Whiplash Weather

Hi Everyone!  I thought it was time to check in to share a few pictures from the last few eventful weeks.  It's been interesting adjusting to the ever-changing Texas weather.

A couple weekends ago, the weather was so warm that it felt like Spring was almost here!  Our trees and plants actually have fresh little buds on them!  We decided to take the evening to lounge in the backyard visiting and smelling the warm air.  

This was such an enjoyable Sunday evening!  I couldn't have asked for a more pleasant night!  Jordan played Abby's favorite chasing game tried to catch her as she ran around the backyard.  It was hard to get a picture with Abby in focus! 

The following work week went well.  My new job is really great!  In fact, I'm enjoying it so much that I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out.  Like I'm waiting for my workload to slam me or something.  I guess I'm in a denial phase but hopefully it continues to stay somewhat level.

I'm in a Toastmaster's club in the Dallas area and we had a big event on Tuesday.  To build up hype for the club, I made this video to share with our marketing team.  Hopefully it helps to boost our membership and I thought I would share it here!

And then the cold started to creep back into the air.  We popped by the lake the following weekend because we hadn't been in a long while.  The boy scouts were helping the home owner's association clear some of the brush hanging into the road. Jordan was obliged to help and took some pictures of the troop's hard work!

I especially like the rusty sign AJ found on the side of the road.  Can we get more country?  

Aunt Cindy is in the process of remodeling her bunkhouse so a few of the guys were doing some concrete work (without coats).

This is John bracing up the forms to get ready for concrete pouring!

More concrete pictures of the process!  Top is Bry and bottom is John.  They aren't quite finished, so I'm sorry I don't have a "done" picture to share!

Per the usual lake MO, the schenanigans and fun began.  The boys had a blast with a sack of potatoes and a potato launcher.  

Top Right: I think these are AJ's dirty hands "loading" the potato launcher.
Middle Right: It doesn't matter your age, it seems every boy, young and old, was captivated by the process.
Bottom Right:Scott is one of the genius craftsmen behind this fine piece of machinery.  Like I said, we CAN and DID get more country!
Top Left: Somewhere in the mayhem, a football (or was it a potato?) got stuck on the roof.  The boys had to rescue whatever it was.
Bottom Left: While we had the ladder out, John helped clean a nest out of the chimney.  There's never a dull moment and these guys are so entertaining to watch!

Mom graciously fed the whole corral and everyone enjoyed hot dogs, fruit and chips.  In a heartbeat we went through 20+ hot dogs.

These are some other random pictures.  Sophie is actually sitting still and quiet in her sweater.  Deep down she is a good little girl.

Bottom: Jordan and AJ running little errands on the jitney.  Jordan loves that jitney as much as Mom does!

And then it was time for more food and a fire!  Mom, Aunt Cindy, and Aunt Alina put together a yummy dinner - on a large scale, of course!

Top Left: I don't know how many pounds of roast this was, but it was delicious!

Top Right: The spread!

Bottom Left and Right: Fire time!  These pictures turned out hazy because of the smoke, but it was nice to visit around the fire.

Shortly after we got home from the lake, the weather changed for the worse.  Texas is not equipped to handle snow and ice.  I'm pretty sure the country thinks that we panic, but if you live in this area, you'd understand the foolishness of traveling on roads when people have no clue how to drive cautiously.  The people are more of the problem than the ice itself.  I found this comic and thought it was hilarious.  It's funny because it's so true!

In the bottom picture, this shows the traffic in the DFW area.  This was actually mild traffic and it got much worse after I took this screenshot.  The problem is that the DFW area is typically right on the cusp of cold fronts.  It snows, melts, snows, melts and then the roads are just sheets of ice!  Snow isn't so bad but ice is problematic.  

Thankfully, my work decided to shut down last Monday.  I logged in to work a little bit, but mostly Jordan and I just enjoyed the day in the house.  On days like that, it's nice to have a gas fireplace so we don't have to drag in firewood.  

It's funny how I wish for snow days, but when it finally comes, the boredom sets in.  Abby kept herself entertained with THREE chewy bones.  

Bottom Left: I attempted to clean up our closets and tried on my new shoes.  I love these new shoes!  You can find them at KLR for those who are interested.

Bottom Right: Our heater has been acting up and the timing could not have been worse!  Jordan has been up in the attic countless times trying to fix it.  I think he's actually a pretty skilled AC/Heater guy now that he's had all this experience troubleshooting...lol!  He figured out that the power cord that plugs into the furnace motherboard is loose.  The cord keeps falling out and so the heater can't get power.  Our solution?  Well, he propped up the power cord with a couple of blocks and blue tape.  We laughed at the solution, but it was thankfully effective!  Our heater has been just fine since he did this!

Here are some more pictures of the ice on Monday.  We don't see 25 degrees very often.  These pictures are so deceiving too.  That's ICE, not snow.  It was extremely slippery outside and hilarious to watch Abby navigate the backyard.

We decided to test the treacherous sidewalks and took a trip around our block.  We had to get out of the house and breath some fresh air.  Sorry for the bad pictures.  All three of us were shivering and quickly decided to get back to the house ASAP.

Since the weather was nasty and we were stuck in the house, we decided to make some banana bread muffins.  What else is there to do when you're snowed (iced) in?

I was excited to use some homemade vanilla made from Dominican rum!  I received this as a gift from a friend at Christmas and it's great stuff!

The muffins turned out great!  Jordan and I decided we prefer the muffins verses a loaf because it's easier to grab a muffin on the go!

The rest of the work week was on and off snow.  Seriously, it would snow in the morning and then be beautiful and sunny in the afternoons!  The weather was giving me whiplash!  Finally, on Friday, the weather decided to revert back to Winter temperatures and the snow started to get heavy.

Top Left: This is the picture from my desk at work.  The tree tops were so beautiful with the snow resting on the branches!  Not to mention that I'm in love with the view from my desk!

Top Right: The is the sidewalk to get into my building it was kind of dangerous yet pretty!

Bottom Left: This is our backyard after a few hours of snow.  Abby was gleeful!

Bottom Right: Jordan and I both have very nice rubber boots but we rarely need them throughout the year.  They've been a staple clothing item this last week though.

As I mentioned, Abby has LOVED the snow!  I was able to capture a couple pictures of her racing through the white snow!  

Top: Running as fast as she can.

Bottom Left: I think she's pausing to bark at Jordan in this picture.  

Bottom Right: Snow mustache!

Can you tell that this dog is an only "child"?

Again....since we were stuck in the house I decided to make some cookies and catch up on laundry, dishes, blah, blah.  The cookies turned out delicious!

Yum!

Happy snow days from our family to yours!  Hope everyone is staying warm and safe out there!