Derek and I are planning, well hoping and planning, to go skiing with our friends Rachel and Jeremy next December.  Rachel, Jeremy, and I are experienced skiers and Derek has gone once, and fell in love with the sport.  Ever since Derek’s only trip, he has been dying to hit the slopes again.

We were having dinner with Rachel and Jeremy one night when we approached the subject of our vacation idea.  Rachel did all but jump out of her seat and run around the restaurant, kissing every man, woman, and child in her path; hopping from table to table, exclaiming her overwhelming joy about getting to cut through some fresh powder on those snowy, snowy peaks.

Once Rachel gained her composure, took a sip of her water, and began to breathe again she turned to Jeremy and with the point of her finger and the squint of her eyes, she said in a hushed voice…I AM SO GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT ON THAT MOUNTAIN!  Jeremy replied with a simple YOU WISH.  In the meantime, Derek and I just sat back and watched the action unfold all the while mentally patting ourselves on the back for successfully bringing out the competitiveness in a newly married couple.

We immediately began discussing our favorite places to ski (well Jeremy, Rachel, and I), you know cuz Derek has only been the one time…WHAT A NEWB.  Then, and I don’t quite remember how, we started discussing Whistler, Canada.  Rachel and Jeremy honeymooned in Canada and said it was gorgeous.  Whistler is also the top rated ski resort in North America.  Each day we fall more in love with the idea of a ski vacation in Whistler.

You can go dog sledding in Whistler!  How sweet is that?  Just imagine…adorable little puppies pulling me in a sled all bundled up in a big ‘ole parka, squealing with glee the entire length of the ride.  I’ve heard that sled dogs L O V E pulling sleds, so it makes me happy to be making those sweet little doggies happy.

Not to mention those adorable little shoes they wear.  I mean really…how can a dog be any more precious?  I’ll tell you how, put little shoes on their teeny tiny tootsies.  They have tubing too.  I’m so going tubing!

I have a feeling that I’m gonna want to do so many of the extra winter activities, while we are there, that I’m not going to leave any time for skiing.  Nah…I’ll make time to ski.  I mean, come on…I’ve been skiing since the age of 3.

That reminds me of a picture my dad emailed me.  It’s of him and me on the slopes back in 1986.  Look how fancy I am, and how cool he looks in his tight-ish ski pants.  Gotta love the 80′s!

Here are some pictures from our snowy weekend.

Well Memphis finally got its big snow of the year!  We were surprised with around 4-5 inches in our part of town.  The part of town Derek’s parents live in received around 8.5 inches.  Now I know many people are thinking 4-8 inches is nothing, but you must understand for a city that generally has snow on the ground a maximum of 2-3 days per year…4-8 inches is like a blizzard.

Since the snow fell over the weekend we were able to go outside with the dogs and let them play in snow.  By the way, our dogs….l-o-v-e…snow!  Cohen generally only sees going outside as simply going to the bathroom.  Not often does he stay out there on by his own free will…especially to play.  Well when it snows, that’s a whole different story.  Cohen will stay out there until his toes freeze.  This kid loves eating snow & playing chase with Wrigley.  For a dog that spends most of his day napping he sure has some speed when it comes to playing chase.  Derek and I went out today & got some pictures & video of these two.