Blizzard!

And I don't mean the Dairy Queen kind.

We actually have a real live blizzard warning in effect for our county. Is that cool, or what? I wouldn't be saying that if this wasn't a Sunday, I suppose, but it's kind of nice to be out here in the middle of nowhere with all this snow around. And since I don't have to shovel it (yay for husbands!) or even go out in it...

The weather outside is frightful.

But the fire is so delightful.

And since we've no place to go.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

This is the normal amount of snow we usually get. Three to four inches or so at a time. But this picture is just the blowing snow on the porch, which is under an overhang!

This is actually how much snow we have.

Cars? We have cars?

The kids playing in our backyard.

OOF!

PULL!

Long way to go!

Hi Mom!

The wind is swaying the trees like twigs, gusting up to 50 mph.

And what would a blizzard-y day be without hot chocolate and mom's homemade cookies?

Nine more days until Christmas... the kids are counting down... Maybe we'll have a white one after all!

A-Hunting We Will Go

We spent yesterday tromping around in the snow, looking for the perfect Christmas tree. A friend of Michael's from work lives with pigs and chickens and goats and cows... the whole farm deal. They also have a bunch of evergreens that the prior owners planted to start a Christmas tree farm. Many of them are getting too tall to even sell.

They offered to have us come out and cut our own tree. So we bundled up and went out to find the perfect tree. The three kiddos ran around in between the rows (Michael's friend from work has a four year old daughter) until we found just what we were looking for.

Daddy cut down the tree - but Dmitri insisted on "helping."

Timber!

Then we dragged it off to strap it to the top of the car.

Dmitri insisted on "helping" again.

They have a new puppy - the kids loved the puppy!

And their new calves were fun to visit, too... although as Zoe said, "Cows are stinky!"

Who me? Stinky?

Moo!

I guess I can't put it off any longer... gonna have to drag out all the Christmas decorations this weekend and put up the tree... Wish me luck!

Renewable Energy Coming to Michigan!

I was so excited to read that there may be a mandate requiring 10% of Michigan's electric power to come from renewable energy by 2015, and 30% by 2030. Yay us! There are twenty-three other states who have already set renewable energy standards (yay them!)

Michael and I have talked about buying land and building a solar home, something off the grid. Ultimately, I believe we will, at some point. But it's always so frustrating to have the willingness, but not the means, to accomplish something that I know will be so beneficial for us, our children, and our children's children.

It's heartening to know our state is catching up and jumping on the green bandwagon. There's some opposition, I guess, about wind power. Windmills and turbines might "blight" the Michigan landscape. Feh!



I think they're rather beautiful. Certainly no worse than fences or telephone poles. And what they signify--renewable energy--is definitely worth whatever aesthetic minuses there might be!