Vermont

As I previously mentioned, I spent a week and a half in Vermont in the not-so-recent past. The trip was a birthday present and sort of a surprise. It was way more than I deserved, but I won't complain! :) In an attempt not to bore you with the day-to-day happenings of the trip, I'll just list some of the awesome, relaxing, and/or memorable things that went down in The Green Mountain State. I will then include a collection of random somewhat artsy photos that I took while we were there. Jared took a few of them, too, but he posted several pictures that I've taken on his Flickr page, so I'm taking credit for them all here! Ha!

• We spent 3 days in the boat on the lake. So so so so beautiful!
• We sea kayaked a couple of times, once we kayaked to the end of the bay, ate lunch, then kayaked back. (About 6 miles we guessed)
• I slept soundly for the first time in months and months.
• I felt fantastic while I was there. Although it sounds crazy to say, I was as close to not being in any pain as I have been in at least 10 years!
• I played with Dublin, the gimpy lab mix, and Luca, the tiny cat with really unique markings. Dublin managed to coax me out of a lot of doggy massages!
• We saw Grace Potter in concert. The concert was in downtown Burlington on the water. She is fantastic, but I worry that the way she sings will destroy her voice long before her career would end based on her talent alone.
• I personally boiled 2 live lobsters! Their names were Un-Chipper 1 and Un-Chipper 2. They were not lively, but delicious.
• I ate tons and tons and tons of locally grown fruit and homemade granola sweetened with maple syrup-the real stuff! I now eat granola at least once a day!
• I looked through a pile of Jared and Ian's school papers and projects from when they were younger. They were/are amazingly intelligent! Jared is very embarrassed by those things. I laughed!
• We learned to play a new version of Scrabble called Speed Scrabble. It is far superior to the original game in my opinion, even though I'm terrible at it. It is incredibly fun to play with Jared's mom, and her eccentric traveling friend, Deborah, until 1 or 2 in the morning after great Syrian food and lots of wine!
• I was informed that billboards are illegal in the state of Vermont! This has yet to fully sink in.
• I bought a really sweet print that says "I love you, but naturally my pets come first." It is now framed and hanging in the living room. Oh yeah, and I actually met the artist who created it!
• I met up with my friend Ali, who I rafted with on the Rio Grande last summer.
• I borrowed Jared's dad's bike and rode along on a couple of Jared's morning runs. I'm in really bad shape and he's really insane! I was riding, not running, and it was exhausting!
• I spent a LOT of time laughing with Jared and his family and friends!

Near the place we stopped to eat and water ski.

It looks like I'm trying to kick Jared's butt here. I think I was tickling, but it makes me look hardcore either way!

Cruisin' in the boat.

These things put the boats in the water and take them out. They are pretty neat. I think so anyway.

Sailboat in the wind.

Looking at the water in Stowe. These photos are basically the same, but I just want you to see how green it is!!!

Ian water skiing.