When will winter end?

I've been so blah lately, well probably for the past 3 brutally cold months.  Not going outside really affects my motivation.  It also makes me pasty white ;)

I have so many fun projects I could work on, or the endless 'to do' list that comes with house and family but I just don't want to.  I sit at this computer for too much of each day.... or on the couch watching Hailey play/watch tv.  I need spring... I NEED spring!  And so does Hailey because she is even more of a hermit than I am!

Could someone just tell me how many more days until the sidewalks are clear and the weather above -10?  If I know when the end is coming it will be easier to wait it out ;)

Yay for February!

I'm mostly thrilled because this means we are one month closer to SUMMER!!!!!!!  Oh sunshine and warm weather.... how I have missed you :)

We have been busy at our house enjoying each others company these past few weeks.  Hailey and Ian have been playing up a storm, we have been cooking together and doing our best to get out of the house.  Ian comes to pick us up at any time of the day then we promptly take him back to work so we can have a vehicle.  It has been a huge blessing for my sanity (Hailey's too I am sure) and it only takes a coffee break from Ian's day.  Thank you sweetheart for helping me get out of the house :)

This weekend we pulled out Grandma Ethel's bun recipe to make flapjacks (scones) and buns.  Yummy!  Grandma you have great buns :)  H of course was right in there helping too!

This morning our street was FINALLY ploughed (first time all winter).  We had a good 5-6 inches of packed, bumpy, rutted snow all over the street which wasn't very fun to drive through.  H and I watched for over an hour as the ploughs went past at least a dozen times, along with numerous trucks to be filled with snow.  Just before lunch the digger finally got to the pile in front of our house and we watched excited as it filled the trucks with snow!!!!!  I got so distracted that I forgot to take a picture ;)  Every time a vehicle went past out of sight Hailey said 'go?, go?' with her arms held out.  So cute!

Looking forward to warmer weather each week so that we can go and play outside everyday!  I miss my walks too.

Must get to the BBQ

So as you have seen in this previous post...   it has snowed a TON!  That wasn't even the total accumulation of snow we have gotten since then.  Needless to say I thought our BBQ was LOST FOREVER (ok maybe just till spring).  But of course, me being pregnant, I started really wanting a nice medium rare steak with Montreal Steak Spice, that only Ian can make right!!!!!!

It pursuit of this goal ;) I planned a steak night on our weekly meal plan (created by my dear friend Rhonda).

side note - I have been using this meal plan for many months now (a year maybe?) and I love it.  I had made a set of 'regular use' plans that I would rotate through but I found I would rather make a new menu every week that applied to our schedule and included regular new menu items.

Steak night is TONIGHT!!!!! and I did remember the trouble of the buried BBQ in advance.  I trudged through the untouched knee/waist deep snow in my backyard just to get to the deck.  It was so nice out but I decked out in full snow gear to avoid getting wet from the deep snow.

DISCLAIMER:  Ian advised against me shovelling in 'my condition' but I wanted to try and said I would do what I can!  Ian DOES NOT make his pregnant wife shovel a meter of snow.  He is wonderful and kind and has shovelled 99% of the snow all winter.

I made pretty good progress... it actually cheesed me off that I couldn't finish it all.  In the midst of this snow hauling I looked up at my neighbours deck and was shocked to see not a single spot of snow on it..... NONE... crazy.  They must have kept up with the snowfall so they could BBQ all winter long too :)  So this is what has been done and I am leaving the rest for Ian to finish before he fires up the grill.  Hopefully he can handle it ;)

oh and now we can escape out our back-door in case of emergency.  I am pretty much a hero :)

Snowed in

Well not literally (at least I don't think so, I haven't tried to leave) but I CANNOT believe the amount of snow outside right now.  Admittedly I have had my blinds closed for FAR too long but I could not believe what has added up in our backyard since we left on Christmas holidays.

See for yourself!

that stack of snow on top of the post is probably 3 feet high

No we have not been in our backyard all winter.  It is so crisp and clean with no footprints.  Hailey has a hard enough time moving around in her snowsuit, let alone in deep snow, so we play on the driveway!

I guess we aren't BBQing until Spring.... dang it.  I should have shovelled the deck before it got so crazy.

This is the window in our kitchen... and this window is probably 10 inches off the ground (deck level).  At least up to my waist here.  

I'm pretty sure we can't even open our back door but we don't need to so we are okay.  I'll call for help if we get stuck out the front too ;)

It's Here!

We made it to December 2 without any bad weather, but now it has come. I guess I shouldn't complain considering we got a whole extra month of fall. The snow is just a skiff but with -25 wind chills there seems no possibility of melting. Bring it on winter.... this will be the last winter we have to survive without a garage so hopefully it isn't too bad.

We are in the process of purchasing a home... and we feel truly blessed to be able to afford a new build here in Lloydminster. We may just get our dream home (a smaller version at least) the first time round. Nothing is signed yet but we have looked at floor plans and lots available. Monday will be decision day! Wish us luck.... it is a huge decision with lots on the plate, especially considering the current economic state.