Home sweet, sweet home.

Let me talk about Vail, Co for a minute, and allow me to start by saying it was one of the most fabulous and wonderful trips the Rice's have ever taken. To put it simply, we had a blast, and we became darn good snowboarders by the last day. We could go straight into the Olympics, except we probably need to think of a better way to keep Aaron's leg attached to his body. It's true - Aaron went to make a turn on his board and his leg did not go with him. It was one of the many hilarious scenes from the trip, and a large majority of these scenes feature Aaron or I falling flat on our faces or on our hiney's or crashing into each other. We laughed at each other a lot, and I laughed at him a lot more. 

We snowboarded Wednesday through Saturday for about 5-6 hours each day. It snowed furiously all but the last day, and the snow was so powdery it felt like we were floating. We could (and did) take the hardest falls possible and it actually felt pleasant. It snowed so hard on Friday that we literally could not see six inches in front of us, and this is very nerve wracking being on a terrain that can drop 500 feet at any given moment. Here are some random photos of the scenery. 

Most nights, we went to cute little restaurants and pubs in Vail Village. Perhaps one of the most bazaar evenings was when we decided to venture out to the movies. I read Marley and Me on the plane ride up there and I couldn't stop gushing about how great this book was. Aaron, being the sweet turd he is, offered to take me to watch the movie. Unfortunately, there is not a movie theater in Vail, so we had to travel about 15 miles to Edwards, Co. What we did not expect was the amount of money this little adventure would cost. The cab ride there cost $60 and the ride back was $58. The tickets were $20 and the popcorn and coke was $7. This added up to be a $145 movie night. Was it worth it? For many reasons, I would say yes. First, the movie was great and actually followed most of the story line of the book. Second, we had fun exchanging "can you believe this cab ride is costing $60" glares at each other, and finally, it was fairly romantic, even though we were completely wiped out after three days of snowboarding. 

Here are more pictures. 

Our time in the snow this trip seemed so much more memorable than past trips. I guess it was because we laughed (at each other) a lot, made some good friends, and we got to do some heavy rest and relaxation which was much needed after an intense first semester of law school and a couple months of colon language. Even though we were kicking our hiney's out on the mountains everyday, it was still a laid back and calm week. The high altitude took a beating on Aaron's digestive system and if we weren't snowboarding, there is a high chance he was in the little boys room. I'm kind of exaggerating, but not really. Those of you who know Aaron would understand. Just trust me when I say he couldn't really sneak up on anyone because his bodily odors would enter a room before he did. I will understand if the Colorado government does not let us back in their state in the future. 

Before we knew it, it was time to start packing up our stuff and getting ready to be picked up from the hotel by 5:40 a.m. Aaron was trying to be thoughtful the night before we left by offering to pack up all of our stuff and letting me sleep. As mentioned in a previous post, packing and every possible aspect of traveling falls on my shoulders, so I could not have been more ecstatic to pass this one minor task over to Aaron. Well, I fell asleep rest assured that when I woke up at 5:00 a.m., our luggage would be piled in the corner ready to be picked up and hauled out. Let me go ahead ease your suspense: not one item was placed in one bag when I woke up around 2:00 a.m. to a snoring, sprawled-out-on-the-other-bed, fully clothed Aaron Rice. That's right, he crashed after room service brought him a bacon cheeseburger the size of a small country. Go figure. 

With layovers and shuttles included, it took an entire day to arrive in Vail. On Sunday, it took about four hours total to get from our hotel to Memphis. We got to pick up Jake from the vet Sunday evening, and it was one of the best parts of my week. He ran a hundred circles around us and made us feel like rock stars. When he got home, he ran tight figure eight motions around the house and yard and licked the rug like we had poured the most delectable steak sauce on it just for him. He snuggled close to us all night long and made us vow to never leave him alone for that long again. He is the most loyal pup known to man, except when he slips out the front door and runs forty miles an hour toward the little doggy three houses down and completely ignores us yelling at him. I can't count how many times I have walked up on our neighbors yard in my bathrobe and wet hair apologizing for my stupid dog being such a nuisance.

 

As a souvenir, I brought back a Colorado cough and cold, which has turned out being quite nice for me. The painful coughs and sore throat are miserable, but I am completely enjoying being pampered and spoiled by Aaron. He has me on a strict cold medicine regimen including teas, pills, and wet q-tip swab things I have to stick up my nose every four hours. He calls or texts me several times a day drilling me on whether or not I was a good girl and followed his instructions. He definitely wins the best husband of a lifetime award, and now I am convinced more than ever that he just might, in fact, be ready to be a daddy. Unfortunately he thinks it is more important to be financially stable and ready for such a big step, so I don't this happening for another ten years or so. Anyway, my Colorado cold has left me voiceless, and while this is nice for Aaron I'm sure, it is not fun for anybody I am interacting with at work. I spent most of my day repeating myself over and over again and coughing loud enough for the sedated colonoscopy goers next door to hear me. 

Being back home is not great but it has its perks. For example, Aaron and I have developed a sick obsession with chess. It would be much more fun if we weren't so competitive with each other, or if each game didn't take two hours, but I suppose its bonding time. Whoever ends up being the loser usually pouts and gives the winner the silent treatment for a little while. Well, actually that only happens when I lose. So far, I have won two games and Aaron has won two games, but I'm going to consider myself the current chess champion because I victoriously won two games in a row. 

Aaron is back in school and he actually seems to enjoy the classes he is taking this semester. This is not to say that he will not be working any harder than he did last semester. In fact, I will see much less of him this semester because he has some kind of legal brief thing to write that is 10,000 pages or something, and I have been forewarned by many a law school wives that it is not easy. Perhaps a baby would allow me to be distracted by my loneliness. What do you think, Aaron? 

Our holiday travels were great but proved that we are getting older. If I could have another week off of work just to recover, I would be a much better asset to my employer. I'm glad to be home and even though our house is trashed now, it was near spotless when we got home, which was nice. In the next couple of weeks or so, my friends and family are going to start getting angry and obnoxious text messages from me wondering when they are going to come visit me. Nikki - get ready. We are getting back into the routines of our day to day lives, and even though I wouldn't take back one second of our crazy travel schedule last month, I am enjoying it. Now I guess I have to go back to the grocery store, because everything in the refrigerator is expired and you can only survive on water and Saltines for so long. 

Thats all for now. So long.