stop. shaking. the. snowglobe!!!!!

 Oh goodness, the snow!  But in other news, I got two dresses in the mail today: 

That's not me modeling the dress, as you may have guessed.  I love love love the colors of this one, but I ordered the dress in a size too big, so it's slightly baggy.  They're  sold out in the smaller size so I'm thinking to keep it, maybe take it in a little.

This one is actually prettier in person, and it fits fine.  I'm not sure if it's dressy enough for a mother-of-the-bride dress, but I'm not a super dressy person.  We will see.  I am not done looking yet, but don't want to send these back because I like them.

Some old pics, the first wedding in the family, Ben and Ashley got married when Ben came home on leave from the Army.  

Abigail was her maid of honor, now Abigail is getting married, in May!

Little Camille with Evelyn, who is also getting married in May!

Miss Charlotte Claire, Suzanne Eleanor (she was married last fall!), and Cam.

I made a cake...and frosted cut out heart cookies.

Is this a beautiful sight or what?  An espresso shot for my Americano.  mmm.

This fine day, it's cold.  It's snowing.  Everything is white and muffled.  When the trees and branches are all covered in white, it IS beautiful.  It really is.  But.  I texted Aaron this morning, he lives in Phoenix where it's 70 and sunny today.....

Do I have anything deep and thoughtful to say today?  Well, I'm glad for the way things are going in the government here in the U. S. of A. lately.  Cutting wasteful spending is a good thing, right?  Freeing the American teacher from the Russian prison, getting the hostages from the Hamas, perhaps defunding Planned Parenthood, more transparency in medical choices...

Lots of things go on here that aren't my story to tell.  Paul and I did some last minute babysitting last evening, which was quite fun.  We got home late, the roads weren't as bad on the way home as they were on the way there.  This fine morning, freezing rain, then later today snow and flash freezing with high winds and lots of lake effect snow.  We're home, our church canceled, not sure if anyone is going to brave the roads and come over.  I did make a pan of brownies just in case.  I have a package of chicken breast and all the good stuff to make fajitas, but I can freeze that chicken if necessary.  (I cut it up and season it, put it in baggies, easy to grab and use).  

If it looked pretty outside yesterday, today is a work of art.  The ice on all the branches is just glittering.  Shh, I know, when the winds pick up later, power outages will happen.  I plan to fill some water jugs, as when we lose power we lose water.  Our pool is frozen, so we can't even scoop a bucket to flush a toilet.  

I decided to grind up some coffee in case the power goes out...some for Paul, some for me.  We have a gas stove, so we can light a burner with a match and make pour-over coffee...

Yesterday Paul headed out back with the chainsaw...as good a time as any to cut up some of the fallen trees.

Grandpa with Jamie

Cleaning off the steps...

Snow on my camper roof!  Paul raked some of it off...

So here we are at home, all snug with one bad dog on the couch where she doesn't belong...

Then there's this old girl, who owns a huge piece of my heart.  Mariel says she has the cutest face on the planet.   Seeing her get old and rickety just makes my soul ache.  She is still the good-est girl.  She has the most patience with kids, and if she gets annoyed at them, she simply gets up and moves, lays her head on her big fat paws, and sighs.  She can't hear anymore, but she can use her sniffer, and she will still find unwatched snacks.  She's more stealthy than Sunny, she gets the middle of the night rumbly-in-the-tumbly, and can miraculously jump up to get counter snacks, if we ever stupidly leave them.  Loaf of bread not pushed back far enough, she'll eat the whole thing.  She can't help it, it smells good, and she is hungry!   Yes, she is a good girl, not a mean bone in her body.  She wags and wants to get pet, and she sleeps. :)

I made a pan of brownies, used fresh espresso instead of water, added mini chocolate chips, now no one is coming over.  So I'm stuck in the house with an entire pan of brownies.  Maybe I'll just cut a tiny corner to see if they're good.  Wait, have brownies ever been not good?  

Suri said to leave them on the edge of the counter, she promises she won't get them.   Have a good day!