Happy...

Well, another weekend is on its way out... It's amazing how quickly Amsterdam has truly started to feel like "home" to me. I'm so blessed with amazing friends here... much as I have been in all the other places I've lived. Very lucky girl. :)

Friday night, Gulsun and I decided to go night skiing again, and this time, her husband, Olav, decided to join us as well. Okay, so Gulsun and I totally missed that there was a third "hill" the last time we went to this place. Her husband found it, and, since it was about double the length of the runs where we had gone the last time, we decided to try out the "big kid hill". To start with... there were signs everywhere saying "for trained skiiers only". Me, feeling confident, thought that, despite not having training, I was now good enough to risk my life while throttling down a huge hill at about 100 mph. Yeah... So, first problem... the ski lift was going MUCH faster on the advanced hill than it did on the little hills. It's basically this little bar with a saucer on the end that that you put between your legs, and then it pulls you up the hill. Well, about 5 of them came by, and they were coming so fast that I couldn't get it between my legs (no comments from the peanut gallery, thank you very much). Anyways, I finally thought I had one, but turns out I didn't quite have it, and, rather than waiting for another one to come by, I just hung on with my arms as it pulled me up the hill. Now, this might sound easy, but it was harder than heck! As I got closer and closer to the top, the hill got steeper and steeper, and finally I got to the point that I just couldn't hold on any longer. So, then, I had a terrible little fall, and all the other people coming up had to try to avoid hitting me. Uh, yeah, slightly embarrassing! ;) Okay, so this is all before I've even gone down the hill, mind you. I'm feeling pretty flustered to say the least. I made it down that run feeling okay, so I decided to try it again. The next time, I fell pretty hard, but managed to get up quickly and proceed down the hill. It was the next (and final!) time where I had my most spectacular fall... Olav turned in front of me, and, since I need to work a little on the control/speed part of skiing, I couldn't stop, so I just decided to fall... and fall I did... I was going so fast that I hit the ground HARD, and kept sliding all the way down the hill... the whole hill was a collection of my hat, both my poles, and both my skis. How embarrassing. I retreated in defeat back to the beginners hill after that. Think it might be time for a lesson... ;) A really fun night, nevertheless.

Gul and I post-skiing

Awww... Gul & "O"

I didn't get home until nearly 2 am, so I promised myself that I was going to treat myself to sleeping in. Hmmm... my body doesn't seem to want to co-operate! I was wide awake before 8am! Grrr... It's been absolutely gorgeous here (cold, but clear), and I took advantage of a beautiful morning and went for a long run. I'm going to need to start running a little farther on the weekends to prepare for this crazy race.

Valentine's evening was a pretty unexpected surprise. I had a truly lovely evening in the company of a new friend. The eternal dilemma is - "What to WEAR???". After trying on everything in my wardrobe and deciding that I didn't like anything, I went shopping on my street to a couple of places that I like. AND... I actually had GOOD customer service (seriously, this happens so infrequently that I have to celebrate every time it happens). The sales girl was super helpful. This is what I ended up with... I loved it:

Hope all is well in Portland, Ohio, and places beyond!! Miss you all! xx