Shall We Dance?

I finally cashed in my Christmas gift from Chris: four ballroom dance lessons. The hardest part of this process was deciding which styles we wanted to learn. I've always been intrigued by Salsa dancing so this was definitely one we wanted to try.

At our first lesson, our dance instructor informed us that Salsa is one of the hardest dances to learn so she suggested we start off with the more basic "Mambo." For three lessons we learned the basic steps (quick, quick, slow!) and learned how to put the steps together. These basics are also found in Salsa but at much faster pace. I, of course, thoroughly enjoyed learning the dance but I think Chris had a good time too. We also picked up a few swing dancing steps (single-time or jitterbug) and have found that we like that as well. Right now we can dance to a multitude of songs and switch back and forth between the two dance styles with only a few "oops."

The decision now? Do we continue on with additional lessons? It's quite pricey but I think it might just be worth it. It's great exercise plus I feel like this is something we can do for the next fifty years! If nothing else, maybe I can convince Chris to take me out to a Salsa club or swing dancing every now and again.

San Diego Mini Vacay

Chris was in L.A. for work and decided to fly me out to San Diego for the weekend as a mini "get-away." We had a great time enjoying all of the many animals that call San Diego their home. During our first day, we visited the fabulous San Diego Zoo and saw so many wonderful animals. I just wanted to hug every single one of them. We got to see the pandas, although they were asleep the whole time we were there. It was a great trip to a beautiful zoo!




After the zoo, we had a nice dinner in the Gas Lamp district where our hotel was located. There are so many restaurants in this area, it was difficult to choose. We went with Italian.





The next day, we toured the area and stopped at La Jolla to see the caves and caverns. The best part of La Jolla (besides the ocean)? The seals! It was pup season so we got to see many baby seals on the beach with their parent. It was awesome to see these animals up close.

San Diego is a beautiful city and we had a great time, despite some chilly weather and rain storms. (This is just our travelling luck; the city gets 300 + days of sunshine and when we're there it rains!) I'd go back in a minute to spend some time on the beach and in the (usually) sunny weather.

Valentine's Day

We had a nice Valentine's dinner at Eddie Merlot's, a steak restaurant in Columbus.















Mom and Dad Young sent us a delicious goody basket filled with cookies, brownies, and muffins.

Beautiful red roses from Chris! They smell as good as they look.

Mother Nature Cripples Columbus!!

This has been a very interesting February. Columbus, a city that normally gets one large snowfall a year, is in a state of shock with the snowfall totals we've been getting. We have had so much snow, in fact, that the schools have closed early one day, and been closed all together for three days over the last two weeks.

Chris and I laugh over how little snow it takes to send this city into a state of panic; people are clearing out the shelves at grocery stores, schools and businesses are closing, people are crashing into their mailboxes, etc. Growing up in cities that see snowfalls like this on a fairly regular basis provides us with a lot of insight on how Columbus is NOT prepared for the white stuff.








Our backyard after the first dumping of snow during the second week of February.








Nestle and Hershey love playing in the tundra that is our backyard. Now, it is so deep, though, that they don't like sinking into it. It's funny to watch them try to hop through the snow.












A view of the snow-covered roads. It took four days before a plow came through our neighborhood!

Holidays 2009

Christmas morning started with coffee, juice, and Cinnabon rolls

The girls loved their stuffed toys!

I loved my ballroom dancing lessons!

A chocolate lab calendar all the way from Canada!

Family dinner at the infamous Chicken Manor

Minutes before the "Dance of the Decades" began. The "Dance of the Decades" was a gift that the three Young sisters gave to our dad. Included in the dance was dancing from the 20s/30s, 50s, 70s, 80s, & 90s.

This was during the 20s/30s era.

Jen visited us in Columbus before leaving for Madison. We spent the evening at the Columbus Zoo where there were over a million LED lights on display.

New Years Eve at Due Amici 2009. We had calamari (Chris's suggestion), a shrimp pasta (me), and steak and Lobster (Chris). It was delicious and the atmosphere was very cool.

Back home on New Years Eve, trying to perfect the self-portrait.

Gobble, Gobble!

Chris and I spent Thanksgiving in Akron. As always, we ate too much but had a great time catching up with the Young and Kline families.

The dogs loved all of the attention and treats!

The family, getting ready to eat

Once we got back from Akron, Chris's mom stopped by for a quick visit on her way to Florida. We had a nice dinner before going to see "In the Heights."

Fall Foilage

Chris, Nestle, Hershey, and I went on a fall drive last Sunday. The leaves were out in full force! After driving around Granville and checking out Denison University's fall colors, we headed over to Dawes Arboretum. The park was filled with color and provided a very nice auto tour. The best thing? The whole park is dog-friendly, meaning our ladies could roam around with us!