And he told me Bismarck doesn't get THAT cold!!!!

To all those who might have seen North Dakota's blizzard featured on the Weather Channel today--they were in Fargo, where the wind chill was 30 below...at that time, our wind chill was 0ver 40 below...and it's getting colder! It's hard to say how much snow we got exactly. With winds over 40 mph at times, there are places where you can still see the ground---and then places with drifts over 3 feet deep! Most churches in the area cancelled services today as many roads were closed. I have to say, I am unimpressed with the North Dakota snow removal services, as I have yet to see a snow plow through our streets. According to the weather forecasts, it will be Wednesday before our actual temperature is over zero...at this point, even zero will seem comfortable!

Kona doesn't seem to mind playing in the snow...once we get her out there! We've had to push her out the door a few times today! John has been a trooper at shoveling the drive as I have had a bad back the past week or so (I think from previous snowfalls and moving all those boxes the past few months!!!) I'm trying to recall why we didn't register for a snow blower!!

We have been working hard on getting the house together. Around Thanksgiving, we finally picked a paint color for our sunroom...John began painting that as I worked on the never ending stack of boxes. For the most part, the house is put together. I've got the boxes consolidated to the unfinished part of the basement...the rest of the rooms are in pretty good shape. We hosted my school staff, school board, association church pastors and all their spouses at our house this past Friday for a Christmas party. We had a good time...and it was nice to enjoy our house with friends. We hope to entertain more in the months to come! One thing I observed that is different up here than back home...people walked in for the party, and right away, took their shoes off...didn't ask, just did it. At home, we usually don't take shoes off, unless you notice a pile of shoes by the door--then you ask if the host would like you to take your shoes off, usually they say no. Once, when I was in grade school, I even got chastised by a family friend because I took my shoes off in their house--he told me it was rude to do that without having permission!!! I was struck by all the shoes--the picture does not do it justice! There were about 30 people here...so double that for the shoe pile! I told John I'm going to need some new socks if we go visiting people often, as mine aren't in the best shape!!!

We are planning to spend some time in St. Louis over the holidays, weather permitting. We haven't quite decided what to do for New Years Eve---not sure what we can do to top getting engaged as we did last year (although both of us being healthy would be nice as we were both sick that night!!!). Kona is adjusting to life with us---or we're adjusting to life with Kona...one of the two! We started puppy classes last week (John, Kona and I are all in training!!!) She did pretty good with it all!

We are curious if people are reading our blog anymore, as it's been a while since anyone has posted a comment on here---so if you are still checking, and would like us to continue posting, let us know...either via a blog comment or an email! Thanks!! Stay warm...and when you think it's cold where you are, just remember to check the weather here! Chances are, you'll feel better!

Sorry for any "odd" spacing and formatting on the blogs---that is not how I type it---it just gets changed and I don't know how to fix it!