Snowboarding!

Well, the weather finally decided it was time for winter and so Jeremy and I were able to go snowboarding on the weekend. Yay! As promised, here are some photos (although they're not very glamorous)....

Me at the top of the mountain, delaying strapping into my board. Doesn't it look like I have a moustache in this photo?! Hehe. Don't worry, I don't...

Jeremy and I on the lift. It was actually snowing by this time...see all the snow stuck to us?!

That would be me, coming to the base of the mountain.

Me again.

Jeremy coming towards the bottom of the mountain.

Jeremy again!

And that's it! Pretty exciting stuff huh?! On a side note, I am actually really starting to get the hang of this snowboarding thing. On all previous snowboarding trips, I had been unable to turn "toe-side" (turning to face the mountain), which meant that I would constantly be turning "heel-side" (turning to face down the mountain) to slow myself down. Not only did this absolutely kill my legs, I looked like a gimp because that's so not the way to snowboard. Anywho, yesterday I finally began to master the art of switching from heel-side to toe-side (which is what you see all good snowboarders do...they turn one way and then quickly carve the other way), which was a huuuuuge accomplishment for me! I ended the day feeling great - my legs weren't sore because instead of fighting the mountain I was actually letting myself coast down without being afraid! Poor Jeremy didn't have such a great day...he fell getting off the lift and hit his shin on his binding (actually, the skier next to him pushed him forwards and he lost his balance), and then he fell another time (I think my board went over the front of his board) and twisted his knee. But, ever the trooper, he got back up and by the end of the day he was fine. He's a much better snowboarder than me, probably because he's not afraid to go super fast. So, that was our Sunday...fun, fun, fun!!!

Back to Saturday...Some of our good friends, Eric and Shannon, are expecting a little baby boy in February (actually, their due date is the 28th, so keep your fingers crossed he'll pop out a day early and we'll have the same birthday!), and so on Saturday I went to a baby shower. We had a lot of fun playing "The price is right" for baby items and some other crazy games. It was so great to see Eric and Shannon again (we don't see them nearly enough), and to shower her with gifts for the baby (whose name, by the way, will be Chase Maximilian - how cute is that!).

And that's all our news. Oh, it finally snowed here last night, so now everything is a wintery white (and all the roads are icy as heck! Aaarrrghh!). Yay!!

Christmas, New Years, and everything else

I know, it's been forever since I wrote on here. I meant to do it after Christmas, but then I figured I'd wait until after New Years, and then I just never got around to it. But now, due to popular demand, I'm finally knuckling down and getting it done!

As many of you already know, Jeremy and I made the long trip to Chicago to spend Christmas with his family. We packed up the dogs, drugged them up with Dremamine (to stop them from getting carsick), and made the 12 hour drive to the windy city. We were there for about a week, and kept very busy with Christmas, family and friends. Jeremy's parents hosted Christmas day dinner, and so after opening all our pressies we were running around like mad people making sure that everything was done by the time aunts and uncles started arriving. We had the usual Christmas meal - turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, and finished it all off with pie. Mmmmmm....delicious! The day after Christmas (nope, it's not Boxing Day over here) we ventured into the city of Chicago to spend the day with some of Jeremy's good friends, Nicky and her husband Corey, and Julie. We had such a great day - walking around the city, riding the "L-train" (called so because the tracks are elevated above the streets instead of running through tunnels), eating and drinking. Here's some pics...









Jeremy and I looking over the ice-skating rink at Millenium park.











The giant bean at Millenium park - why they have this in the middle of the city I have no idea!


From left: that's me, Jeremy, Jessica (Jeremy's younger sister), Julie, Nicky and Corey




After dinner, all 6 of us piled into Corey's BMW to drive to a bar. It sure was cosy!! Speaking of dinner, while we were in the city we ate some of the best food ever! We ate lunch at this funky little place called the Bongo Room where the wait is never less than 30 minutes and where people line up in the street to eat on weekends. It was so delicious! Then, for dinner we ate the best tapas I've ever had! We had delicious things like octopus with french fries (no, not calamari, but real octopus with tentacles and all), chicken, cheese and ham broquettes, mussells...you name it, we ate it. It was so incredible! Wash it all down with a mojito and you're good to go! Mmmmmm!!

The next day Jeremy and I just lay around the house, and hit the mall for a little post-Christmas shopping. The day after that, we got to go and visit good friends of ours who had moved from the DC area back to Chicago after they had their baby. It was so great to see them, and to play with their adorable baby girl Keira. She is a really sweet baby - always smiling, with chubby little cheeks! Don't believe me!? Look for yourself!



Then it was back to DC in time for New Years Eve. After such a hectic week, we weren't really in the mood to go out and party, so we made reservations at a restaurant by us. We had a couple of drinks, and some delicious food, and then came back home to watch the ball drop on tv. Not very exciting, but still it was nice.

Then it was back to work as usual, and nothing much has been happening since. It's been unseasonally warm here over the last couple of weeks, but yesterday the weather finally decided to act like it's winter and temperatures have dropped. It's been dropping below freezing overnight, and not getting much warmer during the day. It's pretty darn cold, but I'm so glad it finally is because it means one thing - we get to go snowboarding again! Woo! Maybe this time I'll actually remember to bring a camera so we can get some action shots! Haha. I'll have to try my hardest not to fall down when the shutter clicks!