...Sometimes Come Around

This is part two of a two part blog about the snow, which appears below. The Weather Service calculated the snow amount at about 10 inches. I'm not sure if that's what we accumulated, or what was the snowfall amount. Because of drifting, we had areas with under and inch of snow and some, as you will soon see, with feet of snow.

This is the same tree that appears in the before shot.




I like to call these Snowdunes:





Just to give you an idea of how deep that drift is:











But, trust me, I'm not complaining. We were pretty lucky. Many parts of Iowa and Southern Minnesota were blanketed with ice before the snow.

Snowy Days and Sundays

This is a two part post starting with what welcomed me into morning a few days ago:



And from the inside out:



This weekend brought the biggest storm I've witnessed yet. In anticipation, I took this shot before it began:



I'll post the after pictures tomorrow, but here's a sneak peak of the view from our window mid-storm:

Kiwi

I'm enjoying them.

Birthday Advenutres

We started the day with a little Connect Four at Chatterbox Pub in Highland Park:







Then headed to some non-pictured events, including:

*buying ice-skates (surprisingly difficult; we finally found them at Hockey Giant, a store next to REI off of 494)

*ice skating at Lake of Isle in Uptown. This allowed me to accomplish one of my goals for this winter –– ice skating outdoors. It was Joe's first time ice skating and he did well. We're hoping to make it back on the ice before everything thaws, but with the nearly 40 degree temps we saw today (and, believe me, I'm not complaining) that might not happen.

*a show at Brave New Workshop called Pluto, and Other Lies My Teacher Told Me. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. If you are able to go, it comes highly recommended.

The show didn't start until ten, so it was pretty late when we got out, but we still made it over to Byerly's (the fancy grocery store near our house) to buy a birthday cake. We'd found this cake a few days before, in preparation for Valentine's day. It's layers of chocolate and vanilla cake with chocolate and white chocolate frosting. It's excellent with a side of raspberries, as well.

We also picked up some candles so I could make a wish:






and, no, I won't tell you what I wished for ...

The Rest of Valentine's Day

As I said, we started the day with breakfast:





As everyone seemed to like the picture of the cookies, I decided to include a picture of some heart-shaped donuts that were at the same bakery:



The sleigh ride was neat, despite the near-to-below zero weather. It was on a learning farm –– a place where city kids can go to learn about farm animals. While we were there, we saw a little lamb sleeping on top of a sheep. It was something like what a sheep piggy-back-ride would look like.

We also got roast marshmallows over a bonfire that was set up near where the ride began. Let me tell you, it's easier to roast non-frozen marshmallows in the summer, but there was something satisfying about my winter smore.





If you look closely, you can see the city lights in the background of this one (click on it for a larger version):

You Say It's Your Birthday ...

... it's my Birthday, too, yeah ...




... needless to say, I probably won't be updating the rest of my vacation pictures today. But look for them and the ones from today's adventures in the coming days.

*photo by my mom, Victoria

Happy Valentine's Day

There's a privately-owned small town bakery in Farmington that made these cookies, as well as heart-shaped donuts. They said they make shamrock shaped donuts for St. Patrick's day, as well.

Joe and I got up early so we could have breakfast, then we're headed on a sleigh ride after work. Later, we're cooking a nice meal of shrimp, broccolini and pasta or rice at home, where it's warm. How are you spending your Valentine's day?

The McSpadden Clan

I visited with my Dad's side of the family on Saturday and we took a few moments to take some portraits using the handy-dandy remote control for my camera, which was strapped to a patio chair via my gorilla pod.

I think they turned out really well. It was a perfect day for portraits with nice, clean white cloud cover. The trick was taking a few pictures, then laughing at ourselves.







My dad and stepmom:



More pictures to come, including portraits of my four-month-old cousin, Nate, and his parents.

Waffles, Gnomes and Sunlight

We started out Friday heading to the Waffles Spot ( a breakfast joint nestled into the Kings Inn on Hotel Circle ). True to it's name, the restaurant serves great waffles. My mom and Kellie were excitedly playing with "Henry the Gnome" ( pictured ). For those of you that don't know Henry, he's a recordable plush toy that speaks in a high, quick voice. It's pretty funny.











Then we headed to Fashion Valley mall to do some shopping.

Here are Kellie and I basking in the sunlight.







As I was helping my mom take a picture of me basking, the on/off switch to my camera broke off. I immediately headed to a good camera store I know in Little Italy. The problem isn't too serious and it can be fixed relatively easily, but I am going to need to order a part when I get back to Minnesota.

I can still turn on my camera, but it is more difficult. The woman I talked to at the camera shop said that turning it on and off now won't harm the camera anymore, so I plan to. But, if the pictures slow down for the next few weeks, that's why.

We went to Miguels where I did not take any pictures, then I headed to hang out with my good friend Christie ( the one who gave me the CDs in the plastic bag, blogged about previously ).

* Photos of me were taken by my mom, Victoria.

Vacation, Had to Get Away ...

... from the cold (I wish you could have come, Joe).


So, I decided because I had so many requests to stow away people in my bags and bring them to warmth, I would do some blogging while I was here to keep you updated on my trip.


We left Minneapolis at 9:30 last night and arrived in Vegas at just before 11. Then our flight, which was supposed to leave at 11:59 was delayed.


Of course, there are worst places to be stranded than the Vegas airport.


(note: in the interest of saving time during my vacation, these pictures will not have my cool blog boarder on them)

This vacation finds the return of our own traveling gnome, Woodward:

This morning, I woke up to these old friends:

(Now, this is why I need a marco tube extender)

Protest

It snowed during my morning commute yesterday. I saw several cars either in the ditch, or on the side of the road talking with the person they had rear-ended. I even saw one car crash very slowly into a median directly across from me on the road. It skidded after trying to switch lanes over a clump of snow bounced off of the median and then spun slightly before coming stopping. The rest of the drive was slow.

When I finally got to work –– safe and sound –– one of my co-workers had just gotten a call from a group of protesters who were trying to get into Kline's office in order to express their disapproval of the troop serge. So, we hoped in my car and headed over.

I shot this, standing on the snow-covered sidewalk as cars drove by:

Progress

We went to the Science Museum in downtown St. Paul on Sunday to see Hurricane on the Bayou –– a movie about disappearing wetlands south of Louisiana that filmmakers were in the process of making when hurricane Katrina hit –– in the Omni Theater (Omni, like Imax, is a brand name for a type of domed theater). The movie was worth seeing. While Joe remembers learning about how wetlands are created by mud that washes off of shores as the Mississippi runs from Minnesota to Louisiana, I could not recall having learned this. And, it was literally eye-opening, as well.

While we were there, I shot this picture that's a composite of the view from a window in the Science museum, a reflection of its building and a reflection of Joe's face. It was taken conventionally, using reflection –– not editing or phased shots –– to create the layers.

I'm calling it, Progress:

The Wrestler, Part Two

A few weeks ago, Joe, his brother James, sister Kellie, my mom (who was visiting) and I got to play parent to Joe E. at a wrestling meet in Stillwater. Kellie was watching him while his parents were on vacation. Joe, James and I were there to take over parenting duties at wrestling, which was good because Kelllie got a little squeamish. I guess I don't blame her –– it's a tough sport, especially for a 5-year-old.

It was a tough match, as Joe was placed with kids that were much older and taller than he is. But he put up a good fight and was able to improve his skills.












On the ride home he fell into a pretty deep sleep. One minute, we asked if he was okay; the next, we found him like this:



Ah, to sleep like a child...