Headlamps Aren't Just for Spelunking Anymore!

One Christmas Chris received a headlamp as a gift from his brother, Mark. Mark was so excited to give Chris the gift as he found his own headlamp to be invaluable. Although we believed him, we couldn't possibly think of one way we'd use it. This was four Christmases ago, and boy was he right! So far, we've used this headlamp for anything from home improvement projects to locating a missing cat under a piece of furniture. We've used it for hiking, painting, during power outages and most recently (as in, last night) running in the dark through crunchy snow in subfreezing temperature through a snowstorm. I've had my fair share of near misses running through the streets of Ferndale, but last night I couldn't be missed! I glowed like a shining star. My third eye lead the way through the hurdles of my neighborhood with boundless energy. Did people think I was crazy? Probably. Am I? Probably. I didn't care as I was so happy to been able to get my run in while avoiding being flattened like a pancake by some oblivious driver on a cellphone. Thanks for keeping me safe, Mark!

Montana's, Orillia, Ontario

Chris and I stopped off for some traditional Canadian cuisine tonight at a place called Montana's. There, we were able to order ribs, fries and pitchers of beer. To immerse ourselves in the local culture, Chris decided to order the following:

And now, a multiple guess quiz about what it could be:

a) fried veggies a la mode

b) a spare tire

c) poutine

If you guessed b or c, you are right! Poutine (pronounced pooh-TEEN in English or pooh-TEN in French), is cheese and gravy covered fries and then baked. Our server rubbed her belly and assured us that no one earns a guts like hers without consuming trop poutine. I couldn't resist, but I did take a picture of our poutine. I'll be uploading it when I get home! Au revoir!

Five Wineries, Thirty-Four Hours and One Trip to Chicago

What a crazy trip! Chris and I traveled to Chicago for the annual Lamott Pilgrimage (hot, fun and noisy get together with sixty of my closest relatives) this weekend. To keep it interesting and to break up the drive, we stopped at some terrific wineries both on the way down and up.

Our first stop was at Contessa Winery. This is where we met the very hungry (i.e. fat) cat Tabitha who kept our laps warm as we sampled some tasty Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. Though the property was covered in glistening snow while we were there, the grounds would make a terrific backdrop for a lovely little spring picnic. If we'd had more time to stay, we could have bellied up to the bar for wine sold by the glass.

Our next stop was Round Barn Winery, Distillery and Brewery . The cute little cupcake shaped barn drew us in. OK, the variety did, but whatever. Here we were sold matching tasting glasses which we can bring back empty at any time to sample wine next time. For five bucks total you get nine tastings and one martini. We took our time. What an extensive wine list! There were two wineries housed in the same building, Round Barn and Free Run . We bounced from Red Barn to Free Run to the distillery, called DiVine, while diligently scribbling our our tasting notes. Our favorites included a Cranberry wine (a bit sweet on its own but would be delicious in sangria), a dry Gewurtztraminer and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Round Barn was slammed while we were there, but we got great service and were even given a case discount even though we only purchased three bottles.

We hung out with the fam for a few hours then drove to the Chi Town Burbs for dinner and couch time at the Messicks. We philosophised and cracked ourselves up over a few pots of coffee which I dubiously drank for fear I would laugh in it and scald my face. We have too good of a time with that Holly and Danny.

Sunday was brunch with more family followed by a thrilling ride home. We were lured off the highway by two more wineries, Domaine Berrien and Lemon Creek. We snagged a delicious Pinot Noir at Domaine Berrien. We're not huge pinot fans, but I'll say that we're starting to be. This wine was deep in color with a fruity nose and a fine finish, a far cry from the pale and lifeless Pinots I've been drinking. Lemon Creek has a couple of winery dogs, who we much enjoyed and an '03 Cab with which we fell in like. Even though it's been in the bottle a bit, rich tannins were still prevalent. I wonder how big it was four years ago!

I'm changing my mind about Michigan wines. I've been less than complimentary about the wines we produce in the past, but I do think we're producing some great ones now. Our wine makers are becoming more experienced with each vintage and we're enjoying every bit of it. We'll be back in the spring when the '06 vintages are released!

St. Louis Marathon

Angela and I pulled the trigger and signed up for the St. Louis Marathon on April 6! WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!

Chris & Libbie are HAVING A BABY!

Slow down. Just kidding!

What an awesome, awesome year 2007 turned out to be! We've been able to experience so many fantastic things, many together, which makes it even better! This has been a fearless year of adventure, perseverance and fun.

I turned 30 this past January (1/8, in case you were wondering.) This has been, by far, the best year of my life, and it just keeps getting better. I am a member of online faculty for the University of Phoenix, which I adore. I teach Sociology, Business English and Criminology to Associates Degree students all over the world. Chris and I also celebrated our three year anniversary on January 31. No one ever said being married was easy, but we have such fantastic fun we sometimes forget it's work.

Chris was Vegas bound by February, on a boys trip with some coworkers from HLF Furniture. Chris plays Director of Project Management at HLF which is a custom furniture manufacturer. He'll be going on his third year there in 08!

In March I decided to do something I've always wanted to do: sign up for the Chicago Marathon! I'd always been a runner but had never taken my passion to extremes. Thanks to my awesome running partner and marathon veteran friend, Angela, we planned to go where neither of us had ever gone before: run a marathon in under four hours. In the midst of my all consuming Saturday long runs, and the St. Patty's Day 4-mile race, Chris and I squeezed in a Bob Seger concert. Go Bob. You've still got it...a little bit.

In April my grad school friend Kristina (without whom I would not have graduated) came for a visit. Also, Chris and I headed to St. Louis for a weekend excursion and the celebration of my very good friends' wedding, Heather and John Edwards. We caught up with the Rutherfords and scrimped on sleep to maximize our time there. It's always crazy when we're in town!

We saw Billy Joel in May (how incredible!) Chris scooped up tickets for us as our anniversary present as we like to celebrate all year long. That man sure can sing and it was so sweet that he was actually singing only to us. I ran the Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon May 6 (the race motto is Run Like the Wind, Sweat Like a Pig) with Angela and another running friend, Karen. Chris and Elvis were my fearless cheerleaders. Cinci is where Elvis experienced his first elevator ride at Extended Stay America and his first trip to Ohio. He's pretty well traveled for a dog. Good to know: if you like to travel with your dog, all Extended Stay America motels/hotels allow dogs of any size. We joined a cooking club this month too, which has given us many great new friends and more ways and opportunities to cook than we ever thought!

June was nuts. I ran the Dexter-Ann Arbor 10K (where we got to hang out with our friend Shannon, who moved to Detroit for the summer!), the Race for the Cure 5K, a race for Autism Awareness 5K trail run and Chris' dad came for a visit. I officially declared myself exhausted. Note: my exhaustion is in no way related to Chris' dad's visit. He and Chris worked feverishly all weekend on Elvis' dog house made from recycled cedar from a sauna. Chris put the last shingle on just before our first big snow.

July was our favorite month of all! Chris and I headed to San Francisco and Napa Valley for a week of sunshine, wine and relaxation with a little running. We visited my dear friend Amy Mack, who happens to be SF's best tour guide and hostess. She put up with us, played chauffeur and even gave up her bed during our stay. We split our time between SF and Napa Valley. Everyone out there is in a terrific mood, and why wouldn't they be? With plenty of sunshine and an outpouring of wine, what is there to complain about really? I ran an awesome point to point half marathon from Napa to Sonoma through the most gorgeous vineyards. As dumb as this sounds, I actually felt a bit sad at mile three when I realized I only had 10 miles left. How often would I be able to run in an environment like this? I ended up celebrating a personal record that day with Chris at the wine festival at the finish line. My kind of day!

Chris' mom came to visit in August, and even ran a ten mile race with me called the Crim. We made some fancy lasagna and hung around the house all weekend. We really enjoyed her visit. I headed to St. Louis solo the following weekend for my friend Pam Nottmeier's wedding shower. It's was gorgeous weekend! Chris, Elvis and I celebrated Chri's 29th birthday on the 18th of this month by heading to a dog friendly bed and breakfast on the west side of the state. Elvis had the best time exploring the 10 acres of the B&B and we hit up a decent Michigan winery. We also hosted our first cooking club (Chinese, complete with horoscopes.)

Heather and John came to visit in September, as they always do to catch a Michigan game. I hobbled around all month alternating my long run weekends with 12 and 20 milers. I wanted to quit training and decided that I didn't really want to run a marathon. I just couldn't quite figure out how to tell my running partner.

October was eventful. Elvis turned six on October 1, and I ran the Chicago Marathon (kind of.) Our niece, Catherine, was also born in October (on the 6th, to be exact.) Chris headed out to Yosemite for the second brother's road trip (via airplane) to Yosemite for some back country exploration. Check out this link of 300 some odd pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/CWRutherford/BrosRoadTrip2007?authkey=icOLdi-i1qA
It was a month of milestones.

It was nearly 90 degrees the day of the Chicago Marathon, October 7, and even though my spirits and confidence were high, the experience was a bit of a mess. Chris and I were lucky enough to stay with my cousins Holly & Danny Messick, who are so fantastic I forget that we're related. We had so much fun hanging out with them all weekend! Holly even made race signs for me that said, "Go Libbie!" Chris suggested that she make one more that said, "Home!" I was honored to have the support of so many of my Chicagoland relatives both in person and from the comfort of their airconditioned homes. My Uncle Pete and Aunt Mary were present, waiting for my cousin (their daughter) Jo and me to schlep ourselves across the finish line. We celebrated with margaritas and Mexican (hey, we needed the salt!)

A couple of weeks later, Angela, my friend Joanne, and I ran the Detroit Half Marathon. For the first time, I volunteered during packet pick-up with Chris and my parents. What a blast that was to be surrounded by so many runners. The energy in the room was amazing! It was fun to see what goes on the night before a marathon from the outside looking in. The nerves are heightened! The Chicago proved to be so disappointing with the heat, race cancellation, and inability to run the race for which we had trained, that Angela and I decided to run the Grand Rapids Marathon three weeks later. I had some shirts made that read: I ran the Chicago, the race was crap. Let's see what I'm made of here in G. Rap. The runners thought they were great and their laughs gave us the energy to complete the race in 3:54:08. YAHOO! Elvis also attended his first Halloween party this month. He went as Dracula and no one recognized him.

In November we were invited by the Detroit Free Press as a thank-you-for-volunteering-at-the-marathon dinner cruise on the Detroit River. Oh, how pretty the Ambassador Bridge looks illuminated in the night! We join some other runners from my running group, the Downtown Runners & Walkers, who also volunteered. After running the Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving Day, Chris and I head to St. Louis to celebrate with some Rutherfords, turkey and three kinds of pie (apple/cream cheese, pumpkin and pecan.) We went to Pam's wedding too (the Nottmeier/Woycke wedding was a blast!) and my parents even joined us for the occasion. Good times. We start working on Form Vibrations again, our interior design company. Check out our website which is always evolving,.

December brings the conclusion of our two year kitchen renovation! We thought it would take us three weeks when we began. As you can see, sometimes we're not the best judges of time. Nonetheless, we either made or reused every material in the kitchen and it looks (and cooks) fantastically. Pumpkin cheesecake anyone? Now we can focus on the other in-progress project we began in July. Our second floor/master suite. This month has been blissfully filled with dinner parties, wine tastings and outings with friends.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a splendid New Year. We hope that we'll be able to see all of you very soon!

Love,

Chris & Libbie