skiing through our aspen forests

this is why we were desperate to move back to our mountains.
we can escape into the woods before work, in the afternoon,
and all weekend long--while still doing all the necessaries of life.
it really is a unique lifestyle being so close to the backcountry.

i love our backcountry ski dates.
i love feeling my lungs and legs burn.
i love skiing through fresh-fallen snow.
i love seeing the sun peek through aspen branches.
i love watching ceej carve beautiful turns through meadows of snow.
i love stopping to take photos of this beautiful place.

mountains, i hope we never leave you.

we finally took a break from the backcountry and headed to the resort

a couple weeks ago ceej and i took a day off to head up into the mountains for some skiing.
usually we head out to the backcountry, but this year we bought passes at a resort so
that i could improve my skills by going down multiple runs--over and over all day long.

my legs felt it. all that lunging (we telemark ski) left my legs wobbling.
worth it?
of course.

in the afternoon we met up with friends and skied much longer than we had planned.
always a good sign of good snow and good company.

and it all started at the waffle truck.

winter has settled in : january moves into february

winter has settled in as we've experienced storm after storm after storm--we even had a rare ice storm.

i've been a bit saddened that i haven't been able to enjoy the snow as much as usual.
life is busy: a new job, starting a business, planning for another voyage magazine adventure, finding time to practice the violin, and keep my backcountry skiing lungs strong, and house hunting. there isn't enough time for everything, and so i am hoping to find a way to simplify, to sacrifice, to free up my life for the real priorities.

i had hoped to write more today as i am home from work with the flu--but unfortunately my heart isn't entirely cooperating. i just want to stay under my covers and fall in and out of sleep.

isn't january beautiful?


{p.s. lowell c. bennion was my grandmother's cousin}

it's been snowing here, and my heart is at home

i was starting to worry that fall wouldn't be as crisp and cool as normal,

but this week's two snowfalls have my heart rejoicing. it just wouldn't

be the same if it didn't snow sometime before halloween. 

the down coats and chunky scarves are out, and i've been coming in

with the smell of cold on my clothes. love it.

happy fall weekend everyone!

the yurt {part two} : staying warm with a blanket of clouds, down puffy coats, breakfast burritos, and bearded men

turns out that time flies when you have your nose burried in 18th century british literature...

sorry for the delay in posting the second round of our yurt trip. so without further a do, here they are!

i can't believe it's been almost two weeks. what a delicious trip this was. i'm still dreaming about it.

on our ski in there was a wonderful snow storm that dropped those beautiful big flakes on us.

it was nice to have the faster group at the yurt waiting for us with a fire. so so cozy.

i enjoyed spending such a lovely trip with some of my favorite people. so good for my heart.

i love that all of us women have all fallen in love with bearded men. i guess we have a type.

here's to many more winters of fantastic yurt trips!

the yurt {part one} : the night time adventures of a medical doctor, an engineer, a forest service ranger, a yogi/seven-months-with child, an EMT/Carpenter, an artist, a fashion designer, a physicist, a grad student, and a product designer

over the weekend we headed up to a yurt in our mountains with eight dear friends.

it's been a while since we've all had an over-nighter together, and a while since i've laughed so hard and so much!

the conversations went from environmental/political activism to questions {directed towards the scientists} about what would happen to a sandwich if you opened up a space shuttle window and left it in space to what's the weirdest thing our doctor friend has seen in the hospital to pregnancy and birthing.

and there was also a quick debate about what do to if you get bit by a rattlesnake...i like jack handy's suggestion best.

did i mention that our dear olivia made the 4.5 mile trek in on snowshoes while seven months pregnant?

she definitely wins the "hard core" award--especially since she had such a lovely glowing smile on the entire time.

there was also a couple of sweet games of speed scrabble. which resulted in more laughing.

so grateful to have friends who love to be in the mountains.

so grateful it finally snowed here after weeks of draught.

so grateful that i got to laugh my guts out.

so grateful that we have smart & talented friends who don't take themselves too seriously.

so grateful for high-calorie foods that filled my belly after our hike in on skis.

more of our trip {in the daylight} to come soon...

{p.s. thanks to holly jo for snapping a couple photos of me and ceej!}