Sometimes I need to be reminded...

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end- because I am God, your personal God..."

Isaiah 43:2-3 (The Message)

Have you ever...

1. Had a gigantic sneeze right after putting on your mascara?

2. Rubbed Blistex Lip Medex all over your nostrils?

3. Blown through an entire box of Puffs Plus with the scent of Vicks in a single day?

I have done all three of these things in the last 24 hours and highly suggest that you wash your hands a lot today and try your very best to not catch a cold!

I am fascinated with Japanese Game Shows

My Uncle Hunter on the Weather Channel

Slapday Tuesday

One hilarious way to keep people interested during the announcements.

Chris Cox Photography

Chris took these pictures while we were hanging out one day after skiing. INCREDIBLE!

He'll be in college soon - where he will continue to hone his many skills.

A Dirty Old Barn never looked so good!

More Vermont Pictures

Orange Coats at Chittenango Falls (or as Chris calls it "the nango")

Our B & B had a lot of lovely paraphernalia on the walls...every single inch of every single wall to be exact.

Check out the tiny deer collection!

Now Hiring!

If you are a graphic designer, a photo retoucher, or a Flash designer check out the job openings at Designvox!

...it's an awesome place to work! I love it!

Hey Jude

After our first day of skiing Ryan's mom and I decided to take a day off. The guys headed out to the slopes first thing in the morning while we had some breakfast at the B & B then drove downtown Ludlow, VT to check out the shops. We found one little gallery that was really cool. The guy who owns it makes nifty gadgets out of forks and spoons. I was impressed by how useful a fork can be if you just bend it a little.

We also saw the photography of some guy named Josh Axelrod hanging for sale. I think Chris should start selling his photography in galleries. Chris took some INCREDIBLE pictures while Ryan and I ran around in the snow. He posted a couple of them on his blog if you want to check it out. I'll post some on my blog soon.

After lunch we went to the spa at Castle Hill to got some fancy mini massages. We were laughing so hard because the girl behind the counter handed us some bathrobes and slippers then directed us down the hall to a locker room. Once we got there, we just stood there looking around wondering what to do next. "I guess we're supposed to put these on...are we supposed to take off ALL our clothes?" As soon as those words came out of my mouth we turned around and saw some naked lady walking around.

We tried to stifle our laughter, but we stood out like sore thumbs in there. It was blatantly obvious that we were not regular spa-goers. The fact that we set up my camera on a trash can and posed for this self-portrait shows you how much we did not fit the mold.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time, got some awesome massages and laughed a lot...A LOT A LOT! Our afternoon at the spa prepared us well for our final day of skiing.

Vermont Country Store

I considered myself fairly well travelled until I stepped foot in the Vermont Country Store - which was one of the craziest places I have ever been.

Have you heard about this? Apparently they have some really popular catalog that has been going out since 1945. There are literally a million things in that store that you can't find anywhere anymore.

Let's just say, I got some really great christmas presents for my brother Aaron for next year.

Celebrity Sightings, Beds & Breakfasts

We are staying at a hilarious little Bed and Breakfast in the back woods of Vermont.  I've never experienced a proper B & B before...which may explain my fascination.  People actually hang out in the "common areas" watching TV and playing board games with strangers.  It's so crazy.  

Ryan and I have this tiny little room that barely fits the bed, and there are trinkets hanging on every single wall.  Ryan knocked some stuff off the wall within a few minutes of our arrival. 

Last night we had dinner with Michael J. Fox.  Actually, he was a couple tables away from us eating dinner with his family.  Ryan made eye contact with him - which practically makes them good friends. As soon as we got back to the B & B we channel surfed until we found "Back to the Future" on TV so we could watch our friend Michael in all his glory. 

Today we hit the slopes.  Here are some pics from day one.

New York, LLBean and BBQ

We made it to New York! It's been crazy windy here today. Tomorrow morning we're getting up and driving to Okemo in Vermont for some skiing.

This morning we went to the LLBean outlet store and got some GREAT DEALS! Seriously people, I got a sweet jacket for $30 that was origianlly $150! Ryan and his dad got some matching down poof coats for $20 bucks each. Incredible!

Chris did a promotional photo shoot this afternoon for a band in the area, he is such a professional photographer these days. If you're lucky and you pay him a lot of money he'll take your picture too!

And of course, we couldn't come to New York without having dinner at Ryan's favorite Biker Bar, Dinosaur BBQ in downtown Syracuse. It took almost an hour to get a seat, but the glorious wings made it well worth the wait.

My Valentine the Volunteer

My valentine and I decided to Volunteer at the Casting Crowns/Leeland concert last night. Casting Crowns = a little too countrian (country/christian) for my liking, but Leeland is one of my favorite bands. So, last night we got to see Leeland for free while signing up a bunch of people to sponsor kids through World Vision.

Ryan had been on call the night before, awake for 34 hours, so he was a bundle of volunteering fun. He was positive that VanAndel Arena smelled like Chuck-e-Cheese and you should have seen him react to a couple of 6th graders who tried to take a few handfulls of pens from our table. Not a good idea kids....not a good idea.
World Vision is such an awesome organization. Ryan and I have been sponsoring a little guy named Icimone Mario for a few years now and it's a great feeling to be able to help him go to school and get the medicine he needs. Last night around 500 kids got sponsored during the concert. I think if people have an easy way to give, they will give.

Hey World Vision, Nice work making it easy to give!

My Dad is a Blogger

Yep, It's true. My dad has officially started blogging.

www.MARKBEESON.com

It's Pothole Season

Yes, Grand Rapids is a wonderful place to live.
The front page of the local news station's website features the biggest story of the day: "It's Pothole Season" and if you click on the link you can submit pictures of the biggest and most troublesome potholes you've come across.
Hilarious. I love that I live here.

Rick Warren meets Stephen Colbert

Cross Country Skiing

We found some cross country ski trails not far from our house! Yippee! Pigeon Creek is great! It's free and had lot's of trails. They even keep them lit at night so people can ski when it's dark out!

I just started cross country skiing after we got married...but Ryan has done it his whole life.

We went on this one trail that wasn't groomed...which might be the reason I am having trouble lifting my legs today (I took my hip flexors for granted until they became totally useless)

We love cross country skiing, being in nature and spending time together

Winter Observations

There is half a chance that I might have a tendency toward using excessive amounts of windshield wiper fluid. I love it! I really really love it.

Tonight I ran out while driving on the highway - but quickly discovered that driving closer to the car in front of me made enough wet dirty gung splash onto my car to make my wipers more effective.

And another thing, Michigan gets HEAPS and HEAPS of snow. I think living on the other side of Lake Michigan for the last three years spoiled me! I literally slide around at least once a day, get stuck every time I try to pull out of my parking spot, and wear my huge poof coat with a furry hood, gloves and gigantic snow boots everywhere I go.

Schools here have been cancelled for days, and everytime I turn on the TV there is "Late Breaking News" warning me about a "Winter Storm" and "Flash Freeze" situation.

I think I need to buy a plane ticket somewhere warm soon! Ahhhhh!

Advice

Next time you're parked in and you don't recognize the vehicles blocking yours, simple sound off your car alarm and wait for people to come out of their houses.

I did that today and it worked great!

haha.