WOW

Yesterday morning, Matt took Willow for a walk in this. The R word, aka the reason I don't like when it gets warm here in the winter.







I heard we were supposed to get some snow, but had no idea it would turn into over 24 inches in about as many hours, the 5th biggest storm Vermont has ever seen (according to my favorite weatherman Tom Messner).

Check out this story and these pictures from our local news and paper.

EVERYTHING was closed today...schools, town offices, Matt's office! Plow crews around here are amazing at getting the roads clear, but many were declared almost impassable. Good thing Matt drives a truck so we could go skiing!

We woke up to this...







We were lucky to have a wonderful neighbor help us with the driveway.



Willow was a little unsure of how to get out (this is what it looks like if you forget to close the storm door properly - dang).



She was so excited, she figured it out quickly.



We spent about an hour digging out the driveway, then headed out. The skiing was so great, I didn't stop to take many pictures.

Matt talked me into doing some hiking (not all the lifts were running, so there was lots of fresh snow to be found). It was worth it.



Please excuse my amateur video skills...We were almost to the bottom by this point but better late than never.



We skied from 10:30-4 with no snack, rest, or warmth breaks - can you believe it? Not one complaint from me, which is pretty unusual. I rewarded myself afterwards.



We received about 7 more inches during the day, so we came home to shovel the driveway again. We will probably have to do it once more in the morning because I'll have to get out to go to school (that's right, school tomorrow...they aren't slowed down for long around here by over 2 feet of snow) after the plow comes through again.

Whew! Good thing we still love winter!

House Hunting Update

Sorry for my lack of posts! We've been busy up here. I wanted to give you a quick update on our house hunt...

When we first decided to move to Vermont, I began to dream about my future Vermont house.

I figured we would end up with something like this...

or this...

or this...after all it is Vermont! Everything here is rural and charming...

The first 2 are houses on home swap, the third actually a bed and breakfast.

I even thought about the potential of finding my ultimate dream house - a restored barn. Ah. Something like this...

I figured we could find something we loved in a neighborhood we liked for about 300-350K or so. Right?

If I could go back in time, I would laugh in my own face. New England charm doesn't come cheap.

When I started searching for real estate up here in Vermont, I began to get the feeling that our price range afforded us something more like this:



Ok - maybe I'm exaggerating. In all seriousness, I meant it when I said things are expensive here y'all!

Once I adjusted my expectations to something a little more realistic, I realized we could find something great but that it probably wasn't going to look like what I'd first pictured.

We've been searching, and searching, and searching, and searching, and....well....you get the point. We looked at all styles, in all neighborhoods, of all sizes. I fell in love with a nighborhood that we were afraid was out of our price range, but we got lucky :)

We found a great house and made an offer that was accepted! I'm not going to post pictures until we've closed (a few weeks from now and we still have a few things to check off before then), but we're super excited! It has "passed" inspection (as well as a 50 year old house can) and we've done a walk through with a contractor to get an idea of how much we can do now and what will have to wait until later. We're doing some updates since the house remains in its original 1950's glory.

It's going to make for some great before and afters!

Have you heard about this?

As an OT, I have the chance to work with lots of kiddos on the autism spectrum. Since 1 in every 110 children are now diagnosed with ASD, I know we're desperate for answers. Vaccinations aren't it. I respect that parents want to make their own decisions regarding vaccinations, but I'm so glad that there are finally some answers for them on this issue to help in making that decision!

Autism Study Fraud

If you want more info on the latest research...look here!

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now, but keep forgetting. I just read this article from the New York Times on the fear of vaccinations and the importance of getting them that reminded me to put it up!

I'm back

So I'm back from my spring break trip to Hot'Lanta! Hot it was. Temps in the 70s yesterday and I returned to freezing rain and temps in the 30s this afternoon. Ahh. Life in Vermont.

We had so much fun! My sister has the cutest and most comfortable apartment with lots of old charm and personality.

This feels weird

There's another winter storm warning in Burlington today. 8-12 inches expected by 11pm. However, poor Matt is left to shovel himself out as I'm sitting here in this sunny spot...



Wearing a t-shirt and feeling hot for the first time since August. My skin isn't ready to pull off the pale pink shirt I put on this morning.

I'm spending a girls weekend with 2 of my favorite people in the world. One just arrived home from working a half day and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the other.



The airlines beat me again as they made me pay $150 to change my flight from this morning to last night in order to beat the upcoming storm. It was worth it!

I'll be back at some point to tell you all about our exciting house hunting news!

More Outdoor Adventures

Do you mind if I start with a few cute Willow pics? No? OK. Sounds good to me. I feel a little bad talking smack about her barking so I'll make up for it now.

Come on Mom, how do you resist this cuteness? Give me a cookie.

I guess that's enough. On to the outdoor adventure of the week. The other day I met Katie (and Willow's friend Piper too!) at Shelburne Farms for an adventure.

It was sunny (and FREEZING!)!

It's just as beautiful in winter! This is my favorite, and probably least often viewed, barn on the property...the Breeding Barn. AH - Gorgeous!

The girls had to stay leashed because of farm rules, but we were a little rebellious and let them loose (dragging leashes behind) for a bit.

I'm on school vacation this week (as Kate asked me today...do I ever work?), but have some exciting things coming up this weekend! I'll share soon :)

Hockey

Cousin gave Matt and me an awesome Christmas present - tickets to the UVM vs. UNH hockey game! Yipee! It's hard to get tickets to these games, but cousin went to UNH so she jumped on them waaaayyy ahead of time :)

Jess and Becker enjoying the pre-game atmosphere...

We were there plenty early!

I LOVED the ceiling - can I have one in my house please?

I had 2 pictures taken of me and neither are flattering (no offense to the photographers), but I'll post one anyway just to prove I was there.

Holy pale skin and smiling eye crinkles! At least it's a little fuzzy to hide that somewhat :)

Here come the Catamounts! Keep in mind all these were taken through the plexiglass (that's what it is right?)...

Warm up.

We were on the front row and saw lots of action, but were also right where the net ends. I was just a little scared of flying pucks.

We watched some hockey when we lived in Jackson, but I'm definitely no expert on the subject. I spent most of the game asking cousin/Matt why the goalie occasionally leaves the ice and what "icing" means.

Each intermission, a new kid got to take a ride on the Zamboni!

The final score...I think? There might have been another goal or 2 scored for UNH.

So fun - thanks to cousin for the tickets!