The BIG 3-0, and of course, St. Patty's Day!

Wrinkles, aching joints, and walking cane aside, 30 is great so far! I had a great birthday celebration. My friend Marcy came to visit (and was our very first house guest!!) for the weekend, which was such a special treat! We had a wonderful dinner at my favorite restaurant with my parents and Mary, then got ice cream, and then Marcy, Joe and I went out for a beer.

On Saturday, Marcy and I went skiing for about an hour before deciding it was just too warm and slushy to be skiing! It was near 70 degrees!! St. Mary's has a great St. Patrick's Day celebration, and we enjoyed corned beef and cabbage, beer, and Irish coffee on Saturday night.

Since the weather was so nice, we went for a jog and a bike ride on Sunday. It was a beautiful weekend! The bike trails were a bit muddy and even snowy in places, so that made the ride a little adventurous. We are excited to get out the spring/summer toys!

ANTIGUA!

We had such a wonderful vacation in Antigua! I think I can get used to these EJ trips fairly easily! The island is beautiful and surrounded by the clearest Caribbean blue water. The weather was perfect - sunny all day, and it was still warm at night. The all-inclusive resort was such a treat - we didn't have to bring money anywhere, and we could order all the fruity drinks we wanted! We especially enjoyed the mimosas for breakfast and the Banana Sip Sops in the afternoon. It was so relaxing to sit on the beach or by the pool with a book while not worrying about anything other than what sunscreen to use. Our room was about 30 yards from the largest pool at the resort, complete with a pool bar and hot tub. We also met lots of other great EJ couples, as there were 75 couples on this trip!

While it was relaxing, as I'm sure you could guess, we couldn't just sit by the pool for 8 days straight! We also got a massage :) Really, though, we played golf, went SCUBA diving, sailed on the Hobie cats, and toured the island in an open air Jeep along with kyaking and snorkeling.




Joe's favorite part of the trip was when he realized he only packed one pair of underwear -- the ones he put in our carry-on, just in case! Luckily we spent most of the week in our swimsuits anyway! As you can see here, Joe also tried his best to blend in with the locals so that we wouldn't be tagged as tourists! Something tells me he didn't fool anyone!


You can check out the rest of our photos in our collection via the link on the right.


The rest and relaxation on the beach was much needed, and now we are back to work and back in the snowy mountains. However, it is quite spring-like here with lots of snow melting already! I'm sure we will get more snow yet this spring, though.