Girls Weekend In!

Kevin has been out in Denver on a business trip all week, and even though I really miss him I've somehow found a way to keep myself busy. The school week was crazy as usual, so this weekend I was really glad for a break, and Norma and I took full advantage...

I have to say, we both spent a good part of the weekend hanging around the house. It was bitterly cold, and I feel okay blaming the temperature for keeping me inside. This picture of Norma Jean explains everything.

I wanted to keep up the baker part of this blog, so I made some yummy bread and cinnamon roll type things. Yum, they sure were good. Unfortunately by the time Kevin gets home, they'll probably be gone!

Norma and I made it out a few times for some walks, and until I moved here I had no idea that cold weather could make my skin hurt so bad. Needless to say, the first walk we took on Friday I was very unprepared. Today when we went out I was fully prepared in my snow clothes! Whenever I leave my house I see one of my students, Friday I happened to see a student who ditched school that day. I yelled across the street for him to come meet my dog, and he came right over. I bugged him about ditching school, and told him to stay out of trouble... Small town livin' !

Hope everyone has a great week and I'll be counting down the days until Thursday when Kevin returns!

Fun with the Flip

Here is yet another snowy video for everyone to check out. Our new camera is really cool, but as you might notice from this clip, I am a little shaky in the hand. I don't know if it's because I took this video 10 minutes after we got engaged, or if I just need some practice using the Flip, maybe it was a combination of both... Enjoy!

Sledding fun

Here is a video of Sully sledding down the mountain after we got engaged!

Winter fun in VT

If you're going to live in VT in the winter, you'd better not be afraid to go outside. All it takes to forget the cold is some warm clothes and a fun activity. To make the best of the winter, we go snowboarding, walk Norma Jean, go sledding, etc. and here are some videos/pictures of the action.

Cold Chair Lifts at Jay Peak

At the top of a chair lift at Jay Peak with JJ & Nicole
At the sunny bottom of a chair lift at Jay Peak with JJ

We're gettin' hitched!

As most of you already know, I proposed to Melinda on Saturday morning and she said yes! We're both very excited.

I was planning on doing it that day since I picked up the ring on Tuesday. The plan was to take Norma Jean on a walk through some snowy woods and then pop the question there. We (Norma Jean and I, since she was in on the secret) decided on Mount Philo, which is a small "mountain" about 20 mins from our house with an amazing view of Lake Champlain. After an excellent breakfast of pancakes and eggs, we loaded up the car and headed out. As we hiked up, I did my best to hide the small square box that was sticking out through the front of my jacket. She said she didn't notice. I wasn't too nervous--really more excited. We got to the top and checked out the view, took some pics, and then Melinda said "alright, let's go". I told her to hold on a sec and then...Melinda is taking over the typing now....

Kevin told me how much he loved me and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. By that point, I was drowning in a puddle of tears and may have scared him a bit by not answering right away! When he pulled out the most beautiful and perfect ring, it was all I could do not to fall down the mountain. I finally stopped blubbering and said yes!

As we were enjoying our moment, a cute little family came walking up to see the view. I think they might have been a little surprised when I told them that Kevin had just proposed and immediately asked them to take our picture....Kevin is going to get back on the keyboard...

Here is the picture that they took. It's the first pic of us in our new state of engagement...


After talking all about everything and staring deeply into each others eyes for a good 2-3 hours (or maybe 20 mins), we decided it was time to sled down the mountain. We took turns jumping on our new Zipfy Lightweight, Aerodynamic Mini Luge and flying down the mountain. Here are some pics of the action:

King of The Mountain!

I love this picture of Kevin shoveling the roof. Today was a warmish day and lots of the snow on the ground is melting. I hope that we get another storm soon!

Look Out Below!

More fun on the hill...

Here is another video of our fun snowy weekend a few weeks ago. Kevin and I went to the local park and tested our sledding skills. As it turns out I've decided to quit my job and become a professional sledder. It's so fun! We also tested our snowboards on the "gigantic" Winooski hill. I have to say, Kevin's snowboard seemed to work a lot better then mine, I think mine had something to do with user error.

Norma and Sadie -- BFFs

Sadie is the dog that lives across the street from us and is Norma Jean's best friend and wrestling partner. In order to get Norma Jean (the couch loving pooch) exercise in the past, we had to drive her down to the dog park so she could run around with other dogs. But now that Sadie lives across the street, our fenced in yard has become a dog park in itself. Sometimes in the morning and every night after work, Sadie will come over and she and Norma Jean will wrestle for hours until we pry them apart. Sadie will then go home and Norma Jean will resume her post on the couch and be asleep within minutes.

The snow has brought a new obstacle to their playtime and they've embraced it whole-heartedly. Here's a great video of them "dog surfing" through the fluffy powder.

Happy New Year!

This year came in strong with a snowstorm that dropped 33.5 inches on our town! It was the snowiest snowstorm on record for Burlington. We had a great time playing in it with Norma Jean. Here is our first try at an imovie to show everyone just how much snow we got!