Christmas Weekend!

We finally went snowboarding on Sunday. We went to Mount Baker for the first time. It's pretty much at the Canadian border, but has the most snow of any ski area in Washington. It took about 2 hours, but I love road trips! Tons of snow and it's really nice. Below is a trail map, two lifts were closed due to poor visability and avalanche conditions.

We actually didn't get to stay long because it was raining and we were soaked! Boy the hot tub sure was nice when we got home though!

The next day was Christmas Eve and Rob and I went down to the Maket to get some seafood for dinner. I guess I was thinking "who would go to the market on Christmas eve, it will probably be dead..." Boy was I wrong - It was so busy! Rob and I had lunch at one of my favorite stops, Beechers, for a grilled cheese and tomato soup. Later that night Liz & Adam came over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was really fun. On Christmas Day we went to thier house. Even though I missed being with family on Christmas, it's so great to spend the Holidays with people you care about. It was a lot of fun and made the Holiday special.

Here are some fun pictures from Christmas.

Decorating for Christmas

I love this time of year.

Before I get into that. I wanted to say THANK YOU for all the notes, emails, cards, gifts, Irish car bombs, and treats for my birthday. It's so nice to know that everyone tries to make me feel better by helping me celebrate my birthday. This year it worked and I am not as sad as I thought I would be to be 1 year away from 30.

Apparently, this is a big Christmas tree weekend, so we joined the masses and bought out tree at Carpinito Brothers in Kent, Wa. First, we did try a place in Seattle which was sold out of Christmas Trees. Later on Saturday, I was down in Kent taking a Magic Loop class at Renaissance Yarns and then from there we were on our way to Dave & Tami’s to hang out and play games. We drove by this place and found our tree. A Grand Fir.
After much work by Rob, we got it up and decorated just in time for Liz & Adam to come over and take some pictures of us in front of the tree and watch the Seahawks clinch the western division title.

Woops, look who found her way into the Lazy Susan. Great...

Let it snow!

Our hot tub completion was holted by the snow that dropped down for 2 days straight. If you know anything about Seattle, it may rain but it never snows. Last year we got a little snow and the whole city shut down. Not only have we had snow for 2 days this weekend, but now the whole city is flooding. She makes for perfect days to do nothing but sit inside with a nice warm fire, some AM radio and a little knitting.

Don't drink and book

About 2 months ago we decided to go down to the Willamette Valley wine tasting for Thanksgiving weekend. We talked about it one night after a lot of drinks sat down and booked the room for Saturday night.

Yesterday we left early to get down to McMinnville. I decided to call and confirm the room. I never do that, I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea this time. Sure enough, no record of our room. Maybe I didn't click the final "are you sure you want to book this room button". They said they would move us to the top of the waiting list, but on the biggest wine tasting weekend in Willamette valley... no such luck. We could have stayed at the motor inn, but we love the Hotel Oregon staying anywhere else would be a shame. We tasted for about 5 hours ate dinner and Rob decided to drive us home. I'd be passed out anyway so no distractions. We got home around midnight.

On this weekend every single vineyard/winery is open. That's like 175 to choose from. Most of these charge a tasting fee this weekend because the crowds are massive and they have food and music and it's a big party. They all bring out thir big guns and the wines were great. We stopped at 4 new places and then hit 2 of our favs, Elk Cove and Kramer. Elk Cove was recently named the Pacific NW Winery of the year. To my surprise, this weekend they still only charged a $5 tasting fee which was refundable with purchase. Kramer may not have the best wine you've ever had before and it's not the fanciest, but the people are so nice. It reminds me of hanging out with family. It's great wine for the price and they charged an $8 tasting fee, we tasted about 20 wines. That's unreal. They even had wine from the neighboring vineyard a few houses over, Thistle, EXCELLENT Pinot Noir. A great new find. We shut the place down, walked out with a case and I had my picture taken with Cassie, the dog. Cassie is one of the centerfolds of a new Calendar based on this book, Wine Dogs. I love it.

Tastings included: Elk Cove, Kramer, Stag Hollow, Monk's Gate, Thistle, Styring, Lachini.

I got a new camera!

Yes, we braved the crowds today in an effort to find a laptop for Rob and a camera for me. Circuit City at 5am. Doesn't everyone do that? Sure seemed like it. Unfortunately all the laptops were gone but my camera was still in stock! It's a Nikon D40. After seeing and trying a few of my friend's and sister's dSLR camera I slowly began to realize that I am missing out. I would hardly call myself a photographer, but this camera takes one heck of a picture. I am so thrilled to have it. Thanks Rob... for the early Birthday and Christmas present. You are off the hook about that diamond necklace until next year.

This blog is about to get a lot more photo heavy! Here are my favorite pictures so far. If you hate cats.... please disregard this posting. You can also view all of our on Flickr the quality is actually a lot better too.