Day 260: Pelting Snow?

The snow storm tonight.

I knew there was a storm coming today.  The wind was howling all afternoon and when I went outside at lunch to run some errands, my hair literally swirled around my head and straight up as if I were in a cyclone.  But even though the weather was freaky cool all day, I was still shocked to see the snow whipping through our back yard tonight when I looked out the window.

There was no way I was going out there in the cold and wind, so I took this shot from the window to the back porch.  Lazy, I know.  But at least I got a picture of it. :)

Day 245: Arctic Winds

The clouds blowing in.

Today was gorgeous.

And FREEZING!

I have never felt such icy, bone-chilling, teeth-chattering, hurricane-force wind gusts in the 8 years that I've lived in Utah.

Of course, the wind may have been exaggerated by my extremely poor choice in jackets this morning.  I wore my new wind breaker that I won in a raffle at work.  It looks like a great winter coat, but it has zero insulation.  I think it's made to be worn over warmer, less water-resistant coats.  Also, it's probably two sizes too big, so it allowed every wisp of air blowing by me free entrance into the protective layer of the coat, thereby rendering it less than useless because it actually trapped the cold air inside the jacket every time I stepped outside.

Next time, I'll layer.

Day 230: Fire Mountain

A view of tonight's sunset from my front porch.

I almost didn't get this shot out of pure stubbornness.  Christine told me how cool the sunset was looking, but I had already taken a picture, and I suddenly felt a wave of annoyance that she would assume that I needed picture ideas.

Idiot.

I always need picture ideas, and yet I always scoff when people give me any.

Luckily I realized I was being ridiculous and got up to see what she was talking about.  

Awesome view!  Click! 

Too bad it didn't turn out as bright on the photo.  It was practically red in real life.

Day 225: Ice

A frozen snow drift.

I went to lunch today with the express purpose of getting a picture because I knew I wouldn't have time this evening.  I drove around until I was almost out of time before I finally stopped and settled for this picture.  It's not the most eye-grabbing thing I've seen, but it's not horrible.

I went to the Jazz game with my family tonight and we had a blast!  It was great fun to go out to eat at a fancy restaurant first and then hit the game.  I would have taken pictures at the game, but I was too worried about my camera being damaged or stolen in that big of a crowd. So...maybe another time. :)

Day 211: Snowed In

Trees in my neighborhood

So the storm the newscasters have been predicting all week finally hit today.  It started out strong this morning, with heavy, wet, slushy snow that covered the walks and cars and especially the trees.  When I finally made it upstairs around mid-morning, it was a winter wonderland outside.  By mid-afternoon, when I took this shot, the snow had ceased, and the wet snow on the trees had rapidly melted and fallen off.  These trees were still pretty covered, but almost everything else in the neighborhood had cleared up.  By early evening, the winds blew harder and colder, and the mini-blizzard (as I dubbed it) hurled itself on our windows and back door.  It didn't last very long, but it did manage to re-cover all the freshly shoveled walkways and scraped cars.

I loved it!  I had no plans to leave the house today, so I got to watch it all unfold from my living room as I did a few chores and read my book.  My favorite way to experience a storm!

Day 203: Snow Cap

Me.

It snowed last night.  Boy did it snow.  And it was wet snow all day today (mixed with rain).

When I saw how bad it was outside, I armed myself with my new scarf/hood.  It's very convenient for days like this, when it's cold and wet, and I actually did my hair.  When I got home from work, I decided to take a picture of my new favorite accessory because I haven't done a self-portrait in a while.  

The thing is...this picture makes me look like Lara from "Doctor Zhivago."

I promise I'm not from revolutionary Russia.

Day 180: Endless Driving

A view from the road.

Today was endless.

The beginning of our drive home was beautiful: snow-laden trees by the thousands lined the road like a guard of honor saluting us home.  The fog was laced through the tree-filled mountains and the snow provided a beautiful contrast to it all.  The landscape around us made the trip so exciting and fun, but by lunch time it faded into barren, rolling hills that felt like an arctic wasteland.

And this is saying nothing about the storm that seemed to follow us from Washington all the way to Utah.  The storm was no fun.  The traffic was no fun.  The roads were no fun.  The 13-hour-long drive that stretched into 21 hours was no fun!

Day 179: The Lake

Rattlesnake Lake

Christine and I took a short drive up to Rattlesnake Lake today.  We went last year and loved it.  This year was even better for 2 reasons:

1. There was snow and a lot more water to capture, and
2. I had a better camera and more experience with landscape shots.

I still feel like I can't ever quite capture landscape shots, but I'm slowly getting better.  I love this shot because it shows the stark contrasts between the bright white snow and the blackened tree stumps, rippling water, and foggy tree-scape.

Washington is such a beautiful place!  It's freezing right now, but beautiful!

Day 178: Tree Hunting

Mom at the tree farm.

So we're still in Washington for the holiday, and today we got to go pick out a Christmas tree with Vic and Mona!  We got to come with them last year and it was so much fun.  This year Mom and Dad came, and we had a blast trudging through the snow, looking for the perfect tree.  Unfortunately for me, I was wearing the wrong shoes for wet snow puddles.  After about 15 minutes I couldn't feel my toes, so I left early to warm up in the front store.  But not before I got some cute shots of the family walking among the trees.  Mom was so cute in her snow outfit!  I especially love the Santa hat beanie!

Great day!  I'll be sad to leave on Sunday.

Day 162: Snow!

Snow outside my office.

This isn't the first snow of the season, but it's the first snow I captured on my camera.  It only lasted 20 minutes or so, and it didn't stick (awesome!), so I was pretty lucky to get a few shots in the middle of a work day.

I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed with life lately.  There are too many details to keep track of at work, and at home...and just as it usually does, my brain doesn't have enough hard drive space to fit it all, so it starts deleting random data.

(That's geek talk for, "I'm forgetting a lot of stuff lately.")

The problem is, my brain doesn't drop useless trivia (like the address of the home I grew up in), or unpleasant memories (like my worst first date, or that time in high school when I threw a huge party and no one showed up).  No, it drops important things, like the due date on my credit card bill, or a time-sensitive phone call I was supposed to make last week.

And with all this "data dumping" that my brain keeps doing, all it does is add to the stress of each day, instead of easing it.  Because I notice whenever my brain drops something.  Suddenly I get a pit in my stomach and a feeling of unease and I realize I'm missing something but I can't remember what.  So then I stress out trying to remember what it was, meanwhile forgetting even more important stuff and missing even more deadlines.

It's a deadly spiral.

Luckily, I know how to get out of it.  It's just really hard to do in this state of near-panic.  The solution is to stop thinking and start working.  I just need to pick up the next thing on my to-do list and start doing it, regardless of what else I'm not doing or what other deadlines are hanging over my head.  But man, is that tough to do!  I can't accurately explain just how difficult it is do just ignore the stress cloud hanging over my head.  It's a battle I'm constantly fighting all day.

It will go away eventually.  Once I've ticked off enough items on my to-do list that it doesn't feel overwhelming anymore, the stress cloud will disperse and my brain will stop doing random data dumps.

Until then, I just have to keep on keepin' on!