12/31/10

Sledding, Snowmen and the last of the trip!


Was it just me or did the Christmas season go extremely fast this year? I feel like I took one breath and my time at home was over. Weird. I did make it back to Salt Lake. The weather is very Wisconsin. I really didn't need for it to remind me of home, but maybe that is what Mother Nature had in mind. Driving to Provo and back to Salt Lake yesterday really challenged me.

Monday, my sister, mom, niece and I went to Crandon on an adventure. It was fun. I really love the little gift shops of the Northwoods. That night I was invited to a friend from church's house for birthday cake and a planetarium adventure. A man in Monico, Wisconsin built his own planetarium. It is an old school version and he hand painted every star that you can see in the sky in Monico. It was an awesome experience. I like that a man had a dream and he went after it, instead of listening to the critics, who often crush dreams, he went forth and went after his life dream. I was inspired by his story. You can read about The Kovac Planetarium by clicking here. You can also watch the clip he had on The CBS Evening News here.

This year my friend, Jenette, and I participated in the annual Alice Goes Sledding Expedition. We only did about five runs because we were certain that we would hit a kid on a sled and then feel bad about killing them. I actually got some random cuts on my arms and chin because of my contact with some branches of bushes. What an adventure. It was so nice to spend some extra time with Jenette. We then headed to Sam's Pizza for dinner with a few of the girls from our softball team and Marla(the world's best fan!) It was yummy and a great way to catch up with good friends. I stayed with Marla at Hotel Marla, which is always a treat. There is even a new mattress in "my room." We stayed up late eating cutout cookies(which is the main reason I gained about seven pounds this last week! Dang delicious cutouts!). I always feel bad that I keep Marla up and then she has to work the next morning. Good thing she works from home and can go to work in her PJs!

On the way back to Rhinelander, I took the secret slow way to meet my sister, niece and mom at a very large snowman. It was cool. I was there a few minutes before them and took a picture for a couple who had come just to see it. They actually told me about another snowman, which was just up the road and actually on the way back home, so I stopped and took a picture of that one as well. There really are some creative people in the world.

The last night in Rhinelander was spent eating tacos at Pat's Tavern and then just getting ready to come back. We met up with Bob and Josh and their little guy, Nathaniel. He is such a cutie and I really do love that I have friends who I can just hang out with and it is like I never even left!

The break was real good to me. It is nice to know that I still have a weekend before I go back to my responsibilities!