Sledding with Adam and Dom

So after Christmas we ventured outside to do some sledding with Adam and Dom. Dom and I did not realize how exhausting it is not only walking back up the hill, but pulling the sled with Adam in it. Luckily the excitement of sledding only lasted for 6 trips down the hill before he was ready for the trek back home.

We chose to go sledding the day it was above freezing so we lost some of the snow and Adam was intrigued by that. Check out the video of him. He was pulling the sled on the snow and didn't know what to do when it was gone and the sled hit the pavement.

I hooked Dom up with some warmer pants...

We all had a good time and were grateful that there was snow on the ground for the peeps from Cali to see. It was a great Christmas and check back soon for those pictures.

Happy New Year to all!! Wishes for a wonderful 2009 and beyond.

Baking Cookies

I had the pleasure of baking some festive Christmas cookies with my good friends Shannon, Kate, Terri and Elizabeth. As you can imagine, it got very interesting!

Kate and Shannon were very focused...

Elizabeth really liked the frosting...

As did I!!

It was a really fun weekend and a great way to spend time around the holidays with good friends, good cookies and of course, some good wine.

Check back soon for the family Christmas pictures.

Second Annual Holiday Update

Happy Holidays everyone, or I guess I can say Merry Christmas to this crowd:)

So 2008 is almost done. Who could believe what a year it has been? I will try to sum it all up in 1 page or less, but it has been a busy year so we will see what I can do.

So this has been a busy year for me traveling. I have reached Gold Status for the first time with Northwest. I don’t feel as special as I thought I would, but oh well.
Where have I been this year?

February- Amsterdam
March- Sweden and Finland for our Annual Snow Meeting.
April- Colorado to visit Emily and Lars with Terri.
May- I actually stayed in MN for the month!!
June- California for the birth of my nephew Henry and then to Park City, Utah for a video shoot for work.
July- Cali for baptism and then off to Las Vegas for our Summer Sales Meeting.
August- In MN with the start of the swim season on August 11th.
October- Germany for a tradeshow and then the big trip of the year was in late October.
October/November- I spent one week in Australia and one week in Italy. I literally flew around the world. I would be content if I never did it again!! It was an amazing trip, but a little cold got me down and just took me a long time to adjust to my own time zone when I got back.
December-France to find housing for next year…. And that is the next story.

In April or May our general manager sat me down and asked if I had any interest in doing an overseas assignment for 6 months to a year. I think he was surprised at how enthusiastic my answer was. Of course it was YES! We started brainstorming possible locations and what the assignment would entail and now I am only about 5 weeks away from my departure to France. I will be working in Southeast France near the Italy and Switzerland borders. It is a gorgeous mountain area that has been called the Aspen of the Alps, but I think it is much better. I am looking forward to the assignment and spending time overseas developing myself and the relationships with my overseas colleagues.

Forecast for 2009- I think it is going to be a great year. I plan to work hard on my overseas assignment and think it will be amazing time for me. I will be back in the states for the girl’s swim season in August. We have a great group of young girls and I think 2009 might be our best year since I’ve been there. This will be my 5th year coaching. I am still not getting married or having kids anytime soon, but I am very happy and think that will only get better in 2009.

Please check back often in 2009. I plan to become an expert blogger and be sure to keep all of my family and friends up to speed with what is going on in my life in France. I know there will be many firsts for me while I am there and I look forward to sharing them with all of you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all of you!!

Love,
Beth

Chamonix, France

December 12, 2008- So as you all can see I had an amazing trip to France this week to find housing for next year. I stayed in the town of Chamonix. This is a very cute ski town nestled beneath Mont Blanc, one of the highest peaks in the Alps. It is a very active tourist town with lots to do. I will be back often I am sure next year.

Below are some pictures I took of my morning walk through town.

They run gondolas between these peaks. I will totally be doing that at some point!

For those who were wondering, I look the same in France and don't expect that to change:) Although the amazing pastry shops will pose a challenge to me, but I found an amazing trail along a river right outside of our office. So my lunch breaks will include some time there. I cannot wait!

An Advent Calendar on the side of a house... yeah, who wouldn't do that??? It was pretty cool. Although I prefer the old chocolate versions we used to get.

The local bars and restaurants were very cute and I found an amazing coffer/pastry/chocolate shop that I will be taking all of my visitors too!! I am very excited to be heading over. It is a gorgeous part of the world and I look forward to working hard and playing hard.

Thanks for checking in. Merry Christmas!

My Second Home

Here is where I will be staying from March-June. It is in the town of St. Gervais. About a 15 minute drive to the office. It has two bedrooms with room for 5 to sleep!! I have a private patio which just happens to have an amazing view. It is so amazing, my pictures do not do it justice.

The Outisde...

The Living Room...

The Dining Room...

The Tub/Shower...

The Kitchen...

And my Patio with a View!!

Words Cannot Describe....

December 9, 2008- So today was my day with Frederique, I know, how French! She was my housing consultant. She was about 50, married, 3 kids, pretty good English. We had a blast! So we started the day looking at a 300 square foot apartment in Chamonix. Great town, very small living space. I could not do it. I love Chamonix and will come back for sure, but will not be living there. From there we went to look at a place about 25 minutes away, but only 5 minutes from the office. So those of you who know how much I like traffic can imagine how I felt about that place:) We got in the car with the owner and proceeded to get on this little windy road through a forest of green trees, moss and small creeks. We wound up the side of a huge hill and came to rest on a farm site. It has the best view I had seen and the apartment was amazing!! I won't even try to describe, look below.

My View

Outside of the Apartment...

My side patio...

Living room...

Kitchen and Dining Room

This place was all tiled, two bedrooms, 3 beds. Huge open kitchen. It was all I could ask for. It is on a hillside overlooking our office and a gorgeous lake. It is close to a town but will be very quiet. I will be staying here for January and February... I will explain. This renter has many properties. I like the idea of spending some time out of a city and being on my own. She had another property closer to a main town, St. Gervais, but was not free until March. So in mid-March, I will move to that property. It is bigger and even nicer. I am going to be spoiled as will my visitors. Check out some pics of my second home in the next posting.

One final jaunt across the pond...

December 8, 2008- So in my final trek over the Atlantic this year, I started in the UK, Birmingham to be exact. I spent two sunny, yes, I said sunny days in England. It was a busy couple days attending the motorcycle show. Our booth looked great and I had some good meetings with our team from Britain. So after some fish, chips and a Carlsberg beer, I was off for Geneva and my search for housing in France.

So 6:14am, the alarm goes off. I grab my English breakfast and a cab to the airport. Of course, I am more than 2 hours early for my flight. It's just the way it is. So after 2 hours of waiting, we get the announcement that our flight is delayed. No big deal, but I only had a one hour layover in Paris between flights so I was a little worried. So we leave one hour late and after we landed 10 minutes ahead of our later scheduled time, I am thinking I can make this flight.... Until I see us parking on the runway and the bus waiting for us. So most of us have connections and unload the plane in record time, except for the mom and grandma with 1 year old daughter who are taking their sweet old time. I am calm at this point because I called our travel division and found out that if I missed my 1pm flight I had a 3pm, 4pm or 5:30pm option. So I am not freaking out. Plus those of you who know me at all know that I rarely freak out.

So we load the bus, get to the terminal and it is 12:43. I was pushing it. I got through the long security line and did the Home Alone sprint to my gate, where the woman told me I was too late. So I got to kill 2 hours in the airport and caught the 3pm flight.

This is now the deep part of the blog- So as we are flying into Switzerland, I am amazed by the beauty of the land. The dark peaks of the Alps peaking through the soft layer of clouds, the snow sticking to the forests of evergreen trees, the lake glistening in the sun. And behind all of that lied the entire mountain range, covered in snow. The rolling hills leading up to it remind me of the Sound of Music. The snow ends as the elevation gets lower and reveals green hills and cliffs overlooking a winding river. At this point I am beginning to realize how spoiled I will be for 6 months of my life in France. I love nature and the beauty of this world and what I saw today got me excited for all I will experience. End of deep part of the blog.

So after gettimg my bag (which made it on my flight!!), I get my rental car. Now someone must have told them how cool I am because I got a pretty kick butt vehicle. I'll post pictures tomorrow. But I start my supposed one hour drive to the hotel in Chamonix at 5pm. Oh wait, people get off work at 5pm. Crap. So I got to experience traffic in Geneva, while trying to follow the GPS and find the darn freeway. So after 1 hour and 45 minutes I made it safely. I wish it would have been light out, but all I could see on either side of the road were snow covered peaks. There is snow all around and the little town I am staying in a little ski resort town. The shops look gorgeous and I am excited to go venture out in the morning and check out the town. I am meeting my consultant at 11am to go look at 5 properties. I will post pictures tomorrow of the area and the apartment I choose.

I will blog more at the end of my trip.

Thanks for checking in and check back soon for the second annual Holiday Blog!