Monday, January 21, 2013

Enjoying winter at Forest Echo Farm

We've had some nice snow this season and got the use our snow shoes for the first time a few weeks ago.  Days where we get to roam over our property, make me SO happy to be where we are.  Forest Echo is a beautiful, peaceful place in the winter and we have such fun exploring it.





















I love that we can hike to a point where we can see both our job sites -- the barn in the middle ground and a couple of the Okemo ski runs up on the far hill.


A couple of the cabin's outhouses -- not nearly as fancy our ours!





















A gorgeous evening ...













































And ... a little surprise for us as we drove home last night from work.  A tree had fallen over, blocking the road.  Luckily, it wasn't too large and Jason was able to cut and clear it pretty easily while I sat in the cozy car :)



Saturday, January 12, 2013

Finding the silver lining in inconvenient circumstances

Have you ever noticed how after something bad happens to you, you find yourself all the more grateful for things that go well?  I am realizing that this attitude adjustment could be one of the most positive outcomes of bad/inconvenient circumstances.  I only wish I could maintain that attitude for longer.  It seems the farther I get away from a negative event, the less grateful I become and it's discouraging how quickly I revert back into my old attitude

Last Friday night as we drove home from work through some blustery winds and a layer of new snow, our trusty jeep caught some ice and careened into a snow-filled ditch. 

Two miles from our house.  On our basically deserted road.  At 11:30 pm. 

Even in the middle of this circumstance, there were a ton of things to be grateful for:
- we were together & unhurt
- we hadn't damaged the car at all & it was nicely out of the way for the snow plow in the morning
- we were within walking distance from our home
- we had proper attire (hiking boots & decent coats) and a headlamp
- it was 25 degrees outside -- not the negative 5 degrees it had been two nights earlier

Granted, the night did get worse ... when we finally did get home after our impromtu hike, we decided it would be nice to get the situation resolved that night instead of waiting for morning.  So a call to AAA ensued ... they refused to come pick Jason up since our house was not on the way to the car, so he headed back out for another 2 mile hike back to the car.  When the truck arrived to pull our car out of the ditch, the driver refused to even come up the road to where our car was, stating it was too icy and he didn't have chains.  Nice.  (What type of rescue-truck driver goes out in the winter without chains???)  He just turned around and left Jason there to hike another 2 miles back to our house.  Needless to say, we didn't get to bed until around 4 am, Jason didn't need to hike for a few days and AAA service did not meet our expectations. 

After all of this, I have to say it's been so lovely to get home easily every other night.  And, it's made me grateful for a whole host of other things.  Things I am hoping I will continue to be grateful for as time progresses.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Another year, really?

I feel like this year has just come and gone and that the holidays completely flew by.  And, now everyone is wishing me "happy new year" and I'm writing 2013 on things and it sort of freaks me out a little bit.  I don't feel ready for another year yet.  Do you?

I am not one who generally makes any New Year resolutions--I feel like if I want to commit to doing something, I should just do it, you know?  But this year, I am resolving (especially for the next 11 weeks) to enjoy every moment of quiet solitude that I have, alone and hanging out with my husband.  I know that my world is going to be completely rocked here pretty soon and I am really trying to take advantage of how things are right now so that I don't feel like I missed out on enjoying this time.  On that note, Jason and I are resolving to go on more planned dates together, while we can and while it's easy/simple to just jump in our car and GO.

My other resolution is to absolutely enjoy where we live right now.  I don't know too many places where you can literally see stars from every window in your home at night; and, watch the sun rise in the morning and the moon rise in the evening from the dining room.  When I think about it, I can't believe that we get live with all this incredible beauty around us - everyday!

With that being said, this is one of my favorite trees on our property.  It's a wild apple tree that we can see it out our window.  For some reason it grabs me every time I see it.  It is pretty in all seasons, but I think winter is my favorite.