Holy Hail!

We were caught off-guard by this severe thunderstorm this evening. I knew that there were some storms forecast, but I didn't know the intensity or timing. We were about to go out for a run, when I heard some thunder. I ran to the front door, and saw that the sky was green on the horizon (not good; like gonna-have-a-tornado green). Instantly, the rain and hail started in a deluge. The hail persisted pretty much the entire time. I called in the Spotter report to the NWS office. Definitely some GR/RA+ going on here.

New Year's Hike

I went for a hike. In the woods. It was cold.

For the New Year, I took the opportunity to take a late afternoon hike at nearby Lake Nockamixon SP. I found this trail on a previous visit, and I decided to try it again in the winter. I especially like it because of the rock-shore peninsula that the trail goes along. The cold conditions certainly made for an interesting time, with hard soil, frozen streams, and ice along the shore.

I ripped a hole in my shoe on a branch (subsequently fixed).

Pics.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

ahhh. our tree. Usually I try to con Joe into letting me put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving.. He usually gives in by the first weekend in December, but our trip to St. Thomas this year did not allow us to get the tree until Dec 14th.. a mere 11 days before Christmas. I survived. Here are the pics.

St Thomas Trip

We went to St. Thomas from December 9-13. My friend Valerie, whom I work with, and her fiancee, Ben were getting married there and so graciously invited us to go too!!! After much deliberation about spending such money on a trip, we decided to join their group of 18 people and tag along! What a great decision that was. We stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay, in St. Thomas, USVI. We opted for the "all -inclusive" package and that was another great idea; no worrying about how expensive the food and drinks are at each meal.. and they WERE expensive. We would not have had as relaxed as a time if we had to worry about paying for overpriced food and drinks! The upgrade to an ocean view room was well worth the measly $25 bucks a night!

Beautiful weather, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, white sand, loads of cool animals.. we loved every minute of it! Snorkeling was one of our favorite things to do besides sitting on the beach or eating and drinking! Joe and I were lucky to see an octopus when we were snorkeling.

A group of us took a ferry over to St. John- even more beautiful - and headed to Trunk Bay (apparently rated one of the top beaches in the world). We could see why. Words cant even describe how beautiful it was. The snorkeling there was amazing. We wanted to explore more beaches, but since had to head back. We WILL visit that island again for sure and do some hiking and exploration of the plantations. Just amazing!



Val and Ben's wedding was beautiful as well! It's truly hard for me to put into words why this was such a beautiful wedding. First off- it was 5 days of fun.. it was as if the reception lasted for 5 days instead of just 4 or 5 hours.... The setting was so breathtaking it's hard to describe - and photos hardly do it justice. The bride wore a stunningly simple dress, and Ben in khakis and a white dress shirt... the ambiance was of love and family. So I'm hooked on the beach wedding idea, some where tropical, not the Jersey Shore... sorry..

The ONLY downfall is that you can't have 200 people at your reception, but in the end, the people who come to your tropical wedding are the people that are most important to witness it. Don't get me wrong, thinking back to our wedding--every single person who was invited meant the world to Joe and I and I wish all 130 of our guests could have gone to a tropical location with us!


Photos here.

Just to clarify something..

To clarify, the pictures below of the "patio" were from my father's house in South Jersey.
We already have a lovely brick patio off of our back door at our house. FYI =)