Here we are again....

So, here we are again. As I attempt to get back into more regular blogging, I am sitting in a hotel in sunny(not snowy, cloudy or cold) San Diego. This is the third time in 4 months that I have been to San Diego, but this time it's for work and not pleasure. I'll admit, I'm not at all thrilled to be traveling for work this week. But, after a day of sunshine, comfortable temps and not a drop of snow or ice in sight, it may be worth it. Before I go on and on about that though, it's catch-up time. Here's the highlights of the last 3 weeks.

Valentine's Day
This was a special Valentine's Day this year. I am in a new relationship and couldn't be happier. Joe is absolutely wonderful. I have a ton of fun with him and as he puts it 'he's a good boy'. He's definitely holding up to the things he says. (I think I'll keep him around awhile longer ;))

It was a Thursday this year and both Joe/I agreed to keep it low key. We didn't want to deal with reservations or getting dressed up. We just decided to cook together and relax. Sounds perfect to me! It's always tricky when deciding what to get someone in a new relationship for Valentine's Day. I settled on the 'Planet Earth' DVD set for Joe and a cute card.

Unfortunately for Joe he was pretty sick on Valentine's Day. But he was a trooper. He still came over to my house to spend the evening with me. When I arrived home, a dozen beautiful red roses were waiting for me along with a bag full of dark chocolates and my favorite body lotions. The gift was incredibly thoughtful, sweet and romantic. Joe knocked this one outta the park. The best part was the card - very funny and sweet :) If you want to know what it says, you'll have to come over and take a look at it.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Joe was asleep by 8pm. Poor guy was sick for several more days before he turned the corner. Fortunately, I never ended up catching whatever he had.

Skiing in Kettle Morraine
Several days later, Joe and I made a trek out to Kettle Morraine to work on our skate skiing. We've had a very snowy winter and conditions were perfect the day we went. We had some fresh new snow, temps were in the high 20's and the sun was shining. Joe was still recovering from his illness, but we made it for just over an hour of skiing.

It was a beautiful day, the trees were gorgeous and covered with snow. Some of the trails were pretty hilly, but overall not too bad. Joe and I took turns leading. Joe would lead on the downhills and I'd take over on the uphills. I had a couple of good spills which led to a few good laughs for Joe.

After we finished up, we went to a small sandwich shop in La Grange. It was delicious and filled with skiers. We picked out a bottle of wine and headed home. Since skiing wasn't enough, we decided to shovel several feet of snow off of Joe's deck. It was a great day - lots of fun, lots of activity, great company.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 'Here we are again'.....More to come!