Happy Snow Year!!

Er… I mean… Happy New Year!! Let me start by saying that I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Because I am running so far behind schedule, I not only missed the twins’ wrestling season, the start of Liam’s wrestling season, and other family happenings, but I also missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now the New Year. As embarrassing as it is to admit, my last post was back in September…

I remain shocked at just how fast time goes. I am pretty sure just last week the new school year was starting, and now here we are in second semester already. When I stop and think about things coming up this year, I find myself speechless. Liam, who was born just last year, will be 16. 16! The twins will be 14 in a couple of weeks. How?! Come October, Rob and I will have known each other for 20 years. I do not feel old enough to have known someone for 20 years! And somehow we will have racked up 18 years of marriage in June.

Peej is under there somewhere…

Will someone please remind me again where the time goes? And why, oh why, does it insist on going so fast?

I am not usually big on resolutions, most likely because I tend to fail so miserably at them, but I do have one major focus for this year: PAY ATTENTION! Last year, so many things slipped right through my fingers. Holidays snuck up on me and passed by before I even had time to realize what had happened. The summer came and went while I was still trying to find the Valentine’s decorations. Christmas came before I even had time to figure out what the kids wanted to be for Halloween. I will not let that happen again. Time is too precious to let it slip away.

I must admit that 2019 is not off to the best start for us. As many of you know, Rob is a government employee working for the National Park Service. This is week 4 of him being on furlough due to the partial government shutdown. I keep telling myself that a paycheck is highly overrated, I just cannot get myself to believe it yet. I will keep trying… I am determined not to let this little setback set the tone for the whole year. This, too, shall pass, and when it does, life will go on and we will not look back.

We welcomed the New Year with a ridiculous amount of snow. It started snowing on New Year’s Eve, and continued to snow for the next 24 hours. Last Sunday we got another 8 inches. It is great for the mountains and the ski resorts that have not been open for the last few years, and it will make for an amazing spring, but right now… holy cow. Coming from up north, we are used to snow, but it has been a few years and even we are a little out of practice!

Since Rob did not have to go to work, he drove me to work a few days in a row, then helped pull multiple people out of ditches and parking lots. He was armed with a tow rope and tire chains and ended up being a life-saver for multiple stuck motorists. I think we got 22 inches in that first 24 hours. For around here, that is A LOT of snow.

Let me just take this moment to say that I hope that this year is your best year ever. May your struggles be few, your joys be many. May we all always remember what is truly important in this life, and just how precious time is. Anyone want to go build a snowman? (It doesn’t have to be a snowman… 😉 )

Hello Again…

The groundhog must have heard me talking, and since he and Mother Nature area obviously good friends, he arranged for a change in the weather. After two of the most beautiful days EVER, we woke up Monday morning to this…

Wait... What?!

Wait… What?!

One of the things I love most about this area is that when it snows it is absolutely beautiful, but that snow does not feel the need to stick around for months. By the afternoon, the sun was shining, making yet another amazing day.

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So while I did enjoy the snow, I would still like to issue an official apology to the groundhog. You were right. It is, in fact, still winter after all…

Twenty-One

We woke this morning to another beautiful round of snow. Instead of just wandering around the Visitor Center like I did the last time it snowed, I decided to venture out onto the Main Loop Trail. This is a beautiful trail when it is dry, so under snow it was downright amazing. Felt like a new place entirely, even though I have lost track of how many times I have walked it. The park is closed today so I had the entire trail to myself, which was definitely a first.

It snowed until about 9:30 this morning. The sun has tried coming out a few times, but the clouds still seem to be winning at this point. It is brighter than it was earlier, though, so I think the sun may win the battle yet.

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Six

Snow! We woke up this morning to an absolutely beautiful day. It snowed during the night, giving us a few fresh inches, and today the sun was absolutely gorgeous. The combination made for an amazing winter day. It was especially nice that the kids did not have school and the park was closed, so we were free to enjoy the snow all day!

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