Goodbye 2009!

So many things excite me about this new year, but on the top of the list is the photography workshop cruise that I’m going on in just a few days! For the first time in my life my birthday is not going to be spent scraping snow off my windshield, or stepping in icy puddles, or worrying a blizzard will mess up my plans! My birthday is on January 7, but I will be out of town January 6-10, so if you don’t hear from me then…that’s why!

It’s kind of ironic that I’m going to a warm, tropical location this winter, because one of my goals for winter 2009-2010 is to appreciate the weather that we have here in Wisconsin more. With that in mind, I’ve made an effort to participate in some of the more enjoyable snow-related activities.

My first step was to go sledding! I went over to my brother and sister-in-law’s house, which used to by my grandparents’ house. I know from experience that they have the BEST sledding hill around. At the bottom of the hill is a river, and when the river ices over your goal is to sled all the way to the river! It’s a blast. The river wasn’t iced over yet when I was there, and we seemed to run into the bushes more than anything, but it was still a lot of fun.

I made a (very amateur) video about our sledding experience using the video mode on my point-and-shoot camera. If you ignore how annoying my voice is on this video, it’s actually kind of fun! So I thought I would share.

While I was there I took some pictures of Daniel (my brother) with Katie (my sister-in-law) and their puppy Abby. You might remember pictures of Daniel&Katie from their wedding in April, and I posted pictures of Abby when she was just a little puppy!

Their friend Brian took a picture to prove I was there too:

The next winter activity that I tried was going snowshoeing with my aunt! We had talked about doing this for the last year, and this winter we made it happen. I had gone snowshoeing once before, but it was when I was back in high school. It was a fun experience, and it gave me the opportunity to appreciate the gorgeous winter scenery around. :o)

I was a little worried I would wreck my camera if I tried to bring it on our trek, so I just packed my point-and-shoot. Here’s a picture my aunt got of me snowshoeing that day! Isn’t the pathway gorgeous? I know I’m blocking most of it, but it really was beautiful out there.

I tried to get some video to adequately capture the snowshoeing experience…but, again, I only had my point-and-shoot camera, and it was ridiculously hard to video while walking like a duck and trying to keep your balance with the poles! But I got two (very) short clips…

The view from the top of the hill:

The path back:

My latest adventure in winter wonderlandness was going to Lake Geneva, WI with my friend Brittany. We were window shopping, and since the only way to get to the shops is to walk outside, we were pretty much frozen. A nice white chocolate mocha from Starbucks took some of the chill off, though!

Have a wonderful New Year everyone! As always, TAKE PICTURES!

~Sarah :o)