Monday Memory - Learning to Ski...Not

I was watching the news tonight and it was covering all of the skiers stranded in their cars on the way up to the resorts when the roads closed ahead of them and behind them.  It reminded me of the first time I ever headed to the mountains to ski.  My friend Andrea and I headed out to Tahoe one day after work about 11 years ago.  As we started out the snow began to fall and we stopped to put chains on the tires. We were headed up a steep slope when we realized that the chains we had stopped to put on were on the wrong tires...turns out the Saab is a rear wheel drive. Drat. We got out in our snow inappropriate work shoes (as I recall I had on penny loafers) and while trying not to slide down the mountain, switched the chains to the correct tires.

We made it to Donners pass, got off the freeway and onto the main road headed to the house we were staying at and realized we had a problem - the roads off the main one were not plowed and there was at least three feet of snow on the ground and it was still coming down.  There was no way to make it to the house.  We knew this intellectually but it didn't stop us from trying which is how I found myself in my penny loafers pushing a real wheel drive Saab out of three plus feet of snow. On the plus side we earned brownie points by helping to push other stranded drivers out of the snow.  My shoes did not survive.

We finally made it back to the main road and stopped at the one diner there to try to figure out what to do.  I believe this is when we learned that the roads were closed in both directions. We were in for a long night.  We stayed in the diner as long as we could and then ended up sleeping in the car.  We would sleep until we got too cold and then turn the car on for small bursts of heat making sure not to kill ourselves on carbon monoxide.  We ate the banana bread I had brought along that a coworker had given me on my way out the door.  And we laughed quite a bit about the absurdity of us sleeping in our car in the middle of a huge snowstorm. Finally morning hit.  We were still unable to get into the house and the roads finally opened going east but not west so we headed to Reno and spent the night in a hotel there. 

The next day the roads were opened once more and we headed home only to get stuck at the same spot when the roads once again closed before us and behind us.  At least it was day time this time.  We hung out at the pizza parlor for hours until we were finally able to sweet talk a couple of guys who were equally bored with being stranded into helping us shovel our way into the house.  Just as they got us there the radio announced the roads were open and the took off for wherever they were headed and Andrea and I celebrated being safe and warm and finally at our destination.  There was no skiing that trip but it was a unique and unforgettable experience.

Somewhere Out There 2010

My Somewhere Out There 2010 Blog Book has arrived. Actually it has arrived three times. The first time it arrived, it arrived with the wrong title. Totally my fault and I knew it would be one of those little things that just kept bugging me so I fixed the title and reordered it. The second book arrived and was very faded. They must have been a little low on ink when they printed it. Totally not my fault. After having to send photos demonstrating the differences (which took forever to get - photographing shiny pages in a book is clearly not a skill that I have), the very nice customer service person decided to reprint it for free "as a one time gesture of good will". All I have to say to that is - whatever. Anyway, the third version is here and perfect.

It's a Winter Wonderland

 

After a couple of sunny days in the high 50's, including earlier today, we were hit tonight with a fierce and wet snowstorm.  This picture was taken of my backyard at 9:10 tonight with no flash and no other lighting.  It still amazes me after all these years how very bright it is outside at night when there is fresh new snow on the ground.  Happy Winter!

My Latest Someday...

Last year was a great year for checking things off my "someday" list.  There are, however, still a few things left on it including getting together for dinner with my friends Jenny and Doug. For over a year now the Clawson's and I have been trying to get together for dinner but we couldn't quite pull it together...until today!

We headed to the Mandarin, the best Chinese restaurant in Utah as far as I am concerned, for a laid back evening of great food and even better conversation. 

Thanks for a great evening Clawson's - let's do it again soon :)

Sunday Family Dinner

On Sunday all the Utah family headed over to Craig and Gail's for a yummy family dinner. Craig made Chili Verde, Shannon whipped up quesadilla's and Gail had chocolate cake for dessert. Delicious! Afterwards the kids played, Ashlynn got her nails done, and the rest of us enjoyed catching up on what's been going on in our worlds. It was such a fun evening and I can't wait to do it again soon. Also, my apologies to Gail and Shannon for not being featured in the pictures above but every picture they were in was super blurry. I promise to do better next time :).

2011 Girls Retreat

I love January. Not because it is the start of a new year, although that's always nice, but because it means it's time for our annual girls retreat! This is one of my favorite events of the entire year.

This year there were eight of us that were able to make it. In the front row - Nancy, Jeni, Vicki and Julie. In the second row - Christa, Tracy, Jenny, and Julie. We piled into various cars and headed for the Wilson's Lake House. I rode up with Jeni, Nancy and Julie and we had a blast and beat the bad weather.  The same could not be said for the second car which hit a snow storm on their way up.  Luckily everyone arrived safely and we started the weekend with our traditional kickoff dinner at the Bear Trapper restaurant where we once again shut down the place.  We then headed to the house where we threw on our pajamas and stayed up late just talking about whatever popped to mind.  For those of us who stayed up super late, we also got in a viewing of The Social Network.

The next morning it was time for good food, lots of girl talk and of course the swag. Jenny and Julie were the food committee this year and provided us with amazing food from Jenny's breakfast casserole to Julie's fathers cheese sauce. We never worry about going hungry at this retreat. The swag included fabulous pink hoodies with our "It's All About Me" logo and personalized water bottles.

What makes this retreat so unique is that everyone is required to conduct a workshop on anything they want with the only rule being that it can't take more that 15 minutes to pull together. This year we got tips on digital journaling, updated our CPR skills, learned how to play Qwerkle, Nickels, and single-hand solitaire, shared our highs and lows of the year, talked about what we treasure, started our Someday Lists, were inspired by a video on "Mommy blogger" and burn victim Stephanie Nielson , and ended with a little Minute to Win It.

As always it was an amazing and enjoyable time.  We laughed, we cried, we ate - and we did it all in our sweats with no makeup allowed.  The perfect weekend! 

Monday Memory - Christa, Guy and Cedar Point Amusement Park

Today's memory is from about 10 years ago. I am trying to remove duplicates and restore order to my pictures in Picasa and I came across these pictures. My friend Christa and her husband Guy were living in New Mexico and I was in California. They invited me along on a trip to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio with a few of their other friends. We really had a great time - these were some of the best roller coasters I had every ridden. Still are as a matter of fact. As I was looking at these pictures, the one that made me smile is the picture of Christa and Guy at the airport playing on their Palm Pilots. I think I still have one of those around here somewhere.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

It's only the third day of the year and I have already seen the same number of movies in a theatre as I think I saw all of last year.  Today it was Harry Potter.  I was beginning to think that perhaps I was the only one who hadn't see the movie but finally found others who had not or were willing to see it again. Everyone kept saying it was just a lead in to the next movie so really not worth it but I disagree - if you are planning to see the next one, you really should see this one. I do agree with many of the reviews I read that this is darker than previous meetings and there is a scene with Hermione and Harry that really didn't need to be in the movie.  The plot was interesting, the "kids" continue to add depth to their acting skills which makes them more interesting to watch and this movie definitely made me excited to see how this all ends in July when Part 2 comes out.  I don't think I would watch Part I again if I couldn't watch Part II right after it, but I am glad that I saw it.

Movie Review: The Tourist

To ring in the new year I did something that I almost never do, I went with a friend to see a movie in an actual theatre.  We chose our movie by what was playing closest to the time we finished lunch (at Cafe Rio - yum, yum, yum) and after being told that the projector was out for "How Do You Know", we ended up at seeing "The Tourist".  I thought it was a light, entertaining, fluff of a movie so of course I really liked it.  I chuckled at several points, might have laughed out loud at one point, and I was interested in how it was going to end.  Really all I need in a movie. If you are looking for something intense and dramatic teeming with intensity, action, excitement, and a complicated plot this isn't it (but I would recommend Inception for that).

And thus concludes my first movie review of the year.  Enjoy!

1/1/11 - A Little More...

I love that today is 1/1/11.  I can't wait for 11/11/11.  Anyway, my resolution for 2011 is simple.  I want to do a "little more" than last year.  I want to lose a little more weight, save a little more money, spend a little more time with the people I care about, volunteer a little more, smile a little more, laugh a little more.  I think I can achieve a little more :).  Well, maybe not a little more travel - I will leave that one off the list.