Christmas was snowy this year

...and that's an understatement. In total, we have about 6 feet and it is currently snowing so heavily that I cannot see the Lake that was once right outside my window. But - it's absolutely gorgeous. If you can forget about the car wrecks, endless hours of shoveling, collapsed roofs, canceled flights and power outages, the snow is the greatest thing to happen to Coeur d'Alene since Good Morning America. We got about 4 inches of snow between 8am and 1pm today, followed by rain, freezing rain, and some incredibly gusty wind. I'm hoping that's all that Mother Nature has to throw at us today, unless a little sunshine is in her plans.

Christmas this year was a little hectic this year. Grant was supposed to catch a flight to Boise on Christmas morning, but he managed to catch the flu and decided to stay in bed all day on Christmas and the few days following. I felt so bad that he spend Christmas feeling so crummy...but God bless Walgreens for being open and providing the necessary medication to knock him out for the night. My brother and his wife didn't make it into town until late Christmas night, so we all stayed up for them and did a mini-celebration with presents and turkey for the second time. My cousin and aunt from California managed to make it into town with standby tickets and I think they really enjoyed watching us shovel endlessly while they continued to use the excuse of not bringing any winter clothing....yeah, sure. But it's been great having all the family in town and they're all staying past New Years so we still have a few days to hang out and enjoy the Griswold traditions!

I was really spoiled this year and Grant got me a KitchenAid stand mixer that I love oh-so-much! It's sitting on my counter, just waiting to be put to the test and I think I've found the perfect recipe to break it in. My work will probably start getting daily deliveries of my new baking attempts - but I hardly think they'll complain.

My brother got me the most incredible blanket ever made and all I want to do is go home, wrap up in it and sleep until I have no more sleeping left to do. Does it make me old when I start daydreaming about soft blankets and stand mixers? Please don't tell me if it does.

Anyway, I'm just always so thankful that every year, Christmas is filled with family, friends, too much food and a roof over my head. It's really easy to forget about those who don't have any of that and every once in awhile I have to force myself to think about what really matters during the holidays...and no, it doesn't involve chocolate and wrapping paper.

Snow Day!

Wow, there's a lot of snow out there...enough that my boss called me yesterday morning in the midst of the storm to say, "Please stay home today. We're going to be closed." I hadn't really looked outside at that point, but once I did I realized that even if we weren't closed, I would be staying home. As much as I love my car, there was no way I was getting anywhere close to leaving my driveway. Instead, Grant and I enjoyed our snow day together and made Christmas cookies, watched TV, did some shoveling, let Jersey hop around in the snow and pretty much made the most out of a day stranded inside. Around 5pm, the snow finally stopped after about 36 hours. 37 inches (that's just over 3 feet!) in total, although with all the shoveling and snow plowing, there are piles that are easily taller than me. It's the most snow I've seen fall in my lifetime and I'm so happy that it pretty much guarantees us a White Christmas.

Today was a bit of a challenge to get to work, but Grant's Subaru pushed through and we made it just fine. It's actually an incredible sight to see, especially around the lake. Tomorrow night we are supposed to get another 9 inches or so...just in time for my family in California to see! My cousin has only seen snow once in her life and it was about an inch deep - so this should come as quite a surprise.

In other news...my friend Kelsey graduated from college last weekend and I don't think I've ever seen someone look so fabulous on graduation day! I am 100% certain that her cheerleaders were the loudest in the crowd. We had a ton of fun dancing the night away...enough fun that getting locked out of the apartment in sub-zero temperatures didn't seem too bad. :) My other friend Liz got engaged today! Her and her fiance Bryce make a great pair and I am so excited for them! 90% excited and 10% jealous. Okay, more like 80/20.