the perfect escape/ matchy match.

which, well, it was! I don't have pictures of everything--I'll add the ones from the disposable tonight, and I'll upload the good ones from other people as they arrive. there's one in particular of everybody jumping that I'm pretty excited about.

so, we didn't leave at 5am on saturday, thank goodness. we rolled out at 9am, and I slept a lot of the way. we also stopped near all these signs for churches so I HAD to take a picture. for a while on the curvy road my sweet sweet matt held out his arm to keep me from falling over this way and that so that I could sleep. he's a cutey, he is, he is.

we had a little trouble on our way there--we missed an exit, but it seems like it was very much the PERFECT thing to have happen. not only did we see a rainbow, but we also arrived at the rental place five minutes before bob and jamie. we had all counted on cell phone reception to communicate (well, except for me but we'll get to that in a minute) and we didn't have it AT ALL. fortunately we found each other and were able to locate the house--the perfect escape was its name (and you can't googlemap it, hence our sitch).

while we waited for them to get the key I tried to get matt to take a picture. this is what I got. he totally doesn't mind having his picture taken--he just likes making me annoyed! there are good ones too, but of course I'm including this one. so there!

once we arrived and selected our rooms (without arm-wrestling, we just agreed upon them), checked out the rest of the place and began getting ready for dinner--and drinking. I learned that those plastic casserole dishes don't work nearly as well as the pyrex ones since they don't heat up...but the enchiladas were definitely a hit.

by the way, here's the amount of alcohol we started with...and by the time we were done eight bottles of champagne, most of the tattoo, all of the jack (which was in a HUGE bottle you can't see), a good amount of the vodka, most of the bloody mary mix, at least four bottles of wine and all the beer (all four cases of it) were gone. we plowed through that. (pun intended!) mimosas and bloody marys in the morning, liquor or wine before dinner, then the boys had beer, etc. don't worry, we also polished off one case of propel and two cases of water!

Matt and I also finished and put out everyone's glasses--here's a picture of me holding mine. We looked soooo long for these damn things--thought about having them printed, thought about stenciling them, etc. We actually purchased three sets of glasses and settled on these--found 'em at walmart. We filled them with new years horns and crazy straws and beads and candy, and everyone was pleasantly surprised! :)

the taddeos weren't there either, but they found their way too, and we enjoyed our chicken enchiladas, played circle of death/kings and the boys played beer pong. we talked and talked and jamie and I got to know brenda and nic. also, brenda and I started the showshoe puzzle. about 100am I went to bed--I was the last girl awake--and the boys continued to play beer pong. at 500am I woke up and noticed that matt wasn't in the bed--he was downstairs working on the snowshoe puzzle with his ipod on, Mr. Sneaky.

the next day was fog-to-the-ee. we got our gear and skied the day. matt and I noticed that we were very matchy match--I was in patty's yellow jacket and my skis just happened to be yellow too. as was the writing on my poles. matt? he'd purchased a blue and gray jacket and wore a gray hat--and his skis? dark blue. this was not on purpose. oh and ski boots? yeah, pain the the ass--or foot. my feet didn't fit in the usual kind, and the four-buckle ones more more comfy but amazingly difficult to put on. I went with those, but poor matt had to help me wedge my feet in every time! finally, it was time to ski.

we never found bob and jamie, who left before us, and brenda, nic, matt and I skied during the afternoon, too. kara was new to skiing, and though she put in a valiant effort, the fog and ice and all the people made it VERY difficult to ski, and she spent the rest of the day chilling out, and I totally can't blame her.

we came home that evening, showered, chilled out, turned on the fire and watched movies while we ate and drank--The Bourne Ultimatum, Die Another Day and part of a third one, which I don't recall off the top of my head. I dozed in and out of the first one and was cleaning up for the hour of the third we watched. my knees hurt so bad I could barely go down stairs. it was pretty miserable. they were swollen from skiing--they'd hurt during the day (and during the hour of standing in the boots waiting for a table, and while waiting for the lift, etc), but they were killer that night. oh well, it just meant I got to use matt as a footrest!

and, matt and I finished that puzzle, gosh-darn-it. there was no way I was letting him work on it until 5am again! see, isn't it pretty?

and once everyone else went to bed Matt and I decorated for new years. It was so exciting to surprise everyone. When I have kids some day I think I'm really going to like play santa!

anyway, cue new years eve. we had breakfast casserole and hit the slopes in the AM. we had a teensy delay getting our tubing tickets, which is when I took these pictures. brenda and nic were dealing with the people, but I have pics of them on the disposable...this day we were also able to coordinate our efforts, since I thought to bring my walkie talkies! :)

then we skied until 200, and on our second run down I had my yard sale. by the end of the skiing I was together again though, and weaving through the billion small children crowding up the slopes. that part was annoying. for real--if you are not hurt, and especially if the slope is quite narrow, for the love of pete please please don't stand in the middle or ski in a line. yeesh.

and then? then it was time for tubing! by the way--entirely not on purpose, I swear, matt and I both picked a blue (him) and yellow (me) tube. it took us two runs to realize we'd made ourselves be all matchy again! you'll see pics later...they're on the disposable too. we raced each other, went individually, etc, and then...then matt and I started to see how hard we could hit the retainer wall thing. this video is short and was shot by accident, but geez! that's us in the first lane and brenda and taddeo in the second. look at us go!


finally, it was new years eve time--brenda and nic made an amazing dinner and we all wore pajamas (those pink ones on kara are mine, too!). here we are at the table.

we tried to all play scene-it, but the whites and the taddeos quit, so the "dating couples" challenged one another, and in a very very close game jamie and bob won. here's a picture of them celebrating. and another of us pouting.

and then us at midnight. not long after this we all got in the hot tub again--it just fit eight people.
and here's us in the morning, when it had SNOWED! I went to take my look-I've-taken-photos-in-West-Virginia pictures, and then we were off. PS, that sign says "snowshoe forever wild" on one side and "thanks for visiting" on the back. there are also some pretty pics from on the way home.