Snowshoeing...

A couple weeks ago something happened that is a rare occurrence, the weather forecasters pretty much hit the nail on the head. In the days leading up to the weekend, there was much talk of a big snow storm, but even then it was with vague terms and an unwillingness to commit to predicting a huge storm. In the end, they were dead on, and Nemo rolled through on a Friday night into Saturday and left two feet of snow in his wake. I have now been through two hurricane situations since moving to New England, and neither one matched the anticipation of this nor'easter. I attempted to head to work on Friday morning, only to turn around and not just due to the dusting that had started, but because the gas stations were out of gas and I didn't have enough to make it there. So I turned around and stopped in at the store to grab a couple things (mostly wine!)and found that the milk shelves were completely empty, with the exception of organic milk, so I grabbed some of that (a must for white russians!) and headed home. It was actually a really fun weekend, I got to do some serious snuggling with baby George and spent some good quality time with Maria and Charlie. With our schedules and lives these days those times are not as common as they used to be. We didn't lose power, or our cable and internet which would have been much more devastating, and it was absolutely beautiful. We even managed to step out mid-blizzard for an on the spot weather report (if I had the technology there would be a link to that video here). On Sunday the sun came out and it warmed up enough for us to take a family trip out snow shoeing. Now, I have to admit, this event is the first time I know for a fact that I would not have gone on this outing without this list guilting me into it. To make up for missed work on Friday, I went in for a few hours Sunday and that combined with relative inactivity all weekend had me feeling lazier then usual. So when Maria asked me to join them for a little family afternoon walk, my instant reaction was to say no, but in the next 5 seconds my brain did a quick internal rundown of the pros and cons that went something like this. Cons: tired, cold, exercise (blah)...pros: List, list, list, possible final opportunity and do you really want to have this not checked off, because lets face it you can't be sure that it will even snow before Jan 1 again, or can I? Just get your shit together and go for a walk!! Sooooo maybe more like 10 seconds. So I strapped on my snowshoes for the first time since maybe age 5, and hiked out into the woods, bringing up the rear of our little gang. Charlie with snowshoes on his feet and George on his chest, and Maria on cross country skis we were ready to go. Now, I may never have known what I was missing out on if I had just stayed home. However, since I did go, knowing that I wouldn't have without the pressure of checking this off the list, it hit me even harder how awesome the experience was. All these small moments, like when we were crunching through the trees, the only real noise as everything else was silenced by a blanket of snow, sitting by the frozen over lake, taking in the sun with George smiling at me, Sammi running like God invented snow specifically to make her happy. It was a fantastic afternoon, and I would be lying if it didn't make me more determined then ever to really jump feet first into the year, and this list. I am excited to see what other things I may have missed out on without a little push.

Print Pictures

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce." -Karl Lagerfeld

I have always loved pictures. I love when you catch a moment, the kind of moment that when you see it again it instantly brings back the music, the joke, the atmosphere. I am not one to forgo a real live event to take a picture, so there are plenty of memories that will live only in my mind, but sometimes the camera comes out, and sometimes it snaps at just the right second. These are the pictures I love. However, in this age of technology, most pictures stay digital, which can have a lot of benefits. It's easy to show the world a favorite picture, or to find one when you need one without searching endless shoe boxes, but I sometimes feel as though the ease of the modern world takes some of the warmth and joy out of displaying them in your home or room. When they are on the computer, someone can type a comment to you, or share a smiley face, or even just let you know how much they "like" it. What I like better then that is when a guest in my home looks at my pictures, and asks a question, it can start a conversation about things you wouldn't normally think to talk about. Or even better, when someone who was part of the event, can look at it and you share a laugh over the events during, or surrounding that picture. It's a way to engage with the people in your life, and to me that's the most important thing there is.

So I recently made a point to pick some of my favorite pictures from the last couple years and have them printed off. They make it very easy for you these days, another benefit to the digital age. I sent my pictures, via email, to Walgreen's and an hour later they were ready. The whole process cost under $10, and now I have some fun memories displayed in my house.