Antsy

I am thankful for the cold weather, I am anxious to get out on the lakes snowshoeing. I am definitely not one who pushes the envelop of getting out on the ice before I should. People a little further north have already put out their ice houses and are driving trucks on the ice. Around my area it is a catch 22 there are ice houses starting to go out on the lakes and people are beginning to get out there, however I am a little bit cautious as I think about getting out there. Until I hear there is a solid 10 to 12 inches on the ice I won't be going out. There have been several people who have fallen through the ice in years past and I am just not that much of a dare devil.

In the meantime I find myself at the poor farm and other wonderful places. The Arb is out due to the vast number of cross country ski trails (which are beautiful and wonderful however they are not dog or snow shoeing friendly). So I wait, impatiently for the ice to thicken so I can snow shoe.

It is hard to be up north at times. I love it most of the time, but some of the time it drives me nuts. I suppose it is like most places. Never the less, I shall walk my dog around the poor farm and my neighborhood and get my good workouts in at the gym and dream of skiing in the Rocky Mountains and snow shoeing on the lakes in days to come.

I really do love the snow. I enjoy being outside in it. I even don't mind shoveling it. I welcome winter and the chance to curl up on the couch with a good cup of coffee and a wonderful book.

Snowpacalypse

I love living in northern Minnesota for a couple reasons (yes there are reasons I hate it too - primarily because it is way too far away from my family) - but one of the reasons I love living up north is the snow. Seriously I LOVE snow. While some people freak out and get annoyed that the temperature is at a solid -4, there is a piece of me that rejoice as the ice is getting thicker and has to be nearing snow shoeing on the ice weather. GLORIOUS!

Yesterday was an ideal day to say the least: church went well, we celebrated new members and a baptism, and then I spent the rest of the day with Marc and Dakota. We wore sweatpants, watched a good movie, consumed some crockpot chili, and watched another Packer victory. Seriously, wonderful and what I needed. The day was broken up by a few trips outside to shovel the snow that kept falling (I do love shoveling snow even though most people hate the job) and conversations about this that and the other. I am thankful for days like yesterday.

While we were talking yesterday we also realized that we are now under the six month mark until we get married. It will be wonderful to begin that transition. It is a little strange to have two houses going at this point, it seems like we are always running back and forth to grab a movie or something out of the kitchen. It will be great to be in the same place, despite the fact that I know it will come with its own set of challenges too. On the one hand it seems like six months is a ridiculously long ways away, and it won't ever get here. On the other hand it seems like it is just around the corner and my list of stuff that needs (or at least I would like) to get done is relatively lengthy. I know it will all play out like it needs to and at the end of the day we will be married and this is all that will matter. I suppose one of these days I should start to move some of my stuff that is spread out all over the house and begin to make room for Marc. We'll put that on the winter project list.


What is on your to-do list on a snowy winter day?
Any good book suggestions? I am just finishing mine and need a new one.
Any winter weather training tips?

Another Tuesday

This winter has been crazy, a serious lack of snow. This picture is of my sweet (not so little any more) Dakota and myself out wandering through a local state park on an attempt at a "snowy day." Life has been good, winter has semi-disappointed me with the inability to use my snow shoes.

In the midst of work and other such fun I have managed to continue to make a wide variety of crock pot soups (which I have learned to love cooking in the crock pot, now if only I could figure out how to make crock pot recipes so I wouldn't have so much leftover), do some crocheting, take tons of pictures, read (Hunger Games, my latest favorite, and many other books), and run. It has been wonderful to be able to get outside and run.

I also have been taking photos every day. It is kind of a fun challenge, some days I wonder what in the world I should take a photo of and other days it seems so easy. Although today, I missed out, I got to go to the hospital to snuggle a new baby and totally forgot to take a picture. He was very cute for sure. I think it has required me to be a little bit more intentional with my camera and has allowed me to see moments as picture worthy beyond the big trips and special holidays/events, although I must admit I do have a lot of photos of my sweet puppy.

In other excitement I am running the Fargo Half Marathon and am super jazzed about it! I would like to say I can't wait, but truth be told, while I have been running faithfully since the new year, I am not yet ready to run the half.

Oooo.... I have also discovered www.pintrest.com and it is soooooo much fun finding all sorts of random projects and recipes!!! Now if only I had time to make all the recipes and projects that I find or could actually re-do my house like many on there. However it does continue to give me ideas for the ongoing house projects I am doing. Currently I am learning how to re-do my kitchen, I am working on taking down a horrible backsplash in my kitchen and will figure out how to relay the tiles. I am planning on painting my cupboards after the backsplash gets done. I am loving home ownership 98% of the time.

I keep thinking how nice it is to have no major things happening this year: no moving, no graduating, no getting ordained, no call process, and it is a beautiful thing!