Monday, December 28, 2009

And the Winner Is...

Christina!  Email me your address at  katiea801@yahoo.com and I will send off your calendar!  If Christina does not respond by Thursday, December 31, 2009 11:59 PST I will pick a new winner!

Whew!  Where do I start?  I did not blog, I did not read blogs, I hardly even updated my FB status for almost six days and it was awesome!  I really needed to disconnect.  Actually, I packed so much fun and family into six days that I need a vacation from my vacation!  Tahoe was perfect, the weather was just awesome and the house we rented had plenty of space and nooks that we didn't have to always be on top of one another.  On Tuesday when we headed up it was snowing lightly and that got us all excited!  My SIL, Mom and little niece and I  all went grocery shopping when we got up there and when we came out it was snowing again!  What memories!  I know all you peeps that live in snow could probably care less, but this was just magical to us. 

We snowboarded and skied on Wednesday and again on Saturday.  My brother who hadn't skied in almost 12 years was right back at it with my hubbs and I.  My hubbs also played a trick on my Bro and I and took us down a double black diamond.  I can do one black diamond, but not two!  My Bro and I stood at the top of the run that had a 10 foot drop in and freaked!  My Bro almost strangled Ari at 9,000 feet!  But by the time we got down we were all friends again and did the run about 10 more times that day :)  My little nephews, 16 and 7 took skiing lessons and my little niece, 17, took snowboarding lessons and by Saturday all three were going down the intermediate runs with us!  The snow was PERFECT!  Packed powder!  It was cool in the mornings but by the afternoon it usually warmed up so much that our big ski coats were almost too much!  Awesome California weather!  Christmas Eve we all went snowmobiling.  That was my Bro's gift to us all and it did not disappoint!  We went up the Nevada side of the lake into area's that are hardly seen by people even in good weather!  The views of the lake were just stunning and it was an adventure none of us will ever forget!


All of us at Zepher Cove (w/ Lake Tahoe in the back) before snowmobiling.
The tall one is my little 16 year old nephew Chuck, he is 6'2"! My mom is dwarfed by him!



Snowmobiling at the top of the mountain. That is Carson Valley, NV behind us!



My big Bro and Little Sis with Lake Tahoe behind us :)
Can you see the family resemblance?

Santa was good to us all, bringing me tons of running gear for running in the rain and a much needed new running hat.  Oh, and my hubbs got himself me a PS3 for Christmas!  Can you tell how excited I am? It plays BlueRay's so that I am actually excited about.  All in all, all 12 of us had a blast.  No one argued (amazing if you know us) and no one got injured (also amazing if you know us). Well, almost no one.  I got knocked out by a ski falling out of the car yesterday.  I have a nice shinner on my head.  It was a headache that I will never forget.  The funny thing is that it happened at home!  While unpacking the cars at my Bro's!  I should be fine, but let's just say today I shouldn't really tackle any major tax problems at work :)  For all you peeps wondering how I survived with the MIL, let's just say she came up late Christmas Eve, left early the day after Christmas.  She did attempt to backseat drive on Christmas day to Mass but I stomped that out quick.  I really just stayed out of her way and let my mom and Ari entertain her.  Probably a smart move on my part, I just know I would look hideous in an orange jumpsuit. :) 

I actually managed to get three runs in while we were gone and will be doing a review of the YakTrax later this week.  I didn't use my Garmin as I just went out to enjoy the run.  The altitude killed me the first run but after that I felt a ton better.  I ran a five mile loop and averaged around an 8:15 pace each time.  Not too shabby for not running in altitude since September.

I am slowly but shirley catching up on all of your blogs!  It looks like a lot of you also decided to take some time off from blogging so that made me feel a bit less guilty.  Thank you to all of you who have become followers!  And thanks to my faithful readers, it sounds like we all have a very busy 2010 in front of us! 
Have a great Monday!  Happy Running

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had a great time in the snow!

Would you mind sharing these this with your wonderful bloggers?

My new Sunday FunDay
http://runninaround.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/llrps-sunday-funday-a-new-tradition/

My Holiday Giveaway
http://runninaround.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/270/

and My 1,010 (miles) for 2010 Challenge
http://runninaround.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/another-celebrity-goodbye-and-a-new-challenge-for-the-blog-world/

Thank you so much! I would really appreciate it =)

Heather said...

Looks like you had a wonderful vacation! Glad you avoided jail. :)

RunToTheFinish said...

Amen for not blogging over the holiday, I too decided it was time to just sign out and it was worth it

ohh new running gear, always inspires me to get going

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

OUCH!! I hit my head when putting groceries in the car this AM, but I bet your really hurt!!

So glad you had a nice holiday.. OK Christina is one luckjy lady, she won my GU too..

Jess said...

Glad you had such a great getaway! That snow looks like fun!

Anonymous said...

Sounds so fun! I'm jealous!!!

I can't believe you got hit at HOME by the ski :) Feel better soon.

N.D. said...

wow it looks beautiful there!

Jill said...

Owie, hope your head it okay! :/

I missed you over the break...but like you, just busy busy so it went quick. Glad you're back and blogging! Even if I didn't win the calendar :(. I just don't think I can go there with the giveaways, I think I'd go manic trying to do that. So I'll just keep entering yours and hope for a win one day - haha.

Yeah, I don't feel too bad for ya with the snow there lady! We've had snow on the ground for what feels like years...and it's flipping COLD! Geez!!! Can I come and stay with you for a few weeks??? :)

I'm considering the SF marathon on June 25th. Any interest? I have a friend that lives there and said I could stay with her.

I did a boat load of 3-way lunges today on my first official Boston training day (okay, that's a lie...I just did a few...but it feels like a boat load) and my glutes are sorer than heck! Oh my..I am out of weight training shape. Tomorrow's going to be interesting.

Okay, that's the update with me...all on your blog comment. Haha.

Missed ya!
Hugs to you!!! :)

Sarah said...

OMG lady, so glad you are okay!

Sounds like a great trip to Tahoe. Glad it all worked out so well.

And you are such a rockstar running in the altitude. You would be proud of me too. I have been running on vacation as well! AND I got my first Garmin. :)

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Wow! It sounds like you had a great time! The pictures are amazing.

Sking, snowmobling, running and a head injury...what a holiday!

I agree. Orange jumpsuits are so not for you!! ;-)

Glad you are back.

The Linz said...

Sounds like you had a great vacation! And way to squeeze in some runs too. I bet you felt amazing! I slacked ALOT - probably not what you were expecting from your HHBC buddy. Oops! Well I managed to kick it into gear yesterday & today - thanks to santa!! Welcome Back!!!

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to the YakTrax review!

Jenn said...

I am very jealous of your trip! Snow, sun, and scenery combined! I think I may have to pencil a ski trip into my schedule in the next year. Ouch on the falling ski! I've never run in altitude-I'll have to pencil that on my schedule too since I have soo much free time! Glad you had a great Christmas-nice work running on vacation! Have a great day!

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

Awesome pictures! Sounds like a great trip, I can't wait to go on trips like that when my girls are older. Oh - and love the MIL stuff, sounds like my house!

And, It was so nice of the hubby to get you a PS3. I'm sure it must have tortured him to purchase it!

Tara said...

It sounds like you all had a great trip Katie! Makes me REALLY anxious to ski. I wish I could!

I love your pics too!

Your hubbs is such a sweetheart for buying you that PS3. LOL. No, really, we have one and watch blue rays on it and it is really cool; you'll like it.

Tara said...

It sounds like you all had a great trip Katie! Makes me REALLY anxious to ski. I wish I could!

I love your pics too!

Your hubbs is such a sweetheart for buying you that PS3. LOL. No, really, we have one and watch blue rays on it and it is really cool; you'll like it.