New year, new things!

Getting back to normal has been fun. Although in all truth, what is normal? After 2 full weeks back at work, I'm done working there. They really wanted me to continue working, but the exciting upcoming projects beckon! More on the future in the near future.
At Christmas, I received a bounty of wonderful gifts including a whole set of Fiesta wear dishes. CD and I have really enjoyed them so far- it makes me cook in abundance just to dish it out!


We also finally got a new DVD player (thanks Sis) because the old one had been skipping, stopping and generally not playing the discs. The new one is very fancy- just ask CD, he knows about all the cool gadget features!
And just today I received a lovely handmade cowl(?)/neck warmer! It's nice and warm (I love the Icelandic wool and don't mind a little itchy :)


Another new addition to our lives/home are the fruit trees we planted last week. After much discussion and decision-making we narrowed it to: a pear, a plum and an apricot. They are small and cute! CD did most of the work: digging, breaking the layer of concrete under the dirt, measuring, packing the dirt back in while I just held the trunks in place. I know that it will take a couple of years at least, but I'm super excited for this mini-orchard!
Planted pear:

Breaking thru the concrete:

Let it snow!!! a.k.a the winter of our discontent

When someone says roadtrip, what comes to mind? Summertime, the open road, camping, music, etc. No one ever thinks of black ice, strong winds, semis blowing snow on those snow banked roads- why? Because most people do not embark on road trips in the middle of winter. Yet I agreed to do just *that* sometime back in December... oh foolish girl!
CD was excited about winter and snowboarding/snowshoeing, yet any attempt to make plans with friends didn't seem to pan out. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and called up our friends Eunice and Jay and penciled in a week of outdoor adventure.
We left on the day that the first of three severe storms was coming. We were 5 minutes ahead of the storm the whole time and our mantra was "we just have to make it to Reno". Crossing the Sierras in the middle of blizzard-like conditions was a painstaking and stressful event- we'll never do that again!
I guess the other key detail of the trip is that we decided to take the Prius instead of CD's Jeep. That baby handled itself amazingly well. We didn't use the tiny chains we had purchased because the car's anti-slip mechanism was fabulous!


It was great to see Eunice and Jay again.


The snow on the mountain was spectacular! I think they got about 3 feet in the 5 days that we spent there. Awesome pow-pow!


On Saturday night, Jay cooked a turkey and some friends came over for a lovely dinner.


Sunday night we went to watch Jay (#3) play hockey- he scored the only goal for his team. It was really fun to be amongst the few fans- Go Earwigs!!


"Good game", "good game", "good game"


I only got to snowshoe one day, but it was really fun! Eunice took us on a trail,


brought the hot chocolate


and got to practice her cross country skiing skills. After our outing, she showed us the future sight of their home which they have designed themselves- it's going to be very exciting once they break ground!
TBD Paiute:


The return trip was a bit difficult as well and we considered stopping along the way to visit friends and family, but in the end we just wanted to rush back and spend a couple of days at home before returning to work after such a long break.

New Year's in Chicago

What a fun time we had in Chicago. The city is overwhelming with all the tall buildings concentrated downtown and walking around feels like tunneling in some weird futuristic land of concrete and steel. Our hosts Dan and Rebecca showed us the sights. On Friday, we went to Millenium Park and saw Gehry's amphitheater and other lovely outdoor sculptures. At the field museum we saw the maps exhibit and evolving planet- lots of fossils and bones to reaffirm the theory of evolution and valuable information about the various ice ages.
On Saturday, we went for an informal architectural tour of downtown and then up the Hancock building for a misty look at the city. Unfortunately the weather was greyish limiting our visibility, but we could discern that the city sprawls for miles and miles. That evening, Dan's friend Jen came over for dinner and we enjoyed meeting her.
On Sunday, we had planned to get together with our friend J who lives in Palatine, but he came down with something and we didn't get to see him :(
Instead we took the train down to University of Chicago where we had a good look at Dan's lab after an hour-long tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie house. On our way back, we stopped at Eleven- a delicious deli on Wabash Ave. where we enjoyed latkes and shared a great pastrami sandwich. On our way home it started to snow- again!



On New Year's eve we visited the Art Institute and wow! what treasures! It's amazing to see so many masterpieces housed in one place. That evening we went with Dan and Rebecca to the dinner club. A local group of chefs that offer fancy, delicious dinner in private residences. We stayed after dinner and welcomed the new year and celebrated with homemade mead. (Dan, I need that recipe!)
On Tuesday, with a mild hangover we headed home! Thanks so much to our hosts for having us!

Holidays

Taking time off to enjoy some family and friends has been wonderful. We just returned from two weeks of relaxation and eating.
We flew to Minnesota to stay with CD's parents where we first encountered snow. I mention this because even though I don't terribly miss the cold temperatures that accompany snow, I do miss the beautiful white landscapes and of course, throwing snowballs. While there we went for walks, played games and ate delicious dinners made by Paige. We also had the chance to go to the Walker Museum and see the Frida Kahlo exhibit there. Larry and Mary, the birthday girl, came with us and we celebrated with a nice lunch out.
I also had the opportunity to get together with my friend Kristen who lives in Seattle, although she's originally from Stillwater.
On the Sunday before christmas we piled all the presents, the turkey and all the warm clothes in our luggage into a big SUV and headed to Ohio for Christmas day celebrations. The drive took about 14 hours of white knucking it through some white outs and many sightings of cars in the ditch.
We were excited to arrive and get to see everyone. Jeff and his family were there and it was good to visit, even though it was very brief. They left that night to make it back to Michigan for Monday-workday.
Papa was in great spirits even though Hans, the german sheperd, did chime in with some barking amidst all the new faces. Bonnie, CD's paternal grandmother stayed until the 26th and it was a pleasure to celebrate Christmas with her too!
Christmas in the Midwest