It's been a year...

This time last year, we were finishing our drive across the country... pulling onto our new street for the very first time... laying eyes on our rental house for the first time.  We had grand plans last year to pop a bottle of champagne in our new home, and check out some of  the excitement in South Lake Tahoe.  What actually happened: we unpacked our stuff and cleaned our filthy new place until we were too exhausted to keep going and we crashed around 11ish?

So, you are probably wondering what we will be up this year on New Year's Eve?  Well, we have super exciting plans...  we are going to eat junk food and watch movies on the couch, followed by a few shots of nyquil (because we both have colds) and an early bedtime!  WooHoo!  Exciting times.

2013 has been an absolutely amazing year.  We have met some amazing people.  We have had many new experiences and we've seen a lot of new places.  This past year totally exceeded my expectations.  I'm actually very grateful for this blog... it allows me to go back and read old posts which is great for reminiscing at the end of the year.

I think most people look forward to starting a new year because they are tired of the old year and ready to start fresh again.  I feel so blessed to say that 2013 was amazing and I can't imagine 2014 being any better!  We have pretty big plans for 2014 so far though, so here's to hoping it will also be amazing!

In 2014 I am praying for the HEALTH and genuine happiness of all my friends and family. Happy New Year everyone!!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE you all!!!

"There is no path to happiness, happiness IS the path."  - Buddha 

Christmas 2013

We've been busy getting settled into our new place... just in time for Christmas. The move went smoothly.  We got it all done in 3 days (including cleaning both places and hanging all the pictures, etc).  We are happy with the new place so far and plan to stay here for at least a year and a half.  

 Last year at this time, we were surrounded by our friends and family for Christmas before we departed on our cross country adventure.  This year, it was just us.  We really missed spending time with everyone, but enjoyed some quality time as our own little family.  

I worked until noon on Christmas Eve.  Once home, I immediately changed into my pj's and headed to the kitchen to start baking.  Mike and Zater napped while I baked and watched Christmas movies... all by the glow of our hand cut Christmas tree!  [Quick side story: we took all the ornaments off the tree while moving it from one house to the other... ya know... to minimize the risk of breaking the glass ornaments... once in the new house I redecorated the tree... which stood for about a day... then fell over... breaking some of the ornaments.  Go figure.]

No mantle?  No worries!  We hung our stockings on the stair railing.  

 I really think nothing smells better than baking chocolate chip cookies.  It's so comforting.  And this year I made homemade cinnamon rolls... which I will probably make a yearly tradition.  they were pretty tasty.

It was a relaxing holiday for us, which was greatly appreciated since the last few weeks have been pretty busy.  And, thankfully, there is skype!  So we were still able to see and talk to most of our family members.  Next year, you all should spend Christmas in Tahoe!  Merry Christmas everyone!  

"For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord."  - Luke 2:11

Well, winter is back...

We have temps in the single digits... dipping down below zero during the night.  We also got a couple feet of snow from the most recent storm.  Mike and I were able to do some skiing in the fresh powder.

Changing topics, a family friend was recently hospitalized after a motorcycle crash.  Please keep him, and his family in your prayers.  His daughter is getting married in just a few days and I feel sure that she desperately wants her father there.  I have been praying for everyone involved but please, if you are reading this, take a moment to pray for his speedy recovery and that her wedding day is everything she dreamed it would be.

To change topics again... we are moving!  We are renting the house we currently live in, and the landlord has put it up for sale.  We've been showing the place as much as possible, but now it's time for us to move on.  So, next weekend we will be carrying ALL of our belongings to the house right next door.  Hopefully everything will go smoothly and there won't be a blizzard.

Well, I think that's the latest news from Tahoe.  Stay tuned.    

'Tis the Season to Gobble 'Til You Wobble

I LOVE the holidays.  I love EVERYTHING about the holidays!  But this year I thought I might be homesick since we are so far from home.  Thankfully, Mike's sister Pam flew in last week and stayed through turkey day.  It was so nice to have family here... it made it feel like Thanksgiving!  

We did a lot while she was here.  We started the week off by driving down to Monterey to visit the aquarium.  The wind was blowing in Tahoe, so on our drive out of the basin, we stopped to capture some pictures of the powerful wind storm.  Caples Lake... a pretty small lake... had waves big enough to surf! 

The winds over the pass were strong enough to blow down trees... 

We made it to Monterery just after lunch time and headed straight to the aquarium.  

Pretty starfish. 

Sea otters playing in the bay... 

Sea otters napping inside the aquarium. 

Lots of jellyfish

Mike's silhouette and a sea of moon jelly's.  

Cute little sea horse and fish

A diver feeding the fish... 

BEAUTIFUL Monterey coastline

And we got to see a beautiful sunset over Monterey. 

Then we drove north... stopped in Santa Cruz for dinner on the boardwalk... and continued on to San Francisco.  We stayed the night in Fisherman's Wharf and walked around the city the next day.  Each time we visit, I fall a little more in love with San Fran.    

The sun coming up over the Bay Bridge

Sun coming up over Alcatraz... 

And the early morning sunrise on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sea Lions playing in the harbor...  

... and tons of sea lions sunbathing. 

 We were able to see most of the big tourist attractions, even though we only had a few hours in the city before we needed to head back to Tahoe. 

On the way home, we HAD to stop by a few wineries... 

We finally made it back to Tahoe and stayed in the basin for the rest of the week.  

Home Sweet Home

The rest of the week was full of sightseeing for Pam.  We were even able to do a little skiing.  Thursday I spent the morning in the kitchen... cooking turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn, green beans, rolls... Mike made mashed potatoes... and we had apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin amaretto cheesecake for dessert.  We ate til we were full... we watched the parade... the dog show... several football games... and Christmas movies!  A PERFECT Thanksgiving! 

Friday, we headed out in to the woods with our saw in hand to find the "perfect" Christmas tree.  We quickly realized we needed to lower our standards... none of the trees we saw looked like the full, perfectly shaped Frasier firs we used to get in NC.  Luckily, Mike spotted a really good tree... we chopped it down... came home... opened some wine... pulled out the leftovers... and began eating and decorating!

Thanks Pam for visiting!  We loved having you for Thanksgiving!  Please come back to visit ANY time you want.  

Hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now, we have a few short weeks until Christmas!  

Stress

Although we live in a mountain paradise, I can't break my old habit of letting stress creep up on me until I LITERALLY explode.  This past weekend was ground zero.  Maybe some of you female readers can relate... male readers probably won't understand. 

It had been a pretty long and busy week at work.  Wednesday evening after work, we attended a free lecture put on by the hospital (it was all about knee injuries and rehab related to skiing) and went out with friends for dinner/drinks after.  Thursday night, I rushed out of work so we could get to North Lake for an avalanche awareness lecture.  By Thursday evening, I was feeling pretty exhausted, both mentally and physically.  Friday, it was time to relax and enjoy the weekend but I just couldn't for some reason.  

Friday afternoon, I exploded.  Here's how it went down:  Mike and I dropped off our bikes for some minor work at the bike shop and headed to get some lunch.  We walked into the restaurant and I headed straight to the bathroom because I felt an epic meltdown coming on.  I couldn't even compose myself enough to get through lunch!  I came out of the bathroom a teary mess and asked Mike to take me home.  Bless his heart.  The next 30 minutes I was a blubbering/hyperventilating MESS.  Once I got it out of my system... I felt a little better and we were able to get some lunch and go for a nice bike ride with a friend of ours.  

Here are some pics from the ride: 

The bike ride was pretty good.  It's ALWAYS nice to get out in the fresh mountain air.  And to think, I nearly ruined a perfectly good Tahoe bluebird day!?!?!  That would have been tragic. 

Saturday, I had to work in the morning but it was a short day, so that afternoon we were able to go on another bike ride.  The trail was pretty snowy/icy in some places and the chain on my bike kept getting stuck and I almost, ALMOST had another meltdown in the middle of the trail.  Apparently I was in a very fragile mood and it didn't take much to start the waterworks.  My dear husband helped me free my chain (twice) and I was able to keep from crying... this time. 

The ride had beautiful views of the lake... 

Seriously, how could anyone be stressed here??? 

Sunday, the lake was blissfully calm so Mike and I loaded up the paddleboards and headed out to paddle a stretch of the east shore that we haven't paddled before.  We paddled from Cave Rock to Glenbrook Bay.  I know that doesn't mean much to those of you who aren't familiar with Tahoe.  Anyway, I took a camera... but there was no battery in it... so that was pretty much a wasted effort.  But imagine paddling with the sun behind you, shining perfectly into the bluest water you've ever seen, with huge boulders the size of small elephants below you.  The lake was like a sheet of glass and there were times it felt like we were literally the only ones on the entire lake.  We worked up an appetite, and headed out to a lunch date of all-you-can-eat sushi.  It was exactly what I needed before starting another week at work.  

Mike: thank you for loving me despite my "episodes."  I wish I could tell you that was the last time... but it's probably not (just being honest).   Love you.  Mean it. 

This blog is sponsored by:

wine... 

lots and lots of wine! 

Life lately....

Well, the last few weeks have been busy and fun.  Sorry for the lack of posts.  Here's the recap...

A few weekends ago, we had a perfect fall weekend.  I was able to do some mountain biking... we viewed the salmon swimming upstream to spawn... and did a little paddleboarding on Echo Lakes.

Our friend Ann looking out onto Echo Lake.

Sunday, we spent the day at Apple Hill which is an area of orchards about an hour west of Tahoe.  We bought apple dumplings, apple cake, and an apple pie for thanksgiving (all homemade of course)... followed by some wine tasting.  

Last weekend we were in NC!  It was great to be back but it was a whirlwind trip.  We landed late Friday night, had my cousins wedding on Saturday, visited Mike's family on Sunday, and flew out EARLY Monday morning.  It was a great trip but it went by VERY fast. 

We came home to find LOTS of snow on the ground.  We stopped by Taylor creek to see if the bears were eating the salmon and sure enough... 

This weekend was a little more laid back... and we really needed that.  Saturday I was still able to do some paddleboarding with our roommate, Karyn (she's a PT student staying with us for 8 weeks).  And we all did some mountain biking Saturday afternoon (even Mike with his gimpy shoulder... you can see his video on facebook).  

Living Life to The Fullest and Ending Up in the E.R.

The last couple of weekends have been pretty mellow.  I bought a "new to me" mountain bike and we've been doing lots of riding.

Last weekend, after a day of riding bikes, we were able to get up to Squaw Valley Ski Resort for a movie premiere: a tribute to Shane McConkey... a professional freestyle skier/base jumper who called Squaw Valley his home.  He had a sense of adventure like no one else on this planet.  He was probably best known for his ability to ski off cliffs... do a backflip... drop his skis... pull a parachute... and calmly float back down to earth.   Tragically, he was killed during a jump that went wrong.

The venue was perfect.  We sat outside in the freezing cold with heaters and fire pits all around.  The screen was below the Squaw gondola and they had "THANK YOU SHANE" in lights on the side of the mountain.  The movie was a touching tribute to his life and legacy.  He lived his life to the FULLEST and I think everyone left with a new excitement for their own lives (within reason of course... I can find excitement in life while keeping both feet firmly on the ground).

So this weekend, we decided to live our Tahoe lives to the fullest by going for a mountain bike ride.  I'm still very new to mountain biking so I need all the practice I can get.  We decided to stay close to home and rode the Tahoe Rim Trail up to "the bench," a man-made wooden bench at one of the peaks of the trail.  The ride up was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life challenging.  It was just very technical... lots of rocks to climb... so I ended up walking my bike quite a bit.  

Finally, the trail mellowed out a bit and we ended up here:

I've never worked so hard to get to a bench. 

 The views were worth it. 

 Zater came along for the 12 mile ride.  He may be getting older but he's still full of energy.  Now, he'll sleep for 2 days straight.  

On the way back to the truck, we decided to skip the single track trail and rode a 4x4 road down.  It's all gravel/rock/sand but we skied it a few times last winter and we knew it would take us back to the truck.  

As we were riding down, Zater cut across the path directly in front of Mike.  To avoid hitting Zater, Mike slammed on his brakes but his rear brake is a little faulty so his front brake stopped him and his forward momentum took him over the handlebars and directly onto his right shoulder.  

When he sat up, it was pretty obvious that his right shoulder was hanging a bit lower than his left. He took a nasty hit to his right knee too and he couldn't even move out of the road because of the pain. So, I continued riding down... got the truck... put it in 4 wheel drive... and headed back up to get him (thank God we were on a 4x4 road).  

After some x-rays in the ER it appears he has a grade 3 AC (acromio-clavicular a.k.a. top of the shoulder) separation.  He's in a sling and needs to follow up with an orthopedic specialist to determine if he did any other damage and whether or not he'll need surgery (hopefully not... technically a person can function with an AC separation... you just have a bump on the top of your shoulder and hopefully regain full range of motion/strength, etc). 

I had planned on celebrating Mike's 30th birthday this weekend... his actual bday is in a couple weeks but we're busy the next 2 weekends.  I bought him a jacket from REI and we needed to exchange it so he called the closest store and they informed us they were having a "garage sale" that they had not advertised. Seriously??? Discounted gear and no one knows about it???  JACKPOT!!!  So, since he's all busted and can't play outside, we headed to Reno and scored big time deals... including a GoPro... so next time I can get his crash on video!  

An Iconic Tahoe Weekend

The summer and fall months in Tahoe are probably best known for mountain biking and hiking.  Tahoe has some amazing biking trails.  Mike has a bike... I don't. Luckily, one of my amazing friends from work let me borrow her mountain bike for the weekend. So on Friday, Mike and I rode The Flume trail... one of the most popular biking trails in this area.  It was an 11ish mile ride with great views of Marlette Lake and AMAZING views of Lake Tahoe. 

  

 The trail rides high above several coves along the east side of the lake.  Below is a picture looking down on Thunderbird Lodge... we paddled around this cove a few weeks ago.  The color of the water is amazing. 

 It's an awesome trail, but the views are so amazing that it's hard to keep riding... we kept stopping to take pictures!  

Sand Harbor and North Lake in the background. 

Sand Harbor

I'm so grateful to my friend Chris for letting me borrow her bike!  And now I'm in the market for a bike of my own (even though the last thing I need is ANOTHER expensive hobby). 

Saturday, we decided to go for a hike.  Mt. Tallac is one of the most popular mountains in this area because of the beautiful views from the summit... so we decided to tackle this hike.  It's 10 miles round trip but the climb is pretty steep which adds to the difficulty.  The cool fall temps made the uphill climb more tolerable.  The breathtaking views along the way helped too!

On the way up... we passed Fallen Leaf Lake. 

 We also passed Floating Island Lake... and Cathedral Lake. 

Looking up at Tallac from along the trail. 

Cathedral Lake

Fallen Leaf Lake on the right... and of course BIG Lake Tahoe. 

 The climb to the top of Tallac offers AMAZING views into Desolation Wilderness... including views of a lot of the alpine lakes in Desolation. 

 Looking down on South Lake Tahoe... 

 It was pretty cold at the top.  

The Tahoe Keys... a neighborhood of canals where every home is waterfront. 

Taylor Creek. 

Emerald Bay and Cascade Lake.  

With Fallen leaf Lake in the background. 

A cool tree on the hike down. 

 The last few weeks, we've been checking Taylor Creek regularly because every year in the fall, the Kokanee Salmon run upstream.  We got lucky enough to see some of the salmon swimming. 

This place is amazing.