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Published: January 13th 2010
Mark's outdoor lights
Didn't he do a great job?Liz posting:
Well it has been a long time and I've been telling Mark that I would post now for weeks...so apologies to all of our adoring fans. We have been receiving "posting requests" from both sides of our families, which we love- we are in demand!
We haven't posted something since before Christmas, so we do have a lot to catch up on.
Christmas was nice, but it didn't seem quite like Christmas without the normal travel, shopping, wrapping presents, and, mostly, lots of family surrounding us. That said, we did have a really great time which was made all the better by the packages we received from around the US. My aunt, who lives a few houses away from us, received a number of the packages for us. She would sneak into the house and put the newly received presents under our tree. It took us a few days to figure out what was going on; she was our real life elf! After opening presents on Christmas, talking to family, and having an "official breakfast" we joined my aunt, uncle and some of their friends for a delicious Christmas dinner. The host is "gluten-free" and cooked
Mexican-themed dishes. It may not have been the traditional turkey or ham, but man did it hit the spot! On the way to the party, we scoped out a fantastic place to go sledding. Hopefully we can go soon, but there is not much snow here right now.
In the last few weeks the nation has been bracing itself for unseasonably and sometimes record setting cold temperatures, snow and ice. We know how cold both of our parents have been in Massachusetts and Missouri, know that my brother's pipes are freezing in Kansas City and that other friends vacations to Florida have all been at a loss because of the temperatures. However, it has been unseasonably warm and mild in Jackson Hole. Last week when it was -20 in Camdenton, it was 20 here. Looking at the weather maps, we realized that we were in one of the warmest places across the country. Doesn't make much sense, but I know Mark is thankful that he doesn't have to put the chains on the tires every day. The "valley" as the locals call it, has about 62% of the snow it does normally. Depending on who you talk to, it
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree
We loved our tree! We customized most of the ornaments and hope they make it back to, well, wherever we live next December. is the worst weather the valley has had in 6 to 7 years, or 20 to 30 years. Either way, the area needs more snow. According to the papers, the economic downturn is now just being felt in Jackson in a very dramatic way and the area's economy is dependent on tourism. Tourists are canceling their trips and going to places with more snow. We can see the ground through the snow on most hillsides. Not that there aren't positives to the lack of snow- everything is more accessible and we don't have to shovel as much, but suffice to say we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Over the week surrounding Christmas, Mark and I dog watched our neighbor's dogs. It was great fun and it reminded us how much we miss our own family dogs. Also, it just reinforces how anxious I am to get a dog. Don't worry, though, I've been anxious for years. Mark and I both know that we need to be in one place at one time for a while before we can even think about it. Mark has to remind me some days, though. The dogs we watched were Grizzlie, 13; Sadie, 10;
and Taggert, 9. They were a funny bunch who were very well behaved and kept us entertained for hours. Tag, the Jack Russell, was particularly fun to watch. When it was less than 15, which was most of the time, Tag has a special blue, essentially full body jacket that he has to wear. He sort of looks like a scuba dog and he hates it. At first he would pretend that he couldn't walk, and eventually, after some doggie-treat prodding, remember that he could, in fact, walk. When outside he would reverse sneeze and start walking on his two front paws or chase his tale in quick circles for minutes at a time. The other dogs weren't as impressed as we were. It was kind of a circus. When the owners were gone, we were responsible for their dogs and for keeping their fire going. We spent a number of nights cooking dinner at their house to keep the dogs company and discovered a really great tv series. The owners didn't have tv service, but did have an extensive library of dvds. One night we popped in Mad Men and were immediately hooked. We proceeded to watch all three
seasons without break. It is such a great series and very addictive. We highly recommend it.
About two weeks ago, we bought season lift tickets. In Jackson, there are essentially two commercial ski areas- Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) and Snow King. The larger and better ski area is the first and has a number of runs and lifts, including their newly updated Tram, which cost the resort $31 million dollars to upgrade. The other resort, Snow King, has limited runs and is extremely short and steep. There are very few "easy" or "intermediate" runs and the resort cautions that their rating system is not like that of other resorts. Essentially Snow King has a different rating scale than other resorts across the nation, and everything is a lot steeper. At JHMR, a day ticket is $91.00- one of the top ten most expensive lift tickets in the nation- and a season pass is $1,900. Snow King, however, offers ski passes by the hour, half hour and day. We bought a season pass there (with a discount card) for $150.00. So while we may not be skiing at the most diverse or exciting place, we can ski all we
Who needs a sled?
Mark thought I was crazy at first, but I just made my own slide down the hill. The snow is not heavy and wet here, so it was no problem. want. Since Snow King is not the most popular hill in the area, it means less crowds for us and better parking. Score! There is a third ski resort on the west side of the Tetons, Grand Targhee, which is a couple hours drive, larger and reasonably priced. We hope to make it out there a few times as well.
We joined a gym and are going almost every day to get in shape. The gym's primary focus is rock climbing and has cardio and weights machines on a second story floor that over looks the climbing walls. It is unlike any place I've ever seen and makes the work out pretty interesting. Wish us luck so that we don't loose our steam and motivation!
Even though it has been reasonably "warm" and there is still vegetation poking through the snow, a lot of the big game animals are going through their winter migration to lower elevations to find food. We live in a prime animal watching spot. The house we live in is situated in a narrow valley sandwiched by two fairly steep foothills/ridges. On one side the Hoback river cuts through the valley, and the highway
Snow angel
I'm flying on the other side. Just beyond the highway (north) and on the other side of the ridge is an elk feeding ground. After December 1st, all land north of the highway is closed for big game migration. While we can only get glimpses of the herds of elk that are living so close, it is pretty cool! Also, the area is flush with mule deer and big horn sheep. In fact, the other day the sheep were so close that we could see them from the bedroom window without binoculars and almost hit a few stubborn guys standing in the middle of the road as we left the neighborhood. We have also seen a number of moose around Jackson in the last week are so. Apparently in the winter they like to gather in groups and we were fortunate enough to see a large group just yesterday. Seven moose were standing around in an open field frolicking. This scene baffled us at first and as we got closer, we kept saying "are you sure those aren't horses?" I didn't know that moose, especially males, 1) would gather in groups, 2) hang out in an open fields, and 3) frolick. It
Part two...
I think we had too much fun with these is truly amazing to see such things and I count myself very, very lucky. I think Mark does too. On a semi-regular to regular basis we see elk, big horn sheep, deer, moose, coyotes, fox, bald eagles and osprey. Apparently there are a few wolves and mountain lions in the area too. I wouldn't mind seeing these guys, but from the car. It is unlikely that we will see bears in this part of the valley or at this time of the year. I'm just fine with that.
Also, on a side note, I was pretty sick for about two weeks and am finally feeling close to normal. I think I caught some sort of virus that settled in my lungs and was fighting with my asthma for days. One of the side effects was catching very little sleep and when I did fall asleep, it was early morning. I started sleeping in and now that I am better I am having a hard time getting back into a normal sleeping pattern. Mark has been very patient, and now that I am almost all better, we are trying to plan out our days so that we are getting more
done, and not just sleeping in (read:me). This has lead to some solid booking reading time at night, which I love! Also, I owe a lot of people phone calls and emails, so I apologize for getting so far behind! I was able to see a doctor in town fairly easily, and without getting into too many details, feel very fortunate. I know I have taken for granted being healthy and having affordable health care. Being sick with little monetary resources is something that can be very shocking and scary. It has really made me reflect on the national debate that is going on about our health care system, or lack there of. I won't go into my personal views here, but I guess I just wanted to bring my thought process full circle. One thing that came out of my doctor's visit is that we can't have a fire going for a while, maybe not for the rest of the winter. Having a fire is something that we have both really enjoyed and hope we can bring it back soon.
Well, I need to finish this blog up so that we can get out the door and go
Mark and dogs cross country skiing
Mark learned to cross country ski that day... skiing! We are currently looking at taking a trip north to Yellowstone and will hopefully decide soon. Most of the roads in Yellowstone (except far, far north) are closed during the winter and one has to pay for a ride into the park via snowcat, snowmobile or dog sled. It is a bit pricey, but we think it would be a once in a life time trip. Hopefully we can make it work!
Mark and I have both begun studying for our respective graduate school exams. He is taking the GMAT and I am taking the GRE. We haven't scheduled our tests, but expect to take them some time in March or April. We are still researching programs and schools and both feel very overwhelmed with those decisions. I know we have both started researching, stopped and then picked it up again because it is all so much. We certainly want to make the most of our time and money, but also must end up earning degrees that will help our future careers (and impress employers). Please keep us in your thoughts as we navigate through these decisions and pass along any advice you might have!
Finally, we
The dogs helped mark
Don't they all look so well behaved? have been cooking a lot here and I am trying to expand our proverbial recipe box. We are calling all our readers to send us a recipe or two to try out. It doesn't have to be fancy, but we can handle fancy (to a degree).
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Minkeun
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Bout time you posted
Love the pictures!