Sushi

We made sushi for dinner this week! It was so easy, and tasted great.

I have been wanting to try and make out own sushi for a while.  Little Man loves it, and really how hard can it be?  Turns out it was pretty easy once we bought the bamboo mat to roll it with.  We just need to perfect our form a little. 

Ice Castle-Lincoln, NH

Last year we made a really big mistake; we went to an ice castle in Vermont instead of the really cool one in Lincoln, NH.  While the lit up ice structure was cool, it was no where near as amazing as the one in Lincoln.  While we were unable to visit it at night, it is just as amazing during the day.  Actually you can take better pictures of it during the day (it was actually hard choosing only a few pictures to use) and the line to get in and for the ice slide are much shorter.

 When we first arrived; we were greeted by the frozen crew.  I am pretty sure had there not been a Kristoff character and I had not bribed him with a stop at Chutters, I would not have gotten this picture.

 This castle just has amazing little touches like a fountain in the middle of one of the courtyards. 

 Of course there are also several tunnels you can crawl through.  For one of them you crawl through the tunnel, walk up this pretty cool ice staircase, followed by a slide down a very fast ice tunnel.  My mother and Little Man picked up enough speed that they both banked the wall at the exit.  It was pretty amazing.

 Of course the best part of going to the one in New Hampshire is that it is near Grandma's house.

No Social Media

      I have to admit, I am one that has a hard time giving up social media.  I spend way too much time checking, and re-checking it.  I decided that for at least one day this year, I would disconnect and ignore it.  Well almost.  My running group posts morning runs the night before, and people sometimes cancel out the next morning.  I am not running alone in the dark.  Due to this one little factor, I did give myself permission to check Instant Messenger once in the morning and once at night.  Quickly and only to check on the morning run status.  Otherwise it was a social media free day. 

      

I managed to make it though the day.  I actually was way more productive, and I was way more tuned into what was going on around me.  I was also way less annoyed with people due to the lack of political posts I viewed that day. It was really nice, and I realized I need to disconnect more often.  I am going to miss way more looking at social media.  Not sure I could give it up for a long period of time though. 

Poor Rooster

My big beautiful rooster is molting.  I feel bad for the poor thing.  He looks so sad, and slightly annoyed that I am taking his picture. 

Blood Orange

I typically put "try a new food" on my yearly bucket list.  However, this year I realized that there is not much we have not eaten-at least that you can find in this area.  Little Man and I spent 30 minutes in the produce section trying to find something we had not eaten.  I guess that is a good thing.

The bottom food is an endive.  It was not labeled, and I did not think I had eaten it before.  However, when I ran into a friend on the way out the door and she pointed out that I had endives, I realized it was not a new food to me.  Darn it!

The top fruit is a blood orange.  I actually have never eaten them before, and honestly did not know what to look for.  Some of them that were really red, I decided we going bad.  I was wrong, those were the ripe ones.  My loving husband lovingly pointed out later that some get really red in the center.  Oh well, I tried.  It was not bad.  It tasted somewhat like a sweet grapefruit. I would eat it again. 

The Winter That Never Was

Spring is always the break in which I flee the state.  It is muddy, the weather is unpredictable, and it does not know if it wants to be winter or spring.  Winter break is always the one I want to be home playing in the snow.  I may have to rethink that.

 We did get one colder day on the mountain.  The rest just rain and mud.

Pond Skating

There is nothing like a frozen pond on a cold winters day.

Mortar and Pestal

For a long time I have wanted a mortar and pestal set. I don't need them a whole lot, but when I have needed them, I have really needed them.  

Family

I have been very blessed to be part of an extraordinary family.  My aunt often told my grandfather that he had no idea how lucky he was and our family was uniquely close.  There has never been any doubt in my mind that I or my child have been extremely well loved, and not matter what happens in life would always have family there to take of us.  

This past week one of those amazing people passes away.  My Uncle had been battling Parkinson's for a few years, and finally the fight was over.  He was one of the most amazing people I know, and will forever hold a dear place in my heart.  

Night Skiing

Unlike our friends and family to the south, those of us in the north are praying for a good dumping of snow to support our recreational activities in the winter. Thankfully there are Nordic and Alpine centers that make snow.  Lucky for those of us who work during the day it happens to be their night skiing trails they make it on.  There is nothing better then night skiing on a moonlit night. 

Trapp Family Lodge

I have heard about how amazing Trapp Family Lodge is for cross-country skiing.  I have also heard that there is this really cool cabin that is 3 miles in the woods where you can get soup, sandwiches and hot chocolate.  I have been dying to go, and just have not made it yet. 

This year we purchased a family pass for one of our local Nordic centers.  The cool thing about Vermont is that there is a reciprocal program where you can ski one time for free at a bunch of other Nordic centers.  Since our side of the Green Mountains is a little lacking on the snow side, it was time to make the trip.

We went in with the ultimate plan of making it to the cabin, but with a bailout plan of skiing to the deli (a half mile from the Nordic center).  The first half off the journey was smooth sailing on green trails (the easier ones) and it was wonderful, until we hit out first blue trail.  Straight up the mountain.  My freind and I are not huge fans of big down hills (Little Man loves them). As we started the trek up the hill we knew we could make it to the top without much of a problem.  It was the trip back down we were not looking forward to.  We bailed half way up and headed to the deli for lunch.  We did find out later that it became rolling hills a little after the section we were on.  Oh well, we still got in an awesome 4 miles of skiing on wonderful trails for the day.  The deli was also pretty good, so no major loss.  Maybe next time we will actually make it to the cabin.  

Homeless Bags

This past summer while in Boston with some friends, Levi and his friend shared some granola bars with a homeless man.  It made an impact and I decided that we were going to make a few homeless bags to have on hand.  That way if the situation arose we would have them on hand. 

Winter Trail Running

At the end of last winter a friend got me into winter trail running.  Prior to this, winter was the time I retreated from the woods and onto the roads and sidewalks.  I found that it was so much more enjoyable in the woods and have been waiting for the snow to fall.  I found that often the footing was actually better than the slick sidewalks and roads, the views were spectacular, and it was warmer in the woods where the trees provide shelter for the wind. It just made winter running so much better.

 And every now and then, a walk in the woods with this guys turns into a trail run. 

Two Down!

A week into the new year, and I already have two of my tasks completed (no wine passports or any lists of that type this year). Most of this years tasks are strictly, do this, go there, and check it off the list(most of them). I am anticipating less items left undone this year.

My first task of the year: go to Citizens Cider in Burlington, VT. Every year my group of running friends makes a plan to run and then go there for dinner.  Every year something happens and we never make it.  This year we went and made our very ambitious running plan for the year.  The food was good and I was able to try a few of their ciders (I did a flight) that are not normally on tap other places.  It was nice.  

Next, I checked off a new restaurant.  I have been wanting to try Asian Bistro in Williston, VT.  I heard  that it is pretty good.  I even almost convinced Little Man to try frog, but he chickened out at the last minute and went for the Pu Pu Platter lunch special while Andy and I had sushi and mock eel.  It was pretty good. Maybe I'll take Little Man back another time for frog.

New Year-First Run

Now that all my bibs for 2015 are off the door, it is time to start all over again.  What better way to ring in the New Year than run a 5k with my husband and some friends. 

2015 Task List

Things completed:

1. Mountain Goat Status Achieved: Sleepy Hollow 10k, Wachusett Mountain 10k, Pack Monadanock 10 Miler, Ascutney (3.7 miles), Loon Mountain (6.6 miles) and Cranmore Hill Climb (8.2 miles)

2. Ran my first snowshoe race

3. Went camping at a new place: Lafayette in Franconia New Hampshire

4. New Restaurant I have been wanting to try: We actually went to several: Blue Bird BBQ-awesome, Shillings Brewery-amazing, Sneakers-pretty good, Zero Gravity-nice place to go without children, Single Pebble-great ladies night out.

5. New Food: Bone Marrow, a variety of wild mushrooms-picked by me(with people who actually knew what they were doing), some Dutch and Indonesian food at a festival we attended.

6. Ottawa in Winter: Amazing!

7. Cross-Country Ski at Sleepy Hollow Inn: I couldn't avoid this one, I won tickets at a 5k I did on New Years Day.

8. Paint living-room wall

9. Wine Passport: Snow Farm Vineyard, East Shore Vineyard, Artesano Meadery, Charlotte Village Winery, Fresh Tracks Farm Vineyard and Winery, Shelburne Vineyard, Boyden Valley Winery, North Branch Vineyards, Lincoln Peak, and Hall Home Place Ice Cider.

10. Made Gumbo: It was not great, but I did it.

11. New Vermont State Park: Ascutney, Coolidge, Camp Plymouth

12. Sledding at Casey's Hill

13. Middlebury College Museum of Art; not as impressed as I had hoped to be.

14. Knottweed Chuttney

15. Made it to the Top of Mount Mansfield

16: At least on Sustainable act a month: Milk Soap, Mushrooming, Learned how to cook some of the wild edibles in my yard (not all were good), Ducklings and lots of them, gardening, water conservation, more energy efficient appliances (partly because some of them broke down), preserving food, purchasinge some chemical free products

17. Did some type of service/volunteer activity once a month: Saving Money/Giving Items to a charity, Serving Food at Salvation Army, Attending Fundraiser Events. moving mulch, marathon water station, Operation Christmas Child

18. Made Strawberry Wine

19. Road trip to Grafton Vermont

20. Recorded my summer spending

21. Montreal Botanical Garden

22. Maintained a running log-Finally

23. Some sort of strength 2x a week

Not Achieved:

1.Catch up with my scrap-booking: I decided I am done with scrap-booking

2.Put Levi's first and second years into photo albums: I decided I am going to make a photo book for important events, rather then every single waking moment of the poor kids life.

3.Finish a Book a Month: I got hung up in June and July on this one because I kept picking books I did not like and would not finish.

4.Cross-Country Ski at Trapps Family Lodge: I ran out of winter faster than I thought I would.

5.Mountain Washington-The day we had planned on going up, the weather was not in our favor.  Little Man would have been blown right off the mountain.

6. Run up Camels Hump: There was a bear problem this summer

7. Break an 8 minute mile 5k pace: close, but not quiet there

8. Boston Museum of Science: just didn't make it

9. Did my own oil change: new car, Andy stopped changing my oil at home

10. Shooting with Andy: I think he is chicken: I even had a babysitter lined up.

11. Separate flowers: I waited too long

12. Parker Pie in Glover: I did not do the family thing this year Memorial Day weekend.

Another awesome year with lots of great memories

 I started the year off the year by doing a First Run with 5 other friends from church. 

In February, I did a snowshoe race (my first) with my mom and a friend. It was hard, but a ton of fun.  I also learned that there is no way to sneak up on a person as you tromp through the snow. I will most certainly be doing another snowshoe race this winter; if we ever get snow.

Over the course of the year I also ran 4 half marathons with some awesome ladies.  We had fun traveling all over New England, running and hanging out together. I also did 100 mile relay race and a 5 miler with those same amazing ladies. I love my running friends.

During the Summer I traveled all over New England and did 6 mountain races.  I realized I was a lot tougher then I ever thought I was, and met some really awesome people along the way.  I also stayed with friends and family and was able to get some much needed visit time (some people I had been promising for years I would visit). 

I also ran 13 trail races (same bib) with my son, husband, cross-country runners and friends.   Afterwords there was tailgating in the parking-lot, stories of mud covered trails and a seven year old and husband who have begun to fall in love with the trails.Neither one is so sure about the roads yet.

I ran through a vineyard, by a lake and around an apple orchard for an amazing 10k that one of my cross-country runners was helping run.

I did a sundae run, a glow run and a turkey trot with my amazing husband. 

Then I finished out the year with a Santa run with my father.

It has been an amazing year with a lot of great memories.  Time to take it all down and see what 2016 has in store for me.

Christmas Lights

One of my favorite parts of December is all the Christmas lights.  This is probably due to the fact that it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I head home.  I spend the month trying to take in all the Christmas lights and pretending to enjoy the dark. Although I will admit typically it is much more magical when there is actually snow on the ground.  Below are a few places I like to visit. 

We will start our light tour with the spot many people in our area visit this time of year.  Church Street in Burlington, Vermont is a favorite location for most Christmas shoppers this time of year.  You can shop, eat a great dinner, and then venture over to Lake Champlain Chocolate for some hot chocolate. All while strolling down a beautifully decorated street. 

Next one of the local parks does a Christmas lights walk.  There are 22 trees (not including the ones at the entrance of the park) lit up, each with an odd bulb hidden within (Yoda, fire truck, flamingo, ect.).  When the kids walk in, they pick up a scavenger hunt paper and run around trying to find the items in the trees.  While they run around, mom gets to leisurely stroll through the tees taking in the beautiful lights.

 Finally the Round Church in Richmond makes for an eloquent and historic back drop to my morning runs. When there is actually snow, it also makes for an awesome backdrop for the local sledding hill..  Unfortunately the picture does not do it any justice. It is beautiful and slightly magical. 

If I am lucky I can even convince both of the boys to come along for the trip.

Unseasonably Warm

I has been an unseasonably warm December so far. Needless to say I do not think we are going to have a white Christmas this year. 

As a result our winter pass for Catamount Outdoor Family Center has turned from a time to go cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, to more trail running and mountain biking. Not that I am complaining about being able to run in shorts right now.  Little Man has actually been enjoying the trails with me as his gets some much needed mountain biking in. This week we were even joined by a heard of sheep.

Drive In

Best way to entertain a house full of crazy boys when they start to run out of energy.  Have them turn boxes into cars.  Give them a bag full of popcorn and a juice box.  Throw a Christmas movie on.  Sit back and enjoy.