Day 87

Snapped this photo of some proper Swiss chalets just outside of Barboleuse on my drizzly walk to work at Cookie tonight...

Day 86

It finally snowed again (despite the fact that I was really welcoming the warm weather) and you can see the line at which the rain changed to snow up in Bretaye.

Day 85

The clouds rolled into the moutains really beautifully this afternoon when Jamie and I left to do a dinner shop...



... and we made delicious pizzas with what we bought!

Day 84

Richie and Sasha having an outdoor guitar lesson...

Day 83

I got a haircut!!

There's no more snow left at the hostel and with the temperatures being so warm, Jamie cut my hair outside on the patio in the sunshine.

Day 82

Had a day off today so we made the trek to Glacier 3000 which is part of both our resort and Gstaad. Sunshine and +2 degrees up top, we all left with sunburned faces to show for the day. It felt good to ski on some fresh snow (as fresh as we've seen it in about a month) and we spent the day jumping off wind lips off piste. This was taken right before I epically stacked it off a 15-20 foot ledge, whoops.



We took Jack's mum out for her last night in Villars as well... L-R Sasha, Kat, Me, Gerry

Day 81

Popped a package in the mail for the Morrill family today... swiss easter candy and presents for the kids (and parents). Hope it arrives soon!

Day 80

We've acquired an xbox 360 at the hostel-- most nights during the week you will find the boys planted right here. (L-R Erik, me, Jason)

Day 79

No more snow at the hostel! :(



(Kid finished his drawing for Shannon's birthday today... it came out amazing).

Day 78

Sunshine and insanely warm weather (around +15 degrees... mid-60s to everyone at home). Jamie, Gioia and I met up for a coffee in Villars at Le Sporting, one of the few restaurants in town. It has the most amazing view from the terrace. Jamie and I went up for a quick slushy ski afterward which ended up to be a battle with moguls.

Day 77

Recovery day... Tom and I went down to the valley for some MacDonalds for lunch and he brought back take away thai food to the hostel for dinner. It felt so american to be getting take out when you don't feel like cooking. This is something the swiss need to learn about :)

Day 76

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Day 75

Had a bit of a rough morning of goodbyes but thank goodness for sunshine,warmer weather and girlfriends... and the mountains aren't too bad either. L to R- Sasha, me, Jamie, and Tamara.

Day 74

Mmmm another delicious meal of raclette... which then turned into lunch tomorrow as we always prep for at least 10-15 servings extra.

Day 73

Was George and Nick's last night out so of course it was a big day on the mountain for everyone and a big night out on the town-- Heidi, George and Tamara busted out the fleuro one pieces for the occasion!

Day 72

another fail.

well, I took a photo today but it's stuck on my camera and I can't access it, so we'll chalk it up to a fail.

Day 71

It seems as if we spend a decent amount of time up at the snow bar on the mountain... hmmm. Was a really fun day out with George, Jason and Fleur though, I learned how to do my first 180 jump and we played around along the pistes all day.

Day 70

fail.

Day 69

Spent the day researching my upcoming travels... Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Turkey... then on my way to Australia for the year. Started off with a few travel books to get the ideas going.

Day 68

Got these in the mail today from Em-- and it continues to break my heart every time I get a letter from the Morrill's considering how much I absolutely miss them. I finally got my butt into gear and there's a package coming in the mail to Ohio soon :)

Day 67

Monday = day off for the Cookie fam so we all went up for a ski... bluebird skies and cold weather, couldn't ask for much more on our first day off in a month. We ended the night with a big dinner at L'Escale, bowling, and a (surprise!) trip to the pub.

Day 66

Open mic night at Harambee... Richie and Kiddo serenaded us all with their beautiful renditions of Tenatious D and Sublime songs.

Day 65

Finally organized all of the new clothes and such that mom and dad brought for me-- my storage space/closet is beginning to look rather full.

Day 64

Bluebird skies, Eric and I went for an afternoon snowboard in Les Diablarets which is the resort that connects ours (Villars) to the glacier 3000 (also part of Gstaad). We ended up meeting up with the hostel boys on their way home from the glacier and had a great day out in the fresh air while mom and dad did a bit of cross country skiing here in town. This was, sadly, their last night here and we had a bit fondue dinner with everyone which was delicious.

Day 63

I have a bit of bad luck with wine glasses at work... no matter how hard I try not to, I tend to break at least one glass a night. Tonight I made it to about 10 min before we left for home and this happened. Sorry DJ!

Day 62

Mom and I went down to Montreaux for the day for some lunch and a bit of shopping. There are random bits of art along the lake... like lions/where the wild things are dancing in the garden. Also had to get the obligatory photo with Freddie Mercury. It was really nice to have a day just the two of us given that most of the year we are so far apart -- even though I was so tired and a bit crabby, nothing that a trip to H&M can't settle :)

Day 61

Happy birthday Elizabeth!

We had such a delicious dinner to celebrate Elizabeth and Aly's (one of the backpackers) birthdays... Matt made homemmade mac n cheese and Jamie and I decorated this lovely cake for the celebration.

Day 60

The weather was beautiful today so we made a bit of a roadtrip out to Zermatt in the german speaking part of Switzerland. Our first proper family photo of the week and I can't lie it came out really well... all 4 of us in front of the most recognizable mountain in the whole of the country-- the Matterhorn.

Day 59

They made it! 24 hours later and a bit of jet lag but mom dad and eric have arrived in suisse and I'm so excited. I showed them around Gryon and Villars for the afternoon and in the evening we all went up to Murphy's pub to watch the Canada vs USA hockey game for the gold medal-- sadly we lost. We did all get to sport our favorite red, white and blue attire (aka pjs and sweatpants) and Kat sported her best lumberjack shirt to support that waste of a country up north ;)

Day 58

The family was suppose to arrive today... but a few delays in the states pushed their trip a day back sadly. Went out for a ski in the afternoon and hit up the full moon parties up in town after work. Villars was so packed with people we couldn't get into the only nightclub in town so instead we trekked to the bowling alley lounge which was actually really nice!

Day 57

It may have looked like Chad was about to shovel the whole deck, but do not be fooled... he's simply clearing a path to his beer. At noon.

(Tonight was also the night before a full moon so just before leaving work I snapped this shot of the moonlit mountains).

Day 56

My snack of choice... straight from the jar.