Holidays and Sunny Days

The last two months have been a busy whirlwind with many pockets of relaxation. So much has happened, but I want to highlight some of my favorite moments.

After my last post, we ramped up our efforts to find a babysitter and was lucky enough to find two amazing young women to watch Maia for us a couple times a week. One of our sitters recently accepted a full time job so our other sitter referred a good friend of hers. If you’re a parent reading this, you’ll know that even just a few hours of help can be so helpful for everyone’s well-being.

I was also fortunate enough to make some connections that eventually put me in touch with a local yoga studio (in North Lake). The stars aligned and I was offered to teach 3 children’s yoga classes a week plus an adult’s class! Read my teacher profile and view the schedule – virtual classes can be taken from anywhere and from the comfort of your home! As of last week, we started promoting limited in-person spots. So far the experience has been great, as I have been learning the ins and outs of how to run a studio, plus I’ve been helping with the social media efforts and planning a potential teacher training later this year. If only more students would show, but I understand we’re in a pandemic so it’s tough for many to commit right now.

We had our first snowfall on November 8, with about 8 inches of fresh powder. Needless to say we bundled up and went out for a wintry adventure, then proceeded to order snowshoes for another day.

My college buddy came to town and we hung out at Kiva Beach (a new favorite of mine, so much so that I took Adam and Maia there the very next day).

One thing we learned pretty quickly as Tahoe locals is to avoid going out on weekends and holidays. So, we left town on Thanksgiving to drive down to Reseda (San Fernando Valley) to visit my cousin and her family for a couple of days. The drive was a long 7 hours but Maia was thoroughly entertained with her shows, movies and activities. This was the last major trip where we had her in daytime pull-ups, and since turning 3 in December, she is fully potty trained during the day!

Speaking of birthdays, we took a staycation at a lovely AirBnb cabin down in Christmas Valley, just south of the lake for Maia’s 3 trips around the sun. Our dear friend and sister Bridget joined us not once, but twice between November and December. She helped us tremendously by picking up the balloons and cake then heading out right after we settled in to the cabin. We also did a polar plunge in the lake, which I’ll post about soon 🙂

The cabin was tucked away in between lush mountains sprinkled with patches of snow. The river out back was frozen over so Adam and Maia went for a little “ice skating” session. I relied on Adam’s Canadian upbringing to assure me that it was safe to do so 🙂

With each passing day, we fell more and more in love with Tahoe and everything it has to offer. Over the next several weeks, we began ramping up our search for a home to buy. After seeing a few places in the Tahoe Basin, and over a dozen homes in Reno, we put in an offer for a gorgeous home in Galena Forest, tucked into the mountains near Mt. Rose ski resort. More on this in the next post 🙂

During the week, I try to take Maia out on a new location to lightly hike and explore. One of my favorite outings was to Emerald Bay, where we took a one mile hike down the hill to see Vikingsholm and a sit on a beachfront picnic table to snack and play.

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As we approached the holidays, my family decided to fly into town, getting a rapid COVID test within the first few days in Reno. We had a lovely week leading up to Christmas with lots of time outdoors and many home-cooked meals since many of the restaurants were take-out only.

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As we transitioned into 2021, I have made it a point not to become accustomed to the beauty of the lake. In other words, I don’t want to take it for granted that we live in this beautiful location. As I drove back from teaching a class in Crystal Bay yesterday, the snow was slowly falling and twirling like that of a snow globe, and the sunshine sliced through the gray of the cloudy sky on the other end of the lake. I couldn’t help but note the deep blue/green of the lake that contrasted from the many other neutral colors all around. For obvious reasons I did not snap a photo as I was driving, but I knew that even if I had stopped at an overlook, the camera would not be able to capture the essence of what I was seeing and, more importantly, feeling: Gratitude.

You’ll need to come visit and experience it for yourself 🙂