Here we go, again!

It appears as if we are in line for one more storm this winter.  At this point, it is just part of the routine.  Right now I am rooting for a big storm, because this could be the year we beat the all time record for snow.  Why not be excited?  I am ready.  This morning we stocked up.  My husband is going to bring home work so that he can be safely at home Saturday through Monday if needed.  Thankfully we don't have to go out in the messy weather.  We can even join our church live via the Internet. School will go on as planned, too.

AND... Never fear, spring will be here, winter can't go on for much longer!

Photo from Porch Sitting Union of America

I Have a Cold

Unfortunately, I have caught a cold.  I hate being sick!  This one is mainly in my sinuses.  Thankfully, I cannot remember the last time I was sick, and I really have not been down and out sick, either.  I credit this to the ingredients in the above photo.  Twice a day, I have choked down the following.

In 6-8 ounces of warm water add:

• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• the juice of one small lemon  

I have also consumed great quantities of homemade chicken stock, so yummy.  I have continued to exercise at half the effort.  I have cut out the sugar, which amazingly enough, I have not been craving as usual.  All I crave right now is sleep!  

I am really praying that no one else gets this, but yesterday, Ryan said he thought he was getting sick, too, but so far it is very mild.  He will not take my concoctions.  He will drink EmergenC, so that is making me a little happy.  

Oh well, this too shall pass, right?  If only the world would stop until I am well.  :)  

Things Are Coming Together

Two huge answers to prayer have come our way lately.  The first has to do with finding local friends.  I have been praying for a way for my kids to meet other Christian kids in our area, something I thought would be very difficult since we don't plan on changing churches.  And God provided a way!

We had two separate families who live nearby that we have known for a long time tell us about a youth ministry that has blessed them and their children in our area.  And finally, the younger two kids went last Friday.  And they enjoyed going!  They said the other kids were welcoming and the message was right on. Ryan's age group meets on another day, and we were not able to get him to his group, but hope to one day soon.  This is such a huge blessing and perhaps another step towards settling in our new town.

In addition, I have been praying about what to do next fall with our church commitments.  We have been very active in our church for years and we don't want to change that totally.  But, I think I have a plan.

Right now on Sundays, Grace serves in the first service at 8 o'clock.  A few times this winter, it has been difficult to get to church that early as the highway is not cleared of snow until later.  So, we are going to sign her up to work in the Sunday school second hour next fall.

Ryan already works the second hour in 5th grade Sunday school.  He wants to stay there.

Trevor will be in the Jr. High during the second hour.

We are all going to drop out of AWANA, most likely.  This will be an unpopular decision, but frankly, we can't afford the gas.  It's $10 round trip.  And with the local youth group option, I think it will be less an issue.

We are going to switch to attending the third service at 11:40 on small group Sundays.  This way we won't leave the house at 7 AM and get home at 5PM twice a month as we are doing now.

For karate, which meets at our church, my dear husband is going to adjust his work schedule so that he can get off an hour early on karate nights.  He will be able to take the kids or we all go as a family, and the two of us have a date night.  :)

Community life is so important when you belong to a church, but if you live 33 miles away, it can be prohibitive and stressful.  With prayerful adjustments, I think we can make this work!

Thoughts of Spring

Photo from Country Living Magazine's Facebook page

Yesterday, we received another 7 inches of snow, bringing our total to over 40 inches, which is the 4th snowiest winter on record.  Thankfully, we could prepare ahead of time.  Jeff brought home work so he could avoid the roads and work from home.  I had time to get food restocked.  All was cozy and warm on the home front.  

As I was reading our history lesson out loud yesterday, I came across this quote, and instantly I was transported to spring!  So, I thought I should write it here along with the cheery bouquet pictured above, to give us a little burst of spring.  

"When spring came, after that long hard winter, one could not get enough of the nimble air."  

~Willa Cather, My Antonia, 1918  

Just 42 days until spring! 

Another Dip in the Vortex

The experts say the coldest air of the season is on the way!  This is scary because we've already had some cold temperatures, like -15F cold!  Just the other day a water pipe froze.  We had the cabinets open and the faucet dripping, then I forgot and turned it off, and the rest was history.  Thankfully, we got some good advice and got the pipe to thaw without damage, that we know of.

My number one concern is for the roads.  The salt solutions don't work on the roads at these temperatures, so I worry about driving, about my husband driving.  We have stocked up on food.  The gas tank is full.  We put plastic on some of our leaky windows. We caulked some others.  I think we are as ready as we can be. The only thing to do now is wait it out.

This January has been the second snowiest on record, too.  I don't want to break that record!  We actually have had more snow than our usual average snow total for the year.  I know that it is not as cold or snowy as other places, but we are not used to this, so it seems more intense.  I am sure to not forget this winter!

Three Quick Months

It is really hard to believe we have been in our new home for three months.  Moving almost an hour south might seem not such a big deal, but it has had its adjustments.

Thankfully, we have been able to continue going to our church home of 17 years.  I don't really know how it will turn out in the end, though.  We can't continue week night activities after this year.  The traffic to church is terrible, making the trip difficult.  We have to leave home before 4 PM so we can get there by 6PM! We decided to make the best of things, so we now leave at 3PM, visit with grandparents and then go to church.

Sundays are totally fine.  The traffic is light.  We do pretty well, leaving at 7AM.  It would be nice if we went to a later service, but for now, Grace is working in the preshcool in the first service, Ryan working in the 5th grade in the second service.  And, if it snows or someone is sick, we can watch online.

I think our biggest need at the moment is that we need to make some friends close to home.  I feel as if we will never make friends if we don't find a church here.  Not that I want to leave our church completely. I am praying about finding a church near home for week night youth group.

We have adjusted our small group to meeting on Sunday afternoons.  It makes for a long day, but it works for now.  We tried having group down here at home, but with the traffic, it was impossible on a week night. We are going to give this a trial period.

We do have plans to have dinner with a family from church who lives close by.  They have been driving to church for 18 years.  They do go to AWANA and are in the band, so they make a rehearsal trip and have a very early Sunday morning.  It can be done.  Maybe they can give us some hints on how to make it work.

Today, we finally got our library cards. The library is not as grand as our previous library, but it is very nice, nicer than most libraries.  They have lots of programs.  I want to try one this Tuesday for teens.  Grace isn't too excited about it.  But the boys say they will try.  It's hard making new connections.  This is the stretching part for my kids.  It's good for them!

I have resigned from my bunco group.  I knew this would be part of the  deal.  Again it is the driving up north on a week night.  The traffic comes to a standstill for an hour or two.  It can double your time up there if you leave before 6:30.  Anyway, I need to give it up.  I will miss the ladies, but that's just part of life.

The distance is an issue and it isn't an issue.  It's all how you look at it.  I do love living here.  The people are friendly.  There is every convenience here that a person could want.   It will just take some time to make new friends, while keeping the old, of course.  :)

The "Blizzard" of 2014

Good morning friends!  Life is starting to return to normal as our blizzard-like adventure wraps up.  Jeff went back to work today.  I am still waiting to hear from him about how the roads are. Local schools are still closed.  AWANA was canceled for tonight, for which I am extremely grateful.

It all started last Friday, when we decided to heed the storm warning and load up at the grocery store.  We, along with the rest of Indiana, all had the same idea.  I was amused to see empty shelves, especially a run on bacon.  Really?  I didn't know that bacon was a storm staple.  Now I do and will be sure to get a few packages next time.  The usual things were gone, but that didn't bother me too much, as I like to buy organic or as close as possible and those are the last things to run out.

Saturday, was pretty much a normal day, thankfully.  We had to go to the BMV, and Jeff took Ryan to a local college basketball game.  I made a batch of chili, and was thankful we avoided the crazy people at the grocery stores on Saturday, as reports were coming in from Facebook that things were getting worse at the stores hour by hour.

And then  "it" hit us Sunday morning.  Our dear church leaders had already encouraged us to stay home and watch the service online.  Thankfully, Ryan and Grace's scheduled service in children's ministry was canceled, another wise call.  We all five snuggled into the sectional and watched church via our Chromebook hooked up to our TV as huge, fluffy snowflakes started to fall and continued to fall all day.

The snow really came down hard and fast, at an inch an hour.  The temperatures started to drop, too.  And the wind was howling by evening.  Jeff and the kids kept the driveway and sidewalks clear, as we knew the temperatures were falling to below zero overnight and we would not be able to shovel on Monday.

Monday came.  Oh my, it came!  We woke to temperatures of -10 below with windchills of -30.  The house struggled to keep above 65.  We celebrated Epiphany with Jeff leading us in prayer, our nativity, and some cinnamon buns.  I was so thankful to have electricity, not everyone did in our area.  We also managed to have a normal school day.  Jeff set himself up in the office to study tax things.  I made us fajitas for dinner.  I also made us a pumpkin cake!

Tuesday arrived and we were now -15.  Jeff had to stay home again because the interstate he takes to work was closed.  It was a sheet of ice.  No chemicals can work on the ice in these conditions. Still, we managed to keep warm and have a normal school day.  I made awesome turkey noodle soup with homemade stock from a turkey I roasted Sunday.  My we were eating well during this storm!  Finally, the temperatures rose above 0, but the roads remained closed all day.  We watched part of Gone With the Wind to pass the time.

Today, as I said above, Jeff is back at work.  I just received a text from him saying the roads were icy in patches, but thank God he made it safely.  The temperatures are supposed to be in the 20's today.  We could get an inch of snow later.  But by Saturday, we are supposed to get rain and be in the 40's.  What a weather week!