Our impromptu "Baby-moon"

Who buys plane tickets for less than 24 hours from then and randomly goes skiing in CO?  Apparently we do.

Before baby E enters into our lives for good, Los and I wanted to take a last hurrah trip of sorts.  As excited as we'll be to have a family, we'll also miss our own spontaneous vacations.  So when he came home last Monday and said he had the next 6 days off, we got to thinking...  It is almost New Year's Eve, we have no plans...  it's hot, it's flat, and yet, it's December...  where would we like to go?  SNOW.

So on no notice, we cashed in some frequent flyer miles and up and flew to Denver.  About two hours before leaving for the airport, on some good intel from friends, we booked a ski-in/ski-out at Crested Butte , one of the most beautiful places we've ever skied.  Such great powder, and the most charming of towns beneath the expansive mountains...  Since we were so late in getting our flights, we even flew first-class (which makes me never want to fly coach again, dangit), and then got a Highlander (one of the cars we're thinking of buying); it seemed too good to be true.

Of course it wasn't all peaches and cream- getting there took twice as long as we thought it would, due to road conditions and over-turned cars.  I was the lucky recipient of a week-long cold, so I spent the week doing the Neti Pot (quite the experience, though I'm now a HUGE fan) and sucking down whatever meds were okay for preggo ladies.  I also puked once just for good measure.  If I didn't have the expectation that morning sickness would've taken a hike months ago, I wouldn't be as annoyed that I still puked in week 18.  Oh well.

Skiing as a pregnant lady presented it's own set of anxiety.  I hadn't gone last season, and now there's a person inside of me to protect...  with a congested head... at 11,000 feet altitude.  I was a little nervous until I saw the mountain doc who told me his wife skied all three of her pregnancies until 8 months!  Crazy.  At 41/2 months myself, with a body and joints that haven't changed yet, I felt fairly competent.  Also, we chose CB, as opposed to the Vail resorts, which had 20,000 skiers/boarders over the holiday, b/c it is more remote and challenging, scaring away the average Joe/Jane...  Only 3,000 people and mostly good skiers.  After getting the green light from the doc, Los and I had two awesome days on the mountain, covering as much terrain as possible, and only scaring myself on 2 or 3 runs.  I never fell (amen for that), and only had my breath taken away by a couple of steep pitches.  Skiing was so fun, the hardest part, TRULY, was walking to and from the ski valet with all my stuff on at the base of the mountain.  That and Los had to buckle my boots for me:)  What a guy.

The nights were fun too.  NYE, while everyone was out and partying, we got a pizza, and chilled in our suite, watching Alias on the laptop.  After our first ski day, we got luxurious massages, which were a treat.  Living the high-class dream, we had Top Ramen for dinner that night:)  Friday, my friend Katie (one of the pastors at FPC Colorado Springs) came over to join us for the day.  She and I graduated from Fuller together this summer, and she's very encouraging to be around.  After a snowy caravan together Saturday, we had a meal with her in the downtown of the Springs.  We went to her church Sunday, which was so great; and then had brunch with another couple I know and love, Lynsey and Joe, before heading back to Denver and "home" to TX.

Maybe some day TX will feel like home?  But for now, our hearts are filled up with the beauty of the snowy mountains that we took in this past week; the perfect picture of what winter should be like in my mind.  The fact that I got to wear my North Face and puffy, a wool sweater and scarves+ beanies galore for at least one week, will get me through the 70+ degree days that we've returned to.  Happy New Year indeed.