Where are we now??

This past weekend my husband and I packed up our kids and took a much-needed trip to Eastern Washington to visit my grandparents.  While we were there we decided to take a bit of time one evening to drive to my aunt’s home for a quick visit.  My grandma gave me the directions and we set out on a short 15 minute drive to her home.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that having directions in hand means very little since I have a tendency to “take the scenic route” to places.  Ending up at the ferry docks in Mukilteo in an attempt to find I-5 from the Alderwood mall seems to come to mind.  This adventure seemed to prove no different. 

Let me start by saying, this is a very small farming town.  There are not many roads which means, less options to take a wrong turn.  However, I managed to make several.

Our “5 miles outside of town” ended up with us in the next town 10 miles away.  We turned around, called my grandpa for some clarification on a street name (which had him asking astonished, “You’re where?!”) and we headed back. 

Finally found the correct street and started looking for the next road we were to turn on.  Up and down the road we drove, looking everywhere for the correct street.  Turned down one but ended up being a very bumpy dead end.  Called back at my grandparent’s house and talked to my grandma, “It just smells like onions out here!!”  

Thankfully, she stayed on the phone with me until I found the correct road and YES! found my aunt’s house.  We had a lovely time with them and made it back to my grandparent’s home with no trouble.

So what should have been a 15 minute drive turned into 45 minutes.  But does this really surprise anyone?  I just had an adventure!!

Our first Snow of Winter

This morning the Pacific Northwest woke up to the fresh covering of new fallen snow.  Granted only a dusting, it was still a beautiful sight to see and I’m completely excited for our forecast this next week – more snow!!! 

I’m a Snow-aholic and I wholeheartedly own the title.   There is something just so exciting about seeing snowflakes falling from the sky and blanketing the earth.  Maybe it’s the way the snow glistens and shines in the moonlight, or how inviting a patch of smooth, undisturbed snow is to jump in, or maybe it’s the fact that with how busy our lives seem to be nowadays it’s refreshing to have an excuse to slow down and pull back from the hectic ness of life.

Being absolutely in love with snow does not exclude me from the precarious situations it can bring.  But there’s a difference between getting frustrated and upset about a situation and being able to laugh at yourself and enjoy the moment.  Today held one of these moments and since I’ve been randomly laughing about it all afternoon, I thought I’d share it with my readers and share the joy and laughter. 

This morning Andrew and I decided to attend the early service at our church which meant we had to scramble a little to get the kids and ourselves ready to leave.  We were running late, I had just finished making my coffee and pouring it in my travel mug when I went on my search for shoes. 

I decided against my tennis shoes because of how worn they look, (although hind sight being what it is, they would have been my best choice).  I tried to find my black heels (chunky heels, not stilettos) which would have looked nice with my outfit but alas, I could not find them.  This led me to grab my cowboy boots.  Looked nice but one step out the door brought to my attention just how little – correction – no tread they had. 

Why do I tell you about my shoes?  You will find out in a minute.  Just remember, I’m wearing my boots with NO tread. 

Service was wonderful as always and we stayed a little bit to chat with some friends until the next service started.  We walked outside and started making our way to our car…. this is where the two-minutes of craziness happened.

I was holding Katie Jo and opened the door to the car to put her in her carseat, which is located in the middle of the backseat with Adam and Emma’s booster seats on either side.  As I lean in to put her in her seat I feel my feet begin to slip on the ice.  I try to catch myself but I’m too late.  I completely slip and fall which causes Katie Jo to plop awkwardly in her seat. 

So there I am, stuck half-in, half-out of our car.  My top half is laying across Emma’s booster seat while my feet are outside the car flailing about, desperately trying to find some kind of traction so I can get up but failing miserably. 

What I didn’t realize was that at this very moment Adam decided this would be the best time to attempt to make a snow angel and Emma was too busy trying to brush every speck of snow off the car. 

So picture my family if you will….  Katie Jo crying, I’m stuck halfway outside the car with my feet flailing about on the ice, Adam is on the ground making a snow angel, Andrew is trying to get Adam off the ground and Emma is just concerned with cleaning the car.

This is one of those situations when I wish there was someone who had a camera who could have snapped a picture of my family at that moment.