Work and Play

Saturday, January 15 2011

I could sum this post up quite easily.  Ang = Work.  Dave = Play.  It’s been a challenging month for Ang’s work-life balance since arriving back in Geneva after the holidays.  She’s been focused on developing and delivering training for a new system we just released to hundreds of our global Market Management staff.  Her hard work is paying off though, as she’s received a lot of compliments from people all around the company.  I sat in on the first training session she did and was extremely impressed with how well she can present pretty complex information in an engaging way.  I’m pretty sure she’s running on fumes and adrenaline every night and when this month is over, it will be a glorious thing!

Being the good husband that I am, I decided to ditch out on my wife last weekend while she worked, and I went snowboarding in the Alps!  Trust me, I was hesitant to go, but Ang encouraged me to and assured me I wasn’t that much of a jerk.  The destination was Megeve, France, a pretty typical ski village about 1.5 hours outside of Geneva.  In order to take the bus up there I joined the Geneva ski club, which is becoming quite popular among our co-workers.  As expensive as Europe can be, the ski lift prices are surprisingly reasonable compared to the US; 60 CHF for transportation and skiing.

I hated to admit it, for Ang’s sake, but it was one of the coolest snowboarding experiences I’ve ever had.  Granted I’m fairly new to snowboarding and haven’t seen a lot out there except Snoqualmie and a couple other Washington mountains.  The views of the surrounding Alps from the top of the lifts were stunning.  We stopped for lunch at a picturesque restaurant on the top of the mountain, enjoyed a delicious beer and couldn’t believe that we were actually there.  

 

Me with our good friend Jaime

If there was one thing disappointing about the day is that the snow wasn’t great.  It’s been a rough year for snowfall in the Alps, so the snow started out icy and got a little better later in the day.  Big bummer, huh?  It's a rough life!

Bonne Annee, 2011!

Saturday, December 11 - Sunday, January 2 2011

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season!  We were grateful for the opportunity to go home for the holidays and see some of our friends and family we've missed so much.  After a fun 3 weeks in the states, we are back in Geneva, rested (yeah right, we wish), heavier (we ate and drank as much American food as we could while it was available) and ready to take on 2011.  We had a great time spending about 2 weeks in Bellevue with Dave’s family while working out of the Expedia Bellevue office and spent a week on the farm in Connell with Ang’s family.  

Even though we have been gone for five months, it felt like a time warp-- when we got back to the states it felt like no time had passed at all.  Except when considering two of our closest friends/couples had had babies, our niece was now crawling, and Jon...well actually nothing has really changed with Jon. :)

Of course, as proud Aunt and Uncle, it was a real treat to spend so much time (although it flew by) with our niece, Kamryn.  Hard to believe how much she’s changed since we saw her last in person in July (although luckily we have photos & iPhone videos sent to us frequently and Skype at our finger tips, which really helped keep us up to speed with her rapid changes).  She is crawling all over the place and can stand up on her own.  It is bittersweet to think that the next time we see her in person, she'll likely be walking.  She has such a great little personality for 8-months-old and is quite entertaining-- we laughed so much in a week's time.

A few of our favorite shots are below and we even captured some ridiculously cute giggles on video!

 

            Funny how that box was way more entertaining for her than any of the other Christmas gifts. :)

Speaking of shots, one of the more unique portions of our trip involved guns, clay pigeons, a 20-foot Bayliner, and a whole lot of open farmland.  Curious? 

We also got into the action...

"Spread it on!"

Before we left for Geneva, Dave even got in a game of football with his friends.  Age is slowly becoming a factor it seems, as he was still sore while writing this, almost 1 week later.  Regardless, it was a great time, even in the 20-degree weather.

A Motley Crew

That’s just a brief glimpse into the Christmas trip home.  One exceptionally cute 8 month-old, family, friends, American food and beverage (we very much miss Washington wine and Tillamook cheese), familiar places and a refreshing vacation from trying to speak French.  What else could we ask for?