Day 4

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Finally some cross country skiing!

We woke up this morning to more snow! We went over to the Olympic Sports Complex where the wind was howling and the snow was falling. I think when we got there the temperature was a whopping 9 degrees Fahrenheit!

My Great Uncle Jim gave Carrie a refresher course on how to ski. As part of the lesson we went to the top of a small hill and then explained how to snow plow to stop. Angela and Carrie completed the small hill with ease, but for whatever reason, I got tripped up and fell for the first time on skis in who knows how long! Yes I admit I fell!

Jim then lead the way on a simple trail through the woods that was only about 1.5km/.93 miles. It was a good trail and long enough to make us hungry! The scenery along the way was great especially with the fresh snow on all of the trees.
After we ate, Angela and Carrie went out around another trail that just went around the Nordic stadium, while Jim and I went out on a longer trail. By the time we got back from our 1.5 mile treck the temperatures had dropped, the sun was starting to go down and the girls just got back from theirs and were ready to go. It didn't take any convincing to get the rest of us on board to just head back.

We decided to go out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mr. Mikes which has some of the best pizza! While at dinner we decided the weather was not permitting to go to a neighboring town for first night festivities. When we left dinner the temperature was -1 and the windchill was -17!! We figured the New Year would come in just as well from the TV as it would in the freezing temperatures with frost bite.

As a special treat I have a video of Carrie on cross country skis! :)


ps. So Angela and Carrie have been doing this wedding workout the last couple of nights that they found on DVD. Each night I usually sit here on the couch and watch then while I blog and try not to laugh at them. Tonight however I gave it a whirl and tried what they have been complaining about for the last couple of nights, and I must say, I am sore now! These workouts don't include weights, don't include machines, but it was a workout, and good grief I'm ready for bed! Just have to stay up a little bit longer to bring in the New Year, and after midnight, I'll be getting married this year! :)!!!

Day 3

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

This morning we woke up to a pleasant surprise, SNOW! We new snow was in the forcast for last night, but we thought it was only suppose to be less than an inch. However as you can see it was closer to 4 or 5 inches!

This picture was taken about 1:30 pm yesterday afternoon.

This picture was taken about 10:00 am today!

After breakfast we headed back over to the ski jumping complex to catch another competition they had going on, however due to high winds the competition was canceled! We were able to head to the top of the 120 Meter jump and go out on the observation deck. The temperatures were much lower today especially with the howling winds that high up, and without gloves because it's harder to work the camera you know with gloves on!

Here is a picture from the top of the 120 M hill.

We then headed back into town and grabbed some lunch before we went to the Olympic Museum and some ice skating! The museum had all kinds of things from both Olympics held in Lake Placid along with other items donated by the athletes from the area. The Lake Placid area has had an Olympian in every winter olympics since they started.

After the trip through the museum we headed to the ice skating rink that was used in the 1932 Olympics. The arena was built in less than 6 months and was the first indoor arena to be used in the Olympics.

Here are me, Carrie and Angela on the ice skating rink.

Day 2

Monday, December 29, 2008

Today was a bunch of nothing. We spent the morning waiting on the cable guy, no his name wasn't Larry, to come and install the cable so we could watch the State game. Then we watched the game and unfortunately were disappointed in the outcome.

After the game we put on some more layers since the temperature has dropped to below freezing and headed over to the ski jump complex to catch the end of the NY Master's Competition. We only got to catch about 5 jumpers but it was still impressive to see them flying through the air.

For now Carrie and my sister are doing a workout from a wedding workout DVD they bought...and are actually quite sore even though they haven't been using the weights.

Tomorrow I believe we will actually get to do some winter related activities, possibly heading out to another ski jump competition, ice skating, maybe even the Olympic Museum.

Lake Placid!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

We have come back up to Lake Placid, NY once again! We arrived last night about 6:30pm to much warmer temperatures then last year. However the van was still not able to make it up the driveway with the slush still hanging on. The mercury was able to make it after much encouragement!

Today we woke up to temperatures in the 50's and all the snow had melted! We didn't do much today, we went into town to do some shopping however the sideways rain, and 20mph winds turned us around after 1 store and we decided to watch a movie in the comfort of the house.

Snow showers are in the forecast for tonight so maybe we will have some snow tomorrow and get to play in the morning. All activities tomorrow afternoon will be canceled due to the State Bowl Game!! Check out our web album for pictures!

Disclaimer: I received a new camera for Christmas so there are many pictures of me just playing with the settings. I'll try to edit those out, but if there are random pictures of random stuff, I apologize!

Kids!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Ok, so not exactly what you are thinking. Anyways, we set up a fish tank shortly after I moved into my new apartment. We decided to buy guppies and they quickly began to breed. Needless to say after losing all but one of the first set of fry I went out and bought another 10 gallon tank. We then had another pregnancy and more babies, this time able to save 5. Now we only bought 6 fish to start with. 4 males and 2 females. A couple of weeks into it, one of the males died, so we were down to 3 males and 2 females. However after returning from Thanksgiving we are the proud parents of over 30, yes I said THIRTY, baby guppies! If you are looking for a Christmas present that keeps on giving, let me know, I'm sure we can work out some sort of deal....

Here is a look at some of the newest ones, that are available!!!!

Going to the chapel and we're going to get married...

Friday, November 28, 2008

I can not even explain the amount of excitement I have been feeling the past few days!! Wednesday, the Love of My Life asked me to be his wife!!! I pretty sure my face is permanently stuck in a huge smile!!! Here is what happened:

We both had to work Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We were heading that evening to Greenville to spend time with Chris' family for Thanksgiving before we headed to Rocky Mount on Thursday to spend time with my family. Chris had told me if I was able to get off work early to do it. So, when the opportunity arrived for me to get off work at 1:00, I took it. I then spent the next few hours, WAITING for Christopher to get off work! ;) When Chris got off work, I was all ready to leave, but Christopher kept dragging his feet. I was so confused, but I tried to wait patiently. We finally left Raleigh, and headed our way to Greenville. We were finally almost to Chris' house, when Chris said he was going to stop by his church to use the restroom before we got home. Now, mind you, Chris' church is less than two minutes from his house. I started thinking, something must be up. When we got in the church, Chris starting walking past the bathroom, and said he wanted to check out the sanctuary because his mom said they re-did it. By now, I had a very strong suspicion that my life was about to change!! :) :) :) We walked into the Sanctuary, and there sitting on the alter was a dozen red roses!! Before I knew it, Christopher was getting on one knee asking me to be his wife! :) :) :) Of course, as we are hugging and celebrating, Christopher's contact fell out of his eye! haha He claims I knocked it out, but just between me and you, I didn't! ;)

Now, let me just tell you about the ring, it is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Here is a picture of it!!

My surprises were not over for the evening. After it was official, we left the church, and Chris told me not to call anyone yet! We headed over to his grandmother's house. We walked into the house, and all of the sudden I see the bright flash, it was my mom's camera! Chris had surprised me and invited my parents over, so we all could celebrate together.



It was so special to be able to celebrate with both of our families together! We had a blast, laughing and eating, and celebrating the soon joining of our families. After we ate, we headed back over to the church to try to get some re-enactment photos. We were all so giddy, we couldn't get any serious shots! But we sure had fun trying!

After that, my parents left, and Angela, Chris, and I went out to celebrate at Ham's with some of Chris' high school friends! We had a blast hanging out with everyone and enjoying the night with them!

To say the least, the day was more than i could ever ask for!!! I am so very blessed to be marrying Christopher! We both definitely had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season!!

The wedding planning is already in full gear!! We already have the date set out, June 27, 2009. So, everyone needs to mark their calender and have that day open. Here are a few pictures of the beginning process!

WE ARE ENGAGED!!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Just a quick note to announce we are engaged! :) Don't worry, there will be pictures and a story later to keep you informed! Please continue to pray for us as we continue to trust God in the next step of our journey!