first real snow. and making maple snow cream.

 - Just like shoveling snow, only tastier. 

today we had our first real snowstorm of the season.
and it's still coming down strong.
we have about 3 inches, with another 3 on the way.

husband and i went out to play in it this morning.
of course.
and remembered we wanted to make snow cream.
husband gathered up some snow.
and then we mixed it up.
and ate it.
yum.

check out the recipe (courtesy of hallee, the homemaker) and photos below.
ps. don't judge my cold weather pjams.

Snow Cream

1 Gallon Fresh Snow, preferably the kind that hasn't touched the ground, or car, or grass.
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Cups Milk
1 Strong Husband to Stir, optional

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl.
Stir until smooth.
Eat. It. Up.

about to play in the snow.  whooohoo!

flying through the snow.

can you believe we LIVE here?!?!?!

shoes!

all our little cans, lined up in a row.

scooping the snow.

he can't wait to taste it.

adding the maple syrup.

1 Tablespoon Vanilla.  Thank you, Costco.

one strong husband.  mixing it up.

is it done yet?

yum!

gifts.

just had to show off these gifts.
great to show people you are thinking of them.
very practical.
and very, budget friendly.
hello.

all our little gifties.

popcorn for our coworkers.  don't you love the use of "k"s?

cookie mixes for our grandparents, neighbors, and bosses.

lots of popcorn to deliver.  yum.

our christmas season.

this christmas was the first time husband or i was away from family.
we were sad to be on our own, but also excited to start forming our own traditions.
we weren't sure what christmas day was going to look like.
but knew it would include cinnamon rolls.

we ended up going to a midnight catholic mass on christmas eve.
our neighbor, a professional singer/musician sings in their choir.
we didn't get home til nearly 2am.
and took our first catholic communion.
and attended our first mass together.
too bad we don't speak latin.

christmas morning, we put the finishing touches on our cinnamon rolls.
swung by dunkin donuts to pick up coffee.
and then headed to the dvcc safehouse.
we spent our morning with the ladies and children i have grown to know during their stay.
mason played christmas carols and kids songs on his guitar.

the ladies were so, so excited we were there.
and we were just as grateful and excited to be there.

then the ladies started bringing us more, and more food.
we ate til we couldn't eat anymore.
turkery. mexican soup. taco rolls.
so much food kept being brought over to the table.
each woman so proud to be able to provide us a plate.

later we headed out to a hannakah festival.
our friends cyndy and her husband were running the hotdog stand.
and we got a chance to meet all their friends, and their rabbi.

i don't think we could have had a better christmas day!

check out the cinnamon rolls, below.
yum.  i wish we still had some right now.

flossing the rolls.  it really works!

in the pan.  getting ready to rise.

don't you love husband's photography skills???

ready to take to the safehouse.

we made 40 rolls, and were able to give them all away!

it's cold here.

as i always feel after being sick for a while,
i feel like i am coming up from under a rock.
and returning to life.

i should probably be writing thank you notes for christmas gifts,
but, instead, just had a good chat with MRose, a cup of coffee, and now here.

it's cold today.  in the twenties.
and my little space heater can't quite keep up.
it's 66 degrees.  inside the house.
hence the coffee.
and the down blanket.
and the uggs, turtle neck, and down vest.

check out the hot chocolate bar i put together.
i originally made it for my family who came to visit a couple weeks ago.
but, am going to keep it through the winter.
now i have changed out santa, for the mug jamie gave me.

thanks pinterest for the inspiration!

christmas is coming.

christmas is coming in our little apartment.
we were in FL until the week AFTER thanksgiving, so we are behind the times.
but we are catching up.
i didn't even take a nap today.
that's how you KNOW we were working hard.

zradio playing on the computer.
space heater keeping us warm.
candles glowing.
christmas lights plugged in.

the nativity came out tonight, complete with baby jesus.
we are trying to prepare our hearts for his coming.
praise the lord we serve a God who loves his people enough to come for them himself.
in the flesh.
face to face.
it doesn't get more real than that.
praise the lord!

see our the pictures of our progress below.
merry christmas!

husband, hanging ornaments.

my little greenery.  thanks, shoprite!

i am loving my bargin bin jingle ornament.

do you love our tree?  we do too!

an ice day. and curtains.

i am home again from work.
we were iced last night.
it took 30 minutes with both husband and i to de-ice my car this morning..
i drove to the courthouse, only to discover it was closed.
i started driving back to our office, only to discover it was closed.

so, i am home.
living my housewife dream.
dishes done.
laundry in the dryer.
floors swept.
coffee in hand.
couponing.
watching the rain.
had a nice chat with my mom.
preparing to make homemade chicken stock.
like i said.  living my housewife dream.

husband and i finally bought curtains for our bedroom.
and it changes the whole room.
makes it so much cozier, and homier.
this could also be due to the fact that we JUST started using heat in our room in the mornings.
btw.  this is LIFE changing.
here are some pictures.

snowday special :: raisin oat scones

we got about a foot of snow.  on top of old snow.

our front stoop

juan's air conditioner.

our neighbor's yard. so, so beautiful.

our street.  one of our neighbor has a back hoe.  whoa.

can you see the car???

husband with his shovel.  i used a broom.

i had another snow day on thursday of this past week.
husband had to go to work. 
so, after we spent 3 hours digging our cars out of the snow,
he went to work.  and i took a nap.

when i woke up, it seemed like a scone day.

i adapted this recipe from our good friend, martha stewart.
it's a good thing.

raisin and oat scones

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (I used a little more!)
2 good tsp flax seed (yum!)


3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk ( i used yogurt, with a little bit of milk)


preheat oven to 400 degrees.
whisk together your dry ingredients.
in another bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients.
add wet mixture to flour mixture. 
stir until batter is evenly moistened.  do not over mix.
spoon out by 1/3 cup fulls onto parchment paper covered baking sheets.
bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
cool your scones for five minutes...then enjoy!

i took these scones into my office, and they were gone really fast!
and i got tons of compliments on them.

yum!  time to eat.

another storm is coming.

we are having a winter weather advisory again.
the snow will start around midnight and will go through the day tomorrow.
we are not going to get much.
only 5 - 6 inches.
can you tell we are becoming northerners?

5 - 6 inches.

not much at all.

not enough to slow us down.
not enough to keep us from going to work.
not enough to close schools,
not enough to keep us from driving.

not much at all.

the amazing thing though is when the snow comes floating down, everything gets covered in this soft white downy covering, the world gets quiet, and you see the snow flakes drifting down from sky...you just have to worship our Creator.  during the last snow storm i found myself sitting in at my desk, on the fourth floor of our building, watching the snow, and being enthralled by knowing the One who created it.  i kept forgetting to work because i was so distracted by praising Him. 

for who he is.
for the way he creates.
for the way he makes this world work.
for the way each snow flake is an individual, perfect, and unique.

it reminds me of the scripture i read this week, psalm 51:6-13:

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
         And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
        
  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
         Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
  Make me hear joy and gladness,
         That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
  Hide Your face from my sins,
         And blot out all my iniquities.
        
  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
         And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
  Do not cast me away from Your presence,
         And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
        
  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
         And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
         And sinners shall be converted to You.

may we rejoice in the snow tomorrow.
may God restore to us the joy of our salvation.
and may the beauty of the snow, remind us of our sin.
made whiter than the snow we will see.
by the blood of the One who gave himself for us.

secret winter surprise

i have been finding in our marriage that husband and i are both homebodies.
me probably more than him.
but, still.
it is so easy to just sit on our couch and read.  or stay home and just be warm.

this weekend i planned a super, secret winter suprise for the two of us.
we live in the northeast, so i thought we should do what northerners do in the winter.

ICE SKATE!

husband didn't know where we were going, i just told him to wear comfortable, warm clothes...and bring his toothbrush.  i sneaked some thick socks into my purse, and off we went. 

to have the northern experience.

we caught the tail end of a high school girls hockey game. 
they are fierce!  i am glad they got off the ice, before we got on.

we ended up being the almost the only two adults amid a sea of little kids on skates.
and these little kids can skate. 
no one follows the rules...which was quite irritating to me, being a 1.

also, when we first got there, we saw a little girl with what looked like a walker.
we wondered what was wrong with her...and how she could skate, if she couldn't walk.
turns out, LOTS of kids have these walkers.  this is how they learn to skate.

what we want to know is, where were the adult walkers?

all in all, we had a good time.
we drank some hot chocolate, enjoyed a winter pasttime, and husband was surprised. 
and surprised he didn't need his toothbrush.

on our way out the door for our winter surprise

check out our skates

the children's "walker"

we paid homage to canada...and the curries.

children's "walker" in use on the ice

state of emergency.

we seem to be getting our fair share of snow this winter.
last summer was the hottest summer Connecticut has ever had,
and this winter is apparently the coldest, snowy-est winter they have had in years.
welcome to the northeast.

we knew we would be getting another foot of snow.
starting at midnight, and snowing through wednesday.
the mayor declared a state of emergency, and we got the day off from work.

i was so excited about the snow that i kept waking up through the night to check its progress.
and then around 5am the conversation when something like this...

husband...are you awake?
want to go look at the snow with me???

and, i want you to know, i have the best husband in the world.
he said yes!

we went out to look at the snow, and it was a winter wonderland.
so still and quiet.
everything was covered.
and the snow was coming down SO hard.
we were drenched by the time we came back inside.

view from our front steps

our front steps

view to the street

after we ran through the deep snow

husband's back to the future car

can you believe this??

coming back indoors, with snow on our feet

we went back to bed and slept for a while.

later in the day we dug our cars out, and played in the snow.

i even tried eating some.
i saw some kids eating snow when we went skiing, and have been really intrigued.

my first snow angel

husband's turn

before we got too, too cold

i can see why the kids like doing this.