Laax (The Mountain Kind).

We took a spontaneous trip out to Laax with Erin, Lach & Will this past Saturday and brrr was it a harsh difference from last weekend's hike. Joe & I began our snow shoe hike in pure overcast, snowy conditions. Basically, we were both thinking 'fthis, I don't even have my snow shoes on yet & I can't feel my fingers, we should just stay in the lodge with Lach & Will.' Then, we got a bit lost. Luckily though, we'd headed up a hill & could then see where we missed our trail. We got back on the right course, hiked up a bit more, and then, hallelujah we passed through the cloud line, the chorus of angels sang, the sun beat down. We wondered how we could have forgotten sunscreen. Oh right, it's pure overcast down there. It was so peaceful out there with the trail almost exclusively to ourselves, the tips of the mountains just peaking out over the cloud line, the vibrant sun, oh sun, how I love you so.

When we first moved here & we were just being exposed to the "Swiss MOUNTAIN experience," I thought the people taking their lunches outside in winter, in the mountains, or sitting in those little chairs, faces to the sun, were a bit, well, off. Why not go inside, warm up a bit? Now we're right there with them, like some crazy, deluded sun-bathers, freezing their asses off, faced directly towards the sun like it's emitting something much more powerful than mere rays of light.

Did you say hiking, in January!?

Last weekend and the preceding week we had a burst of mild, warmish January weather. Most of the snow on the nearby mountains melted, Swiss people freaked out, I rejoiced and all was right and fine with the world. Then, this week happened and the weekend's adventures required snow shoes to hike, but I'll get to it another post. Last Sunday, after strapping the baby to Dad, we proceeded to ascend a few 4-500m, for lunch. It was a gorgeous spot with perfect mountain views and a bunch of old Swiss people who were oogling and questioning about Will. Never have so many old Swiss people smiled in my general direction rather than trying to push me over to get on/off the tram first. It was quiet refreshing. And as Joe & I are the resident 'German speakers' from the group, we had to field all the questions. One being, 'eine Maedchen?' Well, considering the kid is wearing all blue, no, no he's not a girl. It was a sunny, warm way to spend a Sunday and I quite liked it.

SettingSuns

 

Probably not too difficult to id this spot. Driving into the city on New Years eve, the city skyline was lit up like the celebration started at 4.30. Unless, every d-bag cutting the line to get on 90/94 is considered a party now.

 

Might be a bit more difficult to identify, but it's a spot close to my heart, the view from our living room window. Not a bad sight for a January day.

Galletas

I'm pretty sure I could go for being a kid again. Abby is so easily excited and amused by the simplest of things. She merely has to catch sight of the cookie package....then it's the first cookie, pure joy, fourth cookie, pure joy, twelfth cookie, pure...you see the pattern. Within the first few hours we spent with Abby, all of us realized the way to her heart was to be the one holding the next cookie. And, we all definitely wanted to find our way into her heart.

It was such a fabulous trip, I almost don't feel up for recounting it. Mid-January darkness and cold, busy work schedules and the dooldrums of everyday life make thinking of sunny, warm Mexico and time spent with amazing family a sentimentally difficult task. So, I'm not gonna do it. Take that readers.

Dancing Queen

 

Sure, I'm dancing with a 3-year old. Sure, we might have been the only ones out there 50% of the time (perhaps that was part of the problem?) Sure, formal wear + construction hats = super fancy. But, wow, was it fun. The wedding was beautiful, stunning and classy in a very JCrew type of way. From the looks of it, I really know how to bring the class too! (Incidentally this is the only photo we have from Scott & Krissy's wedding, hm, priorities.)

The Swiss Sense of Humor.

This is not a culture that easily pokes fun at itself, so when I came across this clip I just had to share. Now if only they'd come give that treatment to our floors.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

It's always rough returning back to Zurich after our annual trip back to visit family & friends over the holidays, and the 3+ weeks we just returned from is no exception. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted how blessed we truly are. Right now we couldn't imagine life as any different than it is, we absolutely love all our 'homes' and have friends and family we cherish in all of them. It can't get much better than that, although sleep deprivation and returning to work might make it feel otherwise.

Happy New Year - here's to a fabulous 2011!