Valentines Day
Doug and I typically do not celebrate it. Still, I like to do something nice for him on Valentines day which inevitably ends up making him feel guilty. But what can I say? I'm a sucker for any reason to eat sweets and get a little mooshy. I ended up making Doug breakfast, complete with heart shaped eggs. I also had a box of cookies and brownies delivered to his work and framed a home-made photo of important dates. We laid pretty low that day, getting in a good workout after work and enjoying a quiet evening at home.
Family Ski Trip
Doug and I drove up to the PA mountains for a fun-filled family ski weekend on 2/16. Several of Doug's aunt, uncles and cousins were there, Doug's dad, brother, sister, brother-in-law and our 2 nieces. It was a packed house! We had planned to ski on Saturday and Sunday and use Friday as a day to get some much needed PA business handled. Doug and I still own a triplex in PA and were eager to walk through the apartments, meet some of the newer tenants and collect any items we left behind that we could fit in or on top of my VW Touareg (i.e. Doug's beer pong table). Our plans changed almost immediately.
Friday were were too exhausted from driving through the night to do much more than nap. We ran a few errands, did some catching up (with family and with some Zs) and had a quiet dinner with Doug's dad at a local restaurant. We decided we would handle business with the house on Sunday instead. I got up early on Saturday to get a quick workout in before heading from Pine Creek to the Poconos. I decided to run up and down Doug's dad's driveway. It's about 1/2 mile long with a VERY steep incline (he lives in the side of a mountain). I only went down and back up once, but it got my heart pumping. Once at the top I worked out with an 8lb kettle bell, did some lunges, abs and stretching and enjoyed the view.
We then drove to the cabin, unpacked and changed, then headed straight for Big Boulder Mountain.
Skiing all day was a blast! I'd forgotten how much fun it was. I did my fair share of falling, but by the end of the day I was feeling confident and made several runs without any spills. We even got to ski while it was actually snowing!
After a long and fun filled day we headed back to the cabin for dinner and libations. I loved sitting around with the family and catching up. I especially loved spending time with my niece Ava, who spent a good part of the evening entertaining me with songs and stories, sitting on my lap, and reading my mind. Reading my mind? Yea- that's what I said. At one point during the evening I was contemplating getting out of my seat to get a cookie or a brownie. I thought I shouldn't because I had already indulged on some pretty unhealthy foods. Then Ava comes over and says "Aunt Amanda, would you like a brownie?" It was adorable and I accepted. When she came back with my brownie she then asked, "would you like a cookie too?" How did she know I wanted both?? The crazy thing is that my sister-in-law says that Ava has done similar things to her. Next time I see her I'm hoping she does it again!
But despite the fun of the evening Doug and I gave into our exhaustion pretty early and were in bed by 10:30. It was only a few hours later that our family vacation to a terrible turn for the worse. It turned out that Doug and I weren't just exhausted from traveling. We were coming down with a nasty stomach virus that consumed us for the next 24 hours. This was the kind of sickness that makes you ache from head to toe. We were quarantined to our room and only transported to Doug's Dads when absolutely necessary. By the time we were feeling well enough to drive it was Monday morning. We didn't get any of our house business done and ended up getting Ava and Blake (Doug's 9-year-old cousin) sick as well. We made the 800 mile drive back to SC feeling weak and exhausted.
Still, the trip was worth our while. I missed everyone so much and enjoyed the short time that we had with them. I can't wait to go back in a few months to see them again.
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