Surprise Snow

I've mentioned before how the South is seriously bipolar when it comes to weather. Last weekend was a perfect example.

Friday, it was beautiful. Sunny and a warm 63 degrees out. Noah was comfortable in a pair of jeans and a light, long-sleeve shirt. I knew the weatherman had mentioned snow for Friday night, but seeing as how I've been sorely disappointed the last few times, I assumed it'd be nothing more than flurries. Actually, I think that's what they thought too. And I just knew it wouldn't stick, because the ground was so warm. It hadn't fallen below freezing in days.
I'm pretty sure everyone else agreed with me. Because Saturday afternoon, I started seeing pictures popping up all over instagram and FB... of friends caught off guard at the mall, the store, the movies. Nobody saw it coming. My little sister and niece actually got stuck at the mall, while my stepdad was working an hour away, and a close friend had to go pick them up.

So in less than 24 hours, we went from this:

 

To this:

I think God likes to remind us, every once in a while, that we can't predict everything. And sometimes it's more fun to be surprised.

Surprise snows really are my favorite. Some of my favorite memories with Brad have been when it snows, going back all the way to when we were kids.

 

Noah thought it was the coolest thing ever. 

And now that I've gotten my fill of snow for the year, bring on SPRING!

decluttering my head

I'm so out of my workout groove. I quit running after the miscarriage, and I obviously just lost all motivation. Then the holidays hit, and frankly, it seemed like a lost cause. I would've just been working out as an excuse to eat food. And let's face it, Christmas only comes once a year, and there's no way in H-E-doublehockeystick that I'm gonna pass up my aunt's sweet potato casserole (don't let the name fool you... it's loaded with butter and sugar... and oh-so-good).

But all that's over now. Pretty sure the lady lumps I've acquired aren't quite what Fergie was referring to, so I hopped back on the treadmill a few days ago for the first time. And I swear I thought I was going to die. The strength is there, but the endurance? Eh, notsomuch. My sides were cramping, and I only went like 2 miles. I guess that's not bad, but I was hoping for more. I'm an overachiever that way I guess.

***
 I finally jumped on the Downton Abbey bandwagon. I spent a couple days catching up on past seasons, and by the end of it, I was worried I was going to start accidentally speaking in a British accent. Except with a Southern twang. I'm sure that would've been super hot.
The show is addictive and really good. The only down side is that it stresses me out. That's an awful lot of drama to throw into one show. I seriously can't watch it before bed, because it makes me all anxious.

***
If you were following the news/weather at all last week, you probably heard about our big fat blizzard we had (#sarcasmfont). I love it when it snows. We rarely ever get any, so come January, most Southerners get all excited if there's even the slightest chance of some.

Yeah. Our area got a few flurries, but that was it.

Womp, womp.

(source unknown)

And while we're on the subject, I'd like to get something off my chest.

Northern and western transplants to our area like to give us a really hard time about our snow excitement. I saw a few calling us "idiots". But frankly, it's usually the transplants that my brother spends all day hauling out of ditches every time it snows. They figure they're super experienced and can drive on slush-covered roads.
If they saw our one little makeshift snow plow? They may understand why most of us stock up on groceries and refuse to come out of the house for two days. ;)

***

You know how most toddlers get really quiet, and that's how you know they're up to something? Well, I think we finally hit that stage with Noah.
He's usually pretty chill, so when he got quiet last week, I assumed he was just playing in his room. I went to go check on him, and to my horror, I walked in to a poop fest. Noah wanted to tap into his inner artist, but since he couldn't get to his paint or crayons, he got resourceful.
It was all over him, smeared into the carpet, on his bedroom door...

He's never done anything like that before (and it doesn't really have anything to do with autism. I've heard of typical kids doing this too). I guess there's a first time for everything, but I'm hoping there's a LAST time for everything too.

***
So remember Noah's Mini Cooper my dad and stepmom got him for Christmas? Well, our driveway isn't really ideal, since it's kind of short and goes to the road. I decided to take it over to my dad's and let Noah test drive it there.
He really liked riding around in it, but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of steering yet. He knows how to make it stop and go, but he's rather go hands-free and chill as he cruises.
Cracked us up.

Happy Monday (and MLK Day)!

weekend fun.

Even though I was totally swept off my feet by the dehumidifier gift (#sarcasmfont), Brad decided to spoil me even further this weekend. He took almost full Noah-duty all weekend. Friday night, we had a little Valentine's Day party for the girls' Bible study. The convenient part is that Brad's parents are right around the corner, so they take his mom out for dinner while I'm with the girls. Works out perfectly.
Before I left, I decided to snap a couple of quick pics of my latest anthropologie purchase. Remember those gift cards I got for Christmas? Well, I'd been watching a couple of tops for the last couple of months, just waiting for them to hit the sale rack. I saw online that the one I really wanted was on sale, so I raced over there. Lo and behold, another top I'd been eyeing was also in the sale section! Score!

 I think I wore it just about every day this weekend.

Saturday evening, Brad watched Noah while I hung out with my friend and her family, working on wedding decorations. She's getting married next month, so everyone got cozy in their sweat shop sun room and made bouquets. I adore her family.

(the bride)

We made her little sister (who is also getting married this year!) try one out with the dress. I think they look great! Especially considering half of us don't sew. Here's hoping they don't fall apart while we're walking down the aisle...

While I was gone, Brad put together an incredibly delicious dinner for me, in honor of Valentine's Day. He had to work on the actual day, so we postponed it until this weekend.
Doesn't this look amazing??

And check out the presentation!

*sigh*

He does love me.

All it took was some good food to convince me.

And of course, the dehumidifier.

Sunday night, we celebrated my stepsister's birthday at my dad's. On the drive up there (they live like 25 minutes away) , we were totally shocked to see ice and snow falling! It wasn't cold enough to stick, but it sure was gorgeous coming down.
My dad built us a cozy fire, and we just kept things relaxed.

Noah had fallen asleep on the way up there, so he was a tad bit of a party pooper at first. But Brad turned on a Thomas episode on his phone, and we were good.
And y'all aren't going to believe this. But look:

Brad took a picture of me with Noah... and I'm not blurry!

Look! There's more than one!

I'm just a little excited about it.

Anyways, that was our weekend! :)

The Monday Real

Some days I really, really, really want to do the whole "I told you so!" thing. Or the "Why didn't you listen to me in the beginning?" thing. Of course, I don't think I'm right all of the time. Nobody's perfect, right? ;)... But in some situations, there's an obvious, understood-by-the-majority-of-humanity, right and wrong. When I make my position clear on the *right* decision and others disagree, only to turn around and eventually do the *right* thing? I so want to do the "I told you so" dance. But I don't. And won't. Because sometimes I try to be a better person than that. Geez, being nice is so not fun sometimes. Anyone else feel like this?

***

There seems to be a general confusion over the South's reaction to snow. Some of us love it, some of us hate it, and most are stuck somewhere in between. Our obsession with milk and bread sandwiches baffles people (no, I'm not serious. But we do flood the stores to buy milk and bread every time it snows. Why? Those are the first two food items to expire when snowed in) . Our neighbors up north and out west enjoy teasing us at our 2 inches of "Winter APOCALYPSE 2012!!". Schools close, businesses shut down, and basically the local economy crashes at the sight of snow flurries. Personally? I love it. I can genuinely say there's nowhere else in our country that you can get this kind of entertainment. And I'm pretty sure there's nowhere else in our country where it's 70 degrees one day, then ice the next, then back to sunshine and shorts.
Anyway, to sum it up... here's an example of what happens here when it snows:

via

***

Wanna know what I got for Valentine's Day?

A dehumidifier.

Nothing says, "I love you so much I don't want mold to grow in our crawlspace" like a dehumidifier. My man is so dang romantic.

Happy Monday! :)



Paper Mama Photo Challenge: White

I actually took this photo last year when it snowed. It has me wishing for some wintery weather right now, but since our neighbors up north aren't even getting any, I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, I knew this was the one I wanted to enter. Originally, I had faded the photo out a little, but going back, I realized I loved the way Dodger's bright orange fur looked against the white backdrop.

Add to that the sweet kiss my furry baby is giving my human baby, plus Little Man experiencing his first real snow, and voila, I've got a favorite "white" photo.

Happy Sunday!