First Snow!

We just had our first MN Winter Storm! The news said Eden Prairie got 5.5 inches! It is so beautiful and we've had such a fun day experiencing our first winter snow!

We got up around 8:45 this morning and it literally has snowed all day long...some heavy, some light, big flakes, tiny flakes, and some occasional sleet. We stayed in for a while and then just couldn't take it anymore. We just had to go outside and enjoy it! We walked around our apartment building to the back side where we weren't all that visible and then made some snow angels. :) hehe Michael attempted to make the bottom of a snow man but the snow was just too fluffy to roll into a ball.

Later in the afternoon I began to make some cookies and realized I didn't have enough sugar. So we bundled back up and walked to the dollar store that is in front of our apartment complex. Then tonight for dinner, we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was SO fun to walk through the crunchy snow. I know we won't always feel this excited for this kind of weather, but our first time in it has been really exciting. :)

We took tons of pictures, so here are some that show the progression of it all:

The view when we woke up - looking off our balcony

Around noon time

Around 2 or so

After the snow plough trucks came through parts of the parking lot

Trees across the street - good pic of the snow coming down!

Michael starting the snow angel

An angel in disguise ;)

Me getting to wear my snow boots for the first time (thanks Mom!)

On our walk around the apartment building; to the right is the parking lot of the bowling alley

Nighttime shot with no flash - it is still super light outside b/c of all the snow

Neat pic with the flash that only shows the nighttime snow

Chilly Week

Well we have officially had our first cold week in MN...Burr.

Tuesday morning as I was getting ready for work, Michael called me into the living room where he was standing in front of our thermometer (that has a unit outside to measure the temperature) with the local weather on tv and says "This thing says it's 7 outside." ?? We both stared at it for a while trying to figure out why there wasn't another digit in front of the 7. Then we accepted the reality, and we just started laughing with a panicked look on our faces. haha

It's actually bearable as long as the wind isn't blowing. We went out last night to the church to meet with our young adults group, and afterwards we were helping some people load stuff in their car and this huge gust of wind came. One of the girls yelled "Why do we live here?!?!?!" I yelled back "I don't know!!!!" :) When we got home, the local weather said the wind chill was -1. Yep, that would explain it. So basically 2 out of the 4 nights of this week I have gone on last minute sweater shopping trips. But it has been fun to wear my new scarf and gloves! hehe

And to prove how cold it is…..we have sliding glass doors in our living room. Well there is condensation on the inside of one of the doors just from the heater and stuff. Well the condensation is freezing now (INSIDE our apartment) b/c even though it is 68 inside our apartment, the door that the condensation is on is just THAT cold! Yikes.

They are predicting our first snow for this weekend. They said 3-6 inches in possible. We are so hoping it snows! Plus, it would be super fun b/c we would actually be at home and be able to watch it all day! We shall see!

And a HAPPY Thanksgiving It Was!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Let me begin by saying.....Ahhhhhhhh.........TEXAS! Boy, did it feel GOOD to be back in the Lone Star State! :) I didn't realize just how much I missed it! Our flights and travel were great with no problems, and no bad waits...thank goodness!

We made it to my parents house about 6:15 Wed night! We played some of the closest spades games ever! So fun! :) Thursday, we headed to my Gpa's house for Tgiving with the Eckel family. It was so fun to see all the extended family and catch up with everyone. GP even sent some more homemade blueberry jam back with us! :) We had a delicious meal and of course played a game that I managed to be the first one to lose at. argh. My cousins lent me a couple of sympathy chips, but I still lost. haha ;)

Friday, my sister Kat and her family came in and spent the weekend with us at my parents house. It rained and was cold the whole weekend, so we just stayed in, played some games, and most of all enjoyed visiting with each other, laughing, and hanging out. It's those simple things I miss the most when I'm away. :*) Kat and Jim honored us by asking us to be Godparents for our new nephew Luke who will be arriving in February! Jacob, my 2 yr old nephew, was my little buddy all weekend. He loves his aunt "Lyla" and gave me lots of kisses and hugs! He loved to follow me around and help out with what I was doing. One morning while I was getting ready, he even used some of Uncle Michael's hair gel to fix his hair like Uncle Michael. :) (of course he had a big clump of dried gel in one spot of his head the rest of the day, but it was still cute, hehe.)

Sat night Carrie, my best friend from high school, came over and we got to catch up for a while. It was so fun to see her! So as you can see, our time in TX was just wonderful. We wished we would have been able to see my sister Kristina and her family in Houston, as well as Michael's family in Temple, but we are looking forward to Christmas where we will get to see them all!

Getting ready for the big meal at GP's!

Michael cracking some nuts with GP

Jim, Michael and Dad watching the Aggies whip up on t.u. WHOOP!!

Me and Carrie

Jacob and his pumpkin face :)

Katherine, me and Mom

Michael and Dad enjoying some time outside

Me and my little buddy