, I resolved to "be more optimistic." Last January I had lots of good reasons to wonder about what our future would bring. We were facing a big move, selling a house, finding a new place to live, graduation from school, 2 new jobs, new friends...the list goes on. I was worried about all of it, and not always positive about the change it would bring.

In reflecting back, I think did try to remember to be more optimistic and it actually made a difference for me in all of that change! SO - I would say I met that resolution. Matt is the ultimate judge because he lives with me and listens the most, and he agrees that is was met :)

This year my resolution is to "be more thoughtful." I have many thoughtful people in my life. Three good examples are my mom, sister, and cousin...who often go over and above to do nice things for others. They practice random acts of kindness that could include anything from spontaneous gift-giving to posting blog comments to snail mailing articles that made them think of me. It makes me feel so good and I know that they spread this joy to everyone else as well. I want to try and do the same.

That's it. My resolution. Hold me to it!

New Year's Trip to Wintergreen

I'm holding off on my second Holiday post because I'm waiting on some more pics....I'll just skip ahead to our New Year's trip! Be ready for a long post - good for you if you make it to the end :)

I forgot to mention earlier that one of the best things about marrying your high school sweetheart is that you get to go home to the same place! It certainly makes holidays a little easier and (slightly) less hectic without all the driving/flying in between. One other great thing about being high school sweethearts is that we share all of the same friends. I love it, love it. We're still close to our friends from high school and are a slightly incestuous bunch as several of us have married each other, making it all the more fun for reunions.

Most of our friends are living in Virginia, so a few years ago we decided to take a big trip for New Year's down to the Outer Banks. We rented a huge house for super cheap. Here are a few pics from last year...






It was fun and we did it for a few years, but this year decided to switch things up and go to the mountains instead (a little closer to home and it offered skiing for those that were interested).

We had to rent 2 houses...Here was where we spent most of our time.

Doing a lot of this.

We celebrated a few birthdays!

We also did a lot of game playing...

Luckily, both Matt and I came out winners :)

The games were a little heated...

Let me show you this view again. Can you spot the ghost in the background? Creepy...

We did play some games that didn't involve money :) They ended up being girls only.

Most of the girls eventually retreated to the basement so we could gossip - just being honest.

On our first full day the temps reached into the 60s...a shock to my Vermont adjusted blood! A bunch of us decided to avoid the ski crowds and head down the mountain to the local brewery.

A very impressive building...

Bo made sure to pick up some fresh dollars to replace the ones he lost the night before...

On the way back up we stopped to take some pictures.

Of the mostly brown mountains since all the snow had melted :)

We hung out a bit more...

Then got all fancy for New Year's Eve.

The men entertained themselves by throwing snowballs and somehow turning it into another betting situation :)

We took our first "family" photo thanks to my camera and its timer.

It took a few tries - I love Bo in this one! Giving Walker the stare down.

After dinner the ladies played Loaded Questions..our favorite and always dangerous! (And scandalous if Jess is playing...)

I took some love shots with my new camera.

And broke out the champagne early...

Right before Barrow walked through the screen door.

My dear friend Kate rented this house for us. She found a personal connection with the woman who rented it to us so she had a lot invested in keeping the house in good shape. I'm not judging her for her reaction to the screen door incident. I don't think she was worried about whether or not Barrow was OK, but she might say otherwise!

He was fine - no worries. Thankfully, our friend William is very handy.

We rang in the New Year.

Things went further downhill from there...

Annnd of course there was dancing. I have videos but can't get them to load (maybe they're too big?). I'll post them another time.

Our last day there was more snowball throwing...Matt was always involved. He just loves snow that much I guess :)

Also on New Year's day a few of us decided to take a hike from our house down to a small waterfall. Our friend Barrow kept talking about wanting to go Geocaching. Have you ever heard of it? We hadn't. He's really into the treasure hunting thing. HAHA. Not really but we did talk about it before we left and you'll never guess what we found on our hike!

That's right. A geocache. Let me tell you the story.

The waterfall was pretty. It was the only time I didn't have my camera with me and I regretted it! These are from Matt's iphone. The guys felt the need to hike up into the middle of all the water....

From there they had a good view of everything.

They spotted what they thought was a piece of trash....

But it wasn't...look how excited Barrow is. Elizabeth, I know what you'll be doing all spring :) haha. Sorry Herb, I can't resist.

Oh yea, on a totally unrelated note, Matt grew a beard. It might be the only time you see it so thought I'd share.

I received a lot of grief for carrying my camera around the whole time (I was even called some names - can you imagine!?) but I think everyone will be glad now to have the documentation :)

Miss you already friends!

PS - Not sure why my sidebar is way down here at the bottom of the blog, but I hope it will fix itself when I post again. We'll see!