As December was closing in on us and the pressure of Christmas began ramping up, we decided that instead of checking off items on the never-ending "to do list", we would run away from it all with just 10 shopping days left. Our family was in desperate need of unplugging from the demands of the world and reconnect with each other and nature.  Fortunately, we have some friends who were generous enough to let us escape to their cozy cabin in the mountains for 3 days.  It was absolute heaven and just what the doctor ordered.  Although their "cabin" was really a house--and one I would gladly live in. 

We had no cell reception, no computers, no cable and no contact with the outside world:  a mother's dream and a teenager's worst nightmare. After the teenagers pushed through their initial withdrawal, they realized that they really did enjoy spending time with each other after all.  We played games, watched Christmas movies, took long naps, read books and magazines, sipped coffee and hot chocolate beside the fireplace and played in the snow. Every morning we woke to at least another foot of the white fluffy stuff on the ground.  Because of the record snowfall, the day after we left, the highway was closed down for 3 days due to 100 fallen trees. We were kind of wishing we had been stranded up there in our own little paradise for 72 more hours.  But the  72 hours we had were heavenly and gave us the extra energy we needed to power through the last week.