Silent Fury

I took a short break from the craziness that my life has become in the past couple weeks (packing, cleaning, etc.) to go see my cousin Alex's band Silent Fury. Their three man band has been traveling around and touring quite a bit, but I had never managed to see them. So I was super excited, but unsure of what to expect. I was VERY pleasently surprised to find out that they are a really good band that plays music I really enjoy. They moved from original songs to covers and back again seamlessly. I found myself rocking just as much to the original songs I had never heard before as I did to the covers, which happened to be some of my favorite songs. They were also quite the show men and the people there loved them, filling the dance floor. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite like seeing your young cousin autographing his CD for a fan, but I was super proud of him and really can't wait to see them again. I didn't get any great pictures but I included a couple of them just to give you an idea.

Holiday Spirit (or lack of)

I adore the holidays, I love the decorations, the family time, the weather (I really do), giving the perfect gift, really just about every part of it. After my first Thanksgiving away from home went so well, I was ready to march right into the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately some things were working against me. Accepting a new job, while exciting, also means that I am not adding lights, a tree, and garlands with bows to create a beautiful and merry feeling. I am, instead, emptying my place a little at a time making it less and less of a home. It also means that I have not been roaming around to various family members as much due to the amount of work I have to do here, so I can't even partake in their brand of holiday joy. On top of all that scrooge-like activity we either set the record or came close for the latest snow fall ever in Vermont. Instead of a winter landscape of snow, and the crisp and clear air of winter, we had rain and muck. In the past week I have had a significant shift though, for two reasons. 1) My advent calender and 2) snow. Most years growing up we had an advent calender and as adults we have not let go of the tradition. When I was home in November I was thrilled when my dad presented each of us kids with an advent calender that he had gotten us. So every morning I get up and find the appropriate date and uncover a new picture, building the excitement for impending holiday one cartoon picture at a time. Then, just as I was already starting to get excited, our first big snowfall. We got about 6-8 inches over the day wednesday creating a beautiful winter landscape, finally! So even though my home is less home like, and I continue to postpone christmas shopping, I am in the holiday spirit and enjoying every moment as it comes. The view from the bend in my road after the snowfall on Wednesday

My advent calender, yay!

News

While I will always be thankful for the experience and the fact that it got me where I am now I must admit, I am not a huge fan of my job. I have, in fact, spent the last several months looking seriously into other options with little to no luck. So I am quite happy to report that I have accepted a new job. I am going back to my roots and working with the children. I am going to be working as a nanny again. I hooked up with a girl who is running an agency where I will be working full time, but splitting it for a couple different families on a regular basis and will have the ability to add extra time in helping other families in the area from time to time. I am very excited about it, and after spending a day working with one of the families that will be my regulars I feel that I have made the very best decision for myself. Oh and one other thing, it means I am moving again. This time I am moving even closer to the coast, and will actually be working right on the coast. My living arrangements are still up in the air, but let's face it, I spend half my life up in the air. It's a little scary but like I said, I am just really excited and happy to be going back to something I know I love to do. Anyway just wanted to let you all know what's going on with me.

Birthday memories

In honor of my mom's birthday, and Thanksgiving, today I am going to tell you one of my favorite moments ever from my mom's birthdays over the years (also included is mom doing shots of jager straight from the bottle on her 40th and Drew catching on fire at her 50th). When we were younger my dad often was the man in charge on school holidays since he usually had the same days off. Well this particular year mom's birthday fell on the day before Thanksgiving and we were home with dad all day while mom worked. We spent a good portion of the day working very hard on a SURPRISE chocolate cake for mom's big day. We also spent quite a bit of time trying to explain to 3 year old Megan why we it was fun to make a surprise cake and that she absoloutely couldn't tell mom under any circumstances. She asked some questions but seemed to get it. That night as we were finishing dinner dad said something along the lines of dinner being over and Megan, with chocolate on her brain and an incredulous look said "what about the cake?" Immediately angry that she had spilled the beans about the cake I quite firmly reprimanded that we were not supposed to tell mom about the cake. Megan looking sweet as a button looked at me and smiled and said "what cake?" To this day every time I think about it I laugh out loud. She always was a smart one :)

Weekends

Last weekend, through a series of random events, I ended up having an impromptu weekend in Cincinnati. While there I had what can only be described as an awesome weekend. I made friends on the plane ride down and barely noticed that I left my phone in Vermont by accident. I had great times with family and friends both in partying and relaxing environments, plus my first Bengals game of the season which was a total WHO DEY win over the Ravens. When you have weekends like that its sometimes hard to return to the new life that you have set up hundreds of miles away. So when some of my new friends/coworkers wanted to hang out this weekend I jumped at the chance. I love my coworkers, they keep me sane in a job that is constantly trying to drive me crazy. It seems that some of our job requirements are a slightly off sense of humor and either a dysfunctional or non-existant filter between our brains and mouths. Saturday I met with one of my friends in Stowe where we tried out one of the less ritzy places called The Shed, and even then we went to the pub side and not the dining room side. It was great, homey and warm on a rainy and cold night. We had good food and good conversation and I got to try a new place out, which I rarely get to do. Sunday two of my coworkers came over to my apartment, which is also a rare occurence since i don't live all that close to either one of them. I got to be a hostess which is one of my most favorite and most missed things to be. Part way through the night I realized that somehow I had slipped into adulthood along the way. Sadly this epiphany came with chocolate, when I actually paused while serving coffee with dessert because it seemed like such a grown up thing to do. Although, now that I think about it, if behaving like an adult makes me giggle I guess I'm not quite there, haha. Anyway, whether partying till 6 AM in Cinci or serving coffee with the brownies in Vermont I am a happy girl to be able to go back to my hometown and have such a rockstar weekend then to follow it with a nice, relaxing, comedy filled weekend with friends in the place I am making a new kind of home.

Spookiness

Yesterday, in keeping with the halloween spirit, one of my clients and I decided to participate in some spooky activities. First, we decided to venture into Hope cemetary in Barre, VT. Barre is a granite town so there are some truly amazing and original headstones in this cemetary. I had never been before so we decided to go check it out, partly to see the headstones and partly to freak ourselves out before our trip to the haunted zombie house. While we were there we took some picture, mostly as a joke, to "catch" something other worldly. While I blame the dots in the pictures on the light rainfall, they do look a little creepy and when they are blown up some of them appear to be falling upward. Take from them what you will, I leave it up to your judgement...

On our way out of the cemetary we decided to exchange spooky and true stories. Mine was from way back in my childhood. When I was little there were quite a few cousins all within the same age range who would be running around camp together. Over the years we have put serious time and effort into freaking each other out, either physically or mentally, with varying levels of success. So from a young age we had in our minds that there were quite possibly some pretty old spirits sharing our lake with us. One night, when I was maybe 7 or 8, we were headed out for one of our very favorite childhood activities, PJ Patrol. We would put our fashionable orange life jackets on over our pajamas and pack into the boat so one of our Uncles, or Grampy, could take us visiting across the lake. This night, we were on our way back to our camp and my cousin Kevin and I were sitting in the very front of the boat. Right as we were rounding the point and at the exact same moment we turned to tell our Uncle to make sure and watch out for the fishing boat, to which he responded "what boat?" Well of course we turned to point it out, but the boat was no longer there. Now Kevin often liked to steal my thunder, so I made him tell me first what he had seen. He proceeded to describe, in detail, a long fishing boat with a man standing on one end with his fishing pole cast into the lake and the man was wearing a tall hat and a long coat. This image, only a dark shadow against a dark lake, was the exact image I had seen. We spent the rest of the ride home in open mouth shock and I am not sure we've ever really talked about it to anyone else or even each other. And to this day I will sometimes think of the fisherman as we come around the point at night and wonder if I'll ever see him again.

Buckling down, settling in

I was looking outside and realized how perfectly the weather suits the day, which isn't rare exactly, just not a given. It's like snow falling on Christmas, a warm breeze on Easter or a bright, hot sun on the 4th of July, when the day just fits. My first Vermont Halloween has heavy, gray clouds hovering over the mountains and a wind that is actually whistling through the trees that have only those very few leaves hanging on before baring for the winter. It's one of those days that you just want to hunker down in your house with a good book, but maybe keep your curtains open so you can watch the trees bend and sway. It's also the kind of day that reminds you of what's around the corner, weather wise. For a few weeks I've noticed the preperation people are putting into getting ready for the coming winter, you know, the people's equivalent of squirrels burying their nuts. If you pay attention you can almost always hear the sound of axes hitting wood, as well as notice the chords of wood getting taller and longer by the day. The scent of a woodfire is always faintly riding every gust of wind and everyday you see more and more cars with the snow tires on and ready for the first snowfall. Even though I showed up mid-winter, and dealt with the coldest of cold temperatures, I have been told that it's the month of December that can make or break a person and truly seperates the natives from the wannabes. Apparently the sun all but disappears for the month and you can feel as though you are being buried in the snow as it rises around you. Well I am determined to not be shamefully cast as a wannabe and to maintain my sanity during a full New England winter, so I will also settle in and buckle down for the winter and keep plenty of entertainment on hand. Wish me luck!

Here it comes

October 13, that's the day I woke up and there was snow outside. It was also cold, only making it into the 30s. Apparently this is not an abberation, because today was also cold and tonight the temp will dip into the 20s. May I say again, it's OCTOBER. So the brightside to this situation is that it probably means that the traffic that has been completely outrageous the past two weeks will start to die along with the leaves on the trees. You see, sometimes towards the end of summer Yankee magazine printed that route 100 through Vermont was the best drive to see the infamous New England foliage. This may be true, I would be a pretty good judge since I drive on route 100 everyday, and live maybe a mile off of it. For the past two weeks this has meant my usually clear and enjoyable ride on country roads has been disrupted by a large number of people out driving and checking out the leaves. I will say, despite the annoying traffic, that I can't blame them. The colors that show up in this part of the country are a sight to behold. I was driving to Maine a couple weeks ago on a gorgeous bright sunny day, the sky was blue and a welcome contrast to what could only be described as fire in the forest. You know when you walk into an old church and you see these stunning stain glass windows. The detail and colors are amazing and you wonder at the person who put it together. Then the sun hits it and lights all the colors up and leaves you a little breathless. I say New England foliage is a little bit like that. I have spent my life loving the beautiful colors that come in every fall in Ohio, but in comparison it's like God took a light bulb and screwed it in underneath the forests of the Northeast. The reds are deeper, the oranges brighter and the yellows pull it all together, it is a genuine masterpiece. I tried to take some pictures, but was always unhappy with the result because it doesn't even begin to live up to reality. So while I'm bummed that the winter is getting ready to start up already, I feel it was probably a worthy exchange for a glimpse of God's true work.

Closing up camp

We headed up to the lake this weekend for one last weekend and to close up the camp for winter. It was a beautiful, if chilly, weekend. The leaves have been slowly changing since the beginning of September and the colors are really starting to show up. I've never been in New England this time of year before and I am already stunned at the vibrance of the colors that are popping out. There are still a couple more weeks until fall foliage is at its peak and I really can't wait. Anyway we had a really nice weekend with lots of family up for the weekend to help out, seeing as how us Elmendorfs are total rookies at closing a camp. I would like to say I was helpful but all I did was sweep a little and put some of the outdoor stuff, indoors. The boys were more productive, clearing the water lines, shutting the water off and taking both our docks and my grandparents docks out of the water. I very much appreciate that I did not have to get in the water, considering the temp dropped into the 30s on Friday night, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. I also got one more boat ride in when I went with my gramp to take the boat out of the water for the winter. While I was sad to see everything closed up for the winter, I am also well aware that this was just the inaugural year and there are many more to come. This first one will go down as the cold, rainy and totally amazing (shed a tear)!

Love/Hate relationship

My football weekend has been about as bad as it gets. Ohio State Buckeyes, lost in the last two minutes. Cincinnati Bengals, lost in the last 3o seconds. Jungle Kat (fantasy football team), needs TO to have the game of a lifetime tonight to give me a chance in hell of pulling out a win. But all the teams have HOPE. OSU hung with a top 3 team, the Bengals showed defensive power they haven't had the entire Lewis era, and my fantasy defense put up 46 points. As you can tell, I LOVE me some football. I honestly love sports, I think its the best reality tv around. I love the passion you see in the players who have worked for their whole life to be the best of the best. I love when egos get smashed and heart outweighs talent, I love hearing the helmets crash and the whistles blow, when underdogs win and dynasties fall. It's great, you couldn't write it if you tried. I also love the community that revolves around football Sunday. As a Bengals fan I had to go looking for a place that might possible show me the game. I was lucky to find out that there was a bar right in Waterbury that had undergone change of ownership and upgraded its sports bar status. Adding HD televisions and NFL network, which means that I GET TO WATCH THE BENGALS every week. I was amazed at the variety of fans, I saw people wearing Dallas, Philly, Jacksonville and even Brownies shirts. I started out watching the game alone but slowly made some friends. First was the girl from Denver who had to route against the Bengals but we ended up watching most of the game together, her husband who only routed for the Bengals when she was gone, and a gaggle of their friends from around town who were in and out. I also got the dirt on the local football happenings. The owner of one of the local bars is a total Squeelers fan, but his head chef is a Bengals fan. So I may take his head bartender up on the offer of a free beer for walking into the bar with my Bengals jersey on. Its nice to spend some time in the town I've been living in for the past eight months and to meet some of the people. We left it at the probability that we will all see each other on another football Sunday. I'll let you know :)

Sit down, get comfortable...

..we have a lot to catch up on. The month of August was pretty much chaos for me. Three weeks in a row I worked like a crazy person in a shortened week so that I could travel on the weekend. After the weekend in Rhode Island my sister stayed the week and our friends traveled up the next weekend for a girls weekend. We hadn't all been together since before I moved and it was waaaayyy past time. Whenever we all get together there is usually laughter, chaos, laughter, problem solving (personal and world issues), laughter and an occasional adult beverage. This weekend brought all of that and more. We enjoyed five days hanging out on the water and being ridiculous in a way that only we can. The amazing thing about these girls is the comfort level we have, we have all been in each others life in some way or another since elementary school. When you can hang out, say anything, do anything and you know that the people around you won't EVER judge, maybe poke fun at, but never judge you it's a truly relaxing and comedic environment. Needless to say I was very sad to see them go. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though because four days later I flew to Cincinnati and saw them again.

These are some pics that were taken and my friend Linsey fixed up on her computer, one of us six girls and the other is the view from the deck of our camp, they are amazing..

I have found that my weekends in Cincinnati are pretty hectic. Trying to fit a lot into a short period of time. Its impossible to see everyone and so you try to see as many people as you can. Luckily this weekend was the scramble, which allowed me to see a large chunk of Finneytown and other friends. It's a really fun day with a lot of golf, a lot of catching up and this year some beautiful weather. I will tell you more about it at a later date.

Pics of an evening with some of my high school friends, yet another amazing group of ladies, and the kiddos, Hannah, Nate and Caroline.
So with all this running around I decided I was in desperate need of a chill weekend at home. I almost caved and went to Maine when my work shifts got rearranged, but am so glad I stuck around. I hung out with some friends from work, which I don't do often enough, and we had an absolute blast. We met up at my friend Tara's house, which is out in the woods, and were messing around with a mountain board. This is like a snowboard on wheels and it was awesome, and a little dangerous, but we didn't have any permenant damage so it was all good. Then we wandered through the waterfall down the hill from her place and over to this huge beaver dam, basically all beautiful things that you don't see when you are hanging out in the city. We then went downt to the town fair where we enjoyed some fried dough, beers at the legion, gambling and a local southern rock band. We then returned to the house and were messing around with the bongo drums. We were terrible but it was so funny that it was worth it. I was so thankful that I had decided to stay in town and hang out with these girls. I work with some very cool people and can't wait to hang out again.

Rhode Island

This past weekend I took my first trip to Rhode Island to see my cousin Kev marry his lady love, Jess. We went to Newport where they were married in an outdoor ceremony in a setting that bordered on unreal at Castle Hill Inn. I am not sure I can put into words the love I have for weddings in general, but especially family weddings. Everytime I think I have overestimated how awesome my family is we have a weekend like this. We, literally, danced the entire night. There were multiple circles with some crazy moves happening in the middle. In fact, we got so into the dancing that my brother managed to convince the supervisor to allow some of the servers to dance with us in a dance off. They absoloutely wiped the floor with us, so it wasn't much of a dance off. When the people running the show finally realized we would never stop on our own they politely reminded us that we had to leave eventually. We listened, kind of. After a quick stop to change into our jammies, we then headed to a jazz bar on the beach and when THAT closed we decided to keep the party rockin on the beach where we got up a game of night volleyball. The next morning over breakfast we found out my cousins got pulled over for WALKING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, the cops flashed their lights and everything. True Story! To recap....amazing!

Sealing it with a kiss..

The Elmendorfs, all dressed up

All the female cousins, first time in over a decade....and the gang right after the worst game in history ended

It's that time of year...

...when the reports from training camps start coming in, predictions start heating up and I usually start getting pumped for the football season right around the corner. I am feeling very sorry for myself and sad about the upcoming football season. As a hardcore Bengals fan, not to mention season ticket holder, I love everything about football season and am very sad that I am going to be gone for this upcoming season. All reports have the Bengals looking strong for this fall and I am not sure how many games I will get home for, or even how many I will be able to see on television. So I will gather what information I can off the internet and dutifully write the schedule on my calender as I convince myself that this year is THE year even though I'm bummed that it may, finally, happen in my absence. While it may be bittersweet I hereby swear to wear my black and orange every Sunday in support of the amazing things about to happen in the jungle.

Breaking it in

I have spent a lot of time at the lake this summer. The novelty of living so close to the lake hasn't worn off yet and if I have a couple days off with no alternate plans, chances are that I am at the lake. Over time I have gradually been getting used to all the things that come along with the new camp. We've gone from west siders to east siders, which means I stay straight instead of turning right when I hit the lake. Our sunset is better, as opposed to their sunrise. Holding tank vs. a septic system, which may not mean anything to most people but trust me it makes a HUGE difference. Anyway the point is that I have gradually gotten used to the east side of the lake. However, a couple weeks ago the whole Elmendorf clan was in the camp for the first time, and it was no longer gradual. By the end of the week I really felt that the new place was our spot. Over the week we found a way to balance time on both sides of the lake, had our first formal meeting of the martini and cigar club, found out how long it takes to kayak straight across the lake, avoided tickets from the game warden, had an official dessert bake off, drank our first pitcher of margaritas ( and our 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and most importantly we started our memories there. I have a good time with my family no matter where we are, but it's an amazing feeling to look up and realize you are smack in the middle of making a memory.

We call these the first of a million martinis together in the new camp

Various members of the family at the pig roast near the shelter

Schmer and Moog wakeboarding

Sunset margaritas on one of the only nice days

The results of the bake off above and Aunt Stef enjoying one of those sunset margaritas at our impromptu cocktail hour on our deck.

Firsts

During my first summer as a Vermont resident there are bound to be a number of other firsts. My first visitors, outside of my family, came up in June for a long weekend. Kati, Paul and Joey flew up the last weekend in June. Kati and Paul came up Friday and we spent the first couple hours having margaritas and mexican on the waterfront of Lake Champlain. Paul was very patient with Kati and I as we talked and talked, as we love to do. I'm sure he was glad to see Joey when he came up Saturday. We immediately got on the road to the lake and after a pit stop in Plainfield for lunch we got there just in time for cocktail hour. We also decded to have some fresh lobster, Kati had a little trouble with the process of tearing the lobster to pieces in order to eat it. She also discovered that she most likely has a shellfish allergy, which is unfortunate because shellfish is delicous and she was sick the rest of the night. She was feeling much better by morning, unfortunately for our plans to lay out, the weather was terrible all weekend, but this didn't stop the boys from finding fish and they spent a lot of time in the brooks and streams nearby, as well as casting off the dock. So while Kati, my mom and I visited across the lake, chatted and drank wine, the boys caught their own breakfast. Our last day there it poured down rain, literally all day, so we spent the day napping and watching movies. Not the most exciting vacation for my Cincinnati friends, but it was still really great to see them all and I was sad to see them go.

The cute couple

Joey playing with his food, as usual

Kati losing her battle with the lobster

The boys enjoying Bill's sauna after a day of fishing

Story time with cousin Bill

Paul eating the brookies they caught themselves and the boys grilling in the rain

Radio silence...

I have spent the last few weeks running around like a crazy person. I had Cincinnati visitors when Kati, Paul and Joey stopped in for a long weekend at the lake. This was followed by fitting a five day work week into 3 1/2 days so I could head back up to the lake for the fourth of july weekend. My busy week had left me feeling under the weather, and my weekend at the lake did me in. I have spent this week alternating between bed and shortened work days. I still can't hear very well and my cough is wicked, but the meds are starting to work so I at least feel human today. However, I am heading to work for a 24 hour shift and then out to meet my family at the lake for a 10 day vacation. I do swear, however, to update about all the crazy goings on in my life the week I get back. Wish me sunshine and laughter!

To do or not to do..

This weekend in Maine I was reminded of some of the reasons why I love New England so much, so here is my to do list for hanging in New England..
Do...
Eat fresh lobster... My cousins Nick and Beth were awesome enough to invite me to stay Friday for lobster straight off the boat. Besides the amazing lobster we also had corn on the cob and baked potatoes, essentially the perfect meal. But I reccomend putting the diet completely to the side, because this meal requires loads of butter and you WILL overeat. But since it's not something you do everyday just commit to it for a night and fully enjoy it.
Go stargazing...after lobster we were feeling overfull and mellow so we had a bonfire and miraculously the cloudy sky cleared up and we got to view the sky. The farther from the city lights and more populated areas you are the more amazing the stars become. I have never seen, anywhere in Ohio, stars like I have seen in New England.
Keep your gas tank reasonably filled...I was something of a road warrior this weekend. Driving from Vermont to Maine on Friday, then to meet my Aunt Natalie and cousin Tasha on Saturday so we could all drive down to Mass for a bridal shower. On the way down my Uncle Kev called to let us know that Tash's horse Daisy had delivered her baby that afternoon, so after a few hours (in which we really had a lot of fun at the shower) we got back into the car and headed back to Maine. I noticed I was running low on gas, but then forgot about it because we kept chatting away, so once we got back to my Aunt's car and I was following her back to her house we were really in the danger zone. However, unlike the city, the gas stations are often many miles apart when you get into the country, and the first two we passed were closed. After driving about 70 miles with the gas light on I finally cruised into an open gas station. So don't take for granted that another gas station is coming your way.
Lastly, find a whoopie pie...these awesomely delicous treats have always been a favorite of ours. We would rarely head to the lake without having stopped for some. There are two fluffy cakes held together with some yummy sugary cream. Now usually they are chocolate cakes and white cream filling, but the one I am currently enjoying consists of pumpkin cakes and cream cheese filling, I mean...c'mon.

Lake Placid

The Olympic games have always been a really big deal in our house. My parents have both always been athletic and enjoyed sporting events and they passed that on to their children. I am actually more likely to cry at a 22 year old kid unexpectedly winning a gold medal then any movie, no lie. I remember as far back as the Seoul Olympics in 88, but can tell you about many others that came before that thanks to many a Bud Greenspan marathons with my dad. Listening and watching as he takes you back to the important and exciting things that transpired in two weeks increments every four summers and winters. So when my Uncle Ted suggested we go check out Lake Placid home of both the 1932 and 1980 winter olympics, I immediately agreed. I have a special place in my heart for the 1980 olympics because I was born while they were happening, and my Gramp talks about watching the gold medal hockey game in the waiting room of the hospital while I was being born. Anyway, my uncle is part of the Adirondack luge club so he spends quite a bit of time in Lake Placid, so I got to see some things that the average tourist wouldn't get to. We started in the Olympic museum where we saw the first gold medal ever awarded during the winter olympics, and a variety of other olympic memorabilia including skates, bobsleds, hockey gear and torches from over the years. This was located right next to the outdoor skating ring where Erich Heiden won five gold medals in 1980, the most medals won at a winter olympics, I believe. Then we headed over to the arenas where I got to stand on the rink where sonja henie (sp?) won a gold medal in '32 and to see the rink where the "miracle on ice", one of my all time favorite olympic moments, happened in '80 (i've also officially seen the movie Miracle at least 100 times). We also got to check out the olympic training center, where the best hopes for upcoming olympic teams train. We peeked into one of the gyms where a few people were working out and all I could think was that even though I have no idea what sport they participated in I knew I was seeing people who were more dedicated to this dream then I have ever been to anything, it's enough to give you goose bumps. After that we headed to the bobsled/luge track where my Uncle spends his time sliding. We were lucky enough to be able to go up towards the top and walk the track. It was really cool to walk it with someone who has slid on it multiple times, my Uncle was able to explain to me as we walked the track some of the more technical pieces of the sport that the average person could never tell you. I also never realized how tall parts of the track were, at places I felt it was twice my height, yet you could still see marks from where different sleds had hit the top. It is also totally crazy to be standing where the best of the best have competed. It was an amazing day! Below are some pics of our Lake Placid adventure.
The actual first gold medal ever awarded at a winter olympics, on loan from the smithsonian

The goal and some of goalie Jim Craig's equipment from the 1980 gold medal winning hockey team

The home of the "Miracle on Ice" where the young American team pulled the mother of all upsets and took out the dominant Russian team to get to the gold medal game they eventually won against Finland.

This picture was taken in the ice rink and you can see the speed skating oval in the foreground, while if you look closely in the distance you can see the ski jumps to the right and the bobsled and luge track to the left.
Below is the start gate we started our walk down the track on.

Summer is here...almost

Memorial Day weekend marked the beginning of my summer. My parents flew into town for the closing on their new camp on Maidstone Lake in Vermont. I grew up going to the lake at least once a summer and have spent a couple whole summers there. I love it there and am beyond thrilled that there is now Elmendorf property on that lake. We drove straight from the closing to the lake and after a brief stop at the new camp headed over to my grandparents camp across the lake. Shortly after we got there family started showing up. The weekend was tons of fun, we spent most of Saturday showing the new camp off and doing some cleaning. Some of the boys braved the FREEZING cold water to put the dock in. We also had an impromptu camp warming, everyone came over and celebrated the new place. We had drinks, dinner and a storytelling session. We had a little trouble getting out of bed in the morning, but mostly because it was cold. Mom and I laid in bed with blankets until dad got the fire and coffee going. The weekend was a blast and very busy. Which is why I went back this past weekend alone. I spent some time with my grandparents, but I also spent a good chunk of time by myself. The weather was back and forth between calm and crazy. I actually watched a sheet of rain cross the lake and whitecaps crash over the dock. Luckily I was nice and cozy indoors with a woodfire burning, a cup of coffee and a puzzle to put together in front of me. Two very different weekends to begin my summer at the lake, both equally fabulous. I can't wait to spend more time there.
Maddy supervising the men as they put in the dock...
...and having a solo dance party, just like I taught her!

Dad grilling dinner on the deck

The newest piece of Elmendorf property, early morning lake as seen from our deck

My biggest accomplishments of the second weekend. Two puzzles, one I did alone and one with my grandparents. See if you can guess which one is the "adult" puzzle, needless to say we were disappointed with the lack of racy content. Is that wrong?

Accidental Tourist

With a Sunday morning off AND in town I thought I would try to do something I had not done since I got here...go to church. I set out in what I thought was plenty of time to get to St. John's episcopal church in Stowe. I also thought I remembered the quick shortcut out to route 100 but instead I ended up missing church and driving even farther up into the Green Mountains. I saw some beautiful scenery and amazing homes tucked away on some dirt roads. When I finally did get to Stowe I totally fell in love with it. It's mostly known as a ski town with multiple resorts based around the ski mountain in the area. So I spent some time driving around the town and happened upon a farmer's market. There were lots of stands set up, live music, face painting and horseback rides. It was a perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday. I even took home some marinade and homemade jam and pickles.

Somewhere along my drive through the mountains

random covered bridge, also up one of the many country roads in the area

Water under the bridge, haha...

Stowe from the outside looking in, not a great view it's really way more beautiful



Farmer's market

The newest addition...

...to the finneytown legacy, Hannah Christine Gemmel

Back to the Nati

It's been awhile since I wrote anything, mostly because I spent some time in Cincinnati last week and since I've been back I've been trying to decide how to put it into words. I purposely waited four months to make sure that I had a good start on building my life in Vermont so as not to be too easily tempted back to Cincinnati before I gave living on my own a shot. The week leading up to my trip home I was certain I had waited too long, I literally could not wait to get on the plane. My trip home was better then anticipated and I am almost at a loss for how good a time I had. I saw lots and lot of friends and got up to some major shenanigans.
My first night home was softball games, milk jugs full of beer and triva night at the local hole in the wall. I'm pretty sure the only answer I contributed to the group was that Rosie was the name of the Jetson's robot maid. I got to see lots of my friends and got brought back into the loop with both good things and bad. I gave and got some advice and in general soaked in the essence of good old Finneytown. Of course it wouldn't be a night out for the Elmendorf sisters if we didn't try to get up to some hijinks, fortunately we have good friends who reminded us that not only are we no longer college kids we are actually respected members of society, so our big adventure was (blessedly) thwarted.
Friday Erik came home and joined the fun, we hung out with our parents and a couple friends for dinner and drinks. Then as the evening progressed more friends showed up here and there. Of course we kept discussing what we were going to do, but around midnight decided the obvious decision would be to go to the rinky dink pub named the "lucky lady" at the end of the street. Brother got formal and put a tie on over his tangeray t-shirt and basketball shorts, the rest of us went as is. Let me take a moment to describe this bar, it's one room and has christmas-like lights up behind the bar. It was cash only, but the bartender didn't have change for a twenty so our beer in cans was bought en masse for the group. Sara tried to borrow the bike for a ride but the tire was flat, and Kati and Megan chose music from the juke box which contained only hip-hop and country. At one point Erik asked the barmaid if she was nervous having a bunch of us stroll into her usually quiet place, to which she responded "nah, you guys seem okay and I could probably take three or four of you myself" needless to say, we all believed her. I laughed so much this night I had a permanent smile on my face.
Saturday we had a gathering at my friend Megan's parents house. It was all my girls that graduated together and our parents. Most of these friends are married with babies and I loved getting a chance to see all the kiddos along with their parents. At one point all the women were sitting out on the screened in porch and I commented to my mom and sister how amazing it is that a group of women can flow seamlessly between subjects that should in no way be linked together. We were having such a good time, laughing so hard that you could tell the men were a little intimidated. At one point we noticed that they were sending the men out one at a time to scope the situation out, they usually left shaking their head at an obvious loss for what exactly was happening. But then, if they understood, we would lose all our magic. At the end of the evening two of the girls sent their husbands home and four of us had a slumber party much like we used to. The funniest part was waking up in the morning with their two daughters running around, exhibiting the obvious difference between our high school slumber parties and the present day.
The daytimes and all of Sunday and Monday were spent with various members of my family mostly hanging out, which is when we're at our best. Running errands, laughing, talking (mostly about completely ridiculous topics) and enjoying each other's company. There is no good way to explain the joy I get in the small moments with the fam. A conversation over coffee, an anecdote about one of our numerous mutual friends, or simply discussing endlessly, and from every angle, some topic that had come up in our family's unquenchable thirst for knowledge. I think we are all pretty cool in our own right, but there is no where on earth I would rather be then hanging with my family when we can all get together.
So you can see the dilemna, how to explain a fantastic weekend home which can make a girl question why she is so far from this great life that had been built then left behind. On the other hand, I wouldn't be me if I didn't give this a fair and open-minded shot, and I really have no doubts that I'm where I am supposed to be.
Haha, I guess I found the words!

Birthday weekend in New Hampshire

This weekend was my Aunt Erin's birthday, so I headed to New Hampshire to help celebrate. Both summers I spent in New England I spent at least part of living with my Aunt. Generally our time together involves a lot of chilling out and laughing. This time was no different but I tried to help her bring in her birthday with a bang anyway. Her favorite breakfast is eggs benedict, home fried potatoes and mimosas. Home fries and mimosas were easy, but I have never even eaten eggs benedict let alone made it. Luckily I remembered that my gramp taught me how to poach an egg about nine years ago (which is the last time I did it) and he used a cool contraption which my aunt also had. I got through it with a little help and below is a picture of the result. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, at least I enjoyed it and I think she did too.
One of our traditions is to "frappe" together. Frappes are milkshakes with a fancy new englander name and for some reason in our case it always leads to extreme comedy in some form and this time was no exception. We made our own homemade frappes and as Aunt Erin was pouring them into glasses we had a frappe-tastrophe as we like to call it and ended up with black rasberry chip milkshake all over the counter just as two of my uncles and two of my aunts and their dogs walked in the door with cake and ice cream for a birthday surprise. All in all it was a great weekend...