A Wedding, Philly and Friends

Hubs and I just returned from a long weekend in the City of Brotherly Love. Our friends Amy and Ross got married on Sunday and we flew in for the big day.

I really want to write about the whole experience but I don't know, I just feel weird writing it all down. It was a really strange trip and I am much more exhausted than I ever dreamt I'd be. Hubs is beat too. So I thought I'd share the highlights with you, along with a few pictures (our camera broke on Friday afternoon so no wedding pics yet, those are coming).

Highlights include:

• Having a blast with Todd and Stacie in the Happy Van (Oy vey - we spent HOURS in the Happy Van - and not always happy, but we tried)


• Dancing to Siman Tov and Hava Nagila


• Hanging out with some of the other awesome bridesmaids


• Spending a little alone time with Hubs in the Independence National Historic Park (the big center across the street from where the Liberty Bell is housed)


• Eating the most fabulous chocolate bread pudding at Moonstruck - amazing!


• Catching up with some old friends during the various activities
• Finding a little Irish pub with Todd & Stacie


• Lots and lots of laughter with old and new friends

And now the pictures -

Todd with Amy's mom, Roz

Todd & Stacie at our little Irish pub Me, Amy & Stacie at the hotel

Ross and his awesome mom, Susan
Stacie, Amy and me

Orly, Amy and Dana Dana and Dean (aren't they adorable!?)

Amy K and me
And my favorite picture so far, me and Hubs

(not the most flattering of us but he's so darn cute!)

Day 2

Do you remember the sound that you here when you hold a shell to your ear? The wooshing and howling - that is the constant background noise in our house. And the weatherman says I may continue to hear it through tomorrow.

Hubs and I woke up to that howling early this morning. We both thought that the plows would have come through already and we'd be on our way to work shortly. Right. Hubs walked out and checked out the situation and I jumped online to see what the World Wide Web could tell me. By the time he got back, I figured we weren't going anywhere. I called my boss to let her know I probably wouldn't be in - she understood totally. She's the only one from our office who lives in town - and she couldn't even get to the office. So thank God for good, smart bosses who know when to close the office. Hubs got an e-mail from work telling everyone to work from home as there was no way they could get to the office. And even if they got there, there was no way they could get in the building. His boss included photos of drifts covering the doors.

So here we are. It's been another good day. Watched a little TLC, made a yummy lunch, joined Hubs outside for a bit - it wasn't bad as long as you kept everything covered and turned away from the wind. Hubs is intent on building a snow fort. I took a bunch of photos - will post some in a bit. We were relieved to hear that the blizzard warning for our area expired at noon. But just found out that it's back on again - until 5 in the morning. Plus it started snowing again - they say probably just another couple of inches - hey what's a few more inches when you already have 16?

Gah - my goofy husband is getting his stuff on to go back out. He is so excited about his snow fort; it really is neat but I would so prefer that he stay in. At least he's only about 10 feet from the house so I can watch him. He even found the gardening tools so he can use them to help dig it out and shape it from the inside. I just opened the door and got a couple of really cool now-you-see-it/now-you-don't photos - the wind is unbelievable.

OK, more wintery photos - and then I'm off to bake peanut butter cookies. I've been so good eating healthy snacks and watching my calorie and fat intake but this weather just begs for baking and yummy treats. And I'll have warm cookies for Hubs to eat when he brings his frozen self in. Here's more pictures -

Hubs climbing up one of the drifts in our yard

Crawling out of his snowfort

See the little pine tree beside the big hardwood tree - and the corner of my garage?

Can you see them now?

Random photo of the blowing snow

Hope you're all staying warm and comfy - especially those of you northeast of here!

Snow Day

Whoops, strike out snow day - it's more like Blizzard Day!

We had been hearing that we were supposed to get a huge blizzard. When Hubs and I woke up this morning, there was nothing - no snow, no wind, nothing - big bummer. So we both got ready for work and I headed out. Between the time I looked out the window, then turned around to put on my coat and grab my bag, it went from nothing to pelting snowy, ice rain. On my way to my car, I called the office to let them know I was coming in and to look for me if I wasn't there in 1/2 hour (my office is in a town about 15 miles southwest of our house and it usually takes 12-15 minutes to get there). I hopped in my vehichle and backed out onto our road when my co-worker called. She recommended not coming in at all and told me to tell Hubs to stay home (he works 10 miles south of the town I work in - and his office is located in the country - seriously it is surrounded by corn fields!). That was at 7:05 - our office officially opens at 7:30. Today it also closed at 7:30. Hubs is able to work remotely from home so he called in. By 10:00 they had closed his office completely (most people didn't even come in or turned around and left shortly after arriving). They decided to shut down when they closed the state highway that everyone uses to access the company. One of Hubs' co-workers lives less than 1/4 mile up the road - he couldn't even make it home so one of the owners drove him there on a tractor! Another couple of co-workers got stuck at the office until tomorrow. Good thing for them that the office is attached to the other owner's house and they have food and other accomodations for them.

So we are at home and snug. It has been a very nice day. I'm getting caught up on laundry and even pulled out some cod to marinate and bake for dinner. Got a few crafting projects completed and read several chapters of a book I just got off of Amazon. Hubs even brought his laptop in the family room so we could snuggle while he fixed computer issues. Since most of his client's businesses are closed, he's had a pretty light day too.

The wind is absolutely roaring right now. We live in a wonderful, old farmhouse that's been built onto many times - lots of places to hear the wind! The wind is so bad that we can't tell if it is done snowing and just blowing now or if it's still snowing and blowing. Originally we heard 8-12 inches - now they've upgraded it to 15-20. I'd say we have at least 14-16 here. I opened the front door and took a few photos so you can experience this with us - I'm sure you're all jealous of our weather! Cori - I especially thought of you when taking these - no chance you'll see this in your current location!

First shot from our front porch - doesn't seem so bad but those drifts by the garage are about 4 feet high. Here you can see the wind a little better.
Looks so peaceful, doesn't it?
More blowing
Check out the drifts near the swing set.

Hope you're all staying warm!