Some improvement...

Good news - we're still alive! We didn't crash driving home yesterday :) It got to be pretty scary looking outside, so the President dismissed everyone early and we all got to go home at 1:00! Half a snow day - I'll take it. Cory and I both left and got home safely, for which we were grateful. It's a good thing they closed school early, because by the afternoon, it looked like this:


You can see the snow coming down pretty heavy in the picture, if you look closely.

It was improved this morning. The roads were semi-clear (well, as clear as they ever get for out here). It's hard to tell, since the wind was blowing pretty strong last night, but we figure we got about 8-10 inches of new snow. We also got a little bit of freezing rain, right at the end of the storm. Lots of snow + freezing rain = super ice! It made clearing off my car this morning a nightmare. That aside, there is something very beautiful about freshly fallen snow, especially in the morning, with the sun rising. Everything feels beautiful and fresh. And it's oh-so-pretty.


Of course, they're saying we might be in for a Nor'easter next week, so my opinion about freshly fallen snow may change ... but for now, I'm just grateful we got mostly snow and not that much ice.

The weather outside is frightful...

As predicted, our winter storm has arrived. The weather guy said we would be getting anywhere from 8-12 inches ... and it's snowing pretty heavily currently. This is what we woke up to:

Nice, huh? The picture is taken from the same window as this picture from last week's post:


I know what you're thinking ... "um, is that the road? I can barely distinguish it from the surrounding fields..." Yes, I was thinking the same thing, too, as I drove into work this morning. Given that the bulk of our 8-12 inches are supposed to occur between the hours of 9am - 3pm (and it's now 9:30am), I'm going predict that the drive home is going to be even more fun than the drive to work was this morning ...

Stay posted ... I'll probably be adding more pics later today ...

So cold...

It's been a couple of weeks since our last blog posting, but I find myself with not a lot to say. We've recovered from the holidays and we're back in the daily routine of school, work, hospital rotations, dinner, sleep - then repeat. It keeps us busy - Cory especially. It's not a bad stage to be at - but it's not much to blog about.

It has been quite cold - and I'm getting tired of it. We haven't had temperatures out of the 20's for weeks. For a few days, we were lucky to get above 0. Add the wind, which blows a lot out here, and it's been bone-numbing cold. People out here are always saying to me "but you're from Utah ... aren't you used to the cold?" The answer to this is yes, it's something I am used to ... but that doesn't mean that I like it. I don't like it, not at all. Especially the arctic air - I could definitely do without that kind of cold.

I've been meaning to take some pictures to post ... but how do you take a picture that captures just how cold it is? I guess I could take a picture of me, bundled up so all you can see is my eyes ... but I haven't. We had some neat snow drifts in our backyard, created by all the wind, but I couldn't get our window open to take a picture (it was frozen shut) and so I just gave up - then it snowed again, covering the snow drifts in more snow. Needless to say, I'm not having the best of luck with pictures - but here are just a few random ones -

Our house - we used to have more snow, but it all blew away ...

There's a pond behind our house that I wanted to get a picture of ... but it's covered in snow ... so all you get is a random picture of behind our house. Our landlords own 100 acres and they rent the land out to Mennonite farmers - and this is part of that land.

The sunrise, over the lake, to the east of us

Part of our yard, with the sunrise in the distance

A perfect end

I love college football. I'm always a little sad when the season is over ... and now the season is officially over. But man, I couldn't have asked for a better ending to this fabulous season!

The Florida Gators are the National Champs! Go Gators! They beat a really good team - in a game that was quite the defensive struggle. They beat the Heisman trophy winner (who looks more like an underwear model than a quarterback, but I digress ...) The Utes dominated and embarrassed the Alabama Crimson Tide. Seriously, could a better ending have been scripted?


People are always asking me why I like Florida. Well, I confess to not being a lifelong fan. I have tremendous respect for Tim Tebow. I think he is a wonderful example of a role model - someone who values God, missionary work and life beyond himself and the field. I also respect Urban Meyer, the way he coaches and the way he treats his players. I respect the program at Florida.

And of course, I always try to cheer for the 'hometown boys'. This included BYU, until their season imploded. Of course, it included Utah. I think the idea of 'elite conferences' is so lame - so I am extremely happy when someone from a non-elite conference busts into the BCS and demands to be recognized. Utah had the perfect season. The Utes deserve all the respect and the talk they're getting. Coach "we're the only team to have an undefeated regular season in a real BCS conference" Saban - eat your words!

Aaaah, the end of another beautiful season. This one, for me, is going down in the history books! Now can it be time for March Madness? Please?

A wonderful holiday season

My family came to New York to visit us for Christmas & New Years and we had a most wonderful time together. We had a very full week.

They all flew in on Christmas Day, so we celebrated the day after Christmas, with presents, a feast and some good old fashioned Nintendo 64 Mario Kart.

My favorite present - a Twilight shirt!!! I know, I'm so cool.
We drove down to Philly for a few days, to give Kendall (my brother) an opportunity to visit the people he served on his mission. We met so many amazing people and it was neat to see the areas Kendall served in, and meet the wonderful people he baptized into the church. The inner-city ward we went to was full of amazing people.

Of course, we went to all the LDS church sites, since they are only 45 minutes from our house. No matter how many times I walk through the Sacred Grove, it always has a beautiful spirit. It was so nice to be able to go on all the tours with my family.

Peter Whitmer Farm

Inside the Peter Whitmer Farm

At the entrance to the Sacred Grove

Walking towards the Frame home, where the Smith family lived.
The Sacred Grove

Call us crazy - we went and spent a day at Niagara Falls. It was beautiful, as always, but definitely COLD. Look at all the ICE!
There's so much mist that comes off the falls, and if you stand close enough, you get misted. Well, we stood close enough, and the mist on our coats immediately turned to ice. Brrrrr!
The falls lit up at night - they're sooooo pretty!
Downtown Seneca Falls, after a snowstorm

We cooked a turkey on New Years Day and had another big, yummy meal. Along with some college bowl games, of course.

It was absolutely wonderful to have my family here for the holidays! It was so good to see them and it was nice to show them around to what's been our world for the last 2 1/2 years. I'm so grateful they could come out here and see us, and give us such a memorable time. It was hard to drop them off at the airport and know that it's going to be a while before we see them again. We sure are blessed to have such awesome family!