The Other Washington-home Sick

So close to home, yet so far. I love seeing the mountains of Vancouver BC! If I was not trying to be a responsible adult, I think I know where I would choose to be. Not in DC, but rather BC. Growing up we went on a family Thanksgiving ski trip up to Whistler and visited Vancouver and Victoria BC during various seasons. It's surely grown SO much since those days... still beautiful as ever! Watching the Olympics is so inspiring. It's become a daily tradition for a girl who grew up asking Mom if we could set some family rules to limit how much time we watched TV.

I love watching while I am at the gym trying to bear the treadmill, I love watching it while eating dinner (not a good habit, I must say), I love watching it when it's past my bedtime, I love watching it when I should be headed out the door.... Go team USA!!!

Goals for when I return to a land of mountains and snow: take up cross-country skiing as a winter hobby and continue to enjoy snow shoeing adventures... snowboarding is also a dream skill I'd like to work on with my brother.

My roommate, Aubrey, was watching this video again this morning, and I just love it too. If you have already watched it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it again :)

International News Debut

Aubrey, Simone and I took a friend's toboggan to Capitol Hill...During our patriotic visit, we were interviewed by 2 news crews, 1 national and 1 international...And we made the cut for one of the stories! Mr. Habib, a correspondent for Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., shared this video of the broadcast that aired just yesterday. Check it out!!! Now here's your challenge... It's called "Where is Jenni?"

Hooray for Sunshine!

While the snow was nice to watch build up hour-after-hour, it is sure refreshing to enjoy the sunshine. Aubrey and I took turns shoveling the driveway and road to free the cars (25'' was our final measurement). It was like weightlifting for 2 hours straight- whew! I have high hopes that we can create a snow cave out of the heaping snow that is piled beside our driveway.

Aubrey took the task of packing the snow mound seriously... preparatory for the snow cave.

Blizzard 2010

Anticipating a storm worse in comparison to the Dec 2009 blizzard, county schools closed for Friday and government employees were sent home early along with the majority of all other workers. The weatherman was right again. and the storm started at 9:55am on Friday.

By about 5 pm it was time to get out again, so Adrienne, Aubs and I hit Wali-World (aka Walmart) which was outlandishly deserted by the general public. You would have thought Snomageddon had hit! Well, it kind of had by that time- the roads we slip but due to low traffic, Mali (my car) was not scared at all. She made me proud.Saturday we woke up to about 15 inches of snow and more coming down. Enough accumuluated overnight that even our front porch was well covered. Because of my nonsense fear of getting stuck in the house, my love for shoveling snow once again overcame me. There was not intention to release the cars from their snow-covered state, she they were not the priority... A path to the semi-plowed road was the first feat in line...Then, as time passed indoors, it was time to gear up for a nice snow run. To my utter excitement, Annie texted me and decided to make the trek in her supposed all-wheel drive Rav. With increased energy, I set out to the winter wonderland once again to clear to place for her to park upon her arrival. Perfect time and just enough space, she pulled up just as the parking spot was prepared. Annie came to visit!We water and wind-proofed our feet with plastic grocery sacks and hit the road for a nice run in the center of the main streets. It felt so nice to get out and run--- I love snow running so much and it was fun to have company join me!In the evening we made a no-sauce pizza. It was deliciously garlic and basil flavored with a mixture of cottage cheese and mozzarella, diced and free tomatoes, atop whole wheat dough. Delicious ending to the day!

"Hard Times" Good Times

Last weekend, my friend DeEtte, came to town for a work trip and built in an extra day for some fun with the girls! I love time with DeEtte. We (DeEtte, Mel, Kari and I) lived together last year, and DeEtte has since been married and moved with her hubby back to the west. It's great to be able to still see her occasionally on her work trips!

We braved the snow that came in the late morning and went to lunch at Hard Times Cafe. The theme of our excursions was naturally, "We're having a hard time."

"Hard Times," is such a relative term, so it was humorous to play off of... Really the snow was SO slight compared to our December blizzard. It amounted to just a few inches- just enough to enjoy for its beauty and still get around with no troubles.

After lunch we chose to hit the Container Store- a place we had all secretly wanted to explore. It was awesome! My favorite part was realizing that a (granola/cereal) container I was considering for purchase was about 60% the cost at Target! I think it's a good place to get ideas and then purchase elsewhere.