Winter Wonderland: Shad's Car in the Snow

We have obviously been having a lot of snow recently. My car was parked at the street when the storms began because I came home late from school that day. I dug it out once but I didn’t need to go anywhere and there was no where else to park at the time because of all the snow, so I just left it there. Well, we returned from the holidays and 3-4 more storms and 2 more feet of snow later, it was totally plowed in.

Since the weather was finally decent earlier today, I resolved to get it out before the next storm hits tomorrow. The first time I dug it out it only took me about 45 minutes or so, so I expected to only spend maybe an hour or so on it today. The only problem was that the snow berm surrounding my car was mostly huge chunks of ice plowed from the road. It took me 2 hours of digging through the berm before I even touched the car. 

I obviously had my work cut out for me. I knew if I got everything cleared out from behind me, it would only take me a few minutes to actually back my car out. I just had to make sure I didn't get stuck.

As you can see here, other cars were in the same boat as me. 

Finally, I got to the car, but it took me almost 2 more hours to actually dig around it. It was about 4:00 by then, so it was of course dark (Gotta love winter). 

At that point, I was finally ready to drive the car free from its "snow fort prison" (If the people across the street would dig their cars out as well, we could have some great snow ball fights because we would already have prebuilt snow forts from the plows; the ice would make them impenetrable from oncoming snowballs...awesome!).

You can see how much snow there was. It took me forever to dig around the car.

As I had guessed, it was really easy to get out once I had dug around it. It only took me about 5 seconds to drive it free. Behold, the final product below--an empty parking spot. Anyone need somewhere to park???

Snow update... this is CRAZY!

It is STILL snowing here in little old Spokane washington! We have received a record total of 46.2 inches as of Tuesday, (yup, that would be four feet!) and that's just in the last week and a half!! Then Wednesday we got another storm good for another 8-10 inches, and you guessed it, it is still snowing outside today. We have officially made national news, the mayor has declared a "state of emergency" and every morning we wake up to people shoveling out their cars. The plows cannot get around fast enough, and once they do, you've already dug out your car, and thus have to do it again! There is literally NOTHING we can do about this. Shad and I cannot get up the hill to our apartment complex to park, because it is too steep and slick for our car to make it! So we've been forced to park on the street, where we are plowed or snowed in half the time. We've had to find rides to work and church. This really is awful. 

However, I do take solace in the fact that the whole country is receiving snow. My parents house in Seattle has almost a foot of snow!!! The first true white Christmas I can EVER remember in Seattle. CRAZY! Las Vegas received snow, and so did california. This is madness. And I really am beginning to truly LOATHE the  snow. 

This is my car, BEFORE the snow plows came, and only about 2.5 feet into it. There is about 4.5 feet of snow now. So you can imagine...

Yes, that UPS truck in the background is stuck! We offered him help, but he was beyond help at that point! 

SNOWED IN!!!!!

Oh man... we have had some CRAZY weather here in Spokane! I was not aware that when we moved to Spokane we moved to the Artic! Geez! We are currently experiencing the worst winter storm I have ever been in! It's literally like Finland weather here, and trust me I know what Finland is capable of!! There is currently 2, yes TWO, feet of snow that fell since yesterday morning and is continuing to DUMP on us THROUGH tomorrow. They are predicting another foot of snow!! Shad had his last final scheduled for this morning but it has been cancelled!! All the schools are closed, all the universities are closed, the banks are closed, and even the malls are probably going to close! We are literally SNOWED in. Never in my life... this is absolutely nuts! On the bright side, our heater was fixed earlier this week, so at least we are staying nice and toasty inside! Phew! But There is no going anywhere today! There will be no dreaming of a White Christmas, this is for reals!

Here are some pictures of this crazy snow storm from our balcony: 

This is what it normally looks like from our balcony, to compare.

This is this morning at 7:30!!

Look at these cars!! Completely buried! You can kind of see my car parked in the background...buried on the street.  I couldn't get it up the hill last night after work! 

Snow, Snow, SNOW! 

Baby its cold outside! (And Inside!)

  8°F

Current: Clear
Wind: NE at 5 mph
Humidity: 59%

Sun

7°F | -4°F

Mon

4°F | -13°F

Tue

2°F | -8°F

Wed

11°F | 9°F

Oh man, as you can see by the forecast it has been ridiculously cold here!!!! We had a crazy winter storm move in over the weekend and it is absolutely FRIGID! The highs are not even in the teens! And the lows are sub-zero temps!! The wind chill makes it even colder... like negative 16! It has been so windy here that the moment you step outside it moves through you and chills you inside out. But I know what you are thinking... wow, that's cold. But at least you have a nice warm bed and apartment to come home to and have a nice cup of hot chocolate. Nope, you'd be wrong! Shad and I being the poor students that we are rarely turn on our heater, because gas is too expensive and we just don't have the luxury of heat! But in this cold weather we really have no alternative, so we turned it on this morning before church so we can come home to a warm house afterwards, on the way home we were ready for a nice and toasty home, but we walked and soon realized our heater stopped working! Of all days to stop working it has decided to go out during the winter storm. So we are totally freezing here at home. This picture is of Shad studying... INSIDE the house for his finals. Notice he is equipped with two coats, a hat, and thick blanket! I am sporting long johns, two sweaters, and three pairs of socks. I made soup for dinner, that hit the spot perfectly and warmed us up briefly, and then warm brownies for dessert! And I left the oven on extra long to heat up the kitchen while I cooked! I opened up the oven and stood over it for a little bit to toast up my nose which I'm pretty sure is growing icicles! And to top it off for my Laurel activity this Tuesday, we are suppose to go caroling!?! I wanted to skip out, but I was just put in charge of it today as the adult leader!!! Oh man! Any ideas on how to keep warm??? Just when I thought Provo was too cold for us! Burrrrrr!! 

 

Christmas Decoration Are Up

I have had a hard time feeling very "Christmas-y" this year, we've just had a lot going on these last couple months, that it's all overwhelming. Plus its just too soon! I cannot believe Christmas is literally around the corner, so on Monday night Shad and I put up our Christmas decor as our family home evening this week. We didn't start until late, because we are upon Shad's final season, so I hardly see him these days, so as a result we didn't finish until almost midnight (which is why I look so sleepy in these pics and I had a cold!).  Plus if you have any gift ideas for Shad (under $50, we put a cap on it this year, poor law students here!), please let me know, because I am definitely having a hard time. I tried to convince him that we needed no gifts at all and just to buy a wii, but he didn't go for that idea! Happy Christmas! 

The Before Shot...pretty sad looking tree!

And After... awesome looking tree! My parents and I have a tradition that started when I was 7 or 8, they give me a mouse ornament every year, and still do! So if you look closely, you will see our tree is decorated with mice!! 

So Sleepy...

This tree we bought our first Christmas together, because we were poor, but then we were given the bigger tree from my old boss. But we still kept them both... two trees YAY!!

The finished product...ignore the boxes and crap on the couch! hehe

Thanksgiving...Yum!

Shad and I had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving this year!! I was originally supposed to work the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, however, my wonderful co-worker volunteered to cover my shifts, so we got to spent 5 blissful days at home! Hooray! This was Shad's first Thanksgiving with my family, so that also made it a little extra special, and my first Thanksgiving at home for 3 years. So we drove down on Wednesday morning, and spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday day visiting fam (Shad's sister Heidi lives there too, so we got to see her and her three girls, who we just love!) and just hanging out around home, just being together. And enjoying delicious goodness on Thursday (Yum!)!! Then on Saturday we went downtown and spent the day walking around and shopping. It was such a great day for walking around, I just love it there this time of year, with all the Christmas decor, and people everywhere. Then we stopped by the Seattle Temple on the way home, we just walked around the grounds, and enjoyed the view. Which was GREAT, because Shad and I haven't been back since we were married. We also helped put up my parents Christmas tree and decorations. Then, sadly, we drove back on Sunday night after attending my family ward. We are lucky that we live so close that we can drive, plus gas is getting cheaper!! It was an awesome mini vacation, and so nice to get away for a bit. Plus, we heard it snowed a bit here in Spokane, suckers! So here are some pics of our weekend, I posted a lot... so enjoy! Hehe!

Prepping delicious dinner, we all look so intense! I was making stuffing!

Shad and I getting ready to stuff our faces, Mmmm...

Our beautiful Thanksgiving Table!

Making Robert Redford, the most delicious dessert in the world, yup, you should be jealous.

One my favorite places in the world, downtown Seattle.

This is where we took some of our first pictures as husband and wife, almost two and a half years ago!

Pretty fall pic, they had just shined up the Moroni.

My wonderful parents! Happy Thanksgiving!