Welcome 2008!

Hi all! It has been a while since I've posted. Beaver Creek was wonderful, and I enjoyed many days of skiing on fresh powder. I took some photos, but not a lot. For some reason, unless Ethan is with me, I'm not that motivated to be a shutterbug. Next year he will come for part of the time, so I'm definitely excited about that! He and I both love to ski (well, maybe I love it more...), but it's something that we enjoy doing together. When I came home from Beaver Creek, we celebrated Ethan's 26th birthday and had a sort-of-Christmas in which we opened cards and presents from family and friends. No tree or decorations this year. It just wasn't worth the time and effort to us, especially since I was gone for two weeks over the holidays.

We rang in the New Year in our dreams...yes, that's right. Both of us were in bed by 10 PM. It has nothing to do with age... but when your work calls you in at 5:45 AM in the morning, staying up until midnight just isn't that appealing. It was still fun to celebrate New Year's in our own house and think about where we were last year. Neither of us believe in making New Year's resolutions, so there is nothing to report there.

Anyway, now that we are in 2008.... Ethan has started his spring semester. He had a very successful fall semester (all A's!) and is hoping for the same this semester. This spring will be different in that he is taking a total of 3 classes, so he has class Monday through Thursday. He's taking U.S. History, Computer Based Information Systems, and Statistics. Just by taking the statistics class, he is now officially smarter than me. Definitely braver! He will be taking a three-week course in May, also known as "Maymester" and one summer class. We're hoping for a Tuesday/Thursday class this summer so that we have the capability to go away for some long weekends and enjoy ourselves. We'll see what happens!

I have now been working with my employers for over 7 months. It's been a wonderful 7 months, and I can honestly say that I absolutely love my job and my kids. It's one of the best jobs that I have ever worked, if not THE best. This is not to say that there are no challenges or problems that arise, but fortunately I have supportive bosses who encourage communication and creativity and that makes problem-solving a breeze. I'm looking forward to returning to Rosemary Beach in April for a week with them.... it will be really nice to get back to the Florida Emerald Coast! Too bad Ethan won't be able to go, but he'll be stuck in class.

I am also in the midst of planning our next European vacation which is set for August 2009. London, Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Pisa, Venice, Florence, and St. Tropez are just a few of the destinations we plan to visit. We'll be going for 2ish weeks...and Ethan's older brother, Justin, will be coming with us! We are already looking forward to spending 2 weeks in Europe with Justin... there will be lots of stories to tell after our trip. Even though it's a year and a half away, we're still excited about it. It's never too early to plan!

I hope your 2008 has started off with a bang and will be even better than 2007!