Media unavailable · Original source

Holy smokes, have we been busy. The trip to Ireland in October, then a Texas Thanksgiving in November. We've been glad to be back home this month in our own beds.

We had company this week - friends from Houston who decided to brave the "frigid north" (to them, anyway). We had a blast with their adorable kids, hiking in sub-freezing temperatures at Radnor Lake, stomping on ice to see if it would break, and eating Korean food.

Abbey and I have both been catching up on our reading. She just finished "Nothing to Envy," a book about life in North Korea. I've been reading "Bloodlands," a book about eastern Europe and the horrific atrocities commited there in the 1930s and 1940s. Needless to say, our book discussions have been a little on the melancholy side. I wish I could read "The Rational Optimist" again after finishing "Bloodlands," if only to lift my spirits after reading such a sad book. Despite it's horrific nature, I recommend the book as a less-than-often-discussed history of the dangers of idealism, fanaticism, and a state without limits.

Well, first snow accumulation. We've had more than one snowfall prior, but it was a mix so it didn't really accumulate. I'm loving all of this fluffy precipitation.

Nashville Snow from B.D. on Vimeo.

Me: (Jokingly) Look! I have washboard abs!
A: Sure you do, if washboards were made of peanut butter.

We've been in Texas for Thanksgiving, visiting family and helping with various things that needed to be done.

The Cliffs of Moher were touristy, but still worth the 6 euro (about $9) parking fee. When A spotted another tourist who had a Nikon DSLR, we asked him to take this picture. She figured someone with a DSLR would know how to work ours, and she was right.

This was at a hostel near Galway, Ireland. J took to this 8-year-old boy named Luke (who was visiting from Sydney, Australia).

This building was built in about 1000 A.D.