BIG NEWS!

Ladies & Gentlemen,

John and I had a fabulous ski trip but more about that in just a moment. We are happy to formally announce that it is official! Starting Monday, December 6th, John will begin working for Realization as a Senior Implementer. He will basically be a consultant and travel around the country (and quite possibly the world) working with various companies to implement cost (and time) saving processes. Its a very cutting-edge company and he is getting back to his industrial engineering roots - making things more efficient to save time and money. We know if there is one thing John is good at and passionate about, it is saving money! Although this job is going to be quite a lifestyle change for both of us, we are excited about the possibilities and opportunities it presents. It comes with a hefty salary increase (woohoo for bored, lonely me) and while he is away (about 60% travel) he will rack up those airline miles and hotel points! Cheap vacations for us! Of course it is going to be a hard adjustment to spend so much time away from each other (and the dogs!) but we are hoping it will be worth it in the future. We can already tell that this is a much better company to work for - they are not only flying John out to their headquarters in San Jose next week for the annual company conference, but they are also paying to fly me out to attend their holiday party on Friday evening! The other company never even had a local holiday party that John was invited to! Colorado this past weekend and California next! Adding two new states to my check list!

Speaking of Colorado, our Thanksgiving ski trip was special and memorable! The first couple of days there we had extremely cold weather - like negative 25 or 30 with the wind chill. I'm pretty sure I've never experienced weather that cold in my life. Layer was our middle name. The next few days warmed up though and were picture perfect. Think gorgeous snow-capped Rocky Mountains set against a backdrop of perfect blue skies and bright sunlight. The quaint little village of the Winter Park Resort was adorable and there were some yummy restaurants (The Back Bowl - all soups!) and bars to check out when we weren't hitting the slopes. And while I am talking slopes, I have to admit John quite impressed me. For a Florida boy -born and raised - who now lives in Houston, he is quite a skillful skier....well, compared to me anyway. Besides a short snow boarding adventure in college, the last time I skied was probably 15 years ago. Any and all knowledge I had was long gone at this point. After a half day beginner class, I was feeling pretty good and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon going down the "easy" green slopes with my other half. Lucky for me, he was patient and helped me up a dozen times when I fell and waited without complaint while I got the nerve to go down the really steep parts.  The next day we went out together in the morning and for whatever reason I had digressed over the night. I managed to make it about half the day (maybe or maybe not with a few tearful breakdowns from frustration). I spent the rest of the day by the fire, reading while John tore it up on the mountain some more. By the third day I was mentally out of it. I (snow) suited up and made myself go up the mountain, mostly for a photo since it was a Gorgeous day, with a capital G. After our photo op, I let John go off and have his fun while I slowly and painfully made it down to the bottom of the hill. By the end of our 3 days, we were both sore all over with bruised shins but it was still a (mostly) fun experience to have together. We didn't forget about Thanksgiving either - we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal about 12,000 feet up at a restaurant on the peak of one of the mountains. We had to ride a gondola up to get there. I'm sure it would have been beautiful if it wasn't dark and we could actually see the view. The food was delish and we stuffed ourselves like we were ready to hibernate for the winter. Unfortunately, it's really hard to take photos in skis and wearing mittens, so I don't have many photos to show you, but here are some we got. A couple more should be here in a few days from the professional guys they have taking your picture when you get off the ski lift.

(Cold) Perfection



A little view of the Village from our room

Thanksgiving dinner at the Sunspot

That little hill to the right was my nemesis the whole weekend!

Hopefully, I'll have a few more better pictures to show y'all soon. My only regret about this trip - no leftovers!!! Anyone have any turkey, mashed potatoes or stuffing left over?