Over 50 inches of snow in 5 days!?! (Blizzard #3)

So now we've had over 80 inches of snow this winter (our average is 18 inches) with 50 inches in the last five days! This last blizzard (#3) was during the week so we didn't get to stay snuggled in at home like over that last couple of storms. Luckily there are major roads most of the way to my hospital so I didn't get stuck there overnight (although the threat was definitely there). Here are more pictures of the latest "Snowmageddon."

The days after Blizzard #2:

During Blizzard #3: 50 mile an hour winds blowing the 20 inches of snow we got all over the place. The snow is half way up the garage doors now.

After Blizzard #3:

Notice the road is still not plowed - since last Friday. We had to park at a neighbors house on the main street and hike back home so I could get to work.

I even spent some time shoveling - notice the pile of snow on the left is taller than I am.

One of the best and worst things about all the snow are the icicles. They are so beautiful to look at but have reeked havoc on our upper gutters.

We've basically kissed all the upper level gutters goodbye - you can see the gutter bending from the weight of all the snow and icicles on the roof.

That's our overhang at the top of the picture and our gutter almost a foot below it.

Here's a close up of the "evil" icicles as Tom calls them.

So minus the ruined gutters and missing our normal parking spot we enjoyed the many days of unexpected time to stay at home, relax, watch movies, and bake. I've never enjoyed the snow that much, but when an unimaginable amount of snow falls it makes it something special, unusual and a lot of fun. Is this what it's like living in Alaska?

Blizzard #2!

We had the second blizzard in about six weeks yesterday. Poor Baltimore is trying to keep up with all the snow. We usually get 18 inches all winter long. Saturday alone we got almost 30 inches and the blizzard back in December we got 21 inches of snow in just over a day. Yesterday's snow is competing for the biggest storm since they started keeping records in the 1870's and this winter will definitely surpass all the area records for the most snow in one season. I'd like all the experts screaming about the dangers of global warming to explain this phenomenon. The ice burgs may be melting in the North Pole, but I'm pretty sure they may start forming around here soon. Following are some pictures for your viewing pleasure to remind you why you live where you do (for those of you in warmer climates) and to make others laugh at our wimpyness (for those of you living in the Great Lakes and North East Regions).

Tom started digging early in the morning in the middle of the storm but it was heavy snow so it was slow going with his lone bright orange shovel. (Like I said we usually only get a couple of inches at a time and have never needed a snow blower)

After several hours Tom made it to the end of the driveway (one shovel width). Look how far away the RAV looks from the end of the driveway! I can promise you never know how long your driveway is until you have to shovel it by hand (Tom has become all too familiar with every inch of our 150 foot long driveway)

Tom has always been our official shoveler in hopes of keeping me quieter about my hatred of the cold and snow. It also helps that he loves all things snow related. He got a once in lifetime offer for me to help him shovel yesterday - whether he was being nice or honest I don't know - but he told me he only had one shovel that would work with the amount of snow we had. So while Tom was busy shoveling I trudged through the snow to take some pictures of our local Antarctica.

Here's our house covered in snow -

our porch is not short yet the steps are completely covered in snow.

Here's the backyard - with all the work that's being done on the kitchen it's hard to remember what's out in the yard right now. I think one of those lumps is the old oven, another a 36 inch old kitchen cabinet, another is an old grill we found hidden in the jungle of our back yard, one of them is definitely the trash can, and the rest is wood from the 110 foot oak tree we had cut down last fall.

Our street is under there somewhere...

Here's the bottom end of our street.

Here's the snow totals in our yard:

Okay so the one above is really the snow pile after Tom finished shoveling the driveway, but still impressive. The real total was just under 30 inches:

A close up of the proof:

Luckily these big storms have been happening on the weekend this year so we've been able to hunker down and enjoy the quiet time and how beautiful the snow makes everything in the dead of winter.

Here's our Winter Wonderland:

After the storm the skies cleared quickly and the sun came out making things even more beautiful.

We're happy to report we're safe and sound and everything seems intact. It's Sunday night now and I was about to report that our street still hasn't been plowed, but a lone little bobcat with a plow on the front just came rambling down our street. Since it's taken this long I think that single pass from the little bobcat is the most we can hope for... hope this finds you all well, happy, and warm!

The Bathrooms are Done!!!

So we had a productive year house project wise in 2009 - but the most exciting was finishing the upstairs bathroom! This is what we started with:

A Plethora of Pink from Floor to CEILING

This is how we made it our own:

Notice Tom's Tiling Job

A Jacuzzi Tub!

And Double Sinks

Top 9 in 2009

9. Seeing our first real movie in 3D at the IMAX - Harry Potter for my birthday. (The 4D movie at the aquarium during the reunion was pretty awesome too.)

8. The Blizzard of 2009 - We got 21 inches of snow in less than 24 hours!

7. Church wise - This was the first year I haven't been at Girl's Camp the entire week in 7 years. I also got to go to the temple with a sister I visit taught a while ago for her first time.

6. Health - We had the pleasure of learning all about health insurance this year. I started the year off with an amazingly itchy rash all over my body that got me two weeks off of work, an inconclusive biopsy, and prednisone to control the itching. Tom had his second bought of kidney stones (the first one was 10 years ago on his mission). We ended up in the ER for a day finding out that Tom has two kidney stones - which he is still waiting to pass.

5. Finally getting an oven back - this was so exciting after not having one for almost a year - it meant we could make those fresh apple pies again!

4. Travel - We love to travel whether it's a day trip or long extended trip - so a lot of the highlights of our year had to do with exploring the area around us.

• I got to go to San Antonio to see Dave graduate from Air Force Basic Training. The best part of the trip for me was seeing a happy, confident and loving Dave. It was also good to see Dave who couldn't get enough sugar and kept making himself sick since he hadn't had any real treats in several months and wouldn't get any for several more. So Dave is still Dave just happier, more determined, and totally athletic!
• Even though we live so close to DC we hardly ever go. But we were determined to make it this year to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. We've never seen it looking so beautiful! We went to the Jefferson Memorial on the banks of the Potomac River for the first time and got to see DC from a whole new vantage point.
• For our seventh anniversary we went to New York City which is one of our favorite places in the world. We went to the MET for the first time which was awesome. We've never enjoyed museums much but they had such a wide variety of interesting things that we spent most of the day there. We ended the day by wandering around the city and enjoying seeing signs of spring and having Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity.
• In May I went to Charlottesville, VA for a 10 year roommate reunion. I cant' believe where the time has gone but it was so much fun to get together again like no time had passed.
• For my birthday we went to Fort McHenry in Baltimore's Inner Harbor where the Star Spangled Banner was written.
• In the early fall one of my college roommates called me to see if I wanted to go kayaking on the Potomac River in DC. I was so excited! I used to love kayaking in high school and haven't made time to do it since. We had so much fun and it was an amazing way to see DC!
• In the fall a few weeks after our New England trip we made our annual trek to Lancaster, PA. We love going to Lancaster to see the Amish, drive through the country side, and stock up on all our fall supplies like 20 different types of pumpkins and homegrown apples for fresh made apple pie!

3. I know travel was the one above but our fall trip to New England was so amazing that it gets it's own number. We traveled through 11 states in 10 days and loved every minute of it! We saw amazing views for miles with leaves changing colors in hues that are hard to imagine. We finally got to try some favorite foods in the places that they originated - like Maine Lobstah, Boston Cream Pie, Legal Seafood, Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Cheese, and Lobstah Rolls. There were signs of fall all over as we traveled through New England so we really got to enjoy our favorite time of year.

2. House - We finally got a lot done this year and are so excited about the results!

Finishing the Bathrooms was the most exciting. We went from 1.5 old scary baths to 2 full baths - new and beautiful. It's been a long time coming and we got a lot of other projects done in the process of finishing the bathrooms like new plumbing and electrical throughout the house, cutting down the 110 foot dead oak tree in the backyard, and painting the house and repairing the porch. Now our newest project is the kitchen. It's gutted and ready for it's new parts! I cant' wait for that to be done!

1. Family Reunion at our house - this has to be our favorite thing of the year. It was so much fun to have a house full of people! We really missed everyone when they left. We were glad that Matt and Cassandra came early and Shawnie and her family stayed late - it really was nice to have so many people here for so long! It was great to get to see everyone again, catch up and make more new memories together. My favorite memories were trying so hard to meet up with Shawnie in New York City and finally bumping into each other at Serendipity (how serendipitous!) =), and spending time with everyone on Sunday after church.

Worst Product of the Year Award

BYU Cougars Insulated Wine Cooler

Check it out for yourself at: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/teamshop/ncaa/byu/PRD~574827/BYU%20Cougars%20Insulated%20Wine%20Cooler.jsp#

Blizzard of 2009

We got 21 inches of snow in less than 24 hours! So everyone I know in the Great Lakes and Northeast is laughing at that amount but it's enough to stop Baltimore for a day or two. Luckily we usually only have a couple of light snows each winter, but every 7-8 years we get dumped on. The last time it happened it was my first winter here. I wondered what I had gotten myself into by moving out here. But I have to admit it's fun to have everything stopped for a while so we get to enjoy the quiet and beauty that snow brings to the world in winter.

A few hours into the start of the storm.

Accumulation of a day's worth of snow ... and still coming

This is our driveway that Tom shoveled twice that day - you'd never know.

Good thing he loves the snow!

The Big Dig Out - Day 2

Tom in the snow before the dig out.

I think the amount on the trash can is the most telling of how much we got.

You never pay attention to how long your driveway is until you have to shovel it!

I thought the texture of the snow was so cool in the morning in the front yard.

The wind whipped the snow in to a strange pattern on the porch roof.

Since the weather stayed cool the snow stayed put and we had the first White Christmas in a while.

Timber!!!

We had a 110 foot Red Oak Tree in our backyard that died a couple of years ago. We knew it needed to come out because every time we had a storm huge branches would break off. But we kept putting it off since everyone who we brought in to give us a quote wanted $5,000 to $8,000 since it's so big and right next to the power lines. We finally found a neighbor who recommended these guys who did it for $1600. Tom had a fun time watching them cut it down and it's nice not to have to worry about it falling on us anymore.

The tree in the middle with no leaves is the problem child.

Since our neighbors saved us so much money we gave them all the wood.

They'll be set for a while.

Timber!!!

Bye Bye Oak Tree!