There are so many things I will miss when we leave Vermont. I'm mostly trying to not even think about it. It's better to live in denial. Or at least live in the present.

I really am doing my best to not be prematurely sad...but when we had our Christmas benefit at the studio this past weekend, and I realized this was my last Christmas with my students...and that the inevitable end of year really isn't that far off, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I'm sure there will be new great students wherever we end up, but there is something about this group of students that makes it particularly sentimental for me. Probably the fact they were my first. And so many of them have been with me from the beginning. And have made so much progress. And probably because people in Vermont are just great. It will be hard to top this group of kids!


One thing I will not miss however...is teaching 40+ lessons a week. I think 20/week sounds much better! It's not that it's time intensive...but there is a limit to how many wrong notes I can take in any given week. And I hit my max by Wednesday!

Starting the end of March I will be taking on 10 more students to help a coworker who is having a baby. Maybe Teaching 50+ lessons a week for the last few months will help me to not feel that sad about leaving!

In other news...
Ben is finally done with interviewing. He had his last interview in Phoenix today. It has been a very long few months (much harder on him than me, although I always hate it when he's gone) with tons of flights and many many hours spent in the car. It will be so nice to get back into a normal routine again. Let the count down to Match Day begin!!

Just our Luck!

So it's no real secret that I hate winter! I've always hated the cold...for as long as I can remember. People always seem so shocked to hear this. I mean how can a Canadian hate the cold?

But it's really quite simple. I just don't like it.

With this being our last winter in Vermont, we really wanted to make the most of it. Every true Vermonter tells you that in order to survive living here, you have to find something you enjoy doing during the long winter months.

And so we decided to give in and buy ski passes this year. Having skied out west, I think we were a little reluctant to do so, knowing the conditions wouldn't be great...but with Ben having more free time his 4th year, and me not working Fridays, it just seemed to work.

So is it any surprise that the year we decided to buy passes...we DON'T HAVE ANY SNOW!

I'm normally cursing the snow by this time of year...but instead, I'm praying for it! Opening day at Smuggs was on Tuesday, 9 days behind schedule. Only one of the three mountains was open, and the majority of the snow was man-made.

But it worked. And we had a blast.

I'm just hoping the temperatures will stay low ( I can't believe I'm saying this) and that the snow will start falling so I can have some power to break my falls. Tuesday was my first time snowboarding...and my knees are feeling it!

Why do I do this to myself?

Let us discuss the phenomenon of "the handout." Why is it that we/I often, if not usually, feel the need to provide a handout for my church lessons? Does anyone ever look at them? And wouldn't my time be better spent actually preparing my lesson? And how about the fact that I'm not even remotely crafty, nor do I have any desire to be...so I don't even spend my handout prep time developing or creating something of my own, instead I spend hours searching the internet for other people's genius ideas and creativity, and then simply print those out on nice paper. Doesn't really make much sense, I know. (check this out if you want a good laugh. Someone is selling VT handouts on Etsy!)

But yet, week after week, I fall into the same trap of wasting hours on the computer prepping for my lessons. I must secretly like it, otherwise why would I keep subjecting myself to this silliness?

Today was no exception. Except for the fact that not only did I feel the need to do a handout, I decided a Thanksgiving treat was also going to be necessary. My lesson prep began at 5pm. (Did I mention I had already spent 6 hours earlier in the day at a YW conference?). After finding the "perfect" Thanksgiving treat (thanks to the creativity of this blogger) to coordinate with my "perfect" quote on gratitude, I set out to complete the task.


In an attempt to save time and hassle, I decided to call the grocery store to make sure they had candy corn for my Thanksgiving project. To my dismay...they WERE ALL OUT. And thus began the tireless search for CANDY CORN. Ten phone calls later....I was in luck. Thank you iParty, I'm only sorry I didn't call you first!

So it's what, probably 7pm by now? I bundle up, and head to the store. It's not like I live in a big city or anything, but iParty isn't necessarily close to my house and I was beginning to feel like this whole thing was a little ridiculous. I decided to hit up the grocery store right next to iParty first, to pick up all the remaining ingredients, and then finish off with the candy corn run (and of all things to be picking up, I hate candy corn).

You can imagine my surprise when I walked down the candy aisle in search of the "red hots" only to find CANDY CORN and NO RED HOTS! I'm cursing myself at this point!

Disaster averted, I found a substitute for red hots on the baking aisle.

As if I hadn't spent enough time on things that didn't actually matter, I decided that since I only ended up making one stop instead of two, I might as well drive all the way to Michaels to get cream colored paper for my handout instead of white. Because that makes sense...

I promise I'm getting to the punch line of the story...

I get to Michaels, they only have one piece of cream colored paper, which is dirty and crumpled...oh, and MY CAR BREAKS DOWN! The lug nuts snapped off again and the tire was about to fall off! (I have definitely made good use of my AAA membership this year)

Thanks to a really nice truck driver, and a reliable friend who bailed me out, I was able to get my car towed to the dealership and make it home at a reasonable hour. But note: the cookies still weren't made, oh, and my lesson wasn't actually prepared either.

As a matter of fact, it's currently 11pm, and my lesson still isn't prepared. Why am I blogging right now?

The cookies are, however, made. And I think they're cute.

(don't I look so proud!)

Worth the effort? Definitely not. Will the YW like them? Probably not. Let's face it, the combination of gingersnaps, chocolate frosting, candy corn and red hots doesn't exactly sound appetizing. Did I learn my lesson? Who knows. I'd like to think this is the beginning of a new chapter. A handout-less chapter. I think that might be my New Years resolution!

Any recommendations??

Anyone have a favorite book, or something they're read lately that caught their attention??

I've recently started reading a lot more in my free time (it's the only thing keeping me sane during this crazy 4th year) and I'm struggling to know what to read. I hate to admit it, but I've never been a big reader, so I feel like I've missed out on so many great books I hardly know where to start.

I think my problem has always been finding the right type of book to read. I've always viewed reading as something strictly educational, and as a result, I have sitting in my bookshelf a ton of half read history books that I could never really get that into.

Just recently I've started reading fiction, and have found a new love!! I can't believe I've been missing out for so long!

So...I'm taking suggestions. What are those books that you just love? You know, the one you can't put down, or the one that you've reread over and over.

I'm currently working on "The Glass Castle" (not actually fiction, but incredibly interesting), and up next is a recommendation from a friend to read "The Secret Life of Bees", but I'm moving fast....so bring on your recommendations!

You know you've failed when...

In a piano lesson a few days ago I asked one of my students to identify the following symbol:


I was hopeful I would received the correct answer: "a sharp", or maybe even something close, like "a flat" or "a natural."

But instead I received this answer: "a tick-tac-toe board?"

Obviously I'm not getting through to these kids!!

(Take into account, she is only 5, BUT STILL!)

Unexpectedly awesome!

This past weekend Ben and I had planned to meet our friends Chris and Katie in the Thousand Islands for a relaxing weekend of conference and hanging out. We were so excited to meet up and spend the weekend together. Katie had found a great condo for us to rent, with plenty of room to accommodate adults and kids...and with INTERNET, so we could watch conference.

But unfortunately, we were the victims of FALSE advertising! Our poor friends drove all the way from Ithaca to the Thousand Islands, only to find out there was no internet at the condo. They contacted the owner, who gave them the total run-around, wouldn't return their phone calls and didn't seem the least bit interesting in dealing with the situation.

Our car was completely packed with all our gear and food for the weekend when we got the call from Chris. We were kind of at a loss for what to do. We couldn't very well justify going anyway, and just not watching conference, but the idea of just not getting together seemed like such a bummer. We'd been planning on spending conference weekend together for weeks now, and we couldn't wait to hang out (not to mention they have two of the cutest kids ever and we were really looking forward to playing with them all weekend!).

The other options were for us to drive to Ithaca, which would have taken at least 6 hours, or for them to come to Burlington...after they had already driven several hours to get to the Thousand Islands.

Luckily for us, our friends are such good sports and they decided to drive all the way to Burlington so we could spend the weekend together. You guys are the best!

We had such a great time together watching conference, eating out, going to Shelburne Farms, walking along Lake Champlain, and just being together. There's nothing quite like best friends! We love you guys. Come back soon!

Family

Here's to wishing weekends with family didn't have to come and go so quickly!
We loved our time in Boston this past weekend and were so glad to be a part of Clara's blessing. We just love her so much!

A Hood-to-Coaster for Life

197 Miles

12,000 Runners
3,500 Volunteers
28th Annual Year
Largest Relay in the World

Our entire Team
"Inlaws and Outlaws"

I'm obsessed! This past weekend Ben and I, along with a team of ten other people ran the Hood to Coast relay in Portland, aka "The Mother of all Relays" (no really, that's what it's called).
I'm convinced I will run this race many, many more times in the future. I'm also convinced we will live in Portland some day. I love everything about that city!

Our team started the race at 10:30am on Friday morning and finished at 4:00pm on Saturday. There was someone running from our team during that entire time. We each ran three legs, spaced anywhere between 8-12 hours apart, and covering anywhere between 15-20 miles total. We ran in the sun, in the rain, during the day, at night, in the cold, in the hot, through trees, down mountains, and finally ended at the beach. It was an unforgettable weekend.

We were lucky enough to run on our friend Chris' family team. His dad has run the Hood to Coast 20 consecutive years. He says this year was his last...but we'll see! I wouldn't put it past Romney to run again next year!

I love this video because it captures so much of the spirit of the race.

Thanks Burke family for letting us be a part of such an awesome event. And Katie...watch out...you are SO running with us next year!

What a week!

I may hate camping. A lot. But I sure do love these girls! It's a huge relief to have Girls Camp over with, but the reality that I won't be going to camp with them next summer is actually a little sad. Okay, maybe it's not the fact I won't be CAMPING with the YW, but the fact I won't BE with these crazy kids! They are just too fun. (In case you're wondering, I'm the one on the right who looks the exact same age as the 14 year olds!)

Let me clarify my dislike of camping. I have no problem with bugs or dirt of things of that nature. And I quite like a good camp fire now and again. It's the fact that I see no real reason to sleep in a tent and forgo a warm shower if I have a perfectly functioning shower and bed at home. Hence the reason I slept in the cabin while they YW slept in tents. Or why I only stayed one night out of four. I lucked out this year, big time!

Also, it was our anniversary in the middle of the week and camp just didn't seem like the best way to celebrate! Ben surprised me with a trip to Lake George, and let me tell you....it was such a beautiful place. I highly recommend it to anyone. We biked and tennised and beached and ate and lounged and loved just hanging out! Unfortunately we didn't document much...

(The ever predictable self portrait!)

Finally, I almost forgot...the COLDPLAY CONCERT! Words can't do it justice. You just have to go to one of their concerts. They are incredible live. What a great night.

We also got introduced to the band "Elbow" that night. Yes, they may have the weirdest name ever, but they actually played some pretty great stuff.

The concert was at the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts center which turned out to be a great venue. We had awesome lawn seats and were able to bring in all our own snacks, chairs and blankets. The weather was beautiful and the show was incredible. I would see them again in a heartbeat!

Congrats!

Congratulations to Ben who finished a grueling 8 hour Step 2 Board Exam yesterday. It was a long month of intense studying and we're so happy it's over. Thanks to so many who remembered Ben during the big day!

Now it's time to play! Ben is officially on vacation until sometime in September, and I finish summer lessons this week....so we've go at month to just have fun! We're kicking off vacay with Harry Potter today...and a Coldplay Concert in Saratoga Springs on Monday....followed by a week of Girls Camp and our anniversary!

Celebratory dinner after Step 2!

Oh Canada!

Question:

What's the best way to celebrate Canada Day, if you can't actually BE in Canada??

Answer:
Movie night with the YW and a Canada Day Cake!

Question:
What the best way to spend the 4th of July, if you can't be with family at Bear Lake??

Answer:
Fireworks in the rain, a cute small town parade, and a 4th of July cake!

I feel so lucky to love not one, but two wonderful countries!