A Very Cold Weekend

Daniel has skipped work this entire week so he could hang out and go skiing with his friends for Tennessee. On Thursday they decided to rent snowmobiles and I tagged along. It was fun for the first few hours, but its hard to stay warm on the back of a snowmobile when its less than 10 degrees outside. As the sun started to set, I became quite cold and miserable... but it was an adventure all the same. That was cold day # 1.

Cold day #2 occurred in Wendover. Why the heck was I in Wendover? Well, let me tell you... I was doing my open water scuba certification... in the middle of winter.

Whose bright idea was that??

Okay, okay, it was my fault for putting it off until the last minute. I could have done it back in October.

It's a good thing I had Daniel's warm Russia coat (that just so happened to be left in the truck) and a beanie because it was 25 degrees outside. I quickly changed into the full body wetsuit and assembled all my gear. I pulled off my boots and switched to flip flops at the last minute and with 100 pounds of stuff on my back, I trekked the 100 yard boardwalk up to the edge of the water.

The so-called hot spring felt good on my frozen toes, but at a whopping 74 degrees, it didn't last long. I shivered and shook for at least an hour until we had done our two dives of the day.

I thought the walk TO the water was bad, but the walk back was even worse. My flip flops were turning into ice cubes as I walked. When I got back to the car, I tore off my gear and my (worthless) wetsuit and jumped in the car with the heat blasting.

Back at the hotel, I took a hot bath. Its weird how tiring it is to shiver. Every muscle was tense and sore.

Cold day #3 began at 7:00 a.m. as I looked out the window of the hotel and saw 4 fresh inches of snow on my car.

Of course the one time it snows in Wendover, I had to be there.

So I got up, lugged all my gear back out the the car and drove to the lake. Because of the snow, the air was slightly warmer than before. Probably low 30's. But the water turned out to be much colder at 68 degrees. My oxygen tank was covered in ice, just from sitting in the back of the truck on the way over(see picture below)!! This time I was smart enough to wear my boots and my beanie to walk out the water. Once again, I shivered and shook through the two dives and swam to the edge to get out.

You know when you are totally dreading something because you know how awful it's going to be?

That's how I felt. I was all ready to get out, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew I couldn't put my boots back on because they would get full of water. I was hoping that the snow was packed down enough so that I wouldn't get lots to snow on my feet. I was planning the escape that would be the least painful.

I climbed out with the tank on my back and slid my flip flops on. The snow stuck to my wet feet all the way back. That was the longest 100 yards I have ever walked. Once I was in my car again with the heat blasting, I was just happy thinking that I was done and I would never have to do that ever again.

So now that you are bored with my long sob story, here are a few pictures to illustrate it:

My dive buddy and I, getting ready to go.

Ice-covered tank. I could hardly strap it to the vest!

The long walk out. The lake is past the line of bushes.

We Found It at Last!

After weeks of searching, 4 different offers, and one major rejection....

We have officially found our first home!!!

We were so excited about a house on Atkin Avenue. It was everything we wanted and in a great area. We offered and were rejected. It was a little disappointing but decided the house wasn't worth any more than what we offered. We left it behind and, luckily, found an even better house.

Basement apartment, fully updated throughout, big windows, big backyard, covered deck, attached garage, quiet neighborhood... the list goes on. It doesn't need any work.

So we called the listing agent who said he was expecting offers that day. We ran home and sent ours in.

FOUR HOURS LATER we heard back.

Offer accepted!!

Our lender said we could close on the house by the end of the month if everything goes well.

We are SO excited and hope that all of you wonderful friends join us for a celebration once we are settled in!

O Christmas Tree

We now have a Christmas tradition of cutting down our tree. Two years and counting! This year's tree is perfectly symmetrical, it was love at first sight.

This year there was enough snow that we had to snowshoe to find a tree. It was much more fun that way.

Holy cow the pine needles are like little knives with burning poison on each of them. When you get poked, your skin turns rashy and irritated. I had to wear thick leather gloves to decorate it.

We got it home and set it up a few days later. Then a few days after that we decorated it and I realized that we never put water in the tree stand... smart. But don't worry, Daniel drilled some holes in the side so it can still get the water. Hopefully it doesn't die early.

Another tradition we have is making ornaments for the tree. Since I love sewing recently, this year fabric is our material of choice. (last year it was sheet metal, see the snowman?)

I have made tons of these little bird things... I don't know what I'll do with them, maybe give them as gifts or something.

We love Christmas and we love our little traditions.
Maybe someday our tree wont be quite as bare.

Merry Christmas everyone!
May finals be over quickly so we can all have our lives back...