Robert took me to the circus and didn't leave me there!

It had been at least 15ish years since I'd been to the circus...for Robert, it had been longer! After we saw the elephant parade when the circus came to town, I wanted to go so badly. I suppose Robert read my mind when he asked if I wanted to go the Sunday afternoon when Ringling Brothers were in town! It was the best break for me at the beginning of the height of my end-of-semester work. :)

Several things were the same from what we could remember--elephants, confetti, tigers, tight rope walkers, motorcycles on highwires, strong men and bendy people. Some acts were the same with a few tweaks--we never remembered an attempt at a quadruple somersault on the trapeze and we could only remember about 5 motorcyles in the ball of steel--not like 10. :)

Snow Day 01.30.2010

During the big snow storm of 2010, here in Norfolk, Virginia, Robert & I enjoyed a day of wandering around in the snow and enjoying a relaxing day.

Our day started off waking up to about 4-6 inches of snow. Here's a picture of Downtown Norfolk from our balcony. I set a bowl out on the porch to see how fast the snow was coming. After our soaking in the winter wonderland outside, we made snowman and snowflake-shaped blueberry & chocolate chip pancakes! They were super yummy and probably some of the fluffiest pancakes I've ever made in this home.

Robert & I suited up for a jaunt around downtown in the snow. We started our walk through our neighborhood to the Pagoda near the USS Wisconsin and Nauticus. The Norfolk mermaid apparently had a snowball fight before we got there. We continued our walk around the Wisconsin to Town Point Park. I found a good spot for a snow angel...I must say, it was probably the most perfect snow angel I've made in my lifetime...complete with a halo. We walked through the park towards Waterside and then found our way to Granby Street. It was pretty cool to see it snow covered, quiet, and peaceful.

After Downtown, we headed over to Ghent to lollygag. Brambleton sure wasn't busy in terms of car-traffic, but we saw several people out for walks on the Hague Bridge that connects Ghent to Downtown. At this time, the snow turned sort of to a mix with a bit more wind. The Hague wasn't only filled with chilly, choppy water, but packed with happy geese, ducks, and some very confused seagulls. :) We walked and walked and found ourselves near the Chrysler Museum, which was so pretty in the snow!



About 3 hours passed and we finally made it back home! After our looonnnng walk, I continued my mother's tradition of making Snow Cream. It was so delicious; it's a shame it doesn't snow more often. :) Once we got home, we had a lazy afternoon with Robert watching TV, me doing some homework and fixing a yummy pan of Momma's lasagna. It was nice to have the afternoon to put dinner together at a leisurely pace. Once we were done with dinner, we walked to the store and rented a movie. What a delightful end to a super day!

PS--there are a bunch of more pictures on our Picasa site!

Massanutten/Luray Caverns

Over MLK weekend, Robert, me, and a few friends of ours from ODU (I work with 2 of them) rented a cabin up in the mountains for a weekend of fun and skiing. We drove up on a Saturday, chilled out, and went night skiing! It had been pretty cold up in VA for a while but the few days before we drove up and during Saturday, it was probably about 50 degrees. The warmth made the snow pretty slushy and weird (very different than Colorado snow, for sure!) We had a good time skiing all night and then went back to our nice little condo where we stuffed all 10 of us. Good fun, games, food and friends. :)

When we woke up Sunday, it was still fairly warm out and it was sprinkling in the morning and switched back and forth to rain for most of the day. We made the decision to save $$ and head out for an adventure--we went to Luray Caverns which was just an hour away. I've always heard about the caverns and remember learning about them in elementary school, but it is far more amazing to see them in person. No description or picture could do the intricate scenery of all of the stalactites and stalagmites justice. It's another one of God's amazing wonders: the way the forms were made, how the 'tites and 'mites continue to morph and grow ever so slowly, as well as the crisp, clear, clean air down in the caves and how the formations play a part in that. It was just amazing to breathe in (literally) and witness. In the cavern, someone a long time ago figured out how to make an organ out of the formations--that was really neat to hear and wish they had someone playing the organ live. The caverns were an excellent alternative to skiing for the day!

Later that afternoon, Robert & another friend (Andy) went back to Massanutten for another round of night skiing, despite the wet, warm conditions. For the rest of that night, we enjoyed hanging out, eating some yummy tortilla soup (made by my friend Kim), and watching the US men's figure skating competition and some award show...a very lazy evening, but a perfect long day weekend for a bunch of grad students (and a normal working adult, like Robert). :)

Wish it would've been better skiing conditions, but all-in-all, I'm really glad we took initiative and had an adventure all together to the mountains.