Loving Lasik...

Well, I finally did it. I have wanted it for years and on Monday I went through with it. I had Lasik. I now have perfect vision, almost. I still have a hard time seeing up close and bright lights at night have a bit of an aura around them, but all of that is normal and will be gone soon. I have been enjoying the beauty of the mountains, sunsets, and the view of the lake from our house. It's nice not to have to switch back and forth between glasses and sunglasses. My friends won't even be able to make fun of me anymore for wearing sunglasses to the movies!

I went through Hoopes in Sandy, Utah. They were great... expensive, but great. They even recorded the procedure for me and we watched it last night. I was considering putting it on the blog, but it isn't for the faint at heart (or those considering Lasik in the future). It really only takes seconds and the Valium they give you helps to calm your nerves, for the most part (I kept asking Rick to go and get another one for me, but he wouldn't!).

I am very happy with the results and I love seeing everything so crystal clear!

A gorgeous day for skiing...

Rick loves to ski. He grew up in Colorado. I went skiing a couple of times in high school. My first trip I jumped off of the ski lift, afraid to continue up the steep mountain (I was too scared to get off the lift at mid-way with my friends). I have done much better since then, but I really don't enjoy it. I would pretend to like it to impress Rick once in a while, or go with him when our kids were young to help out.

This year I have decided to stop pretending I like it. Rick took the family skiing yesterday at Brighton, and I stayed home. I was tempted to go at the last minute, since half of what I hate is the cold weather (it was a gorgeous sunny day). But, the pure expense of skiing is the other thing that gets to me (oh, and the fact that everyone is always trying to force me down a black diamond). I decided I would save the money and stay home.

They had a great time. Andrew even tried snowboarding this time. He is very good at skiing, but learned quickly that snowboarding is WAY different. He is very sore today!











Harrison has been with his friend, Ben, a couple of times this season. They go to Sundance whenever there is a day off of school. They take lessons half of the day and ski the remainder. Harrison has loved it this year. This photo was taken by Bonnie McMillan (Ben's mom) at Sundance a couple of weeks ago.

My Valentine...

As I said before, this was a special Valentine's Day for Rick and I. February 14, 2009 was the date that I had been with Rick longer than I had been without him (based on the day we met at WordPerfect). An important date for him, which is cute. He usually forgets Valentine's Day, Anniversaries and Birthdays. So, for him, this was quite the occasion!

With the stay in Williamsburg, we really had a great day. Rick gave me a beautiful set of pearls before we headed out. We took a carriage ride, toured around the town, went to an amazing Valentine's dinner at our hotel (arranged for by Sharon, it had been sold out for quite sometime), and attended "Cry Witch" at the historic Capitol.

The entire day we tried getting a picture of the two of us for documentation of this important day. It actually started getting quite humorous. I know that I am a perfectionist and I like good pictures. I really need to stop asking strangers to use my complicated camera. However, I always set the picture up for them so that all they have to do is push the button. They do get a bit confused when I tell them that they have to push the button half-way down first, to focus. Here are some of the attempts at pictures (keep in mind they are all taken by different people)...

Palace in focus, we are not...

Palace grounds in focus, we are not...

Could we not move the camera up a little more to get more of the roof than the road?...

Again, just up and over a hair...

This was my favorite. It was before our Valentine dinner at the hotel. Our bell man took this one. We originally were standing in front of the "Williamsburg Inn" awning, then he moved over so there wasn't a good background and he kept backing up further and further! We were trying so hard not to laugh at this point!

This one isn't too bad, but we don't look great... I hate using a flash. This was after our dinner at the hotel. It was an amazing dinner & they had incredible dessert. We even got to dance a little bit to the live piano music!

After being frustrated, I decided to take on the task myself. On our way home from "Cry Witch," at about midnight, I decided to take a few pictures, holding my 100 pound camera out in front of us (I'm sure this method is much easier with a smaller point and shoot camera). And, then Rick started making faces. Isn't he so funny? If it's not the photographer, it's the subject. I give up...




P.S. I forgot one other picture of us. I fell in love with one of Edwin Green's paintings of a red bridge. It is called the Crim Dell Bridge and it is located on the College of William & Mary campus (right in Williamsburg). It is rumored that if two lovers cross the bridge together and kiss at the crest of it, they will be together forever. If that couple separates at any point thereafter, however, the lady must throw her ex-lover off of the bridge and into the water to break the curse of being forever single. I just had to buy the painting and we found the bridge on our way out of town Sunday morning. For Rick's sake, I hope we never separate.

Colonial Williamsburg...

Colonial Williamsburg exceeded my expectations, to say the least. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped while we toured around the town. This is the Fifes and Drums performing group as they paraded down the street Saturday morning.

Some of the homes and buildings were the originals, and some were restored to their original design.



We loved going to the courthouse to see trials in action. We also got to go to a witch trial, "Cry Witch," Saturday night. That was very entertaining.


One of the many things that Sharon had planned for us was a carriage ride. It was so much fun! This carriage we rode in was over 150 years old! Tommy was our driver, he is a former jockey. We met lots of people like Tommy & Edwin Green (a painter, I fell in love with his artwork but forgot to take a picture) who have had an amazing life and have retired here in Williamsburg. What a great retirement!



This is the Governor's Palace, one of my favorite buildings. Seven Royal Governors lived here, including Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry.


I loved the interior of the palace. I especially loved the colors they used, like this bright green.


In the back of the palace, in one of the outbuildings, they had a cooking demonstration. They taught what kinds of foods they prepared at that time and the methods used. Rick was disappointed that he didn't get to try all the food they were making!



This was Rick's favorite building, the Magazine. He seriously spent 30 minutes in there, looking at all the guns!

I loved this pair of scissors in the dress shop window.

This wig was in one of the rooms. I learned that a lot of the phrases we use nowadays are from colonial times. For instance, the more wealthy/powerful you were the bigger wig you had on your head. That is where the phrase "Big Wig" comes from.

The Williamsburg Inn...

The hotel in Williamsburg, that Sharon set us up at, was so fantastic, I thought it deserved its own post! The Williamsburg Inn is right in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg, which makes it really fun becuase you are immersed in the old-fashioned feel of everything.

Sharon gave us her "Friends & Family" discount, even though I am a new friend (she's actually now my best friend). They upgraded our room for us and it was better than I even imagined! It was HUGE with a beautiful bed and furniture.

It had a really large, gorgeous bathroom, that was the entire length of the room!

The best was the package that was waiting for us. It was all done up with ribbons and looked so cute I didn't want to unwrap it! Inside the package were books about Williamsburg, a cookbook, cards, CDs of the Williamsburg Storytelling Festivals, chocolates, etc. It had a hand-written note from Sharon saying that she hoped we enjoyed our romantic weekend.

There was a box of heart-shaped Godiva chocolate cookies and lots of sparkling cider (she must know that we don't drink champagne... how thoughtful).

The artwork in the room was stunning. There were probably about a dozen gorgeous pieces of art.

I loved this one that was a design of the bed in the room.


While I was going all over oohing and awing, Rick was looking at the map, deciding which tavern he wanted to eat at.

We did finally leave the room to go and explore the town and eat, but not until I sat down and had a glass of that yummy Williamsburg cider!

We walked to Shields Tavern to eat, it was really great food. They use recipes from the 1700's. They even used plates that were replicas of the ones found while excavating around the tavern. After dinner, we walked around the quiet streets. They were so dark, only lit by candlelight. Walking around was beautiful. We had parked the car with the valet and walked everywhere the whole weekend (no cars are allowed to drive on the streets). It was nice to leave the modern world behind.

When we came back to our room after dinner, the bed was turned down, the curtains had been closed and there was beautiful music on the stereo. They left this tray with laundry/shoe shine bags and this great daily report of happenings & weather for the next day.

They also left chocolates on the bed with a different quote each night.

We loved staying at The Williamsburg Inn. I'm so grateful to Sharon for finding this romantic room for us, even when the whole place was sold out!