Happy New Year!

We are only hours away from celebrating a New Year - 2018. It's been a great 2017, mostly a year of travel for us! We didn't get a lot of house projects done this year, but we are hoping that next year we will get to some bigger projects that we've been wanting to do for a while.

This New Year's, we have several inches of snow outside, and temperatures in the negative digits. But we're ready to ring in the new year with Trent's family here in town!

I hope you all have a Happy New Year, wherever you are. Stay warm everyone!

First Snowfall

Happy Sunday! Today's my first full day being back home after a long work conference in Omaha this week. I got back yesterday afternoon. (More to come about the conference soon!) Today, after finally getting a full night's sleep, I woke up to the first snowfall of the year. 

This morning, I'm watching a movie while the snow falls down. Even though they've only been saying 1-3 inches, now it's looking like more than that.

It's so pretty when it's falling, and as it first starts to cover everything outside. But, I'm not looking forward to driving in it!

When I first put the tree up for the season, I discovered that the top lights went out. Trent thought it was a fuse, but after looking at it closer, nothing seemed to get them to come back on. So, we picked up a small string of lights from the store, and I added them to the top of the tree.

They blend in pretty well, don't you think? Now the tree looks the way it should be again. :)

I guess we will continue to watch the snow fall and see how many inches we end up with!

I have a feeling we're going to get a lot more than the 1-3 inches they say we'll get. :)

Snow Days and Painting

Hello there..popping in for a minute before I head to bed for the night! Yesterday my work was cancelled due to weather. We didn't exactly have an ice or snow storm this time, but there were wind chills in the twenties-below zero range, so work was called off. It was a nice day at home again and I got to spend the day with Trent, watching old home videos. I had a pretty good extended 3-day weekend, I'd say!

It was definitely a cold one. Friday night I stayed home after going to the Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett concert on Thursday, then working all day. I was a little tired by then! Trent went to the Mallards game, and the next day I had a hair appointment in the morning, then we shopped and hung out in Galesburg for a bit. Sunday was a family birthday party, and the start of watching home videos.

Saturday I painted a little bit while Trent was at his dad's to work on his car. Here's a little detail shot from the painting that I did over the weekend. This part is kind of "flowery." I'm not sure if it's finished yet. Definitely some more experimenting!

I hope to paint more this week, too. We'll see where all of my playing goes.

Christmas 2015

How was everyone's Christmas?! Hope you all had fun spending time with family and got everything you wanted! Here's a little recap of our Christmas this year, which was super busy and filled with family.

Our Christmas started out really laid back. Christmas morning, Trent and I opened all of our presents to each other at home. We each got each other lots of little things. Trent got me a couple of coloring books, which I've already started coloring! I got a few movies - Inside Out, 22 Jump Street, and Serendipity. He also got me the Kacey Musgraves and Luke Bryan CDs, and a Bluetooth waterproof speaker that I can listen to when taking a shower or getting ready.

I got Trent Chicago Bears socks and t-shirt, a scarf and beanie, Dave Matthews Band travel coffee mug, a sweater, the Thomas Rhett CD, and the new car jack he wanted. Oh, and some strong coffee and a refillable K-cup to go with it!

I'd say we did pretty good this year with our gifts to each other. 

That afternoon, we stopped by Trent's aunt and uncle's to exchange gifts there with his family. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long though, because we had Christmas with my dad's side of the family that night. Me, Haley, and Mom all wore our ugly Christmas sweaters we got in Chicago. I felt like a total dork, but they were kind of cute.

We did the annual exchanging of presents at my grandma's house, opened presents from Mom and Dad, and Haley and Dan brought their new puppy Frannie along, so we were entertained for quite a while with her shenanigans! I don't think she's calmed down much since we last saw them a month ago. She was her usual excited self!

The day after, we went back to my family's for Christmas with my Mom's side. We all went out for lunch, then exchanged presents and did our new annual tradition of Christmas Bingo. I think each year, the prize selection gets bigger and bigger! It was a good time. 

Later after most of the family left, we watched a movie and our friends Chad and Diane came over for pizza. We ate and played a Movie/TV trivia game until we had to head back home again.

After we got home that night we went back to Trent's aunt's to spend a little time with the folks who are out in Ohio that we don't get to see too often. We were there until about 2:00. What a long but fun weekend. I'm surprised I got any sleep at all!

We did get some awesome gifts from our families, too. Gift cards, jewelry, lots of cookies and sweets, and I finally got a Fitbit! Too bad I didn't do too much that was actually active this weekend! So much sitting around eating food and hanging out with family! But that's what the holidays are all about. 

Today was supposed to be back to work for me, but after some really mild Christmas weather, we had a big winter storm hit this morning. Ice, rain, and snow all fell on us today, with high winds, too. So my work was cancelled, and I got a day to relax and spend time with Trent at home! I took a long nap, and we watched a lot of movies. It was a nice change from all the craziness earlier in the week. 

So that was our busy Christmas weekend. I still don't have all of our gifts put away, but have 2 trash bags full of wrapping paper and boxes that need to go out. Anyone else getting hit by a winter storm? Hopefully the roads are better tomorrow. We'll see!

A Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! Anyone do some Black Friday shopping today? Or maybe you got it all done last night? We skipped the in-store shopping this year and opted for online deals instead. It was a last minute decision! I think I was just too worn out from yesterday's festivities.

I know I'm a little late on the Thanksgiving post since it was yesterday and all, but we've been busy this week, so this is the first day I've actually been home long enough to post! We had a good day yesterday visiting with both of our families and eating lots of food. We stuffed our faces, that's for sure! I made deviled eggs for the second time ever, and will have the recipe up tomorrow for anyone who's interested. They turned out amazing if I do say so myself.

I didn't take any pictures at Thanksgiving, so I'll end this post with a few photos I took of the sunset this week on my drive home from work. After the snow we got last weekend, we had a pretty nice, sunny week.

One good thing about living in the country is there are lots of back roads to drive down and stop at if you want to get a good sunset picture. :)

I had to stop and take a few since it was so gorgeous. The entire sky was lit up with oranges and yellows.

When there is this much beauty in the world, how can you not be thankful!

5-Year Housiversary and First Snowfall

Hello all! Today marks five years to the day that we started living in this house together! How time flies. I've been calling it our "Housiversary." And how perfect to mark the occasion, than the first snowfall of the year?

And what a snowfall it was. We've heard it's coming all week, and today on this lovely Saturday, it's here. I thought I would be mad, but instead, it oddly has gotten me into the Christmas sprit. More on that later...

We've had a nice little Saturday around the house today. Trent made strawberry banana pancakes this morning. And we watched Ernest Saves Christmas at breakfast.

I took a jaunt outside to check out the snow.

It seems the trees weren't really ready for all of this!

And neither was Trent. I guess it's not so fun when you have to shovel it all.

I'm not sure how many inches we got, but I think it's somewhere in the 6-10 range.

So I guess I would say winter is finally here in full force. It is kinda pretty, though.

The sad thing is we were ALMOST finished with the walkway. Just about 5 bags short of river rock is all that's left. 5 bags! Which means, we almost made it before the first snowfall...but not quite.

Now it's a little snow covered. Trent has been a trooper this week and has gotten supplies right after work, then worked to lay it all down in the dark when he got home. We knew we wouldn't have much time left to get it finished. But it's almost done, so at least it will be so much nicer this winter not having to tread through as much snow.

Can you believe there are even still leaves on some of the trees?

Oh well.. And back to being in the Christmas spirit now, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and usually I put up the Christmas tree the day after, but.... I put the tree up today. :)

I'll have all the deets tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Weekend In

It snowed this morning. This is currently the view outside:

It's not too much snow...but it could stop for the rest of the winter :) This January actually hasn't been bad. There was one week where it was below zero everyday and the roads were pretty bad from the snow. The rest of the month has been like a January thaw. I even had a dream last night that we were outside having a big picnic / get together in January and it literally felt like spring it was so nice out.

I woke up hoping that was really the case. Unfortunately it just got colder and snow fell while we were sleeping. I guess we'll have to live with it for another month or two...

On the bright side, this weekend has been really laid back. We really haven't done too much, and I've stayed home almost the entire weekend, watching movies and sipping on this wonderful hot cocoa.

Friday night we just got some groceries and I had a hair appointment after work. Last night Trent went to his friends' house for a little get together for his buddy's birthday. I decided to stay home and watch the Whitney Houston movie on Lifetime. Priorities.

Today I did much of the same. I have been working out a little off and on for my new wedding workout, which I'm hoping to blog about this week. In the mean time, I think I'll finish some more movies to end this snowy but cozy weekend in. What do you think?

More Cold Weather and a Fun Concert

Winter has really come in full force with the new year. December was cake - then January rolled around, and we've had several inches of snow and negative temperatures! Tomorrow's projected high temperature is -6 F! Not sure if I will be going to work...we'll see. Yesterday we started an hour late; today two hours late. Oh how I love winter in Illinois....

In other news, we saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert for the second time this past weekend. We saw them last December for the first time. This time was a little different - Instead of performing songs from The Lost Christmas Eve, their show this year was The Christmas Attic. And it was in January this year, so it was after Christmas! But we still had a good time.

It was really cool how they opened the show. This year they had a giant old trunk on stage, and the musicians were inside this huge trunk. They told the story about a little girl exploring an attic on Christmas Eve, and finding lots of old things in this trunk, like old toys and handwritten letters.

I thought some of the songs were a little slower this year, and I didn't know as many. Toward the end though, it started to pick up quite a bit, and the second half was much more lively with lots of fire and pyrotechnics.

My parents got us the tickets and we sat with them. They've seen them several times before. It was a good end to a very busy weekend! I just wish the weather had been a little better! It was windy and freezing - below zero temperatures.

Overall we had a good time! Even in the high-up seats, you still get a good view of the whole stage and all of the cool lights and fire and all that good stuff. And the musicians are amazing. Wish I could play an instrument even half as good as those people! Maybe in my later years in life I can pick something up. ;)

So This is Winter...

So I know this isn't exactly a 'weather blog', but I had to share with you my view today. Ya know how around Christmas time I was saying we have barely gotten any snow yet and the temperatures were so much more mild this winter? Well, it looks like winter has finally arrived! December was so mild compared to last year, but January is coming in at full force. We got our first measurable, lasting snowfall overnight. And we woke up to this:

It's almost noon, and it's still coming down! Also - check out the temperatures for the next few days:

Yes, Wednesday has a HIGH of -3 degrees! I guess winter is finally here! 

Trent and I are still planning on meeting Mom and Dad in the cities this afternoon to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra live. I'm hoping the roads aren't too bad. We'll see!

Snow Dump Before the Big Warm Up?

Ok, so I didn't plan on doing a weather-related post today, but it's quite frankly the only thing on my mind, and I don't have much else to do, so here's my weather/rant post of the week! 

So I, like probably all Americans living in the Midwest or the Eastern U.S., am SO tired of the snow. Today we probably got at least 4 more inches added on to the already several inches we've had on the ground for the past two months! Here was the forecast this morning...

 (Photo from the KWQC News Facebook page)

I actually attempted to go to work today. I started on my way down the interstate, until I just decided to turn around and head back home! I couldn't see anything, the roads were being covered more and more as I was driving..then on my way back home, it felt like I was in a snow tornado! Snow was flying at me, then it started sleeting. Thunder began soon after. Needless to say, I stayed home the rest of the day and don't plan on leaving the house anytime soon.

On a lighter note, I saw this photo on Facebook today - I can't remember what page it was from, but I thought it was funny, and very appropriate -

I can't even count the number of snowfalls we've had this winter, or the number of days it's been below zero. But our weather channel predicts that we'll be starting the warm up this week, with temperatures reaching around 40. I've never been more excited to see 40 degree temperatures in the forecast before.

Trent actually made it in to work today, and this was his truck as he was clearing snow off to leave:



For a summer loving girl, this kind of stuff is hard to take. I can see many Americans packing up and leaving Illinois to move to a warmer climate as we speak.

Here's hoping the weather warms up soon like the forecast says....THINK SPRING everyone!

Update: They are now saying this is the snowiest winter on record, and we're expected to get rain soon when the weather warms up. Looks like the snow will be turning to slush! :/

Snow..Snow..and More Snow!

Does it ever stop snowing around here? My week hasn't been too eventful - We were planning on going to the Cities today - I had an appointment to get my oil changed, but mother nature had different plans! I had to reschedule for next weekend due to the 4+ inches of snow we got overnight. And it's still coming down out there this morning. Really don't feel like driving over 45 minutes in it! 

Here's the road in front of the house - see it anywhere? Yeah, me neither.

I guess it's another snow day for me, staying home, watching movies and painting by numbers.

In other news...it's the first day of February. Who's watching the Superbowl tomorrow? Ok, that was probably a stupid question. Everyone in America I'm sure, haha! Although I kind of just watch it for the commercials. ;)