*december 4th*

We had a great Saturday...

slept in (even though Maggie woke Chris up at 6am)

had pancakes for a late breakfast

cleaned up the house a bit (while Maggie enjoyed sleeping on the couch)

put out a few more Christmas decorations
watched the beautiful snow continue to come down for the better part of the day

ran a few errands to get equipment to start P90X soon (more on that later)
went to a Christmas party one of my co-workers had at his house
now it's time to curl up in a warm bed :)

*december 3rd*

We had a treat tonight...we had our first "real snow"! (We're supposed to have a few inches by the time it stops.) It started snowing this afternoon so Maggie and I got to have some fun tonight when I got home. We went for a walk in the snow and also played frisbee in it :)

I think snow is so beautiful. I don't know what I would do if I didn't get a little bit of it every year!

Enjoy a couple pictures I took tonight - the lights on our front bushes and me donning my favorite winter hat!

Time for dinner soon (after my hubby gets back from running in the snow) and a night curled up in a warm house on a cozy couch watching a movie :)

*december 1st*

For the days leading up to Christmas, I decided I want to try to post something about Christmas (or winter) every day. We'll see how this goes but I think it will be fun! You'll be able to see what we're up to. And it means I will have to take more pictures of the stuff that I normally don't bother taking pictures of. It's always fun to capture every day stuff, special events like parties, and the way that we spend our December!

I'm sure there will be days of me cheating by back-posting the day after, but here we go...

view out the deck this morning...we had some flurries yesterday! great way to bring in december.

We needed to use up some leftover turkey so we made a turkey pot pie tonight. I normally make this recipe for Pillsbury's classic chicken pot pie, but we just switched out the meat and it was delicious! (And with only 2 of us, we eat leftovers of this for a couple days after.)

complete with a feeble attempt at a Christmas tree cut into the top :)

02.24.10

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm officially getting tired of all the snow (and winter in general).  It's very pretty and is also one of my favorite parts of winter.  But I also have to run it and I don't like that.  So it can move on it's way and let warmer temperatures come in.  It is in fact almost March!

There is someone that I don't think will ever mind it (at least while she's being walked)!  And that would be this little lady.

02.15.10

There was a little more snow that fell today.  I decided to capture Maggie's footprints next to mine.

02.13.10

The trees were frosty again this morning because it was so cold (0 degrees)!  I'm glad I decided to take an upclose picture of the branches today because they look like that "rock candy" you can get on a stick.

Yes, I still went on my long run this morning.  It was cold.  I'm just glad there wasn't much wind.  I set out to run 9 miles, but found out that I ran more like 9.5 or closer to 10!  I can't believe I'm already up at this mileage again.  It seems like my training time is going faster this year.

02.12.10

This was the view out our kitchen window this morning.  The trees were kind of frosty because of the cold air (and some freezing fog, I think).

02.10.10

We had some more snow fall yesterday and last night.  The winds were also blowin the snow everywhere.  This is how the snow formed on the east side of our house.

02.05.10

This week I decided to do my long run on Friday instead of Saturday like I normally do.  I did this because I didn't want to run 8 miles in several inches of snow tomorrow.  I thought I could pick a time this morning when there wouldn't be much traffic and there would be minimal snow.

I was kind of right about the minimal snow part, but the roads were still kind of slick because it had started snowing and spitting iceballs.  And I was completely wrong about the traffic.  There was much more than I expected.  There were a few times I had to stop running and wait momentarily off in the grass.  Let's just say I was thankful for the times I was running on sidewalks (most of the time) and thankful when I finally reached home after 70 minutes.

02.01.10

This is what we have to the west of our neighborhood.

It's nice to be near corn fields.  It gives the feeling of the country and it's so quiet.

01.28.10

I was loving the blue color of the sky and clouds today against the snow on the ground.

01.26.10

It snowed again this week.  Winter has not left yet.  The recent warmer temperatures spoiled me.  Nevertheless, the snow is always beautiful.  Here's a picture of something that happens quite often when it snows and is windy - our front door gets framed with snow.

01.08.10

Our back patio is currently covered in several inches of snow. We had a little over 4 inches yesterday and another half inch this morning.

Maggie likes the snow pretty well. She likes to eat the snow while we're walking. But I had her outside with me while I was shoveling the driveway. She walked to the front door and just stood there, meaning she wanted to go inside and not stand in the cold. I honestly don't blame her.

01.07.10

Can you tell which ankle I hurt yesterday?

I'm taking today off from running to rest my ankle and because there are several inches of fresh snow on the ground today. A less than stellar ankle and a fair amount of snow do not mix well.

Tracks

01.06.10

One part I love about the snow is noticing the animal tracks that can be seen all over our neighborhood. Bunny tracks (such a good ice cream!) are very numerous. The snow also gives me a clue into what Maggie is always sniffing in the grass when there's no snow!

Along a different line...I needed to be more careful where I placed my "tracks" today while running (even though I thought I was being careful with all of the snow and ice still out there). I stepped on a pile of leaves covered by snow and tweaked my ankle a bit. I was mad when I did that because I was having such a good run and it was warmer today too - it got into the 20's. (It felt so good not to have my face freezing off!) I was over a mile from home at the time. I walked for a bit, then decided it felt ok enough to run the rest of the way home. It's not bad at all, but it still popped when I stepped wrong and swelled up a bit later. Not the first time I've hurt my ankle running. (The other time I twisted it while there wasn't any snow and messed it up more than this time!) I'm hoping it will feel ok tomorrow or Friday.

Now it's time to get ready for the 3 to 6 inches of snow we're supposed to get tomorrow. It could be our first big snow for the year!

01.02.10

We are living in a frozen tundra right now. This is what our subdivision streets have looked like - a sheet of ice. It makes for some fun driving and running. The snow has also been crunchy when you step on it. That's when you know it's cold. The high's for the past few days have been in the teens. I'm trying to brace myself for the days it gets even colder.

12.27.09

I love this view out the back of my parents' new house. And the snow makes it all the better.

12.25.09

A Christmas morning drive on Highway 63 from Mexico to Rolla, MO in the snow. We're going to Rolla for the Stevens' family Christmas at the Wellington Place clubhouse.

12.22.09

I never get tired of this adorable face.

Maggie and I played for a bit in the snow this morning. I shoveled the driveway. I also threw some snow at Maggie and she seemed a little annoyed because she was cold and wanted to go inside. When I threw a snowball up in the air, she tried catching it in her mouth. It was so cute.

Wednesday

We had more snow today and the snowflakes were absolutely humongous! It was also very windy - about 40mph with stronger gusts. There was snow flying everywhere (along with a little bit of trash). Maggie and I braved the weather for a short walk. I wasn't going to run (mostly because of the wind) but Chris convinced me I would be ok...and I was ok. (I think Thursday's run actually ended up being worse because it was colder and it was still windy.) I ended up taking a lot of pictures today - here are some of them. I couldn't pick just one!



The funny thing about this picture is that I accidentally caught Maggie in the background of this picture pooping. I'm glad I was able to crop her out (to spare you all) and still have a great picture.