east vs west

John and I went skiing on Monday at Blue Mountain in the Pocanos. It was my first attempt at skiing on the east coast and John's first time to strap on skis since he learned how to ski last winter in Utah. All in all we had a great time, however, as hard as I tried I couldn't help but be a little bit of western skiing snob. So here is a short list of my annoyances with skiing in the east.

1. Ice. The runs were actually preatty good when we first arrived, some of them even had a little powder to swish through. As the day progressed the snow became more and more icy. Plus, the definition of a black diamond out here must mean more icy than the regular routes because they certainly aren't more difficult. We went down one black diamond pretty early and it had balls of ice on top of the packed ice so that you were practically rolling your skis down the hill.

2. Rude skiers. My dad is as close to a skiing purist as you can get. Here are the rules he intrinsically taught us when we were learning how to ski: respect your fellow skiers (be polite and ski polite), clean up after yourself so the snow is clear for everyone and if you have to stop make sure you are out of the way of everyone else. In Utah when you are on the chair lift it is typical to strike up a conversation with your fellow riders. Skiers are like hikers, friendly and always willing to share their stories. On Monday we were acknowleged once on the chair lift the other times we were ignored and subjected to conversations that consisted of mostly curse words with a few other words in between. Beneath the chair lift along with the usual debris of skis, gloves, and poles, there was more trash than you typically find on the streets of Philadelphia. In addition I can't even tell you how many people I about ran into who were stopped in the middle of a run. One snowboarder was actually sitting in the middle of a run just after a curve so if you weren't careful you would smack right into him; he was talking on his cell phone.

That's all of my complaints. It was certainly a different experience than skiing in the west but pretty much everything is different in the east. We really had a great time - the annoyances I listed being quite minor in comparison to spending a beautiful day with my husband swooshing down the hill together.

I did have one pretty decent wipeout that I thought I would mention. I was getting a little cocky skiing and decided to take a little jump that was set up for the snowboarders. I was going faster than I should have and ended up catching more air from the jump than I thought I would. I landed out of control and sat down on my skis. I realized that was not the best position and I was still going too fast so I swung my skis to the side and tipped over. Embarrassingly, I was under the chair lift so I heard someone yell, "Are you okay?" I was fine but a little humbled and slowed down after that.

MyHoney

I've been tagged so here you go...

This picture is from the day after we got engaged. We had just been on a 4 mile hike.

How long have you been together? We started dating spring semester of my sophmore year in college (1999), married in 2000.

How long did you date? We dated for 6 months and then got engaged, then I left for a semester of study abroad in Russia. We were married 2 weeks after I got back.

How old is he? 35 going on 4 1/2. Just kidding!

Who eats more? It depends on the day. He can down junk food better than me unless you are talking about ice cream.

Who said "I love you first?" I did!

Who is taller? John, by about 2 inches.

Who sings better? Me. John's family is not known for their singing ability.

Who is smarter? John by far!! Although we have different areas in which we excel. He is more of a math and science guy, I am more of a music and literature person.

Who does the laundry? Me, most of the time.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, unless I am pregnant and then John does... I have no idea why.

Who pays the bills? John. I tried once when we were first married but John had a fairly complicated system he used and I forgot to transfer the money from our savings account and ended up bouncing all the checks. Since then I am on probation and only pay the bills under strict supervision. =)

Who mows the lawn? Either of us depending on who is less busy or less tired.

Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time... when we actually cook. However, when we first got married John did all of the cooking because I was so bad at it I burned spaghetti.

Who is most stubborn? I would argue that John is. He would argue that I am.

Who kissed who first? John kissed me. It took him two weeks of dating to work up the courage! We got home from a night of swing dancing and he walked me to my dorm and kissed me goodnight. I had to sit down afterward before I could climb the three flights of stairs to my dormroom.

Who asked who out? John called me the day I got to school for spring semester (we met over Thanksgiving break but had not dated at that point) and invited me to go out. Then he was two hours late for our date. I was starving and not particularly happy. He didn't even call to let me know he was on his way. Good thing he is so cute and charming! I guess the whole "I was busy saving people's lives" excuse helped too.

Who proposed? John did. I drove him out to Snow Canyon in my step-dad's pickup truck to go star gazing after we watched a play at Tuachan. He had put together a scrapbook of all the places we had been on dates and where we first met. I was so excited I didn't even give him a chance to put the ring on me. I did it myself.

Who is more sensitive? John is laughing at this question, I am by far! I cry over everything!!

Who has more friends? We both have friends that we keep in touch with from college and a few from high school. We hang out with couples for the most part now so we are probably have about the same amount.

Who has more siblings? Are we talking biological or step siblings? Well, either way, I have more.

Who wears the pants in this relationship? Samuel... at least he thinks he's the boss. Really, I think we take turns.

Who are you going to tag? anyone and everyone.

More Star Wars

John and the boys were playing around on YouTube today looking at Star Wars movies. This one was my absolute favorite... maybe because I have been ward choir director forever...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O61Do03ZCjw

eight years one week and counting

John and I celebrated our eight anniversary last week. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone... and that he has actually put up with me for so long!

Here's to my cute husband - may he survive my insanity as well as his own for many more years to come. =)

croup

Ack! James has had croup this week. For those of you who haven't experienced this particular joy of parenthood let me describe it for you. Croup is a horrible barking cough accompanied by a fever and sometimes wheezing and strider (which is a raspy sound which accompanies every intake of breath - kind of like those people with end stage lung cancer). It is worse at night. Well we don't do anything halfway in our house; James has been one sick little boy! Basically I have spent the last two days watching him struggle for breath, unable to do anything to help. The doctor's suggestion: take James in the bathroom with the door closed and run a hot shower. It helps for about 20 minutes. We have spent the last two nights laying on blankets in our sauna/bathroom. I am running on about 4 hours of interrupted sleep and wondering if I should go to bed or just find a project that will take all night since I'll be up anyway...

it might as well be spring

For the last couple of days it has been over 60 degrees outside and sunny which is unheard of in Philadelphia in January. So yesterday I took the boys to the zoo. They have been begging to go and it was so beautiful outside I coudn't resist! Plus, John got me a new camera for our anniversary so I had a chance to test it out. There were so many people at the zoo you would have thought it was spring.

Apparently the lions thought it was spring too!

The polar bear was out swimming in his pool.

I got a little camera happy... just a few more.

We had a great time but the boys were wiped out!

a little less conversation, a little more action

John and I watch the New Hampshire presidential debates last night. Until recently I have been able to keep myself isolated from the bickering political campaigns, but with the caucus voting I have been sucked in with the rest of the country. All I can say is we are in serious trouble! I feel like the best candidates are being overlooked or antagonized out of leading place. In my opinion the democratic debate was more about the needs of the country and less about smearing each others' faces in the mud - not that there wasn't some of that too. They addressed seriously the concerns with the economy and the war in Iraq. The republican debate seemed more like a schoolyard brawl. It was everyone gang up on Romney but make sure you get a few good sucker punches in on anyone else if you can. In the middle of the fight they managed to talk about immigration and how all of the illegal immigrants should be deported immediatly. I have issues with that but I also don't live near a border and am not affected by this on a daily basis.
As for my choices: if I were to pick a republican it would be John McCain. He has the experience and the ability to be level headed and bipartisan. I however am not a fan of his Iraq policy so I am still mulling this over. No offense to you Romney fans! I would love to have a Mormon president, but he really does tend to flip flop with his support on various topics. As for a democratic president: all hail Hillary Clinton! I know a lot about her, she is a Wellesley grad, she works more bipartisan than any other senator and has a history of working for change for the greater good. She may not have the best personality ever but she gets things done. As for a change for the country, Hillary had the best one-liner... "You want change, put a woman in the White House; that is a change!"

my boys

Today was one of those days that I kept wondering, "Why in the world did I have kids?!?" The boys were in rare form today. The day started with a mad dash through the grocery store where I think they were pretending that all of the people and displays were obstacles on an obstacle course. Well, either that or they just kept trying to run away from me and ran into people and carts in the process. Luckily they didn't break anything. Unfortunately our time at home wasn't any better. They stole toys from each other, threw tantrums over the smallest of difficulties and aside from the regular hitting, kicking, calling names and pushing each other they decided to include me in the fun as well. My only peaceful time in the day was while Sam was at school and James was taking a nap! You can imagine that by 5;00 (well actually by about 8:30 in the morning) I was more than ready for John to come home.

When John finally did make it home (after 6:00 - he had a long day too) he gave me a big hug and turned on some upbeat music. He then proceeded to dance around the kitchen (head banging and everything) getting the kids to join him and eventually even pulling me into the silliness. We were all laughing by the time we sat down to dinner and the tension and frustration in the air was gone. This is one of the things I love most about John; he can always make me laugh. On days like today when I really need it I remember that this ability is one of the reasons I married him.

Happy New Year!

Last night John and I went to a New Year's Eve party at his friend's home. A bunch of John's frat brothers from college were there. There was also party hats and noise makers, lots of food and desserts and plenty of alcohol for those who wanted. (John and I drank soda.) At midnight there was a champagne toast (we toasted with water bottles) and we all watched the ball drop in NYC. It was a fun change from our usual New Year's routine - falling asleep on the sofa before midnight while watching tv - but also a very different crowd then we are used to.

My new years resolutions (not necesarrily in this order):

1. Exercise on a regular basis so I can lose that extra 10 pounds.

2. Have more patience with the kids.

3. Actually make dinner more than once a week.

Wish me luck!