Greetings, salutations, and Happy New Year to our dear Friends and Family!
As you might be able to tell from the pictures above, we are no longer in Atlanta. Instead, we are writing from frigid Telluride, Colorado, our abode through May, 2008. Our experience so far (11 days to date) has exceeded our already lofty expectations. For one, it snowed 67" in the first 7 days of our residence, including a monster powder day on our first day ever skiing Telluride (our view from the Gondola that morning is shown above). Our transition to new employment has gone quite smoothly, and we are enjoying the more relaxed pace of life that a small ski town has to offer.
T.J.'s attempting to focus on his studies for the Colorado bar exam while also lending a hand part-time at a Telluride law firm/doggy day care. Seriously, there are usually at least two dogs roaming the halls; it's wonderful. Lauren has her "nanny" hands full with Blake (5) and Graham (2), but is enjoying interacting with those on her maturity level. [Hey, TJ, that's not nice and/or funny! Quit being a doofus. Geez.] Yes, and she is also pink helmet-clad, skiing double black diamonds (though not in the picture below) with her usual fearlessness.
We're excited to share our stories and pictures on this blog, now through the end of our occidental and oriental odyssey.
Love,
Lauren and T.J.
Sometimes it's the little things that make you realize that your environment has changed. The first time that you slip and fall on ice on your way to work, drawing the mocking laughter of the grizzled locals, you know that you're not in Atlanta anymore. Last Friday provided another reminder. After work, we boarded the Gondola (Telluride's free public transportation system) and headed over to Mountain Village to watch a snowmobile and skier stunt show. You can see the two jumps in the background behind T.J. (the wood one was not for the skiers). Although he may look happy, his face was actually just frozen in that position from the painfully cold night air. Eventually though, we thawed out long enough to be awed by the remarkable cojones of the snowmobilers, who hucked themselves and their sleds to incredible heights, as shown below. With the whine of the engines still ringing in our ears and the smell of gasoline infesting our clothes, we headed home invigorated and excited to click into our skis the next morning.
