Snow Amount on Ohlson Mountain

A friend and I took a drive up East Hill Road a month ago and decided to go see how Ohlson Mountain was doing.

It was a lovely day and the Spit looked nice!

We quickly discovered that the Hill had a TON of snow.

Twists and turns in the road :)

Look at all those tracks on the hill!

Our entertainment on the way back down the hill was to see how buried the street signs were in snow!

Pretty crazy! I am happy to report that it is melting steadily now, or at least it is down here in town!

Changes and the Weather

It's amazing how quickly life can change. My boss broke her leg Sunday evening, and I feel so bad for her. But, it has been fine, and it's not quite as panic worthy as it could have been. My coworker and I are able to step up and take over her duties. I am now working full time for the foreseeable future to cover her spot. It has messed up some other opportunities for me, but my current job takes priority and I am happy to meet the need. It has really been amazing to see how things are working out though - I could have gotten another job before this, but did not, etc. Unfortunately, life won't slow down for a while!

Spring miiiiight be on its way now. We have had several days in a row of above freezing temperatures, and the snow is thawing. It doesn't really seem too noticeable until you notice a bit of mud in your driveway (!!) or the snow berm blocking the view of the street is suddenly not as much of a hazard. Last night, I went to the store and it was raining. It was an odd feeling to me, as it has not rained in several months, and I found myself chilled by it, despite it being around 37F. The only really annoying thing about the clouds has been the lack of aurora viewing potential :(

Window frost at sunrise

This afternoon, it feels wonderful outside! It is cloudy and rainy, but 47F!!!! What a difference 15 degrees makes! The amount of daylight we have coming back makes me so happy as well!

Pheasant waddling on the high snow

Our gas price continues to climb. Last night, I noticed the local station is now up to $4.65 a gallon. *sigh* It wouldn't be so painful if our fuel oil didn't climb as well!

One of the neighborhood cats that loves to say hello

I love looking forward to spring. Summer is quickly approaching!

Dancing Curtain

March 8, was one of the best displays of the aurora I have ever seen. It was incredible. The sky would suddenly explode in vibrant colors and the entire sky was dancing overhead. Here is just one of the fantastic views.

Print available

Snow Just Keeps Coming!

I had an excellent birthday! I haven't edited the photos yet, but it was great! When I finally get to them, I'll give a recap....hopefully it won't be too long from now!

Life has been busy in my neck of the woods. Seemed like last week was a whirlwind of appointments, and small stressors. I hung out with a friend for a scrapbooking date, and it was wonderful. She and I both had not scrapbooked since the last time we got together....around a year ago *wince*.

Winter continues to hang on here. The rest of the country seems to be having a wonderful spring, and temperatures way above normal, but we are having a typical winter here. I have not seen any official numbers for snowfall for the winter yet, but the local paper has gotten us a bit closer, and it is insane! My favorite part is the description of how the tallest snow berms may stick around until the end of JULY. We have had several nice, teasing days here, and the next day we get several more inches of snow. I'm tired of it, but not getting worked up over it like some locals. It is, of course, snowing today :)

The next couple weeks are set to be busy as well. We've got the local high school play to attend, a dinner with friends, C's little brother coming for a visit, and our 4th anniversary. And that's just what I am aware of today!

I hope you weekend is wonderful!

February Happenings

C went on a work trip a couple weeks ago.....and this is all he brought with him for two days. I'm a bit jealous :)

He left bright and early the morning after Valentines. I wanted to celebrate, but I had to work that Tuesday, so we were going to go out the week before. I dressed up, and then it started to pour rain outside!

So we stayed home! We had some tasty food already and some sparkling cider, and our evening was complete :)

We had a nice evening. C had a nice trip, but I was glad when he was back home. February seemed to fly by, and was pretty busy overall for us. We have gained a lot of daylight now, and I am so thankful! I took a nice shopping trip up the road with my parents last week. I really needed to get out of town for my sanity!

Our gas price has gone up 35 cents in the past week, up to $4.50. What's yours? We have continued to get lots of snow. I was walking down our driveway yesterday, and we had around 4 inches of new snow, and it occurred to me that we have stopped caring about shoveling the snow now. We have had our quota and a measly 4 inches will just have to stay there and not be moved. I found it funny but also sad that we still have 2 or so months of winter yet and I am DONE clearing snow.

I went to see Big Miracle this week, and thought it was great. Go see it if you haven't!

I'm happy it is March! My birthday month, more daylight, one month closer to no snow!

Winter Carnival Parade 2012

Homer has an annual winter carnival for a weekend in February annually. The only thing I ever have a chance to participate in is the parade. Two Saturdays ago, I stood outside for 20 minutes in the not too cold, but very icy weather to enjoy :)

Krewe of Gambrinus: A Social Aid and Pleasure Club

It was a nice parade, full of character as usual!

Moose Eating Spruce Branches

This winter, the moose are having a hard time finding food because of how much snow we have. I looked outside of work one afternoon and was surprised to see this moose standing on the top of the berm of snow (quite tall) and eating spruce needles!

Here he is a little farther down, but it doesn't show how high the berm is.

I watched him throughout the afternoon. At one point, he climbed to the top and attempted to go down the other side, but it looked like he walked onto softer snow and tumbled down! I was bummed I missed it on video!

My personal favorite from the afternoon. Stretch!

Bubbled Road

Ice on the beach has come to be one of my favorite scenes. Such interesting changes that are different each time I come for a visit. This particular visit made for a treacherous path of ice, but was amazing to see.
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Attempted Beach Walk

The warmth has continued, and we have continued to see 40F this week.

Huge natural snow berms at the beach

I went to the beach with a friend on Tuesday, but it was a bittersweet trip. The beach was full of snow, and I mean FULL! The waves had created humongous natural snow berms. I have never seen the amount of snow on the beach like that day. It was crazy.

I call it a "sheet cake" of snow....another good size pile!

It was impossible to have a leisurely beach walk, as it was all snow, and soft snow is not easy to walk in. It didn't help that some of the piles were several feet high, resulting in sinking boots :)

My friend brought her new Vizsla puppy with her, and she is darling! Despite the awkward conditions on the beach, it was still fun :)

40F!

That's right!! 40F!! Breakup is occurring, and our mountains of snow are melting, which is annoying because winter is nowhere near finished. But it is also so nice to see the sun again, to have above freezing temperatures, and to not need a coat and gloves to go outside!

I went for a beach walk with a friend this morning, which was lovely with no wind. Then I came home and delighted in the sun shining on my deck!

That's right, I read on my deck for a while today in February!

The amount of daylight is quickly increasing, and I suddenly want summer here, after getting a quick taste! How has the weather been where you all are at?

MORE Snow

Have I mentioned how obnoxious this winter has been?

Nearly every week since just before Christmas, we have had a snow storm. Some weeks we have had more than one. At first it was nice to have a white Christmas, and a couple inches didn't make much difference. C and I shoveled our driveway each time to ensure that we could still get in and out. Since our big blizzard at the beginning of January.....snow is no longer fun, and is more of an annoyance.

We got a bunch of snow last Wednesday and Thursday. We did all kinds of shoveling. Same with this week. This Wednesday, we had a nasty blizzard that left several inches. And then it started to rain.  Today, the snow came back and just kept coming. I was at work, watching the parking lot fill up to around 8 inches. I thankfully was able to get home, but the main town streets were awful. I made it up the driveway, and C and I shoveled all the new stuff again (after shoveling yesterday as well) I think we gained a foot in the past 24-36 hours. My body ached yesterday, and it hurts a bit more tonight =/ Good thing we're young :)

I want to build a big snow fort....but I am sick of moving the stuff around, and I believe we are supposed to get more, so I will resist the urge. If you hear angered screaming, it is probably me shaking my fist at the sky.

Last Week in January

Boy, what an inspirational title :) Saturday morning saw a temperature of -6F at 9am. My car protested in starting that morning. The sunrise was pretty, but I wasn't about to freeze my fingers off at the beach for it!

Sunday we were above zero again, but it was still chilly. Yesterday, we were suddenly at around 20F again! It's amazing how warm that actually feels after weeks of hovering around 10F or below!
 

 Last week, you may have heard about the northern lights and how brilliant they were here. We struck out down here =/ Friday the 20th, I knew they could be out, so I took some shots from my house. Lights were showing up on the camera, but not to the naked eye, unfortunately. I heard later that an hour north, they did see them that evening. Saturday, the next evening, the Fairbanks area had an incredible display (Susan's blog post...a beautiful video)....but it was cloudy here. Tuesday, my mom's birthday, it was beautiful and clear in my hometown, and cloudy at our house. I was bummed that I missed the action, but it was also cold enough out that it might not have been very enjoyable! I'm hoping we get some more great light action soon and that I am able to view it!

Christmastime

 I have been done with college for a week now, and theoretically, that means I have more time. HA. Time still keeps slipping away. I am still working full time, which means that I have tons to say, but no energy to write all out. I haven't been shooting much due to time, and daylight comes and goes when I am at work.

I would feel awful about missing the sunrises and sunsets, but for the most part, the sunsets have not been as spectacular as I was hoping for. The sunrises have been lovely, and I have made it to the beach for a couple, and a couple I sat at home and watched because of how chilly it was outside.

I am not sure how much I will be working in January. I want to work as much as possible for the money, but a break would be nice. Right now, work is in the Christmas nightmare, so I work later than usual, but the day goes by quickly.

Like I mentioned, I am finished with school. I have been done for a week, and finally got one grade in - an A-. That was for the class I was not concerned about. The class I am concerned about, the professor claims she will have grades done by tomorrow evening. The final was brutal for that class. I got a 75% on it, but it will be graded on a curve. The professor has been really, really behind on the gradebook all semester, and she assigned a ton of work, so that didn't help her keep up. So she posted a bunch of things to it yesterday, and then told us not to panic, because the grading was incomplete. My score was a 61%! BAH. I need a 71% to pass for my degree. So I'm praying that the curved exam and the assignments she has not graded yet bump it up!!

IF I get a C or above in that class....I will have completed my bachelor's degree......I will post more on that when I know more....

Court system rant commencing....
In other frustrations, I have had jury duty for the month of December. I hate jury duty. The last time I had it, a year and a half ago, it was a nightmare getting there, due to having the biggest blizzard in 20 years the day previously. I was excused before I could be questioned. A week later, I was called in again, and this time, I was lucky enough to be questioned. It was a drunk driving case, and I pleaded bias, basically due to a family drunk driving accident. I was excused.

 A year later, I was scheduled again, and rescheduled for December.

December, it looked like it would be homefree. The first two weeks, no one was called in at all. On Tuesday, the first 80 people were called in at 1pm, and then sent home 20 minutes later with no explanation. Wednesday morning, 100 of us were called in at 8:30am. I was not happy to be waking up early on my day off, but I was also happy to not be missing work for it. I almost fell asleep from the monotony of waiting before the judge finally walked in at 10am. Once again, I got called up to be questioned, and once again, it was a drunk driving case. I again pleaded my bias, and I was excused.

I narrowly escaped yesterday. Several jurors had to call in at 10am and had to report at 1pm. Come on! Who can leave work in the middle of the day like that? And then, to top it all off, they also got sent home shortly after coming in. I have not received instructions about calling in next, but I am dreading it.

I have discovered how jaded I am to the US court system because of these two months. I took business law a few years back, and found the process to be incredibly fascinating and enlightening, but also frustrating in some ways. I have come to the conclusion how much I hate drunk driving cases, and consider them to be a waste of everyone's time. I don't care where or if you drink, just don't get behind the wheel and endanger everyone on the road!

ANYWAY. End rant.


 I have my Christmas shopping finished. It's all wrapped except for two presents. Christmas cards went out yesterday. I'm ready!! It's been fun to be in a more spacial place to decorate. I wanted to buy a bigger tree this year, but have been thwarted by out of stock, and C's protests :)

Our weather this year has been really bizarre. Fall came late, winter seemed to be dragging its feet as well, but then it hit with a vengeance. The first few weeks of November, we had freezing temperatures, most under 20F and a lot hovering around 0-10F. The week after Thanksgiving, it warmed up very quickly, resulting in rain, sloppy snow and treacherous parking lots. That is how it has been since. A slushy downpour, that freezes. It currently is 36F and supposed to snow this morning. The skies have been almost perpetually cloudy for weeks. Sometimes the morning clears up a bit bringing the nice sunrises, and for sunset it clears a little. We've had several days where the sun never tries to peek out and it remains gloomy and dark all day.

We had a nice Thanksgiving. It was really busy, like it always is, with two sets of family, and having to drive a half hour both ways. But we made it work yet again, and were happier for it.

So that's what's been happening :)

Approach of Fall

At the beginning of the year, I told myself that I would blog every day. I did really well, though rarely posting anything of substance, until this week. It occurred to me yesterday morning that I should check on the blog, but procrastinated until I finally checked just now. Um, wow, 4 days? Oops!

I was out wandering in the yard last week when I found this heart shaped yellow leaf. I grinned in delight at how pretty it was and stamped out the distress that fall is rapidly on its way.

I am admittedly concerned about how winter will treat us in our new house and new location. Our driveway is a bit treacherous. Will I be able to keep the temperature low enough without freezing or spending our savings on fuel oil? But at the same time, I adore fall now. So much photographic potential. I am excited to make snowmen in my yard. I have a porch with a railing that I can string garland and Christmas lights on if I want.

I am excited for the possibilities :)