Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

[Actually, this was taken in my backyard quite some time ago.]

And so comes winter. It brings a lot of things along with it. First, it's the smell of Christmas trees and apple cider. It brings the feeling of a warm wool scarf around your neck. It's breathing deeply the sharp air of December, yet completely enjoying the adrenaline rush you get from it. It brings the sound of a crackling fire. It's laughing and scooping the pure, crisp snow fort he intent of pelting one's brother with snow balls. [Okay, I just had to put that in there :) ]

But then... it gets old kinda fast. January comes, and sunshinyness goes into hibernation until April. The formerly fresh air becomes stale very quickly. The wind that used to laugh and playfully toss one's scarf about becomes sharp and no longer so innocent. The darkness closes in long before we are ready [for which our parents often say, "Go do your algebra."].

And then... spring comes :) Life comes back into play. It's simply splendid. Everything seems eager to begin again. The trees are bright and bubbling over with new colors, and everything seems fresh and lively again :)

In case I don't get on til then... Have a very merry Christmas :)

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{Insert Clever Title}

On a cloudy day... when it's cold outside,

I've got the month of May.

Because... weather here is so weird. It was down in the 30s the other day, and just this afternoon-- it was in the 60s-70s. I don't think I'll get used to this; I wear my scarf and fuzzy socks one day, and break out the shorts and t-shirts the next!! Ahhh, ridiculousness!

But I love it :)

Speaking of socks...

We all happened to be wearing bright sock that day...

Post title in process of being created... Once author is inspired with something that fits

Goodness!! I've hardly been a good blog keeper! I am distraught to a point you cannot even imagine over the fact that I haven't posted in several weeks!! I am quite sorry.

Now, I check in to share a couple splendid discoveries:

1~ I think I've shared this with you before, but it deserves repeating: Dipping warm chocolate-chip-cookies in hot chocolate is, in few words, the BOMB.com!!

2~ Not that this a particularly new discovery, but I've appreciated it a lot more than usual lately: Sun shine is wonderful. Period. That's one of the beauties of summer; almost every day (When it isn't SCALDING outside), you can step out into the glorious cheerful rays of the sun. It really helps to lift one's mood, just to step out there for a moment and tilt you face to the sun. (The refreshment is especially welcome when your family keeps the house at the approximate temperature of an ice-box, as does mine. I kid you not, I wear my fuzzy socks and a jacket[s] in the middle of July!!)

3~ Improv Everywhere. Oh my crunchy GOODNESS!!! These people crack me up!!! In their words (From the site):

"Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions, involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City."

Seriously: they are hysterical!!! I would so do something like what they do!! My favorite is the "Food Court Musical" A couple agents go undercover to start a musical out of nothing in an L.A. Food Court!! PWAHAHAHA!!!! A couple of my friends and I are starting to put something together like this, actually! For more splendiforousness, check out the website, http://improveverywhere.com/!

4~ One of my many new favorite quotes: "A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him in order to find her." I'm not exactly sure who said that first, but PWAAAA, isn't it wonderful!?! So true, and that is what I am trying every day to do!

Numero FIVE!!: I know I had one... waaaaaiitt, what was it???? GoodNESS, I can't stand it when this happens!! I think it was something to do with a musical...? Oh, yes, I finally got to listen to the entire Wicked soundtrack!!! YES!! It is amazing!! I knew several songs already, somehow, but then I borrowed the soundtrack from the library and realized I'd missed a couple... So of course now I'm singing them all around the house, driving my family to the point of critical insanity!!

[Speaking of Wicked, here is another instance of my being incredibly into my music (Recall my former post "Surely I'm not the ONLY one..."): My brother had kindly loaded a couple songs from said musical onto my ipod (as I'm too technologically inept to do such a thing), including "Defying Gravity." Soooo, as I was listening to it on my little musical gadget for the first time... shall we say I lost myself?? In short, I was brought out of my imaginary little world by the sound of my sister laughing hysterically at the sight of me standing on the couch, passionately singing along to the last part of the song. "So if you care to find me, look to the Western Sky..." etc. What can I say? It's the best part of the song. How could I not? *Sighhhh*


That is all for now; dinner is calling my name! But, indeed, I really will try to post more often! (I really mean it this time!! It's just that I don't want to bore y'all with writing that sounds forced...) So, cheerio dear friends and readers!

Days Like This

I love days like this; when the sky is gray and the rain is falling softly upon the earth. The air outside is frigid, but inside the air is warm and welcoming.

On such days, I feel the fictional worlds calling to me. I want to spend the day curled in my fuzzy blanket and spend the day wrapped in a favorite novel (In my case: Narnia, Jane Austen, etc.). Or I want to write stories of my own; undiscovered tales pour from my fingertips to the snowy white paper; unraveling the lives of characters from my imagination that the world has yet to meet.

Or perhaps what I would want is to simply sit and gaze out the window; a warm mug of tea or hot chocolate in my hand, marveling at the wonderful world God has made.

In anyway, this is certainly my favorite type of day.

First Freeze of the Year!!

Hello everyone!! It FROZE here the other night; I was sooo excited about it!! And I got some lovely pictures of the ice and such (yeah, I know, I'm a bit of a dork). This may not seem like such a big deal to some, but I was quite pleased that everything looked so lovely. =) Anyway, here they are; enjoy!

The ice hanging off the ladder on the swing set...

^I'm not quite sure what this is; some plant in the backyard, but I liked it. :)

The ground had this cool pattern all over it.

And *cough* the sticks.

I've got to go now, but... yeah, I like winter!! Cheerios!!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

"But the fire is so delightful...
Since we've no place to go;
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!"

Indeed, the weather here is quite odd. Frightful, as I said; so it was dog-gone near 70 degrees yesterday, and today, it is a mere 17!!! Is this not ridiculous?!?! I mean, I wouldn't mind so much if it would at least snow, but it's not even that!! It is just bitter cold. Maybe on Christmas... I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... with every Christmas card I write... *cough* Anyway, I need to get a life; I'm blogging about the weather!!! Sheesh. I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you to death. I'll try to post something worth reading soon. ;)