Blizzards of 2010

We are finally through the back to back blizzards that hit the DC area. I take back what I said about liking snow in my last post. I am ready to be done with it. The federal government has been closed all week so I have been off work. Cabin fever has set in.

Friday was a good day - got my shopping, cleaning, and laundry all done (even folded it). Then my friend Stephanie came over and we had dinner and watched Fireproof. It was my second time seeing it, but it made me cry just as much the second time. I highly recommend this movie - really reminds you of the blessing of marriage and the importance of choosing to act in a loving manner toward your spouse.

Saturday morning, Stephanie and I were able to get some stuff done on a North Korean missions project.

And then we lost power :(

It got down to 45 degrees in our house. However, we have much to be thankful for in that we had a fireplace and just enough wood to get us through the evening. John had the wonderful idea of putting blankets up over the doorways in the living room to keep in the warmth of the fire. He staple gunned them up! We made the best of it, read until it got to dark, and then talked until it was time to go to bed. For dinner we had MREs (meals ready to eat)! My friend Stephanie had never had them so John and I decided to oblige her request. For those who don't know MREs are what you eat when you are out in the field in the military. It was actually kind of fun. It was like we were camping in my living room. We ended up getting almost 2 feet of snow!

Thankfully, we got power back on Sunday afternoon. I was able to get caught up on my perspectives class homework on Sunday afternoon so that was a good thing. But by Monday and Tuesday I was in a complete funk after being stuck inside for so many days.

On Tuesday evening through Wednesday, we got round 2 of the snow. This time it was less snow (about 10 more inches), but way more windy, which was scary.

To get out of my funk, I got in some exercise (Leslie Sansone DVD) and spent some time reading the Bible over these last couple of days. I am kind of mad at myself for not making better use of my time. I should have planned out some projects or got caught up on my correspondence (I am always behind - comes with moving around a lot I think). I was going to try to work from home this week, but I was completed unmotivated so I think I am going to end up taking a week of unpaid leave. On the plus side, John and I were able to spend a lot more time together since he was off school. It really helped him to get caught up and de-stress a little bit.

Here are a few pictures of our camp-out and the snow.

After losing power:



Heating up the MREs:


The day after the first storm:







In the midst of the second blizzard:


I heard we have a chance of snow on Monday :(

All of this reminded me of the blessings I have that I don't always remember to thank God for: a warm house, a fireplace, the finances to go buy more firewood (it is not cheap in the DC area), enough food, water, electricity. And most of all a wonderful husband whose has worked very hard clearing away snow and making sure we had all we needed to weather these storms.