Snow Day!

Right after my morning workout (indoors) early this morning.

I'm fully aware that this doesn't look like much snow on the ground, but most everything is cancelled in Denver today. The snow started falling at about an inch per hour early this morning, and with a steady wind of about 15 mph and gusts over 30 mph, the roads are fairly treacherous. There have been all kinds of accidents already and all of the metro area schools are closed, which means my office is closed. Although the blessing, and the curse, of technology means that I can still work. I'm hoping to use the day to get caught up since all of my meetings are cancelled, and to enjoy extra time with my family.

Unintended Blogging Break

I hadn't planned on taking a break from blogging, but it happened nonetheless. I love my new job and am so happy with the decision to take this position. My days are flying by and I truly enjoy the work, the environment, and my coworkers. My workload is a bit intense right now because the woman who will be reporting to me went out on maternity leave three days before I started. Things are taking a little longer than they otherwise might have if she was here to help me understand how and why they set things up the way they did. She did come in when her baby was 4 days old to give me a quick orientation (I think managing her is going to consist of making sure she's not working too hard). I am figuring it all out and have received some kudos though, so I guess I'm managing without her for now. However, I am currently doing my work and some of hers, so I've been extremely busy at work.

Then I get home and I'm busy here preparing for the holidays. I am not ready for the holidays yet this year. I have got to get on it! We did get to watch my daughter's school band perform in the Denver Parade of Lights which was exciting. We also have both the inside and outside of our house decorated, with the exception of the tree which we'll get next Saturday. I'm definitely in the mood for the holidays, now I just need to get prepared.

I'm guessing that the time and energy to blog are going to hard to come by for the next couple of months. So I'll probably be posting pretty sporadically until late winter/early spring. I am going to try to put photos (good ones) up on Instagram, so if you're interested you can look for me there under darcylyndees.

We've had some lovely winter sunrises recently. The photos below are all from my phone camera, so they aren't great, but they're not terrible either. The colors were captured really nicely with no post-processing.

Winter Wonderland

We've had a little snow every day here since Thanksgiving. It's been simply beautiful, and has really started to get me in the mood for the holidays.

Early morning sun behind the clouds after the snow.

Glowing snow-covered trees.

The sun on the fresh snow

Snow on the Hawthorne berries.

My in-laws' snow covered yard.

The rabbits were frolicking in the yard at 1:00 this morning (when I couldn't sleep), and left tracks as proof this morning.

We had two wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations. We were with my family on the actual day, and with my husband's family the day after. My brother-in-law and his family had traveled in and it was wonderful to see them. My nieces are growing up so fast, the oldest just turned 13; I can't hardly believe we have another teenager in the family.

They brought their cats with them on the trip, so we got to enjoy the antics of a cat named Skywalker (my youngest niece is really into Star Wars). He's a beautiful Tuxedo who loves to climb, and he didn't mind hanging out with my son.

Skywalker up high on a beam.

Skywalker lounging with my son, soaking up the attention.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this Thanksgiving holiday, I am thankful...

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who has been my best friend and my partner for nearly 20 years, through good times and bad.
I'm thankful for our two beautiful, bright, healthy children who provide so much joy and light in our lives.
I'm thankful for all of our extended family who are always supportive and never overbearing.
I'm thankful for all my friends, near and far. Both the friends who I get to spend time with on a regular basis, and those who I keep up with on social media.
I'm thankful that we such an abundance of love and wonderful people in our lives.
I'm thankful for my new job which fits me like a glove, and all of my wonderful co-workers.
I'm thankful for our cozy home in a quiet neighborhood that keeps us warm and safe.
I'm thankful that my complaints fall into two categories: fairly inconsequential annoyances, or sadness for blessings that are no longer a part of my life. I am very fortunate that I rarely have to worry about life or death issues, unlike so many others in the world.
I'm thankful for the soft, beautiful snow that's falling on this Thanksgiving morning.
I'm thankful that I get to see my mom and my brother with his family today. I will still miss my dad at the holiday table, but that falls into the category of blessings that are no longer a part of my life; I'm grateful for the 40 years I had with him.
I'm thankful that I get to see my in-laws and my brother-in-law with his family tomorrow.
I'm thankful that my life is so full of blessings that I could make this list much, much longer.

I hope all of my readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are feeling as blessed as I am today!

Beautiful Sky

The sky has been absolutely stunning lately; so I had to share some of the photos.

I have yet to figure out how to take a good picture of the moon. I've read all about it on the Digital Photography School blog, and I still can't seem to do it. One of these days I'm going to tackle this! If any of my readers have any pointers I'd be open to reading them.

Relaxing Weekend

I haven't felt motivated to write much lately. Life has just been going on fairly well, but hasn't been too interesting. Which is honestly kind of nice for a change. This is the first weekend in a long time where we haven't had obligations. So I've gotten most of my weekend chores done already, instead of rushing to do so Sunday afternoon like I have been lately.

It snowed again last night and we had a beautiful sunshiny day reflecting on the snow. All of today's pictures are from my new phone camera. It's still a phone camera, but it's much nicer than the one on my old phone.

I've been doing a good job with my eating lately. I was feeling a little bit like giving up today with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up, but then I ran across a blog post that made me feel like I can stick with this. I can be the hero in my own story, and keep working on this goal.

Tonight we're having a lovely sunset tonight as I write this. So I'm going to relax and enjoy the view and my family this evening since I'm ahead of the game on my chores!

Hyperbole

We were under a blizzard warning last night, which my phone kept reminding me of. This is what I awoke to this morning.

This is less snow than we got last Wednesday which was supposed to be a non-event. In defense of the meteorologists though, had the rain we got last night turned to snow earlier, we would have been buried. It sounds like south and east of the metro area got hit harder, but my disappointed son has to go to school today!

I realize that my posts have been few and far between lately. We've just been so busy lately. This weekend we attended a bridal shower for a young woman my husband taught in fourth grade (which is making me feel old). We also headed down south to celebrate my nephew's 6th birthday.

The new job has been going really well and I'm really enjoying being so much closer to home. I haven't yet figured out the most efficient way to get there and back home yet, so I'll keep working on that.

We had a beautiful sunrise yesterday morning in advance of the winter storm that moved in throughout the day.