Snow? Where are you?

Well, after much of the midwest and other parts of the US have been shut down for a couple of days due to the recent 'blizzard'....I got to thinking.  Where is all the snow?  For some reason, I was expecting tons of snow!

However, that didn't seem to happen in the central Iowa area.  When I finally made {what was hoping for an adventurous} trek to work yesterday, I was disappointed.  I went my normal speed....which is 5 over the limit.  :)

Talking with mom yesterday morning and this morning, it confirmed my fear.  We had it easy.  Yesterday my brother got his truck stuck trying to get to the farm.  And it takes a lot to slow my brother down.  Thankfully, my nephew spent the night at the farm, so my brother didn't have to worry about carrying him to the highway, so dad could pick him up.  Once they got to the farm and chores and things done, they headed to Des Moines for a farm show.  According to the guys, we did have it easy.  Not nearly as much snow over here as they had just 1.5-2 hours away.

My sister just across the river in Illinois had about 18" of snow.  They had a nice 4 foot drift in their driveway.  No going to school, work, or daycare for any of them!

So, being one of a few people getting all excited about blizzard that blew threw, I'm disappointed. 

Actually, I am now ready for another round.  But hoping that we actually get some good snow accumulation....instead of just lots of blowing snow.

Sure, some might think I'm crazy.  But when you live in the Midwest, you might as well embrace what God gives us.  There's nothing that can be done to change it.  So instead of fighting it, join in on the fun!

Late Night Snow

Well, yet again...it's late at night. But it is absolutely gorgeous outside!!

Snow has been falling all day. And not just any snow. But the soft, light, fluffy kind. It seems to bring a calm to everything it touches. The world seems like a much quieter place with a foot of snow or more on it.

I don't even remember how many times I have shoveled the sidewalk and part of the driveway. And where I am house/dog/horse wrangling, it is not a small driveway.


In the above picture, you can partially see Molly. Anytime I go outside, she goes out to, to play in the snow. It's fun to watch her. She is definitely like a kid when it comes to the white stuff. But heck, so am I! Just too bad I forgot my snow pants! And it's just not as fun when my jeans freeze at the bottom of the pant legs since they were so wet from the snow.

But I still love the snow...even though I believe we have broken the record for snow fall in 1 season. Yes, at times, I too wish we could be done with the snow. But I can't imagine myself living in a place where you don't get to experience every single season that God created.

Hopefully I can get some more snow pictures tomorrow. When it is not so late, and maybe a little brighter out.

(FYI...I finally caved and got myself a little card reader device. It seems to work...since these pictures were all loaded on my laptop!)

April *Snow* Showers Bring....

????? That's a good question!

After a work training takes me to Savannah, GA for 5 days, there's nothing like coming back to the reality of Iowa better than a snow storm on my first full day back. Wow. From great temps in the upper 60s/low 70s, to temps in the mid 20s (I think).

In the next couple of days, I'll post about my fun time in Savannah, GA.

But until then, here's a pic of me sitting in one of their numerous squares. These were lots of fun...and you'll learn more about that later.

Only in Iowa.....

...can you go from a record high of 74 on Thursday, March 5, to snow and temps at least 32 degrees on Sunday, March 8.
It rained most of Saturday and part of Sunday....until about 11am. That is when it turned into little slush/ice pelts.
Then it eventually turned in to snow. And I'm not talking normal small flake size. I'm talking huge flakes! Bigger than I have seen in quite awhile. By the time I got brushed off to get in my vehicle, I was already covered in flakes again. They were big, wet, and coming down fast. Because the temps were between 32-34 degrees, it didn't stick very well. And it pretty much just turned in to slush.
If you look closely, you can see how big the flakes are on the windshield.

But, all in all, just another great day in Iowa!

Love The Look...Hate The Cold

We are having yet another negative degree weather day today. I know it was at least -10 this morning on my way to work. But among all this bone-chilling air, I love what it adds to a landscape. I took a few pictures on my way to work this morning. I wasn't able to get some of the beauty I saw on my way in (since I was driving and didn't feel like crashing), but here is what I was able to capture. The ones of me on the road, don't worry, I did stop. One of them at a stop sign, the other one there was no one was behind me so I snapped a quick picture. You can't tell by looking at the pictures it is -5 outside right now.

Snow Fun!

For the past few days, the weather people here in Iowa have been talking about a snow/ice storm that was suppose to hit us Thursday morning. They would also keep going back to talk about the storm last year that left many without power for days, if not weeks. Even how people were preparing for this early this year. Well, come Thursday morning, when the snow/ice should have been here, it was a beautiful morning! It was a nice, sunny, double-digit weather day! An almost perfect winter day. It was like this for most of the day. It wasn't until after dark (maybe between 7 & 8p) that I finally started hearing the sleet hit the windows.
I tried to be a little proactive about this storm as well. I decided to try to cover my vehicle windows, so I wouldn't have too much ice I'd have to clean off in the morning. I wasn't able to get the side windows covered, but I did get the windshield covered. So this morning when I went out a around 6:20a to see what damage was done, I was quite pleased at how well the plastic worked. The not so fun part was shoveling my way to my vehicle. Based on my measurements (using my hand), I'd say we had between 4-6 inches of snow. But it was the nice snow that was easy to move. (Or at least that was the case where I was shoveling.) After about 40 minutes of shoveling and cleaning off my vehicle, I was good to go. Traveling to work wasn't a problem. The problem started when I turned in to the lot where I always park, and it wasn't clean yet. I had to do a little driving around so I had a bit of a path to walk on once I got out. Close to my building there is another lot (that you have to pay big bucks to park in) that was impassable. From cleaning the road right by it, there grew a little mound of snow on the side. When I stepped on it to get to the sidewalk, I thought I would sink in much more than I did. There was no way a vechicle would make it through that, unless if it was jacked-up truck. It would probably have done a little damage to a car. (Hopefully no one tried to get in there before they plowed it.)
So we will have a white Christmas this year. I just hope that the weather now holds off until after Monday. I want Gina and Jay to arrive here as scheduled. If there are any delays, we might just go pick them up in if they are somewhat close!