Icicles outside my window

Winter has set down with full force here in West Michigan. The snow is covering the ground and will probably not melt again until April... or May...

Though I am generally not a fan of the cold winter months, the joy that my roommates have found in the snow is a little bit contagious, I can't lie. I can actually look at the falling snow and think for at least a moment about how pretty it is before I think about the drudgery of shoveling and car scraping! I love having the option of walking to the bus stop to get to work when I want to avoid driving in the snow. And truthfully I'd rather walk outside when it's snowing than when it's raining. It's really not so bad.

I went sledding yesterday for probably the first time since high school as well. I thought I'd be freezing, but I wore 6 layers on top and 3 on the bottom, with hand warmers in my boots, and I was good to go!

So I guess I'll admit it - winter's not that bad. At least not yet :) It is still only January!

2010 Year in Review Collage

As we ring in this new year, I took a minute to go through the past year in photo form and make this collage:

A few highlights of 2010:

- spending time with my siblings in Denver, Grand Rapids, and Indiana

- my City Pres community group

- living alone in my Denver apartment

- Dutch Blitz on the Missouri trip with the family (and other times with cousins)

- Nick and Beth's wedding

- moving back to Grand Rapids

- starting work at Art of the Table

- spending time at my new home with my housemates Rachel and Lauren

- watching Rebecca and Lizzie become national champions on the Calvin volleyball team

- attending documentary night

- my family eating 31 pounds of local, free range turkey for Thanksgiving

I have good people in my life, and I am grateful for them all! Happy New Year!

Calvin Volleyball

Another great reason to be back in Michigan - being around to go to the Calvin volleyball games and cheer on my absolutely stellar cousins! Here's a pic from one of their games last week:


It's so great to be able to support these girls in person! Taylor, during this game I learned I don't know how to take good action shots. Camera lesson sometime soon? k thanks :)

Labor Day

I had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. It's nice to work at a shop that is closed for the holidays, rather than a hotel which is open 24-7. I also appreciate having Sunday off, guaranteed! It's the little things sometimes :)

I spent my Labor Day weekend with both family and friends, first going down to the fantastic little town of Marshall, Michigan for a day at Anna Doud's cottage, and then heading down on Monday to the even littler town of Brookston, Indiana, for a day with my sister and brother-in-law at Camp Tecumseh, the YMCA camp where they live. It was a fun day of sunshine, canoeing, bean bags, and conversation with my siblings, parents, and grandparents. I am grateful to be near this part of the family again and to be able to drive and see them for a day!

Grandpa, Mom, and Dad in their canoe:

















Playing with the macro lens in the grass:

Back in Michigan

I am back in Grand Rapids! Working at Art of the Table, a local shop focused on selling items used for entertaining guests (specializing in items you won't find in larger chain stores) and busy catching up with old friends and family that are around. Today was a fantastic day off: went to the Meijer gardens with my aunt, cousin, and her baby, had friends over to the lake house for dinner, and then went waterskiing and tubing! Finish it all off with a glass of wine from my work place, and life is happy :)

Pictures, of course:

The lake house:



















Meijer Gardens had their Chihuly exhibit showing:




















But of course it's always beautiful there, even when it does rain:




















aaaaand the wine (great glass!):



























UPDATE: It's now 11:30 pm. The rain just started up again. Currently saying praises for the clear weather that allowed our boat time earlier on this most rainy day!

Friends

This are my friends. I am going to be living near them soon. Woot!

New Digs

Whoops! A whole month went by without a post! It's been a busy one though. I moved into a new apartment, and though I didn't move far, I doubled my commute to work. Now instead of a 2 minute walk, it takes about 4 minutes :) Literally, I moved across the street from my old apartment building. I live in my own place now - no roommates! I've never lived alone, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm interested to see how I handle it. So far so good - I'm enjoying my time just for me. Now if only my kitchen sink would work... it doesn't really drain well, and I've been getting the runaround between the landlord and the HOA. It doesn't help that the landlord is currently vacationing in Spain. Just waiting I guess... I got the name of a good plumber from one of my neighbors, so I'm just waiting to hear back from my landlord before calling. It would be nice to do more than one or two dishes without the sink backing up though!

Mom came to Denver to help me move in (i.e. clean!)


She bought me flowers. Isn't she sweet?