Vacation preview

Photo Dump III

                       
Paul's brother Stephen was in Utah, so they ran a 5k together.

                                

    

This is my adorable niece watching the race with me

For our first anniversary, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Huntsville.  It was only 45 minutes away, but it felt like a whole new country. No smog! Snow that is actually pretty! A whole valley free of freeways and factories! The place we stayed at was super rad. It's run by this semi-retired California beach volleyball player who is living the dream by running the bed and breakfast in the mornings, and skiing and hanging with all his friends that fly out to visit for the rest of the day. He skis every day. Inspiration.

We mostly hung out at the place, playing pool, eating, and watching The Empire Strikes Back. We also went snowshoeing. It was breathtaking, with fresh snow, beautiful views, and hardly anyone around.

                            

We also went out for barbecue, which I should have taken a picture of, because it. was. unbelievable.

I was so grateful we chose Huntsville for our anniversary.  I had wanted to try and go somewhere warm, because I was so sick of winter in Utah.  I hated it. This was not helped by the fact that the morning before we left, I got hit by a car sliding out of control on the icy freeway.  But even though our beloved car was totaled and my mouth was full of glass, I didn't have so much as a scratch. And insurance payed for everything, including an awesome rental car! It all shook me up pretty badly, though, and left me longing for the day when we could move far away from Utah winters.  But instead of escaping it, we ended up in in the beautiful Ogden Valley. Waking up to gorgeous snowglobe snow falling outside the window, eating lazy warm breakfasts, taking beautiful hikes, and driving through gorgeous canyons ended up being the perfect solution. There were people at our place from all over the world, totally thrilled at the landscape and weather. How cool to live only forty-five minutes away.

Photo Dump II

Other highlights from the beginning of the year:

We ran a Valentine's Day 5k.  It was my first one, and I was a little apprehensive, because I have studiously avoided running with Paul at any time. I did bike with him once while he ran, which just goes to show our athletic differences.  I wasn't sure if I was mad or relieved when he sped off into the distance at the beginning of the race, but he finished quickly and came back and jogged with me for my second half. It was perfect. And I got to eat most of his prize.

Date night at home:

I was so happy when it started to be sunny again.

I learned that unless you love shoveling snow, north-facing houses are the pits. Not a speck of snow on the south side.

Dinner with some awesome friends. This is the picture that made me think that I should consider doing my hair a little more often.

Photo Dump

Today I'm going through my camera photos. May is the perfect time to post Christmas photos, right?

I met Grandma Russell on our drive out to Virginia:

 Matthew had bought all the guys bow-ties for Christmas, and they spent an afternoon learning how to tie them (Note: Paul didn't want to change his shirt, so he looked rather ridiculous, which I think he enjoyed).  This turned into a family photo-taking extravaganza.