Wednesday, December 24, 2008

merry christmas

I hope everyone is having a nice Christmas Eve and is ready for a nice day off work to spend time with friends and family tomorrow. I went grocery shopping last night and am fixing all kinds of treats- ham, apple pie, egg nog, apple cider cocktails, etc. Zach is getting off work early today and we're spending the evening around the house. Then tomorrow my friend Deana is coming over to hang out. It'll be a quiet Christmas- just the way I like it. :)


It's also looking like we're going to have a white Christmas! It snowed again this morning- we've got over a foot out there in the downtown area. They said this is the snowiest December on record! The warmer air is moving in though and we'll be getting some rain and the snow will start to melt fast. It was fun while it lasted! It was neat to experience a tiny "real" winter again.



In the spirit of Christmas, I busted out my fiddle last night to play some carols. I played in an orchestra all through middle and high school, but now my violin only sees the outside of the case once a year. Every year I think "I should really play more often" but it hasn't happened yet. It's an old violin that was my grandpa's and it has a beautiful sound. Well, it has potential. Let's just say I'm a little rusty!! I won't make you listen to my playing, but here's a picture..








I do have some training to report before I go:

Tuesday: bike

30 minutes trainer ride

-


Wednesday: run

4.0 miles/40:00/10:00 average pace

Treadmill run with some incline variation to make it slightly interesting. Felt great!

Strength Training in the weight room




Merry Christmas Everyone!!

19 comments:

Aron said...

ohhhh thats so fun about the violin!! i didnt know that about you :)

have a wondeful christmas jen!!!

Alisa said...

Maybe we can convince you to play at the January cocktail party we're having. (read Amy's blog.)

I can't believe it is still snowing in portland. I'm glad we got out when we did!

Amy - the gazelle said...

maybe we'll have to get together & play duets :) I have a flute (although I'm much more skilled at the piano - just don't have one of those yet).

I am ready for the snow to leave - I just spent an hour shoveling, and may never move again!

happy christmas! I'm hoping to get a christmas run in tomorrow.

Gotta Run..... said...

Maybe you could run your next marathon playing the violin? That would be interesting. You should not waste the talent you have by only playing once a year!!

My training has been total suckage this week. Our oldest his home visiting and I don't want to spend a bunch of time away from all of the fun.

Merry Christmas!!

N.D. said...

I think quiet is the way to go! Enjoy!

Amy said...

I hope you're "celebrating" right now. Have a great, quiet Christmas (those are my favorite kind too). Cheers!!!!!!!

PS- that is so cool about the violin and that its your gpa's!

Emily said...

Happy xmas/holidays!! I love the violin and yes, we should get together a Portland Blogger Quartet or something.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy you quiet, yet beautiful Christmas. Very cool about the violin.

Arcane said...

You played the violin?? I used to play way back in grade 4 which was fun then transferred to a new school which didn't have the violin so i ended up stopping.

Merry Christmas to you and Zach. All the best in the new year.

SavvyFitChica said...

Merry Christmas to you Jen! Have fun cooking and baking and having the "quiet" day you're hoping for!

And enjoy the white Xmas- I'm jealous!

Danielle said...

Merry Christmas Jen! Hope you are having a nice holiday!!

Lindsay said...

merry Christmas! hope you enjoy an extra special holiday with family and friends.

Steve Stenzel said...

Yay for a white Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Sarah said...

I'm kind of disappointed to not see a video of the violin. Just sayin!! Merry Christmas

Anonymous said...

Beautiful violin!!! That's great you can play...I always wished I was more musically inclined :) Enjoy your white Christmas!

Petraruns said...

I hope you had a wonderful white christmas (and even managed a run in there somewhere?). It's cold here but dry - no white.. Good running through. I wish you and Zach the very best for 2009 - may your every wish come true!

Kelly said...

Your violin is gorgeous. Lucky you can still play, you must have been good in school. I played viola and think I could hardly read music let alone play the thing. Good thing it was just a rental. Hope you had a merry Christmas. That snow up there was crazy. My sister was stuck there instead of going home for Christmas, bummer. I heard the airport ran out of food and necessaties cause there weren't any deliveries. Scary.

TJ said...

Merry Christmas Jen. Hope you have a great new year.

Unknown said...

That's funny. I just bought my wife a violin for Christmas!

Hope you had a great Christmas.