the storm

 Well, the storm came and went, and it was glorious. 

 

We got dumped on, 32 inches of fluffy light white snow, and it was so beautiful!  

  

JP finally got to see how winter storms can be about community and helping each other bail cars out, 

waving to the only other person that you see braving the outside on a long walk, jumping into snow banks of freshly fallen snow, 

 

and of course how wonderful it can be to come back inside and warm up cozy to watch the wind whip the snow into even bigger drifts outside. 

 

It was just the weekend that we needed, no real responsibility to the outside world, an excuse to hunker down and hang with the pups.  

And on Sunday it was sunny and we got to tromp in the woods with Oboe, who was more than content to blaze his own snow trail.

snow day

We've got quite the storm coming.  Actually, it's already started and we've got maybe three inches of snow piling up, expecting to get three feet in the next day or so.  Even though it sometimes sucks, like when you have to find a place off the roads to park your car during the parking ban, or having the student leadership summit cancelled, or dealing with other drivers tearing all around like maniacs, it is still SO beautiful and peaceful when it snows!

I took Oboe to the park across the street and scanned around for other signs of life.  I didn't see anyone else, not even any recent foot prints so I let him off the leash and he tore all around like the happiest little kid you've ever seen.  He was in absolute heaven. If there is one thing that boy loves more than the ocean it is snow for sure. For the rest of this unexpected day off I plan to read and learn more about endocrinology, sip on coffee and watch the snow from the window.  Glorious.

snow and beaches

 

In the face of a ridiculous snowstorm that amassed us something like 20 inches, I thought I would share some Costa Rica pictures.  Bring back all those memories of hot weather, cool ocean and bicycles.   I think I will just show you a few photos in this post, and in the next one I will post all the animal and wild life shots.  We have been so busy since getting back that it feels like our trip was months and months ago!  As with every post, the pictures will look better if you click on them... blogspot photo distortion is the thorn in my craw.  Enjoy!

Beaches, hammocks and biking were the essence of our vacation.  As a Walsh, the whole purely relaxation thing is kind of hard for me.  I constantly feel the need to be productive, not waste time, especially coming off of a hard semester/year, so this vacation we focused on just getting away from the stress of everything.  JP did need to remind me a few times that it didn't matter what time it was, when we were hungry we ate, hot we swam, and when it rained we read our books on the deck. 

With the next two years booked up solid in terms of relative free time, I know we will be able to look back on this trip and glean some laid back relaxation vibes.  The good news is that we will be living in a city that is right on the ocean, and in a brand new state/coast to boot.  Our next adventures will involve exploring Maine, checking out what the East Coast has to offer us, and learning new winter sports.

 

on the eve of our second snow

It's November!  We are gearing up (read making sure we have adequate breakfast supplies on hand) for our second snow fall of the year!  This one is supposed to be a foot or so starting at midnight, and JP is anticipating working from home...hence the breakfast supplies.  I've got a debate tomorrow in my genetics class, but other then that I am free all day!  I'm planning on taking the pups out for snow tromping, going to the gym, and coloring in my anatomy coloring book I just got!  Wooot.  Things have been nice lately, I only have a month and a half until I am done with school and I am dreaming of all the things I will need to review before I ever start PA school if I get in.  Tonight I scooted to the store all bundled up so I could make a special dinner for JP who has been having some frustrating days at work lately.   I ended up making spinach and parmesean stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and mmm were they ever delicious!  I should have gotten a picture, but we scarfed them up too fast!  I wanted to share some pictures from our first snowfall which was last week.  It was beautiful and peaceful and everything a first lovely snowfall is.  Isn't that funny how you can be so inspired at first and then a week into winter you are ready for some grass again?

 

 In the morning when we woke up there was snow all over, and I let O outside to pee.  I think he had forgotten about what snow was cause he was super cautious stepping out into it at first.  Then he started licking it and was SO EXCITED that he could eat this funny white stuff.  As snow was falling from the branches in clumps, he raced around the yard trying to catch all of it.  It was hilarious!  The above picture is our yard that is completely covered in Oliver tracks since no one else wanted to go outside.

  

  

  

We went out for a walk, and all the trees (which had just recently changed colors) were so gorgeous with their colors all covered in snow!  The next day when the snow melted there were almost no leaves on any branches at all so I was particularily happy to have seen it!

 

 

We took them to the reservoir where they usually run around, but I was afraid Oliver would be overzealous and run into the icy water to meet his feathery friends, so we just sat up there and watched the geese for a little while.

  

 My two Louisiana natives were freezing even though they were all bundled up.  JP is wearing the hemp scarf I just knitted a few weeks ago, it's amazingly soft and comfy.  I might never go back to wool.

 
And here are our sad pumpkins that were munched by the squirrels the night after we carved them.

..and then I went to Portland too!

As already mentioned, I did in fact get stranded on the East coast, but a quick thinking sister brainstorm got us on a bus to Maine by 2:00 that afternoon before it had even begun snowing. We thought a few steps further ahead when we went to a little deli on the outskirts of Chinatown and bought a wedge of gruyere cheese (mmm my favorite!), and shortie bottles of wine to bring on the bus to go along with the crackers that Erica thoughtfully sent with us. It was a tasty, decidedly unclassy kind of bus picnic.

The ride wasn't bad, and when we got to p-town around 9:00 Joe picked us up and we went straight to whole foods to get taco making supplies. Mmmm again. It was so nice to get in before the crazy blizzard that we woke up to the next morning! No planes were moving out for a few days for sure so we made the most of it and made enchiladas, desserts, ate goat cheese and of course made a Walsh staple: Arepas. Once the snow stopped falling I even made it to the University of New England to get more information about their PA program and to check out the campus, which is quite lovely with its New England charm. It was a little stressful to be away from home for so long right before the semester started, but if I had to be snowed in it was a great place to be stuck!

A snowy trek to the store to get baking supplies.

Famous Walsh rubber faces!

Sibling time!

DONE!

Oh I am done, done, done with this semester! What started out as a fairly manageable schedule somehow turned into a crumbling, falling apart semester in the last few weeks of the term. BUT none of that matters now because I can't change any outcomes and for better or worse (oh chemistry final that I probably bombed with flying colors) it is FINISHED. I am so excited to finally take a breath without feeling like I should be studying or making note cards. I have today and tomorrow off from work and I am going to fill the days with making decorations, finishing shopping, sewing, crafting, cleaning and hanging out. I have been so close to the end for a while now, and now I am just going to enjoy the season. Incidentally we aren't even having many of the symptoms of the season, and although Minnesota got a dumping blizzard of a weekend, we are basking in a high of 62 today. I've been a little happy that the cold weather has been holding off because it makes my commute to school that much better, but now that the 16 mile round trip by bike or scoot has been eliminated I am hoping for some snow before I leave for home!

Our first and only "snow" of the season...

In other news, I feel like I am finally settling into a routine at work. I am confident now, and am making friends with my co workers! It's a really hard job, but I do feel like I am making a difference in these people's lives, and that makes me feel good. One of my favorite patients is such a delightful hilarious old man who makes me laugh all the time. He reminds me so much of what I imagine my dad would be like if he were in that situation, commenting on everything, making jokes, getting dressed up in ironic t-shirts (my favorite says "cow pi" with a picture of the pi symbol in cow print) truly enjoying every one's presence and making the best of the situation. But, I could ramble on about work for a while and I won't bore you with that any more than I already have. Outside of work I am very much looking forward to celebrating my birthday (how on earth am I already 26?!), going home for christmas on the 25th with JP in tow and going to NYC in January for a bike & build reunion! I am just feeling very content and blessed at this moment for a lot of reasons. Things seem to be going well for many people that I love, and I am so excited for them too! I am happy to bid good riddance to the fall semester of 2010 and am looking forward to being almost, ALMOST done with undergrad requirements altogether!

some snow comes to denver

Perhaps slacking on homework can have it's rewards too! I got up early today to polish off my medical terminology homework and woke up to a beautiful snowy morning! The only real sitting place in my apartment is the bar type counter in my kitchen, which just so pleasantly happens to be situated next to a big window.


I've been struggling with liking Denver lately, with the huge lack of my closest friends being the biggest downfall of the city, but I have to say when it snows here my mood is lifted. The nice thing about Denver is that in between snowfalls the weather is pretty temperate, and for the most part the snow melts. Every time we have a new snowfall it's like the first snow of the season, pretty white flakes that cover everything and aren't hiding gray, sloppy, muck underneath it all like in a certain state in which I used to reside. It always feels like the beginning of winter, and since it doesn't drag on (unless you count two days as dragging) it's like the best of both worlds! I didn't expect this kind of winter here. I suppose I didn't really expect much of anything in the three days between deciding to move here and then actually moving here, but I sure do like it. Most times it feels like spring, with a couple of windy fall-like days sprinkled in between days like these.

I've been putting in my time studying medical terminology this semester, and I find it really interesting! It's funny to come across conditions and diseases that people I know have had, and be able to break them down into word parts that mean so much to me now! I keep wanting to pick up the phone and pepper my dad with questions that don't even really mean anything but are illuminating when I put all the pieces together. Mostly I'm writing a little list (my specialty, especially when put on a notecard!) of things like what kind of break Micah's arm was during his skateboarding accident and what kind of plates they put in because I just read about them both, or what kind of treatment my mom had and what type of choices were out there. In my head I liken it to my french studies in which I would sometimes have a realization about a common french phrase that I used everyday and how the actually words broke down in meaning. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but one phrase is "je ne sais pas" meaning "I don't know". I obviously learned that one right away and put it to good use, but one day I realized it wasn't just a mash up phrase, it was in fact just the negative of je sais. Writing that down sounds silly, but I guess I just mean that words, especially medical words, that are just tossed around take on new meaning to me when they are broken down or actually applied to something tangible even if it's just in my little student brain.