Top 4 Likes from My VA Winters

Going to college in Virginia you would think that I could handle some cold weather.  And don't get me wrong, there are some things that I loved about the cold while I was there.  But I'm such a wimp now and the slightest dip in temperature sends me running to turn up the thermostat.

So, to try and take my mind off these 20 degree nights I'm going to reminisce about my winters in Virginia and all the good stuff that went along with it.

1.  The snow.
Freshman year I remember our first blanket of snow.  You could definitely tell who was from the South because all of us idiots were out playing in it and none of us owned anything appropriate for that kind of weather.  There was this one guy from FL that lived in my dorm and he just threw a bathrobe over his flannel pajamas and ran outside to jump in the beautiful white stuff.  I'll probably never forget that first time I played in it.

2.  The Sledding.
Oh, how I loved sledding.  My roommate was a seasoned sledding veteran and showed me the ropes.  The Colonnade provided a perfect ramp.  Students would bring out treys from the dining hall.  Some would sled on cardboard boxes.  By the end of it I owned my very own saucer sled.  Two of us could sit in it and we would go flying down the hills.

Here is a picture of the Colonnade with snow.

3.  No class. (sometimes)
Living in a mountainous region and taking morning classes often meant that class would be cancelled.  I remember sitting in my Econ class waiting on our Professor to arrive.  Everyone was debating how long to wait around.  Do we evoke the 5 minute rule, 10 minute rule or 15 minute rule before we all take off? We decided to go with the 15 minute rule because our professor was in fact the Dean of the Business School.  We wait and wait and wait.  And after about 14 minutes he races through the door.  Surprised that we are all still there.  (Great, we should have went with the 5 minute rule)  He then informed us how fortunate we were because he had parked his car at the bottom of his driveway the night before.  And it was a good thing cause his driveway was iced over and he would not have been able to get to campus otherwise.

4.  The online shopping.
Coming from South GA I was not prepared for the VA temperatures.  Or I should say my wardrobe was not prepared.  I did a lot of online shopping while in college and the majority consisted of warm sweaters and coats.

Irish Lamb Poncho

Sometimes LB and I like to have mini photo shoots.

Today she is wearing the adorable Lamb poncho given to her by cousin Martha who picked it up on her travels in Ireland last year.

New Hat

If you have been around me at the lake or the beach during the summer, then you know I am a huge fan of sun hats.  HUGE.  But when my hubby told me he bought me something over the weekend it never crossed my mind that it would be a new hat.

I closed my eyes while he brought my gift into the room.

Ta da!!!

LOVE my new hat!

Now we just need to go somewhere warm and sunny so I can sport it around.

Stay Warm Baby

 It is supposed to be 23 degrees tonight!  Brrr...

LB is 15 months old and I still don't know how to best keep her warm at night.  She sleeps in warm pajamas with footies, which helps a lot.  But she is all over the bed when sleeping so you can't keep a blanket on her.  In fact, she prefers sleeping on top of her blankets.

We turn up the thermostat, but she still gets cold.  I think her room is the coldest in the house.

So tonight I tried something new.  I pulled out several of her blankets and draped them over the blinds, which do little to keep out the cold.  Immediately you could tell a difference in her room.  Win.

And here are a few pictures of my brown-eyed girl from last week.

Sporting her very first ponytail.  Perhaps the cutest ponytail I've ever seen.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

My grandmother gave me this tree last year so that LB could have a tree in her nursery.  Currently, the tree rests in our den where our big tree normally would sit.  And by big tree I mean our 6 ft fake tree that is still in the box out in the garage.  We haven't gotten it out because we have about decided to get a real tree.  After reading my sister-in-law's blog, A Blog Grows in Brooklyn, we decided it is about time we raise the bar and go for the real thing.

But sitting in the den on a Sunday afternoon I'm tempted to just put this tiny tree up on a table and call it a day.  I won't have to worry about LB pulling off breakable ornaments.  This one spins, lights up and plays music.  No clean up involved.

Hmmm.  Its tempting.

Preparing for a Hand Cramp

Starting to sign 111 Christmas cards for our restaurant general managers, assistant managers and shift leaders.

After the third one I wished that my name was shorter.  My dad gets off easy - Dan.

Do you think people would be offended if I use my name stamp?  Elizabeth P Faulk.

Might look a little awkward with everyone else just signing their first name.

Alas.

Happy Birthday Brittany

About 9 years ago I met a friend that I will have for a lifetime.

Brittany and I were freshman roommates at W&L.  She was from VA and I was from GA.  She played soccer growing up and I played tennis.  She was very driven in her work and so was I.  The computer system actually did a great job matching us up.

But even with all these similarities we weren't really friends that first fall semester.  It wasn't that we didn't like each other it was more that I had a horrible class load (probably my worst out of all 4 years there) and Britt had a lighter load.  So, while I was stuck in the library we just never really got a chance to get to know one another.

But after living in the dorm room that we had it was inevitable that we would have to get to know one another.  I wish I could do our room adequate justice in describing it, but there is no way.  Just suffice it to say that after our freshman year - the year of the largest freshman class ever to step foot on campus and they were searching for places to put us all - they made our room a single forevermore.

But because of this tiny living space we eventually were forced to find out each others quirks.  And I'm so glad we did.

Brittany and I have traveled all over together.  My parents used to laugh at Thanksgiving when I came home cause they knew I would be telling them what I wanted for Christmas and it always involved a plane ticket.

Sophomore year we went to Hawaii and stayed with my cousin Cage who was doing his "study abroad".  We came back so tan and completely relaxed.  We would actually walk 2 miles to the beach each day while Cage was in class.  And just lay there all day.  I took my accounting exam early so that we could have 9 days instead of just 7 in Hawaii.  Ended up with a C in that class.  But it was worth it.

Senior year Brittany had just returned from a semester abroad in Australia and had the traveling bug.  But she had not been to Europe.  So I told her she could pick the place as long as I had never been there before.  What a destination - Norway and Denmark.  I actually saw on the news the other night that the largest gingerbread village in the world is in Bergen, Norway - and I have been there!

We went to DC, Atlanta, Charleston, Annapolis, San Francisco, Compass Lake, Panama City.  The list could go on.

Brittany is one of my best lifelong friends and today is her birthday.  She is a successful accountant in Boston.  Her work ethic and values have been an example to me through the years.

My grandfather used to say that if you have five great friends in your life then you are doing really well.  Brittany is definitely one of my five great friends.  And today I wish her a wonderful happy birthday.
Love and miss you.