Whoa! Sledding is intense!

Charlie's first time sledding.  She LOVED it.  All she could say over and over was "whoa".  It was so fun taking her out!  I'm so glad the weather was perfect for it!  Warm enough for me to run around w/o gloves and cool enough that the snow stuck around for a bit!  Perfection!

Happy hump day!
Kel

Get down w/ the sickness

Home sick today for the first time in almost 2 years. I guess this is what I should start to expect now having a baby. She gets sick, I get sick, we all get sick. Even Kobe is sick today w/ something. Weird! Unfortunately this happens on the worst day b/c tonight was supposed to be my GNO at Frenchman's. So it totally sucks since those are my few nights I get out for.


To brighten up my day I thought I'd share some adorable pictures of Charlie and some pics from our neighbor night out (that turned to night in due to 17.1 inches of snow!) We are so sad to be losing 1/3 of our neighborhood trio. We totally lucked out when we bought this house w/ the best neighbors you could ever ask for! But the time has come and the Bormann's are moving back to Iowa and so we had scheduled a night for us all to go out for their going away party. Unfortunately the snow hampered our night out and the restaurant actually called us to cancel our reservations b/c it was so bad! We recorded the 5th largest snowfall on record and were pretty much stuck in our house the entire weekend. But at least Charlie got some great quality time in with her Paps and Mimi. All the more time to be spoiled!


Now, onto the pics!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm sick of all this snow. It is snowing again (on top of our 15+ inches we already have on the ground). I miss warm weather...

Quickie time!

Don't get too overly excited. It's not the kind of quickie you all are thinking about. Dirty minds. But that is why I love you.

I have been kind of MIA on my blog lately. Just posting the wordless Wed and my want it posts for the most part and that is b/c I've been in a funk. Not a bad funk. But just sort of tired and mopey. I'm blaming it on the season's starting to change (although in reality it could just be PMS). Don't get me wrong, I love fall. I love the leaves changing and the smell of Autumn, backyard fires, Halloween, football and fabulous boots. But at the same time it just reminds me of what is quickly approaching...

Winter. Blah.

I hate winter. If winter only lasted a month or maybe even 2 I would love it b/c cold weather doesn't really bother me all that much plus it gives me excuses to buy cute coats, scarves, hats, etc. But up here in grand ole Minnesota the winter lasts FAR TOO LONG. We're talking 5 months of cold. And at least 2 months of BITTER, nasty, freeze my friggin ass off COLD. Many weeks without seeing so much as a single ray of sun and snow, snow, snow combined with ice at the most wonderful times. And well, it just drags me down.

So excuse me while I pout about it for a while. I'll be back to my normal self by tomorrow since after all, it's FRIDAY bitches!

xoxo~



*Update: Wade just let me know he just bought the parts to convert our garage fridge into a kegerator. This weekend is looking up. Keg in our garage. You're all invited. :)

Ski Hills - 1; Kellie - 0

Way too much freaking snow in the U. P.

As promised here is the tale of my snowboarding affair.

Every winter a group of us heads up north to the U.P. of MI for a weekend full of drinking & boarding/skiing/tubing/sledding. For me this is mostly just a weekend of binge drinking however one year (and one year only) I decided I would give snow boarding a try. Let me be the first to tell you that trying to snow board for the first time ever while hung over is NOT a good idea.

We wake up from our 1st night of heavy drinking hung over as hell. Wade was very excited to get me out to try the snow board that he had for me. So I dress to stay warm and waddle out to Indianhead Resort to give it a go. Pretty much the second we get there I know I don’t want to be there. I am sweating, even though I am cold & my hands are shaky. This is not going to be good. Luckily for me I have my hung over sister w/ me to keep me company.

We strap on our boards & head to the bunny hill. Wade wants to try to teach me how to board so he stands halfway down the bunny hill & gives me instructions while I attempt to obey them. It is not good. I suck. Majorly. I blame most of my suckiness on the fact that I am horrendously hung over, but who knows; maybe I truly just suck at it. I can’t get a hang of how to steer myself with the board & it is constantly cutting into the snow & making me fall. Sometimes I am falling face first & sliding down on my belly & other times I am falling on my ass & sliding down getting snow down my pants. Either way, I am NOT having a good time.

Wade starts to get frustrated with my lack of abilities & my complete lack of effort & enthusiasm due to my hang over so Kara & I decide to tell him & the rest of our group to go ahead & hit some other hills & we’ll take a break for a bit. So off they go as Kara & I promptly sit our asses down on an open area at the top of a small hill. After resting for about 15-20 minutes Wade comes back & wants me to go down the hill that we are sitting on top of. I look down it & it doesn’t look too scary. I look back at Kara & ask her if she wants to give it a go. Hell no she says. So I decide to try to tackle it on my own with Wade trying to help me along the way. Unfortunately, I think the hill definitely tackles me instead of the other way around. I'm pretty sure I broke the record for the most falls on that short of a hill. I am on my ass way more than I am standing & am constantly turning in circles & going down the hill backwards. But alas, I make it down the hill in one piece. Yay me! Little did I know the hardest part was yet to come…

The only thing I like doing in the snow is walking to the Booby Hatch

Once I reach the bottom of the hill Wade directs me over to the ski lift. I stare at it wondering where the hell the chairs are. All it consists of is a rope w/ little stretchy ropes & plastic handles hanging down from it. They instruct me to stand in a certain spot, grab the plastic handle when it comes to me & hold on tight & it will then lug my ass up the hill. Seriously? I am a weakling. I imagine hanging on for dear life, my body dragging the whole way up the hill & ending w/ my pants full of snow. But I see all the other people doing it & decide that it can’t be that hard. I see little kids doing it w/ ease. (I should have noted at this time that I also saw little kids flying past me on snowboards/skis & making me look bad yet again; so I should not be measuring my ability to their super human talents. Damn over achieving kids.)

Soon it is my turn & I take a hold of the handle & steady myself to be tugged. The slack tightens & the handle promptly flings out of my grasp. The guy running the rope pull hits stop & brings it back to me. This thing has a lot of slack in it due to it being made of super stretchy cord & it seems I underestimated its stretchiness. I grab a hold of it again & he tells me to make sure I hold on tightly. I nod my understanding to him & he starts the thing up again. I strain my arms & hands so hard just to hold on, but my body seems so heavy & my board seems to be getting stuck in the snow. It pulls me approximately 3 feet from my beginning spot when swoosh! Out from my hands the handle flings again. Shit balls. The guy hits stop again & helps me grab the handle again. Luckily I hadn’t moved far. I tell him this time I will hold on “for realsies” & he gives me an irritated look. I should mention that this entire time Wade is one handle up from me on the rope & laughing down at me while yelling “hold on” with me replying “I’m fucking trying!”

Try three. The rope starts moving & I hold on like my life depends on it. I probably look like I’m constipated I’m straining so hard. Finally…I’m moving! I’m moving! Yay! I’m ½ way up the hill! And then suddenly my board decides to swerve & get stuck in a divot in the snow. Oh holy crap sack. I fall on my face. I hear the rope pull come to a stop. I look up to see Wade laughing hysterically at me again. Whatever crap face husband of mine. Thanks for the support. I hear the guy running the pull yelling at me asking if I need help. I look up at the handle. It’s only about 2 feet away from me, but keep in mind that I am on a hill & if I stand up my board will most definitely make me slide down it & I will knock down every single person behind me. So I nod in defeat & he runs up the hill to me. Damn it I suck. He finally reaches me & gives me the handle AGAIN. I could tell he is annoyed, but I don’t care. It’s not like this is something I am enjoying or am proud of. He finally gets back down to his station & starts the pull again. I now have the handle wedged in between my legs & my hands have a death grip on the damn thing. The end is in sight. Only 5 feet more, 4 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet, whew! I’m finally at the top. I release the rope & promptly fall on my face yet again.

When I finally get my ass up & out of the way Wade has the balls to ask me if I want to go down the hill again. Not in a million freaking years. Going down the hill wasn’t so bad, although I wasn’t very good at it, but getting back up the hill was pure hell. Kara & I spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun through the windows of the ski lodge & eating French fries. Now that is how I like to spend my hung over winter afternoons.

The way we should have spent the cold afternoon: Quarters!

Ski hills - 2; Kellie - 0

The Hills Are Alive & Kicking My Ass

Winter is here. There’s no denying it any longer. The trees are bare, the grass is brown, it’s colder than shit and it’s already snowed (twice). This reminds me that soon people will be asking me to join them on the slopes. Being that I do not like being outdoors in the cold (unless I'm drinking or walking to a bar where I can drink) I dread this request. I like winter for about a month; the month of December. Other than that it is a drag. It lasts way too long, gets too depressing when you don’t see the sun for days/weeks at a time, the salt on the streets stains my boots and dirties my car, and my feet are constantly wet from walking in thigh high snow. It blows. The only good things to come out of it are the multiple cute scarves and hats that I buy to match each and every outfit. And I can get away with it b/c winter lasts SO long up here in da nort. So at least I look great while out in the cold.

Anyway, back to the point of my post. I dread the ski slopes. I’ve only been skiing and snowboarding one time each. The one time I tried skiing was about 10 years ago. My boyfriend at the time took me up to Afton Alps for Valentine’s Day. It started out great. My boyfriend was a great ski teacher for me and I mastered the bunny hill in no time flat. He was seriously impressed with my skills and so was I! I couldn’t believe how fast I caught on. He quickly decided it was time for us to head to a green hill and was even saying that by the end of the day I could be on blues! No. Freaking. Way! I am a ski goddess!

We jump on the lift to head up to my first green hill. It’s wonderful. The hills are beautiful. And then we reach the top and I look down the slope and my eyes pop out of my head. No way in hell that this is a green. It’s massively HUGE. My boyfriend insists that it is a green and I have to do it b/c there is nothing easier than this besides the bunny hill (which was so easy it was boring). He informs me that he will go slowly in front of me just in case I get out of control. For some reason he thinks that he will be able to stop me if that were to happen. So I suck it up, put on my brave face and start slowly down the hill. Things start out okay besides my constant bawling in fear. I make it about ¼ of the way down the hill without any problems other than I am being passed by 2 year olds on snowboards and they make me feel like shit. And then… all hell breaks loose.

Stupid little kid, you think you're soooooo cool passing me down the hill. Well piss off.

I lose control. I’m flying down the side of the mountain at what feels like 2,000 mph. The whole motion of swishing back and forth to control my speed is not possible AT ALL. I swear on all things holy I am going to die. I quickly soar past my boyfriend who was so insanely stupid to think he would be able to catch me and am careening down the slope. The whole time I am swearing at the top of my lungs, “OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT!!!” My boyfriend takes off after me b/c now he thinks he can catch me and bring me under control, but for some reason he doesn’t realize I am going faster than the speed of light. I have got to be making the fastest time ever on this slope and I am amazingly (by the grace of God) still upright. My poles are flinging in circles on each side of me as I whiz down passing all those stupid 2 year olds who thought they were better than me. Then I look ahead and about piss my snow pants. At the base of the hill there is a line of people and I am heading straight for them. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs but for some reason they just stand there and stare at me. So what the hell do I do? I decide to try to sit down b/c it is the only way I will be able to stop and not super smash them. I do not suggest this approach.

I look approximately like this (minus the professional gear)

I tumble through the air, my poles flying out of my hands, one ski flinging off my boot and my chin scraping the ice cold snow. I stop about 30 feet from the line of people who are ALL staring at me in shock but for some reason never moved a fucking inch. My boyfriend comes flying up behind me asking if I am okay. FUCK NO, I’m not okay. I have road rash on my chin, my thumb is jammed all to hell and I’m scared out of my mind! There is no way in hell I am going down another hill if this is the easiest they are. Fuck off.

This is what I'm sure I looked like at the end of my fall (minus the helmet which would have been nice to have now that I look back on it)

I slowly rise to my feet, find my poles and missing ski and walk to the line to wait for the ski lift. I’m not talking to my boyfriend. I decide he is trying to kill me. I am done. No more skiing. I’ll just sit it out and wait in the lodge and get drunk by myself. We get to the top of the lift and look at the map to figure out how to get back to the lodge and I notice that the hill we were just on (that kicked the living shit out of me) was not a green hill as he had told me. It was a freaking BLUE. WTF? I guess he was right when he said he’d have me going down a blue hill by the end of the day. I’d just rather of not done it on my ass!

By the end of the day I did end up conquering that hill. All on my feet and swishing back and forth under control. And it Felt. So. Good.

Stay tuned for a story on my only attempt at snowboarding. Unfortunately I can’t say it went much better than this…