Snowvember 2014

It's winter in the Buffalo Area!!! 

They're calling this storm Snowvember, the Snowpocalypse, and Winter Storm Knife. 

They're saying this storm is significantly worse than the Blizzard of '77 in regards to snowfall and drifts.

Governor Cuomo, Erie County Exec. Mark Poloncarz,and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown have declared a State of Emergency since Monday night. (It's Friday!)

Poloncarz deployed the National Guard Tuesday, and they were in service around the Buffalo area by Tuesday night.

Fire departments from all over New York State have been helping out our area to start digging out.  Even the FDNY has a crew up here! Shout out!

Apparently Cuomo or Senator Schumer talked to President Obama, who is apparently "concerned", and might declare it a federal disaster and send in FEMA resources. 

Death toll is 12 at the moment.  

Forecasts of snow were being predicted in FEET, not INCHES! Totals have started coming in, and so far, the highest is 86 inches of snow in Hamburg! 

Lets start on Saturday, when I came home from a Junior League Bus Tour and found this on my porch. 

Okay, no biggie.  It's Buffalo, we get snow.  Heading on to Monday, I make it to school (most of the snow melted on Sunday, and the snow wasn't predicted to begin until late Monday night). I remember my last class, Honors Colloquium, looking out the window, and thinking that it was nighttime! It got dark so fast that it was a little creepy - only anticipating what was in store for us!  

Monday night was the first of the 'bad' days.  Alex had Paramedic school that didn't get out until 9:30.  His drive home is normally around 25 minutes.  He didn't get home until nearly 10:45! He said visibility was horrible.  Thank GOD that he didn't have to go back to work until Saturday.

Early Tuesday morning, I got a text saying that school was closed, so I ended up staying in bed for a little bit and woke up to this picture. And it just kept getting worse. 

It was decided that it was cuddle day, with lots of tea and blankets.  And socks. You know it's cold when I put on socks!

Window was covered in snow, coming in through the screen! Thought it looked a little bit like a leopard print. 

Wednesday was Alex's Birthday!!!!! :) And snow day number 2.  After having an awesome morning of sleeping in on flannel sheets, we woke up to puppy cuddles, and even more snow.  

We had to go out and snow blow the driveway again - this marked the end of part one of the storm. So far, we only had about a foot and a half, and clear roads.  There were travel bans in the towns all around us, and even a few had declared a State of Emergency.  

We also used this little break in the weather to run to Save a Lot to grab some more essentials.  We walked in and there was little to no produce! Okay, fine.  So we walked to the back towards the deli & dairy.  There were signs saying everything had been moved to the back coolers due to 'cooler issues'.  Honestly, there were no cooler issues, just the staff trying to ration what they have, and so people have an equal chance to get what they need.  We also got orange cranberry muffins, which Alex wanted instead of a cake for his birthday!

We skyped my Grandparents in NYC when I brought out Alex's muffins and sung Happy Birthday.  It was nice to see somewhere that didn't have any snow after seeing the color white all day every day for the past few days! 

Throughout the day, we noticed our puppy wasn't 'normal'.  He didn't want any peanut butter, he was sleeping all day, not running around, lethargic, and just plain not himself.  We ended up driving ourselves to Hamburg Veterinary Office (through a driving ban, which wasn't being reported on the news at the time...)  Our little man tweaked his back somehow! He also has a bit of an ear infection.  So now ear drops twice a day, and pain meds.  

Hamburg was the hardest hit in regards to Part One of the storm - the snow was taller than my vehicle! 

We came home and cuddled. 

Thursday, we woke up to the start of Part Two of the storm.  Mind you, this car was the one we took the night before to the vet's, and it was completely cleared off!!!! Obviously we had some work to do outside.  Another day outside snow blowing.  Even though it was snowing at rates of 3-5 inches per hour, we knew that if we didn't keep up with it, we wouldn't be able to use our snow blower and we definitely did not want to shovel all that snow if we could avoid it.  

The surprising thing is, this entire driveway was cleared off less than nine hours before! 

Village of good neighbors:  the plowman stopped and helped Alex get the end of the driveway again... Alex had just snow blowed that area.... and then the plow went by.  The plow turned around, and helped us out.  Thank you awesome plow man! 

Giving in.  Still awaiting another 2-3 feet.  

Our neighbors across the street had a plow come to do their driveway.... Even though there was a driving ban in our town that started 4 hours before, and the Supervisor declared a State of Emergency! The plow ended up getting stuck in their driveway.

Our front porch... by the time we were headed to bed, the snow was over the railings!

Friday: the end? Hardly.

It's amazing to see how much snow actually fell! (And trying to figure out where to put it all is another story!)

Again, the Village of Good Neighbors.  Alex had help from two different people to dig out the mailbox, and our neighbors were helped out by someone who rented a frontloader before the snow hit. 

I'm glad to say that I love the little village I live in.  

I'm extremely thankful that my husband was snowed in right alongside me, safe, warm, and at home. 

I'm thankful that the Hamburg Vet was staffed even during a deadly snowstorm.  

I'm thankful that my little puppy will be okay.

I'm thankful that my family is home and safe.  

I'm thankful that we are okay. 

Mom is stuck at home as well, and the plows on her street have her stuck so much that a frontloader can't even remove the snow at the bottom of her driveway. It's that heavy.

Alex's parents and Grandpa are safe and sound inside their houses, both haven't had work. 

It's been snowing hard again as I've been writing this - they're saying another 2-4 inches.  That's do-able. At least the forecast is back in inches, not feet!

Now to prepare for the weather to get into the 40's and 50's.  Flood warnings are starting to go into effect late tonight. 

Stay warm, stay safe, stay inside! 

Is it time to go back to Pawley's Island yet??? 

:)

XOXOXO

What a Summer!!!

This summer is going by super fast! I can't believe next month I go back to school! 

For the first part of July, Alex and I finally had our long awaited honeymoon!!! We went to Litchfield Beach, South Carolina.  Oh. My. Gosh. I miss it!!!!!! We both had so much fun enjoying the beach, lazy river, sunsets, collecting shells, trying out the food, having sweet tea, and getting used to the temps!! {imagine 80's-90's with heat index over 100!}  Thanks Mom & Tash for watching our four legged kids!! 

This pic was the first day we were there... I was so adamant about going to the beach that first day, even though we got there at like 6:30 p.m.! I needed that beach! 

Alex putting his stuff away so we could go swim in the ocean!! Amazing temperatures for the water, even though it was the beginning of summer! Normally, I've gone at the end of August when I was growing up and the water was warm.

My first glass of Sweet Tea! This place had a pond filled with baby alligators and turtles! It was fun seeing the kids run on the boardwalk they had, trying to count how many there were! I spotted at least 22.... :)

Relaxing in the water!! Nothing has ever relaxed me more than being in the ocean.  Ever.  I'm glad that Alex was able to enjoy it as well!

Super pretty sunsets & walks on the beach collecting shells! 

And then we came home. {Can I just go live there forever?!?}

But when we got home, our peonies were in full bloom! I had so many things filled with the flowers, that nearly the entire house was pink! 

And then there's this little cutie.... Got his kiddie pool out to cool off, and decided to dry off in the plants!

So a little more recently, on the 4th of July to be exact, Alex bought this fire pit! We LOVE it! Alex's family and my mom sat out there nearly all day and enjoyed the fire! Alex and his dad though.... power tools.... and they even went and bought a chainsaw.... :)

Family reunion time!!! We had a blast going to the reunion this year.  Unfortunately, this was the first reunion that I can think of where my grandparents weren't there! {sadface.}  The house felt so empty, and not having a full kitchen seemed so different.  Anxiously awaiting October, when they come in for our cousin's wedding! 

Aaaaaaaand what would life be without some silliness by my puppy?? Love him :)

I can't believe that school starts in almost 4 weeks... where did the summer go?!?!?!?!? This is going by waaay too fast. Maybe it's because I'm working in Admissions and with the SAA? I don't know. 

OH. MY. I ALMOST FORGOT!

Alex starts Paramedic school on the 4th! So proud of him! He is a phenomenal pre-hospital care provider already, and will soon be able to perform the highest level of pre-hospital care soon! It will be a long year, but so worth it in the end.  He's so smart, that when we watch House on Netflix, he has it all figured out before it's even said. He's that smart! Honestly, he'd make an amazing doctor! That's his passion!

Speaking of Netflix, when are they going to put season 3 of Once Upon a Time on there?? Waiting almost a year! Gah. Any suggestions for other shows??

See ya soon!

A Month's Worth!

Can you believe it has been one month YESTERDAY that I went back to school???

ME EITHER!!

There has been so much work! 

Working on essay #4 for English, 4th Journal for another class, and nightly math homework averaging about 50 questions a class!!

BUT....

100% on my first math test.

Everything else has been A's (and one B!) which I don't think is  bad for not being in school for a few years!!!

Let's introduce you to a bit of my school...

This is my Foundations classroom... Every room is equipped with a SmartBoard and 2 white boards (SmartBoards are awesome!)

Notice the "T" looking thing above the board? That's called a Tau Cross, and it's in every classroom to represent the school being a Franciscan College.  (Who's named after a nun from POLAND!) 

{Mother Colette Hilbert}

Now that it's getting to look and feel like autumn, I can't help myself and take some gorgeous pictures of the trees! 

This one's a picture I took on campus when I was on my way to the library:

This next one I took the other day... We were having a Peace Walk in honor of the Feast of St. Francis, walking from place to place all over campus and reading a prayer or short description of a working of St. Francis.  We were joined with the nuns from the Convent across the street, the original students of the college who started out in the convent next to the college.  (This event was optional to all students for those that were wondering...)

Another fun thing that the Student Government does for the students is for the bathrooms... and it's a brilliant idea!!!

Wandered into the Auditorium for a theatre workshop...

Aaaannnnddd some fun.. 

As for non school related things, we've been pretty busy! 

Alex went to his partner Timmy's stag party a few weeks ago, and women were allowed to come at 7 to join in on the fun.  We were at a place called Castaways, and the sunset was eerily breathtaking...

Tim and Jamie's wedding is tomorrow! SO excited!!

Guess who started NURSERY SCHOOL!!!

That's right, Ariel!!

I got together with her after her first day and we went to a playground for some fun!

Her mom (my good friend Tasha) brought her over for a sleepover, and we had some fun! Ariel likes being a doctor with my stethoscope, and learned how to listen to breathing and a heartbeat, courtesy of Alex!

After Ariel went to bed, Tasha and I had some much needed girl time!

With October comes Ocktober Fest!!!

In Hamburg, they bring together local beer breweries and import German beer, and have a big adult festival! Alex and I went with some good friends from our former Fire Company.  I must say, my favorite drink wasn't beer that night, it was hard apple cider spice with cinnamon sticks! YUM!

Some other pictures throughout the month:

The colors finally starting to come out!!

Velvet falling asleep, and almost falling off the couch...

How she normally is when I'm doing my homework, if she's not trying to walk all over my chest, laptop, swinging her tail in front of my face, or putting herself where I can't see the screen... like she's doing now... She likes keeping her Momma company! 

Life wouldn't be complete without a few silly faces!!

And for the main project.... 

WE FINALLY GOT SOME NEW WINDOWS!!!!

Finally.  Now we won't have to heat the outside this winter :)

We also got one for our upstairs bathroom, with frosted glass on the bottom so we don't have to close the curtains! It looks SO much better!

Above, the new windows... Below, no windows at all! :)

We also had 2 more put in the guest bedroom as well :)

Next project: TBD, but lots of options! 

POT LUCK DINNER FOR THE BOSTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

THIS TUESDAY, 10/8, Town Hall! I'll be there at 6!! 

Have a FANTASTIC night!!

Please follow my blog!! :) 

XOXOXO

Comments, questions, and emails are welcome!