Andy has always wanted to live in Summit County. I have always love the mountains but have never really thought about what it would be like to live in them all the time. I knew when we would be coming up to Silverthorne I wanted to look around and really try to see if I could live at an altitude of 10,000 feet. The first day we were here, it was beautiful! The skies were blue there was no wind and a gentle snow. I drove a bit on the snow packed road and thought, Yeah, I could live here and love it. The mountains make me feel so small and just in awe of the beauty of the Colorado Rockies. That was Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, we were condo-bound because it just looked to unbearable to go out. It had been snowing non-stop and the wind whipped your face and blew right through your jacket. It was so cold. Andy had patrol at Copper and was outside both days. If we do move up here, I think I will be spending a lot of time at home, especially on the windy days. Now, we are waiting for I-70 to open back up...it has been closed all morning. It is very seasonal living up here...I kinda like it. It makes you aware of nature and live in the rhythm of the seasons. I think I could live in the mountains...I think all the positive aspects out weight the cold and wind. It would just take some getting use to.

9035:: Elevation of Silverthorne, CO

We are so blessed to be able to spend a few days enjoying the Colorado high country. We are staying with the Bauer-Martinez family at a condo in Silverthorne, Colorado. We love Summit County and hope to one day be residents of Summit County. Andy and the guys spent most of the day snow boarding at Keystone. Andy met up with Blake and I in the early afternoon for Blake's first skiing experience. First, let me start off by saying that my husband is quite crazy...he decided Blake, at two years old, needed to get her own set of skis. I told him to wait unit she was a bit older...but he didn't listen to me. He had to get her skis. Well, she did pretty good for her first time. She didn't fall at all, but I don't think skiing is something she currently loves...the whole time she was saying No Daddy, No! She was only on the slopes for maybe 30 minutes and Andy is determined to get her on the slopes on Monday.
Pictures to come...

The weatherman said yesterday that we had a 12% chance of having a white Christmas. He also said there was no way we would have snow today. Boy, was he wrong. We have five inches of soft powder and it is still coming down.

Hope you all are enjoying this glorious day with family and friends.

Merry Christmas! Wishing you Peace, Love, and Snow.

These will be the death of me...

We went to the normal grocery store last week...I mean Safeway. Usually we go to a natural and organic store and I am so good at passing up the cookies and sweets. The worst thing I usually put in my cart are dried cranberries or maybe some organic ice cream...but we were at Safeway and I knew these were Andy's favorite cookies, so we put them in the cart...along with the brownie mix Andy had to have. We got home, Andy made the double chocolate fudge brownie mix and for the last week, the untouched brownies have sat on the counter. Unfortunately, I found the cookies and I decided that I wanted one (you know, the kind that have the large granules of sugar on top)...well, before I knew it, I had devoured each of the large sugar granule cookies from their cozy paper cup beds. Now, I have moved on to the ones that are not covered in sugar but are equally as good. When I looked in the container last night, I think there many have been maybe four cookies left. Oh, I am in trouble. Please, someone take these cookies away...and do not allow me to ever shop at a normal grocery store again!

27 Million::The number of people enslaved today.

I am usually pretty aware of the major issues going on in the world...I love reading the news especially from the BBC because I can read it with a British accent, but I was not really aware of the enormity of the issue of trafficking until I started reading my friend, Courtney's blog. She just released her new website about trafficking here. Please visit it, it is filled with great information and links to other abolitionist sites.

Courtney also wrote about how these traffickers are doing business over Craig's list. I love Craig's list, but since I have been hearing about some of these things, I have thought twice before using it. Please read her post about Craig's list here. Please read and sign the petition. This is such a real issue...it is happening here, in the US as well as all over the world. There are things we can do to be a part of abolishing slavery and trafficking...the petition is just one of these.

Wordless Wednesdays

I heart big bags...

I love sewing...I love taking yards of material and making it into something useful like a baby sling or dish towels or a new bag. Bags for me are always big...I love big bags because I can fit my bible, and my journal, my latest book, a magazine, a small vehicle...anything I want. I had been checking out this Etsy Site and was inspired by the market bag...I love the size, the shape and the simplicity...but I didn't really have the money to buy it. What I did have was a large piece of paper and a ton of heavy gray fabric. I started drawing my pattern and started sewing right away...the bag only took me about 2.5 hours to make and it would have gone much faster had I not sewing the lining the wrong way (messy seams are not supposed to show.). I love this bag and I can't wait to make more. I am going to try to find some vintage material so I can make another one...maybe even make one as a christmas gift...we'll see.

Back again.

After finding out our disappointing news last week, we needed some family time and I needed a little blog break. I love my blogs and I enjoy updating, but it was nice taking some time off of the blog for a few days and just being able to clear my head, grieve over our disappointment and start to move on. We spent quite a bit of time outdoors (meaning I was cold) all weekend. On Friday night we went out with our friends Kels and Adam and Sarah and Adam. We went to the Parade of Lights in Denver and to Andy's favorite restaurant GB Fish and Chips. On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to pick up our copy of the KBCO Studio C CD. It started out that Andy, Blake and I were all waiting in line...it was so much longer than last year. Last year we probably waited in line (in the cold and snow) for two hours, this year, at one and a half hours...we had barley moved at all in line. Thank goodness it wasn't snowing, but it was a crispy 17 degrees...Blake and I finally gave up because we had to meet my parents and I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, but Andy continued to wait in line...three hours in all to get the KBCO Studio C CD. I asked him if it was worth it and it said it was.
Yesterday, we sent a cut down a tree from Pike National Forest. Andy worked on a Christmas tree farm in WA for many, many years...he is a pro. Here is our beautiful tree pre-decorations.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend...

Enjoying time as a family for a few days and waiting for snow...