Valentine's Skiing

For Valentine's Day this year, Peter and I went skiing. Oh, how things change. A few years ago, I NEVER would have wanted to go skiing, especially not on Valentine's Day. I think Shannon said it best, "You know it's true love when someone can convince a Keddington girl to go skiing."

But, with that said, I really do enjoy it. I am a bit particular on what I think consists of a good day, though. It can't be too cold, too crowded, too icy, no moguls, etc. 

We went to the Canyons this time and we had a lot of fun. They have a run that starts at 10,000 feet. Oh boy, it was high up. And I am afraid of heights. Peter wanted to take a picture of us up there, which was fair enough because the view was spectacular, but he just kept backing up closer to the edge of the mountain. I made him come away from it before I would go stand by him.

Anyways, from this lift, there were only black diamond or double black diamond runs to take you down. Obviously, I wasn't going to do any double black diamonds, so we only had one option. Unfortunately, this run had moguls (see above disclaimer). Lucky for Peter, because I would not have been pleasant, this run was wide enough that I could just take a really flat angle and cut across the moguls. I thought we had gotten past the bad part when we got to the edge of a mountain where we couldn't see the bottom. I went to the edge and looked down to see a mountain that was almost straight down AND had moguls. I was not pleased. But, I just decided to get it over with. (After I let the people behind us go because I don't like it to be crowded.) Long story short, I basically slid down that mountain on my butt. It was quite the adventure. 

These first photos are at the top of my favorite run (no moguls, not crowded). The view was spectacular.  

These two photos are at an elevation 10,000 feet. Notice how far we are from the edge of the mountain.

And this is a picture of the mogul mountain. It really does not do it justice. But, I survived!

I may enjoy skiing, but I don't think I'm black diamond material. 

Late night conversations

I realize this title might lead you to assume that this conversation took place at least at midnight, but let me remind you that we are generally in bed by about 9 pm every night. So, when Peter gets home late from visits, it really throws us off.

He got home at about 10 pm the other night and these are a couple little snippets.

We were discussing the calling and the visits that go along with it and Peter said this:

"I just think this calling is for people who don't know how to have fun."

And then we were discussing the conversations that they have in the car in between visits:

Me: Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall and listen to your conversations. Not the stuff I'm not supposed to know, but just because you're such an interesting mix of men. 
Peter: Most of the time, I'm just a fly on the wall. It's usually just Bishop and Brother Gridley talking.

This second little snippet had me laughing so hard. Probably because it was so late....

Snowy Picnic

I have this weird thing about picnics. I always think we should go on more of them, but I really haven't been on very many picnics. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Peter decided that I needed to get away from school for a bit and declared that we needed to have more fun! So, we decided to go up the canyon to escape the inversion as well. One of his convincing remarks was that we could take lunch and have a picnic up there. I couldn't say no to that...

It was so beautiful up there. In the picture above you can see the inversion over the valley. I kept saying that I didn't want to go back. Thankfully, that was the worst of the inversion this year.

And, for your viewing pleasure, a video of my running like a crazy person in my snow shoes.

I'm so lucky to have a husband who makes me get away from real life and reminds me that having fun is important, too! Plus, he's pretty cute and he makes Oakley's look good. 

I made a bench

If I were a real DIY blogger, I would have pictures of the whole process. But, alas, I am not a real DIY blogger, so you'll just have to imagine. Plus, I did half of this project in my parents' garage in the middle of winter, so the lighting would have been terrible and my fingers were much too numb to push the shutter of a camera.

Imagine two boxes painted dark brown, some foam, a big piece of particle board and some zebra fabric.

I just sanded the boxes down, painted them white, and laid them on their side next to each other. 

To make the top part I put foam on top of the particle board and wrapped the material around. I stapled the fabric to the underside of the board. I tried to pull it all tight, but there are parts that give a little too much.

But, all in all, I think my first project involving a staple gun was a success. 

This little bench has proved to be very useful so far. Even Peter said this was a great project idea. Win!