Enjoying Spring

It was way too nice to stay inside today, so Anne and I got some Spring cleaning done.  I did some light yard work to get our garden ready while Anne enjoyed her swing outside.

I'm so glad that Spring and warmer weather is finally here.

 

 

Welcome Springtime!

Today was such a beautiful day.  With a high of 66, it was actually nice to be outside.  In fact, it was way to nice to not be outside.  Spring has always been my favorite holiday.  I love nature and everything coming to life after a long winter.  The breeze was crisp and the sun was bright.

It was time to introduce our perfect October baby to the outdoors.  The poor girl has, until today, only really known a life of cold and snow.  Today, we met my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew for a walk around the Mishawaka Riverwalk.

Afterwards, I put Anne in my Snugli and we walked to the park down the street from our house.

 We went swinging.  I loved watching the awe and wonder in her face as her experienced the wind blowing in her face.  It was a sensation that she had never experienced before.  We have a swing at home, but this was different.  This was wind blowing in your face, leaning over and seeing the ground different.  My sweet October baby had never seen grass or rocks before or seen trees not covered in snow.

"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."

Psalm 19:1 ESV

I pray that I continue to be awed by God's beautiful creation and love it like I'm seeing it for the first time.

Let It Snow

* Now 25°,  Light Snow Feels Like 14°

It's a cold snowy day today.  The snow looks so pretty but I'm not looking forwarding to going out in it later.  It's been coming down pretty steady all day.  The news stations are predicting 4-6 inches before it's done.   Anne was just staring out the window earlier in awe.

We bundled her up in her snowsuit to get some pictures of her in First major snowstorm.  She was not a fan of the cold.  We did not stay out for very long.

Inside a Snowglobe

The snow is so pretty outside. I'm not sure if you can see if the picture, but it's coming light and steady.  Looking out of big windows at work, it looks like we are living in a snow globe.

The Snow is Coming...Maybe

Thursday Forecast: "Cloudy with snow showers early and steady snow likely later in the day. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected."

According to weather.com, we are under a Winter Storm Watch from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning.  The article claims that this might be the biggest winter storm of the season.  The worst of the lake effect snow is supposed to come Thursday night.  So we will just have to hunker down and wait to see how bad it.  The local forecast is only calling for 1-3 inches of snow.  We shall see who is right.

2011 Blizzard Update: Snow Day

So, Steve and I got a snow day from work today because of all the snow.  I didn't think it was that bad out when I was starting to up this morning, because they were actually plowing our street.  We live on a dead end road with mostly rentals, so our street doesn't get plowed very often.  Steve and I both got calls from our bosses this morning telling us that we didn't have to come in.  Steve thinks he might still have to go in to shovel the sidewalks around the YWCA for the clients, but South Bend has declared a "Snow Emergency" so I don't think he will have to shovel. I don't anticipate the clients wanting to go anywhere in this mess. My uncle that lives in the south east corner of Wisconsin said they have about 5 feet of snow in their yard, probably due to snow drifts  We don't have that much yet, but it is still snowing.  It is supposed to continue to snow all day.  It's crazy out there, but it does make me want to go ice skating or something.

On the bright side, the ground hog did not see his shadow this morning, so that means only 6 weeks until Spring. :o)

Blizzard Warning Issued

So, all over the news they are threatening that we are going to get another big snowstorm over the next few days.  I've heard anywhere from 6-8 inches to two feet.  Good thing I went grocery shopping yesterday.

News Story

"Storm seen as worst since '99"
I remember the storm in 1999. That was my Senior year of High School and we got an extra week of Christmas Vacation.  All the other grades had to make up the days, but we didn't because we were graduating. :o) 

"The weather service said the storm, expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon over much of northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana, could be "dangerous, multifaceted and potentially life-threatening."
All told, forecasters expect at least a foot of snow over much of the warning area. White-out conditions are expected at times Tuesday night, with snowfall rates of at least 2 to 3 inches per hour possible with northeast winds of 25 to 40 mph and even stronger gusts."

Well,  we may be stuck inside for the next few days.

Snow Day!

So Michiana got dumped on by lake-effect snow last night and since the city didn't plow our street after the last snow the foot or more that we got overnight just added to the snow we already had, so as you probably already guessed it, we are stuck in the house today.  Steve tried to leave this morning to get a free sandwich from Chick Fil-A, but he only got a few feet past our house and had to come back.  He is pretty disappointed in his lack of free sandwich.
I had to call off from Sears today because there is no way that my Focus is going to make it down the street and I don't have very high hopes that the city is going to be plowing our street anytime soon.  My dad is borrowing the truck, but I'm not even sure the truck would make it through.  Our neighbor tried to get out with his truck and gave up after about 30 minutes.
Steve has actually been wanting a big snow like this since he moved here.  Hopefully, we will be able to get out and play in it, since we won't be going anywhere today.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

I love the first snow of the season.  It looks so beautiful and peaceful when you are looking out the window.  Today is one of the days that I wish my office at work had windows.  I can see outside when I leave my office though.  The picture is the view out of the Admin office window.  It really does look like we are living in a snow globe.

This week is going to be pretty busy for Steve and me, so it is definitely nice to look outside and see such peace.  I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way when I leave work and start driving to Sears.  Let's hope that the people of Michiana remember how to drive in snow.

Storms Again

Wow, we sure got pounded again with storms again last night.  We lost power for a few seconds, but it came right back on.  The news anchor kept saying that the storms weren't as bad as they were on Friday.  They sure felt worse to me.  On Friday, we were at Bethel watching the Desert Theater play and they never even stopped the show and we couldn't hear the storm at all.  We did watch the beginning of the storm before the play started, but it was all over when the play was over.

Is it just me or does it seem like there are more really bad storms this summer, then in the past? Last night, we got a different view sitting in our living room.  I did get confidence that our large tree could handle the storm though.  In the heavy winds, the large branches were barely moving.  This made me feel much less worried about waking up with a tree in my living room.  We went to be after 10 when the storm seemed to be dieing down a bit.

On a really exciting side note, Steve got a text message from his brother this morning that said, "The baby is coming today."  Do you know what they means?  I am going to be an Aunt again some time today.  This will be number 9 on Steve's side.  Let the spoiling begin!

Last night reminded me of a song by Casting Crowns.

I'll Praise You in This Storm

29th Birthday Weekend

This year was a great birthday.  Steve and I went to the Bethel College Desert Theater play, "Christmas Belles."  It's a Christmas comedy and it was hilarious.  The deserts were great, of course, too.  My friend, Stacy, was the director and he did a great job on the show.

We actually showed up at the play about an hour early and we were going to walk around the Bethel campus for a little beforehand, but the weather had other plans.  We decided instead to stand under the safety of the dining commons porch and watch the storm.  It was actually cool to watch and the rain misting us felt really good.  We watched several tree branches fall on the Bethel campus.  This made me really nervous that we would come home to fallen branches in our yard (or on our house.) Luckily, we did not lose power at the dining commons though or we would not have been able to watch the play.  That would have been sad.  When we got home, we noticed that all our clocks were blinking, so we must have lost power at some point.  Many people in Michiana are still out power three days later and many had trees/branches come down, so I am very thankful that they tree in our front yard did not fall.  Our neighbor lost the massive tree in his back yard.  If it would have fallen at an angle, it would have crushed his house.

Saturday was my cousin Joe's wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding. Carrie is so awesome. I'm so glad she is officially part of our family now. 

Sunday was Father's Day.  We went over to parents for dinner for the Father's Day/Our Birthday celebration.  Fun times were had by all.

It's Really Cold

Detailed Local Forecast

Today: Snow showers. Cold. Wind chills may approach -15F. High 16F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%.

Tonight: Scattered flurries and snow showers. Low near 10F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 30%.

Tomorrow: Variably cloudy with snow showers. High 26F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.

Steve and I got up this morning to go to church and it was a bit cold outside. Liz we might come down and visit you in Tulsa a little sooner then planned. :)

It was so cold that when we went outside to start my car it wouldn't start. I guess it wanted to just rest through the cold too. Steve's Intreprid wouldn't start either. I think they were ganging up on us.

So, we tried to go to church today...really. Our cars wouldn't let us. The picture is the view from our bedroom window. We are suppossed to get more snow tonight and for the rest of the week. So I guess we will just be sitting inside all day hoping to stay warm.