busygirl

and then they threw in the tow rope.

I found myself heading out to the slopes for the last time this season on Friday since my little sister decided to splurge and get herself a new ride.  And by ride I mean snowboard.  Which came last Wednesday so there was no way she wasn't going to try it out before the snow melted for good.

So off we went to Brandywine with Adam and Chris, to face a mountain full of snow ice resembling snow.  Amy strapped on her new boots -  which I will admit, are cooler looking than mine.  Seriously, if Michael Jackson needed some moon boots for his moon walking, these would be it.  Minus the fact that you can't actually move any part of your foot in snowboarding boots.  Which explains why we all walk around looking like we have a major wedgie or something - and off we went.

We headed straight to the ski lift to the top of the...err, hill, to try out her new board.  The icy conditions weren't very accommodating, but we managed to snake down to the beginners hill while making a couple craters in the snow along the way.  There wasn't much we could do on the slopes, so we figured we'd head down to the smaller less-crowded slopes to work on some moves.  I was doing pretty well.  Until we got to the bottom of the hill.

And realized we had to go back to the top.

You see, the beginners hill doesn't have a ski lift.  No no, it doesn't even have a ski carpet.

It has a TOW ROPE.  Which basically consists of a steel string with handles attached, churning up the hill at about 5 mph. 

So here I am, standing at the bottom.  Just waiting for a little handle to come along.  Of course I've never been on one of these before so I just grabbed it with my hands and this little piece of plastic drags me up the hill.  None of the eight-year-olds surrounding me thought to let me know that you're supposed to put the handle behind your back and let it push you up the hill.  Sigh...so I'm attempting to hand onto this plastic for dear life while balancing on my board which is running into tiny mountains of ice and flailing everywhere instead of following a neat little path.  One thing led to another and I was suddenly on my butt in the snow, tangled up in the line and trying to stand back up on ice.

Fun fact: tow ropes don't stop.  The people keep coming.

I ended up knocking over my brother who in turn pretty much side-tackles one of those pesky eight-year-olds.  It was a domino effect which resulted in about six of us piled in a heap at the bottom of the hill.

Let's just say I had to take some tips from the snotty eight-year-old next time up.  Although I swear the lift attendant was snickering as I went for my second attempt.

I think I'll retire from the tow lift till next season.  Sorry snowboard, I love ya, but I'm ready for spring.

sixty years and counting.

My grandparents have been married for sixty years as of today.  Sixty years.  That. is. amazing.  And inspiring.  And comforting to know that you can put up with the same person for that long.  Maybe Adam and I have a chance :)

 

Happy 60th anniversary Gramma & Grandpa, we love you!

(you're still as good looking as you were on the day you said 'I do')

snowbunnies.

Another fun day of snowboarding, but man does my tailbone hurt!

Adam and I both spend a decent amount of time on the beginners hill trying to learn some new moves.  And although successful, I spent a good amount of time laying on my back, covered in snow spray while the six-year-olds whipped around me.

Sighh...I'll never be as good as those six-year-olds.  Future olympians.  I expect to be in their gold medal thank you speeches for being an obstacle in the middle of the mountain while they were training as kids.  You see that snow-covered lump?  That was me.

the best valentine's day ever.

Do you see this girl?

She's my favorite.

She's quirky.  She has the funniest giggle. She obsesses over the strangest things (like me).  She talks to her cats like they're people (and doesn't think I'm crazy when I do too).  She's fearless and has MASTERED the ski lift (she owned that ski lift).  She wears kooky socks and lends them to me when my tootsies are cold.  She thinks it's normal for me to call my toes 'tootsies'.  She understands what I'm thinking just by looking at my face.  She's one big cup of sanity when my world gets a little insane.  She drinks one of those coffees at Starbucks that takes a minute-and-a-half to say.  She loves chick flicks and reading everything in sight.  She drives two hours to see me just because she's awesome like that.  She's always ready to help, to talk, to vent, to gossip at any time day or night.  Unless she fell asleep on the couch.  She puts whiskey in her cider, she loves going on roadtrips, she's just my size (woot, another closet of clothes!) and her hair is always fabulous.  She's terrible at MarioKart but still talks trash.  She believes that life should be lived to the fullest and the fullest life has to offer is a huge glass of wine.  She's beautiful, intelligent, funny, caring.  She's one of my very best friends and practically my sister.

Yup, this girl?  Pretty awesome.

So be jealous of me.

Cause we're making it official.

This girl...is going to be my sister-in-law!!!

And THAT is the BEST Valentine's Day present ever!!!!

Congrats Chris & Megan!!!! it's about time :)

beware of the snowbunnies.

Every since I taught Adam to snowboard a few years ago, our winter weekends have been spent either at Snow Trails or napping.  In an effort to drum up some more fun on the slopes we've been teaching some of our friends how to strap themselves to a board and throw themselves down a mountain without breaking a limb.  Finally feeling like we've had some success, it was time to teach my siblings...cause let's face it, any adventure with them is a hilarious one.

So off we went to Snow Trails yesterday afternoon with Megan, Chris and Amy in tow.  Our coaching began with getting the gear...I remember the first time I ever rented...they just shout questions at you - boot size!? board length!? goofy or regular!?  Here are some quick tips in case any of you end up braving the slopes at some point...

Boot size?  Pretty simple...go with your sneaker size or the boots will be too tight.  Oh and good luck getting them on, cause they are damn near impossible.  And you walk like you have a stick up your butt once they're on because you can't bend your foot.

Board length?  Depends on height, weight, skill, type of terrain...etc.  Basically just tell them how tall/weight you are and they'll figure it out for you.  Mine is 144cm, Adam's is 160cm.

Goofy or regular?  Simply put this means whether you ride down with your left foot in front or right foot (the binding is slightly tilted on the board).  Here's a simple test to figure it out:

1. Close your eyes.
2. Then from behind someone should give you a shove.
3. If you put your right foot forward then your goofy.
4. If you put your left foot forward then your regular.
5. If you fall on your face then you are a skier.

Ahh that always makes me laugh when I see that.  I've never actually tried skiing, but most people tell me it's much easier...maybe one day I'll give it a go.

Any way, once they got their gear on, we headed to the bunny hill.  Adam and I were all braced for a good hour or two of helping them stand up on their boards, learn to leaf, stop, control, not fall down, etc.  But they were naturals!  It was the easiest teaching session EVER.  Which was awesome since we were able to tackle the a couple bigger hills within an hour.  All three of them were zooming down the mountain with ease by the end of the night and we had minimal spills.  Well, we had a lot of spills, but most of those were due to our inability to properly get off the ski lift.  Seriously, it is the HARDEST thing about snowboarding!!  Oh and trying to walk to the lift with your foot strapped in to one binding?  That always takes a while to get used to.  Skiers have it so easy...

We had a blast though - I'm seriously impressed with how quickly they picked up the sport.  Naturals.  I can't wait to take them again!!!  I am bummed though that we forgot the camera - there would have been some great photos to post.  If you're in the Ohio area, Snow Trails is pretty much the best ski park around, although you can also hit up Boston Mills/Brandywine or MadRiver.

it's a small yacht.

So, surprise!  I had barely stepped off the plane from NYC last week when I hopped on another one to surprise my grandparents for their 60th wedding anniversary in Connecticut!

After arriving (late) Friday night, we caught a ride to my grandparents house, walked through the door and SURPRISE!  And boy were they...I believe my gramma's words where ' what are YOU doing here??!?!'  It was worth all the traveling and planning just to see their faces.

The weekend was spent giggling, chuckling and having a wonderful time with family.  On Saturday night the older cousins ventured into Hartford for a hockey game and then back to our old hometown for a few beers and fun.

Sunday we gathered the entire family together to celebrate my grandparents' sixty years of marriage.  It's amazing to think that Adam and I could really make it that long - although I keep telling him I'll be on my fourth husband by then... ;)

Busyteacheramy and I flew back Monday night and are completely exhausted from the weekend, especially since we barely got any sleep (my cousins are wayyyy to fun to go to bed early).  So I'm signing off to get some much-needed shut-eye.  Goodnight all!

holiday recap.

A little overdue, but for anyone who follows me on twitter, you're well-aware that I have done nothing the last few days but pull my hair out while attempting to solve impossible issues at work.

Enough about that though, on to HAPPIER things like recapping Christmas!  I hope you all had wonderful holidays, I sure did.  I had a great Christmas morning surprise, got to spend time with both my families and got some good loot!

Other than being deathly ill with what can only be called 'the cold from h-e-doublehockeysticks', I was able to enjoy the majority of my holiday break.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching my nieces see the Christmas tree for the first time in the morning...there's nothing sweeter than a little kid being so excited that they're about to jump out of their pjs.

And although Adam and I had a little bit of an untraditional Christmas due to our new nephew, I was thrilled that we got to attend the traditional gingerbread house contest at Wren's family's house.  It's a very competitive event.  Plans are drawn throughout the years, strategic candy planning, the awards are highly-sought after.  I personally joined 'Team Gracie' with the feeling that we would be a winning team with her fairy-tale ideas and my ability to efficiently apply frosting where she pointed.  We did an AWESOME job (seriously, Ace of Cakes should be calling any day now) and as expected, took home the gold with the 'FairyTale House Award'.  Take a look:

The boys took home the Silver with the 'Best Overall Design', although they had some questionable techniques and I'm not sure it was as eco-friendly as they claimed.

Winners of the 'Silver Bolt Award'

 
(this is one of my favorites...when Chris was explaining their design and claimed that they had the 'most green' house because it ran solely on loveeee.  And there's Adam practically spitting out his wine while trying hard not to laugh)

There were some good contenders though - I especially liked Wren & Joe's rustic log cabin...

...and Em's crazy squiggles.

But the best part was having everyone today...say it with me now: 'awww...'

Anyway...the night was a success and the rest of my holiday break was spent dodging nerf darts.  It all started when we got the boys these little one-shot nerf guns last year.  Obviously we felt the need to upgrade tremendously this year.  20 and 10-shooters were the name of the game.  And I spent the majority of my time hiding behind busyteacheramy in an attempt to not feel the sting of the whistler darts.

Yup that's me, hiding like a coward behind a chair while my baby sister leaps over to shoot our attackers.

On to the loot...cause really, what's Christmas without presents? ;)  We did get some good ones, but first, here are my favorites that we gave:

My mom opening her brand-new Contemporary Calphalon pans (I'm SO JEALOUS...these WILL be on our registry)

Girlymama opening her coveted Cruisinart Grind'n'Brew coffee maker

And now onto me...I got a great new fossil watch from girlymama, a new crockpot from my mom (remember the tragic death of my last one) and...

A BRAND NEW DIGITAL SLR CAMERA from Adam!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! Look how pretty my new Nikon D3000 is:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!  You think I'm lucky?  He got a Samsung Netbook ;)

The Brownies continued their streak, won four games in a row (WOOT) and we did lots of snowboarding.  That pretty much sums up the holiday break, how were your holidays?

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On a side note, a special thanks to EVERYONE who used busygirldesigns (okay, I don't have an official name, I'm just a girl with a cool computer program) to design for their holiday cards or clicked on my amazon links to order goodies for your loved ones.  Together we raised $283 (eep!!) that has been donated to a charity that provides after-school programs for underprivileged teens.  Your donation helped purchase some lovely holiday gifts for these kids that included new coats, gloves and hats!  Even a few baby dolls and legos for fun :)  Thank you ALL for helping me raise the money!!  Money made from busygirl affiliates will always be donated to those in need (the recipients will most likely change from time to time, we need to spread the wealth). THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! (you rock)

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On another side note, these Dark Chocolate Dove candies are delicious!  I'm currently scarfing down a few since I didn't get to eat lunch today.