Happy New Year and Winter Vacation

Happy 2018! We are just getting back into the swing of things after the holidays and a week in the mountains. For the second year in a row, we celebrated Christmas with our families here in NJ and then packed our cars to arrive in the Adirondacks for Christmas Eve.

We love winter and this year we've had A LOT of winter so far. Snowmobiling is an activity that our entire family enjoys and we have gotten to do a bunch of it. The Adirondacks are beautiful at this time of year.

It was truly like spending a week in a winter wonderland! Which was exactly the boost our family needed. As is true for everyone, life ebbs and flows and 2017 brought a lot of changes into our lives - many we could have lived without that added a tremendous amount of stress. And 2018 will bring even more. So it was nice to have a week together to re-charge. And think about what is next for us.

We took a day trip to Vermont where we visited Manchester and the surrounding area.

It has become a tradition for us to visit the Northshire Book Store each year. If you love an old book store, add this one to your bucket list! There are creaky old floors, handwritten book recommendations and an iron stairway that leads to the most magical children's book display that I have ever seen.

We like to visit the covered bridge in West Arlington too.

Then we headed back to New York to check out some communities that are just over the Vermont border. We are researching areas to live in after retirement and NY offers some better tax advantages than VT. I was amazed by how much charm this area offers as well.

We even found a covered bridge in Eagleville, NY. Such a beautiful area!

Back at the cabin, we alternated snowmobile rides with relaxing by the fire. It is a challenge to dress for below zero temperatures, but we have gotten pretty good at it and didn't let the frigid temperatures stop us.