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!

Homemade Christmas ornaments! (yeah, it's February)

I had this idea to make ODU ornaments for a few of my close friends at school this Christmas long before Christmas rolled around. I already had the ornaments and the plan of attack, I just failed to attack this project til....January. :P I finished them sooner than I thought I would...but still, it took me a while to put the finishing touches on them and get them wrapped up. Once I had them all boxed up for delivery, I kept forgetting to take the gifts to them. I'm proud to say, as of Super Bowl Sunday, my friends finally had their Christmas presents. :)

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.

Defenestration of Freemason

As residents of a 4th floor condo and lovers of REAL evergreen Christmas trees, taking down our tree and disposing of it poses a messy problem. We don't want to get pine needles all over the condo's hallways or in the elevator or staircase....so a few years ago, we experimented and determined that throwing our Christmas tree off our patio would be the best first step in disposing of our tree. :)

Robert tosses the tree and I catch it. Haha...not really, I'm just below making sure nobody gets in the way of the tree (and taking pictures). :)

DC trip - 12.26.09

We took a quick trip to DC the day after Christmas to celebrate Christmas with the extended Marshall family. The Gurnees--Pam, Robert, Bryan, Tyler & me--all drove up together and walked around several memorials before the evening shindig. It was a super chilly day, with lots of mist, fog, and puddles! It was a nice time walking around though.

We visited the Vietnam war, WWII, and Korean war memorials along with the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. Also, we took a short trip to the National Museum of Natural History to see the bees that can fly in and out of the museum (through some weird tube in an exhibit) and the giant tarantula--this is something the Gurnee-boys always have to do if they visit that museum... The dinosaur bones were super cool--I love the T-Rex!

After we were done walking around, we went to Aunt Nancy's house, ate lasagna, participated in the annual Marshall-cousin Polyanna gift exchange, then hung out with Robert's first year roommate (James) in downtown DC with some of our cousins! A very quick trip, but a good one, indeed!

Our Little Tree

Here's our little tree from this past Christmas (accompanied by a few presents we got this year)! I can't believe this was our third Christmas together and our third cute little Christmas tree.

Also, here's Robert during our trying-on frenzy the day after Christmas--checking to see what fits and what doesn't and what is liked and what needs to be taken back to the store. :)

Christmas Eve with the Walpoles

After the Christmas Eve service, Robert & I headed over to Mom & Dad's for Christmas Even Beef Stew. (so delicious) As a Walpole tradition, taking a picture next to the tree and "putting an ornament on the tree" is a must.








During the day on Christmas Eve, I had made some pumpkin bread in snowflake bundt pans and began decorating sugar cookies. I didn't end up finishing up some decorating or putting together the baskets of goodies we were giving to several family members the following day. After dinner, both Robert and I rolled up our sleeves and got to completing my projects. Robert was such a huge help and while he probably wouldn't admit it, I think he enjoyed being creative with the cookie decorating; he was quite good at it, too! Robert in his creative peak made me an avant guarde cookie (picture below). :) With all of the cookie decorating and creative juices flowing, I got the idea of using decorated sugar cookies as gift tags-- I think this may become a tradition of mine. :)