alizacory

Happy New Year it's year of the rabbit and year 23 in the Japanese calendar.
We had a snowy New Year and people all around us celebrated with snow rabbits instead of snowmen.



We toured white Kyoto especially at the local shrine Imamiya jinja





I had to head to the lab briefly on New Years day so, I grabbed the rare chance to photograph the Daimonji mtn in snow. We are used to seeing this chinese character lit on fire each year on my birthday but seeing it filled in by the snow is really special.



I attended a conference in Taos, New Mexico, USA called the Keystone symposia on transmembrane signaling by GPCRs and channels. I was generously awarded the travel stipend to attend this meeting. Although we were unable to visit elsewhere in the U.S. we were thrilled that the Gilberts and Popes could join us in Taos. Taos has a rich history in the arts and is home to the Pueblo de Taos an ancient village established by the still present Pueblo Indians.

While the first few days in Taos was much of a whirlwind with the time adjustment and the crazy meeting schedule from 8am until 10pm. Luckily the 4 hour mid-day break allowed me to join in lots of fun activities like...

snowshoeing (actually pretty hard to do, lesson learned - leave the purse at home)



We met Annabelle Riley Pope at last! Boy were we lucky too because she is such a cute entertaining little lady. She loved to pose for pictures.





We enjoyed a delicious Birthday meal at the Bavarian Lodge!





Here are some of the views we caught while in Taos
I was really struck at how the homes all across the state were designed to set into the beautiful background.








The Rio Grande Gorge



Taos Ski valley was a ton of fun. As it was my first time to ski, I found myself frustrated and irritated on the first day. While it might be obvious to the rest of you that your husband might not be the most appropriate ski instructor, we needed to learn that for ourselves. Actually, he did ok after he realized that I wasn't giving up and I wasn't interested in perpetually sliding backwards. Day one, I followed Cory and his father on the beginners hill and then onto strawberry hill (the next size up). After successfully falling down the fruitless hill, I was tricked into believing that I somehow was ready to head up the mountain to a real run. 'Well', I thought, 'I did already pay for this lift ticket might as well get some use out of it.' When we arrived at the top, I stumbled off the lift in such a graceful way that they slowed the speed of the lift to avoid injuring me. I looked around and the reality I was faced with was, the only way down is on my already sore tuchas. Panic stricken, I told Cory and his father to go ahead I would find my way down the lift. The truth being that I really had no interest in going down a lift that is made to only go up. Luck had it that a knight, in not so shiny ski-apparel decorated with badges safely declaring ski-patrol, was overhearing my dilemma and offered to take me down the mountain aboard his chariot...err I mean snowmobile. So, day 1 skiing consisted of my first time on skis, lifts and snowmobiles. The next time we went skiing I opted to leave lift ticket out completely and I stuck to strawberry hill forever.









Actually, by the 3rd day things were looking up...I probably would have opted for a lift ticket on the 4th day, but we ran out of time.

Look at me go!



At the end of our trip we headed to Albuquerque to meet up with my Aunt Janet and Uncle Nelson and my cousins Hal and Jonathan. Actually, this was the first time for me to meet my Uncle so I thought it was really special and had been looking forward to catching up with them. We went over their house and had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. We ate some good barbeque and homemade challah and brownies. We reminisced a little and caught up.



We had a great time with all of you in New Mexico. We really appreciate our parents help, without your support it would have been a bit less vacation and a lot more stressful. We hope to see everyone again soon and to all of our friends and family that we missed out on seeing we really hope to see you soon and keep in touch. We love you and wish you all a great 2011.

P.S.- lessons learned
-Don't bring your purse when you go snowshoeing
-Don't rent a car with Thrifty (it sounds like an appropriate car rental company but they tried to charge us for everything imaginable)
-Use a credit card not a debit card for all pre-authorization required purchases
-Exercising on your vacation is actually a lot more fun than it sounds!