Snow and more Snow

Last weekend while we were fixing up the nursery we got lots of snow too! I stayed nice and cozy inside the house while poor Trevor had to go outside and shovel. Luckily our neighbor's snow blower started working on Sunday!

Weekend Cleaning Spree

This past weekend we were busy cleaning our yard before bulk trash pick-up day and the impending snow season. Trevor mostly worked on that. I did help by sweeping the front porch and back deck. While Trevor worked on the raking and the gutters, I worked on putting away our summer clothes, taking out our winter sweaters, washing some laundry. I also had the pleasure of packing up my scrubs. My new job provides and cleans my uniforms for me! Hooray! Here are pictures of our successful weekend clean...

I did not take pictures of the summer-winter swap. It's embarrassing how many tubs of clothing...mostly mine.  

Crazy Fire!

This season has been so dry that living up here in the mountains is a huge fire hazard and evacuation a huge possibility. Yesterday, there was a huge fire by Little America. Firefighters fought to control it for a good portion of the day. Today, right now, as I'm typing this...there is a HUGE fire between Mount Elden (the mountain we live near) and the San Francisco Peaks. Our home doesn't appear to be in danger at the moment. We didn't even know there was a fire until we went out for lunch for a relaxed, lazy Sunday.

Here are some pictures we took.

This was on our way to lunch.

This was driving up 4th street to our house.

Please pray that the firefighters are able to put it out and for everyone's safety, especially the firefighters and the people who's homes are affected.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow - Proverb

Spring has sprung in our neck of the woods. Our backyard is finally free and clear of snow and we're starting to see signs of the ground in the front! =)

Our peony in the back yard had babies over the winter! They grow bigger during wetter winter seasons! Wish I knew it'd be such a wet winter I'd have planted some last fall.

Silvia enjoying the wonderful spring weather and lack of snow on the ground! She's been exploring like crazy!

April Fool's!

Mother Nature sure has a funny sense of humor. We woke the morning of April first with about 3 inches of powdery snow covering everything! It was beautiful! And even better it didn't stay past the end of the day! Hooray! We went for a beautiful snow hike in the morning. The weather is getting so wonderful!

Hope you all have a blessed and prayerful Good Friday.

Things to come:
My birthday
More recipes
Signs of Spring
My current favorite things

Spring has Sprung!

February has come and gone and it's time for a new centerpiece. I love how this brandy vase has gotten so much use! It was first used at our wedding as our well wishes bowl, where guests wrote messages for our guest book, which I still haven't finished! Now, it's used for our dining table centerpiece.

For spring, I have filled it with silk Gerbera daisies I picked up on sale (50% off) at Micheal's. At first I cut the flowers using our pruners but soon discovered that I can just pull the flower from the stem! Hooray! It definitely made things way easier and faster! I also made one for the planter outside.

The smaller one is for the planter outside of our front door.

I had some left over bouquets that I put in a couple of vases I have and simple arrangement to brighten our living room and kitchen. The light pink vase is the vase Trevor gave me when he proposed and the dark pink vase is the one Trevor gave me when he gave me my first bouquet.

It's really weird seeing all these beautiful spring blooms around the house when it's still snowing outside! But it definitely makes everything inside the house warm and cheery! Silvia seems to like them too!

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Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it...Stop?

Last week was Flagstaff's second biggest snow storm since 1967, according to the AZ Daily Sun. Thursday was the 12th snowiest day in Flagstaff record with a whooping 19.6 inches! Goodness! At the start of the week, the forecast was pretty gloomy. Everyone was on high alert to be prepared for power outages and lots and lots of snow! We luckily didn't experience a power outage. There were a few building that collapsed from the weight of the snow - Joann's/Bookman's and the ice skating rink. I guess I can't sew curtains, for the time being. We do have some fabric at Walmart, but the Joann's has a bigger selection.

I gotta say that last week...I discovered my dislike of snow. I love snow in that it's beautiful, fun to play in, and you get to cozy up to your sweetheart. I dislike shoveling it, figuring out where to throw it, and that it creates ice dams on our roof and driveway. I was sick this week so Trevor had to do a majority of the shoveling. Poor guy! He'd come into the house sopping wet!

You can view the weather for the week at The Weather Channel - Jan 17-22.

Here are some photos from our snow adventure. Some of them are reenactments, since we didn't have the time or energy to take pictures during the actual events.

Thursday before the storm

Two weeks ago Trevor cleared out the snow and ice from the roof to prepare for the upcoming storms.

Monday - Day 1

You can see our mail box and some of the stairs leading to our front door.

Thursday - Day 4

No more mail box, no more stairs!


Pretty view from the window box in out kitchen! It's so beautiful and peaceful, as long as you don't have to go to work.


Reenactment of Trevor desperately trying to clear a pathway for the rain water to drain. The snow/ice created a dam so all the water was pooling at the base of our driveway. As you can see from this picture take yesterday that the snow has already filled up part of the area Trevor cleared.

Friday - Day 5 - Attempting to get Grace to work on time

This is a reenactment picture of Trevor at 5:30am desperately trying to get the tire chains to stay on. They fell off 3 times and we didn't even get past the driveway. The road in front of out house was unplowed. I ended getting to work 3 hours late...but I eventually made it! Thanks Trev!

Saturday - Day 6 - First day of Sunshine!

You can barely see our house!



There are piles of snow taller than Trevor!




Some beautiful scenes just outside our door.

It's suppose to snow more on Tuesday and Wednesday night, but nothing like this past week. Whew! I'm thankful we made it through the week without too much damage! We are very blessed.

Lessons We've Learned This Winter Season

This is our first winter dealing with snow and there are a few things we've learned for next year:

1. We need to shovel out the cars early and keep it up. Trevor's car has been out of commission since the giant snow storm at the beginning of December.

2. We need to snow blow the entire drive way, not just the small portion needed to get the car out of the driveway width of the garage.

3. We need to clear the ice in front of the garage door before it builds up to be a 5+ inch thick block of ice.

4. Using warm water to clear the ice on the driveway doesn't work at 5am in the morning because the water just refreezes. If we use warm water at 5am, we must drive immediately out of the driveway before it refreezes. Note: It does work in the afternoon, when the sun is up.

5. We need to gather wood all throughout the summer season to ensure plenty of wood. Though we rarely used it this season. It's just so messy to use the fire place.

I'm sure there will be more lessons we will learn as the winter continues. But for now, those are the major ones.

Posts to come:
1. Christmas Festivities with the Family
2. Our 1 year Anniversary!!!
3. Goals for this year
4. Ratatouille recipe

Silvia vs Snow

Here are some photos of Silvia's first encounter with snow. She's quite the peculiar kitty.

Hm...what's all this white stuff? Should I go explore?


Maybe I'll just take a look...


Looks the same as it did from the door...

It's cold. I don't like it.


I prefer to watch from the door.

Here are some other moments of Silly Silvia caught on camera:

Silvia doesn't often show as much love towards Trevor as she does towards me. But she does love him...just watch the video.


What can I say, I love laundry...


and sleeping...

and hiding under the covers...


peering out windows...

and RIBBONS!!! (wait until the end...she goes crazy!)