Winter Wonderland, Take 2

It just keeps snowing around here, by the way. I hear we're not alone.

But as I wipe it off my car each day (our garage doors are BOTH broken at the moment)...

...and stomp it off my feet when I get inside...

... and watch Riley bunny-hop through it since it's so deep he can no longer just walk...

...I'm reminded of this:

Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
blot out the stain of my sins.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:1, 7 (NLT)

Scenes from a Winter Wonderland

So you might be aware that a major storm rolled through the Midwest this past weekend.

We certainly got our share. All day Friday, all we saw was this:

And this:

Take a bush that's right outside our front door.

9 am: No snow. Greenish grass behind it.

12 pm:

3 pm:

Take us.

Friday night: Normal

Saturday Morning: Shoveling our driveway for an HOUR. Wet, heavy snow a foot deep on a small driveway will apparently take two adults working for 60 minutes each to clear it.

Sunday Morning: Very, very sore.

And a tree in front of our house? See how high it stands - somewhere between the top window and the bottom window?

Well, this is what it currently looks like:

Thank goodness I never liked that tree. I don't know if it will ever recover.

And then there was the issue with the car. We drove to a restaurant to have brunch with friends. No problems. We drove to their house to borrow a tack gun (to use on our kitchen project). No problems. We were leaving their neighborhood, driving on a busy street to head back home, and we stopped at a stop sign. And this happened:

Yes, all of the snow that had collected on top of the car chose that moment to slide down onto the windshield. I seriously had to stick my head out of the window and direct Josh on how to drive 200 feet and turn into a church parking lot. We couldn't see a thing. Thank goodness we didn't hit anything or anyone.

Let's just say it was the perfect weekend to stay inside and work on our kitchen!

Chilly in the Big Apple.

Rosy Cheeks.
[central park]


Cold ears.
[central park]


A much-needed hat.
[brooklyn bridge]


A big winter coat.
[near madison square park]


Multiple layers.
[high line park]


A red, drippy nose.
[high line park]


A scarf.
[brooklyn bridge]


We froze our ever-loving tails off this past weekend in New York City.

But had a great time.

Colorado, Days 3 & 4

Yesterday we took the day off from skiing and had some nice family time. Our activities were low key - eating, playing cards, and going out to see Australia.
My arms and legs were very thankful for the break.

Today we were at nearby Beaver Creek.

Fall Total: 3
Today it was extra chilly, so we took an extra break for hot cocoa.

On the chair lift...
Beaver Creek is great for mountain views. We'd see sights like this at various turns.

So I was trying to take a picture of myself with the mountains in the background, but clearly took it a little close. However, upon further investigation I realized that in this picture you can not only see my mitten + camera, but ski runs in the background. See? It's artistic.

Ahh, that's better.

Colorado, Day 2

Fall Total: 5 (But they were much less spectacular than yesterday's)

One of my (many) favorite parts of skiing? It doesn't matter what your hair looks like. Case in point:
(I was originally in this picture, sporting an awesome hairdo, but it also included a rather unsightly double chin, so I cropped myself out.)

Me, a bit of a wimp when it comes to the cold. Josh usually skis with his face bare (like the next picture.) Me, on the other hand? Every inch of skin covered up.

Josh was a little ticked at me for taking this one. Stop trying to ski and take pictures at the same time!

Colorado, Day 1

Signing in from Vail, CO! We're here safe and sound.

Today we skiied Vail, and oh it was fun.

sunny + not too cold + good snow = wonderful skiing

Fall total: 3

Here is one of my better falls of the day - i bit it at the top of the hill and slid down about 100 ft on my back with my head pointed down the hill. I made Josh take my picture for your viewing pleasure. As he was taking it people kept stopping by to ask if I was okay.





No broken bones - yet!

Stay tuned for additional vacation pics throughout this week.

Ice Storm

Yep, we've got one today here in Southern Indiana.

This morning Josh headed out of the front door to head to class, took one step outside, and wiped out on the ice.

Upon booting up his computer in class, he realized that he'd not only fallen, but fallen on his laptop case. Which resulted in a cracked laptop screen.

So much for a class that is all about computer stuff.

Thankfully he bought his computer through the university, and they have an on-site repair shop that will fix it for free. Unfortunately, however, they may not have the new screen in place by the time we leave on Friday.

Which means he is now facing three weeks of Christmas vacation without his fifth limb. 

4 More Days

Can't wait to be here (Vail, CO):

Doing this:

And hopefully not doing this:

With me, however, terrific falls are an hourly occurence. So as long as we have #1 and #2 down, I'll be a happy girl.

LeCompte Visit

A random weekend with longtime friends... what could be better?

We spent a fun, lazy weekend with Chris and Dee Dee, complete with late night chats, The Office, outlet shopping, a quick, cold campus tour, and lots of good food. Dee Dee was even sweet enough to run my 2 miles with me on Saturday. It almost killed both of us, but we did it! On to 2.25 tonight...

Anyway, here we are at Oliver Winery, a super popular wine tasting spot here in Bloomington.

Highlights?
-Good old fashioned conversations about life, jobs, homeownership, etc. I love catching up!
-Walking ALL around the HPER (old student gym) to find treadmills that we eventually discovered just aren't there
-Eating cheese fondue twice in 1 weekend
-Testing our ability to tell Coke apart from Pepsi (3 out of the 4 of us were succesful!)
-Finding excellent deals (including a $65 Ann Taylor suit) at the outlet mall




And now we're looking forward to what will inevitably be one of the craziest, busyest, and most stressful couple of weeks in the business school process. Internship interviews start tomorrow and Josh has 6 scheduled in the next 3 days. We're praying for successful interviews, calm nerves, and, well, internship offers, but also for the right perspective in all of this...


Running Update: I ran that 2.25 m only by the grace of God tonight. Definitely a toughie...

Little Fur-Ball Loves The Snow

Good, solid, stay-around snow arrived in Bloomington over the weekend, and the little guy enjoyed the
delights of both rolling around in it and licking up as much as possible.