Guess what we've been doing...

If you guessed shoveling our driveway NONSTOP - you're right!  We may not have had much snow for Christmas, but this last storm has definitely made up for it.  Wednesday morning (before 7 am), Spencer shoveled a few inches of snow off his side of the driveway so he could make it to work.  I left the house around 9 am and got stuck at the bottom of our driveway in the snowplow pile!  After digging around the tires and with a push from my neighbor, I was on my way.

I got home from running my errands around 3 pm, and there was no way my car was going to make it up the driveway and into the garage without some serious snow removal first!  So I "parked" the car on the street and shoveled several inches off my side of the driveway.  I thought about leaving the rest of the driveway for Spencer to do when he got home, but when I looked outside at 5 pm, I knew I had to get to work.  I spent over an hour shoveling snow while Spencer crawled home (he said he was driving 'walking speed' for part of the time!) on the slick roads.  I got the driveway cleared in time for Spencer to pull right in when he finally made it home.

The picture is a little blurry because my camera lens kept fogging up.

Thursday morning (Spencer's dayoff, thank goodness!), we spent the late morning shoveling another foot of snow off the driveway.

We had to shovel again later in the day.  Now today, Friday, we have a couple more inches of fresh powder waiting to be taken care of.  Are you kidding me?!?

Sometime during all the shoveling, I managed to throw a rib out of place, due to the strain and twisting as I tried to throw snow over the ever-growing snowbanks lining our driveway.

Here's a shot of me trying to get a shovel full of snow up and over the snowbank.

Luckily, I happen to know a great chiropractor, and he has taken good care of me and my rib!

So, what do I think of all this snow?  Okay, okay, the shoveling became pretty tedious after a while.

But overall, I LOVE it!  Here are a few reasons why:
1.  Shoveling is great exercise!
2.  The snow is so pretty.  It's a fluffy powder, all sparkly and clean and fresh.
3.  I got to try out my new Christmas present -snowshoes- to check the mail.  They work great!
4.  It's fun to play in!  Just ask Spencer and Jack.

Here, Spencer is coaxing Jack up the driveway pile.  Poor dog kept slipping down again.  Spencer eventually had to pull him up by the scruff of his neck!

Well, enough blogging.  I've got to get busy -- you guessed it! -- shoveling our snowy driveway!

Thanks babe!

I'm having a hard time kicking this cold I got a couple weeks ago, and yesterday I was feeling particularly worn out.  So, while I laid on the couch wrapped up in my snuggly soft comforter, Spencer went to work whipping up a delicious gourmet dinner! 

We were out of town for Christmas and hadn't been shopping for a while, so our cupboards were a little bare.  Still, Super Spencer managed to pull together homemade chicken parmesan and battered fried red potatoes.  Maybe not the typical combination, but he really wanted to use the deep fryer he got for Christmas the day before.  Both dishes were a-m-a-z-ing!  Thanks for taking care of me, husband of mine!

Traditions

Every year around Christmas time I make chocolate truffles.  I've been doing this since before Spencer and I were married, so it's been at least 7 years.  They're delicious, but it takes a lot of time and can be a little tedious.  That's why I only do it once a year. 

Here's the tedious part:

Each little truffle has to be spooned onto a cookie sheet, and then they have to be shaped into round balls.  After that, I dip half of them in a melted chocolate coating.

The other half get coated in chopped pecans.  I didn't get pictures of the pecan-coated truffles.  In total, there are about 75 delicious chocolaty truffles. 

From start to finish, these bad boys take a little over 3 hours to make.  Totally worth it though!

Another tradition that just started last year is taking a trip to Temple Square to see the lights with a couple of my old college friends.  We don't really look too closely at the lights, as we spend most of our time talking.  I did manage to get one picture of the lights.

The night is complete after a quick trip to the nearby Village Inn for some tasty hot cocoa.

I hope these and other traditions continue on for a long time to come.

Christmas Card

I didn't have the time or energy to create, print, and mail Christmas cards last week.  So this year, we're going digital.  Enjoy!