Merry Christmas!!
Our Christmas week in Tahoe was wonderful. It was great spending quality time with the Braces, and we managed to get in a week of fun in the snow with only minor injuries. (my not-so-little brother Derrick, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky - he ended up with 17 staples in the back of his head!) Nick, the snowboarding maniac that he is, had two great days at Squaw Valley (yaaa-hooey, military skis for free!). He even played instructor to Derrick, who decided to give the skis a rest for a day and try out a board. Whether it's indicative of Nick's teaching skills or not, Derrick decided to return to skiing for the rest of the trip. So Nick was the sole snowboarder of the group. He also got in two full days at Heavenly, which was on the opposite side of the lake from our GORGEOUS rental house in King's Beach. It was crazy and crowded and clearly the big tourist spot in Tahoe. Now that Nick has boarded all over that mountain, he feels it's an experience he never has to repeat. The smaller resorts (Homewood, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose, Snow Summit, Northstar) will fully entertain him in the future.
I also got to spend a bit of time on the snowy mounainside cross-country skiing with mom and my sister-in-law Jenni. A track skiing mathematical formula: big height = big mass = big acceleration when going downhill > not being able to slow down while in the tracks = HUGE face-plant wipeout complete with sunglasses being flung 10 yards into the bushes. What can I say? I guess I'm better at math than I am on the downslopes. Oh well. It was tons of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again the next time we're at Mammoth or Tahoe.
It was a great week of rest and relaxation, and despite the week starting out with temperatures a bit too high and there being not quite enough snow, the temperatures and the snow both fell pleasantly on Christmas and the day after, and a good time on the slopes was had by all. The snow made our Christmas day feel like the real deal, and the kitchen in the rental house was surprisingly well-stocked, so we had everything we needed to prepare a full Christmas dinner - turkey, stuffing, smashed potatoes, gravy, and everything! It was a great holiday, even though we were so far away from Nick's family and my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and you were all in our thoughts!
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MY READING LIST
I follow many blogs and websites: some for fun, some for information, and many because I love keeping track of friends and family in this information age.
Here's my reading list, broken down by category for ease of browsing.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Tom Arbour's Photoblog : He's an Ohio environmentalist and right now I'm using him to remind myself of all the nature photography to be had in central Ohio (this keeps me optimistic!).
Jim Patterson Photography : A Pacific Northwest shooter who specializes in underwater and coastal shots. If I had a spare $20,000, I would definitely get into underwater photography.
Elizabeth Carmel Photography : A Sierra Nevada landscape photographer who lives and works in the Truckee / Tahoe area. She was my inspiration to just get out and try new techniques and try to be a better photographer.
Two Adobe Lightroom blogs that give great tips and tricks about this software that I use as a "first pass" photoeditor:
Lightroom News and Lightroom Killer Tips.
Several of my Flickr contacts whose pictures always amaze me:
"Sosidesc," an Oceanside or San Clemente-based shooter who takes fantastic surfing and beach scenes
Alan Grinberg, a Bay-area photographer who takes awesome urban and industrial shots in addition to some fantastic travel photographs.
David Blakeley, a sunset shooter from South Devon, England.
The Official White House Photostream, a collection of candid shots from the West Wing. So cool.
SCIENCE-Y STUFF
The National Park Foundation Blog, which gives occasional and interesting updates about America's National Parks.
Greenversations, the EPA's blog about conservation directed toward the average Joe.
The UCSD Superfund Basic Research Program site. My thesis mentor is the administrator of the UCSD SBRP program and there are some really interesting outreach activities that happen with toxicological evaluation of the watershed that crosses the US-Mexico border in San Diego.
FUN AND FUNNY STUFF
Dooce, a funny motherhood/photography/pet blog
Eye Level, a Smithsonian American Art Institute blog about featured artists, exhibitions, and installations at the SI.
F You, Penguin, an anti-cute-animal blog that cracks me up.
I Can Haz Cheezburger?, a site featuring pictures of cats with funny captions. Tolerable in small doses because the intentionally bad spelling and grammar, while cute, drive my brain crazy.
PostSecret, which shows a weekly selection of handmade postcards highlighting anonymous secrets of the authors. Touching, funny, and very honest and human.
Stacey Snacks, aka The Insecure Cook, featuring daily posts with pictures of her recent gourmet cooking adventures.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Chris and Kate and our nephew Josh, with updates from their very busy life in St. Louis
Randy and Jenni and the soon-to-be Bracelet ... let's hope he resumes blogging once the kid is born!
Chip and Daryn, our San Diego pals who keep us active and entertained
The Cronleys, our Navy friends who were in San Diego with us back in the VS-33 days.
Christine the Machine, my fellow BMS classmate who is also getting ready to defend her PhD while completing IronMan triathalons and making the rest of the human race look bad.
The Browns, The Worsts, and The Rodriguezes, all friends of mine from high school who had gorgeous kids within months of one another! And if Kathleen would ever blog, I'd read all about her kids (dogs), too ...
There are some more, but it's almost strange putting the links up when I'm not sure if they even know I read their blogs! I will post these links when I get over this phase of anti-intrusiveness. grin.
Here's my reading list, broken down by category for ease of browsing.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Tom Arbour's Photoblog : He's an Ohio environmentalist and right now I'm using him to remind myself of all the nature photography to be had in central Ohio (this keeps me optimistic!).
Jim Patterson Photography : A Pacific Northwest shooter who specializes in underwater and coastal shots. If I had a spare $20,000, I would definitely get into underwater photography.
Elizabeth Carmel Photography : A Sierra Nevada landscape photographer who lives and works in the Truckee / Tahoe area. She was my inspiration to just get out and try new techniques and try to be a better photographer.
Two Adobe Lightroom blogs that give great tips and tricks about this software that I use as a "first pass" photoeditor:
Lightroom News and Lightroom Killer Tips.
Several of my Flickr contacts whose pictures always amaze me:
"Sosidesc," an Oceanside or San Clemente-based shooter who takes fantastic surfing and beach scenes
Alan Grinberg, a Bay-area photographer who takes awesome urban and industrial shots in addition to some fantastic travel photographs.
David Blakeley, a sunset shooter from South Devon, England.
The Official White House Photostream, a collection of candid shots from the West Wing. So cool.
SCIENCE-Y STUFF
The National Park Foundation Blog, which gives occasional and interesting updates about America's National Parks.
Greenversations, the EPA's blog about conservation directed toward the average Joe.
The UCSD Superfund Basic Research Program site. My thesis mentor is the administrator of the UCSD SBRP program and there are some really interesting outreach activities that happen with toxicological evaluation of the watershed that crosses the US-Mexico border in San Diego.
FUN AND FUNNY STUFF
Dooce, a funny motherhood/photography/pet blog
Eye Level, a Smithsonian American Art Institute blog about featured artists, exhibitions, and installations at the SI.
F You, Penguin, an anti-cute-animal blog that cracks me up.
I Can Haz Cheezburger?, a site featuring pictures of cats with funny captions. Tolerable in small doses because the intentionally bad spelling and grammar, while cute, drive my brain crazy.
PostSecret, which shows a weekly selection of handmade postcards highlighting anonymous secrets of the authors. Touching, funny, and very honest and human.
Stacey Snacks, aka The Insecure Cook, featuring daily posts with pictures of her recent gourmet cooking adventures.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Chris and Kate and our nephew Josh, with updates from their very busy life in St. Louis
Randy and Jenni and the soon-to-be Bracelet ... let's hope he resumes blogging once the kid is born!
Chip and Daryn, our San Diego pals who keep us active and entertained
The Cronleys, our Navy friends who were in San Diego with us back in the VS-33 days.
Christine the Machine, my fellow BMS classmate who is also getting ready to defend her PhD while completing IronMan triathalons and making the rest of the human race look bad.
The Browns, The Worsts, and The Rodriguezes, all friends of mine from high school who had gorgeous kids within months of one another! And if Kathleen would ever blog, I'd read all about her kids (dogs), too ...
There are some more, but it's almost strange putting the links up when I'm not sure if they even know I read their blogs! I will post these links when I get over this phase of anti-intrusiveness. grin.
Thanks for Visiting!
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