Hot and Cold

So since this day has been such a lion day, I thought I would join in with a blog about all things hot and cold.

Here are some things that are cold:

1. Sleigh rides through herds of elk.

2. The Midway ice castles.

3. The ski moguls world championship at Park City.

4. Snowshoeing.

This is the lake we snowshoed across: Taggart Lake!

5. Jackson Hole in February in general.

6. Ice-skating.

Here are some things that are hot:

1. St. George.

2. Tacos in Jackson, Wyoming.

3. The Sexy Survey on the Dating Divas website.

4. Basketball stadiums.

5. Waffles with ham and cheese in a cozy little restaurant at the top of a ski resort.

6. Me with a mustache.

So hot right now.

You know what else is hot? Aruba. I'm just saying.

(I don't have a picture for that one.)

(Yet)

Black-ish Diamonds

Stephen used to get a snowboarding pass every year. I used to try and date expert snowboarders who didn't mind shelling out the $60ish it cost to take me snowboarding. Stephen is kind of an expert snowboarder, and he didn't mind taking me to random snowy places where we could hike-board for free, so that worked out great when we were dating.

But then we got married and started sharing money and came up with some lofty goals for saving and investing, so a snowboarding pass just hasn't made the budget.

So the other day, when Stephen told me he had bought us tickets to Sundance for MLK Day, I was super-excited. Also a little nervous. Snowboarding twice on real slopes and 3 times in the mountains does not a snowboarder make.

{This is very true. Go back and read it again if you had any doubts the first time.}

Still, it was a great day, and I am pretty sure I improved at least a little bit. There was even one time when I got off the lift without completely wiping out! If lift operator is as entertaining a job and full of as many hilarious falls as safety duty on an icy day - and I strongly suspect it is - then congratulations to all those lift operators out there on your job satisfaction. It can't be too bad with all the slapstick you must witness.

The top three things I would like you to notice about this clip:
1. Brandon fell before me.
2. Stephen dropped me.
3. But then he helped me up again, so we're okay.

Margot and Gonzalo met up with us there. Margot is a skier, and like an expert skier, but it was nice to have Gonzalo so I wasn't the only newb snowboarder!  

Sundance is beautiful.

Brandon also came, and it was only his second time. But somehow, he picked it up a lot faster than I did!

Since it was MLK Day, we celebrated by going on some black diamonds. I probably wouldn't survive on black diamonds in Switzerland, but here in Sundance, I did alright.

doing alright, verb: when you start out standing, and make it about 10 seconds before falling, and once you have fallen and can't get back up, you don't cry when you continue zooming down the mountain on your butt, and eventually it turns into a nice relaxing ride so you stop trying to get up, but you keep going down, and it's totally fine, and probably some people judge you but isn't that what this day is all about?....not judging and forgetting the haters, I mean. So you don't curr and you just enjoy your ride until the slope evens out enough for you to stand up and attempt to finish the run the more traditional way, and then when you get to the bottom you still get to tell everyone you have done a black diamond.

No celebrities were spotted.

Also of note, I got some pink goggles, and Brandon got some new bootses.

Thank You, Pilgrims

I am thankful for Thanksgiving. It is such an American holiday when you think about it! A whole day devoted to the things we in this nation love most: food and family, with a little bit of football and a few celebrities sprinkled in the mix.

And THEN, the day after Thanksgiving, we have a day that is all about spending money, which is also pretty American.

Today was my first Thanksgiving with Stephen's family. It was wonderful! We spent the night at their house last night, so Brandon had to sleep on the couch. I'm lucky he loves Stephen so much, so he never complains we take over his bed and kick him out. And it happens at least once a week....

The day started with this AMAZING French toast casserole that Diane made for breakfast. (Actually it started with Logan running in, smacking Stephen, and yelling hysterically that we were going to miss the snow and we'd better get up right now and take him sledding, but we don't need to talk about that.) There was also homemade buttermilk syrup! So that ushered in the food heaven that was today very nicely. 

Luckily Thankfully, we live in Utah. So we did not miss the snow. It may have been 57* in Lehi, but there were 32 inches of snow waiting patiently for us up in the mountains of Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

You might not be able to tell in this picture, but the snow was so deep it was hard to walk in. It was up to our knees and sometimes even deeper!

It was so fun getting all bundled up and playing in the snow, especially since once we were done playing, we could leave all that lovely snow behind. I think we have a new Thanksgiving tradition now!

Thanksgiving dinner was more like Thanksgiving lunch, which I actually like. I was in charge of the sweet potatoes and the banana cream pie and the kid's craft.

Here's how the sweet potatoes turned out:

I forgot to get a picture before we started eating, but they were amazing!

Here's how the banana cream pie turned out:

Also amazing. 

Here's how the kid's craft turned out:

Yeah it was not a hit with the kids. But Stephen was nice enough to wear the pilgrim hat I made!

And I guess now is a good time to add that I did Black Friday online this year, instead of going out, and I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! So, holler for that, and I hope your Thanksgiving was as fantastic as mine :)